Mardi Gras 2006 Highlights: Installation Muses

I was feeling overwhelmed, wondering how to get my favorite moments out in an orderly way. Now I am behind, so there will be few days worth of pictures thrown out here.

First, of course, The MAX Band:





Then, My favorite Parade: Muses



There are certain things you can expect to see only in Muses. There are three groups of women that parade: The Bearded Oysters, The Camel Toe Steppers and The Pussy Footers. There is the Ninth Ward Marching Band. Tons of Elvis Costumes on scooters. Satirical Floats are always expected.

Some unusual features for the year include the very unusual Mexican or Latino Flambeaus that cropped up this year, due to Katrina:





And a very sad float, which I will post at the end of this installation, as is appropriate.

A Bearded Oyster Girl



The Pussy Footers





The Camel Toe Steppers






An Elvis



The Ninth Ward Marching Band








Miss Pussycat AKA Panacea

A Float about the Gretna Police incident, when they wouldn't let New Orleans residents escape over the Crescent City Connection bridge over the river to safety. Pictures by Billy Sothern, a public defender and writer about such atrocities.





An Anti-Death Penalty Float. Pictures also taken by Billy Sothern, an anti-death penalty lawyer.









The saddest float of all, empty, to remind us of who couldn't come to Mardi Gras this year.

Spastic Mardi Gras Postings

Be looking for erratic postings as I am milking this party for all it's worth.


Loving My Musies Dolls
Photo by Eve Troeh

Welcome to the Mardi Gras

I am very happy to say that it feels good to have Mardi Gras. Many said that it was crass to throw the party, because bad things are still happening. Examples include the withdrawal of the cruise ships that have housed many people and the breaking up of the barge in the Lower Ninth, the loaded meaning of this gesture will be dicussed after the party.
But I say that there is a great release in seeing the satirical floats in parades such as Muses (my freakin' favorite parade) and Krewe D'Etat --pictures to come.

I know that I promised a certain someone a chicken story, and I have not forgotten --it's on my list for after the party.

Our evacuation host-family, Will and Siobhan have come to town to see Mardi Gras for the first time. What an interesting time for that experience. I caught a dubloon with a fridge on it...

Siobhan


Will

(please forgive the quality -it was taken as the storm hit Oxford, MS and I had been washing out the worries over a drunken Boggle game.)

One last thing: If you are here, or ever come to Mardi Gras, stand beneath the I-10 overpass. The bands sound fantastic and the dancers try extra hard! See you there!

Guessing Game

Recently, Slimbolala reminded me of how much I love guessing games... Who knows where this house is? It's one of my favorites...

Clarification for Water Pressure Posting

Regarding the water pressure problem:
The photo is dark, I know, and it is difficult to see the fine print...which reads: I tried three times, sorry...

It became clear that it seems as though I tried three times, when actually, I usually give it a go once, employing the prolonged "hold-down-the-handle" technique but after that, I throw in the towel.

June's B-Day

In case you haven't figured it out yet (and I don't know how you would from this blog), Slimbolalaland and Nola Nikland overlap in dimension. Sunday was little June's second birthday, so Happy Birthday, girlie.*


I have to say, it was difficult to figure out exactly whose birthday it really was, since everyone seemed to get presents, and the Mama Sarah is holding a look-alike girl.

Slimbo...are you gonna knife a bubble here? Not very party-like, now is it?



* you know, for when she reads

I Tried Three Times, Sorry (Thanks)

Water pressure in New Orleans is very low right now. There have been many stories about firefighters having to call in helicopters to help douse fires becasue they cannot get enough water pressure out of the hoses. Well, as with most things that effect the city's system negatively since the storm, this difficulty is felt in our most intimate moments, uniting us all in ways that we normally rather keep to ourselves...

Gotta Tell Ya,

New Orleans wasn't just stinky right after the storm. Some days the place just reeks.

It's stanky today.

While You're Throwing Things Out at the House...

Why not get rid of that car you keep knocking into in the hallway?

Excellent Painters Available

Rue De La Course

I heard that the Rue De La Course on Race is permanently closed because the building is too far gone. Any confirmations?

The Little Rue
photo by Billy Sothern

The Little Rue used to be my neighborhood cafe. I miss it.

Thinking of Max

I am ready to say that my old man Max has cancer. Normally, I wouldn't put this kind of thing on here, but my mother believes in the power of well wishing and I figure I can't be so selfish as to disregard the possibility of such things helping, SO...

WISH MAX WELL!

He has started chemo and is actually friskier than he has been in a very long time -so far so good!

It's hard to get the dogs to pose for a picture because they hate the little red light on my camera, so these aren't the best pictures, but they represent him reasonably well. Max is a rescued New York City street dog, aged thirteen. The weird looking (but loving) rat-dog is Mabel ("Mabs"), a New Orleans street dog and true love of Max.

Faceless Houses

As I promised Slimbolala long ago, I will finally post my series of faceless houses. He is my fellow Central City photo enthusiast and has snapped a few of these curious dollhouse displays himself. This entry has a bunch of pictures. Enjoy.





Apparently during the storm, the wind pried off some (or all) of a facade of a few houses. The houses pictured below remain uncovered and open to this day. In one such house, located on Prytania and Erato (in my neck of the woods), someone goes in and changes the decorations for holidays:



I wonder what they'll do for Mardi Gras.

And now for the ultimate dollhouse effect:

Tattered Drunkess

Somehow, this picture of sun-bleached, dusty old boas symbolizes the tired aesthetic of the French Quarter's wanna be bimbettes-for-a-night. Don't get me wrong, (though thoroughly annoyed with these folks before the storm), I am fine with the boas. Whatever happens in Nola, stays...er, no. But seriously, I mean, whatever floats your boat. Tickle, tickle, tee-hee.

The Taste of DELIGHT

Central City

The Teddy Bear Problem

After the flood, there were hundreds and hundreds of teddy bears and dolls strewn all over New Orleans, forever damp-looking and traumatically abandoned, left behind to die. This is the feeling that I got everytime I saw one, and I am not the only one. There is something exceptionally freakish about seeing these beloved animals dirty and alone in the gutters of our torn city. My friend and fellow bleeding heart, Miranda had one on the passengers side of her car one day and when I asked her about it, she said (polite depiction) that it had been face down in a gutter, as if the cast off of a violent sex crime....

The idea of the violation is dead-on. I don't know why, but it is. I have since seen dump trucks with tens of these poor creatures shoved into every safe nook and cranny on the vehicle, as if the trash is not appropriate for these creatures that definitely had the life of personality breathed into them by some loving child.

One illustration of a soft spot on the underbelly of New Orleans.



Mid city trash pile



By the way, happy belated Valentine's day.

Whose Gettin' Papa Joe's?

One night in October/early November I found this food cart* under the I-10 overpass



Over by The Circle Bar



I was really excited to see it, thinking that surely there would be more cropping up to meet the needs of all the migrant workers coming to town. I had visions of taco stands! But alas, this cart disappeared, and after hearing something about the city not allowing random food carts, my dreams were dashed...

But I was driving down my street the other day and look what I found:



Whose gettin' BBQ?

If you know anything about new food carts around town, share the info, please.
*click on the picture to see the cool mannequin

Full Moon in Central City