Marching On

Over the last month since my last post, I've Pussyfooted in 2 parades, marched in another, watched a ton of parades, celebrated my birthday, attended 2 more Mardi Gras Balls, bought a car, ate 2 monstrous corn dogs, went camping and continue to battle the crud. Pshew, no wonder I'm still tired. AND now trying to clear out Mardi Gras stuff to make way for St. Patrick's Day.

First of my new car! A Rav 4 I've named Barry White from Lakeside Toyota. The Rav4 and Honda CRV were my top two picks, both highly rated. My experience at Lakeside Toyota (ask for Mike Chosa) was far superior to the one I had at Royal Honda plus, it's closer to where I live for servicing. I love it!

Our float. From https://www.facebook.com/NewOrleansLocal

This year, the Krewe of SPANK got to march first (after the title and royalty float) in the Krewe du Vieux parade. Our float and throws, especially the Dizneylandrieu Map, were highly coveted and beloved by the media. The weather wasn't bad and the crowds were big but polite this year.
More photos: NewOrleansLocal.com, nola.com, Offbeat.com and NolaDefender.com. We had Loki, a "GoogleGlassHole," with us and he took still photos and video of the parade.

In my previous post I said I was going to Pussyfoot in 3 parade. The first was Carrollton on 2/23 and it was a deluge. I was in denial it would rain, and never imagined it would rain as hard as it did. But we danced on and there were still people along the parade route! Every single piece of clothing I was wearing was soak through. Our new corsets bled pink dye all over everything that wasn't already pink. It was insane. I had been feeling better before this day but after that my cold came back. I dropped out of the Nyx parade and didn't even watch it. It was a cold, damp night and I decided it wasn't a good idea for me to be outside. Plus, the next day was my birthday!

The deluge! But we smiled and danced the whole parade.

The Krewe of Muses parade rolled on my birthday and I watched it over at our good friend's who always have an open house for it. The rest of Mardi Gras was a blur as I recovered from the crud.

New Years Non-Resolutions

Seriously???? BRRRRRRRR

Most people start off a new year with a list of resolutions. Usually things like "exercise more" "eat better" "drink less" "sleep more" "less TV, read more" etc. As I was heating up left over fried chicken to eat for lunch I realized so far this first week of 2014 I'm done the opposite of all these things. I have eaten fried chicken (now twice), pizza (also twice-I love leftovers), an Egg McMuffin (haven't had one in years) and roasted pig (mmmm). I wanted to eat a piece of king cake last night but it was all gone before I could. I haven't picked up a book all week. I care too much about football. The Saints made the play-offs and WON their first game. The nerve-wracking nature of Saints' game drives me to drink (I'm a victim!). And now they are playing again this Saturday. Lord help me and my liver. And then there was that little game last night, you know, the BCS Championship Game that the FSU SEMINOLES WON!!!! Holy cow what a roller coaster of a game. I'm still blown away. I've spent most of this frigid day indoors, wearing sweatpants (hey I changed out of PJs, that's something) sitting in front of my computer, messing around on-line. I did return one business call. And emailed some proofs. But my to do list still has a whole heck of a lot more on it to be crossed off. I really should go to the grocery store and make something for dinner. I haven't cooked since January 1. The only exercise I have had are two, 1-hour dog walks and a one-hour dance practice. But look, I wrote a blog post! That's something! Right? I think I'll wallow in the Seminole victory a little longer. I'm sure there's some videos I haven't seen yet.

Noles #1!!!!

Happy Jazz Fest 2013!

Locals usually pick their Jazz Fest days based on the out of town headliners. Unless you are one of those who go every day. Yes there are folks who go all 7 days. Usually they buy a brass pass which allows to enter and leave as you please. Regular tickets holder can’t do that.

We went the Sunday of the first weekend. Not to see anyone in particular but it was nice because I don’t normally go on Sundays. There’s usually someone I really want to see on the Saturdays, the biggest days the largest crowds. So Sundays are more chill. It stormed Sunday morning which also kept a lot of people away. It had stopped raining when we went but we had ponchos and zip lock bags just in case. Which turned out to be a smart move because it started raining hard again around 3:00. But a “bad” day at JazzFest is better than a good day at work.

When it rains at JazzFest it get really muddy. And stinky. It is a racing track for horse. Do not wear flip flops. You will fall on your ass or lose them in the muck. If you want to keep your feet dry and clean, rain boots or shrimp boots are the way to go. If you like squishing your toes in mud, go bare foot or wear something like Teevas you strap to your feet.

Music for May 28, 2013
Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Ed Volker, Calexio, Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ swingers, Honey Island Swamp Band, Gispy Kings and Treme Brass Band tribute to Uncle Lionel.

Food eaten (very important!): Cochon de lait po boy. Crawfish sack, crawfish beignets and crawfish bread.

Mardi Gras Madness - Part 3 - First Weekend of Parades with the Pussyfooters

Here comes the girls!

Technically, Mardi Gras is the last day of Carnival but we use the terms interchangeably. Carnival starts on 12th Night, January 5. The Phoney Phorty Phellows take a streetcar ride, throwing beads and what not to those that come out to see them. I was meeting a friend on the Avenue and was running late, so I missed the first pass and almost missed the second pass. There are parties this night as well as the Krewe of Joan of Arc that marches through the Quarter.

Me, mid-step-turn.

In New Orleans, the majority of parades start 2 weeks prior to Mardi Gras day. I'm in the Pussyfooters, a woman's dance group, and we were invited to perform in two parade the first weekend, Krewe of Cleopatra and Krewe of King Arthur. Both parades are about 5 miles long and took about 3 hours to complete. That's a lot of dancing and marching! But it is so much fun, and it's always a thrill to spy someone you know along the route. What was fun about these two parade is the first one was at night, the second the day, each a different experience. The night parades are more of a blur because you can't see, but even in the daylight, you aren't always sure where you are. The crowds blank out the landmarks and cross streets. It's fun to be able to see the people in the crowd and interact with them.

Here's a bunch of photos on Flickr from the King Arthur parade. We glow in the daylight!
Here's a video of us performing one of our dances in the same parade.
Here's a video of us from the Krewe of Cleopatra parade.

It's such an overload of senses. We have our own music - this year with a live DJ! - then there's the yelling and crowds noises, music from other groups and marching bands. We use hand motions and whistles (you'll hear them in the videos) to alert everyone about an upcoming dance. Sometimes you miss both until you realize everyone around you is dancing so you just jump right in. Like I said earlier, visually it can be a complete blur, but then you spy someone in the crowd you know and they just pop out at you. That's usually when I mess up. LOL And then there's the smells. There are horses and mules in the parade -ugh- but you also catch whiffs of fried chicken, BBQ and boiling crawfish along the route as well. Yum!

St. Charles Avenue in the Lower Garden District.

In front of Gallier Hall downtown. I'm the one in the pink wig. ;-)

Canal Street.

Mardi Gras Madness - Part 2 - Stomper's Ball

I'm a child of the 80s so I love dressing up and dancing to 80s tunes at the 610 Stomper's Ball. This year's theme was "Headbanger's Ball" but I had already got pieces for my Madonna wannabe costume before the theme was announced. Even though the ball was the night before the Krewe du Vieux parade I just couldn't miss it. Before the ball, I got together with some of my girlfriends for last minute primping. That really took me back to high school and college days.

Band reunion! LOL

I love the varieties of 80s wear.

I look like the love child of Madonna and Robert Smith.

Our friend M as Paul Stanley.
She was crowned Queen of the costume contest.
The King was a Freddy Mercury look-alike. LOL

The 610 Stomper's performing their new dance.