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.

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.

Good grief. 2009 is almost over. I have a lot of catching up to do. But first I have to share this article about New Orleans and the Saints football team. It's not about football but about the team and the citizens and the "soul of the city." Very well written and spot on. No tired clichés. This guy gets New Orleans. Make sure to have a few kleenex handy.

I will admit I never cared about the Saints before Katrina. But that first game at home at the Dome, the energy, electricity and hope in the city was incredible. The Saints were back home. I cried during the Green Day U2 opening performance. I still tear up when I hear "The Saints are Coming" or "Wake me up when September Ends." I've watched every game since that one. I am now a total Saints fan. For the last two years we walk over to our neighborhood bar to watch the games. It's usually packed, especially during away games. We yell, scream, curse and Who Dat?! until we are hoarse. It's a blast. Better than Mardi Gras. And you know what? The Saints team are a class act. Sean Payton is not going throw his head set in a tantrum because of a call he didn't like (though he will murmur "bullsh*t" behind his play card). The players are a team and respect each other. They have a job to do and they do it. I loved one moment during one game the commentators were talking about the team during half time. One guy said "They aren't your father's Saints." Ditka chimed in "They aren't MY Saints." He got that right.

Spinal Tap is Back! "Back From the Dead"

It's the 25th anniversary of the original release of the mockumentary "This is Spinal Tap." I LOVE that movie. And I love that "the band" managed to release albums and tour in spite of not being a real band, not originally.

Their website rocks and they have fully embraced all the new media available. No Facebook page though? I downloaded the Spinal Tap app for my iPhone. You have to be careful where you use it. Every time you launch it, it starts cranking out a song.

The new CD is over the top as well, with a pop-up diorama of the band.

So of course I'm thrilled that Harry Shearer will be the key note speaker for this year's Rising Tide Conference. I missed it last year, but am already registered.

My friend K and I are trying to not take New Orleans’ fantastic music scene quite so for granted. I don’t have the stamina I once did to go out late to see music, especially not on a work night. We took advantage of Tipitina’s Free Fridays a couple of weeks ago and saw a great show with Soul Rebels and DJ Soul Sister. Even though the place was packed, we scored a great spot upstairs. Last night, we ventured to d.b.a. It’s been a while since I’ve hung out on Frenchmen Street. It was hopping last night. I was pretty surprised for such a crowd on a night in July, but what do I know?

Lost Bayou Ramblers were playing. A great young Cajun band out of the Lafayette area (a.k.a. “Cajun Country”). K and I had the pleasure of discovering these guys at the Creole Tomato/Cajun Zydeco/Seafood Festival back in June. It was a blistering hot Saturday afternoon. We walked around for a while, had lunch but it was just too hot, so we parked ourselves in Café Angeli and had some cocktails. Once we had cooled down and had a nice buzz we wandered back to the music stage to catch the end of Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots set. After Sunpie, the Ramblers came on.

About half way through their set, the power went out. This did not deter them in the least. The bassist unplugged himself and jumped off the stage into the crowd. The rest of the guys followed suit with the drummer grabbing his snare from his drum kit.

They moved over to stand on some steps near by and the crowd followed them, clapping keeping time. Sunpie had been dancing in the crowd when this all happened. He rushed off to grab his accordion and joined in. I don't know if the techs got the power back on, but nobody cared. It was one of those magical musical moments.

Festival Double Header

Last Saturday we squeezed two festivals into one day. We needed our Sunday to do the mundane weekend chores.

First was the Greek Fest. Held every year at the first Greek Orthodox Church to be established in America back in 1866. It’s on Bayou St. John near the lake. The day started out gray with rain in the forecast, so we didn’t bother with hats and sunscreen and packed ponchos instead. An hour later it was full on sun. Oops.





We spent a few hours consuming a smorgasbord of Greek delicacies, a bottle of retsina wine (tastes like drinking water from a Christmas tree stand, but in a good way), browsing the market place, chatting with friends and taking in the music and Hellenic dancers. It had been a number of years since we had been (it’s usually beastly hot, which isn’t fun) and it has grown considerably in size; they apparently bought more land, probably after Katrina. Opa!

* * * *

We then went to the other end of Bayou St. John for Bayou Boogaloo, a festival of local music, crafts and food vendors.


Floating in the bayou seemed to be the place to be. Shade was limited and what shade there was, people crammed in under.






The music was great – we were too full to eat anything else – checked out the crafts and bumped into more friends. We only stayed a few hours because it was really getting hot.

I haven't shot my photo for the week's Challenge yet, but I did want to share this video. OK Go playing with Bonerama on David Letterman. I hear you, "But Christy, that was months ago?!" I don't stay up for Letterman any more. So I'm old. Eh.



MUCH better than this version - looks like a high school talent show. I think they forgot to tune up.

Every JazzFest experience is completely different based on weather, crowds, bands and who you are with. Yesterday, G and I took with us G’s brother, his g-friend (her first!) and the Mad Irishman. It was a gorgeous, sunny day with clear skies, low humidity, a nice breeze and one hundred billion other people. I’m glad we went early to enjoy the fairgrounds before it became a sea of people. I can’t remember seeing it that crowded in years. The right side of my body is more sunburned that the left since we spent so much time at the Acura stage. And for the first time ever, we didn’t spend any time in the jazz or blue tent. G and I usually cram in as many bands as possible. We’ll stick around if some one really tickles our fancy and if there isn’t someone else we MUST see at the same time (which happens a lot). We were really miffed they scheduled Dumpstafunk at the same time as Galactic – a funk sandwich! – but we made time for both. We were walking, standing or dancing 95% of the time. (we didn’t bring any chairs - doh!) Today I feel like I do after a long hike. I wish I had worn a pedometer so I could tell how many miles we walked. And we only were able to eat once, good choices though: hot sausage po-boy, cochon de lait, softshell crawfish po-boy and Cajun duck po-boy. I hope I don’t sound like I’m whining; I had a fantastic time but dang I’m exhausted! Having fun really takes it out of you as you age. I don’t know how people who go every day do it. I guess they pace themselves better. I think I’ll slip out of work early. I need to rest up for Wednesday at the Square. “Too stupid to stop!”

Inspired by the fact I was going to go spend a few days in a "dry" state, I was inspired to put together a play list that I call "Songs about Drinking." Here's what I had available on my computer or popped in my head and quickly downloaded from itunes. I need a few more songs to round out a CD. Anyone?

Drinking Wine, Spo Dee O Dee - Andy Kirk & His Clouds of Joy
Dry County - The B-52's
All I Wanna Do - Sheryl Crow
The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) - Tom Waits
TV Party - Black Flag
All on a Mardi Gras Day - Kermit Ruffins with the Rebirth Brass Band
If The Sea Was Whiskey - Willie Dixon
Debutant Ball - Mike West
Is That All There Is - Peggy Lee
Mint Juleps And Needles - Brenda Kahn