Posts Tagged ‘Mardi Gras’

Always political, always biting, always hysterical, D’Etat is high on the list of favorites.

The parade starts with the guys in skeleton costumes handing out their newspaper, detailing the floats and the meanings behind them- a fantastic idea because between how quickly they go by and jumping around for beads you can miss a lot of detail, and this is one parade where the genius is in the details.

Tons of Mardi Gras pics upcoming- I have been a little crazy with the whole house-full-of-people thing, but I’ve got lots to share, and I’ll push to get them up this afternoon after we get home from riding so at least they’re there on Fat Tuesday.

In the meantime, here’s one of Krewe D’Etat’s- their amazing title float.

We’re off to a slow start here- I still haven’t been to an entire parade this season! I’m pretty sure this is a first, but things have slowed down at the office and company arrives in just a few days, so we’re about to kick into high gear.

In the meantime, Alison and I got back Uptown late from the French Quarter and couldn’t get home.

You’ve heard of the Bermuda Triangle? Well, we live inside the NOLA Rectangle. The parade route makes 3 sides of the rectangle, and the river makes the last- when Krewes are rolling you cannot get a vehicle in or over those boundaries for hours, so you’d better be where you want to be in time.

Here’s what it looks like- we’re the green arrow- and although the map makes it appear that you can get around the edges, it lies.

We didn’t make the cut, so we walked back from the closest point we could reach, and caught the start of Carrollton’s parade. A few pics after the jump.
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We actually have one Krewe that’s gone to the dogs.

The only two groups that can parade through the French Quarter are Krewe du Vieux and Barkus- neither have massive floats, though both have huge followings.

I’d never gone to Barkus, but Alison and I went down yesterday to catch the goings on. Unfortunately we were pressed for time, so we went to the pre-party, checked some of the hundreds of dogs and had to head back home before the actual parade started.

Their theme for the year is “Raiders of the Lost Bark.” They always use some kind of godforsaken (dogforsaken?) pun, and although any doggie costume is welcome, they encourage going with the theme.

Slideshow after the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, here’s the deal, everybody.

I’m happy you’re coming to join us for the festivities. Really, really happy. We’re going to have fun, we’re going to eat too much, drink too much, laugh…well, I guess there’s no such thing as too much of that, but you get the idea.

However.

I am beyond exhausted and I have reached the following conclusion:

I am not going to clean. I am not going to organize. You are going to arrive into chaos. Boas, beads, masks, party supplies. Everywhere. Upon your arrival you may be handed my ATM card and directed toward the grocery store as there are currently only a bunch of Lean Cuisines, some milk and possibly some lowfat mayo in the fridge. *

See, it’s been a really great/awful/busy couple of weeks. Alison’s got a hundred thousand things going on. Charlie’s excited about starting a new book on top of everything else. Business is great- the best season so far- and I’m working on a whole other startup venture. I’ve been spending hours every day on the road with suppliers- and at every stop I pick up more beads and stuffed animals to throw on Mardi Gras Day, so we’re wonderfully well stocked.

But to do all of this I’ve run up a sleep deficit that rivals the national debt.

So. I have to choose between:1) Clean house, exhausted irritable zombie Tess and 2)Squalid house, relaxed, rested Tess

I think you’ll be happy I’ve decided to go with the latter. Just wanted you to be forewarned.

Can’t wait to see you- if you can find me under these piles of stuff, that is.

I generally sort of roll my eyes at beads that feature breasts in their various forms. They’re often rather anime-ish- a sort of cartoon stripper taken unawares by her state.

But these. What to say about these? More than the item itself, I love the box. I give you “The Breast ball with I Love You Sound- Squeezable mimi<sic> ball:”

It’s a stress ball, basically. But the person who needs this added little tip is definately under far too much stress: Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll be honest with you- I have cop issues. Other than my Catholic upbringing, there’s no reason for me to look at that uniform and expect him to randomly drag me off to jail. Maybe it’s some sort of Priest-transference thing, I don’t know.

So maybe I’m the wrong person to ask about these, but- ug. Closeups after the jump.

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First off, he’s clearly gay.

Second, even HE is rolling his eyes and grimacing at the spectacle.

Is it me or does this look a lot like Anne Rice of a few years ago? She’s not exactly jovial- she looks like she might just pick up a whip and go to town on you… which is perfectly appropriate, given who it looks like…

But I vow to do better- I have to, if I’m gonna get them all in before Mardi Gras day.

To do that, I’m going to combine a couple of similar beads- into themes, if you will.

So today’s theme is…uh…amorous pigs. The funny thing is that these are from two different places, though the piggies seem awfully similar. By far my favorite part is the folded down ear of the ‘bottom.’ Read the rest of this entry »