Twenty-Five Years Wasted...

Not me! I promise!

That was the theme of this year's Krewe du Vieux, for its 25th anniversary. It was a crazy time, lots of dancing and drinking and throws and friends. It was fun marching through the streets, right next to the crowds instead on up on a float, away from everything.

Here's our float all finished, but without the lights on. The little musicians are paper lanterns with sparkly tails: voilà, the Spermé Brass Band! (As opposed to the Treme Brass Band, who arrived late and drunk to play at my friends' wedding. C'est la vie!) I'll try to find another pic of it at night to post. I burned the crap out of myself putting the feathers on that Mardi Gras Indian!

Here's the first float with the KdV logo, and since you can see the next float in the background, I thought I show that one in all it's oily glory. As you can see, the floats are always pretty topical.

 The best parts of the floats are often the little details you don't see at first, like the signs on this one:

 And to finish things off, here's a picture someone took of my husband and me in the parade at mardigrasparadeschedule.com. Pics of the entire parade are here.

I'm the blue thing in the middle ground. ;) My outfit is made mostly of a blue tarp, which was a pretty common costume for the Halloween and Mardi Gras after Katrina, which is when the first season of Treme is set. It's Tremeja-vu all over again! My husband is supposed to be a sperm, but you can't see the big annoying tail he's got in this picture. You also can't tell from this picture, but I was dancing, and second lining like a maniac for most of the parade. This is near the end, since I'm almost out of beads, and my husband is covered in beer. Good times! I can't wait until next year!

Of course, next year, I'm going to take the next Monday off, because I needed an extra day to recuperate before going back to work. I wasn't the least bit sick, just sore from too much dancing. Seriously, I had a limp!

Don't forget about my contest, to win a little Mardi Gras Madness of your own! Hope you feel like funking it up!

Krewe du Vieux! Wahoo!

It's that time again! Carnival time!

What, you don't have carnival in your town? You mean you don't stuff yourselves with king cake and crawfish and cochon de lait and Abita Amber and Old New Orleans Rum and listen to brass bands, and second lines, and Dr. John, and Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, and Kermit Ruffins and Allen Toussaint?

Oh. You really don't do any of that? Sorry.

I guess that's why Louisiana ranked as the happiest state in the union in a study by Hamilton College and Warwick U in the UK. Sure the information from their study was actually collected pre-K, but I have a hard time believing that the rest of the country is doing much better what with this recession we got goin' on. And what with dem Saints marchin' into de Superbowl, I doubt anyone is happier than Louisianians right now.

Krewe du Vieux is tonight, marshalled by none other than Mac Rebbenack, the Night Tripper, himself. That's Dr. John to all y'all. This krewe gets their name from the traditional name of the French Quarter, the Vieux Carré, the old square. They are a walking krewe, hence they are allowed to parade in the Quarter. Some small mule-drawn carts are allowed, mules that are pretty used to the crowds and noise of the quarter from pulling buggies, but sometimes they balk a little. I think that's just another part of the allure.

This parade is all about satire and poking fun at our politicians, big news stories, and ourselves. With sub-krewes named "Drips and Discharges", "C.R.U.D.E.", "L.E.W.D.", "Seeds of Decline", and "Underwear", what were you expecting? ;)

While Phunny Phorty Phellows traditionally started carnival with their streetcar parade on Twelfth Night--what, you don't celebrate 12th Night, either? Your loss-- Krewe du Vieux has become the contemporary parade that kicks off the mayhem that will continue until February 16th. Fat Tuesday. I work in the quarter, so we're closed Monday and Tuesday for obvious reasons. So if I'm not blogging, you'll know I'm probably drunk or sleeping. I love this time of year. :) I'll most likely be all carnival-ed out by the time Fat Tuesday rolls around, probably sleeping in and then going to see The Wolfman, since I know not too many other people will have the same plans.

So that's what's going on here in the happiest state in the union. And ya know, I'm feeling pretty happy. Until I remember that there will be not one, but THREE (3!!) 18 year old boys staying in my shotgun apartment for their very first Mardi Gras. That's just old enough to get arrested, in case you hadn't made that connection. ;)

I just keep reminding myself that they probably won't be around very much. And the three of them should keep each other busy so I don't have to do any entertaining. I just hope the three of them don't get each other into trouble.

Pray for me, won't you?

On a parting note, I saw this t-shirt on Bourbon today:


Yes, it says "What Would Breesus Do?" Obviously a vast improvement over the last big sellers:
"I Got Bourbon-faced on Shit Street", and "I Drove my Chevy to the Levee but the Levee was Gone." Who buys this crap? (okay, secretly, I want an "Even Jesus Loves the Saints" tee. But don't tell anyone.)

Peace out, and enjoy... whatever it is the reast of the country does while we're throwing a party for ourselves! Wish you could all be here!