It's 130 days after Mardi Gras, let's celebrate with a parade!

I love talking to friends and family in Ohio about all the stuff that goes on down here in New Orleans.  Last weekend was Midsummer Mardi Gras.  They ask what Midsummer Mardi Gras is and I tell them that it's the "six months after Mardi Gras" parade starting on Oak Street.  I never really thought about it like that before, but you gotta respect the city that marks time between festivals and holidays by having more festivals.

Guys - Put on something fabulous and grab your boyfriends because Southern Decadence Festival is next.

-10 points for our lack of costume planning.  +10 points to the photo bomber in the background.

Demonstrating for us Mardi Gras sinners

I saw no less than four separate groups of religious demonstrators out and about on Lundi Gras.  

We had the guys below, which was the same group that visited this great city during Southern Decadence festival.  They were walking around Canal St. while the Krewe of Orpheus rolled by.  Even with the megaphone and giant signs, count how many people in this picture are paying any attention to them.  Zero (other than me).  That's generally what annoys them most; being ignored.  

Here's another demonstrator from a different group.  That's the usual sign, pretty much saying "we're all screwed."

In the distance of this one you see an "end is nigh" group.  I enjoy the people that are bold enough to pick a date for the end of the world, especially if it's something soon.  I've got some friends getting married on May 21st.  Sorry guys, I can't go.  I'll be witnessing the apocalypse that day.  

Side note about this picture, the two people in the foreground were part of a group of blind people making their way through the quarter.  I can barely make it through the Quarter on my own.  What kind of badasses are these guys that they can do it without seeing?

The most disturbing group to me was the giant congregation of people set up outside of Jackson Square, singing along to light Christian rock music.  Maybe I'm missing something.  I'm sure they'd tell you that they were being touched by the divine or something, but to me it just looks like emotionally unstable people flailing and crying because they're stuck listening to such crappy music.  

Regardless of their message, all of these groups were probably still paying Mardi Gras rates for hotel rooms and food while down here, so come back any time!

Lundi Gras

We spent another 10 or 11 hours out for Lundi Gras, plenty of time to take more pictures that I haven't had a chance to go through.  The parades are interesting to some degree, but for me, the night was made during our trip up Frenchmen, where dueling brass bands were competing for their share of the crowd.  That is, until the police showed up and shut the impromptu performance down.  We closed out the night seeing the Panorama Jazz Band play a set that had the second floor of Mimi's shaking under the feet of costumed dancers.

Now - up early for what is sure to be a long and exhilarating Fat Tuesday.

Krewe du Vieux: Mardi Gras Begins!

Last weekend I made it out to the Krewe du Vieux parade.  One thing I've come to learn as I've seen more and more Mardi Gras parades is that the experiences from parade to parade can be wildly different depending on both the parade itself and where you are when you see it.  Krewe du Vieux is a walking parade with small horse drawn floats and is known as one of the more 'adult' parades.  We elected to watch it in the Marigny, an area where Mardi Gras costume making is a year long activity.  The combination of the parade and location made for a very different experience than at the bigger motorized parades.

At what age do kids learn what sperm are?

This is very bad spectator etiquette.  There's no reason to dig through horse poo and broken glass to get beads. 

Some friends were kind enough to let a group of people stay at their house the night of the parade; a kindness we repaid by drawing on everything they owned with sidewalk chalk.  

Fence Silhouette Theater

One of the benefits of not having grass.  

(...) Mardi Gras

If I wrote that there was a New Orleans event with music and parades; with beads being bartered for sights of skin; with crowded streets, costumed people and a general abandonment of good taste; you'd probably think "Mardi Gras."  And until you saw the pictures or I added some commentary on the demographic profile of the revelers, your thought would be correct.

Southern Decadence is often called the Gay Mardi Gras.  The comparison is fairly accurate, at least if you're talking about the Mardi Gras activities that take place on Bourbon St.  There's the same bold, alcohol induced lasciviousness in both events.  The main difference being the much higher ratio of men to women during Decadence, and maybe the notable difference in the number of genuine compliments on women's outfits coming from men.

This is not a story about gay people.  It is not a story about guys in dresses.  It's simply a story about people being free to do what they want, about people being free to do what makes them happy.  On this island in a sea of southern conservatism, these people got their party.

Maybe someday I'll write about my first encounter with Southern Decadence.  Friends came into town and a hurricane was only a day away...

Related article:
My earlier commentary on the people trying to bring negativity to this day.