News and information from the New Orleans area
Mardi Gras
Nelson Rizzuto Sentenced to 4 years for Endymion Crash That Hurt 32!
07 years
With a blood alcohol of .232, Mr. Rizzuto was very drunk. He got in his truck in his inebriated state and swung onto N.Carrollton Avenue near Orleans Avenue and mowed down the Endymion parade crowd. At his sentencing, Rizzuto said, I am extremely sorry to all the injured parties or their families. It was never my intention to cause harm to anyone. The events of Feb. 25 have haunted me and will haunt me forever. If I could change the events of that day, I would. Again, I am truly sorry.
Endymion Welcome Float
Willard gave Rizzuto a five-year sentence for each of 11 felony counts of first-degree vehicular negligent injuring, and five months for each of 14 misdemeanor counts of vehicular negligent injuring. All the sentences will be served at the same time.
Depending on how state corrections officials interpret the complicated rules for determining “good time” within the prison system, Rizzuto could be a free man within months. A state spokesman said it was too soon to estimate a release date.
Several crash victims and District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro expressed disappointment at Rizzuto’s punishment, which came at the end of one of the most high-profile criminal proceedings of the past year.
I’m not happy with the sentence, said Mario Basantes, a tourist from New York City who was injured along with his wife. I’m not comfortable with it, because he’s only going to do six months, a year, and he’ll be out back out on the street. I’m still not healed. I probably will never be healed.
Basantes, whose pelvis was crushed on both sides in the crash, supported himself with a cane outside of court.
Endymion Super Floats
Rizzuto wore orange jail clothes and glasses as he turned to a group of victims gathered in Willard’s courtroom and delivered a short apology from notes on a yellow legal pad.
I would like to apologize to the victims, Rizzuto said, before reading off the long list of those hurt in the incident.
Endymion is one of three Super Krewes, and with more than 3,000 riders it is by far the largest parade with allegedly the largest crowds in Mardi Gras! Endymion features 37 floats. Many are tandem units with up to nine sections, meaning Endymion rolls on over 80 chassis! The motto of the Krewe is “Throw ’til it Hurts” and we estimate that we toss over 15 million throws along the parade route.
Endymion begins on Orleans Avenue with Samedi Gras which may well be the world’s largest block party. More than 30,000 Mid-City residents gather with food, beverages, friends and family to welcome the parade and help kick off the largest parade in Orleans Parish.
Endymion rolls on the Mid City route and features several signature floats. Their newest float, Club Endymion is a tribute to their home – the Mercedes Benz Superdome. The ETV float beams live crowd shots on a gigantic 20’ x 9’ LED screen. And Pontchartrain Beach, Then and Now is the largest float in Mardi Gras at over 300 feet long with over 250 riders and nine sections
Endymion is the only parade that rides to and through the Mercedes Benz Superdome where the Endymion Extravaganza is held. After the gigantic floats, Endymion continues the tradition of providing the finest entertainment in Mardi Gras. Past performers include Steven Tyler, Pitbull, Luke Bryan, Carrie Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Maroon 5 and many, many others! Eleven regional and national bands entertain 20,000+ guests until 3:30 am.
Issac ‘Mr Ike’ Edward Jr, Oldest Known Mardi Gras Indian Chief, dies at 94!
07 years
Isaac ‘Mr Ike’ Edwards Jr, died Wednesday at Heritage Manor nursing home in Houma, where he lived since Hurricane Katrina destroyed his New Orleans home. Edwards was the last link to an earlier time in Mardi Gras Indian history. Back then, Indians had to save every penny and nickel to assemble their suits, dying discarded turkey feathers and salvaging beads off old ball gowns.
After earning early awards from New Orleans own Mardi Gras Indian Hall of Fame, Edward continued to earn praise for his artwork. A few years ago, Edward and Herreast Harrison, Cherice Harrison-Nelson’s mother (a close friend of Edward), received a commission from the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee to create a butterfly apron that became part of the Museum’s permanent collection.
Big Chief Edward in 1952
Edward was lucid right until he passed, and one point he made regularly was the Indian culture he grew up with was not violent. This flies in the face of conventional Mardi Gras Indian history, according the late Larry Bannock, Big Chief of the Golden Star Hunters, I’m gonna mask that morning if it costs me my life. That morning you pray and ask God to watch over you, cause everybody is bucking for number one.
After joining the Army Air Corps and the 92nd Infantry Division during the WWII, Edward started working as a longshoreman, which he kept for 38 years. He retired from costuming in 1952. However, after befriending Harrison-Nelson, the daughter of his long time friend Big Chief Donald Harrison Sr, he started sewing once more After being invited by Roselyn Smith, the principal of Oretha Castle Haley Elementary School and Harrison-Nelson, Edward started teaching the Indian traditions to a younger generation and helping to make butterfly patches and suits for the Young Guardian of the Flame.
Working with students rejuvenated Edward. I want to be remembered as a great man who loved children, he said. Up until a month before his demise, Edwards continued to sew, still able to thread a needle without the aid of glasses in spite of his advanced age.
Last month during his hospitalization, he instructed many of New Orleans big chiefs about his funeral. Edward asked Roselyn Smith to make chocolate cake for funeral attendees. He created his own list of speakers for his funeral. He asked that the tune Indian Red be sung during his service and again when the procession was on the street. He wanted lots of Indians and a lot of dancing.
Krewe du Vieux 2017 Rolls in French Quarter, Marigny and CBD!!
08 years
Rolled in Krewe du Vieux’s Krewe of Underwear last Saturday through the French Quarter, Marigny, and CBD. Ate excellent tacos with my Kazoozie Floozie girlfriend, Sue Repasky. Had more fun last night than is humanly possible. Participating in a Mardi Gras parade is the most fun you will have all year. And the fun goes on all day. All KdV floats are designed and completely built by krewe members. It’s a pain in the ass but a labor of love. Seeing your disgusting, ribald designs come to 3D, animated life is very gratifying. The public loves our floats for targeting society’s worst nightmares. This year, it was all Donald J. Trump. He’s an amazingly easy target. There were lots of drawings of Trump, his name was mentioned throughout the parade, and there was quite a few paper mache trumps. He was depicted giving and getting golden showers and getting assaulted in various ways numerous times.
KdV 2017
Clock Work Orange Meets Donald Trump
The Krewe du Vieux’s seventeen sub-krewes will each present their own interpretations of the theme. Sub-krewes include the Krewe of C.R.U.D.E., Krewe of Space Age Love, Krewe of Underwear, Seeds of Decline, Krewe of Mama Roux, Krewe of L.E.W.D., Krewe of Drips and Dis- charges, Krewe of K.A.O.S., Knights of Mondu, T.O.K.I.N., Krewe Rue Bourbon, Krewe de C.R.A.P.S., Mystic Krewe of Spermes, Mystic Krewe of Comatose, Mystic Krewe of Inane, Krewe du Mishigas, and Krewe of sPANk.
This year the King in absentia was well known artist Bunny Mathews, who is suffering from cancer and couldn’t march with the krewe. One of his most famous creations is the Vic and Nat’ly cartoon. I hope your health improves soon, Bunny!
Vic and Nat’ly Enjoy Leidenheimers Po-Boy!
Rolling with a parade is truly the most fun I have all year, and I like to have fun. Handing out throws, dancing to the funky brass band marching with us, shaking a lot of hands and screaming, Happy Mardi Gras is a blast every New Orleanian should experience.
Mardi Gras 2017 and Donald Trump!!
08 years
President Trump was made for Mardi Gras. He’s a caricature of a man in many respects. He’s the biggest cry baby to ever occupy the White House. Like a five year old he cannot control his temper, therefore he loses his temper a lot. He’s mad at a lot of powerful and not so powerful people. And his skin is orange!
There is no doubt in my mind that Carnival 2017 will be chock full of satirical stabs at our President. His intolerance, inconsistent policy pronunciations, use of Twitter to discuss/set policy, his crazy shock of blond hair, these are targets made for Mardi Gras parodies.
The first real parade of the season, the ribald and risque Krewe du Vieux rolls this Saturday in the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny, and downtown. Among the Trump floats are our President as Jabba the Hutt; a tentacled, fondling Trump creature; and a homage to an unholy alliance between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Bottles of Trumpoff vodka will be handed out along with I Voted stickers starring Putin mimicking the George Rodrigue’s Blue Dog voting stickers that voters in Louisiana received after voting.
I cannot wait to see how the other satirical krewes like Muses, Tucks, NYX, etc. will mess with our president. This should be a very fun Mardi Gras season.
Here is the Donald at Carnival 2016!
The Donald at Carnival 2016!
Protester Tom Moran wears a paper mache head of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as he demonstrated outside Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York
Donald Trump being razzed by Lady Liberty in a German Parade
CARNIVAL 2016 WRAP UP!!
09 years
Mardi Gras 2016 was fantastic, it was exciting, it was downright thrilling at times. Of course, I’m a Mardi Gras freak. It was a very short season, ending on February 9. Next year, Fat Tuesday is more than 2 1/2 weeks later.
I want to thank my sweet girlfriend Sue and my good friend Billy, both Mardi Gras freaks without whom the entire season wouldn’t have been nearly as much fun. Billy lives a block from St. Charles Avenue so his house was parade central and I went to virtually all my parades with Sue.
The season began for me with my own Krewe du Vieux, which rolled January 23. It was a terrific parade and the ball was fantastic, with none other than Texas guitar legend and ZZ Top front man Billy Gibbons on guitar and vocals along with Walter Wolfman Washington and George Porter, Jr. The ball was held in the Civic and it’s a pretty nice party forum compared to some of the more sorry auditoriums KdV has used in their recent past.
ZZ Top Guitarist and Lead Vocalist Billy Gibbons Burned Down the Civic!
New Thoth Throw – The Thoth Fedora!
I caught a couple of newish throws, the Thoth Fedora and the NYX Earbuds.
NYX Earbuds
When Fat Tuesday was only a couple of hours past sunrise, I was on Jackson Avenue below Dryades for Zulu. I was wearing my purple, green and gold silk scarf, my purple reversible satin cape from amazingcapes.com, my gold half mask, and my newly acquired Mardi Gras furry leggings. I bought the leggings Fat Tuesday morning on the Zulu parade route from a shopping cart vendor.
Bands play a big role in parades, the best bands generally are from local high school and surrounding colleges. Out of town bands perform in many parades toward the end of each season, as local high schools are limited to seven parades per season. Bands have been part of Mardi Gras processions and parades since the very beginning. Bands cost the krewes a lot more money post Katrina. Before the storm, parade band fees ran $1,000-$1,500 per parade. After Katrina, the bands ask for and get $3,500 or more. Bands are in demand for more than one reason. They add the beat and the funk, essential elements of parades. The New Orleans City Council has mandated that all Orleans parish parades have 7 bands. My own Krewe du Vieux has around 20 brass bands participate in the parade.
Year after year, the best high school band is the St. Augustine Marching 100, and the best college band is the Southern University Jaguar Band. Other notable bands in 2016 include the Landry Walker High School Band and the Texas Southern Ocean of Soul.
Some of the best looking floats all year were in the Proteus parade. Royal Artists create this parade, and it’s the best work they do by far.
Proteus Blue Halo Float
I ended up in the French Quarter at Molly’s at the Market on Decatur around noon Fat Tuesday, to meet the Perv Patrol, my girlfriend’s Sue’s themed costume group. It was the first time in decades I missed REX which was my choice after deciding to see all of ZULU for the first time in as long. ZULU had a long break near the beginning that was over 30 minutes long and set the parade back big time. We ran into the Krewe of Cosmic Debris which had come down Decatur Street just as I arrived. Molly’s is one of their stops so I had a really hard time getting a drink when the krewe invaded the bar. I went down the street to an adjacent bar and bought a double and returned to Molly’s.
Molly’s Costumers
Mardi Gras Revelers
Molly’s Revelers 2
Molly’s Revelers 3
Krewe of Cosmic Debris
Molly’s Revelers 4
Marine Band during ZULU