News and information from the New Orleans area
Archive for February, 2010
Muses & Babylon Move, & Chaos Cancels
115 years
Krewe of Muses shoe collage
Muses moved to Friday night, rolling after Morpheus; Babylon moved to Sunday and will roll before Okeanos; and Chaos has canceled for 2010. Normally on Sunday morning before Fat Tuesday, Okeanos starts at 11 am, then Mid City at 11:45 & Thoth at noon. Muses is scheduled after Morpheus, which is the 3rd parade tomorrow, after Hermes & d’Etat. Muses takes a long time to roll because of their immense length and numerous walking groups, like the Pussyfooters, 610 Stompers and Flying Elvi. Could be a very long night tomorrow. Babylon is usually a brisk parade and may roll completely in the hour allotted.
There is nothing like the all female Krewe of Muses, which rolls last tonight after Babylon and Chaos. Now I love Babylon, and Chaos is very cool, but Muses is a different krewe with their own agenda, and frankly they kick butt! Muses is the only all female krewe parading at night. They are a very large krewe with well over 1,000 members. They have 30 throws with their logo on it, and they have in 10 short years developed a one of kind, collectible throw that challenges the famed Zulu Coconut- the decorated shoe! The above shoe collage, borrowed from the Muses web site , shows just how fancy the decorated shoes can be. Like Zulu coconuts, Muses decorated shoes are all hand made by krewe members & their families, and each is a labor of love.
The Knights of Chaos was built by Royal Artists last year, which gave the floats an old fashioned, jiggly look. Chaos utilized a relatively new kerosene flambeaux that are not part of the original set made for the old krewes. An ingenious and crafty krewe Captain studied the original flambeaux and created very close copies that work similarly but apparently don’t violate any patent.
Chaos also rolls on the old wooden wagon wheel float chassis. Now Chaos isn’t a very old krewe, and previously, only the oldest krewes utilized these chassis, as the wooden wheels are very hard to maintain these days.
The fact that Chaos uses these very old wooden wheels shows they are somehow connected to the old line krewes of Rex, Momus, Proteus, & Comus. It turns out that Chaos purchased the old wooden wheel cotton wagon chassis from the Krewe of Momus. They used them for over 100 years before stopping parading in 1992 as a result of City Councilwoman Dorothy Mae Taylor’s, aka the Grinch Who Stole Mardi Gras, ordinance to stop discrimination luncheon groups & Carnival Krewes.
The Knights of Babylon rolls first tonight. They are an old line krewe founded in 1939. They say they make their floats the same way they did back then. They utilize the old line keresene flambeaux, casting an eerie glow over the proceedings. Babylon’s sponsoring organization is the Jester’s Club. They don’t use the old wagon wheels, even though they are 60 years older than Chaos.
Saints Super Bowl Party “SUPER”
015 years
Super Bowl Champs N.O. Saints Super Parade AP
The consensus is in! The finest parade in recent New Orleans history, according to many eyewitness accounts, was last nights parade for the New Orleans Saints, Super Bowl Champions 2010. Drew Brees stopped in Lucy’s Retired Surfer Bar after the parade & taught his Pre Game Countdown Chant to the crowd, watch it here: Drew Brees at Lucy’s
Here are some quotes about the parade from my Facebook Friends-
Ivan Neville Been 2 many parades, & the Saints parade was mos definitely the best parade ever!! WHO DAT!! There’s no place like Nola!!!
Jared Zeller Time of my life last night…Carney, Payton, Young, Hargrove, Porter, Bush, Thomas, Colston, Morestead, Hartley, Roby, etc. the list goes on and on…
Jerry Who Dat Moran Likewise Jared, off the hook!!!
Bernie Cyrus Parade & new friends were awesome. Dat’s Who!
Katie Walenter The Saints marched in and I was in that number. Best parade ever!!!
Dave Jordan Last night was probably the greatest New Orleans experience I have ever had. Except for, maybe, last Sunday.
Jerry Who Dat Moran So the Lombardi Gras Parade was off the hook last night….caught it at the beginning by the Dome, over on Howard…but the coolest part of the night was when Sean Payton’s jumped off his float on Thcoup and Poydras and somehow I wound up in the street with him running around and Second lining with the Lombardi Trophy…It’s all a blur at this point(as I am sure pics are)…..proceeded to follow his float down convention center blvd to the brigde……started my… long walk home with a smile on my face that still can’t be wiped off…Yesterday was a beautiful day! WHO DAT!!!
Chilly Carnival Season Forecast
015 years
February 2010 Blizzard up North Brrrr!!
The Northeast USA has gotten a lot of snow again, and eventually that cold air finds its way to the deep South. The next week will be frigid in New Orleans, and that means a COLD Mardi Gras. Here’s a link to the National Weather Service Forecast Office Baton Rouge/New Orleans Mardi Gras Climatology Chart. It’s a pretty nifty chart, with a lot of good condensed data about weather trends on Fat Tuesday. This year Fat Tuesday is February 16, 2010. For the big Second Carnival Weekend, February 13 & 14, nights in the 30s and days in the 50s are forecast.
Gigantic New Orleans Saints Parade Today
115 years
Sean Payton holding Lombardi Trophy from Car Sun Roof Patrick Semansky / AP
In the middle of the 2010 Carnival Season, our New Orleans Saints managed to kick butt on the favored Indianapolis Colts, and win the coveted Vince Lombardi Trophy for the first time in their 44 year history. A parade has been planned since the Saints entered the playoffs, win or lose. We WON, so count on a big, oversized, extremely crowded parade. The route is entirely downtown, and slightly shorter than the traditional Carnival parade route down St. Charles Avenue.
It was estimated by police that up to 15,000 Saints fans came out to New Orleans International Airport to greet the team on their return from Miami, where Super Bowl 44 was played. Based on that enthusiasm, you can expect the Saints Parade to draw crowds comparable to Endymion. The route is entirely down town, and slightly shorter than the traditional St. Charles route.
Very cold weather and blustery winds generally cut Mardi Gras crowds up to one half. It’s quite possible tonight’s Saints Parade will have smaller crowds as well.
Floats for the Saints Parade are being donated from the major Mardi Gras Parading Krewes, including Bacchus, Endymion, Alla, & Zulu. According to Blaine Kern Productions, producer for the parade, the Super Bowl Saints Parade will be the greatest, over the top Super Bowl Parade ever. However, the throws won’t be Saints logo throws, as all of those were purchased over the last several months as the Saints became hotter than a pistol. I hear that the Saints players will throw some NFL footballs- apparently, they control a good supply. As for bands, the best local Parade bands- U.S. Marine Marching Band, St. Augustine, Jesuit, McDonough 35, Carver, St. Mary’s Academy, and many more. The Budweiser Clydesdales are making a special appearance as well.
I could not have asked for a better outcome of last weekend. Mardi Gras is in full swing. What happened last weekend? The populace of New Orleans came to their collective senses in the voting booths, and threw away the politics of race and divisiveness. An amazing 67% of voters chose a white candidate, Mitch Landrieu. Why? There are a couple of key reasons. First, he was the best candidate by far. Second, buyers remorse. Landrieu lost closely to Ray Nagin in the last Mayor’s election, and after 4 more years of terrible Nagin, voters realized this weekend that they chose the wrong horse last time and the City suffered badly with a non-caring, do nothing. If Landrieu had been Mayor instead the last 4 years since Katrina, New Orleans would be in a much better place now, instead the recovery is half finished and half baked.
The voters had very stark differences between the Mayoral Candidates. Landrieu is an experienced politician with a Sister who’s a US Senator from Louisiana, and another Sister who is a Judge. His Dad was Mayor in the 70s and desegregated City Hall and Government. All the other candidates were political novices with with either business experience, the law, but no politics to speak of, and no relatives in very high political office.
Saints Super Bowl Parade photo dsb nola@flickr.com
dsb nola @flickr.com