Happy Mardi Gras!

Thoth rider hands out a toy

Looks like it's going to be a beautiful Mardi Gras Day, as Zulu is set to roll at 8 AM from Central City area.  It's actually a holiday here, so there's not much to do other than watch parades, strut your stuff in a fun costume (called "masking"), and just have yourself some fun.  It's one big street party that New Orleanians throw for each other.  One can hardly make that point better than this blog post capturing a Mardi Gras moment from Sunday's Thoth parade:

"The crowd was heavy but happy and throws plentiful along Henry Clay Avenue as the Thoth Parade rolled by.

As Float 22 drew near, the parade stopped. And stopped. And stopped. It was one of those seemingly interminable moments when nothing is moving and you don't know why, but you hope it's a king's toast downtown or a flat tire up ahead and not anything to do with gunfire.

The skies were brightening, a horde of paradegoers started tossing rubber footballs back and forth with the upper tier of riders, and kids ran circles in the streets.

Then, quietly, without fanfare, rider No. 4 in the sidewalk-side well of Float 22 dropped his armful of beads, reached down, and picked up a trumpet. The clear, bouyant notes of "The Saints Go Marching In" floated across the crowd.

The guy was good. Paradegoers were entranced. He continued to play, off and on, a series of trumpet solos, just an anonymous man in a mask who had brought along his horn and, on a whim, stopped to play."

Parading the Hard Way

Krewe of Thoth Parade

Yesterday was one long day of parades, especially for NOPD!  Several of the parades that were rained out on Saturday were squeezed into Sunday's schedule (NOMTOC, Iris) Uptown.  Since riders, floats, bands and other parade units are recycled for different parades, some of yesterday's parades were somewhat abbreviated.  The Krewe of Tucks, whose parade was postponed until 3 PM today in front of Proteus, was scrambling for walking units to fill out their parade and contacted the Rolling Elvi.  A pared down contingent of Elvi and Priscillas are going to come to the rescue and help them out.  Participating Priscillas will be walking it the whole way - no cushy ride in an overstuffed stake-bed truck or bus.  Tucks will have the distinction of being the only parade, other than Muses, to ever feature the Rolling Elvi! 

"Throw me something' mister" for recycling beads!

The Things You Miss

The extended Uptown parade route is really convenient - just a block from Tom's house.  It's nice to be able to walk over and check out the floats as they line up, but it also means we miss most of the parade action.  When we lined up on Napoleon Avenue to wait for our parade slot, we got to see both Babylon and Chaos go by first.  The Muses floats queued down Tchoupitoulas, and the bands and sub-krewes would fall into their slots behind the floats as they made their way up Napoleon.  We could at least enjoy the part of the parade that would be in front of us.  Now we aren't anywhere near Babylon and Chaos and see almost none of Muses since we're lined up behind the parade start now.  Boo DAT!


Here's an example of the cool stuff we missed, an articulated swan (?) puppet with singing rider and band.  I saw the krewe getting the puppet and rider set up but had no idea how elaborate their little show was going to be.  Muses is always full of pretty and unusual surprises:

Good Vibrations

It was a fun ride Thursday night, but we were all pooped out yesterday.  Muses parade was delayed by about an hour due to a shooting on St. Charles during the Chaos parade.  (The shooter was quickly apprehended and will likely miss Mardi Gras for several years.)  Even with the long delay, Tom made the route on a single battery with LED lights still flashing...for the most part.  Our feet are sore, and Elvi Tom has a bad case of "scooter seat!"  (He's planning on getting a gel seat for next year.)


Despite a rush job by a pretty inept makeup artist (me), Lauren looked absolutely fabulous!  I ditched the false eyelashes on my own face because...well, that's where they were ending up instead of attached to my real eyelashes.


The bus was very tight quarters for 24 throwing Priscillas, so Lauren mostly threw while I mostly loaded beads on hooks.  This also afforded me the opportunity to take a little video from the parade looking out which turned out as bumpy as a bus ride but still fun to watch.


Highlights:

• Little girl (4 or 5 years old?) and her daddy beaming when she received a shoe.  She ran back to the rest of here family to show the rest of her family.
• Dad coming back with a beer for Lauren to personally thank her for making his little girl's (and his) night.
• Dad coming back again with lucky little girl on his shoulders because she wanted to thank Lauren personally.  So sweet!!!
• Watching several grown women jump and scream like they'd just won the dang lottery when they landed a shoe.
• Lauren turning on "all shook up" personal massagers before handing them out and watching the ladies faced.  One woman gave her a single-serving bottle of wine in return.
• The guy mooning us from the sidewalk just before Lee Circle.  No, wait. That was a low-light.  That's still a crack-free zone, dude!  He's lucky he didn't get arrested by NOPD!

My Favorite Scene from Nyx

I feel the need to highlight this photo of an elderly woman in a wheelchair who was enjoying the Krewe of Nyx parade last night.  Unfortunately, she was across Jefferson Ave. from us, so it was very difficult to get photographs that truly told the story.  Her husband (and a few other family members) were helping catch beads and other throws for her.  He would walk back to the sidewalk and lovingly drape the beads around her neck or decorate her hat with them.  They were both smiling and laughing.  It was such a touching display of love and devotion that we got a little choked up just watching.  May we all be made to feel so special even when we are old.

"Takin' Care of Business"

2012 Rolling Elvi signature throws

We're getting' ready to roll!  Our parade position is just after Muses float #14, smack dab in the middle of the parade.  Woohoo!


In addition to our fabulous blue suede glitter shoes, here are some of our fab signature throws for 2012 (clockwise from upper left): flexible flyer, drink koozie, blue suede shoe plush toy, cup, scarf, ping-pong ball, belt buckle medallion necklace, blinkie engagement ring, personal massagers ("All Shook Up!), mirror compacts, fuzzy dice, and pink Cadillac medallion beads. 

Watching Druids and Nyx

Umbrellas cast shadows on Druids' last float

Due to flight delays, we barely made it to Tom's house before last night's parades were scheduled to start.  Had just a few minutes to look at the floats, lined up and ready to go, before the skies opened up.  About halfway through Druids, it dried out enough to entice us back outside to catch the inaugural ride of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx.  While not as flashy and sassy as Muses, Nyx didn't disappoint.  Their float style was a bit more traditional - nice to see Nyx try to find their own identity and not emulate Muses too closely.

Lauren and I both caught glitter purses!  Actually, Lauren caught all sorts of stuff!  Good thing my purse came in a large plastic bag, so Lauren had somewhere to dump all her loot and keep it dry.The cleanup up crew was impressive!   Wish I had gotten a video, but it was raining too hard.  They came right behind the last float with riding sweepers followed by a line of street scrubbers.  It was like the last dance group of the parade!

Bead Dogs on Parade

These are pretty cool Mardi Gras sculptures!  Giant bead dogs!  The whimsical sculptures that are sprinkled around New Orleans are modeled after bead sculptures that children fashion from Mardi Gras beads.  The bead dogs will be auctioned off after Mardi Gras, proceeds benefitting LASPCA.


This gives me another idea for next year's blue suede glitter shoes.  It would be a great way to employ some used beads.  "Hound dog" blue suede glitter shoes?  I think so.


Back to packing...

Tomorrow's Forecast: Raining Cats and Dogs or Purses?

Weather check:  it's looking a LOT better for Thursday night parades.  The thunderstorms are supposed to dry up for us, but it's not looking so good for tomorrow night when the Krewe of Ancient Druids rolls and New Orleans newest krewe, the Mystic Krewe of Nyx follows with their inaugural ride.  It's another all-women's krewe, rumored to be populated by non-riding Muses who were tired of being on the 1000+ wait list to actually participate in a parade.  


It will be interesting to see how they try to hang with flashy, sassy Muses, but it looks like they are stealing a page from Muses' book of branding (stolen from Zulu!) by hand-decorating purses to hand out during the parade.  That's right!  Glitter purses.  While I can appreciate the practicality and imagine how pleased some little girls will be, I don't see men being quite so hot on catching a purse.  There's something about a bedazzled FMP that makes it perfectly acceptable for a man to have one.  


Here's hoping Nyx has a great debut ride and develops a brand as distinct and fun as Muses.  Weather permitting, we'll be there!  Throw us something sister!

It Seemed Like a Good Idea...

Well this little tutorial on a 1960's Priscilla Presley look made it sound easy enough, so we ran to the store and picked up the necessary makeup supplies...sort of.  Back to the store to get fake eyelash adhesive which is apparently sold separately.  Hate that!  If it needs batteries, put some in the box.  Needs glue?  Put it in the package.  Back to the store for a magnifying mirror because how the hell are you supposed to apply this stuff if you need glasses to see anything close up?  And the fake eyelashes are going to look more like a couple of black, fuzzy caterpillars stuck to my face! The good news is we don't have to worry about the hair, just some pretty, little dangly trinket for hair decor.  Desperately pawing through huge bags of old beads, looking for something blinky to stick in our beehives...

Krewes of a Different Sort

Napoleon Ave. Complex (big babies!)

The Mystic Krewe of Barkus, the "hottest canine krewe on Earth," trots through the Quarter this afternoon.  Any proud pet owner can enter their costumed pal in the parade by registering them for the parade package (includes 1 dog and 1 human escort).  Proceeds benefit a variety of shelters for homeless animals, so it's fun with good cause!  This one is on my bucket list!


Another unusual krewe, a miniature one, paraded through the St. Claude Arts District in the Bywater neighborhood yesterday.  'Tit Rex, (short for "Petit Rex") is New Orleans' only micro-krewe.  The floats may be small, but they are still big on satire as is the parade theme this year, "Napolean (Ave.) Complex."  It seems that the Krewe of Rex got its collective knickers in a knot over the micro-krewe's name, crying copyright infringement.  Rather than waste its time on something so frivolous and petty, 'tit Rex changed the official name to use an inverted "e" instead.  Check out some of the cute floats poking fun at this spat in nola.com's gallery!

Mardi Gras Throw Inflation

Be afraid!

We're watching what we aren't catching on the nola.com parade cam at Fat Harry's on St. Charles.  Krewe of Ponchartrain is rolling right now, Sparta tonight.

Looks like krewes are upping the ante with signature throws of the non-bead variety.  It's throw inflation!  Some of these look almost useful while others look downright scary and annoying, like the Muse-uzela that Clyde scored last year.  I want some of dem light-up gloves from Muses!


The Rolling Elvi, not to be outdone, have some some sassy, new throws.  Preview on Wednesday.

Elvi "Steppin' Out"

Not as seen on TV: Naked Elvis?

Some of the Rolling Elvi appeared on WYES' "Steppin' Out" today.  In addition to giving a little sneak peek at some of this year's signature throws (an Elvis belt buckle medallion necklace!), they put on a bit of a fashion show.  10 different Elvi showed off their Elvis-inspired outfits starting with the "Louisiana Hayride" costume through to a modern-day interpretation of what Elvis would be wearing (WWEW?) today.  Each outfit was presented along with impressive historical tidbits.  You can watch them in their Kingly glory and get a preview of the Krewe of Rex's theme and floats for this year here: Elvi on Steppin' Out.

A week from right now, we'll be turning onto St. Charles.  Can't believe it's just around the corner.  Time to start watching the weather forecast. Mild with scattered showers is the forecast now, so odds are THAT won't happen...

Got an update on our conveyance from our fearless leader, Whitney.  We are going uptown this year and changing up the vehicle.  No more pre-parade panic over missing stake-bed truck slats or just plain missing trucks!  No more Priscillas packed in like a bunch of sardines!  And we've even hired a caricature artist to paint the reusable banner.  I don't know the theme, yet, but I'm sure it will be fab!

Lauren and I will be on the sidewalk side, but we probably won't know our position in the parade until Wednesday, and it will probably change at least once between then and lineup on Thursday.  More details on the position of the hot ticket, "The Krewe of the Rolling Elvi plus the Priscillas, the Memphis Mafia, and the Jailhouse Rockers" when we have them.

Honey, Lay Off My Blue Suede Shoes!

The big box of blue suede glitter shoes is nearly to Parade Prep/Primp Central where our cases of beads and signature throws are waiting.  Hope UPS doesn't do a number on that box! I've had boxes show here that looked like the driver dragged them behind the truck the whole, damned way...then backed over them for good measure!  "You can do anything, but lay off my blue suede shoes!"  Sing it, Elvis!:

How to Catch You a Shoe

Decorating coconuts

Here's a great instructional article on how to land yourself the most sought after Mardi Gras throws, hand-made Zulu coconuts or Muses shoes.  Having read this, I can see where I made several strategic errors last year and came away from the Zulu parade empty-handed (except for some cool beads).  I certainly got up close enough but left the costume behind due to the stormy forecast.  I wasn't willing to sacrifice my blonde beehive wig in pursuit of a coconut.

I can attest to the success of making eye contact with the float riders as well as bringing in a cute, little kid as a ringer.  People can get really crazy and greedy, even resorting to grabbing over the top of small children for whom the throw is intended.  Last year, in an attempt to ward off such behavior, we started holding up the shoe, picking a deserving someone out of the crowd and pointing to them to let others know to back off.  Big advantage goes to the little girl riding on her daddy's shoulders, so she can reach.  There's nothing quite as satisfying as seeing her look of surprised awe, as if you just handed her a magic shoe, and getting a thumbs up from the beaming father.  (Second to that would be handing a shoe to your coworker after they ran alongside the truck, screaming your name, for the better part of a block.)


Check out this video of the making of some Muses shoes with a New Orleans Saints theme.  There is also a sneak peek at some of this year's Muses signature throws.  Study up on your  throw-catching strategy and get you some!

 

Mardi Gras Treasure Trip

Boxed up shoes. Looks like a treasure chest!

Our Blue Suede Glitter Shoes are carefully wrapped and packed in a box, ready to start their trek to New Orleans today.  No way were we hauling these in big bead bags through security and onto the plane like we did last year!  Think I used enough bubble wrap? 

Bye, shoes!  Hope you have a safe trip!

Some Muses Shoeses

OMG!  Look at these gorgeois 2012 glitter shoes in this Muses Flickr album!  There are so many I haven't had a chance to look at them all, but they are wild and wonderfully outrageous.  We are not worthy!  We are not worthy!

Although fresh out of shoes to decorate for this year, we are on the lookout for fun shoe fodder for 2013. A limited edition Elvis Reese's Peanut Butter and Banana Cream wrapper would make a great theme for a KRE shoe.  I hope I kept the banana beads I caught during the Zulu parade last year. A Hu-Dat shoe?  I guess this means we will need to purchase (and consume) some Hubig's pies while we are in New
Orleans.