Four Parade Extravaganza

I jumped on the Ferry and met Romy ova da riva at a little hotel bar ’round 6 and we had a round there and then ambled over to Horinoya. If you guys don’t know about this fantastic little Sushi spot on Poydras, I recommend checking it out. Good fish and attentive service. It’s a sweet little spot in the middle of the CBD and that lends a sort of New York City feel to it. Though the staff always seems as if the Yakuza is about to rush in at any moment. They always stand at attention and communicate via eye contact and hand signals. Very little speaking. Go there and you will see.

We finished up the sushi and headed back to the parade route, walking a few blocks down St. Charles and finally settling at about the 500 block of St. Charles. There was a bar with bathrooms there and an open spot at the guard rail. So we had a few drinks and waited for Hermes which showed up around 7:45 p.m.

I’m starting to enjoy Hermes more and more, marvelous well-crafted floats with traditional mythological themes make for a very pleasing parade.

About halfway through, a rider was trying to toss some kids next to me a stuffed gator and I cruelly snatched it out of the air before they got it. As I looked to Romy for some sort of approval for my action, I was pelted in the face with a set of long pearls. I looked back at the rider who was scowling at me. Then he threw the kids another toy.

A few more floats and bands came through and then suddenly I heard the very loud sounds of Butt Rock coming from amplified speakers 6-feet behind me. I looked back there to see a middle-aged man dressed as a pirate up on a ladder with his iPod stuck in a soundboard hooked up to two large speakers. It was annoyingly loud. He began saying stuff over a microphone, basic DJ stuff like “C’Mon yall!” and “Happy Mardi Gras everybody!” It was all accompanied by the most overplayed party anthems of the last 30 years, stuff like “Good Love,” “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Who Let The Dogs Out?” I hated it. It was way too loud. Nobody was enjoying it. The riders on the floats couldn’t hear us and he was often late turning it down when the bands rolled by. He kept this up from the middle of Hermes, through the break and into D’Etat. I could have gotten into it if maybe he was playing brass bands or even Mardi gras hits but, do I really need to hear “Smells Like Teen Spirit” at full volume while watching Mythology-themed floats?

It was finally too much to bear so I stepped back there and asked him to turn it down a notch. His reply was “Just move! get Out of here! I live here man! This is my house!” He apparently lived in that block of St. Charles and felt that this gave him some domain over the sidewalk and everyone’s eardrums. I told him I was just asking politely and he just told me to move again. I went back to watching the parade.

Well, the Universe must have been on my side because I heard the music suddenly cut out and then silence for a minute. Then I heard the rude gentleman get on his mic and start whining that someone had stolen his iPod. Then he said he was signing off and got zero reaction from the crowd. Sucks that his iPod got stolen but it was a rare occasion when I had no sympathy for the victim. Karma’s a bitch.

Back to D’Etat. I got one of the newspapers at the front of the parade and many good throws. Just about everyone around me and across the street had the light-up jesters and more kept coming. Great parade. One of my favorites.

I noticed that my catching wass off out there. I kept dropping throws. I felt like a Saints wide receiver.

I usually leave after D’Etat but with Muses as the final act I was prepared to stay out till 2 a.m. if I had to. Morpheus was good. Not fantastic, but good. I did start to notice many more obnoxiously drunk people among us as the night went on. Price of doing business I guess.

The iPod guy came up to me and screamed, “I guess you got your wish huh?” I did. I secretly hoped someone would steal it. There was a lot of foot traffic going back and forth and it was just sitting out.

Then finally with no further ado the magnificent Muses rolled through. Theme was awesome. Throws were awesome. I can’t heap enough praise on this krewe. Thematically and aesthetically they rule. They toss the best throws. The accompaniment by groups such as the Big Easy Rollergirls, The Camel Toe Steppers, The Bearded Oysters and all the rest make it a breed apart from other krewes. The ladies are far and away my favorite. God bless each and every one of them.

I must give a special shout to St. Aug and O Perry Walker Bands who marched twice. If anyone knows of any other bands that marched twice that night let me know. I took two photos of this gentleman from Algiers own OPW in two different parades.

We are taking it easy today but will be out all day tomorrow. I can be spotted wearing, yes, a Hulkamania shirt.

Merry Carnival y’all. Check the Flickr.