Mardi Gras Kick-Off


One of the first Mardi Gras parades is tonight. The Krewe du Vieux is a smaller marching krewe with hand pulled or mule drawn floats and a very satirical bent, very true to the tradition of Mardi Gras. The themes are always of a political and sexual nature; a few years ago, one of the sub-krewes had a hundred marching penis heads in honor of one of our local bright lights whom they felt deserved the title "dickhead". Last year the theme had something to do with outer space...

This sub krewe "Probes Uranus"


Parade marchers


This year the theme is "Depraved New World" and you can read all about it here. Unfortunately, we have a little logistics problem tonight; the parade starts at 7 PM and we need to be at the Amon Ra Ball by 7:30 PM. The parade passes two blocks from my house, but the ball is a 20 minute drive away...

Ayers Rock ?


Actually, it's not! It's a gas station in the way to Sydney from my friends house in Australia! Everybody stops there to take a picture. I had a long talk on the phone with my Oz friends David and Glennie early Friday morning; they are such wonderful guys and we always laugh a lot on the phone. I wish I could visit them more often, but it's a bit of a hike, a fifteen hour flight from LAS! There aren't many places on the planet farther away from New Orleans... sigh. Love you, guys! mwah!

There was an article in the paper today about the house that Lillian Hellman was born in and lived in until she was five. It's being designated a National Literary Landmark. I've been in the house, but prior to it's current renovation. It was a lovely old place, but odd here and there; you had to walk through the bathroom to get to the kitchen! I remember it primarily for the party given there many years ago by the deckhands from the Steamboat Natchez who lived there at the time. What a deriously hot bunch of boys! Ah, memories...

Today just seemed to blow by. Got up, did the usual morning things, (checked to see how I looked in the webcam... bwahahaha!). Had a pleasant chat with the neighbors, Robert and Raymond... all our backyards abut; we just walk into the yard, through a gate and there we are. There were a bunch of e-mails; I had promised a batch of airport pics to my friend Davo, in Australia. (He loves air travel and I often take pics while I am traveling of the airports and planes to send to him.) Dave is also the consumate journalist. I have asked him to let me post just a bit of his daily memoir so you can see what a really well written journal looks like.

I've been working on the site; added a java script to the cam site. I couldn't write a java script to save my life, but I am finally learning a bit of how they work and how to use them. The images now fade from one to the next and I have my lil logo at the bottom of the frame. Not dramatic I guess, but I like learning this stuff and every little bit interests me.

Finally got out of the house and on the way to the corner drug store I ran across this oddity:

Oddity


You have to realize that people decorate their houses in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Often the red and green come off, and the purple, green and gold go on over the same lights. This lil plastic baby was odd, it was just on the rail all by itself. It had been there for a few days, but today I noticed that someone had decorated it a bit.

I have mentioned the neighborhood store on the message board a few times. Here's a picture of it.

It's pronounced "Row-Bears", French, you know.


Found my tuxedo shirt... It was looking very dingy... Found some miracle stain remover stuff and then ran it through the wash. It'll pass; a few extra Mardi Gras beads and no one will think to check the neckline. Have you ever ironed a pleated front tux shirt? It's not too hard after the first 20 or 30 tries; I hardly have to think about it while I'm doing it now.

Not exactly a major day, but there's always something...

After a grey blah day yesterday, today was gorgeous! Robert and I took a trip to Chalmette to do some errands and some totally un-glamorous shopping. We went to the 99 Cent store, "where everything is always under a dollar!". Robert got some very strange iridescent pictures of the Virgin Mary, (he collects tacky religious icons). The rest of the stuff was all household items, mostly off brand stuff. We had lunch at a BBQ place, (Thanks Robert!), did a grocery run and then headed home. After putting away the stuff I got, I decided to walk over to the house where the film "Sonny" is being shot.

There were a lot of trucks parked every where and as usual, there was no parking for blocks around.


It's a huge old house!


Not much was going on out front but the security guy didn't want me any closer with the camera.


I hung out on the corner for a while, took a few more shots. Nothing happened. (I don't know if you've ever been on a movie set, but most of what happens is very boring to watch, and all the action was taking place inside anyway). And not a glimpse of anybody with star power, let alone James Franco. I decided not to hang around.

On the way home, I stopped for a minute and considered getting another tattoo.


I didn't. But I do seem to keep thinking about it.

Took a walk through the park instead.


Robert reminded me today that the first gay Carnival Ball is this Saturday! I've got to get my tux out and make sure it's ready. We will be sitting at the table of this lovely creature.

Former Queen of the Krewe of Amon Ra, Peaches.


The balls are always hysterical fun; everyone is dressed in formal attire, the costumes are amazing and the group of people that I usually sit with are very amusing. I love going to these balls; they are part of gay history in New Orleans and have been so for forty years. The people that belong to these Krewes and put on the balls are so dedicated to it and they always put on a good show.

It's going to be a fun night!

Well, back to normal sort of. Mardi Gras Parades start in a week, there's a Gay Carnival ball, then the Super Bowl and then more parades and a few more Carnival balls and then Mardi Gras Day.

Bush, (the prez) was in town today to give a speech and he did not stay at my house, so I don't care. He apparently got through dinner last night and breakfast this ayem without incident.

There was an article in the paper that Nicholas Cage is in town with a production crew to film the Indie film "Sonny". Cage is directing and is not acting in the film. Those with roles in the film include Brenda Blethyn, Mena Suvari, Harry Dean Stanton, Seymour Cassel and this hotty James Franco!



They are doing a lot of shooting in the $1.45 mil mansion that Cage bought last November, which is about six blocks from my house. I think I'll go for a walk with my camera tomorrow.

Cage has been seen all around town (and apparently in my neighborhood as well) the last few days with current love interest Lisa Marie Preseley and his uncle Francis Ford Coppola. Uncle owns a home here as well.

(How's that for a tinsel town report?)

I've added a Mardi Gras gallery and slide show in the Images section of the site and added some new listings in my links page. And, today I found a post on the message board from my friend and next door neighbor, Robert! We both find it very funny that he looks at my cam to see if I'm at my desk and that we e-mail each other; his desk is about 10 feet away across the alley. He doesn't have a cam, so I have to look out the window to see if he's there. ~grin~