Here we go! Mardi Gras weekend begins!

Bourbon Street fills up. (from the balcony of OZ.)


There is sooo much story to tell here! Robert and I had such an amusing time this afternoon and evening! The picture above was taken from the balcony of the club, OZ, which is across the street from the Bourbon Pub, (the two big gay bars on Bourbon Street in the Quarter). We were able to get in everywhere, get drinks easily and move around; I was able to take the pic from a balcony which is fairly unusual. Ten years ago, it would have been wall to wall packed by now, but it's a lil more comfortable at Mardi Gras these days. (So many gay guys come for Southern Decadence instead.) Still, it's very, very good! There are quite a few stories to tell about this trip to the Quarter, but not the room in this jam packed journal!

There are boys on the bar everywhere!


We viewed the boys here and there in a half dozen bars and then went to Rampart Street to see the Hermes Parade, (33 floats, 10 marching bands...fairly large parade.)

Incredible Floats


More...



The parade was pretty amazing! ...and large, but nowhere near the level of the huge weekend parades like Endemion, Bacchus or Morpheus. But this one tonight was fun, it came into the Quarter a bit, and therefore near some very amusing gay bars. Robert and I had a good time on Rampart Street.

Robert and the Legendary Connie Marcel!


We could have stayed out all night... But you can't, because we have to be up by noon and ready to go to the Quarter , (well, after lunch...) and then be ready to get home and dress for the ball tomorrow evening.

Sunday is a repeat performance, same thing, but a different ball to go to.

Monday, a lil rest... finish up the costume...

Fat Tuesday, get up early, get the breakfast ready, start pouring the Mimosas....

One other thing, just today I ran into at least 15 different people that I really was glad to see. One guy, Terry, I have known in a casual, but fairly intense way for very many years, and I saw him tonight on my way home as we stopped by the Phoenix Black Night Party. He was one of the first people I met in NO, and he keeps popping up in my life; at a party, or working for someone I know, or a roommate's trick, at breakfast, (OMG!, girl! pass the sugar!), or he was the bartender in the some new hot bar... over the years, he always seems to be there, knows the people I've gotten to know... but then he's also out of town a lot... I've never known his phone number in all these years.

We kept hugging and kisssing and laughing tonight, so glad to see each other again. What a sweetheart!

Good start for the MG weekend. Thank you Robea again for being there! I think it's going to be another great Mardi Gras...

Lots more to come!

The Big Weekend Begins

I was awakened this ayem at ten to six by the merry tinkle of glass breaking. When they delivered the paper this morning, they managed to break one of the panes of glass in my front door, which I discovered when I stepped out the door to pick up the paper. Not a big problem, but they won't be out to fix it until next week some time since everyone will be on Mardi Gras schedule until after Tuesday. (BTW, it's very important not to get arrested during MG, because you won't get a court appearance until Ash Wed.!)


A word or two about Mardi Gras balls. The original purpose of the MG ball was to present the daughters of the socially prominent families to society when they reached the age to start husband hunting, and that still holds true for the myriad straight balls held every year. The gay Carnival balls that I go to started as a satire of the straight balls, (most of which are dreadfully dull!) and proceded to become one of the most entertaining parts of the MG season. The gay krewes are mostly comprised of gay males, but there are some women members; the Krewe of Amon Ra picked a female king for the second time this year. There are two more gay balls this weekend, both usually spectacular and known for their huge costumes. I have an invitation to the one Sunday night, but not for the one Sat. (that could still change...)

This should be the last journal entry with no pictures for a while. I'll be going into the Quarter everyday, except maybe Monday, so there will be lots of pics. This city will be rolling 24 hours a day until Wed. morning!

Bits

The last two days, the weather has been totally dreary and so have I. I did nothing, except read and doze off at odd times of the day. Today, I woke up somewhat energized and cleaned the house, did laundry, those kind of things. I spent some time visiting with Nina and Robert, made a few phone calls and did a few other essential things. Nothing really to this story that a picture would bring to life.

I was thinking of going to a Mardi Gras parade tonight to take some pictures, but the weather was just nasty enough still to make me decide that tomorrow would do just as well. The weather is going to shape up well for MG; by Friday it should be just about perfect, not too hot and not too cold. Fat Tuesday should have a high of 70 and that's just right. The Super Bowl din has died away and we're back to a regular MG roar. The parades started up again yesterday and will be running every night through Tuesday, and during the day Sat., Sun. and Tuesday as well. During Friday and Saturday the city fills up totally and the party really gets down to business. (We had two more people show up from St. Louis today).

Yesterday, MTV taped a MG special, (that I think airs after MG), in Jackson Square with Brittany Spears and No Doubt, and some others. They spent four days setting up and the whole day taping. I didn't go out in the lousy weather and was glad i didn't when I read today in the paper that no one except the hand picked audience was allowed anywhere near the stage. The newspaper had a lousy picture; MTV wouldn't let them get close enough for a good one.

For those of you who use Netscape and have had problems with the cam page blinking annoyingly, I've fixed it. Some commands that work in IE drive Netscape crazy, but I just found that out. I've actually downloaded a copy of Netscape to test view my pages, so it won't happen again. If something on the site doesn't work for you, please e-mail me; I test things as much as I can, but I can't catch everything, 'cause I don't know everything.

The sun is supposed to show it's face tomorrow. I've really missed it.

One more thing...

I ran into Kelly at the ball this evening and promised that I would put this picture up.





She looks hot, eh?
durlx, photographer to the stars... hehe.

Hehe! The Petronius Ball!

It was fabulous! First we got to the parking lot and Robert chose what he thought was a safe place, next to these huge military trucks!

Robea on the military truck detail


Then we went into the ball.

It was amazing! The theme was "Fly With Us!"

Becky Allen, ( she is amazing, a straight woman who has always been there with us), came on, (in a fabulous costume!) as the Stewardess, and introduced Mikey Gill, the Captain of Petronius. (Becky said that New Orleans is the "uterus of the USA! It's the place where things start to happen!). Mikey is hilarious, he sounds like the most strange European person, ( he speaks english in the most amusing way, but he and his lover also know how to put on a show!). And then the ball began.

One of the first amazing costumes: done to the Shirley Bassey song "Goldfinger" was this huge hand! The middle finger went up and down...

Then, a Wizard of Oz bit: someone came out on a bicycle as Ms Gooch, rode arounde in ever smaller circles, laughing madly...

But, several times during the ball, there was a performance by an incredible gymnastic group called the "Dupree"s. Drop dead stunning men with incredible dancing abilities! (There were some fabulous women in the group as well.). But these guys were hot! They weren't dancers, they were gymnasts who could dance! Wish I could provide some pictures, but that was not allowed.

Yikes! The guys were stunning!

Stunning!

And at the end, all the costumes looked great together on the ball floor. As they should.

Then we left, but not before we stopped to chat with...

Princess Stephanie


Then we were on the stage for a while, disco Robea!


And on our way home, we stopped for a photo...

Durlx and Robea



hehe!

Robert and I are going to another gay Mardi Gras ball tonight; the Krewe of Petronius. It's their 41st ball. They do things a little differently than the other krewes; more of a costume party feel to it, in fact people can come in costume instead of formal wear. Me, I'll be in my tux. I haven't even begun to think about my costume for Mardi Gras day yet! I've got a little over a week...

The Super Bowl has affected me very little, I haven't been to the Quarter all week. Yesterday and today, the fighter jets have been patroling low and loud, but that's been really all I've noticed.

The election yesterday resulted in some good and some bad. The two mayoral candidates that will be in the run off election are both relatively outside of the old political machine here and both seem quit capable. I'd be happy with either one of them. Unfortunately, that horrible grinning woman got elected to the city council in my district; I detest her.

Tuesday night, AMC has a one hour documentary on at 8 EST called "Out of the Closet, Off the Screen:The Life of William Haines". It's based on the book "Wisecracker" by William Mann. William Haines was a pretty big film star, starting out in the silents, very gay and fairly out about it. At one point he left the movies and went on to become a rather famous interior decorator. He and his lover were together most of their lives. A very interesting man and an interesting story.

Well, got to get dressed. Damn! There go those fighter jets again!