Southern Decadence.



Finally, an update, but a brief one. so to speak. Had the day off, so I hit the French Quarter for a bit to take some pics and meet this years crop of Southern Decadence men. I got lots of great pics, but only have time to post these for now; there will be more by Monday, and hopefully I'll have a gallery up by then. I have to work tomorrow so I'll miss the parade, but fortunately Robert will be taking pics for me!

Robert today on Bourbon and St.Ann




As the afternoon wore on, the best looking boys dragged themselves out of bed and hit the streets, including this circuit beauty and his entourage, who obligingly posed for pictures upstairs at Laffite's.


There are lots more pics, and Robert will be taking more tomorrow, so check back... I've got a couple that may be too hot to post... (tea dance at Oz was most entertaining, but it was probably 110 degrees near the dance floor...)

I had a great afternoon!


Decadent kisses, durlx.

Mosquito Junction.



The West Nile Virus has been in the news daily here for a couple of weeks. To date there have been 147 confirmed cases and 8 deaths in the state, which amounts to over half of the cases and half of the deaths nation wide. The virus is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito and can infect people, horses, many kinds of birds and some other animals. In less than four years this virus has been found in 38 states after it's first appearance in the U.S. in 1999. Generally, you would have to say that this is not a terribly dangerous thing; while the virus can cause encephelitis and death, it does so very rarely, but as with all viruses when they enter new invironments, it's worth watching. The CDC and the media have warned people to use repellent and cover up and have correctly tried to downplay any panic. Louisiana and Mississippi have most of the cases and that is no surprise; we have a perfect environment for our over 40 kinds of mosquitos and this summer has provided ideal weather for the lil' pests. In spite of all the spraying that is regularly done here, I have been bitten more times this summer than I can ever remember. Mosquito prevention is a must in Louisiana; in the past the various "swamp fevers" have killed thousands of people and it was only with the development of a decent drainage and sewerage system, and the diligent use of pesticides that the city became safely habitable during the summer. (I might mention here that the New Jersey coast has been just as bad or worse, especially for equine ecephalitis even to this day, it's not just a southern thing.) Please don't think of this as an excuse not to come and visit!

So, last week, I get this kick-ass flu. I almost never get the flu that comes around every winter, maybe once every ten years, and I never get sick in August, and very rarely at all really, I hate being sick... Could it have been West Nile? Well, I don't know, it might have been. I didn't go to a doctor; wasn't that sick, although I did miss one day of work, which is very unusual for me, and the intermittant fevers stopped after 5 days. The majority of West Nile cases are like this. I'd like to get tested for it just to know if I had it and now have immunity, but the blood labs are completely backed up for weeks right now and well, I might as well wait until the new insurance kicks in to find out.

Five feverish days.

During my five feverish days, I slept poorly and fitfully, but for many hours, and my time awake was hazy. I had dreams of great complexity that sometimes left me full of wonder or discomfort on awakening; the departed returned to speak words of love or dire warning, lovers came with passionate lips and the future was revealed through yards of the cheapest cheesecloth. At work things were brighter than usual, warmer and very involving while something was happening, but there were times when the clock seemed to slow down, to almost stop, and my mind would reel. At other times I wondered if I would ever find love again and would the sun come out tomorrow...?

Bwahahahahaha! I am so glad I'm feeling better. It was such a effing bore!



The street that I work on.


I work on a lovely old street lined with very old trees that runs from the river to City Park where it ends in front of the New Orleans Museum of Art. The street is lined with wonderful old houses, including the house that Degas lived in while he painted in New Orleans. It's nice to ride up the street to work and occasionally, I get off a few stops early to walk and enjoy the neighborhood.




When I get to work, I enter the World of Cheese! hehe. The "specialties department" also includes wine, beer, coffee and tea, but for right now it's the cheese, baby! It's what I am most interested in because it's an area in which I have the most to learn. I read every day, and ask a lot of questions, (one of my co-workers is extremely knowledgable, but all of them know a great deal), and I talk to the people who come in. And, of course, I taste, taste, taste. And think about it all. It's a wonderful way to learn, in the realm of the senses. (I've read that the best and quickest way to learn a new language is in bed with a lover. I'm in love with what I'm learning now, but hmmmm, the possibilities! hehe.)

Last week I mentioned the presentation that I am doing next week on cheese with my team leader for some chefs that I thought were to be student chefs. In fact, they will be chefs from the local chapter of the American Culinary Federation for their monthly meeting, the top chefs in the business locally, some of whom I've worked with before. This greatly changes my focus; now I really have to do well in representing my company, and particularly our specialty department to these very sophisticated culinary guys. But like I said, I know what to say now.


Next weekend, Southern Decadence! (Should be lots of pics of hot guys....) And right after that, David and Glennie from Oz, and luca! An embarrasment of riches! Photo ops every second of the day!

And you'll see it all right here in the journal.


durlx

Southern Decadence Update!



It's finally been announced. The Grand Marshal is "Irish Mike", the theme is "Fairy Tails", and the official colors are "any"! The Official site has all the details. As usual, this will be a huge gay blow out, so to speak... In fact this year it is the largest event of the summer season for New Orleans. (It is now among the top ten annual events of the year.) We expect over 100,000 people, and we know they'll have a great time. They always do, guarantee, cher! If you've never been to this event, well, it's just not like anything else...


Will it ever stop raining?



It rained another two inches today, on and off all day. Yesterday I got soaked going to work; it seems that it's rained every day for the longest time. I've been busy enough, but it seems like nothing really exciting has happened...(and my ISP took a major nap this weekend, I couldn't update a thing...)

Well, those people fell into the shark tank at the aquarium. I have to admit I found that very amusing. During the first 24 hours the aquarium staff put the happy spin on the story, like it was such a lark for all involved and no one was hurt or ever in any danger what so ever, the sharks were afraid of the people and everyone got stuffed animals and t-shirts from the over priced junk, um gift shop. But the next day, there were more stories in the press about "the terrible trauma for the children" with the parents pumping it up for all they were worth. I have no doubt that the lawyers swimming around this case will be far more viscious than the little collection of tame animals in that tank! It made me think about the whole reason behind having an aquarium and having these animals in captivity for our amusement. Oh yes, it's educational and it helps us to understand our environment and blah, blah, blah, but who asked the sharks if they wanted to participate? Perhaps they would rather be somewhere else. And all the private parties they hold there; it's become a catering hall with fish tanks. Something is just totally wrong about the whole damn thing.




I did have a nice day in the Quarter last Friday. I decided to hit all the second hand book stores to find books about cheese, (I found two real bargains!). It was hot, but a nice sunny day. The Quarter wasn't too crowded and the people I saw were all very pleasant; the men in particular were lovely, it was just one of those days. Besides the bookstores, I stopped into Dansk, (good things on sale), the new Prince and the Pauper shop in the Quarter, (a fab import shop with stuff that I've never seen anywhere else and a fav of luca's) and stopped for a while on Royal Street where there was...

This guy singing and playing the trumpet.


He had a very sweet voice, was singing some Sinatra standards and doing very well; everyone was enjoying it immensly. I hope he made good tips and I hope he stays around for a while, he was one of the better street performers I've seen lately and we have some very good ones.

One the way to yet another book shop I passed the deli/grocery I used to own.


What a flood of memories... Bill and I lived across the street and this was pretty much the view I had when I walked out my front door to go to work in the morning, (or evening or 4 AM or whenever). Of course, when we owned it, there were flags flying everywhere, rainbow flags, Mardi Gras flags, and a chalk board with all the specials on it. It was a corner where something was always happening; a neighborhood crossroads visited by all the characters in the Quarter. That's the truth... and it was fun...


Work.

The new job continues to amuse and amaze. I'm having fun every day and learning so much. At the end of this month, I am doing a class on cheese for a group of culinary students and I'm really looking forward to it. I used to hate having to do live food demos and TV demos when I was a chef; I never seemed to know what to say and it used to make me nervous, the live television was the worst. (Somewhere there's still a video tape of Bryant Gumble spitting out my fried alligator live on the Today Show... what a pussy, hehe. Jane Pauley thanked me.)

I know what I want to say now. I am so ready for this.

durlx

A day in the French Quarter.



I had Friday off and got to spend a lovely day in the Quarter with unokhan and his partner J.

Obligatory riverboat shot. "ole man river" playing in the background...


Unokhan from the msg boards.


We met at the Napoleon House for lunch, which was both charming and delicious as usual with uno enjoying a couple of the absolutely perfect Pimm's Cups they sreve there. Then we went out to stroll around the Quarter making our first stop at a wine shop that a friend owns. Blaze gave us the grand tour of his vast collection. Then we walked along the river and through the Riverwalk shopping area, of course taking note of the new A&F pics in the store windows. Then we headed back to the Quarter taking a cut through the Canal Place mall for the A/C and the pricey shops. Spent some time in Williams Sonoma and then in the (ugh) Pottery Barn where we ogled the rather stunning manager and cast a very critical eye on the silverware. (I think most of their stuff is so tacky and over priced, especially the warped and spotty glass and cyrstal!) We walked a few more blocks to Tower Records and then went next door to the book store where I spent a lot of time in the cookbook section. There are three cheese books that I really want to get when I can afford it and I looked them over. On the way, I saw this VW van in the parking lot with a Hawaiian license plate...



Well, I guess they shipped it here; they must really love that car... Then we strolled a few more blocks to Molly's At The Market on Decatur Street.

uno and J and Molly's


Molly's is a French Quarter institution; one of those places where you are likely to run into just about anybody. At night it's popular with politicians, reporters and every sort of riff raff and everyone gets along famously. It wasn't that crowded last night, so it was quiet enough for easy conversation and there were just enough interesting types for people watching. Molly's is not a gay bar, but there were these two guys hugging and kissing. No one paid much attention, except us, and that's because we noticed that the younger of the two guys was definitely trying to pick the other guys wallet. I'm pretty sure he succeeded just as they careened out the door. We had a couple a three beers or so and spent some time trading stories and laughing, very pleasant. This is the third time these two have been here to visit and I must say they make charming company! After Molly's we parted; they were going out for dinner and I had some things I had to do at home. We will meet again today and I'll take them on a tour of the store.

I decided to walk home as the night had cooled off some and the Quarter has a special feel that time of night. I passed through the empty French Market, all the vendors had packed up for the night and I stopped to take some pics. After all these years the Quarter still has magic for me, and so many memories...





Culinary revival.

I mention earlier that I was looking at books in the cooking section of the book store. It's been years since I have had any interest in buying or reading books about food; I was just tired of it all. My work now has inspired me and I am beginning a new period of research; it's exciting and energizing and fantastic. This makes me happy.

durlx

--anybody guess who the mystery voice on Ford's Few Minutes was? hehe.