Tuesday, November 4, 2003|
Reading S's post about Halloween on Frenchmen Street made me envious, to say the least. He told me, too, that there were a number of people dressed up as the Mormons I've written about, the young men in crisp white shirts, ties, black pants, and bike helmets riding around town trying to convert wayward souls. Apparently I'm not the only one who's noticed them! S said there were 20+ "Mormons" walking down Frenchmen with beers in their hands. Brigham would have been proud! 9:39:41 PM | There were also people dressed up as "Tulane girls," those flip-flop wearing co-eds who seem to gather around the Girls Gone Wild bus during Mardi Gras like paper clips to a magnet. Men and women strutted down Frenchmen with "Tulane" written across their asses, bellies puffed out over their overturned pant-waistlines, making a "shh-sh-shh" sound as their flip-flops dragged across the cement. If only I'd seen them! Next year... Meanwhile, the BourboCam site has some costume photos posted -- I guess they had a costume contest. No Mormons or Tulane girls. Oh well. Still, there is a Big Boy, a handful of vampires (of course), and a group of bananas. I liked the "Just for Fun" category best. 
|
 A neighborhood ofrenda in East LA. In the back of this house, the family was celebrating with music and laughter. The smell of tamales filled the streets.
|
 The Virgin of Guadalupe seemed to float on air at Self-Help Graphics' Day of the Dead celebration on Saturday. She was crowned with lights and above her papeles picados fluttered in the wind. The picture is out of focus, but it doesn't bother me. Somehow this is how it looked -- cloudy, ephemeral.
Self-Help Graphics & Art in East LA is a gallery and community center in the heart of Southern California's Chicano community. Their Day of the Dead celebration featured a room full of ofrendas, a gallery with art (some exceptionally moving and some hilarious -- perfect for el dia de los muertos), vendors selling crafts and books, and food. The food. Tacos al pastor were my favorite. Yum! Theirs was an all-day affair, culminating in a dance performance, procession, theatrical piece, and music. This image is of the dancers moving through the crowd in their approximated Aztec outfits, their Quetzal feather headdresses.
One of the dancers making her way around the circle.
The procession featured large heads like these, a bride and groom, I suppose. Following them were the actors, dressed in black outfits lined with skeleton bones. The show was hilarious, a farsical send-up of death and the afterlife. Even the children were laughing.
|
|
More evidence of the liberal media. 11:09:35 AM | I guess this mini-series may actually show some of the truth of Reagan's 8 years, seeing the conservatives are so threatened by it. Doesn't make me want to watch it, of course. I lived through the 80s, why relive them?
|
Last update: 7/17/05; 10:05:58 AM .
