Well, we made it through our first Mardi Gras, and we actually had FUN. Mostly fun. It got a bit old by Tuesday afternoon, especially after the 100th truck drove by (the "truck" parades come after Rex). We'd gotten enough plastic beads to last all year (at least I hope so!) and had given a number of plush toys to the cute kiddies riding on the shoulders of drunk (or half drunk) parents lining the route. Of course we kept a couple of mementos: the Muses bracelet made entirely of red plastic high heel shoes, the little white football from the Naval Reserve (who rolled with every parade we saw), and a roll of printed Tucks toilet paper featuring Friar Tuck sitting on a toilet with a beer in one hand and a plunger in the other. Ha!
The rest of our throws are in a giveaway pile. We'll probably sort through them and give a few strands to friends then take the rest to a local bead recycling effort. Last year Krispy Kreme gave a dozen doughnuts for every bag of beads brought it for St. Michael's, a school for the mentally handicapped. I'm hoping they make the same offer this year. Yum yum, Krispy Kreme doughnuts! They are too good.
Our favorite parades were Zulu and Tucks. Tucks was hilarious -- definitely more satiric than the others. Zulu, though, was the most fun-loving and outrageous, and was certainly generous considering the hordes of people who lined their parade route. Plus the mayor led them into town. You can't go wrong wit' da mayor rolling wit' you! (I know. That accent's more Chicago than New Orleans. Sue me!) Even though 70% of this city is African-American, most of the krewes are all-white and most of the marching bands are all-black. Zulu was a refreshing change, to say the least. Plus the krewe members dress in black face! (Or white face...it's such a send up of the whole krewe thing.) And they not only have a King, they have a Big Man and a Big Shot. Ha! Plus Zulu attracted the moss men, two hefty guys with long blond wigs, their bodies drenched in spanish moss, with beers in both hands. Who can beat that!
Tucks had interesting throws and they were as generous as Muses, which is practically famous for its generosity, as far as I can tell. We also enjoyed Orpheus and Muses. Orpheus seemed to have the most diverse group of riders and they threw a ton of stuff, in part because it was raining and there weren't too many people out. We braved the rain and stayed for the entire parade. It helps to live a silly little block away from the route. I tell you!
Rex and Bacchus were the least enjoyable -- in both, the men on the floats seemed bored at best, arrogant and pricky at worst. Bacchus was the stingiest parade we attended, with hardly any beads thrown down here (I don't know how much they threw on Canal Street). Rex represents all that I hate about Mardi Gras and New Orleans -- that sort of pathetic old school born-into-status crap that is probably responsible for half the sinkage the city suffers through every year. All that loot holed up in those houses...it's enough to put the city six feet under!
Lucky for the city, Rex's ball is broadcast live on local television mardi gras night. What joy! There's the meeting of the courts, with Rex and Comus coming together for a toast, and all sorts of other nifty things. Comus doesn't roll anymore because they refused to sign an anti-discrimination affidavit the city council put together a decade ago. Silly city council. They said organizations that discriminate shouldn't be allowed to parade on public streets. Boo! It's so unfair.
Of course, Comus isn't alone. Some krewes dropped out of the scene all together out of protest. Proteus, one of the other old line krewes, finally signed and were set to roll this year, but cancelled their parade at the last minute due to rain. I watched part of the Rex ball on TV. I couldn't help myself. It was sort of like watching a talk show. I was horrified, yet unable to turn away. What a feeling! My favorites were the profiles of Rex and his queen. Rex, a local business man, loves to hunt duck and goose, and his favorite charity is SPCA. Yes, that SPCA, the animal welfare organization. Really, there's no conflict there. After all, his hunting dogs need the best care they can receive if they're to successfully retreive ducks from the swamps. Got to keep those fine bred doggies in tip top shape! His queen is a young coed from Virginia who comes from a long line of Rex royalty. Her great-granddaddy was Rex between the world wars, her grandma queen a couple of decades later, and both her aunt and her uncle were in the court too. Wow! Some boy will be awfully lucky to marry her. They'll have a chance to get into Rex. What could be better than that!
Oh yes, and though the city passed the anti-discrimination ordinance a decade ago, gay krewes are still not allowed to roll. They can't get sponsorship, for one thing, and it's well known the city wouldn't accept an openly gay parade. So much for no discrimination in this open city.
We didn't think we'd see any Mardi Gras Indians, who keep their parade route secret and tend to show up in unexpected places, but lucky us, we found out two live across the street! We saw them getting fancied up in the street and went out to take pictures. What outfits! They were amazing. (I took mostly film this weekend -- check back in a few days for more pictures. I'll post a few digital shots this evening.)
To make sure we had as much fun as possible, we stayed away from the booze. I know. It makes us both completely unusual, given Mardi Gras' main purpose is to get as many drunks out on the streets as possible (well, it seems that's the main purpose!). We're both over 30. The hangovers last a lot longer now. Wink wink.
I'll post a couple of pictures tonight and more this weekend. Meanwhile, I'm anxious to write more about Mardi Gras and OF COURSE politics. This bruhaha over gay marriage makes me furious. Even Chicago's Mayor Daley thinks it's all good! Pushing an amendment that discriminates?! Whaaa? Gimme a break!!!!
Thursday, February 26, 2004
