Mardi Gras 2009

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

Well after hours (literally...HOURS) of loading pictures and then adjusting this entry in a manner pleasing to the eye...all for your entertainment (okay, and a little of my own) without further ado, I give you...Mardi Gras 2009 by Dr Mookie Love.

Filly's Crib, different from last I saw it...

Thursday, I took a morning flight and was picked up by Filly at the airport, taken to her house to drop off my stuff and then we were off to the first parade of my trip on historic St Charles Avenue in Uptown. There were to be three parades this evening - The Knights of Babylon, Chaos & Muses. Sounds like fun, right? Well, it was. We got there just as the sun set...and the parade was a little behind schedule...but it's a parade...and they throw out free stuff, so you can't be picky. Now, I'm used to Utah Parades like the 4th of July or the Pioneer Day parade...or really more recently, Pride. In those parades, you get some taffy thrown at you...or pamphlets handed to you...and if your lucky, condoms. Not so with these parades. They throw beads, plush footballs, shoes, frisbees, special collector beads, flashing beads (like blinking light beads...not the ones you get on Bourbon Street after you've had a few drinks), coconuts (that's right, I said THROW COCONUTS), and whatever else is clever. We also met up with one of Filly's friends, we'll call her...Sunrise. She's a bartender from the area...and Mardi Gras has been a family tradition of hers since she was a kid...so they had a place set up with lawn chairs and everything right on St Charles...and the funny part was, the adults were having more fun than the kids...but a lot of fun was had by all...and that's what was important.

The parade started off kind of lame...

"Then the acid kicked in..."

Flambeaus - The Nightlights of Mardi Gras

This part was awesome...but my camera didn't capture it well

There was a string of Bond parody floats...

Then the Elvi showed up...

Shout out to Bone Junior

Friday, Filly wasn't feeling well. Working in New Orleans during Mardi Gras...and being the new kid on the block, she had to work a LOT of hours over the past few weeks...and it caught up with her. So we decided to just order some Chinese and watch some movies. I wasn't too bummed. It was good to just have a lazy day where I could walk around her neighborhood too...and see New Orleans. The city is just...so different from any other around here. It's like its own country. A few cities are like that - New York, San Francisco, Chicago (I hear) and of course, Las Vegas...but New Orleans is kind of...the Paris of America. Nobody can pronounce the streets correctly (including the locals), the food's fantastic, there's a certain smell to it (and not a particularly good one) but the main difference with New Orleans...is not everybody's an asshole, which is great. They have Southern Hospitality...even when they've fallen on some really hard times. I got Love for that.

The Great Zulu Coconut

I Love You Mom!!!

Saturday, we visited the Barataria Natural Preserve...which from what it sounded like was a habitat for bears...but I was wrong. It was however a habitat for swamp creatures...like Armadillos, which I had never seen in the wild before...so I had to check it out. Here are some pictures...

The red & orange parts...are underwater

SNAPPING TURTLE!!!

A real life Armadillo...named Chester

After that, we went to the parade of Endymion, which had a theme of "Tales of Sleep & Dreams". This one was located in a different part of town, starting near City Park and then running down Canal...and we thought he'd hit it near the beginning of the route...so we did. Now, past grand marshalls of this parade have included Bobby Vinton, Britney Spears and even the legendary Chuck Norris. Who would it be this year? Well, here's where the first few of our special celebrity guests come in.

Willy and his horse...Willy

Again, the parade started out slow...

"Then the acid kicked in..."

Lots of great marching bands...and the

schools are allegedly not segregated

More Flamers...er, Flambeaus

Ah, the Maids of Endymion

The King of Endymion

Sunday ended up being another lazy day. I know, I know. You're disappointed because I was going to see Val Kilmer as the King of Bacchus...and believe me, that would've been cool...but Filly wasn't feeling well...and I wasn't going to ditch her to see an old Batman. Adam West maybe...but not Val Kilmer. Besides, Filly had to work...and so did all of her friends...and it was raining pretty bad anyway...so I'll just have to see it next year. Anyway, that's how I'm trying to cope with it...so just leave it be. I did watch a lot of episodes of a TV series called "Dead Like Me" about soul reapers...but it's actually a hilarious little comedy...except the main chick whines a bunch...but she's 18 so it's to be expected. Watch it anyway. You'll like it.

"You Can't Beat Wagner's Meat"

Monday was my last full day in New Orleans. The sun was bright...as it usually is. It was surprisingly chilly for that being the case...but I checked out the neighborhood a little bit while Filly slept after working all night, then we headed out to the last bunch of parades that I would see (Krewe of Proteus & Krewe of Orpheus) with her friends Sunrise and...we'll go with...Belle. Anyway, we picked them up and headed to the parade...and they were in parade attire. Masks, faux fur coats, a few tasteful beads and big smiles. We picked up some quick food and got to know each other a little bit...and I'm not sure how it happened...but between her two friends they had pretty much drilled me into giving up most of my life story & family history. It's pretty easy...seeing as you've probably noticed that I have no problem answering questions...with almost too much honesty...and I think they dug that. They were pretty persistent...and didn't shy away from any subject. Yeah, they know how long it's been too now. Anyway, great girls...and that's why when Belle asked if she could sit on my shoulders during part of the parade, there was only one thing to say. "Forwards or backwards?" Enjoy the pictures...

Sunrise & Belle

Sunset & Clouds

Ladies, this is what it's like to be 10 feet tall

You can shake hands with Jim Belushi...

...or the cast of Reno 911

So they DO grow on trees here...

After the parade, we had some Chinese food at a nearby place that was really, really good. The questioning went on from there and a lot of off-color humor, which is always appreciated...and then after dropping Filly off at work, the ladies took me to Frenchmens Street for a good time...and it was had. We walked around the area and finally decided to stop at a place called Lazizza's which was surprisingly slow business given that it was Mardi Gras...but no matter. Great salsa music...and you know what that means. $teve got to show off his ballroom dance skills with the ladies...and they recipricated by showing their belly dancing skills. Yeah, I think Southern girls like me. It was a lot of fun.

This crazy ass prehistoric fish skeleton thing...

is actually a bicycle that they rode through town

Inside Lazizza's - Eat, Drink, Hookah & Dance

Made it back to Filly's for a quick nap before being picked up by her other friend...mmm, we'll say Occult Jesus...and he drove me to the airport for my flight back. Now, don't let the name Occult Jesus fool you. He's an awesome guy too. He just...is a really mellow guy, who kind of resembles a gothic Jesus...and he reads palms in the French Quarter to earn his keep. I could call him Fred and you'd probably have some preconceived notions...but yeah, he's a cool cat...like Jesus...if he read palms. Anyway, so yeah, I made my flight...and now you're basically caught up.

So what did you think of Mardi Gras? Pretty cool, right? Well, you'll be happy to know that my mom is already wanting to plan a trip out there for next year...and my dad wanted to go until he found out my mom wanted to go (they've been divorced for about 15 years now) but yeah, if anybody's interested, let me know...and I'm actually thinking about going the week before it gets insane...so that there's still badass parades...but without the tourists puking all over the place. That's what the locals recommended to me. Anyway, you've got a year or so to save up...so let me know. Also, if you think I posted a lot of pictures...just know that this is about one-fifth of the pictures that I took. Just so you're aware. Not enough pictures? Well, I'll be getting copies of their pictures too...so there may be a follow-up in the next little while.

The whole experience was a fantastic one...and I thank Filly for giving me a place to crash...and her friends Sunrise, Belle & Occult Jesus for putting up with me. I can't wait to come back and visit...but I'm not moving there. Still prefer being over a mile high to a few feet under water. You all should come visit if you ever need to get away from things like...I don't know cayanne pepper, humidity, that Bourbon Street smell, those Frenchie named streets, all that stuff...and I'll show you the fresh mountain air, dinosaurs, nature hikes, buffalo and more microbreweries per capita than anywhere else. Be my guest. It'll be fun...just bring a jacket.