The Mardi Gras report:
Living three blocks from the parade route gives one the opportunity to go to many parades. I've spent the last couple of weeks exercising said opportunity. I don't want to give a day-to-day breakdown, but I'll put down some highlights.
Friday, three parades were scheduled: Hermes, Krewe d'Etat, and Morpheus. Due to rain, Muses got tacked on at the end. I went out around 7:00pm and found that the theme for Hermes was one of my favorite myths, "Cupid and Psyche." During a gap, I got some food, then went back to the apartment to eat it, and went back out to catch the end of Hermes. I got some cool stuff from Krewe d'Etat, mostly a flashing high priest medallion, and then settled into a chair to watch Morpheus so I could rest up for Muses. Any reputation that Muses has for really awesome throws and generosity is well-deserved. I caught all kinds of nifty stuff, and just about anything remotely electronic had a battery compartment, so when the battery runs down, I can just replace it. By the time Muses was done, it was midnight, the latests I've ever been at a parade.
On Saturday, the main event was Tucks. Once again, really good throws, very generous riders, and a good long parade.
By Lundi Gras, I was pretty tired of the whole endeavor. Friday night really took the wind out of me, but I still wanted to go. I just made less and less effort to catch things.
Today, we got up early to catch Zulu. We're actually kinda close to the beginning of the route, so we had to get out there quick. We walked up to St. Charles at 8:30am, just as the lead vehicle was passing. Now, I hadn't been much for throws, but there are some things I always like to get. If there's a medallion, I like those. We use the cups (what person here doesn't?), and doubloons, when they throw them, have been my favorite since childhood. Of course, the one thing that trumps all of that is a Zulu coconut. I've only seen Zulu once before and that time, I came away with no coconut for my trouble. When Zulu started, I didn't think I would even really try for one this year, but as the floats passed, I realized that Tara's outfit (pictures to follow in her journal, I'm sure) might just be eye-catching enough to snag one. Furthermore, the riders were throwing out more coconuts than usual, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try. I talked her and Alice into going up front to see what they could do, and within a few minutes, a rider tossed a silver coconut right into Tara's hands. She had also tried to get one every time she went to Zulu, so she was really happy, and from there, we were content.
We took a break for lunch after Zulu, then watched some of Rex. Zulu had gotten delayed a good bit, so it was 12:30 by the time they were done and Rex was following right after them. We missed the court floats during out lunch, but caught most of the other floats, and they went by very quickly to keep on something that resembles a schedule. None of us felt like going out for the truck parades, so we just basked in our coconut-laden victory for the rest of the day.
Now, I'm sun-burned, tired, neither drunk, nor stoned, nor hungover, and I have to teach tomorrow.
Namaste
Living three blocks from the parade route gives one the opportunity to go to many parades. I've spent the last couple of weeks exercising said opportunity. I don't want to give a day-to-day breakdown, but I'll put down some highlights.
Friday, three parades were scheduled: Hermes, Krewe d'Etat, and Morpheus. Due to rain, Muses got tacked on at the end. I went out around 7:00pm and found that the theme for Hermes was one of my favorite myths, "Cupid and Psyche." During a gap, I got some food, then went back to the apartment to eat it, and went back out to catch the end of Hermes. I got some cool stuff from Krewe d'Etat, mostly a flashing high priest medallion, and then settled into a chair to watch Morpheus so I could rest up for Muses. Any reputation that Muses has for really awesome throws and generosity is well-deserved. I caught all kinds of nifty stuff, and just about anything remotely electronic had a battery compartment, so when the battery runs down, I can just replace it. By the time Muses was done, it was midnight, the latests I've ever been at a parade.
On Saturday, the main event was Tucks. Once again, really good throws, very generous riders, and a good long parade.
By Lundi Gras, I was pretty tired of the whole endeavor. Friday night really took the wind out of me, but I still wanted to go. I just made less and less effort to catch things.
Today, we got up early to catch Zulu. We're actually kinda close to the beginning of the route, so we had to get out there quick. We walked up to St. Charles at 8:30am, just as the lead vehicle was passing. Now, I hadn't been much for throws, but there are some things I always like to get. If there's a medallion, I like those. We use the cups (what person here doesn't?), and doubloons, when they throw them, have been my favorite since childhood. Of course, the one thing that trumps all of that is a Zulu coconut. I've only seen Zulu once before and that time, I came away with no coconut for my trouble. When Zulu started, I didn't think I would even really try for one this year, but as the floats passed, I realized that Tara's outfit (pictures to follow in her journal, I'm sure) might just be eye-catching enough to snag one. Furthermore, the riders were throwing out more coconuts than usual, so I figured it couldn't hurt to try. I talked her and Alice into going up front to see what they could do, and within a few minutes, a rider tossed a silver coconut right into Tara's hands. She had also tried to get one every time she went to Zulu, so she was really happy, and from there, we were content.
We took a break for lunch after Zulu, then watched some of Rex. Zulu had gotten delayed a good bit, so it was 12:30 by the time they were done and Rex was following right after them. We missed the court floats during out lunch, but caught most of the other floats, and they went by very quickly to keep on something that resembles a schedule. None of us felt like going out for the truck parades, so we just basked in our coconut-laden victory for the rest of the day.
Now, I'm sun-burned, tired, neither drunk, nor stoned, nor hungover, and I have to teach tomorrow.
Namaste
mocha:
ahaha the reason i know sarah is because SHE is the exboyfriend's boring new girlfriend. she's standing with nick, my ex.