Noteworthy in Nola

I really had no idea that peep manipulation was so widespread, and then I saw the Washington Post has an annual contest- this year there were 1100+ entries of people who’ve done elaborate things with the marshmallow Easter candies. There are flickr groups, and many many bad puns around them:

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

But I knew peeps had really hit the big time when I saw the Mardi Gras dioramas:

Happy Easter!

More Hermes photos here.

One of the reasons d’Etat’s one of my absolute favorites (other than their scathing wit, of course) is their embrace of the old fashioned grotesqueries. In a time when everything has got to be perfectly scrubbed and lovely it’s nice to have a bit of the flavor of what it was originally about. A little danger, a little mortality reminds you to really enjoy the fun on offer.

More d’Etat here.

This was the first year we’ve done White Buffalo Day, and we’re glad we did, though there were saddened to find fewer people than we’d expected.

According to Powersource.com, the legend of the White Buffalo goes like this:

One summer a long time ago, the seven sacred council fires of the Lakota Sioux came together and camped. The sun was strong and the people were starving for there was no game.

Two young men went out to hunt. Along the way, the two men met a beautiful young woman dressed in white who floated as she walked. One man had bad desires for the woman and tried to touch her, but was consumed by a cloud and turned into a pile of bones.

The woman spoke to the second young man and said, “Return to your people and tell them I am coming.” This holy woman brought a wrapped bundle to the people. She unwrapped the bundle giving to the people a sacred pipe and teaching them how to use it to pray. “With this holy pipe, you will walk like a living prayer,” she said. The holy woman told the Sioux about the value of the buffalo, the women and the children. “You are from Mother Earth,” she told the women, “What you are doing is as great as the warriors do.”

Before she left, she told the people she would return. As she walked away, she rolled over four times, turning into a white female buffalo calf. It is said after that day the Lakota honored their pipe, and buffalo were plentiful.

The procession started from the Backstreet Museum, which is dedicated to Mardi Gras Indians and Social Aid & Pleasure Clubs, and is well worth a visit. It’s little, but a wealth of information.

The ceremony is led by the Reverend Goat (short for Go On And Try), as it has been for the last 15 years. In fact, four years ago today as they held the ceremony there were sounds of traffic and aggravation all around as the city emptied in the Katrina evacuation, but peace and crickets were all there were to be heard tonight.

The local men who sung and chanted are part of the New Orleans tradition of honoring the American Indians for the assistance they gave the slaves, hiding them when they ran away from their ‘owners,’ and treating them as equals. Tonight they spoke passionately about traveling to visit the Hopi and other tribes, sharing their beliefs and experiences and trying to find ways to bring peace and happiness to both their peoples.

Video of a warmup here.
Video of the blessing of the pipes is here.

Okay, so it’s way, waaay late, but I’ve just started sorting photos, etc and uploaded a video of Mardi Gras day.

You know you’re finally fully recovered from Carnival when you can look at pics and such from Fat Tuesday and think “Yeah, that was pretty damn good. How much longer til it comes around again?”

Anyway, it’s short, but gives some idea of the crowds, here goes:
(YouTube link here.)

(apologies- I just noticed that I somehow never hit publish on this one, so it’s 2 weeks late, even though it was written on the Sunday it happened. Argh.)

Off we headed around noon, down to Central City for the beginning of the Mardi Gras Indians’ Super Sunday parade. This year it seemed like fewer tribes were there for the start, but were going to come in while they were underway.

But in a way, that was just fine- there was more more Indian-like behavior today- War Chants and dancing, calling back and forth among the tribes. It was a beautiful day for it, and a great way to pass the afternoon.

I took the camera, of course, but got caught up in watching faces more than costumes. I just adored this little girl, who just knew she was the star of the day:

There actually seemed to be more kids in general this year, which was great.

Not that the adults were coasting, of course:

Click for more Mardi Gras Indian photos, or here to learn more about Mardi Gras Indians and Super Sunday.

Another Mardi Gras oddity people don’t know about are the ways some of the Krewes have to make sure you know about their theme and floats.

Muses, Chaos and D’Etat- the three most political, sarcastic and topical Krewes- all toss out detailed drawings and explanations of their themes. The floats pass by so quickly that, even if you forego bead begging, it’s nearly impossible to read the entire thing before it’s gone.

For example, Muses’ theme was Bond this year; every float was a reference to a movie or character. Here’s the paper’s description of their “Latino Royale” float:

And the real deal:

The Muses have lots of mini krewes that parade with them, most comprised of wild and unconventional women. Case in point, the Lady Godivas:

The Ladies don suits airbrushed to make them look like the lady of legend and parade on horseback through the city, not naked, but still getting lots of attention. Nude or no, it’s got to take a fair amount of nerve to pull it off…heck, even their logo is provocative…lol

Although it’s not quite one of the mini-krewes, there’s always a contingent of dancing mockery at the begining of d’Etat. Last year it was about Mike Vick.

This year’s theme was much closer to home, poking fun at our very own much hated Archbishop Hughes, and his hamfisted handling of closing of several local parishes, including the arrest of worshipers (one of whom was Poppy Z. Brite- the horror stupidity).

Judging by the crowd’s reaction, there was little doubt where their sympathies lay.

First came the Papal Police banner, announcing that you were being evicted from on high…


Then then dancing archbishops having way too much fun with their billy clubs…

Followed by some naughty nuns and their resupply wagon, aka their rolling church:

So I guess the moral is that in New Orleans you should be careful in your battles, because you never know where they’ll be replayed.

When people think about Mardi Gras parades, they naturally think of the massive floats, beads by the ton, marching bands, and huge crowds.

All big parts of the fun, of course.

But a lot of the real excitement comes from the mini-krewes- the small groups with some offbeat theme they go off and share with the world. One of the Kings (har har) of this are the Rolling Elvi- a couple dozen guys in sequined costumes riding the loudest, stinkiest scooters you ever imagined, all having more fun than you’d ever thought possible.

Well, when you’re royalty, you can’t very well walk can you?