Keepin' it simple..

Today got up had breakfast. & then cooked up a pot of Super Bowl jambalaya . Later in ithe morning headed out to the Super Bowl Sunday Treme Sidewalk Steppers secondline . First time I did a secondline from beginning to the end. Parade featured the Rebirth Brass Band who don't do second lines much anymore and were making their last NO appearance before heading to the Grammys. The parade steadily picked up people as it went along and by the end had to be Several thousand strong- it was wild! Speaking of the end- this parade is marked by the president of the secondline climbing up on the roof of the bar where parade ends ( in this case, Sidney's Saloon) and proceeding to take off and cut up his suit! First the jacket, then the tie, then his shirt, one of his pant legs and finally his hat was removed, shredded w scissors and thrown off the roof to the crowd below. As they say, only in New Orleans! After the parade headed back to sis's house to eat , watch the big game & rest up for tomorrow's playground build. Peace out.

Do watcha wanna..

Alright. Started day off volunteering at ARC o f Greater New Orleans- new appreciation for beads & throws. Workers at program were great . Next up Krewe of Midcity den party. Floats look great & met bunch of nice folks including the king and his wife who are also originally from PA but now live in New Orleans. Hail Mid City! From den party to pre-parade party before Krewe du Vieux. Poured rain at one point but all gone by parade time. Parade was usual wild and wacky spectacle. Tomorrow Super Bowl Sunday second line & the Super Bowl- until then!

Day. 2 Let's go get 'em

K...am bike ride into FQ. Breakfast-stop st Matassas market: Hubigs Sweet Potato Pie. Drop off tux pants to be fixed for Krewe of Mid City Ball. French Market -tri color boa for my wife. To old US Mint-Preservation Hall @ 50 exhibit. Bike out to Marigny- stumble on Treme filming; get yelled at bc my reflection in window is in the shot . Back on bike- to lunch. Golden feather Mardi Gras Gallery & Cafe- seafood gumbo & buffalo shrimp. Bike thru Armstrong Park. Ride back to Mid city- stop at Rouses- jambalaya fixings for Super Bowl Sunday at sis's house; also six pack of Nola Brewery Blonde Ale in cans. Back to sis's- shower & relax. Walk to streetcar. Streetcar to Garden District. Walk to Irish Channel neighborhood- dinner: Parasol's Bar: Roast beef PO boy , dressed. Messy & delicious. Walk to Bulldog Bar. On way, stop at Sucre Bakery- free sample of King Cake macaroons- out of thi world. Arrive Bulldog Bar- mob scene ; Abita Amber in cans- 2 bucks! Meet up w friends - chat while waiting for bus back to FQ. Stop - Rouses for King Cake- Bavarian filled; Bud Light- big Mardi Gras can . All this walkin making me thirsty. To house party in FQ- cocktail party for Krewe du Vieux Sub Krewe. Deliver king cake- eat Mac & cheese, bahn mi sandwich, piece of king cake. Say goodnight- will see group at pre-parade party tomorrow. On to Circle Bar for Debauche- Eastern European/ Gypsy Brass Band music.. Whew- goodnight !

in New Orleans

From airport to Vaughn's -thanks sis! From Vaughns to JJs Sports Bar.. From JJ's via bike to Frenchmen St..Apple Barrel- Lil Freddie King then Spotted Cat .. Smokin Time Jazz Band.. Good night!

It's not ALL fun and games..altho mostly so...

Heading to New Orleans tonite. Krewe of Mid-City den party is on Saturday as is one of the first parades of the season Krewe du Vieux (looks like it could literally rain on the parade but think its a rain or shine type deal). Also looking to go to a Super Bowl Sunday Second Line featuring the Treme Sidewalk Steppers on Sunday afternoon. One other event to mention, I hope to get to a Friday nite Abita beer "can" launch event (very excited about this one). This is a pretty typical schedule when I visit New Orleans but since Katrina, I have also been trying to work in some volunteer activities when I visit. In the past couple years I have volunteered-through Hands on New Orleans- at a homeless service center (the New Orleans Mission) as well as working to help repaint the exterior of a woman's house that was damaged in the flood (through the Beacon Of Hope non-profit). That experience was particularily rewarding- at lunch my volunteer colleagues & I were called inside and served a huge meal of fried chicken and gumbo by the lady of the house. She also shared here story of having to leave her home and then come back to it months later. She showed us how far the water had gotten up the walls in her home (almost to the ceiling) and talked about how much things had changed since the storm. Needless to say it was a very intense and emotional experience. This time down, I am going to volunteer a couple hours on Saturday morning at the ARC of Greater New Orleans which has a non-profit sheltered workshop for adults with disabilities- and this being New Orleans- one of their primary work tasks is recycling Mardi Gras beads and throws to sell back to the public during carnival time, so they are really busy right now (I actually purchased 3 bags of plush toys from the program to use as throws in the Krewe Of Mid City parade; the other fun fact: this program is headed by Margie Perez who is also a well known New Orleans musician). Then, on Monday of next week, I signed up for the day to assist w/ a national non-profit program-KABOOM! -that organizes volunteers to build new playgrounds in one day at schools or parks in communities around the country. I will be at the Langston Hughes Academy Charter School working with a group of volunteers. I will try to do some "live" blogging from New Orleans as I go about my business so stay tuned!

Yes..Amazon.com has tuxedos..

..and I'm going to need one because it's not just about the parade. Altho the parade is the "main event" most krewes have multiple activities and other events in the months, weeks and days leading up to their parades each year. The logistics and planning to coordinate and put on a parade for one krewe- let alone the 60+ who parade during carnival season- is mind boggling. Mid City's krewe has I think maybe 14 floats and around 200 riders; some of the "super krewes" have 3x the number of floats (and the floats are as long as 2 tractor trailers!) and maybe 1000 to 1500 riders..so, lets do the math: we are talking about dozens of floats to prepare and get to the parade route (typically pulled by trucks or in the case of Mid-City by tractors), organizing and transporting maybe 10-25 marching bands to the start of each parade, wrangling thousands of riders to the start and get them on their floats and before any of this literally tons of beads have to be loaded onto the floats! Pre-parade activities held by each krewe typically include den parties (den= the warehouse where the floats are stored), special breakfasts, brunches, cigar strolls, balcony parties, bead loadings, and formal balls. In addition, there is usually a whole set of "special" get togethers and events exclusively for members of the krewe's "royal court"-king, queen, dukes and duchesses-of that year's parade. On parade day, there may be a pre-parade mass (New Orleans has a very Catholic history) and breakfast (which for Mid-City by the way is BYOB), -and then there is the task of getting the riders dressed into costume and transported from their hotels to the start of the parade which usually means arranging for buses and other mass transportation. After the parade, there is typically a post-parade party-which for at least one of the super krewes ends with their floats rolling right INSIDE the New Orleans Superdome where the riders re-join their families,friends and other members of the larger krewe for a huge party. So, there is a lot going on in-especially in the few days running up to each krewe's parade. I will be going to the Krewe of Mid-City den party this weekend down in New Orleans where I will get to go to the krewe den, see the newly decorated floats, meet some of the other riders-including my float "captain"- and also hopefully get to see which float and where on the float ("sidewalk" or "neutral ground" side) I will be assigned to ride and throw. Then, when my wife and I go back to New Orleans together a few days before the parade, there will be a "bead load" get together on the Thursday before the parade-where literally all the beads and other throws get loaded onto the floats for the riders- and then on that Friday night is the krewe's formal ball and supper dance at a hotel in downtown New Orleans. These balls are very formal affairs- tuxedos for the men and gowns (not dresses) for the ladies are required. So back to the tuxedo.....Since I shop for just about everything these days on Amazon.com, for the heck of it I thought-since I had earned Amazon "points"-maybe I could buy vs rent a tuxedo at a good price. And, sure enough, I found a tuxedo that after applying my points ended up costing me about $17 which included having it shipped to my sister's house in New Orleans. In the meantime, my wife found a very nice burgundy full length gown at a great price at a local department store which- along with our dress shoes- is also in the mail on the way to my sister's. The ball starts at 7pm and goes until 3am (!). The court is formally presented to the King and Queen, there is dinner and dancing, and most importantly, an open bar until 2am. Should be quite a party. This is really gonna be something.

Mardi Gras 101

All right. Time for a quick primer about Mardi Gras. What is Mardi Gras? Well, Mardi Gras is not the drunken mess on Bourbon street with the beads and the flashing; in fact, believe it or not, for most local folks Mardi Gras season is a time to get together with family and friends out in the neighborhoods where the parades roll. Yes that's right- it is very much a family activity with people gathering together year after year at the same spot on the parade route to eat and drink and watch the parades roll by in hopes of catching some extra special "throws" as they also catch up with each other on the events of the past year. Ok so Mardi Gras can be a family holiday. Mardi Gras is also about the parades -which not only roll in New Orleans proper but in the surrounding towns and suburbs. Mardi Gras is also all about the throws- beads and more beads of all different sizes lengths and shapes; trinkets, dubloons, "plush" toys, coconuts, shoes, plastic cups, sunglasses- you name it, and one of the many krewes probably throws it. Many krewes have a signature throw- some of the most famous: Zulu coconuts (which are handed to bystanders vs thrown for obvious reasons), the famous Rex metallic dubloon, the Krewe of Muses  decorated shoes and so on and so forth. As the floats roll by its tradition to yell "Throw me something mister" and hope that you catch a rider's eye who will single you out in the crowd and hopefully throw you that special something. Mardi Gras is the Mardi Gras Indians who work on their "pretty suits" all year and then make appearances on Mardi Gras morning  throughout the neighborhods and side streets of the city. Mardi Gras is history and tradition. There are lots of ways  to "do" Mardi Gras- this Frommer's article is a pretty good one in terms of providing different ways- nice, naughty or nasty- to spend that special day. And of course, Mardi Gras is king cake which at this point is available in an ever increasing number of different shapes, colors, and flavors that spark continuous debates about which is the best over the 3 week carnival season. King Cake season officially starts on Twelfth Night and lasts thru Mardi Gras Day altho over the past few years- much to the chagrin of traditionalists- they have started to appear and/or become available at other holidays or special occurences (think Saints Super Bowl a couple years ago) as well. Finally, let's not forget Mr. Mardi Gras- Arthur Hardy- who is the official historian on all things Mardi Gras. He publishes an annual "Mardi Gras Guide" which is widely available during Mardi Gras in and around the city and which quickly become collectibles. Go here for more info.....21 days and counting til Krewe Of Mid City Parade- Hail Mid City!