Big Sleezy day #1
The subject line is in no way a guaranteei will be documenting my entire trip. ;)
upon arriving at the airport yesterday, i got an unexpected lift from my cousin (whose wedding i am here for) as she was there to pick up a few arriving folks in her wedding party. it was delightful to see here as soon as i got here AND not have to deal with a shuttle or taxi to get into the city. once all of her expected guests landed, we spilt into two groups. she and the ladies went to get there nails did, and i went with the groom and his friends to the french quarter to check into our hotels and take in the city (read: start drinking). "take in the city" we did, as we wandered the streets hopping from place to place. sadly the boys were mostly into drifting around Bourbon street and surrounding blocks, which meant cheezy place, ridiculous drinks and lots of tourists. regardless, it was nice to spend a lazy afternoon getting to hang out with these guys. the whole thing had a kind of sedate bachelor party feel, which was fun for me since i'm not actually a part of the wedding and haven't been part of a bachelor outing in years. We ended up in jackson sq at some point, where we came upon the Youngfellaz brass band. i met these guys at honk tx in austin in march and they're a blazing hot little brass band. into between tunes, i said hi and was delighted that they remembered ENSMB and thought we were great. :) (this is the 1st of many times on this trip i am suspect to be kicking myself for not bringing my horn). They were bummed that we're not going to be at honk west in Seatle, but they were happy to tell me they plan to make it up to our honk this fall. :D the world, it is not so big. more carousing ensued and the only big downside was that herding drunken dudes around the quarter sadly resulted in us eating at pretty lackluster locations.
after awhile i broke off from the group to check out this guy playing guitar on a street corner. he had gathered 5 or 6 people, and from the look of the group, it was much more 'my type of people' than the majority of folks wandering bourbon street. sure enough they were all a little funky and the guy singing and playing was amazing. he was in his mid 20s and could best be described as prince if he came out of southern CA in the 90s. really solid tunes, slick guitar playing with killer riffs and good ryhthm accompaniment, and super catchy and clever lyrics. it was partnered with a young photog/documentarian who claimed to have dropped out of college to basically follow this guy on his path to inevitable stardom. i ended up hanging out with them and drifting from spot to spot for nearly 2 hours, all the while talking music biz talk and listening to this guy serenade passers by. he wasn't busking in that he didn't play constantly and was taking money. he simply would ask every person that passed if he could play them a song. most people ignored him like a hobo asking for change, but when a person stopped, he'd ask their music taste and launch into one of his original tunes. every single person that stopped was completely stuck in place and enraptured by his music. it was fresh, fun and really engaging. we exchanged info and i asked them to hit me up if they were playing out anywhere while i'm here. i ran into them on the street again later that night, we chatted some more and hopefully we'll meet up againi before i leave town.
i eventually wandered back to the hotel where the wedding party and most of the family is staying. i surprised my aunt as she was standing on the street and i seemed to pop out of nowhere randomly. there was much hugging and some catching up. she's often described me as her soul mate, so needless to say it was great to see her and get to talk to someone that so completely gets me. i do love that woman. :) my uncle soon showed up with a truck load of wedding supplies (read: decorations and coolers full of booze). i helped them get unloaded and settled in to their rooms, before they made plans to head off to dinner. instead of joining them, i finally made my way to my hotel, checked in, showered and took a much needed nap. upon waking, i checked in with the rest of the party only to find that people were either in bed, passed out or otherwise exhausted. undeterred, i struck out on my own with some recommendations solicited from friends pre-trip and lots of referencing of my yelp iphone app.
i wandered off around Frenchman street, which as near as i can tell is the border of a neighborhood that seems like the Brooklyn of New Olreans (read:tourists no, hispters & hippies yes)
now you get a list
-Mr. Coop's: slightly divey bandana and skull tshirt crowd. ate delicious jambalaya with rabbit, sausage, shrimp, crawfish and cured ham! fucking delicious, particularly alongside local microbrew
-Three Muses: went for dessert, which they didn't have, stayed for super tight little jazz combo
-Ran into Youngfellaz brass band again rocking a little street corner dance party.
-passed a tattoo shop. recognized the girl out front as someone handing out 20% off flyers much earlier in the day on bourbon street. i stopped to chat and eventually went in to talk to one of the artists about my honk tattoo. she gave me a great quote and planned for me to come back the next day. i ended up hanging out front of the place for several hours with the staff, friends and passerbys. all were super nice, and pretty much the kind of punks and weirdos you'd expect to be hanging out at a tattoo and piercing place. their piercer talked to me a lot about getting something done, but sadly i don't think i can afford both, despite the offer of some really friendly prices.
-stumbled into John, which was a dark funky bar for locals, musicians and scenesters. was warned in advance i could get sucked in for life, and now understand why. i had a drink and managed to escape ;)
-went back to hotel, ordered some tasty pizza, promptly fell asleep
all in all, a good trip so far ;) today the rest of my family arrives, and family type activities kick into high gear. before this though, i should be getting a tattoo. :crosses fingers:
two things i forgot about New Orleans. 1) the air is so different here (heat, humidity,etc.), which makes the physical sessation of being here so unique. i've missed the feeling of it. 2) they play jazz _everywhere_ not just live, but every public space playing music where you'd usually hear top 40, pop and the like, plays jazz. not surprisingly, i think this is awesome. :)
upon arriving at the airport yesterday, i got an unexpected lift from my cousin (whose wedding i am here for) as she was there to pick up a few arriving folks in her wedding party. it was delightful to see here as soon as i got here AND not have to deal with a shuttle or taxi to get into the city. once all of her expected guests landed, we spilt into two groups. she and the ladies went to get there nails did, and i went with the groom and his friends to the french quarter to check into our hotels and take in the city (read: start drinking). "take in the city" we did, as we wandered the streets hopping from place to place. sadly the boys were mostly into drifting around Bourbon street and surrounding blocks, which meant cheezy place, ridiculous drinks and lots of tourists. regardless, it was nice to spend a lazy afternoon getting to hang out with these guys. the whole thing had a kind of sedate bachelor party feel, which was fun for me since i'm not actually a part of the wedding and haven't been part of a bachelor outing in years. We ended up in jackson sq at some point, where we came upon the Youngfellaz brass band. i met these guys at honk tx in austin in march and they're a blazing hot little brass band. into between tunes, i said hi and was delighted that they remembered ENSMB and thought we were great. :) (this is the 1st of many times on this trip i am suspect to be kicking myself for not bringing my horn). They were bummed that we're not going to be at honk west in Seatle, but they were happy to tell me they plan to make it up to our honk this fall. :D the world, it is not so big. more carousing ensued and the only big downside was that herding drunken dudes around the quarter sadly resulted in us eating at pretty lackluster locations.
after awhile i broke off from the group to check out this guy playing guitar on a street corner. he had gathered 5 or 6 people, and from the look of the group, it was much more 'my type of people' than the majority of folks wandering bourbon street. sure enough they were all a little funky and the guy singing and playing was amazing. he was in his mid 20s and could best be described as prince if he came out of southern CA in the 90s. really solid tunes, slick guitar playing with killer riffs and good ryhthm accompaniment, and super catchy and clever lyrics. it was partnered with a young photog/documentarian who claimed to have dropped out of college to basically follow this guy on his path to inevitable stardom. i ended up hanging out with them and drifting from spot to spot for nearly 2 hours, all the while talking music biz talk and listening to this guy serenade passers by. he wasn't busking in that he didn't play constantly and was taking money. he simply would ask every person that passed if he could play them a song. most people ignored him like a hobo asking for change, but when a person stopped, he'd ask their music taste and launch into one of his original tunes. every single person that stopped was completely stuck in place and enraptured by his music. it was fresh, fun and really engaging. we exchanged info and i asked them to hit me up if they were playing out anywhere while i'm here. i ran into them on the street again later that night, we chatted some more and hopefully we'll meet up againi before i leave town.
i eventually wandered back to the hotel where the wedding party and most of the family is staying. i surprised my aunt as she was standing on the street and i seemed to pop out of nowhere randomly. there was much hugging and some catching up. she's often described me as her soul mate, so needless to say it was great to see her and get to talk to someone that so completely gets me. i do love that woman. :) my uncle soon showed up with a truck load of wedding supplies (read: decorations and coolers full of booze). i helped them get unloaded and settled in to their rooms, before they made plans to head off to dinner. instead of joining them, i finally made my way to my hotel, checked in, showered and took a much needed nap. upon waking, i checked in with the rest of the party only to find that people were either in bed, passed out or otherwise exhausted. undeterred, i struck out on my own with some recommendations solicited from friends pre-trip and lots of referencing of my yelp iphone app.
i wandered off around Frenchman street, which as near as i can tell is the border of a neighborhood that seems like the Brooklyn of New Olreans (read:tourists no, hispters & hippies yes)
now you get a list
-Mr. Coop's: slightly divey bandana and skull tshirt crowd. ate delicious jambalaya with rabbit, sausage, shrimp, crawfish and cured ham! fucking delicious, particularly alongside local microbrew
-Three Muses: went for dessert, which they didn't have, stayed for super tight little jazz combo
-Ran into Youngfellaz brass band again rocking a little street corner dance party.
-passed a tattoo shop. recognized the girl out front as someone handing out 20% off flyers much earlier in the day on bourbon street. i stopped to chat and eventually went in to talk to one of the artists about my honk tattoo. she gave me a great quote and planned for me to come back the next day. i ended up hanging out front of the place for several hours with the staff, friends and passerbys. all were super nice, and pretty much the kind of punks and weirdos you'd expect to be hanging out at a tattoo and piercing place. their piercer talked to me a lot about getting something done, but sadly i don't think i can afford both, despite the offer of some really friendly prices.
-stumbled into John, which was a dark funky bar for locals, musicians and scenesters. was warned in advance i could get sucked in for life, and now understand why. i had a drink and managed to escape ;)
-went back to hotel, ordered some tasty pizza, promptly fell asleep
all in all, a good trip so far ;) today the rest of my family arrives, and family type activities kick into high gear. before this though, i should be getting a tattoo. :crosses fingers:
two things i forgot about New Orleans. 1) the air is so different here (heat, humidity,etc.), which makes the physical sessation of being here so unique. i've missed the feeling of it. 2) they play jazz _everywhere_ not just live, but every public space playing music where you'd usually hear top 40, pop and the like, plays jazz. not surprisingly, i think this is awesome. :)