It's Carnival Time in New Orleans. I've participated in a few events, mostly non-"mainstream" ones thus far.

Saturday 26 Jan I caught a little bit of the 'Tit Rəx mini-parade on St. Roch Avenue and later on Franklin Avenue on my way towards the lineup for the Chewbacchus Parade later that evening. Chewbacchus is a science-fiction related Carnival ( Read more... )

The Krewe du Vieux parade kicked off the New Orleans Carnival parade season last Saturday evening.

My pix on Flickr; some NSFW

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The weather was pretty much perfect for Mardi Gras Day this year. There are no doubt a thousand excellent ways to enjoy Mardi Gras in New Orleans; here's what mshollie and I did.

( Illustrated description )

Short video of "Bear's Eternally Annoying Royal Band" (including yours frogly) playing at a party the Saturday before Mardi Gras. Low quality video (half of it sideways), though some of the good-time spirit comes through.

YouTube Video

Local Carnival pundit Erroll Laborde made an apt observation that unlike such parades as the Rose Bowl or Macy's Thanksgiving, New Orleans Mardi Gras Season parades are designed as participatory experiences, not to look good on tv.

Still, I enjoyed watching this and some of you might too:

Krewe du Vieux parade video on NOLA.com[edit ( Read more... )

Since my last update, I've played a "jazz funeral" parade for a dog... (If one of your thoughts when your beloved dog dies is to get a brass band to parade around a circuit of your dog's favorite neighborhood places while inviting friends to dance in the streets in your dog's honor, you might be a New Orleanian. I think this city can get more life ( Read more... )

The "Not Dead Yet" celebrations are heating up ( Read more... )

Article on various New Orleans topics by Lolis Eric Elie. I hope many out-of-towners get to read this, particularly the second half.

Unmasking Our Pain in New Orleans

Photos from yesterday's Krewe du Vieux. Mine were mostly taken before the parade started. Also, links to some other folk's pix. May not be safe for work, depending.

( look, see )