she climbed out through the bathroom window January 21, 2008
I had a blast in Krewe du Vieux Saturday night, although when I woke up that morning to freezing-cold rain I almost decided to stay home. The rain stopped in the afternoon, but it was still very cold. Don rallied and decided he was not sick enough to drop out. I’m glad I didn’t wimp out, it was the most fun I’ve ever had in the parade and the crowds were enormous. As usual with KdV, the vibe was outstanding and the floats, marchers and costumes were spectacular. I think KdV is hands-down the best parade, and a large part of that is the fantastic crowds. Saturday was one of those days when I asked myself, “Grandma, why do you do this?” The appreciation of the crowd gave me my answer.
We had Rebirth marching with us and they were great, as always. I’m still in love with saxaphonist Vincent Broussard, and he still has no idea that I exist. Our king and queen represented us well, and I’ve seen some great photos of them. I met KdV King Ronald Lewis at the float den on Friday and he was the nicest, most benevolent monarch I have ever met. When he found out we were Mama Roux, he said, “ya’ll gave me the nicest gift!” He told Vivian he was going to put it in his museum.
I didn’t bring a camera because I had too much going on already, what with the Jello shots and whipped cream. I also had a costume malfunction, which is rare for me since I am such an old hand at costuming. Because it was so cold, I threw on a pair of bike shorts at the last minute. The shorts fit me when I was several pounds heavier, but no more. About halfway through the parade, I felt them sliding down. My skirt was made of felt and cellophane and the static electricity caused the skirt to slide down with the shorts. I hiked the damned thing over my shoulder and soldiered on. When I got home, those shorts went right into the garbage can. I’m keeping the skirt because you never know when you will need a yellow cellophane skirt.
I, Terry and a few others gave out Jello shots and squirted whipped cream into the mouths of the spectators. It is amazing how much fun that is. It’s amazing the number of people, including Jeffrey and Michael, who will allow you to do that to them. Many people ran up to me with their mouths open and ready to get creamed. They totally knew the drill. A few of the Mama Roux women rigged up bras with funnels on the front for titty-based whipped cream dispensing. I can’t begin to tell you how big that went over. I whipped-creamed everyone who looked like they would enjoy it. Many in our krewe said, “I don’t care what the theme is next year, we are definitely whipped-creaming again!”
When we got to the ball, Don had lost his bracelet. He said he would stay by the gate and try to find someone to let him in. I had to leave him and go in for the bathroom, which was portolettes. I wandered around in the space a while but it was really dark and I was too cold. The music was phenomenal, but I needed to find a place to sit. Our table was in a cave-like place with no heat and no light, and you couldn’t hear the band. Someone told me it was dark in there because a fuse was blown. I ran into Viv and Richard and we wandered around some more. Vivian said, “why can’t we just have the ball at the Royal Orleans?” I am in favor of that, and I will pay extra for lights and heat. I never thought I would miss the State Palace. It was like a maze. I lost Viv and Richard, so I figured I would go outside and see what was going on there. The front gate, on Elysian Fields, was closed and I was directed back to the other direction.
I went through the band area, the bar area, which was lit and warm, and back to the wrong corner, which was a dead end. I wandered around some more and found the back exit, where there was a chain link fence and two security guards standing under a tall metal heater. It was so cold I had to put my yellow latex gloves back on. I went and stood as close to the heater as I could, hoping all the cellophane would not ignite, and I tried to figure out where I was. I looked out the gate and saw Snug Harbor across the street. I looked at my phone and Don had called.
He said he couldn’t find anyone to let him into the ball, so he went home. It’s funny that there was no one at the gate who knew who Don is, and he’s not one to say, “do you know who I AM?” There are so many younger folks in KdV now. It’s very cool to see the new generation of nut-cases taking over, but at the same time it makes me feel (gasp!) middle aged. He asked me where I was.
“Inside a chain link fence, with two security guards, shivering under a heater, across the street from Snug Harbor.”
He said he would come and get me. While I waited, Vivian and Richard walked up, just as lost as me. Don made it to the corner of Royal and Frenchmen and brought us all home. As we were leaving, a person (either a very tall woman or a man with very long blond hair) keeled over right in front of us and fell out on Frenchmen Street. Yesterday morning, Don had to come back over here and take me to get my car, which was left on St. Roch. I have aches in all my muscles and I’ve come down with the cold that’s going around. [Update: the cold seems to have been just a sniffle and I'm fine today. I give all the credit to my Rite Aid multi vitamins.]
Yesterday afternoon, I had coffee with some of the other people who are running for the Orleans Parish Democratic Executive Committee, District A. The election, which is the same day as the Louisiana presidential primary, is on February 9. It’s right after Mardi Gras. Michael Homan was there, Deborah, Alan and Megan Langhoff, Janis Van Meerveld, Eric Torres and some others who are running on the same ticket. Our group of 14 is trying to get elected in District A so that we can work with other people to increase voter registration and citizen involvement. This group is not so much into backing a particular candidate as it is interested in policy and recruitment of new candidates. We are sending out a mailer to let everyone in the district know who we are. This election will probably have a low turn-out because there are no big elections taking place that day.
Here is something interesting that I learned: In the old days, members of the Parish Executive Committees of the parties had the privilege of getting people released from jail on their own recognizance just by making a phone call. This is no longer the case, but just imagine. What a way to build a loyal political organization - getting people released from jail. I wonder if they took them straight from jail to the Registrar of Voters. When I said, “vote for me and I’ll set you free,” that’s not exactly what I had in mind!
Here are some KdV photo sets that are going around: Michael Homan, Howie Luvsus, The Chicory, dsb nola, Karen Gadbois, Maitri, Nola Notes, Jean and Schroeder.
- Posted in : main, mardi gras 2008, new orleans
- Author : dangerblond
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