(Things start at 9 NY time. WWOZ will riding in Zulu so let's see what
that's like. So far, Krewe Du Vieux and Bacchus have been my
favorites. They also had the best video quality.)
I tune in at about 8:30 NY time. WWOZ is broadcasting live from Zulu
they say. Haven't heard anything that would indicate that.
Looking at the earthcam bourbocam. Nobody is walking around in
costume. What's up with that? True, it is 8 in the morning but at
least there should be a few people out there wandering around like
lost souls. (see Bourbocam 2006)
Hey Oh! Huey Piano Smith - Don't You just Know it. Me been drinking!
Ha Ha Ha!
I watch the street cleaning crew clean up near the Bourbocam. Imagine
waking up on Mardi Gras day and going to work to clean up Bourbon St.
Amen for my good life.
The cleaning crews are doing a real good job. Good!
Do what you wanna - Dirty Dozen? No.
A plastic bag blows onto Bourbon St. The street sweeper just went by
but a guy with a broom sweeps it up. Right on!
Oh great, bob French next. New Orleans worst ambassador.
It's 9 am in NO. I don't see anyone in costume on Bourbon St. What's
up with that?
Ok, I see one. And a Sousaphone. Alright.
Bob French comes on nicely. Good morning. Kinda quiet. "Ain't no time
for no violence. Good. You people in NYC, I'm sorry you ain't here.
Well, alright." Now he talks on the phone and isn't aware he is also
on mic.
Seeing more crowds on the Pardadecam.
Bob dedicates this to all the big fat women out there. Ok. Help yourself.
A whole slew of bike riders goes by the Bourbocam.
More costumes. Good.
Whoa. Floats passing by the Paradecam! 10:13 NY time.
Watching a Miller Light truck BACK UP on Bourbon St. No one gets run over.
There are f'ing floats going down St Charles and no one is on the Paradecam.
DSU cam is live. They got Zulu on! An aerial cam but Zulu
nonetheless. 10:18 NY time. "Must have taken many hours to get ready
to go to work today". Expect lots of bad humor on this.
Pete Fountain in the Zulu parade. The DSU woman is yakking away,
rapid fire. I turn them down. Listen to OZ. "If you can't be good, be
good at it."
DSU screen goes black. Iko Iko on OZ. They go black for commercials I
guess. Bands go by but we can't hear them, the hosts are yakking. And
the cam is way too high up.
Mardi Gras Mambo...
Woman says: "You look glazed and dazed", to Bob.
Bob cues up a song and then says I'm not sure if I want to play this song.
DSU hosts are way up on the Hotel De Cirque. A safe distance. Cute
blond. You think you're going to get a coconut way up there?
John Boutte - Mardi Gras Mambo as a real mambo on OZ.
Bunch of big wigs on the Bourbocam. Hi! Blue hair, purple hair...
Another latin song on OZ.
11:23 am NY time. Nothing much going on. Ate some shrimp. (I'm going
to run out WAY before I am satiated.) Now eating pistachios. Zulu
parade going on on the DSU cam but it's too far away. Still nothing
going on on the Paradecam. Bob is playing a sad song about a woman
who misses her lover. Drinking Again.
There's Pete Fountain on the DSU Zulu parade cam which is now street
level. They have audio of it, good. See some nice costumes. Doing
Margie! The great Ray Charles song. One of my favorites by Ray, done
on that live album, Ray Charles Live, a great album. Nice!
The Fantastic Four on the Bourbocam! Bob French playing, That't The
Time I Feel Like Making Love... lol. (Topsy Chapman singing them.)
I need another drink.
McCormicks, the cheaper Bailey's. Nice funky tune on OZ. Bob speaks
then WAY overmodulates, playing Henry Butler - Iko Iko... Easy Bob.
DSU cam shows radar with rain over NO, but not for long.
I see a woman pirate on Bourbon St., with purple legs. As Jeff would
say, hello pretty lady. The Jesus freaks are back! ARE YOU BORN
AGAIN? NO!!!
I thought the Paradecam was going to be on at 10 NO time. It is
almost 12 NY time, 11 NO time and they are still on the roof. No
parade happening though. I take it back, there goes a military band.
And vendors. And riders on horses. And floats. Did someone oversleep?
Nope they have a host but are still on the roof. Lauren is hosting.
"Happy Mardi Gras, sweetheart", heard on OZ.
Nice float on the Zulu parade. Nice drumming on OZ but overmodulated,
seriously overmodulated. Rebirth - On A Mardi Gras Day. We see an
American Indian with head-dress in the reviewing stand on the DSU
cam, Zulu parade. Nonstop parades wherever you look. Mardi Gras
overload!! OZ, Paradecam, DSU cam...
Raining doubloons!, heard on the Paradecam.
Right Time Wrong Place - brass band version. Nice. Overmodulated but
nice. I can look past that. But it is typical of WWOZ production
values. Amateurs. Haven't gotten better in all these years.
(12 pm NY time) Nice black and white tiger on Zulu parade. Incredible
headdresses. Huge.
That looks like Arthur Hardy with the DSU hosts.
Maxing out my computer. Getting nice dribs and drabs of DSU cam
audio, Paradecam audio, OZ audio.
Zulu handing out NutriGrain bars! lol
DSU cam: "This is exhausting." Wimps.
Zulus riding on top of the fire truck. Very white people doing
commentary. "They really go full out into their costumes." Their
problem? They talk too much. Relax and enjoy it.
Whoa. Bourbon St is getting crowded! Well alright. 12 NY time
still... 12: 06 actually.
Nice audio soup. Paradecam, DSU cam, OZ. Very nice.
I sing along with OZ, Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans
and the DSU cam, and the Paradecam. Nice melange.
Scott, we're multifaceted, Bob French says. Bob says goodbye. Bye
Bob. Paradecam has Laurie and other non-native host. And we DO get
dead air from OZ!! What Bozos. (Where is it, Bob asks.) Clueless
amateurs. Funny. "We are expecting temporary difficulties."
(Experiencing?)
I laugh. OZ still doesn't have it's act together. They never will .
See fire engine on Paradecam.
Gotta roll with it on OZ. The end of Rex on the Paradecam. Elks next.
DSU cam:" We should identify these people." Nice audio soup with all three.
OZ stream stops. Maybe I have too much going on here... Only 91% CPU
use... 12:33 pm NY time.
Very little of any stream getting through now. Only a few dribs of
the DSU cam audio.
Ooh, silence. Can't deal with that. Now we get DSU cam back. "Things
are looking back to good." What the hell does that mean? lol. Mardi
Gras madness.
DSU cam: "Here comes the tribal king." ..."As he tosses out all those
riches, so to speak."
DSU cam: "The stuffed animals. This is what I'm telling you."...
"What's interesting, those backup tractors." lol, these guys are
hilarious. Must be Republicans. Not used to seeing black people. I
crack myself up. "Those girls can dance too." "I'm so jealous of
these girls, I have two left left." Mitchell High School of Memphis,
TN.
OZ is back. 1 pm NY time. DSU cam: Didn't know there were so many
riding clubs around here. Arthur Hardy on DSU cam.
OZ is playing a nice smooth variation on a brass band tune.
DSU cam is on Poydras by One Shell Square. Dr john singing Mama Roux
on OZ! "Wham bam, Hang the ham"
Zulu is only half way through! 1 pm NY times.
"Everybody do your thing. Who knows what tomorrow brings."
Paradecam still with no host, but parade passing by. 1:10 pm NY time.
Inkster High School, Inster, MN. I never knew there was such a place.
I've heard of a Jay Inkster but had no idea there was an Inkster
anywhere.
DSU cam: "A family oriented parade."
Nice evil mouse float on DSU cam. Do What You Wanna on OZ. Gotta
love it. Sure, my computer keyboard is covered with pistachio stains.
I'm having fun. Will clean it all up tomorrow.
Not seeing very many costumes on the Bourbocam.
Looks like a nice band on the DSU cam but they aren't letting us hear
their music.
Do What You Wanna still on. A nice soundtrack to the DSU cam with
their chattering idiots muted. Yeah, you right.
Doin' The ? ? Strut. Front Porch Strut! "Do the front porch strut.
Swing your butt. Swing it to the left, swing it to the right." My new
favorite song. 433 A <-
DSU is showing a Metairie parade... Argus.
So Tom, what was that? He doesn't say!!
Paradecam is still stopped.
Want My Money Back again on OZ. Another version.
Almost time for lunch. Fried catfish. Yum. May have to start that before Rex...
DSU cam : "One of the longest Zulu parades in history. This is
unfortunate." "We're waiting for the king of merriment..." Sure we
are...
A leaning tower or Pizza on one float. "They mean well." as they get pelted.
Arthur: " I feel like I'm doing a hurricane report." "Are we ready to
get toasted", another DSU anchor. Queen of Argus.
Rex is beginning at last. 1:40 NY time. The LSU marching band. Nice
drumming and nice lines but not a NO tune.
Rex comes by. 1:42 pm NY time. Towards the 2000 block of St Charles.
Paradecam is still stuck on a stopped parade. DSU cam has Rex moving
on down.
Riders on Rex? wearing blackface! Some with one eye whitened. Man,
they got balls.
DSU cam: 40 minute delays, Blaine Kern trucks pulling away...
"The only thing that we really have is our funk down by Congo
Square." Mardi Gras indian song on OZ.
2pm Paradecam paradecam is still stuck.
No audio from DSU cam, it's breaking up.
DSU cam: Still waiting for Rex to start. My mind spins.
Rebirth with the Nightcrawlers! on OZ.
Paradecam is finally moving. 2 pm NY time. Is that Elks? (Bad hum on
the Paradecam but we can hear Lauren occasionally. Still on the roof.)
DSU: Arthur?: "My 30th Mardi Gras. Never ceases to be hilarious." DSU
is on Bourbon Street. No, tomorrow they will be hurting... not back
at their desks like any other day. "Now is the time to bring the
family to Bourbon Street." Un hunh.
Warren Easton High School in Rex too.
Bouef Gros!
Streams stop so I restart the computer. Or was it that nap I took...
Rex is by One Shell Square. ~3 pm NY time. Maitre d from the Boston
Club, a black man.
Rex: "We need you all to help us rebuild this city... To my wife,
today you are the other woman and that makes you that much more
alluring."
Arthur Hardy w/ Dr John Oeschner Sr.
Bad hum on the Paradecam, still on roof too, so hard to watch. 3:05
pm, NY time.
Gretna parade a little late. Hah!
Bouef Gras has smoke coming out of his nostrils!
Tributes to rivers, NO pays homage to rivers, the Amazon river is the
next float. Volga the next. Old wagon wheels on this float, not that
many people can see them.
Some nice floats. Mekong river.
"Long time ago we used to knock some heads, Now we knock em dead with
some needle and threads", Mardi Gras Indian song.
Some newbies on OZ.
Tigres and Euphrates river float. Iraq not mentioned. "They didn't
have to dodge heavy quantities of heavy beads." No, they are dodging
something a little more dangerous these days.
River Tiber float, with supposed wolf at the head.
Pipe band, scottish, Scotland The Brave played.
The river Styx.
OZ DJ chastises himself for calling the Mardi Gras Indian outfits
"costumes". They are "suits", like there is any difference...
Congo river float. Atchafalaya river. Not exactly one of the major
rivers of the world but what the heck. An egret has fallen off one of
the floats, stopping the parade.
The river Ganges. DSU host gets hit: "that's not nice." But she gets
him back. Lots of people complaining of getting hit by beads and
stuff. 3:45 NY time
The Nile. Nice dog? head. We hear DSU tv people talking between live shots.
OZ DJ singing along with the Mardi Gras Indians. OZ DJ, "it's
definitely not about Bourbon St and beads." Well, it sort of is.
"You uptown rulers don't give a damn." - Handa Wanda Indian song.
The mighty Mississippi float has a fearsome figurehead.
The Yangtze river, a float I've seen before and loved.
DSU preparing to sign off live so they can show the Ellen deGeneris
show. Paradecam has truck floats but is still on the roof (and has
horizontal lines going up the screen.)
4pm NY time. Bourbocam (Earthcam) shows few in costume.)
DSU continues its web feed with a very high overhead shot of Canal
St. showing floats going up and down the street.
OZ DJs are talking about tipping the street cleaners and waitresses,
one guy says, "don't forget those dancing girls..."Smoke My Peace
Pipe - Wild Tchopitoulas.
Good to see the (Palm?) trees on Poydras have survived. They look magnificent!
4:33 pm NY time. Things are kinda winding down. OZ is playing slower
stuff. The DSU cam is showing the high aerial shot of Canal St. The
Paradecam's parade is done. I think it is time for me to have lunch.
Catfish here I come.
5 pm NY time. I see trucks not moving on Canal St on the DSU cam.
Lots of people on the Bourbocam. Nothing much on the Paradecam. Time
to kiss that one goodbye. See you next year. It's been great.
So, for me it might as well be over. I'll keep watching the Bourbocam
and the aerial Canal St DSU cam till I go out tonight. I'll be going
out to see a local band do jazz/NO funk. Could be good. Could be
disappointing. We'll see.
Happy Mardi Gras y'all.
PS I tune into the Bourbocam (earthcam...) to watch the cops clear Bourbon St. They sweep through rapidly. I was heartened to see people APPLAUDING the police, the street sweepers, etc as they walked/rode by. In my day, the mid 70s, we didn't respect the cops because they were out of control. To see people applauding them now is heartening.
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