highlights of Zulu, Rex and the truck parades, 2/24

2 videos from the TP on Zulu.

Krewe of Zulu

Video: Zulu group celebrates 100 years

I watch the DSU cam, the paradecam and the cam set up for Zulu on the nolacom site.

DSU has Arthur Hardy and crew.

The cam set up for Zulu is under the I-10 overpass. We find out it has good acoustics!

Heard on the DSU cam about New Orleanians in general: "It's encouraging that they're actually the enjoying the tradition of Mardi Gras."  More bon mots to come.

DSU shows some neat old footage of earlier Mardi Gras'. The announcer on one segment describes residents as the Creoles and the Anglo Saxons! We see Rex and Elks pass each other going in different directions on St Charles!

Someone, on the DSU cam?, says, "I'm not gonna eat. I just want beads." Arthur?

We see Pete Fountain. He looks as gracious as ever.

(My computer is at 100% CPU use with all these cams up.)

We see some parade happening on the paradecam at about 9:45 am.

See Zulu in the Garden District on DSU at about 9:47.

The Soulful Warriors.

The woman hosting the Zulu cam says about Orleans and Claiborne: "It looks like the place, it smells like the place" (to be...)

Someone on the DSU cam, I think,  yells "Mic check!" Yes, your mic is live.

The Zuku king passes the Garden District.

We hear a Jesus freak in the background, with a bullhorn.

At Lee Circle we see Mayor Nagin in his Centurion outfit on horseback.

I eat some shrimp. Good!

I can tell there's lots of joy in the air there. And I'm a little drunk, having had a somewhat potent screwdriver for breakfast.

We see a brief shot of some people dressed up as skeletons, part of or inspired by the skeleton gangs, something I want to see more of. (Alas, I don't.) A woman on DSU called them zombies, and didn't know what to make of them. (Educate her/everyone. And I wonder if El Dia De Los Muertos is celebrated in New Orleans. It should be, especially now with the greater Latino population.)

A guy promotes his club on the Zulu cam: "25 and over for the grown and sexy, ...Come get some alligator. I just killed them." Mm, good.

DSU female: "Haven't seen anything too inappropriate."

They talk about the "trouble truck" and Arthur says quietly, they only need them 12 times a  parade." lol

Everyone is saying that the economy is good for Mardi Gras this year. Good!

We see the Zulu Tramps.

We see some dancers chanting, "holdin' down the sidewalk."

Edwin Kerr band, nice.

They say this is the best attended Mardi Gras since Katrina. Good!

11:40 am, we see Rex turn onto St Charles on the paradecam. (They "scoop" DSU.) The theme this year is Pro Bono Publico, for the public good. The paradecam host is very low level.

Nice red outfits and chanting from the (S?) Charles HS of East Cleveland, OH.

The Tiddlywinks! Green dresses and orange hair!

We see a red Cadillac convertible on the Zuku cam. We then hear that Antoinette K Doe died today. One sad note to be topped by the shootings later.

It's noon here and I foolishly look for the Bourbon Street Awards show but have no luck. I check at 1 pm too but don't click the link they have on the nola.com blog thinking it is only to the paradecam. I did check the paradecam often. I wonder if nola.com did show it. I hope to find some internet video of it at some point.

We see the Witch Doctor. We see white guys, underneath their blackfaces, on the Ambassador and the Mayor's float (for Zulu). I knew it was integrated but I didn't know there'd be that many white guys in it.

Rex #13, the Rhapsody of the March Wind float is the one that I noticed earlier that had the Pan figure on it.

See good dancers from Frederick A Douglas HS and a good band. Arthur "has the knack" and is getting beads and throws and the bands to stop and play for the cam.

Dancers from A. Maceo Walker HS in Memhis have nice moves.

Nice Green Man on Rex float #18.

I've eaten all the shrimp  I have by 12:30. It was good. Fried catfish and Bailey's Irish Cream next.

Hear Hey Pocky Way on the Shaka Zulu float.

We see some costumes on Bourbon Street: The Goddesses of Love, Sex, and a few more; Elvis - the publisher of Where Y'at; The Easter Bunny - I think this is the same guy I've seen wear this costume in years past. He's big, 200+ pounds, got a pot belly and looks like he'd be dangerous around young children. A PERFECT Easter Bunny for Mardi Gras!.

DSU does a spot on some restaurant serving raw oysters. Oh, I want some!

A masked Obama appears briefly wearing a wig similar to what is seen on English judges. The mask has a big bright Obama smile on it. Very funny. It pops in and out of the picture quickly, heightening the effect.

We see a skull on a stick.

12:48 pm. It looks like the Elks parade, the first of the truck parades, has started. At first I am not impressed with the floats but as the 100th one passes by I start to appreciate the simple designs they have.

We see a Professor Longhair float on the DSU cam.

The King of something arrives at Lee Circle, 1:13 pm.

We see a Rodrigue blue dog in the Argus float in Metairie.

We watch Rex and Mayor Nagin talk about handcuffs at Gallier Hall. The stream is breaking up alot so I lose audio often.

1:45 pm I don't bother with the paradecam or nola.com anymore. Just DSU.

I hear the Tulane fight song. (Even after looking at the Tulane web page that explains its origins I'm not sure what its title really is... Still, it is one of the great football fight songs. Too bad the team is never very good, nor would I want them to be...)

The bands I'm hearing today are in tune. I liked the other ones but it's nice to know these bands can play in tune. South Terrebone Parish for one.

Nice sunglasses, Rachel.

Some twins get interviewed. Both have high-pitched voices but one is practically a ringer for Butterfly McQueen.

We see a float called  Hibernating Bears. The bears they show are up and around so they aren't hibernating but it's a cool float nonetheless.

#27, the last float for Rex, is The Royal Barge.

Truck parades Elks (Orleans), Crescent City
Trucks are still flowing on the paradecam.

The DSU stream is breaking up, no audio, jerky video. See the first truck parade there.

Something about a black Indian who has a husband Ringo. People really have names like that?

The "Actually, You Might Be  A Redneck" float has riders in pink and children on it.

3pm. We hear someone else has been shot on the parade route. Turns out 6 were.

On the Babes In Toyland float we see a child in a high chair.

DSU interviews some women Drs from NY who rave (positively) about New Orleans and Mardi Gras.

3:33 The DSU player restarts itself. The DSU web page loads fast for a change.

3:40 Travers Mackel is on a balcony in the French Quarter. (Hi, Travers. I know you will be visiting this blog as you did when I blogged on Gustav last year. Come often...) Anyway, he has this verbal crutch, as so many newscasters do, where he says "if you will" often. (Now that you know about it, maybe you can cure yourself of it.)

A nice aerial view of Canal Street.

Travers interviews a woman pirate with a dog, a guy with a funny voice and a woman as a Hubig pie (wrapper)!

Truck 72, truck 73, truck 74...

Travers interviews a bead woman, who is calling herself something else.

We find out 6 people have been shot earlier today.

Some DSU woman says dis'-play rather than display'.

My computer heats up when DSU goes to commercial and all we see is the graphic.

We see Gabrielle dance. She like so many others is just totally giddy.

Travers interviews a family in FEMA sheets!

The stream stops or I only get 0...9...7...0... fps.

See a nice balcony shot.

4:31 pm I get audio back.

A truck has broken down.

DSU does a trash story. The trucks are moving again.

Margaret Orr talks with a 65? 75? year old lady.

Randi Rousseau, the weathergirl,  says 'Ibberville' (ib as in jib) rather than 'Iberville' (I as in eye).

A piece on the Mardi Gras Indians.

Norman Robinson, WDSU anchor and master of malapropisms: "The maddening crowd." It's the madding crowd, Norman. I know it's a strange turn of phrase and awkward when used in most contexts. It means frenzied which the crowds were but it's madding, not maddening.

The DSU cam has some schumtz (dust) on the lens.

We see traffic backing up on the Crescent City Connection going to the West Bank. We also see some floats backed up on a turn in the road.

Travers talks with a LA State Police guy. The LA State Police guy says it has been the best Mardi Gras crowd he has seen in the Quarter in his 28 years.

As I listen to the weatherman, his pitch changes, slowing down! It returns to normal but I haven't seen that before in a stream.

We don't see any more trucks on Canal Street.

It's hard to hear Arthur. Norman: "We'll talk to a commercial break." OK, I guess you will. I think you meant to say 'we'll take a commercial break....'

I never knew floats go to a "den".

We see a flock of white birds on a shot of the trucks on the West Bank.

There is talk of "units."

We see the police trucks pick up the people barriers on Canal Street.

DSU ends it coverage at just before 6 pm, NY time. I then watch the news on DSU. I think it was Arthur who says, 'A million people having fun, that's not news. This is news,' referring to how the national media has picked up the shooting of 6.

We see some white tigers on what I think is the Queen of Zulu's float.

We see a nice Chinese?/Japanese? hat on a guy in the next balcony over from Travers.

We see a segment on the Bourbon Street Awards. Travers' VO  sounds like he is an echoey room. The bathroom at the hotel?

We see the Rex "den" and that a Westfelt was Rex. Probably related to the guy, might even be the guy,  who donated the large sports complex at Tulane.

We see a different piece on the Mardi Gras Indians.

Things are pretty much over . I do watch the Earthlink verison of the  Bourbocam for a little bit but it is blurry.