Oshun and Pygmalion, 2/13

I fire up the computer at about 7 pm, NY time. The parade is supposed
to start at 6 New Orleans time. It works. WDSU has a nice stream, no
audio but good video.

I see people standing around as the parade passes by. A DSU reporter
goes on camera but people stand in front of her and she doesn't do a
stand-up. The camera shows us a young girl on her father's shoulders
as she catches a bouquet of red flowers, making her smile.

Soon enough it ends. I watched about 20 minutes of it. Looks like
rain had fallen earlier.

I then try to watch Pygmalion. Still no audio. The player (Quicktime
using the Flip4Mac plugin) restarts often. The picture goes from good
to bad, looking like snow over the air. I give up at 8:30 NY time. I
hope other parades come out better.

9;25 (NY time) I try again. No parade in sight.Our view is from a balcony, across the street from One Shell Square. (You can see the streetcar tracks break up the white lines of the painted lanes.) Very low level audio, digital noise.

9:45 We see baton twirlers. Then the king of the krewe, a black man dressed in white on the typical white king's float. It's hilarious to watch as he picks out someone in the crowd to throw some beads to. The parade stopped, the king gets off the float. (I haven't seen that before.) As the parade starts up again, the king, back on the float, jumps up and down, all excited.

See some nice bands, too bad we can't hear them, some nice dancing. Some bands have some cool dance moves, like one where the big bass drums shuffled together slowly all bunched together, forming a line. They all followed each other, killing time until the parade moved again.

After the parade ends, I switch to the Lee Circle cam which has a blurry shot of the Crescent City Connection and the CBD. A new, to me, sign flashes green and purple.

I'm glad I tried again.

More tomorrow.

Krewe du Vieux 2009

Mardi Gras Parade Krewe du Vieux

This is one parade that you want to see as much as possible of.



From the Krewe du Vieux's website:

Krewe du Vieux announces its 2009 parade theme "Krewe du Vieux's Stimulus Package"

Reflecting national trends, Krewe du Vieux is wheeling and dealing with its own brand of economic incompetence. On February 7th, KdV will roll out its own STIMULUS PACKAGE that includes substantial “Investments in Stocks & Bondage” and a bailout plan for “D&D Cock Market Investment Spankers.” In a “Salute to Trickle Down Economics” Krewe du Vieux’s crack economic team, advised by the investment firm of “Schmeckel and Shekel’s Foreskins and Foreclosures,” promises to “Extend the Guard” and “Go Down With Uncle Sam.”

The Krewe will be marching through the Faubourg Marigny and the French Quarter encouraging onlookers to “Shave the Wetlands” and get ready for some “New Voodoo Economics.” Always “Dedicated to Perpetual Naughtiness” this year’s parade promises plenty of “Good Vibrations” on its way to it’s “Inaugural Balls” at the Colton School.

Also, see this: