Pie Run: A documentary.

This week the 90 year old institution known as the Hubig's Pie bakery burned down, (moment of silence please).  Now I'm sure to the rest of the world this is not a heart wrenching tragedy, but to locals, well as one of the firemen put it, "Our guys put this out with their tears."  It was a Katrina moment; that same OMG are they going to re-open, what are we going to do if they don't rebuild?  So I got an emotional phone call from J with instructions to head out and buy up the now precious fried pies at any cost.  Mom threw in thirty bucks and off we went...

Just a mere three stops and pay dirt...

A few more bingos and then it dried up...

About four hours later we had hit every convince store, gas station, and pharmacy between Slidell and Mandeville, Louisiana...

Just a few observations:

• 1.  After listening to me on these videos, I notice I have a horrible yat accent that appears when I'm excited.
• 2.  I was lucky to be up in Slidell, LA when the call came because the Metro area sold out of pies before the Northshore.
• 3.  Somewhere out there there is a lady with boxes upon boxes of Hubig's pies and Lee's Hamburgers needs to look her up.

My half of the haul, well that is before J. started handing them out to desperate friends and family members.  We are such softies for those who are down and out on fried pie.  

Some people bought up pies to put them on e-bay.  Not us, we actually eat these things, (11 seconds in the microwave and heaven).  I hope this lasts us until they rebuild!  They may end up being frozen and used as Christmas presents.

The Upstairs Lounge Fire

Picture from: http://www.bilerico.com/2012/02/new_orleans_inferno_the_upstairs_lounge_fire.php

On June 24, 1973, thirty-two people were burned alive in The Upstairs Lounge in the French Quarter.  Why?  It was a gay bar.  Because some inhumane schmuck decided to throw a flammable liquid on the stairway and light it.  It took the fire approximately twenty minutes to completely engulf the building.

The windows were covered with burglar bars through which only the smallest of men could pass through.  Witnesses helplessly watched as men jammed up to the windows, arms flailing through the bars, burned alive.  Four bodies were found under the piano.  Four men huddled in fear under the piano helpless to do anything to save themselves.  It was the deadliest fire in New Orleans' history.

Today, I'd like to think this city would react better, but then, in 1973, many bodies weren't claimed because of the stigma of being gay.  Many churches refused to hold services for the victims because they were gay.  Worse, the city's population felt like these men and one woman got what they deserved.    J. remembers the incident and remembers the general feeling that these people deserved to burn alive.

I could post about my birthday, or my cats, or my weight, but I think that remembering these people today is important.  No one claimed them back in 1973, so today I'll claim them.

In memory of:

JOE WILLIAM BAILEY

CLARENCE JOSEPH McCLOSKEY, JR.DUANE GEORGE MITCHELLLOUIS HORACE BROUSSARD.MRS. WILLIE INEZ WARREN.EDDIE HOSEA WARREN, son.JAMES CURTIS WARREN, son.REV. WILLIAM R. LARSON.DR. PERRY LANE WATERS, JR.DOUGLAS MAXWELL WILLIAMS.LEON RICHARD MAPLES.GEORGE STEVEN MATYI.LARRY STRATTON.REGINALD ADAMS, JR.JAMES WALLS HAMBRICK.HORACE GETCHELL.JOSEPH HENRY ADAMS.HERBERT DEAN COOLEY, bartender.DAVID STUART GARY, pianist.GUY D. ANDERSON.LUTHER BOGGS.DONALD WALTER DUNBAR.JOHN THOMAS GOLDING, SR.ADAM ROLAND FONTENOT.GERALD HOYT GORDON.KENNETH PAUL HARRINGTON.GLENN RICHARD GREEN.ROBERT LUMPKIN.FERRIS LeBLANC.Three Unidentified White Males.  (Names from: http://www3.gendisasters.com/louisiana/1484/new-orleans,-la-cocktail-lounge-fire,-june-1973)

I'm Sooo Bad!

Yeah, I've got no pics, but I went to a wedding tonight, (yup I'm slightly inebriated and posting), and there was a gay ball going on at the other side of the venue.  I went wandering and just happened upon the thing.  Who can resist a ball?  Who can resist fabulous Queens dressed in glitter and feathers?  So I gathered up a buddy and went exploring backstage.  We got thrown out on our third trip back stage, but wow!  The theme was Oz and let me tell you, Glenda the Good Witch was FABULOUS!!

We ended up talking some of the guys at the front door to let us in and we had the best time dancing with Glenda and her friends!  Okay, the wedding was nice, but being naughty and crashing a gay Oz themed bal' masque was the highlight of our night.  (Don't know why there was a bal' masque after Mardi Gras, but heck I can always use a little more MG in my life.)  I love this town!

Mardi Gras 2012

 It was a nice, calm, settled MG this year.  We walked from the Quarter to Uptown to visit my cousin's family for a bit.  Then we took a cab back downtown, (remind me to never walk from downtown to uptown again; ohhhh my feet!), and spent the rest of the day in the Quarter.  The first two photos and video are of  the Krewe of Orphus' parade; it has some of the most beautiful floats IMHO.  (Sorry 'bout weight loss Wed. but was worn out from MG and gave myself a break.)

Even the rear of these floats are beautifully decorated.

It's a shame that the tiny fiber optic lights that
highlight the float didn't really show up in this picture.

This is Vic n Nat'ly.  We dressed as Vic n Nat'ly.  I was Vic.

This is the Rosenberg's girl.  It's a NOLA thing.
The little niece went as the Rosenberg kid
and sang the tune for everyone who asked.

This pic really doesn't do it justice, but my poor floor, furniture, cats, husband, porch, stoop, car, and neighborhood are covered with glitter.

I used news paper to make a pattern for the Rosenberg girl dress. 

Here's the family: Vic, Nat'ly, and Rosenberg.  Yes, I am willing to be a bald man with hairy legs, (stockings with black embroidery thread, and yes that is my sister's real hair, (Got 2B Glued is the best hairspray ever).

Mardi Gras for the locals, really is a family affair.
We stood next to these people for the Zulu parade.  They were awesome!

Yeah, I know you shouldn't walk through the most shee shee pooh pooh hotel in the city, (the Roosevelt), in order to make the route shorter, but we are just a little naughty.  What was even more pathetic is that we behaved badly and acted like the loud Yats that we are the whole way through.  It's a good thing the staff thought it was funny.

This is the Rex parade.  Rex is a traditional old line organization and the king of Rex is made ruler of the city for MG day.  No, really; the mayor declares Rex ruler for the day.

This is not a fancy float, but it is probably the most important float in all of MG.  It is the Boeuf Gras, (fatted cow).
The Boeuf Gras is probably the most representative of what Mardi Gras is all about.  It's all about that last hurrah before Lent, having that last bit of sugar, or meat, or in my case saying my last curse word because when Lent comes, well you've got to behave yourself.  The Boeuf Gras is a permanent float in the Rex parade.  A hundred years from now, as long as there is a Rex and a New Orleans you'll see that fatted cow parading down the street on MG day.

Beads stay in the trees all year long or until they fall out.
It's one of my favorite things to see as I drive down St. Charles Ave.

If I had a nickel for every Jack Sparrow I've seen...  But this guy...  This guy was a genius.
He imitated Depp's walk to perfection.  He was the costume and for that here is his picture.

These are the shee shee pooh pooh people waiting to toast Rex.  His Queen is somewhere in there.

This is the neutral ground.  It is packed with families who stay in the same spots for generations.  There are families who have held these spots for fifty years.

There is the Rosenberg girl and Schwegmann's on a Truck float.  We had a Schwegmann's shopper in our little group, she is in a pic further down.  Truck floats are when groups of families, friends and or co-workers all put in and decorate specially built trailers for trucks, (it's way cheaper than belonging to Rex).  This particular truck parade are the Krewe of Elks Orleans.

St. Charles Ave. fence and parade watchers.

Frog on a bike.

Up ahead is Nat'ly (pink), Rosenberg girl sans wig (red), Making Groceries Schwegmann Style, (yellow robe and curlers), and the boyfriend who was sorry he didn't dress up, (HA that'll teach you!).  Also a couple of angry birds heading towards the camera.  

Okay they look store bought but these super heroes were in lame' so they have my respect. 

This was a great moment in our day.  Costumed people tend to congregate on the street and get into character.    Here's our Schwegmann's Shopper, Jesus, and Tim Tebow, (done in 70's rock star style), planning a tableaux for a photo shoot.

I am sooo disappointed that I didn't get a great shot of this.  There were several poses and it was as funny as, well I can't say because I gave up cursing for Lent, so just use your imagination.

Me and sis, with some guy from Devo's Whip It video in the background.

You know for a last minute addition, our Making Groceries Schwegmann's Style Shopper looks pretty good for only two hour's notice.  It was shortly after this pic when the Rosenberg girl was picked up by her cousin and taken off to the mattress ball.  (Actually she sat up 'till we got home playing on the computer with her uncle who wouldn't go out with us because we get too wild.  Now do we look like a wild bunch to you?  Nah, meek as mice.)

This is a drag queen.  In this family you have to be a fan of drag queens.  It is essential to have drag queen approval on our MG costumes.  It's a tradition.  If a drag queen approves then, and only then, are we successful.  God bless her heart, she gave us much approval!  Whew, we passed the test. : )

I stood up and clapped over these glitterific shoes!  What a wonderful shoe choice!

This is a view from my home away from home.  Yeah, it's a bar.  The Pirate's Alley Cafe crew got me through that first year after Katrina.  Or as Jez said on MG night, "blank, (remember no cursing), it was the alcohol that got us all through."  I love my PAC krewe; mmmwwwwahhh!

Nice.  Love the wind-up key.

As with all good times, things must come to an end, and so we end up at Cafe Du Monde.  It's also a MG tradition.

Cafe au Lait and beignets; midnight soul food.

Midnight it's all over, well if you are a native anyways.  It's just not right being boisterous on Ash Wednesday.  So as we walk back to the car we see interesting things in the windows.  Aren't these the coolest barber chairs?

This is our scary, built in 1930, looking,  before safety codes parking garage.

I have to admit these columns are the bees knees.

Look ma, we were good girls.  home by 12:30AM!

I make one sexy, fat, balding, middle aged man don't I?  (Look my bald cap is coming off in the back, ha!)

Sigh.  One whole year before we can do it again.  Sis said in the car on the way home, "It's too bad MG couldn't be two days, huh?"  We think alike.

Weight Loss Wednesday: Lent is coming up!

HA!  I love this; want!  Thank you zazzle.com!

I've been thinking that my weight loss plan isn't exactly moving along.  I'm at a negative two and holding; not exactly stellar progress for the amount of time I've put in on this project.  Then I realize, I live in the Greater New Orleans Area.  While the rest of the US has put away the decorations and the feasts from the holiday season, good ole New Orleans has another holiday to go.  I've had king cakes and out of town visitors to feed, and for every parade there is a party with more king cake, muffalettas, and the obligatory crockpot full of jambalaya which BTW is being replaced with Crawfish Monica (or so I'm seeing).  To make things worse, I've got a cousin who's husband has a cousin who's wife has a shop that sells the most fablous pralines ever and every year we are invited over there to catch parades.  God bless her, I swear J has made the best pralines, (and cupcakes too), that I have ever tasted, and so I can't resist, (okay won't resist because that would be plain old stupid.)  Tomorrow night will be another set of parades, (it's gonna rain tonight so we're skipping that), and Popeye's chicken picnic on the neutral ground while waiting on the  parade.  What's a girl to do?  Hold out 'till Lent.

Exercise:  Still moving dirt, lol.  Eight wheelbarrows full a day and yet the dirt pile is still as high as my car.

Water:  Been a good girl.

Food:  When going out I'm still cutting my portions in half, but not doing so well on the home front.

Confession:  I've been hitting the Sugar Smacks cereal at night.

Congratulations:  One skirt and pair of pants felt a little loose.

Weight loss:  -2 and holding...

Carnival Season: A Cold & Miserable Weekend

This weekend we hit three parades.  Knights of Nemesis in Chalmette, the Krewe of Caesar in Metairie, and the Mystic Krewe of Barkus in the French Quarter.  It was miserable cold; the coldest weekend of the year so far.  Warning, lots of pics.

Nemesis

This was her first MG style parade.  She didn't want to go and said it was going to be boring.
We picked on her all day for saying that little bit of foolishness. 

This was not her first MG style parade and she thought her cousin was weird for saying it would be boring.

Nemesis float, not exactly fancy, but hey, it was a parade.

Yup we caught baby clothes. 

Krewe of Caesar traveling band mini float.

Cookie Monster and Elmo were Grand Marshalls for Caesar.

Cookie Monster and Elmo were Grand Marshalls for Caesar this year,
 making the parade a must for the toddlers in our family.

Caesar selected some excellent HS bands.  High School bands earn money in these parades and if they are slackers they don't get invited to participate in the big name parades.  No such thing as a band nerd in the GNO area, these kids are the rock stars of Carnival and the crowds love them. 

Krewe of Caesar float.  See the difference in quality from the Nemesis float?  Some krewes have more money and can afford better quality floats.  The smaller krewes rent their floats and so you can see the same float several times in the same season.

The Mystic Krewe of Barkus is a parade put on for rescue dogs.  They are a walking krewe, meaning that well, they walk.

Hubig's companion a bag of Zapp's potato chips.

A Hubig's pie.

This little girl came to watch.

Can't have a parade without a brass band.

King Barkus 2012.

Congo looked so happy to be there in that parade.

This handsome fella watched the parade and played with a few of the participants.

The Grand Marshall properly dressed in his suit.

This cat was not impressed with all the dogs going past his window.  Love me some catattude.

I hope and pray it will be warmer next week, or I'm going to have to quickly whip up a warmer costume!!