Mardi Gras pictures
Feb. 16th, 2010 01:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bedlamsbardHappy Mardi Gras! I only went to a few parades this year, because it was wicked cold and my fear of having things thrown at my head kicked in much quicker than usual, but I did take pictures at the one day parade I went to -- the Krewe of Iris, which is an all-women's day parade. It's a lot more toned down than some of the other ones (I couldn't quite escape Tucks, which followed it) and definitely a lot milder than the night parades (I could not make it to Muses. It was just too damn cold. And I knew Bacchus was going to be nuts, so I steered away from that, too), but Iris is one of my favorites just because it's very sweet and cute. Their theme this year was "Children's Classics" and yes, I admit it, I went in the vague hope there would be a Narnia float.
There was not a Narnia float. There was a float with a lion on the front, but that turned out to be for The Jungle Book. (I am pretty sure that there isn't a lion in The Jungle Book, but hey! Artistic license!) But I took pictures anyway, because I thought some of y'all might be interested in what a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans looks like. Again, disclaimer: Iris is a day parade, there are a lot of kids there, people usually aren't drunk yet, there are far fewer people at Iris than at the night parades, I was not on the residential part of St. Charles, so you don't get the full effect of the ladders.
Some of the krewes have their royalty in floats, some on horseback -- I think this is the King of Iris, in a car. Most of the bands that march in the parades are high school bands; Tulane's marching band does a few parades every year. This is the U.S. Marine Corps marching band (well, one of them).
Various floats, from the front: The Cat in the Hat, Treasure Island, Happy Feet, and Patty Cake Patty Cake (I think).
The Three Little Pigs and King Midas, from the front and the side. There's a better view of the riders here, and you can see some of the throws on the Midas float. I think there were around thirty floats for Iris? This is just a handful.
After Iris, I decided I didn't want to stick around for Tucks, the krewe that followed, and I started walking back along the parade route. Unfortunately, Tucks started up too soon for me to escape as easily as I hoped.
Bead tree! There's one on campus, too; I need to take a picture of that sometime. That's one of the more residential parts of St. Charles -- you can tell by the ladders. People stick kids up in there so that they can see and also catch beads. And then there was a somewhat random assortment of people leading up to Tucks. I can't tell if the guy chasing the truck was part of the parade, or just some guy hoping for beads.
There were also more normal stormtroopers and other Star Wars characters, whom I don't have pictures of. But everyone loved the Who Dat Nation stormtrooper! I don't have pictures, but a lot of the floats had random Saints flags on them, or Saints-related throws. (And, of course, Drew Brees was King of Bacchus; that's why I didn't go, because I knew Bacchus would be mobbed with drunken Saints fans. This guy sums it up pretty nicely.)
The Krewe of Tucks (I am reasonably certain this is the King of Tucks). Yes. Tucks is notorious for having toilets on everything; their specialty throws are printed toilet paper and plungers. I didn't get any pictures of the Tucks floats; their theme was "reality shows", and included such gems as "Army Corps of Engineers: Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" and "The Real World: New Orleans," a float populated entirely by women in Tulane and LSU t-shirts. (A lot of the Krewes get very political or satiric; I saw Krewe d'Etat earlier, and they were all over Ray Nagin, and not in a good way.)
And that is Mardi Gras in New Orleans! Well -- an understated portion of Mardi Gras, anyway. *grin*
There was not a Narnia float. There was a float with a lion on the front, but that turned out to be for The Jungle Book. (I am pretty sure that there isn't a lion in The Jungle Book, but hey! Artistic license!) But I took pictures anyway, because I thought some of y'all might be interested in what a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans looks like. Again, disclaimer: Iris is a day parade, there are a lot of kids there, people usually aren't drunk yet, there are far fewer people at Iris than at the night parades, I was not on the residential part of St. Charles, so you don't get the full effect of the ladders.
Some of the krewes have their royalty in floats, some on horseback -- I think this is the King of Iris, in a car. Most of the bands that march in the parades are high school bands; Tulane's marching band does a few parades every year. This is the U.S. Marine Corps marching band (well, one of them).
Various floats, from the front: The Cat in the Hat, Treasure Island, Happy Feet, and Patty Cake Patty Cake (I think).
The Three Little Pigs and King Midas, from the front and the side. There's a better view of the riders here, and you can see some of the throws on the Midas float. I think there were around thirty floats for Iris? This is just a handful.
After Iris, I decided I didn't want to stick around for Tucks, the krewe that followed, and I started walking back along the parade route. Unfortunately, Tucks started up too soon for me to escape as easily as I hoped.
Bead tree! There's one on campus, too; I need to take a picture of that sometime. That's one of the more residential parts of St. Charles -- you can tell by the ladders. People stick kids up in there so that they can see and also catch beads. And then there was a somewhat random assortment of people leading up to Tucks. I can't tell if the guy chasing the truck was part of the parade, or just some guy hoping for beads.
There were also more normal stormtroopers and other Star Wars characters, whom I don't have pictures of. But everyone loved the Who Dat Nation stormtrooper! I don't have pictures, but a lot of the floats had random Saints flags on them, or Saints-related throws. (And, of course, Drew Brees was King of Bacchus; that's why I didn't go, because I knew Bacchus would be mobbed with drunken Saints fans. This guy sums it up pretty nicely.)
The Krewe of Tucks (I am reasonably certain this is the King of Tucks). Yes. Tucks is notorious for having toilets on everything; their specialty throws are printed toilet paper and plungers. I didn't get any pictures of the Tucks floats; their theme was "reality shows", and included such gems as "Army Corps of Engineers: Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?" and "The Real World: New Orleans," a float populated entirely by women in Tulane and LSU t-shirts. (A lot of the Krewes get very political or satiric; I saw Krewe d'Etat earlier, and they were all over Ray Nagin, and not in a good way.)
And that is Mardi Gras in New Orleans! Well -- an understated portion of Mardi Gras, anyway. *grin*
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-16 10:58 pm (UTC)But everyone loved the Who Dat Nation stormtrooper!
He's actually a Mandalorian, like Boba Fett. I want to say he's a member of the Mando Mercs: Veshok Clan, but I'm not quite sure. Anyway, thought I'd clear that up.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-16 11:13 pm (UTC)Right, the helmet is wrong! Shoulda known that. (It has been a while since I was in SW fandom.)