Had a cold time at the Krewe du Vieux parade last night...weather-wise. It was chilly out, which was probably one of the reasons why it moved so fast. We tried to get to our appointed spot as last-minute as we possibly could, but we took two cars, and I was the one who found a relatively close parking spot. I ended up seeing the whole parade by myself...Dan and the little guy opted to take the streetcar instead and it got them there at the tail tail-end of the parade. The kid was the one with the digital camera (I kid you not...he got it for Hanukah from my sister-in-law and her husband this past year and it is indestructible. The picture quality's not too bad, either...), and all he got was a blur of lights over some people's heads and somebody's butt. So, alas, we have no in-parade pictures.

We do, however, have many, many links to paradegoers' pics and parade members' pictures to help suffice in this regard. This IS da internet, y'all.

I give you: Karen
NOLA Notes
Varg
Michael Homan
Schroeder
Howie Luvzus
Maitri

And I give you:DA LOOT!

Not much in number, but quite, quite meaningful to li'l ol' me. Those are themed cups from Maitri which were filled with KdV wooden nickels, red and gold pirate booty beads, and some stylin' glass beads ( made in India these days! and, incidentally, yes, I am still looking for this video...). Those are Cult of Lafcadio Hearn bumpa stickas from Sheckrastos and AshMo. At the last moment Karen Gadbois, aka, the Walking Vodka Bottle, sprung me a rubbery anemone-like bracelet. Our pal Justin, a Seeds of Decline subkrewe straggler, passed me some kumquats and Hanukah gelt (which holiday IS this anyway?????), and I met up with a religious school teacher who was just as surprised to see me as I was her. As a token of our meeting, she passed me a special bagel:

From the Jieuxish Afrikan Injun League
On humble behalf of our Big Macher
Ronald W. Lewis
2008/5768
King of Krewe Du Vieux
His Royal Honor Guard Bestows Upon You
This Jieuxish Mardi Gras Indian Bagel

OY HAIL THE KING!

There Ain't No Jieux
Like A Ninth Ward Jieux
Cause The Ninth Ward Got Just One!

Ain't I lucky? Guess how lucky...

One throw ended up in my bag. A throw I certainly did not get directly from a krewe member, but from a lady next to me who was from out of town and was so, so embarrassed, she ended up putting it in my bag. I laughed about it with her and said jokingly, "Gee, my son's gonna love this!!!"

After meeting up with Dan and the little guy shortly after the parade passed by, we walked back to my fortuitously parked car and made our way home. When we got out of the car, I walked off towards the house and the throw clattered out of a hole in the bag and out onto the sidewalk. Oops. Of course my son had to notice.

"What's that, Dad?"

Dan turned bright red as I picked it back up and put it in the bag in a spot not so close to the hole. "Uhhhhh...." he stalled, searching for the right words. "It's.....a....toy for Mommy, son."

Right. Blame it all on me. This is 2008, folks. A three-speed vibrator sporting a subkrewe theme in permanent marker is an equal opportunity sex toy in this day and age. And, from here on out, I'm taking a strong canvas bag with me to the KdV parades. No more holes in bags for me, thanks.