Adrastos, Carnival, Diary, New Orleans

Mardi Gras Mumbles

I have no idea why the 1957 poster features a chick riding a Walrus. The other two images make sense but that one does not. Goo-goo-ga-joob.

Despite my ennui, I’m glad Carnival 2022 went forward. I thought it was madness to hold it. I was wrong. But there will be a price to pay and I’m not talking about hangovers although there will be plenty of those. There’s bound to be a COVID spike. If it’s a small one, I’ll be able to exhale and believe that we’re in the endemic stage.

I’m not hitting the streets today but Dr. A is. We did some of our usual Lundi Gras things yesterday. We live around the corner from the Proteus den. They paraded yesterday and I enjoy watching them lineup. It’s amusing to see the guys who can’t ride horses mount as their escorts grimace.

There was even a meeting of fake royalty as you can see from this tweet complete with a typo:

That’s gave, not came. I guess I could have tried to pass it off as a Comus pun, but I have my pun pride. When I tweet on my phone, typos typically follow. Oh well, what the hell.

We watched part of Orpheus, which is always the most underrated parade in Carnival because it’s on Lundi Gras. Some people insist that it’s the Carnival day of rest and that’s fine for them. Everybody does Carnival differently and there’s nothing more tiresome than people who insist their way is the only way.

Here’s a self-quote from my 2014 Mardi Gras day post:

The thing I like most about Mardi Gras is that there are so many different ways to celebrate the day. I dislike people who insist that their way is the only way. Y’all can fuck off.

Some folks go Downtown, others stay Uptown. Some go to every parade and others go to none. I like to costume but don’t always feel like throwing something together. It doesn’t matter as long as you’ve got the Mardi Gras spirit. And booze. Booze helps.

The proper Mardi Gras spirit is summed up in this song:

There’s one New Orleans Mardi Gras cliche that irks me, but I’ll post a graphic anyway:

Tell it to the folks in

  • Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
  • Venice, Italy
  • Baranquilla, Columbia
  • Cologne, Germany
  • Binche, Belgium
  • Dominica
  • Mobile, Alabama
  • Nice, France

I hear it’s extra nice in Nice.

Bragging is a sign of insecurity. It’s antithetical to the Carnival spirit. New Orleans has a great celebration on Mardi Gras day and so do other places. To insist otherwise is small-minded, provincial, and xenophobic.

My friend Al may be on to something:

I’ll dismount my soap box and close with a story.

I recall a conversation I had with the late, great Art Neville. I brought up one of his most famous Carnival-related songs, Mardi Gras Mambo.

Me: I really like Mardi Gras Mambo.

AN: It’s okay. It’s boring to play. Simplistic as shit.

Me: Surprised to hear you say that.

AN: When we toured with the Stones, I remember Charlie complaining about playing Satisfaction.

Me: So, it’s your dissatisfaction?

He didn’t comment and the subject was changed. Never bite the hand or song that feeds you.

Happy Mardi Gras. Do whatcha wanna. I wanna rest.

The last word goes to The Meters with the song on which I punned for the post title.

3 thoughts on “Mardi Gras Mumbles”

  3. For want of a better place and since it’s related to Carnival let’s travel to Port of Spain for the Panorama finals 2017 and the winning performance of the Trinidad All Stars performing Full Extreme.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LAR8HJuJyU&ab_channel=TrinidadAllStars

    (There are other version. The one of the preliminary performance sounds better, but not great but it doesn’t matter. Turn them up and better show on on big damn screen. One can only imagine how Iwanians and the like would be left praying for the End Times.)

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