New Orleans has a problem with tons of plastic beads clogging up catch basins on the parade route. That inspired the Krewe of Spank’s Krewe du Vieux float this year: That was, of course, before the bead monster known in … Continue reading It Came From The Catch Basin
Krewe du Vieux ate my week and the Krewe of Spank whuppped my ass. Today is the big day, which is why this week’s entry qualifies as a placeholder. If you want to re-read Confessions Of A Krewe du Vieux … Continue reading Saturday Odds & Sods: Pearl Of The Quarter
I’m not big on Hallmark card holidays. My mother used to make fun of Mother’s Day and thought Valentine’s Day was silly. Her stock line about the former was: “It’s always mother’s day in this family.” Mom’s attitude about Hallmark … Continue reading Valentine’s Day In New Orleans
Carnival 2019 is as long as Anthony Davis’ arms. Unlike AD it doesn’t want to be traded to the Lakers. I’m not sure what LeBron would make of this on his home court: Earlier today my latest piece for the … Continue reading Bayou Brief: Confessions Of A Krewe du Vieux Member
All Hail, Dennie. Continue reading Friday Guest Catblogging: Time Of The Season
Watching Scotty Grift. Continue reading Scott Pruitt: Chickenshit Grifter
Spanking in the streets, Krewe du Vieux style. Continue reading Spanktuary City
It’s Krewe du Vieux Saturday. Continue reading Saturday Odds & Sods: Smack Dab In The Middle
It’s been a trying and very short Krewe du Vieux season. A saving grace, as always, was Dennie the Den of Muses cat: Continue reading Friday Catblogging: Armchair Quarterback
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Continue reading Saturday Odds & Sods: Merry Christmas Eve Eve
Athenae offered up wholesome thanks to everyone who supported the First Draft fundraiser. I’m offering up weird thanks: a few pictures from Saturday’s massive Krewe du Vieux party/fundraiser, the Brew Doo or is that Dieux? Beats the hell outta me, … Continue reading Weird Thanks From New Orleans
It’s been a weird week in New Orleans. I know, this is a weird place so why is that surprising? It’s not but I had a deeply strange encounter with a City Council candidate who I do not plan to vote for. Here’s how I described it at Zuckerville:
Seth Bloom is the candidate I mentioned last week in this space. One of his opponents said this about him:
Having the temperament to work with the rest of the councilmembers is of the utmost importance – nothing passes the City Council without a minimum of four votes. Seth Bloom has habitually displayed a lack of self-restraint, professionalism, respect, and sincerity as he has campaigned for another public office. I am convinced that Seth Bloom is volatile, hostile, and vindictive – the residents of District B deserve better. The City of New Orleans deserves better.
BURN.
The good news is that his run-off opponent, Jay Banks, is qualified, famous for being nice, and was King Zulu in 2016. How you like dem coconuts, Bloomy?
Speaking of the 2017 New Orleans run-off election, my latest column on the increasingly bat shit crazy mayor’s race is up at the Bayou Brief: An Uncanny Mess.
I’ve been feeling a bit anti-social of late. That’s one reason I selected Don’t Get Around Much Anymore as this week’s theme song, but mostly because it’s a fucking great song. It was written in 1940 as an instrumental by Duke Ellington. The original title was Never No Lament:
Bob Russell’s lyrics were added two years later. I’m glad they changed the title: Never No Lament doesn’t sound like a hit to me.
We have three versions for your listening pleasure. First, the Ink Spots’ mega-hit version. Second, the Duke and Louis Armstrong from what many call their genius sessions. Immodest but true. Finally, my favorite version. It was arranged by Billy May for the great Nat King Cole.
There’s nothing quite as good as jazz Nat even though lush string pop Nate is pretty swell as well. Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s jump to the break.
Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”
August is dead, long live September. Continue reading Saturday Odds & Sods: Stormy Weather
Idiot Mississippi politician advocates violence then apologizes. Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Lost Causer Karl Oliver
This week’s catblogging features a snapshot of Oscar snoozing next to my Krewe du Vieux costume a few weeks ago. The bag he’s sleeping on contains a krewemate’s costume. All Oscar knows is that it’s comfortable and that’s all the matters … Continue reading Friday Catblogging: Krewe du O
Dennie takes stock of Donald Trump. Continue reading Friday Guest Catblogging: Dennie Meets The Insult Comedian
The Russians Are Coming Meets Inherit The Wind. Really. Continue reading Power Before Country
Spanking in the street with Adrastos and Krewe du Vieux. Continue reading Crass Menagerie
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Continue reading Saturday Odds & Sods: Night Parade
Spanks for the Mammaries, Dennie. Continue reading Friday Guest Catblogging: Dennie & The Busty Bust
Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends. Continue reading Saturday Odds & Sods: Trouble In Mind
Adrastos on Mayor Landrieu’s plan to turn the Crescent City into the Surveillance City. Continue reading Welcome Back To Dizneylandrieu
Confessions of a Moonwalk Moonbat. Continue reading Mock Jazz Funeral For Lady Liberty
All Hail. Dennie. Continue reading Friday Guest Catblogging: Dennie Returns
The only predictable thing about the weather in New Orleans to start the new year has been its unpredictability. It’s been warm and muggy, wet and damp, foggy and chilly. You name it, we’ve had it, except, that is, for snow. The last time it snowed here was in 2008. Thousands of pictures were taken of the St. Charles street car in the snow. It melted quickly and hasn’t happened since. So it goes.
It was Twelfth Night yesterday, which means that we can finally eat king cake, and, more importantly, hang our krewe flags on our houses. I’ve been wanting to fly the Spank flag for months but Dr. A wouldn’t hear of it until yesterday. So it goes.
Here’s the flag with Dennie the den of Muses cat:
End of laginappe Carnival catblogging, make that reblogging. If you blog long enough you end up repeating yourself, repeating yourself, repeating yourself…
This week’s theme song, Born Under A Bad Sign, was written for blues great Albert King by Stax Records legends William Bell and Booker T. Jones. It seems to fit the mood of at least half the country as we contemplate the next administration. I’m not sure whether to feel cursed or resigned but I’m certain that the shit brought to the surface in 2016 will continue to stink. Shit’s a funny thing, no matter how you disguise it, it smells just as bad. So it goes.
We begin with a version King recorded in New Orleans in 1978, produced by Allen Toussaint:
We continue with an instrumental version by the man who wrote the music:
Finally, a swell 1993 rendition by the great Paul Rodgers:
Now that we’ve admitted to being down since we began to crawl, we’ll shoot for a rebirth (no, not the brass band or the pale ale) after the break.
Continue reading “Saturday Odds & Sods: Born Under A Bad Sign”
Sexist, racist float sinks in a sea of malakatude. Continue reading Malaka Of The Week: Frank Linkmeyer
“Seal my fate, I get your tongue in the mail. No one is wise, until they see how it lies.” Continue reading Introducing Governor Tongue
It’s starting to feel a lot like summer in New Orleans. It hasn’t quite enveloped us in its full grip but the air is thick and damp. I’m seeing frizzy hair around town. It’s time to put the curling irons away for the duration: nature takes care of that quite nicely on its own. Shit, I sound like a hairdresser. As if I had enough hair to curl in any event….
One of the big local stories is-surprise, surprise-the murder of a former Tulane student who was in town scouting locations for his wedding. The facts of the case are on the hinky side: he allegedly disappeared from Ms. Mae’s bar near Adrastos World HQ. His friends shrugged it off, it’s what bros do. The victim was last seen on closed circuit video in a store in a very tough neighborhood. His body turned up an hour later. My gut instinct is that it was a drug buy gone bad. The local teevee stations have run with it and their coverage only increased when it turned out the dude worked for the 2012 Romney campaign. That led to this world-weary tweet from some internet smart ass:
Nothing makes me more cynical than wall to wall media coverage of the murder of a connected white boy.
— Shecky (@Adrastosno) May 10, 2016
I wish the local media cared as much about black kids getting murdered in that same neighborhood. Typical.
Now that I’ve bummed you out, let’s move on to this week’s theme songs. Notice the plural: they’re two tunes with the same title. We begin with the title track of a 2000 Jayhawks album. Anyone surprised after a week of Jayhawks songs? I thought not. Smile was written by Gary Louris and evokes Brian Wilson with its wistful melody and lush production. Make that Brian Wilson if he lived in Minnesota since it’s set in the wintertime. There’s no surfing involved, y’all:
The melody of the second Smile was written by Charlie Chaplin for his 1936 film Modern Times. The lyrics and title were added in 1954 by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons.
Eric Clapton used Smile as his opener throughout his 1974 comeback tour:
Now that I’ve put a smile back on your face, we’ll try not to turn it upside into a frown after the break. I promise you’ll be smiling as broadly as Kimmy Schmidt in a jiffy. If you’re not an Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fan, here’s what I’m talking about.
It’s been a wet May thus far in New Orleans. Jazz Fest was a muddy mess. The day we went turned out to be the driest of the second weekend. I wonder if the Mud Brothers returned to slip and slide in the slop?
In other news, the Formosan termite swarms returned to town. It’s a spectacular sight but not if you’re caught out in it. It’s like the locust scene in The Good Earth but doesn’t last very long. Somehow Adrastos World Headquarters was spared the worst. I have a theory about that:
13th Ward anti-termite juju is still working. I think it's because we don't cower in fear. Fuck the fucking Formosan bastards.
— Shecky (@Adrastosno) May 4, 2016
Actually, I should give credit where it’s really due:
Realized why we were spared from the termite swarms. The Wrath of Della Street: pic.twitter.com/MBaxwJGToN
— Shecky (@Adrastosno) May 3, 2016
Enough Termite talk. Time to bug out and move on to this week’s theme song. They All Laughed was written by the brothers Gershwin for the 1937 Astaire-Rogers movie musical Shall We Dance. It became one of Fred’s signature tunes. My favorite Astaire version is a 1953 small group jazz version with the great Oscar Peterson on piano:
Next up on the Gershwin hit parade are Ella and Louis with Oscar Peterson on piano. Detect a pattern? It’s followed by a swinging big band version from Der Bingle:
Finally, it would be unforgivable if I didn’t let Fred and Ginger dance in an art deco nightclub for you this Saturday morning:
Now that we’ve all laughed, it’s time for the break. See you on the other side.