Mardi Gras 2006

[zydecocruiser]

Thanks for the update!

 

Flood Damage - Been There, Done That.........

I was in high school in 1972 when Hurricane Agnes wiped out the Wyoming Valley of PA. We had 2 feet of water on the 2nd floor. We lived in a HUD trailer in our backyard for 2 years while we gutted and rebuilt the house.

 

I've seen floods and hurricanes but nothing like the devastation mile after mile in New Orleans. But the tourist areas - the old parts of the city - are pretty much ok.

[zydecocruiser]

If you catch Zulu:

 

Krewe of Zulu bringing in authentic Zulu warriors from Africa for parade

 

10:23 AM CST on Wednesday, February 8, 2006

 

 

Dennis Woltering / WWL-TV News Reporter

When Zulu rolls on Fat Tuesday, the krewe plans to offer a unique attraction this year: actual Zulu warriors from Africa.

 

 

Courtesy: Blaine Kern

Blaine Kern captured images of Zulu warriors on a recent trip to South Africa and was inspired to work alongside the Krewe of Zulu in bringing the warriors to the Crescent City.

 

 

Local float builder Blaine Kern said he wanted to accomplish something that Roy Glapion, the late City Councilman and Zulu President, had often talked about by recruiting a group of Zulu warriors to parade in Mardi Gras.

 

“Roy Glapion was a dear friend...And I knew this is what he wanted to do,” Kern said.

 

During a December trip to South Africa, Kern took home video of Zulu warriors performing a ceremonial dance and was inspired to achieve his friend’s long-time goal.

 

In response, the Zulus contacted Kern to let him know that 20 warriors would indeed be in town for Mardi Gras so they could parade with the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club.

 

“When Blaine told me he was trying to get ‘em, I really didn’t believe he could do it,” said Zulu President Charles Hamilton. “But when he called me last night and told me that they’re coming, we’re really looking forward it. It should be a real hit and it'll be an exchange of cultures.”

 

 

WWL-TV

Charles Hamilton, President of the Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club.

 

Jimmie Felder, Zulu parade chairman, called the announcement “fantastic” and said the aid would provide a “big boost” for the club.

 

Edwin Lombard, Fourth Circuit Appeal Court Judge and Zulu member, said his own notions and understanding of the Zulu warriors were changed when he was in South Africa to monitor that country’s elections in 1995.

 

Lombard said apart from their ceremonial performances, the Zulus of today have a much different style and image.

 

“There was all these beautiful, huge cars, and I asked a guy at the desk, ‘what do we have here?’ And he said, ‘Zulus are meeting upstairs.’ There were Mercedes and Rolls Royces; that was the business council of Zulu,” Lombard said.

 

But the Zulu warriors will bring their ceremonial dances to Mardi Gras this year, and Blaine Kern promised it will be quite a show.

 

“They actually do a thing called the ‘Gumbu dance’ and they stomp the ground and clash their spears, they’re fierce looking, I guarantee you…they will make a hit,” Kern said.

 

This was not the first time Kern has tried to bring Zulu warriors to New Orleans. Lombard said 20 years ago he, Kern and others planned a trip to South Africa to recruit the warriors. Unfortunately, it led to a lot of controversy.

 

“There were some civil rights leaders who said that we were supporting apartheid, that we were racists. And that if we went to South Africa it would send the wrong message, even though about two months before our invitation, Jesse Jackson had gone to South Africa,” Lombard said.

 

With apartheid a thing of the past in South Africa, the Zulu warriors will finally be able to come across the Atlantic to take part in Carnival. And even though some critics argue New Orleans shouldn't have a Mardi Gras, Kern, Hamilton and Lombard disagree.

 

“I say we have to parade…because we are part of the city,” Hamilton said. “The City needs the economic boost and we feel Zulu can provide that boost to the city.”

 

Lombard said New Orleans needs to carry on with Mardi Gras to show the world that the city is alive and kicking.

 

And after parading down St. Charles Avenue to Canal Street, Zulu members will double back to the Superdome where they will leave their floats and—along with the Zulu warriors—then second line to Zulu's headquarters on Broad Street.

[Polish Falcon]

Cool!

Thanks for the info!

[vossjemi]

I see on www.frenchquarter.com some parades at noon on sat/sun 18th & 19th when I'll be there. There is also a link to buy tickets for grandstands. Do I want/need to be in the stands? We have ressies for dinner fri/sat night and the rest we are winging it. Is there a grocery store like a walgreens or something in the fq or near bourbon street? We'll need soda/liquor for the room. Also, are we going to have a hard time getting a cab from the airport to our room? I've been hearing about shortages of cabs so this worries me a little bit.

[zydecocruiser]

I may be in NOLA next weekend and am pondering the stands myself. With the abbreviated schedule and parade routes modified it might be reasonable. The built-in restrooms may well end up being gross. Many bars, etc. have facilities, but usually require a purchase to use. But most people need a refill, anyway. For $5pp, I've probably already wasted too much time thinking about?

 

There should be enough taxis at the airport. They make good money hauling people to the hotels. Last I noticed it was a $28 fare + probably a fuel surcharge + tip. The shortage would be for short hauls. And if you do take a taxi for a short haul - Mardi Gras is one of those special events where there will be set minimum charge even if you only go a block or two.

 

United Cab is the largest cab company - might want to keep their number handy

http://www.unitedcabs.com/

 

Not sure if they are open or what the hours are, but if you have any questions or complaints about taxis, you can check with the New Orleans Taxi Bureau -

"Call Taxi Bureau at (504) 565-6272 if you have questions regarding rates or meter charges)

[zydecocruiser]

Oh yeah - there are some small grocery stores, e.g. A&P, 701 Royal - Royal is parallel and 1 block over from Bourbon. Royal Street Grocery and Deli is another at 801 Royal.

 

Vieux Carre Wine and Spirits is open @ 422 Chartres.

 

Go cups are legal in New Orleans - you can walk down the street with an open container, although bottles and cans are a No No.

[vossjemi]

THanks Zy! Can't wait for my first NOLA trip!

[zydecocruiser]

Hurricane Katrina Stokes Mardi Gras Satire

By MICHELLE ROBERTS

 

Associated Press Writer

 

 

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Mardi Gras has long been an occasion for the city to laugh at tragedy and aim barbs at authorities, and given all the pain New Orleans has suffered in the past year the irreverence should reach new heights this season.

 

Armed with sharp tongues and images such as the blue tarps that still protect broken roofs across the city, the clubs that stage Mardi Gras parades are targeting Hurricane Katrina and the politicians they blame for the chaotic response to the catastrophe.

 

"It is hard living here now. We need to have our opportunity to release," said Keith Twitchell, one of the organizers of Saturday's Krewe du Vieux parade. "If you don't laugh, you're dead. There's a lot to cry about here."

 

Krewe du Vieux has used its parade to mock corporations and politicians every year for the last two decades.

 

"It's just we have more material this year," Twitchell said before the parade, themed "C'est Levee," a pun on the French phrase "C'est la vie," meaning "that's life."

 

Floats and props built for the Saturday evening parade in the French Quarter included hand-pulled carts elaborately decorated with blue tarps, fake broken levees, cardboard travel trailers and effigies of Mayor Ray Nagin and Gov. Kathleen Blanco.

 

One display asked France to buy Louisiana back, suggesting the state might get better treatment than it has from the American government. And in place of a parade map, the Krewe du Vieux had a "projected path" adorned with a swirly hurricane symbol.

 

Still, in the midst of revelry and satire, even the city known as the Big Easy has a serious side.

 

The Zulu Social Aid & Pleasure Club, a 90-year-old historically black group that holds one of the city's most beloved Mardi Gras parades, held a service and lit 10 candles in honor of club members who have died since the storm.

 

They lit an eleventh candle to honor the hundreds of people killed by Katrina.

 

Mardi Gras parades typically run on weekends leading up to and on Mardi Gras, which falls on Feb. 28 this year, almost exactly six months after the Aug. 29 storm. The parades are put on by private clubs across the city; Krewe du Vieux is a smaller French Quarter parade that runs in advance of the major parades.

 

Masked riders in the parades have long used the opportunity to mock the ruling class and government officials, said Mardi Gras expert Arthur Hardy. The tradition goes back to 1873, when the Mistick Krewe of Comus themed its parade "The Missing Links to Darwin's Origin of the Species" and portrayed Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant as a tobacco grub.

 

Hardy said the satire serves as a coping mechanism.

 

"It's almost like you laugh to keep from crying. It's a chance to say 'This can't keep us down' ... We're going to laugh at it and throw something back at it," he said.

 

Even groups that are typically less tongue-in-cheek are taking swipes at the storm and politicians this year.

 

The Krewe of Carrollton, which holds its parade on Feb. 19, chose "Blue Roof Blues" - a reference to the tarps protecting damaged and leaky roofs.

 

The Krewe of Mid-City will use blue tarps along the bottom of its floats - in part out of necessity because of flooding at its warehouse.

 

The Mid-City parade, scheduled for Feb. 26, will have floats called "New Orleans Culture" - that's culture as in mold - and "I drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was gone," a bitter twist on the line from Don McLean's "American Pie."

 

It will also use a float from last year's parade that bears the image of Willy Wonka. The "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" character has become a favorite reference to the mayor since he angered residents by saying New Orleans would once more become a "chocolate city." New Orleans was more than 60 percent black before Hurricane Katrina displaced about three-quarters of its population.

 

"As fate would have it, we're able to recycle it," Gerard Braud, a former Mid-City king, said of the float.

[zydecocruiser]

Airport shuttle planned for Carnival

Reduced taxi fleet is getting an assist

Saturday, February 11, 2006

By Bruce Eggler

Staff writer

 

Worried that New Orleans' depleted taxi fleet might be unable to handle a surge of Carnival tourists, the city has arranged a system for Airport Shuttle Inc. buses and vans to handle more of the load.

 

Taxicab Bureau Administrator Jesse Bridges said fewer than half of the 2,000 cabs that operated in Orleans and Jefferson parishes before Hurricane Katrina are back on the streets, and only about 120 are working at Armstrong International Airport, compared with 900 to 1,000 before the storm.

 

So starting a few days before parades begin rolling, Airport Shuttle will be ready, if demand warrants, to transport visitors from the airport to Union Passenger Terminal in large buses, then move them on to major hotels or local universities in vans, Bridges said.

Normally, he said, Airport Shuttle transports visitors directly from the airport to hotels in vans. It will be able to handle more visitors faster by using the buses and an intermediate staging point, he said.

 

Visitors who prefer cabs will continue to be able to get them either at the airport or at Union Passenger Terminal, which also is the local station for Amtrak trains and Greyhound buses. Limousines also will continue to operate from the airport.

 

Pat Murphy, president of United Cabs Inc., currently the city's largest taxi company, said he and other cab company officials were not consulted on the plan, which he said "is not really fair to the cab industry." But he said he understands hotel and tourist industry leaders' fear there would not be enough cabs to handle all visitors.

 

How many visitors the city will get for Carnival is uncertain. Although some hotels expect to be sold out for the season's closing days, Feb. 24-28, many of their rooms are being occupied by recovery workers and displaced local residents.

 

At the start of February, 22,000 of the area's 38,000 pre-Hurricane Katrina hotel rooms were usable, according to tourism leaders. Of those, 14,000 were taken by storm evacuees and disaster-assistance workers. Another 6,000 rooms were expected to come on line by Mardi Gras.

 

Armstrong Airport, currently running less than half its pre-Katrina load of 166 daily flights, expects large crowds, though it's uncertain how many will be Mardi Gras revelers.

 

Southwest Airlines, the airport's largest carrier before Katrina, is adding 18 flights in and out of New Orleans to Orlando, Fla., Houston and Dallas from Feb. 24 through March 4 to handle Carnival travelers.

 

"The forward bookings are looking good," Southwest spokeswoman Paula Berg said. "Within a few days of announcing the flights, they were beginning to fill in nicely."

 

Most of New Orleans' cab companies have been shut down since Katrina, with only United Cabs operating most of the time. United had about 400 cabs before the storm and has 300 now, with about 100 new drivers, many of whom previously drove for other companies, United officials said.

 

Bridges said two other companies, White Fleet and Yellow, have combined their fleets and are back in operation, with several hundred cabs on the streets or waiting for drivers.

 

Bridges said 10 to 15 drivers a day are coming in to renew their cab licenses.

 

The city has set up an expedited licensing process that will begin Monday, he said.

 

Drivers seeking new licenses or renewals of existing licenses should first pick up a release form and complete a security application at the Taxicab Bureau office on the second floor of City Hall, 1300 Perdido St., weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

 

The drivers then will take the release form to 1618 St. Charles Ave., where drug screenings will take place weekdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

 

The Taxicab Bureau will forward the completed security application to the Landside Operations Office at Armstrong Airport, where background checks will be conducted. Harold Dede, the landside operations manager, will schedule an appointment with each applicant at the airport. Appointments will be conducted on Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

 

Deputy Director of Aviation Sean Hunter said it will take two days to process the application after the appointment. The results will be sent back to the Taxicab Bureau for review and determination of whether a license will be awarded to the applicant.

 

"We urge all holders of for-hire permits to come to the Taxicab Bureau now to pick up release forms and complete the security application," Bridges said.

 

"With Mardi Gras just around the corner and the Morial Convention Center reopening soon, we expect a business rebirth for our taxi, bus and limousine drivers," he said. "All our drivers must get their licenses renewed to take advantage of this new business opportunity."

[Polish Falcon]

When I first read about the Zulu Jazz Funeral I got very excited because I thought it was scheduled for Saturday 2/25 - when we would be there!

But, it was this past Saturday.........Darn!

 

Hey, did you read about The Carnival Estacy breaking loose and spinning in to river?

 

Here's a link......http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/base/news-5/113972939822690.xml

[selucrey]

For those that are interested, by clicking on an intersection on this map you will be able to see what the general area looks like...

http://vieuxcarre.org/

[Pav]

Thanks for the link. That site is awesome. It sure brings back many pleasant memories of the visits our family enjoyed in New Orleans.

[Polish Falcon]

selucrey's Avatar

selucrey selucrey is offline

5,000+ Club

 

Thanks! What a Great Link!

I almost stayed up all night on this map/photo site!