Colleen Kane

Crescent City

 

 

Hey, you know what I didn't yet blog about, besides almost everything these days? My brief trip to New Orleans over Memorial Day weekend.

Part one of the Louisiana trip consisted of this project in Baton Rouge. But part two was that I needed a break. I really needed the kind of good time New Orleans allows to roll and roll again.

First, though, I have to show off my most nutrageous thrift store find in many moons.

 

I shall call this marvelous (Baton Rouge) thrift store find "LAxidermy."

I think it cost either $4 or $7. Usually I remember all my bargain prices because it adds to the enjoyment, but in this case I kind of blacked out in my haste to exchange money for this treasure. All I remember is the guys working at the store chiding me on the way to the counter: "Girrrrl, what you gonna do with them little bitty horns? That's Bambi. We got a 8-point over here!" They showed me that up front there was a mounted full-grown deer head plus a mountain goat head for sale. I explained that I was going home on a plane so it might pose a bit of a problem to bring a full-size animal head.

Incidentally, I had a moment of terror going through airport security to fly home when I remembered I had the antlers packed in my carry-on. They're going to take away my LAxidermy! It would be a tragedy worthy of  my own Lifetime Original Movie. But then it breezed through the scanner and I was like, "Oh yeah, it's Louisiana." Knitting needles on the plane? Forget it. Bonelike body part that animals use to fight and stab each other? All aboard!

Anyway, totally worth it. Whenever I need cheering up, I should just remember that I OWN THIS THING NOW.

New Orleans puts the fun in funerals

On February 12, John Brunious, the trumpeter and band leader for the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, passed away.

As a newcomer to the region, I was introduced to the legendary New Orleans band via this incredible video by Clint Maedgen (via Cajun Boy, as I'm sure he'll point out if I don't link him) which converted me to instant fan of Clint and the band.

I think you'd have to be a robot for that to not touch you in some way.

So I'm bummed that I never got to see Mr. Brunious lead the band. But I did get to see some of the royal sendoff New Orleans gave him at his jazz funeral on Saturday.

Wherein I venture into the Tigers' den at an LSU game

Q. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!?!??!?!

A. No. I am pretty much never ready for some football. However! I was easily lured by an offer presented by a regular commenter on this blog, vl100butch, to experience an LSU football game from an insider's perspective. Other than eating some specially prepared little maritime critters, which I am also not ready for, this seemed the essential Baton Rouge experience. And that's how this avid sports detractor went willingly to her first sporting match in, oh, probably over 15 years.

Road Trip: Kicked in Deez Nuts by History

I believe it was during a trip to Ireland or Scotland that one of my friends compared it to being kicked in the nuts by history. Perhaps the sentiment could be phrased more eloquently, but the same is true of my road trip through the Southern states back down to Baton Rouge. Only it wasn't just learning about history while visiting the sites. Some of this trip was like actually traveling back in time. Other parts of the trip involved laughing at yahoos other cultures, of course, or just place names such as Bucksnort, Tennessee, but regular readers were probably expecting as much.