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Mar012006
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Mardi Gras 2006 or: Another Lazy-Ass Summary Post |
In rare fashion, I’ve been too busy with life these past few days to write about it. That’s over now, however, and I can get back to carefully documenting almost nothing as soon as I get through all the stuff that happened during he holiday. Thursday: I worked twelve to five on Thursday. I don’t really remember what I did at work. We hit some heavy traffic after leaving the office as we were on the way to school. I was a couple minutes late to my media and the law class this evening. Attendance was pretty sparse this evening, it looked like we had about half. I don’t remember what the professor lectured about but it didn’t last long. There was a guest speaker in class this evening, a friend of Mr. Gernhauser that’s in the music business. I’m not exactly sure what the guy does, from his rather long presentation it’s obvious he doesn’t do any one thing. He was a fine public speaker but he went more that a little long. I took the shuttle downtown as usual after class. Dad was waiting for me at Tidewater. I probably should have offered Cat a ride. I think this was the evening I got the hard drive in Jeff’s MP3 player working. Earlier I soldered the headphone jack back on the main board and stuck a spare 2.5″ HD inside to make sure the hard disk was the only problem. To fix the drive that came with the player, I had to physically open up the hard drive casing and force the read head, which was apparently stuck, off the platter. I opened up the drive mostly because I wanted to see why it failed, as I’d already given it up for dead. However, after sealing it up and connecting it to my computer, BIOS actually recognized it. I ran chkdsk on it, which found a rather astounding 87 MB in bad sectors, likely due to my fumbling inside. I formatted the drive and put it back in Jeff’s Zen NX. Strangely enough, all his music was still recognized, even after exposing the platter to open air and formatting the drive. I let the player run for two days straight and it played continuously without incident. Friday: I worked about 11 to 3 on Friday. I don’t remember if Dad dropped me off at Tulane with enough time to go to the library for a bit before class at 4:30. This afternoon’s psychology session was about perception. Attendance was rather light this afternoon as well with 19 of about 70 in attendance. Dad was waiting for me with Andrew after class. We went out to Zephyr Field to see Tulane play Pepperdine in the first of a three game series. It was more than somewhat cold outside and the evening’s crowd reflected it. The Mardi Gras festivities may have also been a factor. I no longer recall the details of the game but I do remember we left in about the sixth inning when Tulane was four or so runs behind. Dad was cold. When I got home I watched another great episode of Battlestar Galactica. Saturday: Mom, Dad and Andrew left the house early this morning to drive to Atlanta to visit Grandma Laughlin over the Mardi Gras holiday. I didn’t accompany them because Ami was coming to town to visit for a day or two which provided a rare opportunity for me to see her. However, I learned not terribly long after getting up that she changed her mind the night before. While this was not particularly surprising as I thought she might back out in the 11th hour, I was pretty pissed off at her for not being considerate enough to call me. I was at home all Day on Saturday. I did a little cleaning around the house although things already looked in pretty good shape when I got up this morning. Although my company was out the picture, Jeff was having some friends stay at our house during the break. I did some laundry during the day, my stuff and towels, of which we would need plenty in the next few days. Tulane played Pepperdine again today. Dad wanted to be able to hear the play by play on the road to Atlanta. To do so, Dad had me keep a phone to his computer so he could hear the webcast over his cell phone. There were a couple rain delays during the game, one about halfway through. The game was suspended before the ninth inning started and the game wasn’t officially concluded on Sunday. All the action already took place, however, and Tulane won 9-4. Sunday: I don’t particularly remember Sunday afternoon, although I do recall listening to the Tulane baseball game. They won today. I probably did some housekeeping things too, maybe laundry. Jeff and his friends arrived this evening. I’m not sure I remember them all, although I think I recall the names of the people that stayed at our house Cat, Sheeny, Jenny and Michael, Jeff’s old roommate. There were some other people that were at our house as well over at our house at one time or another. I remember us having seven guests in the house at one point over the holiday weekend. Jeff’s friends didn’t stay too long. They just got settled in and then left to see Baachus. Since I no longer had any plans I invited myself to go with Jeff and his friends. It didn’t seem to be a problem. They took two cars to fit everybody. We parked at the Algiers Ferry and took the boat across, largely as a matter of convenience for parking. We found a spot up Canal Street between the Sheraton and the Marriot. I didn’t speak with Jeff’s friends much although I did buy them beer. I did speak with some of the people around me, both tourists and locals. The crowd was quite impressive. In spite of recent events and the cold weather this evening, the crowd was 4 to 12 deep. Baacus was late in passing by. Apparently a float hit an overhead cable and slowed things down a good bit. It ‘started’ for us around nine. It was a very enjoyable parade with beautiful, elaborate floats themed after The Wizard of Oz. I didn’t catch many throws, although some good stuff did hit me in the head. The people I was with were a lot more enthusiastic about catching stuff anyway. Endymion followed Baacus, but we didn’t see it. We waited for a good while but apparently it didn’t pass through Canal until sometime near midnight and we needed to be on the last ferry before then so we went across the river and home sometime around 11:30. I don’t remember what went on after we got home, it obviously wasn’t anything outrageous enough for me to remember. Oh, somebody had DVDs from the show Arrested Development and we watched a few episodes of that, which weren’t bad. I’d never seen the show before. Monday: Nobody was in any hurry to wake up this morning. I know I slept later than I care to admit. Everyone finally got themselves together by about three to go and get something to eat. I made myself an omelet about an hour earlier but I didn’t feel like hanging around the house myself so I tagged along. We went to a place on Manhattan called Sicily Italian Buffet. It seemed a bit of a long drive just for a pizza buffet but it wasn’t bad. The place is like an upscale Ci Ci’s Pizza, which admittedly isn’t saying much. We were all there for about an hour before we headed back home. We went out to Canal Street again this evening, although I don’t believe we all got there at the same time. In many respects this evening was much like last night, up until a certain point anyway. We took a spot very near where we were last night. I got up front by the rail this evening though. We saw a couple parades. Proteus’s route ended right by us. We saw that parade as it went by shortly after we arrived. I believe we saw Orpheus after that. It was a nice, long parade. I actually caught a few things this time. Later on I went to Wendy’s with Jeff and Jenny. The others drifted off earlier, although they eventually rejoined us at the restaurant. There was a rather long line and a wait to match. I wasn’t especially hungry but I certainly didn’t have anything better to do and purchase bought you a trip to the bathroom. We might have been waiting almost a half hour, I’m not entirely sure. All of Jeff’s friends and friends of friends I recall were there by the time I got my food. We were there for quite some time, talking and deciding what to do with the rest of the evening. Jeff’s friend Sheeny became tired and more than somewhat intoxicated over the course of the evening and needed someone to take her home. In all candor, her quasi-boyfriend August probably should have handled it, but I volunteered to take her myself as I wasn’t especially enthusiastic about staying out until 2 AM anyway, and I'm just a really nice guy :P. I called a cab from Wendy’s but I didn’t exactly get the impression someone would be by anytime soon, as the operator didn’t even ask my name. I certainly couldn’t fault them though as they were obviously quite busy. I decided my best bet would be to try and hail one from Harrah’s. Once Shenny was able to compose herself, we started walking. I didn’t have any luck finding a cab around Harrah’s, at least not an empty one. We kept walking and stopped in front of the Hilton a short distance further, where we got a cab rather promptly. When we got home sometime after 12 I watched the episode of 24 I missed earlier this evening. I think I went to bed around two. Fat Tuesday: Unlike the last couple days, everyone was actually up at a decent hour this morning because Jeff’s friends planned to do see the Metairie parades this afternoon. Neither Sheeny nor Cat joined us this afternoon, however no big shock really. Earlier in the week I planned to spend the day with Bianca. I figured it would be rather convenient if we could both tag along with Jeff and his friends, which actually worked out rather well. I left the house with Jeff and Jenny. We stopped to pick up Bianca, who’s been staying with her grandmother nearby. After we got Bianca, we went over to one of Jeff’s Friend’s house in Gretna, Ronek I think honestly I’m not sure at all. We were over there for a little while. We’d be accompanying this family this afternoon. Some people were preparing food to take to the parades. While I was somewhat concerned about bringing Bianca along as I didn’t think she’d know anybody except me, just as I barely knew anyone except my brother, that concern was quickly put to bed. She knew one or two of the guys from an internship program she participated in last year. Beyond that she’s just a very sociable person so it wouldn’t have been an issue anyway. I rode with Jeff, Jenny and Bianca and a couple other people in a minivan out to Metairie. We drove out to Bonnabal drive to watch the parades. We looked around for a nearby parking spot but didn’t have any luck. The driver decided to let us off close to the parade route with the ice chests and stuff while he went to park the van. We found a nice, shady spot close by. The weather could not have been better. Although it was a bit cold and overcast the last couple days, it was mild and sunny today. We stayed in our spot for a little while. Shortly after we got to our spot there was this short parade of sorts with Al Copeland and his assorted vehicles and boats. Shortly after this, we picked up our stuff and moved down the street where Ronek’s family was. From the looks of things they had most of the food with them. Bianca went off to Rally’s for something to eat though. The parades in Metairie and elsewhere are a very different animal from the ones that run uptown. A majority of the parade goers here are families with their children. It’s much like a tailgating atmosphere. Kids were playing in the streets between parades sometimes between floats. Shortly after Bianca made it back, Elks started passing by. This was the first of two rather long truck parades. Tractor trailers pull rather rudimentary floats packed with revelers. There were some 75 floats in this parade. I doubt the kids mind that the floats are rather simplistic as they still throw lots of beads and toys and they still generate a party atmosphere. A lot of the floats in the parade s today had some sort of advertisement or sponsorship associated with them. While I recognize their necessity this year, it’s easy to understand and appreciate why they’re traditionally banned. I believe the Krewe of Jefferson rolled after Elks. This was a more traditional parade with more familiarly designed floats. Hota Kotbe was the ‘grand marshal’ of this one. I also recognized George Huff in one of the floats. After this parade there was another truck parade much like Elks, I don’t recall the name of it. By this time I have to say I was pretty paraded out, and I have to believe that feeling was at least partially shared. There must have been some 200 floats among the three parades. I’d imagine the enormous size of the truck parades reflects the large number of people who wish to ride. After the third parades ended we headed out. It was a bit of a walk back to the car, especially for Bianca who must have caught some 50 pounds of beads. She was pretty enthusiastic about that aspect of things. We went back to Ronek’s house for a little while. There were lots of people there I’d never seen before, not even when we were there earlier today. Jeff, Bianca and I rode with Jenny back home. She and Jeff left just a few minutes afterward to go to a party at Eric’s house I think. Bianca and I remained at home for a little while. I wanted to go out again this evening but was hardly opposed to resting a while. Mom, Dad and Andrew returned home from their trip to Atlanta to visit Grandma not terribly long after Bianca and I arrived. Dad took Bianca and I downtown at about seven this evening. He was heading out to Frenchman St. and Bianca and I wanted to go to Bourbon for a little while. Dad dropped us off on North Rampart and we walked down. I took my film camera with a roll of Kodak B&W 3200 film I’ve been sitting on for almost a year. I didn’t take as many pictures as I would have liked though. We didn’t stay as long as I would have preferred. Bourbon Street was rather crowded like I remember it last year. There was usually enough room to move somewhat freely except below balconies of circumstance. We walked down Bourbon once and then I believe we went to Caf Du Monde. That is I know we went there I’m just not sure how much time passed between getting to the quarter and making it to Decatur. The old coffee stand was rather crowded although we did find a table in the far corner by the street. Although we found a table it understandably took a pretty good while to be served. My streak of having beignets without getting a spec of powdered sugar on my clothing continues. After we left Caf Du Monde we walked up to Royal Street and then down to Canal so we could walk down Bourbon Street again. I don’t think there’s any necessity in detailing what we saw. I got a call from Dad after who said he was leaving and wanted to know if we wanted a ride home. I wanted to stay until midnight but Bianca did not because she had to get up early the next morning. It didn’t make much sense for me to hand around by myself so we met Dad on Decatur and went home for the evening. Later that evening I watched the Boston Legal episode I missed form earlier today. I stayed up on the computer for a while and went to bed at an hour much later than necessary. and that finally concludes this post, which I’ve been picking at for days. Now I can do that homework I’ve had over a week to work on.