STL DPB ON THE ROAD - REDUCED TO POSTING IMAGES OF LIQUOR MARKETING

No posts for a couple of days. I got back from New Orleans, went back to work and felt like I walked into a fan. More people and things want a piece of me than there is me to go around. I really want to retire but the plan is for next year after I turn 70.

Anyway, I don't have any new local material  (although I do have an improv festival to shoot Friday night). So, back to the Big Easy. I can't think of anyplace that promotes alcohol abuse and binge drinking like Bourbon Street. Many Americans will recognize this figure as the personification of Captain Morgan Spiced Rum. I've never tasted the stuff but its marketing is inescapable.

He is supposed to be a pirate, a dishonorable profession. How much sea water do you think could build up  in those cuffs?        

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - A CHIHUAHUA WITH RED SUNGLASSES

We met this man on Bourbon Street in front of renowned Galatoire's restaurant, where one of the staff was helping him onto the sidewalk. Our best guess was that he had suffered a stroke. The blanket with the logo of the New Orleans Saints football team covered his wheelchair.  He had the sunniest personality of anyone I've met in a long time.

Yes, he was out hustling some income but he was simply charming. He had trained the dog on top to take off its sunglasses with its left front paw after a series of word commands. The crowd went wild.        

STL DPB ON THE ROAD - WHEN PEOPLE THINK OF NEW ORLEANS THEY THINK OF . . .

Bourbon Street. This place makes the Las Vegas Strip look classy. One of the main marketing themes seems to be getting blotto drunk, although I don't know how much the bar owners and police actually tolerate. I'm not even sure if some of the bars ever close. 

On the other hand, Preservation Hall is just a few steps off Bourbon. Its motto is "dedicated to the preservation of jazz." It's old-style, traditional Dixieland. The inside is a bit of a dump but listening to those old musicians in unforgettable.          

Viva La Liberta

Libertine Don Giovanni might have enjoyed Bourbon Street, New Orleans' center for people who want to seriously misbehave. The second picture is of a very dirty car. The message seems to be Hello Kitty, kiss my ass. The, um, person in the third picture was seen a few minutes later handing out flyers for a transvestite show. The bottom picture expresses an essential Louisiana attitude.

All of the N.O. pictures posted this week were shot last Sunday afternoon and evening. After a big dinner with my colleagues that night I got smacked with a nasty and sudden stomach bug. Gradually getting better but imagine, going to New Orleans and losing weight. Haven't gotten any comments written on my friends' blogs but I'll shape up now that I'm home.                    

Oh When The Saints . . .

. . .come marching in. New Orleans jazz, Dixieland. These young men were playing it for tips on Bourbon Street and they were hot. The tourist in the middle picture decided to put himself in the act. (I wouldn't dream of doing this!) The band had drawn a small crowd when I passed. The white (and one Asian) spectators seemed to prefer the sidewalk across the street from the black musicians.

I don't think that Rick's Sporting Saloon means sporting in the sense of baseball or tennis. You might remember the character Sportin' Life in Porgy and Bess.        

Refreshments

Drinking in the street is permitted in the commercial parts of the French Quarter. Not like in St. Louis on St. Patrick's Day, where it is an occasional tolerance of naughtiness. On Bourbon Street, it's a 24/7/365 activity.

At a meetings some years ago, a New Orleans lawyer and I were  talking about Louisiana liquor laws. I asked if the state had an open container law (it is generally illegal in the US to have an unsealed container of an alcoholic beverage inside a car). "Sure," he shot back, "you gotta have one." All this is titillating for visitors but it's still pretty sad.      

Meanwhile, On Bourbon Street

Bourbon Street is the heart of the entertainment and restaurant district in New Orleans. Damn near anything goes, as long as you don't bust up the merchants' property or harass others. Tolerance is the policy, so the individual in the top photo, taken at about 4 in the afternoon, does not raise eyebrows among the locals. The tourists get a buzz off it but, hey, it's part of the floor show.

Perhaps the man should have checked out the sign across the street. I think it refers to a cocktail, not a religious concept, but why not take a chance? As they say down there, laissez les bons temps rouler.         

Good Night, New Orleans

.

Home late Saturday night and just time for a quick post. In many ways, New Orleans' nature is best expressed in the dark.

Out to shoot new local material today.

Who Dat?

.
High life and low life on Bourbon Street, New Orleans. Above, Joan and Cindy, our senior paralegals, were posing when this man from a restaurant walked by with perfect timing, carrying a big tray of fruit, Glad he did! Non-Americans may not understand the title and context of this post. Let me know if you're confused.

Below, well, I suppose it's just a friendly conversation.

Fourteen New Orleans pictures have been added to Flickr here.

Well, It Is The Joy Parade

.
It's nice to see joy prevail. This was typical of the spirit during the parade last weekend.

The Thursday Arch Series on break. There's no recent material anyway. Instead, we'll have some debauchery from New Orleans. Here's an example - shots to go from a bar on Bourbon Street.