I JUST CAN'T TAKE IT ANY MORE!

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the noonday sun, said Rudyard Kipling. Mad dog owners and St. Louisans swill beer in the noonday sun. It will be worse today. The Grand Parade starts at 11. I've been asked to photograph two of the floats and one of the members has informed me that they will be partying in the staging area at least an hour before the whistle blows. I think I will just observe and document.                  

By the way, the number of views on my recent posts shot up today to way more than normal. I must have gotten a plug somewhere but I can't figure out where. Can someone tell me?

DOG OF DEATH

It seems like each group of people at the pet parade was weirder than the last. So here's this couple walking down the street with some tiny little pup and the guy is dressed up in a skeleton suit with a bony hand affixed to his top hat. And, for extra effect, a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. And it's not Halloween, although that gets pretty strange around here, too.           

POODLE SKIRTS

That's what they used to call them back in the 50s, wasn't it? I guarantee you that pug nosed pooch in the wagon is no poodle. What people do with their dogs in these events.

I'll probably run pictures from the pet parade tomorrow and Saturday, lacking other material. But then silly season in St. Louis shifts into high gear with the Mardi Gras grand parade on Saturday. High times, indeed. Despite Ash Wednesday, silly season continues into March with our St. Patrick's day parades. (We have two. https://tinyurl.com/262hcrxr.) However, on March 17, Mrs. C and I expect to be enjoying s sumptuous dinner at a place in the forest in Costa Rica, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the night we met in a bar in St. Louis on St. Patrick's Day. There are sure to be images.            

COME! FOLLOW ME TO THE BEER!

That idea would have met the spirit of the day at the pre-Mardi Gras pet parade on Sunday. However, that wasn't what was actually going on here. Some of the marchers throw strands of brightly colored beads into the crowd, like on the man at frame left. The person in the flamingo hat (!) is doing just that. People along the sidewalk scream "beads, BEADS, BEADS" to try to get the thrower's attention. It can start to sound like squealing animals.

It's common that these people see me along the parade route with nothing around my neck but my camera strap and insist on hanging some on me. I always gratefully accept.           

OUR IDEA OF FUN

I've noted here several times that St. Louis, or at least a lot of it, likes an excuse to drink in public. This band, setting up before the pet parade, was sponsored by a bar in our Soulard neighborhood where this takes place. Note the golden glass of beer on the stage floor. This was at about 12:30 PM.

The consumption on the streets Sunday will be trivial compared to the Mardi Gras Grand Parade this Saturday. And since we just got legal recreational cannabis in Missouri, I expect the air will be redolent with an aroma richer than Budweiser.             

AW...

St. Louis has developed something of a Mardi Gras industry. There is so much marketing and hype, so many different events, that it has the feel of a for-profit organization. The website says that the entity is Mardi Gras, Inc. with a local address. All I can find about it is that it was once an approved not-for-profit but lost the status for failure to file the necessary paperwork a few years in a row.

One of the events took place yesterday, the annual pet parade. It's sponsored by Purina, the pet food maker, which is based here. It is all about dogs, although I did see two small goats. I don't usually deal in cute but these three had so much crowd appeal I couldn't pass them up.

Oh, and there was that football game last night. We always go out to dinner at a restaurant that doesn't have a television.            

For Want Of A Better Alternative

I have no new material so we have one last day from the dog parade. Silly people embarrassing their pets.

The main Mardi Gras parade is today, even though it's samedi matin. It's usually a hoot and I'll be there with Canons blazing. Pics starting tomorrow.

By the way, a copy of Julia Child's Mastering The Art Of French Cooking arrived at my office from Amazon on Wednesday. Unusually, no packing slip. I didn't order it. My wife and daughter profess to be clueless. Is there anyone in the audience who knows something about this? I have a suspect. At least the quality of my diet should improve.

Dogs and Drink

St. Louis loves an excuse to drink in public. People don't do it without a reason but it doesn't take much. Anything related to Mardi Gras will do just fine.

That might be a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon in the hand of the gentleman in the top picture. I'd need quite a few to dress in that flamboyant pastel dog costume. Could be a hurricane in the middle shot and it looks like puppy might already have lapped some up. The young lady at the end was tending bar on the sidewalk.

For want of other material, I'll probably have one more dog parade post tomorrow. Saturday brings one of The Lou's best photo-ops of the year, the main Mardi Gras parade. That will start coming up on Sunday.

Man's Best Friend

A photo taken on the sidelines as I was leaving the pet parade. They both look melancholy, almost as if they were grieving, sitting there on the snowy curb. I don't like the look of that bull terrier's collar, though.

Hmmm. Was yesterday's post a little too obscure?

What A Piece Of Work Is Dog

Odd. A dog named Hamlet. If a dog actually played Hamlet it would need an awfully good diction coach. But then think of an all-dog production of Hamlet, produced by Month Python, of course. It would be great. Claudius and Gertrude sprawl on big, soft pillows instead of thrones, golden water bowls in front of them. Instead of picking up Yorick's skull, Hamlet finds a big beef bone to gnaw. The prince and Laertes circle one another at the start of the fencing match, sniffing one another's hind quarters. It could be a laff riot. Good night, sweet paws.

The bad joke in the top picture has to do with the corporate sponsorship of the parade. They were promoting dog snacks that have bacon in them. Bacon, pigs, ham, Hamlet - get it? Har. 

Oh, here comes Horatio, below.     

Noble Beast

There is a big to-do about Mardi Gras here. Not even close to the town at the end of the Mississippi but bigger than almost anywhere else in the US. One of the events, a week and a half before Fat Tuesday itself, is the pet parade (all dogs, really - no herding cats). It's pretty commercial, being sponsored by Purina, the giant pet food maker headquartered here. Still, a couple of thousand people show up and have a good time.

Most of the dogs wear costumes. The one above has a stately pose. Reminded me of a heroic statue of a horse.

By the way, we did eat at Sameem, the Afghani restaurant last night. OMG was it good. The owner was charming. The man who may be the most famous chef in St. Louis, Gerard Craft, was dining there on his night off. That's a high endorsement.