Celebration In The Oaks - part 2

Five Pictures of Cowboy Mouth.


You've seen me post on these folks before! Cowboy Mouth played at the reception, and gave a wild performance!

They do their own music usually... this time they changed some lyrics to add the phrase "ten-and-oh" to a chorus, and "the saints will win the Superbowl" to a verse. The crowd loved that, and if they could scream even louder, they did.

At one point a guy asked for "Some BRUCE!"... Fred made him give an additional donation of $200 to the parks before he played one tune... I think it was Born To Run.


I think JP's younger brother was invited up to play some drums...


The lead guitar, John Thomas..


And everybody loves Fred..


The crowd was in tuxes, and suits and basically well dressed.


This is Charlie, reporting from the Botanical Gardens!

Celebration In The Oaks - part 1

ME AND....... Mister Bingle. We got a groovy thing...

...Goin' on

Mister Bingle, the snowman with the ice cream cone hat is a fixture here in New Orleans! Just saying his name has brought tears to the eyes of locals...


The occasion was a fundraiser reception at the Botanical Gardens...


It was a rather formal affair, but also it was raining! So it looked rather like a Monet painting. These fellows were serving Gumbo:


Each year City Park is filled with lights, mostly hung from the big oak trees. "Celebration in the Oaks" it's called. Pre-K it was a drive-through affair, with lines of cars waiting to go along the roads. Now it seems to be a walk-through thing. This was the preview party, for society types, patrons and the like. I didn't mind spending the money, I'm only here one year.

The place really did have an other-worldly quality to it. Fortunately, my new camera is back from the repair shop, and taking (somewhat grainy) pictures in the dark!


One musical sculpture was a walk-through "Musical Light Harp"... laser beams, when broken, made tones... so one played it rather like a Theramin...



"White Bird, In a Golden Cage,
On a Winter's Day,
In the Rain!"


But the white bird, just sits in her cage, Alone! (It's a Beautiful Day)


Free liquor,
Free food,
Free deserts!

And later, free Cowboy Mouth....

Oh yeah, Robert likes Mr. Bingle too!

Pre-Thanksgiving

I heard you saying "Why I wonder if Charlie had a Pre-Thanksgiving party?"

Have no fear!
The crowd assembled...


Hey, I wanted leftovers!!!


Turkey, Gravy, Stuffing, Dressing, creamed onions (without any cream-- olive oil and red wine!), Butternut Squash, Mushroom-onion Quiche, Spinach Quiche (which didn't get used) and various desserts!

I hope your Thanksgiving is so wonderful!

Lake Town Festival- Kenner

Greetings from the Lake Town Festival...


Here was the lineup...


Robert and I went to Kenner, the other end of the New Orleans area, to another music festival, like Gretna, but smaller-- only one stage.

Still, two of our favorite bands were there (but that comes later)
Start with the food...

So many choices!


We settled on the combo platter

and then we were hungry for some music:

The Chee Weez

This group had on the same outfits at Gretna... but back then the Saints were only 2-0... now they are what? 7-0?



The band is a cover band... doing mostly 70's stuff... Neil Diamond, Journey... that sort of thing. The lead singer is most of the show...


But the rest of the band plays pretty good cover material!

They tired me out... and then...

Cowboy Mouth

This was my third time seeing them...

They are a quartet, doing original rock-n-roll.


The leader is a man named Fred... who sings and plays the drums.


But the lead guitarist, John Thomas is also colorful.


The whole group is energetic


And Fred gets the crowd involved, singing along, yelling, jumping...




Makes me want to use some special effects...


That was enough excitement for one night.
We didn't stay for Eddie Money.

As they say here... Geaux Saints!

GO SAINTS...Monday night football, November 2, 2009.



Welcome to the Superdome.

I was a bit apprehensive about going to the Superdome... it has many memories for many people.
It was the topic of a one-man show I saw this summer
Blanche Survives Katrina In A FEMA Trailer Named Desire
( http://blanchesurviveskatrina.com/ )

Then here in New Orleans I heard a singer who had been raped there. The place has memories, not good memories. Slowly fading memories.

These days it is all cleaned up inside... and actually has been for years. Rev. Jim wanted to take me to a game, and this was our big chance!


Our seats were up there (three rows from the top)


The view wasn't too bad


We could see the big picture of what was happening. On the other hand, the announcements were unintelligible!


Quiet... the game's starting....

Who am I kidding... it was a VERY LOUD GAME.

"Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dere gonna beat dem Saints"
(approximately correct, usually all they say is "Who Dat?")

It turns out the answer was NOT the Atlanta Falcons, who tried, and came within 8 at the end, but no dice!

Saints still undefeated.
Charlie's ears still ringing.
Superdome seen.

All Saints Day in New Orleans

Sunday I preached at First Church UU.

My text was from George Odell:

All our lives we are in need
And others are in need of us



It is traditional to clean graves of your ancestors on All Saints Day. It is a school holiday, though this year it was on a Sunday, so it didn't matter. Big signs advertised vigil masses and other special services.

After the service we went to the grave of the first two ministers of First Church, Rev. Sylvester Larned and Rev. Theodore Clapp.

Nice location... "we have a place on Orange Street"...


Here they are!!


It's been a while... since 1850 or so.


Me, down with the Rev's


Our crowd, from First and Community Churhes...


Next stop, St. Roch Cemetery


Including the room of thanks, where the first photo came from...


A wall of above-ground tombs... the individual spots can be re-used. It takes about 8 months between burials.


Those who got in early have the best location...




Is it time yet?