Happy Mardi Gras Season!

This past week was sheer pleasure for me. I started it by attending the special Krewe of Cork's Chateau Potelle Wine Dinner at the Omni Royal Hotel. 2006 Grand Marshall of the Krewe of Cork; Jean Noel Fourmeaux of Chateau Potelle selected all the wines for the special gourmet meal and provided short introductions to the delicious wines.

“Politics with a Punch "was also happening the same  night, so knowing what an entertaining event it was going to be, I decided to take a taxicab and catch-up a little bit with what was going on in between my gourmet courses. Believe me that was the best taxi cab money that I ever spent. Le Chat Noir was packed to the brim. The participants were so funny and informative at the same time. Next month, make sure you reserve your seat early because with all these candidates vying for your important vote, you get to see a side in “Politics with a Punch” that you would normally not see especially in a politician! I can not wait for the next one.   

The weekend weather was in the cool side but my spirit and my fellow revelers were as steaming as a pot of hot boiling crawfish.

The Krewe of Cork Parade on Friday was just divine. As the years goes by, the sparkling members' costumes just get more creative by the years. The flowing of brand names champagnes such as Taittinger; Moet Chandon; Piper Heisedick; Duvall Leroy and others, at the luncheon at the Court of Two Sisters was non stopping.  I felt like I could have died and gone to heaven!

The parade was so much fun, and being followed by the wine police pouring delicious wines along the route, didn't hurt either.  I just kept following them, balancing my champagne cup and my precious cargo of Tito, the Royal Pooch, between my hands.  We stopped at many famous saloons along the route in the French Quarter before we ended up at the Omni Royal.  While there, more food and a wide selection of wine was waiting for us as well as a very energetic band: Sha’On and the Girls with Success, who played familiar tunes a la Tuna Turner. Oh What a Night! 

By the way, during the Krewe of Cork parade, Tito's image and fellow Krewe member Melissa Gordon in her Blue Nun outfit (who was  caring for Tito while I was photographing  other members of the Krewe) was captured  by Associated Press and their picture was carried on many syndicated newspapers including CNN throughout the nation.

 On Saturday, Tito, my friend Janelle Crescioni and I went to provide moral support to the parading Krewes and specially Shangri-La, with whom I have very special bond since I reigned as the Millennium 2000’s Queen. The crowds were there cheering and catching generous amounts of beads. It was wonderful. We were able to see few parades in less than two hours. The parades were short but the enthusiasms and spirit of the Krewe members and the crowds were phenomenal. I think 2006 is probably going to go down memory lane as the best carnival ever.

The Krewe of Barkus is the other parade that I thoroughly enjoyed participating. Duke Tito looked impressive in his beautiful costume surrounded by his favorite cannine playmates, Isabella and Camille dressed exquisitely in plumes and tulle. Our float was designed to look like the balloon in the movie “The Wizard of Oz “except it was in the Krewe of Barkus' Wizard of Pawz 2006. We loved parading every bit of it as we threw a wide selection of stuffed animals, beads and bone treats.

I also enjoyed attending the great breakfast that the Faulkner House hosted in honor of Ken Foster’ s new memoir, “the Dogs who Found Me.”  I bough several books for my friends who love their dogs as I love my beloved Tito.

This week is going to be very special since it is our first Carnival after Katrina. We are ready to demonstrate to the world that Mardi Gras is very important to us not just to our economy but also for our soul, our heritage and our traditions.

One of my dear friend and client that came to my aid during my Katrina ordeal is making a very important documentary that will be donated to the archives of the City of New Orleans.  Mark Carroll and his wife Michelle who live in Los Angeles but own a beautiful Creole cottage in the French Quarter are bringing a film crew to document the feeling of interesting people, musicians, politicians, and artists among others about this year’s Mardi Gras. The filming will take place on Sunday, February 24 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at King Bolden, 820 N. Rampart. They are picking up the tabs of drinks consumed while the filming of the documentary takes place. So if you think you would like to be immortalized, make sure you find your way to King Bolden.

Last Friday we celebrated the re-opening of Harrah’s Casino and there is going to be plenty of reasons to continue celebrating since the Casino is hosting a wonderful list of New Orleans’s music legends in free concerts throughout Mardi Gras week.  You name them, and they will be playing from February 24- February 28 at the Canal Street Entrance.

Howlin’s Wolf at 907 S. Peters is another venue that will be featuring free shows from February 24- 27. The free show is sponsored by Southern Comfort. For more information visit: www.thehowlingwolf.com

Another event that I do not want you to miss is the “Experience Endymion” benefiting Save Our Cemeteries, Inc. this Saturday, February 25 at 3 p.m. for the Endymion Parade. The fun- event will take place at Bultman Funeral Home on St. Charles Avenue at Louisiana Avenue. For $40 or $50 for non-members, you will be able to enjoy the parade, eat wonderful food including  jambalaya, hot dogs; drink wine, beer and most important you will have restroom facilities and benefit  very needed Save Our Cemeteries. For information visit www.saveourcemetereies.org

Darling, there are so many events that I could recommend this Mardi Gras season, but I am going just to list the events for you to decide which one to attend.

Have a wonderful Carnival Season and let’s show the rest of the world that we know how to have fun in spite of our tribulations.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 22

“THE TERRIBLE AND THE BRAVE: The Battles of New Orleans,1814-1815” An exhibit of artworks, original documents, vintage weapons, military equipments and uniforms, plus interactive media components with sounds, images and commentary from noted scholars, detailings the British invasion and american defense. Hours  are 9:30 a.m.- 3p.m. Free admission.

THOR PARADE ,Metarie @ 7pm

 

MADE IN NEW ORLEANS: A SURVEY OF CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE CRESCENT CITY. Contemporary Arts Center,900 Camp St., 210-0224;www.cacno.org –Thirty-one well-established artists are represented in an exhibition that reflects the rich diversity of New Orleans, through painting sculpture, collage, print-making, assemblage, ceramics and glass. February11-April 15. 

 KATRINA KREWE CLEANUPS. Wednesday and Saturdays. Bring gloves and a rake, and look for krewe van and signs; visit www.CleanNO.org –Wednesday. 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday,9a.m. to noon. Let's take pride in our city and make it a more inviting place! Wednesday, Tchoupitoulas from Napoleon Ave. toward Jefferson Ave.....

 

NEW ORLEANS JAZZ HISTORICAL PARK CONCERTS. 916 N. Peters St.589-4841. ;www.nps.gov/jazz/ Jazz piano hour with Lars Edegran. Noon. Traditional New Orleans jazz.

MARDI GRAS COSTUME DAY AT BAYONA. Bayona Restaurant, 430 Rue Dauphine, 525-4455. Free Bottle of red or white wine per table. Costume a must. 11:30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.

GAMBITWEEKLY FREE DRINKS PARTY.  Three local bars will be serving free drinks of the featured brand: WILD TURKEY.  Take off your marks and come down to enjoy free  Wild Turkey 101  and Russel’s Reserve drinks at these locations: Friar Tuck’s Bar and Grill, 5130 Freret  St., 891-4080, Uptown; Dino’s Bar and Bgrill, 11 28 Tchoupitoulas St., 558-09000, Warehouse District;  Oscar’s, 20 27 Metairie Rd., Metaire. 6 to 8 p.m.

 

FRENCH QUARTER TOWN HALL MEETING  Oswald's  1331 Decatur  St.;www.FrenchQuarterTownHall.blgspot.com- Speakers will be:  French Quarter street artists. artists.  Free. Complimentary soft drinks and bottle water. 8 p.m.

FREDY OMAR CON SU BANDA. Café Brazil, 2100 Chartres Street. 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Cover $5.00 Cafe Brasil 10pm-1am
Wednesdays  2/22/06
Fridays         2/24/06 

 

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23

KATRINA KREWE CLEANUPS. 8:30 TO NOON, “Freshen up the French Quarter.” Meet at 500 Canal St.(Sheraton Media Center) for doughnuts and coffee and to sign and receive packets. Ends at Original Daiquiris on Bourbon Street at Solaris Parking Garage at 721 Iberville, which is offering a $5 a day  special for volunteers who arrive before 10 a.m. Sponsored by Glad, with Eli Manning.

HERMES, KREWE D'ETAT & MORPHEUS Parades. Uptown @ 5:45pm

 

FREE WINE TASTING AT CORK AND BOTTLE. 3700 Orleans Ave., 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

 “MY NEW ORLEAN IS MY MARDI GRAS: COME AS YOU ARE.” Louisiana State Museum Presbytere.751 Chartres St., 568-6968. Faulkner Society and Krewe of Libris host “My New Orleans is my Mardi Gras: Come As You Are ,” a costume party featuring food, wine, live music  and words from local authors including Roy Blount Jr., Julie smith , Robert Olen Butler and Elizabeth Dewberry. Tickets $15 (must be purchase in advance). 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

 

CARNIVAL EXHIBIT CELEBRATION. International House, 221 Camp St., 553-9550 – The Internstional House presents an exhibition of Mardi Gras Indian costumes onloan from the Backstreet Cultural Museum and celebrates the 150^th Carnival Season with music by the Backstreet Brass Band and surprise guests. 6 p.m. This exhibition is until March 1^st.

 

JOHN BOUTTE AT SNUG HARBOR. 626 Frenchmen St., 669-4744. 9pm-12:30 a.m.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 24

 HERMES, KREWE D'ETAT & MORPHEUS PARADES. Uptown @ 5:45pm

OBITUARY COCKTAIL. Marigny Brasserie, 640 Frenchmen St:  Weekly gathering of local patronizing saloons of New Orleans. Always from 6 to 7p.m. www.obituarycocktail.org

FREE WINE TASTING AT SIP WINE.  3119 Magazine st., 894-7071. 6 to 8 p.m. 

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ANAIS PATTERSON, King Bolden.820 N. Rampart Street. 525-2379. 6:30 to 10 p.m.

THE ELIS MARSALIS TRIO AT SNUG HARBOR. 629 Frenchmen St., 949-0696. 9 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

 

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 25

IRIS & TUCKS PARADES. Uptown @ 11am
ENDYMION PARADE. Uptown @ 3:30pm

FRENCH MARKET MASK MARKET. Dutch Alley, 522-2621; www.frenchmarket.org –The Mask market celebrates its 24^th year Saturday through Monday, february 25-27 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Enjoy outstanding music, the charm of the Market and handmade masks from world-class mask makers from around the country. Admission is free.  

ABC DAYTIME STARS. Jackson Square- Stars from ABC’s daytime soap operas visit with fans in Jackson Square as part of the “Fun in the Sun” national tour. Noon to 3 p.m.

 

EXPERIENCE ENDYMION BENEFITING SAVE OUR CEMETERIES.Bultman Funeral Home, St. Charles Ave., at Louisiana Ave. 525-3377; www.saveourcemeteries.com - 3 p.m. Endymion Parade rolls at 4 p.m.. Enjoy Hot Dogs, Jambalaya, King Cake, Beeer, Wine, Daiquiris, soft Drinks and Face Painting. Private, SecureViewing & Restroom facilities. $40 members, $50 non-members, reduced rates for children. Free admission for children 6 –under. 3 p.m.  

NINTH WARD MARCHING BAND. Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits (600 Poland Ave., 942-0690) –The Ninth Ward Marching Band Parades from Bacchanal to Mimi’s in the Bywater and Marigny. 4p.m.

 

VIVAZ LATIN BAND. Café Brazil,  2100 Chartres Street.10:30 p.m.

JOHNNY ANGEL & THE SWINGIN DEMONS. Bombay Club, Prince Conti Hotel,  830 Conti St., 586-0972 . 9:30 p.m.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 26

NEW ORLEANS FESTIVAL OF HYMNS. St. Charles Baptist Church, 7100 St. Charles Avenue  at Broadway. Dr. Michael White and the Original Liberty Jazz Band. 10 a.m.

WILD MAGNOLIAS MARDI GRAS INDIANS AT JACKSON SQUARE. The Cabildo, 4 to 6 p.m. For the 4^th year in a row, The Louisiana State Museum and Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu present the highly acclaimed Wild Magnolias Mardi Gras Indians who will perform in the Cabildo instead of The Mint since was badly damaged by Katrina.

SISTERS OF SALOME. Hookah Café, 500 Frenchmen St. 943-1101; www.hookah-cafe.com –The Sisters of Salome celebrate Carnival season with s special belly-dancing program. Free admission. 9p.m. to 11 p.m.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 27

OKEANOS & THOTH  Parades . Uptown @ 11:30am
BACCHUS Parade. Uptown @ 5:15pm

KENNER’S LUNDI GRAS. Rivertown parking lot, 400 block of Williams Blvd., Kenner, 468-7293 – Kenner holds its Lundi Gras street festival featuring live music, Golden Comanche Mardi Gras Indians, food vendors street performers Radio Disney with games and prizes, and admittance o the Mardi Gras Museum. Guests includes the Batiste Brothers, Miss Teen U.S.A. and Rockin’ Dopsie Jr. & the Zydeco Twisters. Free admission. 10 a.m.

FILMING OF DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THIS YEAR MARDI GRAS. King Bolden, Bolden, 820 N. Rampart.. Be part of this very important documentary. Come and  have a drink between 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and share with the filmmakers your feeling about 2006’s Mardi Gras. I you have any questions e-mail :  margaritabergen@hotmail.com

  

RIVERWALK LUNDI GRAS. Riverwalk  Market Place, Spanish Plaza, 522-1555; www.riverwalkmarketplace.com – The Riverwalk holds its 20 annual Lundi Gras celebration featuring the arrival of Rex, the King of Carnival, fireworks (6 p.m.)  and music by Big Wheel,( 3p.m.),the Chez-Weez, (4:30 p.m.), and the Top Cats (6:30 pm). Free admission. 3 to 8 p.m.

PROTEUS & ORPHEUS PARADES. Uptown @ 5:15pm

FREDDY OMAR AT REPUBLIC NEW ORLEANS. 828 S. Peters.Mardi Gras Extravangaza  after the Orpheus Parade.

 

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 28- MARDI GRAS 2006

ZULU, REX, ELKS & CRESCENT CITY uptown @ 8:00am!

Have a wonderful safe, healthy and fabulous Mardi Gras!

Margarita Bergen is a Realtor with Latter & Blum, Inc, a licensed tour guide and a former columnist with City Life Magazine. You could e-mail her:  www.margaritabergen@hotmail.com
 

 

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"Mardi Gras as a Public Healing Ritual for Wounded New Orleans"

By Jose Torres Tama

Having adopted the city of New Orleans as my physical and spiritual home for more than twenty-years, I can never imagine not celebrating the most vital ritual of this Catholic metropolis—carnaval, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday. In contrast to the national TV coverage that depicts a nihilistic party of drunken frat boys beckoning sorority girls to expose their breasts for plastic beads, Mardi Gras to us natives is a unique and sacred public performance ritual of collective costuming, parading and dancing through the streets.

In the old tradition of the feast, it was the only time of year when the poor and working class could mock the gentry and aristocracy who held power over their lives. For enslaved African Americans in pre-Civil War New Orleans, it was a day to shed their shackles and dance with unfettered liberty---and even act as free men and women. Under such abhorrent conditions, I cannot imagine having the one day of absolute freedom taken away.

In the Latin, “carnaval, carne” means a celebration of the flesh. Translating it in Catholic terms, it is a time of extended tolerances and a period for eating and drinking with reckless abandon until the day of atonement—Ash Wednesday. It is certainly more than just a party.

There has been much debate about whether we, the people of New Orleans, should celebrate Mardi Gras this season because thousands of our brothers and sisters are still displaced throughout the country in the wake of Katrina’s pounding and the levee breaches. Seventy percent of this city remains uninhabitable, and the political leadership is mired in its inefficiencies while we beg Washington not to forget us as they did in the days after the storm.

For those of us who have been able to return, now more than ever we need to dance in the streets and through the surrounding destruction that has transformed our “Big Easy” into the “Big Hurt.” It is not easy being back in this wounded village that still remains less than half a shadow of its original self. The general mood oscillates from the ecstasy of sleeping in one’s own bed to the pervasive melancholia of a ghost city with intermittent blackouts.

But the first parades began this past weekend, and the irreverent Krewe du Vieux marched through the Bywater, the Marigny and the French Quarter neighborhoods with mule-drawn carriages and “throws” that included foiled-wrapped “chocolate city” candy and bubble-spouting rubber heads of Mayor Nagin. Mardi Gras allows us to laugh at our pain and the people of New Orleans have an intrinsic sense of humor that is unmatched.

Satirizing the hurricane evacuation process, one float had the phrase “Mandatory Ejaculation” emblazoned in glittery Las Vegas marquis letters above a giant paper-mache vagina streaming electric lights from its center. Mardi Gras is also a sexy affair and double-entendres run amok as our united desire invokes the rebirth of this nearly three-hundred year old Grand Madame of the deep south.

Even in the bitter cold that descended upon our fragile city, the neighborhood was out, young and old, black, brown and white because this is an intergenerational celebration of life that allows us to cross racial and class borders, and we were all anxious to dance as a communal tribe to the soulful sounds of the many brass bands blasting their horns with a rhythmic urgency and inspiring even the most tone deaf to gyrate. Their music opens the path for the many masked marchers and opens our hearts to rise as one.

Brass bands like the young TBC, To be Continued group, whose members have been scattered across California, Texas and Georgia, have managed to return for the work that Mardi Gras offers--blessing us with their bold hybrid fusion of hip-hop, gospel funk and a traditional chorus of trumpets, trombones and tuba calling the dead to wake and get up “offa” your feet.

“Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans?” I do. I have missed one carnival since I first moved here in1984. It was just another freezing and dour day in February back in New York—nobody was dancing, and I was forced to watch the festivities through the television prism of a two-minute news sound bite.

If you do not know Mardi Gras, “carnival,” and what it means, I urge you to fly, drive and run to New Orleans--experience the wounds momentarily vanish in the revelry of masking, dancing and strutting your exaggerated bad self while keeping in step with the percussive sounds of a city dancing for its life.

Jose Torres Tama
504-232-2968

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BRIEF BIO: Based in New Orleans, writer, visual and performance artist Jose Torres Tama is the recent recipient of a 2005 Funds for the Arts Fellowship from the National Association of Latino Arts and Culture (NALAC) with funds from the Ford Foundation to develop the manuscript for his book called “The Dream Knows More than You: Performance Chronicles of a Latino Immigrant.” He has toured the U.S and internationally to Eastern Europe and Mexico for the past decade. Cornell, Duke, Rutgers, LSU and the University of Michigan are some of the many institutions that have presented his solo performances, youth residencies and academic lectures on performance art as a tool for social change.

A Louisiana Theater Fellow and an Award recipient from the National Endowment for the Arts, his performance work explores the effects of media on identity and race relations, the “American Dream” mythology and the Latino immigrant experience. His work with marginalized Latino and African American teens that employs performance art as a creative strategy to cultivate the voices of the unheard has been profiled on NPR and has received much praise as an empowering example of how art can transform lives. As a writer and critic, he was contributing editor to "Art Papers" Magazine published out of Atlanta for which he wrote about performance art and politics from 1996-2002. www.torrestama.com


 

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LETTER TO GOVERNOR BLANCO

February 10, 2006

 

The Honorable Kathleen Blanco

Governor                                

State of Louisiana

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

The Honorable Members of the Jefferson Parish delegation of the

Louisiana State Legislature

 

To the Governor and Members of the State Legislature:

            On behalf of the members of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana we write to advise of our support for legislation which consolidates levee boards in this region under one authority. 

             It is clear to us that the actions you will take during the upcoming Special Session are arguably the most important in your careers as public servants. There will be a national spotlight on Baton Rouge. Your deliberations  and decisions  will be watched most attentively by people around the country, including many in Congress,  who are waiting to see if Louisiana  will  commit itself to a more  efficient and professional process of managing public dollars so that we maximize every opportunity to protect ourselves against further destruction of our homes and our businesses. Consolidation of the levee boards under a single regional entity is a crucial first step and we urge you to support that. To the extent necessary, oversight for the drainage basins for Upper Barataria and Pontchartrain may be separate though still fall within the jurisdiction of the new consolidated Authority. 

The message this consolidation would send to the skeptics in Washington D.C. would be extraordinarily positive. It would also encourage those evacuees looking for positive news back home to hasten their return to Louisiana. 

We recognize that the issues presented here are politically sensitive. You will not be able to fashion a compromise which pleases everyone.  When we look toward our future and see only pain and misery in the past, it should be evident to you that tinkering is not the answer, only massive change will do. 

Nevertheless, it is clear to us this legislative change to management of flood protection must be our next step to real recovery for this devastated community. We urge you to support this change with your voices and your votes.

 

Manuel Blanco

President

Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Louisiana

 

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                       Jefferson Business Council

 

February 3, 2006

 

The Honorable Kathleen Blanco

Governor                                

State of Louisiana

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 

The Honorable Members of the Jefferson Parish delegation of the

Louisiana State Legislature

 \To the Governor and Members of the State Legislature:

             On behalf of the members of the Jefferson Business Council we write to advise of our support for legislation which consolidates levee boards in this region under one authority. 

             We have discussed and debated the issues arising out of such legislation extensively. Our discussions have included members of the West Jefferson Levee Board as well as meetings with individual legislators and various professionals who have particular interest in and/or expertise on the subject of flood protection.  You should note that many of our members have large financial holdings in the areas of the Westbank which are now extremely vulnerable to flood damage.

              It is clear to us that the actions you will take during the upcoming Special Session are arguably the most important in your careers as public servants. There will be a national spotlight on Baton Rouge. Your deliberations  and decisions  will be watched most attentively by people around the country, including many in Congress,  who are waiting to see if Louisiana  will  commit itself to a more  efficient and professional process of managing public dollars so that we maximize every opportunity to protect ourselves against further destruction of our homes and our businesses. Consolidation of the levee boards under a single regional entity is a crucial first step and we urge you to support that. To the extent necessary, oversight for the drainage basins for Upper Barataria and Pontchartrain may be separate though still fall within the jurisdiction of the new consolidated Authority.      

             Further, with respect to membership of a new ‘Flood Authority’ we submit that membership should be balanced. Clearly the legislation should specify that certain positions are reserved for those with appropriate professional qualifications. Additionally, we believe that you should take into account the proportionate populations in the affected jurisdictions and you should attempt to create an authority which fairly and adequately reflects same.

             We recognize that the issues presented here are politically sensitive. You will not be able to fashion a compromise which pleases everyone.  Nevertheless, it is clear to us this legislative change to management of flood protection must be our next step to real recovery for this devastated community. We urge you to support this change with your voices and your votes.

                                                             

                                                                        Cocie Rathborne, Chairman

 

Hispanic Community Meeting

 Meeting with JPPSS as a follow-up to see where we are on action items following the earlier meeting prior Katrina.

 Please mark your calendar for a follow-up meeting updating the course of action with the Hispanic Community members on Thursday, February 9, 2006 at 10:00 a.m.  The meeting will be held at the Westbank Alternative School, 2590 Barataria Blvd., Marrero.