With the Mardi Gras festivities yesterday, I did not pay any attention to the world of iPhone. But rather than post nothing today, I thought I would post a few pictures from St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans, the main portion of the New Orleans parade route, for those of you who could not make the Greatest Free Show on Earth this year.
As is the norm for Mardi Gras, many people wore costumes. Usually the costumes are a mix of fun, political satire, and (as you get closer to the French Quarter) lewdness. As an example of the first category, my son was a knight and my daughter was a princess this year. But the overwhelming costume choice this year — over half? three quarters? — had something to do with the Saints.
This comes as little surprise. Saints-mania continues to be at an all-time high in this city, from the massive Saints parade we had two days after the Superbowl, to this past weekend when Saints owner Tom Benson rode in Endymion (the big Saturday night parade), Quarterback Drew Brees was the king of Bacchus (the big Sunday night parade) and coach Sean Payton rode in Orpheus (the big Monday night parade). Instead of "Mardi Gras" people are calling it "Lombardi Gras." Instead of "Fat Tuesday" people are proclaiming it "Who Dat Tuesday." Here is a picture that I took of Drew Brees and his wife, Brittany, throwing beads from their float on Sunday night. (You can click all of the pictures in this post for larger versions.)
Of course there were lots of people wearing Saints shirts on Tuesday. I'm not even sure that counts as a costume considering that people now wear Saints shirts every day — you could probably get away with wearing a Saints T-shirt to a wedding or a funeral in this town right now and few would blink — but there were some nice full football player and cheerleader costumes. There were also a large number of people who dressed up like the Lombardi Trophy, such as these:
And this group had a huge Lombardi Trophy prop to act as a target for bead throwers on floats:
There was one large group of women, and a few men, who danced up and down St. Charles Ave. to the Beyonce song "Single Ladies" mimicking the famous music video, except that they were singing "If you like it then put a Super Bowl ring on it." I only got a few of them in this picture. And yes, one of them was a nun:
Put the kids in black and yellow bee costumes, add the number 9 to the front of them, and suddenly you have Drew Bees:
Take an Abe Lincoln costume and add the words "Who Dat" to the hat and a fleur-de-lis to the back and suddenly you are the President of the Who Dat Nation. (Notice also the Mardi Gras and Saints flag in the background, further evidence of the dual purpose of the celebration.)
Many people said that the Saints would win the Super Bowl when hell froze over or when pigs flew. Thus, I saw a lot of people in devil costumes with blue icicles, snow etc. Also, I saw quite a few variations on flying pigs, such as these:
Even Rex, the main parade on Mardi Gras day and one of the most conservative carnival organizations in New Orleans, had to pay homage to the Saints. Thus, the iconic float for Rex, King of Carnival, included a rare addition: two Saints pennants:
So while yesterday was certainly Mardi Gras, it might as well have been Super Bowl Sunday again. You watch the football game on your couch, so why not do the same for a Saints-themed Mardi Gras?
I hope you enjoyed the zany pictures from this crazy city. And now that Mardi Gras is over, I promise to try to return this website to its normal iPhone-and-law focus.
Who Dat!
