Super Bowl-winning Saint, Will Smith, was murdered last week attempting to save his wife’s life after she’d been shot once in each leg. The second line celebrating his life and return home started at the Half Moon Bar, not far from where Smith lost his life, and was headed to the Ooh Poo Pah Doo Bar in the Treme. James Andrews led the band as Baby Dolls, Saints fans and local-born Saint, Keenan Lewis, gathered to hug, dance, sing, pray and cry. The 4 mile parade started with a moment of silence and some words of hope in front of the memorial that’s been climbing up the fence and spreading across the sidewalk. Continue reading
Tag Archives: bourbon street
Saints’ Will Smith Remembered
Filed under Culture, free events and lagniappe, history, Mardi Gras 2010, parade, Super Bowl 2010, the Saints
Tagged as Baby Dolls, bourbon street, Canal Street, coach, Half Moon, Hall of Fame, James Andrews, Keenan Lewis, latonola, Lindanne Lewis, Lower Garden District, memorial, music, new orleans, New Orleans Saints, Ooh Poo Pah Doo, Ooh Poo Pah Doo Bar, parade, Saints, Saints Hall of Fame, Sean Payton, second line, Super Bowl, treme, who dat, Who Dat Nation, Will Smith
Touring NOLA, Vintage Trouble, Latin Parade and More!
Having guests is always a great excuse to hit some of those tourist spots locals tend to shy from. So when my dear friend since high school finally came to New Orleans for the first time, we “toured” the sites. Angela arrived Thursday night and we headed straight for Coop’s so she could have her first jambalaya. We stayed in to catch up that night and headed to Cafe du Monde for insanely tasty beignets the next morning. On the way there, I spotted a familiar face down the street. I said loudly, “Do you know who that is? That’s the lead singer and trumpet for Treme Brass Band!” Angela looked to the t-shirt wearing, blood-shot-eyed man holding a trumpet just as he smiled. Continue reading →
Filed under Concerts, Culture, decorations and costumes, festival, free events and lagniappe, Local Cuisine, parade, shopping, walking
Tagged as Alexander Massa, American Horror Story, Balcony Music Club, bourbon street, Buttermilk Drops, cafe du monde, Carnaval Latino, Checkpoint Charlie's, clarinet, Coop's, culture, dancingman504, Doreen Ketchens, Doreen's Jazz, Dreamy Weenies, food, Frenchmen Art Market, garden district, Greg's Antiques, Halloween decorations, jazz fest, Joseph Walton, King Farouk, Louis Armstrong, Louisiana Pizza Kitchen, M.S. Rau Antiques, Michalopoulos, Mississippi River, Mojo's, Mojo's Lounge, Monet, music, Nalle Colt, Napoleon, New Breed Brass Band, Norman Rockwell, Original Pinettes, Original Pinettes Brass Band, parade, Pussyfooters, Rembrandt, Renoir, Richard Danielson, Rick Barrio Dill, Rouses, royal street, Satchmo, Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, SnoWiz, snowizard, Street Legends Brass Band, street music, Tanya and Dorise, tipitina's, Tremé Brass Band, TroubleMakers, Ty Taylor, Uncle Lionel, Vintage Trouble, Washboard Chaz, Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, Winks Bakery
Judging the Queen of Burlesque Contest
As a “celebrity,” I’ve gotten to judge a bikini contest, 2 gumbo contests, a beauty pageant and the Greasing of the Poles, but judging the Queen of Burlesque contest was the best time I’ve had yet. The jewel in the 3-day, 6th annual New Orleans Burlesque Festival crown, the contest featured a lively M.C., singing, a jazz band and top burlesque dancers from near and far. The show opened with a performance by last year’s winner, “Medianoche.” I’d seen a VIDEO of her winning performance and by the end I had laughed, cried and been overwhelmed by the wonder of woman. Continue reading →
Filed under Culture, decorations and costumes, entertainment industry, festival, history
Tagged as Athena, band of boyfriends, Behind The Burly Q, bourbon street, burlesque, Burlesque Festival, Bustout Burlesque, Champagne Girl, Charlotte Treuse, Craig Tracy, dancer, Donna Hood, Elle Dorado, erotic, french quarter, Havana Hurricane, ice skater, Iris Le'Mour, Kitty on the Keys, latonola, Leslie Zemeckis, Lydia Decarllo, Miss Emma, new orleans, New Orleans Burlesque Festival, pasties, Queen of Burlesque, Rick Delaup, Rita Alexander, Russell Bruner, ruthie the duck girl, Stephanie Blake, strip tease, Tessa Von Twinkle, topless, Trixie Minx
Prince Plays Essence Fest!
I may have missed the fireworks but I had a pretty perfect 4th of July. We ate hot dogs, like most of the nation, but we got ours at Dreamy Weenies so they were insanely good. I had the Pothole – potato salad below the dog and chili with cheese on top. Yum! Then we watched Purple Rain to get in the mood for Prince‘s performance at the 20th Essence Fest. Janelle Monae started the evening off with a firecracker’s burst of energy. She was the perfect artist to take on a cover of Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy and was rewarded for her efforts with a quick guitar solo from the man himself. Continue reading →
Filed under Concerts, festival, Local Cuisine, walking
Tagged as 3rdEyeGirl, 4th of July, Anais Nin, bourbon street, Chic, Chic and Nile Rodgers, concert, Daft Punk, Doug E. Fresh, Dreamy Weenies, Essence Fest, french quarter, Grammy, hot dog, Janelle Monae, John Gros, Kathy Sledge, latonola, Mercedes-Benz Superdome, music, new orleans, Nile Rodgers, old school, Pherrell Williams, police, Prince, Purple, Purple Rain, Restaurant, Sammy Cahn, shooting, Superdome, taste life twice, trombone shorty
Festigals and Gay Pride Parades
Saturday was a day of drag with the Festigals and Gay Pride parades . Ladies first. Last year, Festigals’ Stiletto Stroll was my first ever parade as a Pussyfooter. It’s a sassy woman-centric second line through the French Quarter during the Festigals’ weekend getaway of yoga, empowerment and success panels, shopping, cooking demonstrations and networking events. This year, they added a new fundraiser, the Stiletto Sprint, benefitting the Breast Center at Ochsner Baptist. It’s a 2 block race on Royal Street in minimum 3″ heels – costumes encouraged. The supremely leggy Tammy McCormick Broussard won the race, passing superwoman and other superheroes in her sky-high red heels. Continue reading →
Filed under Charity, Culture, decorations and costumes, free events and lagniappe, parade
Tagged as affirming church, beaded corset, beads, Big Easy Brass Band, bourbon street, brass band, Breast Center, Cherry Bombs, Chorus Girls Project, Chris Salvatore, churches, dancingman504, Dannon, Disco Amigos, Dolly Parton, drag, Electra Citty, Festigals, First Unitarian Universalist, First Unitarian Universalist Church of New Orleans, floats, french quarter, Gay Pride, Gay Pride parade, Harrah's, Hotel Monteleone, Jaymes Vaughn, lamp store, latonola, Lisa Sins, Lords of Leather, Lucky Pierre's, Lydia Benson, Metropolitan Community Church, music, Mystic Krewe Lords of Leather, New Covenant NOLA, new orleans, New Orleans Krewe of Pirate Wenches, Ochsner, Oikos, Organ Grinders, Oui Dats, parade, Persephone's Dragonflies, Pin Stripe Brass Band, Planned Parenthood, Prima Donnas, Pussyfooters, Rainbow Riders, Reconciling Ministries Network, Remedy Room, Roux La La, Saint Anna's Church, Sandy Anderson, Stiletto Sprint, Stiletto Stroll, Tammy Broussard, Tammy McCormick Broussard, throws, Tittie Toulouse, Touro Synagogue, United Methodist Church, Unity of Metairie
Our New Orleans Wedding and Second Line
If you’ve read this blog’s ABOUT page, then you know that one reason I moved to New Orleans after 18 years in Los Angeles was to find my mate. “I followed my heart here. My gut told me that everything I was looking for, denying myself while I furthered my career, was right here where I always wanted to be.” I met Andy at the Lost Love Lounge (yes, really) 8 months after moving here and we’ve been slowly walking toward the altar ever since. A few weeks ago, we finally tied the knot – New Orleans-style with everything from DancingMan504 and The Roots of Music to the Pussyfooters and “The Dude” (okay, he’s not New Orleans, but he abides everywhere). Continue reading →
Filed under Charity, Culture, decorations and costumes, entertainment industry, free events and lagniappe, history, Local Cuisine, parade
Tagged as about, Academy Award, aisle, armstrong park, Armstrong Park arch, bayona, Best Hot Dog, Bill Capo, Black & Gold, bourbon street, Brad Pitt, brass band, bride, Bridesmaids, C8King Photography, Cakes & Desserts by Monica, California Drawstrings, Carlos Gonzalez, Catherine King, ceremony, Chadrick Honore, Colton Clements, Commander's Palace, congo square, dancingman504, Darryl Young, deconstructed, Derrick Tabb, Django Unchained, Do Watcha Wanna, Dreamy Weenies, french quarter, Goorin Bros., Grammy, gris gris, groom, handkerchiefs, HBO, Henry Griffin, history, Jeff "The Dude" Dowd, Jeff Dowd, jump, Kimberly Rivers Roberts, latonola, legal, Lindanne Lewis, live feed, Livestream, local, los angeles, lost love lounge, Make It Right, Monica Anderson, muriel's, music, new orleans, Niki Hampton, NOLA, Nola Snow, NOLA-centric, NOPD, ordained, parade, parade route, parasol, Phat Word, photos, planning, police escort, Promenade Fabric, Promenade Fine Fabrics, Pussyfooters, Pussyhandlers, QT Pie, Raintree, Raintree Children & Family Services, Rebirth, rebirth brass band, Restaurant, Reuben Cheatem, roots of music, royal street, Saints, Salu, Second Line Handkerchiefs, shoes, sno-balls, Snoballs, So Good, Southern Comfort Cotton, Southern Cotton Company, Susan Spicer, the big lebowski, The Dude, the Dude abides, the Pussyfooters, The Roots of Music, TOMS, tradition, Tree Battles, treme, umbrellas, video, Voodoo, vows, wedding, wedding cake, wedding dress, wedding gown, wedding planning, Wendy Talley, who dat, Willy Picket, WWL
Easter Parades, Crawfish and Family
Easter weekend brought beautiful weather, Easter parades and crawfish boils. We went to our first family boil Friday night then followed it with another boil Saturday for a family reunion in Baton Rouge. I love being close to family and getting to know people who remember me as a child. After so many years of feeling untethered in L.A., I like seeing my nose on someone else’s face or hearing someone talk about when my parents were kids. Then it was back to New Orleans. Easter Sunday is a big day for parades in the French Quarter and we made it to 2 of the 3 offered. Continue reading →
Filed under Charity, Culture, decorations and costumes, free events and lagniappe, Local Cuisine, parade
Tagged as bonnet, bourbon street, brunch, burlesque, cafe du monde, Chris Owens, Chris Owens French Quarter Easter Parade, Chris Owens Parade, crawfish boil, Django Unchained, Easter, Easter bonnet, Easter Parade, Easter Sunday, Farhad Grotto Bug Patrol, floats, Food for Friends, french quarter, Gay Easter Parade, hats, I'm a Dancer, Isabella Rossellini, Jennifer Jones, latonola, Lords of Leather, los angeles, marching band, music, new orleans, NO/AIDS Task Force, Pair-A-Dice, Pair-A-Dice Tumblers, parade, Pussyfooter, Red Fish Grill, Restaurant, Rolling Elvi, Sassy Stepperz, Sophie B. Wright, Storyville Stompers, The Herb, Third Line Brass Band, throws, Willy Picket