Krewes of Babylon, Chaos and Muses Parades

Last year, I had very little time to luxuriate in Mardi Gras madness. Django Unchained was ramping up to arrive on Ash Wednesday and I was traveling and working hard to prepare for filming. This year, the movie is out and it’s a hit – #1 globally 3 weeks in a row, 2 Golden Globe wins and 5 Oscar nominations including Best Picture. I can hardly believe I’m a part of it. But between the movie and my new book, Know Small Parts: An Actor’s Guide to Turning Minutes into Moments and Moments int a a Career, I’m again traveling and working hard during Mardi Gras.

Krewes of Nyx and Ancient Druids

Though the last 2 weeks have been a very big adventure, I’ll admit I’ve missed the simple joy of hanging out with neighbors, dancing to marching bands and collecting a haul of plastic treasure. After a break to host the Super Bowl, Carnival began again last night and the city turned out despite the constant rain. First up was Krewe of Ancient Druids. Founded in 1998, the krewe honors the Celtic priests who acted as mediators between the people and their gods and nature. Their krewe is fairly small with never more than 200 members and secrecy shrouds their membership.

Krewe of Bacchus 2012

This year’s Krewe of Bacchus parade was another fun-fest, led this time by Will Ferrell. To read more of the traditions and history of the Krewe and it’s founding family, the Brennens, read last year’s post. The theme was the Louisiana Bicentennial and featured  a near-non-stop procession of amazing marching bands including

Krewe of Muses 2012

Too busy parading to write, but I have been taking photo and videos. For more information and history about Krewe of Muses, read last year’s post. This year, the theme was “Muses go Shopping.” Celebrity guests included hometown girl, Patricia Clarkson (known here as Councilwoman, Jackie Clarkson’s daughter) riding in the giant lit stiletto and Theresa Andersson, singing live atop a giant swan followed by our beautiful city made of papier mache hats. We even spotted Ted Danson quietly marching along, taking it all in.