Willy Or Won't He

New Orleans February 18th 1901

As always this post is dedicated to Cecilia, my beloved Queen of Carnival.

Today is Mardi Gras, the last day of Carnival. The festivities that began on January 6th are building to a crescendo. And as always, before the deprivations of Lent are upon us, I’m inviting my faithful reader to join me at one of major Krewe parades in New Orleans.

Founded in 1882, the Krewe of Proteus is the second-oldest krewe in Carnival history and their floats still use the original chassis from the 1880s. This year was their 65th parade but we will be going back to their 18^thprocession along St Charles Ave to Canal St on the penultimate night of Mardi Gras: February 18^th 1901.

The Picayune parade bulletin published Monday morning revealed that this year’s parade will tell the story of Al-Kyris the Magnificent. It comes from one of Marie Corelli‘s “spiritual Christian” novels, I believe it’s called Ardath:The Story of a Dead Soul. It’s something or other about a modern (19th century) poet, Theos Allywn, who goes into a trance and travels back thousands of years to an earlier civilization and the city of Al-Kyris. As always the fine gentlemen of Proteus do love the esoteric.

I was able to get us seats near the beginning of the route. That will give us time to go back to the Cosmopolitan Hotel before the multitude descends of the French Quarter. The parade starts as the sun is setting but the flambeaux carriers will make sure we see everything.

Proteus leads off the parade and with him ten Aides on horseback who act as parade marshals along the route.

He is followed by the banner car; notice that the title was so secret that Bror Anders Wikstrom didn’t include it in his drawing. The renowned designer created 20 floats and over a hundred costumes for the parade. The serpent is Nagaya the deity forshiped by the people of the magnificent but doomed city of Al-Kyris

As with most of Corelli’s novels there is a heady mixture of the the exotic, the mysterious, the sensual, the pagan, the spiritual, and Christian morality.

Theos meets Sha-Lum, the poet laureate, who serves as his spiritual double and guide through the luxurious gardens and palaces of Al-Kyris.

Sha-Lum takes him to the palace of the weak and indolent King Zephornam, who lives only for pleasure surrounded by a crowd of sycophants.

Theos meets the High Priestess Lysia, a figure of overwhelming mesmeric beauty and ruthless authority wielding a silver-headed serpent wand who both captivates and repels him with her seductive power, presiding over pagan ceremonies that blend eroticism, idolatry, and casual cruelty.

You may have noticed that one or two of the ballet “girls” are rather hefty of frame. The krewes are exclusively male so you may see the odd beard peeping out under a mask. In 1880 the Krew of Momus took as their theme A Dream of Fair Women which led society columnist Catherine Cole to wryly note: … I confess my imagination was not vivid enough to fancy ‘fair women’ in the lot of gorgeously apparelled brawny men who hid their beards and moustaches behind false faces. Adieu! It was a perfect nightmare! (Why do I think she meant to say “Mon Dieu”?)

As the prophet Kosrul predicted the city is doomed and during a New Year’s temple ceremony, an earthquake, subterranean fires, and collapsing structures annihilate the city in flames, consuming Lysia, the king, Sah-luma, and the entire civilization in divine judgment

With the destruction of Al-Kyris the land of Ardath is purified and Theos finds redemption and his dead soul is resurrected.

As always Proteus has astounded us with magical floats and I’m the ball and tableaux will be equally splendid. Fortunately we’ve been able to procure invitations to the Proteus ball and tableaux but we will have to hurry back to the hotel and change for the evening. It may take some time, you know how much difficulty I have getting my white tie just so. Quick there’s a carriage let me wave him down. Fortunately our hotel isn’t that far from the French Opera House.

The parterre of the French Opera has been turned into a ballroom for the evening and a series of tableaux vivants are performed on the stage.

We’ve come away with a few souvenirs of the the parade and a evening of tableaux and dancing. A great way to celebrate the last days of Carnival.

The costume and float images are from the exceptional Mardi Gras collection at Howard Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University and Louisiana Digital Library. And many of the nuggets of Mardi Gras history came from two of the Mardi Gras Treasures books by the doyen of Mardi Gras designers Henri Schindler.

The word for February 17^th is
Penultimate /pĭ-nŭl′tə-mĭt/: [adjective]
^1.1Next to the last
^1.2Last but one.
^1.3 Of or relating to the penult or last syllable of a word.
From Latin paenultimus, from paene (“almost”) + ultimus (“last”).

Memes for a Monday

I will let the first meme be my thoughts on the recent spat of “weather” Mom Earth has unleashed upon us. In the meantime I’m making a grocery list of the things I need for a Dutch Baby for Shrove Tuesday as I want us to be truly shriven.

And now that his wife made it he better damn well wear it.

See above.

A friend sent me the perfect settings to enhance a selfie on an iPhone. I’ll have to look them up.

Funny I think “nap” sounds perfectly delightful.

And it tastes like something created by a committee.

POV!

A bit of unknown history.

Follow me for more dating tips.

Surprise!

Again with the Noah.

I still say there’s nothing wrong with a banjo.

Or soggy cardboard.

But I noticed they have buns of steel.

I probably said it before but I’ll say it again:

The word for February 16th is:
Shriven / ˈʃrɪv ən /: [archaic verb]
Past participle of the verb Shrive
1.1 (of a priest) to hear the confession of, assign penance to, and absolve (someone).
1.2 to present oneself to a priest for confession, penance, and absolution.
Old English scrīfan ‘impose as a penance’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schrijven and German schreiben ‘write’, from Latin scribere ‘write’.

Memes for a Monday

Because I know that I disappointed my faithful reader by being a nosho* last week I am posting a plethora of memes this week. I know it means a lot to you.

Let’s get the required Olympic meme out of the way now.

I believe this is from Mambo in Maine, a little know RKO musical.

I see they forgot the knight who like steaks – Sir Loin.

Moments to remember.

I didn’t realize how real this was going to be.

Or on a Carnival cruise.

I just got the new Photo Shop Elements – it’s changed! Okay!

For Dr Spo at the Mesa Office.

The requisite Biblical meme.

No comment.

Must be from New York City.

I don’t often do political, but this is a winner.

Where are the marshmallows.s

And never the twain shall meet.

Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos at work

No one I know.

“No one ever went broke underestimating the intell… – never mind.

I’m honestly at a lose.

And to end – a project for Valentine’s Day?

*A term from my airline days bck in the last century.

The word for February 9^th is:
Knight /nīt/: [^1.noun ^2. verb]
^1.1 A man holding a nonhereditary title conferred by a sovereign in recognition of personal merit or service to the country.
^1.2A medieval tenant giving military service as a mounted man-at-arms to a feudal landholder.
^1.3A medieval gentleman-soldier, usually high-born, raised by a sovereign to privileged military status after training as a page and squire.
^2.1 To raise (someone) to knighthood
From Middle English knight, kniht, from Old English cniht, cneht, cneoht (“boy, youth, servant, attendant, retainer, disciple, warrior, boyhood, junior member of a guild”), from Proto-Germanic *knehtaz .

Throwback Thursday

In which a conversation on buying new glasses is recalled.

Laurent paid a visit to his optometrist today to have his eyes checked and get a new set of frames. He wasn’t decided on any particular type of frame and looked at several styles. It reminded us of a similar situation I had in Rome back in 2009. And I recalled the advise my friend Marco the Napolitano gave me about the protocol for choosing new frames. (Click on the link below.)

Guys Never Make Passes…

Laurent and I will go back to the Vision Centre tomorrow and follow Marco’s admonition on how to make the final decision.

The word for January 29th is
Optometrist /ŏp-tŏm′ĭ-trĭst/: [noun]
A person who is professionally trained and licensed to examine the eyes for visual defects, diagnose problems or impairments, and prescribe corrective lenses or provide other types of treatment.
From the Greek words opsis, meaning “view,” and metron meaning “measure.” First used in 1903.

What’s Cooking

It’s been almost a year since I posted a What’s Cooking – not that I haven’t been cooking just that I really haven’t been blogging much. I’m going to try and change that in the next little while. Not a promise but more of a threat.

Years ago -long before I became a lazy old retired fart – I had Madame Benoît’s Encyclepedia of Microwave Cooking. Mme Jahane Benoît was a Canadian cultural icon who wrote 30 cookbooks, opened one of the first vegetarian restaurants in Canada (1935) and appeared on nationwide radio and television. After years of cooking using conventional methods ie. wood/electric/gas she became a champion of microwaves*. Her last cookbook was a hefty tome of some 670 pages of recipes using the microwave.

“And what,” queries my faithful reader “does this have to do with anything?” Well one of those recipes was for a side dish of peas and celery and I decided it would make a nice change with our lamb chops. Of course the cookbook disappeared in the last downsizing and the recipe disappeared from my memory bank. In a search for it I came across this recipe on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook website.

And, you should excuse the pun, it’s easy peasy.

Peas and Celery
From Bev at Mennonite Girls Can Cook
Serves: 4-6 as a side dish
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 red pepper, chopped
4 cups fresh or frozen sweet peas
1 teaspoon sugar, if desired
more butter to glaze

Preparation
Melt butter in frying pan and saute’ onion, celery, and red pepper.
Microwave peas with sugar (if using) until tender, or heat in a small amount of water on the stove.
In serving bowl, toss peas with sauteed vegetables and a bit more butter and serve.

I’ve since tried the same thing with frozen green beans – it adds a bit of zing to your every day side dish.

*At parties I could be persuaded to do my impression of her Panasonic Microwave ad. All it took was one drink and one person to ask.

The word for January 27^th is:
Mennonite / ˈmɛn əˌnaɪt /: [noun]
A Mennonite is a member of various Protestant groups that originated from the Anabaptist movement in the 16th century, characterized by their emphasis on adult baptism, pacifism, community living, and often plain dress. They are named after Menno Simons (1492–1559), a key leader in the movement.