CRUDE Sleeps in the Wet Spot
In the first parade of the first Mardi Gras after Hurricane Katrina destroyed 80% of New Orleans, wearing a silly costume became an historic act of defiance...against nature; against government; and, most importantly, against all those who said New Orleans could not be rebuilt. We showed up in our best bedtime attire gassed up and ready to Mardi Gras Mambo
Katrina and Rita had their house blown away but like the NOLA troopers they are, they didn't let a little catastrophe get in the way of loooooove. The whip was a nice touch!
The PBS program American Experience had some of your tax dollars to waste, so they filmed our procession as part of their 2-hour special on NOLA. Click here to watch the KdV segment . The clip includes an interview with Joe talking about how the disaster was incorporated into our float design. Pieces of Liz' house were used to build the bedroom and storm debris was liberally used to heighten the effect.
With a lot of our locals still out of town on vacation, construction and relief workers were present in large numbers scratching their heads over what they were witnessing. They didn't seem to have any problem understanding the Handy Girls, however.
A note from da Co-Chief
(This went out to the krewe members after the 2006 parade. )
CRUDEs-
I hope by now everyone has recovered from the parade, and what you can remember of it, will be remembered fondly. You may be interested to know that this was truly an historic event heard 'round the world. The KdV parade made newspapers from LA to New Zealand. It was picked up by AP and was featured on CNN.com. Here's what one wire service said: "While some grumbled that this broken town has more serious matters to attend to, many residents say it's the first time in months their lives have returned to something approaching normal — even if it's only a temporary reprieve." I think we could give no greater gift than that.
One of the best articles came from the London Daily Telegraph. The Reuters News Service began their story with: "New Orleans residents began the first post-Katrina Mardi Gras parade season with a mixture of pride, defiance and a touch of nonchalance." I think that sums it up nicely. The Australian Age ran the following account:"It feels good," said Jackie Borchgrevink, 56, a legal worker watching the parade. "A lot of us have been depressed and we need to feel some normalcy to give us some hope." The parade was put on by the Krewe du Vieux, one of more than 30 so-called krewes that will strut their stuff over the next two weeks as New Orleans shows the world its beautiful side after months dominated by ugly images of poverty, racial tension, mismanagement and devastation."
Interesting, we've been compared to to the historic 1873 Comus parade, which introduced political satire to Carnival. The KdV has long claimed to be the one krewe to remain true to the historical roots of Mardi Gras and now we have been recognized as such by the world!
Vive le Krewe du Vieux! Vive Nouvelle Orleans! C'est Levee!
I was hoping we'd get a spot on the Daily Show but then Dick Cheney had to go shoot his hunting buddy. That was obviously too good for them to pass up.
--Jack
Katrina and Rita had their house blown away but like the NOLA troopers they are, they didn't let a little catastrophe get in the way of loooooove. The whip was a nice touch!
The PBS program American Experience had some of your tax dollars to waste, so they filmed our procession as part of their 2-hour special on NOLA. Click here to watch the KdV segment . The clip includes an interview with Joe talking about how the disaster was incorporated into our float design. Pieces of Liz' house were used to build the bedroom and storm debris was liberally used to heighten the effect.
With a lot of our locals still out of town on vacation, construction and relief workers were present in large numbers scratching their heads over what they were witnessing. They didn't seem to have any problem understanding the Handy Girls, however.
A note from da Co-Chief
(This went out to the krewe members after the 2006 parade. )
CRUDEs-
I hope by now everyone has recovered from the parade, and what you can remember of it, will be remembered fondly. You may be interested to know that this was truly an historic event heard 'round the world. The KdV parade made newspapers from LA to New Zealand. It was picked up by AP and was featured on CNN.com. Here's what one wire service said: "While some grumbled that this broken town has more serious matters to attend to, many residents say it's the first time in months their lives have returned to something approaching normal — even if it's only a temporary reprieve." I think we could give no greater gift than that.
One of the best articles came from the London Daily Telegraph. The Reuters News Service began their story with: "New Orleans residents began the first post-Katrina Mardi Gras parade season with a mixture of pride, defiance and a touch of nonchalance." I think that sums it up nicely. The Australian Age ran the following account:"It feels good," said Jackie Borchgrevink, 56, a legal worker watching the parade. "A lot of us have been depressed and we need to feel some normalcy to give us some hope." The parade was put on by the Krewe du Vieux, one of more than 30 so-called krewes that will strut their stuff over the next two weeks as New Orleans shows the world its beautiful side after months dominated by ugly images of poverty, racial tension, mismanagement and devastation."
Interesting, we've been compared to to the historic 1873 Comus parade, which introduced political satire to Carnival. The KdV has long claimed to be the one krewe to remain true to the historical roots of Mardi Gras and now we have been recognized as such by the world!
Vive le Krewe du Vieux! Vive Nouvelle Orleans! C'est Levee!
I was hoping we'd get a spot on the Daily Show but then Dick Cheney had to go shoot his hunting buddy. That was obviously too good for them to pass up.
--Jack
