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How Dick Cheney stole the thunder from one Louisiana artist!
"Katrina Gras" ~ The Art of William Joyce
I was asked some months back to do a New Yorker cover depicting some aspect of how New Orleans was dealing with Mardi Gras in the post Katrina world.
I've done occasional covers for the New Yorker since 1994 and since I am a native Louisianan and still live here they hoped I'd have an informed perspective on the tragedy and its aftermath.
My schedule has been crazed, but this was a labor of love and something I felt I had to do.
Coming up with a concept that tempered my rage with some hope was not easy, but I got inspiration from an old photograph of Mardi Gras in the '30's by J. Guttman, called the" The Game". It's a wonderful, eerie image of New Orleans and its curious magic.
The editors were very pleased with the results. The proof looked great. Some friends cried when I showed it to them.
The image did what I'd hoped. It made people from here sad and proud at the same time.
I was hoping it would, I don't know, somehow help. Help call attention to our plight. Help people understand us.
Then Dick Cheney shot his friend instead of a bird.
A more topical cover was cobbled together. A clever twist on Cheney's folly. I've had covers at the New Yorker bumped before. That's just part of the game. But this one really mattered. The hurricanes have turned the people of Louisiana into activists. We no longer have the luxury of emotional distance with this story.
Louisiana had received its share of coverage lately I was told. They tried to find a place for it inside the magazine. Everyone said they were sympathetic. But nothing happened.
So we've been shunted aside again.
Our collective sorrow and tragedy mattered less than a single hunting accident.
I really had hoped that compassion would win out over clever.
Mr. Cheney's friend is thankfully alive. Meanwhile we're still finding bodies in New Orleans.
Port scam's dirty detailsThe outrageous Dubai Ports deal seems like political suicide for the White House, but handing over U.S. seaports to the United Arab Emirates is actually just more big-money cronyism for an administration that no longer cares what anybody thinks ... especially voters who fell for that whole War on Terror. 
The Bush Administration bullshit meter!
The PUGS are very happy to have daddy home sick today. While I was writing this post, I noticed that sitting side by side, Daisy and Muggs were at the entrance to the kitchen staring at me. The look was familiar, indicating the demand for breakfast, which on my days off consists of an Aunt Jamima scrambled egg and bacon frozen breakfast (mixed of course with a half cup of Science Diet low fat dry dog food).The pugs have been served, I can now continue.
The most distinguished Krewe to parade on Mardi Gras day, immediately following ZULU is the KREWE OF REX.
Formal to the extreme, it's members include some of the most distinguished and prominent families in New Orleans society.
The first Krewe to parade on Mardi Gras day, REX surfaced in 1872 when Grand Duke Alexis Romanoff of Russia visited New Orleans. That year the krewe of Rex made their debut and began the tradition of the "King of Carnival."
Rex also introduced purple, gold and green ( purple represents justice; green, faith; and gold, power) as the official colors of Mardi Gras. Rex was the first krewe to hold an organized daytime parade and introduced "If Ever I Cease To Love" as the Mardi Gras anthem.One of the high points of Rex is the arrival of the Rex King on a riverboat prior to the beginning of the parade.In 1909 Zulu (an organization made up of black businessmen leaders) appeared as a parody of Rex. The Zulu King held a banana stalk scepter and wore a lard can crown. He arrived on on oyster lugger instead of a steamboat. Zulu was destined to become one of the most popular and beloved of all krewes (see the following post).
