Comments on: Featuring the "Barship Enterprise"

Featuring the "Barship Enterprise"

ColdChef — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 18:05:25 -0800

Meet New Orleans' only official Sci-Fi and Fantasy themed parade krewe: Chewbacchus.

Including the Kaiju Flambeau Corps. "The 2014 parade includes 100 "Rolling Elliots" on bicycles, dressed in red hoodies with E.T.s in their bike baskets."

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 18:06:37 -0800

(They're rolling right now. Follow the parade here.)

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 18:11:10 -0800

COMPUTER, SET COORDINATES FOR ....EARTH.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 18:12:31 -0800

"The Barship is going to be cool; it'll light and glow and can pour shots on the go, plus Redshirts [the krewe's volunteer parade security escorts] will push it,"

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 18:13:39 -0800

I hope the barship enterprise goes through like a ton of dry ice.

By: localroger

localroger — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 18:25:32 -0800

I love this city. We may get wiped out every once in awhile but dammit, we can throw a party.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 18:33:57 -0800

This makes me so very very happy.

By: Sara C.

Sara C. — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 19:21:50 -0800

I haven't been to Mardi Gras in over a decade. This seals it. I have GOT to get down there next year.

By: The Whelk

The Whelk — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 19:30:45 -0800

I now want all the SF/F fandom specific floats. ALL OF THEM.

By: ob1quixote

ob1quixote — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 19:54:14 -0800

This is the second greatest thing in the galaxy. (The greatest being, of course, Grand Moff Tarkin, but that's for another time.) I'm very disappointed my bro from the coast wasn't all over this already and dragged me down there specifically for this.

By: sourwookie

sourwookie — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 20:10:27 -0800

ahem "Veteran of Endor's moon" Sigh.

By: axiom

axiom — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 21:11:37 -0800

Man, I wish this existed the last time I was at Mardi Gras. It was still fun, but the prospect of drinking for like 16+ hours on end kind of makes me queasy now, so I'll probably never go again.

By: komara

komara — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 21:33:05 -0800

It is a sad sad state of affairs where my enthusiasm has dwindled to the point that I only attend two parades a year (and one of those I march in). I've always meant to see Chewbacchus and never gotten around to it. Okay, fine, it's only been rolling for ... four years now? But still. One day! Because in theory I would totally love it but in practice ... ugh, so many parades, so little time to finish my costume.

By: komara

komara — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 21:44:17 -0800

Also I take issue with this quote:

"According to Powers, to be legally recognized as a krewe in town, your name has to reflect a mythical deity (hence, larger krewes named for Orpheus and Bacchus)."

I think Krewe d'Etat, Krewe of Cleopatra, Krewe of King Arthur, Knights of Chaos, Krewe of Carrollton, and a half-dozen others would argue against it as well, and those aren't just little krewes, those are major St. Charles Ave. parades.

By: komara

komara — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 21:53:00 -0800

Hey, as long as I'm riding this derail, check out this piece of the municipal code of New Orleans, Sec. 34-17 (a):

"No member of any carnival organization shall ride as a masker in public view in a float or minifloat parade unless he is constantly costumed and masked so as to disguise his facial characteristics. This provision shall not apply, however, to the king, queen, captain, maids, dukes, pages, attendants, or special guest celebrities of the organization in question."

That's right, if you're on a float in a parade it is literally illegal for you not to be in proper (masked) costume.

By: Sara C.

Sara C. — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 22:24:43 -0800

Oh, that explains why so many of the riders wear those weird translucent masks that aren't really masks but somehow achieve an even creepier effect.

By: vapidave

vapidave — Sat, 22 Feb 2014 22:27:33 -0800

Before, you think "Parade, whatever". I have an eleventh degree black belt in jaded. It's a great time. PROTIP, buy a folding chair and use it to stand on to see and sit when you need. pic nother pic and one more

By: Night_owl

Night_owl — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 00:04:46 -0800

Was working tonight. So jealous. But hey, y'all come out for Nyx on Wednesday. You won't be disappointed.

By: stavrosthewonderchicken

stavrosthewonderchicken — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 00:44:22 -0800

May the sauce be with you.

By: Anitanola

Anitanola — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 01:06:49 -0800

"Show me some wookie twerking" from the parade report that includes the Chewbacchus celebration.

By: CheeseDigestsAll

CheeseDigestsAll — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 05:30:35 -0800

Here are a few more pictures. It seemed that fewer spectators were in costume this year, last year it seemed like half the attendees could have been marching as well. Maybe it's just gotten more popular and so there are more tourists.

By: rmd1023

rmd1023 — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 07:42:12 -0800

This is GEEKTASTIC. Fuck yeah, people. Fuck yeah.

By: artychoke

artychoke — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 08:08:56 -0800

We were in the parade last night! This was our third year with them and it was the best one so far. All of the grow ups are sore and whiny this morning and all of the kids woke up early to watch Wrath of Khan. (My skinny 10 year old nephew was Ricardo Montalban Khan with a painted on muscle fake fun foam chest. The other kids were old style Klingons with glued on felt goatees, Kirk covered in tribbles and Spock.)

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 09:17:33 -0800

So my 50th Birthday is going to be THE same day as Mardi Gras, and I'm already planning a weeklong trip to which I will invite friends. Considering my friend base, I'm thinking this is a parade we MUST SEE. PS to ColdChef and Radioamy - uh, my birthday was actually on Ash Wednesday that time. So I was kind of cheating.

By: djeo

djeo — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 10:42:49 -0800

I am sore in so many places but the parade and the party last night were a blast. Seriously, I am a wreck today and I didn't even really drink.

By: djeo

djeo — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 10:49:59 -0800

I didn't get a lot of pictures but I did get some from while we were waiting in lineup. Here is my flickr set and here is the Chewbacchus flickr group (includes pictures going back to the first parade).

By: umbú

umbú — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 11:17:46 -0800

'Tit Rəx ('petit' Rex, the dadaist miniature shoebox float parade) followed by chewbacchus is my favorite night of the season, although Muses and St. Ann's are pretty great too. It's funny to think that there were other mefites present as the reese's pieces, yoda masks and handmade Hoth snow globes are being handed out.

By: djeo

djeo — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 11:21:17 -0800

Were you able to see any of 'tit rex's floats? I was on Royal in front of Schiro's and saw maybe three in between the crowds. It was nuts.

By: artychoke

artychoke — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 16:37:20 -0800

It's funny to think that there were other mefites present Also funny to realize you know one of the mefites there. Hi djeo! Next year you should come dance with us! Perhaps our mutual friend will manage to acquire even tinier man-shorts.

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 18:57:35 -0800

Man, I'm missing home right now.

By: umbú

umbú — Sun, 23 Feb 2014 21:25:47 -0800

Yes, djeo, back in the bywater, there were streets without big crowds. Some of the floats were brilliant.

By: komara

komara — Mon, 24 Feb 2014 07:21:32 -0800

[further derail, as long as I have so many of you locals in one place: if you plan on watching the three St. Charles parades this Friday then shoot me a MeMail and we'll see if I can't hand you something special that night.]

By: Night_owl

Night_owl — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 11:48:59 -0800

Don't forget to come see me tonight! Nyx rolls at 7! I'm on float #1 (not the first float) neutral ground side, near the back on the bottom. Shout my name and I'll hit you with some sweet loot!

By: komara

komara — Wed, 26 Feb 2014 13:52:08 -0800

Neutral ground side is the only side.

By: komara

komara — Mon, 03 Mar 2014 19:56:57 -0800

Final update: if you'll be down at Jackson Square around 8AM tomorrow, look for the skeletons on the downriver side of the cathedral. Come say hi.

By: komara

komara — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 19:24:40 -0800

Here's what you missed (of us) if you didn't make it downtown and from what I could tell in the AM pretty much no one did.

By: localroger

localroger — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 19:42:22 -0800

I thought of going into town but when I woke up and saw what the weather was like, it became a very brief thought.