Images From Krewe du Vieux: For your pleasure, a set of pictures containing evidence of, in chronological order, the Krewe de C.R.A.P.S. Night Before party, a visit to Fahy’s, the Lower Garden District, the Parade Pre-Party, Second Line to the den with King Walter Williams, the Krewe du Vieux parade and the ball.
[Rest assured that the NSFW pictures are in a super-secret location disclosed on a need-to-know basis alone.]
That the city and the krewe can do this for each other after such a crisis amazes and inspires me.
Music and laughter
As promised, an image of the remains of the Coliseum Theatre. It looks a lot better than I had imagined. Given the poor condition of homes wrecked by the storm that are now being rebuilt, the theatre has a good chance at a comeback as a theatre or the plans the new owner had for it: a recording studio for the film industry, with orchestra chambers, booths, the works.
500 ccs of blue tarp and a FEMA trailer stat!
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Ingenuity vs. Cruelty: Those who know me well are aware of my penchant for the works of Neal Stephenson, who recently forayed from writing fast-paced cyberfiction to slower historical fiction. This apparent crossover is rendered moot on the realization that one of the underlying themes of all of Stephenson’s books is the marriage of computing and economy, whether set in the past alongside historical figures or in the future with completely fictional entities.
As Victor Hugo once said, “If a writer wrote merely for his time, I would have to break my pen and throw it away.” Another Stephensonian theme, one for which I endure his Tolkien-esque tomes, is universal justice and finding financial and personal value in concepts of lasting import. Last night, I slowly progressed through The System of the World, the final installment of the heavy (in volume and undertaking) Baroque Cycle trilogy. Sleep was preferable to another two pages of argumentative dialogue between protagonist Daniel Waterhouse and a minor character Mr. Threader on the merits of steam engines over the Asiento. Until the following paragraph which stunned me into wakefulness:
“Nothing about the English landscape is forever fixed”, Daniel said … “we might grow accustomed to multitudes of black slaves, or steam-engines, or both. I speculate that the character of England is more constant. And I flatter us by asserting, furthermore, that ingenuity is a more essential element of that character than cruelty. Steam-engines, being a product of the former virtue, are easier to reconcile with the English scene than slavery, which is a product of the latter vice. Accordingly, if I had money to bet, I’d bet it on steam-engines.”
Bravo, Dr. Waterhouse! Note that this statement, albeit fictional, was made in the early 1700s, when the slave trade and organized Christianity blossomed in step with one another. Piety is a great mask. Religious connotations aside, this statement’s parallels to the modern world are staggering. On the ingenuity side, we may merge the lessons of science and history to build a Gulf Coast seawall to rival that of the Netherlands as opposed to the cruelty of goverment corruption and bickering, or help our nation’s failing educational system. On the side of cruelty, we may enslave our fellow Americans by wasting our treasury, youth and innovative energy on losing battles abroad. Apply at will or just take the statement at face value.
This is how Neal Stephenson has me hooked, with smart easter-eggs of statements that keep on giving.
I’ve been entranced by NS’s books. (I think I have read all but “In the Beginning was the Command Line” and “the Big U”) While reading the trilogy last summer I learned to pace myself lest I become impatient and skip ahead. The reward was to recover the gems which are found everywhere in his work.
He does get wordy, though.
10 inches on the ground and still falling. Now THIS is Wisconsin!!