So I survived Gasparilla. Yeah, it was billed as a Mardi Gras beads-and-boobs style parade, but it was mostly beads. Not a single boob! I feel so cheated. Apparently that’s more the thing for the Gasparilla night party, which happens in two weeks.
But there were thousands of beads. Cops would pick them up off the street and give them to parade-watchers if the people from the “krewes” (on the floats) couldn’t throw them far enough. Some cops were smoking cigars. What a change in attitude from Victoria! Though — Jeff tells me — Tampa cops aren’t typically known for their sunny disposition, either.
And the drinking. The public drinking. I’ve never seen so many people drunk in public! Practically everyone had a drink in their hand. Or two. Being that we were rolling a keg down the street in a shopping cart, the group I was with didn’t have a problem. 🙂 Other highlights include corkscrew fries — which were created by a guy with a Black and Decker and a wood drill-bit. A little greasy, but the best thing in the world when you’re drunk out of your tree.
The parade lasted from around 2:30pm til 5, after which we headed to another house party. From there, we went for dinner at a Thai restaurant, back to the second house party, to a bar to see a live band, to another bar, then back to the second house one last time, then took a cab back to the first house where I crashed in a chair, around five in the morning. A ton of fun, but man, I need to drink less next time. The hungover drive home the next afternoon was not fun. No pictures for you tonight, because stupid me forgot the card reader at work, but soon. 🙂

Off to Gasparilla!

Well, I just finished watching Koyaanisqatsi, and, well, what can I say? I have to take back all the laughing I did. Lesson learned: you really do have to reserve judgement until you’ve seen the whole film.
This picture is amazing. I’m not really sure how to express this other than through hyperbole. You might recall I said last time this film walks in the footsteps of Baraka. First of all, this was produced before Baraka. Second of all, it lets you form your own opinion on what you’re seeing, and as a result it’s a much more powerful film. If you have not seen it, I highly encourage you to go out and see it for yourself. If you have seen it, perhaps it’s time to take another look. This film is amazing, and I want to let everyone know.
That is all.

So I got back from San Antonio around quarter-to-ten last night; I’m still mildly jet-lagged. Bought a DVD while I was out there, Koyaanisqatsi, and got through half of it on the plane back before the batteries on my laptop ran out of juice. So far it’s in the same vein as Baraka, which means I’m enjoying it quite a bit. It juxtaposes natural and urban life. The commentary isn’t quite as evident as it is in Baraka, but I’ll reserve final judgement until after I’ve seen the whole thing. It’s unintentionally funny at times: since the movie is from 1983, so is the clothing. And all the cars. Still, it’s been chock full of powerful imagery so far; the soundtrack (by noted composer Philip Glass) adds enormously to the whole experience, too.
Thought you guys might get a kick out of what appeared in my mailbox, right before I left for San Antonio..


Looks like the Lord could do with a helping of Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Speaking of which, you know how traditionally, it takes me forever to get through a book? Well, with Eats, Shoots… I’ve just been flying through the pages. I’m almost halfway done, and I only bought it a couple weeks ago!! 🙂

Just a quick post to say, “no post tonight”.
Update, one minute later: Like. Oh. My. God. My old pal Ryan K‘s blog is back up. He even posted! Drop it like it’s whut?

Well here I am in San Antonio, safe and sound. The 3-hour, non-stop 737 flight from Tampa was relatively smooth. I think I might even be getting used to Southwest’s unassigned seating. It’s like a big ol bus! Here’s a few shots from the trip over.
Making a left near Cedar Key, FL:

I don’t have words for this..

That curvy river in the upper-right is the Mississippi.

Downtown New Orleans:

The hotel:

The hotel parking:

The rental:

The ambiance:

Ordered pizza for dinner, forgot to get a receipt, whoops.. oh well. My room is nice, very spacious. I have a king-sized bed! Heh. Time to hit the sack, I’ve got to be up pretty early — the parking expires at 7:00am.
Hope you all had a good Sunday 🙂 What are your plans for next week?
Update, 9:30pm (CST): Oh, and one more pic 🙂

Well — you’ve all heard of blog spam, but this site takes the term to a whole new level. I dub thee Google-spam.

Ganked from This Is Broken
I’m alive. Yes, I know, hard to believe, if the number of posts I’ve made lately is any indication. I’ve been totally exhausted. And my supply of blog-worthy photos is exhausted, too. Last night I went to bed at midnight, and was woken by a phone call at 11 this morning. Gah!! Guess that means 6 hours sleep/night isn’t enough? 🙂