Tuesday, February 24, 2009

mardi gras "parade"


I ran into this "parade" winding its way through downtown. When I caught up with them by the Suttree statue they looked like they couldn't decide whether or not to go on. A few saw me taking photos and started posing. Then a girl threw Dum-Dum suckers to me. I got the feeling they were going to start flashing people. I didn't see anything that crazy, but another girl came up to me and said, "Happy Mardi Gras, sir." and handed me this:


The tag says, "Thank You for Participating! 100% Clean."

I'm sure they are.

9 comments:

The Modern Gal said...

the Krewe of Sunsphere?

and those don't even look clean from here.

blueeyedtawni said...

heh at least she could have gave out pairs of cute knickers instead of the boring white granny ones :D

max said...

that's it? no explanation? i guess we don't need one.

Mickey said...

Why can I not figure out where this picture was taken? I didn't know there was a Suttree statue. I really need to explore my town a little more.

Anonymous said...

Well, that statue is called The Oarsman. It's at Church and Gay. I like to think of him as Suttree as well but there's no real proof that he's actually a tribute to Suttree. David Phelps is the sculptor, and it was installed in 1983. It's said that the statue is supposed to represent "the embrace of humor and perseverance in the face of adversity," which, depending on how you read Suttree, is either exactly what Suttree did or exactly what he didn't do. Suttree was published in 79, so it's nice to think that this very lovely statue could represent him, but it's likely not the case.

ck said...

I'll just keep thinking of him as Suttree until definitively told otherwise.

B said...

chris, that was your lucky day! good for you.

Anonymous said...

Well, out of curiosity, I emailed the sculptor. He is very nice. He replied saying that he had never heard of Suttree, but that he is going to add it to his reading list. He wrote that the sculpture "reflects the experience of perseverance when things aren't necessarily going well." I think that is a nice message, and I like to think about this guy out by near the riverfront, even in rainy weather.

It can always be Suttree to us. Stan and I were just chatting about it, and he's right when he says, "the creator only has control of the form itself."

Mickey said...

I never made a connection between the rowboat guy and Suttree. I like it, though.