Mardi Gras 2022: Walking Krewes and House Floats by Gambit New Orleans

February 8-14 2022 Volume 43 Number 6

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FEBRUARY 8 — FEBRUARY 14, 2022 VOLUME 43 || NUMBER 6

CONTENTS

IT’S VALENTINE’S WEEKEND! GET YOUR ROMANCE OR YOUR BROMANCE ON!

Krewe of House Floats ................ 17 International House of Floats....21

NEWS

MON - 1/2 OFF DRAFT PINTS TUES - $2.50 TITO’S TILL 7PM WED - $3 JAMESON TILL 7PM THURS - $3 FIREBALL SUN - $3 MIMOSAS ED VOT EVERYDAY SPECIAL HIGHLIFE & JAMESON E D IV ! OR FIREBALL - $6 BA R

Opening Gambit ...............................6 Commentary.....................................9 Clancy DuBos..................................10 Blake Pontchartrain......................11

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FEATURES

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Carnival 2022 Walking parades are back at it after a year on hiatus

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TUES - SAT 10AM - 10PM

Arts & Entertainment ....................5 Eat + Drink...................................... 25 Music Listings.................................31 Music ................................................ 33 Puzzles............................................. 35

Editor | JOHN STANTON Political Editor | CLANCY DUBOS Arts & Entertainment Editor |

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Catching Fire

Locally made ‘We the 100 Million’ combines spoken word and documentary

by Will Coviello

“CREATIVE DOCUMENTATION” IS A TERM OAKLAND, California’s PolicyLink

uses for its “We the 100 Million” project, which details many forms of economic and social inequality faced by the nearly one third of Americans living below 200% of the poverty level. The term also is a good way to start describing “Many Fires This Time: We the 100 Million,” a film the group enlisted New Orleans spoken word artist and educator A Scribe Called Quess?, aka Michael Moore, and filmmaker Jason R.A. Foster to make. Starting before the pandemic shutdowns, Quess? and Foster traveled the country to work with poets and community organizers to capture workshops and performances dealing with social justice, including fighting police brutality, immigration issues, opioid addiction, climate change and LGBTQ rights. Quess? created workshops combining spoken word, story circles and organizing tools. In the final film, he and Foster mix participants’ personal stories and their artistic representations in a powerful way. “Spoken word is the heartbeat of the thing because it’s conjuring the story,” Quess? says. “Data can support what you are saying with evidence, but there’s nothing more compelling than feeling someone’s energy. There’s something only a theatrical production can bring. In a spoken word performance, you can feel someone’s heartbeat coming through their tongue, through their words. Whatever their emotion is, you’re forced to feel it. We wanted a film that did that.” In one discussion group in Oakland, a woman describes her harrowing experiences being detained by U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement. She and her daughter were held in a room overcrowded with 300 people, and the lack of windows kept them from knowing if it was day or night. That scene is followed by a poem by Diana Cervera, “Que es una frontera? What is a border.” In a music video-style presentation of the poem, which starts at the wall on the border near Tijuana, she describes the plight of asylum seekers who “carry everything and nothing,” and describes “resisting the heat of the melting pot,” as they try to find acceptance in a new land. The poem expands its focus to crossings of the Mediterranean

PHOTO PROVIDED BY JASON R.A. FOS TER

from Africa to Europe, as Cervera describes immigrants, “hoping if they can only touch the land they might have the opportunity to tell their story.” The filmmakers meet youth in Chicago and talk about coping with police brutality. Poet and community organizer Kendria “K-Love” Harris performs a piece about the community’s distrust of cops and the killing of Laquan McDonald by police and the legacy of racism. In Kentucky, poet Misty Skaggs talks about her family and community struggling with the coal industry’s degradation of the land and its economic decline and the rise of opioid addiction. In New Orleans, Quess? talks about the education system failing children, and a school official talks about some of the problems with charter schools. There also are more abstract poems, and the most stunning video segment combines a poem by San Francisco-based writer Tongo Eisen-Martin and a performance by New Orleans dancer Jeremy Guyton. The poem opens with the line, “Picture 1960s newspaper clippings and teeth hanging on the string — like a book of life / I’m in the kitchen with my would-be killer / Picking their canines out of a mouth harp / Cigarette-ing a pen / Calling Black Fire to prayer.” Guyton is at times naked, and at times wears a tie and blue shirt, sitting alone or running in a vast warehouse. The camera spins around him, as bass notes keep a slow beat. The abstract but powerful piece touches on racism across the U.S. The poems are not performed at microphones or on stages. They

A Scribe Called Quess? stars in ‘Many Fires This Time: We the 100 Million.’ feature changing scenes and backdrops, some coming at a mesmerizing clip, and some have music. The poetry and artistic style of the film make its documentary style stand out. “We knew that we wanted to bring together the world of documentary film and more abstract art,” Quess? says. “Jason and I are great fans of film. Originally, we looked beyond documentary and poetry. We were looking at what we wanted cinematically and sonically. It might sound crazy, but we wanted it to land somewhere between ‘Magnolia’ — we talked about that film that would go all over the place and explore different narratives and weave them all together — and we also wanted something that would be accurate and stark and raw and as compelling as ‘The Wire.’” The film was actually an adjustment due to Covid. PolicyLink originally contacted Quess? about doing a theater piece. He had combined spoken word, theater and videography before in projects with New Orleans’ Junebug Productions. When the pandemic hit, they pivoted and instead of having Foster do some videography, he made a full film. The score is by New Orleans musician free feral. “Many Fires This Time,” has screened at many film festivals, including the New Orleans Film Festival, and has a few more scheduled. It screens at Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge through Feb. 10.

Lesseps Street Block Party THE 10TH ANNUAL MICHAEL AARON AND BILLY DING LESSEPS STREET

Block Party takes place in the Bywater at neighboring bars Vaughan’s and BJ’s. It features music by Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Little Freddie King, Julie O’Dell, Silver Synthetic, Happy Talk Band and others, as well as “the world’s shortest second line” led by Egg Yolk Jubilee. Started to celebrate the lives of Aaron and Ding, the party has become a way for members of the community and anyone else to remember their lost loved ones. The celebration starts at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11. Tickets are $30 each or two for $50 at the doors.

S TA F F P H O T O B Y W I L L C O V I E L L O

Little Freddie King will perform at the Lesseps Street Block Party.

Instigation Fest

THE INSTIGATION FESTIVAL, now in its seventh year, bridges creative connections between New Orleans and Chicago through performances in both cities with a focus on improvised music, movement and visual arts. This year, the New Orleans portion is Feb. 7-11 and includes two sets of the Instant Opus series on Feb. 7 at Carrollton Station, with musicians Rob Frye, Helen Gillet, Jason Marsalis and more; “Music for Improvisers and Electronics” features Jeff Albert, Alexandria Smith and others on Feb. 8 at Loyola University’s Nunemaker Hall; on Feb. 9, Ben Lamar Gay, Aurora Nealand and others will perform at The Hi-Ho Lounge; and on Feb. 10, James Singleton’s Chicago Quartet will play Snug Harbor. The week ends with a livestreaming performance of The Instigation Orchestra on Feb. 11. Visit instigationfestival.com for information. PAGE 34

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Larry Ragusa (Not His Brother) Has The Finest In New Orleans King Cake

T H U M B S U P/ THUMBS DOWN

4.6 MILLION THE AMOUNT OF MONEY APPROVED BY THE NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL LAST WEEK TO BENEFIT EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

NineLouisianacivilrightssites

will soon become part of the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. Among the sites are Dooky Chase’s Restaurant, the former McDonogh 19 school building and Canal Street, where New Orleans’ first sit-in protests took place. Along with those New Orleans locations, sites in Baton Rouge, Bogalusa, Pineville and Lafayette will be recognized by the national trail as important in the history of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s. The locations also are part of the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail, which was launched in February 2021.

KingsleyHouse will use a $600,000 grant from The Humana Foundation to expand its Kingsley Connections program, which connects New Orleanians, especially youth, with job readiness training, post-secondary education and employment opportunities. Kingsley House will use the new funding to open “Connections Hubs,” satellite program offices in locations in New Orleans East and Treme.

Sen.JohnNeelyKennedy has again said something ignorant and embarrassing. President Joe Biden is expected to nominate a Black woman for the U.S. Supreme Court, a decision Kennedy will weigh in on as part of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Last week, Senator Soundbite inexplicably said, “No. 1, I want a nominee who knows a law book from a J. Crew catalog. No. 2, I want a nominee who’s not going to try to rewrite the Constitution every other Thursday to try to advance a ‘woke agenda.’”

THE COUNT

The Lens reported this funding will benefit three NOLA Public Schools programs designed to work with the city’s most vulnerable students: Travis Hill School at the city’s juvenile detention center; the Center for Resilience, which serves students with behavioral health needs; and the district’s student support office, which addresses truancy. It is funded through Harrah’s lease deal with the city.

P H O T O B Y C H R I S G R A N G E R / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

A generator at the New Orleans Sewerage and Water Board Station on Claiborne Avenue in New Orleans on Tuesday, February 1, 2022.

Council eyes federal funds for SW&B substation after Entergy welches on deal THE NEW ORLEANS CITY COUNCIL IS CONSIDERING A NEW PLAN to

fund a much needed Sewerage & Water Board power substation after Entergy New Orleans backed out of a deal to partially fund it because its corporate profits aren’t high enough these days. Under the plan, introduced by Council Member Joe Giarrusso last week, the city would use American Rescue Plan Act funds to pay for construction of the substation. A number of members back the plan, and so far Mayor LaToya Cantrell’s administration has yet to weigh in. “Six months ago we all said this is the first priority in the city of New Orleans. That hasn’t changed,” Giarrusso said during last week’s council meeting, according to the Times-Picayune. ENO is part of Entergy, which is worth more than

C’EST W H AT

$22 billion, according to the website macrotrends.net. ENO would have been on the hook for $30 million in costs. But the company would have been reimbursed through — and, presumably, eventually made a tidy profit from — service payments from SW&B. After Hurricane Ida knocked out ENO’s ability to provide power to the city for weeks, Council President Helena Moreno vowed to launch an audit of the company and begin exploring alternative sources for power. Both of those proposals received an icy reception from the utility giant. Since the storm, ENO has chafed under the council’s increased scrutiny of the company’s operations and profits. — JOHN STANTON PAGE 7

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THE COWBOYS WILL MAKE HIM AN OFFER HE CAN’T REFUSE

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HE’LL START A FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY WITH KEVIN JAMES

Vote on “C’est What?” at www.bestofneworleans.com

PAGE 6

Senate committee shoots down all plans to create second majority-Black congressional district A LOUISIANA SENATE COMMITTEE LAST WEEK SHOT DOWN ALL BILLS

that would have created a second majority-Black congressional district. The Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs instead advanced a bill by Chairwoman Sharon Hewitt, a white Slidell Republican. The bill would give Louisiana only one majority-Black district out of six, like it has currently, although a third of the state’s population is Black. Sen. Cleo Fields, a Black Baton Rouge Democrat, had three proposals that would have created a second majority-Black district, and both Sen. Jay Luneau, a white Alexandria Democrat, and Sen. Gary

Smith, a white Norco Democrat, submitted bills that would have done the same. The six white Republicans on the nine-person committee all voted to defer those bills. All three Black Democrats on the committee, Sens. Jimmy Harris, Ed Price and Gregory Tarver, voted against Hewitt’s bill. Hewitt’s bill will head to the full Senate for a vote next. Based on 2021 census estimates, 33% of people in Louisiana are Black. Meanwhile only one of the state’s congressional districts is majority Black: the 2nd Congressional District, which snakes from New Orleans to north Baton Rouge to encompass both Black Democratic strongholds. Black residents make up nearly 59% of the district. Civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Association

for the Advancement of Colored People support the creation of a second majority-Black district. The NAACP Legal Defense Fund said they’d sue if lawmakers don’t pass a plan with two majority-Black districts, just like they did in Alabama when their legislature passed a map that had only one majority-Black district out of seven, despite Black people making up 27% of the population. Republicans have trotted out a host of excuses for why their plan really isn’t racist, they swear, including: insisting that it doesn’t technically violate the Voting Rights Act; insinuating Black people should live in Black majority spaces if they want equal representation; and that implementing the plan backed by Black politicians would itself be racist towards Black people. They’ve also argued “continuity” in

representation is generally good, and not simply because it keeps them in their seats. Sen. Ed Price, a Black Gonzales Democrat, said Black residents supported the creation of an additional majority-Black district throughout the redistricting roadshows, where legislators traveled the state and collected public input. “I attended all nine roadshows and it seems like some of my colleagues, they’re ignoring the minority piece of what they heard during the roadshow,” Price said. “As minorities, I heard that they wanted a second minority district throughout the roadshow. So my colleague talked about everything else, but they’re not listening to what those minority people say — and that upsets me.” — KAYLEE POCHE AND JOHN STANTON

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It’s Carnival time — again. Finally!

color

MARDI GRAS 2022 PROMISES TO BE SPECIAL IN SEVERAL WAYS. Last year,

Covid forced the cancellation of parades, and New Orleanians — who cherish our city’s traditions and rituals — can’t wait to celebrate in ways old and new. It’s also the 150th anniversary of Rex, and New Orleans’ oldest day parade will mark the occasion with commemorative doubloons and other special throws. Much is new this Carnival season; most notably, the city has imposed a set of smaller routes on Uptown krewes, ostensibly for safety reasons. Also, all krewe participants must be fully vaccinated or have a negative Covid test result within 72 hours of riding or marching. Despite a shortage of cops at NOPD, the city promises stepped up enforcement of ordinances relating to parade safety and enjoyment. The rules are clear: No chairs or ladders on public property along parade routes until four hours before parade time; ladders must be six feet back from the curb. No spreading tarps or erecting tents on neutral grounds. No private portable toilets on public spaces. No parking box trucks, cargo vans, trucks with port-o-lets, campers, RVs, and trailers four hours before and four hours after any parade within a two-block radius. And no “reserving space” on public land using spray paint, twine or any other substance. Got that, Krewe of Chad? For riders, the City Code bans throwing plastic bags, whether the bags are full of beads or empty (full, they can hurt spectators; empty, they can clog storm drains). We’re pleased to see krewes moving away from plastic bags and throws altogether. Though not “new” this year, we welcome the return of the Krewe of House Floats. The cancellation of parades last year gave rise to the krewe — and it gave people all over town a

NYDJ

PHOTO BY MICHAEL DEMOCKER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

All because it’s Carnival ti-i-ime safe and innovative way to enjoy Mardi Gras at the neighborhood level. We’re confident this will become one of the season’s most popular traditions. Finally, we remind one and all to indulge responsibly by offering our annual list of the top ways to get arrested, which we present as a list of “don’ts.” • Don’t pee in public. You WILL get arrested and spend up to a week in jail. • Don’t insult or mouth off to cops, and don’t mess with mounted cops’ horses. Even if getting tasered is your thing. • Don’t flash outside the Quarter. • Don’t jump on a parade float. You will go to jail, and not just overnight. • Don’t throw stuff back at riders or marchers. See previous “don’t.” Now for ways to ensure a safe and enjoyable Mardi Gras: Bring only the bare essentials: your ID, a small amount of cash, one credit or debit card and a phone. Wear costumes but not dress shoes. Designate a meeting place in case someone gets separated. Write your phone number on kids’ arms just in case. Give kids your best throws, and be considerate of those around you. See you on the route!

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CL ANCY DUBOS @clancygambit

Cantrell needs to ask for State Police help — now TO CALL NEW ORLEANS’ CRIME PROBLEM A CRISIS

MARDI GRAS 2022 NAME THE MILLER LITE ALLIGATOR MASCOT Send in your name suggestions at BESTOFNEWORLEANS.COM/MILLERLITE to enter for your chance to win!

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understates things by geometric proportions. This last week, the City Council, the administration and the district attorney finally paused their finger-pointing and began to focus, at least publicly, on solutions as the administration and the council unveiled separate plans to reduce violent crime. Let’s hope the council and the administration don’t view their respective plans through the lens of political competition. Both plans are good, and both need to be implemented — along with other measures — because they focus on different aspects of the crime problem. The plans also underscore a point I made two weeks ago: The criminal justice system is just that — a system with many moving parts — and it functions well only when all parts work in sync. Mayor LaToya Cantrell alluded to that in her remarks on Feb. 2. Crime is both an immediate and long-term problem, which is why both plans are needed. Police Chief Shaun Ferguson and DA Jason Williams’ newfound cooperation, and Ferguson’s plan to resurrect policing strategies that worked in the past, take aim at the immediate crisis. The council’s plan addresses long-term problems such as NOPD management and structure (particularly the number of districts); fiscal challenges and accountability; recreational and rehabilitation opportunities for youth; aid to the courts, the DA’s office and public defenders; allowing NOPD to use technology more; and other initiatives. Here’s another idea: Bring State Police back to New Orleans on a permanent basis, but focus their efforts on traffic enforcement (including accident reports) and quality of life issues. Get them to patrol the Interstate. Authorize them to respond to emergencies when needed, but otherwise focus them on things they know best — which will allow NOPD to focus on major crimes.

PHOTO BY CHRIS GR ANGER / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell stands in front of NOPD Superintendent Shaun Ferguson, right, as they talk at police headquarters on Wednesday about the uptick in crime around the city. Orleans is the only parish in Louisiana without a State Police presence. A state law written almost a century ago, after Huey Long sent troopers to the city against his political enemies, bars State Police from New Orleans unless they are “invited” here by the mayor. It’s time to repeal that archaic law and establish a permanent State Police district in the city. Cantrell needs to make this her number one “ask” of the governor and Legislature. That is the fastest and most effective way to increase the overall police presence in every corner of town. Criminals know how undermanned NOPD is. Rebuilding police manpower to optimum levels will take at least a decade, maybe longer. We don’t have that much time. The mayor must act — now. Crime has many causes but always the same effects: It destroys communities from within. It breeds hopelessness, fear and helplessness. Criminals are not geniuses, but they recognize those three things when they see them — particularly the citywide feeling of helplessness right now. It’s a pandemic all its own, and it emboldens criminals. The brazenness of violent crimes in recent years proves that. That’s why New Orleans needs both the council’s and the administration’s plans — and a State Police presence. Make the ask, Mayor. Do it now. Your city needs it.

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BLAKE PONTCHARTR AIN™ @GambitBlake | askblake@gambitweekly.com

Hey Blake,

When I was a kid, I remember going to see people compete in the Mardi Gras Mask-a-Thon costume contest on Canal Street. What years was it held?

Dear reader,

THE MARDI GRAS MASK-A-THON COSTUME CONTEST was introduced

on Fat Tuesday in 1985. It was a project of the Mayor’s Mardi Gras Coordinating Committee, the Rex Organization and WDSU-TV. McDonald’s was an additional sponsor, later replaced by Popeyes. WDSU broadcast segments of the contest during its Mardi Gras coverage. “In efforts to encourage masking and to promote the concept of family-oriented activities in the Central Business District, the first annual Mardi Gras Mask-a-Thon will take place at 10:30 a.m. Fat Tuesday in the 400 block of Canal Street,” read a 1985 advertisement in Arthur Hardy’s Mardi Gras Guide. In later years, the contest moved to the 500 and 600 blocks of Canal Street, near the Sheraton, Marriott and Le Meridien hotels. Most years, the preliminary competition began at 10:30 or 11 a.m. with the finals at 2 p.m. Contestants pre-registered for the free competition, which offered

A R C H I V E P H O T O B Y M AT T R O S E / T H E T I M E S - P I C AY U N E

Imagine something similar to this French Quarter costume competition in 1988, but also completely different. trophies for best family group costume, best non-family group, best couple and best single costume. In the first year, first and second place awards were given for most elaborate and most creative costumes. The Rex Organization awarded a best in show prize. In later years, the Krewe of Elks Orleanians awarded a prize for “Most Mardi Gras Spirit,” and the New Orleans Tourist and Convention Commission awarded a trophy for best out-of-state costume. The contest continued into the 1990s, with new sponsors WVUE-TV and Captain Morgan. It ended in 2003.

BL AKEVIE W THIS CARNIVAL SEASON, ENJOY LUNCH OR DINNER in one of the special Mardi Gras-themed rooms at Antoine’s, the city’s oldest restaurant. The largest of these rooms is the Rex Room, honoring the Rex Organization and its past kings and queens. It features photos of every King of Carnival from 1872 to the present as well as display cases filled with crowns, scepters and other memorabilia. Proprietor Roy Alciatore created the room in 1947 after a request from Rex 1940, George H. Terriberry. The Rex Organization hosts several special dinners there each year. In addition, real-life royalty once dined in the room: the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, during their visit to Mardi Gras in 1950. Down the hall from the Rex Room is the Proteus Room, named for the Krewe of Proteus, which was founded in 1882. The room, dedicated in 1965, features display cases with memorabilia and photos. On the restaurant’s second floor is the Twelfth Night Revelers Room, named for Carnival’s second oldest organization, founded in 1870 (some 30 years after Antoine’s opened). TNR, as it is known, introduced many Carnival traditions, including the custom of throws and of presenting debutantes as the queen and maids in its royal court. It selects its queen at the ball using its version of a king cake. The queen receives the slice containing a golden bean. The popular Hermes Bar at Antoine’s opened in 2009 after a renovation of the restaurant’s dining room honoring the Krewe of Hermes. The room was first named for Hermes in 1999. Prior to that, it was named the President’s Room (featuring photos of the U.S. presidents who have dined at Antoine’s). The Hermes Bar features memorabilia and photos of past royalty of Hermes, which was founded in 1937.

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The satirical Krewe du Vieux parade marches down Royal street in 2020.

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CHEF AND ENTREPRENEUR LINDA GREEN, aka “The YaKa-Mein Lady,” probably doesn’t cook much with absinthe, but this year she’s being honored as the Supreme Green Fairy by Krewe Boheme. Absinthe is the inspiration for the krewe, which dubs its processions The Green Hour. The theme for 2022 is “A Love Letter to New Orleans.” Most of the throws are handmade by krewe members, but there are also wooden doubloons and many absinthe-inspired throws, including wooden absinthe spoons, sugar cubes, green fairy earrings and lapel pins and green bath bombs. Many krewe members are artists and service industry workers who’ve formed their own subkrewes. The lineup includes the James Brown-inspired Krewe of King James and END the Super Bad Sex Machine Strollers, The Merry Antoinettes, Les ReBelles, Krewe of Dystopian Paradise, The Bayou Babes, Krewe D’Ensite, Krewe de la Renaissance and Krewe D’Espirit. New groups this year include Neon Cowboys and Krewe of DADA. There also . ST are two brass bands and N E M subkrewes with DJs. CH N E Krewe Boheme was FR formed in 2018 and quickly T. S E grew to 1,000 members. LL VI DE This year’s parade has 450 N A M marchers due to Covid-19 considerations. Also, its START Absinthe Ball is for members only this year.

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The Krewe Boheme parades in 2019

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TOULOUSE

AFTER A YEAR WITHOUT LARGE PARADES, Carnival fans are more than ready for a weekend with three days of parades. More than a year of Covid frustrations, restrictions and absurdity have left some fans especially ready for the satire of Krewe du Vieux and krewedelusion, which offer a double header of witty float themes and brass band music on Saturday night. Along with Krewe Boheme and ’tit Rex, it’s a weekend of homemade floats, costumes and throws — plus plenty of brass bands. While city health director Dr. Jennifer Avegno is its monarch, she won’t ride with Krewe du Vieux. But other krewes are honoring culture bearers, including drummer and bandleader Benny Jones Sr. and Linda Green, and honoring New Orleanians we’ve lost, including Lois Andrews and Geoffrey Douville. Previews and routes of this weekend’s parades are below. Photos of house floats in New Orleans and around the globe are on the following pages.

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given what we’ve been through the past two years. With the theme of “Vaxxed and Confused” the 900-member marching parade will weave through downtown streets accompanied by brass bands, mule-drawn floats and heavy doses of wit. Some of the floats, per usual, merit an R rating and are not for the easily offended, and many fans may opt to leave their children at home if they don’t want to explain lewd concepts. The 17 sub-krewes that make up Krewe du Vieux touch upon a variety of timely topics, delivering social and political commentary. A krewe spokesperson, Keith Twitchell, promises that its costumed revelers have been inspired by “endless material” since the last time the parade rolled in 2020. Parade-goers can expect to see “many giant needles and similarly shaped objects” on the streets. One subkrewe, the Seeds of Decline, will mock billionaires’ recent intergalactic vanity

Krewe du Vieux, Delusion, Boheme and ’tit Rex roll this weekend

THE RETURN OF SATIRICAL KREWE DU VIEUX is more welcome than ever

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missions with its theme of “Giant Pricks in Space.” Meanwhile, the Krewe of L.E.W.D.’s “Wasted Management” and T.O.K.I.N.’s “Entergy Can’t Keep It Up” will poke fun at the dysfunction of municipal and utility services experienced at the local level. There will also be a sci-fi component as members of the krewe of K.A.O.S. will be costumed as giant, mutated flies spawned amongst the piles of debris and garbage that went uncollected for months post-Hurricane Ida. The parade typically honors local culture bearers or an under-appreciated hero as its monarch. For 2022, the krewe selected Dr. Jennifer Avegno, the city’s health director, as its queen. Avegno has since had to pull out of the parade due to concerns over her personal safety. Nevertheless, “spectators will see and experience her presence throughout the parade,” Twitchell says. The group’s post-parade Vieux Doo ball will take place at the Sugar Mill and includes performances by The Quickening and the New Orleans Nightcrawlers. Tickets are $50 and available to the public from krewe members, via Eventbrite and at Louisiana Music Factory, Peaches Records and Up in Smoke.

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THE FLOAT ARTISTS OF ’TIT REX, many of whom are full-time artists, build their own shoebox-sized floats, often playing on puns or satirical takes based on the krewe’s theme. Revealing their finished floats takes on a little more of a surprise element this year, as the lack of krewe events due to COVID-19 has made the process a little more secretive. “I’ll be seeing a lot of these floats for the first time,” says Janine Haynes, one of the organizers of the self-described microkrewe. The overall theme for 2022 is “Little Did We

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Know,” and Haynes is building the title float. Her design is based on a “who knows what the future may hold” idea, she says. The krewe returns to its now customary route, and departs from St. Roch Avenue at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13. There will be 33 floats, escorts in sashes and four bands, including much of its regular lineup, the Panorama Jazz Band, Egg Yolk Jubilee, Where Y’At Brass Band and The Bra Band, an altered lineup of the Slow Danger band, which is being cautious about Covid. For its royalty, the krewe picks artists to represent a king and queen. The king float is a tribute to Egg Yolk Jubilee member Geoffrey Douville, who died in 2020. His wife Traci Birch is making the float, and it will roll next to Egg Yolk Jubilee in the procession. The queen’s float is being made by Cree McCree. The parade marks the krewe’s 14th year. Last year would have been the 13th parade, but the krewe is treating it like some buildings treat the 13th floor, letting it go unacknowledged. Some fans of the krewe create doll-sized, and in many cases doll-filled, reviewing stands along St. Roch Avenue, where the parade lines up, and on St. Claude Avenue. The route follows some of the Marigny’s newly paved streets, such as Franklin which is easier for the tiny floats. The parade ends at the krewe ball, which is for members only. Throws are miniature and handmade by the float artists. Lucky parade-goers may get cocktail-sized parasols or bracelets.

BRASS BAND MEMBERS are the backbone of local parading culture, and krewedelusion honors renowned drummer and bandleader Benny Jones Sr. as King Goliath of its parade this year. Jones was a co-founder of the Dirty Dozen and Treme brass bands. He’s also an organizer of the Black Men of Labor Social Aid and Pleasure Club. At the parade, he’ll be joined by family members and escorted by an honor guard of Black Men of Labor members. Krewedelusion reveals its satirical theme on the day of the parade. The krewe is comprised of numerous subkrewes, solo costumed marchers, bands and more. The krewe has a group of Baby Dolls, and it’s open to members of traditional Baby Doll marching groups. This year, Merline Kimble of the Gold Digger Baby Dolls is being honored as the Baby Doll Queen. The group is expected to honor Lois Nelson Andrews, who helped revive the Baby Doll tradition and previously was queen of krewedelusion. Andrews, who is the mother of musicians Troy Andrews and James Andrews, died in November 2021. The lineup also features new groups, including the Weather Girls, a satirical dance troupe. The Krewe de Seuss has reorganized as the Kreweleidoscope. Longtime participating groups include Krewe du Jieux, The AlKreweists, Krewe of Bananas and Krewe de Mayahuel. New York’s L Train Brass Band also is in the procession. The krewe forbids plastic beads and encourages handmade throws. The Trashformers krewe is a costumed subkrewe that picks up recyclable materials along the parade route while marching. The parade is followed by the Bedlam Ball, which is limited to krewe members this year due to Covid.

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JOHN STANTON | GAMBIT EDITOR

A L L P H O T O S P R O V I D E D B Y K R E W E O F H O U S E F L O AT S

WE ALL KNOW THAT THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has been as terrible as Metro’s record on trash pickups. And while finding silver linings during times like these can feel a bit like grasping at straws, it did give birth to our favorite new Carnival tradition — the Krewe of House Floats. What started as a funny bit of online musing by Megan Boudreaux has turned into an international phenom celebrating New Orleans and the Carnival tradition without all the plastic crap and Chads. Plus, it’s still the only “parade” city officials haven’t found a way to screw with — yet. So get out and enjoy the floats before the mayor decides only short-term rentals and hotel rooms can participate! The map of participating floats can be found at kreweofhousefloats.org/map.

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MARDI GRAS 2022

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KAYLEE POCHE

WE’VE ALL HEARD THE SAYING “Everywhere else it’s just Tuesday” when it comes to Mardi Gras. And while it’s largely true, around the world people are finding ways to celebrate New Orleans Carnival this year in their own ways — both big and small — thanks to the Krewe of House Floats. The krewe, started by Megan Boudreaux, took off last year when the city canceled parades due to the pandemic, and this year it returns with author Maurice Carlos Ruffin as Grand Marshal. Although most of the house floats are in New Orleans, of course, expats everywhere from Denmark to Qatar, London and Alaska have signed on to participate this year. For her house float, Molly Brown, who moved from New Orleans to Abu Dhabi in 2020, is in the process of creating a mural of a map of her family’s favorite places in New Orleans, like her daughters’ former school and Elms Mansion, where she and her husband got married. Planning it has been a trip down memory lane, she says. “My husband and I were looking at this map and we were like, ‘Oh, remember here when we walked to Voodoo Fest [from] our first apartment on Murat Street?’ And we’re like, ‘Oh, remember going and hanging out with our friends on 6th Street before going to Muses?’” she says. The house float is a way to keep the Carnival spirit alive for her two daughters, who are helping her make flowers and decorate a cardboard tree with beads. “It was a really good outlet to reconnect with Mardi Gras,” Brown says. “I like that we’re doing it and my girls are going to have some memory of Mardi Gras, even though it’s not the New Orleans Mardi Gras per se.” In Qatar, Louisiana natives Dina and Charles Schnurman see their house float as an extension of the Mardi Gras party they host each year. This year, their theme is Alhambra Mardi Gras — named after their neighborhood — and their decor includes camels, banners, lights and a shisha pipe. As is often the case come Carnival time, they’ve had to adjust for the elements — though these particular meteorological challenges aren’t like anything seen in south Louisiana. “We just had a big sandstorm over the weekend,” Dina Schnurman says. “So we’ve had to set up, take down, set up, take down.” Next year, the Schnurmans hope to get the neighbors in their gated compound — who are from all over the world — to do their own house floats. “They’d be totally into it,” Dina Schnurman says. Similarly, in Denmark, Josh Greenberg and his family started throwing their own Mardi Gras party in 2020 right before the world shut down, a nod

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MEGAN BOUDREAUX

to the years he spent in Metairie as a kid. They livestreamed parades from New Orleans, made both cream cheese and traditional king cakes from scratch and sent people home with beads and throws. It was a hit. “Everybody embraced it,” Greenberg says. “I mean, what’s better than a party on a Tuesday?” Though 2022 is his first official year participating in the Krewe of House Floats, Greenberg has been decorating his house for Carnival wherever he’s lived for the last decade. He’d get friends to ship him feather boas to hang around the house and beads to string from light fixtures. The family starts decorating on Twelfth Night, and they put up a few decorations every day for weeks to really appreciate each step of the way. This year, they’re creating instruments out of wood placards for the front of the house. He’s also planning another party this year and has already booked a band and arranged for people to help bartend. “It’s something that makes us a little more unique in our community,” Greenberg says. “If I have to be known for being the party thrower guy from New Orleans around Mardi Gras, that’s an OK brand.” Over in London, Kathy Seligman is having a smaller celebration. Last year, she put up a wreath on her door and set up a window display with purple, green and gold streamers and candlesticks shaped like a jazz trio. Something about the decor, which also included lights, gave people a not-so-subtle indication of where she was from. “It made people know I was from New Orleans,” Seligman says. Seligman visits New Orleans a lot for both work and to see family, and since December, she’s split time between here and Dallas to visit her new grandchild. Though her stay in the states is coming to an end, she’s already scheming up ideas for this year’s house float, like purple flowers in her window box. After all, being back in the city has gotten her into the Carnival spirit. “How can you not?” she says with a laugh. “It’s everywhere you go.”

Sara Hough’s house float in Den Haag, Netherlands.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY DINA SCHNURMAN

Dina and Charles Schnurman’s house float in Qatar.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY MEGAN BOUDRE AUX

Kendall Kerr’s house float in Prince Albert, Canada.

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UNO President John Nicklow

By Amanda McElfresh amcelfresh@theadvocate.com This article is brought to you by the University of New Orleans

The University of New Orleans will celebrate the accomplishments of notable graduates during a special event February 10 at The Ritz-Carlton. UNO 25 is designed to honor and recognize alumni who own or lead successful businesses or nonprofits. This year’s list ofhonorees are from awide range of fields, including health care, hospitality, law, education, engineering, finance and more. “I think what stands out about this year’s list is the diversity of industries that are represented, as well as the tremendous accomplishments of everyone on the list,” said Rachel Massey, UNO’s assistant vice president of alumni affairs. “It’s eye-opening to see the prominence of our alumni base. Everywhere you look, there are UNO alumni who are excelling in their chosen fields.” Tracey Schiro, Ochsner Health’s executive vice president and chief risk and human resources officer, and one of this year’s UNO 25 honorees, said the recognition is an opportunity to showcase the success of university graduates in multiple areas. “I think it says so much about the quality of a UNO education and raises awareness that people who have graduate or undergraduate degrees from UNO have tremendous careers,” Schiro said. UNO President John Nicklow added that each of this year’s UNO 25 honorees have exhibited a strong determination to persist and succeed in their lives. “For UNO, I think it’s recognition that we are fulfilling our mission of transforming lives, stimulating intellectual growth and helping people develop their skill sets and talents,” he said. “It’s a list

that demonstrates how our alumni have become leaders with iconic brands and inﬂuential organizations throughout the city and the region.” This year’s UNO 25 honorees are: • Shiva Adireddy, Advano • Paula Polito, Beary Cherry Tree • Greg Rigamer, gcr, Inc/BDPC, LLC • Michael D. Chopin, Burk-Kleinpeter, Inc. • Timothy “Timmy” Couvillion, Couvillion Group • Edgar “Dooky” Chase IV, Dooky Chase’s Restaurant and Chase Concessions, LLC • Anwer Bashi, Entronix • John Reuther, Euroﬁns Central Analytical Laboratories • Corrado Giacona II, Giacona Corporation • Kyle Monti, Haptech, Inc. • Joe Helm, Helm Paint & Decorating • Mark Rosa, Jefferson Financial Federal Credit Union • Jean Kass, Kass Bros., Inc. • Scott Posecai and Tracey Schiro, Ochsner Health • Philip J. Gunn, Postlethwaite & Netterville • Jared Stanton, Pyxis, LLC • Eileen Bivalacqua, Seven-Three Distilling Co. • Rodney Braxton, Southern Strategy Group • Paul Varisco, Blair Casey, Kenneth Mellor, Kacie Benegas, Daniel Vance, Team Gleason Foundation • Andrea Williams, The Foundation for Science & Mathematics Education • Barbara Johnson, The Great Delta Tours • Patrick Tobler, The Tobler Company • Larry Delahoussaye, Wallin

Many alumni attribute much of their success to the high quality education they received at UNO, whether as undergraduate or graduate students. Ken Flower, president of Woodward Design+Build and one of this year’s UNO 25 honorees, received his Master of Business Administration from the university in 2005. “I felt I graduated with a business degree that made me more wellrounded and that I could apply as I advanced in my career,” Flower said. “It helped me accelerate my knowledge about business and think about things differently as I continued to move forward in my career.” Flower said he also appreciates the willingness of UNO officials to work with alumni to further education for others. For example, Flower was part of a team that helped UNO develop a new urban construction management degree program, whichhebelieveswillkeepmore studentsandgraduatesinNew Orleans. “I’m excited to see more people being educated in New Orleans and remain in the city as they become the area’s new real estate and construction leaders,” he said. “It’s going to be great to see those graduates coming out of UNO rather than schools outside of the region.” Another UNO 25 honoree, Edgar “Dooky” Chase IV, said he remains impressed with UNO’s commitment to making higher education accessible for everyone. Besides ﬁnancial assistance, Chase said he’s noticed how UNO faculty and staff work closely with students to help them succeed in balancing education, work and personal obligations. “To me, UNO is the university that really represents New Orleans and the region,” said Chase, a businessman and chef with Dooky Chase’s Restaurant and Chase Concessions, LLC. “It’s an institution that is approachable for the whole community. I went to UNO for my master’s degree, so I was going to class in the evening and working full time. Everyone was accommodating. It was challenging, but the professors were so accessible and understanding. As a student, I think that’s something that really makes a difference.” Schiro agreed. She earned her bachelor’s degree at UNO and later completed the Executive Master of Business Administration program.

“As an undergraduate, I was still trying to explore what I wanted to do. I was in the business school and that’s where I became interested in human resources as an area to specialize in,” she recalled. “The professors were so supportive and shared a lot of real world experiences, which helped me understand what it might be like to work in HR. That education helped me get an entry level job in HR right after graduation, which then helped me continue to grow as a professional and into leadership positions.” Schiro said she is also proud to see recent UNO graduates who enter their profession with a solid education and understanding of what to expect in their careers. In her role, Schiro works closely on workforce development, particularly in healthcare-related fields. “I think UNO does a great job of giving everyone in our community an opportunity for a high quality, local education that is affordable and that allows them to manage their careers, family lives and other obligations,” she said. “That flexibility goes a long way toward helping students achieve their goals.” Chase said he also felt UNO’s atmosphere of community and teamwork when working with his fellow students on class projects. “I was in a lot of hotel, restaurant and tourism marketing classes, and I enjoyed applying what we learned in class to those projects and replicating real-life scenarios,” he said. “I learned a lot about being on a team and working with others to accomplish goals. Everything was very hands-on and has really helped me in my career.” Nicklow noted that a spirit of gratitude has permeated previous UNO 25 events, something he is also expecting in the 2022 edition. “I think the alumni are grateful to UNO for the role it played in their education and career, and I am grateful to them for their support,” Nicklow said. “These are role models and influencers who are a true testament to UNO’s ability to transform lives. It’s awe-inspiring and it motivates me to ensure that UNO excels.” The February 10 event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in a luncheon format. Tickets are available online at www.uno.edu/uno25. “Each honoree will be showcased in a pre-recorded video,” Massey said. “We want to make sure everyone has their moment to shine and talk about what UNO means while also showcasing their business or organization. I think it’s going to be a really lovely celebration.”

All Hail the Queen

FORK + CENTER

Lisa ‘Queen Trini’ Nelson opens her own restaurant in Mid-City FOR ONCE, SOMETHING GOOD CAME OUT OF A NEW ORLEANS POTHOLE .

Lisa “Queen Trini” Nelson was cutting through Mid-City to avoid some traffic on Carrollton Avenue when she came upon “Lake Solomon.” That’s what neighbors on Solomon Street call a deep crater that frequently fills with water. Afraid to try and pass through the street-wide pool of water in her small car — “Who knows how deep that thing is?” she said — she backed up and went around the block. And then she stopped. “I saw this vacant space on the corner of Solomon and D’Hemecourt and looked in through the windows,” she says. “It looked really nice, so I left a note.” A realtor got in touch and on Dec. 30, Nelson opened the new home for her island-kissed style of “Trinbagonian” food. Nelson incorporated the cuisines of Trinidad and its sister island Tobago to create the island soul food she brought to New Orleans, sometimes referred to as the northernmost Caribbean city. From oxtail soup to fried fish, rice and peas and jerk chicken, she cooks the flavors from her childhood, recipes she learned in her mother’s kitchen. Like many entrepreneurs, Nelson has encountered bumps in the road, but her grit and perseverance have propelled her forward. A self-taught chef, Nelson, 44, first started selling containers of jerk chicken, curried chicken and Caribbean-style spinach out of a Bywater corner store on St. Claude Avenue that she owned with a partner in 2016. “I was working long hours and started seeing my kids eating unhealthy food, so I cooked meals for them at the store,” she says. Her authentic flavors drew a loyal following, but problems with the rented space, a robbery and some financial obstacles forced her to close in 2017. A series of pop-ups in Central City followed, including a spot in the now shuttered Roux Carre business incubator space on Oretha Castle Haley. “That’s where I created my barbecue jerk chicken,”

? WHAT

Queen Trini Lisa

WHERE

4200 D’Hemecourt St., (504) 345-2058; queentrinilisa.com

she says. “Because I wanted it to be different from traditional Jamaican jerk.” When the pandemic started, she was operating her business out of the kitchen at Portside Lounge in Central City. Her new neighborhood eatery, dubbed Queen Trini Lisa, is a homey spot, with red benches outside and seating for 20 in the bright and airy dining room, which is decorated with a mural of island scenes and several flags from her home country. A hand-lettered sign announces the goodness inside — and a fancier sign will come once the business really starts rolling. Of all the island-influenced food Nelson makes, she’s especially proud of her doubles. “Doubles is a kind of street food that you buy in town — you don’t really make it at home,” she says. She taught herself how to make the spongey turmeric flatbread that encases stewed curried chickpeas bright with notes of coriander and tamarind. “I couldn’t get anybody to share the real recipe, so I kept working on it until it tasted right.” Then there’s her chicken curry, warm with spice and just a touch of heat on the back end. She serves it with rice and peas, Caribbean-style spinach and fried plantains. Fried fish comes on a platter or between coco bread as a sandwich. The slightly sweet coco bread is a staple she grew up with, a buttery bread made with flour and coconut milk. She has her own version of a Cuban sandwich to pay homage to a Cuban restaurant and market that used to occupy the building. Most

WHEN

Noon-8 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

HOW

by Beth D’Addono

Email dining@gambitweekly.com

Kebab Reopens

KEBAB, THE MARIGNY EATERY KNOWN FOR THICK BELGIAN FRIES and doner

kebab sandwiches, closed following Hurricane Ida. The building wasn’t damaged, but owner Walker Reisman decided not to reopen. But now, Kebab is set to reopen under new ownership. Amanda and Taylor Olfert-McCrea will reopen it Wednesday, Feb. 9. Taylor Olfert-McCrae worked at Kebab for a year before it closed. Amanda Olfert-McCrae was previously the pastry chef at Elysian Bar, and before that worked at Maison de la Luz. The two also used to run a pop-up dedicated to Scandinavian junk food at Kebab on its closed days. To start, the menu at Kebab will be much like the previous one, with fries, falafel and doner kebab sandwiches. The gyro sandwich

PHOTO BY CHERYL GERBER

Lisa “Queen Trini” Nelson serves jerk chicken at her new Mid-City restaurant. recently it was a Latin American restaurant called Union Market, which closed last year. Although she’s way overdue for a visit with family back home, thanks to WhatsApp, her kin have weighed in on video calls to discuss everything from the terms of the lease to the blue and green palm frond pattern on the dishes. “I have so much support,” she says. Her customers are slowly finding her, ordering takeout or bringing the family in for platters of barbecue jerk chicken and fried fish. “My customers complain about the lake to me, but they’re still coming in,” she says. “Maybe the city will finally get around to fixing it.”

Takeout, delivery, dine-in and outdoor seating available

CHECK IT OUT

Trinidad and Tobagoinspired dishes in Mid-City

P H O T O B Y WA L K E R R E I S M A N

New owners Amanda and Taylor OlfertMcCrae will reopen Kebab on Feb. 9. is gone. One new addition will be fries topped with Thai peanut sauce and chutney. They also will add a cocktail menu. They also are working on bringing back the pinball machines, which were removed to accommodate more spaced-out dining during the pandemic. Kebab will be open from 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. There are a few outdoor tables, and food is available for delivery through Grubhub, DoorDash and Ubereats. — WILL COVIELLO

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Robert F. Moss

OF THE

WEEK

Historian

by Will Coviello ROBERT F. MOSS HAS PUBLISHED BOOKS ON BARBECUE AND A HISTORY OF DRINKING in the South. His latest

book, “The Lost Southern Chefs,” out this month from University of Georgia Press, looks at the development of commercial dining in the 19th century in cities across the South. The book includes many now little-known but once famous culinary figures.

Many of the figures in the book are free people of color or enslaved people. What role did they play in the rise of commercial dining in the 19th century South?

ROBERT MOSS: Apprenticeship was the training system. It was for most trades. In places like Charleston, it wasn’t exactly a cooking school, but there were these great pastry chefs, like Eliza Seymour Lee, who would be a teacher. The way it would work is someone would send someone to apprentice with her. In most cases, these were enslaved people. There was a common practice to hire out slaves, or for a wealthy planter to buy a slave and send him or her to be an apprentice for several years and learn the arts so they could and bring that to the (plantation) kitchen. It’s inextricable with slavery, but it was a multi-year apprentice. You find a lot of ads for people who trained for three or five years. Some of the hotels, like the Jones Hotel in Charleston, were effectively the cooking schools. The European chefs who came over had taken similar apprenticeships, but it was often in the great houses of nobles in Europe or in Paris. (With slavery) you still come across these passages that make your jaw drop, like some of the ones I cited in Charleston. Visitors to the South, if you read their travelogues — and this is the 19th century, so people lived in rough conditions elsewhere, but even they were shocked when they showed up in Southern cities and saw how the enslaved people were treated. You expect whippings and that kind of thing, but when you stumble across the ways families were separated and some of the stories, it’s definitely appalling. In a lot of ways, this is a book about Reconstruction. A lot

happened between 1865 and the 1890s, when Jim Crow descended. There are these figures who were the great culinary entrepreneurs of their day in the 1850s and 1860s, very talented, motivated individuals, and there is the early days of Reconstruction — and I focus on D.C. because so much was happening there — where there was a lot of hope and prospect that some of these newly freed men or free persons of color had a better path ahead could grow and build businesses and take care of their families, and education is really tied into this. But you see that they steadily get run out of the business over the 1870s and 1880s, coinciding with Jim Crow and institutionalized segregation of restaurants. By the end of the 19th century, Blacks are relegated to being head waiters or other subservient roles — not being the entrepreneurs and owners that they had been. There is a recasting of the South and the myth of the Lost Cause and all that romanticization. There isn’t room in that story for a John Dabney of Richmond. That doesn’t fit the narrative, so their stories get co-opted and erased. They got forgotten.

What was notable about New Orleans restaurants in the 19th century?

M: What I think is missing in the 19th century is you have this eliding of the colonial era to 1900. You go from “OK, New Orleans is a French city” before the Louisiana Purchase, and there’s a lot of French Creole stuff, and then you’re at Commander’s Palace around 1900 and you have this great cuisine. I think what you miss is how it evolved in the 19th century. I have it divided into three sections. It starts in the 1820s and 1830s, which are sort of the boom years that culminate in the building of the St. Charles Hotel. It’s when the early restaurants open up. Then the 1850s is when a lot of other great restaurants come onto the scene. But I was surprised by how little of what I think of today as classic New Orleans Creole restaurant dishes, things you could get at Antoine’s or Galatoire’s, how little of that was around before the Civil War. If you look at the offerings, it’s very similar to what you would find in Richmond and other

P H O T O P R O V I D E D B Y R O B E R T F. M O S S

antebellum Southern cities. A lot of that development of the French Creole style happened after the Civil War, really between 1880s and early years of 20th century. Jules (Alciatore), Antoine’s son — so many dishes we associate with New Orleans today, he created at Antoine’s in the 1890s and early part of the 20th century. And Galatoire’s and these other restaurants — there was this fertile period when Commander’s Palace opens up and La Louisiane, which is gone now, and New Orleans burst on the national scene as a dining destination and New Orleans’ reputation gets cemented as what we think of today. What I didn’t know going in was how there were these distinct periods in New Orleans where the cuisine really evolved a lot.

The book describes many things that were lost. What foods disappeared that we won’t ever taste? M: Number one is canvasback duck. It actually fed on wild celery. Everyone talks about what a great dish it was. All the wild celery that was fed upon in the Chesapeake was wiped out. Now, you can’t eat wild game in restaurants. I don’t know that it’s legal to serve anywhere. You can only really have wild game if you’re a hunter or somebody else gives it to you. And if you look at the variety on some of these menus of what you could get, that’s some stuff I would love to try. We’re getting oysters back, fortunately — in the Chesapeake, and in South Carolina we’re getting oyster farms back. But I don’t think we’ll get the wild game back. For more information, visit robertfmoss.com.

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F O R C O M P L E T E M U S I C L I S T I N G S A N D M O R E E V E N T S TA K I N G P L AC E I N T H E N E W O R L E A N S A R E A , V I S I T C A L E N D A R . G A M B I T W E E K LY. C O M To learn more about adding your event to the music calendar, please email listingsedit@gambitweekly.com Note: Due to COVID-19, events may have certain restrictions or may be postponed; we recommend checking out a venues social media sites or call before you go for the most up to dateinformation.

TUESDAY 8 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 7 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Kitchen Table Cafe Trio, 6:30 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 8 pm ZONY MASH BEER PROJECT — Mick Foley #NiceDayTour 2022, 7 pm

WEDNESDAY 9 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 7 pm BOURREE — Chip Wilson & Mark McGrain, 6 pm CHEMIN A LA MER AT FOUR SEASONS — Amanda Shaw, 4 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tin Men, 6 pm; Walter “Wolfman” Washington & the Roadmasters, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard "Piano" Scott, 12:30 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Sun June with Daphne Tunes, 9 pm MADAME VIC'S — Matt Andrews and the Sheepshead Serenaders, 8 pm SANTOS — Swamp Moves with Russell Welch, 8 pm; Twin Wizard w/ Ape Vermin and TBA, 9 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Funkin' It Up with Big Sam !!, 7:30 pm

THURSDAY 10 BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Quartet, 8 pm BLUE NILE — Where Y'at Brass Band, 7 pm BOURREE — Davis Rogan, 6 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Monty Banks!, 6 pm; Laelume + Alford, Stuart, Robert Trio, 9 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — John Boutté, 7 pm; Caleb Tokarska, 10 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Doyle

TAKEOUT and DELIVERY

Cooper Trio, 2:30 pm; John Saavedra Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Will and The Foxhounds, 9 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Dr. Mark St. Cyr Traditional Jazz Band, 6:30 pm MADAME VIC'S — Andy J. Forest Treeaux, 8 pm PEACOCK ROOM, HOTEL FONTENOT — Da Lovebirds with Robin Barnes and Pat Casey , 8 pm POUR HOUSE SALOON — Ron & Tina's Acoustic Jam, 5 pm SATURN BAR — Jonny Campos and Beach Angel, 9 pm SIDNEY'S SALOON — DarkLounge Ministries, 7 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — James Singleton Chicago Quartet, 8 & 10 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Brass-AHolics, 7:30 pm

FRIDAY 11 ACE HOTEL NEW ORLEANS — Noah Young, 9 pm BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 8 pm BLUE NILE — The Caesar Brothers, 7 pm; Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, 11 pm BOURREE — Ben Gage, 4 pm; Sasha Salk, 7 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Love In Blue, 6 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Panorama Brass Band, 6 pm; Soul Rebels, 10 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Sam Friend Trio, 2:30 pm; Lee Floyd and Thunderbolt Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 9 pm KRAZY KORNER — DayWalkers feat. Waylon Thibodeaux, 1 pm MADAME VIC'S — T Marie and Bayou Juju, 8 pm MAHALIA JACKSON THEATER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS — Gala Concert, 7:30 pm

NEW LOCATION — T Marie and Bayou Juju Dance Party + Dance Lesson , 7 pm POUR HOUSE SALOON — Shawn Williams Band, 8 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — G-Space + smith., 11 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Ryan Foret & Foret Tradition, 4:30 pm SANTOS — Hidden Charms Records-Only Night!!, 9 pm SATURN BAR — 79rs Gang, Mardi Gras Indians, 10 pm SIDNEY'S SALOON — Sad Park w/ Wonder Kid, 8 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Jason Marsalis presents The K.Love Experience, 8 & 10 pm SOUTHPORT HALL LIVE MUSIC & PARTY HALL — Nashville South, 8 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — Trixie Minx's Burlesque Ballroom, feat. Romy Kaye, 7 & 9 pm

SATURDAY 12 21ST AMENDMENT BAR AT LA LOUISIANE — The Set Up Kings, 3 pm BAYOU BAR AT THE PONTCHARTRAIN HOTEL — Peter Harris Trio, 8 pm BLUE NILE — Washboard Chaz Blues Trio, 6 pm; The Essentials, 10 pm BOURREE — Ryan Scott Long, 1 pm; Ivor Simpson-Kennedy, 4 pm; Tiffany Pollack & Co., 7 pm CARNAVAL LOUNGE — Meschiya and the Machetes' Disco Inferno, 9 pm CHEMIN A LA MER AT FOUR SEASONS — Amanda Shaw, 11 am D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Tuba Skinny, 6 pm; Mike Dillon & Punkadelic, 10 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Richard “Piano” Scott, 12:30 pm; Joe Kennedy Trio, 2:30 pm; Lee Floyd and Thunderbolt Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel’s All Star Band, 9 pm GASA GASA — Fire Brain with Tyron Benoit, 8 pm HI-HO LOUNGE — Sexy Dex and the Fresh, 10 pm KITCHEN TABLE CAFÉ — Bad Penny Pleasuremakers, 6:30 pm KRAZY KORNER — DayWalkers feat. Waylon Thibodeaux, 1 pm NEW ORLEANS JAZZ MARKET — Erica Falls, Phillip Manuel, Adonis Rose and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, 7:30 pm

PORTSIDE LOUNGE — Donate Your Friends, Allision, and Caleb Brown, 9 pm POUR HOUSE SALOON — The Bad Sandys, 8 pm REPUBLIC NOLA — Emo Night: Krewe Du Boo Hoo, 10 pm ROCK 'N' BOWL — Karma, 8:30 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Papa Mali Trio with Camile Baudoin, 9 pm SOUTHPORT HALL LIVE MUSIC & PARTY HALL — Egyptian Lover, 9 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — The Nayo Jones Experience, 7:30 pm

SUNDAY 13 BEAUREGARD-KEYES HOUSE — Valentine's with Bon Bon Vivant, 6 pm BOURREE — T’Marie & The Bayou Juju, 2 pm; ESP, 6 pm D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Palmetto Bug Stompers, 5 pm; Treme Brass Band, 9 pm FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Hunter Burgamy Trio, 12:30 pm; Joe Kennedy Trio, 2:30 pm; Marla Dixon Trio, 6 pm; Fritzel's All Star Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Sleep Habits with Thomas Dolbaum, Maddy Kirgo and Rod Smoth, 9 pm MADAME VIC'S — Tom Saunders and the Hot Cats, 7 pm MAHALIA JACKSON THEATER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS — Gala Concert, 2:30 pm ROYAL FRENCHMEN HOTEL & BAR — Grayson Brockamp and New Orleans Wildlife Band, 10 pm SANTOS — Blind Tiger, Kurama, 9 pm SNUG HARBOR JAZZ BISTRO — Quiana Lynell and Kyle Roussel, 8 & 10 pm ST. ROCH TAVERN — Valerie Sassyfras, 3:30 pm

MONDAY 14 D.B.A. NEW ORLEANS — Secret Six , 6 pm; Layla Musselwhite and Her Cosmic Gentlemen, 9 p FRITZEL'S EUROPEAN JAZZ CLUB — Twisty River Band, 8 pm GASA GASA — Valentine's Ball with Gooseteeth, 9 pm ORPHEUM THEATER — Clint Black and Lisa Hartman Black, 8 pm SANTOS — OBSCURA w/Persefone, Abysmal Dawn, and Interloper, 7 pm THE JAZZ PLAYHOUSE — The Nayo Jones Experience, 7:30 pm

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The Rumble by Jake Clapp

THE RUMBLE, A NEW BAND MADE UP OF FORMER MEMBERS of Cha Wa, came

out like it was on a mission when the group played its very first show last Wednesday at the Maple Leaf. Along with it being the band’s debut, the show also was the first in a weekly residency through February at the Oak Street bar. The Rumble has been moving quickly: The band members revealed the name two weeks ago, announced the Maple Leaf residency only a couple of days later and have another show on the books for Tuesday, Feb. 15, at the New Orleans Jazz Museum and a performance with The Funky Uncle in March. The band features Second Chief Joseph Boudreaux Jr. of the Golden Eagles, trumpeter Aurélien Barnes, trombonist José Maize Jr., bassist TJ Norris, saxophonist Gladney, guitarist Ari Teitel and keyboardist and percussionist Andriu Yanovski. And joining them at the Maple Leaf was Trenton O’Neal behind the drum kit. “We’re bringing a full-on New Orleans experience,” Barnes says. “It includes the Mardi Gras Indians. It includes brass bands. It includes things like Skull and Bones Gang. It’s a holistic approach to New Orleans culture.” Seven of the eight musicians on stage at the Maple Leaf have all played together for the last few years as part of Cha Wa, the Mardi Gras Indian funk band, and it was immediately clear how well they work together — and how it was their former band earned Grammy nominations. During last week’s set, the band mixed Mardi Gras Indian funk classics — with dedications to predecessors like Big Chief Bo Dollis — with a few Cha Wa songs and some brand new material. The Rumble was tight, having fun and came ready to live up to its new name. In late January, Boudreaux, Barnes, Maize, Norris, Gladney, Teitel and Yanovski signed on to a statement posted to social media announcing they had “made the difficult decision to step away” from the Grammy-nominated Mardi Gras Indian funk band Cha Wa and would be forming a new group. The statement said “irreconcilable internal differences” were behind their decision to leave their former band.

PROVIDED PHOTO BY TIFFA N Y A NDER S ON

The Rumble is, left to right, Aurélien Barnes, TJ Norris, Ari Teitel, Joseph Boudreaux Jr., Joe Maize, Andriu Yanovski and Gladney. “Myself, Aurélien, José, all of us are culture bearers in our own right,” Boudreaux told Gambit. “And we felt it was important to represent our culture.” “And certainly in the best interest of the legacy,” Barnes adds. It’s important for the culture bearers on stage to have ownership of the New Orleans culture they’re creating and carry the torch on from older generations, Barnes says. “The next generation of an old generation,” Boudreaux puts it. The Rumble has been in the works for about two months. “It’s great to be able to watch something you want so badly to work start to flourish,” Boudreaux says. Drummer Joe Gelini formed Cha Wa in 2014 after working with Big Chief Monk Boudreaux and playing with the Wild Magnolias. Gelini has been Cha Wa’s constant member, with several musicians dropping in and out of the lineup over the years. The band’s first album “Funk ‘n’ Feathers” was released in 2016, but Cha Wa found acclaim on its Grammy-nominated 2018 album, “Spyboy,” which featured J’Wan Boudreaux, Big Chief Monk’s grandson and Joseph Boudreaux’s nephew. Around that time, the lineup became more stable, with Joseph Boudreaux as lead vocalist, Gelini, Barnes, Teitel (who also served as musical director), Maize, Norris, Yanovski and Gladney. And last April, Cha Wa released its third album “My People,” which also earned a nomination at the upcoming 2022 Grammys. Catch The Rumble at 9 p.m. Wednesdays in February at the Maple Leaf. More about the band can be found on Instagram, @therumblenola.

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Sun June

THE AUSTIN-BASED QUINTET SUN JUNE describes its music as “regret

pop.” It feels like an appropriate term for the group’s dreamy indie pop filled with melancholy and a certain nostalgia that is hard to describe. Sun June released its latest full-length, “Somewhere,” around this time last year, and released three new songs in January. The band plays with Daphne Tunes in a show presented by One Eyed Jacks at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, at Gasa Gasa. Tickets are $15 at ticketweb.com.

LET’S

Quiana Lynell and Kyle Roussel

VOCALIST QUIANA LYNELL FOCUSES ON JAZZ though she’s sung everything

Y’ALL! CARNIVAL COVERAGE IN 2 BIG ISSUES

from gospel to classical. She’s joined by pianist Kyle Roussel for an evening of love songs. There are shows at 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, at Snug Harbor. Tickets are $30 at snugjazz.com.

NOJO Plays Anita Baker

THE NEW ORLEANS JAZZ ORCHESTRA,

led by Adonis Rose, will be joined by vocalist Erica Falls for a tribute to Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Anita Baker. The show also will feature vocalist Phillip Manuel. The performance is at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at the New Orleans Jazz Market. Tickets are $30 at thenojo.com.

New Resonance Orchestra

FRANCIS SCULLY LEADS THE NEW RESONANCE ORCHESTRA in the pre-

Februar y 9-15 2021 Volume Number 42 6

2-8 February 2021 42 Volume 5 Number

Issue Dates:

FEBRUARY 15 & 22

CALL NOW! Contact Ad Director Sandy Stein 504.483.3150 or sstein@gambitweekly.com

miere of local composer Tucker Fuller’s “The Book of Hours,” and the performance also features mezzo-soprano Claire Shackleton. The program also includes Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cantata No. 170. Performances are at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, and Thursday, Feb. 10. Tickets $10-$25 at marignyoperahouse.org.

Meschiya and the Machetes’ Disco Inferno AFTER TAKING IN THE SATIRICAL SPLENDOR OF KREWE DU VIEUX’S

collection of giant penises, you’ll surely need a way to burn off all that pent-up energy. So head on over to Carnaval Lounge, where Meschiya Lake and the Machetes will be kickin’ it Disco Inferno style. Doors open at 9 p.m., Saturday, February 12. Tickets are $10 in advance at eventbrite.com, $15 at the door.

79ers Gang

BIG CHIEFS JERMAINE BOSSIER of the 7th Ward Creole Hunters and Romeo Bougere of the 9th Ward

Hunters join forces to create the 79ers Gang’s mix of hip-hop and Mardi Gras Indian music. The band is at Saturn Bar at 10 p.m. Friday, Feb. 11. Visit thesaturnbar. com for information.

Egyptian Lover

IN THE 1980S, EGYPTIAN LOVER, AKA GREGORY BROUSSARD, was a Los

Angeles-based early pioneer of West Coast hip-hop and electronic dance music. He’s produced a steady stream of albums full of electronic beats and Egyptianthemed cover art. Last year, her released the album “1986.” He performs at 10 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, at Southport Hall. Tickets are $20 at southporthall.com.

‘(Un)Making Mardi Gras: The First Century’

FOR SOME OF THE OLD-LINE CARNIVAL KREWES, their first decades of

parading in the middle and late 19th-century have been deemed a golden era, but there are other perspectives on Carnival and other traditions. Tulane University history professor and author Rien Fertel discusses the first century of Carnival parades in this talk presented by the Historic New Orleans Collection in conjuction with its “Making Mardi Gras” exhibit. The talk is available virtually on Tuesday, Feb. 8. The symposium schedule is at hnoc. org/symposium-2022.

Delgado Black History Month Festival

THE THREE-DAY EVENT from Monday, Feb. 14 to Thursday, Feb. 17 will include two art exhibits in Delgado Community College’s Student Life Center. “A March in History” showcases 10 people and groups influential in the civil rights movement and history, while “Say Their Names” honors those who have died due to police brutality and hate crimes. There will also be virtual panel discussions and virtual guided meditation and yoga sessions.

‘Roll With It’

THERE’S ROLLER SKATING TO THE MUSIC OF DJS BRICE NICE, Otto or

C’est Funk in two afternoons and nights of Valentine’s Day events at Barnett Hall at the Ace Hotel. New Orleans Skate School provides skating lessons, and tickets include skate rental, popcorn and bottled water. Two-hour sessions start at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, and 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13. Tickets $20-$50 at acehotel.com/ new-orleans/goings-on.

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PREMIER CROSSWORD PUZZLE FORGET THE WHOLE THING By Frank A. Longo

38 “Peek- —!” 40 Classic comic Martha 41 Uplifting poems 42 Place full of video games 43 UBL 46 Chicken cordon — 47 British chums 48 Stars and Stripes’ nation 49 —’wester (certain storm) 50 “Oh, God!” actress Garr 54 Cousins of aves. 55 Name of some newspapers 57 GHTE

62 Actors Fiennes and Macchio 65 Very top 66 Flying 67 TRONI 72 Cast out of the country 73 Official helper 74 Pays out 75 EAKI 79 Diner check 80 Start for existing 83 Name of some newspapers 84 Vetoer’s vote 85 U.S. tax org. 88 Aromatic aftershave liquid 90 QBs’ blunders: Abbr.

92 RKE 96 Person doing a crossword puzzle, e.g. 99 Outer limit 100 Chimney grime 101 Great serves 102 HEER 105 2000-15 CBS series 106 Writer Rand 107 Blood type, in brief 108 Total 109 Wakes up 112 Writer Uris 114 NTEN 119 Peel, as fruit 120 Excited response to “Who wants ice cream?” 121 Cozy corner 122 Pierce player Alan 123 Cast off hair 124 Swan constellation 125 Forest sight 126 Saclike growth DOWN 1 Neck back 2 Mushroom feature 3 Some plays on ground balls 4 Fiancee 5 Colo. — (city S. of Denver) 6 Skirt line 7 “Just go ahead and try!” 8 Wine merchants 9 Unlock, in poems 10 Resting place for a napkin 11 Drinker’s hwy. offense 12 Implores 13 Christina of “Bel Ami” 14 Put too high a price on 15 Papa 16 Perfect world 17 Be charitable 18 Gas guzzler 24 Multivolume U.K. lexicon 25 Chicago winter hrs. 30 Blarney Stone’s land 33 Mushroom feature 34 King, in Lyon 35 Hubbub 36 Novelist Deighton

37 Runs furtively with short, quick steps 38 Heads of fleets: Abbr. 39 Regatta entry 40 Upshot 44 Evan of figure skating 45 Univ. helpers 46 Web automaton 49 Brother of Moe and Curly 51 Deep black, in poems 52 Break in friendship 53 Hairy TV cousin 56 “Science Friday” airer 58 Person tying shoes 59 Onetime transportation agcy. 60 Foods created by biotech 61 Flood-prevention sack 62 One sharing your blood 63 Songwriter Carmichael 64 Salon noise 67 Large-scale public show 68 Untrue tales 69 Neighbor of Mont. 70 Caress 71 How money may be lost 72 Sci-fi gift 76 Belonging naturally

77 “One Mic” rapper 78 “— ToK” (#1 hit for Kesha) 80 On the nose 81 Viking letter 82 Rescue crew VIPs 86 Occupant 87 Represented 89 Peruvian singer with a wide range 91 Notorious emperor 92 OR workers 93 Rust may be a sign of it 94 DVR remote abbr. 95 Cain, to Eve 96 Hair-raising sites? 97 “Is that so?” 98 Poe’s “radiant maiden” 99 Yuletide quaff 103 Destitute 104 Tic- — -toe 105 Gear tooth 109 Yard tool 110 Outer limits 111 Sports datum 113 TV neighbor of Homer 115 Pewter, mostly 116 Univ. website suffix 117 Vetoers’ votes 118 Rival of Wade

ANSWERS FOR LAST ISSUE’S PUZZLE: P 2

PUZZLES

ACROSS 1 Warning about a racy web pic 5 “West Side Story” knife 9 Seasoned vet 15 Bro 19 French for “yours” 20 Treat for feet, for short 21 Pope after Marcellus II 22 Scads 23 RFORM 26 Rapper Snoop — 27 Variety show hosts, e.g. 28 ACLU interests: Abbr. 29 Farming unit 31 Pasty luau food 32 Flight takeoff abbr. 33 NTR

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