Josh McNeill

Tag: new orleans (Page 1 of 2)

Know where yat.

September 7, 2016 / / 0 Comments

Ya know, I’ve listened to all of Harry Connick, Jr.’s albums, but I’ve never heard him speak. He recently appeared on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert and so I heard him:

At the beginning, I noticed that he was speaking Yat, meaning the variety of English spoken in New Orleans. At that moment, he was addressing Jon Batiste, who also comes from New Orleans, but as the interview went on, it seemed to me like he changed his register to something more general, seeing as I could no longer hear any Yat features very well. For someone who is still so closely linked to the area that he came from but who has worked elsewhere for so long, with great success, I’m not surprised that he seems to maintain the two varieties, and this here is a great example of how quickly they can switch in a situation where the two help express the totality of one’s character. In my opinion, that’s what on loses when one loses their native language due to the idea that it’s not worth much: one’s totality.

An open music box.

May 24, 2015 / / 0 Comments

In musical history, what differentiated New Orleans from the rest of the United States was that it didn’t prohibit slaves from keeping their drums and playing music. There was a space, and people used it to create. On Sundays, the slaves could descend on Congo Square, where they would beat their instruments, dance, and create. This spirit continues even today in the city, in traditions like festivals, second lines, and Mardi Gras Indian processions, which take place in the streets, et even in Congo Square. Open space, without prohibitions, is an integral part of creation, and maybe that is most evident in New Orleans, where one finds projects like the Music Box Roving Village:

This installation is yet another example of the way that open space offers the opportunity to create freely here. It also reminds me of the protest against the noise ordinance more than a year ago. After this event, city council members were considering some rules that would have made it so that one couldn’t have, for example, amplification or music without a stage. It was strange that this possibility was being considered in the first place considering the history of the city. That worried me, but the fact that this installtion is still possible gives me hope.

Super Dimanche.. Super Sunday.. Dimanche Magnifique?

March 22, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Louisiana presents an interesting problem when it comes to neologisms. There are cultural events that are well known with titles in English, but what does one refer to these as in French when everyone already understands English? For example, Super Sunday just passed in New Orleans. This festival is one of Mardi Gras Indians’, where they parade through the Central City neighborhood, but what does one call this? “Le Super Sunday” is clear, yet it’s English. “Le Super Dimanche” is pretty much French, but it’s the French of France. “Le Dimanche Magnifique” could work, it’s local, but the signification isn’t completely the same. In a country where English is a foreign language, this problem would be fixed by considering whether the name is so strong that it’ll be recognized without being translated or whether the name requires a translation in order to be understood. In Louisiana, every single person will recognize it without translating because English is the dominant language.

Maybe an example that’s even more difficult is “le second line,” or “la deuxième affilée.” This is a traditional parade in New Orleans and, at the same time, a the title is a compound noun that doesn’t clearly denote what it means, but nearly every that lives in the city will understand it in English. So, should it be left in English or changed into French? How would this change ever happen if no one truly needs to find a French version of the word in order to understand it? I don’t have the answers to these questions but I suppose that this is one of the reasons that words like “drive,” “peanut-beurre,” and “gone” came about in Louisiana French.

In any case, I’d like to leave y’all with these videos of Super Sunday.. or Dimanche Magnifique.. whatever.

Purim, New Orleans style.

March 8, 2015 / / 0 Comments

. . . the Sages of the Talmud stated that one should drink on Purim until he can “no longer distinguish between the phrases arur Haman (‘Cursed is Haman’) and baruch Mordechai (‘Blessed is Mordecai’).” – Wikipedia

It’s not clear if they were drunk enough for that, but they were having a good time nonetheless. I’m not Jewish and I’ve never even heard of Purim, but I enjoyed a glass a wine myself.

Purim is a holiday when Jews celebrate that fact that they survived Haman’s plot, that which would have killed off each and every one of them. During the holiday, it’s common to read the megillah, donate to the poor, eat, and drink (as already described). I did find one video of a parade, including costumes, be I believe that this is not the norm. But, in New Orleans, would there ever be another way a day like this? Of course not.

The culture of New Orleans, the requirement to parade, makes all that would be private, public. It creates the opportunity to express our differences in a way that is a part of the culture of everyone. That is what convinces me that this place is special. We rejoice in our differences, but we do it together, creating a unique gumbo, as they say.

Watch a 73 year old white man get funky.

June 19, 2014 / / 0 Comments

That man is Dr. John, seen here at this year’s French Quarter Fest:

I also took some video of two Mardi Gras Indian tribes meeting back during Super Sunday:

Super Sunday is an annual daytime gathering of all the Mardi Gras Indians in New Orleans. This is their most public showing as their normal parade routes and times are difficult to find. At one time, these tribes would likely have met in a violent clash. Today, thanks to the efforts of Big Chief Tootie Montana in the 1960s, they meet in a sort of contest over who’s the “prettiest.”

If you’re familiar with the song Iko Iko, you’re actually already familiar with some of the chants that the Mardi Gras Indians use. Of course, no one seems to know what they mean, and it’s probably better that way. New Orleans is probably one of the few places in the world where the local culture is both alive and mythical at the same time.

A little bit of Mardi Gras.

March 5, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Took a few videos from Mardi Gras week. Here they are.

Bacchus parade:

Orpheus parade on Lundi Gras:

Private party in the Frenchmen Market on Mardi Gras day. I second lined with this bunch through the French Quarter before we ended up here:

I also took a video the morning of Mardi Gras day of the Krewe of JULU parade that I marched with to get downtown, which was pretty amazing, but my phone didn’t save the clip. It’s about time to replace that thing.

Second lining through city hall.

January 17, 2014 / / 0 Comments

We were protesting against a noise ordinance which led us right into city hall and then into the council chamber where the musicians played a funeral dirge then The Tremé Song by John Boutté. (Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to save that video.)

This is an important issue for the people of New Orleans. If you want to learn more, visit maccno.com.

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