The Swamp

Anyone have big plans for the evening? I'm usually the one saying "screw going out...I'm staying home"....but I'm getting dragged out tonight. The occasion? A wedding! Who the hell decides to get married on New Years Eve? (Besides my sailing friend, apparently). It better be one hell of a party considering the amount of money I've invested in this (decided to take the excuse to finally buy a new suit).

As we speak, the GirlFriend's 22 year old daughter and 3 of her friends are loading up on pasta before heading out to an all night rave. They've been cranking club music and doing up their makeup and outfits all afternoon. Now that would be hell for me.

Happy New Year all you Swampers!

I suppose this is a new first here: admitting that you wouldn't want to spend the night with four 22 year old girls.

DC47 wrote:I suppose this is a new first here: admitting that you wouldn't want to spend the night with four 22 year old girls.

Hah....should have mentioned its 2 guys/2 girls....

And even with 4 22 year old girls, I think that after about 20 minutes of club/DJ/electronica music, I'd be heading for the exit...

Ill go. I love that type of music.

I can dig the electronica, though I've heard nothing new in years.

I just got home from one of my friend's place after watching the Fiesta Bowl. It's cowbells in Miami for me until my best friend gets here about 11. I think it's old school FIFA Xbox after that. Haven't been out on a New Year's Eve in at last 5 years, if not 10.

Tied one on pretty good last night, then worked today. I'm exhausted, and not likely to make it to midnight. Also, I hate amateur fireworks.

Letting the kids stay up this year. Yay.

The first cousin of the neighbor we had dinner with earlier is singing back-up for the "live" Lady Antebellum performance on ABC. Yay.

For some reason Q has been obsessed with the ball dropping for a long time now so we're letting her give it a shot. Battling hard right now.

I guess "a long time" is "since last year" but that's 1/3 of her life so it's a pretty long time.

My wife and kid #2 have been asleep for awhile. Kid #1 just fell asleep a couple of minutes ago after I turned the Orange Bowl on during the local 11PM local news. Just had some leftover baklava and a clementine. Yay.

THAT'S who Ryan Seacrest is....

2015! Where's my Hoverboard?

mister d wrote:For some reason Q has been obsessed with the ball dropping for a long time now so we're letting her give it a shot. Battling hard right now.

Did not make it, we decided to wake her up with about 90 seconds to go and it took a full 60 seconds to get her up. Then after watching it drop twice (rewind), she claims we didn't wake her up in time.

mister d wrote:

mister d wrote:For some reason Q has been obsessed with the ball dropping for a long time now so we're letting her give it a shot. Battling hard right now.

Did not make it, we decided to wake her up with about 90 seconds to go and it took a full 60 seconds to get her up. Then after watching it drop twice (rewind), she claims we didn't wake her up in time.

She's got a future in politics.

Maybe it's a Europe thing, but the intentionally unsafe way fireworks are used in densely populated areas is disconcerting.

Last year in Berlin was a mindfuck seeing drunken crazies light stuff off in the streets as cops directed traffic. And now the near riot/mob mentality show I got to see last night in Budapest was just as WTF.

If I'm still in Europe for the ringing in of 2016, we'll see if that trend continues.

New Orleans is about what you'd expect, I guess. Looking forward to going for a run shortly.

A friend of mine had that same idea, then tripped over the tracks that split Canal St., skinned her knee and got some crazy infection. Have fun!

(Have you / will you be eating at Cochon? You need to do that.)

mister d wrote:A friend of mine had that same idea, then tripped over the tracks that split Canal St., skinned her knee and got some crazy infection. Have fun!

(Have you / will you be eating at Cochon? You need to do that.)

Oh, I decided that running in the French Quarter would be dumb. I'm going to run around and then walk through back. I've got time to kill this morning.

And no -- unless they have televisions and a bar for the Mizzou game (was thinking of Manning's for that). I only got here yesterday, did all my NYE exploring and then leave early tomorrow morning.

ETA: I want to come back and come back with someone/people I know. My friend was supposed to come with me but he couldn't make it. This would be more fun with other people.

I've eaten at the Cochon bar solo and had a lovely time. Not the kind of place you'd feel weird doing so.

Brontoburglar wrote:

mister d wrote:A friend of mine had that same idea, then tripped over the tracks that split Canal St., skinned her knee and got some crazy infection. Have fun!

(Have you / will you be eating at Cochon? You need to do that.)

Oh, I decided that running in the French Quarter would be dumb. I'm going to run around and then walk through back. I've got time to kill this morning.

And no -- unless they have televisions and a bar for the Mizzou game (was thinking of Manning's for that). I only got here yesterday, did all my NYE exploring and then leave early tomorrow morning.

ETA: I want to come back and come back with someone/people I know. My friend was supposed to come with me but he couldn't make it. This would be more fun with other people.

Bronto..love the big easy. Check if Gallery Rinard is open (or at least poke your head at the window). You are a dog guy...you will like it. Also see if Colin Lake is playing. He is a kid from Seattle who I coached in lacrosse and is now doing a really nice job playing blues in N.O. He plays lap slide guitar and has a great funk/blues sound. He is playing at D.B.A. today (618 Frenchman Street)

Don't catch anything incurable and do enough there on this trip so that you don't ever have to go back.

Hey, 2015 can go fuck itself so far...



My wife was pretty devastated. She's a get-an-ornament-during-every-big-vacation kind of person, and we lost some precious ones. First Christmases, trips to Disney, a beautiful one Mr and Mrs cerrano got us from Hawaii.

In bonus fuck 2015ness, after we cleaned that up, I said fuck it and took the family out to a diner for breakfast, and spilled half a cup of hot coffee on my lap.

Oh, that sucks. I know, because last year, our cat jumped in our tree and pulled it over, breaking a number of ornaments. Looked just like yours.

rass wrote:Hey, 2015 can go fuck itself so far...



My wife was pretty devastated. She's a get-an-ornament-during-every-big-vacation kind of person, and we lost some precious ones. First Christmases, trips to Disney, a beautiful one Mr and Mrs cerrano got us from Hawaii.

In bonus fuck 2015ness, after we cleaned that up, I said fuck it and took the family out to a diner for breakfast, and spilled half a cup of hot coffee on my lap.

alright, we'll go back to hawaii to get you a new ornament.

sorry about the tree, buddy.

sancarlos wrote:Oh, that sucks. I know, because last year, our cat jumped in our tree and pulled it over, breaking a number of ornaments. Looked just like yours.

Ack.

It just happened on its own last night. Everyone on my wife's FB page has blamed it on the poor dog.

cerrano wrote:alright, we'll go back to hawaii to get you a new ornament.

sorry about the tree, buddy.

I know you already have a trip planned to a different set of islands. Just bring us back a small, misshapen chunk of peat on a hook from Ireland.

rass wrote:Hey, 2015 can go fuck itself so far...



My wife was pretty devastated. She's a get-an-ornament-during-every-big-vacation kind of person, and we lost some precious ones. First Christmases, trips to Disney, a beautiful one Mr and Mrs cerrano got us from Hawaii.

In bonus fuck 2015ness, after we cleaned that up, I said fuck it and took the family out to a diner for breakfast, and spilled half a cup of hot coffee on my lap.

Photobucket is offering a framed print of that photo for $46.99 if you're interested.

I'd pay $20 to see video of the coffee spill.

DaveInSeattle wrote:Anyone have big plans for the evening? I'm usually the one saying "screw going out...I'm staying home"....but I'm getting dragged out tonight. The occasion? A wedding! Who the hell decides to get married on New Years Eve? (Besides my sailing friend, apparently). It better be one hell of a party considering the amount of money I've invested in this (decided to take the excuse to finally buy a new suit).

As we speak, the GirlFriend's 22 year old daughter and 3 of her friends are loading up on pasta before heading out to an all night rave. They've been cranking club music and doing up their makeup and outfits all afternoon. Now that would be hell for me.

Happy New Year all you Swampers!

For Christ sake Dave, given the FB photos, lock that shit down. Solidly out kicking the coverage there.

mister d wrote:

mister d wrote:For some reason Q has been obsessed with the ball dropping for a long time now so we're letting her give it a shot. Battling hard right now.

Did not make it, we decided to wake her up with about 90 seconds to go and it took a full 60 seconds to get her up. Then after watching it drop twice (rewind), she claims we didn't wake her up in time.

Should have gone with the Netflix action, and shown her their 5 minute countdown video and told her it was New Years. We decided to see if the kids could make it this year. We let each of them invite a friend and their family. My daughter's friend has younger brothers, so they bailed by 9. I was shocked they actually made it and didn't melt down. The adults were actually able to have a formal dinner party without interruption, as the kids spent 3 hours downstairs creating and rehearsing a variety show for us. I decided to try cooking fish en papillote for the first time, cod loin in a citrus ginger marinade with shitakes, scallions and cilantro. Fantastic, and a great dish for company, as you can do all the prep work, have the fish wrapped and oven ready ahead of time. For the first time ever, I cooked the fish to perfection. The texture and moistness were fine dining quality. Definitely going to tinker with the ingredients a bit and make that again.

Crushed it with the booze selection, too. Wookie Jack, Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock (probably the first great beer I've tried, and haven't had for 10+years), Allagash Saison and one parent's homemade oaked Chianti. He has made wine for years, and he invited me to join him this year in selecting the ingredients and teaching me the art. His wine is really damned good. To cap off the year, prior to starting the New Year with champagne, I cracked open a bottle of 2012 Bourbon County Stout. It has mellowed out a lot since I tried a bottle 2 years ago. Completely lived up to the hype. I shared with my son's friend's parents, as they are very into beer, last winter he went on a ski/brewery trip to Oregon, visiting 9 breweries. As great a beer as it is, I think I would have struggled to finish a bottle without breaking it up with a lighter drink, like a glass of Lagavulin.

wlu_lax6 wrote:

Brontoburglar wrote:

mister d wrote:A friend of mine had that same idea, then tripped over the tracks that split Canal St., skinned her knee and got some crazy infection. Have fun!

(Have you / will you be eating at Cochon? You need to do that.)

Oh, I decided that running in the French Quarter would be dumb. I'm going to run around and then walk through back. I've got time to kill this morning.

And no -- unless they have televisions and a bar for the Mizzou game (was thinking of Manning's for that). I only got here yesterday, did all my NYE exploring and then leave early tomorrow morning.

ETA: I want to come back and come back with someone/people I know. My friend was supposed to come with me but he couldn't make it. This would be more fun with other people.

Bronto..love the big easy. Check if Gallery Rinard is open (or at least poke your head at the window). You are a dog guy...you will like it. Also see if Colin Lake is playing. He is a kid from Seattle who I coached in lacrosse and is now doing a really nice job playing blues in N.O. He plays lap slide guitar and has a great funk/blues sound. He is playing at D.B.A. today (618 Frenchman Street)

New Orleans is best if you stay away from the French quarter for the majority of your time. D. B. A. In Marigny is great, as is the garden district.

With AEM at 6 and L-Jam4 who will be 4 in a month, they don't stay up for midnight. We've been doing this thing where we do the countdown at 7 pm, and we turn on CNN who usually goes around the world on the hour to show global celebrations. At 7 pm, they usually switch over to a live feed of London, so we made it "NEW YEARS EVE IN LONDON" so they bang on pots and pans. This time, we switch over at 6:55, and CNN is showing fireworks from earlier in Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, Beijing, Moscow, and Berlin. Cool, I think, here comes the live feed from London like they do every year.

It then goes into the missing plane. The second plane that apparently went into the black hole. So the moral of the story is Fuck CNN.

Bronto, don't listen to these guys - do the Quarter once while you're young. You might even see a young Alabama fan shitting into a plant (I actually forget how to link an image). Next time you go back to New Orleans when you're over 30 you can go to oyster restaurants near Tulane.


The image - NSFW - http://deadspin.com/sad-alabama-fan-shi ... 1677033170" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Though in daylight if you can get somewhere else to eat that would be a good idea. Don't eat in the quarter unless you are diabetic and need whatever diabetics need immediately.

AIDS?

I agree. You have to do it once so you can clear it out of your system and do all the other, better New Orleans stuff without that in the back of your mind.

mister d wrote:AIDS?

I agree. You have to do it once so you can clear it out of your system and do all the other, better New Orleans stuff without that in the back of your mind.

I still do it at least once per trip. I just have to. And yet I never go into any of the shitty bars.

Gunpowder wrote:Bronto, don't listen to these guys - do the Quarter once while you're young. You might even see a young Alabama fan shitting into a plant (I actually forget how to link an image). Next time you go back to New Orleans when you're over 30 you can go to oyster restaurants near Tulane.


The image - NSFW - http://deadspin.com/sad-alabama-fan-shi ... 1677033170" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Don't get me wrong, the quarter is a must see/visit, but any more than 10-20% of your time there is plenty.

Its worth it just for the guy who decided to up the constant "BIG ASS BEERS" signs with his own "BIGGEST ASS BEERS" sign.

A "huge ass Blue Moon" runs you $11 as I found out on Wednesday. (No, I didn't order it.)

I am reading this advice as I'm sitting in the airport. Two football games took up most of my time yesterday, though I found a bar that had a burger with praline bacon on it and I was deliciously happy.

The smell of the French Quarter at 9:45 a.m. on NYD is something I'll never forget as I went through it yesterday.

And just for Jerloma, I ran past Mike Vrabel yesterday.