Happy Mardi Gras everyone. Hope y'all have an excellent day, full of good food and music. Wear a little purple, green or gold. Try and work a little dance step into your daily routine.
I really fell down on the job this year, and I don't have a lot of good visuals and music. I tried to find a digital version of James "Sugar Boy" Crawford's original recording of "Iko Iko" (originally known as "Jockamo".) It's a quintessential New Orleans song. Most people think it's much older than it really is--Crawford wrote it in 1954, and the Dixie Cups had a top 40 hit with it in 1965. You can listen to the Dixie Cups version here. I love the sound of it, especially when it was used to sinister effect in the movie The Skeleton Key.
This video features Dr. John, the Meters and Professor Longhair:
You can check out the Neville Brothers' version here. You can find some more ass-shakin' piano music video from Dr. John here (check out his boots!), and from Professor Longhair here.
Cook yourself something from The Creole and Cajun Recipe Page.
You can work on your faux New Orleans accent and vocabulary here: How ta tawk rite.
I've saved the best for last. Visit the New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity website, and make a donation. Better still, try and head down there and do some volunteer work this spring or summer. The St. Bernard Recovery Project, having cleaned out and gutted over 2,000 homes, is preparing to rebuild.
