Day 2: Friends, Shopping, and Debauchery
Day two of the C5 festivities got off to a fairly early start for me. Considering that my amount of sleep for the week had been running way below survival levels, I am surprised that I managed to drag myself out as early as I did. Oh well, as I have been told before, sleep is optional at these things and I will get plenty of sleep when I am dead. Anyway, in the spirit of Storyville decadence, breakfast was preceded by a tall glass of Absinthe, prepared in the manner that Rimbaud preferred, with sugar... It's truly amazing what a good hot shower and a stiff drink can do to wash away the pain and revive one's soul after a long night of carousing. A handful of ibuprofen chased by another shot, this time straight up, and I was ready to face the day.
Still life with Absinthe... breakfast food for the truly depraved
Saturday was to be the day of shopping and meeting people. After an OK breakfast in the Hotel restaurant, I went to the C5 Bazaar at the Bienville House to see what treasures awaited at the C5 bazaar and to have a look at the artwork being displayed. A short time after I arrived there, I met up again with Jason, Anne, Alice and Erich. In fact I almost walked over Alice, only her attitude kept me from stepping on her, (it's nice to be properly armed at times...)
I purchased a C5 T-Shirt while at the bazaar then joined everyone for some conversation in the courtyard while we waited for Carolyn to arrive,(she's another NOgoth listie and a friend of Alice et. al.). While we were there, the conversation rolled around to the fact that I was one of the first to have any C5 stuff up on the web and how incredibly geeky that was. But you know, geeks can be goths too... besides, this IS a NET.GOTH gathering and I do owe the Internet for my bread and butter... (I work as an engineer for Copper Mountain , a company that makes DSL modems).
As always when you get a bunch of witty, smart-asses together the conversation turned into assorted bits of silliness with many references to things Star Trek and Sci-Fi. Alice is a geek too, she just won't admit it. Of course this all led to some photos which I just have to share:
 Alice in blue hair trying to remain anonymous... accompanied by daiquiris of course, our constant companions throughout the day. |
 Jason and Erich trying to figure out if we have all been replaced by alien doubles... |
 Twilight from the NOgoth list peeks out from the greenery of the courtyard |
 It's just me, looking like I always do in the morning... grumpy. |
 Alice, Ry and Jason meet for the first time |
 Alice displaying the Ultrapretentious cig holder with a Djarum Black of course |
After a little too much silliness and lounging about, we decided to go walk about the French Quarter for a bit and do some shopping. First we acquired a few more daiquiris and then went walking down Decatur Street. I was on a mission to find Absinthe spoons to go with my real Absinthe I had a lead from a New Orleanian that a store called Lucullus would be my best bet. This place is gorgeous, it deals exclusively in antique dining and culinary articles. Being an avid cook myself, I was drooling over many of the things in the store. If you love antiques, New Orleans is the place for you, just be prepared to shell out some bucks. But back to the mission, we found a good selection of Absinthe spoons and in no time both Alice and I had each acquired two for our personal collections at very fair prices. If you have any interest in Absinthe paraphernalia, Lucullus at 610 Chartres Street is the place for you, too bad they don't have a web site, maybe I can talk them into doing one...
Next we were off to check out some other places of interest to those inclined to things Gothic. We went to several stores including Gargoyles, Armed and Dangerous, Trashy Diva, and a couple whose names my alcohol sodden neurons failed to imprint. While in the Quarter, I had my first real muffaletta, which was quite delicious I must say. If you are not familiar with this gustatory delight, it is a huge sandwich on crusty round breadpiled high with Italian cheese and cold cuts and olive salad in vinaigrette, (vegetarians need not apply... but then again, Dragons aren't vegetarian). I have but one word for it, YUM. Of course, as the day rolled on we continued to consume many, many daiquiris so the food was a necessity. I love this idea of alcoholic slurpees to go, why can't we do this everywhere?
 Absinthe spoons, they were used to hold a sugar cube over the glass as water is poured over it into the Absinthe to sweeten the mildly bitter liquor and release the essential oils of the herbs and spices from solution. |
 Looking down Decatur Street in the Quarter |
 The view down Royal Street |
 St. Louis Cathedral Behind Jackson Square |
 Some classic French Quarter architecture |
Later that evening, we joined up and hopped a cab to a place called Rock-n-Sake for sushi. The food was good and for our party of eight, the bill was not bad but I was far from happy with the service. The restaurant is decorated nicely and the atmosphere is nice, if they could get their act together on the service, this would be a great place to eat.
Once again, dinner made us late getting to the show. I walked in just as the Cruxshadows were finishing their set. The House of Blues is a lot smaller venue than I thought it would be. But in a way, that is not necessarily a bad thing, seeing bands in a small venue just can't be beat in my book and HOB is pretty decent in that the stage is viewable from much of the club including most of the balcony. It was pretty cramped at times in there but I had fun nonetheless. The DJs spinning between sets played a good selection of music and there were a fair number of people dancing and having a lot of fun.
The second band of the evening was Mentallo and the Fixer. I had seen them perform before in San Diego, this time the lineup had been changed and they had a live drummer on stage. Their set was pretty good but they played a lot of pieces I did not recognize. They went towards the noisier side of their catalog but I really can't complain because I like much of their stuff.
 Mentallo and the Fixer take the stage |
 More Mentallo and the Fixer |
The stage crew at House of Blues are pretty efficient and did the stage changes quickly, so we did not have long to wait for the night's headliner. Clan of Xymox took the stage in a huge cloud of fog. Their set was very good and polished, I heard a few songs I have not listened to in years. Unfortunately, I am not a real big Xymox fan so I could not give anything approaching a set list, even so, I did enjoy their set and I am glad I got to see them perform. (If anybody can provide a set list for any of the bands that played C5, please e-mail me).
 Clan of Xymox on the House of Blues stage |
 Xymox in Purple |
After wandering the venue for a bit pointing the digital camera all over the place, I finally caught up to my group again. My feet were killing me and we decided to just sit on the floor of the balcony to the right of the stage. The House of Blues has TV monitors all over the place so even though we could not see the stage through the crowd, we could still watch the show. As soon as Xymox left the stage, we went back to the hotel. All I could think of was getting my boots off and relaxing with a few drinks and some friendly conversation.
After a change of clothing and getting those damned torture devices called boots off of my feet, Alice, Erich, Jason and Rikk joined me in my room for a little party. A little later, Gray and Lovecraft from the NOgoth list also joined us. We all hung out till the wee hours of the morning consuming two pizzas, a couple of bottles of mead and a fair amount of absinthe.
 Rikk passing out in my hotel room. He tried denying it but photos don't lie... |
The spoons I had bought earlier in the day were
put to good, if somewhat messy use, unfortunately we did not have a proper
decanter to pour the water over the sugar cubes, but we did manage. Tomorrow
is the Rougaroux's Ball, a grand Bal Masque in the New Orleans tradition,
I am in a bind since I have nothing to wear... I guess I will just have
to go shopping yet again... Oh the tragedy of it all (yeah right),
This Pen and Glass II- Convergence 5 Memorial ring site owned by Dragon.
[ Previous 5 Sites | Previous | Next | Next 5 Sites | Random Site | List Sites ]
Photos may be used on personal web sites of those appearing in the photos, all other uses require express written permission.