It's Good to Be the Queen!!!

One of the best things about being Queen of the Krewe is "call-ups"!!  Yasee, at the end of the Ball, after the King and Queen are revealed, the Krewe has "call-ups", where the newly named King and Queen "call up" representatives from various community organizations to be "recognized" by the new royalty.  The best part of all? They almost always bring PRESENTS!! 

Queen Ginger LOVES presents, so she was SO excited that today finally arrived and she and King Tony got to open the presents that have been piled on her dining room table since the ball!!

The first present revealed was the present Queen Ginger presented to King Tony,  which was a custom-made sash to wear at "state obligations".  Queen G made them by hand, and as you can see in this photo, Prince Jackson found them quite cozy!

As the gifts were presented, Queen Kaylynn, QOXXXVIII assumed the role of Royal Scribe and recorded the gifts and their generous donors so appropriate thank yous can be penned and posted!

There were many, many, lovely and thoughtful gifts from Krewe members and community organizations,  and the Royalty were overwhelmed by the generosity and good wishes from the Krewe and community at large!

Prince Jackson and Princess Shelby were particularly appreciative of the gifts bestowed upon their Daddy and Tante Tonya, and had a great time playing in the discarded wrappings and ribbons!












Once the gifting was complete, we retired to the back garden to enjoy a few more cocktails and discuss our ambitions for the Krewe's upcoming year!!

For those of you out of town Ginger Snaps, mark Feb 11th, 2012 on your Calendars for the presentation of Ball XLII, our 42nd tableau!!  This is the ball presented in honor of Queen G and King T,  so you KNOW the return Royalty presentation will knock you socks off!!  Start saving your pennies NOW so you can make it southward for this momentous occasion!

BluntCards!

David Dust often presents these little gems on his blog, so, not to be outdone by my 'net-thieving sister, I have selected a few for my favorite Ginger Snaps!  See if you can figure out who Miss Ginger had in mind for each one of these!

Spring has Sprung...

...and Queen Ginger has never been so glad to see a week end!!

On top of a long, rugged week at work,  the redbuds have come into bloom in South Texas.  This is both a blessing and a curse for nature lovers.  On the one hand, it signals the beginning of the spring growth season, and creates a sight to behold in Queen G's historic neighborhood as barren branches give way to purplish-pink flushes of bloomery, and eventually to bright green growth as the trees return to leafy splendor!

On the other hand, with the flowers come pollen, and when all the trees begin to bloom at once, pollen accumulations are measured like snowfall to warn wary allergy sufferers what they can expect for the day!


Queen Ginger's allergies are typically well controlled, but usually once a year in spring, as her body makes the adjustment to the change in atmosphere,  she will get a sinus attack that leaves her sneezing, dripping, coughing, and praying for a prompt end to her misery!  


Such was the situation this week, and after night 3 of awakening herself and the kitties with fits of coughing, Miss G decided at 3 am this morning to pull out the bottle of codeine laced cough syrup she saves for such special occasions! 

Yes, folks, this is the very same cough syrup that Houston's rap community has made famous at their special occasions, but in Queen G's case it was prescribed, not stolen from a medical center lockup but an overnight janitor strung out on crack.


However, because she took it at 3 in the morning, and her bottle was a couple of years old, Queen Ginger awakened feeling like an overnight janitor strung out on crack who had just worked a double shift!


When her alarm first went off and she stumbled down the stairs, she realized she was waaaaay too loopy to drive herself across town to work, so she went back to the sheets to give herself another hour to sleep it off.  After another good hour in the sack with Princess Shelby, Queen G felt confident she could operate her heavy machinery well enough to get herself safely across town, but was really a worthless piece of shit all day long.  


Now, it's looking like Miss G may have to miss one of the best parties of the year her in Houston! She finds it hard to believe that people actually take this stuff on purpose, solely for the purpose of making themselves feel this way!  How bad would one's life have to be to make it feel better to have the sensation that your head has been inextricably shoved into a giant marshmallow?!


Maybe if she gets herself to bed soon she can get to feeling better by tomorrow!


Werd.

Congratulations to the Krewe of Bacchus!

What a FABULOUS weekend Queen Ginger and King Tony have had this weekend with the Krewe of Bacchus!!

Friday night, Queen G checked into the fabulous Palm Suite at the Tremont House hotel on Galveston Island, napped a bit, and then met up with King Tony and Captain Bill upon their arrival.  After a quick bite at the hotel,  we headed out to explore the bars in Glaveston, most notably, Robert's Lafitte,  where we knew there was certain to be a drag show of dubious quality!  Never to disapoint, we were treated to the "Miss Lafitte's Sweetheart" pagaent, and, as expected, discovered that, among the 4 contestants, there were probably about only 3 healthy teeth to share!  We're not sure what it is about Galveston Island, but if you are a drag queen of questionable dental health and you don't live here, you might as well start packing... you will end up her eventually!

After an "interesting" night of drag entertainment,  our royal threesome awoke to enjoy breakfast at the hotel,  where they reviewed the latest edit of the ball video with Captain Bill.  After a bit of liesurely shopping on the Strand, we had a yummy lunch,  and then retired to our respective chambers for a pre-ball nap!

The evening began with a cocktail party here in the lobby of the Tremont,  where Our Royal Majesties had their first audience with the new Bacchus Royalty, Queen Bacchus I.  We also got to meet King Bacchus I, as well as Bacchus I, the official representation of Bacchus, in effect, the Krewe's "mascot", for lack of a better term.  All were lovely and cordial, and appreciative of our rather large envoy from the big city to the beachy island!

After a couple of drinks at the bar,  our entourage paraded about 2 blocks down the Strand to the Galveston Railroad Museum,  as stunning preservation project to save an incredibly beautiful Art Deco station, as well as a collection of actual locomotives, cars, and equipment chronicling the golden age of rail travel.  The ball was a beuatiful affair, with a live band, plentiful cocktails, and a delicious buffet catered by Chopin of Galveston!

After supper,  visiting dignitaries were invited to the floor for a rather undignified dance contest,  where Queen G and King Tony won the prize for their respectable minuette!  No bump and grind for this royalty!  If Miss G is gonna represent,  she's gonna REPRESENT!! 

Once the ball was over,  our Royal Entourage headed to Stars Beach Club,  were they were treated to yet another drag show, and more face time with many of the beautiful people who had attended the ball!  It was  FABULOUS evening, and Queen G is suitably exhasuted and ready for a good night's rest!

Queen Ginger's First "Diplomatic" Function

Miss Ginger is so excited that she and King Tony, along with Captain Bill, are headed off on our first tour of duty as ambassadors for the Krewe of Olympus!  We are going to Galveston this weekend to mask with the Krewe of Bacchus!  The Bacchus ball is a more traditional bal masque, so we will be wearing our coronation vestments once again. Queen G hopes to get some better pictures for you this time, and because she will have a bit more time to get ready,  she's hoping to have a better face painted  this time,  too!


Bacchus is a new Krewe, and their very first King and Queen will be reigning over the ball!  Queen Ginger and King Tony are VERY excited to be welcoming a "sister" Krewe to the Texas Mardi Gras landscape- hopefully, there will be more to come!!

The weekend begins at Galveston's historic Tremont House Hotel, where Queen G will take residence beginning Friday night.  This FABULOUS hotel,  built in 1879, is also the starting point for Saturday evening's events, with a cocktail party in the hotel bar.  Then, at 6:30 pm,  a saxophone band will parade to the Railroad Museum, with the ball guests falling in second line behind! A "second line" is an impromptu group that follows behind a parade,  with the original, permitted group referred to as the "main line".  "Second lining", as it has now been verbed,  is quite common in New Orleans,  where parades often disrupt one's route on a regular basis during Lent.  Often, the only way for one to get to their destination is to fall in "second line" and tag behind the parade until it leads to where you are going! 


Anyho, Queen G and King Tony will join the second line and parade down the streets of Galveston to the historic Galveston Railroad Museum, where the ball will take place.  Miss G has never been to this museum, but as you know, she loves her some choo choo's, so she's really looking forward to it! 


Other than Saturday night, it should be a relaxing weekend, which this old Queen really needs!!  Maybe a mani and pedi on Saturday, and perhaps a massage, but that's about the extent of her planning!  


What are you GingerSnaps doing this weekend? 

More Mardi Gras Fascinating Facts!

While the "big cities" in Louisiana, like New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and Lafayette all have Mardi Gras krewes, parades, balls,  etc.,  the smaller rural towns have a festive Mardi Gras tradition of their own.

Beginning early in the morning on Fat Tuesday,  the local Mardi Gras captain in these small towns leads his Courir de Mardi Gras through town and countryside.  Typically,  these revelers, usually somewhat drunken, ride horseback, but in modern times some communities use flatbed trucks so that the children of the family may be safely included. The purpose of the courir, or ride, is to collect ingredients from throughout the area to create a communal supper for the evening.  

As the group arrives at each home,  the captain asks permission to enter,  and then the revellers beg, sing, dance, or jump through whatever hoops the landowner devises to convince them to offer an ingredient for the gumbo. They move from house to house, collecting whatever ingredient each home can provide, until mid afternoon, when they parade through the main street to the town square (all Cajun towns have one!) to cook the gumbo.  Around sunset,  all the townspeople come out to the square to eat, drink, and be merry until midnight,  when Fat Tuesday gives way to Ash Wednesday, and lent begins.


Doesn't that sound like a blast?!  Queen Ginger has never lived in a town small enough to have a courir, but it sure seems like a great way to celebrate Mardi Gras, wherever you are in the world!!  Who's going to create a courir in their neighborhood?

Last Night on RPDR-

Last night, RuPaul's Drag Race begins with the girl's washing last week's lipstick goodbye off of the mirror.  No one seems sad that Mimi Imfurst is gone, least of all India Ferrah, who won over Mimi in a full body contact Lipsync For Your Life last week.




A loud "whoop whoop" signals that the girls have "SheMail", and Ru appears on screen to remind the girls that they have to bring it, or somesuch drag buzztalk.  After that, boy Ru appears, dressed in a suit made from his grandmother's sofa, and tell the girls that for their mini challenge, they must create a drag look for a red carpet papparazzi moment.  Drag frenzy ensues, and the girls pull some nasty ass looks together that are barely worth talking about, so I won't.


The winners are a makeup-free Stacey Matthews with one real manboob hanging out, and Carmen Carrera with a paparazzi shot of a fake beaver make from duct tape and spirit gum.  I told you they weren't worth talking about!

As Stacey proclaims "OMG! My fat ass finally won somthing!", Ru explains that the winners of the mini challenge will be the team leaders for the main challenge, this years "executive realness" challenge.

The girls will be divided into 2 news teams, to create their own morning news show.  Ru brings out some chick named Debbie Somethingopolous, who supposedly has been on the news somewhere, to give them tips and feedback.  Stacey's team is up first, and their rehearsal is a trainwreck! Stacey can't keep up with the teleprompter.  Yara, as the weather girl, sounds like a frenzied Charo as she struggles to reverse her handmotions to the green screen.  The only one who performed well was Shangela,  who seemed really confident and comfortable in her role as gossip reporter.


Next, Team Carmen takes the stage, with Raja and Delta as anchors, India destroying the weather, Carmen fucking up the gossip segment, and Manila doing a tacky, racist, unfunny roving reporter who can't pronounce her L's and R's, sounding like a cross between Connie Chung and Barbara Walters. It was totally predictable schtick as she interviews Kristen Cavasomething, trying to fix her up with her "blother" so he can clear "immiglation".  So not funny. Miss Ginger was not amused.


After the crappy newscasts,  the girls parade out to meet the regular round of gay gaggle judges,  plus a very uncomfortable looking Chloe Sevigny. As they appear on stage, and again backstage in the "Interior Illusions Lounge",  India appears to be getting the "edit of doom" and we become pretty sure she will LSFHL. Raja and Shangela have a kind of funny argument in dressing room, with Raja poo pooing the gay pagaent system, which clearly hurts the feeling of Shangela, California's regining "Entertainer of the Year". Ouch.


By the time Ru whittles it down to the top and bottom, she tells Manila, of her racist reporter:
"You broke all the rules...
 you crossed the line of good taste,
 and perpetuated stereotypes."


"Condragulations! You are the winner of this challenge!"


Apparently the judges decided that Manila was an equal opportunity hater,  and that made her tasteless performance okay.  Miss G is all for high camp,  but that bit left her cold.


Stacey and India are left to perform a rather lame and uneventful LFYL, with Stacey edging out India, who got slammed for an ugly dress, bad makeup, and no personality.  Ouch again. Sashay away, gurl!


Miss G has still not picked a winner.  Raja seems to be a favorite of the judges.  Shangela is clearly Ru's favorite to win.  Alexis Matteo is the cutest boy remaining.  But Miss G is not ready to call this one yet.  How about you? 

So the Reign Begins!

Queen Ginger is rested up from a VERY busy and exciting weekend,  and has taken the time to snag a few pics from various facebook albums to let some of you far flung Ginger Snaps see what Mardi Gras is all about!  So, here's a recap of the night:


Unlike a Bal Masque, where guests participate in the costuming- much like a British "Fancy Dress Party- the Krewe of Olympus stages a Bal Tableau for the pleasure of the reigning King and Queen. The "official" purpose of the party is to entertain the royalty, but it pleases them to share this with their subjects, so guests at a Tableau Ball, in formal attire, are seated at the extravagantly decorated tables of their Krewe Member hosts. 


The Olympus Ball, by tradition, begins with the blowing of the Captain's Whistle, signalling the start of the Ball. The Captain's Whistle, by the way, has been passed down from Captain to Captain since 1970, and is a special treasure of the Krewe.  Having survived so many drunken parties, it is as temperamental as some of our members, so now we always keep a spare handy in case it chooses not to blow! After the signing and signing of the National Anthem, the opening chorus takes to the stage to set the theme for the ball.  


This year,  "museum guards", with their obligatory flashlights, were so busy scanning the audience looking for trouble, that they failed to notice a band of notorious "art thieves" trying to abscond with their collection.  Upon trying to take the biggest prize, an enormous pink jewel, they are foiled by it's protective systems, the alarm sounds, and mayhem ensues as the guards try to thwart the theft. Ultimately, however, the guards are tied up by the thieves, just in  time for their leader, the Pink Panther (Captain Bill) to take to the stage to assess the progress of his minions.  

The jewel is freed from it's protections so the Pink Panther can easily grab what his minions were unable to obtain! Once he has the jewel, he quickly leaves the stage as the guards return from their capture, discover the loss, and begin the search for the missing treasure.  Captain Bill returns to the stage as Inspector Clouseau, jewel in hand, and returns it to it's vitrine so the ball can continue!

Once the  Ball Captain is seated in his place of command,  the Reigning Royalty returns to enjoy the show. King Dwane and Queen Randy, as Nicholas and Alexandra, greet the masses, and then take their thrones onstage to enjoy the show.

During the Ball, the reigning Royalty and the Captain are the only Krewe members seated to see the show.  Everyone else is backstage, either preparing their costume for presentation, helping others get in costume, or managing curtain calls, sound cues, and all of the other details it takes to create such a production. Per the Krewe's bylaws, each member is allowed to present one "major costume" in the ball, although they may play "bit parts" to support other presentations, and most participate in the chorus numbers,  as well. Some member choose not to present a major costume, but participate as stage hands, set builders, and seamstresses.  Every person contributes something to make the show a success!

The only Krewe members that present 2 major costumes are yours truly and her consort, the new royalty.  Because our identity is a closely guarded secret that is only revealed to the Krewe members the morning of the ball, the new royalty are required to create "decoy" costumes keep Krewe members from surmising our identity because there is nothing being built in our garages!

King Tony's decoy costume was the Chasing Rainbows Museum at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  

As you know by now, Miss Ginger appeared as Elvis- the fat postage stamp Elvis that appeared in Vegas, not the young movie star Elvis that Miss G could never pull off.


I'm sure the irony is not lost the the Queen went as "the King", and the King appeared as 'The Queen of Country Music"!














After the Elvis presentation,  Miss G had about one hour to transform from "the King" into the Queen of pre-revolutionary France! 


Meanwhile, what visit to a museum would be complete with the requisite field trip children, being corralled by a group of frazzled teachers? 

Being the coastal South, and Mardi Gras, of course our school is Catholic,  and our rainbow nuns had their hands full as they tried to prevent their screaming schoolkids from giggling at the appendages on the various statues!

After the museum visit,  the school children grab their lunchboxes and take to the audience to collect donations for our designated charities!

Meanwhile, it's almost time to reveal King and Queen Olympus XLI to the world!  Just a few more costumes are being presented as we are getting suited up for our reveal to the world!

We first appear in a cloud of fog, with Swarovzki-crystalled masks concealing our faces.

Representing le Chateau de Versailles, we are wearing costumes inspired by the artworks featured on our backpieces.

This painting of Marie in her coronation robes was created by Jacques-Fabien Gautier d'Agoty, who, interestingly enough, was most famous for his morbid paintings of human anatomy!  A glittered representation adorns the backpiece, and the dress was custom made by an Easter European seamtress with hand-stitched details!

By another Krewe tradition, the Royalty select attendants to serve them on stage, as well as to ensure we don't become entangled in those 16 foot trains!!  It is considered to be an honor to attend the new royalty, and I was thrilled to have 2 of my dearest friends in the Krewe onstage with me!

After the reveal,  we proceed down the ball floor to greet the Captain who crowned us, and receive toasts from him in the beautiful jeweled crystal goblets that are his gift to us.

Once the toast is complete,  we return to our positions to receive King and Queen Olympus XL as they step down from the throne and greet the audience for the last time as King and Queen.

When they leave the stage, our reign begins as we receive members of various community organizations, many of whom bring gifts to show their esteem.  They are each presented with a gift from us, as well.  Then entire Krewe then comes to be received in the Grand March, and then in open court we receive members of the community at large.  


Because we get to do whatever we want, and because we had not had an opportunity to rehearse court positioning anyway,  the "ceremony" just sort of deteriorated into a big l party on the ball floor at that point, with lots of hugs, a few tears,  and many well-wishes from the crowd!  It may have seemed like bedlam to Marie, but to Queen Ginger it was exactly the way she wants to receive her subjects-  at a high-sprited party with a cocktail in hand!!


There was a bit of confusion about the scheduling of the after party, but it all turned out fine as King Tony and Queen Ginger arrived at the Hilton Hotel to discover many of their well wishers right there in the lobby bar.  So Queen Ginger,  in hoop-skirt drag with whiteface makeup and a pompadour on her head,  continued to hold court until midnight, at which point a very tired queen retired to her chambers!!


There's lot's more to tell, and lots more to show,  but Queen G suspects you GingerSnaps need a rest from all this Royal talk for a bit!


PS:  How do you like the new blog header?!


Love to all!!!    QOXLI  !

Elvis Has Left the Building!

The ball is over and the cat's out of the bag. The theme this year was museums, and Miss Ginger was inspired by Nutwood Beth's post about the Googie Signage museum in Las Vegas, and this was the result! The sign lit and the star flashed, and everything was controlled by switches in the microphone.  It was a fun costume and the crowd really seemed to like it.  Miss G brought it home intact, so she's going to wire it to a 12 volt transformer and use it as garden art! 




As always, King and Queen Olympus are revealed at the end of the ball.  So here is QOXLI:

That's right, dear Ginger Snaps!  Your own Miss Ginger Grant has been named Queen of the Mardi Gras for the Krewe of Olympus, Texas, Inc!  This is her reveal photo as Marie Antionette!!  More later- the Queen's presence is required at her first state event- brunch in her honor!  More later!!

T Minus 3 and Counting!!

 Miss Ginger can't believe there are only 3 days left until the Coronation of King and Queen Olympus XLI!!   It seems like just yesterday she had "Barcelona" looming large in her living room!

This year's endeavor, believe it or not, is not quite so large!  It is, however, somewhat "technical", so a lot of time and love has gone into it!!  She's also managed to keep it confined to the garage this year... at least the glittery, messy parts.  Indoor work has been held to sewing, stoning, and gluing, so there's not quite the mess she lived with last year!  

Can't wait 'till Sunday morning when she can let you all in on the secret!!

Mimi Imthurd...

...to get booted from RuPaul's Drag Race.  And it was time for her to go!!


I'm sure Mimi's a really nice gurl.  Really. But, the poor thang has issues, God love her!  I hope she gets the therapy she needs to deal with abandonment issues, self-esteem issues, body image issues, self-confidence issues, back issues, reissues, and private issues.  She made herself extremely unpopular among the other transtestants.  And honey, if the drag queens don't like you, ain't nobody gonna like you!


So a quick rundown of how it happened:


In the Quickfire Dragdown challenge, Ru challenged the girls to create "girl group" costumes in teams of 2, and one team of 3 to even it out, using nothing but black leotards and colored duct tape.  Mimi immediately railroaded that the big girls be on one team, much to Stacey and Delta's dismay.  Howe'r it was, they went along with it, all the while Mimi ranting about creating some Judy Garland extravaganza out of pink duct tape.  When it went horribly wrong (Delta: "I look like I'm wearing a big pink garbage bag!"), Delta takes over and at the last second pulls something together.  Carmen and Manila win with a cute little workout getup, complete with duct tape iPods and headphones.


As Ru continues the theme, she tells the girls they will divide into teams of 2, lead by the iPod twins, to create  inspiring workout videos.  To help them, she brings in Susan "Stop the Insanity" Powter, who, if Miss G recalls correctly, invented the advertising format we know today as "infomercials".



Anywhore, the big girls turn as white as Susan's bleached hair at the thought of a workout challenge, and all the girls get busy selecting exercise devices, donning leotards, and creating dragdiculous schticks for the video.


Really, they were all a hot mess with, only a couple of funny moments.  Everyone seemed to think Alexis's "stretch and gloss" was funny, so Miss G will go along with it.  Beyond that, the show stealer was Stacey with her "sit and shake",  where she sat holding a "Shake Weight" in one hand an a chicken wing in the other!  Now THAT's drag comedy!


When it came down to the runway, Ru excused the middle girls and kept the top and bottom 3 on stage, like Heidi does at the beginning of PR when the flock is still huge and unwieldy.  Ultimately she whittled it down to Mimi and India, for having uninspired workout routines and boring presentations.  The judges maul India for being overdone, and rake Mimi over the coals for being unpolished and unfinished.  In an attempt at camp during the lipsync, Mimi nails her coffin shut by lifting India like a flower sack and hauling her to the back of the runway.  RuPaul was horrified by this act, but hearing India screaming "Put me down, you crazy bitch!" was a classic drag moment.  Still, Mimi was chastised by Ru that "drag is not a contact sport" and was sent packing.


So, who's watching?  Who goes next? Who will win? Can Stacey get her shit together and survive another week of mediocrity?