The Time Has Come.....

for Miss Ginger to reveal her costume! And it's about time! It's all about time! Because Miss Ginger was:

A cuckoo bird in a cuckoo clock!!!

This is actually the back side of the costume, but Miss G made her entrance backwards so it is what the audience saw first. Initially the door was closed, and when Miss rocked from side to side the pendulum swung. Then, at the sound cue, the door opened for the cuckoo to pop out, and a confetti cannon fired feathers all over the ball floor. The timing of this photo is perfect because you can see the smoke and feathers from the cannon! Then on the next sound cue:

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Miss G turned to reveal the bird itself! The backpiece and outfit went through many (many) rennovations in the last 24 hours, and not everything turned out exactly the way Miss G planned, but the crowd didn't seem to mind and roared with enthusiasm. Many people stopped Miss G after the ball and the pursuant after-parties to tell her that her costume was their favorite!

At the end of the ball, King 38 Robert and Queen 38 Kaylynn took their final walk, and King 39 Ray and Queen 39 Billy were crowned.

Now Ball 39 is just a memory, and we all rest for as long as we can stand it, until we just have to start planning Ball 40! It takes a full year to pull this off, so we'd better not rest too long!

Oye!

Long day a Reliant getting ready for the ball. Just got home from the full dress rehearsal at 11pm! Miss Ginger is bushed!
Things didn't go great. The backpiece rode too high- got to bring a hacksaw to fix that. The hands broke. They can be fixed with hotglue and skewers. Everything else worked okay, and I think once the center of gravity it lowered it will ride better.
Bet you're really all dying to see it now! In due time, dear 'snaps!

T-1 and Counting!

It's the day before the big day! Miss Ginger has taken today off from work, as has many other Krewe Members. It's "load-in" day, and Miss Annie and the gang have already started the rounds in the U-Haul® (insert lesbian joke here) to begin picking up costumes for delivery to Reliant Center. Miss G is last on the rotation, because her costume is so big it will probably take up the whole truck. (insert size queen joke here).

After load-in, chaos, and set-up, there's a full dress rehearsal tonight. Tomorrow morning, after the general meeting, the Captain will reveal to the Krewe his selections for next year's King and Queen. Don't get excited, 'snaps. It's not Miss Ginger! The new royalty already knows they have been selected, and have been keeping it a secret all year as they prepare the costumes for their dramatic reveal!

More later- gotta run! Photos Sunday!

Sometimes a Girl Needs a Little Pick-me-up....

Ever have one of those days where you're feeling- you know- not so "fresh"?

This just in....

Wells Fargo calls off lavish Vegas junket
Associated Press
Feb. 4, 2009, 6:12AM
WASHINGTON — It’s a tradition for Wells Fargo & Co. to reward top employees with a lavish junket. In previous years, though, the company hadn’t just received a $25 billion bailout from taxpayers.
Wells Fargo had booked 12 nights, beginning Friday, at the Wynn Las Vegas and the Encore Las Vegas.
“Let’s get this straight: These guys are going to Vegas to roll the dice on the taxpayer dime?” said Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, a West Virginia Republican who sits on the House Financial Services Committee. “They’re tone-deaf. It’s outrageous.”
The company initially defended the trip. But within hours, investigators and lawmakers on Capitol Hill had scorned the bank, and the company canceled.
The trip was to come on the heels of this week’s announcement that Wells Fargo lost more than $2.3 billion in the last three months of 2008.
Previous all-expense-paid trips for Wells Fargo have included helicopter rides, wine tasting, horseback riding in Puerto Rico and a private Jimmy Buffett concert in the Bahamas for more than 1,000 of the company’s top employees and guests.
“In light of the current environment, we have now decided to cancel this event as well,” the company said Tuesday night in a news release that also said it had never planned to use taxpayer bailout money for the trip.
Corporate retreats have attracted criticism since the bank bailout last fall. Congress scolded insurance giant American International Group Inc. for spending $440,000 on spa treatments for executives just days after the company took $85 billion from taxpayers. AIG has since canceled all such outings.
Because of the bailout and the recession, other banks have canceled employee outings. Morgan Stanley informed employees Monday that an appreciation trip to Monte Carlo was off.
Initially, Wells Fargo indicated it had no plans to cancel.
“Recognition events are still part of our culture,” spokeswoman Melissa Murray said Tuesday afternoon. “It’s really important that our team members are still valued and recognized.”
In previous years, top Wells Fargo loan officers were treated to performances by Cher, Jay Leno and Huey Lewis. One year, the company provided fortune tellers and offered camel rides, said Debra Rickard, a former Wells Fargo mortgage employee from Colorado who attended the events regularly until she left the company in 2004.
Every night when employees returned to their rooms, there was a new gift on their pillows, she said.
“I was amazed with just how lavish it was,” Rickard said. “We stayed in top hotels, the entertainment was just unbelievable, and there were awards — you got plaques or trophies.”
Kevin Waetke, another spokesman for Wells Fargo, said the Las Vegas trip provided a “unique opportunity” for employees of Wells Fargo and newly acquired bank Wachovia Corp. “to focus on continuing to do all we can for U.S. homeowners.”
Said New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo: “Now, they’re sending employees on junkets to Las Vegas. You do the math.” Cuomo recently sought information about Wells Fargo’s bonuses as part of his investigation into the banking industry.
Rooms at the Wynn and the Encore are consistently among the most expensive in Las Vegas. The $2.3 billion Encore opened in December. Its decor includes a 27-foot Asian dragon made from 90,000 Swarovski crystals and artwork by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. One of the restaurants features Frank Sinatra’s 1953 Oscar.
Both properties have high-end retail stores, including Manolo Blahnik at Wynn and Chanel at Encore.
Wells Fargo reversed course Tuesday evening. The company said it had planned to scale back the Las Vegas trip but decided to cancel it, just as it had already done for other events scheduled for this year.
The statement did not say what, other than a four-night sales conference, the company had planned for its 12 nights in Las Vegas. The company said, however, it did not plan any other employee recognition events this year.
Morgan Stanley, which received $10 billion in bailout funds, had been planning to send its top employees to a hotel in Monte Carlo this April. A Morgan Stanley travel agent said that the trip, along with a similar event in the Bahamas, was still on as of Tuesday afternoon. But company spokesman Jim Wiggins said employees were told Monday that the events were canceled. He said the travel agent was incorrect. .

You got your hands caught in the candy jar Too late, idiots!

It Just Ain't Fittin'!

That's what Miss Ginger says when she tries on a size 14! But she also said it when she read this horrifying article:

It just ain't right!!!
Bailed-out Wells Fargo plans Las Vegas casino junkets
By DANIEL WAGNER and MATT APUZZOAssociated Press
Feb. 3, 2009, 2:54PM

WASHINGTON — Wells Fargo & Co., which received $25 billion in taxpayer bailout money, is planning a series of corporate junkets to Las Vegas casinos this month.
Wells Fargo, once among the nation's top writers of subprime mortgages, has booked 12 nights at the Wynn Las Vegas and its sister hotel, the Encore Las Vegas beginning Friday, said Wynn spokeswoman Michelle Loosbrock. The hotels will host the annual conference for company's top mortgage officers.
The conference is a Wells Fargo tradition. Previous years have included all-expense-paid helicopter rides, wine tasting, horseback riding in Puerto Rico and a private Jimmy Buffett concert in the Bahamas for more than 1,000 employees and guests.
"I was amazed with just how lavish it was," said Debra Rickard, a former Wells Fargo mortgage employee from Colorado who attended the events regularly until she left the company in 2004. "We stayed in top hotels, the entertainment was just unbelievable, and there were awards — you got plaques or trophies."
While the nation's recession has led other banks, such as Bank of America, to cancel employee recognition outings, Wells Fargo has not.
"Recognition events are still part of our culture," spokeswoman Melissa Murray said. "It's really important that our team members are still valued and recognized."
Corporate retreats have attracted criticism since the bank bailout last fall. Congress scolded insurance giant American International Group Inc. for spending $440,000 on spa treatments for executives just days after the company took $85 billion from taxpayers.
AIG has since canceled all such outings.
Beginning Feb. 25, Wells Fargo's insurance division is hosting a 40-person team meeting at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
Murray did not immediately have details about the size or cost of the events or what was planned.
In previous years, top loan officers were treated to performances by Cher, Jay Leno and Huey Lewis. One year, the company provided fortune tellers and offered camel rides, Rickard said. Every night when employees returned to their rooms, there was a new gift on their pillows, she said.
Wells Fargo Chairman Richard Kovacevich has traditionally greeted every employee personally when they arrived.
Rooms at the Wynn and the Encore are consistently among the most expensive in Las Vegas. The $2.3 billion Encore opened in December as sister hotel to the Wynn. Its decor includes a 27-foot Asian dragon made from 90,000 Swarovski crystals and artwork by Colombian artist Fernando Botero. One of the restaurants features Frank Sinatra's 1953 Oscar.
Both properties have high-end retail stores, including Manolo Blahnik at Wynn and Chanel at Encore.
———
Associated Press writer Oskar Garcia contributed to this report from Las Vegas

Logoonline.com

I hear that if your (incredibly backward) cable or sattelite provider doesn't offer Logo, you can catch full episodes of RuPaul's Drag Race at Logoonline.com! The world just became a more FABULOUS place!

Apparently once again Miss Ginger lost at least one of you with her reference to 70's kids TV, when she delcared that Victoria "Pork Chop" Parker looked just like HR Puffnstuff.

For any of you GingerSnaps who may have been raised by tree-hugging hippies who didn't believe in television :

This classic series begins with Jimmy, a young English boy, playing near the edge of a river with his magical talking gold flute, Freddie. While at the edge of the river Jimmy climbs aboard a boat that beckons to him. As it drifts out to sea, an evil witch named Witchiepoo, seeking Freddie to add to her collection of magical possessions, casts a spell and makes the boat turn into an evil boat which attacks Jimmy (who then jumps overboard to save himself). Swimming to the shore of Living Island, Jimmy is rescued by its mayor, H R Pufnstuf and his Rescue Ranger crew (Kling and Klang) before Witchiepoo can get her hands on the boy or the magic flute. They befriend the Jimmy sheltering and protecting him from the kooky old witch.Everything on Living Island is alive. Books have faces, houses sneeze and trees can talk, not to mention the regular citizens who all look like an animal of some sort. Dr Blinky is an Owl, Ludicrous is a Lion and Judy Frog is; well she's a frog and the only character I didn’t like as a child.And then there is the evil Witchiepoo. She continually tries to satisfy her obsession for the talking flute with the aid of her goofy henchmen Orson, Seymore, Dumb and Stupid and her motorized broomstick, called the Vroom Broom. Each episode involves Jimmy attempting to escape from the island with the help of Pufnstuf and his friends, with flute intact of course. H.R. Pufnstuf was created by Sid and Marty Krofft (from (tvonline.com)