Almost Mardi Gras!

It's Mardi Gras weekend, and unfortunately, Queen Ginger isn't traveling to NOLA to partake in the activities. Actually, at this point, she's very glad she didn't plan to go, as torrential rains have poured on the Gulf Coast all weekend!

Tonight was the Endymion Parade, followed by a ball so big it's known as "The Endymion Experience".  As you can see by the photo, it was quite rainy outdoors, but Endymion is so huge (and well funded) that the parade meanders from it's starting point uptown all the way to the Superdome, where the floats, bands, and revelers literally parade right up the ramps into the cavernous building, and the floats form the backdrop for one enormous party!! Queen G has never made it to an Endymion ball, but it's definitely on her bucket list!


Queen G has pretty much already had her big Mardi Gras celebration for the year, and Tuesday she will be ass-deep in work with meetings and visits, so she won't get to drink, flirt, and second line through the day- but no one can keep her from hearing her favorite Mardi Gras soundtrack in her brain all day!  You'll have to sing along in your brain, too, because Queen G couldn't find a decent vocal to embed, so she'll give you the lyrics along with the inimitable Pete Fountain!




While we danced, as we dreamed, at the Mardi Gras.
Was romance what it seemed at the Mardi Gras?
Was the love that we made just a brief masquerade?
Was it gone with the song that the orchestra played?
With a sigh, with a glance at the moon above
was it just by chance that we spoke of love?
Or do you somehow feel
that the wonder was real?
While we danced at the Mardi Gras!

When Gay News Breaks....

Queen Ginger fixes it, so you don't have to sift through all the crap!

So the story, right here in H-Town, is that former city councilman Michael Berry allegedly (and by "allegedly" I mean "bitch did it!") backed his black Tahoe into another car, and then left the scene, a couple of weeks ago.  So, a hit and run by a former elected official is bad enough, but, hey, he ain't running for anything these days, so if he wants to play bumper cars, that his business.  

But, it gets more interesting.  This all happened outside of TC's, one of Houston's diviest most established "show bars".  And by show bars, I mean drag shows. Anyhoo, Berry backed into the bouncer's car. Ouch. And oh, guess what... he recognized Berry as a patron of the bar. There's surveillance video of him tipping the trannys patronizing the establishment. No biggie, right? I mean, the guy has a right to be into tranny showgirls.  And it's not like he's in public office anymore.






But here's the catch-  after he left city council, Miss Trannylove took herself a job as a radio host of a conservative radio talk show, on a conservative talk radio station here in Houston.  Yes, the fag hater sips from the fairy cup. And he got caught with a snoot full of "tea".  Spill it, gurl!  Methinks she doth protest too much!

Around the country, Target stores are checking out your baskets- and they are processing your shopping orders, as well!  It seems Target has developed spot on algorithms to use your purchase history to predict what you will buy in the future, and market those specific items to you.   What brought this all to light was the case of a father who was irate that Target was bombarding his daughter with ads for diapers, wipes, and other things that a young mother would need... as though they were encouraging this young, unmarried girl to procreate. Turns out, unknown to daddy, she was preggers at the time.  Oops! Since then, Target has learned to sprinkle random objects into the trojan horse marketing to throw off their scent. Queen Ginger has been wondering why she's been getting so many coupons for Preparation H!!

And finally, after a scorching, draught-ridden summer, the Gulf Coast is getting more than it's share of rain!  The histrionic queens weathermen are predicting fierce rains, flooding, and mass destruction from thunderstorms overnight.  Or, maybe Queen Ginger is performing in a drag show. Not much difference! They're both all wet!

Thinking about.....

... starting a craft blog. Would anyone read?

I Can See Clearly Now....

... the Reign is gone! 


But, let me make one thing PERFECTLY clear!  I am still, and ALWAYS will be, Queen Olympus XLI !!!  But, after as spectacular ball last night, Queen G is totally ready to pass the reign on to QOXLII !

As called for by protocol, after the Ball Captain is presented and seated, the show begins as the audience rises to welcome the reigning King and Queen- moi!  


The ball theme this year was "Mythology", chosen by this year's captain, and the reigning King and Queen were presented as the Ice King and Queen from Norse Mythology,  as chosen by last year's captain, the captain who crowned us!  Queen G was thrilled with the choice and had a blast with the concept! Framed by wreaths of glittering snowflakes in a frosty-cool palette, we entered to greet our adoring guests and be toasted by this year's captain!


The presentation came off without a hitch, which is pretty miraculous, since, the week before the ball, Queen Ginger's MRI revealed that she has not 1, but 5 herniated disks in her spine!!  Certainly, carrying all that snow on her back would not have been prudent, so a team of attendants was assembled to handle the issue.  It's good to be a Queen!  And, in a show of gallantry, as not to make his Queen feel singled out, King Tony chose to have his back piece carried as well, to keep the presentation balanced.  Chivalry is not dead in the royal world of make believe!

Queen Ginger looked resplendent, if she does say so herself, in a gown of her own design and creation, made of sequined lace, faux ermine, and enough silver and blue satin to cover a quarter of a football field- seriously!  There are 27 yards of fabric in that outfit, and it turned out EXACTLY like she wanted!  Just goes to show- if you want something done right, sometimes  you just gotta do it yourself!! Her makeup continued the icy theme, with blue lips and a blush of blue on the cheeks.  BTW, they don't make blue blush, so the Queen had to make that herself, as well!

There was a face in the crowd that many of you will recognize!  That's right, biotches- Chloe Dao, or Project Runway fame, was one of the many well-heeled Houstonians who came out that night to share the Mardi Gras madness with Queen Ginger and the Krewe!  

What a time King Tony and I had watching the ball from our seats on the proscenium, as costume after costume parade down the floor solely for our entertainment!  Of course, we shared the fun with a ballroom full of almost 1,000 of our closest, most personal friends!  By the time the show was ending, we realized we could have partied all night, but soon enough if was time to reveal our successors,  King and Queen Olympus XLI, who were presented at the Royalty of the Myans.

It is, of course, bittersweet, to hand over the realm to the new regime, but Queen Ginger was very pleased to bow to her new Queen and one of her dearest friends, who shall jokingly be referred to on these pages as QEXBF!  


So, the new King and Queen will have their hands full running the day to day activities of the realm, and preparing their return to preside over Ball XLIII, while Queen Ginger will bask in her retired glory!!




Good news is, she'll have much more time to keep all of her loyal GingerSnaps posted on what's going on in her FABULOUS world!

RIP

Pardon my late posting but I was a tad busy.  My favorite Whitney # ever!  "I don't know why I like it-  I just DO!"

Cheese and Crackers!

Queen Ginger has pretty much been living on a steady diet of cheese and crackers the last few days as she prepared to greet her loyal subject at Saturday night's ball!  More to come on that, but meanwhile, it's time to get some Royal rest and some better sustenance than "Scandinavia's oldest and most traditional appetizer treat!"

In a Wad!

Queen Ginger's panties are TOTALLY in a wad over this whole Komen/Planned Parenthood debacle!  What a kerfuffle!!


First you have this great organization, the Komen Foundation, that is was a pinnacle of the women's health movement, making a politically-based decision that has absolutely NOTHING to do with women's health. Many of their top brass have jumped ship since the decision, citing, in fact, they they are leaving because the organization seems to be straying from it's mission of promoting women's health into a political arena!!








They have announced that they will stop their donations to Planned Parenthood, another organization that promotes women's health, education, and welfare- including providing mammography to thousands of women who would otherwise go without screening!! Komen is claiming that they are discontinuing the funding because Planned Parenthood is "under investigation".  Truth be told, several states, and even anti-choicers in the US Congress have created these "investigations" for this very purpose- to give the perception that something unscrupulous and undisclosed is happening at PP. 


Nobody has proven that PP has done anything "under the table".  Per the agreement, every dime Komen has contributed to PP has gone to breast cancer screening.  US government funds have been handled according to policy.  And yes, while some (not all) Planned Parenthood locations do offer pregnancy termination services, they are all funded but the private sector, and are completely legal, according to the US constitution.


Holy Backfire, Batman, donations are POURING into Planned Parenthood to replace the dollars lost!  Virtually any pro-choicer who has ever supported Komen will now write their check directly to PP! And New York's Mayor Bloomberg has said he will match up to $250,000 in donations, which has already far been exceeded!


To top it all off, this batch of bat-shit crazy has come off of their Barcaloungers to say they will stand behind Komen.  Well, you one million snot-wiping, cold-cereal-serving, dishwasher-loading, Oprah-watching bunch of fatasses, your email campaign has had virtually ZERO financial effect on the situation, since you can barely feed your brats on the measly penance your stupid husband brings home! 


And meanwhile, you have totally bastardized the good name of some quality organizations that truly have women's rights at heart!  If I were among the leadership of "A Million Mothers.org", a grassroots organization that supports families in need, or of the "Million Mother March", which supports a mother's right to breast feed in public, I would be suing the shit out of your lazy, mouthy, "one-click-and-I'm-in" kind of bullcrap!


As I have said MANY times, Queen Ginger is pro-choice, and pro-living!!  We have SO MANY problems to solve among the thousands of people who walk this earth today- why are we wasting money arguing about whether a woman should be able to control her on bodily functions?!