me waiting patiently outside the spiffy new theatre in Hammond for the start of the Star Wars Phantom Menace ... this theatre opened up on this day with the first show being Star Wars ... really nice place ...
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another pic of me in the same spot ... once again with the poster in the background to prove i was really there :)
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Branan (Pattie's son) and i eating in the Shalimar Indian restaurant in New Orleans - Branan is probably wondering "what am i doing in this picture?"
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same restaurant - the orange gizmos around my head belong to the buffet behind me ... surprisingly i recognized some of the dishes :)
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now i definitely dont remember the name of this cathedral in Jackson Square ... but apparently it was one of those things i absolutely had to have a picture of
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Jackson Square from across the road ... with the horsies in the front ... too bad i couldnt catch some of the painted mimes (or whatever you would call those people who stand very still for so long)
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and yet again ...
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the infamous Bourbon Street ... yes i was there ... but being the good slumou i am i went during the day ... also we had one underage person with us so even "research" was out of the question :))
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Marie Laveau's tomb ... the Voodoo Queen ... people thought she could appear in many places simultaneously among other charms ... it is said that if you make 3 crosses on her tomb she will grant you a wish and then you have to come back and pay in cash or kind (money or alcohol) ... somebody's cashing in on that legend :))
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side view of the tomb ... since it was almost impossible to get a front shot with everyone trying at once ... and trying to keep up with the tour guide (yes, i went on a guided tour - how else would i know all this trivia?)
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another side view ... wonder why i keep on taking 2 pics ...
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the oven row ... people still use these "graves" to bake their dead until the remains are totally reduced to something that can be scraped off the bottom ... then they put in fresh meat and start all over again ... actually it was started to avoid bodies coming to the surface from underground graves after heavy rains since the place is so swampy in general ...
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Pattie and me standing in front of the Mississippi River ... we tried quite hard to get a pic with the steamboat in the back but failed :(
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Branan and me ... by now we had totally given up on the steamboat
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Pattie's house ... (who would expect such things to show up on the internet :))
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me getting in the obligatory porch swing time
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and me on the porch ... and a very green porch too ... lots of vegetation in these parts
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Cooter Brown - the family cat - sitting on Pattie's new director chair ... at some point i found out that it was named after some guy (and thats all i remember :))
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Cooter Brown once again giving us that blank cat stare ... this cat was being a bit too friendly when i was over there ... kept on jumping onto the dinner table while we were eating and refused to listen to its owner/s
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Pattie standing in her front yard ... trying to avoid being photographed
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the backyard ... now i finally understand why she needs a riding mower :)
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Bruce and Sydney showing me Lake Pontchartrain ... some 25 miles across so that you cant see the other bank ... the closest you get to sea around those parts
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the State Legislature building ... theres something very profound written on the sides of the door if you squint to read it
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and as an afterthought ... the picture of people waiting outside the theatre to watch Star Wars that was published in the local newspaper
