 One of the coolest things at JazzFest was this thing, described in the program this way: "the chouval b'wa, a man-powered carousel of hand-carved wooden animals, buggies and carts. While children spin around them, a six-piece band in the ride's open center plays festive accordion rhythms similar to Louisiana's own zydeco." It was part of the showcase of Creole Martinique culture. JazzFest first: almost all my sisters came to the fest on Thursday. We oriented them to shady areas and real bathrooms, then they did fine on their own. We loved seeing the Waifs whom we'd recently heard in Unity. They were on one of the big stages and, being unknown in N.O., were sparsely attended at first. We got right up front.  Then as they played, a huge and enthusiastic crowd gathered, and they were signing albums in the Virgin tent for a long time. Also with us on Thursday were niece (Vee's daughter) and nephew-in-law, Brittin and John from Corvalis, OR. They have a restaurant there and share a lot of our picayUnity food and music values, so we expect to see them in Maine at some point and certainly for JazzFest next year.
 It was hot, and we had to seek shade and drink a lot of water, but we're not against the icehead technique and may try it sometime. We opted out of festing on Friday for a tour of the new giant Whole Foods store on Magazine where we had lunch with Barb Johnson, and a quick trip to the Quarter for ritual purchases (wallets, tiny pocket pens, hot sauce).  Supper in Covington with Anita and Malissa who had just returned from a Mediterranean cruise, then to the sleepy town of Bay St. Louis for some quiet time at Jinx & Peg's house. There is a three mile bike path along the beach from Waveland to BSL; glad to see the bike path thing catching on down south. I think they rent bikes there with a special attachment for holding a mint julep.
At JazzFest I take pictures of the same things every year, especially bead man's table and the techno art.
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