Amazing Stuff.....Photos only

the

Chubracabra habitat...

The Old Beach,  Spent many days there, every McDonough Day we skipped school  and took our girlfriends to the Old Beach...You  could swim there then....

riding in Audubon Park at night I happened to catch a picture of a Chubracabra running from my light.

Rare view of Decateur St buildings.

This man cast his net one time at the point and loaded up on bait fish.

The "Point" some girls really thought there were submarine races there...  

Early Morning Bourbon St.

St Phillip St.

Moonlit River.

UFO over the CBD

Waiting at the clinic for a knee xray after colliding with an Acura.

Ugly!

Bike took a beating also , it's in the shop. . has 29645 miles on it .

More Bourbon in the morning,,.

Pink Chubracabra standing guard.

300 pound Harahan Coyote. Waiting for me. .

Zebras, favorite food of Chubracabras and Coyotes,grazing on the levee.

Had enough of this bullshit and jumped off the GNO,  managed to swim to Gretna, Oh Well.

Lucky me , meet up with Godzilla .

Can't find my friend Andy,  the bar he worked at closed up  .. . No one ot talk to on Bourbon on Friday nights.

family of Bears on the River bike path, waiting to eat a bike rider that too slow.

Crescent City Classic 2012

Crescent City Classic 2012.  
Weather was great,  big crowd,  excitement rampant, anticipation at peak, it was time to get it on.
Marie dropped us off on Canal St near Dauphine, we walk to the starting line to loosen up a bit, stroll through the morning quarter ..Started down Bourbon then to Royal then Chartres,
we all decided a leak would be appropriate prior to the race.  The Plastic shit houses near Decatur had a line 2 blocks long, no way, not me. we treked back to Royal and found 3 obscure ones with a half a block line . We got close soon, thats when the excitement started.  Runners in the line were yelling at a runner across the street sitting on the curb facing us, I turned to see why, a local resident was walking his 3 legged bull dog, his lack of a left rear leg allowed him to pee on the edge of the side walk as he strolled along, the young man got up just in time to not get peed on, the dog owner thought this was funny and cute.I didn't . .. . Anyway, we did our business, worked our way to Decatur around St Phillip , talked our strategy, Neil worked his way to the front with the runners, Stacy and I fell back to the walking section. ( almost).. Cannon went off , everyone realized what I've know for years, you ain't  going no where...be patient.  Neil took about a minute to get to the starting line. Stacy and I took 9 minutes to get to the starting line.  We didn't care we were there to have fun.  We started mocking and making fun of people right away.. It wasn't too hot, I don't think I sweat a bead,  Neil was pretty wet at the finish .  Once off Rampart and onto Esplanade Ave the shade trees keep you cool and shady all the way to the Park.   Interesting sights on the way. :  At Claiborne a fire truck from a restaurant was giving shots of liquor and those jello things ;  A man ,every year, puts out his 1973 speakers and plays the same Foreigner album he bought with it : There were a few sprinklers, some were just perverts with hoses.  An interesting group of young men ( their 3rd year)  offer water at 3.50 a bottle and free beer. ; As we passed the St Louis Cemetery #2 or #3 at Bayou St John, I could see the tombs cracking from the massive footsteps passing by, their used to the  10 ton tourist bus.
In the park it sunny and nice, the picture takers take your picture , email you a proof , a 5x7 is only, 28.00 . Gary brings his own camera. .Neil did great, he won the men's division, 22 minutes, 2 Ethiopians  a Kenyan and a Chalmation were right behind him..   Stacy and I didn't win shit but we didn't care we were having a good time ,  gawking, being catty, some teenage walker got rowdy and stepped in front of her and I had to convince her not to knock him out...We hydrated well and by mile 5 had to pee bad, next plastic shit house was in the finish area, back in line again. .Why does it take some people 5 minutes to pee, they've of never made it at Fort Polk...Into the reception area, we met up with Neil ,  managed each a big bottle of Gatorade, thanks to Gatorade. . a bag of chips , and
a banana,  for Jambalaya and Gumbo the lines are like your not interested in ever leaving the park .
Met up with some old friends Sal Genovese, , Paul Bonnett,  and Phillip Donahue, . . Always find somebody you know at the crescent city classic, I looked for Becky Ricke but I think she was home when we reached the park.  It wasn't my first rodeo, matter of fact I've ran it 10 or 12 times and walked it 6 or 8,  my first t shirt was the green Hibernia Bank Shirt, think that was mid 70's , don't remember, it was the second running. . This one was special , my son and daughter joined me and that a priceless gift. I was happy as a man can be, thanks kids. look forward to next year.
gary
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Click on the pictures to enlarge them..

The singing dancing water distributor man..

My Demise once again...



Last Friday night I was cruising south on the River Levee having a great time, minding my own business, enjoying my state of mind ,  digging the scenery, feeling the rush, the high  of serotonin and endorphins up taking from one brain cell to another, back and forth, back and forth , back and forth. The temperature was perfect , little breeze, sunset at my back, dusk ahead of me, MP3 player blaring "White Rabbit" by  :Jefferson Airplane",, "one pill makes you smaller and one pill makes you large and the ones that mother gives you don't do anything at all", "go ask Alice when shes 10 ft tall",..I reached the bend in Harahan, suddenly out of nowhere a bright,bright,bright, bright, phosphorus light crossed in front of me at  blinding speed, literally.  I spun around, cavitated , crashed on the blacktop, landed on my back, hit hard,although my helmet was on my head I hit hard, blackness circled my vision , closed in , right at the moment I was to go into unconsciousness THE white light appeared above me.  To myself I said ,"this is it", " the white light I've heard about has come to take me away.  I became calm. my fate was sealed , no longer my steer, I still heard the next song playing "Master of Sparks" by "ZZ Top.  the blinding , glowing white light hovered above me momentarily then subsided , I could make out a figure, yes, it was an archangel, a Catholic one, I knew this because he looked Italian, all Catholic religious figures are Italian, even Jewish Jesus has blond hair and blue eyes, an Italian sculpted face. Or maybe it was the Italian Renaissance painters that did that, don't know , I would have like to have seen a French looking Apostle . So the Archangel is hovering over me , my first thought ,  my guardian angel has come to escort me to heaven. Why not , according to Sister Theresa, in the 3rd grade, if I didn't kill anyone I'm going to heaven.  Forget the lying, cheating, stealing, littering, J walking,  corruption, as long as I didn't kill anyone, except as a soldier under orders from the commander in chief, I could still go to heaven.   I'm going to heaven and St Peter has sent an escort to make sure I get there safely. I exhale , relax, succumb, to the inevitable.  The Archangel descends upon me , whoa , he has no feet , he has giant sharp talons, so big they encase my torso and they did, squeezing the little life left in me piercing my torso, maybe he'll carry me to heaven with his big beautiful angel wings, holding me in his talons, but no , he draws a  7 foot long chrome sword and fells my head in a quick smooth swoop.  didn't see that coming.  My head now rolls down the side of the levee , into a hole headed to the center of the earth, Ok I must be chosen for purgatory and this is the pathway.. My head lands in the fiery darkness with a slosh, the smell is deafening, putrid, foul, disgusting, rancid, couldn't put my finger on it.  My head lay looking up and a little to the right,  my ears were in the mushy floor covering, I glance to the right , human figures appear out the fiery glow,  walking toward me. Probably the purgatory welcoming committee.  My eyes cleared , small critters were running around with tails sticking up in the air, all was silent , the figures got closer and I heard it at the same time I saw it,  90 year old ladies with  cans of fancy feast catfood in one had, tablespoons in the other, chanting ,"here kitty,, here kitty".  It was all clear , lucifer had a bunk for me, I WAS IN HELL.   Doomed to lay in  catcrap listening to the cat ladies chanting "here kitty" eternally.  HELL, IT WAS HELL, HELL , HELL....


PS: I came too 10 minutes later , it was an unconscious hallucination, I stood up , got on my bike , began to ride , 5 miles down the road I'm blocked by characters on the path, before I opened my mouth I heard the tapping of tablespoons on a tin cans , in unison with "here kitty, here kitty, here kitty.I hurriedly turned around , headed home , ran to the bathroom and locked the door.  Stayed there till the morning sun erased the night , started a new day trying to stay out of hell on earth.
gary gauthier

The meaning of life according to Gary.

Click on the pic to enlarge.

Schiro's a By Water Landmark

Ingenious use of color.

the pink and yellow twins

click on the pic and read the sign.

Tennessee Williams would be proud.

Bikes parked outisde like horses...

Yes the sign says Parade tickets , I guess its' not free anymore

Addition to WWII museum

Mentioned her last week there she is .. .

thier saving me a cart....

My daughter has a bottle collection this good. read the sign in the window

Rough looking tandem

vanishing style

don't forget the guitar player

Big Andy says he anticipates Mardi Gras,,,

Andy and I watched my bike a while to see if somebody would make a try for it. . No takers. Andy is a giant.

Rough weather hits the riverfront

Bad weather on the river front

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a55hLvIZJq83

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SkX1OessSY&feature=related

In spite of being allegedly civilized and socially adaptable for 61 years I continue to regard life
with Cro Magnon ideals,  eat, drink ,copulate often as possible, stay dry ,warm and survive to another day.  Haven't figured out why , what for, for whom? The once literal, now manifested, Sabre Toothe Tiger lays in wait for me to slip up so he can encase my head in 6 inch canines ,  crush my head, drag me from the campfire circle, eliminating a weak link in evolvolution, glad to do my part. As age overwhelms me I adopt caution, no slips, be smarter that he, be cunning, be courageous, a warrior must not succumb to being a statesman for it's followed by that drag to the Tigers lair..The weapon is yet that combats, kills, or disables failings that cast us to the edge of the campfire circle exposing weakness, vulnerability, and occasionally sucumming to death by mother nature's natural selector, Sabre Toothe Tiger. My tiger chases me but I'm too fast on my bike , I know I'm a weak link in the campfire circle, I face the demon head on , fight to survive, when necessary I toss a weak gene carrier in front of me , feast on the weak, tiger of evolution , for I will not submit.. My existence seems dismal to the 4  million years of life before me, we exist for a pitiful time, only a select few make an impact lasting after death... What !,you say, does this have to do with : cities, car's, roads, religion, jobs,war, money, future, flooding, storms, houses, propagation,oil , love, hate,  not a dam thing, my point ..We're just cavemen waiting on a tiger to drag us from the campfire, ,If I'm wrong you're guaranteed to wake up tomorrow morning. Nah! No gurantees in this world....

Gary Gauthier

ps: The brain capacity of Cro Magnon was about 1,600 cc (100 cubic inches), larger than the average for modern humans

ByWater, Marigny and St Rochs.

Church in St Rochs (St Lukes)

World Famous Frankie and Johnnys Furniture..

Church in Marigny

St Paul ;Church (Lutheran)

St Pauls

There but for the grace of God and a good woman sit I.

Holy Trinity Church

Holy trinity Church

Fr Seelos

Fr Seelos

Decateur in Bywater

Last BLock of ByWater

Dr  Bobs in Bywater

BW's (bywater)

By Water BW's

Dr Bob's

Dr Bobs

Our Lady Star of the Sea

St Peter Claver

St Peter Claver

St Peter Claver

Franklin Ave.

Franklin Ave. or Ursuline , forgot .

Entrance to ByWater, Press St.

Historic St Rochs Meat Market

Our Lady Star of the Sea

Our Lady Star of the Sea

St Rochs Playground

Just a neat picture

Our Lady Star of the Sea

Our Lady Star of the Sea

St Rochs

Beautiful Cemetary

Tile Mosaics at St Rochs Cemetary

Street Placard in the Cemetary

Adolescent Cherub/Angel

Another Mosaic

Old and New merge.

Our Lady Start of the Sea,  big church but closed .

Entrance way to St Rochs Cemetary

Other entrance way to St Rochs Cemetary

St Rochs with bike path.

Old entrance to St Rochs Cemetary

Old Store in the Marigny

My next profession

Punishment awaits me for I have cheated mother nature consistently this winter,  dodged rain and cold last
                      3 weeks,expanded my circle of travel , have been interested in seeing the rest of ByWater, St Rochs , Franklin Ave, Ursuline,
                                  St Rochs Ave from the lake to the quarter. Interesting ride, can only be absorbed by bicycle, miss too much in a vehicle,
 too long to walk 35 miles . Not a long distance for me but it is winter, ( the off season for European bikers).  Lance and I ride year round.
Friday night I shot straight to the Quarter, met with Andy on the first block of Bourbon, we chatted with another gentleman and
were discussing recent events at the Krystal, as we spoke an ambulance pulled up, removed a patron on a stretcher and
drove off. Andy was decked out as usual, giant of a man, calls me Mr G.  works till 3 am. sees it all.
Caught an impromptu parade on Decatur ( for tourist) , was hit by a St Patricks Day parade doubloon,
The air was heavy, temp was fair, legs were powerful, ass was tough, vision clear,, head clouded with
drugs, making of a good ride and it was.  I stopped on the riverfront to eat my yogurt raisins admiring the tourist ,
tapping my foot to my mp3 player (1100  songs now),  Riverfront air has more bite than cement air in the city,
makes my knees cold, my ass tight, yet feels good on the face.  The homeless man living on the bus bench
at Broad and Canal was taken away by ambulance Saturday morning and returned there by Saturday night ,
he's ok , brown paper bags holding and hiding beer cans guarded the underside of the bench.
Saturday and Sunday wiggled my way to the lakefront , Leon C Simon , one day Franklin Ave  then Sunday St Rochs to the quarter.
Both routes bring me through Bywater, Marigny, Milneburg, Old Old Gentilly, St Rochs, and skirts the edge of
the upper ninth ward.  Not all are Faubourgs, Farbourgs are neighborhoods adjacent to the central city
or the main city, this limits them , no Kenner is not included. the CBD is Faubourg St Mary. Sidebar , as I write this my left ear listens to
"To Have and Have Not" on TV, starring Bogey and McCall, she was only 19 playing a sexy vixen,
it's the one where she says "you know how to whistle don't you, just put your lips together and blow ".
It's based on a book by Hemingway about the period between WWI and WWII, as a lot of his books were because that's when he lived.
Hemingway was a decorated soldier in WWI and a decorated Correspondent in WWII.
No he didn't write "Casablanca" or "Paths of Glory" .   The period is interesting , Germany was marching across the planet with little
resistance, Americans were evacuating , Jews were evacuating , Pols were evacuating, French were evacuating, pockets of futile resistance
popped up here and there with  little impact. My right ear is listening to Jimi Hendrix playing "Third Stone from the Sun" his first big feedback
wierd sounding track, it has faux voices and plenty Telecaster feedback. The important part is he states " You'll never hear surf music again", he was right,
his style was adopted industry wide. the conservative guitars of "Dick Dale"', The Ventures", The Castaways", The Searchers",
all great instrumentalist but it was surf music ,, it died hence forth.   Now back to biking.  I was overwhelmed by the traveled area , it's
crowded with cottages, bungalows, many refurbished, brilliant facades, their stoops call out to me with  woeful empathy to sit down
sip some wine and smoke a Winston like it would please them as much as me. All that's missing is a "Counting Crows" CD
and I'm set till the ambulance comes. .  Now a little Beatles as I write.... Beatles are to music as Washington, Jefferson, Franklin and
Madison are to government. My left ear just picked up Lauren saying to Bogey " Got a Match", he plays cool and tosses her a pack of matches , then she says "now I need a Cigarette" , he tossed her a pack of cigarettes,it was like the Sirens singing out to Ulysses , tied to his mast, wax in his ear
so he could enjoy the song of the Sirens, 19 year old McCall ..could have done as  "Circe" witch goddess and turned me into a swine. ..It would have taken me more than 10 years to get home and Penelope would have to wait, let Telemachus slay the suitors.
Ah , my right ear hears "Creed " playing "My own Prison" a man is overwhelmed with guilt , he self imprisons his soul and
doesn't really await judgement from God only the impending vengeance. He is imprisoned by his own guilt and  expects no mercy..
Royal St was kicking Saturday,  the man sitting in the gutter playing his guitar, smoking a Winston, begging for money
"could have been me" if life took a few different turns. My scanning left eye caught vision of a Great Dane (dog),
huge, off white with dark markings, led by Tom Thumb dressed in a white tuxedo and black boots. They were the same height
Wow!,  no more blotter acid before a ride.. Suddenly I"m blasted from the right side by Cajun Music, not
a band, a PA system from a T Shirt shop, almost knocked me off my bike. . Here she comes again, long dark hair,
medium built, wearing a flowered sundress, tattoos on the outside of her legs , one on her back and a
ring in her lip. She rides a fat tire beach bike with a front basket carrying a jacket.  I concentrate on her as she passes and
goes up the block , her figure begins to pale , thin, then disappears. Kinda like a Ichabod Crane on a bike.We crossed paths many time with the same result.
I think her name is Delilah Valium...there are 500 references to differing Delilahs, pick one, they all apply.
Did 25 Friday night, me and my brass balls, did 35, Saturday, and 25 Sunday, good for an off season ride.
I get home feeling refreshed, relaxed, rejuvenated, and stoned...
It's been a Jack Kerouac weekend. I love it. .
gary......