A few spring/summer flowers and critters

Took a few pictures of the new flowering various plants, and  a couple of little critters around.
    
We have a couple apple trees in our back yard, and they seem to have some nice pieces coming in, hopefully they come through all the way to full size without getting snatched by some critter running around

 This was a picture of some flowers on one of our Catalpa trees, taken by my mom.  Catalpa trees are pretty well liked by hummingbirds, and grow pretty fast, for a tree, as well as having a pretty good rot resistance so get used for wood quite often.



This one, on the right, is a Canna Indica, it comes from in fairly large bushes, and the only real 'use' is that they look pretty, the seeds have been used in jewelry before, and they are not particularly aggressive plants, they dont spread very much past their bushes.

As promised, the first of the two critters, a toad living in our cow bowl, a large bowl that used to hold water for cows, but is now home to some minnows, some shiners, a catfish, and this toad.





Outside of my home, I have a walkway, made out of pallets, and this Broadhead Skink lives under it.  The Broadhead Skink is the largest of the skink types natural to Louisiana, are adept at climbing, and are good at preying on bugs and other lizards.  They prefer the heat and, like me, can be rather sluggish in the cold.

 This two I think were my favorite, and I think they turned out the best.   A couple of pictures of some magnolia flowers off of one of our Magnolia trees.   In addition to being pretty trees, Magnolia trees are also very good as shade trees, and can provide a lot of it.

Another band at the Alexandria River Fete, Matsuri Daiko

 This was another band at the Alexandria River Fete (said as:  Fet), out of Houston, Texas as well, called Matsuri Daiko, also Japanese-themed, but this one is Okinawan as opposed to Mainland.   They were also very high energy, but their energy was more...aggressive, which was understandable in the scenario, as the song they played for us was an old song and dance to ward off evil spirits, to fight against these spirits


Before they even made their appearance, their performance had begun, with a stylized entrance, with the sound of drums beating off in the distance as they started from beyond the stairs, and came down into the audience opening.

 The dance was a mix between a powerful, liberating call to arms and an aggressive, combative attack, on the spirit who they were attempting to ward off.

 And then, a demon makes its appearance, although, this one is technically here to help, at least if it is what I think it is, which would be a Shisa, in Okinawan mythology, sometimes also called Guardian Dogs, the males help to ward off evil spirits, while the females spread goodness unto the land.  Although they are technically good demons (in Japan, a demon is not always evil, there are good demons and bad ones) they are not exactly 'friendly' creatures, and while they protect homes, they will also attempt to scare away any people from the home.

People like these ones here, where it made a jump at a woman taking a video with her phone, causing her to jump up to the next stair up, hehe.

 And the Shisa Stars are unveiled.  And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those pesky kids and their drums too. *shakes hand in the air*












Well, thanks for checking out my post on Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko, a Japanese themed band out of Houston, Texas.   If you wish to look them up, or see where they may be making appearances, you can check out their website at  http://www.rmdtexas.org/  

Leave a comment if you would like and please stay tuned for my next post.

Alexandria River, Kaminari Taiko

 This is one of the sites of what was to be, in my opinion, the coolest couple attractions in the whole of Alexandria River Fete, they were two drum bands, Kaminori Taiko was the one that played on this stage to the left,

 When they began to assemble, the crowd wasn't exactly high-energy, more like they just kind of happened to be there, so decided to take a seat.

And then they begun their preparation, and the young lady standing in front gave us an introduction of the band, Kaminari Taiko                                                                                               
The band was so high-energy, so enthusiastic during playing, it was amazing, and they didn't just play for the crowd, they created it, they ran it, they molded it, and FORCED us to bob our heads along.

Then begun the REAL beauty of this high energy drum band.  They added a dance to the music

 

It was simply beautiful, it was powerful, it was engaging, it was fun.  They enjoyed what they were doing and they made us enjoy it, but the best part of the whole procession, out of the dance, the band, the music, the energy, out of everything, the best part was this woman

Her presence was palpable, she was truly powerful, she held everyones attention with her exuberance, she was the point in the circle that drew the eye in, she danced, she sang, she screamed, she laughed.  She brought the crowd and their feeling, their thought, their energy to the brink, to the very top, and then tipped it over, spilled it out.  She was a drummer.









They are a drum band based out of Houston, Texas, and I believe they will be at the next Alexandria River Fete as well, I believe they said they have been at the last two.


The following link goes to the Kaminari Taiko webpage, if you would like to look more into them or listen to their music, although I can't imagine that a recording could have the same power as seeing them live, however, for some that simply is not a possibility, like for me, whenever they aren't in Alexandria, haha.    http://www.ilovetaiko.org/


Thank you for checking out my post related to the Alexandria River Fete, my next post will be about the other drum band, which was also a great experience, Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko.  If you would like, you can leave a comment letting me know what you think or if you would like me to try and find out something more about them.

Old French Quarter, couple pics

So, went down to New Orleans (pronunciation: New Or-linz) today, went to the French Quarter, had some coffee at Cafe du Monde (Pronunciation: Ca-fe du Mond, Meaning: The World Cafe), a very, very much visited cafe in New Orleans, and strolled through the French Market they have there, which is kind of like, a large flea market/farmers market.  


This was a pretty good jazz band playing right outside of Cafe du Monde

 These are a couple of pictures of what I think was one of the coolest looking stalls in the French Market, called by some, The Legolady, these are only about a quarter of what this young lady had available.  They are all specialized lego figures, she also had something available where she did your name in legos, in some way.

Classic Car Show Off, part 1

 First of the classic car show-off at Alexandria River Fete,

                                                I don't know what some of the cars were, but dang if they weren't shiny.   Most all the vehicles were for sale as well, so if you look around on the net, you may be able to find the seller of that vehicle.

 We have a couple pictures here, one of a group shot, an older camaro, and another car that I think I should know, but I don't unfortunately.

Here we have what I think looks maybe like a late 60's Chevy Nova (pretty much one of the most iconic muscle cars)  as well as one of its engine.

 I believe both of these last two were Deuce Coupe's, but of different years.

This last silver one I also got a shot of its nifty little engine.





















Thanks for taking the time to check out the first of the posts from the Alexandria River Fete, the next one will be one the Japanese style drum bands performances, with drum band Kaminori Taiko and Ryukyukoku Matsuri Daiko Drummers, out of Houston, Texas.   If anyone checking this post out remembers any of the contact info or prices for any of the cars listed here, please let me know and I will update the post to put the prices or seller contact info in (please only send public contact information)

First of the Alexandria Zoo pictures

The Nile Crocodile is one of the most powerful species of crocodile in the world,  and the second largest, after the Saltwater Crocodile, with males averaging around 12 feet, and females around 9 feet. 

 The white tiger is  member of the Bengal Tiger species, and the white hair is a recessive, uncommon trait in their species.

 This one is called a Tamarin monkey, they are small, could fit in the palm of both hands put together.

More pictures coming in the next post, a few more monkeys, a cougar, and more, stay tuned, and thank you for checking out my blog