Somewhere in the back of my head is the spectre of a quote by Neil Gaiman, probably from or about American Gods, where he talks about how roadside attractions are America's sacred spaces. Maybe I imagined it, and true or not, it's something that I think about when I come across places like the Mother-In-Law Lounge, a New Orleans temple and shrine to the self proclaimed Emperor of the Universe, Ernie K-Doe. You know Ernie K-Doe from his 1961 hit single Mother-In-Law, and you can Paul Harvey the rest of his story at his Wikipedia page here.
Under the impression it was still a happening venue I headed over there with Crow Hill Gnostic Temple's Sister Jillian to check it out Saturday afternoon. It was weird, even though the outside is covered with vibrant, beautiful and exquisite murals it seemed like the life was gone. We took some pics (below!), hung out and moved on. Sunday afternoon we happened to bump into a person featured on one of the murals, the world class puppet mistress Miss Pussycat, and she informed us we missed the last show there by just a week.
The mural artist, Daniel Fuselier, was interviewed by Nola.com, check it out here.
I'm hoping something will happen and it will resurface as a museum. If you take a look at the pic of the truck, well, it reminds me of something my mother would talk about, the farms she grew up around in the Svarte Dahl of Sweden (the Black Valley, super grim sounding but super beautiful), where the woods are always taking the houses back. Hope you enjoy the pics. I have included a few other shots I took recently. I particularly like the idea of the "Just Chill" daiquari spot and the Dark Knight's sno-ball emporium. Oh, and Wayne's World & Sons, probably the best comment on my Bookface about it was by Paul Haney (or his crazy ass beard, I think it takes over sometimes) which stated "Jah love babylon.....NOT!" Corny, yes, but also fun fun fun.
Well, the spiritual churches are a hard nut to crack, getting so far removed from the botanica scene I don't even know how I feel about it any longer. Oh hey, one last pic - I took this a few weeks ago but rode by today to see this mural was painted over by a super lousy generic tag - I really loved it, too, really had a spooky mystères vibe too it -
Now gone, like, well, tears in the rain. No matter what you do, there is always someone out there that wants to cheapen it. Ask Osiris.
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