WHO DAT!!

I would be remiss if I didn't make mention of the fact that my (Superbowl champions) New Orleans Saints are squaring off tonight against the San Francisco 49ers, the city I formerly (and often begrudgingly) called home.  I had to laugh at the people who actually asked who I would be rooting for.  Seriously?  Is that even a question?

Oh, I forgot to tell you what happened at last week's game!  Jenelle and I decided to forgo Bar None, as it was disgustingly crowded three hours before the game and was only going to get worse.  We decided to go to dba in Brooklyn, another Saints outpost in NYC.  My friend James (also from New Orleans) met us down there as well.  We get there and I notice a guy running around who looks really familiar.  It took a little while, but I finally realized, holy shit, that's Jack.  He used to come into a bar I worked at ten fucking years ago.  I made a mental note to say hello when I got a minute.

Next thing I know, James is next to me saying, "Hey, wanderlust, have you met Jack?"

And I said, "As a matter of fact, I have.  I used to get Jack drunk ten years ago.  Shot of Jim Beam and a Budweiser, right Jack?"

The look on his face was priceless.

Of course he remembered me and of course we had lots of catching up to do.  Turns out he moved to San Francisco for a while and hated it too!  (OK, I'm being dramatic.  I didn't HATE living in SF.  Not all the time, anyway.  I just complained a lot)  He's much happier in NY, as am I.

That's the thing about New Orleans.  Once you've lived there a little while, it doesn't matter where you go.  If there's any sort of gathering involving New Orleans in any way, be it a Saints game, a crawfish boil, or oil-spill fundraiser, you WILL run into someone you know.  You just will.  Like it or not.  I once ran into a guy I used to HATE at the Black Magic Voodoo Lounge in San Francisco.  Fortunately for all involved, he was way too drunk to remember who I was.

But it's a beautiful thing, and I love it.  Anyway, I've got to go.  I have a date with James and Jack and the rest of the Who Dat nation.  Bar None has no idea what it's in for.

GEAUX SAINTS!!

Loudest venue in the NFL

But we already knew that.  Remember 119 decibals?

Saints fans are loud.  Really loud.  Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Black Magic Voodoo Lounge in San Francisco after the Saints scored their first touchdown in yesterday's glorious win:




Yeah. Saints fans are loud. WHO DAT!!

WHO DAT!!

We got our Christmas wish!  It's gonna be a Black and Gold Superbowl!  Yeah you right!!

Holy shit.  Un-fucking-believable.  Forty-two years New Orleans has waited, suffered.  I myself spent many a painful afternoon in the Dome, enduring crushing loss after crushing loss.  Four long years I held season tickets.  Never made the playoffs once in those four years.  Never even came close.  I was, however, at that magical playoff game in 2001, when the Saints had their first ever playoff win.  That was the craziest I've seen the Dome in all my years as a who dat.  Last night?  I can't even imagine.

What a fucking game.  I really thought they were trying to kill Brett Favre for a minute there.

Here in San Francisco, the Black Magic Voodoo Lounge was like I'd never seen it before.  We screamed.  We yelled.  We hugged.  We kissed.  We cried.  We danced.  Oh, did we dance.  But you had probably guessed that already, huh?  We're from New Orleans.  Dancing is what we do.  We can't help ourselves.

I can't stop watching this video.  It brings tears to my eyes every time.  Especially when they start second lining down the street, about a minute and a half in.

Saints Video: Bourbon Street

  The headline to the article said that the celebration in the French Quarter was "like Mardi Gras on Red Bull."  Oh, how I wish I could have been there!

But I'm leaving San Francisco.  Moving home.  Just in time.  I drive out on the 31st.  I'll be home for the Black and Gold Superbowl.  I will be in my beloved city on the most important day in her recent history.  Yeah you right!

  

Still got it.  Never lost it.  WHO DAT!!

WHO DAT!!

Big game tomorrow.  Forecast looks good...

                      

Yeah you right.  We'll be at the Black Magic Voodoo Lounge, with the Black and Gold Patrol.  WHO DAT!!

                        

WHO DAT!!

One hell of a game.  Did you see that score?  45-14?  The Black Magic Voodoo Lounge was out of control.  So many people the party spilled out onto the street.  Someone brought Zapps spicy crawtators and a king cake.  It's fun to be a Saints fan in San Francisco!

I'm enjoying the deafening silence from all the non-believers we've been hearing from for the past two weeks.  All those smug statistics they kept throwing our way.  Blah blah blah.  Eat a big bag of monkey dicks!  Who dat wearin' dat black and gold?   Breesus saves!  Yeah you right!

Magazine Metals

Are you the type of person who gets caught up in all that holiday mess and feels like they have to buy gifts for everyone and anyone?  Have you finished your holiday shopping yet?  If not, should go see my friend Valerie at Magazine Metals on Magazine St.  As a matter of fact, you should go see her all year long.

                
It's at 2036 Magazine.  Right off Jackson, just down from Juan's Flying Burrito.  She's been down there for about two years.  She has beautiful stuff in there.  Local artists, of course.

How I became friendly with Valerie is a fun story.  Her boyfriend currently lives in Napa and goes to the Black Magic Voodoo Lounge in San Francisco.  You may have heard me mention it once or twice.  GEAUX SAINTS!!

The first time I met Jordan I was heading to New Orleans the following day for a visit.  He said,  "Oh, you should go see my girlfriend at her shop on Magazine St."  Now Jordan was a pretty cool dude, so it stood to reason that his girlfriend would be pretty cool too.  So of course I went to meet her.  She turned out to be delightful.

But don't take my word for it.  Go see for yourself!     http://www.magazinemetals.com/

WHO DAT!!

I know we're all sick of the word magic being thrown around this particular Saints football season.  But it just seems so appropriate.

It was another one of those games designed to give you a heart attack.  Overtime.  We were frantic.  Then, we watched as Garrett Hartley's kick sailed through the goalpost.  It took a few moments for everyone to fully comprehend what had just happened.  And then, oh baby.  Let the good times roll...

            
Undefeated!  I have no idea what the fuck is going on, but this is the most beautiful season the Saints have ever had.  I am loving it.  Magic, I tell you!  Serious magic going on this year.

                      
GEAUX SAINTS!!

119 decibels

If this is how loud it got at a bar in San Francisco during a Monday night Saints game:

                                  




Then I have no problem believing the following article:

http://www.nola.com/saints/index.ssf/2009/11/new_orleans_saints_fans_send_d.html

I had season tickets when I lived in New Orleans.  I know how loud it can get in the Dome.  This year?  I can't even imagine.  Breesus bless each and every one of you who were in the Superdome Monday night, taking the decibel level to 119.  I wish I could have been there.  Maybe we could have made it 120.

Geaux Saints!

WHO DAT!!

The Saints were on Monday Night Football.  I was in San Francisco.  So where did I go to watch the game?  Where else?               

The atmosphere was quite festive.  Everyone's feeling pretty good about remaining undefeated thus far.  Mmm, look at all that Purple Haze...

It was even festive behind the bar...

                           

I often wonder what they think of us, those poor people who live at the corner of Lombard and Van Ness.  Once a week during football season, their nice peaceful little corner gets over-run by a bunch of drunken lunatics wearing black and gold, dancing up and down the street, chanting strange phrases using poor grammar.  I wonder if we are inadvertently preventing tourist dollars from reaching our beloved hometown.  "I don't want to go to New Orleans on vacation, honey.  Those people are crazy.  Have you seen their football fans?"

           

Yeah you right!

The Saints remain undefeated.  They are now 11-0.  Are we talking Superbowl?  We are talking un-fucking-believable.  Who dat said dey gonna beat dem Saints!  Who dat!  Who dat!

WHO DAT!!

Picture this: Fifty or sixty Saints fans on a street corner in San Francisco, all waving white napkins and screaming, "WHO DAT! WHO DAT! WHO DAT SAID DEY GONNA BEAT DEM SAINTS! WHO DAT!"

It was a beautiful thing.

If you're in San Francisco and you want to watch a Saints game, the Black Magic Voodoo Lounge is the place to be.  It's on Lombard and Franklin.  Everybody in the room will be from Louisiana.  New Orleans y'at accents everywhere.  It is LITERALLY like being in New Orleans for four hours.  Seriously.  If you've never been to New Orleans and want to know what it's like, go there for a Saints game.  It's the real deal.  It's us being us.  Yeah you right, baby!

Hell of a game yesterday.  48-27.  The Saints killed it.  They're undefeated.  Un-fucking believable.  Bless you boys.

The place was insane by half-time.  Music blaring, Dr. John, Rebirth Brass Band. A cute boy in glasses grabbed me and started twirling me around the dance floor.  Yes.  On one foot.  With a broken knee.  Give me enough Maker's Mark and Abita Amber and anything is possible!

I met Regina, who I love.  She's in a leg brace right now too!  We're going to go dancing when we can walk again.

More hot Louisiana boys. Delicious. Fuck, I miss my southern Louisiana men.  Men who are MEN.  Not these pretty city boys.  When I go out in SF, there are rarely guys worth hitting on. But at the Black Magic Voodoo Lounge during a Saints game? A room full of men I want to fuck. Look at these cutie pies, from Napa:

Yum.  I want them all.  First separately, for a minimum of four hours each.  Then, all four at once.  All night. Yum again.

When our boys were finished thrashing the Giants, the place exploded.  We screamed.  People were dancing on the bar, standing in the windows.  We second-lined down the street.  Yes, even me.  On crutches.

Yeah you right indeed.  Geaux fucking Saints.  WHO DAT!

GEAUX SAINTS

I'll be watching the Saints and the Giants at the Black Magic Voodoo lounge on Lombard and Franklin tomorrow morning.  Where will you be?

http://whodatzone.com/