The 2013 edition of the miniature Mardi Gras parade formerly known as ‘tit Rex, featuring tiny floats towed through the streets by their makers like Chihuahuas on leashes, was a brilliant little affair. This year’s theme was The Bare Minimum, yet the toy float builders seemed to maximize their artistic and satiric skills better than ever.
Each beautifully designed mini float bore a topical pun based on the word bare (as in the float dedicated to the BP oil spill, which was titled “Barely Punished”) or bear (as in the float surmounted by a polar bear atop a watery blue globe) or Bayer (as in aspirin, as in minimal medical options).
The folks who built the biting Right to Bear Arms float (featuring gun-toting Pooh Bears) hit on the simple but effective idea of adding a legibly large title flag to their float leash. I hate to admit it, but the business card-sized labels affixed to most former 'tit Rex floats are difficult for my, shall we say, mature eyes to make out as they rattle along the pavement on their toy wheels.
Legible or not, the floats were all fully unique and new, the miniature hand-made throws were especially wonderful, the bands were excellent and the crowd seemed pleased with the intrinsically tongue-in-cheek child-like sub spectacle. If there was any drawback to this year’s parade, it was that there seemed to be barely enough of it. It’s antithetical, I suppose, but as its popularity grows, I’d like to see the former ‘tit Rex somehow become a bit grander.