Tonight Jack and I rode down to the Treme for dinner with friends. The Quarter is so quiet now that Essence Fest is over. It’s funny how Bourbon always seems to put on the same show, whether anyone’s there to see it or not. The music came blaring out of that bar with the bull riding and ladies in skimpy outfits were trying to lure folks in to strip clubs. But there weren’t a lot of people out and about to be lured. That’s how Bourbon Street is, though. It’s like Las Vegas–always on, and always selling the same experience that is meant to seem like it just sprang out of nowhere for your endless debauched pleasure. On my way home I passed these police officers on horseback, apparently writing a ticket, though I don’t think for anything this guy did. I’m not sure why they’re on horses in the Quarter. I mean, bikes are quicker, I’m sure. I remember a demonstration I went to in New York years ago where there were cops on horseback. They charged in to the crowd, and I was scared. They are big and fast and they seem out of control when they come at you. I wonder, though, how many tourists see this and think it’s a quaint part of the show. Me? I don’t trust the NOPD, and I don’t trust them on horseback either.