Comments on: It's Mardi Gras Time

It's Mardi Gras Time

ajr — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 19:42:40 -0800

It's Carnival Time! New Orleans Mardi Gras celebrations are steeped in tradition. From beads and king cakes to invitation-only balls, carnival has been a part of the city's history since the French held private masked balls and parties in 1718. Although Spanish rule interrupted the party for 90 years, many of the krewes have been around since the 1800s. Today, parade floats are considered an art form and some krewes spend up to $700,000 on a single float. With such excess abounding, consider yourself warned.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 19:50:05 -0800

Oh, baby. I am so there.

By: Stan Chin

Stan Chin — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 19:50:42 -0800

I'll have to remind you hooligans in New Orleans again (like I have to do EVERY YEAR, I even wrote a stern letter of dissapproval to Jeopardy! for getting this wrong), but the birthplace of Mardi Gras (in the US at least) is my hometown Mobile, Alabama. We don't have nearly as many Girls Going Wild, but dammit, we've got tradition coming out our wazoo. You New Orleans freaks should calm down a bit and come on over for a good time.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 19:54:07 -0800

How's the Gumbo in Moblie?

By: Stan Chin

Stan Chin — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 20:00:09 -0800

Not very good, but we have Jimmy Buffett's Cheeseburgers in Paradise at the Dew Drop Inn (who also serves world famous hot dogs). We also have our fine share of good-natured southern belles at your disposal.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 20:12:57 -0800

It is my lifelong goal to one day ride in the Zulu Parade. Chunking spears, hurling coconuts, wearing blackface, drinking heavily at five in the morning...this is the stuff dreams are made of.

By: turbodog

turbodog — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 20:34:28 -0800

Dunno about the spears anymore, but ~~The Man~~ insurance companies forced them to hand the coconuts out instead.

By: djeo

djeo — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 22:13:24 -0800

I just got home from the Muses parade. I had an absolute blast. Mardi Gras isn't all about the insanity down on Bourbon St. It's the parades baby. "Hey sistah, t'row me sumthin'!" (=

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Thu, 27 Feb 2003 23:42:49 -0800

They could use a bit of this in Boston.....*sulks*

By: Katemonkey

Katemonkey — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 02:16:12 -0800

Make yourself a king cake, cook up some gumbo, and start watching BourboCam, BeadCam, and ParadeCam. It's almost like being there. Meanwhile, I'm going to grab all the beads I kept from my five years of living in New Orleans and start throwing them at myself in an attempt to relive the spirit.

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 04:58:32 -0800

I'll be starting off in Baton Rouge at the Spanishtown Parade ("We're here, we're queer, where's my beer?") and then moving downriver to New Or-yuns for Endymion and Bacchus. I've cooked a kettle of red beans and tonight I'm going to mix up my deadly Bloody Marys. This will be my first Mardi Gras in five years. I just moved back from Texas. I tried to explain the Carnival to the folks over there, but there are just some things you can't explain.

By: bas67

bas67 — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 06:02:16 -0800

I won't be able to make it this year :( The first one I've missed in 4 yrs. I agree that it's more about the parades than the debauchery in the quarter. Although I admit that I usually stay at The Inn On Bourbon. There's nothing like standing on the balcony and watching the mass of people travel down the street. Have fun and be careful.

By: 111

111 — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 07:45:26 -0800

forget New Orleans, Venice, whatever. True Carnival, with all its risks and joys, is like this. [link in Portuguese]

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 08:42:08 -0800

Stan, Mardi Gras in America is much older than the city of Mobile. Because of "hedonistic" behavior the Pilgrims forbid the celebration of Shrove Tuesday in 1628! But seeing as how the first European settlements in what is now the US were settled by Catholic Spaniards, I would just bet that there was a little Carnival celebration going on in places like St. Agustine before Maubila or the Mississippi river were ever gazed upon by any white man!

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 08:43:12 -0800

Carnival history.

By: jcruelty

jcruelty — Fri, 28 Feb 2003 11:02:58 -0800

If you go, be careful.