Mardi Gras is bothering me (vanity)

vanity | 2/18/06 | Lokibob

[Lokibob]

Am I the only person bothered by the Mardi Gras? The rest of the country is spending billions of $$$ on Katrina recovery, and New Orleans is partying.

Fox news said this afternoon that overtime for the NOPD will run 2.5 million $$ alone.

I mean things are tough, it is tax time, and we have to cough up hard earned money, while NO acts like a buck sponge.

[Gordongekko909]

Heh. Not a voodoo hex. It's more like a "hooray!" than anything else. Observe.

[Ditter]

You thought you were wrong but you were "mistaken". Sheeshe can't you do anything right? ;9)

[The_Reader_David]

Well, Mardi Gras gets out-of-towners to spend time and money in NO. Sure the main point of the place is the port. But tourism is its other main industry. Getting local industry up and running again after a disaster is part of the recovery.

[MinuteGal]

I know a new word now, it's "w00t"
All in all, the word is a h00t
I learn so much on FR
That I know I'll go far
Though my vocabulary now is kap00t

Leni

[EDINVA]

Most families from NO who CAN get on their feet are on them. What you see on tv are those who are not in the habit of helping themselves. You're not seeing the folks who had the good sense to buy insurance, to get back and fix up, if they could, their homes and neighborhoods. Nor do you see those whose homes were demolished and started all over. You could compare it to the press coverage of Iraq .. they only show the negative.

The folks who work on the Mardi Gras krewes do it all themselves .. they pay for everything, and it ain't cheap. THey come up with the concepts for their floats, design and built and paint them. They often make their own costumes, or they pay to have them made. They pay for the beads and trinkets .. it all adds up, but it's a social thing in that city that brings people together. AND they often do "good works" as part of the Krewe.

I wouldn't be so quick to judge.

[JRios1968]

I didn't wanna bailout NO when things got wet, AND I don't wanna bailout LV when things get dry.

It's pretty much always dry in LV...and that is precisely the problem there. It's so dry, they never bothered with proper drainage, so when it rains, you get scenes like

because the water has nowhere to go.

[daybreakcoming]

I thought Don Powell was the Fed in charge of handing out and tracking the money in LA. He use to be head of FDIC, I think.

[bigeasy_70118]

I was out on St. Charles today freezing my ass off. The crowd was small but fairly into the parades. I think it was too cold for anyone to get hammered. It was very family oriented. I drove into the Quarter tonight for dinner. Hardly any one was out. We has no problem getting a seat at K-Paul's.

In order for Mardi Gras to be a success, we are going to need more people next weekend.

I am looking forward to Barkus tomorrow.

[ViLaLuz]

Did the city get their million dollar sponsors for Mardi Gras this year? I'd like to know where that money ended up.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Ces't Levee!

[bigsigh]

suggestion: don't go

[CajunConservative]

It *is* too dang cold to go to the parades. I think the weather is supposed to be really nice next weekend though. I like the Barkus parade here in Lake Charles. Of course it's nothing like you guys have.

[caryatid]

Only if you tell me what "w00t" means. If it's a voodoo hex on me, I ain't comin' down.

Leni, I had to ask the same thing! Perhaps it is a generational thing. By chance, I stumbled upon a helpful website:

Urban Dictionary is a slang dictionary with your definitions. Define your world.

I think it will help me to feel "relevant" ... and allow me to astonish my children.

["Voodoo" and "hexes" are only opportunistic, tourist induced flummery. Just guard against allowing anyone to collect your fingernail clippings or any of your hair ... and you'll be fine.]

[caryatid]

Thanks, CC, for posting these pictures. What a cute idea for a parade! The little Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is the dog of my dreams. I have to content myself with kitties at this point because they are so much easier to manage.

[MinuteGal]

Thanks for the link.

Did you see my masterpiece in # 44?

Leni

[CajunConservative]

The CKCS is definitely a cute breed. I will go smaller next dog. I have a 100 pound worthless yellow lab and a 75 pound german shepherd. They are pretty easy to manage because they don't do much but lay around in the recliners all day long.

Clear Blue Sky shared on another thread about going to the parades on Veteran's Blvd and she said it was like it used to be not what the tourists have made it recently.

Here's some pics.

A float spoofs the failed levee system which caused the flooding during Hurricane Katrina at the opening of the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans.(AFP/Robyn Beck)

[kcar]

I am so ticked off by the injustice of the bailout that what bothers me now is just hearing about it every 5 minutes on FoxNews. It brings back the rage. Here, with both Houses of Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court, socialism can still score a major advance merely by the incessant beat of a hyper-active leftwing media demanding Federal solution to weather issues.

Weather is NOT a federal issue and this welfarist city can choke for all I care.

[LA Woman3]

http://www.wdsu.com/travelgetaways/7194982/detail.html

Quietly, New Orleans Begins Mardi Gras

NEW ORLEANS -- The crowds were small but they were enthusiastic.

The streets of New Orleans were filled Saturday with marching bands, brightly decorated floats and flying plastic beads.

Five Mardi Gras parades rolled back-to-back under cloudy damp skies through neighborhoods left mostly unscathed by Hurricane Katrina.

They were the first of the major parades. More are scheduled for Sunday.

Most of the big parades will be held starting next weekend and continue through Fat Tuesday on Feb. 28.

Officials decided to allow a scaled-back Mardi Gras celebration this year despite the widespread destruction caused by Katrina. The parades were restricted to one corridor this year to help cut the cost of needed police protection and trash pickup.

Many of the residents who turned out said Mardi Gras is an important part of the city's heritage.

Mardi Gras Celebrated Nationwide

With money-tight New Orleans scaling back its traditional Mardi Gras festival, cities across the U.S. are firing up their own celebrations.

But planners said they've had trouble figuring out how to attract tourists who otherwise might have gone to New Orleans without the appearance of trying to capitalize on that city's loss.

Universal Orlando has constructed a replica of the French Quarter that covers three city blocks. In St. Louis, they've changed the name of the popular "hurricane" cocktail to Southern Comfort punch out of respect for storm victims.

Louisville, Ky., which usually doesn't celebrate Mardi Gras, has an estimated 2,000 displaced Katrina victims living there.

That city is putting on a celebration because city officials say a year without Mardi Gras for its guests would be like a "year without the Kentucky Derby."

[LA Woman3]

In St. Louis, they've changed the name of the popular "hurricane" cocktail to Southern Comfort punch out of respect for storm victims.

A little extreme in my opinion!

[CajunConservative]

I agree! Heck this is what the locals are doing.

The Katrina Patina float makes its way along the parade route during the opening of the Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, February 18, 2006. Mardi Gras parades began rolling in New Orleans on Saturday, a symbol for many of both the city's proud commitment to its singular heritage and the deep uncertainties that cloud its recovery from Hurricane Katrina.