Friday Evening...

[daglob]

... before Fat Tuesday, and the city has officially shut down.

Nothin' but merriment and joy from now 'til midnight Tuesday.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

[daglob]

... into Fat Tuesday.

An odd thing to note: The Knights of Revelry are parading; their emblem float is Folly dancing around in a champagne glass on a float still pulled by a mule. He is swinging his pig's bladders around and shaking the gold paint off, and when one get a little less shiny than he likes, he tosses it to the crowd, and picks up another.

Don't laugh; where you live they probably have some weird traditions also.

[HarryTrotter]

I assume your in the Big Easy?

[daglob]

I assume your in the Big Easy?

Nope: Mobile, the birthplace of Mardi Gras (although they quit having it for awhile after the colonial capitol moved to New Orleans). I hear that over there they have even weirder traditions.

[HarryTrotter]

I assume your in the Big Easy?

Mobile, the birthplace of Mardi Gras

Did not know that...

[daglob]

If you live here, they will regale you with stories (LOTS of them). The tradition started in 1703 at the first Mobile colony at 27-Mile Bluff (aka "Floods in the Spring"), as kind of end-of-winter celebration. When they moved the colony southward to a marshy spot that didn't flood every spring, they moved the celebration. Mobile became the territorial capitol sometime, but problems with yellow fever prompted the territorial governor to move the capitol to Biloxi in 1720, which I don't think was really much of an improvement (yellow fever-wise). Eventually, the celebration made it to New Orleans. They do it a lot bigger, but they are a bigger city.

[daglob]

Wait...we have to have a reason and special "story"/handful of days to get loaded and throw pig bladders at random people?!?!

Some of us do. Bear in mind, that no one gets arrested for the pig's bladders, since they are considered as good a throw as a doubloon (although, I'd rather have the doubloon). Getting too drunk (like too drunk to fish) is frowned upon and will get you a trip to the hoosegow. Just plain drunk won't, provided you don't all attention to yourself (like trying to drive through the front door of the courthouse).