Mardi Gras 2020

[WaveProf]

two spectators also fell off a balcony near St. Charles And Poydras

[Baywave1]

two spectators also fell off a balcony near St. Charles And Poydras

Wasn’t it uptown near Marengo?

[TUPF]

Im at out of towner but I’m honestly surprised there aren’t more incidents over the years and every year. Big crowds jostling for position liberally marinated in adult beverages, narrow streets, tall towed floats, thrown objects, mounted police...

I think it’s a testament to the city that this year appears to be an anomaly. It’s a mobile New Year’s Eve in Time Square.

[Johnny Mac]

Im at out of towner but I’m honestly surprised there aren’t more incidents over the years and every year. Big crowds jostling for position liberally marinated in adult beverages, narrow streets, tall towed floats, thrown objects, mounted police...

I think it’s a testament to the city that this year appears to be an anomaly. It’s a mobile New Year’s Eve in Time Square.

To be honest, I think (other than the people getting crushed by floats) that this year's incidents of falling off floats and balconies is on par with normal years.. but with the two deaths in the headlines, I think every little thing is getting into the media

As I mentioned a few posts above, we were required to wear harnesses one year after a float rider fell off... but they never came on the float to make sure we were hooked in.. hell, I didn't mention this, but all of our throws were on top of the ropes we were supposed to be tethered too... along with the fact that half of them were useless because of their length (the fall off the float, hit the ground, then get dragged by the float length I mentioned)... they patted us down as we walked out of the Dome to our busses to make sure our harnesses were on... if I could ever find my old Mardi Gras backpack, that harness is probably still in there along with my suspenders and white gloves with the fingers cut off.

[PeteRasche]

I'm curious: how often do the "riders falling off floats" and "spectators falling off balconies" incidents occur? Is it more common (like, some every year) but only amplified this year because of the two other deaths? Or are those very rare also?

I agree with TUPF and have always felt that it's amazing that more bad things do not occur. My hometown is infamous for "The Who Concert Tragedy" (1979) where the the doors to the coliseum opened and the push of people swarming to get in for general admission floor spots caused 11 people to die from being crushed to death (and led to changes in concert ticket rules). I will never forget my first time on Bourbon Street on a Mardi Gras weekend Friday night... the crowd swell when someone "performed" on a balcony caused me to be lifted off the ground and moved several feet. One of the scariest and most helpless feelings I have ever had, and I'm tall enough that I could see over the crowd (my friends were literally staring face-first into the back of the person in front of them.... had to be terrifying). All I could think about during that swell was the Who Concert thing. My friends and I immediately bee-lined for the sidewalk and the nearest cross street to get off Bourbon.

[TUPF]

As our old football coaches used to say...always keep your head on a swivel!

[MattK]

Im at out of towner but I’m honestly surprised there aren’t more incidents over the years and every year. Big crowds jostling for position liberally marinated in adult beverages, narrow streets, tall towed floats, thrown objects, mounted police...

I think it’s a testament to the city that this year appears to be an anomaly. It’s a mobile New Year’s Eve in Time Square.

To be honest, I think (other than the people getting crushed by floats) that this year's incidents of falling off floats and balconies is on par with normal years.. but with the two deaths in the headlines, I think every little thing is getting into the media

As I mentioned a few posts above, we were required to wear harnesses one year after a float rider fell off... but they never came on the float to make sure we were hooked in.. hell, I didn't mention this, but all of our throws were on top of the ropes we were supposed to be tethered too... along with the fact that half of them were useless because of their length (the fall off the float, hit the ground, then get dragged by the float length I mentioned)... they patted us down as we walked out of the Dome to our busses to make sure our harnesses were on... if I could ever find my old Mardi Gras backpack, that harness is probably still in there along with my suspenders and white gloves with the fingers cut off.

I wonder if your tie off point was good enough to hold anyone in the first place...

[Johnny Mac]

Im at out of towner but I’m honestly surprised there aren’t more incidents over the years and every year. Big crowds jostling for position liberally marinated in adult beverages, narrow streets, tall towed floats, thrown objects, mounted police...

I think it’s a testament to the city that this year appears to be an anomaly. It’s a mobile New Year’s Eve in Time Square.

To be honest, I think (other than the people getting crushed by floats) that this year's incidents of falling off floats and balconies is on par with normal years.. but with the two deaths in the headlines, I think every little thing is getting into the media

As I mentioned a few posts above, we were required to wear harnesses one year after a float rider fell off... but they never came on the float to make sure we were hooked in.. hell, I didn't mention this, but all of our throws were on top of the ropes we were supposed to be tethered too... along with the fact that half of them were useless because of their length (the fall off the float, hit the ground, then get dragged by the float length I mentioned)... they patted us down as we walked out of the Dome to our busses to make sure our harnesses were on... if I could ever find my old Mardi Gras backpack, that harness is probably still in there along with my suspenders and white gloves with the fingers cut off.

I wonder if your tie off point was good enough to hold anyone in the first place...

that's another good point... the ropes were pretty sturdy, probably 500 lb "test" to use a fishing line term... but they were attached to eye hooks screwed into the wooden floor.. not sure they'd take the stress

[gerryb323]

Im at out of towner but I’m honestly surprised there aren’t more incidents over the years and every year. Big crowds jostling for position liberally marinated in adult beverages, narrow streets, tall towed floats, thrown objects, mounted police...

I think it’s a testament to the city that this year appears to be an anomaly. It’s a mobile New Year’s Eve in Time Square.

To be honest, I think (other than the people getting crushed by floats) that this year's incidents of falling off floats and balconies is on par with normal years.. but with the two deaths in the headlines, I think every little thing is getting into the media

As I mentioned a few posts above, we were required to wear harnesses one year after a float rider fell off... but they never came on the float to make sure we were hooked in.. hell, I didn't mention this, but all of our throws were on top of the ropes we were supposed to be tethered too... along with the fact that half of them were useless because of their length (the fall off the float, hit the ground, then get dragged by the float length I mentioned)... they patted us down as we walked out of the Dome to our busses to make sure our harnesses were on... if I could ever find my old Mardi Gras backpack, that harness is probably still in there along with my suspenders and white gloves with the fingers cut off.

I wonder if your tie off point was good enough to hold anyone in the first place...

that's another good point... the ropes were pretty sturdy, probably 500 lb "test" to use a fishing line term... but they were attached to eye hooks screwed into the wooden floor.. not sure they'd take the stress

They'd slow us down, I bet

[PeteRasche]

I got to ride on a float once, when the basketball team, in our first year back, rode a float up Canal Street from the Riverwalk to the Dome on the afternoon of the opening football game in 1989. I knew absolutely nothing about Mardi Gras, had never been, never seen a float in person, etc. We climbed on (amazed that they hid a Port-a-potty inside!) and went up top. We saw these metal brackets with ropes on them, and whoever was in charge told us to put the ropes around us. We all laughed... because not only did they seem way too flimsy to stop anyone from falling, but they came up to about mid-thigh on most of us. Anyone who understands the idea of "center of gravity" knows they wouldn't really have done any good if they'd been needed.

[TUPF]

Happy Mardi Gras, fellow Tulanians!

Whether you are riding floats, reaching for throws, watching from the stands, or flashing from balconies, may you stay upright today.

[PeteRasche]

Happy Mardi Gras from up here where it's just another Tuesday!

I'm wearing my purple, gold, and green socks brought to me last weekend during my visit by a friend who rode this past weekend, since I I wouldn't be there. And one nice strand of beads to make sure people know. Meanwhile my Facebook wall is tough to see... All my old friends along the route awaiting Zulu and Rex...

[Johnny Mac]

I'm contemplating going to a local bakery that has life changing cinnamon rolls that takes that recipe and converts it to king cakes once a year. Not sure it fits my "keto" diet, but since it is "fat" Tuesday, perhaps I live a little and start to atone for my "sins" tomorrow.

[PeteRasche]

My wife and I are doing a quasi-keto thing but decided to call it off when we went down last weekend and resume on Ash Wednesday. That's the whole point, right?

My church is having a Mardi Gras party tonight. Turns out there are quite a few NOLA ex-pats at our church. We're having it catered by a really good New Orleans food place here, and Slidellwave's wife got us 8 Randazzo king cakes. The kids parade is being organized by a new member who recently moved here after running some sort of program at the NOLA art museum. I'm in charge of the music playlist and a Mardi Gras trivia contest.

[waverider]

My highlight was Sunday learning a new drinking game from some Tulane cheerleaders that were set up near us. Even talked a lot of football with them and ended up doing the Hullabaloo with one of them that night. My wife was less thrilled about my “new friends”

[Roller]

...
My church is having a Mardi Gras party tonight. Turns out there are quite a few NOLA ex-pats at our church. We're having it catered by a really good New Orleans food place here, and Slidellwave's wife got us 8 Randazzo king cakes. The kids parade is being organized by a new member who recently moved here after running some sort of program at the NOLA art museum. I'm in charge of the music playlist and a Mardi Gras trivia contest.

Some of you may be familiar with Mike West and his wife, Katie, who used to hold forth at Margaritaville in the Quarter, until Katrina wiped out their 9th Ward digs and forced them to relocate to Lawrence, KS. They are now performing as "Truckstop Honeymoon," and they are acting as emissaries for the traditions of Mardi Gras and New Orleans.
Mike is one of my favorite lyricists (better than Dylan, imo).

Here's a link to their Mardi Gras nostaligia:


And a link to their hi-jinks (Mike's the pink-wigged banjo player):

[GretnaGrn]

My wife and I are doing a quasi-keto thing but decided to call it off when we went down last weekend and resume on Ash Wednesday. That's the whole point, right?

My church is having a Mardi Gras party tonight. Turns out there are quite a few NOLA ex-pats at our church. We're having it catered by a really good New Orleans food place here, and Slidellwave's wife got us 8 Randazzo king cakes. The kids parade is being organized by a new member who recently moved here after running some sort of program at the NOLA art museum. I'm in charge of the music playlist and a Mardi Gras trivia contest.

Most of the Catholic elementary schools have the kids parade in homemade floats built out of wagons. Adds a lot of fun

[Johnny Mac]

My wife and I are doing a quasi-keto thing but decided to call it off when we went down last weekend and resume on Ash Wednesday. That's the whole point, right?

My church is having a Mardi Gras party tonight. Turns out there are quite a few NOLA ex-pats at our church. We're having it catered by a really good New Orleans food place here, and Slidellwave's wife got us 8 Randazzo king cakes. The kids parade is being organized by a new member who recently moved here after running some sort of program at the NOLA art museum. I'm in charge of the music playlist and a Mardi Gras trivia contest.

dude, that's awesome.. only mardi gras related thing I saw in Charlotte besides the king cake I bought today was the mardi gras bike parade they had on Saturday

I love the little parades they have for kids at the New Orleans schools... one of the guys I rode with years ago who's a huge Wave fan, despite having played for Auburn, teaches out in Metairie.. One of my first years in Endymion I had to give him my beans and jeans tickets because I wasn't going to use them so I dropped them off at his school Friday morning (Hermes Friday) and the wagon "floats" were all lined up and the kids were raring to go! Just LOVE that kind of stuff.

[AO Sig]

Mardi gras music, staff given beads, and a king cake made by me (only 3 babies this year). Will be penitent in a few hours.

[SlidellWave]

ended up doing the Hullabaloo with one of them that night. My wife was less thrilled about my “new friends”

Is that a metaphor? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

[gerryb323]

ended up doing the Hullabaloo with one of them that night. My wife was less thrilled about my “new friends”

Is that a metaphor? Is that what the kids are calling it these days?

Netflix and Hullabaloo!

[PeteRasche]

Mike is one of my favorite lyricists (better than Dylan, imo).

'Dems Fightin' Words!!!! Roller and Prof ARE GONNA THROW DOWN!!!

Here's a link to their Mardi Gras nostaligia:

Lyrically that reminds me a lot more of early Jimmy Buffett than anything else (familiar with "Peanut Butter Conspiracy"?)

Most of the Catholic elementary schools have the kids parade in homemade floats built out of wagons. Adds a lot of fun

We debated that but this was our first ever attempt (the church previously did a "Shrove Tuesday pancake dinner" rather than a "Mardi Gras Party"), so we had no idea what the turnout would be, and we didn't want to tell people to bring a wagon, nor did we have the time or impetus to try to round up a bunch on our own. The church had one wagon in the nursery, so we took that and decorated it ourselves, and picked the two smallest kids to be King and Queen, gave them capes and crowns and set them in it, and let them be pulled through to "lead" the parade. The kids' craft for the night was to make a mask - we got paper masks, and lots of feathers, stick-on jewels and such, markers and crayons, etc., and let them decorate them, then they did a walking parade behind the wagon. I brought in a bunch of junk throws I caught last week, half beads and half cheapo stuffed animals and plastic light-up crap (I actually brought along a bag to the parades just to collect "unwanted" throws specifically to take home for the church parade). SlidellWave's son is in high school and plays trumpet (good New Orleans upbringing shining through!) and he opened the parade by playing the opening call of "Second Line Pt 1" before I kicked on the recorded version for the parade. It was a big hit.

Side note: I was shocked by the lack of knowledge of Mardi Gras exhibited in the trivia contest, as the top scores were all the NOLA expats. Many folks don't even know that "Mardi Gras" is French for "Fat Tuesday", that the season is called "Carnival", or that doubloons are a traditional throw along with beads and cups. The "gimme" true/false question I threw in at the end was "True or False, Mardi Gras is a debaucherous party only for adults"... I included a photo on the screen of my kids standing on stepladders at the parades last week, catching beads, to drive home the point... and yet 15 out of 31 answers said "True". Yet another example of the media driving public perception. But the whole point of the questions I included was that hopefully those there would learn about Mardi Gras in a fun way, even if they got the questions wrong, so I probably succeeded (and I'm a pretty decent emcee...).

[TUPF]

You done well, grasshoppa!

[Roller]

...Roller and Prof ARE GONNA THROW DOWN!!!

Nah. We cool.
(If not, then Bring It On!)

Lyrically that reminds me a lot more of early Jimmy Buffett than anything else (familiar with "Peanut Butter Conspiracy"?)

A lot of his stuff is very much Buffett-like (another of the many lyricists I consider better than Dylan).

Good job on bringing Cincinnati onto the track. Teach your children well.

[WaveProf]

I've seen Buffett live more than 20 times, including his first show in Paris where he mostly spoke French from stage. His early stuff, before he became a hack, is quite strong and he is underrated as a lyricist. Dylan even covered Pirate Looks at 40 out of respect, and he almost never covers anybody. But the idea he is anywhere near the lyricist as Dylan is the point at which debate seems silly to even enter into.