Hello out there humanoids,
As you may or may not be aware of, Treble Tank (my character) is from New Orleans, not because I live there (I'm from Seattle) but because I freaking love that city. My parents grew up there and have taken me quite a few times, and its a beautiful, amazing town. The historical aspects are phenomenal, there's so much there. The vibe and the music are just...ah it makes me wish I was a black woman so I could sing soul.
BUT
the point of this post is that there's a very important holiday going on in the city right now - Mari Gras, in French it means Fat Tuesday, its a celebration before lent, a Christian fasting period (there's lots of Jesus stuff I won't go into, because...well...meh). And its a spectacular thing you should know about.
I've been to the celebrations once, last year during spring break because my parents wanted to show me some of the culture they grew up with. And its not any of that crazy stuff you might think (topless women, drunk people, stupidity). Its a giant magnificent party with all kinds of people - drunk college kids (okay yes, but not as much as expected) lots of different kinds of families (and I mean really little kids) and couples and groups of interesting people.
The main part of Mardi Gras, is the parades,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7hZPhXmiWAThey throw beads, doubloons (plastic coins), and sometimes cups or stuffies decorated in purple, green, and gold (Treble's colors, btw)
and there are parades going for about a week or two coming up to the actual day (March 8 ) and kids get out of school to go see parades and be with their families
The amazing thing I think, is that even after Katrina, they still had these parades, and everyone in the city came together for this, to have a good time.
A Note On Katrina:
The city is still recovering. its devastating to see the people there still without homes and help. Its a bigger problem to this day than most people are aware of.
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