Mardi Gras 2006, Anyone?

I'm resisting the lure of making some sort of pun about next year's Mardi Gras parade floats, and instead just bringing you the following Yahoo! News story:

Dont Count Mardi Gras Out (excerpt)

"I think now more than ever we need a reason to celebrate. It's really at our core," said Arthur Hardy, publisher of the Mardi Gras Guide. "I can't imagine the city rolling over and playing dead and saying, `I surrender.'"

With thousands believed dead and authorities still unable to collect bodies floating in canals and hidden in attics, even the talk of a Mardi Gras celebration might seem disrespectful.

But New Orleans has always loved a good time, and when the two-week, pre-Lent celebration that ends with Fat Tuesday arrives on Feb. 28, floats could be parading down streets now covered in water.

[...] Mardi Gras is enormous even by this city's standards. In 2001, more than 1,000 floats, 500 marching bands and 135,000 people paraded through the streets. One university study estimates the celebration brings in $1 billion a year to New Orleans.

Hardy, who has been publishing his guide for 30 years and is one of the foremost experts on Mardi Gras, said next year's celebration is also important because it's the 150th anniversary of the first formal parades in the city.

The Civil War interrupted partying for a time, and a total of 13 Fat Tuesdays have been canceled because of various conflicts. The Sept. 11 attacks and the 2002 Super Bowl delayed the 2002 parade.

"I've heard some people say we can't do it," Hardy said. "But it's a very significant anniversary and I can't imagine it going unmarked without some kind of parade. It's in our soul to have Mardi Gras."

Comments

[Madonna]

It f***ing kills me to say this, but I don't know (from what I have heard from my own sources) if there will be a Mardi Gras 2106 right now. That city could be in very, VERY bad shape.. Maybe too far gone.

It's still very heartbreaking to look at and think about, and there has been more than enough heartbreak over the last couple of months.

I hope I'm wrong, and that city has it's strength, life and spirit back faster than someone can flash themselves for beads.. But I'm worried, and honestly, it doesn't look good right now. :(

[ken]

The city is going to recover a lot more quickly than people are giving it credit for. After all, "New Orleans Quickly Recovers" isn't exactly as exciting a headline as "New Orleans And Everything In It Are Dead!"
And the areas that Mardi Gras parades traditionally go through will likely be the first to dry out as the old parts of town are also the highest parts of town.
Added bonus? This year, you probably won't have to worry about wandering into the wrong neighborhood and getting stabbed in the neck.

[Madonna]

Ken, I definitely agree the media is sensationalizing (and outright lying) about a great deal of the coverage in New Orleans. And, while I suspect they will eventually drain the city (provided another hurricane doesn't slam into there in the next few months), that isn't the reason I'm concerned...

New Orleans is sitting under a great deal of toxic waste. How much there is, and whether that could be cleaned up or removed, is what concerns me. New Orleans could be the "new Love Canal" (in fact, one local politician has already called it that), and may not be safe to live in for some time, regardless of how successfully they get the water out of there.

Worse yet, we have our "friends" at the EPA - the ones who lied and told the people of New York that the air was safe right after 9/11 when it sure was heck wasn't. I wouldn't put it past them to do the same here, then admit there was a "mistake" when thousands of people all wind up very sick...