Mardi Gras is launched,ready to party New Orleans ?

[Twist_U_Up]

Not me.
I mean they are still looking for bodies.


http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002815145_mardi19.html

NEW ORLEANS — The crowds were sparse, the parades were shortened and the weather was cold and wet, but New Orleans officially launched its annual Mardi Gras celebration Saturday, determined to forget — for a few raucous days, anyway — the hurricane that destroyed much of the city six months ago.

A few dozen floats and a handful of shivering high-school marching bands rolled down historic St. Charles Avenue for two hours, the costumed parade riders by tradition showering plastic beads, stuffed toys and candy onto the scattered clots of onlookers lining the 3.5-mile route.

It was a far cry from past opening weekends of the 150-year-old festival, when crowds would line the sidewalks 10 deep screaming, "Throw me something, mister!" at the passing floats. But for the families that showed up — tourists appeared to be few — the intimacy made the celebration more meaningful.