Everything Science Forum

Well kiddies, it is Mardi Gras time yet again, WHOO HOO!! :costumedsmiley.gif: :beer :biggulp :cheekysmiley.gif: I am getting amped up for the big party. Carnival season here in the "Big Easy" is definately starting to pick up in a big way.  Q

Have fun Q!!    :beer

Will do. :biggulp Q

Managed to get there twice. Absolutely great fun. :cheekysmiley.gif:

Watch out for under cooked chicken. :puke.gif:

Camping across the big lake was a great place to stay, as was my little camper the second time.  :062802sleep_prv.gif:

Skeptigirl,
  You have to watch out for undercooked chicken anytime of the year. :puke.gif: As for Mardi Gras, I live right in the French Quarter where the party madness happens, just walk out my front door, and there I am. :beer This represents my 23rd consequtive Mardi Gras. Just don't ask me how I survived them, but I somehow did. ;D ;D Q

What a fun place to live, regardless of the Mardi Gras!.

Actually, about that chicken, I think they were selling it so fast they didn't wait for it to cook. It was too late after biting into it and sure enough that night or the next night, it's a blurr, I had to stay in the camper while my friends went to someone's party.

So the weekend ends. We drive my girl friend to Pensacola as she is going on to meet her sister and take some sailboat back somewhere. And my guy friend and I drive back to Colorado. On the way home he tells me he had this gay encounter at the party I missed. And he was worried because he "liked it". 

BTW, he didn't end up being gay after all. I think it was just a young guy experiencing the world.  It was some trip!

Later, I'll have to tell you about my first trip to Mardi Gras. We were quite the attraction in rural LA on the way there and back owing to our hair, clothes and the era.

Skeptigirl,
 That tends to happen, especially at Popeyes' Chicken. There, they tend to be harried by the massive crowds for Mardi Gras, or at other times of year just being lazy. I tend to stay away from Popeyes' for that reason, and besides there is alot of better places to eat at. As for your experiences, sorry you had to be sick, when you should been having a great time, just stay away from chicken shacks next time. Mardi Gras isn't the only party in town, there are others at variuos times of the year, so there is always something to do.   Q

The chicken was from a street vendor. Perhaps they have gone the way of glass alcohol containers and my age is showing. My first trip was in 1971 and the second in 1976.

On another subject, I have been sent a PM from a person who read waaaay more into my post than was there. In case anyone else has as well I shall clarify the situation. I don't care that my friend had a gay encounter. And, I wouldn't care if he were gay and had found out there or not. It just turned out he wasn't.

The discussion of Mardi Gras just got me reminiscing and it was a very interesting event. When you are on a trip with a friend and they suddenly blurt out a very personal experience, well, it leaves an impression. It was the personal nature of the disclosure, not the nature of the event that was remarkable.

Actually, I wrote a lot more and then decided it was a bit too much for a post among persons I have just met.  The rest of the story was about our casual but very intimate few days at his parent's cabin by the lake before I continued on my journey. Yes, those days were quite different and perhaps not as acceptable to discuss now as they were then.  :2thumbsup.gif:

Allow me to introduce myself a bit more here so at least in this area, false attributes to my posts will not be made.

My background in science has led me to conclude there are no gods and the Bible is just as mythological as are all other religious texts. I may offend some here who are religious but it won't be on purpose. I enjoy lots of things about religions, I collect a lot of religious folk art. But I do not tolerate fundamentalists, especially when they try to push their agendas via government.

The evidence I have evaluated from my background in genetics has led my to conclude there is only one race, the human race. A black and a white person are no more different than any two individuals are different from each other, identical twins excepted. It is very clear there are no 'genetic' divisions among us that can be identified as race.

By that same token, homosexuality seems most likely to be a genetic trait. There are gay animals. Humans are not markedly different from animals except we have developed technology and no other species has. It's just a fact of life that some people are attracted to the opposite sex and some to the same sex. What nonsense it is to call it a 'sin' or to claim couples unite for the main purpose of procreating. We unite because we experience love and companionship, not because some 'god' wants more warm bodies to rule over.

These are my beliefs and aren't meant to belittle anyone who doesn't share them. I do not care if others have different beliefs as long as they aren't pushing them on me and of course I have no right to push mine on them.

I have traveled to many countries and through a good portion of this one, (USA). I find other cultures fascinating and think if more people traveled to more places they would have a healthier view of the world. Stay in one place and that view can become distorted.

Oh ya, and as long as I'm on the subject of genetics, animals obviously think and have emotions. The idea they don't and humans took some genetic path that gave us mind, emotion and technology out of the blue is a bit ludicrous.

So, now that we have that cleared up, I hope you all see that tolerance isn't one of my deficiencies.

I still haven't gotten to reminisce about those rural LA folks and their reaction to a car full of hippies. Maybe later I'll bore you all with more stories.  ;D

Skeptigirl,
 Sounds like you think pretty much the same way I do, and that is a good thing. :) I myself happen to be gay, and if anyone has a problem, TOUGH, because I am not going to deny who I am just because some insecure dweeb or dweebet may be offended. Street vendors, are notoriously bad when it comes to food quality.  Q

Skeptigirl - you came to the right place!

Q - It's cool, man.  8)

My wife (-to-be) went to Fat Tuesday back in '74 with a horde of our college pals crammed into a compact car.  I was temporarily out of the country then.  She has minimal memories of the event, being continuously stupified by vast quantities of ethanol blends served in multi-liter paper cups. She recalls being in a restaurant where one of them was served a huge platter of spiders or scorpions. I assume that she was experiencing an halucinatory view of him eating crayfish.

She arrived home safely but is unaware of how.


 :biggulp

Astro,
 Thanks, man. :)
Yale,
 Sounds like your wife to be was probably tripping. ;D Mardi Gras has a way of doing that to people, especially to neophytes. ;D Q

I have traveled to many countries and through a good portion of this one, (USA). I find other cultures fascinating and think if more people traveled to more places they would have a healthier view of the world. Stay in one place and that view can become distorted.

I still haven't gotten to reminisce about those rural LA folks and their reaction to a car full of hippies. Maybe later I'll bore you all with more stories.  ;D

Skeptigirl, I have had similar experience.  My work has taken me throughout Europe (E and W) and to Asia (particularly Japan and Taiwan).

One of my most interesting experiences was discussing religion with an Taiwanese engineer while sitting in an Italian restaurant in Paris (interesing mix of cultures).  He was intriqued by my beard and wanted to know if I had religion or God.  So I tried to explain my views with some difficulty.

I have found that people throughout the world are pretty much the same, as are the joys and concerns of life.  Only the language/culture are different.

Staying too close to home can leave one with a parochial myopia, and I am afraid that affects a lot of people, who then elect political leaders with similar outlooks.

BTW, you're stories are interesting, definitely not boring.  :)

your beard is part of your views?

Yeah, in a way. 

Alot of people ask me if my beard is a religious thing (i.e. symbolic), as in the way the Hasidim or Ashkenazim wear particular clothing or styles of grooming, or the Taliban required men to wear beards.

In a sense, by not shaving, I am going against a social norm, and this tests other people.

I accept/take people as they are, and I expect the same in return.  Reciprocity in human/social relationships (an ideal of K'ung Fu-tzu, aka Confucius), and that is in a sense a religious/philosophical perspective.

I also like to challenge peoples' minds.

I choose my uniqueness by wearing my underwear on the outside.

(plus they stay cleaner that way...)

 :beatnik2.gif:

 :yukyuk

Or, you could just not wear underwear.   :mad

Actually, I'd be quite happy with just a loin cloth, like Ron Ely in the Tarzan series.  Maybe someday when I go back to live in the outback.   ;D

But, getting back on topic, for those outside of the Big Easy, check out -

www.mardigras.com/

www.mardigrasneworleans.com/

www.mardigrasday.com/

http://mardigras.neworleans.com/

Astro,
 Great idea of posting the links, thanks. :)  I was going to provide a couple of links, but got waylaid  by this mad, insane party. ;D Three more days of depravity, WOOO HOOO!!!! :beer :biggulp Q

Q, don't have too much fun now.  ;)  :D  ;D  :beer  :biggulp  :2thumbsup.gif:

am listening to:  http://www.neworleansonline.com/mgmusicshow.ram

but I thought it wasn't s'pose to be till 8th Feb this year ?    :wall
 

DATES FOR MARDI GRAS:

Mardi Gras Day/Fat Tuesday:
Feb. 8, 2005

Mardi Gras Parade season:
Jan. 28 - Feb. 8, 2005

Carnival season:
Jan. 6 - Feb. 8, 2005

Absolute prime time :
Feb. 4 - 8, 2005
 

K...so you're in the midst of it !!!

I choose my uniqueness by wearing my underwear on the outside.

(plus they stay cleaner that way...)

 :beatnik2.gif:

Meanwhile, back at personages wearing beards in various forms,  and u/wear on the outside of their persons !  Well, looking at these images of yer personages...  Fine by me. 

Bloomin' idjuts !!!  ;D

(Please knock on door prior to disclosure ...Thanks !)   :o :afdbsmiley.gif:

slightly related...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4238571.stm

Nobody does Carnival like Rio.

And no place is like New Orleans during Mardi Gras.

The others are just imitations.  ;D

Astro,
 You got that right, man. :beatnik2.gif: As for me having too much fun, a little late, for I am paying the piper today, burned out, and have to go to work tonight, ugh!
 Sarah,
 Yes Mardi Gras day was 8 Feburary, yesterday, and yes, I was definately in the middle of the carnage for the last several days, and paying dearly for it, but I had a total blast. You definately have to visit this side of the planet and experience Mardi Gras for yourself.  Once you have experienced Mardi Gras, you re not the same anymore. Mardi Gras as you have found out, is more than just Fat Tuesday itself, it is a parade filled carnage fest that goes on for days.
                                                                      Q

OK Qazak...maybe ...someday !  (This is sort of same as various people proposing visit  to Oz...someday!!!...???  :lol ). Meanwhile...hope your recovery proceeds ...well - ish...!!!

Oops, and 'twas Chinese New Year on 8th Feb also ! 

CRUMBS !  What a combination !!!   :biggulp  :koala

Sarah,
 Thanks. :) I am slowly getting back to normal, usually takes me the remainder of the week to get over it. Mardi Gras was a blast, but it is nice to have my neighborhood back.
                                                                                                                 Q

Sarah, just you wait.  i'll show up on your doorstep one day.  Just ask Qazaq!  I showed up on his a few years ago.


 :beer  here's to your recovery Q!  ;)

Greenie,
 Thanks, ma'am. :) Slowly getting back to normal, whatever that is. ;D  Q

(http://www.rolandmetalart.com/hangover_532x373.JPG)

Qazaq: try hangover cure number 6.  Always works for me!

(http://www.cyberium.net/imagine/samples/surreal.jpg)

--Yev

Yale,
 That is sick, dude. ;D
Yev,
 I think I rather keep my head attached to my body. ;D I will have the hair of the dog that chewed up my butt instead.  ;D  Q