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| Partying & fishing in Maison Bleu for Mardi Gras |
Mardi Gras morning. I took off a long weekend as I do each year. In New Orleans everyone is off from work today. Either you join the throng or watch coverage on TV. It's like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade but all day.
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| Rogue ride through New Toulouse - image by Robin Sprocket |
Second Life is Second Life. As great the spirit is in New Toulouse, no one gets that Mardi Gras in New Orleans bears little resemblance to Carnivale in Rio.
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| Rogue ride through New Toulouse - image by Robin Sprocket |
In Brasil the elabourate costumes and scantily clad dancers are iconic. Just as with the Macy's parade the people on the float are incidental in New Orleans. They almost always wear harlequin style or French Revolution with color and scheme to complement the floats' designs. They are faceless individuals behind masks who throw beads and trinkets. The float is the thing and up for an award.
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| Rogue ride through New Toulouse - image by Robin Sprocket |
Mardi Gras runs for several weeks to give all the Krewes their chance to make their routes. Many krewes consist of several subgroups or "inner krewes" (if only one team with one float paraded it would very short :P). The krewe declares a theme and their inner krewes run with it.
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| Collision with the streetcar - image by Panza Eilde |
This is all very layman. For a better understanding of krewes and New Orleans during Mardi Gras visit this website: http://www.mardigrasneworleans.com/schedule/parade-info/parades.html
Yes, there is even a Krewe of Chewbacchus for SciFi fans!
Want to say here that I don't object in any way for incorporating Carnivale practises with Mardi Gras tradition. It's great and what makes Second Life special. Here we create our own culture unique to anyone else.
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| My annual Mardi Gras party w/a final fishing contest in NT |
I can imagine had I never left that I would be in Krew Delusion; I'm acquainted with some members via Second Life. Through them I've learned that being in a krewe is a year-round thing, from marching in the local St Patricks Day parade to raising money for charity. Krewes are very special.
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| Partying in Maison Bleu |
New Toulouse was party central for the long weekend. The Mardi Gras parade was a challenge last Saturday but a lot of fun. We had some technical incidents which defied logic, like inexplicably landing hundreds of meters north on a sandbar in another sim. Carter DJed for the estate stream, which no one can top. I got to hear Carter 3 times :) with Nawlins and Chinese New Year stuff. I had two events, today my annual Mardi Gras party. Later several hopped on the float and I took them around the city. Thanks go out to Robin Sprocket and Panza Eilde for the snapshots in this post.
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| Petunia's Crawfish Dumpling Wingding for MG & CNY w/DJ Carter |
With Mardi Gras out of the way, it's all about Relay For Life with some preliminary planning for SL10B and 7Seas Fishiversary's Wood-themed anniversary. I've become co-captain with the Aether Chrononauts which give New Toulouse a reliable connection to resources and a definite Relay presence. Bay City is on board too with its own contacts. Steampunk and Dieselpunk will share a presence together (I suppose we're in between). Too soon to tell whether Skybeam will join the team this year.
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| It's never Mardi Gras without Carter's celebration at Madhu's Café |
