Sensory Overload...
Here I am again, lax in my updating... Bad me... Bad, bad me...
So, I have been pretty occupied as of late. I recently returned from a long weekend in New Orleans, where I was part of a contingent of Minneapolis Guardian Angels that joined other Angels from around the country to help assist in the security for Mardi Gras. Apparently, a lot of the cops that left NO due to Katrina never returned, and people were concerned about the lack of law enforcement over MG weekend. As it was, in addition to the NOPD being there, they had State Police, Correctional Officers, Private Security, and a few platoons of M-16 toting National Guard down there. I don't think security was an issue, but let me tell you...
Mardi Gras is fucking nuts. Sensory overload to the max. Imagine the following:
1) A ten to fifteen block chunk of The French Quarter, that being Bourbon Street.
2) Tens of thousands of people of all ages crowded onto Bourbon Street, and surrounding streets, trying their damnest to get stupidly drunk, and succeeding, thanks to the highest concentration of bars or other alcohol serving establishments I have ever seen in such a small area.
3) Being bombarded by bead necklaces of various shapes and sizes from the balconies overlooking Bourbon Street, then dealing with the potential of rolling an ankle or nine when you slip on the damn things on the street.
4) Various camera crews from news stations, internet sites of varying levels of morality, street performers, and the religious / atheist zealots, standing in the middle of it all. Dare I forget the folks walking around in various stages of undress in an attempt to get beads, attention, or just because it's the only time of the year when one can walk around in nothing but body paint, or tightie-whities and a ten gallon Stenson, and not get hauled in.
5) Alcohol flowing like water in the Mississippi River, plus a healthy amount of various drugs.
Toss all that into a giant blender, and blend at high speeds.
That, in a nut shell, is Mardi Gras. Fortunately, we didn't have to deal with a lot of problems. A few arguments here, a first aid op there, assisting the police elsewhere, and all the while recruiting local folks to start up a chapter of their own. Those of us who did want to did get the opportunity to go out on our last night, and enjoy Mardi Gras as civilians, where with the assistance of one of the other Angels, this one from Cincy, I did get a weeeeee bit more smashed than I was envisioning at the beginning of the night. All I'll say is it involved about 7 shots and a hot waitress performing various... interesting things with the test tube shots before I was to ingest their contents. Yep. Interesting indeed...
I'm not sure I'd want to go to MG again, at least as a civilian. Not my scene. I would, however, like to go back to NO when it's not MG, and just explore. It seems like a pretty cool place, with all the history and culture there. It'd be cool to spend a few days there, soaking up some gumbo and live jazz. Just, without the tens of thousands of drunk idiots.
Cheers!
So, I have been pretty occupied as of late. I recently returned from a long weekend in New Orleans, where I was part of a contingent of Minneapolis Guardian Angels that joined other Angels from around the country to help assist in the security for Mardi Gras. Apparently, a lot of the cops that left NO due to Katrina never returned, and people were concerned about the lack of law enforcement over MG weekend. As it was, in addition to the NOPD being there, they had State Police, Correctional Officers, Private Security, and a few platoons of M-16 toting National Guard down there. I don't think security was an issue, but let me tell you...
Mardi Gras is fucking nuts. Sensory overload to the max. Imagine the following:
1) A ten to fifteen block chunk of The French Quarter, that being Bourbon Street.
2) Tens of thousands of people of all ages crowded onto Bourbon Street, and surrounding streets, trying their damnest to get stupidly drunk, and succeeding, thanks to the highest concentration of bars or other alcohol serving establishments I have ever seen in such a small area.
3) Being bombarded by bead necklaces of various shapes and sizes from the balconies overlooking Bourbon Street, then dealing with the potential of rolling an ankle or nine when you slip on the damn things on the street.
4) Various camera crews from news stations, internet sites of varying levels of morality, street performers, and the religious / atheist zealots, standing in the middle of it all. Dare I forget the folks walking around in various stages of undress in an attempt to get beads, attention, or just because it's the only time of the year when one can walk around in nothing but body paint, or tightie-whities and a ten gallon Stenson, and not get hauled in.
5) Alcohol flowing like water in the Mississippi River, plus a healthy amount of various drugs.
Toss all that into a giant blender, and blend at high speeds.
That, in a nut shell, is Mardi Gras. Fortunately, we didn't have to deal with a lot of problems. A few arguments here, a first aid op there, assisting the police elsewhere, and all the while recruiting local folks to start up a chapter of their own. Those of us who did want to did get the opportunity to go out on our last night, and enjoy Mardi Gras as civilians, where with the assistance of one of the other Angels, this one from Cincy, I did get a weeeeee bit more smashed than I was envisioning at the beginning of the night. All I'll say is it involved about 7 shots and a hot waitress performing various... interesting things with the test tube shots before I was to ingest their contents. Yep. Interesting indeed...
I'm not sure I'd want to go to MG again, at least as a civilian. Not my scene. I would, however, like to go back to NO when it's not MG, and just explore. It seems like a pretty cool place, with all the history and culture there. It'd be cool to spend a few days there, soaking up some gumbo and live jazz. Just, without the tens of thousands of drunk idiots.
Cheers!