FAT TUESDAY

 But first, a few Trumpy matters:

• The tariff wars against Canada, Mexico and China have begun.
• The result was a stock market fall.  Not crash yet, but is that coming?
• 
  President Trump will address a joint session of Congress tonight.  Should be entertaining, with surprises and made-for-TV moments.  Many Democrats will boycott, and those females who show up will wear pink and white.  Six years ago they wore white.
• Trump paused military aide to Ukraine after that Oval Office skirmish.  Would have been warranted if THIS happened.

Now, on to the topic of the day.  I once lived in Louisiana.  Mardi Gras was the big event for the state.  Shrove Tuesday is the last day before Ash Wednesday beginning Lent, (the Christian fasting season when certain foods are avoided) and is the final day to feast on rich foods like red meat.  Thus, this is also called Fat Tuesday, the culmination of Mardi Gras.  I report on this event annually.  Here is one from four years ago.  

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Kind of a wild segue (and you should skip to the bottom line of asterisks if you hate these diversions), but I noticed from that posting of those 25 million body cells passing away, depending on how long you took to read this sentence, this could be anywhere from 1 million to 25 million/second.  

• So I checked another 2021 article which said your body makes 3.8 million new cells every second, 86% in your blood blood, plus 12% gastrointestinal epithelial cells.  I guess the obvious connection is that 3.8 million cells die every second.
• Makes sense, maybe it does take an average of 6.6 seconds to read that sentence.
• But I checked again, and the Google AI consensus today is 1 million cells/day.  
• But another Google AI check (Generative AI is experimental. Learn more) said:

The average adult human body loses 50 to 70 billion cells each day, or 4.2 million/second, which is in the ballpark of the first two. This is about 1% of all the cells in the body. 

Unfortunately, I did yet another search, back again to 2021, Scientific American, which reported that your body replaces about 330 billion cells/day, also about 1% of all your cells.  But that is 229 million cells/second, not even close to any of the above.  If you think The Bible or Trump administration spread confusion, biological science, in this case, is worse.  

So what is the true answer?  Don't know.  The Karolinska Institute of Sweden was founded in 1810, and in 2024 said 1 million dead cells/second.  Easy to remember number, and as good as any to use today.  But so simple that I do wonder.

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The date of Fat Tuesday varies from year to year because it is linked to Easter Sunday, which changes by astronomical calculations.  The earliest Easter is March 22, and latest April 25, more than a month.  Thus, Fat Tuesday can be any date from February 3 to March 9.  For the next few years.

• 2025: March 4
• 2026: February 17
• 2027: February 9
• 2028: February 29
• 2029: February 13
• 2030: March 5
• 2031: February 25
• 2032: February 10

Mardi Gras (which means Fat Tuesday) is a festive period for certain spots around the world like Rio de Janeiro and New Orleans.  Parades in New Orleans began on January 6 (12 days after Christmas), with March 4 this year being the final big day.  History:

• The origins of Mardi Gras go back to medieval Europe, passing through Rome and Venice from the 17th century into the French House of Bourbons, where it was called Boeuf Gras, or fatted calf.
• On 2March1699, French-Canadian explorer Jean Baptiste Bienville arrived 60 miles south of New Orleans, and named it Pointe du Mardi Gras, for it was the eve of the festive holiday.

• 
  In 1702 he establish Fort Louis de la Louisiane, which later became Mobile, Alabama.
• In 1703 this tiny settlement celebrated America's first Mardi Gras.

• 
  New Orleans was established in 1718 by Bienville, where Mardi Gras became a regular event.
• Much of these festivities were disorganized, with the first carnival in 1781.
• It took until the late 1830s for New Orleans to hold street processions with maskers and all the dazzle.
• The Mistick Krewe of Comus was formed in 1856, adding floats to the parade and a masked ball only for Krewe members.

• 
  The King of Carnival, Rex, was invented in 1872 to preside over the first daytime parade.  Visiting was the Russian Grande Duke Alexis Romanoff, whose family colors are purple, green and gold.  These became the official colors of the Mardi Gras:  purple for justice, gold for power and green for faith.

• 
  In 1875 Governor of Louisiana Henry Warmoth signed the Mardi Gras Act, making Fat Tuesday a legal holiday in the state, and it still is.
• You'll mostly remember those free beads tossed from the floats and Pat's Hurricane.
• They call the New Orleans Mardi Gras the Greatest Free Show on Earth.

Other cities along the Gulf Coast with early French colonial heritage, from Pensacola, Florida, and Galveston, Texas, to Lake Charles and Lafayette, Louisiana, and north to Natchez, Mississippi, and Alexandria, Louisiana, have active Mardi Gras celebrations.  Then it expanded to St. Louis, Missouri; Portland, Oregon; Pensacola, Florida; Galveston, Texas; and Folly Beach, South Carolina.

The first Mardi Gras in Rio de Janeiro was in 1723.  The celebration goes on for 5 days, with the culmination this year on March 4 with the largest audience in the world of 2 million.  It is called Carnaval here, and the Sambadrome plays host to the biggest party on Planet Earth.  Watch a 2024 video by Wyatt and Reyka.

It's considered safe enough at Carnaval, but certainly not for me.  Read this, and you won't go.  Just trying to get a ticket into the Sambadrome is painful, and can range from $100 to $1000.

So how safe is New Orleans for Mardi Gras?

• The last time I went was more than half a century ago.  It was not safe, but not dangerous.  Went twice, and had no problems.  It was fun.
• However, today, even Tripadvisor shows caution.
• From Tulane University.
• Watch a CBS newscast.
• People can wear a mask, might be intoxicated....
• Not a good place to go anyway, for Orleans Parish has the highest murder rate in the country!
• The bottom line:  I wouldn't go today.

Maybe another Mardi Gras might be considered.  Here is one listing of the top 8 Mardi Gras celebrations in the world.

• Lonely Planet lists Venice, Italy as #3.
• Binche, Belgium.
• Sydney, Australia's Mardi Gras began in 1978 as a gay rights parade.  Today, lot of colorful floats and glittering outfits, and remains out of the ordinary.

What is the drink of Mardi Gras?

• The classic New Orleans Mardi Gras cocktail is Sazarec:  rye whiskey, absinthe, Pechaud's bitters and sugar.  Here are some others, led by Pat's Hurricane, something I've had in the past in Pat O'Brien's bar.
• In Rio, it is the national drink, Caipirinha:  cachaca, lime and sugar.

One final warning:  thunderstorms, strong winds and the threat of tornadoes have disrupted parades and outdoor celebrations in New Orleans today.  For the Mardi Gras, most of the activity is outside.  Happy Fat Tuesday anyway.

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