What, Harry Connick, Jr is busy this year??

I was surprised to find that Mardi Gras is being held right now, from February 11-28. Judging from the parade schedule, it's not a scaled-down version this year, but a big event just like before. In fact, it is the 150th year of Mardi Gras celebrations in New Orleans, which is kind of sad- I'm sure it would have been an even bigger deal this year to mark the anniversary.
However, the most disappointing aspect of the parade season to the locals is not that parts of the town are still so damaged, or that many friends and family members have died, moved, or been dislocated, or that there will be many fewer tourists to support the economy this year, or that the fate of the city is in the hands of a man who is asking the world for financial support of a chocolate city, but that Jim Belushi & Dan Aykroyd are the "celebrity riders" for Endymion this year. Haven't New Orleanians suffered enough, without another hackneyed Blues Brothers preprisal?? Give the poor people a break. I think it's asking a lot of them to drum up all that fake enthusiasm when putting on cheap black plastic glasses and hearing "Soul Man" for the hundreth time.
Left: Two of the two people who will enjoy the Aykroyd/Belushi appearance.


The picture at the very top is a Willy Wonka/Ray Nagin chocolate factory themed float. Many of the themes this year are Katrina-related, like "C'est Levee," "Buy us back, Chirac," "New Orleans Culture (as in mold)," and the one above, "Willy Nagin and the Chocolate Factory."