Mardi Grinch
Posted at 4:49 AM on February 24, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(28 Comments)
I'm passing along a word of warning for today from our always-on-orange-alert friend, Bathtub Safety Officer Rafferty:
Attention Civilians!All receiving this message should be on the lookout for imminent danger related to the reckless and wanton distribution of trinkets on Mardi Gras.
It has come to my attention that the Mardi Gras pageant in New Orleans involves the random tossing of many strings of plastic beads, which are not only a choking hazard, but when underfoot may undermine personal equilibrium and could also be a very dangerous accessory when working with and near mechanical equipment.
This sort of rampant carelessness with beads is shamelessly promoted through the media and glorified as appropriate "fun" before the beginning of Lent, but please, please, don't throw strings of beads at anyone.
If you have a string of beads and would like to give it as a gift, make sure the beads are contained and, if the string is broken, the beads will not run onto the floor and create a footing hazard.
Present the beads with both hands. Make sure the recipient has full control of the beads before withdrawing.
Don't expose flesh to get beads. Exposure of any kind works against all the principles of safety. I oppose exposure whenever it happens, for whatever reason.
When receiving beads, secure them immediately. If you must put them around your neck, make sure you are at lease one mile away from any operating mechanical equipment, particularly the type that uses belts and pulleys.
The same caution applies to feather boas and also to masks, which could be ripped from your face quite suddenly by fellow revelers, and then released; causing a painful snap-back impression that may last for days.
When large numbers of people gather to express the loss of their inhibitions, safety is compromised. I recommend avoiding all areas where large numbers of people celebrate anything.
The term "safety in numbers" does not apply for Mardi Gras.If you must observe Mardi Gras, do it in the secure envelope of your own home, alone if possible. If there must be other people, be sure they are trusted friends and family members.
And as always, keep both feet planted firmly on the floor.Yours in Safety,
Bathtub Safety Officer Rafferty
As usual, BSO Rafferty takes things to extremes.
I'm pretty sure he's never been to Mardi Gras. How about you?
Any happy stories about trading beads, or celebrating with large groups of strangers?
Comments (28)
Happy Mardi Gras! Let the good times roll!
I haven't been to Mardi Gras, but have been to New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival ("Jazz Fest") a few times. A group of us would stay at a bed and breakfast in the Garden District, and there were beads hanging from the trees, power lines and street lights, all over the place - really cool.
So, I brought my beads back home and threw them up into my flowering crab out front. They've been there several years, occasionally falling into the grass. When I mow the lawn, I just stop and throw them back up there. They're broken, trampled, and still shiny in the winter sun!
Special greetings to my Jazz Fest gris-gris sisters, Kathy and Sara!
I am shocked that BSO Rafferty failed to warn us of collateral Mardi Gras risks. Beads are just the beginning.
Celebrants need to beware of the risks associated with the King Cake. Not only is the cake decorated with a lifetime of food dye, but buried deep within it is a baby. Revelers are at risk not only for choking on baby parts, but for the long-term psychic damage of finding baby parts in their mouths.
Outside of New Orleans Shrove Tuesday observances frequently revolve around pancakes with celebrants racing with them, throwing them, and eating unlimited amounts. We need to BSO to post a full Aunt Jemima/Mrs Butterworth alert for our protection until we are safely under the protection of Lent.
Happy Mardi Gras to one and all!
Thank You Dale for the Snooks song, it brings back many wonderful memories. The best MG I attended was 1979 when the police were on strike, there were National Guard on every corner. The tourist crowd was much smaller and there was room to dance! I haven't been to Mardi Gras for several years now, as Gail said Jazz Fest is more our thing now. But I'm standing here at the kitchen counter with my beads on - dancing and keying this message - in New Orleans in spirit.
Happy Mardi Gras Heartlanders! I have to admit that when my feet hit the cold floor this morning I wasn't worried about the dangers of Fat Tuesday. Thanks to BSO Rafferty for getting my head on straight. I'm sure that both beads and King Cake will be at my office today -- I'll be sure to spread the safety word! Everybody have a great day!
hi there - just crunched that King Cake baby last tuesday; thought it was a big hunk of cake filling. now i have to either 1. have a baby (do goat kids count?) or pay for next year's King Cake.
have never been to Mardis Gras (too many people in one place) but my sister-in-law is a native Louisianan and she gave me a long string of those big beads that one can only imagine what flesh she exposed in order to have them thrown to her.
Kerri - my friends empathize - they hear way too much about goats. sorry and will try to restrain. :-)
and DON'T BUY THE GOAT THAT SINGS "GOATHERD!!" my sister-in-law (not the flesh exposer) gave me one and i took it to work where i thought the young children would like it. we got so sick of that Goatherd song that we took out the batteries and permanently disabled it, ha, ha!
Dale, i have been pining for Bulgarian music. either Todora or a decidedly minor-key song that has the name "Janoz or Janocz" or something like that, please.
thanks so much!
good day to you all
Dear BSO Rafferty,
You truly are a worry-wort! As I've said before, "You can be on the right track and still get hit by a train!" As for me, "What, me worry?" Happy Mardi Gras MAD-ness to RH listeners everywhere!
I guess Mardi Gras is happiness in a dark time, considering our economy and also the source of all those plastic beads. I saw a documentry film showing how the beads are produced in Chinese sweat shops. Well, I'm glad for the happy music and celibrations and Radio Heartland and I'm even glad to get the wierd advice from Officer Rafferty
I guess Officer Rafferty has not attended the Mardi Gras celebration in Mobile, Alabama, or he would be equally concerned about the considerable dangers of being hit by sailing Moon Pies!
Happy Mardi Gras, all. How about some Lee Dorsey or Dr John to celebrate Fat Tuesday on the show!
Greetings Heartlanders:
The closest I've come to being in a large celebratory crowd of sweaty masses was in 1997 when the Twinkies won the World Series. I was still in a real job as a secretary at Pillsbury, and I think the whole building shut down because we were all outside to see the parade that went through downtown Minneapolis.
It was fun and exciting to be part of it all. I don't care about sports, but I celebrated, waved to the favorite players as they went by, and basically enjoyed it.
Are there parades in Mardi Gras? BSO Rafferty should have mentioned the danger of being too close to the slow moving cars in parades and being pelted by candy and other small projectiles. Even so, it's hard to think of everything.
Happy Day everybody!
Good Morning Heartlanders!
My family and I will be taking Officer Rafferty's advice to heart and celebrating the last day of Carnaval here at home. Less crowds are a good thing!
Enjoyed the Martinho da Vila & Cesaria Evora songs this a.m., especially the message in the Martinho da Vila song, that " a vida vai melhorar" or "life will get better". Very fitting these days. Now, if Dale could fit in a bit of Gal Costa before 8:55 when I go to the school library, I would be thrilled and it would be so appropriate for Carnaval! Thanks! Party safely!
Mardi Gras sounds kind of like hell to me. I know I'd totally hate it so it's a good thing I haven't been and won't ever be going. But for people who like that kind of thing, I suppose it could be fun. Bah Humbug.
Excellent! Thanks, Dale!
Good Morning all,
Dale, do you have a copy of “Yes We Can Can” by Allan Toussaint? Harry Conick also has a version on Oh My NOLA and he says in the liner notes that he feels the song should be an anthem for our times. It's a great song, remember the Pointer Sisters version? I thought the song would go nicely with the Mardi Gras AND pledging theme.
I’m pretty sure that on this blog it’s like preaching to the choir about getting your pledge in but on the outside chance that someone out there hasn’t done it yet PLEASE let them know this wonderful service is important and needs to succeed!
And here's an idea....how about those of us who are sustaining members give an extra one time pledge just to declare our support for Radio Heartland? If you can afford it a little extra $$ will help.
I would really hate to see Radio Heartland disappear after seeing the Morning Show go away. I have made a small donation to support Radio Heartland and hope other Radio Heartland listeners will do the the same. I'm sure some already have done so. There are a lot of worthy organizations and causes that need donations, but I think Radio Heartland is well worth supporting with a least a small donation or a larger one if possible. I am doing some fundraising and I know there are people of good will that will contribute to worthy causes, but you have to get their attention. I hope that the people who are needed to support Radio Heartland will "pay attetion" and come forward with the needed support.
Thank You so much!
I'm dancing in my chair.......
I just wanted to say I'm particularly loving the music this morning -- I can barely sit down long enough to type in the blog -- because I'm dancing like a fool! Carnaval music, Mardi Gras music, Zydeco, Yes We Can Can and now "Caledonia/Rag Mop" medley! I'm celebrating this morning in my living room for no good reason -- except that I love RH!
Forget the tanking economy, my dwindling bank account, winter blues, etc., it's just fun to be alive right now and jiving to happy music! Time for my boa, sequins and tiara! Dale can you play my tune -- Michael Doucet's "Everything's Got to Be Funky"!
Thanks!
Ok, you did it. James Taylor, then Clifton Chenier, then Allen Toussaint. I give up. You got me. I am now a sustaining member, and I managed to say "Radio Heartland" about ten times during my call.
There is nowhere else to get this music. Thanks, Dale and Mike, for making my morning.
Thanks everyone for the nice comments, especially those about membership, Kate, Joanne and Jim!
Barb, what is "the goat that sings GOATHERD"?
Did I miss something? And does that mean that this community no longer wants to hear "Lonely Goatherd" from "Sound of Music"?
I'll play it tomorrow if people still want it.
Otherwise, I have requests for Bulgarian music and Michael Doucet singing "Everything I Do Gonna Be Funky". Others?
I went to the Krewe of Barkus Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans last weekend. Hundreds of dogs parading through the French Quarter, most of them wearing (shudder) BEADS! B.S.O. Rafferty would have fainted. That's my kind of Mardi Gras crowd -- mostly dogs and their people.
THIS member of the community would still love to heard Lonely Goatherd. Sorry Barb.
Oh, I do want to hear "Lonely Goatherd" -- sorry, Barb, it's one of my favorites.
There are some great Norwegian goat tunes also...I wonder if MPR has any in their library, maybe from NorthSide Records? There's even one about the 3 Billy Goats Gruff (Tre Bukkane Bruse) on the "Trolltakter" cd.
I also have doubled my sustaining membership after many years at the same level...all because of Radio Heartland!!! It makes my (week) day! Thanks.
Dale, I mentioned the singing goat on my post yesterday. It is a stuffed toy goat.... if you push the button that is hidden in his/her/its hoof... and it moves, gyrates, dances and sings...
Kind of like that singing trout a few years ago....
Dale:
The goat that sings "Lonely Goatherd" was mentioned in a post in the blog yesterday later in the day. It was some kind of weird gift that the person posting remembered.
Yes, I would still like to to hear "Lonely Goatherd", maybe "Hello Dolly" (wasn't Dolly the name of the first cloned goat?). Look forward to hearing "Everything I Do Gotta Be Funky" -- before 7:35 please!? I have to work by 8am tomorrow :~(
You're the best!
My Dad was in NOLA for Mardi Gras back in the '70's. I still have the beads in a box somewhere in storage. His story to us that Al Hirt, the trumpet god got cut on the mouth by a flying beer bottle while on a float. A medic scampered up to him on the float, patched him up, and he played on....
As to whether it is just one of those urban legends, who knows... but it is an interesting tale!
Joanne - cloned "Dolly" was a sheep - unfortunately, my Dodger looks with disdain upon sheep (well, also most other animals and people except me)
i don't mind hearing the goatherd song now - it's been almost a year and i have decompressed from the extreme exposure :-)
Thanks, Barb. I stand corrected. Glad you've gotten over your over-exposure!
Well, I'm off to karate! Later, y'all.
'nuther busy day, missed much of show, dang it all, but after listening to the rebroadcast, JASPER has jumped on the goat bandwagon with "Hush Little Baby" where papa gonna buy you a billy goat...
Thanks to Dale and Mike for continued wonderfulness on RadioHeartland!
Thanks to Barb for being gracious about hearing the goatherd song as well. Back when I was showing dogs in agility, they would play "Who Let the Dogs Out" over and over at the National Championships during set-up and while I didn't care that much for the tune in the first place, by the end of the show each year I was ready to scream each time I heard it.
Radio Heartland - you make my life a better place! When I called to renew my membership today, I couldn't find words to do Radio Heartland justice. I cried at the last Morning Show broadcast because I was sad to say goodbye, but that wasn't the only reason I choked back tears that day. KNOW may touch my mind, but this music touches my spirit. In a world where meaning can get lost the day-to-day rush, the Morning Show then and Radio Heartland now are my spiritual retreat. Thank you Dale and thank you MPR!
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