Mardi Gras

Most Americans associate Mardi Gras festivities with New Orleans and Rio de Janeiro, not with Nice, France . But the city in the Provence region in southern France puts on quite a Mardi  Gras show. And nearby communities hold other festivals around that time too: Nice (Feb. 18 through March 8): The exuberance of this Mardi Gras celebration will begin with the King of the Mediterranean’s lavish entrance -- accompanied this year by a queen -- to applause and rejoicing.

Fat Tuesday, the final frenzy before Lent, was kicked off in the wee hours with New Orleans' French Quarter decorated by a wild array of costumed revelers. The post-midnight bash featured entertainers Cyndi Lauper - who fit right in with her blond hair out to there -- and Bret Michaels, tossing beads and wearing his trademark do-rag.   Lundi Gras celebrations Monday night seemed to be a hit, culminating with the Krewe of Orpheus parade, according to the Associated Press, which was  led by  Harry Connick Jr.and Hilary Swank . PHOTOS: Mardi Gras 2012 Lundi Gras - or Shrove Monday - has become more popular in the last couple of decades with live music, parades and fireworks.  The centerpiece is the ceremonial meeting between the king and queen of the Zulu krewe and Rex, the King of Carnival, and his queen.

It's Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Bloody Marys are being downed before breakfast. Bands are on the march, revelers on the revel. Nobody's at work but the cops and the jailers down at Central Lockup, waiting for this year's crop of knuckleheads who let their bon temps rouler beyond even the generously stretched bounds of decorum that the day provides. For the rest of us, it's just Tuesday. To dull the pain, here is a quick-and-dirty Mardi Gras 101 playlist: First up is the late piano genius Professor Longhair with “ Go To the Mardi Gras .” The lyrics read like a Fodor's Guide entry set to Fess' shuffling mambo-rumba-boogie beat.

Mardi Gras 2006: Daisy Johnson Palmer, a retired teacher, was watching the Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club parade pass the corner of Canal and Dauphine streets when she was struck in the head by a flying object that she believes was a coconut. That coconut, if that's indeed what it was, sparked a negligence suit and an only-in-Louisiana legal drama that continues to this day — one that has commanded the attention of two district judges, an appellate court panel, and now, possibly, the Louisiana Supreme Court.

The beads were flying all around them, some pooling in the street, some caught by revelers and cherished for a moment — most of them destined, in all likelihood, for the landfill. It was Mardi Gras 2011, and Kirk and Holly Groh were stationed in their family's traditional viewing spot downtown, where they had watched so many parades roll by in years past. This time, they kept thinking what a waste it was. Their hometown had never seemed more environmentally fragile.

The 139th celebration of Mardi Gras is Feb. 17-28. Travelers may obtain information from the Metropolitan Convention & Visitors Bureau, 1520 Sugar Bowl Drive, New Orleans, La. 70112; (tel. 504-566-5068) and the Hotel and Motel Assn., 150 Baronne St., New Orleans, La. 70112; (tel. 800-695-2265). The 19th edition of "Arthur Hardy's Mardi Gras Guide" is available for $5 from Arthur Hardy Enterprises, P.O. Box 19500, New Orleans, La. 70179.

Work got underway this week on next year's Mardi Gras in the warehouses that hold the celebration's huge parade floats, even as rescue workers outside dispensed food and water to victims of Hurricane Katrina. "It might seem trivial to be discussing Mardi Gras at this point, but when you consider what Mardi Gras is to tourism and what tourism is to New Orleans, it's very, very important," said Barry Kern, president of Kern Studios, where many of the floats are housed.

The Mission San Luis Rey in Oceanside is celebrating Mardi Gras with a parade and carnival this weekend. All proceeds from the festivities will benefit the restoration of the historic mission. Kicking off the celebration at 9 a.m. Saturday will be a procession from the Oceanside Pier to the Mission, where the people marching will toss trinkets and beads to the onlookers.

Paul Prudhomme isn't the only overweight institution in New Orleans. They've got a whole day that carries around too much avoirdupois-- Mardi Gras or "Fat Tuesday," the day before the beginning of the privations (traditionally, at least) of Lent, and thus the culmination of a whole carnival of eating and drinking and other excessive behavior. One of our local Louisiana-style restaurants, Orleans in West L.A., has been celebrating Mardi Gras since Feb.

The beads were flying all around them, some pooling in the street, some caught by revelers and cherished for a moment — most of them destined, in all likelihood, for the landfill. It was Mardi Gras 2011, and Kirk and Holly Groh were stationed in their family's traditional viewing spot downtown, where they had watched so many parades roll by in years past. This time, they kept thinking what a waste it was. Their hometown had never seemed more environmentally fragile.

Looking at a place you love isn't much different from looking at a person who has stolen your heart. There are flaws and distressing times, of course. But you learn to live with the annoyances, because there's something about that person - or place - that makes you think: "Beautiful!" Hello, New Orleans. I was born and have spent most of my life here. New Orleans is exuberant and sassy and smelly - in good and bad ways. Its people are an all-American mix. Rich, poor, middle class, black, white, Latino and some Asians live in proximity, packed between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain.

Of the action sports featured over the weekend at X Games 17, one of the most popular remains absent: surfing. That is where the Nike U.S. Open of Surfing comes in, beginning Saturday and extending through Aug. 7, at Huntington Beach. The annual event attracts more than half a million fans and the top surfers in the world, as well as skateboarders and BMX riders who join in on the action next weekend. "Essentially, it's like action sports Mardi Gras," said James Leitz, the event organizer from IMG, which owns and operates the U.S. Open of Surfing.

David Simon, executive producer of "Treme," "Generation Kill" and "The Wire," talks about life as a show runner on three of HBO's signature dramas. How did working as a newspaper journalist at the Baltimore Sun prepare you for being a TV show runner? There might be people in this industry who would suggest being a former journalist inhibits me. [chuckles] I'm not being facetious. It can be looked upon as an asset or a genuinely crippling factor. I'm not particularly equipped to be in the industry.

MORGAN HILL, CALIF. Mushroom Mardi Gras Festival When, where: May 28 and 29, downtown Highlights: A celebration of all things fungi, this annual event offers mushrooms served seemingly every way imaginable. Also: arts and crafts, educational exhibits, live music, street performers and marketplace vendors. Cost: Free Info: (408) 778-1786, http://www.mhmmg.com SAN DIEGO Taste of Little Italy When, where: May 25, India Street Highlights: Stroll through the historic Italian neighborhood, enjoying samples offered by Little Italy restaurants.

Mardi Gras party time and parades started around dawn in New Orleans, but when does the throwing of beads and doubloons come to a halt? The partying continues inside French Quarter bars into the wee hours, but another Mardi Gras tradition takes hold after midnight: the Big Sweep . At 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, the city's superintendent of police, dressed in full uniform, and his aides arrive on horseback to lead a brigade of sanitation trucks starting...

A tornado reportedly damaged more than 100 homes in southwest Louisiana Saturday, killing one woman, authorities said. Witnesses reported seeing houses completely ripped from their foundations. Eleven people were reported injured. The 21-year-old woman was killed when a tree fell on her house, said Maxine Trahan, a spokeswoman for the Acadia Parish sheriff. Debris was littered throughout Rayne, the town of about 8,500 people, after a line of violent thunderstorms moved through the area and left behind a swath of damage about a quarter of a mile wide to three miles long.

Think Mardi Gras and your thoughts are apt to turn to New Orleans, where the celebration of the last day before Lent gives new meaning to the word "raucous. " Fat Tuesday typically becomes a day of parades and revelry, the latter turning the French Quarter into the Southern equivalent of a rave. About 150 miles north and east is a port city that claims to be the birthplace of the celebration. Mobile may be better known for its profusion of azaleas and nearby Bellingrath Gardens, but the city claims for itself the title of first Mardi Gras in America, placing the origin of the fest in 1703.