Slobberknocking while wondering whatever happened to Marie Laveau: "So... did you have a good time?" It's a curious question to assign to Mardi Gras participation, when the New Orleans Times-Picayune's Tuesday editorial commands that citizens do their civic duty by partying hard: "If you've been somewhat lax in your observance so far, well, this is your last chance to make it up to the rest of us, the ones who have had to party twice as hard to make up for the slackers." The bayou population increased by over two million drunken sods who were deadset on getting as many beads as possible, drinking as many Huge Ass Beers as allowed by the laws of nature, and seeing as many areolae as the retina can retain. Mardi Gras is everything your mother warned you about, and everything your frat buddies were jealous of. "I Survived Mardi Gras 1999"? Bet your Rex I did. Now, there's a whole backstory about how Mardi Gras started in response to Ash Wednesday and how the various krewes manage the parades through the parishes. The locals care, but no one else did. I didn't until I was cornered by Robert, a homeless gent amongst the revelers Monday night. "Y'see, it's all about how God wants us to be happy and free over his creation," Robert said to me as he took a swig from a nondescript bottle. "After this, we go back to the world. But tonight, you and I are free." We may be free, but nothing else was that week. Tuesday, you'll get a full dose of Mardi Gras coverage, hardliners.com-style... "B-ing At Mardi Gras." "B-ing," because there are four forms of currency in the French Quarter during Mardi Gras -- Beads, Booze, Boobs, and Bathrooms. And we'll have that next, here at hardliners.com ("Ah, package, buddy.") Oh... did I have a good time? Yyyeeeaaahhhh... --Devin Pike