Friday, January 2, 2009

A Lame/Tame New Year's Bonfire in New Orleans

We used to go to this street party each New Year's Eve a while back but I don't know what its been like recently, but this year the city was apparently cracking down on the drunken revery. The tradition was that this neighborhood in mid-City here in New Orleans would put out all their old Christmas trees on the neutral ground and light them up for a bonfire on midnight when they rang in the New Year. Of course, there was drinking and illegal fireworks in the mix, but the cops and fire department gave it all a pass. In fact, on the years we went, the fire department rolled up about a quarter past midnight and would politely put out the bonfire as it burned down.

But because the authorities threatened to crack down and prevent the party this year, a compromise was reached and the bonfire went ahead, as accounted in this news story.

But look at the picture the paper ran:
Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

and compare that with the short video I made a few years ago:


New Orleans, New Year Eve 2002 from BHuddle on Vimeo.

Pretty chaotic, yes, and it was amazing that no one was seriously hurt. But compare the video with the picture and pick which looks more fun. Its like a pagan bacchanal versus a Cub Scout cook-out.

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