Show Me Yours Saturday

I heart Book Gossip has started a new meme: Show Me Yours Saturday.
Here's how it works:

Each weekend try to post a Show Me Yours. It can include a favorite food to something about you. Show me the deets and I will show you mine. Key word is show: So show us some snazzy pictures not just words.

This week I decided to give you a bit of Mardi Gras. I love Mardi Gras - I love to look at the floats and listen to the bands. And of course I love the throws! Everyone knows about the typical image of Mardi Gras - drunken frat boys and girls showing boobs. Is that part of it? Sure. But it's not the whole story. Here is a tiny snapshot of my Mardi Gras Loot.

We have bags and bags of those cheap plastic beads they throw from the floats. Everyone around here does. They probably should have used them to shore up the levee instead of sandbags. These are not those beads.

These are cheap plastic beads with ceramic medallions attached or incorporated into the beads. They're a bit more difficult to catch or talk a float rider out of. Each krewe has it's own beads each year, and then each float will sometimes do it's own special beads.

If beads are not your thing, they also throw all kinds of other stuff: food, dolls, balls, frisbees, comic books. Usually they throw these to little kids or hot chicks. Sometimes they take pity on old ladies.

My favorite throw is the glass beads. In the past, pre-1960's or so, they threw glass beads. Then, until about 5 or so years ago, they only threw plastic. On the left are some of the old beads (I actually took these with me when I evacuated for Katrina), and below are some of the newer ones:

So, that's a tiny glimpse into my Mardi Gras Treasures. If you've ever thought about coming for Mardi Gras but think it's all drunken revelry, think again and come on down - it's the Greatest Free Show on Earth!