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MARDI GRAS FOCUS TEXT: BRUCE NORTHAM PHOTOGRAPHY: RICHARD MITCHELL D m PEERING THROUGH M RGOVLE M SK, I SVVILLED Ff-iOM A FANCY GOBLET. IT WAS CREOLE BREEDING SEASON AND MY LOWER BRAIN HAD TAKEN CONTROL, THE WORD C R IVAL IS DERIVED FROM THE LATI eARN ( VALE (FAREWELL), EANING SOLACE OF THE FLESH, BECAUSE AT THAT Tlf\/IE PE TOOK U��J-\\jE or:: FU�:SH. AND PEOPLE STILL DO. ALTHOUGH l3EEF"-i CF-iEI'\rES A Yl�ASTY CHEMI CAL HIGH, I RECKON IT DOES NOTHING TO FURTHER MY SURVIVAL. My post-college job debut was driving a horse-drawn carriage around Manhattan's theater district. I flew my Christmas payload, along with a guitar I couldn't play, to New Orleans for a Mardi Gras reprieve from the violently moody northeast. Gradually sucked into the bayou vortex, my reprieve lasted four months. North America's Carnival (aka Mardi Gras), like Carnivals throughout Latin America, is observed before Lent, a 40-day Christian metaphoric penitence from Ash Wednesday to Easter that originated in second-century Rome. Lent is preceded by the feast of Fat Tuesday, the last day that conscientious Christians can indulge thei r sinfu l sides before the 40 days of purification. Mardi Gras lasts for days, during which time revelers traditionally go mad, put on masks, clothe them selves like spectres, give themselves up to Bacchus and Venus and con template all pleasures possible. (Some things never change.) The Mil lennial Fat Tuesday is March 7, 2000, though the Mardi Gras gala roars for days on both sides of that date. Many visitors become addict ed to Mardi Gras and return year after year. Mardi Gras in New Orleans is high season for hig h society, and everyone else. It originated in 1827, when a group of students, recent ly returned from studying and celebrating in Paris, wore strange costumes aJ1d danced through the streets. The ritua l stuck, and in 1837 the fi rst officia l Mardi Gras parade was staged. In 1839, the Mardi was a si ngle, crude float that made the crowd howl with laughter. Traditionally, Mardi Gras reve lers wear decorative masks, creating an air of mystery that has captivated people for centuries. Folk lore informs us that at ancient Greek festivals honoring Dionysus, god of joy, wine and ferti lity, actors in enormou masks played to more than 20,000 people packed within immense amphitheaters. These masks portrayed exaggerated emotions so the actors could convey feeling to people in the back rows. The Romans embraced the Grecian love of theater, and the use of masks in celebrations and plays spread across Europe as thei r imposing empire expanded. The mask tradition ultimate ly landed in New Orleans, where it now appears to constitute fli rting without having to disclose your identity or re lationship status. Mardi Gras is also about radiantly ornamented floats, marching bands, cos tumed reve lers, music, vigor and intentional mayhem on the streets of New Orleans. The floats have orgasm-like tossing fits of glimmering trinket doubloons landing in the hands of eager parade watchers; plastic necklaces and colored metal wafer coins dom inate the rain of paraphernalia. Thril l-seekers from all continental points line the streets to watc h a slow-rol ling procession of modified 18-wheele r trucks, pickups pulling traile rs and cars festooned with varying themes. The crowd gropes/grasps/clutches for the flying gold. The crowds seem thick, drunk and unruly, unless you are thick, drunk and unruly yourself. Viewing the parades from the street can be a chore, so knowing a local