Secrets of the City

Happy Fat Tuesday!

From the St. Olaf Catholic Church Website:

Please Note: Ash Wednesday is a day of fast (only one full meal for adults between the ages of 18 and 60) and abstinence (abstaining from all meat for all persons 14 years and older).
All Fridays of Lent are days of abstinence.

That seesm a little harsh– be sure to gorge yourselves today!

Where I come from Fat Tuesday = Paczki Day. I found only one regional bakery that makes them…if anyone knows of a closer place, please lemme know.

grote beat me to it. I was about to lament the dearth of good paczki in Minnesota.

I went to Kramarczuk’s once and it was so disappointing I never bothered again.

my 82 year old grannie is busy getting the ingredients ready to make her famous Shrove Tuesday doughnuts today. i am not a fan of the doughnut, but every day-before Ash Wednesday i’d stuff myself because my grannie knows how to make a good doughnut!

*sigh* i miss my grannie. and her delicious deep friend treats. i haven’t had one of her doughnuts since 1994.

You’d think you people would have figured out by now that this aint no polack town. It’s a scandahoovian town.

That seesm a little harsh– be sure to gorge yourselves today!

Why do you think it’s called Fat Tuesday or Carnival (farewell to meat)?

Damnit, honey bunny, now I want doughnuts…

what am i un-sunday-schooled?

of course I know why it’s called Fat Tuesday.

Bom Carnaval!!

This year I’ve been drawn to the West Indies stylee – it’s been a nonstop soca party at my house since Thursday.

There was one Brazilian celebration this past Friday at la Picosa but it was sold out when I got there.

This week’s post-Carnival celebrations:
Thursday @ Pi w/Black Blondie, Maria Isa, Brass Messengers
Friday @ Babalu w/Trinfex Sound DJs – soca/chutney partytime
Saturday @ Trocaderos w/Robert Everest’s samba outfit f/Dandara from Bahia

I’ve been eyeballing that Thursday night show. Don’t think I’m gonna make it, though.

Paczkis! Haven’t had one since I left Indianapolis. Yum!

I’ll be ringing in Fat Tuesday at the Sample Circuit event tonight at Vincent. After tonight, I won’t need to eat again for a week.

It’s funny to me that everyone seems to think of the pre-Lenten celebration in terms of food and preparing for the ‘fast’.

From what I can tell, most Christians are total pussies when it comes to fasting. Once a week without meat? Come on! I haven’t even ever known anyone to observe the one-full-meal-for-the-day limitation.

I also know that Sarah Jane’s makes raspberry and peach Paczki’s. Haven’t had one yet, but judging by their other baked goods, I’d venture that they’re phenomenal.

Paulie, this is the post Vatican II church. Previously, I believe, it was no meat during lent at all, and EVERY friday was meatless throughout the year.

Here is a more comprehensive explanation…

Mmmm, bacon drippings on salad are OK… nummers.

I’m giving up coffee with some other people in my office for lent. It’s going to be really hard!!

Vatican v2.1?

I know the Ethiopian Christians take fasting seriously still. But the Muslims can tell you a thing or two about a fast!

Did someone mention Brazilians? I think I’m going to wax me one for Lent.

I might just have to have a big beef burger on Wednesday. I haven’t eaten beef in almost 20 years but to defy this bullshit tradition I’m willing to take one for the team.

I’ll make sure I eat it in front of all those fasting losers kowtowing to the Pope.

@Paulie: modern Protestants now take fasting figuratively OR literally. My wife has spent Lent eating nothing on Wednesdays or Fridays, say. Last year we were both vegetarian for 40 days (except Sunday feast days). Members of one church I know about are giving up “buying anything that we don’t absolutely need.” You could turn off the TV for 40 days (or worse, the internet).

For some folks Lent can be an excuse to engage in self-improvement behaviors, and not really be a spiritual discipline. For others it is a real sacrifice that brings them closer to Christ.

I can appreciate the personal selections for fasting – coffee, alcohol, meth, auto-erotic asphixiation… whatever will challenge you!

Well my family always gave up something for Lent, such as T.V. or chocolate, on top of no meat on Fridays and fasting on Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Good Friday. But we were old-school Catholic.

I haven’t practiced (religion or Lent) in some years, but I’m thinking of giving up going out to eat this year, just to save money and to encourage all the crappy restaurants to go out of business.

I’m giving up listening to political ads for Lent.

Good luck w/ that alie, you’re gonna have to give up TV all together, or invest in high quality ear defenders.

I’m giving up hametz for lent.

Doesn’t giving up something you want to give up anyway seem a little cheat-y? Aren’t you supposed to suffer and reflect, etc.?

fasting on Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Good Friday.

That’s odd that you fasted on Palm Sunday. It’s a celebration and I didn’t think it was a fast day. As far as I know, fasting was never done on Sundays.

Depends, jane. If you want to give up something like coffee, chocolate, tv, frivolous spending or nicotine anyway, that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. I would love to give up all those things (except nicotine, already did that) but then I would have nothing to live for.

That’s why I don’t give anything up for Lent, BTW. Don’t like the sufferin’.

Well my family always gave up something for Lent, such as T.V. or chocolate, on top of no meat on Fridays and fasting on Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday and Good Friday. But we were old-school Catholic.

We did, too. And then I gave up being Christian for Lent years ago. Definitely a self-improvement behavior.

True, dezelske. True.

And nothing wrong with taking 40 days to try to weed out an undesirable habit.

I’m giving up TV for lent. The idea of giving up something for lent is that they time and/or money you spent doing/having the item is suppose to go to God. So if you give up chocolate, that extra money should go to your church. Or if you give up TV, that extra time should be spent thinking about God or working in the service of God.

Now, if you’re giving up something like, stabbing yourself in the leg with a fork… then that’s pretty cheat-y.

Good luck w/ that alie, you’re gonna have to give up TV all together, or invest in high quality ear defenders.

Nah, I have digital cable, so I’ll just watch artsy fartsy movies on IFC and Sundance.

That’s where the suffering will come in, I suppose.

And nothing wrong with taking 40 days to try to weed out an undesirable habit.

An undesirable weed habit?

(I haven’t commented in a week, and now I pull that out? Crap.)

Ericam, that’s hilarious!!

With Mrs. Champs’ schedule, I think both of us have been and will be carnally abstinent for a couple days on either side of tomorrow.

Um, and by that I mean she’s taking 13 credits and hosting a conference on top of her full time office duties this week.

My bandwidth has been to sketchy… BUT I will absolutely be live from Mardis Gras tonight, Super Fat Tuesday coverage coast-to-coast all evening on The UpTake, which is the whole reason I’m on this trip. The real state of the union yo.

If I can get live again before this eve, you know Ill Twitter it.

I’ll be celebrating by trying to get support for HR 4048 on the DFL platform: I posted about it here.

Long live New Orleans! Have fun, Chuck!

My resolution passed! All yays, no nays! Happy Mardi Gras!