Trivia Tuesday & Olympics

 

Today is Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday (guess they have been reading my blog! Ha!).  Known for their parades, masks, and beaded necklaces, Mardi Gras is one giant party celebrated throughout Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida in the US, and Quebec City and Montreal in Canada, to name a few. It falls 46 days before Easter each and every year, and is a day of feasting before the beginning of Lent, hence the name Fat Tuesday, which is the literal translation of the French Mardi Gras. I remember is it as Pancake Tuesday, so perhaps pancakes are in order for dinner tonight...

Some things you may not know about Mardi Gras:

• The origins of Mardi Gras can be traced to Medieval Europe, though we have no written record of how that really transformed into the current Mardi Gras of today;
• Mardi Gras came to New Orleans through its French heritage in 1699;
• The official colors for Mardi Gras are purple, green, and gold. These colors were chosen in 1872 by the King of Carnival, Rex;
• Purple represents justice, green stands for faith and gold stands for power;

Think you know about the traditions of Mardi Gras? Feel free to test your knowledge HERE. I didn't too terribly this time... 7 out of 15. This one is a challenge.

----On Another Note:

I'd be remiss not to discuss our Vancouver Olympics. Coverage started last Friday with the opening ceremonies, and while there were some slow parts, overall, I thought they were pretty well done (some very cool graphics on the floor with the whales and melting ice!). And now that we are into the games, Canada is showing a strong start. We have already earned our first gold medal, and that means we can finally stop listening to the announcers remind us that we are the only host country not to have won a gold medal in the two times we've hosted.

And since most networks are airing re-runs, we don't have many other options to tune into at night. But that's ok, since Matt and I are cheering our country on. We were at the Science Centre just this past Monday (and who would have thought that it would be busy on Family Day?!? Good thing we got there early!) where they have an exhibit about the Olympics, including human curling! Great fun for parents and their kids.

We have been cheering on the great efforts in the men's and women's downhill moguls, snowboarding, and the speed skating. Of course we are looking forward to the hockey - the women have already started off strongly. Tonight is the start of the men's hockey, and we're actually pretty excited about the curling. I know a lot of you out there are cheering on our athletes, so let me add my Go, Canada, Go!