One of the hands-down funniest moments at Monday's circus of freaks dress rehearsal for It Takes a Village of Idiots neighborhood association meeting came during the segment I like to think of as "Ask Officer Trying-to-be-Friendly," when one of the only sane people in the room asked the policeman at the mike to clear up the confusion about curfew.
Frankly, I was glad the guy asked, because I'd asked a dozen people myself, and I'd gotten a dozen different answers. 6pm. 8pm. 12am. 2am. Technically 12am, but they're not being assholes about it in the Marigny. Technically 12am, but they're not stopping white folks. Technically 12am, but who gives a crap 'cause they don't have enough officers to enforce it anyway....
Anyway, the officer blithely responded that curfew was 8pm. This did not sit well with the crowd. In fact, their reaction was not unlike the one congregants at Touro Synagogue might give David Duke if he were to walk in one Friday night and announce that the Holocaust was a sham. Basically, there was lots of screaming and breast-beating and rending of hair (very "Greek tragedy," very Oresteia), with everyone yelling their own version of what they'd heard from their neighbor's brother-in-law, who used to work in city hall.
Ultimately, no consensus was reached, and we all left confused. So, perhaps in response to that--or perhaps in response to the (admittedly low-key) festivities planned for this weekend--the Mayor has issued an update/extension of the curfew for most of New Orleans. It's officially 2am - 6am. Remember, kids: you read it here second. (That's our unofficial motto around here, BTW: "We bring you the news you could've read somewhere else!")
