Who let the fools out?

Who let the fools out, wouldn't that be a good carnival rap?

Carnival in Germany has so many little local traditions, you could spend years studying them. Traditional costumes range from old guys wearing white whigs and sporting 18th century fantasy military coats to the scary witch and sorcerer costumes in the far South. And every year, new costumes, many of them potentially copyright busting, appear.

Fat Thursday, the Thursday before Mardi Gras, sees townhalls all across the West and the South stormed and mayors deposed by fools or bands of women.

This goes together with the women cutting off the men's ties -- which may be a bit emasculating or a perfect way for tie makers to ensure sustained demand for their products.

Fools get liberated from the old whig wearing guys by other folks who wear pjs, and papermache keys to cities and towns change ownership for a few days.

And we still have not made our Louisiana chicken run costumes which we wanted to wear to crash one of the big parades.

The plan was to sneak into the parade behind one of the many foot groups, and we are sure nobody would have noticed or cared.

One advantage of a chicken run costume is that it keeps you warm in the much colder carnival season here.

Next year.