Vincent Marcello's swimming pool causes a week of street flooding

That is, if you believe this bit about the re-interment of 250 year old bodies Marcello dug up in his courtyard.

Saturday morning’s rainfall also was analyzed through diverse lenses. “It’s a sacred day,” said drummer Luther Gray, who noted that, in African traditions, rain on the day of a funeral is symbolic of a sky opening to give blessings. In the Choctaw tradition, rain is seen as a purification, a washing away of the bad to allow the good to flourish.

Even the project that removed the bodies from the ground came from “the intent to bring water” — a swimming pool, said Reggie Diop Green, who performed a traditional African burial rite at St. Louis No. 1.

Welcome, Jazzfest visitors!

Here is an insider's tip for the savvy traveler.  If you want to "Follow Your NOLA" like a local, the place to see a corpse treated as an amusement is at the funerals of prominent socialites.

Only the newbies get taken for the ghoul tours of the St. Louis Cemetery.  Save your money.

Well if it gets the Saints a road playoff win..

We're willing to try anything.

Dozens of tourists in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 gathered around the tomb of Marie Laveau Sunday (Dec. 29) as tour guide Renee Dodge explained the mysterious history of the famed Voodoo queen.
But most of the tourists had one question on their minds: Why was the tomb painted bright pink?

Two weeks ago, in the middle of the night, someone sneaked into the cemetery and painted the tomb, Dodge said, but she didn't think the person had any malicious intent.

"The person really came in to paint over the thousands of thousands of "X"'s all over this tomb," she said. "And that's the real desecration."

Decades ago, someone started a rumor that if people wanted Laveau to grant them a wish, they had to draw an "X" on the tomb, turn around three times, knock on the tomb, yell out their wish, and if it was granted, come back, circle their "X," and leave Laveau an offering, Dodge said.

In lieu of desecrating Laveau's tomb, pilgrims are encouraged to visit grave site of Al Copleand. The ritual works like this.  The petitioner will his request of Al and then string a set of Christmas lights on the tomb. Next, the petitioner will go out for a steak dinner and punch the nearest political operator three times in the head. Return to the tomb one week later. If the wish has been granted, the lights can be plugged in.  If the wish is refused, try coming back in the spring with a helicopter full of rose petals.

As for the Saints, they're pulling out all the stops. This includes making their own appeal to St. Al among other mysteries.

The Saints also know the challenge that lies ahead on the road, where they've struggled to a 3-5 record this season. But they cheerfully suggested solutions to the road problems.

"Popeyes!" yelled wide receiver Robert Meachem.

"New sweatsuits. I think that'll be motivation enough for us to play well on the road," added receiver Lance Moore. "I think the sweatsuits will be the difference."

"We need to change our Gatorade flavor, travel sweats and the beefy mac recipe night before the game," summed up Brees.

That beefy mac recipe is nothing to be trifled with. We tried fiddling with beefy mac back during the 2011 Saints-Rams game. Looked okay at first.



But as that game went on, the rich creamy cheesy buttery glop began to unsettle our stomachs, not unlike the Saints' performance that day. By the end, we were resorting to all sorts of crazy remedies.



Yeah that didn't work either.  But maybe the pink paint will. 

Knowing where the bodies are buried

I would have thought Marcello wouldn't have had a problem with such a thing.

Specifically, Marcello thought workers may unearth human bones, knowing his luxury condo near North Rampart and Toulouse streets sat on part of the city's first burial grounds.

So Marcello hired Ryan Gray, an archaeologist, to do a test dig in April 2010. Four feet down, Gray's shovel struck wood.

It was the first of what would turn out to be 15 coffins from the old St. Peter Cemetery that had to be removed to make way for the pool.