What’s up

There is probably no better group to lead the march into Mardi Gras season in Baton Rouge than these ladies—the Prancing Babycakes.

Started in 2008, the group of 35 dancers maybe, possibly, sort of snuck into the lineup for the Spanish Town Parade that first year. They are official members now, and also strut for the Krewe of Jupiter and Juno parade a few weekends before.

Lesley Kernan, a founding member of Babycakes, choreographs each dance and says the group usually rotates through about three routines during the parade. It’s all set to a playlist of current favorites and classic dance tracks the team works on for months.

“We try to be as diplomatic as possible, but with a bunch of crazy girls like this, it’s kind of hard,” Kernan jokes.

They practice for two months prior. “That’s usually what everybody loves the most,” Kernan says. “A lot of us are married or have kids now. We don’t always have a chance to get together.”

When the day of the parade arrives, the serious business of partying in the streets takes priority. “It’s usually four hours from start to finish,” she says. “We should probably condition ourselves more.”

Krewe of Jupiter and Juno rolls through downtown Feb. 15. The Spanish Town Parade begins at noon March 1. facebook.com/PrancingBabycakes

A 2013 study in Psychology Today showed that people who used Craigslist’s Missed Connections in Louisiana were most likely searching for someone they met or saw from afar in Walmart. ?We decided to get a more detailed snapshot of Missed Connections in the Baton Rouge area (so you don’t have to!), looking at more than a month of posts near the end of 2013. Spoiler alert: Walmart still came upin 11% of those posts where a location was given but here’s what else we found:

Other places you are:
movie theater
casino
Oschner
Our Lady of the Lake
visitors’ room at the Livingston Parish jail
a wake

In January, TEDxLSU rolled out the lineup for its second- ever Baton Rouge event. In this smaller, regional version of the popular TED Talks, several local do-gooders will each get to deliver the “talk of their life” at the Shaver Theatre on LSU’s campus March 29. The day will also include interactive events, food trucks and more on the lawn of the Music & Dramatic Arts building. Find out more at tedxlsu.com.

This year’s speakers:
Courtney Brandebur
Sarah Broome
Lauren Collignon
Leone Elliot
Dima Ghawi
Garrett Graves
Victoria Ippolito
Dustin LaFont
Marybeth Lima
Bryan McCann
Stephen Moret
“Silky Slim” Reed
Dominque Ricks
Jacquelyn Stephens
Chris Wadsworth