Known as the pre-Lenten celebration where you play "Mike Tyson's Punch Out" until midnight when the Catholic kid in your neighborhood had to give up Nintendo until Easter, tonight is Mardi Gras. And people love to get shit-faced on this night, so be on the lookout for unsavory behavior.

The 12th annual Mardi Gras celebration in San Jose, for example, will happen in downtown San Jose tonight. But police presence will be thick. San Jose Fat Tuesdays in the past have played host to car tipping, rock throwing, vandalism, and stabbings. Enter at your own risk.

The Mardi Gras party at Hayes Valley's Rickshaw Stop, however, promises to be a saner and more joyous occasion. Brass Menazeri (Balkan Rom, Gypsy ) and Campo Bravo (radical Portuguese-American psychedelic rockers!) will take the stage for some high-energy dancing.