Haagen-Dazs is giving customers a FREE CONE of ice cream  tomorrow, May 8, 2012 from 4 - 8 p.m.  In New Orleans Haagen-Dazs shops  are located in the Riverwalk Mall downtown and also inside two Audubon Institute sites, the Zoo on Magazine Street and the Aquarium at Canal St. and the Mississippi River.

Cinco de Mayo 2012 is on a Saturday and on the night of the biggest, closest-to-earth, full moon.  So, there are plenty of excuses to have a Margarita or two this weekend.   It won't be hard to find Cinco de Mayo celebrations at Mexican restaurants and other establishments in the greater New Orleans area - uptown, downtown, Eastbank, Westbank, New Orleans, Jefferson Parish. Check my  May calendar for Cinco de Mayo block parties and other events set for tomorrow, May 5, 2012.

Eli Manning -- the Superbowl Most Valuable Player, New York Quarterback, a son of Archie, and a New Orleans favorite son too -- will add Saturday Night Live host to his resume.

Eli will host SNL tomorrow night (May 5, 2012) which broadcasts live on NBC at 10:30 p.m. CDT.    He's once again following in his big brother Peyton Manning's footsteps.  Peyton received rave reviews for his SNL hosting gig five years ago and he was  funny.   Watch what Eli can do in the comic realm tonight.

HEALTH/FITNESS FAIR:

If you're not playing hookey to go to the New Orleans  Jazz Fest for Locals' Thursday, you may want to stop by the mall  for your health.    Today and tomorrow, get free medical screenings  - including cholesterol, glucose, blood pressure, and vision -  along with a variety health, fitness and nutrition information, at the Ochsner Health & Fitness Expo in Lakeside Mall in Metairie.  May 3-4, 2012; 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.    No reservation is needed, just show up at the mall.

2 BLOOD DRIVES:

-- Ochsner will also be holding a donor drive for its Blood Bank at the Lakeside Mall event today and tomorrow from 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.   All blood donors get a free t-shirt and male donors get a free PSA screening.

-- Through May 5, get a free pair of Zephyrs baseball tickets when you donate blood at The Blood Center locations in Metairie, the West Bank, or Laplace.