Mardi Gras

My dad's brother has lived in Mobile, Alabama and when I went to there to visit them it seemed as if the town was still segregated.  It amazes me how people still feel that they are better than one another because of the color of their skin.  After watching the movie in class, it seemed like the King of the white people's Mardi Gras was contradicting himself.  He wants a change but then he says that things are fine the way they are.  You could also see a distinct difference in the way the different people had set up and the details that went into the main event.  The white people's fancy dinner where they presented the Mardi Gras party seemed so stuffy and up tight.  While the black people's seemed to be more relaxed and fun.  If I was at the white people's I would be afraid to even sit because I would not want the people to stare and point at me in disgust if my dress were to be wrinkled.  I thought it was quite comical when the white Mardi Gras King and Queen said something to the effect that the black people's dinner was more fun than there's.

There is a complete difference in the way that Alabama and New Orleans celebrate Mardi Gras.  In Alabama it is all about the dress with the cape, the king and queen, the events leading up to the main event.  However in New Orleans it is about the partying, the booze and nudity.  I really wonder how many people know the true meaning behind Mardi Gras or if its just an excuse to drink, party and have fun!  After looking up online Mardi Gras originally began in ancient Rome. The Romans mid-February celebration was called Lupercalia.  At the celebration the Romans would honored the god Lupercus who was the fertility god and also the god of agriculture. However other historians believe that Mardi Gras originally started in the 1820's when French settlers arrived in Louisiana. So I guess in the end it is up to you to decide where and how Mardi Gras began =)

Flipper and Lamb Chops

My dad has an older brother, an older sister and a younger sister.  There is a 15 year age difference between the oldest and the youngest.  By the time the youngest was 5-8 years old, all of the other siblings had moved out and began to start their own lives.  Their youngest sister Caro, really enjoyed the television program Lamb Chops  
Another one of her favorite shows was Flipper

 At one of their family dinners, all of the older siblings decided to play a trick on their baby sister.  While they were eating, they said, "Caro what do you think of the dinner?" She said that she liked it.  At this point they told her that they were eating Lamb Chops from the television show!  She of course burst into tears and ran away from the dinner table.  At another family dinner, they asked her the same question "Caro what do you think of dinner?"  Again she told them that she liked it and once again her older siblings played an evil trick!  They told her that they were eating Flipper.  They had enjoyed playing this little tricks on her but I can't imagine being the one having the tricks played upon. 
In our class discussion it was quite interesting to see what people would normally eat with no problem, under distress and then never.  Most of the things such as cheese with worms, I would never eat.  However, I think if I was put into a situation where it was life or death, many of us would eat things that would disgust us. The television Fear Factor often did this to people.  Have them eat bull testicles, worms, cockroaches and grasshoppers just to win a prize.  I wonder how far some of the people would have gone.

Community Based Myths and Legends

There is a short cut that many people who live in she Fremont, Union City, Newark  area can take to get to the 680.  It to go through Niles Canyon. Niles Canyon has quite a few myths and legends in its self.  One of the legends is that a white ghost travels through the Canyon and night.  Although it is a legend and who really knows how the story got started many people believe it and are afraid to drive through the canyon at night.  If you are not familiar with Niles Canyon, it is pitch black at night because there are not any street lights.  So it could be a bit scary if you were to drive through there at night but I also think it depends if you believe in the stories that you have been told.  I have driven through there numerous times at night and I have never seen anything.  I often wonder how much of the white witch story, is just some persons idea that they told one person and it spread throughout an entire community.  Another legend that is connected to Niles Canyon, is that the KKK use to have meetings at the top of one of the hills.  People have claimed to still be able to see the men standing at the top of the hill in their white KKK clothes even though there has not been a community of KKK for many, many decades there.
I think that myths and legends are often very community based.  If you are unfamiliar with Niles Canyon, it is highly unlikely that you would be familiar with the stories of the white witch or of the KKK.  I'm sure that every community has its own stories that have been based down from generation to generation and they are not necessarily stories that people outside of the community would be aware of.

This is a youtube video about myths.  It is by comedian Johnny Sanchez. View at your own risk, it may be offensive to some.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6QOcqjvVWA

Mosh Pot Of Ideas

I thought the movie, "Do You Speak American" was an interesting video.  My father was born in Florida and raised in different parts of the south.  I have noticed from different television shows that have people from the south there is often a stereotype that is attached to them.  For example MTV has a show called 16 and Pregnant and most of the girls that are on the show are from the south.  I feel that MTV portrays these girls as being stupid.  That because of the small southern towns that the girls live in that they don't know how to use contraception to prevent pregnancy.  I was talking to my father about this idea and he agreed and said that it makes good television, people who have accents especially southern accents people assume are not intelligent.  This made me wonder what do people from the south think about people from California? When they hear our accents do they assume we are all proper and well educated?  I believe that we often jump to conclusions about a person and automatically judge them by the way that they speak.  If they have a British accent, are they speaking proper English? If we hear someone from New Jersey do we assume that they are all fist pumping idiots (like the show Jersey Shore)?
I often wonder different accents have these stereotypes behind them.  Not everyone from California surfs, has bleach blond hair and super tan skin.  A few years ago I went to Europe and France with my family and I often wondered what the people assumed about me because of the way I spoke.  I was told from a friend that the French are extremely rude and can just look at you and tell that you are American by the way you are dressed but I thought the complete opposite.  Everyone in Europe and France that I went to were extremely nice and helpful.  They were also very patient in France because no one in my family spoke the language.  It makes me wonder where the stereotype of the French being rude started? 

Below are two videos. One about speaking english and the other about speaking Ebonics (steve harvey)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUEkOVdUjHc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klxGFAnY4nI