history: November 2005 Archives

This Latin form of music and dance was the subject of Mari's a colloquim yesterday "aiming to throw out some thoughts and cultural sites for discussion" on translation and representation. Ivy Queen is one of the hottest stars. Her lyrics have been picked up even by several generations of women, not just youth. The talk about reggaeton - debates about the social issues it raises - apparently parallels talk about previous forms:

tango, whose lyrics spread "The secret tongue of "lunfardos", term used by thieves to refer to themselves. In this way watch became "bobo" (dumb-stupid) due to two characteristics, it is very easy to steal and it works all day long non-stop."

mambo: "Since the mambo there has never been a dance that has given rise to so much unbridled fantasy and pyrotechnics or reached such rhythmic rapture."

Merengue in the Dominican Republic.

Salsa didn't spread as widely - perhaps (!) because it's too hard for gringos to learn? ;-)

Some of the European Field Studies folk are trying to get together to watch the original, 1973 version of The Wicker Man. Turns out is in the works...

Don sent me news of this baby hippotamus who seems to have been adopted by an ancient male tortoise.

Pictures.

The original news story seems to have vanished ... or one needs a subscription to get it. The next post, "confessions", includes the text of a Reuter's release, and Urban Legends reports the status of this story as "true". Imagine!

"...doing an ordinary job in circumstances so extraordinary as to be unforgettable" ~ Hilary Gaskin, Eyewitnesses at Nuremberg (1990:178).

"There is no room for vengeance, there is no room for real justice in the world. You cannot revive the six million who were murdered; you cannot even do justice by reaching everybody who has committed a crime. What does that do? The thing to do is to learn what happened, and to make sure that it doesn't happen again, ever." (149-150)

"When the national government abdicates in time of crisis, and cedes its power and law-enforcement functions to organized mobs, then it is possible for Holocausts to occur, anywhere and at any time. It is all to do with the attitude that freedom can be taken instead of given." (150)

Peter Uiberall, interpreter at Nuremberg

from John Cleese to the citizens of the United States of America:

In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

some excerpts, with added links (procrastination station?) :

I was asked about good books to read on the deaf community, and also about the range of sexual orientations… the context was something along the lines of Takaki’s A Different Mirror, which I continue to find an amazing tool for undergraduates who simply do not know these significant components of ethnic US history. A couple of new books out on the Deaf-World look great. I purchased a brand new one by Paddy Ladd on Deafhood (centered in Great Britain but generalizable in significant ways), and eyed a couple others: People of the Eye (specifically about the Deaf community in New Zealand), A Journey into the Deaf-World (mostly US-based?), and an introductory level textbook, Deaf-World.

I’ve not followed the literature in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered studies so can’t really offer a recommendation for something contemporary that provides a broad survey of sexual identities … if anyone has suggestions, please share! This site of online resources came up near the top of a basic google search. ;-)