Video Find of the Day
I'm fascinated by the way cultures impact one another. I've remarked before that I can hear the France in supposedly "traditional" Tahitian music. I think I can also hear the Spain, by way of Chile, in music and dance of la Isla de Pascua, AKA Easter Island, AKA Rapa Nui.
OK, I blow my thesis from the start with this one, a Rapa Nui Hymn. But wait: check out the costumes!
CAROLINA HEHENKAMP TRAVEL Rapa Nui
In this next, the background music has an unmistakable Spanish flavor.
Bailes de Rapa Nui - Isla de Pascua
OK. Well. This next one dashes my sorry thesis to bits. But I must include it as I am so fond of red.
Ula Ula en Isla de Pascua
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Non-Tuesday Free Lunch
Video Find of the Day
It's not true that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Here at the subsidized haven known as the Union Hotel (not a real hotel) we have a free lunch every Tuesday. But today, because it was Easter, we got an extra free lunch, in spite of it not being Tuesday. So there's even such a thing as a non-Tuesday free lunch.
This miracle was made possible by volunteers from the UW chapter of Sigma Beta Rho, a "national multicultural Fraternity based upon the principles of Society, Brotherhood, and Remembrance." It was founded in 1996 at the University of Pennsylvania as "a vehicle to instill unity amongst its members, promote South Asian culture, and aid the greater community at large."
Lunch was brunch. We had scrambled eggs and bacon, biscuits, waffles, and ham. And oranges and grapes.
I showed my appreciation by wearing the one shirt I have from India. Anitra found out that one of the guys serving us does bhangra.
So, here I am, recovering from the flu, and wanting a vid. What am I going to celebrate Easter with?
Bhangra!
It's not true that there's no such thing as a free lunch.
Here at the subsidized haven known as the Union Hotel (not a real hotel) we have a free lunch every Tuesday. But today, because it was Easter, we got an extra free lunch, in spite of it not being Tuesday. So there's even such a thing as a non-Tuesday free lunch.
This miracle was made possible by volunteers from the UW chapter of Sigma Beta Rho, a "national multicultural Fraternity based upon the principles of Society, Brotherhood, and Remembrance." It was founded in 1996 at the University of Pennsylvania as "a vehicle to instill unity amongst its members, promote South Asian culture, and aid the greater community at large."
Lunch was brunch. We had scrambled eggs and bacon, biscuits, waffles, and ham. And oranges and grapes.
I showed my appreciation by wearing the one shirt I have from India. Anitra found out that one of the guys serving us does bhangra.
So, here I am, recovering from the flu, and wanting a vid. What am I going to celebrate Easter with?
Bhangra!
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Cultural Dissonance
Easter is my favorite Christian holiday because it makes no sense whatsoever to me, and I do enjoy senselessness, no matter how much I say to the contrary.
The whole death and resurrection story makes no sense whatsoever. If Jesus is God, it's no surprise that He can resurrect Himself. So where's the drama?
Then there's the Easter Bunny business. Who thought up that abomination of nature? A rabbit that lays colored hard boiled eggs with stupid little decals glued to them? Couldn't they at least be soft-boiled? I hate dried out yolks. You know, a little salmonellosis isn't going to kill most of us.
I think I finally figured out why they hide the eggs. The whole business of gorging on eggs at Easter-time isn't a pagan idea at all. It stems from the fact that the Medieval Church prohibited the eating of eggs during Lent. So when Lent was over there was a surplus. Hiding the eggs ritually displaced the blame for the unavailability of eggs from the real culprit, the Church, and dumped it all on the bunny. They were trying to make us hate the bunny and love the Church. But it didn't work. Nobody can hate the bunny. He's a cute bunny, yes he is! YES HE IS A CUTE BUNNY!
But why are the eggs colored? I read that the red ones represent the blood of Jesus and the green ones represent the renewal of plant-life at spring. What do the purple ones represent? Tinky Winky?
In order to convey to my Christian friends exactly how senseless Easter appears to me, I offer this video I found on YouTube which I also don't get, and which I hope will instill within others the same kind of cultural dissonance that I derive from Easter. It's a Bollywood film with Cajun French subtitles added "for educational purposes." I want to know what school uses this material in its courses, and how their graduates are getting on in life.
The whole death and resurrection story makes no sense whatsoever. If Jesus is God, it's no surprise that He can resurrect Himself. So where's the drama?
Then there's the Easter Bunny business. Who thought up that abomination of nature? A rabbit that lays colored hard boiled eggs with stupid little decals glued to them? Couldn't they at least be soft-boiled? I hate dried out yolks. You know, a little salmonellosis isn't going to kill most of us.
I think I finally figured out why they hide the eggs. The whole business of gorging on eggs at Easter-time isn't a pagan idea at all. It stems from the fact that the Medieval Church prohibited the eating of eggs during Lent. So when Lent was over there was a surplus. Hiding the eggs ritually displaced the blame for the unavailability of eggs from the real culprit, the Church, and dumped it all on the bunny. They were trying to make us hate the bunny and love the Church. But it didn't work. Nobody can hate the bunny. He's a cute bunny, yes he is! YES HE IS A CUTE BUNNY!
But why are the eggs colored? I read that the red ones represent the blood of Jesus and the green ones represent the renewal of plant-life at spring. What do the purple ones represent? Tinky Winky?
In order to convey to my Christian friends exactly how senseless Easter appears to me, I offer this video I found on YouTube which I also don't get, and which I hope will instill within others the same kind of cultural dissonance that I derive from Easter. It's a Bollywood film with Cajun French subtitles added "for educational purposes." I want to know what school uses this material in its courses, and how their graduates are getting on in life.
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