What Fun Cultural Music and Dance Can Be for a Tourist!

Why is it that in other countries besdies the US there are traditional music groups that both entertain the tourists and represent the country's heritage and culture? I can't help but become consumed with happiness and glee when I come across groups like these in other countries. Is it that we in America simply do not have a traditional music/dance that has the means to entertain foreigners, or do we just choose to not display it in parks, retaurants etc. Here I am in these pictures with examples of this form of art and tourist entertainment. Me with Polka dancers and players in Krakow, Poland. And also me with a traditional Mexican mariachi band in Puerto Vallarta. If only we Americans were proud enough to entertain streetwalkers and visitors to our nation with such a fun and historical form of art! I give a big BOO HOO to the seriousness of America's tourist entertainment.

Girls night goes surreal

So every Wednesday night my best girlfriend and I have what we like to call "Adventure Wednesday." Last Wednesday, there weren't many adventures going on, so we decided to lay low at my place. Before we knew it she, my husband, and myself had downed two bottles of wine and were loopy in the kitchen. And then it struck me and I exclaimed, "You guys I HAVE to show you what we watched in class this week!" I put down the Doritos, pulled out my laptop and searched "Un Chien Andalou" on youtube. If there was anytime to watch this film I thought, it was a time when one is under the influence of something. We watched all fifteen minutes or so of the film in silence. And when it was over we all just sat there staring at each other. I must admit I was pretty proud of myself for bringing that little piece of splendor to the table that night. We all love the film, although most of it makes no sense to us, but I would say I definetely added some adventure to our not-so-adventurous Wednesday this week.

Using Words is Everyday Life

FYI! I'm not a perv! I just google image searched the word scrabble and this came up! Ha! Sorry in advance if I offend anyone, but this picture is priceless!

Words. How would we live without them? Would it be possible to change the way we all communicate and eliminate words from our life? Words are such an overlooked aspect of our everyday, that even I, an english and literature nerd, failed to recognize the overlooked importance of words until I played Scrabble last night. If there is any game that relates to everyday life, it is Scrabble. No matter one's vocabulary skills and strengths, anybody who knows how to read can play Scrabble. Although it is to the player's advantage if they have an extensive vocabulary, the game process of placing the wooden letters on the board to form words is possible for a first grader, or a college grad.
I have a friend who I play the game with quite frequently. Sometimes we make up our own rules to allow slang, foreign language, or sometimes we play "dirty word" scrabble. Any way you play the game, whether you are following the directions to a tee, or making up your own rules, you are still playing a game that relates to our everyday life. It cannot be argued that words are a significant part of our life, and my favorite game, Scrabble, displays one of the most important aspects of the everyday.

The possible creations that will arise from this economic disaster

In Ross's essay, French Quotidian , there is a short quote that not only caught my attention during the lengthy read, but also seems to sum up what we are learning in this class. Ross writes, "Certainly the everyday consisted of that which is taken for granted: the sequence of regular, unvarying repetition. But in that very triviality and baseness lay its seriousness, in the poverty and tedium of the routine lay the potential for creative energy." (p.43-44). To me, this means that the everyday to us may seem tedious, routine, and somewhat bland, but one must look to the most ordinary aspects of life to create extroardinary works of art and ideas.
With the words "seriousness" and "poverty" in this passage, our current economic situation comes to mind. The fall of our economy and the stock market has been in the media for months and it has become a part of our everyday life. It seems as if we Americans are so involved in the financial crisis that it has become a routine part of our lives. With the situation being as depressing as it is, it is still possible for us to channel creative energy toward this aspect of our everyday life and create fantastical pieces of art, literature, and music. I predict that this indeed will happen. I predict that there will be songs about the stock market crashing and murals and sketches depicting the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
Ross notes that in France, during and postwar, people used both serious and uplifting aspects of everyday life to create art. As the French did in the 1940's and 50's, we too will create works of art inspired by this hugely popular aspect of our everyday life.

Mapquest

The Sad Truth

Oh how witty we Seattleites can be!

Two Legs are Better than Four

This dog is so amazing! A pet like this seems so extraordinary to us, but so ordinary to its loyal owners. So Sweet!