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Popular fashion trends come and go in cycles, and once again we are seeing a trend of the “Native American look” in clothing, home furnishings, jewelry, and bedding. Some companies are running into legal trouble over their merchandise, as there are laws and trademark restrictions against products attributed to Native Americans. Even when the letter of the law is followed, the trend is causing bad feelings about the appropriation of a culture.
“The problem,” says Jessica R. Metcalfe, a Turtle Mountain Chippewa and doctor of Native American studies who teaches at Arizona State University and blogs about Native American fashion designers at Beyond Buckskin, “is that they’re putting it out there as ‘This is the native,’ or ‘This is native-inspired’. So now you have non-native people representing us in mainstream culture. That, of course, gets tiring, because this has been happening since the good old days of the Hollywood Western in the 1930s and ’40s, where they hired non-native actors and dressed them up essentially in redface.
“The issue now is not only who gets to represent Native Americans,” Metcalfe says, “but also who gets to profit.”
Collector’s Weekly has an extensive article about the history of the trade in Native American style, and how the controversy is playing out today. Link -Thanks, Lisa!
Halloween is a time for silly costumes, and some use it as an excuse to drag out every racial and cultural stereotype they can think of for a silly costume. That’s not cool. Students Teaching Against Racism (STARS) is an organization at Ohio University that put out a series of posters to “educate and create dialog” and to ask people to think before they select an insensitive Halloween costume. See the rest of the posters at Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Link -via I Am Bored
Sam Kean wrote a book about the periodic table of elements called The Disappearing Spoon. When the Chinese edition came out, he was surprised by the cover art, which included some element icons that were sexually suggestive and others that didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Only a portion of the cover is shown here. He contacted the jacket designer, Bianco Tsai, who explained the thinking behind her choices for the illustration.
In the end, Tsai said, “I have to built a bridge to connect our culture to your book!” I still think her cover looks sharp, and if Tsai says that it bridges my book to Chinese culture, I believe her. If so, though, it’s a one-way bridge. Trying to decipher the cover still leads to an uncanny feeling for me. Something I’d labored over for years, and written and rewritten until I’d practically memorized it, had became alien. It’s what those poor characters in neurologist Oliver Sacks’ books must feel like when they suddenly have a stroke or something and can’t recognize their own faces in the mirror. It was yet another reminder that although the periodic table is universal, people’s reactions to it are anything but.
Read the reasons behind the element icons and see if they make sense to you, at Slate. Link -via Buzzfeed
This video is named Move. It’s part of a trilogy of videos from director Rick Mereki, director/producer Tim White, and actor Andrew Lees. They traveled 38,000 miles to 11 countries in 44 days and produced three videos. The others in the trilogy are Eat and Learn. Click “more” to see them.
more …
Places all over have different ways of celebrating the end of winter and the return of warm weather every year. What could be more fun than a spring-cleaning holiday that includes a water fight? That’s what’s happening in Thailand during Songkran.
On April 12th, old or useless items are thrown out of houses and burned to avoid bad luck, and on the 13th offerings are made to statues of Buddha at the local wat. The Buddha statues are then washed with perfumed water, and Buddhas from important wats are paraded through the streets where the crowds throw more water on them. The water-fight begins in earnest after this, with people dousing each other with buckets and super-soakers on the street.
See videos of Songkran and other spring celebrations at AnyTrip. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend
(Image credit: Flickr user Wyndham Hollis)
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Quick -what’s traditional to serve at a wedding? Cake? Champagne? That’s just the beginning, because different cultures have different menus, and they all have some history or symbolic meaning. The Igbo tribe of southern Nigeria incorporates kola nuts (pictured here) in the wedding ceremony, as a bridal gift, to be served to guests, and even as part of the ceremony. Read about this and more at Woman’s Day. Link -via the Presurfer
Cultural differences can manifest themselves in ways people never consider until they cross from one culture to another. In this clip, refugees from Sudan encounter America for the first time, and find it quite different from their homeland. This is from the 2006 National Geographic movie God Grew Tired of Us. -via reddit
New York University has advice for international students in dealing with US Americans. A handy guide is posted on their website.
Americans generally believe the ideal person is self-reliant. Most Americans see themselves as separate individuals, not as representatives of a family, community or other group. They dislike being dependent on other people, or having others depend on them. Some people define this trait as selfishness. Others see it as a healthy freedom from the constraints of family or social class.
How is this value manifested into behavior? In individualist cultures, such as the U.S., it is assumed that people need to be alone some of the time and prefer to take care of problems by themselves. Another expectation is that people are ready to “do business” very soon after meeting, without much time spent on preliminary conversation. Also people act competitively, are proud of their accomplishments and expect others to be proud of their own accomplishments.
Reading this makes the USA seem like a strange, exotic culture. Which I suppose it is if you weren’t born and raised here. Link -via Breakfast Links
By now, I’m sure you’ve all heard that archeologists are claiming to have discovered the city of Atlantis in a mud flat located in Southern Spain, but there are plenty more “lost” civilizations out there just begging for discovery. While most of these societies did not lose their entire culture due to a massive tsunami that wiped them off the face of the earth, they instead disappeared for unknown reasons that have yet to be discovered.
Top Tenz has a fantastic article about the top ten civilizations that mysteriously disappeared and the stories are all fascinating. While you may recognize some of the group’s names, like the Olmec (whose land was depopulated, most likely due to environmental changes or volcanic activity, although they may have been invaded) and the Mycenaeans (who may have been invaded, destroyed by class wars or destroyed by a natural disaster), many of the names of these cultures will be unfamiliar to all but the most dedicated history buffs.
The stories are not only fascinating in a historical context, but also a reminder that nothing lasts for ever. It’s always interesting to reflect on the fact that no matter how much power an individual society wields during its peak, it is still prone to collapse -often so suddenly that the cause of the destruction is lost to history.
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Do Americans smile too much? An opinion piece at Pravda says “Americans smile all the time as if they are plugged in.” That is, compared to Russians.
For some reason, a smile makes a Russian person suspicious. Many Russians think that those who smile a lot are not really healthy mentally.
American Annette Loftus, who visited the Soviet Union for the first time in 1991, said that she was culturally shocked when she returned to the USA and saw the smiling Americans around.
Many Russian tourists traveling to Thailand still feel uncomfortable about this country. Thailand is known as a country of a thousand smiles.
“No smile feature is one of the brightest traits of a Russian individual,” professor Sternin believes. “In Russia, a smile is not a signal of politeness. It is not considered normal in Russia to smile to strangers, the Russians do not return a smile for a smile automatically.”
“The paradox is: the Russians smile less because they are more open to others. The Russian seriousness is a habit not to conceal people’s feelings and emotions. Historically, the Russians are mostly in a bad mood, but they are not hiding it,” the professor believes.
But what if you genuinely feel good and want to share the happiness? Maybe that’s the problem with Americans. Link -via J-Walk Blog
It’s common knowledge that people from different culture act differently, but according to Takahiko Masuda of the University of Alberta, they think differently as well. For example, here’s how Westerners and Asians interpret the two pictures above:
“North Americans try to identify the single important thing that is key to making a decision,” explains Dr. Takahiko Masuda, the study’s author, over the phone from his office at the University of Alberta. “In East Asia they really care about the context.”
He studied the eye movement of Americans and Japanese when analyzing a picture of a group of cartoon people. When asked to interpret the emotion of the person in the center, the Japanese looked at the person for about one second before moving on to the people in the background. They needed to know how the group was feeling before understanding the emotion of the individual.
The Americans (and Canadians in subsequent studies) focused 95% of their attention on the person in the center. Only 5% of their attention was focused on the background, and this, Dr. Masuda points out, didn’t influence their interpretation of the central figure’s emotion. For North Americans the foreground is all-important.
Home to close to 30,000 pieces of historical weaponry, the Zeughaus Museum in Graz Austria represents the area’s rich military heritage. The museum’s collection includes guns, swords, and armor, including this complete set of armor for a horse.
From the Upcoming 
ueue, submitted by 
Crayola Monologues (2003) uses the crayon as a human metaphor for exploring color and identity in the United States. This animated video features crayons expressing how color hierarchies have shaped their lives. These crayons live in a world much like our own, complete with prejudice, class boundaries, social hierarchies and those who fall between the lines. Crayola Monologues also reveals the politics behind Crayola label changes, and gives a voice to the previously unheard perspective of crayons.
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The mausoleum of Buganda kings in Kasubi, Uganda is both an innovative burial site and an architectural marvel. Built with all natural materials and balancing on wooden poles stuck firmly in the ground, this UNESCO world heritage site is a must see for tourists.
Kabaka Muteesa I was born in 1837 at the Batandabezaala Palace. He ascended the throne upon the death of his father in October 1856. He built himself a palace on the Kasubi Hill in 1881, and was buried there in a tomb when he died in 1884. Interestingly enough, he was the first of his line to be buried with his jawbone. Traditionally, the jawbone was placed in a shrine because it was believed to contain the spirit of the deceased.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lannaxe96.
The settlement of Copan is one of the most fascinating ancient ruins left behind in the world. In 1839, a traveler named John Lloyd Stephens remarked that "Copan lay before us like a shattered bark in the midst of the ocean".
The settlement at Copan, located between Honduras and Guatemala, achieved its greatest standing during the 5th century under the ruler the Great Lord Quetzal Macaw. The Great Lord was named after two of the most prominent birds in the area and he left a legacy of a settlement that thrived until the 12th century.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lannaxe96.
Whether myth or a historical fact, the spear masters evolved from one man’s secret to make things happen.
The Spear Masters of the Dinka Tribe of the upper Nile are a hereditary priesthood, and according to mythology, their presence is reinforced by political and religious ideals.
There are several legends of the origins of these spear using masters, one in which includes a lion and a man dancing. The lion demands a bracelet that the man is wearing and he refuses. In return, the lion bits off his thumb in order to claim what he thinks belongs to him and the man dies during the confrontation. The man leaves behind a wife and daughter with no son. The daughter weeps at the river and the spirits ask her why she cries.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by lannaxe96.
Yemen has been in the news a great deal recently and if the media is to be believed then it is a hotbed of terrorist training camps and munitions trading. However there are many people who could not -if asked- name the capital city of this republic on the Arabian Gulf. What is exceptional about this country though is its unique centuries old architecture which when seen for the first time never fails to astonish.
We will start in the town of Al Hajjara, so little known that even Wikipedia does not have a proper entry on it. Situated at the heart of Yemen in the Al Bayda Governorate of the country, the town boast one of the most simply amazing structures you will ever see. The residence of the Imam Yahya Muhamamd is perched – precariously or so it seems – atop a rocky outcrop. Imam Yahya was famous for stabilizing the north of the country and for his benign attitude towards minorities, particularly Yemenite Jewry.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by taliesyn30.
Looks like America is not the only country that needs to be weary of fast food. While not many outside the US can see the appeal of
a Big Mac, people in Morocco just love the McArabia.
This new sneaky tactic of adapting global fast food chains to the local palette is happening all over the
world from squid topped Dominoes pizza in Taiwan to KFC’s vegetarian Chana Snacker, a chickpea burger topped with Thousand Island sauce, in India.
Watch out global obesity! I see a plot for a Super Size Me sequel.
Walk into a McDonald’s in Morocco and you’ll find a sandwich you can’t get anywhere else in the world: a cumin-spiced flatbread creation called the McArabia Tagine.
“Honestly it tastes Moroccan,” said Noor El Ghoumari, 34, a man who had just paid 53 dirhams, or about $6.60, for a meal with one of the ground beef sandwiches in Rabat on a recent afternoon. “This is a local McDonald’s and obviously they have to adapt.”
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by CherryBomb.
The Art of Manliness has a wonderful post on 5 classic cocktails that all men should be familiar with and how to mix them for maximum effect.
There’s been a trend lately to get back to the old way of doing things, especially when it comes to things we ingest. This trend has also entered the world of libations. Drink menus around the country are starting to have more of the old classics included on them. Many mixologists are using these cocktails as starting points for newer versions that take advantage of the plethora of products out there today. Recipe books from classic bars such as the Old Waldorf-Astoria, The Savoy, and the Stork Club are available in reprint editions for the new generation to use. And who can forget Old Mr. Boston? They’ve been printings those books since 1935 and still do to this day.
But you don’t need a recipe book to get started mixing up some of the classic cocktails men have been drinking for decades (and in some cases, more than a century). Here’s how to create the 5 classic cocktails every man should know.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by msaleem.
As Tetris turns 25 this week, the Geeks are sexy blog compiled a list of ten interesting facts you probably didn’t know about the game.
1- The game was completed on June 6th 1984 by Alexander Pajitnov, a programmer at the Moscow Academy of Sciences who worked on the game in his spare time [...]
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geeksaresexy.
Nothing says "I’m a geek!" better than a custom-made geeky license plate. Here are 12 awesomely geeky license plates for your viewing pleasure.
Spotting silly vanity license plates is always a fun activity, especially double-innuendo or borderline-obscene ones. But some of the best still come from those who show their geek pride on their bumpers.
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Geeksaresexy.
The clash between Chinese and Swedish table manners highlights how different cultures define politeness and intimacy. Dr. Martin Rundkvist of Aardvarchaeology is married to a Chinese immigrant to Sweden. Her life entails switching back and forth between being polite to those with whom you are familiar and reserving formal manners to those to whom you are not particularly close. This shows how much more there is to learn about a culture than just the language! Commenters at the post add their experiences in how other cultures would react. Link
(image credit: Flickr user NessieNoodle)
