Diss Songs

Post on Boing Boing about the song "Round the Corn, Sally," the first African-American diss song on record. INteresting discussion following concerning other disses from Scandanavian epic and the like.

Hungarian Folk Hero

Interesting story from Salon a couple of months ago about a post-Soviet Bloc Hungarian folk hero named Attilla Ambrus - the Whiskey Robber. You might have to watch a small ad to read it, but don't let that dissuade you.

Online Gaming Environments and Narrative

One of my main objectives in my otherwise useless dissertation was to establish that online gaming's purpose is in the creation of narratives (storytelling in a new medium). Hence, since folklorists are involved with the study of storytelling, this was a viable path of study. Whether or not I was successul or not in demonstrating this was left to my dissertation committee. However, I'm still sold on the idea.

Via Boing Boing , I was led to a very informative interview with Sean Stewart on this very topic. Link.

Tivo and Giants

Let me just come right out and say it: I've fallen in love with my tivo. I no longer have to worry about missing the latest "Office" or the series finale of "Arrested." I can fast forward through "Idol" and I can watch "Iron Chef" whenever I like.

I set the little bugger to record any program with the word 'folklore' in the title or description. This week it recorded its first 'folklore' program, the History Channel documentary
Giants: Friend or Foe. I was a little apprehensive about watching it, thinking it would be some sort of fakeloric gala. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see Simon Bronner and his shining head pop up. Granted there was some sillyness to the movie, and like many tv documentaries it tended towards the repetitive. Overall, it was quite entertaining. I watched bits of it with my three-year old and now she is totally curious about John Henry, the steel driving man. I would definitely show this to a high school class, or a general survey course, on folklore. It would make a great jumping off point for many topic areas: i.e., genre, fakelore, the hero, mythology.

Russian Exhibit on Rugs

For you Russian speakers out there, the Pushkin Musuem is mounting an exhibit of 'unusual rugs.' In that part of the world, more often than not you are going to find a rug hanging on a wall. As the article from the Gazeta website states, in my rough translation: "Every one of these rugs was created with the goal of covering up something."

Link

Another Neato Congolese Monster

Cryptomundo has another great account, plus a pic of a wood-carving, of a 'mythical' creature from the Congo. The Emela-Ntouka appears to be somewhat of a cross between a crocodile and a rhino. It is known as the "Killer of Elephants."

Link.

American Primitive

Meredith Ochs on NPR's "All Things Considered" on the latest Revenant records (the people who brought you the damn beautiful Charley Patton boxset) collection, American Primitives 2. This is a collection of early "race records," minstrel shows, folk & regional music. Get you some.

Link