We have gotten a lot of letters about the “We got the pilot”- dance that Janne the Director and myself performed in the latest episode of Lunki and Sika. What’s it called? What’s the origin of it? Can you teach it to us or do you have to be a dancer to learn it?

The origin of the dance dates back five years ago. Janne the Director, Lunki and me learned it because we wanted a happy dance to do when we reached some success or good news. What, this is the first time you guys have seen us do it in all those years? Well yeah, sadly for us that’s true.

It is pretty hard to do but of course we can teach it to you sometime. Perhaps we can even release a single, like the “Hokey Pokey”! We’ll see.

Today, let’s go to the supermarket! Les rayons néo-zélandais ont beau ressembler à leurs homologues français, il est possible d’y dénicher quelques curiosités – plus ou moins savoureuses…

1 | Kiwi, what else?

Golden kiwis

Les clichés sont faits pour être déconstruits… ou pas ! En Nouvelle-Zélande, le kiwifruit est bien le roi ; on le retrouve donc sans surprise aux quatre coins du supermarché. Au rayon fruits et légumes bien sûr, dans sa déclinaison verte traditionelle, mais aussi en mode kiwifruit gold : une chair jaune, un goût plus doux rappelant les fruits de la passion, et surtout une peau lisse tout à fait comestible qui vous évitera la corvée épluchage et vous offrira un peu de croustillance au dessert. Du kiwi au rayon alcool également, sous la forme bien mystérieuse – et qu’il ne me reste plus qu’à découvrir – de kiwifruit wine ! Du kiwi dans les petits pots pour bébés, du kiwi en sauce, du kiwi en jus, du kiwi dans les biscuits, du kiwi dans les eaux aromatisées, et même du kiwi dans les gels douche – ça, j’ai tenté, et c’est assez sympa, avec en bonus l’action exfoliante des graines de kiwi !

2 | Kumara

Orange and red Kumaras

Pour faire exotique, on peut présenter le kumara comme l’un des légumes traditionnels maoris ; sa présence en Nouvelle-Zélande remonte à l’arrivée des premiers Maoris, il y a plus de mille ans, en provenance des îles du Pacifique. Mais pour être honnête, on peut aussi préciser que kumara est le nom maori pour “patate douce” – apparemment, on en trouve jusqu’en France. Il en existe des rouges, des oranges et des jaunes ; j’ai goûté les deux premiers, c’est en effet très doux, légèrement sucré, un genre de pomme de terre de luxe ! Autre légume assez similaire, le New Zealand Yam – connu sous le nom d’”Oca” dans les Andes.

3 | TimTam

Tsoin Tsoin

J’avais déjà eu l’occasion de vous en parler dans mon article sur la rue Servandoni, à Paris. La recette : une crème au chocolat prise en étau entre deux biscuits au chocolat, le tout recouvert de chocolat, pour un résultat très sucré, croustillant au croquer et fondant en bouche. Fabriqués en Australie par Arnott’s Biscuits, ils sont incontestablement les biscuits phare en Nouvelle-Zélande. En plus de l’Original, on trouve une variété de déclinaisons : Double Coat, Classic Dark, Chewy Caramel, Chewy Choc Fudge, Sweet Surrender Choc Hazelnut Flavoured Mousse, Sweet Surrender Black Forest Delight et Sweet Surrender Crème Caramel. Mais plus que le TimTam, il y a le TimTam Slam ! Egalement connu sous les noms de TimTam Explosion, TimTam Suck et même TimTam Orgasm, cette pratique est la garantie d’un grand moment de bonheur en bouche. Je vous laisse découvrir cela en compagnie de l’Australienne Natalie Imbruglia :

4 | Marmite

A consommer avec modération

Âmes sensibles, s’abstenir. La Marmite néo-zélandaise, tout comme la Vegemite australienne et la Marmite anglaise, n’est pas exactement le genre de pâte à tartiner vous mettant de bonne humeur le matin : élaborée à base de levures, de couleur noire, relativement liquide et collante, elle sent mauvais et n’a pas meilleur goût, malgré le pain et le beurre avec lesquels on essaye désespérément d’alléger la sentence. Enfin, c’est ce que j’en pense – et je suis loin d’être le seul. Les 237 000 fans de Marmite sur Facebook ne partagent sans doute pas mon avis et n’hésiteraient pas à avancer, à juste titre, les vertus nutritionnelles de ce spread et cet amusant spot publicitaire. Le produit divise donc, et la marque en a même fait son slogan : “Marmite. Love it or hate it” ! Lecteur, tu es donc prévenu ; si jamais tu t’aventures dans un rayon confitures/miel/Nutella en Nouvelle-Zélande, méfie toi de la Marmite. Et, tant que j’y suis, évite également l’écoeurant peanut butter, vendu à outrance ici…

5 | Weet-Bix

"New Zealand's no.1 breakfast cereal"

Si vous connaissez les Weetabix, voilà grosso modo à quoi ressemblent aussi les Weet-Bix en Nouvelle-Zélande – ces derniers étant juste un peu plus petits et de forme rectangulaire. On peut les manger avec du lait bien sûr, mais aussi en tartines, avec du beurre, de la confiture – et de la Marmite, qui sait ! Lancés en 1928 et conçus par Sanitarium (“the health food company”), les Weet-Bix sont depuis des dizaines d’années le petit-déjeuner le plus populaire en Nouvelle-Zélande et font partie intégrante de l’identité kiwie.

6 | Baked BeaNZ

Du kiwi dans les haricots

Au rayon “plats étudiants”, j’aurais pu vous parler des très comestibles 2-minute noodles, à 0,35€ la boîte. Je vais plutôt consacrer quelques lignes aux baked beans néo-zélandais, signés Wattie’s. Niveau goût, rien de bien différent comparé aux traditionnels baked beans de Heinz. Niveau présentation, en revanche, c’est plus intéressant : les beans deviennent des beanz – tout un symbole. En mettant les pieds en Nouvelle-Zélande, on remarque vite que les Kiwis ne manquent pas une occasion de montrer leur fibre patriotique. Un petit tour à la fac et vous serez surpris du nombre d’étudiants portant des sweat-shirts représentant Aotearoa – rien à voir avec la France donc, où ce genre de vêtements n’est vendu que dans les magasins pour touristes. Un petit tour au supermarché ensuite, et vous ne pourrez pas échapper aux produits floqués de la mention “Proudly made in NZ” ou du sigle “Buy New Zealand Made”. Et donc même les haricots s’y mettent !

7. Beer

Rayon frais

Niveau alcool, les supermarchés néo-zélandais diffèrent de leurs homologues français sur au moins quatre points. 1. Il est impossible d’y trouver autre chose que de la bière ou du vin – les alcools forts étant vendus dans des magasins spécialisés répondant souvent au nom de Liquorland. 2. Il existe deux rayons alcool : le premier avec des packs à température ambiante, le second avec des packs réfrigérés ! 3. Si vous voulez jouer aux petits débrouillards, vous pouvez acheter des kits pour “bière maison” – il paraît que ça peut même être bon ! 4. A la caisse, don’t forget your ID ; les contrôles d’identité sont quasi-systématiques pour s’assurer que vous êtes bien majeur. Pour une analyse un peu plus détaillée de la bière néo-zélandaise, cliquez ici.

8. Meat

Meat lover's

La Nouvelle-Zélande est à juste titre réputée pour la qualité de sa viande, notamment l’agneau. Le choix n’y est pas forcément très large (boeuf, poulet, porc et agneau/mouton) mais le goût est là – même pour les barquettes d’entrée de gamme ! Surtout, les prix sont bien plus intéressants qu’en France, particulièrement si l’on arrive à repérer les produits en promotion ou les fameuses étiquettes “reduced”, indiquant un produit arrivé à quasi-péremption et donc bradé parfois à 50%.

9. Gluten-Free Food

Coeliaquie : intolérance au gluten.

Que ce soit dans les supermarchés, les cafés ou les restaurants, il n’est pas rare de trouver des aliments sans gluten. Ces produits sont essentiellement destinés aux personnes souffrant de la maladie coeliaque, c’est-à-dire allergiques au gluten et à certaines protéines céréalières. De premiers magasins spécialisés commencent à apparaître en France mais la Nouvelle-Zélande a certainement une longueur d’avance en la matière.

10. Ice Cream

100% NZ

Ce fut un de mes premiers chocs en arrivant en Nouvelle-Zélande : en plein mois de juillet, alors que l’hiver battait son plein, des Kiwis se baladant dans la rue une glace à la main ! Visiblement, le froid n’est pas une explication suffisante pour refuser une bonne crème glacée, dans un pays où la musique des ice cream vans résonne donc toute l’année. Selon la New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers’ Association, les Kiwis partagent avec l’Australie la seconde marche du podium en matière de consommation annuelle de glace par personne (23 litres), derrière les Etats-Unis. Personnellement, j’attends que les températures remontent un peu avant de me lancer, mais j’ai déjà hâte de goûter LA glace néo-zélandaise : la “Hockey Pokey” de Tip Top. Mmmmm…

Assez écrit, j’attends maintenant vos commentaires avec gourmandise !

I’m just lovin the burning puffles. It’s like doing the hokey pokey. You get close to em and they catch fire. You move away and they extinguish themselves. Do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about! I think there’s going to be a new game.  That’s what this whole fire thing is all about. I’m really likin the sky and the snow that looks like a peach milkshake. I just wanna slurp it up.

One foot into the recession, or one foot out; getting a college education has become more challenging no matter what your take on the state of our economy.  Amidst financial aid cuts, shrinking savings, and parental layoffs, some students have found resourcefulness and flexibility to be their best ally when dancing the financial ”Hokey Pokey” thru school.

Here are a few of their recommended budget recommendations:

1. Vintage Clothes:  for a cool look without saying a word.
2. Free Stuff:  there are on-campus promotions throughout the semester, shaving gel, soap, food samples, it’s all good.
3. Home Cooked Food:  packing lunches, eating at home, making your own cup of Joe.  I’ve been told that some students have actually become good at cooking making NECESSITY the mother of  TALENT and invention.
4. Dorm Decorating:  shop from garage sales and arrange swaps with your fellow students.
5. Coupons & Specials:  they may take extra time and be a bit tedious, but using coupons and taking advantage of specials is does save money.

A large expense comes in Textbooks.   Just going to the bookstore and buying a second hand book does not guarantee the best deal.  There are a lot of competitive online stores of both New, Used, and Digital textbooks.  Each individual title could have significant price differences depending on the vendor.  If a student took the time to do serious comparison shopping including online vendors, they could stand to save a lot of money.  I saw “save on shipping costs” on the window of a college bookstore.  This is not necessarily true because many online vendors offer free shipping.  Depending on the title, a savvy student could get a new textbook for less than the cost of a used one!

Here’s an example:

Molecular Biology of Aging by Guarantee  (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; 1st edition (October 30, 2007)

This textbook can be found at Buy.com for $107.99, free shipping, and when bought as a Tibesti member thru Tibesti.com, Tibesti then pays the student back $3.62 in cash.

Barnes and Noble has been a serious textbook contender this fall, offering this same book for the cover price of $135 but their B&N member’s pay $108, it qualifies for free shipping and if bought thru Tibesti.com as a member, Tibesti pays the student back $6.48 in cash.  Compare this with A1books.com that sell the used copies for $127.50 - and it’s easy to see how just a little extra keyboard work on the internet could go a long way!

Note: the Tibesti Textbook Promo ends Oct. 15th.

Kat Kekona, Tibesti Senior Content Editor

ya put yur right foot in, ya put yur right foot out, ya put yur right foot in, then ya shake it all about

nd can u put ur left foot on bloo?

Picture by: dunno source. Caption by: sophia232 via Advanced Lol Builder

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My brother and his wife have this sign hanging above the screen door at the back of their house . . . priceless.  And, an interesting thought to boot!  Does this mean that it is time to start dancing the Hokey Pokey?  Well alrighty then!  But, if this is not the case . . . I will continue to search for another alternative.

Have a great day!

You put your left hand in, You put your left hand out. You put your left hand in, And you shake it all about. You do the hokey pokey and You turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about.

I was recently posed the question, “What if the hokey pokey really is what it’s all about?” As I sit at my dinner table at 4AM contemplating this remarkably deep concept, I’m equally attempting to avoid thinking about the other things that keep me awake. You see, it’s not the hokey pokey that woke me over an hour ago. However, it’s the hokey pokey that keeps me contemplative. And, while this topic is entirely serious, I imagine 4AM rantings might do it more justice than I could at, say, a less ungodly hour.

So, upon being asked this question, my immediate reaction was against the possibility that the hokey pokey really is what it’s all about. Surely, then we are destined for an egalitarian, communistic society. Now, don’t get me wrong – communism in its truest form is not as bad as man has made it to be; however, in the manner of exploiting-the-proletariat-Animal-Farm-communism, I’m personally not a fan. No insult intended to George Orwell, however.

Under Hokey Pokey Law, all individuals are equal. We share in a communal behavior and endure mutual humiliation as we’re directed by our superiors (who may or may not be named Old Major or Napoleon). I imagine the scene somewhat like the recording of the Michael Jackson “Thriller” performance by the inmates in the Philippines, except I see us all in Storm Trooper uniforms. Oh, yes. We will enjoy ourselves and feel like we’re part of something greater; we may even get over 3 million hits on YouTube. We may even rise up in an antidisestablishmentarianism coup. Or, perhaps I’ve just always wanted to use that word in writing…

Or, is the hokey pokey in fact a metaphor for something greater. If I look beyond the communistic implications, the hokey pokey may in fact be a metaphor for life. While the motions of putting our left hand in and out are generally controlled, the act of shaking it all about may represent the chaos that accompanies our mortal path. Likewise, the turning ourselves about may refer to the importance of resetting or starting over after we are shaken. Yes! Yes! It’s all making sense now! According to the hokey pokey, life is all about going through the motions, being shaken all about, but starting over and trying again!

Am I the only one who has overlooked the symbolic significance of this song? Even Wikipedia appears to have missed the importance – perhaps I should update the entry! Surely, this discovery will make huge impacts on politics and religion, science and philosophy.

So, brothers and sisters, don your Storm Trooper uniforms, and unite! Together, we will traverse this life by following the teachings and rituals of the hokey pokey and all will be well with the world.

However, I reserve the right to have dibs on the name “Snowball.”

It’s time for another Aloha Friday, the day that you take it easy and look forward to the weekend, in Hawaii and blog land anyway. As you should know by now, over at An Island Life, Kailani decided that on Fridays she would take it easy on posting and ask a simple question for you to answer. Nothing that requires a lengthy response.

If you’d like to participate, just post your own question on your blog and leave your link at An Island Life’s blog. Don’t forget to visit the other participants! It’s a great way to make new bloggy friends!

Lately MM has been very grumpy, irritable, restless. Despite his mother’s contentment with being a homebody, this kid is booooored. He’s bored with the routine and he wants to do something else now – he needs constant distractions. It’s made Dan and I grumpy, irritable and restless, too. The other day I was trying to keep MM preoccupied before bedtime while we waited for Dan – we like to do this bedtime routine together as a family – new diapers, pajamas, a story, all that – I don’t remember what was taking him so long but I do remember that MM was ready to jump ship and do this whole “bedtime thing” another day instead – what kid isn’t? So I’m trying to calm him down, distract him and convince him that bedtime isn’t the devil, when out of nowhere I start doing the hokey pokey. Just because.

I must be a genius or something because MM was immediately enthralled – he wanted to hokey pokey over and over. After about our 4th round of hokey pokey, I switched things up and we did head, shoulders, knees and toes. Another big hit – and I’m left thinking, “Why haven’t we sung these to him yet?” and “What other awesome distraction / song / dances am I forgetting?” Because this stuff is like activity gold – I don’t need to buy anything, grab any tools, or anything – I just have to remember all the dorky song and dance numbers from my youthful past.

So my Aloha Friday questions for you this week are:

1. (If you are a parent or care provider for a little one) what songs, nursery rhymes etc. do you like to do together?
   
2. What is your child’s favorite? What is yours? Feel free to include the words, etc. in case I don’t know them.
   
3. Any other distraction tips for my grumpy, irritable, restless little one? I know, I know – I need to take him out more – did I mention I’m hugely 34 weeks pregnant and live on the third floor? I’m trying people!

You may recall my last post that I mentioned I have impressive powers of influence.  I may have misspoken.  However, entirely as likely as the idea that I was mistaken is the reality that I really am incredibly influential in public policy.  Well, I figured the best way to start influencing public policy is to make a list of things to change, so I whipped one up.  Then, because I’m as wise as I am powerful, I’ve decided to share that list with my adoring spontaneous audience.  Just for fun I’ve also included my reminder to myself of things not to change.

Things to bring back:

The hokey pokey

Recreational plastic surgery

A budget surplus

The days when girls listed their first and last names on Facebook instead of first and middle (if you’re worried about employers checking it, just put your profile on super private)

A funny Adam Sandler movie

50 Cent

Saved By the Bell

Wade Pacak

Sexy

The Slinky

Beanie Babies

Super Mario Brothers 3

Seinfeld

When rappers could produce a song without “featuring” someone else on the track

Face to face communication

Singer/songwriters

Arrested Development

The days when the old man Six Flags mascot just danced (no speaking)

Newspapers (this one is preemptive)

I’d also like to go ahead and put in a request to Lipton for regular sparkling tea

Superman being cooler than Batman

Chumbawamba

The flutes are the key!

Things I will not bring back:

Boy bands

Dinosaurs (I saw Jurassic Park)

2001-2008 (politically)

PCs

Rubik’s Cube

Dial-up Internet

Limp Bizkit

Update:  About 12 hours after posting this entry, Wade Pacak called me for the first time in a couple months.

(As with every other video post, if you enjoy the effort and originality of these videos, please tell everyone you know about it.  It’s easy!  Just copy the link from the address bar and paste it into an e-mail to all your friends, family, and co-workers.  In fact, you should send it to so many people that it automatically goes into their Spam inbox.)

Don’t you hate it when you’re walking in the mall, thinking about something else, and you almost run into someone head-on?  When you try to dodge one another, you will invariably sidestep the same direction several time sin succession, prompting the other person (probably a moron) to say, “Shall we dance?”, then let out a small laugh.  Once, just once, I’d like to take the other person up on that offer.  What would happen if I grabbed that person by the arms and put them into a tango so fierce that they would not know if they would survive the ordeal?  I would then release them and say, confidently, “Yes, we SHALL dance!” and walk away.  That would teach them a lesson in using worn-out clichés.

I’m sure this has been lampooned many times, but how come people in musicals all know the words when the lead character breaks into song?  It just doesn’t make any sense!  When I break randomly into song, everyone around me just stares.  Without fail, an old woman will say to me, “Sir, please.  This is a funeral.  I don’t care if you are Jean Valjean.”  No one EVER breaks into song with me.  I’ve tried so many times to invite others to join in.  I even sing songs people will know, like “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or “A Boy Named Sue”.  You’d think it would be easy, but try getting people to sing “Auld Lang Syne” in the middle of March, and you’ll see it’s more difficult than that.

In a perfect world, we would break into song or dance, and everyone would participate.

Believe it or not, we reached this amount of choreography in only a handful of takes.  With such precision, I’m sure you thought we had spent years at the Bob Fosse School for Tap, Jazz, and Hokey Pokey.  That evening, we had some early takes that, if not for my journalistic integrity, you may never had seen.  Below is an example.

Stevie and I were not quite in sync, I’m ashamed to say.  I pride myself on my superior dancing skills, but I just didn’t have “it” at that very moment.  If you’re curious as to what “it” is, I will give you a hint:

I have no idea.

Fortunately, Matt jumped in to teach both Stevie and I how to tango like professionals.  I appreciate the arts more now that I have ample talent in footwork and rhythm.

There’s no way I’m getting snubbed at the Tony Awards this year.

Have you ever had a song stuck in your head and its all you can hear. Well yesterday was my day and it wasn’t some really great and wonderful hit nooooo it was get this “The Hokey Pokey”. For about 5 hours or so i’m walking around thinking “put your left hand out…well you know the rest. Around 5 pm (EST) I shook my left self all about and then that’s what its all about Yeah Yeah!!! It was over. Boy that wore me out.

“The celebration of death puts everything in perspective.  The little stressors in life seem so much more trivial and it is easy to put things down and then just be in the moment to grieve and celebrate.  I think death is a gift to the living because it gives us the opportunity to truly celebrate the life of the person we have lost in a way that we can’t do when they are still living.”

With that extremely insightful quote in mind from my wonderful sister-in-law, Christy, let me jump into a different kind of life celebration.  My first Vietnamese wedding in Vietnam.

Ha's wedding reception at her parents' house.

Our friend, Ha, got married a couple weekends ago and oh did we celebrate.  There were toasts after toasts, umm… actual toast (for the Westerners?), blaring techno music (it was hard to converse even when we purposefully sat in the room behind the speakers.), and that essential traditional-love-palm-tree-wall-decoration in the picture above.

I like Vietnamese weddings.  They’re simple in planning/etiquette, but extravagant in celebration.  It seems like they stick to essentials, and there’s not too much for the newlyweds to worry about.  As long as there’s excess food, flowing beer, music and dedicated karaoke numbers, everyone’s happy and enjoying themselves.  There aren’t any nit-picky, perfectionist details to worry/freak out about if they go wrong… it’s just a celebration!  Stop rehearsing and organizing and just party, damnit.

As the guest-karaoke part of the reception was well on its way, we were inevitably asked to grace the audience with a Western ballad…

So, we chose the hokey-pokey.  I know, it sounds strange because it’s not exactly the most appropriate song to sing if we were at an American wedding… but oh my god was it a hit.  My friend Topher ended up singing it, while I kind of just background-rapped it.  I couldn’t help myself.  The keyboardist even dropped us a beat once he figured out our tempo.  We were a hit.

Here’s some more happy pictures of us Westerners at a Vietnamese wedding.  Imagine, if you will, that each one of these scenes is accompanied with extremely loud, HOT club beats.  Our ears could very well be internally bleeding… but with joy of course.

Not looking the best... well, just plain not looking I guess. (rhyme.)

I never said Liz was non-photogenic.

1...2...3... YO!

ex-Hueians!

And if you didn’t believe me about the toast before, here was some of the wedding reception dishes.  Sure haven’t gone to a wedding with this kind of food…

D.I.Y. steak sandwiches with mayowwwza!

good display.

Next.

It’s gotten sunnier in Hue.  It’s not always sunny in Hue.  To this I say, spend a day and play in Hue!  (For those of you who never knew how to pronounce my city, there’s a hint for you.)

Hue’s lookin’ so green (and in shape.) these days and there’s so many old, tall, vibrant nintendo-green colored trees that canopy every street.  When you’re on a motorbike, it feels like you’re in a “natural” tunnel… not a stuffy, noise-muting, underground, escape tunnel, but you know- a green (did I say green, yet?), butterfly and swallows hanging from strings, hired bunnies in tuxedos waving at you while you go by, and extinct birds chirping on repeat on a P.A. system disguised in hollow, plastic rocks- kind of Alice In Wonderland tunnel.

express button-down shirt? Why not!

Ha. I just realized this is kind of like a virtual map of that day.  Well to continue, I headed down this street (as seen above) and headed to one of my favorite spots in Hue: Tinh Tam Lake, north of the citadel.

I love it here.  I mean, what is up with this place?  Random old-styled lamp posts? Extremely tall, far-apart, palm trees?  Tons of fisherman that stay grounded at their “spots” for the entire duration of the day?  Broken down bridges that lead to random islets that look like elevated recreational parks? Extremely fragrant lotus that grows everywhere in the lake?  What does the internet have to say about this?

“Legends have it that kings and mandarins came to this place to relax and drink tea scented with lotus from the lake.”

Okay, great.  I’m not crazy for thinking this is one of the most awesome, random paradise spots in Hue.  Come visit and I’ll bring you to this wonderland.

i pahked my cahh hea.

After that, I drove straight down this road (as seen above.), took a right, took another right, and then took a left headed towards the imperial canals.  Did you picture that in your head?

one-way exit out of the imperial city.

Shrines are in every ancestral tree.

Flag tower of Hue.

Closin' up the sugarcane juice stand.

I like to plan my way home across the bridge so that it coincides with sunset. I give myself a shiny, healthy, luck-bearing point for every time I do this correctly.  If only we got those kinds of points in every game that involved insignificant, arbitrary points… life sure would be better.

The last category of photos (let’s be honest, this is how I’ve been doing posts lately… I should maybe stop taking so many pictures everywhere.)  I’d like to show you in this post is of FHF’s Mobile Clinic Program (MCP) two weekends ago.  The Friends of Hue Foundation’s mobile clinic goes out to rural communities outside of Hue city, areas that have little access and funds to medicine and doctor check-ups.  When I went with them last weekend, we served around 300 people (mostly elders) in 2.5 hours.  It was amazingly efficient.  This is when I realized… old Vietnamese people have beautiful faces. I actually couldn’t stop staring.  I probably looked so creepy smiling so lovingly at them… but it’s true!  Even though there’s definitely wear in their faces from all that manual labor, you can tell they’re still so incredibly strong for their old age.  It’s inspiring.

That was a highly inappropriate preface, since I just realized I hardly have any pictures of their faces.  haha, woops.

Oh, old Vietnamese men and your stylish, classic hats.

still got the strongest squat.

I love that woman’s face in that last picture.  I can’t quite put my finger on who she reminds me of… I’ll give you a quarter if you can help in anyway.

hey again,

my goodies, my treasures

too sweet rose bowl! $1!!

sweet SWEET vintage plate

old bowl filled with vintage linens, scarves and my beautiful lady figurine

sweet old shutters, already painted my fave colors!

love 'em!

sweet three-piece pink set of table scarves

LOVE this rusted out, crunchy old trash can!!

who buys this stuff? moi! why would anyone let go of this?!?!

the vintage pink lady sunbeam (for 'underarms') ha!

to DIE for vintage eyeglasses bagged up with some bling

cool, cool old rusty-lidded huge jar filled with matchbooks

he's a keeper! even came with his own little cage, but i took him out for the pic

great cut-glass bowl

love these shakers from westbend!

his and hers vintage hand-embroidered pillowcases ... hubby's gonna LOVE his! heehee

the official FAG ring photo (i'm the pink ring ... 'cause i'm the head FAG)

FAGs lunching at the cotton patch (fried mushrooms to DIE for!)

Audio: NIEHS, Jazz, Baby! by Doug Beavers
Wikipedia: Hokey Cokey

You put your right foot in,
You put your right foot out;
You put your right foot in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your left foot in,
You put your left foot out;
You put your left foot in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your right hand in,
You put your right hand out;
You put your right hand in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your left hand in,
You put your left hand out;
You put your left hand in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your right side in,
You put your right side out;
You put your right side in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your left side in,
You put your left side out;
You put your left side in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your nose in,
You put your nose out;
You put your nose in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your backside in,
You put your backside out;
You put your backside in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your head in,
You put your head out;
You put your head in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about!

You put your whole self in,
You put your whole self out;
You put your whole self in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey-Pokey,
And you turn yourself around.
That’s what it’s all about

What if the Hokey Cokey IS what it’s all about? Catholics in Scotland seem to think it might be. These days the long-running religious struggle in the British Isles between Catholicism and Protestantism is often (thankfully) played out through (arguably) less violent means – football, or soccer to you Americans.

It is this battleground that underlies a recent political storm over, believe it or not, the Hokey Cokey. Some Catholics (namely one Cardinal Keith O’Brien as well as politician Michael Matheson) are claiming that it originated as a slight against the Eucharist – the symbolic cannibalism of Christ. There’s a good summary of the story here, and the specific claim appears in the Times article here;

“…the ditty was composed by Puritans during the 18th century to mock the language and actions used by priests at Latin Mass”

Is it, though? One exasperated commenter to the Scotsman newspaper points out that the song we all know today was not written in the 18th century, nor even the 19th. And the writer was a Catholic himself, a man called Jimmy Kennedy. It was released in 1942 and became a big hit amongst those of the Cockney persuasion.

However, as you will see from the above link, the old “you put your left X in, your left X out” routine was already well established by 1883, and that was in America (Games and Songs of Children by William Newell). In fact Jimmy Kennedy’s song was copyrighted as the “Cokey Cokey”, and was clearly based upon something already extant. Newell’s book itself points out that in England, the same song went by the name “Hinkumbooby”. The same goes for Scotland, as this book shows. There are similarities here – a silly dance involving a ring and bodily appendages, with a nonsense key-word. It may even go deeper than this, however. The original tune, pre-Kennedy, was “Lillibullero” – an overt pisstake of Catholicism by Protestants dating to the mid-17th century.  It has a longer history of aggression than even that, being adapted by the Orange Order as “The Protestant Boys” and used to abuse Catholics during the Troubles. Things really get interesting when you realise the prominence of the “hinkumbooby” variant of the song and dance amongst the Shakers of the US. Shakers being a radical Protestant sect formed in reaction against perceived Catholic persecution, escaping to America in the 18th century. It makes sense that a traditionally anti-Catholic rhyme would remain in currency in a culture like this, even if its significance might well be lost over time.

Whatever weight all this lends to the Catholic claim, the specifics are still somewhat speculative, ie the limb movements and words themselves being a direct perversion of a certain Catholic ritual. An SNP minister has pointed out the similarity of the phrase itself “Hokey Cokey ” (and the variant Hokey Pokey) to “Hocus Pocus”.This is a well-known phrase for nonsense, which is innocent enough on the face of it. One variant of the rhyme includes another nursery rhyme, “looby loo“, which also appears to talk about acting crazy or silly in some way. Crucially though, “hocus pocus” specifically (rather like “mumbo jumbo” refers to magical or superstitious nonsense – exactly what the older Christian rituals came to be seen as by Protestants. The icing on the cake etymologically  (and perhaps too conveniently) is the “hocus pocus” – hoc est corpus connection. This is what is being claimed today, and it likely originates with Tillotson back in 1684 in his criticism of the ritual of Transubstantiation. I have my instinctive reservations about this, and I see they are shared. I look at it this way – at best, Tillotson got it right, and hocus pocus really was a mocking of Catholic ritual. At worst, he made it up, but the claim is itself ancient enough to carry weight – to get Protestants using it against Catholics. Not that this is even necessary – the common-currency usage to mean “magical nonsense” would be enough to support the “hokey pokey” connection given the other evidence presented here. The subsequent mutation to “hokey pokey” is likewise not too great a stretch, though one should never rely upon similarities like this. “Notes and Queries” has more on the phrase.

Some argue that  “hinkumbooby”, “hokey cokey”, and hokey pokey”, are corruptions of one another, which could reinforce the “hocus pocus”  connection. You’d want to be sure of your dates for this to truly dovetail however, and I am not. The variants seem to have existed concurrently on both sides of the Atlantic. The other evidence is enough for me to give this claim a Mythbusters-style “plausible” verdict though.

Regardless of the historical reality (or otherwise), as with any so-called “hate crime”, context is key. In the playground, innocence robs the rhyme of any such power (if it ever had it). In the football terrace environment of rivalry, aggression and animosity, it’s easy to see how even a chant whose meaning has been forgotten (or never existed!), can become a powerful insult. This makes the etymology stuff somewhat of a red herring. If Rangers fans are singing the hokey cokey in order to poke fun at Catholicism,  then that’s the meaning of the song – regardless of past meanings it has carried. and  regardless of how much more heinous it might seem to some if it really were a perversion of Catholic phrases. Which brings us to whole problem with the idea of a “hate crime” – second-guessing what other people know, think, and intend, when the language being used is ambiguous. I won’t touch that one with a ten-foot pole, however!

The irony here of course, whether or not my assessment is correct, is that by pointing out this origin story for the rhyme, the Catholics are actually drawing attention to it,  potentially bestowing it with more context and therefore “hate” power than it could ever have had intrinsically. It’s obvious that the vast majority of people, even at Rangers v Celtic matches, wouldn’t have known about this origin/interpretation. The “nonsensification” effect of repetition is seen in playgrounds across the world, where new rhymes with topical, even political themes are rapidly mutated, Chinese-whispers style, into meaningless verse. Without this reminder, and with the widespread usage of the rhyme as a bit of fun nonsense, the hokey-cokey might just finally have lost its power to offend. The cynical might even suggest that elements on both sides relish the conflict, and making publicity out of it is simply stirring the pot. Hope for some measure of (further) reconcilation is not lost however, as according to the Times, fans on both sides of the divide are planning, on Dec 27th at Ibrox, to taunt those crying “hate-crime” with a rousing joint chorus of the “Hokey Cokey”. Puts the whole thing in perspective, doesn’t it? Unless this is just another “Christmas Truce” (and there’s an article for another day!).

Lyrics
You put your right foot in,
You put your right foot out,
You put your right foot in
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That’s what it’s all about.

You put your left foot in,
You put your left foot out,
You put your left foot in,
And you shake it all about.
You do the Hokey Pokey
And you turn yourself around,
That’s what it’s all about.

More lyrics from MakingMusicFun.net

Guitar Chords

Hokey Pokey chords and lyrics from StorytimeSongs.com

Hokey Pokey (Music, Lyrics and Chords – Printable) from MakingMusicFun.net

Video
Sing-along with this fun animated video from KidsConceptCorp.com.

The Hokey Pokey Video from KidsConceptCorp.com on YouTube.com

More Great “The Songs We Sing” Posts:

The Itsy Bitsy Spider Lyrics, Guitar Chords and Video
Little Bunny Foo Foo Lyrics and Guitar Chords
Hush Little Baby | Free Sheet Music, Lyrics, Chords and Video
Mary Had a Little Lamb | Free Sheet Music, Lyrics, Chords and Video

Mondays are rough when you see them coming.  They are brutal when you are two and don’t.

Norah stayed home last Friday and took a three hour nap.  Saturday she took a two hour nap.  Then her aunt showed up for about 30 hours of unbridled fun – bed hopping, feeding the birds, etc.  When they came back from an outing, and Norah saw us, the disappointment washed over everyone.

Then, last night, her aunt left.  This was sad.  Then this morning, her mama left.  This was sad.  But she still recovered, since Daddy was willing to do the hokey pokey, run in circles and let her stay in his T-shirt.

Then we had to get dressed.  Then we showed up at daycare.  Then it became clear that Daddy was leaving, and the weekend party was over.

And it was a surprise, you could see, and it was very very sad.

—————————————-

In the afternoon, after a dark, windy, dreary Swedish November day, I expected to find a girl in the same state.  I felt in the same state.  Instead, she saw me, laughed and started running in place and shouting. Then there was a crazy wind outside, with blowing rain that produced a perfect rainbow.

Sometimes the November gray goes away ...

We then spent the afternoon running, jumping on the bed and doing the hokey pokey.

So much for surprise Mondays …

This past weekend my supervisor asked me to teach a Halloween lesson to a few children at our neighboring town’s community center. So I showed up Saturday morning not exactly sure what to expect. There were about 10 kids and a couple of adults there to help out, including my taiko drumming sensei. We started with a little Halloween crossword, with words such as “Haunted” and “Jack-o-Lantern.” Then, it was time to do what the kids were really there for: trick-or-treating. First, though, we all practiced our lines:

Child: “Trick-or-Treat!”
Adult: “Here you are.”
*Child takes one piece of candy
Child: “Thank you. Happy Halloween!”
Adult: “Happy Halloween!”

I was considering telling them if they really wanted to imitate trick-or-treating in the States, the kids would mob the adult, take as much candy as possible, knocking down the bowl if necessary, and complain if they had anything smaller than King Size. But I figured that might dampen the Halloween spirit, so I refrained.

Before any trick-or-treating commenced, everyone donned costumes. One adult was a witch, another a pumpkin, my taiko teacher was the devil, and I was Dracula. However, as I began searching for the fake vampire teeth, the kids had a different idea in mind…

Evidently, in Japan, Dracula wears a cape, boa, and Mad-Hatter-esqe top hat with bow.

I think I look more like a confused pimp.

Oh yes, and throughout the trick-or-treating, the Harry Potter soundtrack played down the hall. Definitely set the mood. And, of course, no Halloween lesson is complete without a rousing round of…

…the Hokey Cokey!

When I got home, I made myself a sandwich, ate it outside on my lovely deck, and was cleaning up when suddenly, the door bell rang. At the door stood a boy who greeted me with:

Boy: Konichi….er, herro!
Me: Hello!
Boy: Genki desu ka? (Are you well?)
Me: Hai, genki desu. (Yep.) (At this point, I was pretty proud of myself for understanding something in Japanese)
Then he said something I didn’t understand and made an exaggerated coughing motion.
Me: Umm, I don’t understand. Oh, er, choto matte. Jisho! (Wait a minute. Dictionary!)
I ran inside to grab my 1995 tatter-paged Random House Japanese-English dictionary. By the time I returned, though, the boy was already pointing at the translation in his electronic jisho on his cell phone. I guess I’m old-fashioned. The translation was indeed “a cough, coughing.” I pointed at myself with a quizzical look. He nodded. I explained to him that I was fine. He gave me a relieved smile and left.

This may be the most random house visit I have ever received. Maybe he caught me coughing outside while attempting to master the Japanese inhaling technique with my sandwich? Well, about an hour later, I spotted him again, standing in the parking lot staring whimsically in the general direction of my apartment. Clearly, this kid was climbing the awkward stalker ladder rather quickly, so I resorted to my best method for breaking the ice – Frisbee. Fortunately, this glorious plastic disc has its own international language, so as soon as I brought it out, he was eager to play. And man, could he throw! Despite being the first time he’s ever touched a Frisbee, he was tossing it the length of the parking lot in no time. To Emmet 1st Right, you guys picked it up quickly, but your skills are no match for this kid’s learning curve. Some claim the samurai defined Japanese culture. Well, let’s just say when this kid is through, “Flick” and “Hammer” (or “Hu-ri-ku” and “Ha-ma”) will have official definitions in the Japanese dictionary. And what’s more, through this wonderful sport I discovered that the boy’s name is Reiya, he is a 4th grader at one of my elementary schools, and his favorite Pokemon is Pikachu. He also offered me a piece of gum and sips from his Coke.

I think I’ve discovered the secret to international friendship. Now, I just need to figure out how to convince world leaders to trade bullets for Frisbees…