C. Hannibal cultural history

Mo’ Language

 

 

The white collar set will always have a fascination with “urban” America. But living in Harlem, I’m always astounded by some of the non-brown and non-Dominican faces I see strutting up the street (more hurriedly after it gets dark). “This land is your land,” is required singing in kindergarten, no?  The new mantra for 2011 midwest suburban migration to the hood.

That’s maybe what made the Urban Dictionary so popular. People started moving to the hood because rent was too high in the normal “friendly” places and they wanted to be able to feel like they belonged. The biggest point to assimilating into any culture is getting past the language barrier. But I find  Aaron Peckham’s Urban Dictionary (above is a page from the 2007: Mo’ Urban Dictionary) as a tool that serves the initiated and the uninitiated. I’m able to explain better to my journalism peers what the hell I’m talking about, and the squarest of the bunch can seem cool when they rattle stuff off like “word is born”. Thank you, Internest.

 

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C. Hannibal cinema culture

Google Video pick of the week #012

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I´ve never been an extreme dog lover, but last night I gave Beba (feminine form of ¨baby¨) a bath. Beba is one of Mexico  City´s street dogs. She lives in Colonia Roma, on a busy calle dotted with hotels, taco stands and upscale restaurants. She´s not a comedienne, but she can be wildly entertaining, especially when she´s hungry. She´s finicky, though: ham, cheese, sausages or chicken for this perra.

If you´ve traveled around South America, maybe you´ve seen roving packs of dogs. I know I did on trips to Chile and Colombia in the past. Dog populations seem out of control in some places, and I´m always curious about things local governments do to control them.

In Mexico City, I don´t see that problem, maybe in the ¨Establo¨.  There are groups here that look out for these animals. The only reason Beba, whose only consistent home is the patch of sidewalk in front of the garage where she ¨works¨, hasn´t been scooped up by canine enforcement is because she has an i.d. tag on her collar. It reads ¨RAMBO  Beba¨. Either ¨Rambo¨ was her former name, or someone wanted to save a few pesos on a dog tag and reused RAMBO´s.

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