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n Therenare almost as many names and traditions for “Mardi Gras” orn“Carnival” as there are nations! Whether people are participatingnin a pancake race, throwing oranges or beads to parade-watchers,neating way too many pastries, soaking others (and being soaked) withnwater, or creating elaborate floats and costumes and masks for thenannual parades and balls and parties—well, this “last hurrah”nbefore Lent can be colorful and fun and rowdy!
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InnHaiti, Carnival is often called Kanaval. It features many familiarnthemes, such as parades with floats, costumes, and masks. Annimportant part of the festivities is musical concerts of zouk,nHaitian rap, and other Haitian music. The crowds move and dance asnthey are urged with creole cries such as metenmen nan len(put your hands in the air!) and soten(jumpnup!)n– cries that have inspired English-speaking hip-hop artists.
InnHaiti, Carnival is often called Kanaval. It features many familiarnthemes, such as parades with floats, costumes, and masks. Annimportant part of the festivities is musical concerts of zouk,nHaitian rap, and other Haitian music. The crowds move and dance asnthey are urged with creole cries such as metenmen nan len(put your hands in the air!) and soten(jumpnup!)n– cries that have inspired English-speaking hip-hop artists. n
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n(Ancreole language is a language that developed from a mix of two ornmore languages.)
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nFornmore on Carnival around the world, check out thisnand this othernearlier posts. n
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nExtraterrestrialnCulture Day in New Mexico
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Thisnis totally wild! A “memorial” (not law) passed in the New Mexiconlegislature in 2007, making the second Tuesday of February each yearnofficially set aside “to celebrate and honor all past, present, andnfuture extraterrestrial visitors in ways to enhance relationshipsnamong all citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown.”
Thisnis totally wild! A “memorial” (not law) passed in the New Mexiconlegislature in 2007, making the second Tuesday of February each yearnofficially set aside “to celebrate and honor all past, present, andnfuture extraterrestrial visitors in ways to enhance relationshipsnamong all citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown.”n
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Wow!
Wow!n
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nInam in total agreement that we should celebrate and honornextraterrestrial visitors in order to enhance our relationships withnall the aliens in the universe…
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n…but I want to point out that therenare zeronknown extraterrestrial visitors in Earth’s past…
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n…andnas of today, 2/12/2013, zeronknown extraterrestrial visitors in Earth’s present. n
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nSo…thatnleaves the future!
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nIfnwe ever do meet alien intelligences, it would be amazing to learnnabout their history and cultures and biology, of course! It would benuseful to be able to compare with our own human history and culturenand biology! n
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nIfnyou’re interested in being a part of the search fornextraterrestrials, check out this astrobiology coursen and the SETI organization.
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nBynthe way…
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nIfnyou have heard and believe that extraterrestrials crashed at Roswell,nNew Mexico, in 1947, you should check out this articlenby Kal Korff, which analyzes evidence and eyewitness testimoniesnabout that incident and explains the true nature of the crash debrisnand the governmental cover-up. (Hint: the explanation is interesting,nbut entirely earthly.)
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| These are just two of the fun sights you can see in Roswell, New Mexico, today! |
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nAlsonon this date:
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Pancake Day
Pancake Day n
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nPaul Bunyan Day
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DarwinnDay
DarwinnDayn
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Lincoln’snbirthday
Lincoln’snbirthdayn
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nPaleontologistnBarnum Brown’s birthday
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