Thursday, November 17, 2011

NOW, HE IS KNOWN ONLY AS ... THE FALCONER:  The Awl lists Thirteen Notable Traditions Found On UNESCO's List Of Intangible Cultural Heritage, In Order, but in truth the whole list is pretty neat. The United States doesn't participate in the process of adding "intangible heritage practices and expressions" to the list, but it's not hard to think about what we might suggest—the blues and square dancing, perhaps?

11 comments:

  1. JosephFinn9:03 AM

    Comic Books
    Jazz
    Musical Theatre
    Hollywood
     Be more specific as you like, I guess.

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  2. The Pathetic Earthling9:34 AM

    This would be a useful list to fill out a Mad Lib version of the New Yorker.

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  3. The Pathetic Earthling9:37 AM

    American Barbecue (one could, of course, break that down to regions)
    Rodeo

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  4. isaac_spaceman10:49 AM

    I was going to say craftsman joinery, though it may owe too much to Chinese/Japanese development of basic mortise and tenon joinery. 

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  5. The Pathetic Earthling11:52 AM

    Letterpress.  (Which reminds me, Isaac, my brother says he found a new set of brushes for the (80 year old) motor on the press.  Time we had a playdate.)

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  6. Jim Bell1:29 PM

    Umm, Rock and Roll.  "We" invented Rock and Roll.  Not the British.  Maybe it's an outgrowth of the Blues, but, its our thing, and it's American  (see below, see what Bill Haley did):

    <span>

    JOHN LENNON (The Beatles)
    It happened to me when I heard rock 'n' roll in the Fifties. I had no idea about doing music as a way of life until rock 'n' roll hit me. What specifically hit me? It was "Rock Around the Clock." I loved it... it just grabbed me like mentally. That afternoon I borrowed a few 'bob' and bought the record. That was when I knew I wanted to go into pop music. Soon after my aunt bought me a guitar. (1980)
    And a recollection by John Lennon's closest childhood friend - Pete Shotton:
    "It never occurred to us that a mere record might affect our personal lives in any direct way - let alone further our never-ending quest for mischief and excitement - until that fateful day we heard "Rock Around The Clock." It was loud, crude and sexy like nothing we'd ever heard before and both John and I identified with it almost at once..." - Pete Shotton (1983)
    PAUL McCARTNEY (The Beatles)
    The first time I really ever felt a tingle up my spine was when I saw Bill Haley and The Comets on the 'telly.' Then I went to see them live. The ticket was 24 shillings and I was the only one of my mates who could go as no one else had been able to save up that amount - but I was single-minded about it, having got that tingle up my spine. I knew there was something going on here." (1984)
    GRAHAM NASH (The Hollies - and Crosby, Stills & Nash)
    I've still got the ticket stub in my wallet from when I went to see Bill Haley & The Comets play in Manchester in February 1957. My first-ever concert. Over the years I've lost houses... I've lost wives... But I've not lost that ticket stub! It's that important to me... (2005)
    PETE TOWNSHEND (The Who)
    The birth of rock 'n' roll for me? Seeing Bill Haley and The Comets in "Rock Around the Clock" with my best friend at the time. God, that band SWUNG! We were eleven years old... (2004)
    </span>

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  7. Travis3:57 PM

    are the french really submitting "dinner" as an intangible cultural heritge?

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  8. Heather K5:00 PM

    Of course they are.  They are France, I think stuff like this is all they do, make lists and academies of French things and holler about it.

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  9. Benner9:33 PM

    We could throw in thanksgiving. And french fries.

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  10. Anonymous11:12 PM

    I'm not participating until I receive at least one-half the salary of a committee member who actually decides that something like "The Mediterranean Diet" deserves a spot on the list.

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  11. That was me.  Still waiting for my stipend.

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