18 dummy
Long weekend ahead. Time once again for another cotillion. A friend of mine said, "I'm so glad Filipinos are continuing the traditions of my people." (As cotillions were predominantly part of European-American high society functions). But cotillions are really one of the many nostalgic relics of Philippine culture found in Fil-Am culture. According to another friend from the Philippines, no one does cotillions any more. They are from a by-gone era of the 1950s Philippines. And thus, now an example of how Fil-Am culture in many ways lends itself to being a time capsule of sorts for Philippine "traditions" that are no longer "traditions". America is the place where old customs and product brands can be reborn. So here we have an American tradition exported to the Philippines then reimported here. It's kind of like fastfood joints and Jollibee.
So, if cotillions are a Fil-Am tradition, then what aspects and lessons about this culture do they propogate? A demonstration of wealth and prosperity? Encouraging the social availability of daughters? A practice run for a wedding they hope to see in a decade or so? I don't know.
My cousin asked me to put together the photo montage which I did. She asked for this one song, "18 dummy" for the soundtrack. "18 dummy" is the latest hit out of a music movement called Hyphee. I'm not sure what distinguishes Hyphee music from the rest. I only know that Hyphee is essentially Oakland born and hasn't quite hit the mass market explosion that is youth culture today. It's a matter of months. Maybe in a couple of years you'll hear it in McDonald's commercials. In 5 years you'll hear it piped in mall music.
Tomorrow morning I'm off to get my hair styled as opposed to a hair cut. Having really only had a handful of hairstyles in my lifetime, it'll be interesting to see what I get. I usually go to those $15 hair cut places, but decided to go to a stylist this time and get some counseling. I would have used the same stylist as my sister, but she has a 2 month wait and I really can't take a day off just to get a hair cut.
2 comments:
I love that song 18 dummy..
It's actually spelled Hyphy and basically what sets Hyphy music apart from the rest is the high engery sound and lyrics talking about bay area culture..
Hyphy is kind of like the KRUMP movement but very different in many ways. But like KRUMP, the hyphy scene probably won't take off mainstream. It's a big thing in the Bay Area like KRUMP in SLA, but the unlike KRUMP, hyphy hasn't spread across the whole world...basically it's Bay Area lifestyle that stays in the Bay Area.
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