Masquer

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Originally uploaded by 1DeadMule

Only the historical depth of Mobile's Mardi Gras makes it what it is. Go to Pensacola or, heck, even Tuscon, and you'll find other Mardi Gras parades (sponsored by Linksys, et al.). It has to be something that is born out of the culture.

Quentin Compson was obsessed with his past and with the actions of Thomas Sutpen and his posterity. His past consumes him and eventually leads to his demise, and I cant help but think that the South and Southerners to some extent do the same thing. There are many people who are consumed with the South and with the pride and history that come with it, but where I think many Southerners mess up is they avoid the darker side of their past and they also try to defend the South to non-Southerners. The South does not need defending, mainly because I feel like it is something that a non-Southerner would understand. But people get caught up in the past and it can destroy them and the south from the inside out. It can hold us back and keep us from moving but then again it also allows us to retain that part of the soul that much of the country has lost due to "progress." So I guess we have to strive for a middle ground, or do like those that started the Southern Renassance and glance back to where we came from while continuing to walk forward.

Sugary South

Yup, we don't like to drink the bitter. If you've got something to say, make it sweet. Women, be sweet--at least in public. Southern hospitality! Music, sweet music!!! Blues, bluegrass, grassroots, soul, country, gospel, jazz, rap, etc. We've just got a lot of sugar down here, I suppose. It covers lot of things...like a coat. If our Ms. O'Hara didn't talk so sweet, would we love her so much? Oh that Southern drawl is sweet like our tea. :) A friend of mine uses his accent to get girls and whatever else he wants, really. He's drunk with the sweetness of the South. Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. Well, very appropriate that sweet tea be the beverage of the South... There's more to be said here.

Random Quotes on the South...

"All I can say is that there's a sweetness here, a Southern sweetness, that makes sweet music. . . . If I had to tell somebody who had never been to the South, who had never heard of soul music, what it was, I'd just have to tell him that it's music from the heart, from the pulse, from the innermost feeling. That's my soul; that's how I sing. And that's the South." -- Al Green

"Southerners have a genius for psychological alchemy...If something intolerable simply cannot be changed, driven away or shot they will not only tolerate it but take pride in it as well."-- Florence King

"What can be more Southern than to obsess about being Southern?"

-Elizabeth Fortson Arroyo

"Whenever I'm asked why Southern writers particularly have a penchant for writing about freaks, I say it is because we are still able to recognize one."

--Flannery O'Connor

"The biggest myth about Southern women is that we are frail types--fainting on our sofas...nobody where I grew up every acted like that. We were about as fragile as coal trucks."

--Lee Smith

"There is as much dignity in plowing a field as in writing a poem."

----Booker T. Washington

" If things get any better, I may have to hire someone to help me enjoy it."

--Southern Saying

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

The History of Mardi Gras King Cake

To go along with my first post, I decided to explore the history of another favorite Southern food especially favored in the Mobile Area. Since Mardi Gras is right around the corner I chose the famous king cake that is made only during the weeks of Mardi Gras.

The roots of the king cake date back to the early days of Christianity in Europe. King cakes traditionally go on sale to coincide with the Epiphany or Twelfth Night. It became traditional to bake a special cake -- a king's cake -- to mark the occasion.

Back in the olden days, a king cake was a simple sweet bread baked in an oval, much like it is today.It became customary for the party giver to include a small bean, coin or other trinket in the mix. According to legend, the recipient of the treasure was afforded special rights and privileges.Nowadays the finder of the prize is charged with hosting the next party, at which time another king cake with a bean would be served, and so on and so on. The bean has now been replaced with a tiny plastic baby. Custom no longer dictates that the victim who finds the baby host the next party; they are now only required to bring the next king cake.

The prize is also no longer baked into the cake, rather the baker places it inside the box so that the host or hostess can hide it in the cake, or not. If you do choose to hide it in the cake, it's a good idea to let your guests know it so nobody swallows it. By most accounts, the king cake didn't appear as a part of Mobile's Mardi Gras celebration until 1959 when Fred Pollman, owner of Pollman's Bakery, brought back a recipe from New Orleans where the practice had been going on for years. And, just as soon as you start to enjoy them, they're gone. Tradition holds that none are sold after the celebration of Carnival ends on Mardi Gras.

The Required O Brother Moment

A Southern Way of Life

If you are born and raised in the south, especially Alabama like I have, often times when you meet someone new you will be asked a very important question regarding a certain loyalty. This situation arises most predominately in Alabama especially in the autumn months. The question is "Auburn or Alabama?". Friendships will be based off an answer and an immediate prejudice will be rendered if the answer is opposite of the questioner's team. Or even worse, if the answer is "I don't like football," or something to that effect, there will be no stopping the flow of jokes and teasing and ostricization that will follow. Now granted this may be a bit overkill for the majority of the population, but there are people out there who live, breathe, eat, and sleep college football.
I have many friends, three of them being my roommates, who are Alabama fans. We are civil enough to each other during the season, but there is no shortage of sniping comments, especially if one of the teams didn't do well. It all culminates to the day of the big rivalry game, in Alabama's case, the Iron Bowl. It doesn't matter how bad the season was as long as your team wins that game. Friendships are all but dissolved on gameday. I have even avoided speaking to my roommates for a little while after the game.
There is one thing that transcends the bitter rivalry that exists in Alabama, which was ranked at the second best rivalry in the country, the love of college football. The redemption between friends is the impassioned discussion of the game, players, teams, and prospects for the next year. Friends spend hours every week discussing Saturday's games and the outcomes. Saturday comes and the day is devoted to one thing, football. Southern traditions have come from it. Tailgating may not be specifically Southern but we have perfected the tailgate. The tailgate is where rivals can share good food, beer, and good times; a proverbial last meal before the war that is about to be waged.
Southerners pride themselves on their football. The SEC is usually regarded as the most dominant conference, and with good reason. Based off of their tough defenses and hard-nosed offenses, SEC teams seem to be a reflection of the South itself, rife with a passion for the game and the atmosphere. It is a glorious thing when your team is victorious and supremely disheartening when you suffer a loss, and large quantities of alcohol goes to both sides whether in victory or defeat and even the most bitter of rivals when inebriated enough can agree on one thing, there is nothing like college football in the South.