Food Trucks!!!!

SECOND SERVINGS EP 7: FOOD TRUCKS
http://www.traditionalartsindiana.org/secondservings/

SUMMARY
The podcast mainly talked about foodtrucks and how they effect the community along with their own culture. It's so weird to someone talk without a video...anyway. A lot of emphasis was made on the community and the convenience of food trucks.  Supply/demand is also noted 'get it while you can' as one person stated. It's noted the wide variety and how it's currently trending/becoming popular recently. The operation model is noted, how it moves around through the day and is open for a few short hours and notifies fans via social internet media. Twitter seems to be the big one. The then went on to the noted trucks on the page (Duos, This and That, Hoosier Fat Daddy's...) touched on the menu, how they get their ingredients (all as local as possible while keeping price down) and the Friday Food Truck Festival type deally. The author also notes that this is a way for mortal and pistol stores to branch out.

Fuck now I'm hungry.

REACTION
I love food trucks. Groovy Guys Fries, Some of this some of that, Taste of the Caribbean, gypsy truck, spice truck, fat italian and many more. I love them. Cheap, delicious food right in front of my school /local place? Sign me up. I've gotten to try different cultural foods because of it too. Authentic jerk chicken, authentic curry, grilled pizza, and many other foods are served, made by people who know what the hell they're doing. On top of that, they're always happy! My first trip to the 'Taste of the Caribbean' was amazing but I've never had island food before. On top of that, I was the only white girl in line...so when I approached I asked what I should get and the guy was really helpful and cheerful. It was delicious too! Jerk chicken, fried plantain,beans and rice with a light sauce - tasted as good as it smelt! Spicy too!

Q&A

THE PROTOFESTIVAL BY GUTOWSKI

SUMMARY
So the first thing this article starts to talk about is big foot, only the second page didn't load for me so from there I read right on to the giant turtle of Churubusco, IN. The turtle is apparently huge, sits at the bottom of a lake and is the main cause of the 'Turtle Days' celebration which revolves around...you guessed it...turtles. Now I love turtles, so I would totally go to this! The article details about how one man in particular dedicated his time to debunk the whole thing, even attempting to drain the lake which makes me wonder, really dude? you had nothing better to do then attempt to kill of this town's claim to fame? get a hobby. The local businesses even get into the giant turtle fun by having turtle related slogans/jokes. the article then compares this urban legend to the likes of the loch ness monster.

THOUGHTS
A huge turtle purchased from the zoo for $50? Crap, that's cheap! I found the whole thing rather funny and silly. Who cares if there really is a turtle? Let's believe in something a little unusual from time to time - it keeps the wonder in life!

Q&A
has anyone else tried to explore the lake recently? with radar?
why have i never heard of a turtle festival?! I would have gone!

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INDIANA INSTRUMENT BUILDERS: DAVID STRAUBINGER, FLUTE MAKER

SUMMARY
The video focuses on David and how he developed a new type of pad for flutes. It starts out on how he began his musical career and began the repair business and eventually his own flute business. He was taught the trade and  how he grew into making the parts and completely creating the flute himself. He is very much self taught through observation and trial and error. He notes how it constantly evolves, even the sound and that everyone who contributes adds to that evolution.

THOUGHTS
I always wanted to play flute but I don't have the mouth for it. I play clarinet instead, which I eventually fell in love with. Not so awesome with the repairs though. It's funny how musicians eventually move from one part of the art to another and switching back and forth and it all seems self taught.

Q&A
how'd he come to indiana?
why indiana for the flute business?
why the flute?

Poblanos

Poblanos is a recently opened Mexican restaurant in the Castleton area, across from the mall. Restaurants in the passed have failed in this location - it's hard to get to and the location is has a lot of competition in the surrounding area. I hope that this one stays open - the staff is very nice, they take good care of their customers and their food is on par with bigger chains such as On the Boarder.

So Friday evening me and my co-workers decided to order to go from the place. Below are the pictures of what I ordered. My only complaint in the metal tins. I hate these things! Makes the food go cold quicker and you can't heat it back up in a microwave - which is a problem since my work doesn't exactly provide Tupperware!

Seafood Enchilada (shrimp and imitation crab meat. Very spicy!) and mexican rice which was wonderful! Queso sauce to top it off and some spicy red sauce. 

Toppings for enchilada, guac was very fresh

Before I cut into it

rice had carrots, peppers, onions and was all the way cooked!

queso. very creamy but nothing special

tortilla chips for soup

chicken tortilla soup. this stuff was more of a gumbo and so good! Avocado on top, real strips of chicken meant, rice, pico de gio, and other goodies! It was amazing!!

So the soup was my favorite part of the meal! It was delicious!!! Anyway, I had so much food it ended up lasting me three days, give or take. Overall, the full meal (plus chips and salsa not pictured) cost $20. The salsa was also amazing and home made - the tomatoes are actually chunky instead of a puree of tomato guts. 

Poblanos also supports SpotOn, an app that scans a barcode on your smart phone to give you points. When you get enough points, you can redeem them for free stuff!

4/5 stars

Defiantly will be going back to satisfy my tex-mex cravings.

BELIEF AND THE AMERICAN FOLK BY P.B. MULLEN

SUMMARY:

This article focuses on the impact of scientific rationalization on folk belief and superstition,  while at the same time trying to maintain it's own way of being scientific itself. This article tries to mix science with belief, and goes over a few other authors' attempts to do the same in their own writing, as well as the development/progress of the technique. It details the interactions  some of the authors had when confronted with a 'crude' approach versus a more 'scientific' approach and how that effects the community they're studying. The article goes into detail over terms such as 'superstition', 'folk belief', and 'religion' and details how superstition should be substituted for folk belief.

REACTION

I think this article was longer then it needed to be. The author could of summed it up in a much shorter article instead of drawing it out as long as he did. I will applaud him for pulling so much from other authors' works - I'm sure that took a long time. I didn't find the article that interesting, and I was actually pretty confused with how he was using the term 'belief' in the beginning.  I would of liked a short explanation explaining the use of the word in the beginning.

Q&A

1. How centeral is belief to a community?
2. Why not use the term superstision?
3. What is belief to you?

Folklore 3.18.13

FOLK BELIEFS AND PRACTICES BY H. HALPERT & P. BREWSTER;

SUMMARY
 The article is a collection of sayings found in Southern Indiana. They focus on topics such as weather, planting, good/bad luck, fighting, superstitious signs, death, love, money, work, borderline wiccan practices for wishes/divinations, cause and effect, and miscellaneous superstitions.

THOUGHTS

I've heard a few of these, like the first few weeks of the beginning of the year predicts how the weather will go for the rest of the year. For the most part though, I've never heard a lot of these.  I found some to be funny - a large crop of cumbers will be grown if  a man straddles the hill when the seeds are planted - made me think of inappropriate penis jokes. Some were weird, like the one about lighting 3 cigarettes with 1 match, and some had gave me a WTF moment (knocking heads together = sleeping together? urine will help dye hold better?) but they all were quiet interesting. A few of the practices/saying were borderline wiccan which I found to be really interesting since S. Indy is very close to the bible belt.

Q&A
 This was documented in December, 1943. It's a wonder I don't recognize any of these. Does anyone else in that area for that matter?

They all had common themes, are these themes found to be common in other areas?

If a modern collection was drawn, what would some of those sayings say?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
TRADITIONS OF DISBELIEF AND BELIEF BY D. HUFFORD;

SUMMARY
This article was very hard to read. The font is faded out pretty badly in some spots - page 49 is a great example. Because of this, I only got bits and pieces of the actual article. Basically the author first breaks down and categories elements of the belief, which are supernatural in nature. From there he continually breaks down the elements and common themes found in these beliefs. He speculates that these beliefs give rise to traditions, such as throwing salt over your shoulder. He mentions something about hallucinations and them being cross-culturally consistent and then the font looses me. By the time I can read it again, we're talking about how early ghost reports are and how there are still many (~200) that are still unexplained today, which is being quoted from some other author's work that he proceeds to tear apart because the previous author didn't take into account how mundane events could be used to explain the unexplainable. The author closes on how they believe the folklore study should be shifted from religious in nature to scientific instead of arguing between the two.

THOUGHTS
Oh god another old article and I can't even read this one. I'm pretty superstitious myself, and I believe in the supernatural. That being said, this article was a pretty big let down. Where's the ghost stories? The modern nod to EMT scanners and infrared cameras? The mention of TV shows the hunt ghosts and inspected the supposedly haunted? There isn't any because all of that didn't exist in 1982. Pity.

Q&A

Could we not have done better? Not to be insulting, but really? 1982 ghost hunting?

The author states that there is no real cause-effect relationship between a supernatural strategy and the following change. Can the author prove this without a doubt to back up such a bold statement?

If faith and belief in the supernatural is based on falsehoods, why it is so effective? And contagious?

In psychology we learn that having a religion or something to believe in is very healthy for a person, why was this perspective not included?

Really though teach? We got to work on this 'oldest article I can find' trend. =Þ

Indy Folklore Day 9

THE MEANING OF FLOW: YOUTUBE, R. HARTNELL:

SUMMARY
This was a contest entry for flowtoys narriated by Mr/ Hartnell on his definition of what the meaning of the term 'flow' is, as used by flow performers. To him, flow is a zen-like state induced by intense consentration when performing. he stated that he could almost see the lines of the universe during these times, and discribed it as being the peek on Maslow's hyeriarchy of needs. He then theorized that Maslow had the pyramid wrong, and that the top of the pyramid wasn't just the 'icing on the cake' as boredom could be just as painful as hunger.

REACTIONS
I am a psych major. Talking about Maslow was a mistake for this guy. Maslow's hyeriarchy of needs pyramid, while it does have some common sense validity, has long since been torn apart by more advanced and modern psychologist. It is no longer seen as a pyramid one has to climb up, but more of points that can occur at any time in any order. Maslow's theory was also seen as majorly flawed because he selected what he believed to be people who had already reached self-actualization and then built the pyramid backwards. you cannot do this in psychology any more then you can do it in math. Oh, I have a 4 therefore the only way to reach 4 is 2+2, which isn't true. While the video itself was intersting, as Hartnell akinned his folk group's perfomances to meditation, the Maslow part pissed me off. If he talked about Freud it would of been worse. [insert pointed stare] But we've all had that moment of zoning out so there was parts where I could relate.

Q&A
At what point does a performer begin to experience a feeling of 'flow'?
Is it akin to a drug addiction in that so performers become obsessed?
Why 'flow'? Why not 'zone' or something?
-=-=-=-=-=-=-

RUNNING THE YARD BY T. MOULD

SUMMARY
This article deltailed the tradition of stepping (dance) on campuses by farternities. It focused mainly on black males, though one section did go into detail on the differences between female steppers and their more feminine style and male steppers with their more masculine, power emphasiszing stepping. Steppers identitfy with the farternity and their stepping group with a large amount of pride and family-like comradery. the point of stepping is competetion, advertisement (of self and organization) and to prove who 'own the yard' or who is the best. the article goes into detail on the history of stepping, the actual fraternities, location (one in Indy) and how each fraternity has thier own unique style and identity. The article details some of the chants - some are sexual and to 'court' female aduience members, others are to 'crack' or make fun of other groups or to entertain. It was also pointed out that the art of stepping may empasize black stereotypes, but I don't think the steppers really care.

REACTION
So the whole time I'm reading this I keep remembering every dance movie ever, including stomp the yard. I enjoy the rythms and sounds created by stepping - the stomping and clapping sounds are pretty hypnotic. I was disappointed that more about the females weren't detailed, but I could see why. The military aspect wasn't surprsing - that shit is hard! I was surprised to learn we had a team in Indiana - I never heard about them and now i want to see them perform.

Q&A
Wonder if our Indiana steppers have a youtube....
Do you choose the fraternity based on its personality, or its prestidge?
Wonder which one I would be in....

indy folklore; group and football

Group by D Noyes

Summary:

The article starts off with a small incident happening at an Italian Festival. A group of boys are trying to reach the top of a pole which is slathered in pig's fat to reach some goodies. These leads to the author discovering how these American-Italians handle unwanted participants - and that the rules aren't as concerte as they may seem. They do not want a girls of their own race or an asian man to partcipate but allow a black kid, who is their friend, to help. The girl is more kindly dealt with, but it showed the author that some relationships aren't alwasy as clear as they should be. he theorized that becuase blacks are helpful to the Italian community, they were more welcomed then the asian 'outsiders' who were new to the area. He goes on to explore several other ideas in his article, including social networking theory which reminds me strongly of my socio-psych class, especially the bit about multi-demensional/stranded relationships. The intergratitiy section also reminded me of the same class,  as in that class we talked about how people often have a battle between keeping their own culture alive or choosing to loose their culture and accept the american culture as their own. This takes us to the next section which explores how 'insiders' exclude or dislike the outsiders, and how they wish they'd stay out - much like current America and Mexicans really. One apparent way is to ask forigeners to pronounce tongue twisters - rather clever in my opinion. The last two sections details how cultures and therefore performed/imagined themselves to be a community, or a 'group' as the author keeps using the term and how that works in their current, local setting. His closting statement, about how netowrk is trying to reach community, is rather poetic.

Response:

this was the most interesting article we've read to date in my opinion. i feel this is mostly because i could tie a lot of into my psychology field, and therefore felt i had a better grasping of the happenings then other stand alone articles which i feel jumped all over the place and had no real meaning to me. as i read the bullent points on relationships, i found myself applying several theories we had learned in my ethnics and social-psy classes. this made the article a lot more relevant to me personally, and much more interesting.

Q&A

He noted in the last paragraph that he had returned to the market he mentioned again in 1994 to see more...intergration of the locals. How is that section doing now in 2013?

Is the intergration of different cultures a good thing? Is the 'melting pot' theory good or bad?

As more culutres mix, does that mean their traditions fade out?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Locating the nation: football game day and American dreams in central Ohio by  Lindquist

Summary:

the article begins by mentioning how national news did make the papers, but the more local news about the football game was the obvious focus of the paper. he counties on to talk about how football isn't a feeble folklore traditions, citing 'school spirity' as a diety. the following paragraphs focus mainly on rebutting Laughlin, who apparently isn't as impressed by football as our author. he then proposes that football can be seen as an identity for a group, much like a flag or a national symbol. he goes on to talk about how football is particularly organized and very festive in its characteristics, including "food, costume and license" and how this is particularly true on game day. He also mentions that tame day involves multipul folklore generes such as "ritual, estival, spectcale, drama, game or cermony." The author then goes in the historicals about football in the more modern perspective. More notiably, this section focused on footballs rising popularity and it's modern rise to become the hoopla it is today. This section touches on a lot, from fan loyalty, to jokes, to fan costuming, and even finacial support. The remander of the article talks about the actual game day in columbus, (one of the first articles that talks about the marching band!) which included: game day traditions, who buys tickets, attendance, food (buckeye candies sound wonderful!) local participation, and the actual cermony itself, which begins with 'skull session' with the band and ends with a musical performance of Hang on Sloopy. He conculsion restates his stance in support of football as a true folklore tradtion, and even an identifier.

Response:
This guy uses a lot of quotes, doesn't he? I find football pretty boring, but I managed to hang on through this article becuase it didn't focus only on football. It talked about the band, the local community, the fans, the school, the food (I reaaaaaaaaaally want to try a buckeye. peanutbutter and chocolate? yes please!), the costuming and the traditions that surround it. This place also wasn't crazy obsessed with thier football, but more just happy to have a reason to celebrate.

Q&A
Serious, where can I get a buckeye?
Really? Sloopy? I hated playing that song, why is it so popular here? To even have a limit on it...
While there's an 'offical' game end, what is the town like after the game?

Folklore Star Date 2.15

PORTRAIT OF A WOODCARVER BY BRONNER


SUMMARY:

This articles follows George, a German Catholic living in  Huntingburg. The article starts out talking about his wood carving, moves on to several of his stories, details his past and current life and talk about possible explanations behind his carvings' designs.

REACTIONS:

Is every folklore article old and boring? Seriously? Wood carvings? 1980 publication? It was difficult to read this. I didn't care much for the subject, that location is unknown to me and the style of writing made it even more boring.  I really hope for something more stimulating soon because the most interesting thing in this article was about the witchcraft.

Q&A:

It mentioned George was preparing for death at the end of the article, how did that go?

What is 'shooting the new year'?

-=-=-=-=-=--=
COVERED BRIDGES BY VLACH


SUMMARY:

This article covers *dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnn* Covered Bridges! I know, surprise surprise right?! The article goes into details about the construction  (including hand drawn pictures), use and much more about the bridges. Mainly if focuses on Parke County, which is famous in Indiana for it's numerous bridges.

REACTIONS:

Since the article was so old, it didn't mention that many coverage bridges have been abandoned, damaged or torn down over the year. There was even talk of no longer having the annual Covered Bridge festivals there for a while, do to the popularity for such events falling out of favor. 

Q&A:

1. Can you really distinguish which bridges are 'folk' and which aren't? They may not be traditionally made, but the community themselves may consider them 'folk', so should they be noted as such?

2. What is the difference in structure between a traditionally built bridge and a more modern one?

Folklore Star Date 2.09

COMMUNITY AND BOUNDARY: PERSONAL EXPERIENCE STORIES OF MUSHROOM COLLECTORS BY G.A. FINE

SUMMARY:
 First off, not the type of mushrooms I was expecting. The type of mushrooms I was hoping for, and this would of been a whooooooooooooole different story! Sad to say, this story was about regular mushroomers. My father taught me how to collect wild mushrooms, which we could eat, which we couldn't, how to prepare them and when and where to find them. Saying that, this was a pretty boring story. I mean, it's about those who look for mushrooms...for fun. And then they meet about these mushrooms and....I just like mushrooms on my steak, not to talk about on my date. Non the less, the stories described as 'mushroom' stories, are those where someone finds a treasure, in this case an actual mushroom.

RESPONSE:
As I stated in my summary, this was pretty boring. Some of the stories were funny but I'm not apart of this group so many of the jokes I didn't quite get or think were funny. For example, the story where the kid told one of the collectors his mom said the mushrooms were poisonous and they found that funny. I don't find that very funny as I see a concerned mother telling her son this to prevent him from eating whatever he found. I don't see this to be a joke.

Q&A:

1. Why are they called mushroom stories instead of treasure stories?
2. This a pretty old article (1987), how would this compare to current states of affairs in regards to the same community?
-=-=-=-=-=-
STORYTELLING STYLE IN THE PERSONAL NARRATIVES OF HOMER SPRIGGS BY J.E. ATTEBERY

SUMMARY:
 This article explores the storytelling of a Homer Spriggs of Indiana. The paper details his style, rhythm, subjects, repeating characters, subjects, elements and so on. Several of his stories are included in the paper to illustrate these points.

RESPONSE:
I love how this guy speaks like a Hoosier. Example: instead of writing "seeing that it is full" it's "seed it full" which is how a country hoosier would speak. Mr. Spriggs is also very wordy, which is true of hoosiers. We like to repeat our words a few times over, just to get the point across. It was funny, that as I read this I could see my grandfather narrating in the same manner.

Q&A:

1. It just says he's from 'Rural Indiana', but where exactly? It says he was a blacksmith, so I imagine the southside...
2. Near the end, the author notes the ratio of verbs to adjectives. Is this characteristic of this story style?

Folklore 4

Place Names in Brown County, FA Hoffmann:

Summary: A study of town names in mainly Brown County, their uniqueness and possible origins.

Reaction:
I tried. I really, really, reaaaaaaaaaaaaally tried to get into this one. I couldn't do it. I just couldn't. I ended up skimming it at best. It was boring, hard to read and just...no. It's an article...about naming places. I don't think you could of picked a more boring subject other then what types of grass or indigenous to the region and why.

Q&A:
1. Why god, why?
2. I got nothing, really I don't. Ummm, why did he ask people instead of ....I got nothing. Sorry. It was just too boring.

FUN FACTS: because hopefully that will make up for my utter lack of Q&A
1. Mann road is named after my family, it's also in a pretty bad part of town - go figure!
2.  Indiana is one of the few states where the state capitol is in the center, it actually moved there!
3. The first dishwasher was invented in Indiana by William Blackstone

-=-=-=-=-=
Place Legends, R Baker

Summary: A collection of stories surrounding 'Blue Hole' a supposed bottomless lake. These stories include fish tales, disappearances, ghost tales and my personal favorite - a disappearing train. Yep, you heard it, a god-damn train.

Reaction:
I've never even heard of this place which is kind of disappointing. I'd want to swim in it, but apparently that's a bad idea - even if the stories aren't true. Chances are it is a rock quary, in which case it's not the safest place to take a dip.

Q&A:

1. With modern technology being available to the masses, has anyone explored it (cameras, sonar, cameras, ect)?
2. Why this lake? What originally happened there to spout so many stories?

Folklore 3

Jokelore, RL Baker;

Summary;
A collection of jokes the almost exclusively pokes fun at 'Kentuckians'. When a Hoosier is mentioned in the joke, they are seen as being superior in some way.

Reactions;
I was surprised at the number of jokes that I had heard, but not dealing with Kentuckians. For example, I had heard almost the exact same joke about jumping out of a plane before, but instead of a Hoosier and a Kentuckian, it was an American and a German with a punchline about WWII.

Q&A;

How man of these are switched in Kentucky?

 Most of the jokes were based on the idea of Kentuckians being 'stupid', why the common theme?
-=-=-=-=-=-==--=-=-
Indiana Storyteller, Various

Summary;
A large collections of stories about a wide variety of topics. It is speculated if the stories are that - just stories, or if they're some truth to them.

Reactions;
I had not heard a single story listed here or any variation of them. I did appreciate that an attempt to capture the accent was made - words were spelled as they sound, not as they're actually spelled. 

Q&A;

I was once told that to be a good story teller, one must be a good lair. How true is that statement?

Is there a difference between telling a story, and telling a truth?

Indy Folklore post 2

Place Legends, by Ronald L Baker

Summary:

This was a collection of short stories in regards  to a place called Blue Hole in Praireton, IN; Halfmoon Springs (which may also be Blue Hole?) and speculations on where the state nickname, 'Hoosier', originated.

Response:

I've never even heard of Blue Hole, which is kind of disappointing as there seems to be about 6 stories or so about the place. Now the name 'hoosier' I've heard a few about. I've heard the 'who's your daddy' one and the 'who's there' one. I hadn't heard the ones that talked about different cultures naming us, which makes me wonder....

Questions:

1. Have I not heard of other cultures naming us because we'd prefer to think we "named ourselves?"
2. If the Blue Hole is so dangerous, why do we keep going there?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Folk Sayings from Indiana by PG Brewster.

Summary:

A collection of sayings found in Indy's southside around 1938.

Response:

As I read through these, I'd tick them off in my head: heard that one, never heard that one, heard something similar and so on. It was kind of fun to see which ones had changed, fallen out of use or were exactly the same.

Questions:
1. How regional is this?
2. How much did the times (1930s-1940s) influence these sayings?
3. How common is modernization of traditional sayings?

-=-=-=-==-
More Indiana Sayings by PG Brewster.

Summary:

A collection of saying from Indiana, from the same time and setting as the previous article. In this article, similarities to other state's sayings were also noted and in the case of Missouri, marked.

Response:

Again, I did a lot of nodding and 'hum'ing and 'hah'ing over this. It was also fun to note which ones were also used in Missouri. 

Questions:

1. Why does there seem to be 'universal' sayings? Such as 'raining cats and dogs'?
2. Most of these sayings make no sense in a practical setting, how did they come about?

-=-=-=-==-=-=-
Notes on Indiana Speech by VE Gibbens

Summary:

Gibbens talked about several 'normal' words and a few not so normal words, on how hoosiers use them in a completely different context. For example, the words 'any more' used as an affirmative word ("I'm done with this any more") in stead of "Do you have any more" or something similar. 

Response:

Out of all these sayings, I only recognized maybe three.  I did like how he talked about the possible origins or different versions of the sayings, but I was kind of disappointed that I didn't recognize most of them. There were several however, that were also noted in the other two articles.

Questions:
1. How can one speculate the origin of these sayings?
2. How can sayings/ways of speech seem to 'skip states'. That is, something similar is said in Nebraska and Indiana, but not between?

Odessey (Castleton) and New Orleans on the Avenue (Indianapolis)

It's been a while but recently I've come across a few photos of places I never posted about.

First, The Odyssey. It's located on 82nd street in Castleton, across from the mall's east side. It serves mainly Greek few, but has quite a few American dishes as well.

I love this place. I love Greek food and this place is no exception. I got my order to go, and here's my order:

 Greek salad. The house dressing was wonderful, not too acidic but having a bite. If you dine in, it's unlimited along with their bread.

 Their bread is also fresh, with a herb flavoring and a mild salt. It's served with their olive oil - the only thing I wasn't very found of. The oil is kind of bland, even with the seasonings they add too it.

My main dish was actually an appetizer: a sampler platter. I got feta cheese, some type of rice thing and olives. They were great! Filled my up completely!

The best part? The place is pretty cheap. I also got Mediterranean octopus (not shown) wish was wonderful. My total order came out to be around ~$20, which is just as much as Olive Garden. Definatly going back!

Their website: http://www.odysseygrillandbar.com/
_________________________________________________________________________
Next, New Orleans on the Avenue. Now I went to this during last year's Mardi Gras with a friend of mine. We were seated immediately even with the crowd. The place has a really 'fresh' layout but it's a little crowded (maybe because of holiday??)

Everyone is also very nice and polite!

They had a special menu for Mardi Gras, so I ordered the unlimited catfish.

As you can see from the large portion, I didn't get a second helping. I actually ended up taking most of it home. The breading was great- not greasy, not thick and just the right amount of crunchy! I also loved their fries! They're seasoned and again, not greasy or mushy just crunchy awesome!

I will be going back here too, when I have the time! Good ol'Cajun cookin'!!

Their website: http://www.neworleansontheavenue.com/

Summary: Bill Ivey and R.M. Dorson

First, let us start on Bill Ivey's Folklore, Art and Indiana:

Summary:

First of all, this was a speech, not a article, which meant I read the whole thing in Morgan Freeman's voice. Don't ask. In his speech, he spoke mostly on the history of Folklore at IU and how the program became "one of the most influential folklore program in the world." He mentioned specific people and how they helped further or bring about the program, most notably Tom Benton who drew a mural depicting Indiana's history.

Response:

As a speech, I tried to imagine my reaction if it had been given in real life and I had been sitting in the seats. I most likely would of fallen asleep. It's not funny, dramatic or very entertaining. It very much follows the format of an acceptance speech and as such, is filled with personal plug-ins, naming of important people and historical data that only diehards are interested in. It would of been nice if he had talked about Indiana's actual folklore or history versus the program's, but that wasn't the case.

Questions to consider:

1. There were a lot of facts and encouragement to further research, but Ivey didn't really mention his own personal feelings a lot. What does he like about Indy? About Bloomington?
2. He stated IU's program was one of the most influential in the world. Why?
3. Tom Benton was talked about a lot, along with his painting. It's mentioned that he isn't a Indiana native and his work was attacked because of this. What would a native have drawn in comparison to his work?
   Pictures of the mural: http://www.iub.edu/~iuam/online_modules/benton/teachlearn.html

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 Richard M. Dorson's Doing Fieldwork in the City:

Summary:

Is this guy crazy? Gary?! He's lucky to be alive! I love how he talked about the different people and the attitudes they had, but he makes Gary seem friendly and anyone who lives in Indiana knows it's a pretty dangerous place. The steel mills alone are dangerous, not to mention the local tendency for murder. I may traverse up there at one point to eat at Jennie's, which sounds like an interesting eatery.
The essay mostly talked about the locals, and later on his methods of collecting information. The majority of the essay focused on the local's way of life, culture, ethnicity and economic situation.

Response:

This was much more interesting then the previous article, as it focused more on the locals the on the history of a school's program. It was also funny to read as many things he mentioned had me shaking my head in acknowledgement - yes, Gary is like that and yes Indiana is like this or that. 

Questions:

1. Why this region? It mentioned he was interested in black steel workers, by why this area?
2. There was no mention of the darker side of Gary. Why?
3. He's very close to the coast of the Great Lakes, but there was no mention of it. Surely coastal folklore is different then mainland?

Lack of Updates

Since one of my classes, Indiana Folklore, requires to me to use my blog I will be updating more frequently. However, since I'm still a starving student and don't seem to be eating out to anywhere noteworthy the posts are mostly going to be of articles.