Category Archives: Game

Simon Dice

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 23rd, 2013
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English, Italian

“One person says things and the other people have to do them or they lose”.

Simon Dice is a Spanish name for Simon Says, a game that kids usually play among themselves. One person is the leader, called “Simon”, and they give commands such as, “Stand on one foot” or “Clap your hands”. These commands are preceded by the words, “Simon dice” or “Simon says”. If the leader does not say these words, the children are not supposed to do the action, and if they do they lose.

The informant played this game back home in Mexico when he was a young boy. He played it with friends at school. He said they he probably wouldn’t find it fun now, nor does he remember it being much fun when he was a kid. This is because it is very simple and not very exciting. He did not know that there is a similar version here in America.

I remember playing Simon Says when I was a kid. However, it was usually suggested by the adults as a group game to keep us entertained for awhile. We could play it at school or at camp. I think at one point I found it fun, because the commands can get pretty ridiculous. And when someone loses, by doing the action when you’re not supposed to, they stand out as the only one who messed up, and everyone laughs at them. I think it’s interesting that the exact same game exists in Mexico, showing that it has been around for some time and traveled across country borders. I also think it’s interesting that the name “Simon” is shared in both versions, although I can’t see a reason why this particular name is important. Note: In the Mexican version, the o in Simon has an accent, but I can’t enter it on the computer.

Queso Hand Trick

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 23rd, 2013
Primary Language: Spanish
Language: English, Italian

“So you write ‘Queso’ on your fingertips (Q-thumb, U-index finger, E-middle finger, S-ring finger, O-pinky). And then you would say, ‘Que’ (put down the ring finger and pinky) ‘Es’ (put down the thumb, index finger, pinky) ‘Eso?’ (put down the thumb and index finger) ‘Eso’ (put down thumb and index finger) ‘Es’ (put down thumb, index finger, and pinky) ‘Queso’ (put all fingers up). ‘What is that? That is cheese’ It’s a thing that we would do, you can come up with all these words with just one word. It doesn’t work in English because what and cheese are different, in Spanish it does.”

The informant said that when he found out about this spelling trick, he was mind-blown. He and all his friends thought it was so cool, and they would do it all the time in elementary school. It was still done in middle school sometimes, but the informant said that it would be done secretly, because in middle school kids are trying to seem cool, even though they’re not. Even now, at age 20, he seemed to enjoy playing the game and the clever spelling trick that it involves. It reminds him of his childhood and native Spanish language, which he doesn’t get to utilize as much here in America.

I remember playing similar games with other English words, such as “this”. I think the meaning of the game, “that is cheese”, is silly, but that’s probably why kids enjoy it so much. It’s fun to appropriate a language and make games out of it. This little hand game is creative and silly, so it appeals to children. I definitely understood what the informant meant when talking about the difference between elementary school and middle school. The games change a lot in middle school, when kids start becoming aware of their sexuality and the status quo. I think this spelling trick is cute and fun.

Familial Traditions

Nationality: Indian
Age: 22
Occupation: Graduate Student
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/24/13
Primary Language: Hindi (urdu)
Language: English

“So, my family is pretty religious…I’m not, but my family is. So um, we have festivals, er uh, significant days on which we have Pujas – which are like…basically it’s a name for a prayer. So on days, like the death anniversary of some ancestor – not ancestor – but like grandfather or grandmother, we usually have Pujas, and we pray to the gods for their wellbeing. Um, on birthdays, again, we have Pujas for the birthday person. On…hmm…every time we get a new house, we always have a Puja, followed by a party. Uh, the Puja is just like to, uh, purify the house and things like that – bring good omens to the place. Festivities…hmm, Diwali again, is a huge festival in India. OH! Holi! Wow….Holi is like a…it’s like the biggest…Holi and Diwali are like the two biggest festivals. Holi is like um…there’s a story behind it, but I don’t remember it quite properly, but um…basically people play with color on that day, and they color each other. So this stuff you see out here, like the color run and stuff, uh, I didn’t have that much fun in it; ‘cause like, Holi’s a lot more fun. Because in India, people will fill up like water balloons with color in them and throw them at each other. And it’s really fun…so…and then they have these water pistols – yeah, you guys have those, where they like shoot water at you and basically you get a cold the next day. Um, another festival, we do as a family is…Ganesh. It’s basically the day when the lord, Ganesha, was born. I don’t remember the name of the festival…nevermind…well, they basically make a statue of the god and they basically walk into the ocean and they let the statue sink. It’s supposed to mean something – I don’t know. Um, and then they make these food items called Modaks. I guess you could say they’re like Indian dim sums, only they’re sweet. Yeah…that’s…that’s pretty much it. Then we have the Indian New Year. And my specific like, uh…not caste…my, specific regional New Year involves festivities. However the larger, overall Marathi New Year is called Gudi Padwa.”

From this particular collection piece, the immediate thing that I noticed was something that I find very prevalent in American youth as well – the lack of religious fever. More and more the youth are moving away from staunch religious practices and looking to expand their horizons and learn about the world in a more inclusive way. Also, it is very interesting that my informant had more fun participating in the body coloring festivities of his native culture than he did here at the university. It is my belief that the lack of enthusiasm was due to not having the cultural ties that were involved back home be included in the festivities here. A big thing that I noticed was the two separate New Years. At first I was a little taken aback when I was told about it, but after thinking it through, I released that their are several different “types” of Indians – each with their own identity and set of practices – so it made perfect sense in the end. And after hearing such good things about the Modaks not just one, but two informants, I really want to try some of them!

Ninja

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 52
Occupation: Band Director
Residence: Arkansas
Performance Date: 4/27/13
Primary Language: English

J: Can you tell me about Ninja?

T: Hahaha, Ninja, well that’s a game the students learned from you wasn’t it?

J: Well yeah, but you incorporated it into rehearsal.

T: Well, if I understand it correctly, and help me if I mess up, Ninja is a very active game where the players get into a circle and while pivoting on one foot, try to tag both hands of all the other players. But…what was the other part of it?

J: They can only move once per turn.

T: Yep, that’s it! After I saw you playing it with a few other students, I thought that it would be a fantastic way to warm up the body before rehearsal, so I started adding in time every rehearsal to ensure that everyone could play for about ten minutes.

J: I’d say it definitely helped us stay hyper and alert.

T: Exactly. That’s one of the reasons why I didn’t have any qualms about spending the time doing it.

J: Does the band still do it now?

T: Of course! I wasn’t going to let that little gem go to waste. Thank you for teaching it to them.

J: Happy to help, and thank you for helping me out with my project.

T: No problem, well, it’s getting late, so I’ll talk you later. Night.

J: Night!

 

While Ninja has become a widespread game across the world, I picked it up while attending drum major camp. The other drum majors were playing it, and I thought that it would be an amazing fun game to bring back and use in the band just for fun. I was pleasantly surprised when the band director wanted to incorporate it into our warm up routine. I was even more surprised to hear that the band is still playing Ninja as a warmup now that I’ve graduated. I’m happy to say that I added a little piece of tradition to the band that everyone will carry on, hopefully, for years to come!

Kemps

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Voice Actor
Residence: Los Angeles
Performance Date: 4/27/13
Primary Language: English

As I was interviewing all of my informants for the collection, I remembered that there were all kinds of traditions that I learned during my time in the high school marching band, and I wanted to add at least one of my own. So I decided to include the card game, Kemps.

Kemps is a game that I learned about in band from the upperclassmen and later I learned that it’s a game that the upperclassmen in band generally teach to the younger grades so that one the way to football games and such we could all be entertained.

The Rules of Kemps

  1. Maximum of Four (4) Teams
  2. Two players per team
  3. Each teams will have a specific signal between the players
  4. Objective of the game: Collect all four of the same card and only have those four cards in your hand. After this, you signal your partner and your partner will say “Kemps”. Your teams will have won the turn after this.
  5. If another team sees your signal, they can call out Anti-Kemps and win the turn instead.

After the upperclassmen teach the underclassmen the rules, it’s basically a trial by fire, wherein the “newbies” try to apply the rules as best as they can as they attempt to will the game.

 

One of my fondest memories of band is teaching the lower grades how to play this game and seeing their frustration in trying to learn it. It’s a tradition that I know for sure is still carried out, and one that I look forward playing every time I return home for a visit.