Tag Archives: American

Rally Monkey

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: May 1, 2013
Primary Language: English

Okay, uh, in like, um, in like 2000, so like the 2000, 2001, baseball season, uh, the Los Angeles Angels, who, er, at the time they were the Anaheim Angels, uh, they were losing in a regular season game with the Giants, and, uh, during like the bottom of the 8th inning, uh, one of the, on the Jumbo Tron, one of the graphics people, uh, played a clip from Ace Ventura, the Jim Carrey movie, that had like uh, uh, a foot long monkey running around, and they wrote, uh, “Rally Monkey” on it, and so the crowd that went to the Jumbo Tron, and I guess they kind of laughed about it, and in that inning the Angels came back and won, and so that became a huge phenomenon for like Angels fans and stuff. Even throughout the MLB it was like a iconic thing. It was like the Rally Monkey they would call it. And, uh, it got to the point they would bring, they actually, the Angeles organization actually bought like a monkey, I guess, and they had like a little Angel’s hat, and they’d bring it out, uh, in between innings. And the crowd would go crazy for it, and they started selling, uh, like plush toys of it that people would buy. Like I had one. And, um, so like whenever in the later end, the later innings, when the Angel’s were losing, uh, you’d like swing the monkey around, so you’re in the stadium, there’d be like hundreds—like thousands of people, all just like swinging monkeys around, and yelling, like, “Rally Monkey time!” And in the 2002 season, uh, they ended up winning the World Series, and it was like at the height of like the Rally Monkey era, like they would play it on the Jumbo Tron and it was like there were known for like, “Oh, the Rally Monkey!” stuff. And so they won the World Series and that’s the highest honor you can get, and so that was like a huge part of the season. And, um, after that season the Rally Monkey was around, but they started losing a lot, and now it’s gone forever. And it was kind of like, uh, a 2 season thing that’s gone now.

This is the story of the rise and fall of a sports tradition. The Rally Monkey was a superstitious, homeopathic form of magic, where swinging a plush monkey could bring luck to the players of the Angels. The tradition died after the Angels won the World Series and started losing, and it is now a part of the team’s and the fans’ heritage. Knowing about the Rally Monkey also was a way of creating group identity and community. One had to be initiated into the team fan group to be aware of the superstition, and to understand why Ace Ventura would play at the Angels games. At the time you were not really a fan unless you knew the tradition and participated.

Baseball Superstition for Keeping in the Zone

Nationality: Caucasian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: May 1, 2013
Primary Language: English

Uh, so baseball players are really superstitious, because it’s a really slow game unlike other sports. And a lot of it’s, like, mental, um, and so uh lots of players are like extremely superstitious so like if they’re hitting very well or the team’s winning, they’ll do like the same pregame rituals before every game. So, uh, if for instance someone’s like in a slump and they’re not doing well for like 6 or 7 games, and the next game he hits a home run or he does really well, uh, he’ll at whatever he ate that morning and he’ll like that superstition of how he did well. And also he’ll, he’ll eat the same meals before games and then uh in his head I would assume he’s attributing that to his better play. Um, and other players will like wear the same socks, or they’ll like won’t wash their Jersey, uh, cause I guess, uh, Baseball’s so streaky that players like attribute lots of their success to like these weird superstitions.
Uh so in baseball, uh, it’s pretty rare that a pitcher throws a no-hitter, it’s—it probably happens two or three times, maybe, a season. But it’s always uh it’ll be prevalent in games a lot and it’ll be broken up by the end, and so uh about like 5 to 6 innings into a baseball game, if a pitcher hasn’t allowed a hit in yet fans and like stat people will kind of like when there’s a no-hitter like possibility, it’s always like a big deal. They’ll like alert, ESPN will alert viewers and stuff, and, um, and during that time no one will talk to the pitcher, there’s just like an unspoken rule that like whenever they haven’t allowed a hit the managers, the pitching coaches, like the numerous coaches won’t talk to him, other players wouldn’t talk to him, and so the pitcher would just be in his zone, he’ll just like walk back and sit in the dugout while he’s waiting, um, yeah.

Baseball players are superstitious, and believe that once one is performing well at the sport, one must not make any changes to one’s routine or endanger themselves to falling out of “the zone.” The belief in and practice of these superstitions make the team closer and identify them as ball players, and baseball is perhaps the most superstitious of the major American sports due to its mental nature. Practicing these superstitions also provides a placebo effect, as the belief that it keeps the players in “the zone,” likely succeeds in helping keep them focused on the game.

“The Phantom of the Alamo”

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student, Camp Counselor
Residence: San Antonio, TX
Performance Date: April 2013
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

 

            A native Texan, the informant told me that all schoolchildren in San Antonio, Texas are intimately familiar with the story and history behind the Alamo, and she briefly explained that the Alamo Mission was the site of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo between Texas and advancing Mexican troops. While the informant understands that the Alamo has now become a historical museum and San Antonio’s primary tourist attraction, the history of the Alamo represents something much deeper for her because she has grown up in the area. She explained that residents of San Antonio are fiercely proud of the Alamo monument and the story behind it (all the Texan defenders were killed whilst protecting it), which is perhaps why several legend-like narratives have been spun from it. She feels that, as a resident of San Antonio, she has a duty to be proud and loving of her city to validate the Texan’s selflessness and sacrifice in protecting the Mission. The informant has also performed theatrical renditions of the story at various summer camps in Texas. While the informant told the story, she wore a small pendant of the Alamo around her neck.

 

            When you’re in San Antonio, which is where the Alamo is, you’re raised on the Alamo. The first time we had Texas history was in fourth grade, so that’s when you, kind of, like, really start to learn about the Alamo, but the myths just, kind of, come along with it. When I worked at the summer camp, we even put on this play called The Phantom of the Alamo, which spurns off an Alamo ghost story that’s created in a Phantom of the Opera style, but it’s a story that everyone is familiar with.

            I don’t know if you knew this, but there actually only about four Texans that fought at the Alamo―everybody else was just from the Union who came to help. Sorry, this story just needs some historical background. The Battle of the Alamo lasted thirteen days. The main people in charge of the Alamo were William B. Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett. None of them were from Texas, but they were helping out Sam Houston’s cause and they needed to hold the Alamo long enough for Sam Houston to gather an army. They didn’t know they would die―they hoped they would live―but they knew it was a very distinct possibility. So, there were thirteen days, this Battle of the Alamo. They’re outnumbered. . .4,000 Mexican troops and 150 people at the Alamo. So, on day twelve, they know no more help is coming. The help that was supposed to come got held up, like, no one’s coming. The Mexicans have almost closed in on them, so William Barret Travis draws a line in the sand―and this part is great because people never know where it comes from―so he draws a line in the sand, and he says, “Men. . .we probably won’t survive another twenty-four hours, so if you wanna to leave, I understand. But if you wanna stay, and if you wanna die for this cause, and you wanna go down fighting, step over this line.” And so Davy Crockett steps over the line. Jim Bowie, who’s sick on his deathbed from an injury, is on his stretcher and he tells his men to carry him over the line. One by one, 149 Texans cross the line. . . and there’s one man that doesn’t. This one man looks around and he decides it’s not his time to die. So William Barret Travis is, like, “Fine, you can leave the Alamo.” And so he leaves, and he’s the only one that leaves, but as he leaves he can hear the sounds of everyone he left dying because they’re all dying behind him.

            The story goes that this one man―and history says it’s not clear but as a Texan, I believe that this man actually did leave the Alamo―ran into an old woman on his way back. She was a witch and said that it was his job to protect the Alamo from falling into wrong hands ever again because he abandoned all his men. And he didn’t believe her! But as he was running away from this woman, who essentially cursed him, he fell into a river and he drowned. From that point on, it’s said that he walks around in the Alamo when you’re coming to visit or any time the Alamo is in danger since his curse is to protect it. So the play Phantom of the Alamo takes that story and turns it into a musical. Basically, in the feature the Alamo has been turned into a theme park and it’s up to this guy who died fleeing the Alamo to restore the Alamo to its former glory. So if you go to the Alamo it’s said that you can feel him lingering around and making sure you don’t disturb anything.

 

            Highly engaging and dramatic, the informant’s performance of the Alamo legend made it easy for me to imagine the story, as well as its corollary Phantom of the Alamo, performed on a stage. Oftentimes, she recounted parts of the narrative with her eyes closed, as if she were recalling a memory or, in this case, imagining the scene in her head. The informant’s comfort level with the performance led me to believe that she had not only heard and performed it countless times herself―the lack of hesitance or doubt in her voice during her retelling (the pauses were for dramatic effect) made this clear. Moreover her facial expressions were natural and followed the narrative’s plot; the gesticulated wildly with her hands as she described the sickly Jim Bowie who mustered the fortitude to cross the line while on his deathbed. Evidently,  for the informant, the Alamo represents far more than the museum and monument that it is today, and her pride and spirit emerged during the more climactic moments in the story.

            Furthermore, the legend is versatile, perhaps because the story―though embellished―is grounded in history, obscuring the lines of authorship. For example, the haunting end of the man who fled the Alamo only to be cursed lends itself to a nighttime ghost story setting. And although the informant acknowledged the factual events of the Alamo that she and her peers learned in history class, she wholeheartedly admitted that this more fanciful legend is the one they tell when those unfamiliar with the Alamo ask about it. The truth value of “the line in the sand” is irrelevant because, as the informant admitted herself, “as a Texan” she believes in even the more myth-like elements of the legend. Lastly, among Americans, Texans are labeled as proud (the stereotype is that they are obnoxiously so) and this legend clearly utilizes those elements, as the men fight to defend their fatherland knowing that death is imminent. Whether these elements were exaggerated because of the stereotype, or whether the stereotype emerged from legends like that of the Alamo, however, is unclear.

Song about Catholic Schools

Nationality: Latino
Age: 86
Occupation: Retired marriage and family therapist
Residence: Santa Barbara, California
Performance Date: March 14, 2012
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

“The dearest spot in Phoenix,

Here in the Golden West,

Is our old dear St. Mary’s.

The school we love the best.

Hurrah for St. Mary’s,

The school we love the best,

(repeat these two lines.)

 

We are proud of our schools

And our unbroken rules,

Obedience to God and our country.

Since this nation took birth

Catholic schools have proved their worth,

Always first in American teaching.”

My informant reports that this song was customarily sung in his school when he grew up. Somewhat cynical about his Catholic upbringing, he postulates that Catholic schools invented songs such as this one in order “to justify their existence.”

This song seems intended to foster school spirit and strengthen the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, however, the song also intertwines Catholic and American identities to fashion a new, Catholic-American identity; it teaches children that they should be proud both to be Catholic and to be American. In this way, the song is both religious and patriotic. Children are taught to be obedient both “to God and our country,” although it should be noted that the song places obedience to God before obedience to the United States.

Chinese-English Spider Joke

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 53
Occupation: CEO of an electronics company
Residence: California
Performance Date: December, 17, 2011
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English, Vietnamese, Cantonese

蜘蛛是什么颜色? 白色. 是白的.
Translated: What color is a spider? White. It is white.

This joke was heard at a Christmas party for a company that was predominantly made up of Chinese people.  This joke requires an understanding of both English and Chinese in order to fully understand the punch line.  At first, the question seems relatively easy as it is just asking the audience what color is a spider.  Audience members tended to yell out colors such as black or brown.  At this point, the informant would yell out “白色” (pronounced “bai se”), which means white in Chinese.  Then after hearing the confusions from the audience members, the informant would say, “是白的” (“It is white” in Engllish), which is pronounced, “Sh bai de.”  As an English speaker can see, that particular phrase sounds like the word “spider.”

My informant told me that he heard this joke first when he was learning English after coming toAmerica.  He told me that he felt a sense of accomplishment when he was able to understand the punch line as it marked his achievement in English comprehension.  For me, this poem is a symbol for the blending of English/American and Chinese culture since the two respective languages are necessary for this joke.