Tag Archives: Los Angeles

Meal Train

Folklore: A meal train is a tradition where following a member of the community having a baby or another significant event, the community organizes a group of people to help make and provide meals immediately following the event.

Context:
The informant encountered the practice through her local church and after moving to Los Angeles. The informant noted they were exposed to the practice a bit as a child, but not in such a large and traditional scale. It is to help provide meals to a member of the community and help them in times where the extra care is helpful.

Analysis:
The folklore is used to help bring together community and emphasize care for its members especially those in tiring, difficult, or wonderful situations. The experience brings people together and helps the member receiving the care feel appreciated.

Santa Ana Winds

Fields:

AGE: 24
Date_of_performance: 02/20/25
Language: English
Nationality: United States of America
Occupation: 8th Grade teacher
Primary Language: English
Residence: Pasadena, California

A friend commented on the winds that impacted the LA fires early this january. she said that she was able to “smell the Santa Ana winds.’ she claimed that people who grew up around LA are able to smell when the santa ana winds are going to come in. the context of this quote was she was commenting on the winds were going to blow in and change the fire distribution.

Quote: “i can smell when the wind changes, like the day before it just smells different.”

Due to the extreme weather that surrounds this area in southerjn california its very lickly that some residents can detect slight changes inb the atmosphere when the strong santa ana winds blow. it creates a cultural identity of being local to LA and makes one feel more connected to the land even though it is a concrete heavy city.

Don’t Wake Sleeping Dogs

Nationality: American
Age: 59
Occupation: Psychology Professor
Residence: Forest Falls, CA
Language: English

Text:

“Let sleeping dogs lie.”

Context:

This proverb was performed during a hockey game in the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. It was the third (and final) period of the game, and the Kings (an American team based in Los Angeles) were losing to the Canucks (A Canadian team based in Vancouver) two to zero. During a stoppage in between plays, one Kings player started to nudge a Canucks player. This turned into a scuffle, and the audience roared with excitement.

“That’s got the Kings all fired up,” remarked the informant, who was rooting for the Canucks to win. “You don’t wanna wake ’em up — you gotta let sleeping dogs lie.”

Analysis:

When asked for his interpretation of the proverb within the context of its performance, the informant explained: “The team that’s behind is kind of low energy, just kinda lagging. But if you mock them and disrespect them, then it could add extra angry energy and get them playing a lot better with the increased motivation to defend their honor.”

The use of this proverb compared the team, and by extension, the fans, to dogs who could become aggressive at any moment if provoked. At the game, the rivalry existed on multiple levels — the teams themselves competing to win, the fans vying for their team and against the other team and its corresponding fans, and the competing national identities of Canada and the United States. The undertones of national rivalry were especially strong in the political moment, following the election of Donald Trump in the United States and his ensuing statements on international policy.

Don’t split the pole

Nationality: American
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Language: English

Text:

A superstitious practice that dictates that when two people walking together encounter an obstacle (such a pole), they should stay together and maneuver around that obstacle on the same side, rather than passing by the obstacle on either side, as is often most convenient.

Context:

The informant first learned of this superstition while attending college at USC in Los Angeles.

Interpretation:

This superstition conveys a clear message that staying together is preferable while breaking apart is bad luck. The unsaid implication is that the bad luck generated from splitting a pole would be regarding the relationship between those two who split the pole. It seems as if this superstition functions as a sort of performative gesture, in which the performance of this action serves to makes something happen. For two people to stay together while walking around an obstacles bodes that they will stay together in their relationship when they encounter their own obstacles.

Hotel Cecil and Elisa Lam

Nationality: USA and Mexico
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Diego
Performance Date: 4/5
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Context:
The informant is a 20 year old female college student at USC. The performance took place in her dorm room.

Text:
Informant: About 10 years ago, there was a girl who died in a hotel right around here in downtown LA. The footage of her acting weirdly in the elevator was all over the Internet. Some people said that she was possessed by demon and other said that she’s crazy. Her body was later found in the water tank at the hotel couple months later. I don’t really know if they’ve figured out what happened to her, but people said that the hotel has been haunted ever since.

Analysis:
The death of Elisa Lam is one of the famous unsolved mystery that happened in Los Angeles. The legend of haunted places often occurred after peculiar death or suicide. Because of the Internet, the legend has spread worldwide. The building has been renovated into affordable housing complex to help the local unhoused population, though most of the rooms remain empty (https://www.latimes.com/california/cecil-hotel-housing-vouchers-latt-123). The history of the hotel is extremely bothering, see link https://thecrimewire.com/multifarious/Los-Angeles-Cecil-Hotel. The video mentioned by informant, see link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TjVBpyTeZM (trigger warning: unsettling scene)