Every Day Is Special: February 12, 2013

February 12, 2013 - Kanaval in Haiti

There are almost as many names and traditions for “Mardi Gras” or “Carnival” as there are nations! Whether people are participating in a pancake race, throwing oranges or beads to parade-watchers, eating way too many pastries, soaking others (and being soaked) with water, or creating elaborate floats and costumes and masks for the annual parades and balls and parties—well, this “last hurrah” before Lent can be colorful and fun and rowdy!

In Haiti, Carnival is often called Kanaval. It features many familiar themes, such as parades with floats, costumes, and masks. An important part of the festivities is musical concerts of zouk, Haitian rap, and other Haitian music. The crowds move and dance as they are urged with creole cries such as mete men nan le (put your hands in the air!) and sote (jump up!) – cries that have inspired English-speaking hip-hop artists.

(A creole language is a language that developed from a mix of two or more languages.)

For more on Carnival around the world, check out this and this other earlier posts.

Extraterrestrial Culture Day in New Mexico

This is totally wild! A “memorial” (not law) passed in the New Mexico legislature in 2007, making the second Tuesday of February each year officially set aside “to celebrate and honor all past, present, and future extraterrestrial visitors in ways to enhance relationships among all citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown.”

Wow!

I am in total agreement that we should celebrate and honor extraterrestrial visitors in order to enhance our relationships with all the aliens in the universe...

...but I want to point out that there are zero known extraterrestrial visitors in Earth's past...

...and as of today, 2/12/2013, zero known extraterrestrial visitors in Earth's present.

So...that leaves the future!

If we ever do meet alien intelligences, it would be amazing to learn about their history and cultures and biology, of course! It would be useful to be able to compare with our own human history and culture and biology!

If you're interested in being a part of the search for extraterrestrials, check out this astrobiology course and the SETI organization.

By the way...

If you have heard and believe that extraterrestrials crashed at Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947, you should check out this article by Kal Korff, which analyzes evidence and eyewitness testimonies about that incident and explains the true nature of the crash debris and the governmental cover-up. (Hint: the explanation is interesting, but entirely earthly.)