Month: March 2019

Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival

Admirers of American playwright Tennessee Williams (1911-1983) gather to celebrate his work at the Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival. The five-day event features performances of plays, master classes, literary tours of the city, concerts, a book fair, and poetry and prose readings. The festival closes with a “Stella-Shouting Contest,” in which festivalgoers compete to imitate Stanley Kowalski’s bellowing cry of “Stella!” as performed by Marlon Brando in the movie version of A Streetcar Named Desire. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Witch Balls

A witch ball is a hollow sphere of plain or stained glass that was originally hung in windows to ward off evil spirits, witch’s spells, or ill fortune. According to folk tales, the bright colors of witch balls, traditionally green or blue, would entice evil spirits, and strands inside the ball would capture them and prevent them from escaping. The colorful spheres eventually became popular simply as decorative objects. What modern decorations may have been inspired by witch balls? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Hola Mohalla

Hola Mohalla is a three-day Sikh festival celebrated in Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, India, on the day after Holi, the colorful water-tossing springtime festival. Mock battles with ancient weapons are staged, and there are also exhibitions of traditional martial arts like archery and fencing. The important Sikh prophet, Guru Gobind Singh, started this fair sometime between 1680 and 1700. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Trypanophobia

It is estimated that at least 10 percent of American adults are trypanophobic, meaning they have an abnormal fear of medical procedures involving hypodermic needles. Sufferers exposed to such procedures may experience anxiety, faintness, sweating, nausea, and panic attacks, and they may therefore avoid inoculations, blood tests, and, in extreme cases, all medical care. How many deaths have been attributed to vasovagal shock stemming from trypanophobia? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Phagwa

The Hindu festival of Phagwa celebrates the Vernal Equinox and the start of the Hindu New Year. In Trinidad and Tobago, a Carnival spirit has pervaded the festivities, which now combine both secular and religious elements and are no longer confined to Hindus. The celebration includes bonfires (to symbolize the destruction of Holika, the evil sister of King Hiranya Kashipu) and Chowtal-singing competitions, which mix religious and secular music and are heavily influenced by calypso. The spraying of Abeer powder, a red vegetable dye, gives everyone’s hair and skin a tie-dyed effect. Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Genius

In Roman mythology, a genius was the guardian spirit of a man, an institution, a city, a state, or a large family unit known as a gens. As the guardian spirit of an individual, the genius was largely the force of one’s natural desires. An individual’s notable achievements or intellectual prowess was attributed to his genius, and, eventually, a high achiever was said to have genius or be a genius. Today, by contrast, a genius is considered a person with an intelligence quotient of what? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary

Hangzhou Bay Bridge

The Hangzhou Bay Bridge in eastern China is the longest trans-oceanic bridge in the world, stretching 22 miles (35.7 km) across Hangzhou Bay and consisting of six traffic lanes and a central cable-stayed portion. Opened to the public in 2008, the bridge links the municipalities of Jiaxing and Ningbo in the Zhejiang province and cuts travel time between Shanghai and Ningbo from 4 to 2.5 hours. According to most definitions, it is the second longest bridge in the world. What is the longest? Discuss

Source: The Free Dictionary