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Ouch. This hits hard. I have experienced this so many times, but as an American Jew. I'm from a mixed background, fairly secular family too so I get the added insult of being told "oh, but you're not REALLY Jewish" except when Israel does something. Then I'm suddenly the spokesperson for world Jewry.

so fun how i’m a canadian citizen with canadian family and canadian friends and i have literally never had anyone ask me a single question about canadian politics ever in my wholeass life but anytime israel, a country i have never been to and am not a citizen of, breathes the wrong way i suddenly have to give a surprise press conference with peer reviewed citations to literal strangers because i’m jewish

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Fascinating. Learn something new everyday.

Pride 2021: Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovksy

19th century Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is known for a very long list of famous works, including the music for the ballets Swan Lake and The Nutcracker and the 1812 Overture (the one with the cannons at the end). Born in 1840, he learnt the piano from a young age, and was quite musically gifted. However, he didn’t turn to music professionally until his mid twenties, after a short-lived career as a civil servant.

Pyotr always considered himself an introvert, and thus remains mostly on the periphery of queer social circles in Moscow and St. Petersburg. However, his letters show evidence of attraction to and relationships with men. A member of a large, tight-knit and supportive family, he remained very close with his siblings for his whole life, particularly with his younger brother Modest, who was also queer..

In spite of censorship efforts in the Soviet Union and globally, many of Pyotr’s diaries and letters have become available in unaltered form in the last few decades, including discussions with Modest about their shared identity.

EPISODE PART 1 EPISODE PART 2

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beep beep. 5.30.21

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Things you can control in life…

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New Hazbin History coming soon. Writing on a WW1 topic. Should drop later this week. My writing game is a little off this week and I got distracted watching election results come in for the Georgia runoff.

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Made a Hazbin History side blog. It’s a work in progress at the moment but I’m taking topic submissions. https://hazbinhistory.tumblr.com

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A Very Creole Christmas

Joyeux Noel, Y’all. 

After thinking about doing a Hazbin History segment over the holidays, I finally decided to jump on in. As New Year’s approaches and many around the world celebrate Christmas, I thought it would be fun to write on holiday traditions unique to the American South and some customs specific to Louisiana. Nothing says winter holidays quite like garlands of native pine and... magnolias? Stockings full of... oranges? The taste of ... oysters? I grew up in Memphis and my family has deep roots throughout the South so a lot of these customs I have personally experienced. 

This post is also not super planned out or edited. It’s a lightly researched thought dump. This is also not an exhaustive list. If I left something out, it is not intentional. 

Holiday Customs of the Southern United States:

Citrus:

Tropical fruit may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you imagine Christmas time in America. But in the South, it is a very old custom dating back to the earliest days of coastal colonial communities. In colonial times, fresh citrus was an extremely rare and expensive delicacy. In early winter, ships loaded with citrus and other delicacies from Florida and the West Indies would begin arriving in port cities along the Southern coast. Nothing showed off New World wealth and connections in the colonial South like displays of fresh fruits and garlands of dried citrus. Fresh fruit became the ultimate luxury gift. The prickly pineapple in particular has legendary status in the city of Charleston and is sometimes associated with Southern hospitality.  Placing oranges in stockings or giving gifts of gourmet fruit remain popular in many parts of the South today. Growing up, I often received at least one orange in my stocking for good luck and no scent says ‘holidays’ to me quite like the mix of orange and warm cinnamon. As an adult, I receive gourmet fruits at least once during the winter holiday season. Dried citrus is also popular in holiday potpourri and can still be seen in some contemporary holiday garlands. 

Pecans:

This delicious nut grows prolifically throughout the South. Pecans are harvested between September and December and pecan based treats are a staple of any fall or winter gathering. The exact origins of many pecan based treats remain a mystery but folklore suggests that French settlers in Louisiana first created the iconic pecan pie as well as pralines. Bowls of candied pecans are a common sight at holiday parties or winter get togethers and they have a habit of turning up in winter salads too. 

Magnolias:

A very fragrant, native plant synonymous with the South. It is also an evergreen. The use of pine for swags, wreath, and general decor has spread throughout the United States but the use of Magnolia in holiday decor remains mostly a Southern tradition. I was in Charleston and Savanna in December 2019 and saw a lot of Magnolia wreaths on houses. I don’t remember seeing it as much in my hometown of Memphis. It seems to be more common in coastal cities. The practice could also be on the decline due to the standardization of greenery sold at big box chain stores.  

Oysters:

Oysters are both extremely popular and extremely plentiful in the south. They are a staple of coastal cuisine and are popular on special occasions further inland. Oysters are a pretty common sight at holiday parties. Almost every holiday party I remember growing up featured raw oysters on the half shell during cocktails. It also frequently appears in various holiday stews and even in holiday stuffing. Some people are ardent believers in the superiority of oyster stuffing at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I think I have to agree on this one. Oyster stuffing is delicious. 

Rèveillon: A New Orleans tradition

Louisiana is unique in that it has French Catholic colonial roots, not Anglo-Protestant colonial roots. Much of early Louisiana celebrated Christmas as a predominantly religious holiday, reserving much of their more secular festivities for New Years. Over time, many New Years festivities would migrate to Christmas. One notable custom to come out of New Orleans was the practice of Rèveillon which was a late night feast to wake up the senses after the traditional Midnight Mass. Observant Catholics would attend holiday services on Christmas Eve and then indulge in decadent late night get togethers that lasted until dawn. French Creoles at the time were known for late night entertaining on special occasions. These meals could get unbelievably extravagant and naturally depended on quite a number servants, often slaves, to pull off. Servants and/or slaves would prepare the meal while the family was at church and clean up after the festivities were over. The practice gradually died because of the labor required, the incursion of ‘American” holiday culture, and a gradual shift towards a party culture focused on cocktails and nibbles instead of lavish multi-course meals. By the early 20th century only the most traditional families were still holding Rèveillon dinners and the practice went dormant for many decades in 20th century. Today, a modern updated form of Rèveillon is making a comeback in the New Orleans restaurant scene. To increase holiday dining and tourism, some New Orleans restaurants are now offering multi-course celebratory dinners in the spirit of Rèveillon. French speaking Creoles of the past would likely find at least some familiarity in the menus of restaurant Rèveillon feasts.  

Bonfires on the Mississippi:

The mighty Mississippi dominates life and culture in the Delta from New Orleans to Memphis. In parts of the lower Mississippi, giant earthen levees attempt to contain one of the world’s largest rivers. Along these levees between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, a curious tradition emerged. Every year on Christmas Eve, the levees burst into flames as locals in St. Johns and St. James parish forgo electric twinkle lights for colossal burning pyres. I have not seen the Christmas bonfires myself but boy oh boy is it on my bucket list. It’s not exactly clear how this annual tradition started. Bonfires were part of ancient Celtic customs long before the arrival of Christianity and the tradition of celebratory fires was still a widely practiced custom when settlers began arriving in the New World. Perhaps settlers from Alsace brought the tradition to Louisiana. It is also possible that French missionaries started the custom of lighting bonfires. Another origin I have heard is that the fires were meant to help travelers navigate winter-time fog on their way to Christmas mass. However it started, it is now an integral part of Christmas festivities along the lower Mississippi. Previously people just gathered scrap wood. Now people build elaborate scrap wood sculptures in the shape of boats, plantation homes, pick up trucks, etc to light ablaze on Christmas Eve. The festival exploded in popularity after WW2 when subdivisions began reaching into these formerly rural areas, bringing in an influx of young families. 

Well, that’s all I’m gonna write about tonight. Anything more and this will start looking like the beginnings of a hearty essay. Hope everyone is having a great holiday!

[citizensmth]

Just a peak into my sketchbook. Taking up drawing again for fun. Writing can be slow going at times. Sometimes it’s nice to produce something half decent with your bare hands in a single sitting. It’s probably been a decade since I bought a sketchbook.

Got a ways to go to really get a feel for Alastor. Angel Dust has a VERY different feel drawing him. He’s a lot of fun. 

Last, some holiday doodles from this afternoon/evening. I love the Holidaze short. It is adorable.  

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Hazbin Histories?

I’m kinda surprised that my late-night, History 101 musings on Alastor’s radio announcer accent got as much attention as it did. Until there are new episodes or new bits of canon to play with, maybe I could make this a semi-regular thing? It could be fun to write about what was happening in the world when characters like Alastor and Angel Dust were alive. Maybe it will be useful for someone’s theories, head cannons, or fan fiction. Also, the first half of the 20th century is just plain fascinating and who says you can’t use cartoons to learn about history?

Some ideas include topics related to: 

The Great Depression (1929-1933)

Prohibition (1920-1933) 

The birth of Jazz (late 19th- early 20th century)

More on the Golden Age of Radio 

The invention of television

American regional food culture? (I’ve heard Alastor is a food snob and places like Memphis and New Orleans are foodie paradise)

Questions? Thoughts? Adverse reactions?

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Alastor: 

Say... what do you call the Northern Lights during Hanukkah?

... The Menorah Borealis!

(There actually was a solar storm during Hanukkah this year)

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Alastor’s accent and the Golden Age of American radio

I really adore Alastor’s character so far. That eccentric strawberry dandy is just dripping with a slightly sinister sort of genteel charm. But I particularly love his accent/affectation. That over-enunciated ‘old time radio’ voice is a very specific style of speaking with an interesting history that I think adds a lot of richness to his character.

If you’ve ever wanted to know about where Alastor’s accent comes from then grab some tea, settle in, and read on! I am a huge history nerd, my first job was in radio, and I can write for days when I’m in the mood.

Alastor’s speaking style is based on the Trans-Atlantic accent. This accent is also called the Mid-Atlantic accent (as in ‘middle of the Atlantic ocean’, not the Mid-Atlantic region of the US). It is an invented style of speaking that combines elements of British English with American English to create a hybrid accent with no geographical roots. This faux British style of speaking was extremely popular among the American upper-class in the first half of the 20th century. Wealthy Americans were imitating elements of aristocratic British speech as far back as the 1800′s. By the end of the 19th century, this learned affectation was increasingly associated with East Coast urban elites.

About the same time, this style was also becoming popular in both formal public speaking and the theater. Regional American accents were not desirable so serious aspiring actors trained to imitate British speech on stage. Many stage actors during the early 1900′s embraced the works of phoneticians like William Tilly who wanted to create a universal standard of class based English. Tilly and his followers heavily promoted the teaching of this invented style of ‘proper’ American English pronunciation. Private New England preparatory schools in particular embraced this form of English instruction.

Some elements of the Trans-Atlantic accent include:

Lack of rhoticity (means you tend to drop the “R” at the end of words).

Soft vowels. Example: The A in Dance pronounced as ‘ah’ and not like ‘ant’.

Sharp, clipped emphasis on the “T”. American English frequently softens “T” into a “D” sound. Hit that T like it owes you money.

So... how did a sound associated with East Coast urban elites and high culture become synonymous with the Golden Age of radio?

Early audio technology was extremely primitive and radio broadcasting didn’t take off as a form of electronic mass media until the 1920′s. Prior to WW1, radio was dominated by hobbyists and amateurs experimenting with crude homemade equipment. Microphone technology was in it’s infancy and so was recording technology. Early radio experimenters were forced off the airwaves at the outbreak of WW1 to make room for military use; a major setback for the development of the technology.  The first radio stations didn’t become operational until 1920 and a commercial plug-in receiver with speakers wasn’t widely available until the late 1920′s. The first feature length movie featuring both sound and spoken audio wasn’t released until 1927 and it took about 4 years for Hollywood to complete the transition from silent films to ‘talkies’.

The biggest problem was that early microphones really struggled to pick up natural speaking voices and had a particularly hard time with base tones. Early receivers also lacked the ability to effectively reproduce natural base tones. One had to learn how to speak in a manner that could be captured and reproduced into something intelligible. The Trans-Atlantic accent with it’s clipped nasal pronunciation that elevated treble tones and strongly enunciated individual words was ideally suited to early radio technology. Performers were trained in this style of speaking and it formed the foundation for the classic ‘radio announcer’ sound of the era. That the accent was geographically neutral and associated with cultured respectability was also a plus. Microphone and radio receiver technology improved greatly by 1940 but by then the sound had become part of radio culture. Although you could now speak in a more natural voice, announcers continued to invoke the old affectation in order to sound like ‘real newsmen’. The Trans-Atlantic accent rapidly declined in use after WW2 due to continued technological advancements, an emerging middle class, changing social attitudes, and a decline in schools willing to teach it. In a relatively short time, it completely disappeared from every day use.

So there you have it. A little history about Alastor’s accent and where it fits into America’s Gilded Age and the Golden Age of radio. No one organically talks this way so Alastor would have had to deliberately learn this artificial style at some point in his life. His style of speaking also firmly dates him to the 1930′s. Lastly, the fact that his speech sounds like it is being played through an old radio receiver is super cool.

That’s enough of my sleep deprived word dumps for one night.

[citizensmth]

Drinking REAL champagne out of my Joe Biden campaign mug like a boss. Not gonna lie. I cried a bit during the speech. Lots of emotions this week.

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Me waking up from my depression nap:

America:

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Election Day is finally here. Polls open at 7am. When is an appropriate time to start drinking?

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Popped into a local independent bookshop on a lark and scored a copy of “Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning of Sex” by Angela Chen. Local book shops that have books on asexuality in their LGBTQ section give me joy.