Shibboleth Step

During WWII, in order to catch Japanese spies disguised as American or Filipino military personnel, a shibboleth "lollapalooza" was used by the guards. Because Japanese normally pronounce their "l" sounds as "r"s *, if the person in question responded with "rorra" as the first two syllables, the guard would instantly "open fire without waiting to hear the remainder."
A book about a Thousant Things - George Stimpson

In other news, Halloween night consisted of losing articles of clothing on the dance floor (in the most innocent way possible) and black lights. The latter I have given much thought and decided would be a nice addition to my room, if not incriminating.

The Black Friday equivalent of Halloween involved a trip to Tufts University to watch a intercollegiate step competition. Almost all the schools did very well. The man sitting behind me - who also indirectly taught me what CP stood for (me, eaves dropping? Never) - summed it up quite nicely "I'm still confused about Harvard. I mean, their performance was like all white and two Asians, and an Indian chick. There were no black people. It's a black cultural club with no black people."
I found myself nodding in agreement, which is not to say that I am for exclusion or that I am not for integration. But it's like a Chinese cultural club filled by non-Chinese people - very difficult to take seriously. Heritage does not allow for immitation. By all means spread the word, spread dance, spread literature, spread corporations and people. But globalizing our foundation, globalizing our roots - well, that's just not possible.

As Harvard left the stage the cheering was muted, I think I might try step.

*Added for clarification (see Fran, this asterisk actually led somewhere)