Just a song

May 6, 2009 3:32 AM

Just watch this, I think you'll love it.

It's the opening scene from the 1980 Yugoslav film (a comedy, set in Serbia of 1941) Ko to tama peva (Who's Singing Over There?). Parts 1 through 6 (with English subtitiles) are on YouTube if you'd like to check it out a little further, but alas, the YT poster stopped short of uploading the entire film: the ending is missing... Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6. Another cut-up (but complete, apparently) version of the film is also on YT, but... with no subtitles. Oh well. That opening scene is just so killer, that's really all I wanted to post anyway! Hope you enjoyed it.

posted by flapjax at midnite (107 comments total)

You're right, I loved it.
posted by scrowdid at 3:36 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yeah, that was knocked pretty far out of the park.

I like the smoking kids' timing - it's perfect.
posted by From Bklyn at 3:43 AM on May 6, 2009

Abserb.
posted by pracowity at 3:49 AM on May 6, 2009 [2 favorites]

At first I was all "you don't even know me, how do you know if I will like this?" but then I watched and I was all like "yep, I guess pretty much everybody would like this". So blogadariu, brother.
posted by Meatbomb at 3:51 AM on May 6, 2009

Yup, I liked it.

(at first I thought they were from Peru, what with the hats; but my dad was in the Royal Taburitzans - Croatian kids' folk group - as a kid, and I recognized the tune as being similar to one of the Royal Tamburitzan records I was forced to listen to. Neat stuff!)
posted by notsnot at 4:01 AM on May 6, 2009

Surely, I can't be the only one that did not like this. I mean, it's not Nickelback bad, but I don't find anything overly special or unique about this. Seems like just another, fairly pedestrian, folksy Eastern European musical performance.
posted by mrbarrett.com at 4:05 AM on May 6, 2009 [7 favorites]

Surely, I can't be the only one that did not like this.

Hmmmm... I don't see a 'flagged for blasphemy' in the drop-down.
posted by gman at 4:13 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Yep, could be the power of suggestion or mob mentality, but you can put me down for the "loved it" category.
posted by Pollomacho at 4:14 AM on May 6, 2009

Is this tagged "Jew Sharp" or "Jew's Harp"? Because neither makes sense to me.
posted by Acey at 4:28 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Borat's kids are talented.
posted by punkfloyd at 4:28 AM on May 6, 2009

Bravo!!
posted by fish tick at 4:31 AM on May 6, 2009

What are those two Williamsburg hipsters doing in a field?

Just kidding -- another vote for loved it.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:33 AM on May 6, 2009

Hey, these are my people -- although what a Jew's Harp ever added to any piece of music is beyond me. It's the gypsy equivalent of that hip-hop turntable scratching. "Doooing... doooing... doooing..." "Scritcha-scritcha-scritcha." Same thing.

Great clip. Lotta joy.
posted by Faze at 4:36 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Jew's harp

And put me in the loved it camp.
posted by fnerg at 4:36 AM on May 6, 2009

Is this tagged "Jew Sharp" or "Jew's Harp"?

Jew sharp. It's a key you can play in only on a gewgaw.
posted by pracowity at 4:37 AM on May 6, 2009 [10 favorites]

No, I didn't like it. The music didn't appeal to me at all, so watching the video was just boring.
posted by delmoi at 4:37 AM on May 6, 2009 [3 favorites]

Oh man, that is an awesome film. A watched it with a Serbian friend, who was able to explain the subtleties. Hilarious. Between that at Tito and Me, I've definitely got a super-crush on Yugoslavia comedies.
posted by FuManchu at 4:39 AM on May 6, 2009

The music didn't appeal to me at all

I think that explains mrbarrett.com's 'pedestrian' comment as well, because although European folk music isn't a genre that generally interests me either, pedestrian it was not.

For me, the clip was all about the exuberance of the performers and the way that their personalities shone through. They could have been performing pretty well anything and it would have been great -- though that accordionist had a fantastic voice.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 4:46 AM on May 6, 2009 [6 favorites]

i *knew* you wouldn't let me down - fantastic.

*heads off to search for Gadjo Dilo clips*
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:46 AM on May 6, 2009

fnerg: Jew's Harp

That is quite possibly my new favourite instrument. I always wondered how Morricone got the sound at the beginning of the theme to For A Few Dollars More, and now I know.
posted by Acey at 4:50 AM on May 6, 2009

Guy's got a good voice. Great vibrato.
posted by Henry C. Mabuse at 4:52 AM on May 6, 2009

I like it even with the sound turned down: the farm and field, the smoking kickside kid on the Jew's harp, and the sharp Chico (not Harpo, though a sharp Jew too) hat on the accordionist. It's all lip-sync anyway. Even the sheep.
posted by pracowity at 4:53 AM on May 6, 2009

Jew's Harp

a corruption of jaw harp, i believe.
posted by UbuRoivas at 4:54 AM on May 6, 2009

Super Pjesma!
posted by sixswitch at 4:55 AM on May 6, 2009

Dailymotion's got the whole film with English subtitles!

Cut up, but still the whole thing....
posted by Pope Gustafson I at 5:01 AM on May 6, 2009 [2 favorites]

What is it with (the former) Yugoslavian films and awesome music? This was great, not as manic as the music in Black Cat White Cat, but made me smile just the same.
posted by Forktine at 5:02 AM on May 6, 2009

a corruption of jaw harp, i believe.

I thought it was the other way around.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 5:06 AM on May 6, 2009

Most excellent. Thanks!
posted by sensate at 5:07 AM on May 6, 2009

wonderful. i guessed i'm camping or something in the 'loved it'.
posted by localhuman at 5:09 AM on May 6, 2009

not as manic as the music in Black Cat White Cat

or Underground, or (as far as I can remember) The Time of the Gypsies - both by the director of Black Cat White Cat, Emir Kusturica.

and here's Tutti Frutti, from Gadjo Dilo (ok, set in Romania, but whatever).
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:11 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

I think this is a scene older than Homer. Pure joy refracted through humble objects and human gifts; the swagger of youth, blissfully oblivious, nurtured by a world -- seemingly so open and generous in its tawny vistas -- that will ultimately break them down (the final pan to the hardscrabble farm) through the heartbreak and indignities all are heir to; and, always, the absorbing, skeptical but fond eye of the framing artist. Human comedy, in short.

I guess I liked it.
posted by Haruspex at 5:13 AM on May 6, 2009 [10 favorites]

Latcho Drom is also worth a view, for anybody who likes a bit of Gypsy music.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:15 AM on May 6, 2009

Jew's Harp

a corruption of jaw harp, i believe.

I thought it was the other way around.

According to the OED, "Jew's harp" is an alternative to the earlier term "Jew's trump". As for that, in turn:

The first element was certainly Jews from the first; conjectures that this was an alteration of jaws, or of F. jeu, are baseless and inept. But the attribution of the instrument to the Jews occurs, so far as is known, only in English, and there is no actual evidence as to its origin.

More or less satisfactory reasons may be conjectured: e.g. that the instrument was actually made, sold, or sent to England by Jews, or supposed to be so; or that it was attributed to them, as a good commercial name, suggesting the trumps and harps mentioned in the Bible. As the instrument was neither a trump nor a harp, the ingenuity which conferred upon it these names may well have distinguished it as the trump or harp of the Jews.

I have never before seen the OED call an attempted etymology "inept".
posted by Flunkie at 5:18 AM on May 6, 2009 [5 favorites]

Yeah, I loved that, too, and for much the same reasons as PeterMcDermott. I winced pre-emptively at the conversation that might come from discussing the Jew's Harp (also known as a mouth harp, or Ozark Harp).

It made me think of the Ozark Mountail Daredevils, especially "Chicken Train". And anything that reminds me on a Wednesday morning of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils is awesome.

I have to share this part from the Jew's Harp wikipedia article, because it's awesome:

In Heavy Metal While almost non-existent in heavy metal, some more folk oriented metal acts have used the Jew's Harp in recordings, such as Moonsorrow, Finntroll, Korpiklaani, and Bathory (in the song Foreverdark Woods from the album Nordland I), mostly for interludes or ambient sounds.

I'm sorry, I just can't help but LOLDarkMetal. I would pay... some smallish amount of money to hear the song Foreverdark Woods.
posted by dammitjim at 5:22 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

(and, because the gypsies originated in india, three indian clips from Latcho Drom)
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:23 AM on May 6, 2009

People love genuine enthusiasm. I loved it.
posted by fire&wings at 5:33 AM on May 6, 2009

I see "Just watch this you'll love it" posted by Flapjax and I know I am in for a treat. I return to your Staff Benda Bilili post when I need a pick-me-up. You never fail.

I've never seen this movie but now I am on the hunt. I am predisposed to love it already being a fan of Emir Kusturica Films and music especially Underground.

THanks.
posted by readery at 5:33 AM on May 6, 2009

I have never before seen the OED call an attempted etymology "inept".

I've seen some pretty snarky comments in OED etymologies, but I just did a search and that's the only time they call one "inept." The other time they use the word is under "sad sack":

[<>Sad Sack, the name of a comic strip by George Baker (1915-75), American cartoonist, depicting an inept private in the U.S. army.]

posted by languagehat at 5:34 AM on May 6, 2009

The mouth harp is incredibly difficult to learn to play, btw. At least for me. I bought one around 20 years ago and spent quite a bit of time trying to make it make sound, any sound, and never succeeded.
posted by DU at 5:38 AM on May 6, 2009

I enjoyed that the kid was smoking.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 5:39 AM on May 6, 2009

hm, i remember "you're such a sad sack" as schoolyard slang. never did i know it was probably from a comic strip none of us had likely ever seen. i always thought it had something to do with unfulfilled testicles.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:40 AM on May 6, 2009

I was really waiting for Groucho Marx to lean into the frame and say something really good... ("Say the secret word and the duck will...")
posted by Drasher at 5:41 AM on May 6, 2009

DU: it's a piece of piss - place the metal bits against your teeth, twang the twanger with your finger, and use your tongue to change the tone.

you might have been missing the pressing-against-teeth bit.
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:42 AM on May 6, 2009

(actually, thinking back, it's less your tongue; more the aperture of your mouth)
posted by UbuRoivas at 5:43 AM on May 6, 2009

Bahhhhhhhh.
posted by Xurando at 5:46 AM on May 6, 2009

1980? I could have sworn those were fake film scratches. Guess I can't tell any more.
posted by fungible at 5:46 AM on May 6, 2009

Living in the former Yugoslavia, I can say that this movie is universally beloved over here. The peeping Tom(s) scene [nsfw] especially seems to be the fond memory of just about every Yugoslav boy growing up at the time.

If anyone enjoys the movie, I can also recommend other Yugoslav classics like Maratonci trče počasni kruh (by the same director, it literally means "Marathoners run an honourable circle") and Moj ata, socialistični kulak (My father, the socialist kulak). They're both quite Yugo-licious.
posted by Ljubljana at 5:48 AM on May 6, 2009 [8 favorites]

I don't think "bits against my teeth" was my default mode, but I went through a ton of permutations of the sketchy instructions, so surely I must have tried that as well. Then again, I would have had braces at that time, so maybe that messed things up.
posted by DU at 5:50 AM on May 6, 2009

A Boy Named Charlie Brown (1:20 in) was what introduced me to the jaw harp. It was a notable enough appearance for it to be sold as "Snoopy's Harp".
posted by scrowdid at 5:52 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

There seems to be quite a bit of interest in the jaw harp (aka jew's harp, juice harp, mouth harp...) here in this thread, so I'll link here to my jaw harp FPP from back in 2006, for anyone who might have missed it.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:58 AM on May 6, 2009

Sigh. My original quote of the "Sad Sack" etymology was kind of a derail, but I see that I managed (with the help of MeFi's comment system) to bollix it up, so here, in a further derail, is how it was supposed to read:

[< The Sad Sack, the name of a comic strip by George Baker (1915-75), American cartoonist, depicting an inept private in the U.S. army.]
posted by languagehat at 6:12 AM on May 6, 2009

That was great!

I'm not sure if it's still the case, but for a long time everyone in Serbia had to pick an instrument to learn in school: the violin or the accordion.
posted by swift at 6:16 AM on May 6, 2009

I do love it. O I do.

Who has read "Bury Me Standing," by Isabel Fonseca? Awesome book. She lived with gypsies in Albania and made contacts with gypsies all over Europe and they told her most everything.

Thank you for that vid - that just made my day.
posted by Tena at 6:24 AM on May 6, 2009

Latcho Drom is also worth a view, for anybody who likes a bit of Gypsy music .

This is my favourite song from Latcho Drom. It's about the deposed dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, but whatever the violinist is doing with his strings makes it sound like a song about a vampire.

And the correct term is "Romani" or "Roma", not "Gypsy"
posted by KokuRyu at 6:41 AM on May 6, 2009

I honestly had to fast-forward a bit to the end, as the beginning was very slow for me, but the enthusiasm there kicked it up a notch.

And, man, I am such a Mom. My first thought was, "What is that little kid doing smoking?!"
posted by misha at 6:42 AM on May 6, 2009

I hereby sentence anyone who can't get to the joy this post brings to the following community service:

1. Go to a farm, any farm. Watch pigs. Hang with a cow or the farmer's dog. Do this for a period of 30 minutes.

2. Watch a three-hour marathon of The Little Rascals.

3. Pack a picnic basket, and then go for a hike to a cemetery and eat your picnic there.

This was a wonderful thing to wake up to today. Loved the little kid in the too-big hat plunking away after finishing his cigarette. Major props for this being the opening shot of the film.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 6:44 AM on May 6, 2009

Nice. It had a sort of "getaway music" vibe to it.
posted by jquinby at 6:48 AM on May 6, 2009

I know this is going to sound dorky as hell, but every now and then, I hear a song on youtube that is so good that I have to grab my accordion and start learning it before the clip is over. This is one of those songs. Thanks flapjax!

(And Tutti Frutti is another one. Also, the lyrics are in the youtube comments.)
posted by Benjamin Nushmutt at 6:56 AM on May 6, 2009 [2 favorites]

Cool vibe.
Also, I'm glad the comments weren't in English so I didn't have to see the obligatory racist and homophobic spewings that litter every video.
posted by Liquidwolf at 6:56 AM on May 6, 2009

This is my favourite song from Latcho Drom.

Thanks for that! I really, really enjoyed it. Looks like a movie I need to see.
posted by musicinmybrain at 6:59 AM on May 6, 2009

I didn't have to see the obligatory racist and homophobic spewings

Welcome to Metafilter?
posted by swift at 7:02 AM on May 6, 2009

*heads off to search for Gadjo Dilo clips*

Heh. First thing I did, too.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 7:09 AM on May 6, 2009

Just watch this , I think you'll love it.

Get out of my brain!
posted by chunking express at 7:16 AM on May 6, 2009

I do love this!

I also love Kusturica films. The opening scene of Underground has convinced more than one person I know that they want a band like this to follow them everywhere they go.
posted by louche mustachio at 7:17 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Hrmmm.... not only did I not like it, I felt sure that I was missing the joke or something, because no one could possibly like it. Still, I like that you all liked it. It's good that everyone has different tastes. Lipstick Thespian: 1) and 3) sound like fun, but even as a very young kid, I couldn't stand the little rascals. Maybe I'm defective. Okay, no maybe, but maybe I'm just discovering a new way that I'm defective.
posted by Humanzee at 7:19 AM on May 6, 2009

First thing I clicked on this morning. I could do nothing but stare through an uncaffeinated haze. Then it was over. I smiled.
posted by Muttoneer at 7:23 AM on May 6, 2009

DinaView:

The Gypsy musicians of Slobodan Sijan’s classical Yugoslav saga Who Is Singing Out There? (1980), the brothers Miodrag and Nenad Kostic, have appeared in a handful of other Yugoslav films, always playing the same role of Gypsy musicians, a role which they also happen to play in real life as well.

posted by pracowity at 7:25 AM on May 6, 2009

mehhhh...
posted by stifford at 7:33 AM on May 6, 2009

I watched the whole thing waiting for them to be blown up Monty Python style. And then was very disappointed when they weren't.
posted by greekphilosophy at 7:36 AM on May 6, 2009

I watched the whole thing waiting for them to be blown up Monty Python style. And then was very disappointed when they weren't.

You just need to watch the whole movie.
posted by FuManchu at 7:37 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

It's beautiful music.
posted by abc123xyzinfinity at 7:39 AM on May 6, 2009

You bet I liked it! And I'm going back for more.
posted by planetkyoto at 7:54 AM on May 6, 2009

Suggestion for next MeFi Music Challenge: cover a song that was posted in YT form on the blue.

Also, I want an accordion.
posted by not_on_display at 8:04 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

Pretty goddamn awesome Flapjax, thanks :)
posted by doctor_negative at 8:21 AM on May 6, 2009

Is this random single link youtube day?
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 8:30 AM on May 6, 2009

My wife recently revealed to me her long standing desire to learn to play the accordion. Being the dutiful husband that I am, I promptly went about finding her one that she could experiment with.

I think that before I present her with it, I will insist that this be a piece that she learn, just so I have an excuse to dress like the the smoking kid when I'm standing next to her.

This is going to be freakin' awesome!
posted by quin at 8:33 AM on May 6, 2009 [4 favorites]

Reminded me of this
posted by dydecker at 8:41 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

I watched the whole thing waiting for them to be blown up Monty Python style.

They are the only two who are not blown up in this movie.
posted by pracowity at 9:07 AM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

For the "why yes, you're right, I do love it" folks, there's Loli Phabay.

quin: if your plan comes to fruition, meMail me and I'll send you a chord chart.
posted by Benjamin Nushmutt at 9:19 AM on May 6, 2009

And the correct term is "Romani" or "Roma", not "Gypsy"

You mean "the currently politically correct term is..." The word for 'Gypsy' in Romanes is rom, the plural being romá, and many activists prefer/insist that everyone use this in other languages as well; on the other hand, there are plenty of Gypsies/Roma who use "Gypsy" and are happy for anyone else to do so as well. It is not helpful to make blanket statements that sound like you're trying to make someone else feel bad/ignorant, even if that wasn't your intent. And anyone who thinks they're being all cool and correct but says "Roma" with the stress on the first syllable, as if it were the Italian word for Rome, just sounds ignorant, like the news announcers who carefully say "POON-jab" for the Punjab state of Pakistan, not realizing that the "Pun-" is meant to be pronounced just like the English word pun, because it represents the schwa sound of short a in the Northern Indic languages. Being correct is harder than it looks.
posted by languagehat at 9:34 AM on May 6, 2009 [8 favorites]

Yep, I loved it. Thanks!
posted by rtha at 10:38 AM on May 6, 2009

there are plenty of Gypsies/Roma who use "Gypsy" and are happy for anyone else to do so as well

A sweet people, completely without the will to try to stick up for themselves any longer. Ah, dulcet subjugation.
posted by nervousfritz at 10:42 AM on May 6, 2009

Smoking makes you cool - why does the government try to convince us otherwise?

Thanks nocturnal snax
posted by fistynuts at 10:44 AM on May 6, 2009

Improvised jew's harp record by Dan Higgs, if anyone's interested.
posted by zoinks at 10:48 AM on May 6, 2009

Language Hat nails it. The use of the terms "Roma" or "Gypsy" (or "Cigány" or "ţigan" or any numnber of terms) is not quite as set as western NGO language would have you think. My buddies, the Gypsy band from Palatca, Romania (all of whom speak the Romani language), were playing in London once and introduced as "Gypsy musicians" when somebody in the audience yelled out "The proper term is ROMA!" And then each musician explained that they choose to idenitfy as "ţigan" (Romanian for "Gypsy") - since they consider "Roma" to be the term for Kalderasha Gypsies, as opposed to them. (Yet when we speak together in Romani, they refer to themselves with the term "Rom." And you would never refer to a woman as a "rom" She's a "romnyi")

As for Yugo Gypsy pop, Montenegrin singer/comedian Rambo Amadeus did a collaboration with Dragan Ristic of Kal a few years back "Dikh tu kava" and another typically self-parodic Balkan-sense-of-humor other production, "Balkan Boj"

While on the subject of short Balkan Gypsy musicians wearing cheap felt hats, mention should be made of Ahmet Ciguli, a Bulgarian accordionist who was a Big Thing in Turkey a while back with his hit Binnaz, but the man has serious squeezebox chops as well.

And Flapjaxx... I'm off to Sarajevo ($50 RT on the train from Budapest) with the Gurufurendo next week for a few days of serious gorging on cevapcici and burek, washed down with copious slivovica. Wish you were here...
posted by zaelic at 12:50 PM on May 6, 2009 [3 favorites]

The music was entertaining, but the best part is at the end when they just grab their shit and walk off. It's like "We did what we came to do, and we're done, man."
posted by owtytrof at 12:56 PM on May 6, 2009

metafilter: it had something to do with unfulfilled testicles.
posted by vronsky at 1:05 PM on May 6, 2009

They got me once the jew's harp came out. Great clip! The San Francisco International Film Festival is still in full swing, and at one of the recent screenings a San Francisco Film Society spokesperson mentioned that they're considering having a Balkan movie week. If you're in SF or its environs and would like to see more film from the region, I'd suggest you give 'em a call and let 'em know.
posted by ooga_booga at 1:26 PM on May 6, 2009

I watched the whole thing waiting for them to be blown up Monty Python style.

then it should cut to a guy dusting his hands, saying (action hero style): "Romanes eunt domus!"
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:00 PM on May 6, 2009

also: čigāns, or čigāniete for a female
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:04 PM on May 6, 2009

you know what I love about languagehat? It's that he doesn't go around correcting people unless they make some kind of arrogant and condescending correction of someone else. He really never feels the need to let everyone know how wrong they are, but he's awfully good at letting other people know that if THEY feel the need to do so, it might be a good idea to back off instead.
posted by shmegegge at 2:15 PM on May 6, 2009

just sounds ignorant, like the news announcers who carefully say "POON-jab" for the Punjab state of Pakistan

you forgot India!

but yeah, that's one that grates on me, too, because they ought to know that it's directly derived from panj (five; or paanch in Hindi) āb (rivers) after the five great rivers that flow through it: the Indus, the Sutlej, and the three miscellaneous ones that probably have no names.
posted by UbuRoivas at 2:19 PM on May 6, 2009

You mean "the currently politically correct term is...

Oh fuck off you pretentious, pompous git.

No, really, this is a big issue. This is my current sphere of work here in Bulgaria, and there are huge multifaceted political questions related to who exactly these people are we're talking about, what they call themselves, who has the authority to decide, and who speaks for whom...

There is a very distinct class difference between the "NGO Roma" who get chased after with scholarships and participate in EU funded round tables at nice hotels, and the Gypsies, who skulk around on the streets, underemployed and marginalized. A lot of those underclass Gypsies don't take too kindly to the fancy-pants book-learning folk who deem to speak on their behalf.

And anyways there are a bunch of different tribal groups - the Roma are a subgroup of the Romani.

So put that in your pipe and smoke it.
posted by Meatbomb at 5:06 PM on May 6, 2009 [6 favorites]

Here's a punk version by a band called The Drinkers.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 5:31 PM on May 6, 2009 [2 favorites]

I watched the whole thing waiting for them to be blown up Monty Python style.

See the last 10 minutes of the film here. And you get to hear the song again.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:40 PM on May 6, 2009

Here's a punk version by a band called The Drinkers .

Nice find, Peter!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 5:42 PM on May 6, 2009

there are huge multifaceted political questions related to who exactly these people are we're talking about, what they call themselves, who has the authority to decide, and who speaks for whom...

That might be similar to the issues around what to call Australian aboriginals (since that term is a bit out of favour).

"Koori" is one of the terms most popularly advocated in politically-correct style manuals. However, the aboriginals have hundreds of different languages and tribal groups, and hence there is no single term that could be considered to be the 'natural' self-identification for all of them, or even for a majority.

"Koori", for example, is rejected in SE Queensland, where they use another generic term for blackfellas (though this word escapes me right now).
posted by UbuRoivas at 6:07 PM on May 6, 2009

While it is true that L-hat can be pretentious, and at times pompous, and no doubt he is a bit of a git, but I bet he is the only person in this thread who knows how to say 'twelve months" in Estonian.
posted by vronsky at 7:03 PM on May 6, 2009 [1 favorite]

He was a nice guy when I met him! Then again, I'm admittedly daft.
posted by not_on_display at 7:43 PM on May 6, 2009

Hhn. You'd think some clip I catch randomly on you tube through metafilter couldn't perfectly capture how I feel today, but there you go.
posted by Smedleyman at 7:54 PM on May 6, 2009

Just watch this, I think you'll love it.

You're right I loved it.
posted by nola at 7:58 PM on May 6, 2009

I'm just breakin' his balls n_o_d :) l-hat knows I love him.
posted by vronsky at 8:37 PM on May 6, 2009

Hey, vronny, you breakin' his balls, but l-hat's a made guy. You're gonna get clipped ya fuckin' douchebag!

Oh, wait, I fuhgot... you're a made guy, too.

Nevahmind. Hey, howsabout we go get a slice, eh?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:45 PM on May 6, 2009

Get a slice? Va fongool fuggedaboutit. Where you wanna mangiare, Famous Rays, Ray's Original or Original Ray's Famous?
posted by vronsky at 9:27 PM on May 6, 2009

Now Ray... that guy's an asshole!
posted by not_on_display at 9:52 PM on May 6, 2009

Hearing the word "Underground" along with gypsies / romani / romá make me think of Gogol Bordello's Through The Roof 'N' Underground.

And I now really want to learn the accordion, especially after playing one for the first time this past weekend. It seems a lot easier to learn than the bagpipes, the former instrument of my dreams.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:42 PM on May 6, 2009

Yet another fantastic post from flapjax. Thank you man.
posted by converge at 11:49 PM on May 6, 2009