Readings for 4/2

The first reading was titled The Protofestival: A Local Guide to American Folk Behavior. This article examined the annual turtle days festival in Churubuscoans Indiana and compared to too other similar festivals around the country. This festival originated with the apparent sighting of a large turtle at a lake in town. The local newspapers soon caught wind of the giant turtle and it soon became national news. Local townspeople used various traps and methods in attempts to capture the turtle. The entire town became overcome with turtle mania, so much so that you could not even find a turtleneck at the local clothing store. Songs were written about the turtle as well as stories about the turtle. It was such a spectacle that Churubuscoans adopted an annual festival to celebrate the turtle days. There were many types of folklore in play here. The songs that were made up, the stories the that were passed around between town members, even the material culture of the fishing nets and various traps that were used to try and capture the turtle are forms of folklore. Interestingly, this is story is common in many towns in America and around the world. Examples included the loch ness monster, the jackalope, and bigfoot.
I watched the video of Pat O'Riordan making penny whistles. He said that he went to a festival and saw a man playing the penny whistle and fell in love with it. He first learned how to play it and then became interested in making them. There are some different ways of making penny whistles and he said that he believes he uses a unique mouthpiece. He mentioned some other manufacturers of whistles and their different styles. There is individual variation depending on the manufacturer. He stated that he would really like to travel to festivals and sell his whistles rather than sell them by mail, so that he can interact with the buyers.

Questions:
1. Is it important if there was really a giant turtle or not?
2. Have you ever played a homemade instrument?