Rien n'arrete nos esprits!

INDIANAPOLIS - JANUARY 16: Pierre Garcon, #85 of the Indianapolis Colts, holds up the Haitian flag after the Colts' 20-3 victory against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Lucas Oli Stadium on January 16, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. [Andy Lyons/Getty Images]

Everything went the way it was supposed to, football-wise, today in apt. 302:

1) Colts over Ravens, 2) Saints over Cardinals. Or as Marcus, who is 9 years old and lives across the hall says, "Both of the bird teams lost!" GODDAMN RIGHT, MARCUS. (Uhmm, darn right. Sorry. Nevertheless: high-five in the hallway between apt. 302 and 305!)

And at the end of his game, 3) Garcon held up the flag like we all knew he would and championed the cause of helping his beloved Haiti, which made me, of course,


4) think about this





and which made me, of course, 5) curious about the Haitian flag - the meaning of the blue & red, and the emblem in the white square. OCD, represent repre-zent-zent. So:

The first red and blue flag was sewn on May 18, 1803, under instructions of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, who played a prominent role in the Haitian revolution and was Toussaint L'Ouverture's principal lieutenant. Dessalines asked that the white of the French flag be removed, which led to the red and blue design. On the centered emblem, there's a trophy of weapons "ready to defend freedom," a royal palm for independence, and a Phrygian Cap of Liberty at the top of the palm (heavy with symbolism, as the Phrygian cap was worn by liberated slaves in ancient Rome and Greece). The coat of arms in the center carries the words: "L'Union fait la force" (Unity Makes Strong); the Kreyòl version is "Men anpil, chay pa lou" (Many Hands Lighten the Load).




Arcade Fire - “Haiti.”

mp3.





PS, quite a shift in tone so I had to sneak it in at the end of this post -

Even though I'm not up on my Indy rap like I'm up on my indie rap, I hear that the kids call Indianapolis Naptown, plus I really like this G-Fresh "On My Momma" song with its big dumb sing-along chorus. It's a good time, you guys; relax. Wait til you see me in the club, as I have successfully convinced myself that if this comes on I will be the only blonde girl in history to successfully pull off the blonde-girl-in-the-club-singing-along-with-a-rap-song-chorus-while-holding-her-rum-&-Coke-aloft, remaining cute and not the least bit obnoxious the whole time. Just you wait.


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