History of the Handshake

Handshaking has a long and "shaky" history.  

The handshake is thought by some to
have originated as a gesture of peace by demonstrating that the hand held no
weapon.  If two men met and displayed
empty right hands, this presumably meant
a basic level of trust existed and that neither would stab the other. Of course, this explanation, doesn’t account for left-handed men, who presumably would have been happy to extend the right hand in greeting while wielding a dagger in the left!

In variations of this story, it is said that the handshake evolved from an elbow-to-wrist “patdown” to check for hidden knives; in another, the shaking motion was supposed to dislodge any sharp objects that may have been kept in the sleeve.  Continue reading "History of the Handshake" »

The Dust of Life

Miss Saigon is one of the most powerful musicals of modern time.  Many people will remember the horrors of the Vietnam War and the fall of Saigon in 1975.  Set against this backdrop, the story of Miss Saigon is also one of a mother’s love and ultimate sacrifice for her child.

One of the most moving and powerful songs in the musical is “Bui Doi”, which refers to Vietnamese “orphans” – the children of Vietnamese mothers and American soldiers, abandoned at the end of the war.  The term “bui doi” literally translates to “living dust” or “dust of life”.

One of the key inspirations for the musical was
a photograph of a Vietnamese mother who was giving up her child at an airport in Ho Chi Minh City.  The child was being sent to her father, an ex GI who she had never met, to enable her to have a better future.  But she would never see her mother again.

Continue reading "The Dust of Life" »