Penultimate

Well I have had another busy day and won't be able to tell you about it until I get to Auckland, as I have plans that lead into the late night and won't have time to sit and write things out.--

I do have a little time because I arrived at the dinner show early- I was told 7:30 and it actually starts at 8. So I have been spending time trying to wrap things up. Clarifying the money issues, arranging a taxi to the airport, etc. Doing a little more emailing and buying the last of the things I would like to have as raw material.

OK I am sitting at the International Dateline Hotel, and there is a dinner before the dancing. It is about to start. A fellow has been sitting on stage behind a keyboard for the last half hour, and just now has started playing. I think he chose the "Smooth Jazz tempo #27" (with a lot of soft hi-hat) for his first mellow intro piece. I guess I will keep writing about the day, and every once in a while interrupt and tell you what is happening now.

I bought some music and a DVD with samples of the traditional dancing on it- It also has an interactive Karaoke section, and I believe there is a video game engine- developed section with the dancers in it!! There is a picture of the animated dancers on the back cover, will let you know.

OK song #2 is with back country track #19, heavy thump bass. OOPS, he just did it again, changed the tempo to a little more upbeat, so now I guess it is Square dance # 8.

I bought a book and a magazine for Davida to give to Manu out on the island. I didn't think he would be interested in reading any of the material I had on me, mostly about robots and microchip programming. I bought him a copy of some type of E! magazine, and a novel entitled "The Wooden Sea," about a guy who suddenly meets himself as a 17 year old boy, and the boy tells him how he has lived his life wrong and how he needs to change it now to avert some future tragedy. I also gave him the three photocopied articles I have read and have been carrying around, I have no idea if they are of interest to him. They are:
Notebook: On Message, by Lewis H Lapham I believe out of Harpers (?); The Blue of Distance, sorry but I don't have the author on hand; and After Life by Joan Didion from the New York Times Magazine, about her husband's sudden death, what happened after and how she has coped/ responded to it all. When I was in the bookstore buying a book for him, I was thinking "what the hell kind of book do you buy for a guy isolated on a tropical island for the next five years? " I saw a copy of The History of the Peloponesian War but I thought that would be torturous. There wasn't that great a selection. He recommended an old novel to me, Men of the Sea, but I had never heard of it. Any suggestions of what I should have given him?

So the buffet is actually quite good. They have a whole roasted pig, and you get a little cut of meat and a chunk of hardened fried skin. There is a nice marinated raw fish salad thing, kind of sevice, A giant fish of some sort that is quite tender, some of the beef wrapped in Taro leaves I had at Davida's, a stuffed shellfish, and various sides, including a salad made of the same raw onions, tomato wedges and cucumber I had the first night. I don't get big chunks of raw onions. The band is now singing as well as playing. Well, the guy is. He must have some type of effects attached to his mike, because it sounds like he is harmonizing with someone. He has returned to Tongan smooth jazz.

I bought a new map of Tonga'topu, as the one I had got wet and destroyed. after buying all this gak I headed back to Sela's and then went over to Davida's for a bit, to arrange when I should come by later. His father (I now know his name is Tekiteki)

[I swear they are doing a Tongan translation of the song "Its like starting over"]

and uncle were making new nets from material he had gotten in NZ. Tevita (the actual spelling of what I have been writing as Davida) showed me some new equipment he had purchased. We sat for a bit and talked, and arranged for me to come by at 4 or 5. I had to go meet with Evan (actually Ebonie, they call him Ebon) to take me to the school to talk to them about what I do. Lyndsey has some type of bad boil on her knee that has incapacitated her, so Ebon picked me up and drove me there. I met the teacher, Susan, who has lived around the world, mostly in Africa, but otherwise in Europe and now Tonga. She and her husband have worked for various banks and aid agencies, helping develop laws in various countries or otherwise assisting in development. She said that right now there are no laws about waste disposal in Tonga at all. Her husband is working to develop such laws, and she is teaching at this school. Her class came in and I gave a little presentation about myself and my job history, as well as showed them the video of my performance at Tonic. I gave an explanation before hand, and during the show stopped to explain on the chalkboard what I was talking about. I was surprised by how much they laughed at it, and the fact that most of them paid attention to the whole thing. The teacher asked me some questions after, like why I was in a clown suit, and "How did I work with the space," which was a weird question for me, but I tried to answer it. I then went on to talk about the Builders Association show Supervision, and explained the three stories as well as how the screen device worked. Again, more than half seemed actually interested in what I was talking about. The teacher then asked me to describe what it was like to be in the theater, and I asked if she meant as an audience member or performer? She said both, as none of the Tongans had ever seen theater. So I backed up and went to a very basic description o f what theater is, how the audience sits in a darkened space and how the whole environment is created on stage. You could be in Tonga, but the scene inside is a winter in Norway.

They sure are stingy with the napkins here. One tiny paper napkin for a big greasy meal.

Then I tried to explain what it is like to perform, how it is daunting to be in front of an audience of 900 people, how you have to concentrate, because every little difference in how you perform something affects how it is perceived, and how it is pleasurable, like when you have a certain line that always makes the audience laugh.

OK I have to stop here the show is starting. I will have to finish in Auckland.

Well I am taking a break from filming because they are doing some silly stuff with canned music. I know that Tongan dancing does not have the grass skirts and the hip shaking, and that is what they are doing right now. Maybe they are doing an all Polynesian review, or have spiced things up for the tourists. Ok The firestick dancing was totally Polynesian Busker juggling. Funny, but good. OK they did a last dance that was really nice. I will talk about the difference between this and the show at the feast tomorrow. I have to go send this, then go to Tevita's to have some chicken he killed for a final meal with me today.


Cheers and love,

joe