Stuff We Like
Stuff We Like
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Sweet in Palau
Palauan vocalist Virian Kanai got Sweet Luv out in 2000 with PolyRiddim Records in Honolulu, but it’s been hard to find although people mention it frequently. Fortunately for us, we found this CD at a local record store and have finally had a listen. Kanai has morphed her Palauan roots with some good production values in the Honolulu recording studio. Some cuts are her own compositions while others come under the overworked category of “Island Music.” Nice instrumentation with the likes of Gary Nakano on trumpet and Casey Olsen on steel guitar. This is a class debut album. Check out Kanai’s clear vocal stylings. Sweet Luv, PolyRiddim Records. www.polyriddim.com. $15.99.
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Postal Folklore
In January, the Marshall Islands Postal Service issued new stamps featuring Marshallese folktales. Executed by Hawaiian artist and writer Herb Kawainui Kane, these unique stamps come with a thumbnail narrative explaining the four myths chosen for the stamps. Inedel’s Magic Kite, the story of a young boy who escapes from an unhappy family life. Lijebake Rescues Her Granddaughter . the story of a grandmother who transforms herself into a sea turtle. Jebro’s Mother Invents the Sail, the story of a young boy whose mother gives him a sail that allows him to win an important canoe race. Limajnon Escapes to the Moon is the fable of a rat whose love for the Moon turns her into a woman. All four stamps are available on line at www.unicover.com.
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Rugby Rules!
It claims to be the best-selling magazine in Fiji—and we have no reason to doubt it—Teivovo and its Web site, www.teivovo.com, which claims 47,000 hits a day, an extraordinary number in the region, is put out by energetic publisher Jeremy Duxberry, who’s managed to assemble some of the best sports photography in the region. This is a rugby magazine, which accounts for its popularity, and it gives face and voice to many of the lesser teams, the school leagues and junior competitions that make people all over the South Pacific want to open Teivovo’s pages to see their own children or their friends’ children smiling in the lines of mugging ruggers assembled for their group shots. This is a fun, lively magazine, published monthly. Teivovo, www.teivovo.com US$20 per year.
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Tatau and Tanoa
Building on the foundation of Roger Neich’s 1985 work Material Culture of Western Samoa, this incredibly beautiful book attempts a broad yet deep journey into the intricate world of the Samoan visual artistic repertory. This book covers wood carving, tattoo designs, the weaving of the many grades of matting, from ceremonial fala, to fala moe, or ordinary household sleeping mats, and then the wood carving of tanoa (kava bowls) or weapons and, finally, the long tradition of tapa/siapo work. Along with a selection of fine images from a variety of photographers, Sean Mallon’s narrative takes on a subject so huge it’s a wonder he’s accomplished what he has. The book is a treasure that should be in the library of anyone who’s truly interested in Pacific art. Samoan Art & Artists: O Measina a Samoa, Sean Mallon. University of Hawaii Press, www.uhpress.hawaii.edu.$19.95.
