Source: Maui Time, Maui News, Best of Maui, Maui Activities

Picks%20of%20the%20Week

by Kate Bradshaw

November 20, 2008

Across the channel

Thursday (Nov. 20), 6-7:30pm, Pacific Whale Foundation

Ocean Discovery Center, Maalaea

Have you ever stood on the beach in South Maui and wondered about the status of the former Target Island? This Thursday’s PWF Making Waves lecture is an opportunity to find out. The story of Kahoolawe is probably the most obvious metaphor for the impact of colonization on a culture and environment that had, up until Western contact, flourished. The island is home to at least 3,000 cultural sites and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The arrival of the white man brought a penal colony to the island, goats (a misguided gift from Captain Vancouver to Chief Kahekili), cows (also not the most brilliant idea, given their impact on the island’s vegetation), and, finally, bombs. Some Maui residents could hear the explosions from their homes. A simulated atomic bomb blast at a spot called Sailor’s Hat broke the island’s water table in 1965. An unknown amount of unexploded ordnance remains on and around the island. Control of Kahoolawe was transferred to the state in 2003, and there are now serious restoration efforts underway. The Kahoolawe Island Research Commission will update the public on research efforts in the island’s marine environments this Thursday.



Occupation exposed

Thursday (Nov. 20), 3:30, 5:30 & 7:30pm, Ka Lama Building, MCC

While no one would call the U.S. military understated, it is a bit jarring to discover that more than a fifth of the land in the Hawaiian archipelago is military-controlled. This is one of the many outrages that Hawaiian journalist and filmmaker Anne Keala Kelly includes in her documentary Noho Hewa. (Hewa being the word for “wrong” and noho meaning “to occupy.”) The film draws connections between various facets of U.S. society including military, politics, law and real estate and their detrimental impact on pretty much everything that what here pre-contact (see previous Pick). Regardless of your background, if you’re here you should probably consider his required viewing. Free.



Yay! Shopping!

Friday (Nov. 21), Makawao Town

The holidays are a double-edged sword. You have the family/warmth/party aspect, which is pretty killer (my dad makes a mean cosmo). Then there’s the side of the season that reflects the nastier aspects of consumer culture: women getting in fist fights over pieces of plastic, a general overemphasis on material goods and mass consumption of corporate cookie-cutter crap. Fortunately Makawao Town is offering Maui wahine a more homegrown alternative: a girls’ night out. Small businesses in Makawao will be keeping their doors open later than usual so that wahine of all ages can browse, socialize and get a little early shopping done. This can help us all steer clear of giving loads of money to giant corporations this year while promoting small businesses (and thus the local economy).



West by southwest

Friday (Nov. 21), 8pm, Mandala Ethnic Arts, Paia

Some musicians have an amazing ability to invoke various types of scenery by way of their compositions. A few bars of slack key guitar can conjure a pleasant scene indeed for one who is sitting in an air-conditioned office desperately awaiting Friday. Fiddle and mandolin, of course, are virtually inseparable from rolling green hills. Keith Greeninger, who plays this Friday at Mandala Ethnic Arts, seems to have the art of capturing the profound beauty and emptiness of the American West in song down pat. Although in part his sound seems to betray the influence of Bruce Springsteen and Tom Waits (especially his vocals), Greeninger incorporates spaghetti-western style guitar leads, harmonica, dobro, clarinet, mandolin and other instruments to create a sound that screams of a high red desert dotted with a Rocky Raccoon saloon or two. Greeninger got his start in the ‘90s with the three-piece band City Folk, and went on to be a national folk/Americana act, playing at such venues as the Telluride Folk Festival and Canada’s Gathering at Island Lake, where he shared the stage with Blackfoot and Cree storytellers. Greeninger is said to be quite captivating live. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of inspiration he’ll draw from Maui’s astonishing scenery. $12.



Agro-business

Saturday (Nov. 22), 10pm, Hard Rock Café, Lahaina

More than anything, Hoobastank reminds me of college. Their hits ceaselessly blasted from the car speakers of my peers as I traversed campus. Their recordings spun at parties so frequently that I will forever associate Hoobastank with bong smoke and beer pong. For years they’ve been a component of the MTV set, and, judging by their adorableness, probably have more crazy groupie stories than Frank Zappa and the Mothers & Led Zeppelin combined (ah, but do they approach the creativity of the mud shark incident?). They’ve churned out a few chart toppers and seem to have a knack for writing and structuring songs that possess a naturally widespread appeal. If you’ll recall, they were the ones who hit #1 in 2003 with “The Reason.” Their sound varies from sensitive dude ballads to some pretty dark and aggressive rockers. It’s rare that a band of such stature plays on Maui, and I expect this one will have Hard Rock pretty packed on Saturday. Their Lahaina stop coincides with the release of their latest record, For(N)ever (pronounced “forever”).