time on my hands and music on my mind

I have some time to spare, so here is something I think about a lot, which has absolutely nothing to do with Peace Corps or Fiji:

Most disappointing live show: The Pixies, Marcus Amphitheater, 2005 (Okay, seriously, what are the Pixies doing opening for Weezer in an amphitheater?!?!? Not cool.)

Show I purposefully walked out on: Weezer, Marcus Amphitheater, 2005

Band I saw that is now kind of famous: Art Brut, Rome, 2006

Openers I liked better than headliners: Pixies (for Weezer, 2005), Glass Candy (Vampire Weekend (?), 2008), Saul Williams (Mars Volta, 2003), Ben Harper (String Cheese Incident, 2002), Tegan and Sara (Ryan Adams, 2002)

Shows I forget I saw: The Sea and Cake, High Noon Saloon, 2007; Yo La Tengo, Barrymore Theater, 2002; Gillian Welch, Barrymore Theater, 2003 or 2004; Black Keys, High Noon Saloon, 2007?; Pearl Jam, Alpine Valley, 2003; Architecture in Helsinki, High Noon, 2007?; Ryan Adams, Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, 2002

Most Underrated/ Biggest Surprise: Black Keys; The New Pornographers, Orpheum Theater Madison, 2008; Kings of Leon, The Rave, 2007; Bright Eyes, Minneapolis, 2003

Should've Stayed Home and Listened to CD and Saved $25: Neko Case, Barrymore Theater, 2007

Worst Sound: Pixies, Modest Mouse (Eagles Ballroom)

Most Energetic: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Bradley Center, 2002

Would Love to Relive only Because of its Awesomeness: Ani DiFranco, Eagles Ballroom, 1999

Glad-I-Didn't-Spend-$$-On: Jack Johnson- Do I really need to spend $30 to hear a song with my name in it about a prostitute?

BandIendeduplovingafterseeingliveforthefirsttime: Bright Eyes (Thanks, Alicia!)

Best Encore: Neil Young, Greendale Tour, Marcus Amphitheater, 2003

Should've Not Been Sober For: String Cheese Incident, Alpine Valley. Maybe add in Phish?

Best all 3 Performers On One Stage: Tie... Ani DiFranco/Greg Brown/ Gillian Welch (Civic Center, Madison, 2000) and Mars Volta/ Queens of the Stone Age/ Red Hot Chili Peppers (Dane County Coliseum, 2002)

Wish I had known better first: Deerhoof

Best Dancing: Violent Femmes, Memorial Union Terrace, 2005 (Close second: Big Wu and G Love, Apple Valley, 2002. So much mud!) (Very very close next up: New Pornos)

I Wasn't Bored But Everyone Else Was: The Shins, The Rave, 2005

Wished I Could've Danced More: Cake, Orpheum, 2005

Shortest Show: Sparklehorse, High Noon, 2007

Longest: Phish, Alpine Valley, 2004 (Bruce is probably very close...)

Artist I've Seen the Most: Ani DiFranco (1999 Eagles Ballroom, 2000 Civic Center, 2000 or 2001 Eagles Ballroom, 2001 Orpheum, 2004 Orpheum, 2006 Bonnaroo, 2007 Pabst Theater)

Should've Gone To: Andrew Bird, MUT, 2007 or Feist, Orpheum, 2007

Shows that made me feel old: Wilco, Overture Center, 2007 (Should not be a sitting show!!!) and Ani DiFranco, 2007 (We're all old now!)

Was too young to get: U2, Popmart Tour, Camp Randall, 1997

Most Funny But Serious Band: Skid Row, Summerfest, 2005 **tie** Dogstar, Summerfest, 2001 or 2 (Also wins category for Best Rockstar/Musician Concert. I love you Keanu/ Neo!)

Shittiest Seats That Ruined Experience: Bjork, Chicago Theater, 2007

Coolest Show for Free: Flaming Lips, Willow Lake, 2007

Best Festival Line-Up: Bonnaroo, 2006: Beck! Radiohead! CHYSY! Tom Petty! Andrew Bird! Cat Power! So much more!

Worst to skip at aforementioned concert: all of My Morning Jacket

Best Festival Line-up that Never Happened that I had Tickets For: Field Day Festival

Missed Opportunity: Low, Minneapolis Record Store, 2002. Alicia went. I think I went to Borders or something.

Best "local" band show: Houses in Motion, Majestic Theater, 2008: Happy Birthday Me!; Masoko, Rome, 2006; That brass band whose name I can't remember but I'm pretty sure it's not Mama Digdown's... they did a show at the High Noon... Zeke's friend's band... then they left to go on tour... awesome show, 2006 or 7

Most Bizarre: Glass Candy

If I Could See Anyone Live: Smashing Pumpkins, ca 1996ish; R.E.M, ca 1988-1994ish; Janis; Violent Femmes/ Pixies, ca 1984-1990; Prince, 1990's; Madonna, 1992; Lilith Fair; David Bowie, 1978; Bon Jovi, ca 1989; Blind Melon w/ Shannon Hoon

My best year for live music: **tie** 2003 and 2007 (2003: RHCP, Bright Eyes, Neil Young, 2 Mars Volta shows, Yo La Tengo, a zillion other shows at the Barrymore)


I miss live shows. The person I've probably been to the most shows with is definitely Josie. Close second is Katy. And Pat. We made a nice trio of groupies for awhile. And Chris. Wow Chris and I have seen a lot of shows, too. And Beth. Beth was almost always at all those High Noon shows, too.

That's all. Now I have to go.

day at the beach

I've been trying to get out and around more, see more of my island. Last week I went to church in a village up the northeastern coast and then last weekend I checked out a village even further up the coast, right on a point across from where the bay ends. To get to the village you have to cross a bridge. It's literally on the coast. At high tide it was hard to tell where the village ended and the ocean began. I did a lot in a really, really short amount of time! It was great. The purpose of my visit was to check out a waterfall that the village wants to make into a tourist attraction. We hiked through this amazing canopy of cocoa trees, bright fuschia (redudant?) flowers, coconut trees, and thick overgrowth. The waterfall, below, is up a hill, with four big pools leading up to it and little waterfalls- I'm sure there's a name for them but I don't know it- all along the way up. It happened to be pretty dreary and the water was freezing but it was great. Beautiful. Very pristine, untouched, like most of the area I saw. We swam (it was freezing) and one of the women went fishing for prawns.


We went to the beach, swimming and fishing and exploring all there was to offer in the ocean. At low tide you can walk out to this island. The first creatures we saw were trees full of sleeping bats. Crazy with bats! They all got up and flew away when we came and I remembered that bats have super sonic hearing. Then we saw some sea snakes, which are as deadly as cobras if they bite you. They crawl on land to lay their eggs. There aren't many of them left because the mongoose eat them, I'm told, if they go to the mainland. Damn mongooses. Saw some sea cucumbers, starfish, cool creatures with long legs that looks like they could break except they were actually really strong and tough and the bodies were whispy little things. But you could pick them up with no problems. Saw some really cool sea shells. Went digging for small clams. Some people went diving for the giant clams, called vasua here. I saw the bright blue and oh so deadly big starfish, an eel, another kind of sea snake, crabs, and fish. They came back with oysters and a piece of coral just for me. I had to then give a lecture as to why killing the coral is a bad idea. When he handed me this round flat disc of coral I asked what they use them for. "Oh, for ash trays." My jaw dropped and my heart sank. Can I use any more cliches in one sentence?


We ate the clams, cooked with chili and lemon juice and salt. And later, when there wasn't time to cook them, ate them raw. And now I just find out they're extremely endangered. And I'm very very very mad at myself. But they found like three this day! And they had empty shells everywhere! Oh man. But they're delicious, and I don't blame people for eating them. I just wish it didn't leave me with such a bad feeling. This is the hard thing: they did it all for me. They went diving for clams and oysters and other creatures in gorgeous shells and coral just to impress me.

I also took a boat ride to a village accessible only by boat, with only four houses. I had tea there and delicious roti in lolo and "bani vakalolo"- literally a homemade bun soaked in coconut cream. Delicious. I then had this depressing realization that my village isn't really the ocean at all. It's the bay. We went in towards the bay, away from the open sea. I've known I'm in the bay, but when I really thought about it, it hit me.

They sent us home with brooms and coconut oil and sea shells and cocoa pods. Oh, and did I mention I taught them how to do the Chicken Dance? Oh yes. Fiji is soon to be rockin the Chicken Dance. We also did some "screw in the lightbulb" dancing and crazy finger pointing dancing. I think I should go on the road.

That's the biggest thing that's happened lately, other than actually doing big projects. We're still working on septic tanks and a footpath and prawn farming and a kindergarten. Whew.

In other news, I've been addicted to Gilmore Girls lately. I popped in a random disc which turned out to be disc 2, season 2. I'm working my way through the season and lo and behold, I discovered an episode I never remember watching! I couldn't believe it, but nothing about the espisode seemed remotely familiar. It was the one after Richard retires and Emily sends him to spend the day with Lorelai and Dean gives Rory the car. I realized I don't like Dean. At all. No, he just didn't do it for me. Obviously Jess wasn't all a peach but he wasn't drippy and dippy and had passion. I'm still very hung up on this even after how many years? I also discovered that I kind of don't like Lorelai. Sometimes I really don't like her behavior or the way she talks to people. And she's so patronizing to Sookie. And Rory was always just pouting and saying "I'm not naive" while Lorelai was just condescending even to Rory: "She's such a sweet innocent girl... She's so naive... She's so nice to everyone..." But I do love the show still, nothing can change that.

This blog might be all over the place, so I apologize in advance. I have a lot of time to think here in Fiji and the thoughts that run through my head, man they're all over.

It's so bizarre that we who choose to do this whole Peace Corps thing just stop these lives we have in the US, most of us with really privileged lives. And for two years we're living in another country. I'm totally helpless most days, depending on the kind of kindness of strangers that I didn't even know still existed outside of movies and novels. But it does! And here we are, learning and re-learning all these things, all these cultural and emotional and built up characteristics of life. I don't know why turning 25 seems really old, really different. My friends are growing up- are already grown up. They're married and have houses and really really serious relationships and are getting laid off. I'm running around Fiji living in a bamboo house and swimming in the ocean. I have absolutely no clue what I want to do when I get back to the US. I used to know, but now I have no clue. I think I was just biding time. I hope in the next year something will change, will happen that will be the lightbulb, the finger snap that will set the rest of my life on some kind of course. Maybe it's just that our lives are so broadcast over the computer now it seems like we have so many possibilities, so many opportunities to question our lives and re-examine everything and everyone. This again leads me to believe I need to detach myself from Facebook.

I'm reading Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance right now and maybe I'm just thinking about the whole issue of technology. Something like Facebook is in a whole new technological dimension separate even from computers. Oh man though the computers are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo slow here in Fiji. It drives me absolutely nuts. Nuts!

I was in Suva a couple weeks ago for a workshop. Man I hate being in Suva. There's something about being in a city here that I don't like, but I do miss city life in the US. But does Madison really count for a city?? It does. The really nice thing for me was to see all the other Volunteers that I haven't seen for so long. I realized that I miss them and I need them. I need that touch with, for me, reality outside the village. It felt good to be so unrestrained and honest and to relate to other PCVs. I tend to stay in my village a lot. I have this fear about leaving it!

That said, let me talk about dancing. Fijian dancing is very different than American dancing, or at least Midwestern dancing. There's no Alicia head shaking, no booty shaking. There is the traditional "meke" dance but then there is the "waltz" or the "jive." That's what dancing is called- the waltz. It involves a lot of thumbs up, finger pointing, shoulder rolling, and leg twisting. And it's also very 1 on 1; group dancing doesn't really fly here. It's a very orderly dancing.

I made my way up the coast a bit for the first time on Sunday, to go to an Assemblies of God service. Wow. It was great! There's a church I could get into, except that they don't drink grog or alcohol and have all these other taboos. I'm not down with churches telling people how to live. That said, this was an inspirational service in this small church, very haphazardly built but with two guitarists who belted out English language hymns beautifully and we danced and clapped. Very energetic, and very interactive. However, I discovered the resort that is being built along the coast. It depressed me and made me cry. I know I'm just being selfish in that I don't want Fiji to lose the character and innocence it has. I feel like the land is really just being pillaged by greedy businessmen and their skinny fad dieting pale snotty wives. Okay, maybe I'm a little harsh. But you have to look at the kind of person who razes a forest and mangrove swamp and builds these godawful ugly massive "villas."

That's all my ranting for now. Other than that things are going well in the village.

I think I'm just scared ev erything will be so different in the US when I go back.