Links for 3/8/22

Indigenous Water Governance in the Anthropocene: Non-Conventional Hydrosocial Relations Among the Wayuu of the Guajira Peninsula in Northern Colombia

The internet is tricking our brains

The Voices Of Black Women Were Essential To Phil Spector’s Wall Of Sound

A Celebration of Opening Title Sequences (And Why They Need To Come Back)

Fiji Flashback: Unearthed footage shows Suva in the 1960s | RetroFocus

Teen Dance at Lloyd Goodfellowship Hall [Menominee, MI April 1965]

The Search for the Ultimate Mai Tai: LA Exotica: The Trader Vic’s Experience

What is the value of a wave?

A fascinating look at how climate change affects the lobster industry

Dale Davies Surf Movie surfing 50’s & 60’s VOL 1

Journeys Into The Outside with Jarvis Cocker (ep#1)

Big Tech’s Censors Come for Science

The Popular Sport of Surfboarding (1925)

This City Bench Absorbs More Air Pollution Than A Grove Of Trees

Controversial Tiki

I read this stuff about the colonial aspects of polynesian pop with great interest and am on the fence, accepting points of both views. One thought that spontaneously comes to my mind is that Tiki as a religious symbol was replaced with the cross on the islands, decades before people chose it for the design of cocktail mugs. If I abandoned mock south pacific references tomorrow and should I by a twist in the time-room-continuum then end up in the Marquesas wouldn’t I still be an atheist trying to convince them to let go of all religions, which maybe made them easy prey in the first place? Of course I realize that religious symbols are cultural items at the same time, thus relevant to atheists as well.

But what else could be questioned? I would like to make a list of things in the realm of modern Tiki culture and Polynesian pop.

  1. rum based drinks – caribbean origin, colonial slave economies
  2. time of creation mid 20th century – time of imperial militarization of the pacific
  3. floral print fabrics – originated from Japanese print making, marketed to basically white audiences from the go.
  4. island and south east Asian staff – colonial as it gets in western locations
  5. room decorations including tapa cloth and carvings – pacific origins of the design with potential of religious and cultural hurt

In this list item 3 is clearly innocent in my book.

For 1 I think if the rum had to go, shop could be closed down right away. So, how much does the number of tides come and gone since the days of slavery on sugar plantations make a difference?

Item 2 is not valid to me, because as Europeans we don’t make a connection between the pacific islands and WWII until we are made aware of it, which does not happen in our Tiki bars. Meaning to say we explore on our own dime, not the defense budget. So what is a US bar to do? Maybe have no WWII references in favor of Jack London, whalers and .. traders? I mean the theme is not really time based per se, make the best of it!

3 – The aloha shirt is a symbol of labor migration from Asia to the Pacific, not of colonialism.

4 – it has been mentioned elsewhere that this is providing jobs for these people, and this is a horrible way of seeing it, since that argument is normally used for legitimizing atrocities like arms and fossil fuel engine manufacturing, or overseas low wage work.

The room decorations 5 – if done properly and not comically, will help with the escapism. Which, as I understand the discourse right now, is not being considered a bad thing. One could consult indigenous or anthropologist people to make sure the decor is fine for the use in a cocktail bar.

I leave out music. All good music is pulling from places near and far, combining and making new connections. This is why I didn’t realize a problem earlier because I only ever saw and heard the enriching aspects of cultural cross pollination.

There is an Elephant in the Tiki Bar

I just realized there’s the valid discourse going on about Tiki from a cultural appropiation view. If the term was to be replaced in pop culture I would just take pacifica rather than tropical, because tropical is much too unspecific geographically and thus doesn’t connect as directly as it should.

Here’s a quote from Samuel Jimenez that I sure will subscribe to:
“The drinks genre itself is rooted in colonialism and imperialism. To me, there’s no way around it. To me, non-appropriative tiki doesn’t exist. It’s not a thing. It can’t be a thing. But I’ll be a 100 percent honest—for the Pacific Islands, for Oceania, for Pasifika, the problems that we face in this world are greater than tiki. Our islands may cease to exist in the next 10, 20, 50, 100 years. Our cultures, our languages, our islands may be lost to climate change. We may not have homes to return to. The diaspora continues to lose aspects of culture year by year, moment by moment. So to me, even when I talk to people about tiki and when I try to educate people on our islands and our land and our people and our culture, if I’m being 100 percent honest, I’m like, “You guys can keep tiki if you want tiki,” but recognize that the cultures that you’ve taken a lot of inspiration from—if that’s what you want to call it—cultures that you’ve taken a lot from to create this aesthetic have modern issues that are seriously threatening the future of our people.”

Find more links on the discussion at Pasifika Project.

Links for 11/8/19

Forged in Fire: California’s Lessons for a Green New Deal


 

Costa Mesa’s Troy Elmore, half a dozen leedle lefts at Blackies


 

The Land of the Basques Orson Welles Full documentary with Basque subs


 

Bob Ross


 

Take a Sneak Peek Inside Max’s South Seas Hideaway


 

Thanks, Lalo


 

Media Stability Ratings


 

Scientists’ Advice to People Living in Coastal Areas? Move.


 

Japan To Dump Radioactive Water From Fukushima Reactor Into Pacific Ocean


 

Benidorm the Learning Years

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr0q_UFDuYE

 

Can We Survive Extreme Heat?


 

The Bells Beach Surf Film Festival announce their first short film contest

Links for 10/12/19

Coca-Cola Is Making A Bottle Out Of Ocean Trash and We’re Supposed To Act Like it’s OK


 

How extreme sea level events are going to increase in Australia


 

“The Tragedy of the Commons”: how ecofascism was smuggled into mainstream thought


 

The World’s Oceans Are in Danger, Major Climate Change Report Warns


 

The Walks on Water


 

Cocktail of the week: Southside Scran’s pearfect


 

Scientists set out how to halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2030


 

California Mexican-Spanish Cookbook


 

“Camel Finds Water” on Vimeo


 

Surfing in Ballinskelligs Bay, Kerry 1967


 

Killing the Ocean


 

Everything New is Old, The History of Psuedoarchaeolgy and Archaeology.


 

Europe is burning just as new research offers a chilling truth about the volatility of climate change


 

Climate change: 12 years to save the planet? Make that 18 months


 

The California coast is disappearing under the rising sea. Our choices are grim