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Subject: 
Re: Update on Maori/Bionicle dispute (OT)
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.technic.bionicle
Date: 
Sat, 27 Oct 2001 17:27:42 GMT
Viewed: 
750 times
  
In lugnet.technic.bionicle, Matthew Gerber writes:
(And just how/why DOES Erik know so much about Pacific Island culture
anyway...did the man do nothing but STUDY on his honeymoon? 8?) )

Well, it is one big tourist trap (West Maui.) After a while (2 days in my
case) you can freak out because you're surrounded by artificial
entertainments. I thought it would help to look under the surface.

The most *disorienting* moment was after viewing the French-Canadian
production "Ulalena" and a local person sitting in a welcome booth praised
its authenticity. You just don't know what to believe. I would have liked to
start a conversation, but, I had other things going on...

"Ulalena" is a candy-coated song and dance production, the Cirque du Soleil
treatment of the luau production. It's great, and you can buy all the
souvenir equivalents to "Phantom of the Opera". Your more typical luau is
another carefully constructed artifice designed to make tourists fat and
happy while watching a bit of hula. It's all very pretty, but, I felt more
at home in a Japanese chain restaurant.

I missed a canoe-making competition by one day. Immensely more appealing
than the prospect of riding around in a luxury van with bitter old people.

There were some helpful folks at Waldenbooks finally.  I had started with
Herb Kawainui Kane, whose books you can find at Amazon, and branched out in
a lot of directions (not found at Amazon.) Mr. Kane I think is a deeply
kind, decent human being who writes for beginners. He is also well-known for
re-creating historical Pacific canoe voyages. (You've probably heard of Thor
Heyerdahl and Kon-Tiki more often.) I bought about a dozen books in all.


Next stop, Tahiti.



Message has 1 Reply:
  Re: Update on Maori/Bionicle dispute (OT)
 
(...) <snip> (...) Sorry to tease, Erik...I think it's really cool that you were so bitten with the tropical bug <g> that you wanted to learn more about the cultures you were visiting. I guess the wife knows the general area of your family vacations (...) (23 years ago, 27-Oct-01, to lugnet.technic.bionicle)

Message is in Reply To:
  Re: Update on Maori/Bionicle dispute
 
(...) <snip> (...) Right, but doesn't that show that LEGO specifically weren't lifting Maori culture and words? It took forethought to decide to give Bionicle a Pacific Island flavor, yet not impeed on any one specific peoples culture or beliefs. By (...) (23 years ago, 27-Oct-01, to lugnet.technic.bionicle)

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