Cultural Learnings

It’s been two weeks since I left home, and so far my travels have been highlighted by Borat moments. The beauty of traveling is that you know things will go wrong, you just don’t know what they will be. But my failures are overshadowed by the amazing moments I’ve had, for sure. I spent my first 3 days in Boston with two old friends. There is snow there. Honestly, I know more about the subjunctive mood in Latin than I do about snow. My high school friend Veronica took me around town. She has lots of time on her hands because she can’t find a job despite having a BA and being awesome. Well, she had one, but she got laid off after a month. I enjoyed seeing way old cemeteries. There aren’t really old things in California. Anything from before 1906 is way old for the Bay Area, and Boston just has 400 year old stuff just chillin’ downtown.

I went to a sorority event with Haley, and I had culture shock. I also looked way awesome in my new Phenomenauts cadet jacket that I made. They played a dating game, and globs of girls would all go up together, after hesitating and whispering “I’ll go if you go!” “No, I’m not going!” “Ok, fine! *giggle*” An a Capella group performed a few songs, and the sorority children behaved terribly. The group was by far the best part of the night. Haley had to study (and entertain me), but she feared that if she cut out early, her “sisters” would shit talk her. What does it mean when someone fits into a culture like that? I also saw a guy we met at camp many years ago (who is now her ex— mer), and that was super. Basically I was really stoked to see all these people!

I arrived in Tel Aviv at 6 am. That was after a 5 hour flight across the Atlantic, a four hour layover in Heathrow, a half hour delay, and another 4 hour flight. And one of my suitcases was not there. My friend Miriam picked me up, and I am eternally grateful. We and her uncle (who is her age) drove to Netanya. We got breakfast at a café in a mall. I was watching the guard at the entrance check some bags and wave old ladies through. Miriam casually mentioned that the mall had been bombed. Her uncle said it would have been worse if the security guard hadn’t been there to slow him down. Oh, also, that Passover seder bombing, that was there down the street. I saw no memorials, just Israelis going about their business in the mall. You would never think there could be so much bravery in getting a cup of coffee. We ran some errands in preparation of Shabbat. I love Shabbat. We went to the Shuper-Sol (Israeli Costco). There is someone who checks receipts at the door, and she gave us a hard time. She didn’t think we had paid for the water and detergent on the bottom of our cart. I couldn’t understand everything that was said, but it’s pretty clear what’s going on when European and Middle Eastern Jews are waved through, and the Ethiopians are stopped. Did you know there are Ethiopian Jews? Their story is truly inspiring, and I recommend looking it up on Wikipedia. Her mother burned incense in honor of having a guest, and offered me traditional Ethiopian coffee. She roasts and grinds the beans herself. I was jetlagged hardxcore, so I missed most of the fun parts of Shabbat. They had chicken soup and Ethiopian food for dinner, but I had to go to bed before 8. The next day we went to a park with her cousins and napped there. There were at least 1000 people there. The play structure was wooden and too dangerous for America. I do not at all pretend to be in touch with my inner child, but I still wanted to play on it. Her family doesn’t speak English, so I had to scrounge around for whatever Hebrew words and rules were lying about between the cushions of my mind. My suitcase was delivered at 12:30 on Saturday, a good 30 hours after it had arrived. When I opened it, I found the contents rearranged and a note from TSA saying they had searched it. Really?! Cool. Thanks. I didn’t get to brush my teeth from Wednesday night until Saturday. I really enjoyed that.

I spent the next few days with Maliya and Sara in Kfar Studentim on the Hebrew U. campus in East Jerusalem. I took the bus with them and claimed a boyfriend with ridiculously long peot who sells chicken wings in the shuk. (Translation: peot- sproingy Jew curls. shuk- outdoor market.) We walked through the Christian quarter and after a particularly lechy cat call, I shot back “fuck you!” Maliya and Sara say I can’t swear at Arabs. I have yet to figure out the intricacies of Israeli race relations.

The first five days of my program were spent touring Jerusalem. It was rather overwhelming to meet nearly 100 people at once. I got awfully tired of asking people’s names and where they’re from. We did play some successful games of Jewish geography, though. There are no lines in Israel. It’s not that things are not crowded, but rather that if you want something, you need to use your elbows. I consider it an overdeveloped sense of entitlement. Almost each time I’d go out in public, I would do something to give away my non-Sabra status. The bus was the easiest place to give myself away, and ordering food was usually somewhat of an ordeal. I can say what I want in Hebrew (or I stick to ordering things I can say), but then they always ask me something in Hebrew and then I look scared and then they say it in English.

We heard a few lectures about Israel, and we toured the separation fence. It’s wild how uncontroversial it seems when you actually see it, and when you see the results. People in the States get so worked up about the Conflict and who should do what and who should never have done that etc. I always felt like I had to defend every Israeli action. Now I can have an actual opinion, because if I criticize or disagree with an Israeli policy, I won’t worry about that hordes of anti-Israel people will jump on me screaming “We told you so!”

It’s been two weeks since I’ve left home. I haven’t called my family or responded to their emails, and I am damn tired of living out of my many suitcases. It is cold and rainy, and I love it. I want to unpack, I want to eat something that wasn’t handled by a low-wage worker, and I want to sit on facebook for 3 hours. Did you know “to facebook” is a verb in Hebrew? It’s pronounced [l.fas.bEk.]

I took this video on a rooftop in the center of the Old City of Jerusalem. You can hear a number of muezzin (who call Muslims to prayer). The sound is not great, but I'm saying "This is the Jewish Quarter. This is the Muslim Quarter, and there is Mount Scopus. There is the Christian Quarter. There's some tourists, and there's the Armenian Quarter. And then we come back."

2/1 Slim's: Ska is Dead Tour IV

Ska is such an obscure genre of music that Microsoft Word does not recognize it. There is no official origin of the word. Ska began in the early 1960’s in Jamaica. It later experienced a revival in the late ‘70’s in England, and a third revival (wave) in the ‘80’s. I love ska. I love dancing to it. I love ska outfits. I love ska boys! In addition to a type of music, there is also a style and social sentiment (sometimes) that goes along with ska. Ska is all about black and white (often checkerboard), and this comes from its history as one of the first genres to include both black and white musicians on the same stage. Many ska bands call back on the same themes, and I really like that for some reason. Ska is not sappy; it is tough (skinheads like ska!) but not shitty (did you know that most skinheads aren’t Nazis? True!) These days ska doesn’t get much respect, and it’s mostly played by high school bands who don’t know what they want to sound like yet. The Specials, No Doubt, and Sublime are all bands which incorporate ska (and you might have actually heard of.)

Co-headlining this year’s Ska is Dead Tour were The Toasters and Voodoo Glow Skulls. In support were Monkey and Deal’s Gone Bad. Deal’s Gone Bad is a very fun band. They play ska with an impressive soul influence-- considering they don’t have any black people. They got a horn section, and a guy who rocks the back up vocals and pompadour. I like bands that have pompadours.

So basically I love the Toasters. They have been around since 1981, and that is just bad ass. Ska would not be the same without them. They’ve had a lot of changes in their line-up over the years, but they still sound good. They start to play, and people start dancing. It’s pretty straightforward. After so many thousands of shows, they know how to pace it and how to interact with the crowd. This is something I’ve really come to appreciate after nearly passing out from dancing, and seeing band members embarrass themselves on stage. I don’t really know how to explain how pleased I was seeing them. I got the feeling that it’s something to brag about. I have about a dozen ska compilations from the late 50’s through the 80’s, and I really wish I could see some of those bands. The Toasters are one of them, and they are still touring while managing not to be washed up. If dancing and having a good time doesn’t appeal to you, then don’t see them. Some people feel very strongly against ska, but I think those people don’t know much about it. Reel Big Fish is not the epitome of ska.

The crowd thinned out when Voodoo Glow Skulls came on, and that’s always awkward. Their sound is on the SoCal/south of the border side. They are more manic/punk. That can be really fun, especially if you are a hyper 16 year old. They describe themselves as “West Coast ska-core.” These guys have been around for 20 years, and I really expected more out of their live show. I blame the drummer, but perhaps it was another member of the band who was responsible for the lack of rhythm. Seriously, something was off. I respect that they’ve been around for so long, and I respect their fan base, but I was wildly unimpressed with their performance. There is no excuse for how they played, and I would like to have a word with whoever let them play after The Toasters. Also, they’re from Riverside. Yeah.

1/24 Slim's: The Phenomenauts

The Phenomenauts have been around since 2000. Their experience really shows at their live concerts. The Re-Volts opened for them 1/24 at Slim’s in San Francisco. Slim’s is one of my favorite venues in the Bay Area for tons of reasons: plenty of free parking, a spacious floor, a bar, supervised mosh pits, and good sound.

Next on the line up was the brilliant Jason Webley. I first came across him on a Springman Records compilation, and later heard him praised by Amanda Palmer (from the Dresden Dolls.) She covers his songs and works closely with him. A recommendation from her is golden. He plays accordion and simple drums by himself. He sings passionately, his tangled hair matted beneath a hat. His songs are downright awesome. He is not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you are at all interested in non-acoustic-guitar-folk music, consider checking him out.

My attempt to describe the Phenomenauts will not do them justice. They have a theme: rocket roll. They play rockabilly songs as space-minded 50’s greasers. They have special gear for their shows, including awesome microphones and uniforms consisting variously of captain’s jackets, goggles, and a lab coat. Themed bands are sometimes allowed certain privileges that other bands are not: they are allowed to wear their own merch in public, and their fans are allowed to wear their merch to their shows. Their merch fits in with their general theme, and I have seen some outstanding home-made Phenomenauts gear. They have a number of semi-theatrical moments during their sets which have not come to bore me, even as I near my 20^th show. During one song, the lead singer Angel says he has to “help JoeBot rock a solo,” at which point JoeBot releases his guitar and picks up a harmonica, and Angel reaches around him from behind and plays his guitar. There is a TP gun, which shoots toilet paper into the audience. At the end of the night, many in the crowd are sporting toilet paper bows and neckties. They also have globe balloons which they float on stage before launching into the crowd. Confetti flies everywhere when they pop. Audience participation is passionate but contained to a few parts of select songs. It includes chanting, dialog, and clapping. It might freak you out at first, but it’s hard to resist once you get the hang of it. The last striking detail I’d like to mention is that the Phenomenauts do not have haters. As far as I know, every band in my scene has people who can’t stand it, who gossip about its members, or who accuse them of selling out. I have not come across people who feel that way about the Phenomenauts. I am well aware that there must be people who don’t care for them, I just have heard next to nothing disparaging about them. That impresses me.

Photos courtesy of Eric Neuman.

1/22 GAMH: Vermillion Lies

When Vermillion Lies are playing a show, kittens get fuzzier, guns become lollipops, and global warming takes a break. Anyone they have play a show with them is bound to be great, and their show 1/22 at Great American Music Hall was no exception. Freddi Price opened with a few witty songs on his acoustic guitar. The Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band was probably not what most of the crowd were used to, but this sort of thing doesn’t phase Vermillion Lies fans. Reverend Peyton is a huge fellow with a beard and a guitar, backed up by his Big Damn Band—his wife Washboard Breezy on the washboard, and his brother on drums. Never underestimate the washboard. Their songs were funny and simple. Their hit “Your Cousin’s on Cops” was prefaced with the background story: while watching TV one evening, Reverend Peyton saw Breezy’s cousin on Cops, “and he is not in law enforcement.”
Vermillion Lies, of course, were fantastic. They have a following of very enthusiastic fans. Their deal is that they have a trunk, and each time they open it everyone shouts “What’s in the box?” and a new instrument pops out. In addition to their varied instruments, the Vermillion sisters have great harmonies, witty songs, and excellent stage presence. Instruments include: guitar, piano, large horns, bells, marionette, bicycle, BBQ grill, accordion, kazoo, toy pianos, and a typewriter. Their shows are fun for anyone who has a bit of happiness in them. Their style ranges from circus to New Orleans to just plain morbid. Two of their favorite songs are Long Red Hair—a whimsical and creepy song about twins conjoined at the hair, and Global Warming—a circus waltz about how we’re all going to die: “The ocean levels are rising, the glaciers are melting. You know what that means? Everything’s going swimmingly… You don’t have to worry; or at least you won’t worry for long.” The silly dialog in their songs really adds to the cuteness as well. Their albums What’s in the Box and Separated by Birth will have you singing, giggling, and waltzing in no time. They are playing a few shows in February, and I recommend checking them out. It’s great for dates, grandma’s birthday, or even going alone—VL fans are terribly friendly.
What's in the box?Another little box!What's in the little box? A marionette!
bells
guitar and piano
accordion
washboard
a big horn
a little drum
typewriter

modified BBQ grill (and yes, she is wearing a corsage of cash)