BOOK REVIEW: "Mayor of the Roses" by Marianne Villanueva

© 2005 Annabelle A. Udo
(published in "Listen & Be Heard" Weekly - October 19, 2005)

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(Miami University Press, 2005)
When I first interviewed Marianne Villanueva at the KPFA radio station in Berkeley this year, I was quite surprised how her mild-mannered demeanor was in stark contrast to some of the darkness of her compelling book, “Mayor of the Roses.” In person, Villanueva’s readings are entertaining which oftentimes treats the audience to some of her wonderful and humorous tangents. In writing, her recent vignette of tales starts off like an accident that you can’t stop watching. Villanueva takes her readers on a joyride of jealousy, betrayal, victory, passion, and devastation passing through the intestines of the Philippines and back into the U.S. With fact and fiction straddling a fine line, the relationships are so real which include the dangerous flirtations of a married man, the violent nature of bad politics, and the numbness of losing a loved one. No matter how tragic the event, there is an impervious lilt in her storytelling as if written with a fanciful brushstroke at the end of a deadly sentence. There is a charming and lovable, yet, devilish, temperament to Villanueva’s writing. Should you decide to enter the rabbithole of Mayor of the Roses, it is sure to leave you feeling like Carrie at the prom.

In the Sand of Time

© 2005 Annabelle A. Udo

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There are times in our lives when we need to break up with our friends. We let go because the cosmos tell us so. We continue to walk onward--across deserts in search of water and follow the stars that will take us to other lands. In the evening we will encounter the shadows of strangers by a flickering fire and the next morning we will find ourselves completely alone. In our thirst, we drift further--with bloodshot eyes-- hallucinating of blurry palm trees and lakes, of slow-moving dancers twirling in a frenzy, of children crying in the night--and, again, we awaken from this drizzle of madness and stare out into the future and wonder how long is this path as we fall out of the hourglass as beads of sand. . .

Following Legends

© 2005 Annabelle A. Udo

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In the end, we will be left to deal with ourselves. . .floating on homemade rafts drifting into the middle of the sea. . .lying on our backs with eyes facing Heaven. In the beginning, we were left to deal with ourselves, too. . . the 9-month oxygen tank removed forever and somehow providing us with a life supply of air to breathe on our own.

If we are truly given 100 years to live on this planet, I want to live long enough to have met all the great legends of my time. If the legend on a map contains symbols meant to guide us to our destinations on earth, then I would like to think that the handful of legends whom I have met in this lifetime have pointed me in the direction I need to go towards and inspired me to intersect with the greatness within myself:

Amiri Baraka
Bill Graham
B.K.S. Iyengar
Chuck D.
David Crosby
Edward Said
Farai Chideya
Hamza El-Din
Isabella Allende
Jimmy Carter
Pramoedya Toer
Sistah Souljah
Supercat
Uncle Jimmy Smith
Wavy Gravy

. . .and many others who are less known but have equal significance.

THIS WEEK: 2nd Bay Area Hawaiian Film Festival 2005

© 2005 Annabelle A. Udo

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The 2nd Bay Area Hawaiian Film Festival 2005 takes place at the Aloha Pumehana ‘O Polynesia (APOP) Hawaiian Cultural Center located at 423 Baden Avenue in South San Francisco. The festival kicks off with an Opening Night Gala on Friday, October 7 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. which will include food and will feature live Hawaiian music, and hula. There will be a full day of screening the following day on Saturday, October 8 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. For complete film and ticket information visit www.apop.net or contact 650.588.1091. E-mail ticket requests can be sent to bahawaiifilmfest@hotmail.com.

In addition to a robust line-up of films, there will be a special Kumu Hula (hula teacher) panel, in which several prominent, locally-based Kumu Hula will be discussing hula in the Bay Area, issues surrounding preservation and perpetuation of Hawaiian culture, and current events affecting today’s Hawaiian communities.

Already in its second year, the Bay Area Hawaiian Film Festival presents a rare glimpse of Hawaiian perspectives through cinema and will feature films about Hawaiian myths and legends told for the first time in the Hawaiian language; documentaries that explore the Hawaiian monarchies, sovereignty, land rights, and environmental issues; highlights on cultural traditions of Hula; as well as vintage films featuring the world-renowned surfer Duke Kahanamoku and Waikiki in the days of old.

According to Kawika Alfiche, director of APOP, "The festival provides a voice to the Hawaiian community on the mainland and presents a unique opportunity for them to tell their stories, and share their language, culture, and history with the general public in the Bay Area."

This year’s program will feature more than 20 short stories, films, and documentaries, including the Nathan Kurosawa’s highly-acclaimed film The Ride depicting a present-day California surfer who is transported back to 1911 Hawai`i and meets a young Duke Kahanamoku, the legendary Hawaiian surfer, and discovers the true meaning of the sport. Other noted featured films include Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation, Kiho’alu: That’s Slack Key Guitar, The Hawaiians: Reflecting Spirit, Kamehameha, American Aloha: Hula Beyond Hawai’i, and more.

Since 1994, the APOP Hawaiian Cultural Center’s goal has been to educate the general public about Hawaiian traditions through their workshops, cultural events, and their hula school, Hālau 'o Keikiali'i. Workshops and classes include Lei Making, Hula, Ukulele, Language, Mele (Music), Oli (chant), Implement Making, Native Plants, Land Cultivation, History, Lole (clothing), Native Foods and more.