If I were Jack Johnson, I too might be the world’s “mellowist superstar,” as Rolling Stone magazine dubbed him earlier this year. Money coming in, he is already from Hawaii, his parents both surf, and he has an easy name to remember. Patti and I have noted that his music has pretty much taken over the bulk of SE Asia, along the main backpacker route. Not a big fan of his music, nor are my friends from Hawaii, but I respect the fact that he has created his own sound, albeit using essentially the same formula for most of his songs…not a “wrong” thing and what most musicians do anyway, but a bit redundant and annoying when I am forced to listen to him over and over again-especially when in restaurants like the one we found in Veng Vieng, Laos. The owners have actually modeled a theme after his music…all Jack Johnson, all the time. It is even named, “The Jack Johnson Bar,” on the town map.
And if you can’t get enough of two JJ CD’s shuffling and rolling 24/7, then head out on the streets and listen to the restaurants that are likely playing at least one of his songs at any given point in time. It quickly becomes a Jack Johnson Purgatory Park, not unlike Disneyland. No rides or castles, but the “It’s a Small World” drill-it-in-their-heads equivalent on a backpacking/drunken/happy pizza eating level. Who is this Jack Johnson guy? And how did he create this cult? Are people trying to convey that they too are mellow by playing his music non-stop? Seems like he kind of took the frat boy reigns from Dave Mathews, too. Similar formula-issue back in the 90’s when all of “Dave’s” songs sounded the same. Being asked to go to a DM show was like pulling teeth for me. I was once forced to go to a DM show in the mid 90’s and remember wanting to stuff a grapefruit into the saxophone player’s horn. Frustrating, really.
Enough already, Jack! We are listening to more and more of our own music collection on the road, and as much traditional live music as possible. One highlight, last week, came when we visited a temple in Luang Prebang, during evening prayer and “chanting.” Patti actually supplied one of the monks with matches we kept from a guest house, so that he could light the candles. Then the monk decided to flirt with Patti. This is when I came to the realization that this group of Buddhist monks was not all that traditional. So the chanting started and there weren’t really that many monks present at the onset. One by one, they would shuffle in, all laughing and looking pretty out of it-not all that focused on the prayer.
What unfolded was pure comedy. The younger monks in the back, who could not have been more than 10 years old, had started a rubber band war-while chanting-even though they really were not chanting. More like how I used to sing in Church school-mouth half open, humming the songs with a few full words or phrases here and there. Some time went by and a more serious wind passed through the temple as the chanting continued…and then it happened. A polyphonic cell phone echoing the sounds of Shakira’s, “Hips Don’t Lie” came rouring through the temple. I thought, “What stupid tourist forgot to turn their cell phone off?” The chanting continued and so did Shakira’s melody. Quickly, a young monk about four rows back from the front gets up. runs outside the temple, and proceeds to take the call. We were rendered speechless by this series of strange events. How could this be? This was not what is was like when I watched Baraka. How can these orange robes hold cell phones? And, why Shakira and not Madonna?
The chanting ended. The monks dispersed. We walked back to our guest house numb with confusion. I was just glad the young monk did not set his ringtone to Jack Johnson. Then I would have snapped.
Our trip since last entry has included:
- Slowboat journey down the mighty Mekong River
- Spelunking in Laos
- Realizing that Laos massages are more relaxing than Thai massages
- Eating as many baguette sandwiches as possible
- Trek to and homestay with a Khamu hilltribe and inventing rock games with the village kids while the adults discussed village economics in the village long house
- Exploring ancient Angkor Temples in NW Cambodia
- Eating as many baguette sandwiches as possible
- Getting our fill of Phnom Penh, Cambodia and meeting some of the coolest locals we’ve met on our trip-an incredibly unique culture exists in Cambodia and it is one that is lucky to still be around
- Realizing at 10pm before a next day bus departure at 8am that we need to pre-apply for Vietnamese Visas
- Camping outside the Vietnamese Embassy in Phnom Penh at 6:30am that morning to apply for our Visas (It pays to be REALLY polite to the guard at the gate)
- Watching the same security guard stop massive amounts of traffic to hail our oncoming bus to Vietnam so that we would make our connection (It pays to tip the guard at the gate)
- Spending just 2 hours in Saigon and quickly realizing why tourists are not allowed to rent motos
More to come. Patti is still on deck for the numero uno block entry from her angle.
Tam biet nhe,
-B & P