FLUX No. 1 Transition

TRANSITION

JANUARY 2010

FLUX dissects the winning cover by Landon Osamu.

46 HI 2059

BY SONNY GANADEN

The year is 2059. Local creatives explore five critical issues facing Hawai‘i from a creative perspective with the intent of generating constructive dialogue and insight into how individual stakeholders can influence the future of our society.

54

IN TRANSIT

BY CATHARINE LO, CANDICE NONAKA, JUSTIN HILL AND MITCHELL KUGA

The moments that define the makeup of our lives, oscillate between inconsequential and profound. These moments, big and small, are what propel us forward, that cause us to transition into the present. Here we feature four individuals all in varying states of transition themselves.

72

RIVER

STREET

BY MITCHELL KUGA

The debate about what do with Chinatown’s homeless population wages on. Most agree on the problem, it’s the solutions that are harder to come by. Could the proposed Housing-First River Street Residences be one solution?

78

WAHIAWA TRANSFORMED?

SURFING THE NATIONS BY LISA YAMADA

Would anyone willingly move into the city of Wahiawā, much less in close vicinity to a strip joint, a bar and a porn shop? One organization says, “gladly.” Follow Surfing The Nation’s transition into Wahiawā and their plans for transforming the seedy city.

84

FOREIGN TERRAIN: SRI LANKA

BY LISA YAMADA

The civil war is officially declared over in Sri Lanka. But has anything really changed?

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SPRING AWAKENING

PHOTOS BY HAROLD JULIAN

Transitioning from a chilly winter freeze to a warm spring glow, we experienced the entire gamut of season change in one day.

TRANSITION

JANUARY 2010

TOC ONLINE

NYC Transplants

It’s a city with a population of over eight million people. It’s home to Broadway, to the Museum of Modern Art, to Carnegie Hall. It’s given birth to hip-hop, to abstract expressionism, to the beat generation. It’s the home of Jim Jarmusch, of Thomas Pynchon, of Jay-Z. Its landmarks, like the Statue of Liberty, are emblematic of its endless opportunities. It’s a city with an alluring slogan (“If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere”). It’s a city that never sleeps and dreams big. It is, undoubtedly, the cultural capitol of the world: New York City. It comes as no surprise, then, that thousands move to this glittering metropolis, year after year, to make their mark in the city that exercises a cultural hegemony over the rest of the world. Hawai‘i denizens, too, are involved in this migration, and these portraits offer a glimpse into the lives of Hawai‘i’s creative transplants who now call NYC their home.

COVER

For the premiere issue of FLUX Hawaii, we put our cover in the hands of the public. We asked five local artists — Eugene “Eukarezt” Kristofher, Sonny Ganaden, Haj Gollestani, Landon Osamu and Yumi Vong — to answer the question, “Where is Hawaii transitioning to?” Their responses came graphically

using a variety of different mediums, including paint, digital, photography, prints and even toilet paper. After tallying nearly 1,000 votes, a cover was chosen. See what the runner-ups, shown BELOW, had to say about their pieces.

Eugene “Eukarezt” Kristofher Haj Gollestani

Sonny Ganaden

Yumi Vong

All things, at all times, are in constant flux. Ideas, cities, people remain motionless, if only for a moment’s time, before squirming at the uncomfortable stillness. Language too is constantly changing, evolving to mimic its host generation’s restlessness. As French philosopher and sociologist Pierre Bourdieu termed it, the “official” language among any given group of people — that is, the language deemed acceptable and acknowledged by members of those groups — is always changing, whereby the “unofficial” language (photography at one point, graffiti today) can readily become “official.” Essential to maintaining the permanence of an official language is the need for a process of continuous creation and review.

It is in this strain that I introduce to you FLUX Hawaii, a lifestyle magazine dedicated to reorient how we, as locals, frame ourselves within the context of the rest of the global society. We enter the market as the small fry, teeny fish in a big pond. Bourdieu might call us “unofficial.” And for the sake of continuous creation, we prefer it that way. At least for now.

In June of last year, we hired a market research firm to see if we even had a shot at survival as little fishies. One interview with a stakeholder at an art gallery, commenting on the industry in general was most telling: “For me, it’s always critical mass … you know, when your city has achieved critical mass in cultural events, museums, in publications … we need to have the other voice.” For a long time now, the voice of Hawai‘i came from just a small handful of publications. But, in the last year alone, I know of at least three other magazines that have recently launched in Hawai‘i, despite the (ghast!) fire-andbrimstone outcry bemoaning the death of print media.

The theme for this issue, “Transition,” arose partially out of this growing fear of print media as a dying breed. But more so, it arose out a growing hope for a city, namely the city of Honolulu. The faces and places featured in this, our premiere issue, increasingly took on a tone of hope. People trying to better themselves and the environments surrounding them, whether through music, art, fashion or design. Let’s face it, Hawai‘i ain’t no paradise. The good news is that people want a better city. We’ll do our part to bring to light these issues.

So until FLUX can make it to “official” status, we’ll settle with being (as one young socialite put it) “huge.” Unofficially, of course.

Enjoy,

Lisa Yamada Publisher / Editor

TRANSITION

JANUARY 2010

FLUX HAWAII

Editor / Publisher Lisa Yamada

Creative Director Cody Matsukawa

Art Director Ara Laylo

Editorial Assistant Todd Iwasaki

CONTRIBUTORS

Elmer Cagape

Sonny Ganaden

Dusty Grable

Jon Gormon

Tiffany Iwalani Hervey

Justin Hill

Joshua Masayoshi Huff

Russel Kealoha

Mitchell Kuga

Catherine Lo

Lacy Matsumoto

Bridget Mullen

Candice Nonaka

Will Villarreal

Tiffanie Wen

Jared Yamanuha

PHOTO

Airspace Workshop

Mike Ang

Christy Bauer-Eriksson

Niklas Eriksson

Brad Goda

Haj Gollestani

Ryan Gravela

Kristen Hook

Harold Julian

Garrett Kline

Hugo Poon

Tommy Shih

Surfing The Nations

Christen Vidanovic

Will Villarreal

Aaron Yoshino

GRAPHICS

Eight Inc.

Farida Lam

Van Meter Williams Pollack

CREATIVE

Arlene Begonia

Ryan Camacho

Dulce Felipe

Tennile Masaki

MULTIMEDIA

Sheryle Ishimoto

Matthew McVickar

ADVERTISING

Christy Bauer-Eriksson

Scott Hager

Tatum Henderson advertising@FLUXhawaii.com

FLUX Hawaii, 2815 Kaihikapu Street, Honolulu, HI 96819. Contents of FLUX Hawaii are protected by copyright and may not be reproduced without the expressed written consent of the publisher. FLUX Hawaii accepts no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts and/or photographs and assumes no liability for products or services advertised herein. FLUX Hawaii reserves the right to edit, rewrite, refuse or reuse material, is not responsible for errors and omissions and may feature same on fluxhawaii.com, as well as other mediums for any and all purposes.

FLUX Hawaii is a quarterly lifestyle publication.

DULCE FELIPE

If you could max out your credit card at one store, where would it be? Can it be two? Nordstrom for the shoes, clothes, jewelries and makeup. Split Obsession is one of my favorite boutiques. It’s unique, there’s no place like it. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

I love having fabulous relationships. With family, friends, and people you work with. When you have that, you’re on top of the world. Which living person do you most admire?

My icon would be Bobbi Brown. I think she’s a brilliant person and businesswoman. She’s created a makeup company that is envied by all. I love how her makeup is so easy to wear and apply. What is your greatest fear? Being unhappy and not living a full life.

Three characteristics that describe me are...

Talkative, laughs at her own jokes and fun!

Dulce can be found behind the counter of Bobbi Brown at Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus. She is beautifying the world, one face at a time.

TIFFANY IWALANI HERVEY

If you were a “Real Housewife,” where would you be?

“Don’t be tardy for the party!” Haaaay!! Atlanta has its own form of aloha so I’d have to go there. I just ran into some of the New York City Real Housewives on the street the other day. One word: Skeletal. Wait, one more (hyphenated) word: grimace-face. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Living life with integrity and love. Being authentic. Striving with courage through suffering, knowing that it’s a given. Helping others achieve their dreams.

Playing in the ocean. What is your greatest fear? That we will all die from ignorance.

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word: 2010 - One more year I could go to jail for not filing my taxes. Twitter - swine flu

Rail - Attention all contributors to Hawai‘i’s urban planning: You’re fired.

Transition - The global community to transition from capitalist, consumer-based to sustainable, resource-based.

Tiffany is currently in New York City missing the ocean and writing poetry that doesn’t suck.

JUSTIN HILL

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

A mentor told me a while ago that life is not about gaining things, but simply finding what you love to do, then finding a way to keep doing it. That’s happiness. It’ll become perfect when my kids apply it to their future.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be? I have enough trouble getting this life right. I don’t have time to worry about the next one. Besides, I’m not coming back. You only get one. Gives more meaning to the here and now.

Three characteristics that describe me are...

Faith. Feeling. Gratitude. Would you rather.... Sneeze marbles or fart confetti? Had a rock up my nose when I was a kid. That was painful. I’ll take confetti, then swear off fiber. Be a dog named Killer or a cat named Fluffy?

I’ve been told to pick Fluffy, if only because the name fits well with the previous question.

“The most rewarding part about writing isn’t starting or finishing a story, it’s getting lost and found somewhere in the middle, discovering what lies beneath, with the help of those who let you in, then growing from it.”

HAROLD JULIAN

My favorite station on Pandora is...

Eminem and James Morrison

If you could max out your credit card at one store, where would it be?

Apple Store

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Having a lot of $$$$ Which living person do you most admire?

Steven Meisel.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?

Tim Burton

Three characteristics that describe me are...

Creative, humorous, hyper

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word:

2010 - Manila

Twitter - Birds

Rail - Birds

Transition - Time to transition into bigger and better things “I can see beauty in anything.”

MITCHELL KUGA

My favorite station on Pandora is... Burial.

If you were a “Real Housewife,” where would you be: Orange County, New York City, Atlanta, New Jersey? Hotlanta.

If you could max out your credit card at one store, where would it be?

Opening Ceremony.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Coffee, a good book and world peace.

Which living person do you most admire?

Mother/Father. I know that’s two, but they’re two sides to a coin. What is your greatest fear? fear itself and cockroaches. The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word: 2010 - where does the time go? Twitter - information overload. Rail - politics.

Transition - yes please. When Mitchell is not freelancing he’s teaching poetry to the kids at Na‘au.

CATHARINE LO

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Can’t remember who said it, but: “Something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.”

Which living person do you most admire?

My little brother

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?

Shakespeare or Hunter S. Thompson, it’s a toss-up

What is your greatest fear?

That Hawai‘i will turn into southern California

Three characteristics that describe me are...

Cynical, insistent, curious

Would you rather....Have three eyes or webbed feet?

Depends, where is the third eye?

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word:

2010 - Already?

Twitter - Call someone who cares

Rail - The culprit of mysterious bruises on my legs

Transition - Oh, wait. Did you mean transportation? I was thinking recreation.

Formerly an editor at Honolulu Weekly, FreeSurf and Wired, Catherine contributes regularly to various Hawai‘i publications. She enjoys writing about the ocean and playing in it even more.

TIFFANIE WEN

My favorite station on Pandora is...

Radiohead

If you could max out your credit card at one store, where would it be?

Ambiance in San Francisco. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Traveling with someone I love. Which living person do you most admire?

There are too many people to admire in the world to choose.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?

A better version of myself.

What is your greatest fear?

Missed opportunity.

Three characteristics that describe me are...

Curious, adventurous, spontaneous

The first thing that comes to mind when I hear the word:

2010 - Flying cars

Twitter - Hollywood

Rail - Traveling in exotic and beautiful places

Transition - The premiere of FLUX Magazine!

Tiffanie is a writer from San Francisco who loves exploring the world and writing about what she finds.

AARON YOSHINO

My favorite station on Pandora is..

A Tribe Called Quest

If you could max out your credit card at one store, where would it be?

Re-use Hawai‘i...I’d build a house. Out of old ones. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Does that exist? I guess it would be everyone accepting each other for who they are?

Which living person do you most admire?

Noam Chomsky.

If you were to die and come back as a person or thing, what would it be?

A pterodactyl. Those were gnarly. What is your greatest fear?

Intolerance. And spiders.

Three characteristics that describe me are...

Sarcastic. Leftist.

Bad at these kinds of surveys. Would you rather....

Sneeze marbles or fart confetti?

I guess farting confetti. I could find some way of making money with that. Like, at the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade.

“Hello, my name is Aaron. I take pictures of things. And people too.”

WHAT THE FLUX

A MASSIVE-OUT-FLUX : HAWAI‘I TRANSPLANTS

1,288,198 : Resident population July 1, 2008

Despite being consistently ranked as one of the top places to live in the world, many of Hawai‘i’s young and talented find themselves notso-lucky they live Hawai‘i, and find themselves forced to move to the mainland United States. A survey conducted by Zogby International in August 2009 surveyed 506 adult Hawai‘i residents and found that 27 percent of those born between 1979 and 1990 planned to move away from Hawai‘i in the next five years. Zogby called this result “unprecedented” compared with any other generation. FLUX explores this massive out-flux of Hawai‘i’s young talent. 2009

HAWAI‘I AT A GLANCE

Unemployment: (17th in Nation)

Hawaii unemployment at 7.4% in June 2009,

$1.50 COST OF MILK (gallon)

$4.99

Top reason people return to Hawai‘i: To raise a family.

66,468 : Out-migrants, who moved away from Hawai‘i in 2007. 51,973 : In-migrants, who moved into Hawai‘i in 2007.

“The cost of living in Hawai‘i is so high and I can’t sustain myself with my art practice. The recent budget cut to the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts is pretty significant and another hurdle for Hawai‘i artists. Hawai‘i is my home, and I will always come back to visit. I hope for a time where I can return to live and sustain myself, as well as the arts community in general.”

Matt Kubo/ Artist, Student San Antonio, Texas

“I do miss home, but if music doesn’t work out I’d consider moving to another country before moving back to Hawai‘i. I’d eventually like to move back to settle down, but who knows what will happen?”

Jay Donato / Musician, Pacifica Fullerton, CA

DESCRIBING HAWAI‘I IN ONE WORD: Beautiful

DESCRIBING THE FUTURE OF HAWAI‘I: Uncertain Hopeful

Population growth slowed rapidly in 2007, with only 2 percent increase in 2007. The net outmigration to the U.S. mainland in 2007 was the highest in recent years. While 2008 saw an 8 percent increase, we can only wait to see what 2009 will bring.

HOUSING

Hawai‘i has the highest housing cost in the nation, according to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau. Median cost of home in Hawai‘i, $560, 200. National median value, $197, 600.

Text by Mitchell Kuga

THE LIFE OF A... BUS DRIVER

“I drive the number four bus, through University, Waikiki and Nu‘uanu. I’ve been on that route for 13 years. I’ve seen kids grow up and graduate, and now a new breed is coming in and I guess I’ll see them grow up and graduate too. They are wonderful people. It comes to a point where you become a part of a family.”

Albert Kaai started working for TheBus 35 years ago, when he was 20 and bus fare was 25 cents. His first day, January 1, 1975, was one he’ll always remember. “I was nervous and excited. I was driving route 13 and went off route.”

He also got into his first accident that day. “I didn’t even realize I was off route, and I was making a left turn, and the turn was kind of tight, but I still thought I was okay, and this yellow Volkswagon was parked to the right and I nicked the bumper. So I had to secure the bus and go into the house. They were having a family get-together because it was New Year’s day, and I said, ‘Can I use your phone please? I think I hit your car.’”

Kaai gets up at 3 a.m. and reports to Kalihi Transit Center at 4:30 a.m. He picks up his first passenger at 4:59 a.m. “She needs to make a connection on the number one bus in town, cause she works in Kaimuki, so I need to pick her up on time.” He finishes his route almost nine hours later, at 1:30 p.m.

“The hardest part about learning to drive a bus was seeing how far back the bus goes in your rearview mirror. You’re in this big thing, and suddenly, the road feels very narrow.”

Over the years, he’s witnessed Honolulu’s many changes. “When I first started, we had a lot of different ethnic groups, but the major ethnic groups coming in were Filipino and Samoan. Then there was a surge of Vietnamese and Korean people. I’ve also seen the progress that we’ve made as a city, how much more developed we’ve become, though no matter how much things have changed, the people have stayed the same. Get some bad people,

but the good always exceeds the bad.”

On a scale of 1 to 10, how annoying is it to hear the bus’s automated voice all day? “In the beginning it was a nine. But now, I’ve developed a callous somewhere in my brain that just blocks it out. I don’t even hear it anymore.”

While on shift, Kaai uses the public restrooms located at Kapi‘olani Park and Queen Emma St. He tries to keep his bathroom stops to a minimum — typically two per shift — by limiting the amount of liquid he drinks. “That’s why I only drink one cup of coffee in the morning.”

In September, the Honolulu City Council proposed a bill that would fine bus riders with offensive body odor. “At TheBus we have this rule that supersedes all rules, and that rule is: Safety first. Those with body odor, and I mean extreme body odor, yes, they do have rights but if the odor inhibits the driver from performing their duties safely, then that driver cannot drive the bus. I’ve had problems before, and I’ve had to ask people to leave, and they’ve responded appropriately: by walking off the bus.” The bill was eventually denied.

When he’s not driving the bus, Kaai plays slack key guitar and sings in a trio called Ko‘olau Serenaders. His collaborations with local musicians have earned him Grammy and Na Hoku nominations. “People on the bus come up to me and say, ‘Eh Al, go sing one song.’ I say, ‘Eh, five dollar cover charge!’”

“Three years after I got hired I tried for the fire department and passed. But then I thought about it and said ‘I’ll just stay with TheBus.’ It’s really about the people.”

Photo by Christy Bauer-Eriksson

HOW TO… DETECT WINE FLAWS

Here she comes … Your server gracefully approaches the table, cradling the bottle of wine you just ordered, and now the spotlight falls on you. Everyone watches in silence as she opens the bottle and pours just a taste. You pick up the glass, smile awkwardly, attempt to swirl, sniff and take a sip. Something’s not quite right, but, not knowing what to say, you motion for the OK. The waiter sinks the bottle into ice, and after wishing you all a “cheers!” leaves you with an unfortunate flawed bottle of wine. Although you may not feel comfortable with it, there are valid reasons to send a bottle back. The following are some of wine’s most frequent flaws, how to detect them and confidently send back a bad bottle. Also, some tips on how to prevent them in your collection at home.

1. CORKED

How to Detect: It will smell and taste of wet newspaper or cardboard.

Reason: If a wine is ‘corked’, it contains bacteria called Trichloroanisol or TCA that lives on the cork. This is the most common flaw and can be quite subtle. It’s not harmful if consumed, but it just doesn’t taste right. How to Prevent: Unfortunately there’s little to prevent corked wine. Even before it’s bottled, bacteria can creep into barrels at the winery. Once the corks become contaminated with TCA, there’s nothing you can do to fix the wine. Preventing this flaw is the winery’s responsibility. Many wineries often use sulfur to battle the bacteria and now use alternative closures such as Stelvin screw caps or synthetic corks.

2. OXIDIZED

How to Detect: It smells and tastes like nail polish remover, vinegar or toffee. Like cut fruit, wine will brown if it’s exposed to air. Whites will look darker and reds will look rusty or orange. Reason: Over oxidizing occurs if the wine is exposed to too much oxygen. Average shelf life for opened red wines: 2-3 days. Average shelf life for opened white wines: 4-6 days. (So I’ve heard. I’ve never let an open bottle last that long.) How to Prevent: Storing your wine properly. If the wine has a cork closure, storing it on its side helps to keep the cork moist so that it doesn’t dry and shrivel, allowing air into the bottle. Too much light will also oxidize wine. With sparkling wine, too much light will not only oxidize it, but will diminish the best part: the bubbles.

3. MADERIZED

How to Detect: It tastes and smells like cooked raisins, walnuts, sherry or bad apples. Reason: Heat.

How to Prevent: Keep your wine in a cool, dark place. Do not keep it on top of the fridge or above the oven. Even in a wine rack it can get too hot. Ideally, wine should be stored in an area with little or no natural light, drafts, vibration and little to no variation in temperature. General storage for all wine can be kept at an even temp of 52 – 56 F. Reds can be stored at 59 – 64 F and whites at 50 F.

4.

SULFUR / BRETTANOMYCES, OR BRETT

How to Detect: Sulfur will taste and smell like: rotten eggs / Brett will smell like dirty barnyard, horse sweat or mouse droppings Reason: Sulfur is used as an antimicrobial agent and is used to preserve wine quality and freshness, but improper use can create the rotten egg taste. Brett is yeast that is usually

found in the wineries if their sanitation is poor. It often grows in barrels.

How to Prevent: These two flaws are quite rare, and you may never come across them. I’ve tasted and served thousands of bottles of wines and only once did I come across sulfur, and never have I come across offensive Brett. A lot of people can’t or don’t detect Brett, and some even love it, thinking, funky, it must be good!

Although wine geeky, the hope is that these tips will help avoid the discomfort when ordering and tasting a bottle of wine. Most restaurants, wine bars and specialty wine retailers understand flaws are a potential part of the experience and will be more than happy to replace a bad bottle. Remember, wine should be an enjoyable experience. Don’t over think it. Enjoy good wine with great people. Cheers!

Some ‘Out of the Box’ Beverage Pairings:

• Champagne & Buttery Pop Corn

• Guinness & Fresh Oysters

• Olives & Dry Pink Wines

dusty grable is a certified sommelier (and official wine dork) at formaggio grill in kailua.

Photo by Ryan Gravela

Wax on wax off: Misa’s use of the “lost wax” technique makes for one-of-akind art pieces that double as jewelry

HAND-CRAFTED ARTISAN misa jewelry

Local girl Misa Hamamoto has taken her Hawai‘i roots to Los Angeles and has created a niche reputation with her unique artistic qualities. “I definitely consider my jewelry pieces as ‘wearable art.’ In fact, I also call them sculptural jewelry. I think that’s why I’ve developed such a following because my clients feel like they’re collecting pieces of art when purchasing my jewelry,” says Hamamoto.

Misa Jewelry has been seen in fashion magazines, gracing the fingers, arms, ears and necks of Hollywood’s elite. Her jewelry can be described as artistic, bold, exclusive and compiled of extreme quality materials. Her technique of designing is almost a lost art, and her jewelry designs can be comparable to luxury goods.

The process she uses to create her pieces is called the “lost wax” technique, and is quite rare nowadays with modern inventions and technology. “I start off by carving out my designs from wax. This entails an open flame from a jewelry lamp, which I use to melt the wax drop by drop to form the piece I’m designing,” explains Hamamoto. She then uses dentist tools to clean, file and further mold the wax to the design she desires. “This process is very tedious, as I’m creating a piece entirely from melted wax droplets and small tools for the detailing,” says Hamamoto. The wax sculpture then goes through a casting process, in which the design is solidified. Thus the process gets its name because the mold loses its wax material as it drips off the solid metal.

“Most jewelers now do not use this ancient method because, well, it’s ancient. I would say almost all jewelers now use computer programs to create their designs. I have nothing against this method, but I prefer the organic, imperfect look that develops from lost wax casting,” says Hamamoto.

This method of jewelry casting might be what makes Misa Jewelry so distinguishable, or it might be the inspiration of Hawai‘i that Hamamoto has when designing. “My pieces are influenced by different elements of nature, from coral to the tree root systems to the night sky. Growing up in Hawai‘i definitely has an influence on my designs. I’ve always been a huge nature lover especially growing up on a beautiful island,” she explains.

Misa Jewelry’s imperfect, fluid and organic designs are true examples of craftsmanship. No matter what your style is — from Bohemian to street, Misa’s jewelry can be paired to create the perfect outfit. Some designers create a collection in which there is one must-have piece, but Misa’s jewelry has enough diversity in each of the pieces to where the entire collection is a must have.

For more information, visit www.misajewlry.com

FLUXFILES

Text by Lacy Matsumoto

Photo by Tommy Shih

The Kelly Cutrone of GRN: Founder Luis Antonio ready to create something.

Shown with exclusive, hand-drawn tee of the late lead singer, Darby Crash.

GRN IS THE NEW GREEN grn apple tree

Like so many creative souls before him, Luis Antonio, founder and head designer for GRN Apple Tree, wanted to be a rock star. The former bassist of VooDoo Dolls even played with Sugar Ray (back when they were the Shrinky Dinks), Cadillac Tramps, and the soon-to-be drummer for iconic Cali band Sublime before pursuing what would prove to be his true calling: fashion and design.

The hands-on owner is remarkably unassuming. He sits with me in his Los Angeles showroom, sandwiched between a design studio, distribution office and warehouse, which collectively serve as company headquarters. Every spare space is filled with artifacts meant to inspire, from snowboard gear and boxy leather lounge chairs designed by Luis, to arcade-style video games and an impressive 300-piece toy collection –– think ICEE polar bears and blue Smurfs. Walking through the place, with its orange walls, acrylic paintings, sewing station, constant stream of eclectic tunes emanating from the iPod in the corner and caches of cool graphic tees the brand has become known for, makes me want to abandon the interview immediately, roll up my sleeves and create something.

But despite the assumed manic and chaotic

nature of creativity, the space that houses a team of designers, marketers and seamstresses every day and hosts movie premieres and art exhibits on others is, like Luis, calm. The 40year-old designer, who travels the world and imbues his collections with the “current state of affairs,” is organized, meticulous and focused. Everything he does, like everything in this place, is intentional.

It was intentional even when the then 20-year-old left his band to establish a design firm. “I remember at my last practice with the band, I just walked out and said, ‘I gotta do something. I gotta start making money.”

So Luis, who says audiences came to VooDoo shows more often because of the cool flyers he designed than for the music, got his mom to teach him to sew and started peddling homemade tees in the same stores that used to advertise his band. The shirts, which cycled through various monikers including Gypsy and Thieves and GAT, sold like hot cakes.

“I tried several brands for 10 or 11 years,” the designer says, “GRN Apple Tree came about from all the mistakes I had made. My dad gave me a space in his shop, a cutting service for a jean company. I started off in the corner and

grew and grew and eventually took over the entire place.”

But although GRN Apple Tree evolved from other brands, it was still something distinct and special from the get go. “My other brands were about rebellion –– guns and booze. I wanted the opposite of that, something that meant prosperity. Before, we were ripping on people. GRN Apple Tree is about being conscious and organic. It’s about nourishing something and watching it grow.”

An older, more refined Luis struck the right chord with the new axiom, and the brand immediately got picked up in Japan, the country Luis also says is the most conducive to design, since their style is constantly changing. Today GRN Apple Tree is carried all over Europe, Canada, Asia, Australia, and of course, the U.S. mainland and Hawai‘i. It’s sought after by a more urban and edgy crowd found in cities all over the world.

It’s huge in Hawai‘i, with a certain group of people. The brand has recently collaborated with Prototype in Pearlridge Center on O‘ahu, to create a custom tee exclusive to the store. And the designer, who has lived in Southern California all his life, acknowledges that his

Text by Tiffanie Wen

Photos by Garrett Kline

GRN production warehouse in Los Angeles

threads are popular within skate and surf communities. “I think they like our brand because we don’t cater to them. There’s always going to be that one kid who skates and surfs, who doesn’t want to look like a skater or surfer.

That’s who buys GRN Apple Tree. The one kid who understands what we’re doing.”

Luis purposefully refrains from the obvious, leaving out obnoxious and giant logos and creating more subtle and complex designs that nearly always elicit a second look. The current color scheme for example, “grays and charcoals with splashes of color,” was inspired by the flashes of hope surrounding the election of the new president within the context of the current international zeitgeist.

Mirroring the subtlety of the designs is an inconspicuous album hanging in the central showroom. It’s for What We Do is Secret, by ‘70s

L.A. punk band The Germs, whose album, Luis says, “changed [his] life.” Recently, the designer created a tee in collaboration with the surviving members of the band. It features a hand-drawn

of late lead singer Darby Crash, who famously planned to become a legend in five years and then committed suicide.

Though he doesn’t play in a band anymore, music is clearly responsible for the tenets Luis lives and designs by. Flipping through a rack of his upcoming spring line, he explains how music got him to where he is: “That album made me feel like I could be my own rock star. You don’t have to buy into anything else. You can do anything you want.”

For more information visit grnappletree.com

skeleton

Every spare space is meant to inspire.

Eureka! After dabbling with brands inspired by guns and rebellion, Luis found success spun from a totally different cloth. Some of GRN’s inspirations.

Makai of H-1, between Fort Weaver Road and the new North-South Road

WILL COMPRISE

conceptual illustration

11,750 homes, five schools, commercial and retail businesses, medical offices

“With this petition, we the undersigned express our opposition to the development of Ho‘opili with its 12,000 houses. We | may 4, 2009 | east kapolei neighborhood tod plan

SIZE : Approximately the size of Mililani (1,500 acres)

DEFINE : Ho‘opili translates to the “gathering place.”

The controversy owned by D.R. Horton, is currently zoned and used for agriculture and was classified as some of the best on O‘ahu by a University of Hawai‘i study. Critics, who lament the loss of prime farmland, also estimate Ho‘opili will add 12,000 cars to area roads, turning H-1 into a parking lot on the Leeward side.

Text by Justin Hill

Images courtesy of

Van Meter

Williams Pollack

Conceptual drawings of the streets of Ho‘opili.

The kings and queen of improvisation boppa-wa-doo-bopping away at The Dragon Upstairs.

“This is my dream team,” says Satomi Yarimizo, referring to her musical colleagues whom she’d brought together to play in Hawai‘i’s first jazz quintet.

Given the talented roster, this seemed an accurate description. The five musicians who comprise Bop Tribal are, undoubtedly, the Michael Jordans of Hawai‘i’s jazz community, all of whom were plucked with a curatorial eye by Yarimizo herself. Their collective virtuosity is so evident that, with only a single album to their name, they’ve already garnered two preliminary Grammy nominations. Not bad for a group that was assembled in 2008.

Yarimizo, a pianist, was asked to form a jazz group to play at a venue in Waikīkī and knew immediately those musicians she would call upon: DeShannon Higa, trumpet and flugelhorn; Reggie Padilla, tenor saxophone; Shawn Conley, bass; and Abe Lagrimas Jr., drums. Each member of Bop is so accomplished and a member of so many groups that it would take, quite literally, the entire length of this article to note them all. “The players Satomi was able to collect under one album,” says Higa, who pauses briefly, then continues, “not to sound too pretentious or anything, but it’s all heavy players.”

Assembling this musical coterie, it turned out, was the easy part. “Putting a group together is easy by comparison to picking a name,” says Higa. “It’s always been a grueling thing because it has to be something that fits the band, fits what we’re trying to do and what we’re about.” Numerous names were proffered; just as many were discarded. Then, it seemed, Higa found the perfect name that would encapsulate both the type of jazz they played and the camaraderie shared between the five of them.

“We had some really lame ones,” Padilla remembers, “and then [Higa] just laid [Bop Tribal] on us, and we were like, ‘Yeah, OK.’” Higa joked that the name had to be approved

ALL THAT JAZZ bop tribal

by Satomi, the head honcho, first: “all decisions have to go through her, the boss!”

Once settled on their name, Bop Tribal began playing at Chinatown venue, The Dragon Upstairs, to packed houses. Soon, though, they desired to bring their music to a wider audience outside of Hawai‘i and decided to hit the studio. But because two of their members reside on the mainland U.S. — Lagrimas in California, Conley in New York — they had an extremely limited amount of time to write, rehearse and record their album. “We were taking a lot of chances and risks in the entire process,” says Lagrimas in an e-mail. “There wasn’t a whole lot of rehearsal time, nor did we have a lot of time in the recording session.”

“We got together one day at my house,” Padilla recalls. “We brought our own compositions and sorted through them to see which ones sounded good.” What began as 20 songs was carefully whittled down to 12 recorded tracks, and from there eight were chosen for their debut record. “It wasn’t as organized as it might have seemed,” say Higa, “but it ended up being a really constructed album.”

To the uninitiated it might come as a surprise that jazz is, by and large, a musical form based heavily on improvisation, and Bop Tribal’s self-titled release is no exception. “There’s definitely a blueprint of what’s going on, but all the pieces have a proportion where it’s completely improvised,” says Padilla. “As far as the rhythm section [drums, bass and piano] goes, they’re actually improvising most of their part.”

As deft as each musician is, it’s difficult to discern between what’s written and improvised, as each player adeptly weaves in and out of the complex musical fabric, channeling influences of be-bop, post-bop, New Orleans Dixie, ‘60s Miles Davis and surprisingly, hip-hop.

When asked about the formal connection between jazz and hip-hop, Higa offers this

insightful rejoinder: “I am of the opinion that hip-hop is the next step in the evolution of jazz, in that what emcees are doing is what jazz musicians do.” He’s right, in that jazz musicians conjure melody and rhythm, while hip-hop emcees make words rhyme to rhythm. On close inspection, the labyrinthine verses of hip-hop groups such as Freestyle Fellowship and Anticon bring to mind the soloistic inventions of Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and even Ornette Coleman.

What’s next for Bop Tribal? Touring the world? Hopefully. “We’re always planning tours,” says Higa, jocosely. “It’s just a matter of finding the right connection. But having our promoter and our record label pushing us to get a write up in Downbeat, pushing us to get a Grammy nomination, that’s all good publicity for us that hopefully will manifest into invitations for festivals. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

Text by Jared Yamanuha

Photo by

Aaron Yoshino

Yoza

MUSICAL CATHARSIS yoza

Rule one about R&B island girl Yoza: Don’t call her Crystal. Of course, I immediately make this mistake. “Crystal?” I ask when I first meet her. “Crystal Yoza?”

Her face flushes with hues of red as she explains that it’s just Yoza now. “I don’t even like my first name,” she says. “I stopped using it three years ago.”

Ironically, crystal would be a plausible description of her appearance, because, by observing her noticeable tattoos, it is crystalclear that this chick lives for music. The giant treble clef that cuts down her chest. The homage to Billie Holiday on her right forearm. The guitar that stretches down her spine. Yoza’s melodic addiction is painted all over her body, and she is quick to admit it, “Every tattoo I have on me is music,” she says. “It’s the thing I’m most passionate about.”

Yoza’s passion for the lyrical world began at age five, when she taught herself how to play her brother’s ukulele. Within a few years, she was a member of famed ‘ukulele artist Roy Sakuma’s Super Keiki, a group of children ‘uke players. At 12, Yoza conquered the saxophone (which later helped her achieve a full scholarship to Hawai‘i Pacific University). At 18, she took on the guitar, and by 23, she

was playing with Ho‘okahileo, a traditional Hawaiian group. But soon after, her desire to change tunes began to grow. “I love traditional Hawaiian music,” she explains. “I respect it. But that’s not what I want to do. And it’s not in my heart. Acoustic R&B and soul. That’s just what moves me.”

At first, Yoza wondered if her new sound would be accepted on the island. “With the tourism industry, everyone wants to hear traditional Hawaiian music,” she says. “And I was sold on the idea that you have to play traditional Hawaiian music to pay the bills.”

So she did what most performers would do — she compromised. “I would just stick a little R&B in [the Hawaiian music],” she says. “And people started thinking it was cool.”

Today, Yoza is a full-force acoustic soul artist who is most commonly found on stage at Waikīkī venues such as Jimmy Buffet’s at the Beachcomber and The Shack. Her rich, sultry vocals layered over her smooth, acoustic guitar strums serve listeners a goosebump worthy batch of straight-up soul, and her sexy rasp recalls the sounds of Lauryn Hill and Erykah Badu.

Yoza mixes up her sets with original pieces and R&B-twisted covers (ranging

anywhere from Outkast to John Mayer) and her love of music radiates off of her whenever she’s on stage. “Music’s the best catharsis ever,” she says. “It can immediately put you in any emotional state. It can make you incredibly sad, or it can make you so super happy. It is something that does something to you that nothing else can.”

Soon, Yoza plans on bringing her love into the recording studio to make a full album of original songs. But what she will be doing after that, she is unsure.

“There is some sort of plan that God has,” she says. “I just don’t know what it is yet. Until then, I’m just going to do the best I can.”

One thing is for sure — Yoza is going to be a musician until the day she dies. Because, according to her, she doesn’t have a choice. “[Music]’s all I can do. Seriously,” she says with a raspy laugh. “I’m a crappy waitress. I’m clumsy. I can’t do anything. Just music. I’m very limited.”

As long as she keeps on doing what she’s doing, music might be enough.

Text by Bridget Mullen

Photos by Brent Keane

Untitled work. A story of love, lust, sacrifice and struggle. One of 12.

UNIQUELY NORMAL

jennifer yoko thorbjornsen

When I meet Jennifer Yoko Thorbjornsen, the day is quiet and the room is still, save for her dog Kuma, who, dressed as a green dinosaur for no apparent reason, stirs about the room chasing his tail. She wears casual attire and completing her look is an apron she made from her old baby blanket, adorned with cutouts of ballerina flats, rainbows and hearts, which she uses when painting. She catches me staring aghast at a stressrelieving ball disguised as a breast and quickly tosses it aside where it lands in the corner of the room –– “I am a normal person,” she insists. “I like to hike and hang out with my dog ...” But the modest 25-year-old is not your typical artist.

She is reserved, yet her art boasts an extremely unique mind that translates to canvas in way that speaks to many generations. A consummate purveyor of outsider art, her work is not contained within the boundaries of mainstream ideals and it features unconventional thoughts and images, allowing viewers to move themselves from reality into a more fantastical world.

She is quick to admit that giving titles to her works creates a false identity. “I feel uneasy about naming my pieces,” she says. Most of her works are untitled but the aptly named “Red” depicts a tree with bare branches and roots that

seem to long for something just out of reach. It was, however, the proprietor of Cedar Street Gallery that bestowed the name upon the work that was also featured on the ABC show “Lost.” Several other pieces of untitled works are on permanent collection at Kapi‘olani Community College’s, Koa Gallery.

She considers her work as narrative storytelling, where “the color camouflages the content.” Observed from afar, the bright pastels and playful figures make her works seem soft and inviting. Once up close, the true picture begins to reveal itself: emaciated bodies, missing limbs and tortured figures. Most are faceless and nude in order to disassociate them with any particular ethnicity or race. Through the use of color and presented with a slight innocence, her works are more approachable, digestible even.

“I want them to be flesh, non-specific… that way appeal is more universal,” she says. Once the viewer gets past the façade, the real story she wants to tell is now prominent. Her works depict a colorful tapestry of symbolism that evokes wonder and thought and is open for each person’s own interpretation.

In her earlier days, Thorbjornsen, who includes her middle name “Yoko” as part of

her entire moniker in an effort to recognize her Japanese heritage, aspired to be a chef. She enjoyed cooking for her mother, making meals and decorating the finished plate. She enrolled in culinary school, but soon lost interest in food preparation and took an affinity to all things art. She had not picked up a paintbrush prior to an introduction to art course in her first semester at college, but at that point, she realized the art studio was a “comfortable environment.” Art quickly became her focus.

Dabbling with various mediums, her weapon of choice became acrylic paint and a set of brushes she has had for several years now. The act of painting is very personal to her. A part of her psyche goes into all her works. “I try to work things out in my mind that I can’t understand, but when placed on canvas a clearer image appears.”

Text by Cody Matsukawa

Art

Photos by Brad Goda

Photo by

Kristen Hook

Worrying is like rocking chairs, gives you something to do, but gets you nowhere.

The outsider: Jennifer’s art is not contained within normal, mainstream ideal.

FOLLOW THE LEEDERS

sustainable architecture

The buildings of King Kalakaua Plaza, designed by Honolulu design firm, Eight Inc., utilizes many methods of sustainable architecture, an ever-emerging, earth-conscious form of design that strives to minimize a building’s negative impact by utilizing efficient methods of sustaining the environment, such as minimizing energy dependence, maximizing usable space, and using renewable resources. According to Mark Little, the firm’s Honolulu principal, “Sustainability is about providing for the needs of the current generation without compromising the needs of the future generation.”

Certainly, Eight is doing its part of spreading the eco-ethos. With an A-list clientele and a beautiful portfolio, Eight is quickly emerging as a frontrunner in the sustainable architecture movement. The company, who also has offices in San Francisco, New York,

London and Tokyo has taken on projects of all kinds, including retail stores, restaurants, art galleries, resorts and commercial properties.

The firm’s thoroughly calculated creations are setting the pace for cutting-edge design. Amongst this success, Little keeps Eight’s passion for green blue-prints in the forefront.

“We feel that we have an obligation to participate in sustainable architecture,” he says. “It is irresponsible to build buildings that are not environmentally friendly.”

In architecture vocabulary, the term for “green” is LEED. Developed and managed by the The U. S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit organization who seeks to promote earth-friendly ideals in construction, LEED certification is the internationally recognized standard for measuring a building’s sustainability. The LEED rating system

designates three classifications: silver, gold or platinum. Developers and designers are rated on performance regarding pollutionprevention, energy-use reduction, and the use of natural and renewable resources.

One of Eight’s most anticipated current projects, the Mālama Learning Center, which will be constructed in Honolulu, has been registered as LEED-platinum. Eight’s design of the learning facility combines complex elements such as an educational institute, nature-conservatory study center, art center, dance studio, outdoor-indoor performance theater and community center, into an efficient, sustainable piece of architectural art. When completed, Mālama will be a new manifestation of the possibilities in sustainable living, conservation, and the cultural heritage of Hawai‘i. Eight was awarded with the project

after receiving first place in the Mālama Learning Center International Architectural Design Competition, and their design was recently awarded first place in the Future Education category at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona.

As the movement grows larger, Little says that LEED is taking the lead in the industry. “LEED is becoming more mainstream. The in dustry as a whole is moving in that direction.”

LEED supports many sustainablebuilding techniques, like maximizing daylight and natural light in structures, using insolated glass in the windows, maintaining an effective heating and cooling system, allowing for natural air ventilation throughout the building, and utilizing renewable energy technology.

Building a sustainable structure achieves more than the conservation of our world for future generations. It makes the time we have here more beautiful. “The environment of [these] buildings is a lot more human and friendly,” Little says. “Taking material from the environment and allowing the outside world to penetrate the buildings makes them a nicer place to be.”

SMALL STEPS FOR LIVING SUSTAINABLY

So you don’t live in one of group 8’s environmentally friendly homes, and you aren’t looking to build commercial property in the near future. You can still take some simple steps to exist in a more sustainable fashion. And in these instances, going green might even save you some green when your electric bill comes.

NATURAL VENTILATION: Living in Hawai‘i has many benefits, including the refreshing trade winds that blow over the islands. Why not take advantage of this money-saving opportunity? Turn off your AC, crack open the windows, and let nature cool you off.

the outside world. For rooms without a view, be sure to use compact fluorescent lights. These bulbs will cost more upfront but will save you money in the long run.

NATURAL LIGHT: Pull back those curtains and let the light shine in. Utilizing natural light will not only decrease your energy-consumption, but will also make you feel more in-tune with

GREEN BUILDING TRENDS

Green Roofs

What: Grass-covered roof tops.

Benefits: A plus for households and the environment because they reduce the building’s overall heat-gain, help control storm-water runoff, and provide additional useable space with a great ambience. “Plus,” Little adds eagerly, “it looks really cool.”

Rammed Earth Walls

What: Constructing walls using raw materials such as mud, chalk, lime and gravel. Benefits : These materials are incombustible, thermally insulating and sturdier than you might suspect. “It’s a great building material because you can take soil on the sight you are building on and use it,” Little says. “It brings beautiful texture to the walls. People think that it would fall apart in the rain, but that is a misconception. It has the strength of concrete.”

Sustainable Flooring

What: Bamboo, cork and eucalyptus flooring as a sustainable alternative to traditional hardwoods.

Benefits: These types of flooring mature in

LIGHTEN UP: When it comes time to repaint, consider a lighter shade for rooms that receive a lot of sunlight. While dark colors absorb heat, light colors reflect it, which will make the sun-heavy rooms less of a heat trap.

UNPLUG: Whether it’s iPod speakers, a coffee maker or even a cell phone charger, these household devices continue to drain energy while they are plugged into an outlet — in use or not. So when you grab your phone, yank the charger out of the wall. Though these devices don’t use too much energy in stand-by mode, every little bit adds up.

roughly half the time, or less, that it takes typical hardwoods to reach maturity.

Where do Hawai‘i’s buildings stand in this movement?

As the popularity of sustainable architecture continues to grow worldwide, you might wonder where Hawai‘i ranks in the movement. As is the case with most trends, Hawai‘i is a little behind, meaning that more could be done to up the sustainable ante. But do not blame the people of the islands. Blame high shipping costs. “We are behind because of the high cost of materials and labor as compared to the other contiguous states,” says CEO of the Building Industry Association of Hawai‘i Karen Nakamura. “Government is mandating through building codes so consumers are not spending, which is delaying economic recovery.”

That’s not to say that Hawai‘i is doing nothing. According to an article that ran in the Pacific Business News journal, 83 projects in the state have applied for LEED certification this year, nearly doubling the amount of applicants from 2008 and tripling the amount from 2007. Here’s to hoping that these sustainable projects LEED the rest of Hawai‘i by example.

Text by Bridget Mullen

TOUGH TIMES FOR TACO TRUCKS

Food trucks, a popular choice during the lunch time rush, have had a renaissance of sorts in Los Angeles and have become some of the trendiest food purveyors — even after the work day is over. The Kogi truck has taken Los Angeles by storm. Serving Korean-Mexican fusion, the truck can only be tracked by following its Twitter. Lines for food have been over an hour at some stops, and the truck has become a “must-see” in Los Angeles.

The popularity of the Kogi truck, as well its scores of imitators, have not gone unnoticed, as many “traditional” restaurants are complaining that these lunch trucks are taking away their business.

CALIFORNIA’S MARIJUANA FACTOIDS:

• Qualified users can carry up to eight ounces of the dried remedy, and six mature plants and 12 immature plants.

• There are 8,000 marijuana dispensaries in operation.

• Amount it costs to obtain a medical marijuana identification card: $60.

A mini-war has erupted along the office space laden Wilshire corridor, where the police have been called on multiple occasions to cite the trucks for parking illegally. Local restaurants have said that they are not the ones calling in complaints to police, but these claims have not been substantiated.

The trouble does not end there for the Kogi truck, though. After successfully making a few trips into Orange County, the operators of the truck were told that they would not be allowed to sell food in the area without permits. The truck’s licenses were distributed by the city of Los Angeles, but the truck was not licensed to sell food in Orange County. Time will tell if these mobile vendors will remain trendy — and able to avoid the law — in Los Angeles.

HIGH TIMES FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA USERS

The legalization of marijuana has always been a sticky situation. But in California, card-carrying users buying buds in broad daylight may be able to relax a bit. The United States Justice Department said that it would not prosecute medicinal marijuana users or dealers as long as the sale and use of marijuana is done within the laws of the individual state.This is a notable change of course by the Obama administration, as a 2005 Supreme Court ruling gave federal

PROP 8

Though being ratified over a year ago, Proposition 8, which stated that “only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California” remains one of the California’s hottest topics and will remain so for the foreseeable future. The legality of Prop 8 is going to be examined by Chief District Judge Vaughn Walker in the upcoming months. Walker was on the verge of throwing the case out of court on legal grounds but ultimately decided to hear arguments on “whether Prop 8 was passed with discriminatory intent”. California is just one of the flash points for one of the most divisive issues facing America. Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Masachusetts and Iowa legalized gay marriage, and the United States Supreme Court recently blocked the release of the names of those who signed pro-gay marriage petitions in Washington, even though gay rights groups

in the state attempted to put the names of those who signed the petitions online to show the support for their cause.

The current case over the legality of Prop 8 in the District Court in California is seen as a precursor to the case that most pundits believe will eventually be debated on the Supreme Court floor.

WITH A POPULATION OF 37 MILLION, CALIFORNIA IS THE EIGHTH LARGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD.

California faces a budget deficit of $21 billion. Last summer, record deficits and cash shortfalls drove the state to issue IOUs instead of wages.

agents the right to enforce federal marijuana statutes, even in states that permitted legalized medicinal marijuana. Conservatives argue that this measure will soon lead to the federal government legalizing all drugs, but the Justice Department has said that it is simply respecting individual state law. California’s NORML — National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws — has already noted that the number of federal cases has already noticeably decreased.

MILK & HONEY

Nightlife trends change faster than high fashion fancies, and New York City is America’s top model. So it’s no wonder that bottle service and dress codes are so passé here. Members-only clubs and serious cocktail snobbery are what make for an elite night out in Gotham right now. On Manhattan’s Lower East Side there is a nondescript door that one would imagine Sherlock Holmes standing in, and only an exclusive clientele has the key. Once through the door and dark velvet curtains, a prohibition-esque cocktail bar called Milk & Honey slinks into view. Here, getting your drink on becomes a thing of integrity

THE BUZZ

Brooklyn is “where New York City begins” and where illegal beekeeping is a buzz. Green-minded folks and some revolutionary restaurateurs have been using their rooftops to cultivate honey and be sustainable. Beekeeping was outlawed in 1999 when honeybees were included on a list of more than 100 wild animals deemed “potential menaces” by New York health code standards. (The list also includes vultures, iguanas, ferrets and whales.) The renegade beekeepers are inspiring Brooklynites to use their much

under-utilized rooftop space for sustainable food crops. There’s even a group called the New York City Beekeepers Association that offers classes on beekeeping, matches people who want to keep bees with people who have room for hives, and sells beekeeping starter kits. In a time of colony collapse (scientists reporting the mysterious disappearance of bees, that is) leave it to the capital of capitalism to be a leader in recalibrating the balance of supply and demand — for honey and pollination of crops and flowers no less!

— they don’t even serve vodka. But let the bartender display his artistry with a fresh strawberry gin cocktail, an egg white, gin and lemon daiquiri or a classic Manhattan and your booze buds will experience pure fabulousness. Just don’t cause an undignified raucous. Our keyholder was shushed for laughing too loud when I taught him how to do a mini shaka.

Milk & Honey: mlkhny.com/london

PARK SLOPE CO-OP

A members-only establishment that is definitely a worthy pursuit is the Park Slope Food Co-op in Brooklyn, which is a memberowned and operated food store — an alternative to commercial profit-oriented business. Members contribute two to three hours a month working in the store, and in turn, get to shop for discounted prices in what is really a Whole Foods-qualityselection-of-brands-meets-theFarmer’s Market-type store. This is the ultimate way to obtain healthy food while staying on a budget, vote with your dollar by supporting local food producers and earth-friendly companies, and participate actively in community.

Photo of Milk & Honey’s sister restaurant, The East Room.

PISTO

The simplicity of the fixed sprocket brings together a unified collection of opposing backgrounds. The pisto/fixed-gear scene in Japan is a poi bag of veterans, messengers, loners, stoners and straight NJS (Nihon Jitensha Shinkōkai) JDM connoisseurs. In Tokyo, they’re everywhere. It’s a part of everyday life. It’s the way the nihonjin prefer to get from point A to point B. Whether it be fixed or the classic mama-chari, it’s at the top of the list when it comes to transportation in TKO. Tokyo is considered one of the best places to ride, due to the perfectly paved roads (banks), elevation changes, architecture and heavy traffic! Bombing a hill in Tokyo traffic gives the rider a feeling of controlled chaos. Or in some cases, just chaos. Remember, it’s

THE URA-MICHI SPECIAL

DENSHA MO, BUS MO, PASMO

Run your wallet over the sensor, gate opens. Repeat. You’re out the terminal. Thirsty? Run your wallet over the sensor again. Quenched. Need new kicks? Swipe — all easily taken care of by the PASMO.

The rechargeable, contactless smart card, PASMO, was introduced to Japan in March 2007 by the Sony Corporation. The PASMO not only allows travel on rail and bus systems, but it also acts as electronic money and one swipe of the card can make purchases or pay bills at more than 100 transportation facilities around Tokyo. If you’re in a rush or too mendokusai to take it out your bag, no problem, just run the whole bag over the ticket sensor. Pi Pi. You’re through. As of November 2009, there were more than 11 million cards circulating the metropolitan area. The most convenient card in your stack. Charge it. Look forward to it. Oahu rail systems take a cue.

not about how fast you go. It’s about going too muthafuckin’ fast. For you trickstas there’s the infamous Yoyogi Park, Roka Koen and the rest of Harajuku.

DEFINE:

A fixed-gear bicycle is basically a bike with no breaks. In keirin (Japanese track racing) the rider needs no breaks as they are on an oval track, so instead of using a traditional hand break, the rider uses the power of his or her legs to slow the movement of the bike. There’s a sprocket in the front where you pedal from and crank, then a sprocket in the back locked to the rear wheel, and a chain that drives the two as one. So when you pedal forward, you get forward momentum. Pedal backwards, you go backwards. You either lock your legs up, or be really good at reading traffic.

SALON

Neon pink lights. Interior like a bar on Kapi‘olani. Small booths within the large openplan room. Feeling like a drink. Would you like a beer, soft drink, tea? Asks the gentleman. Dim lights, usen, no menu. Table tops missing. Couple minutes later, a warm cloth. Your beverage, belt unbuckled, and the warm cloth again. Head back to the booth. She gets up, “Arigato, mata shimei shite ne.”

MOSS

Green roofs are sprouting up all over Tokyo, as new regulations and incentives are put in place to combat the heat of the concrete jungle. But unlike the traditional soil-based vegetation found on most green roofs, Tokyo (always ahead of the curve) is using moss. Benefits to moss rooftops include reduced heating (by adding mass and thermal resistance), cooling (by evaporative cooling), and even lengthening a roof’s lifespan by two or three times. The moss acts as a sponge and traps harmful bacteria,

fungus and many other airborne particulates and pollutants. Since moss has no real true roots and receives its nutrients and moisture from the rain and air, these types of green roofs require very low maintenance after once fully established. In heat or droughts the moss pulls through, as it goes into a dormant stage and preserves itself for months at a time. Work on vertical walls are now on some of Tokyo’s finest establishments. Mossed out Skyscrapers. True concrete jungle.

Correspondent Elmer Cagape open market: HONG KONG

DAI PAI DONGS

A popular food magazine used to quip, “You may have been to tons of dim sum restaurants, have tried mooncakes, and more chow fun and chow mein than you can handle, but if you have never eaten at a dai pai dong, you have never had real Hong Kong food.”

Dai pai dongs are open-air food stalls characterized by cheap good food cooked in woks and served in a rather old-style Hong Kong restaurant environment. Such sight is a collective memory of Hong Kong people. While many similar stalls can be found in the

HONG KONG POLLUTION CHOKES CITY, MYCAR TO THE RESCUE!

In Hong Kong’s ever-mounting battle with pollution, the country made its historic debut in the car industry with the launch of MyCar, an electric car built in collaboration between Hong Kong-based EuAuto Technology and Polytechnic University. It is the first Hong

Petrol / km: 10 HK cents (~1 cent)

(It costs over HK$2 (US$0.26) for a normal petrol seven-seater to run for about one km.

Batteries: HK$10 (US$1.29) per 100 km.

city, legally only 28 “official” dai pai dongs exist, mostly found in the business district of Central and in Sham Shui Po, which are far from touristy street paths.

Kong-developed vehicle that fully complied with European standards. “Before EuAuto, no automobile manufacturing business has ever been developed in Hong Kong,” said Peter Sun, Chairman of EuAuto Technology Limited. “It was a dream to build a micro car in Hong Kong back in 2003. …This product is now able to balance the European stylish design and good quality at an affordable price to customers all over the world. Our dream of having a homegrown electric vehicle has finally come true!”

Max Speed: 64km/h

Charge Time: Six to eight hours from household socket

Price: HK$97,000 (US$12,513)

FOR LEASE: HONG KONG’S MOST EXPENSIVE OFFICES

Planning to set up offices in Hong Kong? Sure, it’s the de facto gateway to China, has low tax rates, world-class infrastructure, sound rule of law and is the world’s freest economy. But the price to pay for these premium features is steep. Colliers International featured 170 office markets

worldwide and Hong Kong is on top again. Price per square foot is so expensive that even with a drop of 35 percent for top-grade office spaces a few months ago, the city still ranks number one. It is now US$138 per square foot, still 10 percent higher than London’s West End office blocks. Tokyo, London and Moscow round up the most expensive office rentals in the world.

NEWSFLASH!

POLLUTION CONTINUES ITS CHOKEHOLD…

The launch of Hong Kong’s much-hyped, locallydeveloped, environmentally-friendly car was met with a sad reality check. The following day after its announcement, pollution levels in the city tied an air pollution record set in 2000. This triggered a wave of warnings to people with respiratory and heart illnesses to reduce physical activities.

girls’ trends for spring 2010

1. exposed zippers

2. military blazers

3. rompers

4. oversized bags

color palette: grays, whites, blacks with a pop of yellow.

7-DAY 4CAST

spring 2010

It’s the sound you hate to hear in the morning — no, not, “who are you? and did we…” — rather, the dreadful alarm that signals a new day and time to wake. Already defeated by the thought of having to get up and get on with your day, you have yet another daunting task: find something to wear. With a closet full of clothes, but nothing to wear, you give up. 7 Day 4Cast will help alleviate this problem that plagues most. Here, we create seven different looks using four on-trend pieces from the current spring season while incorporating existing wardrobe staples. Now, you can plan out your entire week.

photographer: christen vidanovic

hair: ryan camacho & arlene begonia

makeup: dulce felipe models: regine bishaw & ryan brant

1, 3 + simple jewelry (dress worn with zipper open) 1, 4

3 + tie-dye fringe scarf and subdued strappy sandal

Spring merchandise available in stores and online beginning February.

Ben Sherman, www.bensherman.com Fighting Eel, www.fightingeel.com Gentle Fawn, www.gentlefawn.com Hurley, www.hurley.com Lucy Love, www.lucylove.com

Misa Jewelry, www.misajewelry.com Nordstrom, www.nordstrom.com Stussy, www.stussy.com

4 + bold graphic tee layered with yellow madras woven 1 + moto-inspired leggings (dress worn with zipper closed)

1 + patent cream pump 1, 2

guys’ trends spring 2010

1. double breasted/ schoolboy blazers

2. shorts

3. stripes

4. straight fit denim

color palette: grays, whites, blacks with a pop of red.

7-DAY 4CAST spring 2010

Ben Sherman, www.bensherman.com GRN Apple Tree, www.grnappletree.com Hurley, www.hurley.com Nordstrom, www.nordstrom.com Stussy, www.stussy.com

2 + small check red top

3, 4 + moto-inspired hooded vest

1, 2

3, 4 + fedora, suede shoe, stripes

Do you see Hawai‘i’s future as bleak or promising?

Hawai‘i actually has a promising future. We are internationally known for our tropical atmosphere and our aloha. I feel with these essentials, we can’t go wrong, even if we start falling apart as a state and in spirit. If Hawai‘i can embrace NEW ideas or even re-look into old ideas, perhaps we can find ways to bring more visitors and revenue in the future.

What are your biggest concerns for the future?

Food and water, chemical, biological and nuclear warfare.

Energy, healthcare, the New World Order. The next big global catastrophe, technology and the development of more idiots in Hawai‘i thanks to this thing we call “furlough.”

You seem pretty concerned regarding the end of the world … do you think the world will end in 2012?

That depends. If Sarah Palin runs for president and wins, yeah, the world is going to hell in 2012. Just kidding, of course, but no, I don’t think 2012 is the end of the world, even though there’s so much conspiracy theory that revolves around that year.

COVER

landon osamu

people that relied on me — I considered myself a cab driver!

To be truthful on this question, my inspiration for this piece was basically viewing Waikīkī’s skyline on a hot sunny afternoon and I thought to myself ... damn ... Waikīkī was once a swampland. Now it’s turned into a mini California.

As a graphic designer-slash-semi-cabbie, what are your thoughts on the rail?

To be honest, I’m pro-rail. I think it will hurt Hawai‘i during its beginning phase, but it will help Hawai‘i out in the long-run.

From a graphic designer’s point of view, I don’t think it will ruin Hawai‘i’s skyline, but it will ruin a tree-hugger’s dreams of keeping the country, country.

What is the biggest transition you are going through?

Living life without a mother. Manning the eff up and hoping the choices I make in the future won’t be the same as the ones I chose in the past. Right now I’m planning to gamble with life by continuing to further my education, since I put my foot in my mouth and promised my moms that I will get my bachelor’s as part of her final wishes.

Medium: Crayons & Toilet Paper

Occupation: Cab Driver

Artist Statement: What inspired me to come up with idea was watching KHON with Joe Moore. Hawai‘i’s “from exotic jungle to concrete jungle.”

Okay, seriously were you really inspired by Joe Moore?

Nope. Not really. Wait, so did driving around O‘ahu’s streets as a cab driver provide you with any inspiration when designing your piece?

Actually, with the amount of tickets I’ve received in the past couple of years, I’d be shocked if I actually get a job as a cab driver. Wait, so you’re not a cab driver either? I actually just picked up a part-time gig in graphics at Century21, but during the time I was working on my piece, people were paying me to pick them up or drop them off to the clubs. The amount of

hi2059 Text by Sonny

Ganaden

the future of honolulu’s design is up for grabs. a collective of honolulu creatives think 50 years into the future, and show us what they see.

Urban sprawl: In the span of a century, Hawaii became a giant crossroads of commerce, and it buried a big part of its host culture.

Built sculpture: 2059 submissions installed into found objects at Academy’s Art After Dark event.

In the early days of statehood, despite their commercial paychecks, a few influential Honolulu designers fought a war against ugliness. Famed local architect Vladimir Ossipoff and other modernists knew that much of the city’s future was still unoccupied, and at risk to onerous tenants. As Honolulu grew, commercial tourism, relaxed building standards, and an eager building boom spelled aesthetic ruin. In the slow bleed that precedes the death of empire, the Ugliness won. Now 50 years after Hawai‘i became a state, with Honolulu its cultural and political center, a new generation of designers and artists move beyond the commercial and into the occupied void, post-war.

Designers, like the Wizard of Oz behind the curtain, shape both what we see in a city and the way we see it. Unlike Oz, designers are ordinarily removed from their creation by the fundamental quantity of time, leaving behind their visuals and skylines as markers of generation and community. From their second story space in Kaimuki — as the space warms and the street rumbles from an afternoon bus below — Hawaiians Chris Kalima and Josh Lake of the design firm Airspace Workshop try to imagine the future. “I hate the word ‘visionary,’” Lake explains, using the Chris Farley air-quotes to mock the term. “Man, think of something else.” The yang to Lake’s yin, Kalima clarifies while tensing his fingers, “we DON’T want to throw a party, just another

excuse for everybody to drink and say ‘wassup.’ That is NOT what this is about.” Expounding in another controlled blast, “We’re here to talk about... getting to the big ideas.”

It’s those big ideas that make 2059 something more than an art collective. The editors call the project a “Future Retrospective,” a looking back from a place we have yet to arrive. They are doing this with a website as a platform, hoping artists will use the opportunity to get involved in the discussion. In trying to answer the questions needed to save the beauty of a growing city, they are renewing a spirit of resistance and path to change paved by optimistic modernists of the past. Unlike their aesthetic forebears however, the present futurists’ concepts are restrained by the reality of 50 years of statehood and more than 100 years of American consumer and military culture.

The format of the project includes work from contributors on five “critical issues,” which will be discussed on the website. The editors will create a publication as an extension of the site, most likely at the conclusion of the project in a year or so. The topics are: transportation, agriculture, culture, development and industry. The organizers are unsure if there will be a full gallery presentation at the completion of the project. Either way, the completed works are guaranteed to inspire dialogue with the contributors who are already on board. The editors are looking for more voices, and

interested artists with something to say are still welcome to join.

The ideology behind the collective is as much a product of the commercialism that dictates the profits of designers and artists in Honolulu as it is a reaction to it. Being by local designers for a local audience gives it an earned authenticity. Much of local aesthetics must be grown here, not flown here, as the bumper sticker reads. Regarding humanistic design, Lake explains: “We often get asked to help design something to look ‘Hawaiian.’ When we ask clients what that means to them, it’s usually palm trees and tapa prints.” He shifts his weight. “We sometimes say ‘Do you want it to look like your ‘Hawaiian,’ or you want it done by Hawaiians?’”

The eras that built the 19th century grand structures and modern icons of Honolulu are gone. At least for this generation, we’re not likely to see that sort of human or capital investment in our lifetimes. “We’re used to a conversation

A Los Angeles box diner? Hawaii dystopia: Where does Hawaii’s future lie? Honozooloo and Airspace boys just saying, wassup.

about strict utility,” Lake says a little ruefully, “We’re not discussing the architecture and design within the space that we critique. Take for example the fights over the Natatorium. All this discussion of what to do with it outside of what it means in the surrounding space, of how we frame that place in our minds. What’s sad is how we can’t identify good design and protect it. I’m not sure if we have a vocabulary for it yet. A lot of the design we see today is a product of the practicality of how hard it was post-war. Fifty years ago, we weren’t a state yet, this was

a little town that went big-time overnight; a military complex dropped on a sleepy place. In the span of a century, we went from grass shacks to beaux arts, I mean, real ornate stuff. Hawai‘i became a giant crossroads of commerce, and it buried, along with the host culture, a big part of that town. People thought it was easier to go with the flow.”

Airspace Workshop’s cred in the small but productive local design circuit is well-deserved. These are the guys behind a set of short promotional films titled Rediscover Makiki

(funded by, of all sources, the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority) which make Honolulu’s densely populated core ache in near-focus shots of wiry telephone poles and crowded pau-hana pickup games. The films utilize a Steven Soderbergh framing to reveal current urbanity in the Pacific, where much of the working Honolulu rests, where a teenage Barry Obama might have played ball after his shift at Baskin-Robbins. Aaron Yoshino, a Honolulu-based photographer and graphics designer, contributed to the project’s initial exhibit at the

A Future Relic: 2059 is about getting people to think about the reality of Honolulu and the oppressiveness of urban sprawl.

Honolulu Academy of Arts in July. “One guy’s taking pictures of the buildings and areas that are going to be torn up by lightrail [referring to the rail project by the city and county of Honolulu]. It’s going to help us realize where we’re going, and what we lose. It’s made more visceral,” he says. “I guess I expect to see things I don’t expect.”

Despite some disinclination to traditional presentation, the show at the Academy was a success, and even found its way to a club in Chinatown during a busy weekend. The work took a different note from the popular yet oftbemoaned, monthly Art After Dark event held in the Academy’s lawns and courtyards. One piece was a light box literally fenced in with found posts. At four feet tall, it enjoined the viewer to peer over the wooden barrier into the illuminated image: a bird’s eye view of a street-lit, plate lunch restaurant surrounded by concrete. Another was a ubiquitous stainless steel public bathroom paper towel dispenser, that when opened revealed a back-lit view of Honolulu city lights from afar through a chain link fence. On the back of a free-standing piece was a QR code (a two-dimensional bar code) that, when scanned with a phone, linked the viewer directly to the collectives website. The effect was almost better for the viewer of the viewer. Patrons were illuminated from the pieces like a film MacGuffin, the idol from The Raiders of the Lost Ark, the steel case from Pulp Fiction; the wide-eyed glow of discovered treasure. After standing in line with a mass of posers, some scenesters got a Friday night treat to those big ideas.

The project belies easy sociology. The first topic, “Transportation,” a discussion of the prospective rail system and Honolulu without a car (a reality for thousands in the city), presents shared themes of urban American reality. Yet the concept is also about the western endpoint of the interstate system’s manifest destiny: eight

lanes of concrete poured in a swath through verdant community. Art as an act of defiance set within the historical context of almost forgotten battles for Kalama Valley and Sand Island, and freeway building through poor black communities that occurred at the same time across America. It’s doubtful the collective will showcase the joys of cruising Waikīkī in a blaring rental SUV. (Also unlikely: neon hoverboards flying through geodesic domes.)

The post H-1 Americanized Honolulu that birthed the 2059 cultural vanguard are no ABC Store Tomorrowland futurists.

Why such an ambitious subject as The Future? Because the apocalypse probably won’t show up in 2012. Even if it does, it’s going to take a few extra years to get here, like good music from the Mainland, pre-internet. Mostly because it’s our city too. Young creative Honoluluphiles don’t really fear that the city’s going to meet its end; we fear rather that it will suck beyond recognition. A humid city where the only hikes are paved or officially closed, the local sound is hotel Muzak, art can only be viewed drunk or as fashion. All things safe and packaged for the visiting dollar. There’s reason to fear a hot, banana poka and mini-mall choked tropical city teeming with mongoose and tourists. A place made increasingly more placid and ugly, where, as Lake puts it, “we’re OK with beige stucco, and call palm chevron security gates ‘local architecture.’”

The 2059 website is already up and running. As students of the now, the project editors realize the necessity and power of technology. Those advances, however, may not help futurists deal with the physical and ideological structures inherited over the last 50 years of statehood. It will take more than design to undo the adherence to the market and the military that gave us the H-3 Freeway (with its numerous international design awards), the 18 golf courses in Maui County alone (also

beautiful and awarded), or the Honolulu big box mega-stores where battles were fought and bones still rest.

History does not repeat itself. However, if the post-Ossipoff, post-commodified Honolulu design set can glean anything from the last 50 years of statehood, it’s that the next 50 will be noted by dramatic change. In the actual year 2059, a retrospective of Honolulu’s arts and culture will bear at least a few of the visuals created by this project. The future of our aesthetic, of our presentation to the world, is now.

IN TRANSIT

profiling individuals in varying states of transition

The moments that define the makeup of our lives, that get us from one point to the next, oscillate between inconsequential and profound. Some moments are quiet and small — like a daughter shrieking in delight at the thought of driving through the car wash with mom — others are immensely and immediately life changing — like losing a brother to suicide. Either way, it is these moments, big and small, that propel us forward, that cause us to transition into the present.

Here we feature four individuals all in varying states of transition themselves. There’s Angelina Pereira, one of Hawai‘i’s top female mixed-martial arts athletes, who transitions from ferocious fighter to mom on a daily basis. Can she be a fighter and a role-model for her daughter? Then there’s Andrew

Batista, a dedicated Mormon who still struggles with temptation and homosexuality. Matt Ortiz takes us into his printmaking studio where he discusses the transition from the permanence of printmaking to the detached and temporary nature of digital. And also how in today’s world, it may be implausible to have one without the other. Lastly we follow the twisted, convoluted journey of Gideon Wendirad, who fled war-torn Ethiopia in the ‘70s. What we thought existed as truth, was true, but only in terms of someone else’s journey. Gideon’s story is one of redemption, a message of unconditional acceptance that allowed Gideon to speak his own truth.

Angie Pereira

ANGIE PEREIRA

the role, model fighter

‘Tsss. Tsss. Tss.’ A powerful roundhouse kick and a finishing blow to the heavy leather boxing bag leave it quivering in mid-air. “Sometimes you must hold your breath before you throw the final punch,” Haru tells his fighters at Central O‘ahu Jiu Jitsu in Wahiawā. “For maximum force.”

There are only three training at Central O‘ahu but the air is already hot and sweaty. Haru begins calling out combos. Two jabs to the front, tsss, tsss. A quick hook to the jaw, tsss. One uppercut to the face, tss. All eyes are on the fighter in the right corner, whose punches come quicker and sharper than the other two. Her name is Angelina Pereira, and you better believe when she hits, she hits hard.

It’s lunchtime on a Thursday afternoon, and the atmosphere at The Shack in Mililani is buzzing with testosterone. Soldiers from nearby Schofield, construction guys in steel-toe boots, a group of aloha-shirt-clad baseball fans. Angelina Pereira glides through the door in a colorful, sleeveless tunic and jeans, exuding the carefree spirit of summer and a sexy vitality that turns just about every customer’s head. A big smile spreads across Pereira’s face, amplifying the beauty accentuated by her smartly shaped brows, mascara-lifted lashes, and shimmering lip gloss.

Freshly showered after her morning workout, it’s time to refuel. The chicken wings and potato skins get nominated — they’re delicious, she insists — but the undesirable grease factor defeats the temptation, and she compromises with a basket of fries.

For Pereira, 130 is the magic number. If she’s over, like she is now, she knows it. Her weight consciousness is not a function of vanity, though. To the contrary, it’s a function of discipline. The charming hot wings lover is one of Hawai‘i’s top female Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) contenders. Her concentrations are Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai. She currently competes in the 130-pound weight class, and so far she’s won every tournament she’s entered.

Why, the question begs, would a loving and lovable girl like Angie want to jump in a ring and fight?

“I guess it’s kind of in my blood,” the passionate athlete considers. She mentions her grandfather, a fifth-degree black belt in kajukenbo, and her uncle, whose Wahiawā boxing gym was where she first got her brawl on six years ago. The Pearl City High School grad was consistently involved in after-school athletics, so she had a natural affinity for physical training and competition.

“I used to get picked on a lot,” Pereira says. “I hate people who bully. Now my skills make me feel confident.” In a society where male intimidation remains prevalent, this aspect of martial arts undoubtedly gives female practitioners a greater sense of security. Success, however, doesn’t come without self-discipline and hard work. For Pereira it translates into five-to-six hours of training a day. Her standard routine includes a two-hour morning workout at the 24-Hour Fitness close to her Mililani home, where she builds cardio, strength and endurance. Her circuit training, she stresses, is intense — “not like getting on a stairclimber for 50 minutes,” but more like “pushing until you feel like you’re going to pass out.”

In the afternoons or evenings, Pereira’s at Central O‘ahu in kickboxing or jiu-jitsu class where she learns strategy and hones technique. “You can never master it,” she says, explaining her motivation. “You know that there are always people better than you, and that keeps me going.” Pereira’s training also exacts a mental and physical price. She rattles off the injuries she has sustained like a routine shopping list: a broken foot, three broken toes, damaged rib cage, and a hairline fracture on her chin. “I sprain my toes all the time,” she dismisses. But her unwavering discipline pays off. When Pereira gets in the ring, she reveals just how seriously she takes her commitment. Before a tournament, “I’m fully meditating,” she says. She goes over moves, mechanisms and combinations. She forces her mind to get “in the zone.” And, she adds, “I pray a lot.”

A video clip of her match against Jennalyn Ganaban at the 2008 Mixed Martial Arts Championship unveils the fierce lioness inside the sweet girl. In the opening round, Pereira susses out her opponent’s vulnerabilities, figuring out where she makes mistakes. Ganaban turns on the heat in

Text by Catherine Lo

Photo by Christen Vidanovic

ANGIE’S DEFINITION OF “FIGHTING” IS: “TWO CONSENTING COMPETITORS TESTING THEIR SKILLS IN A CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT.”

the next round, initiating jabs and side-kicks. Pereira instantly counters. Her explosive punches and tactical kicks force Ganaban to call timeout more than once. Pereira grins at the camera from behind her black headgear. In the final round, a flurry of severe punches thrown by Pereira’s tireless fists traps Ganaban in the corner, where she doubles over. After separating the two alpha females, the referee leans over and says something to Ganaban, who is still hunched over.

“He’s asking he if she’s OK,” Angie snickers. “Cuz she can’t breathe!”

The ref waves his hand to end the match. Pereira wins by technical knockout (TKO), dominating her division as Hawai‘i’s new X-I women’s kickboxing champion.

***

Of the company she keeps, there’s one person in particular she calls “[her] joy.” That’s her seven-yearold daughter Moereni — her “beautiful baby girl who is growing up and becoming a beautiful young lady.” Whether it’s practicing soccer in the park or a picnic at the beach, the affectionate single mom tries to do something special with her daughter every week.

“Don’t laugh,” Angie says, prefacing their favorite thing to do together. “We go to the gas station and buy corn nuts and Icees, and we drive through the car wash.” While the high-pressure jets spray soapy water against the doors and the heavy-duty mitter curtain crawls slowly over the windshield, they talk about what’s going on in school, what’s going on with Moereni’s friends. The way Angie talks about her daughter, it’s apparent that the unique bond they share lends unconditional strength to her resilience. Embracing every facet of her goofiness, Angie laughs and says, “That’s the thing we do.”

***

The question still remains: How can such a lover be a fighter?

“MMA gets the wrong kind of exposure,” Angie contends. First and foremost, it is a showcase

Relentless: The 130-pound fighter trains five to six hours a day, honing strategy and technique here at Central Oahu Jiu-Jitsu in Wahiawa.

of individual martial arts, she explains, hence the name “Mixed Martial Arts.” Repeatedly referring to it as “fighting” — as perpetuated by the inescapable Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC, an organization that has promoted MMA tournaments since 1993 — certainly reinforces the sport’s violent reputation. Brazen attitudes, clenched fists, and skull-and-crossbones hype notwithstanding, the loaded language of “fighting,” it’s been argued, oversimplifies and undermines the true purpose of MMA. But it’s hard, obviously, to dismiss the implications of titles like “Skrap” and “Uproar” (both Hawaii magazines that have featured Angie), and it’s even harder to defend the cult of aggression that the fast-growing popularity of MMA has fostered.

Angie tries to clarify her perspective, drawing on football as a comparison. The rough sport is commonly accepted to be a strategic game, she points out, but what if people — especially people who don’t understand the rules — just called it what it looks like? “The players just run at each other and bang their heads, trying to take each other out,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Head butt — what’s the skill in that?”

Angie’s definition of “fighting” is matter-offact: “Two consenting competitors testing their skills in a controlled environment.

“We both agreed to get in the ring,” she says, fully taking responsibility for the risk she incurs, not to mention the threat she might pose. “Obviously, [the opponent] believes they can defend themselves, but I wouldn’t let it get that far. I’ve gotten to the point where I see stars,” the unrelenting competitor admits. At that point, she says, she has to psyche herself up. “I tell myself, ‘If you fall down, Ange, you’re gonna lose. And that’s gonna suck. Snap the fuck out of it. Get with the program. Start punching her.”

“I’m not going to just get injured,” she

continues. While a mouthpiece and headgear serve as protective measures, what Angie relies on most are the defensive skills she’s learned. That, and her iron will.

Angie is conscious of how many turns the course of her future may take, whether they come by competing in MMA on a professional level, leaving college and starting a career, or growing as a parent alongside Moereni. Fortunately, there’s one transition that she seems well in control of — how to get from dreamer to doer. A few years ago, the deliberate optimist wrote down an ambitious life plan that outlined her personal goals. She recently stumbled upon it and discovered, “I’m totally right on track.” Her accomplishments validate her guiding philosophy: “If the mind can conceive it, it can achieve it.”

Her cell phone rings. It’s time to pick up Moereni from school. With any luck, Angie’s car needs a wash. And even if it doesn’t, they might head to the car wash anyway.

Mess with Moereni, and this chick will knock you out.

ANDREW BATISTA

the rigorous struggle of mormonism and homosexuality

Andrew Batista is a gay man. He is also a Mormon. Not exactly two characteristics you’d expect one person to share. In 2007, over the stifling drama all too frequent in Hawai‘i, he left, bound for Augden, Utah, to complete a twoyear Mormon mission. It seems Andrew’s journey has come full circle, recently returning from his mission to find that things hardly change. Despite potential repercussions he could face by the Mormon church, Andrew was surprisingly candid about his homosexuality, the transition of his life, pre-and-post mission, and even the Mormon “special” underwear.

** Because of potential repercussions he could face from the Mormon church, Andrew requested he remain anonymous. His name and the names within this article have been changed.

Your whole life you grew up being Mormon. Were you really into it when you were younger? Not really, because I was never really accepted by my peers growing up in the church. They weren’t nice to me. It was really messed up. They’d call me like, ‘girl’ or ‘fag.’

How old were you?

Little. Like elementary school. Intermediate was when it started getting pretty bad. So I stopped going. I was 15 when I left. All the way up to there it was heavy teasing.

Were you parents mad that you stopped going to church or did they understand?

They were probably disappointed that I stopped going, but I’m glad they let me stop going because my mom, when I talked to her, she never really knew how bad it was. She never realized how bad it was for for me at church. She didn’t see it.

When did you start to think you were gay, ever since you were going to church when you were younger?

Yeah, ever since then. Actually, I was watching Top Gun, and I thought Tom Cruise was cute, and that was like, what mid ‘80s? So I was like four or five. And I was already really so turned on.

So when people used to tease you at church, did you think even more so, I must be gay?

Yeahhh, but my mom was telling me, “You think you’re gay because you’re believing them, you’re believing what they’re saying.”

I know you were sort of gothic too. Was that after you left church?

Yes. I guess I was rebelling.

Is that when you started burning too?

Yup. Because I just wanted to be part of the group. And my peers in church, they weren’t accepting me, and so the only people that were accepting me were the mokes and the goths.

What would you guys do?

Smoke weed!

So you weren’t in the church for about five years. When did you start going back?

Like when I was about to turn 21. I remember my 21st birthday, I stopped doing everything already. I didn’t even drink on my 21st birthday.

The whole situation with your ex-boyfriend, David — with him sort of screwing you over — do you think that’s really why you started to turn back to God?

Yeah, because I realized that I was doing a lot of things wrong, and probably the reason why

I was so miserable was probably because of the bad choices that I was making. So I decided to make good choices instead and see if that makes a difference, because at that point I really had nothing to lose. I was so fed up and at my last straw that it was actually very enjoyable to go to church again. It felt good.

Then you went on your mission. How long were you away?

I stayed at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, for two months to learn the basics of Spanish, and also the basics of the things I would be teaching people about our church. Then I went to my mission in Augden, Utah for two years.

Is going on a mission a requirement in the Mormon church?

It is required in our church, for boys. For girls, it’s optional, but there’s a lot of female missionaries. The starting age that someone can go on a mission is 19. And then the cap age is like 25. After that, you can only serve on a mission with your spouse, when you’re both old.

No wonder it’s always younger guys on their bicycles.

Yeah, you won’t see an elderly couple on their bicycles.

Do you have to wear that uniform? Mmm hmm, yes.

Do they have a store you can buy it from, or can you choose what brand it is?

No you can go to JC Pennys. Or in Utah, they have a mall called the Missionary Mall. It’s like your one-stop shop if you’re going on a mission.

Text by Candice Nonaka

Photos by Lisa Yamada

SCHEDULE

Andrew’s set schedule while on his Mormon mission in Augden, Utah.

6:30 a.m. Wake up

6:30 – 7:00 Exercise

7:30 – 8:00 Breakfast. Like a bowl of cereal, toast, saimin.

9:00 – 10:00 Personal Study of the Scriptures and doctrine we teach as missionaries.

10:00 – 11:00 Language Study. I studied Spanish for an hour every day.

11:00 – Noon Proselytizing. Where you’re out and about, knocking on doors, talking to people on the street.

Noon – 1:00pm Lunch

1:00 – 5:00 Proselytizing again. You do the same thing. Meet with people, set up appointments.

5:00 – 6:00 Dinner

6:00 – 9:00 More proselytizing…

9:00 – 10:00 Planning tomorrow with missionary companion.

10:30pm Bedtime. By that time you’re super tired anyways, so you’re like, ‘heck yes.’ You’re looking forward to it.

They have everything.

Did you wear the special underwear? [giggles] …that’s weird. How do you know about that?

In high school we went to the Mormon temple in La‘ie and they told us about the special undergarments — What?! Shut up!

Why, do you have it on? …Yeah

…What does it look like?

It looks like boxer briefs on the bottom, and on the top it looks like a regular, men’s crewneck. But most of the time I wear the scoopneck. It comes a little lower, so you can’t see it.

Does you dad wear it?

Mmm hmmm.

Do they have a women’s one? Mmm hmm. So my mom wears it too.

Why do you wear it?

It protects us. It’s supposed to, I mean, if we live the commandments, and if we remain worthy, it’s supposed to be a protection against danger, against temptation. All of that kind of stuff.

Do you wear underwear and then wear that over? No.

And you can’t show it to anyone? What if you’re married?

Well, your wife you can show it to, yeah.

What if you bent over and it peeked out? Is that bad?

Whaaat?

You know, like sometimes you can see people’s underwear poking out from the back? Is it bad for other people to see it?

No, well for the crew neck, it’s ok that it shows.

So basically you can’t go on a mission again until you get married? Yes. Correct.

Is that a goal for you, marriage? I do think so.

Like, do you check out girls? I really, don’t really think about girls. Not really.

In the sexual way? Yeah.

Do you think if you get married you’re doing it just because that’s what you should do? No, because I wouldn’t be able to do that. If I get married, it would have to be because I love them, because if not I would rather stay single.

Even if you couldn’t go on a mission again? Even if I couldn’t go on a mission again.

Do you think…feel like, you still like guys? Yes.

Do you think you would ever be gay again? Be in a gay relationship? No.

That sounds like there’s a ‘but.’ Do you still feel like you’re gay? I am.

But you’re just not going to act on it? Yes.

Ever?

Ever.

And you’re ok with that? Does it make you sad? I mean, because it makes me a little sad for you, that you cannot just be what you want… But I don’t want to be that. It is tough, but it’s something that I really don’t want to be. And it’s not because what my church believes, it’s because I really just experimented, felt it out, and I don’t really want to go down that road, even though I still have feelings for guys. I really don’t want to pursue that.

Ok, so I know you said you’re gay. Do you think you were born gay? No.

So how do you think, not just you, but why do you think people are gay?

I think that everybody can be gay —

Like everyone has a tendency — Exactly. It’s just what you let yourself do.

So you think you can NOT be gay?

Yeah, for sure. Because in our church, just because you have, just because you’re attracted to the same sex doesn’t mean that you’re sinning. It’s the actual act of acting on it. Because a guy can be attracted to a woman and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Right. So what do you do when you leave the mission? After exactly two years, are they like, ok you can go home now? Uh-huh.

What if you wanted to stay longer? You can’t. Because you need to go back to school, get an education, find a wife and

start a family. So no you can’t stay on your mission. I do really miss it, and yeah, I would like to go back.

What has been the hardest part about coming home?

Temptation. Falling back into old lifestyles. …Yeah. Super bad. But I’m doing this thing where I give up one thing a week. So last week it was cigarettes, because last week I started to really get cravings and not care if I smoked a cigarette or not.

Did your mom know you smoked after you came back from your mission?

No she doesn’t know. But I’ve been doing good, I’ve made a week already without smoking, over a week actually, and tomorrow, I’m giving up one more thing, and I’m trying to think what it is. Maybe it could be swearing.

You haven’t sworn all night. Do you really think it’s hard for you to not swear?

I swear a lot now. Cuz the people around me have a dirty mouth. Now I’m swearing like a sailor, eff this, eff that.

Do you want to share anything more? Is there anything burning that you would like to put in the article?

Now that I’m back, I’m still tempted and all that, but even though I’m kind of one foot on the bad path, one foot on the good path right now, I’ll always know that it’s actually the good path that I should be on and supposed to be on. And so I know that it’ll take time, but I know that I can get back on it.

MATTHEW KAWIKA ORTIZ

print and digital arts converge and matt ortiz tells why it might be impossible to have one without the other

Due to advances in modern technology and materials, wood is no longer the staple substrate that it once was. My work focuses on wood as a cultural residue and addresses the societal pressure to advance from the intimate hand-made process to fast-paced, industrial production. By cutting and assembling discarded wood “scraps” into the technological icon of the pixel and then relief printing the matrix, I present the viewer with a modified interpretation of our unremorseful disregard for “archaic” technology. –Matt Ortiz, on “RGB”

In Matthew Kawika Ortiz’s illustration, titled “Divergence,” a woodgrain watermill on the left intersects with a hodgepodge of steel machinery from the right, forming a segment where the two opposed objects intersect. On the surface, and in the most moralistic interpretation, the print is a metaphor for a society increasingly swamped by technology, as the harsh, Transformers-like apparatus seems to be devouring the quaint watermill. Ortiz isn’t so literal.

“I think I’m right here,” he says, pointing to the midsection where steel meets wood. “I’m not a purist. The idea was two opposites balancing each other. I know a lot of people are drawn to the left side because there’s something nostalgic about it. And [the right side] seems very cold and calculating, but I think for me, as an artist, I can’t choose one over the other because I have my feet in both worlds.”

This artistic dichotomy between tradition and futurism is most clearly articulated in Vers, a line of screen-printed T-shirts that Ortiz started with fellow artist and fiancé, Roxanne Chasle. The organic cotton T-shirts feature detailed, line-based prints of surfers and animals – one print, titled “Tuned to Nature,” stars a Hawaiian owl wearing a set of oversized headphones. Although the designs are simple, screenprinting them is nothing but, particularly because Ortiz is “inspired and

committed to producing work that is analog, that bears the hand of the artist.” After drawing or woodblocking (essentially an oversized, handcarved stamp) each design, the prints go through various transitions involving Photoshop, transparencies and sunlight exposure before being screen-printed, by hand, onto shirts. The result is limited edition, one of-a-kind prints.

“A lot of times fine art is inaccessible,” says Ortiz, 26, who graduated from University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2008 with a BFA in printmaking. “So a practical way of creating artwork that our friends could have was T-shirts. It’s not a new concept — to screen artwork on apparel – and a lot of people are doing it, but it was just our way of getting involved and putting our art work out there in a way that was affordable.”

Ortiz, who was homeschooled in La‘ie before graduating from Kamehameha Schools, is prone to such self-effacing statements when discussing his art. His work — which includes everything from watercolor illustrations for a local children’s book (How Hau became Hau‘ula) to large-scale, reduction-style woodblock prints featured at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Schaefer International Gallery — generally explores themes of nature and cultural identity.

“I’m quarter Hawaiian, half Mexican and a quarter Chinese, so I’m constantly using art to figure out my identity and where I stand,” says Ortiz, as he showed me around the printmaking studio at UH Mānoa, dressed in board shorts, a Vers T-shirt and slippers. Prints of his recent work were scattered throughout the studio, including his senior thesis, “RGB,” which examined the concept of digital pixilation using a matrix of recycled woodblocks.

Pointing to an archaic, black and white woodblock print of a woman shielding a young girl from a villainous skeleton — “This is

Text by Mitchell Kuga

Photos by Haj Gollestani

“AS AN ARTIST, I’M JUST TRYING TO BE RESPONSIBLE IN THE WAY THAT I CONDUCT MYSELF— ENVIRONMENTALLY, CULTURALLY, SOCIALLY,”

one is actually a cool story,” Ortiz says. They appear to be on a train, with skulls and bottles of liquor hanging ominously overhead. The woman is a depiction of Ortiz’s great, great, great grandmother, who is protecting her daughter from Francisco “Pancho” Villa, a Mexican revolutionary known for marauding trains during the early 20th century. The story of how his great, great grandmother narrowly escaped the clutches of the famous bandit has become folklore in the Ortiz ohana. “We love to tell it,” he says.

Aesthetically, the print takes cues from Latin American poster art from the 19th century, all rough, intricate edges and Mexican-style embellishments. The texture of the woodblock is imprinted into the ink. It’s sentimental without being weepy.

“As an artist, I’m just trying to be responsible in the way that I conduct myself — environmentally, culturally, socially,” Ortiz says. “I’m not trying to save the world.”

Though in a certain way, he is. Apart from working at Re-use Hawai‘i, a nonprofit dedicated to recycling old wood from demolitions, Ortiz gets most of his material from the “scrap lumber”

section of the UH woodshop. “We try to be as green as we can,” he says. “Our [business] cards are all on recycled paper.”

Chasle, Ortiz’s fiancé, who is a UH graduate student majoring in drawing and painting, was busy sifting through a box of elaborately illustrated screen-prints of honeybees, each coated in melted beeswax. “My work is a lot about endangered species and nature, so I’m making a big swarm of bees,” Chasle, 25, says. “Have you heard about the honeybees? They’re all dying. It’s kind of a big deal.”

Another big deal is the invitation Ortiz received to participate in a show at the Museum of Contemporary Native Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this July. “I’m stoked. I love traveling and seeing the world — you get so many different ideas,” Ortiz says. “As an artist, transition is something that is constantly happening, so it’s important to adapt, to always stay with the times, whether it be technology, or current events or techniques. It’s just going with the flow and hoping that you don’t get left behind.”

www.vershawaii.com

GIDEON WENDIRAD

sometimes, in a state of shifting stories the focus turns. a story of redemption and unconditional acceptance that allows one man to speak his own truth.

He looked around and all he could see was what he saw yesterday and the day before as he barely drifted in an orange life raft: one shade of blue changing into another at the intersection of the Red Sea and the sky, where the most unforgiving sun hangs during blistering days and disappears during frigid nights.

The water and the wind were calm, a stark contrast to what was going on inside Gideon Wendirad’s head or on the outside of his body, the sun scorching and peeling off layers of his dark brown skin, the saltiest water on earth stinging the patches of rawness that were left.

He said he had watched the tall, Los Angeles-bound, Iranian cargo ship get smaller and disappear. He’d been discovered by the ship’s crew and taken to the captain, a man shorter than Gideon’s 5-foot-7 frame with bloodshot eyes and a lack of human dignity Gideon said he would never forget. The captain threw him overboard and left him, a refugee who fled war-torn Ethiopia only months before in 1978, to die with nothing but the life raft, an orange life vest, a day’s ration of food and only two days’ supply of hope. When that ran out, Gideon said he tried to kill himself, but a passing boat found him before he could.

But it was a lie. The stowing away, the life raft, the drifting, it never happened, at least not to him.

Gideon — who looks younger than his 51 years, with a mustache and curly black hair framing his narrow face — came to Honolulu three decades later. For four months, starting in November of 2008, his bed was a numbered mat on the floor of a warehouse at the Institute for Human Services men’s shelter. He, now an American citizen, said he had just been laid off from Norwegian Cruise Lines in Maui and had

been separated from his wife Nancy (who was back in Colorado) for three years.

It was then, he made a decision to join the growing ranks of the homeless on O‘ahu, a courageous decision to strip himself of everything, to find and build himself back up to be, he said, completely reliant on God because he had become too comfortable in the rut where he’d fallen.

His first week at IHS, Gideon heard about Hawai‘i Cedar, a small church in Kalihi. It was here, on a quiet Friday night, that Gideon shared his testimony for the first time. He stood in front of the small Bible study and recollected his “account,” his words falling easily from his mouth onto captive ears. He told about war in Ethiopia; a life raft in the Red Sea; a hot, dirty jail cell in South Yemen; about awaiting sponsorship while working for the U.S. Embassy in Kenya.

Gideon’s journey across continents and through countries is an incredible story and everyone he told bought into it, because, as Pastor Jimmy Yamada of Hawai‘i Cedar says, love always trusts. The fact that he came to O‘ahu broken and was healed (from what they could tell) in front of their eyes seemed to give him more credibility.

Besides, we all need heroes, those people who overcome what we believe our human limitations to be. We all need for good to overcome bad, even evil, because it gives us hope, because sometimes it even elevates us. That’s the story I wanted to write for FLUX Hawaii, a magazine that Gideon, after first being reached for the story, implored must be used to touch people and tell the truth. The fall from those lofty heights where heroes sometimes live, though, for all of us, can be can be as fast as the landing is hard. Our hero turned out to be his brother Samson, who Gideon sponsored and who made it to America a half-decade later, as tragic a hero as he became.

Text by Justin Hill

Illustrations by Farida Lam

When I talked with Gideon during the course of several-hours worth of phone calls several months later, after he moved back to Colorado, he was all too eager to share the story of that journey he only described as his own.

Gideon did flee Ethiopia and wound up living under an overturned boat in the small republic of Djibouti – 350 miles northeast of his hometown of Addis Ababa. But the truth ends there, before the life raft.

Lali Lai-Hipp, general case management program coordinator and guest advocate, has been with IHS for 11 years. She says she loves helping to make success stories and can size people and their motivations up quickly. She was impressed with Gideon’s drive to land a job, earn some money and buy a homebound ticket the moment he walked in the door looking for help. Gideon was quiet and kept to himself at IHS though, and anything outside of goals weren’t really discussed. “He took it from there,” says Lali. “He had focus, was polite, followed the rules and was very aware of his situation. Sometimes it’s just that easy.”

Although he didn’t have a degree from the University of Northern Colorado like

he claimed, he did work for a few months at Merrill Lynch in 2001 and held a Series 7 financial license, the most comprehensive of several securities licenses, which requires passing a six-hour, 260-question exam. It all helped Gideon land temporary positions through Office Team from February 2009 through May 2009, including a stop at Pacific Medical Collections.

But his losing-everything-to-gaineverything quest was ultimately “to experience God” and he began attending Hawai‘i Cedar in November 2008. He was at there every Friday for Bible study and every Sunday for service, sitting in the second or third row on the left. Pastor Jimmy was mentoring him once a month, and by February, Gideon began serving as a Bible study leader, rotating with Pastor Jimmy and others. About that time, Gideon managed to save up some money and Pastor Jimmy helped him out of IHS and into the church-owned safe house on Colburn Street. Pastor Jimmy said he saw pastor potential in Gideon, and if Nancy hadn’t heard a change in him during those long distance phone calls from Hawai‘i, if she hadn’t wanted to give it another try, Pastor Jimmy would have looked to raise Gideon up as a pastor. “We never even talked about him being a pastor, but there’s

no question in my mind Gideon could be a pastor, ” he says. “He had a heart’s desire to save people.”

Gideon even had a chance to preach, and for the first and last time, on the last Sunday morning of last May, he was nervous as he stood in front of the church and gave the message. The Friday before he went back to Colorado in June of 2009, after helping to serve 200 people a hot meal at the men’s facility of IHS as a way of giving back for what had been given to him, Gideon made good on that ticket home he’d been saving for. “We were not losing Gideon,” says Pastor Jimmy. “We were sending him out. I want Gideon where God wants him to be.”

After one of my first conversations with Gideon, I wrote to the editor in an e-mail: “What an amazing man with an amazing story! … [Gideon] is truly an inspiration. But to him, he doesn’t feel he was put in those lifeand-death places … those were just situations he happened to find himself in, but I disagree. I think he is special and was probably right where he was supposed to be.”

Gideon was as charming as he was believable, and had FLUX Hawaii not stumbled

For four months, Gideon’s bed was a numbered mat at IHS.

I UTTERLY REGRETTED IT THAT I EVEN TALK TO YOU ABOUT THIS STORY BECAUSE WHAT YOU DID WAS INVADING MY PRIVACY, GETTING INTO MY PERSONAL LIFE BEHIND MY BACK, WITHOUT MY KNOWLEDGE, OR CONSENT… THIS WOULD BE MY LAST COMMUNICATION WITH YOU WHETHER YOU WRITE MY STORY OR NOT.

upon him, he might still be telling someone else’s story as his own. We were all amazed at the things he claimed to have experienced. But the more questions I asked, the more gaps appeared. Gideon e-mailed me a clipping that ran in the Solomon (Islands) Star newspaper in late 1985 in an attempt to give his story credibility, only to have the clipping shake its very foundation. The clipping was about an Ethiopian refugee who went by the name of Samson, a name Gideon said he used with officials because he feared for his safety. The photo to the right of the text looked suspiciously tampered with, like it had been folded just above the refugee’s shoulders, blocking his face and any chance of confirming the identity of the man in the story. After being asked multiple times to explain the inconsistencies within his story of a year-and-a-half journey that he said began in the late 1970s, Gideon moved the start of his story’s timeline forward to late 1984 to fit the date of the clipping. He said he had been holding back “critical informations” because he was planning to write a book about the entire ordeal. Another writer, he thought, would surely understand.

But the new timeline didn’t fit with the phone calls I made to Cecil Debey and his son Henry. They had met Gideon in Djibouti in February 1979 and sponsored him to come to America about 18 months later.

I contacted Gideon, told him what I’d found and gave him one last chance to set the record straight. In one final e-mail, it all came

out, the truth wrapped in his anger.

“I utterly regretted it that I even talk to you about this story because what you did was invading my privacy, getting into my personal life behind my back, without my knowledge, or consent…I just wanted to let you know that this would be my last communication with you whether you write my story or not,” he wrote. “To set the record straight and just maybe if this is the doing of the Lord, I will tell you the truth.”

Samson is the one who paid the price for his quest and in those lies, Gideon benefited. Samson was the one who escaped a war in east Africa, but he was unable to escape the war in his head. He was later diagnosed with manic depression and bipolar disorder. He struggled with his medication and eventually took his life in San Francisco.

Then the suffering and the torture were Gideon’s, because suicide is never a victimless crime, and Samson’s struggle and his permanent solution to a temporary problem eventually tore Gideon’s world apart when the answers to his “whys” never came.

Maybe guilt — always a cruel, uninvited guest — over bringing his brother to America barged in and wouldn’t leave. By the time Samson left Ethiopia, the reign of the Derg — the militaristic, communist government bent on forcing male citizens into war and executing tens of thousands of those who dared go against it — was about to come to an end. It was dissolved in 1987, a year after Samson arrived in the U.S. Many of Gideon’s relatives stayed in Ethiopia, and if Samson would have, maybe he would still be alive, or maybe he wouldn’t. Gideon stopped talking or e-mailing before I could ask.

Gideon saw the inside of a courtroom several times after small run-ins with the law — he said he fell in with the wrong crowd, something he said is in the past — and later, after Samson was gone, after bouncing around a couple jobs, then attending the University of Northern Colorado, Gideon and Nancy separated.

He was looking for a way to get out of his stalemate in Colorado, to shake himself back to himself, a different approach to rock bottom than his brother had taken, when he saw an ad for a position with the cruise line that eventually brought him to Hawai‘i. The pieces of his life fell back into place on O‘ahu when, he said, he started trusting God.

“I have no anger toward God or toward

anyone in my life,” Gideon wrote in the e-mail, “but I don’t understand sometimes because it seems some things in life have no answers why they happen.”

Gideon’s story itself, as well as the process of writing this story, went through many transitions. But unlike his brother, when Gideon became a man with little else but questions and frustrations, he was surrounded by people who embodied a spirit of help and friendship — you might call it aloha — who loved unconditionally, trusted completely, gave wholeheartedly. At his rock bottom, Gideon was met with saving grace in Hawai‘i, and he found a purpose. And while he still has questions about his brother’s death, about the “whys,” maybe he has found a few answers.

“Life is precious and can be taken away at any time,” he once said. “Life is good. It doesn’t matter how hard a time you are going through, life is good. The grand purpose of life is to live for today. I see the purpose. It’s something I know from experience.”

RIVER STREET RESIDENCES

The debate about Chinatown’s homeless population wages on. While no one denies the problem, it’s the solutions that are harder to come by. Proponents for the proposed River Street Residences, say they’ve found at least a part of the solution, while others in the area, who have seen Chinatown’s many transitions, remain skeptical.

In 2005, Seattle’s Downtown Emergency Service Center tried something crazy. The homeless center targeted a portion of Seattle’s chronically homeless population who were suffering from severe alcoholism — reportedly consuming an average of nearly 16 alcoholic beverages per day — and gave them keys to their own apartments at 1811 Eastlake (which the project was later named), where residents were allowed to drink. Although treatment programs weren’t mandatory, on-site case managers worked to engage individuals about substance abuse and their life goals. After a year, drinking amongst the 75 residents declined by an average of five drinks per person. More resounding were the cost benefits. Prior to 1811 Eastlake, ignoring these homeless individuals was costing the state an average of $4,066 per person, each month — the cost of a revolving door of emergency rooms, jail cells and homeless shelters. After six months, housing costs at 1811 Eastlake dropped to a monthly average of $1,492 per person, and after 12 months, $958 per person. After a year, 1811 Eastlake saved taxpayers more than $4 million.

Following the success of 1811 Eastlake and similar projects around the country, the City and County of Honolulu proposed the River Street Residencies, a 100-unit permanent housing facility located in Honolulu’s Chinatown. The project would target and house the community’s homeless population, a third of whom suffer from mental illness or substance abuse. Taking cues from the “Housing-First” model, which places chronically homeless people in stable housing before requiring them to get sober, the River Street Residences would come equipped with on-site supportive services that address addiction and mental health issues, and provide staffing on a 24-hour basis. Although giving drug addicts the keys to their own apartment may seem counterintuitive, in cities

Text by Mitchell Kuga

Photos by Aaron Yoshino

The Housing-First model saves millions of dollars annually while keeping a significant portion of the homeless population off the streets.

Liana Benn, who manages Royal Kitchen in the Chinatown Cultural Plaza, is concerned over the safety of her neighborhood.

It’s yet to be seen how local business owners will be affected, Pauahi Leis & Flowers.

Izumo Taisha, a Shinto shrine, sits less than one block from the proposed River Street location.

like Portland and Chicago it’s a proven method of saving millions of dollars while significantly reducing homelessness on the streets.

In July 2009, the Downtown Neighborhood Board voted 6-to-2 in opposition to the River Street Residencies. “I would say that most people who live in a three to four block radius are overwhelmingly opposed,” says Karl Rhoads, the Hawai‘i State Representative for Downtown Chinatown, who lives in Honolulu Tower, located one block from River Street. “The opposition is fierce.”

In Chinatown — an area once known for its opium parlors and crack dens — new bars and coffee shops proliferate faster than you can say “yuppification.” Despite its transformation over the past decade, downtown Honolulu still boasts the second-highest concentration of homeless people on the island, and the highest concentration in Honolulu. The problem was voiced at the 2006 Chinatown Summit, which inspired the city Department of Community Services to propose a Housing-First residency on River Street, on the block between Vineyard Boulevard and North Kukui Street.

If approved, the River Street Residences would be situated within a one-block radius of three temples or shrines — Lum Sai Ho Tong, Izumo Taisha and Kuan Yin — all of which are trafficked primarily by tourists and Chinatown’s elderly population. Central Middle School is located three blocks down the street. Mun Lun and Sun Yat Sen, two Chinese language schools, are less than a block away on Maunakea Street.

Opponents fear that a residence housing the chronically homeless would put children and the elderly in the area at risk. “It would be very dangerous to test something out like that in that area,” says Howard Lum, spokesperson for the Concerned Citizens on River Street Housing, which, according to Lum, has over 3,000 signatures in opposition to the project. “Everyone is aware and knows that something needs to be done, but it’s the wrong place. It’s like, ‘how do we put a size eight shoe on a size 10 foot?’ It’s a difficult thing and what we have here is a misfit. It’s the center of our spiritual community.”

Debbie Kim Morikawa, the director of the Department of Community Services, views the proximity to temples and shrines as a potential benefit. “Homeless people need

spirituality just as much as anyone else, so that’s probably a really ideal place to have it.” She repeatedly describes the location, which is city-owned property, as “ideal,” being on “the edge of Chinatown,” at “the end of the street that most people don’t really traverse.”

Detractors also fear that River Street Residences would become a magnet for drug addicts, a problem that has plagued River Street in the past. Over the years, from the counter at Royal Kitchen located at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza, restaurant manager Liana Benn has seen River Street’s many ups and downs.

When canopies were installed on the promenade fronting Royal Kitchen, Benn says the area became a haven for drug addicts, many of whom were homeless and in search of shade. “When the druggies were here, the families had nowhere to sit. They would stand on the table and would be smoking up a storm. It was an ugly scene,” she says. Two years ago, the canopies became the stomping ground for a gang from Chicago, which deterred Royal Kitchen regulars from visiting. “On some occasions, I have had to walk women back to their cars, because some of the characters here would make them scared,” says Benn.

Since the City removed the canopies in

In Chinatown, new bars and coffee shops proliferate faster than you can say “yuppification.” Despite its transformation, downtown Honolulu still boasts the second-highest concentration of homeless people on the island.

What the next step? Clients must be out of the Next Step shelter in Kaka‘ako at 8 a.m. and return at 6 p.m. to ensure a space is saved. While shelters play an important role in housing the homeless community, it is certainly a tumultuous lifestyle.

May 2008, Benn says the area has improved significantly, and with it, so has business. “We became more family friendly,” she says. “We don’t need to have another magnet for drug addicted and alcohol addicted people. Why are we always the magnet? Why is it that, whenever people get out of jail, they come here first? Everyone’s saying, ‘not in my backyard,’ but you can put them in Chinatown’s backyard?”

Other organizations in the downtown Chinatown area that cater to the homeless include Safe Haven, a transitional home for people with mental disabilities; River of Life Mission, a food bank and emergency shelter; and Institute for Human Services, which provides supportive services like addiction treatment and legal aid. Next Step shelter is down the street in Kaka‘ako. “No one can say that we’re a heartless community,” says Rep. Rhoads. “There are all kinds of social services in the neighborhood.”

Rhoads, who hasn’t taken a position for or against the project, says he has concerns about its permanence. “It does seem to me that if you build more [services for the homeless], it’s kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you put all the homeless organizations in a specific location, then yes, you get to be the homeless district forever. I don’t think that’s really fair.”

Benn suggests putting the project in another area, with hopes that the saturated homeless population in downtown Chinatown will disperse to other communities. Morikawa stresses that it’s unreasonable to expect the homeless community in Chinatown to move to another area. “They’re not going to go anywhere else because that’s their home. All of their familiarity is in Chinatown and they’re already in a paranoid state. Why are they going to go somewhere strange?” she says. “There are no laws that can force them to leave.”

Morikawa also stresses community policing, or the presence of a 24-hour staff, as a deterrent to crime in the area. “People say it’s already a dangerous area, so how could this make it worse?” says Morikawa. “Right now, there’s nothing really there at night. It’s an isolated area so if people wanted to conduct criminal activity, who’s going to complain? At least this way, you have a 24-hour presence. You have a staff there who knows, if anything goes on there, they’re going to get blamed for it.”

No studies exist that show Housing-First residences increase criminal activity in a district. “A lot of the fear exists because people often consider themselves as being sort of different from homeless individuals,” says Ryan MacyHurley, the director for Research, Training and Technical Assistance at Beyond Shelter,

an organization in Los Angeles that specializes in providing Housing-First residences for families. “They [the homeless] are stereotyped in all sorts of ways in terms of being child molesters, in terms of being criminals, and often times, chronically homeless individuals are just people who have severe disabilities and just need a lot of support in order to get back into housing. But they’re not a threat to society. They’re just like any other people who need chances in life.”

In downtown Honolulu, 44 percent of the district’s homeless population, or 138 out of 390 individuals, are chronically homeless, meaning they’ve either been homeless for more than a year or have a disabling condition that has contributed to at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Government. The percentage of downtown’s chronically homeless population is 12 percent higher than Honolulu as a whole.

The traditional model used to dealing with homelessness, known as “Continuum of Care,” takes homeless individuals through various “levels” of housing that include emergency shelters and transitional homes, most requiring residents to commit to sobriety or medication before entering. The model has failed to work for those who have been chronically homeless for long periods of time.

“It doesn’t work because sobriety or committing to medication is not what they necessarily need or want first,” says MacyHurley. “They just want a place to call their own so they can get away from the madness and the chaos that is homelessness.”

Where shelters have been effective at managing homelessness, Housing-First projects around the country have provided a solution: saving millions of dollars annually while keeping a significant portion of the homeless population — typically the most severe, and thus most expensive cases — off the streets.

The River Street Residencies would be the first Housing-First project in the state of Hawai‘i, and echoing the inception of other Housing-First projects, like the one at 1811 Eastlake, there has been tremendous community concern. Pamela Menter, the program director of Mental Health Kokua’s Safe Haven and the chairwoman of Partners in Care, says that there was similar hysteria surrounding Safe Haven, which is located near Hawai‘i Pacific University. “Now people don’t even realize that it’s there,” she says.

Menter understands that people have their fears — based both on sensationalized stereotypes and legitimate safety concerns — but hopes the community can work together towards a solution. She sees the River Street Residencies, which is currently on hold until Chinatown residents approve the project, as a launching pad for a much-needed conversation about homelessness. “It’s not really about this one project. It’s about a community need. We need to take care of this part of our population and this has been proven as one effective way to do it: the Housing-First model,” she says. “Even if it doesn’t end up being at this particular place, at this particular time, we are not giving up the fight because I really think it boils down to ‘everyone deserves a home and an opportunity at housing.’”

Surfers Giving Back: Internationally and locally, Surfing The Nations believes surfing is a vehicle to bring hope and change. STN volunteers in Egypt.

WAHIAWA TRANSFORMED surfing

the nations

The Wahiawā at night, I am told, is a lot different than the Wahiawā at day. It’s past midnight, and I’m standing in the middle of the infamous Ohai Street. I’m hoping (morbidly) to see a good brawl go down. But the streets are unusually — eerily — quiet. We walk to California Avenue. The usual crews that huddle in side alleyways are all gone. The few prostitutes out are sitting listlessly on storefronts. We talk to one homeless man in 40 minutes.

I’m walking to 7-11 with three other girls from Surfing The Nations, a local nonprofit who moved into the neighborhood about a year ago. They attribute the quietness to a recent flurry of suicides during the week. It started with one, then three more followed suit. It seems some sort of epidemic. We come across a memorial built in remembrance of one of the boys. I see a smiling 20-something, handsome, well-built. “These aunties have been here every night since it happened,” one of the girls tells me.

We make our way back down toward the Texas Bar. One of my guides, Charis Bauer, recollects a conversation she had one night with a patron exiting the bar. “Oh I just came here to get a drink,” he tells her quickly, dismissively. He is the owner of one of the many discount car dealerships in the area, and for Charis, that is part of the problem. “People have that mentality, like ‘I’m not doing the really bad stuff,’ but their support of those things are

building the momentum of all the shadiness.”

Charis, 24, is the youngest daughter of Tom and Cindy Bauer, who established Surfing The Nations in 1997 with the hope of giving communities a message of love and hope though the sport of surfing and acts of selfless service. Surfing, they believe, is a powerful catalyst that brings hope, introducing peoples and societies to a way of life they never dreamed possible. Tom founded the organization on the principle of “surfers giving back,” believing that surfing can be used as a vehicle to bring about positive change. At the time of this writing, there are 51 volunteers that help run the organization’s daily operations. They are all housed in STN’s newly-acquired apartment building complex in Wahiawā.

While the organization is faith-based, Charis, who is in charge of creating an entirely new structure for the organization, says the mission of STN is not to “get you saved.”

The key word is hope. “We are truly surfers giving back in terms of the surf community and changing the whole way of surf culture in Hawai‘i.”

Presently, STN’s largest outreach is their Feeding the Hungry program, which started in 1998, when Cindy began personally delivering food boxes from the trunk of her car to local families in the Kalihi Valley area. Now it is one of the largest food distribution programs on

the island, providing food for more than 4,000 people every week. Here they come face to face with many of Hawai‘i’s homeless, disabled, drug and alcohol addicted, and working poor.

This year, they will also hold their fourth annual Freedom Surf Contest, “Surfers For a Drug-Free Hawai‘i,” a three-day event held at Kuhio Beach in Waikīkī. Last year, they had 215 contestants surfing to support a drugfree Hawai’i and seeking to raise awareness of substance abuse, rehabilitation programs on O‘ahu.

Their reach expands internationally as well, and they believe surfing can free peoples. Each year STN makes yearly trips to Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Israel, Egypt and China. “We see in these places broken worlds of hurt,” says Tom, “[ravaged] by things like extreme poverty, civil war, government corruption and massive population growth.”

It’s been just over a year since STN moved their headquarters to Wahiawā. Indeed the small town too is broken, overrun with violence, prostitution and drug and alcohol abuse. “Wahiawā is viewed as just a dirty pit stop and the dirt hole,” says Charis, “and that mentality has spread in how people engage with this area. From what I hear, people are just here

Text by Lisa Yamada

Photos courtesy of

Surfing

Nations

The Stoke: A young Bangladeshi

for their weekly fix. They come in already not caring because this is not their home.

“In downtown or Chinatown,” she continues, “there’s nice stores, nice restaurants. Here in Wahiawā, it’s not like we can just say, ‘Oh, we go movies.’ This is just a pit stop and that’s all its for.”

Andrew Kitakis, owner of Hawai‘i Music Supply, points out the interesting dichotomy within Wahiawā. “Up the heights, there are tons of great families and even on the other side of [our store]. But within those areas that are a bit rundown and low-income, you have all the problems of a major city within a little town.”

Kitakis also owns Higher Ground, a coffee shop with a state-of-the-art recording studio. Kitakis says he wanted a nice place that the community could come and enjoy music. Live bands would play nightly shows in the café and be able to record their music at the same time. But while the music studio is still open, the coffee portion recently went out of business, closing its doors last year.

“We couldn’t make the coffee shop happen from the numbers side,” he says. “There are over 5,000 people between the ages of 18 and 24 at Schofield [Barracks], but maybe they don’t even try to look for cool stuff within

[Wahiawā] town because it’s just that kind of place with some strip bars and weird people.”

Interestingly enough, Wahiawā is home to “Church Row,” where churches of every denomination and varying religions line the street. It’s easy to start wondering why, if there are so many churches in the area, are there so many hurting people? Charis attributes this to the lack of one united vision. “You have these people — Christians, Catholics, Mormons, Buddhists — they all have a piece of the pie, but they are still trying to make the pie themselves, when they need to be a team because they’re not mixing everything right.”

Surfing The Nations has been partnering with many other organization within the community — including the Wahiawā Neighborhood Board and the Wahiawā Community Governance Coalition, a group of organizations coming together to develop solutions to better the community — to achieve one common goal: revitalization. “We all want revitalization,” says Wendy Atabay, a police office in Wahiawā for eight years, “to upgrade, change architecture, design, make the city more aesthetically pleasing.” Atabay is also helping manage the Coalition.

But instead of eradicating the problems,

Charis says she’s heard law enforcement wants simply to confine and contain them. “We watch drug dealers from our balcony, and you know exactly what’s going on, but no one’s doing anything about it.”Atabay says the problem is that people are fearful of retribution if they come forward, both victims and local property owners alike. “Or they just don’t care.”

Indeed. After interviewing a local business owner in Wahiawā, I came to realize how true these statements were. This business owner addressed the deep need for change in Wahiawā. “I wish the public, residents, would help,” he tells me. “I try to do what I can, call the police when I see a problem,” but many, he says, even the city council, turn a blind eye.

A short while later, I get a call from this same concerned business owner who says he doesn’t want his name used. “I just don’t feel comfortable,” he says. So much for public advocacy.

The Surfing The Nations compound is immediately recognizable. Their storefront on Kamehameha Highway is still that unmistakably florescent, bright green color

The former Top Hat bar is being remodeled to make way for a coffee shop and internet café where anyone from all walks of life is welcome.

Still that same unmistakable, florescent green, “The Bar,” is next to an adult book store and strip club.

Feeding the Hungry: Surfing The Nations has multiple food distribution outreaches all throughout O‘ahu, including this one here in Wahiawa.

left by the previous tenants, formerly the Top Hat Bar. Just inches to their right is Divine Pleasures, an adult bookstore stocked with adult toys, lingerie and even private viewing booths. At the corner is Club Texas, a strip joint that Charis calls one of the “centers of organized night activities.”

The prostitutes, mostly mahus, will pick up guys at the corner of California Avenue, and they’ll bring them down into the Texas or up to the Bunny Club, another club up the street, she says.

“Ultimately Surfing The Nations wants to see Wahiawā restored,” Charis says. “Keep that historical aspect, but turn it into an art, music and surf culture hub. Thriving. Where it’s sort of like a Nashville or Los Angeles, to get that much respect … where this is the bulletin board for talent in terms of how Hawai‘i can express [itself].” Of course, she realizes that change to this extent will not happen overnight.

“There’s stages, there’s protocol, and we have to use wisdom in that,” she acknowledges. “But I’m already strategizing in my head, so that when the time comes, when God puts me in that position, I can do that … that in 10 years the transition in Wahiawā is just amazing.”

But the organization is only at the beginning of stage one. On any given day, STN volunteers can be seen busily working to restore the old Top Hat, painting trims a crisp white or putting in new windows. Right

now, the bar serves as their meeting area, but eventually they want to turn it into a community-coffee shop. It has, ironically, been difficult for them to obtain a non-liquor license, in order to refrain from serving alcohol. Their renovation of the bar’s front has not gone unnoticed. “By remodeling this bar,” says Joe Francher, who sits on the Wahiawā Neighborhood Board with Cindy Bauer, “they’ve done wonders. … [STN] is located at one of the principle parts where crime and drug dealing are more visible. … The area is now a little more friendlier to walk around.”

STN likes the idea of keeping it named “The Bar,” but wants to redefine what the word bar means, keeping the original intent there, but minus the drugs and alcohol. “It’s a place where the rich, the poor, the dirty, the ugly, the prostitute, the business man – whoever – can come in one area and is going to be accepted no matter what,” Charis says. “A place where you try to find hope or cover things up.”

Atabay says the organization has chosen a great location. “They always have their doors open, especially for juveniles, and the area as a whole is now more open. It seems all the youth are traveling to Surfing The Nations.”

They’ve already connected with a few of the local boys, including two 19-year-olds, Hapakela or “Hapa” and twin brother I‘olani Pancho.

“By remodeling this bar, they’ve done wonders. The area is now little more friendlier to walk around.” Joe Francher, Wahiawa Community Board.

Hapa was the reason STN knew their place was in Wahiawā. In 2008, at around the same time they were first thinking of purchasing the Top Hat property, a young man was stabbed six times, less than 20 feet away from their potential property. Upon purchasing and moving in to Wahiawā, this young stab victim, who they came to know as Hapa, was one of the first people the STN team connected with.

“He likes to sing, likes to fight,” Charis says of Hapa, “acts tough, but is hurting inside.” He comes from a broken home, and his older brother is in jail. Hapa frequently accompanies STN on trips to the beach and even volunteers with their Feeding the Hungry program.

While Kitakis applauds STN for their efforts on restoring the bar’s storefront, he’s still in the dark about what else they intend to do. He’s also skeptical of how immense their impact will be. “I don’t know that they’re necessarily doing much to Wahiawā, but we’ll see what it [be]comes.”

Francher, who is hopeful of STN’s impact, says a lot of the old timers are really unsure. “I guess they’re a little more jaded. … But we have

high expectations of them. My hope is that they would provide a safe haven for kids to get off the street. It won’t happen overnight, but they can reduce crime and drugs by providing a sense of self-respect, for mostly the teenagers in the area.”

Right now, STN are in a state of huge transition themselves. Wahiawā is the first time they have had a permanent, home-base location, and most of their efforts go toward rebuilding and refurbishing their property, which includes the storefront bar and 15 apartment units.

The organization’s first property was located deep in Kalihi Valley, on the grounds of an old tofu factory. After nearly 10 years on the property that had essentially become their home, the property was sold out from under them by the owners in December 2006. It is now the location of Keiki O Ka ‘Āina, Family Learning Centers of Hawai‘i. Initially they were heartbroken, but “miraculously,” they say, they found new property in Foster Village. A short two years later, this property was foreclosed on and they were forced out by the bank, scrambling to find another location

in one month’s time. Their move into Wahiawā, it could be said, was one of desperation.

Just three days after my interview with STN, I got word that I‘olani, Hapa’s twin brother was found dead. He had hung himself at a nearby park. Twenty minutes before STN got word of I‘olani’s death, one of the volunteers says he saw Hapa wandering the street. He looked blitzed and high on drugs.

It’s a violent, often times tragic circle for those barely living, just barely making it, in Wahiawā. It’s impossible, maybe even implausible, to say if Surfing The Nations will achieve all that they say they will. But it seems for now they are right where they should be.

For more info visit: www.surfingthenations.com

The Sri Lankan people live in a torn society, but still they are resilient. Neighborhood girls striking a pose.

SRI LANKA

a country in transition

After 12 hours in a dilapidated bus, cramped by suitcases and boardbags and 25 others, there is only one thing preventing us from our destination: a young soldier thumbing through our passports, the trigger of his gun close enough for me to touch. He eyes us carefully and motions to another soldier to search our luggage. We nervously hold our breaths as they begin to pull out our carefully constructed wall of suitcases from the back of the bus. This could take hours. At some point though, the soldiers decide no additional searching is necessary and send us on our way.

Our bus ride began in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital city. I am slightly on edge, especially since Colombo is often the site of terrorist bombings. I keep an eye out for Tamil Tigers, guerilla soldiers listed by the E.U. and the U.S. as a terrorist organization, but I am told that if I see one, I won’t live to tell about it.

We make our way to Arugam Bay, a surfer town on the eastern coast of the country. Our bus driver, I begin to suspect is blind in his right eye, which is clouded over by a milky haze. Nevertheless, he seamlessly weaves his bus past tuk tuks and crowded street-side markets, flying around blind turns, dodging pedestrians, bicycles, dogs and cows alike, and gets us to our destination in Arugam Bay without incident.

Plagued by civil unrest and still, in part, reeling from the effects of the 2002 Indian Ocean tsunami, the spirit in Arugam Bay is a heavy one. Hotels, convenience stores, roadside roti makers, tuk tuk drivers, mom-and-pop restaurants, as well as fancier beachside eateries seem to be struggling to survive. Unlike the bustle of Colombo, the town is silent and feels empty and sad, and I wonder if it’s too late to get on the next flight out of here. Needless to say, I will spend 22 more days in this desolate town.

After the tsunami hit, which killed nearly 350 people and left hundred of homes and businesses in ruins, loads of money began

pouring in to Arugam Bay. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to help in some way. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) estimated contributions by the U.S. government at $134.6 million. But the campaign didn’t last long, and after just one year, many contributions stopped.

These days, help is harder to come by, and with money no longer flowing in like it used to, homes and buildings are left half-built. Everyone has a tsunami story, each one more intense than the one before. There’s the Alis, a family of nine, whose home was completely destroyed. The waters came. Running, running, running, is what they remember. Then there’s Mohammad, our tuk tuk driver who tenderly tells us the story of how he rescued his mother and sister, carrying them to safety after the second wave hit. He gives us free rides in his tuk tuk and we ponder his friendliness. He invites us into his home for tea and gives us a tour of his place. We wind up in a half-finished brick hut where the edges of the roof remain uncovered. Just 500 rupees can buy him a new door, he tells us, 500 rupees to finish his roof, and we begin to see his plan all along.

Further slowing growth is the constant infighting between the Tamil Tigers and the Sinhalese-dominated government. According to Farook, a math teacher at the local Muslim school, resentment has existed between the two groups after a British colonial rule that left the Tamils a lesser people group to the Sinhalese, but it wasn’t until 1983 that tensions erupted into violence. Since then, the Tigers have led a bloody campaign against the Sri Lankan government to create an independent Tamil state in the northeast.

The Sri Lankan people live in a torn society, but still they are resilient. Never have I experienced such warm hospitality. The locals welcome us into their homes, serving us steamy milk tea, alongside roti, a chewy Sri Lankan staple similar to a tortilla or Indian naan bread, and coconut

Text by Lisa Yamada

THESE DAYS, HELP IS HARDER TO COME BY, AND WITH MONEY NO LONGER FLOWING IN LIKE IT USED TO, HOMES AND BUILDINGS ARE LEFT HALF-BUILT.

sambal, a sweet and spicy blend of freshly grated coconut, tomatoes, chili and garlic. Fragrant yellow rice, red and green curries, pickled vegetables, curried potatoes, spongey tofu-like nuggets, boiled eggs, chicken fresh from the yard complete the meal — a feast even compared with New Years at grandma’s. They quickly shuffle out with plastic chairs and insist we sit. The thought of backyard barbequing immediately comes to mind. Halfway around the world, my first time in a country considered the third world, and I am reminded of home. Except here, despite having nearly nothing, these people give so much.

As I sit and shovel food into my mouth with my fingers, I suddenly feel guilty as I notice the Sri Lankans huddled off to the side simply watching us eat. They insist they will eat after us. It’s humbling, to sit in their barely-furnished homes, knowing after all their hard work, they will get the leftovers.

At the time of this writing, it’s been nearly a year since I visited Arugam Bay. Much has changed. In May 2009, the Sri Lankan government announced victory over

the Tamil Tigers, after more than 25 years of infighting. I am told by a friend who spent three months in Arugam Bay that the town is now bustling. The once empty restaurants and hotels are now filled with tourists and surfers from Australia and The Middle East. Whether the influx of tourists is due to the end of the civil war or a fading memory of the tsunami, it seems a symbolic step in rebuilding a broken community.

Civil War: Class struggle is a constant, between the mostly-Buddhist Sinhalese and the mostly-Hindu Tamil groups. Mountain-top Buddhist shrine.

spring awakening

photos by harold julian • model: erica miguel hair: ryan camacho • makeup: dulce felipe

THE STYLISH

You want: Chic and trendy You go to: Pearl

Problem: Pretentious networking events and private parties

Solution: Panya

I’m not gonna lie. Pearl does have one of the best pau hana happy hours on the island. With a laundry list of drink specials, $5 pupus and happy hour until 8 p.m., there are many reasons that Pearl works. It is the place to see and be seen among working professionals, young and old. But often there is so much going on at Pearl, it becomes overwhelmingly hard … to … just … relax …. It’s an exclusive, name-tagged networking event one day, a gaggle of girls and eyebrow waxing the next.

If all the fussiness at Pearl just becomes too much, try Japanese bakery and restaurant Panya Bistro, just a few corridors down. The friendly peeps behind the bar will inevitably steer you in the right direction in drink choice, but at $5 each you can try one of everything. The lychee martini is so juicy and tastes nothing short of the real fruit. The strawberry mojito is refreshing and light, not too syrupy or sweet like most mojitos. The bites on special, like the curry chicken salad on a crunchy crostini, are equally yummy. The fro sted glass, the hanging array of little lights, and the soft ambient jazz round out the soothing atmosphere. Plus you won’t have to worry about getting kicked out by the bouncers for not wearing a ‘fashion’ T-shirt.

Happy hours: All day Sunday & Monday: Tuesday through Saturday 3 p.m. - 6 p.m / 9 p.m. - close Ala Moana Center, next to Victoria’s Secret 808-946-6388

PAU HANA!

Did you just have a killer day at work? Or maybe it’s the not-so-temporary unemployment that’s got you feeling down. Either way, everyone enjoys a pau hana time every now and again.

THE BEER

You want: Beer

You go to: Yard House

Problem: Waikiki’s sneaky foot cops and vibrating buzzers

Solution: Bar 35

Ever been to Yard House on a Thursday evening? Is there anything more depressing than getting ticketed by a sneaky foot cop for rolling through a stop sign? Yes, in fact, there is. Try stoking yourself up for a Wyder’s Pear Cider & Harp, only to be let down by the girl at the front waving her clipboard in your face. She hands me a vibrating buzzer and tells me with cheer and a smile there’s a 90-minute wait. Waikiki Beachwalk is great and all, but 90 minutes for a pear cider? Girl, you crazy. Instead head over to Bar 35. With more than 100 select beers from around the world, this Chinatown bar rivals Yard House’s beers on tap, with enough beers on their walls to satisfy even the pickiest beer guzzlers. The Euro fries and their accompanying assortment of sweet, salty and savory dipping sauces pairs perfectly with a goblet of dark Chimay Belgium beer. The flatbread pizzas are a chewy, cheesy heaven. Even the ladies will be tickled with the bar’s $3 martinis and SKYY Vodka cocktails.

Happy hours: Monday through Friday, 4 p.m. – 8 p.m.; Saturday 6 p.m. – 10pm.

Free street parking after 6pm on most streets. 35 N. Hotel 808-537-3535

The friendly Panya staff will inevitably steer you in the right direction.

THE DOWN LOW

You want: To avoid being seen You go to: Some old, alcoholic dive. Problem: It’s old, alcoholic and dive. Solution: Apartm3nt

If you’ve ever just wanted to hide away in a dark corner without being bothered, head down to Apartm3nt, where stepping out the elevator is like a happening upon a secret. The restaurant/lounge’s dark leather sofas, black lacquered lamps and black lace-patterned walls all add to the place’s boudoir feel. While you may run into the occasional local ‘celebrity’ here, it’s easy to disappear among many of Apartm3nt’s dimly lit corners or curtained-off tables and remain unnoticed. I die for the gooey, yet surprisingly light lobster mac ‘n cheese and the kicked-up hot dogs, like their Italian sausage dog. The dragonberry cocktail is as potent as it is delicious. Plus, if you’re spotted at Apartm3nt, you won’t have to fumble for an explanation about what you’re doing there.

Happy hours: 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. everyday; Tuesday all night until 2 a.m. Century Center, Third Flr. 1750 Kalakaua Ave. 808-955-9300

THE SPORTS BAR

You want: Sports and chicken. You go to: Hooters Problem: The gaggerific grandma-panty uniforms Solution: Buffalo Wild Wings

Seriously, how long has it been since Hooters updated their waitress’ uniforms? Why is it that every single waitress, no matter how thin, looks as if she’s wearing a grandma panty and sporting a pooch? And while Hooters does offer all you can eat wings on Wednesdays, it costs $29.99 per person. Pretty Steep

If it’s sports and wings you’re wanting, Buffalo Wild Wings is becoming the new place to be. They offer 14 different wing sauces, ranging from a cool, parmesan garlic to the mango habanero, which packs a sweet and tangy punch; their hottest sauce, “Blazin’,” feels like a kick in the mouth. If it’s greasy goodness you want, try their sampler platter: fried mozzarella, nachos that remind me of Jack in the Box tacos, and puffy, thick onion rings. Feels like a heart attack, but at least the celery sticks keep me thin. And if it’s the wings that got you in, the TVs will make you stay. Every seat in the place fronts a flat-screen TVs making for 360 degrees of sports mania. Garans babarans your favorite sports team will be playing. On Tuesdays wings are 60 cents each and Thursdays boneless wings are 75 cents. A different beer and liquor are on special every day. Do, however, be prepared for some less-than-enthusiastic service.

Drink specials daily. Cheap wings on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Discover Bay Center 1778 Ala Moana Blvd

808-983-3933

by

Photos

Shhhh: Stepping into Apartm3nt is like happening upon a secret.

Photo by Mike Ang

IN THE KITCHEN WITH CHEF GÖRAN

STRENG

Text by Jon Gormon

Chef Göran Streng likes simplicity. In his kitchen at Tango Contemporary Café, where he is chef and owner, his food is remarkably un-fussed with. It’s what he calls “real food,” that is food that doesn’t need an ingredient list because it’s clear from looking at the plate. Roughly chopped Hamakua mushrooms, whole baby bok choy.

In his few spare hours between lunch and dinner service, Chef Streng invited FLUX Hawaii into his self-designed home in Nu‘uanu, and like the food at his restaurant, his home is remarkably un-fussed with. It’s simple, functional and immensely well-thought out, from his dish racks and ovens to the overall spacing and flow of each room. Spend even a few minutes with the chef and it’s easy to see why his food and design turn out the way they do –– it’s in his Finnish nature. He speaks with a slow, serious tone, occasionally mumbling

over his words, like his thoughts are elsewhere (probably on the restaurant). But every so often, he’ll let out a loud laugh, as if he just heard a funny joke, only he’s the one who’s telling it.

It’s pretty quiet out here in Nu‘uanu. Any Finnish tunes in your kitchen?

I don’t really listen to music, I listen to talk radio. I don’t have an iPod, cuz I would never use it. I’m not like that. I like it quiet, actually.

Then definitely your restaurant kitchen is quiet? Yeah, if we’re closed and I’m there, I turn the radio off. People hate it. They’re like, “Can we have some music?” And I’m like, “No. Shut up.” (Laughs) You know, I don’t like to, like, blast music. I like to think.

Did you just clean up or is it always this clean?

It can tend to get a little cluttered, but the kitchen pretty much looks like that.

There’s nothing even on the counters!

One of my pet peeves is that every home has a drying rack. Every house I go to, you either see dirty dishes or clean dishes out. The cabinet above the sink, that’s where my drip-dry thing is. So when you do the dishes it’s away in the cabinet. I designed the home where the kitchen is in the living room or the living room is in the kitchen, however you want to look at it. It’s just one big space, and so I don’t want to have dirty dishes all over.

As a chef, you must have a lot of gadgets lying around you kitchen?

People think we have tons of gadgets, which I don’t. The main thing is right here, my cutting

boards. I don’t even own a food processor. It’s all about good knives and a thick cutting board. When I do have guests coming over, I like to prep stuff and leave it all around the cutting board, put the cutting board up on the countertop and cook from there.

Like exhibition style…

I hate when people put cutting boards in their sink. My wife does that …

What was your inspiration for the design of the house?

I looked at a lot of model homes and most of them were done for the looks, a lot of eye candy on the outside…. It’s completely useless to spend money on that kind of stuff. Every space in this house is a functional, usable space. There are, for example, no hallways in this house. I saw a lot of dead space in these models homes, like you would walk into a living room, and you know it was just gonna be useless — a formal dining room, and you know nobody is ever going to eat there.

There’s a lot of great things about simplicity. Oh yes, and that’s why I think Japanese and Scandinavian design is very close. I’m a very big believer in the Japanese art of flower making,

Ikebana. I used to talk to my cooks about that when plating food. I hate colored plates. I rather have space and see the plate. In Ikebana, for example, the space in between the flower is just as important as the flower itself. Scandinavian art too is very functional. It’s always very simple, very light, rather than bulky. It’ll never look luxurious and heavy. Like big La-Z-Boy chairs, you’ll never find that anywhere in Scandinavian homes. It’s not premade out of a box, but it’s more organic too. Speaking of premade, who does the cooking at home?

Mona (my wife) does. And the shopping. She does a lot of simple stuff. Some Finnish food, pytt i panna, which I have on the menu at the restaurant. It’s basically a potato hash.

At home, what is a must-have ingredient for you? Finnish rye bread. We’re big on bread. Every time I go to Finland I fill my suitcase with bread! And keep it in the freezer. I think I want to bring some lingonberries over here, for the Swedish pancakes. Everyone tells me that there should be lingonberries, and I’m like, “ I know. Can you find some for me?”

You said you had a ceramic cooktop?

The old house used to have gas. I took the gas out, mainly because of the kids. They

were smaller then. This is a German cooktop. It doesn’t have anything digital — it has the knobs, which I insisted on. Same thing with the oven, it has these two knobs, which does everything. The oven, even when it’s on you can touch the door and it’s never hot. So the kids would never burn themselves.

Now that your kids are grown, what do you do to relax?

Right now, nothing!

Such is the life of a busy chef.

IF CHEF GÖRAN STRENG WERE A FISH, HE’D BE A SALMON.

Simple, yet versatile. As with all else, the chef prefers simplicity to fuss, and his hoisin-glazed salmon is no exception, literally a five-minute dish from pan to plate. The dish is what the chef describes as “real food,” characteristic of his cooking at home and in his restaurant, Tango Contemporary Café. Real foods, he says, are opposed to the processed “foods” that have crept into our daily diets.

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 6-ounce salmon steaks

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 tablespoon plum sauce

1 tablespoon sweet soy (kecap manis)

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

1 teaspoon chopped ginger

1 teaspoon chopped cilantro

freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Heat a medium size non stick skillet on medium high heat, add olive oil and sauté the salmon for two minutes on one side. Mix all the remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Turn the salmon steaks over and spread the hoisin glaze over the fish. Sauté for two more minutes, or until medium doneness. Check by lightly pressing the salmon, if it starts to flake it is done, don’t over cook. Serve with steamed rice and vegetable of your choice.

TANGO CONTEMPORARY CAFÉ

HOISIN GLAZED SALMON

Dear Noisy Guy In The Theater,

Did you like the movie? I hope you did, because than at least one of us did. To tell you the truth, I was so distracted with your actions that my mind stopped processing the movie and started creating ideas on how to punch you silently without disturbing the rest of the movie watchers. Because, I’m a courteous movie-goer and also training to be a ninja, but I digress.

The first act of a movie is the setup. It gives us the names of all the people and what the initial conflict of the movie is. I couldn’t come to terms with the first act of this movie because it was drowned out by the conversation you were having on your celly celly with your homeboy Lance. Thanks for sharing with me about your night out with Lance and your quest to hook up with girl with the banging booty, Gina. It’s unfortunate that she didn’t want to go back to your house. How dare she! I’m passive aggressive, so I gave you a dirty look and screamed SHUT UP … quietly to myself, in my head.

When you finally got off the phone, relief washed over me. I thought it was over. I was wrong. You started to chatter like a myna bird with the dude next to you. People talk in the theater, I’ve accepted that. But most people will keep it to a murmur. But not you, sir. It was like you were trying to have a conversation with someone that was at the concession stand. Or maybe you were trying to communicate to a foreigner. Because that’s what you do when people don’t speak English

right? You talk louder to them. I finally had enough of your chatter and quickly gave you the biggest dirtiest look I knew how to give and shouted to the heavens, DUDE, SHUT YOUR FREAKING MOUTH … quietly to myself, in my head.

Finally after all the phone talking, loud conversations, and constant dirty looks by myself to you that went ignored, the credits rolled. I forgot what movie I was watching. I stood up to leave. You walked by, looked at me and stated that this movie was “crazy good.” I stared at you, nodded my head, and gave you a smile. I smiled because this experience was over. I smiled because your comment was ironic. I smiled because just then, I wound up and punched you right in your big nose … quietly to myself, in my head. I’m going to make an awesome ninja.

Sincerely,

Russel Kealoha