FLUX No. 3 Perception

PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION

TOC FEATURES

44 PRINT IS ...

BY JASON CUTINELLA, NELLA MEDIA GROUP

According to Apple’s revolutionary, magically stupendous iPad, print is gasping its last breath. But perhaps the prophets of new media that continually spell doom and gloom for print are spouting hyperbole. Jason Cutinella, publisher of Nella Media Group, thinks so, offering his perspective of the local print industry.

50 REWRITING HIP-HOP

BY TIFFANIE WEN

Hip-hop music is often criticized for glamorizing drugs, crime and misogyny, among others. One Filipino-American emcee, however, is articulating a different message, using the oft-damned music to organize and mobilize his communities for social change.

56 THE MANY PATHS OF EDUCATION

BY GLORIA BARAQUIO

In the chaos that ensued after furloughs were initiated, questions arose about the quality of Hawai‘i’s education system. Although the end of furloughs is in sight, the future of our schools are still up for grabs. Gloria Baraquio documents her journey as a charter school teacher, expanding traditional and perceived notions of what Hawai‘i’s future needs.

62

NO ARMS, NO LEGS –NO WORRIES!

BY LISA YAMADA

Nick Vujicic is one of the most inspirational people you will ever meet. He is joyful and well-adjusted. He’s a practical joker, and his smile will inevitably and inexplicably make you smile too. Funny thing is, he was born without arms and legs.

68

OUR PETS ARE STILL ANIMALS, RIGHT?

BY LISA YAMADA

Organic food. Designer bags and shampoo. For dogs? We explore the shift in perceptions pet owners have for their furry companions.

76 AUTUMN EMBRACE

PHOTOGRAPHY BY HAROLD JULIAN

of those guys that can pick up a camera after months of not shooting and capture a beautiful image. Recently returning from Bible college, Willy immediately jumped back into the medium he calls his therapy to show us the future of the digital age.

COVER PHOTO: Willy Branlund is one

PERCEPTION

FLUXHAWAII.COM

TOC

ONLINE

SHOW US YOUR WORLD!

Captured something interesting while out and about town? Share your world with us. Upload your photos to the FLUX Hawaii website for a chance to be featured in our reader photo section. For more information go to www.fluxhawaii.com/submit-photo

In our last issue, indie-rock band Painted Highways bumped heads with post-punk, electro rockers GRLFRNDS. In this issue, Painted Highways steps in front the mic, dishing on selling out, the local music scene and Alex Kaiser’s hair. See the hilarious full interview at: www.fluxhawaii.com.

Users with a camera phone and adequate software are able to scan the image of the QR code and be directed straight to our website. This “Quick Response” saves you invaluable seconds from having to actually type out our address, which sometimes gets messed up with those miniscule Blackberry buttons or overly sensitive iPhone screens. But if you have to type out our address to visit us, go here:

FLUXHAWAII.COM

Lydia Kwok

Lori Tamanaha

Nicholina Metzger

In May, I was fortunate to travel to Los Angeles to personally interview Nick Vujicic for this issue. It was my first time back to my college stomping grounds since graduating. It was such a surreal experience being back in the place I called home for nearly five years of my life that I didn’t even mind it when I was confronted with the bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 405. In fact, I felt a small sense of satisfaction as I jumped onto the 10-W toward Santa Monica, knowing that I could take the scenic route down Pacific Coast Highway (or PCH as the locals call it) up to Malibu and still get to my same destination. I had been feeling slightly deflated back in Honolulu, the weight of running a small business resting quite heavily on my shoulders, hustling for ad dollars in an economy that’s constantly insisting it’s pulling back, coordinating schedules and assigning editorial, trying to do side projects to bring in some extra revenue.

Then I sat down with Nick, an inspirational speaker who travels 40 weeks out of the year, speaking approximately 250 times. Nick, a man born without arm or legs. I felt humbled and inspired to have had the opportunity to speak to a person with such a strong grasp on his vision and purpose – only now I felt that I had to do more! I returned to Honolulu after three nights in Los Angeles feeling relieved (that surreal infatuation quickly fades) to be home. I immersed myself in editorial, the deadline for Issue III hurtling toward us, all the while those same frustrations creeping its way in.

Then little things started happening. I began meeting people in the community with similar visions. Rich Richardson, the creative director of Mark’s Garage, and his vision to revitalize and unify the arts community in Chinatown; Mari Matsuda, and her band of volunteers with Creative Modern Activism, initiating broad conversations about peace, equality and justice, by using art and music to work for change; Christa Wittmier, a major supporter of local talent and every local band or business’ favorite groupie, because when she’s stoked on something, the whole world will know it; Maika‘i Tubbs, an enthusiastic up-and-coming Hawaiian contemporary artist trying to “make it” in Hawai‘i.

These little moments, these chance encounters with influencers helped me remember with a unique clarity why I went into this business, and I found my own perceptions beginning to shift. We are here to be a voice, a platform for people who are underrepresented and a medium to showcase all the people doing some really cool stuff. Buried in the details, I think I was beginning to forget that. Something about a short conversation I had with Maika‘i just days away from deadline helped me to understand the importance of this magazine. Maybe it was his excessive extolling (which, never gets old hearing, by the way), but more so I think it was his ecstatic gratefulness, a genuine humility at the chance to be featured. That said, I hope all you local creatives keep doing what you’re doing. We’re watching and waiting.

Enjoy,

Lisa Yamada Editor/Publisher

PERCEPTION

FALL 2010

FLUX HAWAII

Editor / Publisher Lisa Yamada

Creative Director Cody Matsukawa

Art Director Ara Laylo

Editorial Assistant Candice Nonaka

Intern Joel Gaspar

CONTRIBUTORS

Gloria Baraquio

Lee Chan

Jason Cutinella

GRLFRNDS

Tiffany Iwalani Hervey

Joshua Masayoshi Huff

Alex Kaiser

Mitchell Kuga

Deanne Matsushima

Carolyn Mirante

Bridget Mullen

Anthony V. Ramil

Sabrina Velazquez

Tiffanie Wen

Jared Yamanuha

Aaron Yoshino

PHOTO

Matthew Alvarado

Willy Branlund

Christy Eriksson

Deaja Fellas

Tiffany Hervey

Harold Julian

Life Without Limbs

Miles Marshall

Deanne Matsushima

Michael McDermott

Aña Monique

Maika‘i Tubbs

Scott Yoell

Surfing The Nations

Aaron Yoshino

Andrew Zaeh

ILLUSTRATIONS

Evil Genius

Jennifer Yoko Thorbjornsen

CREATIVE

Ryan Camacho

Almond Cruz

Dulce Felipe

Landon Fidele

Kylie Mattos

Alyse Naito

MULTIMEDIA

Sheryle Ishimoto

Matthew McVickar

ADVERTISING

Scott Hager

Sandy Ng advertising@FLUXhawaii.com

FLUX Hawaii, 2849 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.

PERCEPTION

FALL 2010

LETTERS

Got a bone to pick with us? Or want to tell us how awesome we are? Send letters to the editor: lisa@FLUXhawaii.com. We edit and/or trim as little as possible, but we reserve the right to do so as necessary.

THE PERFECT BLEND

As a full-time college student, I can barely find the time to keep up with Hawai‘i’s evolving trends, talents and news. When I finally get the chance to enjoy and relax, I realize that I barely know the island that I’ve lived on for my entire life. Luckily, FLUX provides me with all the pertinent information from articles about concerns in the community to spots on new local hangouts where I can unwind, all written passionately by people who love and appreciate Hawai‘i as much as I do. FLUX is the perfect blend of ingredients to showcase Hawai‘i’s melting pot of culture, art and fashion for locals and tourists alike. FLUX reminds my why I’m so lucky to live in Hawai‘i.

Keep up the great work, FLUX! Thalia Dijos, Mililani

WAHIAWA NOT A PIT STOP!

Your article about Wahiawā really did a disservice to all the good people who live in this great little town. Where do you come off calling us a seedy pit stop??? Maybe you should have interviewed more people before printing such a piece of crap. Where are your journalistic standards? Thanks a lot for the black eye you gave our town. Patricia Sax, Wahiawā

Hi, I’m sorry you feel that way. The article was not meant to insult. To any outsider looking in, as well as to all that were interviewed for this article, there are obvious (and not so obvious) problems (namely homelessness, poverty and drug-abuse) that abound within the Wahiawā area. Instead of turning a blind eye to these problems, pretending problems don’t exist, organizations like Surfing The Nations, the Wahiawā Community board and the Wahiawā Community Governance Coalition, all of whom were represented in this article, see the need for change and revitalization and are actively doing things to ensure a better, safer community. What are you doing?

DON’T GO CHASING WATERFALLS

Water is something we all take for granted and “Tapping the Well of Controversy” was an insightful article covering the debate over Maui’s water distribution. I found it offensive when HC&S worker, Kelly Ruidas, says that he doesn’t think people see the big picture and that they are just regular people, as if local taro farmer Lyn Scott isn’t a regular person herself. I’m not sure how much of that irrigated water ends up at HC&S, but according to Kelly, other farmers will be affected if more water is restored to the streams, clearly displaying how delicate this debate is. People think that fighting over water isn’t something that people don’t believe could happen in our lifetime, but hopefully this article will open people’s eyes. Anonymous

It is crazy to think that we, an island surrounded by so much water, could be running out! Just recently the State Commission on Water Management ordered HC&S to restore 12.5 million gallons per day to the Waihe‘e, North Waiehu and South Waiehu streams, much less than the 34.5 million gallons originally requested by local farmers, who said they would appeal the decision. A delicate debate indeed.

GLORIA BARAQUIO

People perceive me to be a lot of things, and they are right. What is your greatest fear?

Being without love. How important is art in society? Art is the right wing of humanity’s heart, science the left. Without the other, we can’t fly. If you could spend 60 minutes with anyone, who would it be?

Drukpa Kunley, a tantric saint (1455 - 1529).

Before I die, I’d like to visit: India, yoga/seva style. What is your current state of mind?

Full of grace.

The motto I live my life by is: Life just moves, and love feels great. What is your biggest extravagance?

Gifts and parties for other people.

As one-tenth of the prolific Baraquio clan, it’s no wonder that Gloria is always on the move. She spent time producing her sisters’ show “Living Local with the Baraquios” before moving to the Big Island to write for the Hawai‘i Tribune-Herald; she’s finally settling in as an educator at HAAS, a charter school in Pahoa, but even the quiet neighborhood can’t slow down this city girl: she’s also a yoga instructor and starred in a musical produced by one of her very own HAAS students. In this issue, she brings a unique perspective on education in “The Many Paths of Education.”

JASON CUTINELLA

People perceive me to be a chocolate lover, but really I am a Sour Patch Kids lover! If you could spend 60 minutes with anyone, who would it be?

Oprah Winfrey. I have been waiting to sit on that lady’s couch since I was a kid! Why? Because it’s Oprah Winfrey!!! The motto I live my life by is: Stay humble and always move forward ... What trait do you dislike most in others? People that tell me they can make it happen and don’t. What trait do you dislike most about yourself? I repeat myself quite a bit to others. I know they hear me, but I just want to make sure they understand what I am trying to express. I feel like Rain Man sometimes. What are you most passionate about?

I am most passionate about my career and how far I can take Nella Media Group. Before I die, I’d like to visit: Hard question, because of my vision to conquer the world, voyage all seas and see as many places as possible!

Jason Cutinella, the “Nella” behind the publishing house, Nella Media Group, has always got a story to tell. The one he’s telling now involves a bus, a fast-food joint and a good amount of beers. But don’t let any of his shenanigans fool you, this dude means business, and we wouldn’t be in the least bit surprised if he soon becomes the next media magnate in Hawai‘i, if not already so. He’s a champion for print, and tells us why in “Print Is... .”

CAROLYN MIRANTE

People perceive me to be pretentious, but really I am just smarter than you (just kidding!).

If you could spend 60 minutes with anyone, who would it be?

I’d have to say Slavoj Zizek. I’d love to pick his brain.

What are you most passionate about? Art. We were introduced residually through music. I fell in love in high school and haven’t looked back.

What do you dislike most about your generation?

There’s a quality of displacement inherent in my generation. They’re detached from the lessons reaching out from the annals of history and the consequential repercussions of their actions. It’s actually kind of beautiful sometimes, like a romanticized hedonism of sorts.

What physical feature would you change about yourself?

My nose makes shopping for glasses a challenge. Shades tend to sit on my cheekbones instead!

Spend even a minute with Carolyn, and you’d swear she was a mainland-bred, 35-year-old. But, the director of the Gallery of Hawai‘i Artists (or GoHA, whose tag line reads, “Not just dolphins and palm trees!) is actually only 21. She has a way about her that is refined, intellectual and way beyond her years, which enabled her to talk art with two of TCM’s upcoming Biennial artists.

JENNIFER YOKO THORBJORNSEN

People perceive me to be fat, but really I am pregnant.

Describe your average Sunday afternoon: Somewhere in or near the ocean with my dog and hubby.

What is your idea of misery?

An internal or external condition with varying degrees of distress or suffering. Or, a really creepy 1990 horror movie.

Define success:

An outcome that makes you feel good. What talent would you most like to have that you don’t?

I’d like to have mastered an instrument, like the cello or piano.

Who is the most influential person in your life? Mom.

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

What trait do you most abhor in others? “Rational” bigotry, especially combined with hatred. Scary.

One of the things we’ve come to realize about artists is that they’ve got the most interesting living spaces, and Jenn is no exception. Buttons from an old sewing project, balls of yarn for knitting, delicate strands of wired gold for jewelry, not to mention the paints and paintbrushes littered throughout - Jenn doesn’t just live to be creative, she lives in it. We wouldn’t have it any other way, less her illustrations for “Print Is...” be any less inspired.

JARED YAMANUHA

People perceive me to be nerdy, but really I am extremely nerdy. My superhero name would be: I would never be a superhero, but if I were a republican rapper/super villain, my name would be FilliBusta Rhymes.

What is the trait you most abhor in others? Sycophantism.

What is your idea of misery?

Watching MTV for more than three consecutive minutes.

What is the biggest threat to world peace? Islamic extremism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

How important is art to society?

It’s crucial. It enriches our lives and has the ability to alter our perceptions of both the world and ourselves.

When I die, I hope people will say about me: That I made an honest effort given the tragically short span of a lifetime.

Jared is one of those guys who still writes for writing’s sake (a trait that is somewhat of a rarity these days), which is why he’s written everything from sappy love stories in Hawai‘i Bridge & Groom to art and music in the 808 Scene Zine. He’s excited about opportunity and fights for what he believes in, and he fought hard to get the elusive Buff Monster within our pages.

AARON YOSHINO

People perceive me to be short, but really I am super short.

What trait do you dislike most in others?

Arrogance. And body odor.

What book made the biggest impression on your life?

A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy by Karl Marx. And America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Inaction by Jon Stewart.

What is your greatest achievement?

Surviving.

How important is art in society?

How important is individualism?

What is the biggest threat to world peace?

Organized religion. And anything made of metal.

What is your current state of mind?

Happy. As usual.

Describe your Sunday afternoon: Sunday afternoons are my Sunday mornings.

While we were all sleeping, Aaron was busy photographing. A computer techie by day, he takes pictures in every other spare moment he has, shooting lookbooks and nightlife and events galore. His photos were recently featured at TCM, in an exhibition titled “While You Were Sleeping,” and his contributions to this issue are too numerous to list.

WHAT THE FLUX ?!

DO WE KNOW ABOUT HAWAI‘I?

Originally we set out to show how little mainlanders know about Hawai‘i. I mean, it is pretty laughable when we hear questions like, “Do you really live in grass shacks?” and we scoff to ourselves. Then we realized exactly how little we know about our own islands. We surveyed 50 residents of Hawai‘i between the ages of 18 to 50 from such fields as law, education, marketing and construction, as well as students and other miscellany. In the end, we found how little we actually know about our own state.

WHAT YEAR DID HAWAI‘I BECOME A STATE?

Despite celebrating our 50th year of Statehood last year, 39 percent of respondents answered this question wrong.

WHAT YEAR WAS HAWAI‘I ANNEXED TO THE UNITED STATES? 1898

Only 3 people out of 50 knew the answer to this question.

It was in 1893 that Queen Lili‘uokalani yielded her throne in order to avoid bloodshed, but it wasn’t until 1898 when U.S. President McKinley signed a bill annexing Hawai‘i to the United States.

HOW MANY ISLANDS MAKE UP OUR ISLAND CHAIN?

42 percent of respondents got this question wrong:

• 4 islands: 1 respondent

• 6 islands: 6 respondents

• 7 islands: 13 resondents

• 9 islands: 1 respondent

WHO IS OUR SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE AND OUR SENATE PRESIDENT?

Only 3 out of 50 people knew that Calvin Say was the Hawai‘i Speaker of the House of Representatives and that Colleen Hanabusa was the Senate President.

WHAT IS OUR STATE MOTTO?

34 percent didn’t know our state motto, Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono or that it translates to, “The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.”

WHO IS THE BLAISDELL CENTER NAMED AFTER?

While 35 out of 50 respondents answered this question correctly, only 4 people spelled “Neal” correctly, with the majority spelling it “Neil.”

Only 4 people knew that Neal S. Blaisdell was a former mayor of Honolulu.

WHO WAS HAWAI‘I’S LAST REIGNING MONARCH?

40 percent answered this question wrong.

Guesses included the following monarchs: King Kamehameha (6), Bernice Pauahi Bishop (1), King David Kalakaua (4), and Princess Ka‘iulani (1).

THE FUNNIEST THING A MAINLANDER ASKED ME WAS:

“Someone once asked me if all we eat are pineapples, and everyone assumes I live five minutes from the beach.”

– Lara Imai

“Do you celebrate Christmas in Hawai‘i?”

– Laua‘e Gouveia

“What kind of currency do you use?”

– Elyse Inouye

“Who’s the president in Hawai‘i?” – Cassie Ann Ching

“Someone asked if I drove my car over from Hawai‘i. Another asked if they needed a passport to travel here.” – Charis Bauer

Text by Mitchell Kuga

THE LIFE OF A... POLO PLAYER

“We’re just modern-day cowboys. It’s not like what you see in Pretty Woman. I come out here every day and I play with the horses and I run around and pick up horseshit and get dirty. I definitely do not by any means come out here in a collared shirt and sit down and get served tea.”

John Hall, who is 35, hopped on his first horse when he was 3, hit his first polo ball when he was 6, and became a professional polo player at the age of 13, moving to Argentina to train for eight months from his home in Santa Barbara. Since, he’s played in high goal tournaments throughout North and South America. “I grew up in a polo family. My stepmother played polo, my father played polo, my younger brother played polo. We were just bred to be professionals – that’s all my father asked of us.”

Since January, Hall has served as the manager of the Hawai‘i Polo Club, located across of Dillingham Ranch in Mokulē‘ia. From the 300-yard long beachfront field, the crashing of the ocean’s waves can be heard and the scent of the sea lingers over the neatly manicured grass. For Hall, who moved to Hawai‘i five years ago for the surf, the polo club marries his two greatest passions. “I remember looking up to the beach right there and saying, ‘Oh my God.’ Not only am I shooting at the goal, but I’m looking through the goal thinking, I’m going surfing after the game.”

and euphoric. That’s my place. That’s it for me. That’s what I was born to do.”

“I’d say you have to think like chess, move like hockey. You need to be able to anticipate the game three or four steps ahead. You also have the aggression and the physical-ness of hockey, because you do bump horses. I’ve broken my sternum, three of my ribs and three of my vertebras.”

Last August, Hall and four other professional polo players, including his younger brother, filmed a reality television show on a ranch in Santa Barbara for Bravo network, tentatively titled Polo: No Champagne, No Caviar. Hall pitched the show to Bravo executives with the intent of dispelling the notion that polo is a sport reserved for the glitterati. “In general, we are a bunch of ranch owners, horse lovers, who like to hit a ball around.” The producers of the show are waiting for the appropriate time to broadcast it. “They’re just waiting for the economy to go back up because no one wants to watch polo people running around right now, having a blast.”

Hall mentors around 10 students at the polo club. “I see a big interest in Hawai‘i. A lot of people don’t realize that there were cowboys in Hawai‘i, the paniolos, before there were cowboys in the mainland. There’s a lot of heritage in Hawai‘i, and we are really trying to show that importance here on this island.”

U.S. Polo Association over the name of its magazine, Polo. According to Hall, the guy on a horse brandishing a mallet in Ralph Lauren’s logo is a real person: Benny Gutierrez, Hall’s friend and a professional polo player. “He posed for a picture and they used that picture for what we now know as the Ralph Lauren ‘Polo Guy.’ He never got a dollar for it.”

Every Sunday during polo season, which runs from March to August the club hosts two polo matches featuring first-rate professionals from as far as Shanghai. The till-sunset event runs like a “festival party,” complete with food vendors, a full bar, live music and a skydiving spectacle during halftime courtesy of Skydive Hawaii.

Despite his travels to many faraway and exotic lands, Hall still has a hard time believing he gets to work and play at such an idyllic polo field. “We get daily rainbows out here. It just becomes like heaven. I didn’t know this place existed my whole life, but I thought that when I get old and pass away I would probably go to a heaven like this.”

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How does it feel to gallop 40 mph on a thoroughbred while swinging a cane mallet and smacking a hard plastic ball slightly larger than a baseball? “It’s very quiet. It brings me to that zone in life. Once my adrenaline gets going and I have that focus on the ball I just feel totally comfortable

Hall, clad in tattered Levi’s, a T-shirt and slippers, will never be caught dead wearing a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt. “It’s hard to believe that he’s made so much money off of Polo yet in the world of polo he’s never had any involvement except with lawsuits.” In 1997, the preppy fashion designer sued the

Photo

Christy Eriksson

Modern-day cowboy, John Hall, at Dillingham Ranch in Mokule‘ia.

by Bridget Mullen

HOW TO: PERFORM A CARD TRICK

Let’s say you’re with your friends, or rather, in the spirit of being hypothetical, you’re raging at some party, and you’re itching to make a good impression. During a brief pause in conversation, you notice a deck of cards on the table. Could it be the perfect moment for a card trick?

While conducting a sleight of hand, the performer takes on some sleight responsibility to the card trick community, according to professional magician Mark Mauricio. “If any trick is done poorly, it is exactly like showing a spectator how it’s done,” he explains. “It not only ruins the effect for you, but also for the countless other magicians who will be performing that trick too.” Mauricio assures that with a little patience and a lot of practice, you will begin igniting that satisfying “How the !@#$” response in your audience. Here’s a simple trick to start with:

UNTOUCHED

Effect: A deck of cards is given to a spectator, and the magician never touches it throughout the trick. A card is selected and returned to the deck, which is then cut a number of times. The magician announces a number, which is thought to be the value of the spectator’s card, but it’s actually the exact position where the selected card can be found.

Set-Up: Beforehand, place all of the heartsuited cards in numerical order, king through ace. Place this stack on the bottom

of the deck, with the king as the bottom card. Now you’re ready to perform.

1. Place the deck face down in front of your spectator and instruct them to cut the deck in half, placing the two cut halves side by side.

2. The top card of the bottom-half of the deck will be their card. Ask them to remember the card, but don’t have them show it to you. (See Figure A)

3. Ask the spectator to place the card on the opposite pile (the top-half of the cut deck). (See Figure B)

4. Ask the spectator to complete the cut by putting the bottom-half on top of their selection.

5. Now ask them to turn the entire deck face up.

6. Instruct the spectator to cut the deck. What you “secretly” need the spectator to do: Cut to one of the hearts that you set up earlier (But please, don’t let them know!). If you’re lucky, they will do this on the first try, but if not, simply ask them to continue cutting the deck until you see a heart. (See Figure C)

7. Once a heart card is on the face of the deck, turn over the entire deck so that it’s face down once again. In your head, sub-

tract that heart’s value from 14. For example, if they cut to a five of hearts, you would do: 14 - 5 = 9 (Make sure that you wait until they cut to a heart. No matter what the value of that heart may be you will have to subtract it from 14 to give you the location of their selection. A jack is 11, a queen is 12, and a king is 13.) Then tell your spectator that their card is a 9. They’ll say “No.” Then continue by saying, “I meant to say 9th from the top.” Have them deal cards off the top of the deck and stopping on the 9th.

8. Before they turn over the 9th card, have them name their selection. Then turn over the card to reveal their selection. Presto!

Award-winning magician Mark Mauricio is currently making magic as the headliner in the Magic in Paradise dinner show at the Hale Koa hotel. He is also available for private lessons and events. For more information, visit www. magicisland.com/contact.

A BRIEF ENCOUNTER

gypsy lingerie

Kate Ruggiero’s line of underwear is cute enough to be worn in public. Or on the beach, at least. Hand-sewn in Hawai‘i using soft, stretchy cotton jersey, Gypsy hits in all the right places, sitting low across the hip like a Brazilian, but providing just enough coverage in the rear. So girls can kiss the pinching panty line goodbye! The days of the awkwardly uncomfortable wedgie are over. The barelythere panty is the perfect fit, and it evokes that toes-in-the-sand, waves-lapping-at-your ankles sort of feel.

A huge fan of lazy Saturday mornings, lounging around in nothing but a comfy tee and some undies, Kate wanted a pair of panties that she could feel comfortable in. She also wanted to feel sexy, but without being too cheeky. “I had two pairs of underwear that I really liked that I wanted to modify,” she said. “So I cut them up and my first pair came from that.”

Kate wanted her collection to evoke the carefree spirit she embodied herself. Before she came to Hawai‘i, Kate had been working for a fashion photographer in New York, but it had always been her dream to live by the ocean and design her own collection of swimwear. Overwhelmed by the bustle of the big city, Kate felt it time to uproot and that if she didn’t move at that moment, she wouldn’t ever. So, at the bewilderment of her family and friends, the bright-eyed, freckled free-spirit hopped on a plane bound for Honolulu, full of smiles all the way there. “Moving to Hawai‘i I felt like a traveling gypsy, so my line is really about being free-spirited and following your heart,” she says, explaining why she settled

on the name Gypsy. “Plus, it’s my favorite Fleetwood Mac song.” When she arrived, she began to have all these ideas of things she wanted to make. “Being in Hawai‘i I had the freedom to try new things,” she says. Problem was, Kate didn’t even own a sewing machine, nor did she know how to sew. Lucky thing for good friends. For her birthday a few of her girlfriends chipped in to buy her a sewing machine, and taught her the basics of cutting patterns and sewing. Originally Kate intended to design swimwear, but her friends cautioned her about its finicky nature and encouraged her to start with underwear’s more forgiving cotton. Kate found a beautiful vintage Hawaiian print at a local fabric shop and began cutting away. “It was definitely kind of an experiment. I hand-cut the fabric, pinned it together, and it came out all right, but now I look at it and I realize I didn’t even know how to sew a straight line!”

Still Kate kept at it and began handing out the underwear to her friends as gifts, who immediately fell in love with the comfy, yet flattering fit and requested more. Kate began searching high and low for eclectic fabrics, patterns not normally found in the intimates aisle. On her first trip back to New York, she spent a fortune on a box of fabrics, only to end up using two of the patterns, a batik and tie-dye-style print. Despite the limited amount of fabric available in Hawai‘i, Kate says she’s committed to buying local, rummaging through as many fabric stores as possible to find the island’s most fitting fabrics.

Text by Lisa Yamada

by

Deaja Fellas

Photos

Gypsy has definitely come a long way from that first pair. Her next collection will include new cuts made from lace, as well as a bandeau-style bra. “It took me five tries, constant measuring and a lot of drawing before I finally figured out how to structure the bra,” she says. One of the challenges she faced in creating the brassiere was the lack of boning material in Hawai‘i. Resourceful and determined, she used a zip tie in creating the sample, and “it actually worked out pretty well!”

Always the dreamer, Kate hopes to one day open up a lingerie boutique that would carry a select line of her intimates, as well as swim and sleepwear, and it seems Hawai‘i is just the place for that. “Hawai‘i is still evolving, as far as fashion and art, and that actually is a really good thing,” she says. “It’s what allowed me to start my own collection. In New York, it’s so intimidating I would’ve never thought about starting something of my own. People here are open, to knowing about new designers and trying them out. I definitely see there’s a community here, and that’s a positive thing.”

Gypsy lingerie is available on O‘ahu at Olive Boutique in Kailua, on Maui at Pink By Nature in Makawao, and online at www.madebygypsy.com

Keoki brings an analytical and holistic approach to surfboard design, resulting in harmonized synergy.

THE ANALYTICAL DESIGNER

keoki surfboards

Keoki Ching would describe himself as a starving artist. Though the surfboard shaper has designed custom boards for pro surfers, amateurs and liquor companies galore, the surfboard industry is not what it once was, and even shapers like Eric Arakawa and Glenn Pang aren’t turning over the profits they once used to. “There are too many boards in the world,” he says. “Every surfer already has three or four boards, and new surfers – well they just get a board from one of their friends. And when you can get a stand-up paddle board at Costco for like a thousand bucks that makes it tough to stay alive and sustain as a shaper.”

That doesn’t mean the quality of his work has declined, in fact quite the opposite. It can take Keoki up to 12 hours just to shape one board. Often times the most consuming part is understanding a person and what their needs are. “Kelly Slater has his signature board, but that board might not be the right board for you. In fact, it could be the total opposite of what that person needs.”

Keoki started shaping boards 18 years ago when he was just 17, but always as a side project. The initial batch was made at a friend’s house in Hale‘iwa, and looking back he says he’d like to burn them all, wishing only to have boards out there that are properly made to his highly technical standards. He studied biology in Minnesota, worked with Nainoa Thompson and the Ocean Learning Academy, and worked as a consultant to the Bishop Museum, where he had access to analyze a wealth of information in surfboard history and design.

And it shows. Keoki’s design aesthetic

for making surfboards combines both a holistic and analytical approach, resulting in harmonized synergy. Whether designing for a pro-surfer, a seasoned waterman or a recreational surfer, Keoki focuses on three key aspects: technical, artistic and interpretational.

The technical aspect of design comes with understanding basic parameters of board making. Lowering the rocker, reducing the concaves, adding thickness, all contribute to making the board fit the rider. As a surfer himself, Keoki’s ability to navigate the ocean plays a big part in custom-fitting the right board for the perfect ride. “The board should fit the curve of the ocean and the person,” he says.

Artistically, Keoki will style a board to a rider’s personality. This personalization is what enables Keoki’s boards to inconspicuously fit in with its surroundings, from a smoky, matte black shortboard fixtured to the wall at Club Monaco to a glossy tie-dyed 10’0 in the locker at Queen’s in Waikīkī. The look and style of the board will be determined solely by a rider’s flare.

The interpretational aspect, and most important in Keoki’s process, is to fully understand the person he is making a board for. “My job is to figure out what’s best for the rider. Where are they surfing? What size waves? What kind of moves do they want to do? Sometimes I feel like a therapist in session, listening to a person’s issues and concerns.” In the end Keoki will prescribe a board tailor-made for each person’s specific use. “There is no golden board,” he says. “It’s important to match the right board to the right person.”

Despite the downturn of the surfboard

economy, it seems Keoki’s innovativeness will see him through. “We must pull our inspiration from other worlds outside of surfing. No one would ever add anything new if we all copied that same guy.” From canoes made to travel long distances in rough waters, to the aerospace museum in Washington, Keoki is always looking for ways to evolve his craft. “That way we shapers can contribute something new and different,” he says.

From the beginner at Queen’s taking a nose-dive for the worst to the pro deep in the barrel at Pipe, the most rewarding part for Keoki is seeing someone enjoying themselves in the water. “Surfers have an emotional attachment to their boards and I am privileged to be able to make someone a board that they will love and use forever.”

To contact Keoki email: keokisurfboards@gmail.com.

Text by Cody Matsukawa

Photo by Christy Eriksson

Sabrina strikes a chord at a show during SXSW in Austin, Texas.

SOUTH BY SOUTH WEST 2010

sabrina velazquez at sxsw

If you had told me a year ago that in 2010 I would be invited to play at the SXSW Music Festival, I would have laughed and said, Yeah right, in my dreams! Playing at the annual Austin, Texas multimedia confab was an item on my bucket list of unattainable goals that included things like write a song with Joni Mitchell and own a villa on Lake Cuomo. Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings play that scene, not a singer/songwriter from Hawai‘i who self-releases her music, with no manager or agent.

What a difference a tweet makes. Mike Pooley, guitarist and vocalist for the band Painted Highways, told me how to apply for SXSW in a Twitter exchange. I felt like I was applying for a dream job that I had no chance of getting. With a why-the-hellnot mentality, I submitted my electronic press kit online, answered a few application questions, said a little prayer to myself and hit the send button. Four months later, in December 2009 I received an email inviting me to play at the festival the following March. I remember I re-read that email about 100 times just to make sure I didn’t get it wrong. I immediately called my mom, sister and best friend screaming with the good news. I decided that I wanted someone to come with me to play lead guitar and called my friend Ryan Miyashiro. I was so happy when he agreed to venture with me to Texas. In March 2010, we were on a plane headed for Austin.

Also on their way to the Lone Star State were four other Hawai‘i musical acts: Anuhea and The Green, Pimpbot (both SXSW alums who played the festival in 2009), Kona and Tavana. I was proud to be a part of the group.

We arrived to complete pandemonium. It was the week of St. Patrick’s Day and more than 150,000 fans descended on the city to see 1,900 musical acts from around the world, and that was just on the official roster. I quickly learned that there was a parallel festival of unofficial shows in parking lots, houses, music stores and restaurants featuring official and unofficial festival bands. The city swarmed with musicians. I spotted Romy Madley Croft from The XX outside of an XX gig, and met former bassist for Hole, Melissa Auf der Maur, who wished me luck for my showcase performance that evening. It was hard to be “Sabrina, the musician” when “Sabrina, the fan” was in full effect.

The crowds were beer-filled and excited. Strangers talked to strangers, and meeting people was easy. As always, mention Hawai‘i and people were intrigued. I played six gigs in three days in venues that ranged from packed clubs to empty restaurants. I took any opportunity to play anywhere, anytime. When would I get to do this again? Playing my official showcase at the club Submerged was the most memorable for me. The sound of the venue was

amazing! Ryan and I were totally in sync and we put on a rocking show.

The crowds were great. It wasn’t my first time playing on the mainland, but it was my first time playing in Austin, a musical hub where sounds from bands poured into the streets at every corner. Gone was the comfort of home, where I have been blessed with a community that has embraced my music, where Chinatown venues have fostered creativity as unique as their locations. But I welcomed the challenge. It was an opportunity to be heard live, beyond the ocean that surrounds my home. To represent Hawai‘i. To represent independent musicians. To connect with music enthusiasts. It seemed strange at first to not recognize a face in the crowd. The other Hawai‘i bands were great. We’d try to stop by one another’s gigs for support. My between-song banter sometimes went over well and sometimes fell flat. But my music was always received with smiles and applause, no matter how big or small the crowd, making me feel right at home.

Text by Sabrina Velazquez

Photos by

Monique

Accompanying guitarist, Ryan Miyashiro.

What better place to talk shop than a city bus stop? GRLFRNDS with Painted Highways.

PAINTED HIGHWAYS

an interview by grlfrnds

Editor’s Note: In our last issue, indie-rock band Painted Highways bumped heads with post-punk, electro rockers GRLFRNDS. This time, Painted Highways stepped in front the mic, dishing on selling out, the local music scene and GRLFRNDS frontman Alex Kaiser’s hair.

GRLFRNDS first encountered Painted Highways during “The Opening,” a battle of the bands to open for national headliners, Modest Mouse, who played in Hawai‘i September 2009. Something about the Painted Highways sound reminded me of my brief travels around the Pacific Northwest. Their name evoked road trips I took with my parents across the continent as a child. But more than anything Painted Highways seemed to tow the line and personify the sound that Modest Mouse, Dinosaur Jr., Kings Of Leon and so many others have established as the current American indie-rock phenomenon. GRLFRNDS got together with our friends Mike, Mark and Kai (absent was their drummer Jack, who deserves his own article for being one of the pillars of the Hawai‘i scene for as long as I can recall) to talk about their band Painted Highways.

GRLFRNDS: When are we going to play more shows in Yogurtland and Burger King?

Mark: When hell freezes over.

Mike: When Jack releases us from our contract, that tyrant.

GF: Was it tough selling out?

Mike: No, it was easy, cheap.

GF: On the real though, I’ve had conversations with you Mike about labels and deals. Is this band going to sell out or are you going to make the record yourselves?

Mike: Well, we’re going to make the first record ourselves. If we got a good enough record deal we’d sell out. It’d have to be to our benefit, something that makes Mark happy.

GF: Mark, what’s going to get you to sell out?

Mark: Freedom.

GF: I heard you played Cinco de Mayo – you had some groupie action. Kai, I’m looking at you …

Kai: I don’t know what you’re talking about.

Mike: Mark touched a boob. That was about it. Girls make eyes at us because they don’t realize we’re 30 or over.

Kai: A guy bought me a beer.

GF: I think more guys have bought me beers than girls. Girls don’t buy you beers, but I might be a flirt.

Mark and Mike: Alex, you definitely are.

Mark: Yeah, Alex, your hair has so much volume. Damn.

Kai: What are you using, Pantene?

GF: My hair has been to a lot of Painted Highways shows. Can you see my hair from the audience when you play?

Mike: Of course. We can smell your hair from the audience. Pantene travels far.

Mark: I can smell that VO5 hot oil.

GF: Is it a good barometer? Can you tell whether or not you’re playing a good show from my hair?

Mike: Usually it depends on how it’s whipped. If it’s whipped to the right we need to step it up. If it’s whipped to the left we’re OK. If it’s all over the place we’ve done our job. We played well based on Alex Kaiser’s hair.

GF: Ideally I think my hair is happy when it’s like Justin Bieber’s.

Mike: I agree. Blow-dried.

GF: Should we get more serious? At the beginning, Mark, you played a lot on a big electric piano; you still have the microKORG synthesizer. Your guitar sound is probably one of the most defining things about your band, but how do you guys feel about synths?

Mike: We’ve always wanted a fifth person to do that because it’s hard for Kai to step away from the bass. It’d be smarter, since we both have guitars, for somebody to fucking put the guitar down and play the synths. We have two microKORGs. The only reason we don’t have the piano is because of laziness – that thing weighs 200 pounds. We would write a lot more if we had NORD keyboards or something that’s light. Unfortunately it’s just this huge piano. We’d love to incorporate synths because all of us here could see a lot of synth parts in our songs.

GF: Living in Hawai‘i, where there isn’t really an indie rock scene, how does that affect what your band will sound like?

Mike: The market is bigger than Hawai‘i. I don’t know if Modest Mouse or Joy Division got together and said let’s make music this town will like. Or if they were like, “Let’s make music we want to make and hopefully, somebody will like it.” That’s how we’ve approached it. As we’ve gotten to know each other and played longer, our songs have melded to become the Painted Highways’ sound instead of Mark’s song or Kai’s song or Mike’s song.

GF: The songs are great and the album is going to sound awesome. Do we have any last words?

Mark: When does the interview begin?

To see the hilarious full interview go to www.fluxhawaii.com

Text by Alex Kaiser

Photo by Aaron Yoshino

The perfect partner for a picnic: Maika‘i Tubbs’ flower installation uses plastic utensils for TCM’s Biennial exhibition.

WHAT IS ART?

talking art with tcm showcasers maika‘i tubbs and scott yoell

The Contemporary Museum hosts countless exhibits geared to its namesake genre annually. The museum’s Biennial is perhaps one of the most significant, showcasing some of Hawai‘i’s most innovative and talented contemporary artists. TCM’s pilot biennial was launched in 1993, conceived to offer a plenary perspective of the island’s annual juried shows. Over the years it has become one of Hawai‘i’s most important exhibitions, serving as a snapshot of some of the most influential and substantial contemporary art being created in the islands today.

In the wake of enthusiastic preparations, I couldn’t help but return to the ageold question: What is art? As TCM gears up for their fourth round this September, I was lucky enough to get a chance to sit down with two participating artists, Scott Yoell and Maika‘i Tubbs with hopes of answering that enigmatic question.

FLUX: What are your personal definitions of art? No pressure.

Maika‘i Tubbs: Can we just look it up on Wikipedia?

[Laughter]

Scott Yoell: The definitions are endless! For me art is just a means for human expression. I’ve always found that I could speak better with my hands than with my words. Art is definitely about getting my ideas across to people as well.

MT: Art for me is a great visual language to getting a point across. It doesn’t discriminate, and that’s one of the best things about it. You can find some way to relate to art no matter what your background. That makes it an incredibly powerful medium. Art traverses boundaries and permeates barriers to get to people. I can’t think

of any other field that can do that.

FLUX: I’m sure we’ve all heard someone say, “I could’ve done that!” in reference to a contemporary work of art. If art is becoming more and more conceptual, that means it’s increasingly being based off of concepts, theories and ideas. Everyone has those. Does that mean anyone can be an artist?

MT: When art becomes institutionalized, people begin searching for ways to measure things. They are essentially searching for a standard set of rules. Like you just said, if you don’t have these, anything can be art. Quite frankly, I don’t see anything wrong with that. I wish that was how it was! I think there would be tremendous benefits to this kind of shift in mindset. But I understand why people would want to put restrictions on it. Like anything else, to make it measurable.

FLUX: We’ve been seeing more and more artists moving towards conceptual-based artwork in the contemporary field. As artists yourselves, do you believe that art should have a purpose or remain art for art’s sake?

SY: There’s room for both. The art that I gravitate towards challenges me to think in a different way. A lot of them have political or social connections to them. If you go back to the work of Hans Hecke, there’s a beautiful element of design and aesthetic, but there’s also great ideas for political intent that go behind them. Same with Mel Chin, whose work engages me in terms of thinking about its impact on society and the environment. At the same time, if I was sitting in front of a James Kaneko piece, where there’s a mountain behind it – on an aesthetic level, you have to think,

This is absolutely beautiful. I can’t connect that to anything other than an aesthetic experience.

MT: I think the most successful works of art are that dual combination of aesthetics and concept. Being an artist is a great opportunity to speak your mind without a whole bunch of backlash. There’s actually a whole lot that you can say with art that you can’t with words.

SY: Yeah. And there’s a lot of mental masturbation and fluff out there. A lot of the pop genre was just eye candy. For me, when the concept and materials gel together, it speaks to me. I’m not just sitting there concentrating on just one aspect of it. That’s when I know it’s great art. It’s rare.

FLUX: How much of art originates from you, the artist, and how important is the audience when considering whether something is a work of art?

MT: It’s hard to have a work of art that is separate from it’s creator. I’m not too sure if I even consider how the audience views my work. That would be like saying I would only make art if I was convinced that people were going to take away the same message. I personally enjoy hearing after the fact, people’s thoughts and reactions to my work. And all the better if it had nothing to do with my original intention. That’s the beauty of art in a way. I can go about appreciating something just because it’s the color blue, which triggers sadness for me. However, the artist may have intended to convey happiness with that color.

SY: I always consider my audience, whenever I put anything in a public space, a

Text by Carolyn Mirante

Photos Courtesy of Artists

gallery, even online. When I set up installations, I don’t care if people get different meanings from my work, but I do want to know exactly how people will see my work as they enter the space. We all come from different cultures, races and backgrounds, and all of those things inform us in different ways. I do know that I have my intent and it is my intent to express a particular message. Whatever material I decide to use will probably be the best language to convey that message. To me, medium is just language. Some things sound better in French and some sound better in English. You wonder how they translate, too, at times.

FLUX: Can you talk a little about your installations at TCM’s upcoming Biennial exhibition?

SY: “Tsunami” is going to be a giant waveform constructed from 5,000 four-inch

tall, business-men shaped figurines. A tsunami is really similar to our present economic state, symbolic of this massive force that comes down and destroys everything in its path. The sheer volume of the same business-man figure is symbolic as well, as if we’ve mass produced all of these things and ideas.

MT: I’ve been really interested with plastic as a material. It’s an excellent representation of the world that we live in. It’s the material of our time, where I can go to the store and an entire aisle is dedicated to plastic cutlery. Both of my installations are made from plastic utensils. My vine installation is inspired by the wood rose, which has become an invasive species in Hawai‘i. People tend to find that it strangles other plants. I’m also doing a snail installation outside based on the apple snail, which finds its way in to kalo and lo‘i fields, leav-

Scott Yoell’s “Tsunami” of clay, 5,000 four-inch clay figurines will be on display at TCM’s Biennial exhibtion.

ing the fields open to infection.

FLUX: Where do you think art is headed? SY: Who knows? I’m going to have to quote Mel Chin on this one: “Art is always the same. It’s the same as it was a hundred years ago: That is, it’s never the same.” Art is always changing and evolving. We’re in a constant state of flux!

MT: Every generation finds a new way to reinvent the wheel. Just as Scott said, art’s always changing, but most of the main ideas are probably the same. It’s mainly the context that’s changed.

For more information on TCM’s Biennial visit: www.tcmhi.org To see more of Scott and Maika‘i ‘s work visit: www.scottyoell.com www.maikaitubbs.com

BUFF MONSTER

Text by Jared Yamanuha

Profile Photo by Miles Marshall

Lettering by Evil Genius

We all know that monsters stomp Japanese cities into smithereens, strike fear into the tiny palpitating hearts of disobedient children, and wreak havoc the world over. What may come as a surprise, though, is that one monster – clad in pink, with a spiky Mohawk that’s apt to impale curious onlookers – is hellbent on bringing new meaning to the world. And he’s doing it with art.

While the origins of most monsters are rooted in provincial folklore and mythology, much is known about Buff Monster, the pop culture chimera in question. Originally from Honolulu, Buff left

O‘ahu for Los Angeles in 1997, where he began candy-coating the city with posters bearing his adopted moniker and character: a bulbous icon with X’s for eyes and devilish horns protruding from its head. For years, he inundated the streets of Los Angeles with his iconographic street art – inspired, in equal measures, by heavy metal music, ice cream and Japanese culture – and his violently fluorescent shade of pink. His work quickly garnered the attention of everyone from Nike to Scion to Hello Kitty, all of whom he worked with on collaborative projects.

But this wasn’t enough, at least for an artist as ambitious as Buff Monster. He’s since shed his street art chrysalis, bidding farewell to nefarious nighttime activities and indelible wheat-pasted posters, and saying hello to the accoutrement of fine art painting. Now, he spends his days and nights painting in his studio, alone. (“Those long painting days make me feel like life is passing me by,” he says.) But it’s paid off, and Buff has made an auspicious foray into the art world, as evidenced by shows in galleries that have elected, with great enthusiasm, to exhibit his work.

Clad in his signature pink, Buff Monster is hell-bent on bringing new meaning to the world. And he’s doing it with art.

His transition, from low to high art, is rare, given the fact that the fine art world still views artists who came by way of either street art or graffiti with relative skepticism. (Street and graffiti artists are, by definition, a rowdy, anti-establishment pack of provocateurs, with a penchant for destruction.) Despite this, Buff has managed to get his work seen and sold in galleries – those pristine, sanctified white cubes inside of which artists’ careers are launched and made legitimate – without ever compromising his vision. “There’s no greeting card for the art world,” he says. “I just make paintings and they get shown in the places I want.”

But what is it that separates Buff from other street artists slapping paint on canvas? What’s the story behind his successful ascent to the world of fine art? Maybe it’s the kawaii character decanting drops of colorful ejaculate, or the coupling of satanic pentagrams with smiling ice cream scoops, or the distilled graphic punch they deliver to the eye, or the way these elements combine and climax in an orgiastic state of aesthetic bliss. Or maybe it’s the ambiguity of it all, the way adults and children alike can assign meaning to his imagery as they see fit. “Art isn’t created or viewed in a vacuum,” says Buff, “it needs to be seen, and the more people it resonates with, the more effective it is.” His paintings are, to say the least, invitations to the imagination.

The other, and perhaps more significant, dividing factor that distinguishes Buff from countless street artists trying to set foot in art galleries is his remarkable business savvy. (He attended USC, where he studied both fine arts and business administration.) In countless interviews Buff cites Andy Warhol, Takashi Murakami and Shepard Fairey as major inspirations. But, he’s quick to note, it’s less for their aesthetics than for the sprawling empires they’ve built. Like his influential predecessors, Buff aspires to erect a monumental, moneymaking empire, one which branches out across the world. And, despite our current economic crisis, business is booming for Buff. This September marks his fourth solo show with the Corey Helford Gallery in Culver City, California.

If there’s a single piece of advice Buff can offer to struggling artists trying to find their own voice and audience, it’s this enlightened ultimatum: “Give up now, or paint with the passion of the gods. Just do one or the other and it’ll all work out.” It’s obvious that Buff Monster has opted for the latter, working day and night on perfecting his craft, and his success, as amazing as it is, signals just the beginning. Be afraid, be very afraid.

HUB AND THE GREEN REVOLUTION

Text by Anthony V. Ramil

In 2006, a small band of sustainable-minded University of Hawai‘i students converted one of UH Mānoa’s most energy-consuming buildings, Saunders Hall, into a model of sustainability. The project, dubbed “Sustainable Saunders,” implemented direct energy-saving practices, greatly reducing the building’s energy consumption, and subsequently, its energy bill. The group was on its way to educating a campus – and a community – on the feasibility of sustainable practices.

The group was called Help Us Bridge (HUB), and their mission was to bridge the campus to the community through sustainable practices, education and research. HUB was founded by eight ambitious young people and has since grown to twenty student interns.

“Some students are self motivated leaders with project ideas that are eager to lead teams, while others just want to be a part of the group and be assigned a role to learn more about sustainability,” said founding member Tamara Armstrong. Students are able to earn academic credit through a community internship

course taught by founding member and student sustainability coordinator Shanah Trevenna. Still, it’s clear these passionate students are driven by more than just credit. In only four short years, HUB has transformed a building, enlightened a campus, and reached out to a community. The members host green-related, campuswide events every semester that bring in hundreds of participants. Their Interactive Launch Party has evolved into the largest Earth Day celebration on the island. They have created the Student Sustainability Internship Program where students perform energy and waste audits for organizations all around the island, from the U.S. Coast Guard to ‘Ewa Beach Elementary School. HUB has also designed a Sustainability 101 course to teach the latest in sustainability to all interested students. The curriculum is now being used by Kapi‘olani Community College’s Outreach College, UH Mānoa’s Outreach College and the DOE Construction Academy. Last October, when they announced their new initiative, sustainableUH, it became evident that HUB had only just begun.

Saunders Hall, HUB’s first project, found $149,000 in energy savings.

SUSTAINABLE SAUNDERS: THE FACTS

ACTIONS:

* Installed waterless urinals and low-flow toilets

* Tested indigenous plants for green roofs

* Installed solar panels

* Received donations for a mounted wind-turbine

* Built a community courtyard with recycled lumber

* Performed “Dumpster Dive” waste audits

* Implemented recycling programs for each department

* De-lamped 50% of Saunders Hall

* Scheduled regular air conditioning shutdowns

RESULTS:

* Occupants of Saunders claimed de-lamping reduced headaches and eyesores

* Reduced Saunders’ energy usage by 24% in one year

* Found $149,900 in energy savings

* Inspired campus-wide de-lamping and air conditioning shutdown initiatives

* Led to the new HUB initiative: sustainableUH

THE NEW INITIATIVE: SUSTAINABLE UH

Following the success of Sustainable Saunders, HUB earned the reputation for turning ideas into action. So what did they do with that reputation? They got bigger ideas and turned them into greater actions. The student team decided to share the knowledge and experience they gained during their campus projects with the entire university by creating sustainableUH, an initiative that allows anyone in the UH system to request their energy and moneysaving services. The sustainableUH team’s first clients, or more appropriately, their first bridges, were Honolulu Community College (HCC) and the Student Bar Association at UH Mānoa.

Sustainable HCC has chosen Building 2 as their flagship location in their mission to create a sustainable community college. They have already started “Dumpster Dive” audits, as well as lighting and energy audits, and have tested a solar-powered golf cart. Meanwhile, the Student Bar Association at UHM has committed to the goal of making Richardson Law School the “greenest law school

in America.” They too have started with lighting and energy audits.

According to a sustainableUH press release, the goal was “to replicate Saunders’ success by achieving $150,000 in energy savings over the next year, all while training students for Hawai‘i’s green work force.” By focusing on sustainable education and not just action, sustainableUH is making sure the changes they make today will last throughout time.

HELP HUB BRIDGE

The passion for sustainability and green living is not limited to college students and neither should participation. HUB was created with the goal to connect the campus to the community, and even if you aren’t a student, there is still a place for you in this cause. After all, every bridge has two ends. “HUB is all about anyone in the community coming to the meetings to learn about what each other is doing and finding ways to connect,” says Armstrong. Community members of all types are welcomed to establish a relationship with HUB: “We like to have teachers,

politicians, industry leaders, community organizers, etc. stop by and participate. Often professionals come in to share their knowledge and get student help.”

In addition to the exchange of expertise with the students, industry and community members are encouraged to hire HUB interns after they graduate. Many HUB graduates have found full-time jobs in the field of sustainability. Armstrong, for example, along with co-founding members Sean Connelly and Vance Arakaki, works for KYA Sustainability Studio, a subsidiary of KYA Design Group, which focuses on sustainable design consultation. So, if the lack of “green” in the community is making you blue, follow the example of HUB and do something about it. “Join a group,” suggests Armstrong, “and be active members in your community towards common goals.”

PRINT IS ...

text by jason cutinella, publisher nella media group illustrations by jennifer yoko thorbjornsen

I’m glad that you have decided to read a magazine and not a computer screen. Obviously you still have love for print media! Perhaps the prophets of new media that continually spell doom and gloom for print are spouting hyperbole? While the print media game is definitely changing, I am here to tell you that print is here to stay. And not only will it remain, it will be just as effective and viable as any other form of media out there.

Please understand I am not here to tell you that print is the only media you must focus on. All forms of media are valuable, and in today’s economy, businesses must choose wisely as every dollar spent can make or break a company. Most might think that

my views are skewed because I make my living in print media. While this is true, I’ve spent a fair amount of time as a TV media buyer for one of the top media companies in the world. I’ve also worked for a local radio broadcasting company here in Hawai‘i. It is because of these experiences that I have come to love print media. I am fortunate enough to currently be a publisher here in Hawai‘i, and I love every minute of it. I dream of not only being one of the biggest publishers in Hawai‘i, but envision my company becoming one of the biggest publishing houses in the world (or at least hanging out with the big dogs in this publishing arena).

Is print dead, Mr. Advertiser? According to Apple’s revolution-

Safe and sound, powerful publishing houses usually remain unhinged during tough times.

Does the strangling grip of technology have print gasping for air?

ary, magically stupendous iPad (the new messianic device that just might cure AIDS and autism), print appears to be gasping its last breath. Executives from competing tech companies keep reinforcing this message to the masses, both consumers and advertisers alike, to further bolster the sales of other new age media applications. Could these titans of industry be right? According to GfK Mediamark Research and Intelligence’s twice-annual report, total adult readership of magazines and newspapers did not decline, but in fact remained stable, actually increasing by almost a full percentage point. Don’t be fooled by technology’s fancy flashing lights, print is not going anywhere for quite some time – or not at least until holographic images become prevalent in our iPhones and eyewear, à la Tony Stark’s lab. As cool as that sounds, I wouldn’t hold my breath just yet, because I’m still waiting for the hover skateboard from Back to the Future Part II

Niche publications will keep print media alive. Period. As media dedicated to a very specific topic, niche publications offer advertisers a dedicated channel to really push their products and services. Niches succeed due to the loyal following and readership. They allow their clients to really express their BRAND. BMX Plus! is a perfect example. This magazine is exclusively about the lifestyle of BMX team riders and professionals that make a living from this sport. I have been reading this magazine since I was 7 years old, and I continue to read it still to this day. BMX Plus! has garnered a large readership and its advertisers are confident that their target demographic is being reached, making print ads just as effective as any other form of media. There are niche publications about sports cars, cigars, hip-hop, surfing, skateboarding, knitting, electronic gadgets – you name it. As long as there are specific communities, there will remain specific magazines.

Locally, the question then becomes, how can we keep independent publishers (myself included) alive? We MUST collaborate, partner up, and in some instances, join forces. Before you misconstrue my words, I’m not saying that all new and independent publishers that have arisen in Hawai‘i should join forces in an attempt to become the next Pacific Basin Communications

Who’s afraid of a little collaboration?

Niche publications will keep print alive. Period.

DON’T BE FOOLED BY TECHNOLOGY’S FANCY FLASHING LIGHTS, PRINT IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE FOR QUITE SOME TIME OR AT LEAST UNTIL HOLOGRAPHIC IMAGES BECOME

PREVALENT IN OUR IPHONES AND EYEWEAR, À LA TONY STARK’S LAB.

(publishers of Honolulu Magazine, Hawaii Business Magazine and Hawaii Home and Remodeling, just to name a few). But, if we thought hypothetically for just one minute, imagine the possibilities if certain up-and-coming publishers were to come together. There could be a monumental changing of the guard by pooling resources and talent. Overnight we could become a rival powerhouse. Imagine if our innovative approach and fresh look became the norm!

Should we all join forces? It really depends on your vision. If you want to fly solo you can make a good livelihood publishing brochures and rack cards. It’s an honest and profitable living, and there is certainly nothing wrong with this. But if your dreams are bit more Murdochian, and you desire to become a publishing house that churns out multiple magazines, newspapers and books, then you will need a strong team behind you. You will need a team that believes in your vision and can translate that vision into action. Obviously for many of the small independent publishers, we/they generally lack the budget and resources to employ a large and qualified staff. However, our lack of funds generally translates into increased ingenuity and flexibility. This lack of funds should actually make it easier to search out the appropriate partner. With a partner you would be able to better produce multiple publica-

tions. Not only would that lead to employing more local workers, but it would garner significant attention and help capture market share on a national, and perhaps even international level for the new and impendent publishers.

Every day in the news we continue to hear about publications and newspapers shutting its doors, which has led many to feel that publishing is a dying form of media. A number of industry insiders believe that print will eventually be consumed by the new world of iPads and Kindles. No doubt a large majority of magazines will evolve into a mostly-digital format, but rest assured, just as many will retain their print component. A leading example is Wired magazine, who recently spent nine months working with Adobe to create an interactive version of the magazine for the iPad. Instead of shunning the print version, they decided to include exclusive content for it, enticing digital readers to pick up the printed copy. Wired’s print subscription base is still growing and continues to grow even after introducing the iPad application. This is a great example of digital integration working for the better, and I bet that in three years most major publications will evolve with similar concepts. I hope to see some publishers adapt these applications here in Hawai‘i also.

Print media is my passion, and I like to think of myself as a gatherer of passion.

Intuition tells me that without gatherers there would be no one collecting the great content that goes into the publications we read every day. The question we often ask is, “Will technology take over the publication world?” What we really should be asking is, “Will technology take away our readers, and how can we adapt to ensure we keep those readers around?” Without readers we all would be out of a job and print would really be dead.

I would like to express my deepest thanks to the countless publishers that have produced the publications that I have picked up and subscribed to over the years. Without them there would be no Nella Media Group. My experience has led to a much deeper respect for the publishers that have been competing in this game for the last 20 plus years. And much respect to all that have entered the publishing game in the past three. I know as a publisher I will continue to strive to produce creative and informative publications for as long as I am able.

Keep it niche and keep print alive!

Changing the game of hip-hop: Bambu brings social messages to all his rhymes, including when performing here at Next Door in Honolulu.

REWRITING HIP-HOP

bambu

Text by Tiffanie Wen

“We’re not against rap. We’re not against rappers. But we are against those thugs ...” Those were the words uttered by Reverend Calvin Butts and immortalized by rappers Bone Thugs-N-Harmony in their debut-hit single, “Thuggish Ruggish Bone.” Butts, in 1993, led a campaign against what he called “vile, ugly, low, abusive and rough music,” notoriously declaring to crush rap CDs by steamrolling them to smithereens in symbolic protest. Today, Al Sharpton shouts for the the censorship of rap music, while Lil Wayne and T.I. are hauled off to jail. The perception of hip-hop today hasn’t changed much. And aptly so, given the music’s frequent glamorization of drugs, crime and misogyny. One Filipino-American emcee, however, is articulating a different message, using that oft-damned hippity-hop as a vehicle to organize and mobilize his communities for social change.

“My friends say I turn into kind of an asshole before a show.”

Five minutes before he takes the stage, I’m sitting in a smoky green room at the legendary Slims Club in San Francisco with Filipino-American hip-hop artist Bambu, known for his political and controversial rhymes that comment on everything from the policies of Philippines’ President Gloria MacapagalArroyo to redefining the American standard of beauty (“especially when she’s been told her beauty’s second to the white/ now it’s white women/collagen/fake lips/fake tits/now we overlook a sister because a white girl’s thick?!”). The rapper sits quietly in the austere backstage area, empty except for a few backpacks and a bucket of Coronas, and of course the gaggle of friends – his posse – buzzing around aimlessly and wandering in and out. There’s his onstage deejay, Chinese-American DJ Phatrick, emcee Kiwi Illafonte of their former group Native Guns and a handful of chicks in torn fishnets who look like Asian versions of Rihanna.

Like most people with a convoluted and biography-worthy history, the artist has picked up a few aliases along the way. “Bambu” is derived from his days battling in a group called Bamboo Brigade, “Buck Taylor” comes from his penchant for Chuck Taylor’s and Jonah is simply for those who know him best. But with a story that includes domestic violence between his immigrant parents, witnessing the point-blank murder of his cousin Frankie (who lives on as “Frankenstein” in his raps),

Photos by Aaron Yoshino

THE PERCEPTION OF HIP-HOP HAS BECOME SKEWED AND HAS LOST ITS ORIGINAL PURPOSE OF VOICING CONCERNS OF AN OPPRESSED COMMUNITY.

a bout of homelessness as a young teenager, and a stint in prison for armed robbery, you’d think the 32-year-old has already lived nine lives.

If that last series of events reminds you of something you’ve heard about rappers on MTV, the similarities probably end there. Sitting down with the artist outside a coffee shop in LA a few weeks after his performance at Slims, Bambu is amazingly thoughtful, articulate and well-informed, and even a bit of a romantic. A “conscious” rapper, his music is not meant merely to create head-bobbing entertainment for the masses and increase the digits on his bank statements. Instead, his lyrics are designed to resonate with oppressed ethnic communities and elicit change through the organization of its members.

“People expect me to say that hip-hop is going to change the world,” the artist says. “And the first thing I’d say is, ‘Fuck hip-hop.’ There are bigger issues at hand. There are so many other things we could be focusing on and you want to worry about the so-called four elements of hip-hop? At that point it turns into art for art’s sake and loses its meaning. Art should reflect society, reality.”

And throughout his career, his music has done just that, beginning with his own. As a homeless teenager in Watts, the rapper fell in love with a black girl who he would eventually marry. Her family took him in off the streets and it was the girl’s father who first encouraged Bambu to seek out his cultural identity.

“Being young, the militant black struggle was so cool and I was like, ‘Do I have one of those?’ And eventually I found the [ethnic community] through African culture, through hiphop and through the martial arts,” he explains.

The marriage didn’t last, but the lessons he learned from his black father figure had. While serving for more than six years as an infantry soldier and later as a medic in the Marine Corps in Kosovo, Yemen and Okinawa, he continued to read about his Asian roots, refined his production and rap techniques with fellow soldiers during their time off, and developed his own voice, which the rapper says can be heard on his first album with Kiwi and DJ Phatrick as part of The Native Guns.

One of Bambu’s most well-known concept videos, created by Kid Heroes Productions and Xylophone Films for his song “Crooks and Rooks,” is hugely autobiographical. It depicts a young Jonah delivering drugs for his gang, carried in a tennis ball lodged within the spokes of his bike. Later we see the adult artist driving young Filipino kids to school. “I never made it to the next level of the gang, of that world,” he says. “I stayed there as delivery boy and then transitioned from transporting something that destroys the community to transporting something that enriches it.”

In his upcoming video for “Old Man Raps,” Bambu explores the fears he harbors for his son, now 2 years old. “The fantasy narrative is about me with my son in a hypothetical future where

“I wanted to get the message across the struggles with Hawaiian sovereignty are the same as my struggles.” Bambu with Tadd Nakamura on a panel at UH

about activism in communities.

M?noa

he grows up and follows in my footsteps, because I’m such a strict dad trying so hard to keep him out of that life,” he says.

While he draws on experiences from his own life and community’s struggles, Bambu acknowledges that others in the industry preach a different message. He thinks the perception of hip-hop has become skewed, and has lost its original purpose of voicing the concerns of an oppressed community. “Now we glorify and romanticize things in the community like drug dealing,” he says. “One unfortunate thing about hip-hop today is that it makes us look like animals. We’re throwing money at women and beating the shit out of them, shooting guns at each other. We look like monkeys. It’s fucked up to see, especially coming from the community.”

And though he’s from LA, he’s referring to a larger sense of community that spans the United States. Earlier this year the artist played to a sold out audience at Next Door in Honolulu’s Chinatown. “Before I went to Hawai‘i I did a lot of studying about Hawaiian sovereignty issues and incorporated that into my show. I wanted to get the message across that your struggles are the same as my struggles,” he says. He even

spoke at workshops at the Ethics Department of the University of Hawai‘i, a school that he says he would consider attending, on the importance of youth organization and involvement.

He doesn’t just talk about organizing. Back in California, Bambu is a longtime leader of the Kabataang Maka-Bayan ProPeople Youth, a progressive youth and student organization, whose aim is to “raise the social consciousness of the youth to organize and mobilize in response to issues affecting our local communities, the oppressed people of the Philippines and other pro-people issues around the world.” An organizer for Peoples Corps, he also teaches a program called “Ready, Aim, Speak” at Locke High School in Watts.

To the upset of his fans, Bambu has decided it’s nearly time to leave the music world. Though he says he’ll continue to “leak music to the Internet,” the artist will release only one more full-length album, a collaboration with Sabzi, the producer for both Common Market and Blue Scholars. While his album titles to date have been framed with an ellipsis on either side, the title of his final album will tellingly end with a period. He will continue his work

with the community of course, and is planning to open a martial arts and community center.

He says, “At the end of the day I really want people to organize. I think that what I do through the subculture of hiphop is just raise awareness. And that never really creates real change. I think artists fool themselves when they say they just want to create positive music. It might create the climate for some kind of change. But until you actually go out and organize, that awareness is wasted. I would love for people to go out and study for themselves. That’s the whole point of my music – for people to take the next step.”

CHARTER SCHOOLS

the many paths of education

Text by Gloria Baraquio

by Matthew Alvarado

Who or what defines education? Is it the State? The DOE? The governor? Is it defined by hours in a classroom? The ability to compute permutations or conjugate verbs? In the chaos that ensued after furloughs were initiated, questions arose about the quality of our education system. Many scoffed. But even more shook their heads. Although it seems the end of furloughs is in sight, the future of Hawai‘i’s education is still up for grabs. Here, Gloria Baraquio documents her journey as a charter school teacher on the Big Island, expanding traditional and perceived notions of what Hawai‘i’s future needs.

Every so often, I find myself asking, “How the hell did I end up here?” on this quiet little Big Island of lava, rain and coqui frogs. Me, the social butterfly from Ho-

nolulu, the little girl that loves to party … I’ve been living in Hilo for six whole years now and working in Pahoa, where there’s not much industry or economy. There’s actually a bit of poverty. Life out here can be pretty challenging at times, and believe me, I go through my withdrawals from the city, but there is definitely one thing that keeps me here. And that’s HAAS.

HAAS stands for the Hawai‘i Academy of Arts & Science. It’s the public charter school in Pahoa that focuses on the whole person, emphasizing the arts and self-expression, encouraging excellence in the sciences, and infusing the spirit of gratitude and service throughout everything they do. With a main campus that serves about 120 students and alter-

native learning programs that serve another 275, HAAS is the school of choice for kids, parents and teachers who need something different. Personally, I am a student product of various education systems: Catholic school, public school, the California State system, the University of Hawai‘i system, university in England. I’ve taught at a DOE school, worked at a large private school, and now I’m at HAAS. This charter school is undoubtedly the most flexible, accommodating and innovative environment I have ever experienced. HAAS honors the input of all stakeholders involved, and based on students’ requests and teachers’ passions, the school offers unconventional classes like surfing, yoga, aikido, carpentry, jewelry design, swing dance and Tahitian.

Photos

THE NEW SCHOOL

ANNA KUPCHA

THE SCHOLAR

Anna Kupcha is a 17-year old scholar/singer/ dancer/actor. On top of being a theatre director and producer, she has been accepted into the prestigious University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. I can’t take credit for ever teaching Anna: She actually cast me in a musical play she directed and even gave me a few voice lessons. At 12, Anna felt ready to attend University of Hawai‘i, Hilo. With the support of HAAS teachers, she concurrently enrolled in both schools, earning college and high school credit. Anna needed to be challenged, and so she directed her own education path. This year, she will graduate from both schools and will attend UT Southwestern in the fall. Her goal is to become a doctor and help people live healthy lives. And at some point, she wants to be on Broadway!

TYLER FLOWER

THE DANCER

Tyler Flower is a 17-year old dancer, who withdrew from HAAS this year to get his GED certificate. Only in his junior year, Tyler will graduate from high school one year earlier than had he stayed in his traditional curriculum. Tyler is a kinesthetic learner with a free spirit, and sitting at a desk every day was difficult for him. He loves that HAAS helped him find his passion for dance, and now he practices five hours a day at a dance studio in Hilo, studying break dance, hiphop, ballet and contemporary. Tyler plans to attend college in the fall, get his bachelor’s degree in psychology, earn his MFA in performing arts, and then become a dance therapist.

WHAT IS EDUCATION, BUT THE DISCOVERY OF WHAT IS ALREADY WITHIN?

I’ve had the blessing of teaching on the main campus for four years, evolving from language arts and social studies teacher to math tutor and senior advisor, to currently yoga teacher/digital media program director/grant writer. I’ve taken on so many roles because that is sometimes necessary in charter schools – we do what needs to be done. And we make do with what we have.

The beginnings of HAAS were very humble. When the school opened in 2001, they rented space at the New Hope Church in Pahoa and taught under tents and pavilions. They worked out of their cars for office space. Resources were minimal, but the founders had faith – and determination. Their motto became “Aloha in Education,” and they believed that if you had aloha in all your actions, everything would work itself out. Today, Steve Hirakami, our school director, still reminds us that “we are not here to only educate the mind; we are here to educate the heart and the soul.”

Back then, Pahoa was lacking what the founders were seeking: safe, small learning communities that honored holistic education. Many parents and kids felt they were not getting their needs met by the DOE schools in the area, and they wanted to create a new avenue for education. And believe me, a town like Pahoa requires an environment of openness and multiplicity. It’s a place of renegades, pioneers, free spirits and free thinkers. It’s a community of artists. With the range of hippies, spiritual masters, retired wealthy, war veterans, pot growers, meth dealers, mainland transplants and locals, our schools had to – and still do – make conscious efforts on a daily basis at creating diverse and harmonious learning environments.

HAAS, like all other charter schools, is based on the premise that not all students learn the same. The four students featured in this article are just a few of those who have taken unique paths in their education. I’ve had the honor of working with each of these kids, and while they are all very different from one another, they all seem to be what I call successful. In my eyes, they are sustainable, happy, healthy, self-directed people. In a traditional school setting, these are the kids who might have been forgotten, misunderstood, ignored, teased or stifled. That’s what I call a child left behind.

There’s a lot of talk of NCLB (No Child Left Behind), HCPS (Hawaii Content and Performance Standards), HSA (Hawaii State Assessment), and AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) – the DOE loves acronyms – and really, all those are great and well. Standards for excellence are wonderful, but limiting the measure of a school’s or student’s success to solely reflect math and reading scores is simply inaccurate. What if we mandated tests in art, music, sports and dance? How about standards and assessment for character and virtue? When did our school system start disregarding the rest of our humanity?

I believe this is what our charter schools are fighting for: individualized education, integrated learning, progressive and cutting-edge practices in technology, science, arts and humanities. And while our Hawai‘i charter schools might be small and few, receiving much less funding than DOE schools, we have someone at the top advocating for us. Barack Obama is all about charter schools, recognizing them as effective teaching models for the twenty-first century. In his recent proclamation of National Charter Schools Week,

he acknowledges, “Ideas developed and tested by charter schools have unlocked potential in students of every background and are driving reform throughout many school districts. During National Charter Schools Week, we re-commit to supporting innovation in teaching and learning at high quality charter schools and ensuring all our students have a chance to realize the American Dream.”

There are billions of federal dollars available for educational reform. Of particular note is the Race to the Top Fund, which is awarded to states with ambitious and comprehensive education reform programs. Hawai‘i applied, but did not receive funding. According to Linda Smith, Governor Lingle’s senior policy advisor, one reason for this was because of the limit on how many charter schools the state is allowed to operate. It doesn’t help that we initiated Furlough Fridays, which Secretary of Education Arne Duncan publicly scolded our state for. Really though, educational reform is not so much about opening more charter schools or giving more instructional time, as it is about paying attention to the individual needs of the students, no matter what type of school it is.

In the face of budget cuts and increased enrollment, HAAS has been resourceful. Not only did we keep everyone on board; we hired more teachers to serve more students. Our teachers refused to take furloughs, finding other ways to save, buying only necessities, shopping at discounted prices, using less paper, less gas, less water and less electricity. Many community members have stepped forward to volunteer and donate services to make our programs happen, and it’s a testament of how much the community cares about our kids.

THE NEW SCHOOL

SEAN PHILIPS

THE SURFER

Eighteen-year-old senior Sean Philips is a surfer, and that’s what he’s passionate about. He’s won numerous surf contests, including the 2009 HASA Championship at Honoli‘i, the 2009 HASA Championship at Banyans, and Shane Dorian’s 2009 Keiki Classic. He’s grateful that HAAS celebrates his love for surfing. He’s been able to take the surf elective every year, and says that having teachers and classmates who surf has made a marked difference in his schooling. He also loves that he can take yoga at HAAS, which only enhances his surfing. Sean plans to attend college in the fall, become an electrician, travel the world, and surf as many breaks as he can.

AJA WILLIAMS

THE CREATIVE

Aja Williams just joined HAAS this year. A beautiful 16-year old sophomore, she came to HAAS desperately seeking a school that was enriching

and safe. In her other public school, she felt her teachers didn’t care, and she didn’t like how so many kids were doing drugs. She also wanted to graduate early, and so she enrolled in HAAS’s Distance Learning Program. This track allows her to study independently outside of school, doing lessons at her own pace. She comes on campus only twice a week to meet with her academic mentor and to attend my yoga class. Aja will be able to get enough credits to graduate by next year. Aja says that HAAS has introduced her to different ways of learning and has made her more open-minded to different types of people. She loves that HAAS isn’t “cliquey” and that everyone seems to get along. Aja plans to attend Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. She also wants to be a model and aspires to launch her own clothing line.

One of my progressive film students Bailey Wooldridge urged me, “Education is supposed to be about the kids, but how can it be if no one is listening to us? All of the decisions regarding my education are being made for me by people who don’t even know who I am. To me, that doesn’t make sense. We need our voices to be heard.” Sean Philips says he thinks schools can prepare students for the future by teaching them more life skills and providing hands-on learning. “Students should have the choice to choose a path earlier and focus on learning what they want to become in life,” he says. What I’ve learned as a student and as a teacher is that we all just want to find our

path, our place in this world, where we fit, and what we can contribute. My students want opportunities, they want love, they want support and freedom to be themselves. They want someone to really SEE them, someone who helps them discover who they really are. And what is education, but the discovery of what is already within?

It was Kahlil Gibran who said that the wise teacher “does not bid you enter the house of his wisdom, but rather leads you to the threshold of your own mind.”

I love my kids, and I love to watch them grow. I believe in charter schools and the future of all schools. Not only do I feel part of something important at HAAS, but I have constant opportunities to play with

“I’ve learned as a student and as a teacher that we all want to find our path.” Gloria Baraquio paving the way in education at HAAS, a charter school on the Big Island.

new possibilities. My students challenge me, humble me, surprise me, inspire me to be better and dream bigger. They remind me that I am the student too, and that really, we are all teaching each other. I realize that being here is yet another path of my own education, and I get more and more excited to see what’s around the corner.

Gloria’s film students of HAAS Productions will release their full-length documentary on educational reform later this year. For more information on HAAS visit: www.haaspcs.org

“Once I achieve something, there’s something in my brain that questions, OK what now?” Nick surfing at Queen’s, Waikiki.

NO ARMS, NO LEGS – NO WORRIES! what

is happiness?

The beaches of Waikīkī were crowded as normal the day that Nick Vujicic went out for a surf. It was the first time he would attempt the sport. He remained flat on his stomach the first few times, “but soon as I achieve something,” the Australian-native says, “there’s something in my brain that questions, ‘OK, what now?’”

So Nick did what anyone would do: He attempted to stand up. “They taped a whole pile of towels on the board,” he says, recalling the moment. “I was lying down, trying to get up, but it’s amazing how much the g-forces hindered me. I tried 15 times before I finally go up. But I finally did it, and I was like, ‘Yeahhhhhh!’ It was so cool, man.”

Standing up for Nick is no simple feat. Simply because, 27 years ago, Nick was born with no arms and no legs. It’s a birth defect known as phocomelia and is what left doctors and Nick’s parents baffled in the delivery room. Despite ultrasounds at week 20 and 32, Nick’s parents were given no warning that their son was to be born without limbs.

Today the disability that once hindered him enables and affords Nick the opportunity to speak into the lives of thousands of people around the globe as a motivational speaker and evangelist. It’s estimated that one in ten people know who Nick is – that’s nearly 700 million people. His organization, Life Without Limbs, has taken him to 17 countries, including Egypt, Kuwait, South Korea, India and Colombia, where he shares his inspirational life story with some of the world’s most dejected and broken. He’s had the opportunity to address congresses around the world and presidents of nations. Later this year, he’ll speak to 135,000 people in Mexico City, in what will be his largest crowd to date.

Spend even a minute with the impassioned speaker, and his disability fades from view. He recounts a prank he once played on a passerby – his friends put him up in the overhead compartment of an airplane and closed the door, and he lay in wait for the next unsuspecting passenger – and he bursts out in laughter thinking of what came next, his blue eyes twinkling. I can’t help but laugh too. His features are ruggedly handsome, neatly-trimmed hair, a ruddy

beard. But it’s his eyes that are what is most striking. They flicker with emotion and reflect pain and joy all at once: the pain he’s seen of the world around him, the joy that exudes from his heart.

His eyes grow serious when he talks of the brokenness he’s seen first hand. “There’s a lot of pain around the world,” he says. “Slums. Prostitution. Ten-year-old girls being kidnapped and sold to become sex slaves. What do you tell her? Have a positive attitude? … People always ask me, ‘Nick, why do you smile?’ Well, the joy of the Lord is my strength.”

The strength of Nick’s spirit, regardless of where it comes from, is undeniable. Nick is fully independent, able to dress, shave, shower, cook, brush his teeth, comb his hair, all on his own. He enjoys golfing, swimming, playing soccer, and he can type 43 words per minute on the computer. He has a double major in finance and accounting. And for a while, he was utterly determined to remain independent, but recently, because of his whirlwind schedule, he’s realized having a caretaker helps him to be more efficient, freeing up his time to do even more.

On average Nick has spoken 250 times per year for the last six years; in 2008 he spoke 330 times. He’s personally met and hugged 350,000 people. “Am I tired?” he asks. “Yes. But you know what? If I died today, I wouldn’t regret one bit of it. People are my passion. Sharing with them a message of hope is what I’m about. And if I can touch the life of just one person, I wouldn’t trade a thing. I wouldn’t trade having arms and legs.”

In 2007, Nick met a little boy named Daniel Martinez while speaking in Southern California, where Life Without Limbs is also headquartered. Nick says he’ll never forget meeting Daniel. “Altogether I’ve met 17 children, teens, young adults with no arms and no legs. Daniel, he was the first one. Now I’m going to be an older brother to that boy. When he gets teased and depressed, angry at God, I can look him in the eye and say, ‘Hey, everything is going to be OK.’

“I’ve seen miracles, you know. I’ve seen blind people see, deaf people hear, lame people walk – I have a pair of shoes in my closet,

by Lisa Yamada

Text

Photos

SOME SEASONS PROLONG, SOME PAINS NEVER GO AWAY, AND SOMETIMES WE FEEL LIKE THERE IS NO HOPE, LIKE WE’RE GOING TO BE HERE FOREVER, BUT I’M HERE TO TELL YOU THAT WE’RE NOT.

just in case God says ‘yes’ to me – but I know that when you don’t get a miracle, you get to be a miracle for someone else.”

Nick, the firstborn son of Serbian immigrants, Boris and Duska Vujicic, was born on December 4, 1982 in Melbourne, Australia. What was supposed to be a celebration of life, quickly turned into bewilderment and shock. “My dad was by my mum’s side,” Nick says of his birth, “and he saw my shoulder. He couldn’t believe what he saw. He saw no arm. And he got sick to the stomach and walked out. The nurses, they were crying. They didn’t know what to do. The doctor goes out to my dad, and my dad says, ‘My son – he has no arm.’ And the doctor says, ‘No, actually he has no arms or legs.’ And he just fell down.”

Nick’s birth was even harder for his mom. “The nurses put me next to her, and she couldn’t – she didn’t want to touch me. She just said, ‘No I don’t want to see him.’ Shock. Tragedy. … They put me in the nursery, and my dad came to see me. He unwrapped the blankets, and he couldn’t believe it. But he went back to my mum, and he said, ‘He’s beautiful.’ Still, it took about four months for my parents to come to terms with my condition.”

IN TRANSIT

Then it was Nick’s turn to question. At age 8, Nick told his mom that he wanted to commit suicide. At age 10, he actually tried. He crawled into the bathtub and turned over three times. “I just felt I was

never going to live a normal life. If I was going to be a burden to my parents, I’d rather be dead. I’d rather relieve them of me, their greatest burden.” He turned over twice and thought he was doing a good thing. The third time, he envisioned his parents looking at his grave, and Nick realized he was going to leave them with a lot more pain. So, he “decided to stick around.”

Nick’s struggle with accepting himself and believing in the purpose for his life was just beginning. Between ages 8 and 12 he struggled with bouts of depressions. He describes those years as his lowest points. “For my dad, as a preacher to say, ‘God’s got a plan for all people,’ yet his son was born without limbs – that hurt me. Singing, ‘Jesus loves all the children, all the children of the world …’ and all the children at school have arms and legs, but not me – Why? I don’t feel it, I don’t see it, I don’t understand it.

“I knew that I needed God for more than just arms and legs, and when I prayed for arms and legs as a child and he didn’t give it to me? That was my anger toward God. And I didn’t want to talk to him until he explained himself to me.” And eventually he did, Nick says, through the Bible verse found in John 9, where a man was born blind, and “it was done so that the works of God could be shown through him.”

he had two options: choose to be angry or be thankful for what he did have. And what he had was his “chicken drumstick,” as he calls it, a tiny foot with two toes. “I had no idea what I had until it went,” he says after spraining his foot playing soccer. “I golf, I fish, I swim, I write, I type – [when I sprained it] I had no idea how it could hinder my mobility.”

Nick says that moment changed his life: “Faith came over me, and I said, ‘God you have a plan for me. If you give me arms and legs I trust you, if you don’t give me arms and legs, I trust you.’” Nick realized

profiling individuals in varying states of transition

Nick’s first speaking engagement (if you could call it that) came in 1999 when he was in eleventh grade. He’d wait afterschool for his cab to pick him up, and soon he became friends with the school janitor. After three months of pestering from the janitor to share his story at a devotional group that met on Fridays, Nick finally agreed. In front of ten people Nick shared a little of his life. Immediately people started crying. Soon he was getting invitations to speak at local youth groups around Melbourne, and he even got invited to speak at a church in South Africa. Three days after returning from Africa, Nick spoke at a high school in front of 300 sophomores, his biggest crowd at the time. “My palms were sweaty, my knees were shaking … and half the girls started crying within three minutes of me speaking,” he says. In the middle of his talk, he noticed a girl weeping uncontrollably. Slowly, she raised her hand. “Can I give up a hug?” he recalls her saying. “And in front of everybody, she hugged me and cried on my shoulder, and she whispered in my ear, ‘Thank you, thank you. No one’s ever told me that they loved me. No one’s ever told me that I’m beautiful.’ Changed my life.”

Never letting anything stop him, Nick loves to surf, golf, swim. He also plays soccer, can type 43 words per minute and has a double major. He likes skateboarding, too.

From that moment on, Nick knew he was called to be a speaker for the rest of his life. He went from zero speaking invitations to currently 29,000 people waiting for Nick to speak at their school, in their city, in their country.

Waiting for a table at a local sushi restaurant near Nick’s home, we are talking about Trader Joes and what I was asked to bring home upon my return to Hawai‘i. Nick’s gasping in astonishment at the amount of nuts my mom wants, when a man walks up to our bench. “Excuse me,” he says, “Hi Nick. I met you a while ago at [one of the local churches] you spoke at. I know you must meet so many people …”

“Oh no, man, how you doin?” Nick says. Immediately: “Not so good. My father just passed away.”

Without hesitation Nick says, “Can I give you a hug, man?” He embraces Nick, and Nick offers a prayer of hope and comfort. A weight it seems is immediately lifted.

Stories like this one are not uncommon for the speaker. People all over the world seem to find comfort not only in the purpose and hope he speaks about, but also just by being in his presence. “Many people compare their suffering to my suffering,” Nick says. “Some seasons prolong, some pains never go away, and sometimes we feel like there is no hope, like we’re going to be here forever, but I’m here to tell you that we’re not.”

He goes on in an interview with Greg Laurie, a pastor of a church in Southern California: “There is no difference in pain. I know a 16-year-old girl who would gladly give up her arms and legs if something in her life would change. … There is only hope in the name of the Lord because only he gives us the strength to be more than conquerors. To know that my circumstance doesn’t need to change for me to be happy. You can’t argue with this smile, this joy in my eye. You see my real pain, and you see my real strength.”

Nick’s not quite sure what the future holds for him. Someday he hopes to find a wife, have children, and start a family. But he’s not there yet. For now, it seems he’s found contentment, pure joy, because of what he does, because he’s doing the thing that he believes in with all his heart, the thing that he’s most passionate about. One thing, though, that he knows for sure, and that’s visiting Hawai‘i again. He has, after all, caught the surf bug. He recounts another of his epic waves at Waikīkī that day: “After I stood up – “Bethany [Hamilton] was on my right, the beach was going wild – and I’m like, ‘What now?’ So while the board’s going, I actually do a turn, and I did it three times! Forty-eight hours later I ended up in Surfer magazine.”

How he’ll top that one? It’s hard to say, but knowing Nick, he’ll find a way.

The strength of a man, Nick inspires young South Africans.

Text by Lisa Yamada

Our Pets Are Still Animals, Right?

My little dog Piko really can’t help but to be naughty. I think it’s in his DNA. Some days I catch him in the act. He stares at me wide-eyed, like a deer. He’s standing in the middle of the kitchen table, a mess of empty wrappers and half-eaten chicken chewys around his paws. “NO! Naugh-ty!” He does a little hippity-hop, like a bunny rabbit, and scampers off. He’s fond of peeing on people, cabinet corners and kitchen garbage cans. (He even peed on our photographer’s flash during our photo shoot.) He’s capable of opening refrigerator doors and pushing chairs with his paws to reach out-of-reach places (like the kitchen table).

Despite all of his naughtiness, Piko, as the name on his medicine bottle implies (“Piko Yamada”), is part of the family. He has a mom, a grandpa and

grandma, and two Lhasa Apso cousins, whose dad is my brother. As much as I hate to say it, we’ve become those people. Those people that dress their dogs, tote them around in Juicy Couture and push them through malls in strollers. We, like an increasing amount of people, contribute to the ballooning $45 billion industry with every designer shampoo and organic doggie biscuit that we buy. Despite lagging sales for virtually every other retail sector, the pet industry saw a 5.4 percent increase last year.

In recent years, there has been a shifting in the attitudes people have toward their pets, and of their dogs in particular. Our furry four-legged friends have become, as Michael Schaffer in his book One Nation Under Dog calls them,

Photos by Aaron Yoshino

When Bones was a puppy, you could hardly see his eyes at all. Now the loveable blue Sharpei is 2-years-old and you can still barely see his eyes.

“junior humans” or “fur babies.” They’ve taken the place of children for empty nesters, prepped newlyweds for the pains and joys of raising real human babies someday, and in some cases they’ve become the children for those who have no other option.

“Children will go on and lead their own lives, but pets don’t have any world beyond the one that you create for them,” says veterinarian Joy Lynn YasudaTanigawa, hypothesizing the reason for the close relationship people have with their pets. “You will always be their world.” Yasuda-Tanigawa works at the VCA Family Animal Hospital in Pearl City, only one of two 24-hour emergency hospitals on the island. As a vet, she’s seen, in plain dollars and cents, the shift in people’s perceptions of their pets. “When I was little, our dad would never pay for the kinds of things that people are doing now,” like the CT scan she’s to follow up with after our interview. The procedure, which is done afterhours at Queen’s Medical Center – yes, the hospital for humans – can easily run upwards of $1,000.

When Mushu, our 15-year-old Japanese Spitz, got sick last year, we took him in to VCA, and immediately dropped $800 for an exam and X-ray. His stomach lining was connected to his heart sac and would require extensive surgery, costing about $5,000. Although he had already lived a good long life, and he probably wouldn’t see too many more, we seriously

Chevy, the 8-year-old Labrador retriever, is smarter than you. The champion show dog has taken home such honors as “Best in Specialty Show” and “Obedience Trial Champion,” to name a few.

considered the surgery. Some family members opposed, but others reasoned, well he’s a part of the family and you don’t just put family members to sleep. Graciously, Mushu crossed the Rainbow Bridge later that night, going into cardiac arrest and eventually heart failure, thus sparing us the decision of whether to do the surgery or not. Total cost of Mushu’s bill: $1,400. Yasuda-Tanigawa says it’s not uncommon for pet owners to drop big money on their pets. The most she’s seen an owner spend? Seventeen thousand dollars. “And the dog ended up dying. It had pancreatitis and it was in the hospital for weeks,” she says. The second most she’s seen an owner spend was $15,000. Explains why the veterinarian profession has seen an explosion in specialties, from dermatology to oncology to radiology to ophthalmology to cardiology – wait, we are still talking about animals, right?

Even the language with which people refer to their pets is becoming blurred. A survey of pet owners in 2002 by the American Animal Hospital Association found that 83 percent refer to themselves as their pet’s “mommy” or “daddy,” and 78 percent talk to their pet in a different voice. Guilty. And guilty. I mean, when I first saw my liddle, widdle Piko wiko, it was puppy wuv at first sight. He was such a cutie-patootie, widdle ball o’ fwuff that – well, you get the picture.

Pets are no longer called Spot, Fido or

Fluffy, but instead many of the top names for pups, according to VPI Pet Insurance, are names we’d likely name our children. Max, Jake and Cody are among top males names, while Molly, Chloe and Bella are popular for females. We no longer go to the “pound” to get “strays,” but we “rescue” “homeless” animals from “shelters” and take them home to “adopt” or “foster” them. Stephanie Ryan, the founder of the O‘ahu Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), explains pet fostering in the way a social worker might: “They are put in a temporary home, and we ensure with our foster families that every healthy treatable animal will find a forever home. … Usually the fosters will end up falling in love with their foster pet and will adopt them permanently.”

Jody Bade-DeViney, the SPCA’s executive director is walking me through the no-kill shelter’s sprawling 20,000 square foot warehouse, introducing me to each of their rescued dogs. On average the shelter houses 80 cats and 65 dogs. Surprisingly, the dogs we pass all seem healthy, happy and perfectly adoptable. There’s Labradors with shiny black coats, and the fluffy, yappy toy-types; even the much-misunderstood pit bulls seem to be smiling at me.

“All of the animals that we have are sterilized, micro-chipped and given a clean bill of health,” says Ryan. “Spay and neutering is the key to reducing the population and eliminating homelessness and euthanasia

Ikaika, the 11-year-old, half-short, half-long-haired Chihuahua, is fond of steak, but is only allowed bread as a treat because of a stomach sensitivity.

Malika, the 3-year-old Beagle, is a shy girl. This was her first time being out of the house and she loved it!

Kuma hasn’t got a care in the world. The 3-year-old black lab mix still thinks he’s small, playfully bounding about like a carefree pup.

on our islands.” This message of sterilization is so important to the shelter that they will be segregating 5,000 square feet of their existing space for a state-of-the-art spay and neuter sterilization clinic, all of which was made possible through charitable donations. This clinic will provide low-cost and no-cost sterilization to low-income families.

The SPCA first made news last July when they aided in the rescue of 432 animals from a Wai‘anae animal sanctuary, after the woman caring for the dogs, cats, birds and rabbits passed away. Many of the animals that were rescued that day, were emaciated and covered in parasites. Today, of the initial rescue, all but six dogs have been adopted.

The concept of a rescue dog has only just recently been catching on in Hawai‘i. In Los Angeles (Piko’s birthplace) rescue dogs are, and have been for a while now, all the rage, the hottest accessory next to Louboutin and Louis Vuitton. When I would take Piko to the dog parks in Los Angeles, while he was off romping with dozens of other canine playmates, us dog owners would sit under shaded benches and talk weather and politics. Some owners would even pass around wine in plastic red cups. Occasionally a mom would yell, “Play nice!” or a dad would rush with a pooper-scooper to where his dog was squatting. Owners from the million dollar zip codes of Malibu to the artsier neighborhoods like Venice would proudly tout and smugly declare, “Oh he’s a rescue,” in response to the question: What kind of dog is that?

Ryan acknowledges that the trend of rescue dogs is increasing here in Hawai‘i, mainly

because of the ohana and aloha spirit that’s perpetuated within our culture. It helps too that many people would increasingly empathize with Ryan’s statement: “Animals are living, breathing, little spirits, and dogs and cats especially have the same physical and emotional pain as humans; they just lack the ability of speech.”

If the little spirits housed at the SPCA’s facilities could talk, they might regale you with tales of their pampered lives. Most of the pooches are walked twice a day, bathed once a week, and are even treated to animal massages, acupuncture and reiki, a spiritual practice that transfers healing energy through the palms. Pet food too is customized. Large tubs are lined against the wall with labels like “skin sensitivity,” “puppy” or “senior.”

Of any segment within the pet industry, pet food seems to be the most lucrative, raking in nearly $18 billion in 2009 (the next closest sector came from pet supplies and over-the-counter medicine, trailing far behind at $11 billion). In addition to the varieties of dry kibble and wet food available on the market, companies like Nature’s Variety have begun popularizing raw frozen food diets. Also know as “biologically appropriate raw foods” or BARF, these products mimic the natural foods that animals might have found in the wild, providing “nutrition the way nature intended.” According to Nature’s Variety, dogs and cats are meat eaters by nature, and a “diet consisting primarily of raw meat, organ meats, bone and fat reflects what your pet would eat in its natural habitat.” Benefits of this designer diet include glossier coats, improved teeth and gums, fewer skin allergies and increased energy.

PERCENTAGE OF PET OWNERS WHO…

Would risk their lives to save their pets | 93

Would not consider dating someone who was afraid or not fond of their pet | 90

Say their pets make their family life healthier, either emotionally or physically | 84

Refer to themselves as their pet’s “mommy” or “daddy” | 83

Talk to their pet in a different voice | 78

Say “I love you” at least once daily to their pet | 78

Say that playing with or confiding in their pet relaxes and helps cope with stress | 70

Celebrate their pet’s birthday | 59

Believe their pet listens to them | 52

Would spend $3,000 or more to save their pet’s life | 44

A three-pound bag of Nature’s Variety meat medallions runs for $17 at Pawsh Place in Kapolei, while the six-pound variety of 12 patties goes for $35. Pretty steep compared to the 40-pound, $20 bag from Costco, but not so bad when you compare that to the New York steak my father buys and grills especially for Piko. But perhaps most over the top is the non-alcoholic dog wine, which I first came across while at Pet Me Salon, a doggie grooming business in Honolulu that could pass for any boutique hair salon for humans. The “Sauvignon Bark” is not sauvignon at all, but really just chicken-flavored au jus to soften dried kibble.

“Here at the salon, it’s like a retreat or spa,” explains Pet Me owner Cynthia Abbot, her 10-year-old Shitzu Snuggles curled up in her lap. The walls are painted a lovely sea-foam green with an antique Tiffany’s-style, chandeliered fixture hanging from the ceiling. “When women go to the salon we get our heads massaged, and we feel nice and relaxed, and here, when your dog comes in they get pampered too. I like to think that when they’re walking out the door, they feel fabulous.” The salon offers two types of grooming packages: the

mini style and mega style, which includes a bath, massage, nail and hair cuts and a little spritz of freshness to make the dog smell nice and sweet.

I ask Abbot if she thinks the whole pet industry is somewhat indulgent with its push for perfectly coiffed manes and expensive doggie clothes, to which she replies: “I have painted Snuggles’ fingernails. I’m sure she doesn’t care about the fingernails, but I think it looks cute. It is more for the owners than for the dog. But the thing is, pets love you unconditionally, and I think for a lot of people, their pet is like their child. You want your child to have the best of everything, and the same with pets. Whether it’s the best treats or the cutest outfits, it’s really thinking of the pet as a child and wanting the best for them.”

It certainly does seem overly indulgent when we think about the fact that most of our pets have healthier diets and access to better healthcare than a good majority of the world. But at the end of the day, Schaffer writes, “The things you might do for your pet are consumer choices. No one starts talking about third-world starvation when someone spends $3,000 on a flat-screen TV. … I suspect that neither

the pet-food buyer nor the flat-screen-TV buyer would say that this particular $3,000 expenditure is the only reason they don’t send an equal sum to a food bank.”

Pets will always be doted on so long as there are humans around. In fact a recent study by American Pet Products Association found that American pet owners would readily perform an act of self-sacrifice, reallocating their dollars to maintain the quality of life for their pet. And really no dog knows this better than Piko. Whenever Piko’s grandpa comes home, he’s just as excited to see Piko as Piko is to see his grandpa. “Heeeey palsie! Did you see your friends today?” he asks, referring to Piko’s daily walks. “Did they say ‘roof’ or ‘ruff’? They all have ‘ruff’ life, but not like you, yeah, Piko?” He immediately opens the fridge and throws Piko a bitesized piece of New York steak. Us humans have gone to the dogs. But really, there’s no harm in that.

from

The little monsters (clockwise

left): the author’s white fluff-ball of terror, Piko, a 3-year-old Coton de Tulear; Brownie, Piko’s playmate, a 2-year-old Lhasa Apso; Oreo, the queen of the Yamada household, is a 4-year-old Lhasa Apso.

Embrace Autumn

PHOTOGRAPHER: HAROLD JULIAN WWW.HAROLDJULIANPHOTOS.COM

MODEL: ERICA MIGUEL, KATHY MULLER

MODEL: FREZNO PIAS

HAIR: RYAN CAMACHO

MAKEUP: DULCE FELIPE

HAIR ASSISTANT: LANDON FIDELE

MAKEUP ASSISTANT: ALMOND CRUZ

STYLING: CODY MATSUKAWA

Erica wears

Shirt Gentle Fawn

Necklace Nordstrom Collection, Nordstrom

Frezno wears

Shirt Hurley

Erica wears

Romper Fighting Eel

Leggings Hurley

Shoes Steve Madden, Nordstrom

Frezno wears

Cardigan Jedidiah

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Jeans Levi’s

Shoes Vans, Nordstrom

Erica wears Dress Gentle Fawn

Necklace Nordstrom Collection, Nordstrom

Frezno wears

Henley Jedidiah Vest Stussy

Erica wears Vest Stussy

Top Gentle Fawn

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GUM FOR MY BOAT

surfi ng in bangladesh

In 2001, Tom Bauer stepped onto the unspoiled sands of Cox’s Bazaar in Bangladesh welcomed by an unlikely friend carrying an unlikely object. Never mind the excited Bengali phrases screamed in his face, the Speedo his new friend wore without any sense of humiliation, Tom was more interested in the surfboard this ripped, black Bengali had tucked under his arm. Tom didn’t know it at the time, but he had come face to face with Bangladesh’s one and only surfer, Jafar Alam. On that day, Jafar would get a lesson in surf wax, the proper use of a leash and the vitality of boardshorts.

Tom, the founder of Surfing The Nations (a local non-profit that uses the sport of surfing to impact communities), went to Bangladesh, located between Burma and India, on a whim and a prayer. After poring over a world map, he just knew there had to be surf along Bangladesh’s vast coastline, and so he and four others jumped on a plane headed for Cox’s Bazaar, which boasts to have the world’s longest unbroken sea beach: approximately 125km (about 77 miles) of empty, undiscovered coast. (Cox’s Bazaar was recently added to the list of the Seven Natural Wonders of Asia.) When Tom first arrived in Bangladesh the word “surf” and subsequently “surfboard” did not exist. There was no such thing as surf culture, ding repair or board shops. Kelly Slater meant about as much to them as Shahrukh Khan means to us. Jafar once emailed Tom the message, “Please send more gum for my boat.” It took Tom weeks to realize Jafar meant, “Please send more wax for my board.”

Bangladesh is one of the poorest and most densely populated countries in the world, with more than 150 million people – that’s about half the total population of the United States – living in an area slightly smaller than the state of Iowa. According to the World Bank, 82 percent of the population lives on less than $2 per day, while 36 percent survives on less than $1 per day.

Add to that children given brutal beatings by police and rickshaw drivers, homeless street kids addicted to drugs at 10, deformities of beggars holding out shriveled hands for taka, women covered in head-to-toe black burkas even in intense heat, and you’ve got a volatile situation ripe for change.

In 2008, I traveled to Bangladesh with Tom and his team from STN, along with pro surfer Kahana Kalama and documentary filmmaker Russell Brownley. Kahana and Russell traveled to Bangladesh to make a film about surfing and traveling, but

Lisa Yamada

Photos and Text by

Outside the home of Jafar Alam, Bangladesh’s first surfer, a rickshaw driver waits to take the surf boys to the beach.

An ocean that was once deemed off limits due to fear and a conservative Muslim government is becoming a source of fun and escape.

after being embedded in the community, hanging with the local surf kids and seeing their stoke, the film transformed into a 33-minute snapshot of how surfing can impact the community and change the lives of those who partake in the sport. The film, titled Gum For My Boat, captures a purity and love for surfing that seems to have gone forgotten in the Western world. This is probably what surfing looked like hundreds of years ago, when it was not yet spoiled by endorsement deals or WCT titles, when people surfed just for the sake of surfing. “Every time we surfed, every single person was just sharing waves, joking, singing,” says Kahana of the Bangladeshi surfers. “I have never felt as much sense of community as I have surfing here. These boys have the healthiest outlook on surfing I have ever seen.”

Gum For My Boat follows the Bangladesh Surf Club, which was established with the help of Tom and his team from STN. “The club consists of 70 boys and girls and is helping to introduce surfing

into a culture in a very unconventional method,” the synopsis for the film reads. “Some don’t even know how to swim, but their love for surfing brings them together and into a way of life they never even knew existed. An ocean that was once deemed off limits due to fear and a very conservative Islamic culture is now becoming a source of fun, escape, and even a chance for a way to make a living.”

One of the surfers featured in the film is Rahim, who began surfing even before he knew how to swim. He remembers surfing with a life jacket and catching his first wave: “I stood up, looked around, and I was going so fast, it was like I was running on the water.” There’s Aziz, who’s as popular in the water as he is out of it – especially with the ladies; Rashed, who nicknamed himself “Bobby Martinez,” after the pro surfer from California; Fahad, the little grom that could, he took home first place in the skateboard, bodyboard and surf competitions, despite being the youngest of all the boys.

The film has been shown all around the world and even won “Best Short Film” at the California Surf Film Festival. It will make its Hawai‘i debut at the Honolulu Academy of Arts’ Surf Film Festival in June.

“When I went to Bangladesh, I thought it was going to be a one time thing,” Kahana says in the film. “We’d go there, check things out and probably leave, but I know after this trip I’m definitely coming back.”

For more information on Gum For My Boat go to: www.gumformyboat.com www.surfingthenations.com

Gum For My Boat premieres at The Honolulu Academy of Arts’ Surf Film Festival July 14 and 30. For more information go to: www. honoluluacademy.org

Still from Gum For My Boat. Jafar Alam at Laboni Beach.

Joshua Masayoshi Huff

Up-and-coming Los Angeles restaurant Animal has found that the easiest way to attract lines snaking around the corner is by taking the classic loco moco, tweaking its composition ever so slightly, modernizing the presentation and making the typical platelunch food into part of a (surprisingly!) romantic dinner. Animal, with no signage announcing its location, is almost impossible to find among the kosher delis and skateboard shops on Fairfax. Following the crowds, though, will lead you to the place to get your fix for rabbit loin, duck liver, head cheese and sweetbread. The more pedestrian items,

like king crab legs doused in Tabasco butter and tender, pork belly sliders are also top notch, but it’s the loco moco that most people go animal for. The restaurant’s version of the dish keeps the rice, hamburger patty and spam around, but beyond that, the traditional recipe goes out the window. Gravy is exchanged for a spicy yet sweet blend of teriyaki, Sriracha and maple syrup. The fried egg is actually a creamy, fried quail egg and rich foie gras sits perched on slabs of hamburger and spam, turning the local favorite into a sumptuous, chimerical dinner date.

GAS TAX SWAP

Summer road trips have always been a favorite pastime of Los Angeles residents vacationing to Las Vegas. Angelenos, however, may soon have to rethink their methods of transportation for their vacations. California lawmakers recently passed a “gas tax swap,” which would introduce a 17-cent tax on each gallon of gas sold to consumers in order to raise funds to combat the $41 billion budget deficit in California. Gas prices are usually raised by around 20 cents every summer to capitalize on transcontinental car trips, making the additional gas tax swap a pill too bitter to take.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said that he would veto the legislation because he felt that it did not mesh with the promise from lawmakers that it would provide tax relief to Californians. Schwarzenegger’s promise to veto has many raising their eyebrows because of his previous promises of being a “green governor” concerned with helping cut back smog and emissions in California, which the tax potentially could have achieved.

Interestingly, gas taxes were raised almost uniformly by 17 cents at gas stations across Los Angeles the day after the gas tax swap was passed, even if it the law itself was not effective before July 1.

Even in these tough economic times, solidarity and morality are proving to be more important than money as the city of Los Angeles formally declared that it would boycott all dealings with the state of Arizona over its new immigration law. In what is being hailed as the broadest and strictest measure on illegal immigration, the Arizona law aims to deport illegal immigrants by making the failure to carry immigration documents a crime. It also allows police the power to detain anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally.

Opponents decry this law as discrimination against Hispanics. Cardinal Roger Mahony, the head of the nation’s largest archdiocese, which is located in Los Angeles compared the effects of

the law to “German Nazi and Russian Communist techniques” in his blog. The Los Angeles City Council, sensitive to a great number of its own Mexican constituents, decided in a 13-1 vote to stop all dealings with the state. The two sides currently have contracts worth $56 million dollars, but the city has decided to put these dealings on hold until Arizona rethinks its new policy. The Los Angeles City Council has also asked employees not to travel to Arizona on business. Many argue that the boycott would primarily hurt people who are also against the measure, but that hasn’t stopped many other groups, including the Japanese American Citizens League, from cancelling scheduled conventions in the state.

LOS ANGELES :open market Correspondent

LOS ANGELES BOYCOTTS ARIZONA

GOTHAM GOODIES:

Correspondent Tiffany

Iwalani

Hervey open market: NEW YORK CITY

NEW ACTIVISM

FAUX-GUCCI FABULOUS

As a young, broke New York City resident, I have officially become a specialist on all things free or inexpensive and fun. It is not easy to socialize and indulge in culture if you don’t have dollars. As someone who has always lived in popular vacation destinations it has also been my mission to find entertainment sans tourist swarms. Here are my finds for the best freebies in New York:

MUSEUMS

Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology: Free National Museum of the American Indian: Free Metropolitan Museum of Art: Suggested donation, give what you can.

Remember when Martin Luther King Jr. led nonviolent protests, when Malcolm X rallied for civil rights by any means necessary, when Black Panthers read the laws to cops in the street, when anti-war protesters and feminists set fire to the symbols that oppressed them? Remember when things just didn’t sit right and the youth got up and did something about it? I don’t remember it either, because I am of a generation whose perception is clouded by massive daily doses of media and technological distraction. Activism today is more digital than tangible. And with more access to information and organization via the Internet, what will the masses do when they want a change? What will we do when we realize the myths we were raised on no longer serve us? I tracked down fellow Brooklynite and Zeitgeist film creator Peter Joseph, whose 2007 documentary became the most watched video on the Web. Joseph, whose films address conspiracy theories in regards to religion, the government and capitalism, offered his insight on new activism and his provocative ideas on the impending revolution.

GOOD VIEWS

The High Line is essentially a public park 30 feet in the air, converted from a massive infrastructure constructed in the 1930s to lift dangerous freight trains off Manhattan’s streets. No trains have run on the High Line since 1980 so the City recently renovated the elevated structure into a public park, which spans from the Meatpacking District on the West Side all the way to 34th Street.

The Waterfront, in DUMBO (acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass), Brooklyn, is snuggled in between the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges. It’s a postcard view sans tourists. Stroll west through a block of art galleries, bookstores, and storefronts selling fantastic treats.

American Museum of Natural History (MOMA): Suggested donation, but free every Friday from 4-8 pm.

FLUX: Activists throughout history have tried everything from non-violent protests to pipe bombs to fight for change. What are your tools for activism?

PJ: Our model is based on Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr. True change comes from peaceful non-cooperation with those institutions that are inhibiting progress. It is the only thing that has ever worked.

FLUX: Is there hope for revolution or at least a re-evaluation of how we operate as a capitalist society?

PJ: The whole system must go. Yes, most people are fully indoctrinated and are too conditioned to see beyond their established environment and values. I think the “revolution” will be one of global proportions. However, it will not be like anything that has occurred before. I really do not know the path, but I see it as inevitable. Either the world learns to work together and share resources or we will destroy ourselves.

The Brooklyn Botanical Garden is free on Tuesdays and the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx is free on Wednesdays.

PJ: Educate yourself. Society is contained and held together by parallel values. Our current values need to change. For example, people need to stop supporting the selfish ideals perpetuated by industry. Our values are only helpful if they are supported by the external world. This is a powerful issue to consider. Each one of us is faced with the emotionally complex reality of being “wrong” all the time. We have to accept this and welcome change. It is also important to see government, as we know it, for what it really is: a self-preserving institution, where the public is always second to state interests. While I suggest people do their best to influence this beast, it should be known that the focus of government is to preserve existing systems, not to change them. This is why The Zeitgeist Movement is a “social” movement, not a political one. Politics is an outdated method of social organization. We should be working to elect ideas, not people.

FLUX: What can individuals start doing to affect change now while still protecting their family and basic needs?

To see the full interview go to: www.fluxhawaii.com.

The Zeitgeist Movement: www.thezeitgeistmovement.com

The High Line

THE URA-MICHI SPECIAL:

Nail art in Japan has been revolutionized to a whole new level, moving past traditional mani-pedi’s into the realm of rhinestones, feathers and Hello Kitty. We’ve seen it on all the famous Japanese pop stars, most notably Koda Kumi, the singer/songwriter and reigning “Nail Queen” since 2006. (They actually have awards for this stuff!) In everyday life, women on average get their nails done every two to three weeks to coordinate with the season, an event, or just for a change. Japan has been notoriously famous for its detail and craziness and here we talk with Atsuko Kamoshita, owner of Santie nail salon in Asagaya.

FLUX: What kind of nail art is most popular in Japan right now?

Atsuko Kamoshita: Definitely Gels. It has a glossy look to it that lasts longer,

which women prefer. Gels can be colored, have designs, glitter, and of course have all the accessories. The design really depends on the season. For instance, in March pink nails with Sakura designs, crystals and, other decorations are very popular.

FLUX: How long does it take to do a whole set of fabulous nails?

AK: It takes about three to four hours depending on the base. The base usually takes one to two hours, and the rest is up to what the customer wants.

VENDING MACHINES

With everyone on the run at every hour, what’s more convenient than to buy things with a simple press of a button? Perhaps due to the low vandalism rate and high population density, jidouhanbaikis, or vending machines, can be found everywhere in Tokyo. There’s an estimated one vending machine for every 22 people. The vending machines sell everything from soft drinks, snacks, ice cream, disposable cameras, eggs, neckties, vegetables, condoms, ready-made ramen, and even pornography and used underwear. Due to its popularity, bars even began popping up near to the vending machines that dispensed alcoholic beverages. People could take their chilled drinks and relax and socialize as if in a real bar.

FLUX: How much do these crazy nails cost?

AK: It really depends, but I’ve had customers spend up to 40000 yen (roughly about US$440).

LOCKED UP

Walking down the dark basement steps, the black lights, screams and dark music remind you of an exciting attraction at Universal Studios. As soon as you walk to the end of a hall, women dressed in police outfits handcuff you and escort you to something akin to a prison cell or dungeon. (You’ve actually arrived at your table for the evening.) Welcome to The Lock Up. This restaurant and bar is one of the many themed restaurants in Tokyo, which offer a highly unusual type of entertainment and dining. Its theme: haunted prison. They serve many experimental drinks and unusual dishes with a slight mad scientist concept. One interesting dish is the Russian Roulette Cream Puffs, where one unfortunate guest out of six will become the victim of a deadly hot saucefilled dessert. (SPOILER ALERT!) All at once the lights go out, metal music starts playing, the black lights start flickering and sirens go off, warning everyone of an escaped prisoner. A “prisoner” goes into every room scaring dining patrons. It’s a frightfully good time.

TOKYO :open market Correspondent Deanne Matsushima

CRAZY NAILS

the bustling, burgeoning Hong Kong

Correspondent Lee Chan open market: HONG KONG

HONG KONG GOLD

Which country is the best placed to ride out the global recession? IMD business school in Lausanne, Switzerland asked that question when publishing their report of the world’s most competitive countries. Hong Kong took the number two spot, sustaining its role as the financial center for the Asia Pacific region.The United States ranked first, for the 16th consecutive year, despite the shaky economy, but Asian economies are quickly catching up. “Countries at the top of this year’s ranking are better prepared to adapt to the current turbulent [economic] times,” says Stephane Garelli, director of the IMD’s World Competitiveness Center, on Bloomberg.com.

“The business communities don’t fear change, and the governments should be able to enact reforms quickly.” The study ranked 57 of the world’s leading economies based on four categories: economy, government efficiency, business efficiency and infrastructure.

PUTTING ON THE RITZ

With a lobby 1,600 feet above the cacophony of Hong Kong city, the new Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong will the highest hotel in the world. Opening in December, the hotel sits atop the International Commerce Center (ICC), soaring from the 102nd floor to the 118th floor. An observation deck on the 100th floor will offer 360-degree views of Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong Island and the New Territories. Also located on the observation deck is a tourist information center, offering advanced telescopes and audio-visual guided tours in four languages. The skyscraper will become the fourth tallest building in the world, after Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the Taipei 101 tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center.

“Every year, Hong Kong receives close to 30 million visitors, many of whom are eager to enjoy our spectacular harbor views from various vantage points int he city,” says James Tien, chairman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board. “As the tallest building and newest landmark in Hong Kong, the opening of the ICC will make Hong Kong’s already famous skyline even more stunning.”

Larry Gagosian, the ravenous New-York based art dealer, is speedily creating a global empire of contemporary art galleries, this time expanding his reach to Hong Kong. Officials at the Gagosian say they are actively looking for gallery space in Hong Kong, where Gagosian only maintains an office. This opening will bring the total number of Gagosian galleries to 10, including a space in Paris that will open at the end of this year. Currently there are three galleries in New York, one in Beverly Hills, two in London, one in Rome and one in Athens.

one of the most influential players in the art world, and one of the wealthiest. The talents his galleries represent include Richard Prince, Jeff Koons and Damien Hirst, all of whose portfolios top seven, and even eight figures. As prolific as his galleries have become, Gagosian remains close-mouthed about his endeavors and has not spoken to anyone profiling him for nearly a decade. This comes perhaps as a result of a $4 million settlement he paid in 2003 after federal prosecutors accused him and three partners of failing to pay taxes on the sale of 58 pieces of art.

Gagsion is widely considered to be

ART MOGUL

IN THE KITCHEN

WITH MATT YOUNG

FLUX talks to the Duke’s Waikīkī sous chef about tapas, tsunamis and X-ray vision.

Despite the frilly, foo-foo umbrella drinks, Duke’s Waikīkī embodies the spirit that its namesake lived by. Duke Kahanamoku, Hawai‘i’s ambassador of goodwill and aloha, lived by the following creed: “Aloha is the key word to the universal spirit of real hospitality, which makes Hawai‘i renowned as the world’s center of understanding and fellowship.” This spirit of welcoming is imbued within Duke’s Restaurant and Barefoot Bar, from the pictures on the walls and the friendly waitstaff to even the newly revamped bar menu, which relative newcomer to the islands, Matt Young, helped create. Although his job title is “Barefoot Sous Chef,” Matt typically wears shoes to his cooking gig at the restaurant. We’re sitting on the lanai at his Hawai‘i Kai home, and he’s trying to tell me about the safety reasons for this, but I’m already preoccupied by the

bulgogi lettuce wraps in front of my face. Above my muffled “mmmmm’s” and “oh man that’s good’s” the conversation turns back to the new menu.

So, tell me about the revamped bar menu. (Duke’s Executive Chef) Keith Kong and I worked hand in hand. It’s not a totally new menu. We took a lot of the same ideas that people were already familiar with at Duke’s and introduced a couple of new flavors. We wanted to keep that Duke’s feeling but add something different. For example, we have a pupu sampler, which has ahi sashimi, smoked marlin with horseradish cream, red onion and capers, served with grilled flatbread and hapa rice. We also changed all of our pizzas. Now we take the dough and grill it to give that great grilled flavor.

We do a cool spinach and goat cheese pizza with roasted garlic puree and balsamic roasted onions.

Located in the heart of Waikīkī, Duke’s must see a lot of tourist traffic. How do you put together a visitor-friendly menu?

We try to do sort of a fusion with our menus and produce local style foods that are accessible to mainland people because when they come, they want to feel like they are immersed in Hawaiian culture, but still see things that they are familiar with.

The restaurant is always so packed. Are there challenges to running a kitchen in such a busy restaurant?

The challenges are endless and daily, but you know what to expect everyday. You

Text by Bridget Mullen

Photos by Lisa Yamada

Matt Young bringing aloha to the people with a newly revamped bar menu.

know that you’re not going to go in and have a slow day.

Except for the occasional Tsunami day (last February), right?

Even on the tsunami day. There were still 350 people walking through the door. Obviously we didn’t get any deliveries, so we could only offer half the menu. But we still had 350 people to feed. So we made do with what we could. We made sure all of our customers left happy.

I hear that you have become an enthusiastic surfer since moving here about a year ago.

Yeah. I surfed a little bit in Rhode Island, but I didn’t really fall in love with it until I got out here. I didn’t even own a board. Now I have four.

Must be sweet working on the South Shore, then.

Absolutely! We can be working all day and watch the swell come up or go down and get excited to get off work and get out there.

What draws you to cooking?

I love being creative, thinking about different flavors and combinations. Since I’ve been in Hawai‘i, I’ve learned tons of

new cooking techniques that I have never touched on. Like all the Asian foods, and what we are eating right now, Korean-style food.

How have you picked up all of these techniques?

Meeting people, talking to people and just eating with other people. It’s what people in Hawai‘i love to do. Gathering. You get together with a bunch of people, and you eat and have a good time. Everything kind of revolves around food.

If you could have a special cooking power, what would it be?

Probably X-ray vision. I’d be able to see when everything is done and look at the inside of the meat. It’d be like being able to see though a dress to the underwear.

Oh, so that super power would have other benefits, then?

Well, with all great power comes great responsibility, and I think that abusing my power outside the kitchen would be inappropriate.

Describe the restaurant of your dreams. It’d be tapas.

(Mishearing Matt) It’d be topless!? As in

IF MATT WERE A MEAT, HE’D BE LAMB.

“It just has such a unique flavor. Nothing else tastes quite like lamb, and there are so many different preparations.”

naked waitresses!?

Nah. Remember, I have X-ray vision, so that wouldn’t really matter. They could be clothed. Tapas. A Spanish tapas restaurant. I love social dining, hanging out with friends and family having a good time.

So, since this is the perception issue, I have to ask: How can someone’s perception affect the food they eat?

With all things in life, to be close-minded is to keep yourself from so many great things that are out there. Whether in food or travel, just because you are not familiar with it, you could be missing out on your future favorite thing.

So I take it you are not a picky eater?

I’ll try anything once.

If you could cook dinner for anybody, dead or alive, who would it be?

Thomas Keller is one of my biggest inspirations. He would be the most critical of my cooking and have the most insight to its quality or not. But I’d probably cry myself to sleep after he tears apart my cooking.

Nah, I bet he’d give you a high five afterwards.

Yeah. He’d totally give me pounds.

ROASTED RACK OF LAMB WITH MACADAMIA NUT AND CHÈVRE CRUST

Ingredients:

2 full racks of lamb

1/4 cup roasted macadamia nuts

1 cup chèvre cheese

2 tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

2 tsp dijon mustard

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

Method:

Pre heat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl combine all ingredients, except the lamb, and mix together with a spatula until combined completely. Score the lamb by making superficial cuts in the fat side of the racks, creating diamond marks on the lamb, and season with salt and pepper. Cut the racks in half, making four even sized portions. Pre-heat a sauté pan on medium high heat and place lamb in the pan one piece at a time, fat side down. Brown the meat and render out the most of the fat. Remove from the pan and place on a baking sheet. Continue with the rest of the lamb. Spread the chèvre mixture on top of the lamb and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until medium rare. Allow to rest and serve with your favorite side dish.

PERCEPTION AND PALATABILITY

I love hotdogs. Always have, always will, especially when the frank is a little burnt on the outside and served up wedged between a fluffy bun with just the right blend of ketchup, mustard and relish … Oh man! Still, where as I salivate just thinking about wieners, the idea of consuming this processed mystery meat is enough to send some people straight to the toilet. Why is this? Why do we let our perception of different dishes have such a profound affect on their palatability?

Hawai‘i is a cultural melting pot, where diverse cuisines from around the world are readily available at every corner of the island. With access to ethnically rich dishes, FLUX challenges you to break out of your cultural barriers and be the unbiased omnivore that you were intended to be. Open your mind and try something out of the ordinary. In doing so, you will become more culturally aware, and perhaps this little eating exercise will alter your perception of culinary reality.

NATTO

A traditional Japanese cuisine, natto is made from fermented soybeans. This slippery, smelly food has a somewhat rotten taste and is most commonly served as a breakfast item with rice and shoyu, though it is also often used in curries, omelets, miso soup, salads, sushi, and even spaghetti. Natto has also been linked to numerous health benefits, including reduction of blood clots and prevention of strokes, heart attacks and some cancers. For a painless introduction to natto, stop by Gyotaku, located in Pearl City, King Street and Niu Valley, and order the “nattochos.” In this Japanese play on nachos, crispy wonton strips are topped with spicy, ahi onion poke, avocado, yama-imo (mountain potato), green onion, daikon sprouts, nori, sesame seeds, and, of course, natto. The combination of ingredients downplays natto’s otherwise strong flavor, allowing for newbies to experience its flavor in a subtler manner.

CHICKEN FEET

This gelatinous food item is most commonly associated with Chinese, Filipino, Jamaican and South African cuisine. As there are many small bones in the foot, chicken feet can be difficult to consume, but the meaty tendons, skin and muscle that make up the tasty talon is worth the effort. Chicken feet are often served in soups, deep-fried, or stewed and simmered in a beany, sugary sauce. Don’t expect to find this poultry plate at KFC. Chicken feet are common on dim sum menus, so look for it at Chinese eateries, such as Hee Hing on Kapahulu, which offers spicy braised chicken feet for $2.75 a kick.

Get a kick! Spicy braised chicken feet make for gelatinously good eating.

JELLYFISH

Jellyfish, popular in East Asian cuisine, is a bland, slippery, gelatinous food that – similar to tofu – absorbs the taste of whatever it is being cooked with. Jellyfish is eaten dried, fried, marinated or cured and is commonly served atop salads. Jellyfish can be found at multiple Vietnamese and Chinese eateries on the island. I recommend visiting The Mandalay, located downtown, for an appetizer of marinated jellyfish with pig’s feet. Other delicacies here include the (controversy-surrounded) imperial bird nest soup or the braised supreme shark’s fin soup.

DINUGUAN

Dinuguan is a Filipino stew that consists of pig blood and meat. Its savory, somewhat gritty gravy is simmered with a medley of garlic, peppers, vinegar, sugar and salt. Authentic recipes typically call for combinations of stomach, intestines, ears or snout. Dark in appearance, dinuaguan is sometimes sensually referred to as chocolate meat. If you’re feeling bloodthirsty, you can find this dish at Alonzo’s at the Mililani Golf Club. If the pork blood and intestines don’t please your palate, Alonzo’s offers other yummy Filipino fare, including lechon kawali and the meanest pork adobo fried rice omelet you’ll ever have. Just beware of hungry golfers.

The “nattochos” at Gyotaku downplay the fermented soybean’s slightly rotten flavor.

ALLIGATOR

Similar to ostrich, kangaroo and rattlesnake, alligator is an exotic meat most common in the southern region of the United States and often used in Cajun recipes, such as jambalaya or fried alligator balls. The tail portion of the gator is the most sought-after cut, though its mid section and feet (called alligator wings) are also commonly consumed by alligator enthusiasts. Also, as the old saying goes, it tastes like chicken. Don’t be a gator hater. Take a spicy bite out of this scaly reptile on Tuesdays at Hank’s Haute Dogs, served New Orleans style with tomato-onion relish and horseradish. Or, try Hank’s other exotic wieners such as buffalo, duck, or rabbit and veal sausages.

Photos by Michael McDermott

Text by Bridget Mullen

Chocolate meat: Dinuguan, pork blood stew, at Alonzo’s at Mililani Golf Club.

RANDOM QUESTIONS

If Bruno Mars were here in Hawai‘i right now, he’d immediately head to Zippy’s for a Korean chicken plate, a chili and rice and an orange bang. Already the 24-year-old Roosevelt High School graduate has written and produced for Adam Levine, Flo Rida, Sean Kingston and Matisyahu, to name a few. Of late, he’s lent his smooth vocals to the hooks for top ten hits with Travie McCoy and B.o.B. Now, he is finally ready to introduce the world to Bruno Mars, the solo artist. Given his ability to cross musical genres, what can fans expect of his full-length album, which he’s looking to release early next year? “I’m in the studio every day working on it, so it’s going to be the best it can be. If you like ‘Nothing On You’ and ‘Billionaire’ that’s what you’re going to get.”

What are you hiding under that fedora of yours? Gold. My hair follicles just grow gold … Nah, I’m not hiding anything! I may be a little lazy to do the hair so I just throw the hat on and rock.

Your solo EP is called “It’s Better If You Don’t Understand.” Explain that. When I got to Los Angeles, everyone was like, What is he? Where is he from? What

kind of music does he do? And they weren’t saying that in an interested way. You listen to “Billionaire” and “Nothing on You” – they’re completely opposite. A lot of people told me, you can’t mix hip-hop, reggae, rock, R&B because people won’t know who you are. You have to define yourself with this one sound. And that would bug the shit outta me, because I just want to write what I feel. That slogan “it’s better if you don’t understand,” means to me, just listen and you make of it what you want.

Has fame been what you expected?

I just got word today that we got two songs in the top ten on The Billboard Hot 100. It’s hard to expect those kind of things, so no, you never know what to expect.

What would you buy if you were a billionaire? You know I never really thought of that … I would buy everybody in my family a mansion.

I heard your mom works at 8 Fat Fat 8. If you could sing any song with her what would it be? Hell yeah she works there! Every time I go down there, she forces me to sing with her. She doesn’t learn any current songs, so I’m

always forced to sing Disney songs. It always ends up being me and her, drinking and singing “A Whole New World” from Aladdin. Straight-up karaoke style, with Heinekens and poke.

Do you believe in love at first sight?

I feel like you could be blown away. Don’t know if you could emotionally love somebody at first sight.

As a producer and songwriter do you ever fear you’ll run out of creative juices?

It happens all the time. I wish I could say everything I wrote and produced is going to be a number one hit. I’ve probably wrote a gazillion songs, but to come up with that hit song, the one that the world is gonna sing, that’s a big task.

What do you miss most about Hawai‘i? The lifestyle. Everyone is so happy and content. It’s not like the hustle out here in LA, where the pressure’s on, the competition is on. Everyone is like, “Yah I live in Hawai‘i and it’s paradise. I miss that paradise mentality. And Zippy’s!

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WITH… BRUNO MARS Photo by Andrew Zaeh