Day of the White Roses

Order of the White Rose interview with "For the Fun of It" Zine

2010-01-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

Names, instruments, random factoids:
Nate- My name is Nate. I play drums, skate, and work.
Steve- I’m Steve, I go to college, work and play guitar

How can people get in touch with you (to buy your shit, send love/hate mail)?

Steve- They can email me at Steve@whiterosepunk.com or visit us on MySpace at MySpace.com/whiterosepunk If you are interested in snail mail, and I am, please write to P.O. Box 880908, Pukalani, Hi, 96788

Where the hell are you from?
Nate- I'm from the island of Maui.
Steve- I’m from Michigan, originally, but I live on Maui.

Do you like it, hate it, or not give a rat's ass about it? How do you feel about it?
Nate- I like Hawaii a lot even though it has its problems (Not much of a punk scene) We don’t get a lot of concerts from bigger bands and it’s a lot harder to get your band heard over here than if you were in the big America.
Steve- I agree, it is difficult to promote a band if you’re on Maui. There isn’t an underground press that we are part of. I probably should start something but then again, about five people will read it and they all own our CD already. It’s not like we can get in a van and go to LA or something, we have to plan things way out in advance to play Oahu, let alone California. Nevertheless, except for the logistics of playing in a band, I love Hawaii.

What's the funnest hangout spot in Maui?
Nate -Skating ditches.
Steve- I hang out on campus and talk to my professors at school. I’m a dork, I guess.

Is there anything in your hometown that's a "must do"?
Nate- Jump off some waterfalls!
Steve- I’d recommend some of the beaches. I think for anyone to come here, I think they need to read Haunani-Kay Trask’s “Lovely Hula Hands: Corporate Tourism and the Prostitution of Hawaiian Culture.” That way, if they come here, perhaps they will avoid some of the typical tourist
fallacies, like thinking that everyone is here to serve them.

What do I need to make sure to avoid when I come through your town (besides cops)?
Nate-Just Cops!!!
Steve- I’d try and avoid the tourists driving the red convertible cars. They usually don’t know where they are going and are pretty much a menace.

Why are you a band?
Nate- We are a band because it gives a platform to view our ideas in a world that is run by an extremely slanted media. Not to mention its fun!
Steve- I love to play music. I love creating a song and rehearsing it for the first time, the 50th time and the 100th time. I also see the band as an extension of my politically ideals and try to bring something good to the community.
Does your band have any archenemies in the punk scene? If so, who?
Nate -We're nice to everyone.
Steve- I probably have a lot of people who hate me. When you take a stance against things that are popular, you tend to rub people the wrong way. However, I’m okay with that and expect it to some degree.

What role do you feel like your band plays in the scene?
Nate -We play in front of 5-500 hundred people depending on what the show is, and we normally get a pretty good response when we play.
Steve- That’s a good question. I think every band should be asked that. I hope that we fill a void and we aren’t just another shitty band. I think we put a lot of effort into what we create and we put a lot of time into promoting the Hawaii punk scene.

Besides playing punk rock, what do you do?
Steve- I go to school, I try to raise my kids with my wife, and keep active in the community.
Any good tour stories? Any bad ones?
Nate -We've only had one mainland tour so far and was great.
Driving out to the middle of nowhere to play Ridgecrest, Ca. with Elvis Goes Hoggin’ was pretty crazy, but when we finally got there the show was great!
Steve- Yeah, EGH was really fun and the crowd was so cool. They kept asking us, “Why are you guys here, in Ridgecrest?” We played Ridgecrest because Elvis is my friend and I thought Ridgecrest is probably way off the beaten path and isn’t filled with hipsters who are ambivalent. And, I was right. It was an awesome show.
What's the weakest show you've ever played? Why was it so crappy?
Nate- Too many to list! It was crappy because we tried to play new songs that weren’t rehearsed properly or we didn’t practice for a long time or both.
Steve- We’re still learning how to play in a setting where the conditions aren’t perfect. When the monitors are small or non-existent and we can’t hear each other, we tend to have a difficult time. I’d like to see us build our PA bigger with some powerful amps and monitors to handle the volume the band puts out. Nate hits really hard on his drums and Noah’s bass amp is really loud. Because of that, my guitar amp gets cranked and then it’s like a wall of noise. Of course, that’s the way it’s supposed to be, but we also would like to hear our vocals over the din. When we can’t we tend to suck.

Do you ever refuse shows? If so, why?
Steve- Hell yeah. If it is a show that would compromise my integrity, I’m not playing. I don’t like to play battle of the bands either. I save my competitive spirit for athletic events, I’m not interested in pitting my band against another.

If you could get a show with any 3 active bands, who would you play with?
Nate- Green Day, The Aggrolites, and Rage Against the Machine.
Steve- I’d pick The Melvins, Bad Religion or the Wildhearts. All three of them have devoted fans and if we could win them over, I’d be stoked.

How did you get into punk rock?
Nate- Watching an old surf video that had Minor Threat playing the song Minor Threat. Then I bought a bunch of punk compilations.
Steve- My neighbor across the street had the Clash’s first album on English import and I heard that and liked it. I also grew up hearing Ted Nugent, the Stooges and Mc5 in Michigan, so that kind of style is kind of in my blood. I was really blown away when I heard the song, “Fuck Authority” by Raw Power on the MRR compilation, “Welcome to 1984.” My life changed at that moment.
Do you like to live alone, with one person, or with lots of people? Why?
Nate-I live with my lovely wife!
Steve- I live with my wife and kids on a property that has a lot of people living on it. It’s kind of like a commune, except we don’t really share anything. We grow a lot of our vegetables and stuff like that.

How often do you see your band members when you're not playing shows?
Nate- A couple times a week.
Steve- yeah, we rehearse at least once a week and I see Noah, my singer/bassist just about every day.
What's are your favorite games?
(Drinking game, video game, road trip game, mind game, whatever)
Nate- Skateboarding!
Steve- There’s a great road trip game that I learned on tour with Dieselhed. You basically take a truck company like Schneider and then every time a Schneider truck comes in the opposite direction, you get a point. If you pass a Schneider truck, you get two points. The game gets a lot more complicated as you go along. If your truck is followed by an ambulance, even 15 minutes since you saw your last truck, you lose all your points.

Do you think that everything is gonna be okay or not? How come?
Who knows what’s gonna happen!
Nate- Just have a positive attitude and make the most of whatever gets thrown at you!
Steve- I wish I had Nate’s optimism, but I’m pretty cynical about these types of things.
Who do you want to say "fuck you" to right now?
Nate- Cant be wasting my time with that!
Steve- I’d rather have them not know, so that they don’t see me coming when I exact my revenge.
Are you more into building things, or destroying things? What things?
Nate -I like to build fires! That’s two for the price of one!
Steve- I sometimes will record an entire song, layering track upon track and then delete it because I hate it. I like the process, but I don’t always keep the results.
Are there any other bands that you love to play with?
Nate-The 86 List, Black Square, Khrinj, Gomega, and the Hellcaminos.
Steve- I liked the Ugly Sticks a lot and most of the bands we played with on tour. There was one band in Orange County that played videogame metal that I didn’t like, but other than that, we were really lucky to get some great bands to play with.
Speaking of love, what things do you love, that inspire you to keep going?
Nate -My wife:)
Steve- My kids and my wife. I also read a lot and that usually gets me pretty inspired to write a song, or do something positive.

And what are the things that make you feel frustrated?
Nate –poverty, hunger, and war.
Steve- It’s not only that, but the reasons behind Poverty, hunger and war. Why do we do these things to each other? What is it about us as people make us become such assholes? I think that I get frustrated easily and often.
Is there anything you'd like to tell people who are just getting into punk?
Nate -She'll treat ya fine!
Steve- I’d say, don’t follow anyone, especially me. Find out what makes you interested in punk rock. For me, I didn’t have a choice; punk rock was the only place I could go. I wasn’t a nerd, a jock, a preppie, a redneck, a stoner, or a gear head; the punks I grew up with knew I wasn’t a cool dude and that I was weird. They just didn’t seem to care about that.
Any (not so famous) last words?
Nate- Have u ever heard the one about...
Steve- Aia ke ola i ka waha, aia ka make i ka waha, or “Life is in your speech, death is in your speech.” Know the strength of your words and choose them with care.

Order of the White Rose Interview (Maui Time Weekly, 2008)

2010-01-13T12:48:00.000-08:00

Since 2004, Pukalani-based hardcore punk band Order of the White Rose has been bringing its political message to stages on Maui and beyond. The band is playing a Pacific Cancer Foundation Benefit this Friday, and their latest 7-inch single "Ghosts of the Sidewalk" is available at Requests in Wailuku (all proceeds from sales of this record benefit food banks on Maui and Oahu). We recently caught up with Nate Robertson and Steve Hart (bass and guitar, respectively):

Do you think your unique position (political punk band on Maui) limits you (shortage of venues, geography), or makes for potential to do something that hasn't been done before?

NR I think that both of those positions would be true. On one hand we are sort of cut off from the continental US –it's not like we can jump in a van and go on tour. We don't have the opportunity to play big venues on the weekend in front of crowds that are into type of music we play. On the other hand, Hawaii is possibly the best place to be as far as playing political music goes. There is a growing amount of people concerned with the issues that we find important and address in our music. For instance, we all have seen the super rich coming in and driving real estate prices through the roof and that how this affects all of us. We support the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement and self-determination for the Hawaiian Nation. We are also concerned that for hundreds of years, one company has controlled a majority of stream water and we support the movement to release water back into the streams. The Superferry and the potential for invasive species like the bee mite to decimate our local agriculture are another concern that we share with a majority of Maui residents.

SH I think there is a shortage of venues to play on Maui for any band that plays mainly original music. Even though we address a variety of political issues through our music, I don't think that hurts our chances of playing on Maui. In fact, there is a huge potential to do things that haven't been done before. I am currently working on developing a plan to start an all-ages space similar to the Gilman Street Project. There are details of this plan on our MySpace page. All-ages shows on Maui are the best –they are the best attended and the most enthusiastic, it's too bad that some of the clubs won't have matinee shows for all-ages kids to come in and play. Sunday afternoons would be a perfect time for a club to open up their doors, have a small cover charge and not sell alcohol for a few hours. It's not like they would be hurting their business, it would actually bring in more business and give the under 21 kids a chance to perform and attend shows. This would help our local music scene and encourage more kids to play music.

So how does a band in such a remote spot make its mark on the national scene?

NR We toured the west coast in 2006 and are planning another tour right now. Networking tools like MySpace are extremely helpful in reaching audiences away from Hawaii. Having our music up on iTunes and a variety of other download sites helps too.

SH If we are to make any "mark" at all, we have to make great-sounding records with excellent songs. We are currently writing and re-writing our songs to make our next record sound great. It is important that we use the Internet effectively; we are featured on a variety of Internet radio programs and college radio stations. If any band wants to be played on the radio, they have to send the radio stations a CD and a press kit. If it sounds simple it is because it is. I look for radio programs that feature punk bands and put a CD in an envelope and send it to them. Then, I get emails from people all the time saying they heard us on their local college station or on Pandora. It takes an effort for any band to get their music heard. You don't need a street team, you just need to get off your butt and do it.

What subject provides the most fodder for your lyrics?

NR A lot of our music lately has focused on indigenous people and groups around the world. We are influenced by the literature of the Native Hawaiians, Native Americans, and the Mayans in the Chiapas region of Mexico.

SH Our first record, "War Machine," addressed the Iraq war through a variety of perspectives. I don't think we wanted to do that again. Currently, we're focusing on what is happening right now through imperialism and colonialism in Hawaii and elsewhere in the world. Almost every day, I receive an email asking about our band. Every email starts out with, "There's punk rock in Hawaii?" Because of this, I feel that it's very important that we address what is happening to the people of Hawaii. Some of the most left-leaning punk rockers out there in the world have no idea that Hawaii was illegally overthrown or annexed. It's not written about in world history books. So, it's our duty to write about these issues. We also recently released a 7-inch single called "Ghosts of the Sidewalk." All the proceeds of the 7-inch benefits the food banks of Maui and Oahu. It's available as a download on iTunes and can be found at Requests in Wailuku.

Are you getting a lot of inspiration from current events?

NR Yes. This president (Bush) has done more harm than any other in my life time, including president Reagan. He seems hell-bent on spreading the U.S Empire through any means necessary while cutting the social programs here in America. Look at the how the Patriot Act was forced upon America and tell me our freedom isn't being taken away piece by piece. We are quickly moving towards a fascist dictatorship.

SH I'm not so much inspired by it, I refuse to become a person who is solely reactive to the national political discourse. It is up to us to be proactive and dictate to them what We the People want, not react to what they do or say. They work for us, not the other way around!

Here's what I don't understand, If we (the collective "we" of America) are the Government, and the Republican Party says that they hate the government, does that mean they hate the collective "we?" It certainly seems so. Thomas Frank's book, "The Wrecking Crew" documents the dismantling of FDR's New Deal by the Republican Party in minute detail and I recommend it to everyone. The Republican Party has waged a war on America for the past 30 years.

All that being said, I'm not just going to write songs reacting to their insipid political platforms –that would make for some bad music and I'm not interested in doing that.

What are your influences?

NR I got into punk music from watching skateboard videos when I was a kid. Bands like Minor Threat, Bad Brains, Black Flag, Bad Religion, Propaghandi, The Gorilla Biscuits, and many more.

SH I think we're influenced by any band that is committed to their music and message. It's important for any punk rock band to listen to bands outside of their genre. It's too easy to try and sound like someone else. What music did the Sex Pistols listen to? Or the Ramones? It wasn't like they listened to punk rock. I like to go to the wells they drew from; The MC5, The Stooges, The Ronettes, along with a variety of musical styles that developed since the advent of punk. Every musical genre is fair game.

http://www.mauitime.com/Articles-i-2008-10-09-185905.112113_The_music_issue.html

Sherpa

2009-12-18T20:30:00.000-08:00

Back in 1998 or so, I was spending time in Michigan and staying at my friend's house. When I was carrying all my luggage into his apartment, he said, "You're like a Sherpa," and I thought, "Wow, that would make a great name for a band." Soon thereafter, I was back in San Francisco, roadying for The Mermen (Who have a great new album coming out) At the same time the band, "Fantomas," was just beginning to form and I was inspired to write some short, weird songs while discussing Fantomas with Mike. I was also listening to the film composer, "Manabe," who wrote these great, short film pieces. Also, the record store, "Amoeba" had just opened in the Haight and had a lot of Kraftwerk and OMD CDs on sale, so I was heavy into that too. Anyway, my friend gave me a little Casio keyboard and a Shure SM58 and told me to go record. The first tape I came up with is the "Lost Tapes, Pt. One." I tried to write a bunch of little compositions keeping all of the aforementioned influences, calling the project, "Sherpa." I came up with about 38 songs, made a cover at Kinkos (Drawn by my friend, Mike Peoples in New Orleans, way back in 88) and dubbed off about 20 copies of the tape. I then sold them on the Secret Chiefs 3 southwest tour -each tape had a different "secret song" on it and I encouraged people who bought the tape to try and exchange songs with each other. I don't believe that ever happend.

The second recording is "Lost Tapes Part Two." This contains far more experimental recordings, some of them dating back to 1991, through 2007. My influences were far more vast than the previous recordings, but still kept a certain "Sherpaness" to them.

The "Nasturtium" recordings are more recent, recorded within 2006-2009. These too have are fairly experimental, mixing surf guitar, ambience and African percussion. Anyway, I've uploaded them to Mediafire, and they are all free to download. Enjoy!

Cover by Michael Peoples

The Lost Tapes Pt. 1

The Lost Tapes Pt. 2

Nasturtium

Pinky

Also, please leave a comment if you like what you heard...

Interview with Dissent

2009-06-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

This came from my fanzine, "Licentia et Pax."

Help Support the Proposed Superstore ban On Maui

2009-03-09T14:06:00.001-07:00

Everyone's signature can help! Off-Island, or Hawaii residents. Help us protect Maui's small businesses by signing this petition

Petition

The Maui County Council is currently considering a bill prohibiting new or expanded Superstores on Maui.

These stores are an economic disaster most places, but in a place like Maui they are especially destructive to the economy, environment, infrastructure, and island way of life that makes Maui the paradise it is. Big-box stores would force more local businesses to close, and prevent others from opening. In these tough economic times we need to protect our people and businesses and find more sustainable ways to look at development, and there is nothing "Sustainable" about a Superstore.

We hope that all Maui residents, small business owners, and those who love Maui will sign our petition and let the Council know that they are in support of a BAN ON SUPERSTORES on Maui, Molokai, and Lanai.

The Council will be discussing and voting on this bill at their March 20th meeting. We do not have much time, so please:

1.........Sign our petition

2..........Write a comment for the Council in the "comment" section

3..........Copy the URL and send to friends and associates on Maui.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and for your concern for the issue. With your help we can Protect Maui from Superstores.

A letter from Rob of A State of Mind 1984?

2009-01-09T20:04:00.001-08:00

Raw Power

2009-01-09T18:56:00.000-08:00

This is from my old fanzine, "licentia et pax, somewhere around 1986, or possibly 1985. Raw Power was, and is, one of my favorite bands. Maybe, we can get them to Hawaii this year!

Agent Orange and D.I.

2009-01-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

Flyer art by Ben Lyon

Hey Everett Dowling!

2009-01-09T00:27:00.000-08:00

Your ugly houses look so UGH!

Everett Dowling wants to keep local people locked out of his private resort. It's a new "Sun City" for Maui. Private resorts are not what aloha is all about.

Bang on the Drum

2008-12-31T13:22:00.000-08:00

There was a band called "Scream" from Washington DC, who had a song entitled, "Banging the Drum." I got to see Scream play in New Orleans in the late 80's. It was a good show, Dave Grohl was playing drums for them at the time. But this really isn't about Scream.

William Winant, percussionist, photo by me.
I've always liked a lot of percussion sounds, with big drums and minimal instrumentation. Working with William Winant as his percussion tech also introduced me to a whole plethora of other percussion instruments. I learned how to take apart and set up a six foot marimba in under three minutes. As a roadie, that was kind of cool.

Photo by Marina Miller

For the next White Rose record, I've been talking to Nate the drummer about doing a couple of songs where it is just drums with maybe a little bit of the band, and with some shouted lyrics. For example, the Safaris have a song called "Mystic Island Drums," which is an amazing song. It has huge jungle drums and a surf guitar playing a minimal chord progression. I'd like for one of our songs to be like this.My first "podcast" had a song from the band "Black Tusk." They too have songs with huge tom-tom drum sounds. Their use of heaviness and drums is amazing and kind of reminds me of Sepultura. Another one of my favorite bands is Bow Wow Wow. They are probably my biggest musical influence. I just love that band. So, in tribute to these band and their music, I've put together a small group of songs that are a springboard for a few songs off the next White Rose album. Hopefully, we'll be able to create something powerful like these songs.

Percussion

Ceded Lands=Stolen Lands! Secret OHA back room deal!

2008-12-17T00:26:00.001-08:00

From Free Hawaii

No More Makena, No More Aloha

2008-12-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

I went on a research trip this weekend to view Makena and this is what I found. I think it puts the issues into proper perspective.

HC&S

2008-12-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

Every drop of water on Maui is important. When water is used to carry effluent from the Sugar Mill, it becomes polluted. The smells we are forced to endure come from this open pipe, filled with a sulfuric stench.

Christmas Declares War On Hawai'i

2008-12-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

Thousands of Christmas trees are presently in Hawaii or are soon on their way. I’ve written about Christmas before, but the danger of importing Christmas trees is still a huge threat to Hawaii. Perhaps the Department of Agriculture doesn’t read my blogs. Nevertheless, in today’s Star Bulletin, “Trees in four containers from Oregon were infested with slugs and denied entry to the state," said Leslie Iseke, plant import specialist in the state Department of Agriculture Plant Quarantine Division.

Four containers!

I’ve worked in nurseries that sold cut Christmas Trees since the late 80’s. When I worked for Sloat nurseries in California, I unpacked every semi-trailer for the 11 nurseries owned by Sloat. That is over 100,000 trees unpacked and carried in the two years I worked there. When I first moved to Maui, I worked for Lowes in the garden department. During the Christmas season, I was promoted to garden department manager. Because of this, I found myself inside the trailer, pulling out Noble and Douglass fir trees for 12 hours a day.

Bundled Christmas Trees

Christmas trees are cut at a tree farm and then wrapped up tightly with a string tied around the base of the tree. They are measured and tagged and packed into large refrigerated containers. The largest trees are placed on the bottom of the container with the smaller and lighter trees stacked on top. The largest trees, much to my dismay, are also placed near the front of the container. This means that if a customer wants an 11 foot tree, the employee has to take a bunch of smaller trees out of the truck and literally dig their way to the bottom of the pile and try to pull the behemoth out of the pile. A friend of mine tore the muscles in his back trying to do this. It is a very difficult and annoying job.

It is imperative to understand just how tight the trees are packed into the containers in order to comprehend what the Department of Agriculture is doing to protect against invasive species. What the Ag. Dept. does is thus: They open the back of the container and drag out the trees, maybe two rows deep. They take a few trees, cut off the twine and shake the tree. If they find any insects, they are supposed to quarantine the container. However, the larger trees, the ones that actually can contain insects (or bird nests, or a dead squirrel) are not inspected.

Picture of a slug in California taken with camera phone

When I worked at Lowes, I found a variety of insects, mostly bees or wasps and all were dead. I brought this to the attention of my manager, but was told to keep my mouth shut. Sadly, that is what I did. However, today we have a news report that a variety of slugs –vegetable-eating slugs, were found in the Christmas tree shipping containers and four containers were shipped back (or are at least, scheduled to be shipped back). In the Star Bulletin article, snail/slug specialist Robert Cowie at the University of Hawaii's Center for Conservation Research and Training for identification said, “[the slugs found on the Christmas trees] "will certainly become a pest if they're established here in the vegetable-growing area[s] of Kula, Maui, and places like that," Cowie said. "They've already got some temperate species."

Christmas trees are the Trojan horse for invasive species. For all the talk about a “War on Christmas,” the practice of importing Christmas trees to Hawaii is a threat to our food security. We cannot afford to have vegetable-eating slugs on Maui. Instead of buying a cut Christmas tree, I suggest, (if you must have a tree in order to celebrate) buying a local, live Christmas tree. For instance, the Permaculture Group has 3 native species available as replacements. You can click on this link if you are interested. Plant A Wish

We need to rethink our idea of what Christmas means to Hawaii. Inspecting a few trees every year is not going to protect Hawaii from a potentially devastating horde of invasive species.

Oregon Christmas Tree Regulations
Star Bulletin

Christmas Tree Cultivation, Cutting & Loading (Play with Volume Turned OFF! -You'll Thank Me)

Depleted Uranium in Hawai`i

2008-11-28T13:39:00.000-08:00

Leuren Moret exposes the Military in Hawaii

UPDATE December 2, 2008
Here are some links to a variety of opinions on depleted uranium in Hawaii.

My opinion? I don't believe the Hawaiian Islands should be used as target practice for the military, depleted uranium or not.

Army Reaffirms Commitment to Hawaii on Depleted Uranium
No Depleted Uranium In Hawaii
Doubts Remain About Depleted Uranium
Nuclear Free Zone
Hawaiian Islands Contaminated
With Ballistic Uranium
DubbsInfo/Uranium
Sickened Iraq vets cite depleted uranium

"They've Got Bomb" by Crass

They won't destroy the world, no, they're not that crazy.
You're dealing with the town hall. They're not that crazy.
No political solution so why should we bother?
Well whose fucking head do you think they're holding over?
FOUR. THREE. TWO. ONE. FIRE.

They can't wait to use it. They can't wait to use it.
They can't wait to try it out. They can't wait to use it.
They've got a bomb. They've got a bomb
And they can't wait to use it on me.

Twenty odd years now waiting for the flash...

Twenty odd years now waiting for the flash,
All of the oddballs thinking we'll be ash.
Well the four minute warning has run on into years,
Are we waiting for them to confirm our fears?
FOUR. THREE. TWO. ONE. FIRE.

They can't wait to use it. They can't wait to use it.
They can't wait to try it out. They can't wait to use it.
They've got a bomb. They've got a bomb
And they can't wait to use it on me.

They can build them small, call it tactical.
Stop the fallout, make it practical
To smash the misfits who foul up their scene
With the practical, tactical, killing machine.
FOUR. THREE. TWO. ONE. FIRE.

They can't wait to use it. They can't wait to use it.
They can't wait to try it out. They can't wait to use it.
They've got a bomb. They've got a bomb
And they can't wait to use it on me.
Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. Me. I. Me. Me. Me.

Lyrics by Crass from the Feeding of the 5000 album

The SuperFerry Chronicles

2008-11-26T01:22:00.000-08:00

The Superferry Chronicles - Book Launch Celebrations
Tuesday, December 2
4:00 p.m. - Borders at Maui Marketplace, Kahului
7:00 p.m. - Kaunoa Senior Center in Paia
Interisland ferries, at appropriate speeds with appropriate safeguards, could be a blessing for the islands. The Hawaii Superferry has never met these criteria. Not approved by the people of Hawai'i, without an environmental impact statement, the Superferry rode in on a wave of collusion and deception. On Maui, environmental groups blocked passage in the courts, only to be overridden by special legislative session. On Kaua'i, citizens on surfboards blocked the vessel from entering the harbor. Koohan Paik and Jerry Mander tell the full story in The Superferry Chronicles.

Koohan Paik is a Kauai filmmaker, writer, and media-literacy educator. Jerry Mander founded of San Francisco's Public Media Center and International Forum on Globalization, authored the bestselling Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television and In the Absence of the Sacred, and has been called by the New York Times "the patriarch of the antiglobalization movement."

"The idea of boats to connect the Hawaiian Islands is so natural and lovely that it makes one doubly mad to read how in this case it's been perverted into yet one more sad scheme for our paranoid future. Good for the people of Hawai'i who have raised the alarm and to these authors for pulling back the curtain." --Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy

"Koohan Paik and Jerry Mander offer the world a wide interpretation of indigenous sensibility. We in Hawai'i are grateful and stand ready for more effective collaboration. It's time to save this planet! I mua ka lahui o Hawaii-nui-akua. ('Let us all move forward, all people of the world.')" --Dr. Manulani Aluli Meyer, Hawaiian practitioner and educator

The authors will also be speaking at Maui Community College December 1st at 6 p.m. in Science 12A, December 3-5 on Kaua'i, and in Honolulu, Hilo, and Kona in January. Visit www.superferrychronicles.com for details and a downloadable poster.

The Superferry Chronicles
Published by Koa Books, Kihei, Maui
$20 Trade Paperback Original - ISBN 978-0-9773338-8-2
Available now in Borders Kahului & Lihue, Native Books and Revolution Books in Honolulu, and from Koa Books
For more information, contact 808-875-7995, arnie@koabooks.com

Michelle Malkin and Hawaii

2008-11-23T18:57:00.001-08:00

I sometimes wonder what the outsider’s opinion of Hawaii is. We sometimes see it depicted in movies, where kanaka maoli are reduced to background figures or buffoonish clowns. Recently, I’ve been following the talk show pundit, Michelle Malkin and read her opinions of Hawaii. She certainly has no love lost for our islands.

According to “The State of Hawaii Moves to Censor a Cartoon,” an article written by Michelle Malkin, the Hawaiian sovereignty movement is, a “grievance-mongering movement.” Of course, this doesn’t take into account of history, facts or reality. In fact, this is a classic right-wing smear: call your opponent some crazy, vile epithet and you will reduce them to mumbling idiots. For example, there is always the trap, “Hey, have you stopped beating your wife?” If you answer, “I haven’t,” you look like an idiot. If you answer, “no,” you look like an idiot. This is what Malkin is doing. Reducing the Hawaiian Sovereignty movement to “grievance-mongerers” is Ms. Malkin outlining the narrative. We can either respond with epithets ourselves or ignore it and try to set her straight. Of course, she won’t be interested in hearing what we have to say. Her mind is made up.

In a more recent article entitled, “Nuttiness in Hawaii: Ethnic separatists take over palace” by Michelle Malkin, Native Hawaiians are described as secessionists and ethnic separatists. First, the sovereignty movement cannot be described as secessionists, the premise of the movement is that the Hawaiian Kingdom was never overthrown, that it still exists to this day. You cannot secede from something you are not a part of. Secondly, “ethnic separatists?” The kingdom of Hawai`i was not built on separation, it included everyone, including haoles. However, she claims that these separatists “took over a historic palace…” The way she writes it, Iolani Palace is just some palace, like there are hundreds of them scattered throughout Hawaii. Clearly, she doesn’t really understand what has occurred. Instead, she takes large quotes from Malia Zimmerman’s report, and then regurgitates her opinion over the report. She sums up her “report” by saying, “P.C [Political Correctness)] virus isn’t contained to the Mainland.”

Despite what Ms. Malkin’s opinions are about Hawaii and the sovereignty movement, she is just a tip of the iceberg when it comes to people’s opinions about Hawaii. The comments left on her blog are equally as vile, if not surpassing it altogether. The opinions of her readers degenerate into sad name calling. If we, the students of Hawaiian Studies ever want to understand how we are perceived, please read the comments in her blog. One person wrote, “There [In Hawaii] is a separatist movement encouraged by the weak-minded and apologetic-for-all-things western, but western civilization did not achieve its dominance and brilliance through timidity and surrender.” A link from Malkin’s blog led me to this nugget, “Yet another inferior culture having a go at the fallen children of giants.” Levi from Queens

This is what we are up against. We must realize that we have to come together because people like Michelle Malkin, people who have access to powerful media outlets, are out to destroy us and will not relent until we give up. So, don't give up.

Michelle Malkin
Michelle Malkin on Apartheid in Hawaii

"Ethnic grievance-mongerers"

Michelle Advocates for Japanese Internment Camps

Noho Hewa

2008-11-19T23:37:00.000-08:00

November 20 3:30 PM
5:30 PM
7:30 PM Maui Community College
Ka Lama Building FREE

Noho Hewa' puts in context the struggle of modern Hawaiians By Joleen Oshiro Star Bulletin

Noho Hewa" opens with this excerpt from the poem "Hawaii" by activist Haunani-Kay Trask:
"... Haole plover / plundering the archipelago of our world, / And we, gorging ourselves / on lost shells / blowing a tourist conch / into the wounds / of catastrophe."

The poem is a most fitting summary of the film (an uncompleted version was viewed for this review), which explicitly illustrates that the phenomenon of colonialism extends beyond the physical occupation of the land or replacement of the culture.
Trask in fact goes so far as describing the strife facing Hawaiians as ethnic cleansing, adding "ethnic cleansing isn't just something that they do physically to people, it's something that happens in the mind."

To explain this concept, producer and director Anne Keala Kelly uses examples of colonialism in Hawaii -- bombings at Makua, the clumsy handling of burial sites during development, homelessness contrasted with the construction of multimillion-dollar gated communities -- and illuminates them with discourse by numerous Hawaiian academics and activists.

"The destruction of the Hawaiian way of life used to look like a missionary holding a bible. This is what it looks like in the 21st century," says Mikahala Roy of Kulana Huli Honua, as footage of construction rolls on the screen.

In response to homeless Hawaiians being evicted from public beaches, Trask says, "That's just what ethnic cleansing establishes ... You have no place to live. You do not have a home. You're not there."

For those uneducated about the issues "Noho Hewa" addresses, Hawaiian activists can appear to be unduly angry, their causes ridiculously unrealistic. But in taking a stand on the side of the Hawaiian cause, the film does an excellent job of providing context to their perspectives. And it even goes one step further: It conveys knowledge that resonates in the heart as well as the mind.

Hawaii International Film Festival
Six films are nominated for the Hawaii International Film Festival's top award, the Halekulani Golden Orchid Award, in the category of documentary feature. The award recognizes artistic and technical excellence and contributions to cross-cultural understanding. Jurors are actor Cliff Curtis of "Whale Rider," "Fracture," "Sunshine" and "Life Free or Die Hard"; Don King, director of "Beautiful Son"; and Grace Lee, anchor at KGMB 9 TV.

Ghosts Of the Sidewalk

2008-11-17T15:22:00.000-08:00

Maui Weekly

Thursday, June 28, 2007
Ghosts of the Sidewalk

Formerly homeless punk rockers help food banks.

The Maui punk rock band, (Order Of The) White Rose, joined forces with O‘ahu’s Hawaiian Express records and released a collectable seven-inch single entitled Ghosts of the Sidewalk in mid-June. All sales proceeds will be donated to the food banks of O‘ahu and Maui.

A former homeless person himself, guitarist Stephen Hart said, “I wanted to take a negative experience and turn it into a positive experience. I would rather be a band that gave back to the community than one who just tries to become famous and pal around with Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan.”

When asked why he chose to use an older format to release the songs, he said, “Seven-inch singles are very collectable and very tactile—they’re fun to hold. Plus, with the large hole, they can be played in the old-style jukeboxes.”

White Rose also hired the cartoonist Brian Walsby (Melvins, 7 Seconds) to draw the front cover, and up-and-coming artist Keith Rosson (Razorcake Magazine) drew the poster for the inside as well as designed the back cover art for the B-side, Seeds of Destruction.

“I look forward to raising awareness that there are a lot of people who are hurting here in Hawai‘i, we are not just a playground for the rich, nor are we to be forgotten. That is what the song Ghosts of the Sidewalk is all about,” Hart said. “I’m really happy to work with Jason Miller of Hawaiian Express Records, too. With his own history of living in a van outside a friends house, a 4-by-10 loft in a garage, and a converted lanai, he was as excited to do this project as I was, and we’re really happy with the way the single looks and sounds. I hope to do more projects with Jason in the future. Maybe we can have a punk rock food drive, too, and have barrels of food to drop off at the food banks at every show we play. That would be remarkable.”

The single is sold for $5 ppd and can be purchased through Hawaiian Express Records: P.O. Box 11871, Honolulu, HI 96828 or www.hwnexp.com.

Stephen Hart can be contacted at Steve@whiterosepunk.com.

Makena

2008-11-16T23:34:00.001-08:00

Save Makena

2008-11-13T22:08:00.000-08:00

1,100 High density Condos, hotel, shopping center surrounding Makena State Park?

There's a Poll on www. mauinews. com on weather this project should be approved. Go to Maui News and scroll down to share your opinion.

County Council Land Use Committee Meeting
Wed. Nov.19th, 8:30 am
@ the County Building, 8th floor (200 S.High st. Wailuku)
Developer wants to upzone over 150 acres for high density Condos, hotel, shopping center surrounding Makena State Park.
Public testimony will be accepted at the meeting. COME EARLY to sign up to testify! Arrive at 8:30am.
Free Save Makena t-shirts to early sign ins.
Citizens can sign up to speak while testimony continues.
Food will be available!

Can't attend?
Email to Land Use Committee: lu.committee@mauicounty.us
Request a nighttime Public Hearing in Kihei. Let the working public have a say in what's going on.

Also, Letters to the editor help bring attention to his huge issue.
Maui News: letters@mauinews.com

Also the weeklies:
Maui Weekly: editor@mauiweekly.com
Maui Time: jacob@mauitime.com
Lahaina News: lahnews@maui.net

Key Points:

* No available public water supply
* archeological review outdates and incomplete
* No affordable housing onsite
* Reduced public parking at Maui Prince Beach (Maluaka)
* Over 100 acres already have zoning. Developer could people to works right NOW if this was truly about providing jobs.

WANT TO GET MORE FACTS TO TESTIFY?
Save Makena. org Meeting
Sun. Nov. 16th, 6-8 pm @ Kalama Heights senior living facility, 101 Kanani Rd. in Kihei, Rm 10- The Garden room,
Guest speaker Kai Nishiki: "What's up at Makena & what can we do?"
Come find out what's being proposed and how it affects our jobs, our housing, our park, our reefs, our oceans and our history.

Save Makena Meeting Directions:

Kalama Heights senior living facility, Garden Room, 101 Kanani Rd, in Kihei. The Garden Room is located on the oceanside of the Kalama Heights complex, and attendees are advised to use the parking lot closest to S. Kihei Rd. Light refreshments will be served. T-shirts and Bumper Stickers available. Call 357-3134 for more information.

Friday, Nov. 14th, 4pm-5:30 pm Sign waving on Makena Resort corner of Wailea Ike and Pi'ilani Hwy. We'll meet at Daniel's house at 3:30 pm 1100 Kupulau. We have plenty of signs but, Feel free to make your own sign that say things like "Rezoning does not guarantee jobs" or "No water, no building"

Food Security

2008-11-02T12:08:00.000-08:00

Multipurpose Room, Pilina Bldg, Maui Community College, Kahului, Maui,
Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2008, 5–7 pm

Waiola Church, Lahaina, Maui,
Thursday, Nov. 13, 2008, 6–8 pm

Ala Kukui (Hana Retreat Center), Wakiu, Hana, Maui,
Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008, 6–8 pm

Practical Agriculture for Hamakua class,
NHERC, Honoka’a, Hawai'i, Thursday, November 20, 2008, 6-8 pm

Craig Elevitch will be presenting a photo-rich talk about Hawai'i food security. He will show images of traditional agricultural systems in Samoa, Tonga, Palau, and Yap and describe how these age-old systems can guide us in achieving food security in Hawai'i and elsewhere in the tropics. Steps we all can take to create personal, neighborhood, and community food security will be covered. Craig will also present plans for transforming a 1/4 acre lawn into an abundant perennial homegarden within a year.

From Craig's website:

"Despite Hawai‘i’s plentiful agricultural land and year-round growing conditions, we still import more than 85% of our food and have less than a 7-day supply of food in stores at any given time. Many Hawai‘i residents are concerned about community food security due to our food distribution system’s vulnerability to major economic disruptions and environmental disasters. Parallel problems include:

low availability and high price of locally grown food in markets and restaurants
stagnation of the local agricultural economy due to cheap imports
increasingly questionable food safety from imported foods of nearly untraceable origin
poor nutrition due to overconsumption of cheap processed foods
skyrocketing medical costs due to nutrition related non-communicable diseases
This project will

educate community and school groups about our food security, local agricultural production, diversifying farm and garden markets, and nutrition and what we can do to improve them;
research and demonstrate the feasibility of providing most of a family’s nutritional needs and partial or full income without reliance on imported fertilizer, chemicals, or other inputs; and
produce a manual for import-free homegrown food abundance for consumption and sale in Hawai'i."

Agro Forestry.net

Jan Shields

2008-11-01T22:49:00.001-07:00

Jan Shields is a Republican candidate for District Nine in Maui County who is running on a platform of building a hospital in Lahaina and privatizing all the hospitals on Maui. I have watched her in “action” at a variety of meet the candidate forums and I have discovered Jan Shields is very narrow in her scope and vision for the future of Maui. In fact, I believe she is quite dangerous for the County of Maui.

Privatization is a theory based on the idea of competition and, in theory, this competition would lower prices and provide a better quality service. It has also been the clarion call for the Republican party for quite some time now. In fact, the call for privatization is often a political ideal, rather than an economic one. A cursory Google search brings up strong political beliefs from the far-right and far-left. The far-right believes that Government’s relationship with the citizens should be hands-off and business should be market-driven. The far-left, in contrast, believe that privatization of Government is another example of a class-driven system, one that is against unions and the workers. The idea is that the government is the people, therefore the people would own the hospitals. The very same hospitals that Jan Shields would like to build and privatize.

If we are to privatize Maui Memorial General Hospital, profits will become the first priority of the hospital. In the Haleakala Times, Shields says, “Private companies will run a much more efficient business. It is easy for government hospitals to run inefficiently, and then go with their hands out to the legislature for more of our tax dollars. Private hospitals cannot do this, so they plan ahead and run a tight ship,” she said. But what is this so-called “tight ship?” If, under Shields’ plan, a certain portion of the hospital is unprofitable, do they discard this portion? Do we do away with the Emergency Room because too many people who cannot afford care continue to default on their hospital bills?

Maui County does not need private hospitals. We can build public hospitals –but we do not need to bankrupt Hawaii by building private hospitals only for people who can afford them. The Republican model of privatization has failed. There is no need for Maui to build private hospitals and there is no need for Jan Shields in our government.

Fast Food Nursing
Save Our Healthcare
Jan Shields
Roz Baker
Common Dreams
Haleakala Times

Greening The Music Industry

2008-10-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

"The whole music business in the United States is based on numbers, based on unit sales and not on quality. It's not based on beauty, it's based on hype and it's based on cocaine. It's based on giving presents of large packages of dollars to play records on the air."
-Frank Zappa

The music industry must integrate environmental ethics into its business model in order to survive. By definition, the music industry is a large leviathan that is slow to change. In fact, the big five record labels, Universal, EMI, BMG, Sony, and Warner, which control 80% of all titles produced in the US. (www.oligopolywatch.com) Many of these labels, along with the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) have been unable to keep up with technological change. This oligarchy of labels run on a “Small Tail” business model, or the practice of a few record labels selling to millions, contrasted with a “Large Tail” business model, where millions of small labels sell to hundreds. (www.entrepreneurs-journey.com) Of course, this entails a large paradigm shift for the large labels: making music is not for profit only, but instead, will have to face the ethical challenges placed before it. The industry as a whole, the large and small labels, will have to make adjustments and incorporate an assortment of environmental ethics, moving away from a utilitarian ethic and doing things only if it conforms to the principle of utility, towards an amalgamation of environmental ethics such as deep ecology, eco-feminism, animal rights and animal liberation, all the while being pragmatic and certainly more flexible. In order of this change to happen, the so-called “Big Five” will probably be broken up into smaller pieces or dissolve altogether. This dissolution may increase a larger variety of music available to music fans. However, it also would be the death-knell of record stores around the world. The big five own most of the distribution networks, although there are a few smaller, reliable independent distributors throughout the world. Many record stores have closed recently, such as Tower Records and Mill Valley’s Village Music. Most of these closings are due to a change in consumer practices such as downloading music through the internet (legally and illegally) and the fact that our planet is going through major upheaval with war and the idea of cheap oil in plentiful quantities being extinguished. Using environmental ethics will be the only way for the music industry (in a new form) to continue.

When I began doing research for this paper, I was asked, “Why the music industry?” My response is, first, I am a musician who runs a record label (Unitree Recordings). Because of this, these concerns directly affect the amount of money I make and whether or not I am able or willing to continue releasing music using traditional methods such as CDS and vinyl records. Secondly, I am a music fan. I have a large, eclectic collection of music on a variety of formats; I count thousands of vinyl records, cassettes, CDs, and mp3s among my collection. I love music and I want to see music continue being created. I also believe that music is an excellent method of creating change. Of course this goes against the large tail business model, where a small amount of artists are sold to a large amount of people, but instead, music is a way of social revolution. Music itself is not the revolution, but instead, music can cause revolution through lyrics and by its actions. Many smaller, independent record labels such as Dischord Records from Washington D.C., to Smog Veil records in Chicago, San Francisco’s Alternative Tentacles and the G7 Welcoming Committee from Canada already have integrated environmental ethics into their business model. Many have done so for over 25 years. These labels continue to buck the tradition and the status quo of the “Big Five” labels. Instead of reinforcing the traditions of distribution, formats, and utilitarian and shallow ecology ethics, these labels push the envelope, whether it is lyrical content, packaging, distribution, or price points. They also are friendlier to their artists and give a fair royalty rate compared to the Big Five. Because of these models, I think that it is important for the music industry to be at the forefront of developing new methods of distributing music while using a strong environmental ethic.

Environmental Ethics

Environmental ethics began, according to the Center for Environmental Philosophy (CEP), in the late 1960’s and early 70’s, when “environmentalists started urging philosophers who were involved with environmental groups to do something about environmental ethics.” (www.cep.unt.edu) There are two major papers written at this time, Lynn White’s “The Historical Roots of our Ecologic Crisis” (March 1967) and Garrett Hardin’s “Tragedy of the Commons” (1968) along with rediscovered essay by Aldo Leopold, “A Sand County Almanac”(1949) entitled, “The Land Ethic.” Leopold claims that the roots of the ecological crisis are philosophical. In the 1980’s a new movement was created. EcoFeminism, which unites environmentalism and feminism, argues that there is a relationship between the oppression of women and the degradation of nature. (Dictionary of Philosophy) We can see this manifested in Hawaii as the islands themselves are referred to as a “She” or a “Her.” Some would say that this gender assignment is so Hawaii can then be “raped” of the natural resources.

Environmental Ethics “challenges the anthrocentrism (i.e. human-centeredness) embedded in traditional western thinking.” (plato.stanford.edu) To continue, Environmental Ethics also looks at the “distinction between instrumental value and intrinsic value. Instrumental value values things as means to further some other end. For instance, the forests felled for our liner notes and glossy music magazines are a means to the end. However, their intrinsic value would mean that the forest themselves already have a value, regardless whether or not they serve a purpose to humankind. This belief is somewhat difficult to implement, and there are many who would disagree, we as humans have often thought of ourselves as the masters of our domain, and it’s hard to grasp ideas that disagree with this belief. Furthermore, as our natural resources dwindle, and the aesthetic beauty of the forests is clear-cut for paper and wood, the air we breathe and water we drink becomes more polluted and human population continues to grow at a rapid pace, intrinsic value is seen as a luxury and more is demanded from our resources.

Shallow Ecology

The shallow ecology movement, or the fight against pollution and resource depletion mainly concerns wealthy and developed countries. Recently, the Eagles signed an exclusive agreement with Wal-mart and with this agreement, Wal-Mart’s publicity machine created an atmosphere touting Wal-Mart as an eco-friendly store. According to Wal-Mart’s website, the Eagles signed this deal because, “In the past year [we have] unveiled [a] simple and straightforward environmental goal…to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy; to create zero waste; and to sell products that sustain the earth’s resources and environment.” (www.walmartfacts.com) Of course, this can initially be seen as a step in an eco-friendly direction, but it also buys Wal-Mart a lot of free publicity. However, in 2000, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection sued Wal-Mart, claiming that 11 Wal-Mart stores left pesticides and fertilizers in their parking lots. When heavy rains came, the residue from the pesticides and fertilizers washed into the rivers and streams adjacent to the stores. (Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center) This is just one example of Wal-Mart’s true environmental policy, and is also indicative of the shallow ecology ethic. There are certainly many more examples of Wal-Mart’s environmental record and claims that they build on farmland and add to the urban sprawl blight have been well documented in a variety of reports, articles and movies.
Photo Courtesy of Catawbariverkeeper
There are other shortsighted aspects to this shallow ecology ethic, pertaining to the Eagles themselves. Wal-Mart claims that their “partnership with the Eagles demonstrates how serious they are about giving [their] customers a choice of unique, world-class products.” (Metroactive) However, Wal-Mart has a policy of censoring records, forcing bands to change their song titles (Nirvana’s “Rape Me” to “Waif Me) and refuse to carry certain titles. Of course, this is their prerogative; they can sell (or not sell) whatever they chose to. However, Wal-Mart’s online digital music store, “Liquid Digital Media, they has undercut I-Tunes price point of 99 cents to 88 cents, forcing artists to take a smaller royalty on every song sold. In fact, I opted out to have my records sold through this store because of their environmental record and their small royalty rates. Nevertheless, the Eagles and their exclusive deal also takes their CD out of smaller “ma and pa” record stores; the same stores that built them into being the super-rock juggernaut that they have become.

The main criticism of shallow ecology is its use of utilitarianism. The problem of utilitarianism is that if Wal-Mart found that their commitment to their environmental goal becomes not profitable, they will discontinue this practice and find a way to justify it. Another recent trend is carbon offsets, which have become popular with shallow-ecologists. Carbon offsets allow you to continue to pollute if you pay a certain amount of money, which is supposed to be used to plant trees or fund a river cleanup. However, these offsets are already being used by corporations similar to the absolutions given to the crusaders in the middle ages. The absolution allows the Crusaders to kill and commit various crimes on their way to Jerusalem as long as they promise to fight for the “liberation of Jerusalem.” Countless people were defiled by the Crusaders who believed in this absolution, similar to the amazing amount of pollution being released into the atmosphere, defiling our environment. Carbon offsets initially seemed as a good idea, however in a recent article by Business Week Magazine, carbon offsets “reveals that some deals amount to little more than feel-good hype.” (Business Week) Carbon offsets have become a multi-million dollar industry, but they haven’t reduced the amount of pollution released. The behavior by the polluting companies and businesses hasn’t changed much and this is the fundamental flaw of shallow ecology.

Deep Ecology
“Economic advance is not the same thing as human progress.”
~John Clapham, A Concise Economic History of Britain

In contrast, the Deep Ecology movement is concerned with “biospheric egalitarianism, “the view that all living things are alike in having value in their own right, independent of their usefulness to human purposes. (plato.stanford.edu) This theory is concerned with the entire world. In fact, deep ecology also struggles to understand that organisms (human or otherwise) are ‘knots’ in the biospherical net, the identities of which are defined in terms of their ecological relations to each other. According to deep ecology, this connection to the world and to nature also can give us a better sense of “self” or identity.
Deep ecology is concerned with environmental activism and social change, “designed to bring about what Arne Naess calls wide ecological sustainability.” (Sessions)

Smog Veil Records (Photo by Anthem Magazine)"
Unlike shallow ecology, which doesn’t concern itself with economic sacrifices, deep ecology is an ethic that demands sacrifice and commitment. There is however, a record label from Chicago, Illinois who is devoted to the deep ecology ethic, Smog Veil Records. Smog Veil, run by Frank Mauceri has taken a building in Chicago and completely rebuilt it by and replacing the electrical infrastructure. They have installed solar panels and wind turbines on the roof, both of which supply the building with electricity. Plastic jewel cases have been replaced with recycled paper “digipacks” and their goal is to do away with using plastic altogether. And, according to an article by Lou Molinaro, Smog Veil hopes to “produce gross revenues from digital distribution greater than hard goods, thereby replacing need for high-impact packaging.” (Jamilton) In my experience, digipacks are somewhat more expensive than CDs manufactured with jewel cases, however, there have been many creative CD covers created with digipack design. What’s truly interesting is that Mr. Mauceri has invested a lot of money and time into creating a “green building.” I believe that he has shown a deep commitment to the environment and to the deep ecology ethic.

The word “deep,” referenced in deep ecology also refers to the level of commitment and the “deep” movement “involves deep questioning, right down to fundamentals.” (Brett) In 1997, Chris Hannah and Jord Samolesky of the punk rock band Propaghandi started “G7 Welcoming Committee,” a label devoted to “allowing the evolutionary process that has guided and nurtured life on this planet for millions of years to continue unabated.” (G7) They also run their label using Parecon economic theories, which they feel is an alternative to capitalism. One possible Parecon theory that G7 uses is a community based model, which tries to keep their business on a small scale, which is locally based, and certainly self reliant. In order to implement these ideas, the G7 Welcoming Committee has decided to do away with packaging music altogether, at least in a physical form. Their entire catalog is now offered online in high-quality, non DRM-coded MP3s. (The DRM code is a software designed to prevent the copying the music) both of these are distinctly different than from Apple’s I-tunes, which is encoded with DRM and is at a smaller bit-rate than what G7 offers. The people at G7 state that their record label is an “idea of resistance…[we are a] 'Welcoming Committee' to tell them with words and actions, what we think of their power and neo-colonialism, around the world and at home, and that people are willing to fight back...”(G7) Not only is the G7 deeply committed to deep ecology ethics but they also feel that their economic base and the music that they offer must reflect these ethics as well.

Punk rock music offers a chance for political activism, and many people who identify with the punk rock movement whether it is musically or in spirit are committed to social activism. Bands like Crass and the Subhumans; members of the “second wave” of English punk rock criticized the Sex Pistols and the Clash for turning rebellion into money. The second wave took the rhetoric of the first wave and turned it into a clarion call for revolutionary thought. Another difference between this wave (and it’s continuing offshoots and sub-genres) is it’s do-it-yourself (DIY) ethic, which translates to music flying “under the radar” of pop music, but it has created a thriving underground community. In fact, one such band somehow leaped into the world of pop music in 1997 with their hit, “Tub Thumping,” by the English band, Chumbawamba. I’ve known Chumbawamba since 1985, when they released a split 7 inch with the San Francisco band, “A State of Mind.” Their commitment to radical politics and environmental issues has been a large influence on me personally. That being said, as I researched deep ecology I couldn’t help but think of the activism of Chumbawamba and how they reflect the deep ecology ethic. In the late 1990’s the automobile manufacturer, Renault, used a song by Chumbawamba for an advertisement. Chumbawamba in turn, took the money offered by Renault and gave it to anti-capitalists in Italy, Brazil and South Africa. (Czyzselska) In 2002, Chumbawamba was offered 417,000 pounds by General Electric for an ad selling an X-ray machine. They turned it down, citing the fact that GE manufactures planes that drop bombs on Afghanistan. What’s truly telling about Chumbawamba was that until recently, they never publicized the fact that they were giving the money away because they “didn't want to be using money as an apology for what we were doing with the band and our lives.” (Czyzselska) Recently, Chumbawamba was paid $200, 000 by General Motors and the band turned around and gave the money to two anti-corporate activist groups who planned on using the money for “corporate-jamming activities.”(Aitch)

As Chumbawamba has proved, there is an alternative to the business model the large record labels offer and to some extent, they use the “small-tail” form of music marketing. Although they did sign to a large label during their peak on the SoundScan charts, they used that money to subvert the system whenever they had a chance. Subsequently, they have left the large record labels and their current record, “A Singsong and a Scrap” is released on AK Press, an anarchist collective based out of San Francisco which distributes many books pertaining to the Deep Ecology movement.

Deep ecology, as well as Chumbawamba, has been accused of being misanthropic, or against humankind and “progress.” However, deep ecology seeks to heal humankind’s relationship with the earth and isn’t against progress, but is against stupid progress. Subsequently, the criticism of deep ecology comes from all angles, especially in business magazines and on conservative pundit talk shows on television. Once such pundit is Charles Krauthammer, who writes in a recent Time magazine, an article entitled, “Saving Nature, But Only For Man.” (Time) Krauthammer argues, “A sane environmentalism does not sentimentalize the earth. It does not ask people to sacrifice in the name of other creatures.” However, Smog Veil records prove that sacrifice and commitment to deep ecology ethics is not only possible, but also economically viable. Furthermore, according to the deep ecology ethic, “the well-being and flourishing of human and non-human life on Earth have value in themselves (intrinsic value).”(Brett) This is not sentiment, nor is it insane. Although deep ecology is far-reaching it doesn’t fully address the social component of environmental ethics and since the early 1980’s, Eco-Feminism has been introduced to tackle these components.

EcoFeminism

In Nigel Brett’s article, “Deep Ecology: Ecological and Psychological Study” he interviews Michael E. Zimmerman, Professor of Philosophy at Tulane University who offers an interesting contrast between deep ecology and eco-feminism,

“There are many eco-feminists who call themselves deep ecologists…but there are some who’ve made an important claim against it. They say the real problem isn’t anthrocentrism but androcentrism- man-centeredness. They say that 10,000 years of patriarchy is ultimately responsible for the destruction of the biosphere and the development of authoritarian practices, both socially and environmentally.” (Brett)

By using the music industry as my model, if we are to integrate eco-feminist ethics into our business model we will have to make some fundamental changes to not only the system itself, but also the way music is marketed, packaged and sold. Lyrical content will have to be examined as well. Fortunately, there are some strong examples of eco-feminist ethics currently performing in the industry. I’ve mentioned Chumbawamba in deep ecology, but their lyrical content reflects an eco-feminist ideal. With a song such as “Stitch That!” they tell the story of a drunken man who beats his wife at dinnertime, only to find that during the night, she sews him into the sheets of his bed and thrashes him with a frying pan and a colander. The song is a noisy rap with a comical twist: “Isn't it true what small can do/With a thread and a stitch and a thought or two/He's wiped his slate, his boozing's through/Goodbye to a drunken husband” (Chumbawamba) Using a feminist approach, Chumbawamba not only takes on an abusive patriarchy, but they show you can use comedy and irony to subvert the tradition of rap. Contrast this with a popular rapper, 50 Cent, who raps, “Them Twinkies got your ass gettin' fat fat/Them cookies got your ass gettin' fat fat/That cake got your ass gettin' fat fat/Bitch you grown, that ain't baby fat fat.” (50 Cent) Calling women “bitches” and “ho’s” is not acceptable when filtered through an eco-feminist ethic, and in this example, probably not acceptable in a variety of places.

The eco-feminism ethic would also have to address women in the music industry. Since its inception, men have dominated popular music and record labels. Women are seen as performers, and even then, many of them are not taken seriously. The Los Angeles band, L7, told me that they were often told that they were “pretty good, for girls.” The men’s stronghold of the music industry is beginning to fail and with the technology for women to create their own websites which offer downloads for sale will continue the trend of decreasing sales of the “Big Five.” The goal of eco-feminism in the music industry is an attempt to “replace the [dominant patriarchal structures]…with a [structure] that values the feminine. Eco-feminists can point to artists such as 50 cent and compare his portrayal of women in his songs to the portrayal of the earth. Anti-environmentalists use the term “Mother Earth” to deride eco-feminism. These men also draw on old sources such as Greek philosophy and Christianity to continue their hegemony, which implies that men are the driven by reason, while women are driven by emotion. However, the connection of women and nature is very close, as is their joint suppression. In Patrick Curry’s “Ethological Ethics,” he writes, “to exalt women as nature rather than despising them, while preferable, merely inverts the dominant values attached to male/female essentialism, it preserves the same destructive logic, when the point is to subvert it wholesale.” (Curry) While eco-feminism ties together the destruction of the feminine and the destruction of nature, it shouldn’t demonize the masculine to gain power; doing so would just reverse any ethical advance. My understanding of feminism is that it is solution-based. Using the term “ethics of care,” feminists have moved away from deontology and utilitarianism and instead are trying to create ethical relationships that connect people. These relationships are not just between women, but also for the entire world to learn how to value, care for and protect the natural world. For the music industry to adopt eco-feminist ethics, we will have to actively participate in moving away from a male-dominated and destructive industry.

The pushback from environmental ethics opponents has picked up a lot of momentum in recent years. Major media and a variety of scientific organizations have lambasted Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”. Al Gore himself has been scrutinized and found guilty for flying in private jets to attend environmental meetings throughout the world. Of course, he could fly on a commercial plane and silence his critics but he does not, and opens himself up to more criticism. This is unfortunate, but it does underscore the tightrope that people involved with environmental ethics have to walk. If the music industry were to move away from the physical packaging of CDs and towards a download-only medium, the amount of plastic used in the creation of CDs would diminish greatly. However, there are many problems associated with this possible solution. For one, download-only music is elitist. As popular as computers have become, not everyone owns a computer, or is connected to high-speed internet. The eco-feminist ethic is very critical of elitism in any form. Second hand record stores and resale outfits such as Amazon offer inexpensive methods of purchasing music. For many artists, they strongly desire as many people as possible listen to their music. By denying a secondhand market, the amount of listeners would diminish. Secondly, the music industry is connected to other media such as print and television. Most print media (and internet-media) will not review releases that are only available as downloads and this policy would have to change in order to publicize and review new music. Deep ecologists will also point out the amount of trees and pollution that paper causes and music magazines would have to adjust to the new media, further reducing the amount of advertising revenue that is generated. Many smaller underground magazines could be in serious trouble and the giants in the industry who can afford to publicize themselves like the Eagles could replace exciting bands. Ultimately, music sales are predicated by great music. If the music itself isn’t any good, (a subjective judgment) there is no amount of publicity that can save it. Witness the amount of Britney Spears CDs found in a secondhand music store. However, the music industry is going to have to adapt to change. Whether it is a popular artist like 50 Cent or an obscure underground punk rock band, the methods of selling music will have to continue to develop with technology, or they will disappear along with our natural resources. Environmental ethics allows ourselves to try and create an ethos that we can adhere to, one that is the least damaging to the earth.

Works Cited

Zappa, Frank “Music Industry Quotes to Live By”
http://www.musicbizacademy.com/knab/articles/musicquotes.htm
Hannaford, Steve “Industry brief: Music recording I”
http://www.oligopolywatch.com/2003/06/28.html
Wal-mart “Eagles and Wal-Mart in Strategic Marketing Partnership”
http://www.walmartfacts.com/articles/4552.aspx
Robinson, Lindsay “Wal-Mart and the Environment”
http://publici.ucimc.org/aug2001/082001_5.htm
Elgin, Ben “Another Inconvenient Truth” Business Week Magazine
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_13/b4027057.htm
Author Unknown “A Very Brief History of the Origins Of Environmental Ethics for the
Novice” http://www.cep.unt.edu/novice.html
Jamilton Lou Molinaro “Rock N Roll is Coloured Smog Veil Green”
http://jamilton.typepad.com/loumolinaro/2007/03/rock_n_roll_is_.html
Brett, Nigel “Ecological and Psychological Study”
http://www.webnb.btinternet.co.uk/deep.htm
G7 W.C. http://www.g7welcomingcommittee.com
Czyzselska, Jane English Rebel’s Story Mojo Magazine, September 2003
http://www.pomonauk.com/books/boffwhalley/papers.php
Aitch, Iain “General Motors Gets Tub Thumped” Salon Magazine
http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2002/01/30/chumbawamba/
Krauthammer, Charles Time Magazine, June 17, 1991
http://www.riverdell.k12.nj.us/staff/molnar/readingsavenature.htm
Marston, B “North Shore Oil Exploration and Drilling”
http://uwstudentweb.uwyo.edu/M/marston/NorthSlopeMainPage.htm
Chumbawamba “Stitch That!” Jesus H. Christ (Never officially released, found on
www.chumba.com in mp3 form and on various bootlegs)
50 Cent “Fat Bitch” No Mercy, No Fear BCD Music Group
Curry, Patrick Ecological Ethics: An Introduction © 2006 Polity Press
Walsh, Bryan Time Magazine, Nov. 17, 2007
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1685199,00.html

Other Sources:

Dictionary of Philosophy Penguin Books © 1996

Environmental Philosophy: From Animal Rights to Radical Ecology © 2001 Prentice
Hall
William Shaw Ethics At Work: Basic Readings in Business Ethics Oxford
Press © 2003
Veronika Kalmar Label Launch: A Guide to Independent Record Recording,
Promotion and Distribution St Martin’s Griffin © 2002

Sugarcane and Abuse of Power: Eroding lands of the Hawaiian Archipelago

2008-10-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

“Ua mau ke ea o ka aina i ka pono”

Throughout the Hawaiian Islands, poor management of industrialized agricultural lands is eroding topsoil. The erosion of topsoil, in the unique geographical position of the Hawaiian Islands, needs to be questioned, studied and halted. The process of sugarcane burning leaves the soil bare and without ground cover, and this leads directly to a high amount of soil vulnerable to erosion caused by water and wind. Using drip irrigation to irrigate the sugarcane fields, the direct application of pesticides and fertilizers to the soil leads to increased alkalinity and possible desertification of soil. Industrial sugarcane plantations are no longer viable in Hawaii. The agricultural practices of plantation mono-cropping should diversify with reforestation, fruit and nut farms, vegetables and a multitude of other self-sustaining farms, replacing the plantation model.

Overthrow of The Hawaiian Kingdom

The history of sugar plantations in Hawaii and their role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy is certainly controversial. Ward Churchill writes in his book, Islands In Captivity, in 1848, “the king and the ali`nui reluctantly agreed to the privatization of land” (Churchill). Foreigners, (non-native Hawaiians) quickly bought up tracts of land and assumed control over Hawaii. The land was divided between the government ali`i nui (leaders) and maka`ainana (people who lived on the land). However, Churchill writes, out of 88,000 Hawaiians, only 8,200 maka`ainana were awarded land. Most of these plots were only three acres, with is only one percent of the total acreage of the islands (Churchill). Missionaries received 650 acres apiece as an award for bringing Christianity and “enlightenment” to the islands. Once the land was “under control,” several former missionaries invested in sugar plantations. Once the sugar plantations matured, they discovered that distributing their product to the US was very difficult. The U.S. imposed a tariff on sugar imports in order to protect its own sugar industry. U.S. businessmen called for the annexation of Hawaii as a territory but were thwarted by King Liholiho `Iolani.

During the American Civil War, sugar grown in Hawaii grew even more important to the United States. The South, where most of the U.S. had their sugar fields, was beleaguered by the war and the Northern States looked to Hawaii for their sugar. On August 12, 1893, the Hawaiian Government was overthrown by Lorrin Thurston and Sanford B. Dole. Dole became the provisional President, before turning over Hawaii to the United States government (Tighe). President Grover Cleveland called the overthrow “an act of war” (Tighe). Now that Hawaii became a territory of the United States, the plantation owners became stronger. The native Hawaiian population became too small for the plantations to exploit, so the plantations imported thousands of workers from the Continental U.S., China, Japan and eventually the Philippines to work in the fields. The plantations gathered in strength and built an sugar-based economy in Hawaii. The sandlewood and koa forests were cut down and sold for their lumber. The forests were turned into fields for the plantations. With the deep rooted trees cut down and their stumps uprooted, the process of eroding topsoil, through poor management of industrial agricultural fields began.

Erosion in Hawaii

Erosion has always been a part of the Hawaiian Islands and has created the wonderful waterfalls, verdant deep valleys, and deep rich topsoil. For millions of years, the eroding volcanoes have become deeply cut and gullies have formed. In fact, the Northern Hawaiian Islands are smaller than their southern counterparts due to long periods of erosion. According to Jim Watson of the United States Geology Survey, “The oldest volcanic rocks on Kauai… are about 5.5 million years old and are deeply eroded. By comparison, on the "Big Island" of Hawaii… the oldest exposed rocks are less than 0.7 million years old”(Watson). However, in the last three to four hundred years, erosion on the Hawaiian archipelago has steadily increased and reached a point where it is dangerously close to becoming serious threat to sustaining agricultural lands.

The reefs that provide the surf breaks so many of us enjoy are one of the forgotten victims of topsoil erosion. However, after even light rains, every bay along the North Shore of Maui is a dark red color, instead of the deep blue and white wash. Peter Weber of USA Today reported “reefs provide immeasurable service by protecting coastal lands from the erosive forces of the sea” (Weber). If the reefs die, beach erosion will become even more drastic and miles of valuable coastline will be washed away. Houses, roads, harbors and piers, beaches, and any other property on the coast will be vulnerable to storms and tidewater. Weber writes, “in the 1992 International Symposium on Coral Reefs, Clive Wilkinson of the Australian Institute of Marine Science… estimates that, to date, people directly or indirectly have caused the death of five-10% of the world's living reefs and that, at current rates of destruction, another 60% could be lost in the next 20-40 years” (Weber). Sedimentation by sugar cane and pineapple farming removing all vegetation from their fields has an enormous negative effect on coral reefs. The sediment that rests on the coral reef initially blocks out sunlight, reducing photosynthesis. This leads to a loss of energy available which weakens the coral. To continue, the coral polyps depend on wave action to clean the sediment and the coral is forced to “produce extra quantities of mucus to try to wash off the particles” (Weber). When the coral is weakened, it is vulnerable to disease and may possibly die. Everyday that the oceans off the coasts of Hawaii are foaming red, the coral reefs are in danger. This poses a serious threat to all of the Hawaiian Islands.

Topsoil

In the book “Erosion and Sediment Control Guide for Hawaii,” topsoil is defined as the upper layer of soil, or the “plow layer, or upper six to eight inches of soil… [it is] a term used to indicate friable, fertile soil…”(USDA) Topsoil is where the nutrients are stored, which are used by shallow-rooted plants. It is also very vulnerable to erosion from wind or water. According to Tom Paulson, a reporter for Seattle.pi.com, the online version of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, topsoil is disappearing all over the planet. In the article Mr. Paulson quotes David Montgomery, a geologist at the University of Washington as saying, "… we are now losing about 1 percent of our topsoil every year to erosion, most of this caused by agriculture." Desertification in Africa is happening at an alarming rate, caused by grazing cattle, the cutting of forests and woody areas along with poor management of the soil through agricultural practices. China is also experiencing desertification, where “inefficient use of water resources for agriculture practices in dry zones increases the risk of soil salinization” (FAO). When waterways are diverted from their natural courses, or if the reservoirs underground are drained, topsoil becomes severely alkaline. This alkalinity leads to death of vegetation, which then leads to desertification. In China, there are over 99 million hectares of saline land throughout the country, which is a result of “inadequate irrigation practices” (FAO). Desertification is also happening in the United States, Canada and throughout Latin America. In fact, “over 30 percent of the land in the United States is affected by desertification” (UNCCD).

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) reports that “desertification is not a natural expansion of existing deserts but the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid areas” (UNCCD). Instead, desertification happens when there is a gradual loss of soil productivity, (mineral depletion) and then the loss of vegetative cover (shrubs, trees, grass). Droughts and floods play a large part in this process, along with war and economic pressure. In many cases, trees are cut down for firewood in order to cook food or stay warm. It is a difficult proposition for anyone to convince someone to go hungry or cold in order to save a tree when starvation is imminent. Because of these conditions, valuable trees are cut down and the erosion process begins. The process of forests and grasslands becoming a desert is fairly fast. The rich topsoil found in these areas took centuries to form, but once the course begins, the soil will dry up and be washed or blown away in a matter of years. This is one of the consequences that Hawaii is facing due to sugarcane farming.

Industrial Sugarcane and Erosion

For many years, sugarcane plantations were very successful in Hawaii. According to the Hawaii Agricultural Resource Center (HARC), “The first successful sugarcane plantation was started at Koloa, Kauai in 1835” (HARC). Concerned with the availability of water, irrigation ditches were dug, the first in 1856, and artesian wells were introduced in 1879 and finally mountain wells and tunnels were completed in 1898 (HARC). In a lecture by Dick Mayer given to tourists at the Maui Beach Hotel, sugar grown in the Hawaiian Islands was sold to California and fueled the Gold Rush (Mayer). To continue, he stated that before California became a top agricultural State, the Hawaiian Islands grew most of the growing West coast’s fresh produce such as potatoes, onions and corn, and then shipped the produce to California. Agriculture in Hawaii was crucial in the development of San Francisco and Los Angeles. However, sugar production in Hawaii has steadily decreased in the past 40 years. Competition from Brazil and the Caribbean, along with states such as Louisiana and Florida, has lessoned the demand for sugar grown in Hawaii. In an article which first appeared in Agricultural Outlook magazine, Annette Clauson reported that “Hawaii's sugar production peaked at 1.2 million tons in 1968, has steadily dropped since 1986…” (Clauson). Some sugarcane fields are converted into coffee and macadamia nut farms, and oftentimes, sold to developers to create new homes and developments. However, the fields that do remain in Hawaii contribute greatly to the erosion of agricultural lands.

The Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company’s (HC&S) website outlines the sugarcane operations in Hawaii. According to their website, HC&S fields “receive two to four passes by a 36-inch harrow… to break up the soil and facilitate water movement…[they then use] three ripper shanks which rip the subsoil” (HC&S). Cane stalks are cut into 12-inch sections, which each section having nodes from which new plants will emerge. These sections are planted in twin lines, with a spacing of three feet between the two lines and six feet between each pair of lines. Planting machines make furrows, inject drip irrigation tubing into the soil and then drop in the “seed” sections (HC&S).

Growing sugar in Hawaii is extremely dependent on irrigated water. In fact, The East Maui Irrigation Company, a subsidiary of Alexander and Baldwin owns and operates 74 miles of ditches and tunnels to deliver 450 gallons of mountain water per day to Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company (HC&S). The Waihee ditch system, which is owned and operated by HC&S has 12 miles of ditches and tunnels and can deliver up to 120 Million gallons per day (HC&S). There are 47 reservoirs on the HC&S plantation with the storage capacity of 1.065 billion gallons or water, along with 16 deep well pumping stations that can deliver 242 million gallons per day (HC&S). Furthermore, according the HC&S calculations, 55% of the water comes from surface runoff sources. Millions of gallons of water are delivered and administered to the cane fields. However, what happens to the fields once the sugar cane is burned off, before the fields are tilled and the new “seed” sections are planted? This is when the fields are the most vulnerable to erosion.

Sugarcane is harvested after a maturation period of two years. The fields are burned, which, according to HC&S is to reduce the amount of leafy matter, the tops and dead cane (HC&S). The burned cane is then raked by large machines and loaded into huge hauler trucks. Each of the trucks can carry 45-65 tons per load. HC&S claims that burning sugarcane is a cost effective measure, and in their supplemental web-pamphlet entitled “Cane Burning,” they state that if they “had to stop burning now, before workable green harvesting technology is developed, [they would] be out of business” (HC&S).

In contrast to the HC&S agricultural practices, an organic sugarcane farmer, and former Secretary of Agriculture in Alagoas State, in Northeast Brazil, Milton Maciel, believes that sugarcane can be grown and harvested without burning. In his article, “On Sugarcane and Soil Erosion in Brazil,” Maciel states that “depending on how a soil is managed…it may degrade severely, losing its capacity to hold water, air and life. Consequent destruction of its aggregates results in compaction and/or erosion” (Maciel). He continues, “For best results, it is mandatory that cane isn’t burned for making harvest easier” (Maciel). When the sugarcane fields are burned in Hawaii, the entire biomass is removed from the field, leaving the soil bare. What happens next is very important. When all the biomass (the leafy matter and the tops), is removed, none of the important nutrients from the detritus reaches the soil. If sugarcane was not burned, the leafy matter and tops could be tilled back into the soil, which would then add humus along with creating a stronger, better soil. This soil could then retain water and the soil would become more porous, allowing water to reach below the top layers of the surface. According to Maciel, “the combustion of trash has a tragic record for soil fertility and is a clear squandering of a very rich source of organic matter and nutrients for this soil.”

One of the fascinating aspects of the sugarcane fields are the drip irrigation lines that are placed into the ground when the “seed” cane is planted. Miles upon miles of thin black plastic lines are injected into the soil. An interesting aspect of these lines is that liquid fertilizer and pesticides are carried through the lines and dripped into the soil. After the cane is burned, the irrigation lines are scraped up and discarded. With close inspection, the berms that circle the sugarcane fields have pieces of black plastic lines protruding from them. Pushing the topsoil, the nutrient-bearing soil, to the edges of the fields, creates these berms. This causes even more erosion as evidenced by the huge plumes of dust that cloud over the fields bearing this destructive procedure.

Researcher Claude Alvares wrote a paper in 1999 entitled, “Water Efficient Sugarcane Farming,” which detailed the sugarcane practices of the Indian sugarcane farmer, “Suresh Desai.” According to his research, sugarcane cropping is very resource-intensive and that the “heavy requirement of water is one of the major question marks hanging over… sugarcane development (Alvares). Most importantly, he states that the use of artificial fertilizers (used by HC&S) lead to “a progressive decline in soil fertility since the soil fauna, including earthworms, and microbes are gradually eliminated. The more fertilizers [that] are used, the more water is required” (Alvares). Many tests have shown that the use of artificial irrigation leads to the desertification of the fields. According to Alvares, the accumulation of pesticides and fertilizers leads to salinity in soil (Alvares). When the PH level of soil becomes to alkaline, plant growth becomes severely stunted. Often times, even more water is used, because the plant looks wilted. With intensified water use, the process of salinity accelerates, and the soil becomes barren and unable to sustain any plant life. When this happens, not only are the natural resources exploited to extreme levels, but erosion, by wind and water will hasten the demise of these fields, creating dust storms and the possibility of flooding. If and when this occurs, the lush, tropical fields of Hawaii will become a desert and the reefs that surround the Islands will die off from sediments washed out to sea and be choked to death. When the reefs die, the shorelines will be vulnerable to beach erosion from the ocean waves and tides. The Hawaiian Islands are in serious danger due to our eroding soils.

Sediment from Soil Erosion (Photo courtesy of EPA)

In the past few years, ethanol production from sugarcane has been developed in order to produce “biofuel,” created to offset peak oil. Throughout the Southeastern United States, India, Myanmar, and Latin American nations, sugarcane is harvested to create alcohol, which is mixed with gasoline. There are many people who support the conversion of sugarcane for ethanol and rumors of sugarcane grown in Hawaii for the U.S. to use as ethanol have floated around in the past few years. However, In the article, “America Is Not Brazil,” Milton Maciel points out the differences between America’s fuel consumption and Brazil’s. Maciel states that Brazil has fewer cars and a population that is 61% of the USA’s population therefore, using Brazil as a model for America is using a variety of false premises and poor logic. According to Maciel, “Without fuel ethanol, Brazil would…need…8 million gallons [per] year of gasoline… compared to the USA’s 140 billion gallons [per] year” (Maciel). For the US to convert to corn ethanol, we would have to dedicate 350 million acres to corn, not including any corn for humans or animal feed (Maciel). Presently, the US only has 75 million acres dedicated to corn (Maciel). Furthermore, Maciel states that “it is easy to replace all gasoline when you would only need 8 billion gallons per year…”(Maciel). Ethanol created by corn or by sugarcane is not a sustainable enterprise. Sugarcane dedicated to ethanol production in Hawaii will only excaserbate our problems with erosion and replaces one problem (lack of oil) with another problem (dedicated food for gasoline replacement). In order to survive, Hawaii is going to have to diversify its agricultural practices.

However, controversy surrounds the diversification of agriculture in Hawaii. The HC&S “Operations” webpage quotes a University of Hawaii study that “shows… if all the fruits and vegetables consumed in Hawaii – by residents and tourists alike – were grown in state, they would require only about 12,000 acres more than Hawaii’s existing fruit and vegetable acreage. [This is] less than a third of HC&S’ 37,000 acres (and a small fraction of Hawaii’s total cane…acreage” (HC&S). Nevertheless, diversifying Hawaii’s agricultural practices is the key to sustaining and protecting Hawaii’s future. By diversifying our cropland from a monoculture like sugarcane or pineapple to a plethora of other crops, such as coffee, tea, fruit and nut trees; fresh produce such as lettuce and other leafy greens, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, beans, peas among many others will greatly reduce our need to import, or remove altogether, our need to import food. Food prices, which at present have reached astronomical levels, could be reduced. Reforestation of former fields on severely sloped lands would stabilize the soil and help filter precipitation from the clouds.

There are some difficulties growing certain foods in Hawaii, especially compared to sugarcane, which only demands a lot of water and fertilizer. The sugarcane pests, according to HC&S are mostly controlled by natural predatory bugs or biological control (HC&S). In my experience growing tomatoes in Hawaii, the plants are very susceptible to leaf miner, a bug that eats through the cellular walls of the tomato plant, thereby reducing the effectiveness of photosynthesis. Also, aphids and whitefly prey on tomato plants and, unlike growing in the Northern United States, they multiply unchecked by frost or freeze. Compared to sugarcane, which doesn’t apply insecticides (Pesticides, according to HC&S, include insecticides and herbicides), growing produce could increase the need for chemical pesticides. These pesticides, as stated earlier, could increase the desertification of Hawaii’s soil.

In August 2007 edition of GSA Today, a publication of the Geological Society Of America, the article entitled, “Is Agriculture Eroding Civilization’s Foundation?” proposes a unique question. Is the erosion of topsoil going to undermine civilization? In fact, the microcosm of Hawaii should serve as a reminder to the rest of the world. Every dust storm, rainfall, road paved, and new development built has a huge impact on topsoil of Hawaii. According the article in the GSA Today, “compilations of data around the world show that soil erosion under conventional agriculture exceeds both the rates of soil production…” (Montgomery). Industrial agriculture in Hawaii, using the conventional methods described by the HC&S website is using the topsoil, fertilizing it until it is alkaline and no longer viable and allowing it to be eroded by wind and water. Of course, then the sediments that are washed out to the ocean contain pesticides that kill the reefs surrounding the islands. This reef die-off allows the shoreline to become vulnerable to waves, tides and erosion. Sugarcane was once a viable economy for Hawaii, but because of globalization, industrial sugarcane in Hawaii is no longer profitable. The sugar companies have used Hawaii, and in many cases, exploited Hawaii, and have now moved on to other countries to exploit. Currently, the plantations and agricultural land in Hawaii is under siege by a new type of Baron, the large developers who buy up agricultural land and build high-priced homes. And, like the sugar Barons of old, the developer will try to skirt around the law, or they back legislators who are sympathetic to their plan. Thusly, the overthrow of Hawaii continues.

In order for Hawaii to reduce and eliminate erosion, the methodology of industrial agriculture needs to be scrutinized. Hawaii cannot afford to lose more topsoil to erosion. While global warming receives many of the headlines in the newspapers, soil erosion should be a great concern to civilizations. Historically, many wars and battles have been fought on and over fertile agricultural lands. In 1931, Japan invaded Manchuria in order to procure agricultural lands (Kikuchi). The battles of WWI and WWII in Europe often were fought in agricultural fields. One of the reasons Hitler invaded the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia was to acquire agricultural land and industry. The desertification in Africa has led to famine and war. Throughout the world, fertile growing grounds and clean, available water has been the driving influence of a thriving civilization. When these are threatened or destroyed, the civilization often will fall. Again, Hawaii is in a unique geological position. If the peak oil crisis occurs, as predicted, importing food to Hawaii will be cost-prohibitive. Gasoline and fuel prices will escalate and basic utilities such as electricity, water and sewage may cease to function. If this happens, Hawaii will be severely affected. By conserving and protecting topsoil, the fertile top layer of dirt, this could be Hawaii’s defense against these outside forces. According to the GSA Today, numerous studies have shown that “conventional tillage reduces soil organic matter and thereby reduces biological activity that supports soil fertility” (Montgomery). In order to reduce industrial-caused erosion, the practice of burning and tilling the sugarcane fields in Hawaii must come to an end. We cannot afford to lose any more soil to inefficient agricultural practices.

It may prove to be difficult to convert sugarcane fields to organic farms with diversified crops. After years of abuse and nutrient depletion, the topsoil found in sugar and pineapple fields is usually quite infertile. The use of “green manure,” or the use of cover crops that can be tilled into ground can help improve soil fertility. However, David Montgomery reports in the GSA Today that “with each pass of a straight, angled blade of a conventional plow lifts and turns soil over…moving it downhill little by little” (Montgomery). Every time the soil on a slope is tilled, more soil is pushed downhill. Using conventional methods to farm, like the plow, will also need to be addressed, especially on the sloped fields of the volcanoes of Hawaii. Smaller, diversified fields that don’t require huge tractors pulling plows may need to be implemented. Also, reforesting Hawaii could also increase rainfall and at least, it could trap precipitation carried by the wind. By reforesting, topsoil fertility will be increased by the amount of detritus and waste matter from the trees. Deep-rooted trees will improve the ability to control erosion and stable the soil. The under canopy of forests such shrubs and grasses protect the soil from movement. Water and sediments are trapped in this vicinity, often causing highly fertile property in these areas. Nevertheless, much work is to be done. By doing so, we may be able to offset some of the jobs lost by the slowing of the sugar economy. Hopefully, Hawaii will be able to discover a way to produce enough food, perhaps finding ways to preserve it using new technology instead of freezing food or using cans; both of which use natural resources and create waste.

Growing sugar in Hawaii is a constant reminder of its colonial past (and present). The wasteful management of the fields is a daily overthrow of Hawaii’s natural resources and with topsoil erosion, the coral reefs are inundated with pesticides and sediment. The attrition of topsoil in Hawaii can be controlled and possibly eliminated by careful management and planning by the State and its people. It should be considered that Hawaii is different because of its unique geographical position in the world. Hawaii needs to see that the agricultural practices in the Continental U.S. do not apply in Hawaii. Until we begin to work towards a self-sustaining civilization, we will continue to erode everything our society is built upon.

Works Cited:

Alvares, Claude. "Water-Efficient Sugarcane Farming." South-South

Cooperation. 01 Jan 1999. South-South Cooperation. 5 May 2008

.

Churchill, Ward. Islands In Captivity. 1st Edition. Cambridge: South End Press,

2004.

Clauson, Annette. "Hawaii's sugar industry under stress - Hawaiian sugar cane
acreage and production decreases to 26% of U.S. cane production, down from 38% in 1975 - U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service report." BNET BUSINESS NETWORK. 21 Oct 1991. Food and Beverage Industry. 21 May 2008 .
FAO. "Tackling Desertification In The Korqin Sandy Lands Through
Integrated Afforestation." Food and Agricultural Organization of the
United Nations. 01 Jan 2008. Forestry Department. 30 Apr 2008
.
HC&S. "HC&S - Operations." Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar. 01 Jan 2008. 1
May 2008 .
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Montgomery, David R. "Is Agriculture Eroding Civilization's Foundation?" GSA
TODAY 01 Oct 2007: 4-9.
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Evolutionary Trends and Future Options." (2002)
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Jan 2008. USA Today. 29 Apr 2008
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Interview with Maximum Rock N Roll, Issue 284

2008-10-30T21:36:00.001-07:00

Where did you get the name, “White Rose”?
 Steve-I learned about the White Rose in a literature  class I was taking at Maui Community College, my  professor wanted us to understand the power that students can, and should wield. She had us read a children’s book entitled, “Rose Blanche,” which was about a little girl who found out about the concentration camps at the edge of her town and at the risk of her own life, Rose would go and feed the prisoners her own lunch. I was really moved by this and  researched the history of   the White Rose students. It was amazing to see that there were students who stood up to the Nazi regime.
What are you doing to live up to that name? To name a punk rock band after the students who were killed for  distributing leaflets  is a pretty bold move, don’t you think?  
Steve- I agree completely. I think that by naming  ourselves after the students, we took on a big  responsibility and it is one that I don’t take lightly. And that what I feel my professor was challenging me to do; I think she wanted her students to use critical thinking and ask themselves what they would do in Rose Blanche’s position. I feel very strongly that  we need to be more than a band. I am working on ways  to address many of the issues that we face in Hawaii today, whether  it is corporate tourism and the prostitution of Hawaiian culture, or homelessness and hunger in Hawaii, as well as  reforestation projects here on Maui.

 Nate- I think the awareness we raise by choosing this  name is reason enough, especially in this society where  you can protest wherever and whenever you want without  fear of reprisal,   I think it's time we realize if we actually want  change, it is going to cost a little more than rubber  bullets and tear gas.

Steve- The Islands of Oceania, which are usually seen as vacation spots or playgrounds for the rich are angry. Samoa was taken over and parceled up by the Europeans and the US in the similar to the way Africa was. The atolls of Tokelau are in danger of being lost to the ocean, due to the sea-level rising. Many people believe that in order for the islands of Oceania to throw off the chains of globalization that they want to return to primitivism. However, I disagree. Many of the people of Oceania, the thinkers and the intellectuals, want the island be self-sustaining and exist without having their natural resources stripped and sold. This isn’t a rejection of modernism. This is for our own survival. We cannot afford to pay high fuel costs to have food shipped here when we can grow our own food.

You are not from Hawaii, why would you take on  Hawaiian issues?  
Steve- You are right, I’m not Hawaiian, I’m from Michigan.   However, I feel that it is my responsibility, as an outsider, to  understand the illegal   takeover of the Hawaiian nation if I am to live  here. I owe it to myself to see what happened here, and what is happening here. They didn’t teach me the ‘real’ history of Hawaii  when I grew up in Michigan. We were told that Hawaii  voted to be the  “50th” state. What they didn’t tell us is that  Hawaii was offered two choices: A. become a state or  B. remain a territory.  The option to regain their sovereignty wasn’t  offered. After reading about George Helm and what  happened in   Kahoolawe when they tried to stop the Navy from  bombing the island, I felt that I had to do a lot  more than go surfing and revel in the beauty of Hawaii. Just the other day I was visiting my sister-in-law on Oahu and during the entire day, we could hear munitions being exploded and the Navy practicing bombing missions. What needs to be understood is that the fresh water table sits on top of the salt-water table, within a sort of cup. If that is cracked, like they believe happened to Kahoolawe, the island of Oahu will not be able to sustain itself.

Nate- One thing I have been particularly interested in  has been U.S. foreign policy throughout its history and  this is just another example of us spreading our  empire at the expense of indigenous people and their  culture.  

What are some of your goals musically?  

Steve-Like I said, I hope to be more than a band. I  hope to connect on a personal as well as a musical level. That’s really important to me.  
Nate- One of the main things that attracted me to punk  rock was the awareness it raises about various social  causes whether it is homelessness, racism, Women’s rights, or the anti-war movements. I am not African American but I agree and support the civil rights movement; if I lived back in the sixties, I would have marched and protested for their rights. I am  not from the mountains of Chiapas but I believe as  human beings they are entitled to the same quality of  life as myself, I am not a woman but I believe that no  human being should have to be abused because of  gender.
Steve- I hope to raise more awareness. I know a couple of women who have gone through the “Women Helping Women” program on Maui, in order to get out of violent relationships. Women Helping Women provides lawyers, and advice to abused women. If anything, I want to be a vehicle of information as a band, and look for hope when there doesn’t seem to be any.

What makes you think your band is special? Don’t you  think there are enough punk rock bands out there?  
Steve-I has loved punk rock for a long time. I’m 38  years old and have participated in it since I was 13  years old. I do  think there are a lot of crappy bands out there, but  I don’t think we are one of them. I think that  sonically, we are a really   powerful band. We don’t play really fast blast beats  or growl like the cookie monster, but we do play  aggressive music   with a lot of melody. Back in the eighties, I saw  bands like D.O.A. and Ruin and those bands blew me  away. When Nate,   and I talked about putting a band  together, those were two of the bands that came to  mind. I wanted to rock as hard as they did and I don’t see bands doing that  anymore. I don’t know if that makes us special or  not, but I don’t hear   too many bands that sound like us.  

Nate-I started listening to punk when I was 14,and it  has shaped who I am as a person more almost anything  in my life so this is something I cannot help but do.   As far as other bands are concerned, I think our  sound is more of a resurrection of the old stuff rather  than another dressed-to-kill bands that sound like  everyone else.  
Steve- I have been asked if we play ‘old-school’ hardcore and my reply is always “No.” I’m not interested in being a revival band, but we play this way because this is how I write songs. This is the way I play guitar. In 1981 we didn’t call it ‘old-school.’ To quote David Hayes, “It was pre-school.” We play the music that we want to hear.

What is the scene like in Hawaii?
Steve-   On Maui where we play the most, the scene is pretty  small. When we play all-ages shows, they are pretty  well attended,   but for the most part, there isn’t that big of a  rock music scene. The funny thing is that there are  some really great bands   here. Khrinj, who are our local metal band are  absolutely amazing. Every time I see them play, I’m blown away  by their sheer   ferocity. Gomega is another great band from Maui. On  Oahu, there are a ton of kids and adults in the  scene and lots of   bands. The Hell Caminos are our local psychobilly  band, Black Square is reggae-influenced punk and 86 -List is a great   punk rock band. We have also made friends with The  Insurgents from Oahu and they put on a great live  show. Unity   Crayons is a local collective on Oahu and they put  together a lot of great all-ages shows. To be honest  with you, I   haven’t ever seen such hard working people in the  punk scene before. And they do it on a volunteer  basis! I’m really proud to work with people like that.

Nate-On Maui where we live, the scene is small but  growing. The lack of venues is one of the main reasons it is so small.  On Oahu the scene is pretty cool with Unity Crayons  putting on a lot of all-ages shows.  

Steve-And even on Oahu, keeping all-ages venues open is really hard. It is a testimony to their hard work that they have shows as often as they do.

What are your feelings about Myspace? How do you  justify using a website owned by Rupert Murdoch and  the Fox news   corporation?  

Steve-I don’t like the fact that Rupert Murdoch owns  Myspace. I know that eventually they will find a way  to ruin it.   According to Wired magazine though, they really  don’t know what to do with it yet. Recently though,   the military is   using Myspace to recruit kids. I’m not cool with  that at all. I have to say though; I have met a lot  of really cool people on   Myspace. It has been really good to White Rose.   Instead of us using it to beg people to “check out  our band,” we just   promote ideas and try to be nice to people. That’s  not a marketing strategy though, I see it as an  extension of what zines   do and did in the past. I loved reading MRR and  sending letters to SNFU or Final Conflict, asking  them for an interview when I wrote my fanzine.   On Myspace, I can talk to them directly. Where else  would I get to talk to Mike Watt or Bruce Loose? I  never got to see   the Minutemen or Flipper, but I do get to message  them and they answer back. I think that is really  cool. We have met so many cool people on Myspace that it outweighs the  negatives in my opinion. I don’t think that Murdoch  would agree   with any of our positions on anything and it’s great  to use his own weapons against him and his  corporation.

Nate- How many trees do they chop down to print a 1 month  of MRR? Even if the paper is recycled what corporation  is it bought from?  

Steve- I think it is very difficult to remove oneself from the taint of corporations. I do everything I can to support local farming and local businesses. We use a lot of other Internet forums as well, but Myspace seems to be very popular right now.

Nate- I drive a truck to haul my drums to shows and we  use Myspace to spread our anti-corporate message. In a  way, I guess we are using this system to work against  itself.   We are all guilty in some way, I mean, they kill trees for postage stamps and envelopes. If Rupert Murdoch is spreading republican -fascist ideology, I say, let’s use his evil for something good.  

What are your goals as a band?  
Steve- I would love to be able to travel as a band and  tour. Right now, it’s financial suicide for a band  from Hawaii like ours to   tour. The logistics of us coming over without a lot  of help are really tough. I hope to tour the  continent next summer. We   have a lot of songs ready for the next CD as well  and I’m really excited about recording them. I love  working in the   studio and recording and the next CD should be  amazing. We also are going to put out some 7 inches  as well, hopefully  this fall and we are always looking for new ways to put release our music.  
Nate- Steve pretty much capped that one. However, next time we record, we are going to try to use mind-control riffs to get people to like us more.  

Any other things you would like to say?  

Steve- I hope that we can connect with people. I’m really  excited about our new CD and would love to hear from  people. They can order it from us for $12.00 postage paid to PO  Box 880908, Pukalani, HI, 96788.  We also have t-shirts and stickers available.

If you are interested in ordering this issue, you can get it Here

INTERVIEW WITH BELGIUM MAGAZINE, RMP

Interview with Belgium RMP
RMP- Hey there, thanks for accepting the interview Smiley, so let's get started shall we. First things first, we need to know who'll be answering the questions.

Steve-I’m Steve, I play guitar in the band.

RMP -That being said, we'll start with a few general questions so that our readers have a general idea of the band. When did you guys know that it was your passion to start a band?
Steve- I’ve played in a lot of bands before and I’ve always wanted to have a band that plays the kind of music that we play and address the same types of issues that we do in the band. Nate, the drummer, and Noah the singer/bassist are brothers and they have played in bands together before. They too wanted to play the type of music that we play. Basically we all wanted to play in a band where we can play anything that we want. If we want to play reggae, we will. If we want to play rock, or punk or whatever, we are willing to give it a shot. If it sucks, then we usually won’t let the song get out of our rehearsal room.

RMP-What bands would you guys compare yourself with? How would you describe your own music?

Steve- We’re all over the place. The roots of what we do are punk rock. That’s what we play, but there are elements of a lot of bands that have influenced us. I suppose I’d describe our music as melodic, loud, socially-aware, honest and sometimes fast, sometimes not. We’re not going to set any land speed records –I think there are enough bands that play lightning fast. Don’t get me wrong, I love that type of music, I just don’t have the ability to play like that. What bands do we compare ourselves too? That’s pretty hard to answer. I could say just about anything, but I’d be wrong! I don’t know of too many bands that we sound like, but there is traces of Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, The Stooges, and The Descendents in the music. However, I can’t compare us to them –they have all proved to be timeless and unique. Hopefully, someday we could be like that.

RMP- Has Punk music been with you all your life?

Steve- It’s been with me for a long time. I’m 39 years old and grew up in Michigan. We had people like Ted Nugent who played in our area a lot –he was played on the radio constantly. Ted was like a local band for some of us. I was pretty young though and wasn’t able to go out and see concerts like that, but I had neighbors and cousins who discovered punk rock and I got turned on to punk rock from them. It was somewhere in the late 70’s, but I didn’t call myself punk rock until the 80’s. To me, REO Speedwagon was no different than anyone else –it was music and it was entertainment. I eventually saw that punk rock could also be radically political and that was really attractive to me.

RMP -Punk has many subgenres. How do you personally define "punk" these days?
Steve-I really don’t know. I’m not sure if I should or could define punk rock. I know what it is to me. I think that it has the potential to be amazing, fun, exciting, radical (in the true sense of the word), but it also can be trite, boring and plodding –without any meaning at all. I know that when I was young, the idea of punk rock having it’s own internet sites and radio was way beyond my imagination. Punk rock was music for outsiders and misfits when I was younger.
RMP- How did you guys come up with quite an unusual name like (Order of the) White Rose?
Steve- We named ourselves after the White Rose students in Munich, Germany. They wrote leaflets denouncing the Hitler regime and distributed it among their fellow students. They were eventually caught and executed. However, I felt that their commitment and desire to challenge the authorities was inspiring.

RMP -How popular is (Order of the) White Rose in the United States?
Steve- Not at all! We have a lot of work to do for even people who are hip to the whole punk thing to hear about us. Coming from Hawaii has its disadvantages, touring is difficult and getting our name out to other people in the scene, even with the internet, has been tough. I work at least an hour a day putting together mailers and promoting the band and our ideas.
RMP- In 2006 you released "War Machine", your first full CD. What are the main themes of the CD? Where did you get your inspiration?
Steve- I think we address a lot of things on War Machine. One major idea that we had was to look for solutions and look for self-affirming ideas. Our songs, “In Control” and “Resist Despair” talk about these things. Our song “Seeds of Destruction,” which we also re-worked for the b-side of our 7-inch, is about genetically modified foods. “Who Would Jesus Bomb,” was a song questioning Christian’s pro-war stance.

RMP- Can we expect new material in the near future? If so, is there an evolution in your style or is it the same in your face punk music?
Steve- Yeah, we’re recording demos at every practice and writing new songs. I think the evolution of our music continues what we did on War Machine. Some of our new songs are about the missionaries coming to Hawaii, immigration, and the people of New Orleans and the Katrina disaster. Musically, we are getting to play better as a band, and that helps writing better songs, and a more cohesive record.

RMP- What are your guy’s opinions about all the downloading that goes on?
Steve- I think that our songs are all available for download at one place or another. I’m not against it, but our records are really cheap and I’m willing to cut people deals if they want one. The artwork on War Machine is by Winston Smith and the 7 inch has a poster by Keith Rosson. Brian Walsby drew the front cover and Keith drew the back cover and the poster inside. I like records with good art in them. I don’t get that with a download, it doesn’t really feel ‘real’ to me without the physicality of a CD or record. But, with our natural resources like oil dwindling at a fast pace, downloading may be the way to go. I’m not sure that I want to just churn out records and CDs without thinking about what goes into their production.
RMP- Have you guys played on any big festivals or done any major gigs yet?
Steve- We’ve played with the Bouncing Souls and The Dropkick Murphys. Those shows were pretty big. We haven’t played any big punk rock festivals yet, but I’d like to.
RMP-You recently did a tour in California, did everything went as planned?
Steve- Yeah, it went well. I got sick, but we had great shows in Berkeley and Ridgecrest. I wanted to see how hard it would be for us to tour –we’re all very busy with our families, work and school, so it takes some planning for us to tour.
RMP-What's the funniest thing that has ever happened in a show?
Steve- I think anyone who asks if they can play my guitar after I get done playing is hilarious. I don’t lend out my guitars to people so they can show me how well they play “Sweet Child O’ Mine” on guitar. Every time someone asks me, “hey dude, can I play your guitar?” I get really confused. I would never ask to do that. It’s not the funniest story, is it? I wish I had some crazy story to tell, but I don’t really have any. Most of the time, people don’t talk to me –I’m older than a lot of the people who come to our shows, so they probably see me as their dad or something.

Do you guys have any favorite bands you like to listen to when off - stage?
Steve- When we are about to play, I like to listen to anything but punk rock. I like listening to jazz before we play. That being said, most of the time I’m listening to the other bands that are going on before us. I just get nervous watching them.
Do you guys have other jobs besides performing in a band?
Steve- Yeah, I work in a bakery with my wife, Nate works construction and Noah is a tattoo artist. I also attend college.

RMP-Final question, try to convince our readers that attending a show of "(Order of the) White Rose" is an absolute must.
Steve-That’s a good question. I don’t know if we’re an absolute must-see type of band. If it comes down to eating or going to see us play, please go eat first. I remember going hungry because I bought MDC’s “Chicken Squawk” 7 inch instead of food. I don’t recommend doing that. However, we will put on a honest show, we’ll be trying to rock out and entertain the people in the audience. Nate, our drummer is fun to watch. He hits the crap out of his drums and that’s a blast to watch.

Thanks for your time, and keep us updated about new releases. We'll gladly mention them on our site!

The Disneyfication of Hawai`i

2008-10-18T18:59:00.001-07:00

The Friday 17th edition of the Honolulu Advertiser reports that new plans for a Disney-owned timeshare and hotel development will open in 2011. Although there are concerns that the economy of Hawai`i has slowed considerably, this new resort will have 350 rooms and 480 timeshare units. The estimated cost of the resort will be around $800 million and they plan on employing 1,000 people once the resort is opened.
Wing Chao, the executive vice-president of architecture and design at Walt Disney states, [The resort] honors Hawai`ian culture but splashes in some ‘Disney magic,’ …guests can swim in a saltwater snorkeling lagoon that will feature native fish and ‘some elements of Disney characters.’”

Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks & Resorts says, “Disney acquired 21 acres for the resort a year ago and has since been learning more about Hawai'i, planning and researching…This project is very true and authentic to who we are.”
You can probably see where I am going with this; I am deeply troubled with the idea of Hawai`i becoming “Disneyfied.” The Hawai`ian imagery and culture has been co-opted for hundreds of years. Hawai`i was reported to be an island of friendly savages by Captain Cook. Currently it is seen as a idyllic, laid-back culture where the employees of the resorts will bend over backwards in order to please their guests. At a current meet the candidates forum for the Hawai`ian chamber of commerce, I heard Maui County Councilwoman Gladys Baisa, wish that she was just a “little bit Hawai`ian,” so she could relax. Earlier, I wrote about the imagery used in lounge music to promote the idea of a relaxed jungle culture.

Tahiti women painted by Paul Gauguin

I believe that Disney will use a lot of the imagery found in lounge music in their resorts. Mai Tais and rum and cokes will be served along the piped in sounds of Martin Denny. Tourists will pull their overly-stuffed suitcases through lounges with palm fronds stapled to the wall. Disney characters will run through the resort; will the chuckling Goofy character work in the fake Lo`i? Will Minnie Mouse join the hula shows? I don’t believe that this is unfair; in the news report on KGMB News, the characters, “Lilo and Stitch” made an appearance while the Governor smiled and clapped. KGMB

The attacks on Hawai`ian culture have been consistent and incessant. If the resort is built, I’m sure that many jobs will be created, and local people need jobs and of course, Disney isn’t exactly known for their fair wages (Signon). However, the Disneyfication of Hawai`i is potentially dangerous and another example of the commodification of a proud people and culture.

Disneyland Enchanted Tiki Room

Signon

Disney is Hell in Haiti

This oil painting by Johann Zoffany depicts
Cook's death at Kealakekua Bay.

Richard Cooksey. "Ode to the Memory of Captain Cooke." Written at the Desire of Mr. Dunster. October 14, 1780." In: Miscellaneous Poems. London, 1796
Too soon, alas, it struck thy heart,
Thou child of science and of art!
Too soon thy scene was clos'd.
While waving (pity-mov'd) thy hand,
Fair Mercy's sign, the savage band
To mercy--death oppos'd!

Captain Cook Made a Good Dinner © Stephen Hart

They came for the coconut
They came for the trees
They took what they could
They took what they pleased

Then they brought disease
And made the islands sick
They sell what they could
And burned every tree

Captain Cook made a good dinner
he thought he was a god
(but it) turns out he was a sinner
so, with a pinch of salt and a bit of poi
chop him up ‘cause
He makes a good stew

Traveling on the public's dime while Keiki get sick

2008-10-18T15:34:00.001-07:00

The right-wing blogosphere is buzzing with excitement when the headline, “Hawaii ends universal child health care program just months after adopting it” popped up on the Associated Press (AP) wire. Since Hillary Clinton brought up universal healthcare as her project while she was First-Lady, the right-wing (often backed by the multi-billion dollar insurance companies) have been attacking her and the idea of health-care for all. Dennis Smith of The Foundry, a blogging website connected to the Heritage Foundation, writes, “Hawaii has learned what some have known all along–that the cost of free care is unaffordable.” However, with close inspection of the AP article, 2,000 children enrolled in the program will have their health care coverage dropped. Dr Kenny Fink, the administrator for Med-QUEST at the Department of Human Services, offers this as a reason for the discontinuation of the program, "People who were already able to afford health care began to stop paying for it so they could get it for free… I don't believe that was the intent of the program.” In other words, since some people abused the program, everyone in the program will be punished.
The child care program was initially designed “to cover every child from birth to 18 years old who didn't already have health insurance - mostly immigrants and members of lower-income families (AP).” It has been fairly commonplace for immigrants to be demonized in the American political arena –the current financial crisis involving home mortgages has been blamed on poor immigrants. Michelle Malkin, the self-loathing conservative talk show guest states, “There's one giant paternal elephant in the room that has slipped notice… illegal immigration and open-border policies fueled the mortgage crisis… [The California Central Valley] also happen[s] to be some of the nation's largest illegal alien sanctuaries. Half of the mortgages to Hispanics are sub prime…” According to Ms. Malkin, the poor are to blame. They forced the banks to give them sub prime loans, they forced speculators and paper-shufflers to wage bets on the value of the mortgages. In Malkin World, the poor are always to blame. Never mind that the poor are the ones foreclosed upon and evicted. Nevertheless, I’m not surprised that the Keiki Care Package is being shut down. This is just another example of a government program being shut down because of so-called “abuse.”

If funding is such a big problem for the Keiki Care program to continue, may I suggest a few budget cuts that Governor Lingle could implement. First, let’s end Lingle’s free health care. Surely, she can afford it. It wasn’t that long ago that she attended the Republican National Convention. Who paid for that trip? Secondly, the people of Hawai`i State employees are not allowed to endorse political candidates. For instance, a professor at University of Hawaii cannot endorse Obama or Nader, because they are paid by the State of Hawaii. So, why is Lingle allowed to stump for her Republican presidential candidates? Isn’t she the top State employee? Isn’t Hawai`i having a current financial crisis of its own? Yet, our top employee is using our money to travel around the Continental US, stumping for a candidate who has no chance of winning the State of Hawaii electoral votes. Lets rescind her travel and campaigning allowance and use the money we saved in order to save the Keiki Care program.
The abuse of the Keiki Care program is no reason to discontinue the entire program. Certainly, some provision could amend the program and make sure that it works for the people it is intended to help. Linda Lingle has sold out the people of Hawai`i again and it is time for her to go.

Linda Lingle lives in Public Housing

These people don't:

Business and Media. Org
Heritage/No Free Lunch
Abercrombie Criticizes Lingle
Impeach Lingle
Lingle travels during budget crisis

Imperialism, Rock Music and the Kaho`olawe Nine

2008-10-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

We were recently interviewed for Maui Time Weekly and I brought up Colonialism and Imperialism as one of the subjects White Rose speaks and sings about. I’m currently enrolled in a Hawaiian Studies class (for which I write this particular blog-posting for) which is directly involved in studying the history of Colonialism in Hawai`i. One of the few comments posted on the Maui Time Weekly website brought up an interesting point. What exactly is the solution to Colonialism and Imperialism in Hawai`i? Is de-colonizing the Islands possible? Maui Time Weekly Cover Story

Kaho`olawe Bombed

Imperialism is defined in the Mac Dictionary as “a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force.” Certainly, it is not difficult to see the US Military’s influence on and in Hawai`i. Hawai`i is a strategic outpost for the US Military for the entire Pacific Ocean. Therefore, if imperialism is a policy extending a country’s influence through… military force, then we can only conclude that the US is actively participating in imperialism in Hawai`i.

It’s a well known fact that the Military “owns” (I put that it quotes in order to question the legitimacy of ownership) countless thousands of acreage in Hawai`i. There are beautifully landscaped military bases all over Oahu. However, one example of the abuse of power by the military is Koho`olawe island. The entire island of Kaho`olawe was used as target practice by the US military until 2003. If you are not familiar with Kaho’olawe, it is an island that is 11 miles long by 6 miles wide. It is not a tiny little island, in fact, it is roughly the same size as Spring Lake Township in Michigan, where I grew up. In 1965, “Operation Sailor Hat” was a series of three explosives tests conducted by the US Navy which were used to simulate the effects of a nuclear bomb on ships. Over 500 tons of TNT were used to conduct these tests. The bombing continued for years. My friends who lived in Kihei told me that they could see and hear explosions from their homes until early 2000.

In 1976, nine people attempted to occupy Kaho`olawe and were subsequently arrested by the US Coast Guard after landing. (Two of the occupiers, Walter Ritte and Emmett Aluli headed for cover and spent nearly two days hiking around the island before they were tracked down, put in shackles on a chopper and flown off the island. In April, 2006, the Maui News had an article entitled, “The Kaho'olawe Nine 30 Years Later.” According to the article, the attempt to occupy Kaho`olawe was … “an extraordinary example of what looked like a lost cause," [Ian Lind] said. "How can you possibly challenge… government policy? Officials said if they stopped bombing Kahoolawe they would have to close down Pearl Harbor; the nation's defense will collapse. They gave one reason after another why it couldn't happen…People made it happen… So [the attempt at occupation is] an example of people acting together and not giving up and showing that in the long run you can make it work. You can make a difference…”
Unexploded bombs found on Kaho`olawe

Our critic on the Maui Time Weekly website thought that our lyrical matter discussing imperialism in Hawai`i is something to be mocked and derided. In fact, I’m sure that the interview comes across as rather earnest, and I don’t have a problem with that. But, the “Kaho`olawe Nine” have shown that US imperialism can be challenged in Hawai`i. White Rose can be mocked for addressing these issues in our music, but we still believe that we should be singing about something and doing more than just being another dumb rock band.

US NAVY/Sailor Hat
Military Presence in Hawaii
Maui News
Ian Lind's Landing Photos

Flow, for the love of Water

2008-10-10T02:46:00.000-07:00

If you'd like to know more about our water supply, there is a movie at the MACC, I'll see you there!

Wednesday, October 29, Castle Theater, MACC, Kahului
FLOW: FOR THE LOVE OF WATER

While there are many contenders for the title of the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century, The World Water Crisis-and ultimately, "Who Controls the Water"-has got to be near or at the top on any list. This eye-opening documentary looks beyond the "problem" (one we even face right here on Maui) to provide a blueprint for a sweeping and successful turnaround. "Smartly done" wrote the LA Times and the NY Times added "Astonishingly wide-ranging, galvanizing and heartfelt". Unrated. 93 min.

Anthems

2008-10-10T00:35:00.000-07:00

Nate Robertson, drummer

Before White Rose was ever a band, Nate and I talked about what kind of music we wanted to play for over a year. One half of what we talked about was a variety of ska and reggae bands and musicians, the other half is what is featured on this podcast. Nate was the Stiff Little Fingers fan, while I was the Red Rockers fan. Somewhere in the middle, we were able to figure it out. Enjoy!
Anthem Podcast

More Nate! Pictures by Brendan Smith

This week, (Oct. 9th) we were featured in Maui Time Weekly

Maui Weekly and White Rose

All-Ages Performance Spaces and the Next Generation of Maui Musicians:

2008-10-09T21:08:00.000-07:00

A picture of me (By Murray Bowles) playing at Gilman Street in 1991

If the County of Maui wants to hold onto a natural resource, one that is conceivably renewable, then it needs to invest in the youth of Maui and create an all-ages performance space. We need to do this in order to foster creativity and art, along with teaching the youth of Maui the business aspects of professional musicianship. As a musician on Maui, and a father of four children, I am deeply concerned for Maui's future, especially in the performing arts. Our children are a natural resource, and music not only provides a vehicle for expression, it will also foster a sense of community and a pride in oneself.

A few years ago, a young lady from Maui was featured on the television show, "American Idol." When Camile Velasco reached the "top ten," people from all walks of life rooted for her, because she is a "Maui girl." However, the American Idol television show is not going to create long-lasting careers in music, unless the contestant is a top three finalists, and even this has proved to be difficult for many of the finalists. For every Kelly Clarkson, there are scores of people in the "where are they now?" refuse bin. The nature of a pop music television show is predicated on an influx of the "new," or whatever is happening on the show right now. Artists such as Ms. Velasco will tour with other finalists in an American Idol revue, but once the tour is over, the time in the spotlight is over. In fact, the music industry is becoming increasingly difficult for all new artists to flourish, not just American Idol contestants. One of the reasons the Recording Industry Association of America gives for the downfall of the music industry is the loss of income from illegal downloading. According to the RIAA website, "Global music piracy causes $12.5 billion of economic losses every year." Even though this loss of revenue is certainly devastating, this is not the only reason that the music industry is failing. I believe that the reason the music industry, and music in general, is failing is because communities such as ours are not providing community support for young, budding musicians.

As a musician on Maui, I am in close contact with a variety of young people through social networking sites such as MySpace and its various imitators. Many of the kids that I correspond with often complain that there is no place for them to perform. Some organize shows at community centers or at a county park, but these are, by law, free shows. An organizer cannot charge money at the door for admission. Therefore, the band cannot make any money to further a career. As rudimentary as it sounds, it does require money to buy professional equipment and to maintain it. However, if an artist is able to charge a small admission fee, they are able to save their money and buy better equipment or possibly fund a small tour to places like Oahu or the Big Island. Music promoters would also be able to invest money into their equipment and promotion. Presently, promoting a show consists of a few flyers being created and taped up on doors at Requests music or at the counter at Bounty Music. Nevertheless, it is very difficult to get a permit to play at a community center, and because it is not a dedicated performance space, usually bands have to play with the house lights on, or in the dark. The quality of the sound is usually terrible and the people who are in attendance for the performance are often disappointed. This does not foster creativity or community. Instead, these shows are often very stressful and the youth in attendance are often pitted against the police, or similar authority figures that worry that the building or surrounding property will be damaged.

However, I believe there is a way to foster creativity and a sense of community for the young people of Maui, and that is by designing and maintaining a building dedicated to all-ages performances of all types. In 1986, Tim Yohannon from the magazine, Maximum Rock N Roll, pulled together a few people to create an all-ages club in Berkeley. Before they could open the club up to the public, they invested over $40,000 for rent and construction. They also navigated the city's bureaucracy, and filed for permits and had the building inspected by the health, fire and police departments. After 8 months of hard work, they opened the club doors on December 31st, 1986 (Edge). I was in contact with Tim at this time and from my small town in Michigan, I was able to send two dollars to what was known as the "Gilman Street Project" and become a member. Brian Edge, who wrote the book, 924 Gilman quotes Tim as saying, "the membership policy was created primarily as a way to try and control violence that was happening at shows at the time. It also turned out that the additional revenue created by the membership feeds [helped with] the club surviving (Edge). After a few years, Tim's interest in the club waned, and he turned the club over to an organization called the "Alternative Music Foundation," who have run the club ever since.

There are a few very unique aspects to 924 Gilman, (which is what it is called now) which are worth implementing here on Maui. One of these is having a volunteer-run staff. By this, I mean that teenagers and young adults can volunteer to help run the club at all levels of management. This by no means eliminates adult interaction. In fact, 924 Gilman has staff ranging in ages from 16 through 64 years old. However, I do believe that by having the youth involved in the business meetings and operational aspects of running the space will breed a sense of ownership. This ownership will help protect the building and the surrounding area. When teenagers have their own club and their own space, they are less prone to violence or destruction because it is theirs. Adults can train the volunteers how to run a successful security force, and teach them critical crisis-management skills. When I was visiting Gilman in August, 2007, the security people, who are paid 10 percent of the gross profit for each night worked, roamed through the neighborhood, not only watching out for vehicle break-ins, illegal parking, underage drinking and graffiti, but they also made sure that the women in attendance were safe from predators and would-be attackers (Gilman). Many of the 924 Gilman volunteers that I have known for over 20 years have gone on to be successful students, writers, nurses and doctors and many of them credit their time spent volunteering at 924 Gilman as their training ground, which taught them their needed life skills. According to 924 Gilman's website, nightly volunteers are needed to running the front door, to clean up after the show (Gilman). I don't know of any other business that would allow a first-time volunteer to collect money, with a minimal supervision. However, this does underscore the point that volunteers often are responsible because it is often their first time being trusted by anyone in authority. Although there have been cases of theft, for the most part, this method has worked remarkably well.

Having an all-ages club in a Californian urban center such as the Bay Area has certain elements that Maui cannot recreate. The population is much greater in California than on Maui and due to its proximity to San Francisco, attracting touring rock bands has not been a problem for 924 Gilman. On Maui, the situation is very different in this aspect. However, this challenge is also our greatest opportunity. One of the aspects that we can separate ourselves from the Gilman Street model is by diversifying the use of the space. Instead of using the space for one or two genres of music, if we open the club up to all varieties of music, which Maui has in abundance, the space will be better utilized. In fact, we could use the space for hula, AA and NA meetings, dance recitals, and poetry readings. Another aspect of having a performance space is teaching young adults how to operate and maintain the peripherals of music, such as lighting and sound system operations. 924 Gilman is one of the few places where young adults can learn how to run a mixing board. Many of the people trained at Gilman are now well-paid touring "front of house" engineers. The opportunities provided by 924 Gilman have proved to be very valuable.

Educating the youth on Maui to have control over their music careers is fundamental to keeping our best and brightest musicians on Maui. Like many small towns and islands, Maui is often a victim of what is commonly called, "brain drain." In the past five years that I have lived on Maui, I have seen at least ten highly intelligent and creative musicians leave Maui to seek their fortunes elsewhere. By leaving Maui, they often leave a vacuum in their wake because the people left behind are not able to draw from the departed band's experiences. Oftentimes, a music scene will grow and flourish until the main bands leave, and then the scene has to start all over again. Having a system in place that teaches the next generation of interested musicians how to navigate and survive, and have a semblance of control in their music career can alleviate this brain drain. Instead of participating in television contests, which are often seen as the only choice for young musicians, the youth on Maui can grow at their own pace and not have to suffer the judgment and criticism of a national audience. Thus, providing a space for our children to learn is fundamental to maintaining our musical traditions.

White Rose at Gilman Street 2006 (Picture by Larry Wolfley)

There are many concerns raised with a project like this, but many of them can be addressed. With any teenage hang out, drugs and alcohol abuse are a big concern. 924 Gilman does not allow alcohol on the property, nor does it allow drinking in the neighborhood. As I have pointed out earlier, paid security roam the streets and asks anyone who is breaking this rule to leave the area. It is also necessary to point out that drug and alcohol abuse occurs in many other facets in teenage lives. Drug and alcohol abuse can occur at high-school football games, the beach or the mall. And many of these places are unsupervised by adults. By offering a safe environment for teenagers and young adults to participate in their entertainment, adults have a better chance of reaching the at-risk children. That being said, by no means do I suggest that an all-ages club become second parents or drug counselors. By doing so, this would bring many rules and laws into the space and thereby separating the youth from being able to participate in the managerial aspects of the space. However, a sober and safe place can lead by example, without forcing anyone to conform.

By having an all-ages space, by definition, people of all-ages can attend. This leads to a problem of adults mixing with teenagers, and the possibility of sexual contact. Again, this is also possible at the mall or the beach; however, the confines of a club could accelerate the problem. Nevertheless, at all of the all-ages concerts I have performed on Maui, I have observed the interaction between over-21 adults and teenagers. For the most part, they do not mix. The adults congregate with people their own age and the teenagers with other teenagers. Even at 924 Gilman, the adults rarely interact with the teenagers in attendance. I don't believe that there is a solution to sexual predator behavior. Perhaps the club can host workshops to educate young men to view women in a respectful manner, a manner which is quite different from what is shown on TV or repeated as "Rock and Roll behavior."

Finally, funding and operating an all-ages club will demand wide community support. It will need the support of the local police and fire departments, in order to alleviate an "us versus them" environment. Perhaps the county could provide seed money in order to build or create the space. However, having the government continue to be involved beyond providing funds could lead to censorship or a crackdown on what could be deemed as an undesirable element. It is very important to stress that this space is to be operated and run by the youth, with minimal adult supervision.

Local musicians and sound engineers will need to be recruited to create a good sounding space and train the volunteers how to run the equipment. Many musical instrument manufacturers could be approached to donate equipment for the club. In Japan, a drum set and backline (a backline consists of bass and guitar amplifiers and speaker cabinets) is provided at many of the live music bars. Musicians are required only to bring their guitars and drum cymbals and whatever exotic equipment needed, such as percussion instruments (Griffin). This alleviates the need for bands to buy expensive gear before they can afford it.

The insurance liability is another problematic concern. Finding an insurance company to insure an all-ages space could be very difficult, but not implausible. Having all the permits and fire codes up to date, and the county's permission and cooperation, we could find a friendly insurance company to work with.

Despite having many unanswered questions regarding drugs and alcohol, sexual assault and insurance liabilities, opening up a performance space for young people is an investment into Maui's future. Millions of dollars are spent on enticing tourists every year to come to Maui and spend their money. However many of the musical entertainers in the hotel/tourism industry have reached their economic peak. The days of Martin Denny playing for thousands of tourists at the Hilton on Oahu are over. In fact, many would argue that musical development in Hawaii has stagnated. If local musicians stray from the reggae or slack-key traditions, they are often marginalized or not appreciated by radio or print media. In order for musical talent to progress, new ideas need to be injected into the process. By providing a space for young people to experiment creatively and be exposed to a variety of music genres, the music of Hawaii can again capture the imagination of the world. An all-ages space will allow the youth of Maui to feel as though they too are wanted on Maui and that they have other options than working in a hotel or leaving the island. An all-ages space is not the only solution to alleviating boredom in youth, but it does show a commitment to our resources and our children. And, as a parent, that is the kind of community I want to be a part of.
Gilman Street 2007 (Phobia Show!)

Works Cited

Edge, Brian. 924 Gilman; The Story So Far. 1st. Oakland: Maximum Rock N

Roll, 2002.

Gilman. "Booking Info." 924 Gilman. 01 Jan 2008. 924 Gilman. 11 Apr 2008

Griffin, Jeff. Personal interview. 11 Apr 2008.

RIAA. "For Students Doing Reports." RIAA. 01 Jan 2008. Recording

Industry Association of America. 11 Apr 2008

More Information:
GILMAN STREET WEBSITE

Scarred Films

From The SF CHRONICLE:
'924 Gilman Street' Documentary maker
hoped to inspire copycat do-it-yourself clubs
Reyhan Harmanci

Jack Curran got the idea to make a documentary about well-known Berkeley all-ages cooperative venue 924 Gilman Street (commonly referred to as Gilman Street) from two sources: his College of San Mateo film Professor Jay Rosenblatt and the skateboarding documentary "Dogtown and Z-Boys."
"One of the first things he taught me was to film what you know," Curran says, "so you don't fake it and it's not so much homework. It'll come across as sincere. I wanted to film something, and I thought Gilman Street would be a great thing to document."
Although Curran is resolute that discussing his film is not tantamount to discussing himself, he does allow that he was in a band that played Gilman Street. It's hard to imagine any young Bay Area punk musician in the '90s not playing there. The list of iconic rockers Curran interviews includes Jello Biafra, Ian MacKaye, Lars Frederiksen, Matt Freeman, Dave Scattered and Sweettooth. The film includes performances by Operation Ivy, Pansy Division, Fleshies, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Against Me, Jason Webley, Panty Raid, Screeching Weasel, Pinhead Gunpowder, Dominatrix, D.S.B. , and Atom and His Package.
One of the first decisions Curran made was to veto any voice-from-God documentary narration. The story is told through interviews and concert footage. "It's important for me to have volunteers and musicians tell the story," he says, "because I don't think one person should speak for the place."
Curran didn't want to speak for Gilman in an interview either, but he did say he could attribute the venue's success (it's been around since 1987) to the things that haven't changed. It is totally volunteer run. It's members only (although membership dues will run you just $2 a year). It is all-ages and no alcohol is served. Through twice-monthly meetings, issues are raised and duties are divvied up. It's an idealistic operation that has lasted.
For touring musicians, it offers the rare opportunity to play outside the usual club scene. "It's so much better than what they normally have to deal with. Shows are usually about money and alcohol sales -- and there aren't that many all-ages shows, because you barely make any money off of kids," Curran says.
For those who believed in the ethics behind Gilman Street, it was a great place to play. "You'd barely make gas money but that wouldn't matter," he says.
Gilman Street has been the model for other venues -- such as New York's ABC No Rio in lower Manhattan -- but Curran hopes that his documentary can further encourage young people who are sick of being shut out of rock shows because they aren't a source for alcohol revenue.
"I had this idealistic dream -- we were hoping to inspire kids in other towns to do something similar. By laying it out, showing how each aspect of running the club goes and how simple it is, we could show it was possible," he says. "So touring bands next summer would have an easier time."

Reyhan Harmanci, rharmanci@sfchronicle.com

Education in Hawaii

2008-10-03T15:33:00.001-07:00

Once I graduate from college (in a few years), I plan on becoming a High School English teacher. I’ve always been drawn to studying literature, writing fiction and poetry (along with writing lyrics for White Rose). In my opinion, the English professors in the University of Hawaii have been amazing. I won’t name them (and I’m not trying to get a good grade, I’m currently not in an English class at the time), but I’ve had some inspiring teachers who have pushed me to succeed. Of course, isn’t that the goal of education?
However, many of my friends who are teachers in Hawaii have warned me about the educational system. I’ve heard complaints of low-pay, the stupidity of the “No Child Left Behind” act and the high cost of living. I often wonder if I’ll be able to pay off my student loans if I become a High School teacher and pursue this career. I’ve seen brilliant people come to Maui and teach for a couple of years only to become disheartened and move back to the Continental U.S.
There is a prevailing negative opinion about the school system in Hawaii, in fact, on City-Data.com website, “aha33456” wrote;

“I would not consider raising my children in Hawaii… The public school system is awful…the problem isn't the price of the private education - it's what they don't learn growing up and living there…it is the worst place in the country to raise children if you want them to cope and succeed in the real world.”

What is this so-called “real world?” Who defines it and what makes a place other than Hawaii more “real? Almost every time Hawaii is referenced, it is described as being some place “other” than what is normal. According to this logic, every person in Hawaii is a backwards person, incapable of coping with the rest of the world. This is nothing short of social-Darwinism. I don’t believe that it is necessarily race-based, although there is a strong element contained within the argument. Perhaps the time-seasoned maxim, “Hawaiians died off because of disease brought by European contact,” portrays the Hawaiian people as somehow weaker. The website “Deeper Hawaii,” states, “…Because of European contact, contagious diseases such as cholera, measles and gonorrhea, decimated the Hawaiian population…” Of course, this is repeated over and over like a mantra. When Indigenous Cultures are consistently told that they are somehow not able to withstand disease over and over, it has been argued that they start to believe that perhaps they are somehow weaker. Never mind that this historical perspective is the fact that the Europeans were absolutely filthy –they were the carriers of disease.

What does all this have to do with education? In my opinion, a lot. Many of the books in the Canon taught in high school English classes are colonialist in nature. Arthur Conan Doyle’s, “The Lost World,” Kipling’s “The Jungle Book” and Jack London’s “The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii” can be found on High School English book lists. All three authors are amazing writers, but not above criticism and critical thought. Perhaps they continue to perpetuate and reinforce the myths of Colonial/Imperial power and intervention as somehow inevitable. “The Lost World” tells of an ancient world, waiting to be discovered. “The Jungle Book” contains stories written in the perspective of a colonialist. Jack London’s version of Ko`olau the Leper” is refuted by Ko`olau’s wife in the book, “The True Story of Kaluaikoolau as told by his wife, Piilani.” Just because these books are found in the Canon of High School English departments, doesn’t necessarily make them true, nor do they give voice to the people they are depicting. The characters are always described from the “outside-in.”

Education in Hawaii should be one of our top priorities. Although English departments are often seen as a bastion of liberal thought (How dare we criticize the great authors and put dirty liberal thoughts into children’s minds!) and find their budgets decimated, literature and liberal arts go beyond facts and figures. The best types of literature is where the binary of black and white is eschewed for the grey areas, the areas where everything isn’t wrapped up, nice and neat. The grey area teaches us to think for ourselves. Perhaps this is what is found to be so frightening to some. Nevertheless, educators in Hawaii have the unique opportunity to not only celebrate the local and various cultures, but to also teach our children about the huge world that seems so far away. (Although, it could be argued that with television and the internet, the world isn’t as far away as we think).

“Aha33456” may believe that Hawaii is the worst place to raise children and statistically, the educational system may be far behind that of the states found on the continent. But, that is not an excuse to throw our collective arms up in despair. We should be challenged enough to want to make our educational system better. We don’t really need to rely on schools to teach and raise our children. That is our job. I believe that my children can cope in any society that they were placed in because it is my duty as a father to teach them to do so. In fact, what our children learn is up to us.

City-Data
Deep Hawaii
Kipling (look at the symbol on page seven)
Jungle Book Soundtrack (Not my link).

"Social Darwinism is a belief, popular in the late Victorian era in England, America, and elsewhere, which states that the strongest or fittest should survive and flourish in society, while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die. The theory was chiefly expounded by Herbert Spencer, whose ethical philosophies always held an elitist view and received a boost from the application of Darwinian ideas such as adaptation and natural selection" -Think Quest

Night Mare

2008-10-01T16:19:00.000-07:00

I was googling Captain Cook today and found this picture:

It reminded me of Fuseli's "Night Mare."

Both feature a swooning woman, a Demon and a horse.

Here's another nightmare I saw on Oahu this weekend:

The way people are represented in art is very strange, indeed. The hummer was photographed in the Sheraton Parking lot in Waikiki (they have Peets Coffee there). There were three hummers in the parking lot.

Sugar Sugar, Where's the Water?

2008-09-26T12:18:00.000-07:00

Pioneer Sugar Plantation

Today’s Maui News had an exciting headline today, “Panel Orders Water Into Streams.” In 2001, a petition was filed by the Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation, on the behalf of Na Moku Aupuni O Koolau Hui, who demanded that the state return water back to the streams in the East Maui Watershed. According to Chris Hamilton, reporter for the Maui News, for more than 125 years, the sugar and pineapple plantations have been “using a series of ditches and diversions to irrigate [Their] fields.
In order to truly understand why this is a big deal on Maui, it must be understood that Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Co. (HC&S), formerly Alexander & Baldwin, do not own the water that has been diverted. All water in Hawai`i is held in a public trust. HC&S has no claim on fresh water any more than I do. In fact, “Testifiers again and again also said that it is not HC&S' water. It is the Native Hawaiian people's water, they said, and the company should be required to prove that it deserves the water.”

Wailuku Agribusiness Irrigation Ditch

Hundreds of HC&S employees, dressed in red t-shirts greeted me when I arrived at the Haiku Community Center, where the testimony by the community took place. In my opinion, the employees served two functions. One was to show support for their bosses and secondly, to intimidate would-be testifiers. If the amount of water is restricted, the sugar plantations have threatened massive lay-offs. In fact, HC&S officials “reminded commissioners and the public about the 800 jobs and reliable electric energy that they provide to the community.” Although this may be true, it can also be seen as a veiled threat: “If you don’t give us what we want, we will shut down our operation, laying off workers and eliminating the bagasse, the fiber residue of the cane plant, which is used to generate electricity on Maui (HC&S).” In other words, if you don’t give me what we want, we’re gonna take our ball and go home.” However, the community isn’t buying this threat any longer and hundreds testified, demanding that the water is restored to the streams.
I shouldn’t have been surprised by Alexander and Baldwin’s Nelson Chun, senior vice president of A&B, who said “HC&S does not take a position that it had a right to all the water…” but I was. From what I understand, HC&S has done nothing but take the position that they feel they have a right to all the water, otherwise there wouldn’t be miles of diverted water ditches crisscrossing the island. What other way should we look at it?
It remains to be seen whether or not the water will be restored to the streams. There has been a long history of lies and unfulfilled promises to the community in regards to water. Also, it will be interesting to find out whether or not the amount of water released to the streams will be enough to reach the loi’s (Traditional taro farms) at the end of the stream. The loi’s need cool water to flow through the fields. Presently, when a small trickle of water finds its way to the end of the stream, the water is too warm.

East Maui water diversion protested (Star Bulletin)

Fresh water is one of the most important resources on any island throughout the world. An island without fresh water is an island that cannot sustain life. The ocean surrounding the island also needs to have fresh water in order for the fish and reefs to survive. Today’s ruling is very important. I would hate to say that this is a “good start.” I’m afraid that a “good start” would also mean the end of the discussion. If this happens, and we find out that the water released to the streams is not enough, we could find ourselves at the beginning, again.

MAUI NEWS

MORE VIDEOS ON WATER IN HAWAI`I

HC&S

May This Be Love (Waterfalls) Daniel Lanois/Emmylou Harris/Jimi Hendrix

Daniel Lanois "Still Water

Standing on Our Own

2008-09-22T16:26:00.000-07:00

SF GATE

Recently, it was reported in the Honolulu Advertiser that the Mayor of Maui, Charmaine Tavares was concerned with the amount of “marine resources that are leaving [Maui].” In the article, Tavares said, “vehicle checks at the Maui and Honolulu ferry terminals are inconsistent and can't be counted on to intercept invasive species and natural resource contraband.” She recommends that the Superferry management should “pay for state conservation and agriculture officers to assist with screening on a permanent, daily basis,” in order to help out with the screening process of Superferry passengers.
None of this is particularly controversial, Charmaine addressed the issues that the people of Maui had concerns about. For example, many of the opponents of the Superferry were concerned about Opihi picking and in fact, Opihi was found in the vehicles of Superferry passengers. Another concern was the finding in the report that many of the vehicles on the Superferry were “excessively muddy.” The Superferry had agreed to the condition that the vehicles would undertake an undercarriage cleaning, and removing the mud from the tires. These conditions were agreed upon by the Superferry. Many businesses, throughout the world have had to agree to certain conditions in order to operate in a County, City or Town. This is not just something made up by the Maui County Council or the Mayor’s office.

However, what really concerns me is the comments portion of the article. The comments in the Honolulu Advertiser and Maui News are often posted by anonymous sources, who use screen names to post angry missives at the subjects of the article. Of course, this is nothing new, before online comments were provided, many letters to the editor were signed by “-Name Withheld.” Nevertheless, I believe the comments pertaining to “Tavares faults ferry screening,” are quite telling. “Raidernation” writes, “…I see I look at all of the islands as HAWAII. One state. One people…” He continues to say that Maui sees itself as isolationists and that anyone who lives in Hawaii should be able to fish anywhere. What “Raidernation” does not address is that there are severe consequences to the reef and to ocean life when people “fish anywhere.” Over-fishing can lead to the loss of adult fish, which will decrease the population of fish. If there are fewer and fewer fish to breed and populate, there will be fewer fish to catch.
OverFishing.org

The comments degenerate from there. Some make bizarre comparisons between certain neighborhoods blocking “outsiders” from shopping at their Wal-Mart. In fact, one commentator wrote, after saying that Maui has made them feel unwelcome, “Go sit in your barren pineapple fields, walk by your closed businesses, and cry at how this could have happened.” I suppose that they have a point. Maui has become dependent on outsiders for help. This has made us completely vulnerable. Whether it is a new infestation of insects or someone over-fishing or harvesting opihi, the Superferry has brought a lot of uncertainty and made a lot of people uncomfortable. And when the Mayor finds out that the Superferry has not held up their end of the bargain, she is ridiculed. It is time for Maui to stand on its own. Clearly, Oahu thinks that Maui is some kind of backwards county and without Oahu, we would be helpless. Xenophobia is not the answer, nor the solution, but the over-harvesting of natural resources is too dangerous to take lightly.

Honolulu Advertiser

Kaua'i protest

Superferry Alert (Free Hawaii TV)

Christmas in September?

2008-09-17T13:38:00.000-07:00

My daughter and I had to go to Kmart a couple of weeks ago and we noticed that Kmart has begun putting up their Christmas displays. (I took the picture on Labor Day). However, the display itself raised a few questions. One is, really? In September? I always thought that Christmas displays went up in late November. Secondly, penguins and Faux-snow Christmas trees? Seriously? Who wants a Christmas tree, with some kind of ugly spray paint on it?

Nevertheless, I'm from Michigan, where we have Christmas tree farms all over the place, (at least in West Michigan). When I worked at plant nurseries in California, I unloaded thousands of trees from refrigerated trucks during the Christmas season. When I moved to Maui, I worked at Lowes and sold Christmas trees from refrigerated shipping containers. Why do we celebrate Christmas with dead trees? Why are coniferous trees brought to Hawaii during the Christmas season? I can understand enjoying Christmas, the kids love it, and it's a nice break from work and school. But, isn't it a German or Scandinavian tradition to have a Fir tree in the house? The legend is that the Christmas tree represents the holy trinity. Of course, no-one knows that for sure, and, when in doubt, print the legend! I won't even go into more of the legends or myths about the Christmas tree, except to add my own. I think they brought the Christmas tree inside to repel fleas. During the 7th centuries, houses were riddled with fleas and the coniferous trees were brought inside during the winter to repel these biting, disease carrying bugs. Print that legend, I dare you!

But, why are there reindeer, penguins, and little Chinese-made "snow villages" in Hawaii? Can't we come up with our own images of Christmas? Can't Santa wear board shorts and ride a magical surf-board to deliver presents? Instead of fake Christmas trees, can't we have Christmas Ti bushes, Coconut trees or Breadfruit? Breadfruit already supplies it's own ornaments! Instead of poinsettias, we can have dry taro in pots.

Every time we import more and more plastic trees, and dead, frozen Christmas trees, we import more and more garbage. I personally have seen yellow jackets in the Christmas tree containers, which are so tightly packed, there is no way that the inspectors could find them, unless they unloaded all the trees. Any time that we import dead trees, we open ourselves up to new infestations of insects. And that is a Christmas "gift" we do not want (see Bee Mite in Hawaii article).

Christmas Archives
Christmas Tree Shipping Regulations
Wasps in Christmas Trees
Bee Mite in Hawaii
Rob Report/Vince Mina on Bees

Don't forget to go to the "Bee Talks," two more are scheduled, 6-8 on Thursday, Sept. 25: Kihei Charter School auditorium and
Wednesday, Oct. 1: The Studio, Haiku Cannery.

Perry Como in Hawaii:

Exotica and the Representation of Hawaii

2008-09-15T13:35:00.000-07:00

How is Hawaii perceived in music, television and in books? In the fifties, sixties and seventies, the tiki lounge came to represent the exoticism of Hawaii. Grass shacks, hula girls, tiki torches and a new form of music emerged. Lounge music, or “exotica,” (Which was derived from the Martin Denny record of the same name) is a mixture of orchestral music and tribal rhythms. The record covers of exotica often depicted lush foliage and a beautiful woman (or women) on the cover. When coupled with images of a faraway paradise, exotica music attempts to transcend the droll of a “mainland” life. (I use quotes around mainland because it isn’t the main land. instead, it could be called the continental US, because it isn’t the only land where the inhabitants of Hawaii immigrated from). Exotica music promises warmth, sexuality and comfort. However, this does not represent the reality of living in Hawaii.

I must admit that I am a huge fan of exotica music. The music of Les Baxter, Martin Denny and Arthur Lyman fascinates me. However, the representation of Hawaii in exotica music has often depicted Hawaiian culture and the Hawaiian people as “savages.” In fact, Les Baxter’s “Ritual of the Savage,” featured songs like “Jungle River Boat.” Perhaps Mr. Baxter confused Hawaii with Africa, (especially with the sounds of screaming monkeys), but fusing these indigenous cultures together is a disservice to both. The Hawaiians were not, and are not, “savages.” It wasn’t the Hawaiian people who brought disease to Hawaii, instead, it was the filthy European sailors who believed that bathing caused disease, it was the European sailors who were riddled with venereal diseases and through their promiscuity, the Hawaiian people were infected. So the question is, who is the real savage?
In our current political climate, we often hear the clarion call to return to the “good old days” of the fifties. In fact, it was in this post World War II atmosphere that the exotica music genre was created. James Michener, a naval reservist stationed in the Pacific, and the author of “Tales from the South Pacific,” wrote of a idealized island culture, which then became a Broadway musical entitled “South Pacific” (American Heritage). Martin Denny famously played at Don the Beachcomber’s “Bora Bora Lounge” for over nine months in the heart of Waikiki and was a huge tourist attraction. With the release of Denny’s “Exotica,” tourists were able to “own” a piece of Hawaii (Exotica). For many in the Continental US, a trip to Hawaii was a promise of leisure-filled days and exotic, adventure-filled nights.
However, these “good old days” were a time of strife in Hawaii. In 1959, after years of pressure from a variety of sources, Hawaii was asked to vote to become either the State of Hawaii, or remain a territory of the United States. Notice that the choice to return to the sovereign nation of Hawaii was not offered. For many Hawaiians (Kanaka Maoli), the 1950’s are not the “good old days” (Aloha-Hawaii).

I continue to enjoy exotica music, and it is not my intention to “wreck” the pleasure of enjoying lounge music. However, it is important to note that through this music and its accompanying images, Hawaii became a place for visitors to live out their “savage-ness.” The promise of sex, (although not stated as such) with an exotic local man or woman is still featured in many of the brochures from the Hawaii Tourist Bureau. Easy living, where a tourist can be waited on hand and foot is also promoted. While the tiki lounges of a past era have lost their luster and have become “tacky” or “kitschy” by some, the images still remain, in fact it is difficult to imagine Hawaii without conjuring up the picturesque image of sitting on the beach, watching the sun set, with pounding surf and a rum-filled drink. This, like exotica music, sounds great, but it is not the reality of most of the people who live in Hawaii.

Hawaii/Statehood

American Heritage/Tiki

Exotica

A Really Great Essay on Politics and Hawaiian Music entitled, "The Politics of Meaning

Ironically, White Rose will be playing at Don Ho's on September 27th

Sustainability in Hawaii, A Guitarist's Perspective

2008-09-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

Sustainability

I attended the Sierra Club’s “Red, White and Blue Candidates' Picnic” on Saturday. Many of the candidates that spoke used the word, “sustainability,” in many of their short speeches. But what is sustainability? Why is this word so often used by politicians and environmentalists? According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website, the definition of sustainability is, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (EPA).” However, is this how the people of Hawaii would define sustainability?
As a musician, I’ve spent the last few weeks thinking about the words, “sustain” and “sustainability” and how I could find a metaphor for sustainability in Hawaii. What I discovered is, sustainability requires action and energy. For example, in order for a guitar player to achieve sustain, the guitarist will have to do something. Sustain means action. For instance, the great blues guitarist, B.B. King is known for his sustaining notes. With close inspection of B.B.’s left hand, you can see his hand wiggle back and forth. This action causes his notes to sustain. It creates more vibration, which causes the strings to vibrate even longer. There are other ways for guitarists to create sustain, but again, this means that there is action involved. A guitar player can use effects that work with the natural harmonics of the guitar to create a sustainable note. Similarly, Hawaii will have to use “effects” to create a sustainable community. The implementation of solar and wind farms would be like a guitar effect. It is an outside source being used to create a longer usable energy. A guitar player cannot depend on plucking a string and hoping that it will sustain forever, instead they must work at it, providing it with energy. This is what we need to do in Hawaii.
We often hear that in order to be completely self-sustaining, we will have to either reduce or eliminate the importing of food and oil. Our power supply would depend on wind, solar or wave technology. However, this doesn’t address importing gasoline for automobiles or trucks. I live in Haiku and it costs a lot of money to drive into town everyday for school. For Maui to wean itself off of gas-fueled transportation, we will have to rethink what our needs are. The new bus system is one possible solution. Not only could this reduce the amount of fuel needed, but it could also contribute to lessening the amount of traffic on the roads. All of these solutions are very difficult to implement. It is political suicide for politicians to honestly say what needs to be done in Hawaii. The cure is a bitter pill to swallow.
Sustainability is possible in Hawaii but it will require a lot of work. Reducing our needs for import demands a commitment and a possible paradigm shift from packaged foods and consumerism. This would also change our economy drastically. The big box stores, along with many other businesses would be in jeopardy. If we are wholly dependent on imports, we are at the mercy of outside forces, whether it is by nature or a man-made disaster. Sustainability requires action and a constant commitment. Hopefully, we can work towards a solution instead of waiting for a disaster to happen.

EPA “Sustainability” EPA

Dusty Erosion, not Sustainable Agriculture:

Weirdo Music

2008-09-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

I guess it has been awhile since my last podcast, so here's a new one. At first I thought that it was a group of songs that were kind of weird, but when I started putting it together, it seems that I'm the weird one. So, this podcast is pretty eclectic. There are new wave songs, metal songs, and a whole bunch of other craziness. There is some rare stuff along with some fairly easy to find gems.

more info on the Cobra Show

Weirdo Podcast

Hawaiian Studies

2008-08-27T12:40:00.001-07:00

Both Pictures by Brendan Smith

Along with the regular podcasts that I have been posting, I will also be using this blog for my Hawaiian Studies class. My goal is discussing local issues with feedback from White Rose fans, along with some of my fellow classmates. Feel free to comment on any of my postings, it help to sharpen my skills and I will gain new knowledge from other people's perspectives.

Hardcore Punk Rock

2008-08-22T20:38:00.000-07:00

Lots of stuff that I listened to constantly when I was growing up. Some of my favorite punk rock memories are with the bands on this podcast.

Hardcore Podcast

Americana, the sad and beautiful

2008-08-21T14:06:00.000-07:00

I tend to have a liking for sad ass songs. Today, I have made a collection of such songs. They are not only sad, but they are often beautiful and sublime. I hope you enjoy them.

PS: the new Jesu record, "Why are we not Perfect" is out. Go get it, it's great.

PSS: Order of the White Rose's "Ghost of the Sidewalk/Seeds of Destruction is up on Itunes. Go get that too! All proceeds from the sale of the EP go to the food bank of Maui and Oahu.

Americana Podcast

New Wave!

2008-08-13T18:12:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite new wave artists:

New Wave Podcast

World's Greatest Guitarist

2008-08-12T00:08:00.000-07:00

World's Greatest Guitarist

Classic Rock, a Trip through the Past

2008-08-11T14:05:00.000-07:00

Pictures by Brendan Smith esq.

Are you boycotting the Olympics? I decided not to watch them at all this year. I guess I'd rather watch Major League Baseball than water polo. There's too many exciting divisional races to watch in MLB. I'm also sick of Brett Favre. It's almost as bad as the Michael Vick story a few years back. Every channel I turned on said, "Michael Vick, Michael Vick," and it's no different than the Brett Favre story. Seriously, If I quit working at say, Lowes, and said, "I'm done," and they had a year long going away party and everything, and then I went away for three months, I couldn't expect to come back and say, "I want my job back." They wouldn't give it to me, now would they? They probably already hired someone to take my place. Why is Brett Favre, Mr. "Blue collar guy" any different. And I'm sure that Lowes wouldn't offer me 20 million dollars to stay away. Favre sucks.
Okay, now I've officially participating in the blogging "first draft culture" and just went off on the first thing that came to mind. I'm now guilty of that, too. Kind of sad. Anyway, I made another podcast, it contains some classic rock along with some great old punk and new wavish stuff. Enjoy

8th Glorious Podcast

Hawaii has Punk Rock and an Angel sings

2008-08-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in hearing more punk rock from Hawaii, you can do so by going here:

Hawaiian Express

I also made a new slow as a snail podcast, I've likened this music to being slowly licked to death by a lion. Waves and waves of distorted chords makes absolutely beautiful post rock music.

POST ROCK and an Angel's Voice

Rock N Roll

2008-08-04T23:42:00.000-07:00

I play some Buzzcocks songs played by others, the and talk about the Battle of the Bands White Rose participated in. I also give my opinion about the North Side Kings and how their only claim to fame is punching Danzig in the head, and how they aren't interesting at all. They also don't reflect anything close to the ideals of hardcore or punk rock. For those reasons, they suck.

ROCK N ROLL PODCAST

White Rose Merchandise

2008-07-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

WHITE ROSE BOMBS SHIRT
Large, Xl only

WHITE ROSE WINGS SHIRT
Small, Medium, Large, Xl

WHITE ROSE BRIAN WALSBY SHIRT:
Small, Medium, Large, XL

WHITE ROSE, War Machine CD

WHITE ROSE 7 INCH

Surfin' in Maui

2008-07-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well, today has been a rough one, two days after surgery. My "area" is still sensitive and I've had some bad stomaches all day. I needed to sit in a chair for awhile, so I kept busy by making another podcast. It's all surf music, from all over. I hope you enjoy it, I had a lot of fun putting this one together. I may do another one soon 'cuz I like this music so much.

Surf's Up Homey

Gilligan's Island

TIKI SHARK

At our last show at Charleys in Paia, our friend Brendan Smith took a bunch of pictures, you can see them here:
Brendan

Third Podcast

2008-07-26T16:12:00.001-07:00

Since we're heading into voting season, I was reminded of one of the first punk rock records I got which came out in 1983-84 and thought I'd share some of their anti-voting sentiments with you. This podcast is not all anarcho stuff, but it comes close. Some of the recordings are rough, most of them came off of tapes or flexi discs or 7 inch vinyl records. Nevertheless, I love this stuff.

THIRD PODCAST

PS, I don't want to beg for comments, but if you want, leave a comment so I know that the comments do work.

World Music

2008-07-23T14:49:00.000-07:00

World music is such a generic term. To illustrate this point, I've compiled music from Tuvalu to Tuva. Enjoy!

World Music Podcast

First One!

2008-07-22T01:23:00.001-07:00

Design by Ross Sewage myspace.com/sewage666
This is my first time "blogging." I do read a buttload of blogs, so I'm not a complete noob. Anyway, I created my first podcast tonight. If you like what you hear, let me know. If you have a request or something, let me know and I'll see if I can play it, or talk about it. Some upcoming podcasts that I'm working on: Anarcho punk, including A State Of Mind from SF, a entire podcast dedicated to "World" music, A podcast dedicated to local Hawaii bands and a podcast dedicated to my favorite proto-punk bands. Aloha from White Rose!

WHITE ROSE PODCAST

White Rose Live on Ktuh