Polynesian Tattooing

The speaker that came to class this past tuesday was very interesting. Her presentation on the techniques and styles that the native hawaiians had tattooed was also interesting.  It was also nice learn about the people in the presentation and how they drew inspiration from past native hawaiians tattoos for their own design.  I already knew that people have tattoos of animals and other things that represent their ancestors, but I didn't know that there were tattoos for mourning and other representations such as fertility.  I have a couple of friends who have hawaiian style tattoos, where the designs represent their ancestors or have other meanings that are unique to native hawaiians.  They often say that when they see people who get it because it looks cool, they get offended.  After the presentation, I can now see why, especially if it represents something sacred or some one's ancestor.

Perception

The story about Joshua Bell playing in a Washington, DC metro station was really interesting.  It's sad to think that more people didn't stop to enjoy his music, despite that it may have sounded spectacular.  This is probably really common, especially now.  People are focused on far to many things, that simple things like a musician in a metro station, flies right past them.  I bet if there was a large stage with banners mentioning his name and prestige, more people would have stopped by.

Neil Young song "Ohio"

I'm familiar with Neil Young and his songs "harvest moon" and "heart of gold."  I find that most songs during the Vietnam War were full of anti-war messages and fighting the system.  This is the main reason why I can't stand music today.  Pop stars and rappers now sing about sex, drugs, and money.  Where's the art in that? Artists like Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan understood what it was the make music.  Now, the goal of making large sums of money fuels artists to pursue a music career, rather than doing it because it could make a difference.
The article also mentioned Glen Beck.  Personally, I hate the guy.  The arguments he makes are outrageous and he is a genuinely bigoted man.  I still remember on the anniversary of 9/11, he was saying how he hated the victim's families.  He also made remarks towards how he hated how ungrateful the hurricane Katrina victims were.  I mean seriously? What is wrong with this guy.

Pineapples: luxury fruit at what price?

Its really sad to see the effect of large corporation's greed on the environment and their workers.  The impact on the environment is especially scary since the pesticides used in the farms have reached the ocean and nearby water sources for the surrounding villages.  It was interesting to see the alternative to conventional farming.  But what made organic farming unecouraging was that only 1/4 of the crops are sold as fair trade, while the other 3/4 were sold as conventionally grow, not rewarding farmers that choose to do the right thing, or being pono.  The exploitation of local Costa Rican workers and illegal immigrants from Nicaragua made me think of recent news in Hawaii regarding Aloun farms.  The owners of Aloun farms were accused of trafficking workers from Thailand to work on their farms.  They underpaid them and even went as far as taking away their passports so they couldn't return home.  This also made me think of how my grandmother used to work in the Dole pineapple fields and canery here during WWII.  Were the same pesticide practices used? Are today's "Maui Gold" pineapples part of the same disasterous cycle? Its amazing how greed can make people disregard the impact they have on people and the environment.

Sweet Home Waimanalo

I almost never go out to Waimanalo, but after yesterday, I think I may want to make the long drive out more.  Life seems so laid back, free of stress.  The communities seem close knit and open to newcomers.  The scenery was beautiful, almost out of a Hawaii tourist guide.  I also admired Kevin's willingness to learn and adopt new practices for being self-sustainable and environmentally friendly.  I was really interested in his farming techniques and his wiki-gardens, since I am currently trying to start an organic garden of my own.  Seeing how he turns the waste of one process into the fuel for another, which then produces the fuel for another, is genius!  I was also really fascinated by his next aquaponics project, and how he was planning to tie in the waste produced by the restaurant as food for both the fish and chicken.  I really hope to get out there and help Kevin work on the farm soon!

Makua Valley

While cleaning up trash on the side of the road, Makua Valley seemed like a hidden treasure untouched by man.  However, learning about the history of the Hawaiian and the militaries actions, it is a shame that citizens can't access the valley for their enjoyment without the hazards of being killed with live ammunition.  The tension between the military and the local activist was thick.  When the man talked about how he was involved with the destruction of the valley and how he now believes the U.S. government should clean up the site and give it back to the people of Hawaii, I was tempted to turn around and look at the reaction of those who clearly support what the military does there.  The military's presence was hard to ignore.  With them following us in their gas-guzzling trucks or watching us like hawks, it was actually hard to enjoy the beautiful scenery around us. The petroglyphs were amazing!  Being able to see something that an ancient Hawaiian before the island was discovered is incredible.  It was also incredible that the petroglyphs helped in understanding what Makua Valley may have been like before all of the water dried out.  I can only hope that I'll be able to hike Makua Valley and enjoy it in the future.

Mokauea Island

My first impression of Mokauea Island was, "How can these people live here?" I mean, there is no electricity or bathroom facilities!  But I soon realized that these judgements of a person influenced by Western culture and spoon feed basic utilities need to function on a daily basis.  The ancient Hawaiian were able to function and support nearly 800,000 people without electricity, advance technologies, or other utilities.  The ancient Hawaiians were even able to support their population without exploiting their resources.  After hearing the story of what actually happened in the past to the residents of the island and what they are trying to do, I soon respected their efforts and was eager to assist them in the future.  It was clear that the residents weren't trying to conform to the way of life of the "mainland" of Oahu.  They were trying to live the life that their ancestors had.  They are trying to restore the island that should not have been taken from them in the first place.  I can truly respect their efforts of being a self-sustaining island and being an example of how our society should function and respect the environment.

Vocabulary on decline due to fewer books

I found this article to be very interesting and true.  I found it shocking that primary education vocabulary programs are being "dumb" down because today's current youth can't comprehend or keep up.  Personally, I don't read as much as I should and I often dread having to reading assignments for classes.  However, I can see the importance of having a good vocabulary and speaking properly, especially in a professional setting.  Here in Hawaii, a large portion of the population speaks pidgin.  I was raised to use proper English despite having been born and raise here.  Some of my coworkers had the opposite upbringing, mixing pidgin terms with English and interchanging them subconsciously.  While it is important to embrace a culture, I think it is also important to exhibit judgement on when it is appropriate to use the national norm.

The Cove

I had watched The Cove about a month ago on Animal Planet.  I had heard of the Japanese slaughtering dolphins for their meat, but the documentary brought new insight to how barbaric the "tradition" actually is.  The town of Taiji seemed like something out of "The Twilight Zone," with monuments celebrating aquatic life and buildings painted with murals of smiling dolphins and whales, despite the fact that for a few months out of the year, they slaughter tens of thousands of dolphins.  Interestingly enough, the manufacturers claim this particular method of killing dolphins is a "tradition," while many Japanese people in Tokyo have never heard of such a custom.  This "tradition" is also used for capturing dolphins for use in theme parks and various captivity venues.  The crusader against these killings is Ric O'Barry, who actually began the trend of aquatic captivity for human entertainment.  I feel for this guy.  He talks about how he held the dolphin used in "Flipper" while she took her last breath and sunk to the bottom of the tank.  I feel bad saying this, but watching this documentary sort of made me feel ashamed to be Japanese.  To think that these people could just brutally slaughter possibly the most intelligent creature on Earth is upsetting.

Transgenic Fish Go Large

http://eatocracy.cnn.com/2010/09/20/genetically-modified-salmon/

Personally, I find genetic modification of food somewhat disturbing.  Scientist claim that the foods are completely safe, but it seems that as foods become more and more modified, they lose nutritional content (ie tomatoes and Chiquita bananas).  Sure, it'll be profitable for the companies to mass produce salmon in a shorter amount of time and the price of farm-raised salmon will decrease, but are those really more important than the health of the consumers?  Today on CNN.com, a similar article was posted, talking about the questions and concerns over the growth hormones that are gonna be given to these GMO fish.  After the article, there was a poll over how many people would eat the fish.  46.55% would never eat the fish, 15.78% would eat it in a heartbeat, and 10.89% would eat it if the FDA approves it.  I also find it interesting that with an increase in the use of hormones and pesticides in our food, there also seems to be an increase in cases of cancer, massive outbreaks of diseases and bacteria, and other serious health issues.  Just a thought...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkWQEKxoX_M

A Dimmer View of Earth

Hearing about a lack in funding and interest in the environment during the Bush administration has started to sound like a broken record.  The truth of the matter is that a large portion of lobbyist and supporters during George W. Bush's presidential election/re-election campaign were comprised of a large group of oil corporations with an invested interest in protecting and ensuring that their business would not be disrupted by the government and that the government would issue regulations or acts that would benefit them.  The United States has a strong influence on other countries, however, our government chooses to direct this power towards military dominance and the global ambassador of democracy.  If our country enacted policies on preserving the environment and making regulations towards limiting our pollution output in a way that affects other countries, I feel that they would follow in our footsteps.  However, in reality, it seems as though unless a catastrophic event occurs that impacts our country in a way that is undeniably related to climate change and how our actions directly contributed to it, our government will continue to fail to do anything.

Post #1

The first class of ANTH 3115 has been an interesting start to a new semester.  I can say that I'm quite excited to go on the various required fields.  Its so hard to choose just a few, although I'm leaning towards one at the Halawa Heiau just because it's really close for me.  I'm also interested in going to Mokauea Island and possibly Kahana Valley.  Kahana Valley seems like a fun experience, and I think it'll bring back memories of cleaning and planting taro in the lo'i that my elementary school had.