Monday, June 9th – From HPR2, it’s The Conversation
Kua’aina Ulu ‘Auamo: Kevin Chang
In today’s Hawaii, it often seems as if everything old is new again. Some of the most innovative current thinking about life here is based upon a renewed understanding of the values and practices of pre-contact times, when people had an organic and sustainable relationship to the land and sea around them. That has long been the focus of the Hawai’i Community Stewardship Network, which is reinventing itself as Kua’aina Ulu ‘Auamo, or KUA. In Hawaiian, the word means back, like the backbone that connects and supports a person. KUA recently received a small grant from the Hawaii People’s Fund, a public community foundation that seeks to fund grassroots organizations focused in some way on social change. We spoke with KUA’s Executive Director Kevin Chang earlier this morning about the organization’s mission.
Intro Music: Scoop Em and Smash Em by Dub Trio
Outro Music: Inspiration by Brittni Paiva
Violin Teaching Award: Duane Padilla
When you think of learning an instrument, do scales come to mind, hours and hours of them? The violin has often been considered one of the hardest instruments to learn, but what can inspire someone to pick it up, and keep practicing? Duane Padilla, performer, teacher, and violinist extraordinaire was here to share his nationally recognized teaching program that lets the students explore far more than just the classics – and perhaps to play a tune or two.
Intro Music: Don't Get Around Much Anymore by Duane Padilla
Outro Music: Green Dolphin Street by Duane Padilla
Drug Policy Forum Hawaii: Michael Attocknie
There’s wide agreement around the country that the so-called “drug war” has failed. Maybe framing the struggle as a war, with victors and the vanquished, was the first mistake. We’ll be arguing that for a long time, but at least there’s agreement that we’re in need of a saner drug policy… So what are the next steps? With so many failed initiatives in our recent past, what do we work on first? These are issues of concern to the Drug Policy Forum of Hawaii, which also received a small grant from the Hawaii People’s Fund. Michael Attocknie, executive director of the statewide organization, joined us by phone this morning.
Intro Music: Body Show Theme
Outro Music: My Only Swerving by El Ten Eleven
Local Performers on Broadway: Willie Falk and Melissa Zapin
What do you get when you mix a little opera, Broadway, scholarship pagents, and Carnegie Hall? Well, you have our next guests, Willy Falk and Melissa Zapin right here in the studio, fresh off of a performance on the Garden Isle, and here to share their story about making it big in the music world, while coming home to stay in touch with their roots right here in the islands
Intro Music: Stargazer Theme
Outro Music: Boheme to Broadway by Willy Falk and Melissa Zapin (Live at Feinstein's)
