Culture & Art

IAM Launches International Petition to Stop Undersea Cable

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

I Aloha Molokai News Release

I Aloha Molokai (IAM) has launched a worldwide petition to stop Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s multi-billion-dollar Big Wind Interisland Cable boondoggle. Gov. Abercrombie, Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) and some House and Senate members are now finalizing legislation that would allow the project to fast-track without sufficient environmental analysis or public review.

Noting the project’s huge potential impacts on whales and “critically endangered Hawaiian monk seals – one of the rarest marine mammals in the world – as well as five species of sea turtles, three species of dolphins, and hundreds of other marine species,” the petition adds that the project “will be rubber-stamped without due process – without public input from residents of Hawaii and, not to mention, everyone worldwide who wants to protect whales, sea turtles, seals, and dolphins.”…

Stand Up Paddle Race #3

Thursday, May 3rd, 2012

Stand Up Paddle Race #3

Community Contributed

By Clare Seeger Mawae

Stand Up paddle Association of Molokai (SUPAM) had race number three of the season on the long course, a distance of 10.3 miles. The wind held a steady 20 knots at the beginning, which then dropped to 10-15 knots in the last few miles. The short course participants from prior events switched to the long course making this quite a fun event.
Josie and Alex Mawae took to the outside of the reef, and Alex battled it out with Kekai Adachi who took to the inside. David Lichtenstein cruised to the finish line in first place with a credible time 2.15.52 and Kekai and Alex tied for second in 2.17.38.…

Rockin’ It Out

Wednesday, May 2nd, 2012

Rockin’ It Out

Community Contributed

By Kalei “Pumpkin” Moss

On most days after school on the Kaunakakai Elementary School campus, sounds of a music band can be heard in the air. If you listen to the music you may think it was a “professional” band, but if you were to take a look, you would see that the bands are made up of various school age students. The 21st Century grant program is offering the School of Rock, band classes that teach students how to play various instruments and how to play different modern songs.

There are two different School of Rock groups – the elementary group made up of students in grades four through six, and a middle school age group.…

Ka Hula Piko Festival 2012

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

Ka Hula Piko Festival 2012

Halau Hula O Kukunaokala News Release

This year’s Molokai Ka Hula Piko festival will be held Thursday May 3 to Saturday May 5. This year’s theme celebrates our kupuna and is “Lei `ia Molokai ke aloha hulu mamo,” or “Molokai wreath in the love of the ancestors.” We honor our kupuna both living and of old who have perpetuated and preserved the traditions and knowledge of our culture that we have today.

Thursday’s festivities include two on-site excursions and an evening lecture. Friday we will be showing a documentary film titled “The Hidden,” featuring the late Kumu Hula John Kaimikaua, with a short Q&A to follow.…

Celebrating Song: Raiatea Helm

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

Celebrating Song: Raiatea Helm

Nominations: Female Vocalist of the Year, Island Music Album of the Year, Favorite Entertainer of the Year, Graphics Award

Album name: “Sea of Love”

The Molokai Dispatch (TMD): Tell us a little about this album.
Raiatea Helm (RH): This album is my sixth project, and it covers the era of 1950s and 60s Hawaiian music. A lot of people aren’t familiar with this type of music, which consists of jazz guitar and percussion. It’s more of a fun sound that I wanted to feature in this album. Eighty percent of this CD was recorded in a live setting so we could capture the feel they had 50 years ago.…

Celebrating Song: Kanohowailuku Helm

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

Celebrating Song: Kanohowailuku Helm

Nominations: Contemporary Album of the Year

Album name: “Contagious”

The Molokai Dispatch (TMD): Tell us a little about this album.
Kanoho Helm (KH): It’s all original music that I wrote, and I’ve always wanted to put out an album of my own music. This is my first full-length album – there are 12 tracks – so hopefully there is more to come.

TMD: Was being nominated for a Na Hoku Award one of your goals?
KH: I’m actually surprised I made the nomination because I didn’t put much time into promotion because I had so much kuleana come up in my personal life and being a part of I Aloha Molokai [group against commercial wind energy], I just didn’t have time.…

Celebrating Song: Eddie Tanaka

Wednesday, April 25th, 2012

Celebrating Song: Eddie Tanaka

Nominations: Island Music Album of the Year
Album name: “Mystical Molokai”

The Molokai Dispatch (TMD): Tell us a little about this album.
Eddie Tanaka (ET): There are seven original songs and four covers, and a lot of the songs are written for Molokai or have some relation to Molokai. It is basically easy listening music. It was written more or less to remember a place –for people who came to Molokai and went back home, the music would bring them back, which is what I wanted to do. It is something to remember in the future.

TMD: What does this nomination mean to you?…

Celebrating Song

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

Celebrating Song

Three Molokai musicians get Na Hoku nominations.

The Friendly Island will be well represented at the 35th annual Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. The Awards Show, hosted by the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts (HARA), is an annual event held to celebrate “the connections between music, our culture, and the spirit of aloha,” according to their website.

This year’s awards span 27 categories, and artists must submit their work to HARA’s Board of Governors in advance to be considered for nominations. Molokai natives Raiatea Helm, Eddie Tanaka and Kanoho Helm have each qualified as finalists in various categories in this year’s nominations, from Island Music Album of the year to Favorite Entertainer.…

The Road to Publication

Sunday, April 22nd, 2012

The Road to Publication

Molokai author Brandon Jones launches his first novel, “All Woman and Springtime”

What first started back in 2009 as a cultural curiosity with the North Korean way of life, has culminated three short years later as a full length novel titled “All Woman and Springtime.” It is Molokai-based writer Brandon Jones’ first book, but gained rave reviews and international attention even before its recent publishing.

The novel, which recently made it to “O” Magazine’s 10 Titles to Pick Up Now list, follows two North Korean orphan girls who become victims of human trafficking. The title is a reference to how the main character, Gi, describes the unabashed radiance of her friend, Il-sun, as “all woman and spring-time.”…

Kalaupapa Restoration Recognized

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

Kalaupapa Restoration Recognized

Historic Hawaii Foundation News Release

Paschoal Hall in Kalaupapa is one of the historic preservation projects chosen state-wide to be honored by the Historic Hawaii Foundation. The achievement awards will be presented at the 37th annual awards ceremony on May 11 in Honolulu.

The Paschoal Hall award was presented to National Park Service, Mason Architects, Inc., Encore Seating Restorations and The Teecor Group Inc. for interior restoration of the Kalaupapa social building. Built in 1916, Paschoal Hall is a relatively unaltered example of Hawaiian vernacular architecture. The building is a prominent and significant building in the Kalaupapa National Historical Park district and cultural landscape.…