2010 - 2011 Scholarship Directory for Pacific Islander and Asian Students

This is a great directory of scholarships available for the Asian and Pacific American students. You can download the directory here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/42700899/Asian-Pacific-Islander-Scholarship-Directory

Reading: Spotlight on New Media in Harvard Business Review

I headed to O`ahu the day before Thanksgiving to see my Mom, Auntie Linda, and her husband Uncle Chuck. One of my favorite things about flying is getting the chance to buy and read a whole bunch of magazines. Yes, young people still read magazines at least when I am on a plane I do. Hudson News is a great place to kill twenty or thirty minutes sifting through the racks and picking out a few eye catching periodicals. Usually the Harvard Business Review hbr.org/magazine does not make it with me to the check out counter with its $16 price tag, but the December 2010 issue boasted an eye-catching cover spotlighting “Social Media and the New Rules of Branding”. Given that I am doing leading a board retreat for a non-profit group early next month called the Asian Pacific Policy and Planning Council a3pcon.org, which I will be posting more about next month, I felt the cost was justifiable.

The spotlight section in the magazine consisted of four articles on the subject, and there was one additional article in the front of the magazine by Brian J. Dunn, CEO twitter.com/BBYCEO of electronics retailer Best Buy and how he has learned to love social media.

The articles in the spotlight section were thought provoking and full of case studies and examples of how social media plays into branding and communications in for profit businesses. However, the article I will be recommending to my non-profit clients is that of the Best Buy CEO, because his article chronicles how he has worked through many of the things that make many non-profits and other social media newbies uneasy. He has been using social media for the last five years and as the public social media voice for Best Buy he has seen it all from getting hacked to drama over a profanity laced employee created video but ultimately he concludes “The reality is that social media are where the national conversation are taking place today – and either you're a part of that conversation or not. “

Recommended Reading: How I Did It: Best Buy’s CEO on Learning to Love Social Media

Awesome Hawaiian Spoken Word Artist Performing in SoCal December 4th

I must confess that spoken word is not necessarily my favorite medium of artistic expression. Bad spoken word is one of the most unfortunate and avoidable forms of pain that can be inflicted on an individual. However, good spoken word is a rare but exhilarating experience. Cleaver and passionate monologue is one of the purest forms of communication. At it's best spoken word is as raw as it gets, and a good poetry performer is amazing to watch because that performer shows a powerful contradictory combination of vulnerability and strength. Jamaica Osorio is a precious talent whose work honors her heritage as a Native Hawaiian.



If you are in Southern California on December 4th you absolutely have to go to her performance. There will be many talented Pacific Islander artists at the event. For more information about the event and to purchase tickets go to: http://www.pieam.org/spokenword Here is the flyer:

Doc Talk: Surfwise

I watched a really great doc on the "first family of surf" the Paskowitz's last night, after coming upon the website and webisodes online. I was hooked, so I guess that campaign did it's job.

Even though this family is incredible they also reminded me in some ways of my own experiences growing up with my Father. He raised my brothers and myself as a single father starting from when I was eight years old. There were a lot of struggles disagreement and insanity, but in the long run I think we are all stronger for it.

It was funny though because it did spark a bit of debate between my boyfriend, Ryan http://ryangraber.com/, and I. After the film he said that he was glad that he wasn't raised like that because it seemed like there were so many opportunities that were cut off for the Paskowitz children because they had never received a formal education. This is true, and some amount of bitterness around this does come up in the film. However, I think it is a little more complex than that. It seems like for some of the opportunities that were closed off to the family, there were also many unique opportunities that came to the Paskowitz clan. Ultimately, I think it is very hard to compare the value of the upbringing of these people with anyone else in the world, since these nine people are an extremely unique group case.

Personally I believe your family is your family and for the most part people love their families no matter what. Given that, I would rather have an interesting family than a boring one.


(A picture of my Dad, me, and my youngest brother Will from a few years back. Looking as imperfect as we are. Ha ha)

I Got A Job With the Witness Protection Program

Well sort of, I've been doing some research about interactive and new media projects for the ITVS Project 360 initiative. So I am looking at examples of different types of online and multi-platform media. I have just been playing with one which is an audience engagement tool for a USA network show called In Plain Sight which is a crime drama following Mary Shannon, a U.S. Marshal attached to the highly secretive Federal Witness Protection Program (WITSEC). Your role in the game is the rookie Marshall at the WITSEC.


(screen shot of the game)


The new media component is found at http://www.witsecconfidential.com/ It is a story game something like (and I am about to date myself right now) Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego.

Toward the more hipster side of the spectrum is the music video for Arcade Fire's single The Wilderness Downtown. The video incorporates google street view images of your childhood home into the music video, and cool live animated typing kind of tool.

There are different video clips that are housed in a series of pop-up windows. It is really cool. Just don't try to resize or move the windows when they start popping up like I did at first ha ha! You can input your own address and get a customized video experience at http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com/ The video works best in the Google Chrome Browser.


(my desktop while playing the new Arcade Fire Video)

First Event USC - "PULE"

November first this month was the first event for USC's cleverly acronymed "PULE" Pacific Islander student group. I know that pule in the Hawaiian language means to pray. I think also Sāmoans and Tongans use the same or a similar word. Anyhow the group name stands for Promoting Unity, Liberation, and Education. The groups mission is to focus on Pacific Islander community-building and cross-cultural engagement.

The event was a panel discussion with Pacific Islander leaders from various fields. Including architect Faleomavaego Falanai Ala, a medical researcher Dr. Ray Samoa, mentor and educator David Ga'oupu Palaita. Also to my surprise there was another hapa kanaka woman filmmaker there as well named Jennifer Akana Sturla. I have just watched her film Kamea on Vimeo http://vimeo.com/13382244 and it is amazing.

David Palaita is doing awesome work in the Bay Area starting the first ever Pacific Islander studies program. Which is a totally historic and ground breaking accomplishment. Right now it is just starting up, but you can track the progress at their blog: http://www.ccsfpacificstudies.org/

It was a really cool night and I was glad that I went.


Pacific Islander film crew. From left to right Jennifer Akana Sturla, me, and Danny Ve'evalu

Fellow Native Arts and Cultures Awardees

This is the second spotlight on Native American talent that I am doing for the blog in honor of Native Heritage Month. I was recently awarded a grant from the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation http://nativeartsandcultures.com as part of the Artistic Innovation – Through the Soul of an Artist initiative. I decided that this week I will highlight just a few of the other individual artists who were also awarded this honor in 2010. This year eight artists were selected, below are just a few. To read more about all the artists from this year's cycle go to http://nativeartsandcultures.com/innovation It is such an honor to be included with this group of amazing talent.


Emily Johnson (Yup'ik)
Emily Johnson is dancer and choreographer whose work often functions as an “installation performance” that combines dance, storytelling vignettes, props, and theater sets. Funding for this project will assist the artist in the development of new work centered on movement, story, and sound housed within an installation of hand-made fish skin lanterns. The project will reach the stage after continued ripening of the piece. You can learn more about her and her work at: http://www.catalystdance.com/





Sonya Kelliher-Combs
Sonya Kelliher-Combs is a visual artist whose work is rooted in painting but is interwoven and influenced by traditional skin sewing and sculptural elements using animal parts. Funding for this project will support work with a master printer and the development of an exhibit. The project will culminate in a retrospective solo exhibit at the International Gallery of Contemporary Native Art in Anchorage. She is also on the board of the Alaska Native Arts Foundation: www.alaskanativearts.org



Ricardo Mendoza

Ricardo Mendoza is a seasoned muralist who follows in the tradition of the great Mexican muralists of the 20th century and the Chicano mural movements of California. Funding for this project will support the development of a large scale portable mural depicting the life of fabled Chemehuevi tribal member popularly known as “Willie Boy”. The project will culminate in the presentation of the mural in Yucca Valley, CA.

Martini Shorts Film Festival

I am going to this film and music event in Longbeach on Friday. I like it because it is Pacific Islander run, but it might not necessarily be obvious at first glance. You can check out the facebook event page here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=121983141193221 I am curious to see what the mix of the crowd is going to be like, but it is being put together by a really talented Sāmoan / Tahitian filmmaker named Hagoth Aiono http://www.hagothaiono.com/

Washington DC - Haku Inoa Screening

I know the Smithsonian screening at the National Museum of the Native American was a while ago now, but truthfully I moved and I misplaced the disk with the pictures from the Q&A. I was being stubborn and I did not want to put up this post without the picture. So now that I have found it, here we go! The screening was really great. I thought that the programming was intelligently crafted by Melissa Bisagni she paired Haku Inoa with Heart of the Sea which is the documentary bio-pic about surf legend Rell Sunn. My film lead really wonderfully into Heart of the Sea because that film begins with the explanation of Rell's Hawaiian name which is Kapolikaehukai which essentially translates to Heart of the Sea. The beginning of the film shows very briefly shows how important a name is to Hawaiians. In some sense the rest of the film is really an illustration of all the different ways that Rell fulfills the meaning of her name.

As a part of screening at the Smithsonian I was able to have a personal tour with a cultural interpreter, she was basically a guide to the museum. My guide was named Zandra it was really fun to get to know her and check out the museum. She knew so much about all aspects of the museum. Including the architecture, which was really interesting to me because my father is an architect

Overall I really enjoyed DC and the museum. I can't wait to go back again.

Take A Picture with a Real Indian

In celebration of Native American heritage month I will be highlighting the work one Native American artist each week during November. This week's artist is conceptual multimedia installation and performance artist James Luna of Payomkawichum (Luiseño) and Mexican American heritage. The first time I saw his work was when I was in high-school, he had a window installation at 911 Media Arts Center in Seattle, Wa. called Futuristic Native Outfits for Night Raids (and other paraphernalia). It was quite awhile ago, so I don't know if what I remember of the installation is real or just my memory twisting it up, but what I do remember was most certainly my first exposure to contemporary Native American art.

Here is a performance piece by Mr. Luna in observance of Columbus day from a few years ago.