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The following program is a production of HGT in Honolulu Hawaii Public Television the following program has been funded in part by grants from the Hawaii State foundation on culture in the arts and the people who Chevron in Hawaii. Spectrum Hawaii presents a look into speculations on the future of life and art in the way Jerry lands his hostess to guest Jim dater of the University of Hawaii. He has become a specialist in forms of artificial intelligence and Ramzy Pedersen of Honolulu community college has done studies on what is future leisure time creativity and instant information beyond the year
2000 will be topics for conjecture. Here's Jerry Lynn. It is almost prophetic that George Orwell picked 1984 as the year of unthinkable reality for the world. The 1980s brought with them tumultuous changes in the way we work the environment and in the way we communicate. These changes will inevitably lead to developing new ideas about how we will live. What will those changes be and what impact will they have on our lives. Well gentlemen we're both Futurists. Before we talk about these changes. Tell us what is Futurism. Well first of all it isn't an ism. It is if anything an orientation a concern and it certainly has nothing to do with predicting the future with crystal ball gazing and all that that's what it seems to me to be the biggest misunderstanding. I say it's the forecasting and design of alternative social conditions over the next 25 to 100 years.
Ramsey I see it from a local perspective in terms of trying to get people to understand what kinds of cultural political and economic alternatives they have to what's going on today. And so that we're not trying to tell people what to do or necessarily even how to do it but to look at the kinds of potential changes that could occur if we went into it in terms of trying to shift from what we're doing today. What's the world going to look like in the year 2000. I can't tell you what it will look like but I can tell you what it won't look like it won't look much like today. It won't look most like most of our projections from today or plans of today. We're in a process of extremely rapid change where the old assumptions that we could more or less easily predict or move into the future simply don't work. And being prepared for turbulence and differences I think our most important need along the social sciences. Ramsey How is it going to look in terms of the changes I think
that are going to be affecting us the most are going to be those things that have to do with it the kinds of economic infrastructure that we create that the combination of technology and economy will create the options that we have for our culture and for lifestyle in the future. Now you know this is all going to impact greatly on Hawaii. And you've just recently published a study on the future of Hawaii. What are some of the changes that are going to affect the way. If we look at what we're doing now and just try to extrapolate out into the future from the orientation that we have today our future is basically one of transnational corporate domination. It's one of being used as an investment center. The expansion I think of the things that we're doing today like tourism the expansion of leisure kinds of activities in industries and that in many ways poses problems for our children and poses problems for us in terms of the kinds of jobs and the kinds of progressive activities I think we'd like to
perform in the future. Jim how will this affect culture and the arts and media in particular. Well I think that one of the things that we need to understand within that the global perspective on the local impact on Hawaii that Ramsey was referring to is the role let's say of electronics or communication media. And that I think those technologies will be the things that influence culture and the arts most extensively now. If one means by culture things that produce say these beautiful surroundings that we're sitting in now that's culture then i can we can talk about it in those terms. But culture to me means the way people live. And one of the interesting things about the future of the culture of the world and of Hawaii is that there are going to be changes in what people are like in Hawaii what the mix of races and cultural groups are. The creation of a new culture so-call island
culture perhaps and also to me what I call the creation of a third culture that of robots and artificial intelligence. Oh we have to get into that. That's exciting. I was going to say first of all our media is going to change it. For instance our networks are all three networks are in dire trouble right now because of our extension of television. How is that going to impact on all of this. Well I think anyone who has cable television at the present time is understanding some of the diversity that we're going to have in the future. Everyone has a VCR or a game that uses the television set or has hooked up their their computer to it and so forth that has a pushbutton phone that they either use now with their bank or with some business that they will or can begin to use with their television. There's so many competitive uses for that set and so many competitors to the major networks that the networks don't have long to survive. Really. Ramsey What's the population looked like in Hawaii in
20 years what's going to be the ethnic balance. Will it be the same will it change. I think we're changing rapidly. I think that one of the things that we're doing is. Probably living up to a dream that was created into a Democratic position years ago in terms of trying to push the Jack Burns would Jack Burns used to call the melting pot of the Pacific the Golden Man of the Pacific idea of the ethnic groups of Hawaii are emerging in terms of intermarriage at higher rates. You know people that used to be separated and could be counted as one group years ago merged in terms of higher inner intermarriage. The other thing that's happening is that a new kind of culture is being born out of this. A friend of mine David Cleveland calls it island mainstream culture that is going to be based upon a series of shared values that are a merger of different kinds of ethnic processes that we've talked about but it hasn't really happened yet. Well we tied more to the mainland than we're doing at the present time in terms of being dependent in terms
of communications in terms of faster information flow Yes. And what about the Pacific Rim countries. I think that where we may be in a very good position is that Pacific Rim is sort of melting pot. Let me pick up on your questions Ramsey isn't it to go back to one of your earlier point isn't it the case that all ethnic groups are out marrying more than they're married now they're tending to marry outside their own ethnic group. Well that would mean that over 50 percent of the of any given ethnic group would be marrying. That is not true of all ethnic groups yet. But if we took the case of the Japanese of Hawaii a first generation immigrant group that married at out married in their East a generation at a rate of almost about three tenths of one percent of the second generation in terms of their children married out at a rate of about 16 percent of third generation the sons say generation that's here now is marrying out in terms of the female population at a rate close to about 46 percent and
males a little under that. So that by the time you go through the next generational phase you've got a merger of a culture of a people it usually takes as American sociologists believe a few generations for that merger to occur. And that's just the Japanese similar figures for other groups similar fingers are happening different kinds of mergers are happening than happened in the past. And so that I think that what we're looking at especially for Hawaiians who have always married out at a higher rate than they've married and almost since the 1920s. If there is a shared sort of value in orientation that value and orientation has to be looked at as a Hawaiian culture as a foundation as a bridge between all sorts of people that produces the kind of island mainstream value structure that we have right now. I think therefore I'd like to respond also to the other half of the question you ask him. I think that while our ties with the mainland will remain strong they will become
comparatively weakened as we strengthen ties with the other side of the Pacific. And I think that obviously our ties with Japan per se are increasing whereas the internal Japanese local population is becoming less politically and culturally important than it recently has our ties with Chinese cultures are going to grow greatly and in fact I have said I don't know whether Ramsey agrees that a lot of what we called the aloha spirit. But the real part of the aloha spirit is not only Hawaiian values but probably rural Japanese values and that as more and more Chinese come in who I don't think I would characterize as being characteristic of an Aloha spirit and their behavior that this will also change that spirit. And in a way that it was a very good idea that the legislature enacted the spirit into law because it's going to take the force of law rather than a cultural tradition to keep it alive.
I think the beautiful thing about Hawaii is it's a very humanizing place to live. Let's talk about employment the employment picture for the year 2000. Back in the 1960s the report was published out of UC Berkeley that said 20 percent of the population wanted to be working. By the 1990s that the other 80 percent would either either be unemployed or performing services for the 20 percent. How close are we to that scenario. I think we're absolutely right on to a movement towards that scenario. One of the things people ask me if I'm optimistic or pessimistic. One of the problems is that that sort of a statistic can be viewed either optimistically or pessimistically the optimistic scenario means that we have an opportunity through the artificial intelligence through robots through automated technologies which are progressively taking over human labor both mental as well as physical that this will give us free time to do other things. The pessimistic scenario is that's not the way we're approaching it. We
are generally ignoring it trying to pretend that the old economic structure is going to continue. And therefore when people are being laid off they find their lives destroyed without meaning. It's the most serious in my opinion most serious immediate problem before us. I see that from a little different perspective. For Hawaii to think in terms of leisure time for the majority of the population at this stage it is almost farcical because of the fact that we have an economy that since 1970 when one median income earner couldn't earn enough to support a family of four in this state. We moved to a point where it takes 2.5 median incomes are people working just over and the median income so that we have accelerated through economic pinches the demand for work in Hawaii there a lot of that is because of the service industry. Now I think the service industry that Burkley was thinking about is radically different than the service industry that we have evolved
in Hawaii whereby the majority of the jobs don't pay enough for people to be able to have that kind of leisure. I think that Hawaii is in many ways in many ways and this is just one a post-industrial society a society that is already feeling more acutely the sort of problems that are going to be faced everywhere in the world. One of the reasons why many of us here feel such psychological as well as physical distance from the mainland is that the mainland still can pretend to act as though the old industrial values are valid. But in Hawaii we are really sensitive to the cutting edge of what's happening elsewhere in the world. And so the sort of condition that Ramsey is describing is in my opinion a consequence of trying to continue to adhere to mainland old industrial values in a situation where the we have immensely rich people or immense riches that come in independent of our labor. And the
only jobs that are left for most people here are extremely low paying service jobs. So there's there's a tremendous crisis and challenge for our economic system and our economic fear retentions to find a method that will help us work now so that we can make it at all the 21st century. Well this brings us to the question of robots. What are robots going to do. Are they going to take over all our our entire lives. What jobs are they going to be performing. Are there any jobs that they cannot perform. And then I really want to talk about artificial intelligence because I think that is really going to go very closely together in order to answer the question about how far will robots go you have to answer the question how smart are they going to be and what sort of survival mechanisms What sort of ways of relating to each other and to us are they going to have. And so I personally assume the most either optimistic or pessimistic statements about artificial intelligence that they that
most of the intelligence that humans are asked to do at the present time is really low level intelligence. The sort of intelligence that a clerk or a bureaucrat or a university professor has to exhibit most of the time is very low level and could probably easily be taken over by robots now. But I think that we are going to have progressively more intelligent entities around in the foreseeable future. So to answer your question from one point of view there's absolutely nothing that humans do that robots or computers couldn't do. But I think that this the reason why I agree with this 20 percent figure is that there are some things that even though robots could do we would prefer to have humans do instead and a lot of them are the surface type activities we like to be waited on. We like to be pampered. We like to feel we're really something and that people are waiting on us. Well if we were to share equitably that obligation or that sense so that
this doesn't mean that 20 percent of the people have to serve 80 percent of the rest or vice versa. Could be in which 20 percent of your time either every year or over your life has to be spent in service to the community. Then I think it would be a completely different situation. But designing this possibility rather than just letting that happen is the only way the better scenario will turn out. Ramsey How do you see the robot impacting our lives. I think one of the major problems that we have especially here in Hawaii with this is that. It hasn't focused well enough in terms of what kinds of changes could occur for the average student that's in school today. The Department of Education has lost in time and space in trying to assume what kind of needs the future student will have in terms of their jobs their occupations and in terms of artificial intelligence. One of the things that if it does create more
leisure time we already have that in our students but we call it a cruise culture. And in the cruise culture what is basically occurring is that a lot of students have found that they have little expectation of having the kind of economic success that their parents had in terms of being able to have a home in Hawaii. And so that they instead have done with a lot of people have done in the past when they are faced with these kinds of crises. They've simply ignored it and rejected the cult the crises and done what feels good and what feels good is being with friends what feels good is going to the beach what feels good is hanging out. And so that the hey you know our future is not necessarily anything that's going to be a progressive one but is one that I think a lot of students are Claudian at this point. It is a response it's a very intelligent response to the economic and political insanities which is what I would characterize the president as mean for people who simply know that they're not going to be able to
find meaningful jobs in the current sort of a system. I think that in fact this is a good point to raise another question about art and culture. Right. Because the art of the cruise culture is deemed graffiti by other people. And I think this is a very serious question there. I don't really appreciate the way in which graffiti is being understood within our community now it's viewed as a an anti-social bad thing that should be stamped out. But it in my opinion. And it may have some elements of that but more than that it is an attempt at self-expression in a group of people that find no other way to have themselves identified publicly in the face of massive corporate attempts that put up gigantic buildings or enormous structures that say I am important I am here whereas the ordinary person doesn't have this opportunity. Graffiti is his opportunity. And as we try to eradicate it to wipe it out all we do is create more of it.
As near as I can see because then the importance of this act becomes clear upon the kids themselves. Hey this must really be something if everybody wants to get rid of it. Well you know talking about feeling important with 80 percent of the population without jobs. We're going to have to rethink the work ethic and once we do that we're also going to have to talk about redefining leisure time. We can go either way we can go constructive or destructive in this. How do you see this. And I think there's a problem in terms of redefining the work ethic and why one of the points that Jim brought up before is that a lot of the services that human beings like to have done what they would rather have done by people and robots at this point. And if we looked at the nature of where we're heading today in Hawaii our service industry service oriented tourism economy is going to produce a series of jobs much like the third world. And I think that one of the things that we have to figure out is whether or not we want to be a third world state in terms of the kinds of activities and the
kinds of potential that we have for our children or whether we even want to deal with a question like that as an industrialized third technically advanced well educated society and so far I think that we're caught at a crossroads and we're in kind of a dilemma as to just which direction we should be going in. Yeah I think that I would have to agree entirely with the point that Ramsey is making that the. It goes back to my statement about Hawaii being sort of the one of the first post-industrial societies feeling these problems more than than other people. I'm I'm not sure that until the educational system at all levels begins to look at these things we're talking about today until we have public discussion until people in their homes right now will begin to say well what are these things real what do they do for the sort of demands that I'm laying on the educational system. Now you see I think while the people who are on the board of education
and in the department are in my opinion fine well-meaning people the sort of policies that they're developing and the sort of education that they're trying to inculcate it is completely old fashioned. It is designed for yesterday's world their world which was a wonderful world. And I would like to keep it around but I just don't see it is happening. And so you have political issues political decisions that have to be made at the highest level that have to have public support in order to prevent the sort of activities that RAMSI is I think accurately describing. And I don't see that happening. Well our children really are the future. And so shouldn't we be training them for leisure time. Shouldn't we be educating them for the role they are going to be playing for instance. Isn't the role of the artist going to become even more important. I think children can teach us about leisure time and you can teach them. And I believe Ramsay's point a little earlier was in reaction to some of the things I was saying it is farcical at the present time to say that you don't need to
work because you most certainly do need a hard jobs that have to be done and it's the only. Well it's not the only way. It's one of the major ways in which purchasing power is made available to you. And so if we talk about one sort of a future in the context of the present then it becomes sort of ludicrous. But Jerry I'd like to add one other thing. I think we need to understand the extent to which we live in a feather bedded welfare state anyway the way in which most of us don't really earn our income the way in which there's a whole variety of people in a whole variety of ways in which we have deferred recognizing the fact that we don't need human labor now through welfare programs through military welfare programs. I consider military service to be a popular and acceptable alternative to welfare but it's welfare anyway. Too many sorts of dependencies such as lifelong student you can be a student
forever and therefore be poor. And through credit cards through indebtedness our nation is a gigantic welfare state because of its indebtedness to the future. It simply refuses to come to grips with the fact that we don't have the money because we don't have the jobs to pay the bills for all the things that are still being produced independent of our labor and that's going to get worse. Part of I think the problem that we're dealing with here is that if we're looking at technology and we're looking at the possibility of enhancing ourselves through the information society as one has been calling it that we have to also consider that the options that we're giving those who are going to be living the future more than us hopefully will be there for a while. Our number one a few will have the capability of both understanding the nature of the technology and of the into in the artificial intelligence systems and controlling and manipulating some will understand the technology but will be indifferent to it in terms of the
process and a great many people within the society are because of class structure because of cultural problems because of a lack of understanding of how important this is our being shut out in a very basic level. And so these are going to be the new Have Nots of our society those who are unable to access themselves to the information systems and to somehow be creative in the process themselves. I think that's a bad key point right because now we're going to talk about the fact in a very short time we have left is what are we going to do with that energy. It seems to me that somewhere in that energy if it could be directed in a constructive way rather than if we don't want Clockwork Orange of course. The role of the artist becomes very important here and how we use use leisure time. Are we going to go to symphonies write more music paint more art. What are we going to do. Well let's get back to the educational system in relationship to that. There again I feel is where our educational priorities are wrong at the present time. How are we suddenly
going to learn to be aesthetically oriented if this has always been trivialized in our educational system. If our personal attempts to be aesthetically appropriate are judged graffiti by other people I don't think that anything that is happening at the present time or much that is happening at the present time encourages young people to understand the importance of aesthetic expression and how gaining that and developing it is one of the most important skills for the future. What would you gentlemen say then that is going to be the single most important change that we're going to have to deal with. Well the single most important change from my point of view is we either have to come to grips with these problems and take control over the future or the winds and tides of change are simply going to wash over us and overwhelm us. Absolutely. Ramsey for a while I think it's making a choice a choice between either going with whatever flow others decide for us from the outside or trying to be much more self-reliant in our decision making and innovative in terms of how we deal with the problems that we have today.
You know I think Hawaii is going to play a big role in the future because I think we we have we have a natural kind of a laid back thing here that is instead of we're going with technology actually we're going to make it human. And I think that that's going to be a big plus for Hawaii if any place in the world. In Hawaii you can I hope it will. Really. We're going to. Thank you so much we could go on for another half an hour. But I want to thank you gentlemen both for really giving us a look into the future and what's going to happen into the 21st century. And I'd like to thank you our viewers for joining us for spectrum Hawaii. Jerry lanch. Spectrum was funded in part by grants from the people of Chevron in
Hawaii and the Hawaii State foundation on culture and the arts. Passing of the head.
Of. The following program is a production of key HGT in Honolulu Hawaii Public Television the following program has been funded in part by grants from the Hawaii State foundation on culture in the arts and the people of Chevron in Hawaii. Have a cooler is the northeast section of the big island of Hawaii.
Along a 50 mile stretch of land between Hilo and wide appeal the beauty of nature is everywhere. Timeless or rain forests and waterfalls that cling to M-O plants. The rugged coastal terrain abruptly. To see. Breathtaking white Piel Valley is the northernmost border of the hamlet district for six miles. Lush way below stretches from the mountain to the sea bounded by massive cliffs. It is a secluded haven of taro farms and wildlife in the valley. The source of life. Fresh. Water. Overflows. Replenished by abundant rainfall. Once the home of Hawaiian kings. Now why peel Valley is the home of Keo Fronde and others like him tenaciously strive to preserve the Hawaiian lifestyle and culture. Feel what was first settled around eleven hundred maybe.
Shortly after the population exceeded a thousand that 5000 and some historians even say 10000 people. Want to live to fight. The Valley. Is also known as the Valley of the Cape. Some of. The. Royalty had really cheap white people are. Ha. The law I'll call me and of course one of the most famous one was coming home. My grandfather lived here the latter 1930 up to 1957. Traveled this footpath. Either by walking or riding his horse and mule. The mules. Were the main vehicle to transport schürrle up the valley. The valley floor is fairly flat. And the valley floor is very very
rich in natural nutrients. This is why. The Hawaiians. Wanted wipe your valley to raise sterile. Water was in abundance. White people were supplied by five major Springs. And the major Springs and the tributaries and Burgett one river called the White River and the wild river curves through the valley is where white people gets it. The white people mean Hurby water. In 1946. April 1. Disaster struck white. And with that tidal wave. Or tsunami. That's not the ones that made it to be high. And. Came in to bite you all by hitting the sea wall first. Ricocheted off the wall. He came around towards the Red House
that is situated in the middle of the valley next to the river. From there he came back out. That was the third wave and the third wave was one of the highest. Surprisingly no one was killed. A lot of people were thrown around. But by the third wave we had enough time to your dog people whatever. You. Think. Is. Wrong. With you is you can't describe it. I can tell you about it. But most people have to experience it. It's a. It's a spiritual place. But if you come to terms with people that. Want to know exactly how it's like. The only thing I could think of is stressless. It is. Peace within the heart especially and the Mind. Because we need here. The reason why I am here is. Because I think of. My background. Where I'm from.
And. Terrell is. A definite culture. And that's what I'd like to continue to. Tell the children. I've already done that and I thank all. The Hawaiians who were brought up. About. Terrell farming. What kind of Terrel. And the importance of the water. It's it's like the tree that goes through the body. The. Blood stops. And. Then you have. A. Heart attack. It's the same way with Tarot. They stop the water it goes into the towel patch. Then you won't be as good. A lot of them die. And this is what I try to convey and that is my main reason why I keep the top hatch open for the children of tomorrow. Need it most likely. That's. What's so. You know not only is the door.
Open. Open or somebody else open sores. I just. So the easier it is. The first guys who. Did this before. All right. Stay on top. Love it and I love it. This is where I was born in 1932. I'm here. But in a smaller house after I was eight years old my house was built this house was built. Then I would move with my grandparents on the father's side of the valley to the bottom or maybe fall what we call maybe this particular area has a name. It's one village in ype you a valley which we call a pool and a waterfall on our right. It's named after a boy from this valley. He's part of the valley. The waterfall.
It's named after a. Gal that came from gold. Her name was lovely. So all these wallboard waterfall is named. We love. My grandfather's name was Sam Alito. He grew up here in this valley. And he was a. Composer that reads a lot of Hawaiian music about the valley. And he composed this song. In the 18:00. Sugar was king. Waves of laborers entered a school district. Two were. Ethnic groups such as the Chinese Portuguese Japanese and Filipinos. With surges of unpredictable market demands and flattery. Prices However the sugar industry began to decline. Sugar mills closed leading laborers unemployed and nearby plantation town. Bad.
Ground there's been tremendous changes in this. In this business since I've been associated with it. Most of the cane was still cut by hand when I first came here. And in a lot of the field operations were still by live gangs. This has been completely changed. And we're a highly mechanized. Operation. I think that there's been tremendous technology technological changes during this period. And I think probably right now we're doing more more in this area of improving operations technological improvements. Than at any time in my whole career. I find it a most exciting time. Today the sugar company survives owner Francis Morgan purchased the 35 mile plantation and the flailing chigger operation has been resurrected.
Well it was a it was a major gamble buying this thing. A lot of people wondered why did it. I was reaching retirement age. I had developed enough assets to live easily and comfortably for the rest of my life. And However it appeared to me that if it stayed in the hands of the farm owners that there was a sizeable chance that within the near-term future would be shut down because it really didn't fit their overall strategy. So I liquidated all the assets develop. I bought the place and in doing so incurred a major debt which I am so damn good. And so I really took everything I have into this thing and also. Committed my future to. A lot of people thought this was foolhardy. But
I felt that this is a way I can make a major contribution not only for this company and the people that live here and work here and depend upon it but the economy of the state. Enough I felt I could make this kind of a contra contribution during my lifetime that it would have been well worth it. Kamakura sugar company like the rest of the domestic U.S. sugar producers has been set by a very difficult situation in the past decade. We have been forced to compete with heavily subsidized foreign producers. We have lacked an adequate price support mechanism and it's become necessary to reduce our costs. We developed five years ago a very comprehensive program designed to get our costs down to a level where we could compete even with the lowest cost subsidize foreign producers. Part of our program was diversifying our activities to generate revenue from other sources which were synergistic with and compatible to the basic
operation. The most significant of these has come on stream is our beef cattle operation. There were some advantages we had which could be duplicated by other processors of cattle in the state. The. Hawaii cattle industry has been in very difficult condition to get adequate returns. And we felt getting into the business would accomplish three things. We could increase the return pay the local ranchers for their cattle thus ensuring their viability. That we could produce a quality product which would compete effectively with mainland beef and that we could provide an adequate return to the company. As such. We invested four and a half million dollars in a cattle feed lot and a cattle slaughter processing plant. Youve got about 60 five hundred head of cattle in the feed yard now we bring them in weigh in six and a half to 700 pounds and we'll take them up to around 11 hundred pounds fab and
which is 120 to 150 days depending on what their weight is. And from there they'll go to slaughter down the back and. Some of the other. Things we're looking to and in. Terms of future diversification is producing higher value products for molasses. We have commissioned. Batayle Pacific Northwest laboratories to examine possibilities for us. They've identified several products which could be produced from and using fermentation and dehydration technology. One in particular is very attractive it's a high value industrial compound. Which we are in the process of patenting. And once we get a patent I think that we can market this product through some of the large chemical companies and that could produce a lot of median income for the company. Well the Hamacher coast is I've been extremely familiar with it for for oh 45 years
and and during this whole time the general complection has not changed much. It's basically been sugarcane. The method of doing the work is change and all that. And I I visualize for the future it'll continue to be basically a sugar cane operation. We will continue to develop technology. I think in this process the the jobs the quality of the jobs you will have will continue to increase because some of these new projects we're doing require higher and higher technical knowledge and it's a very diversified business and therefore there is a wide range of jobs and in the end needing not only technology but the business judgment and accurate. And so as I said I see basically to continue the same outward appearance and all that. But with the gradually increasing
technology and job satisfaction. Satisfaction. Many of the neighbors retired to enjoy the good life in Kamakura during his free time. Retired sugar plantation worker noti Green who is a master weaver and instructor in the art of coconut leaf leafy things like them over here and in 1940 shakes how why was just Imperatori and then I work up a half allow sugar plantation for 29 years. I like very much. Because it's different and you can make your garden or anything you can make a chicken coop behind your house. Now at this time I'm going to show you how to make a coconut patch with this live to you
do get it all. Yeah I should that Mei's. Many talented artists and musicians also live in the Kamakura district fueled by the beauty of Hobba landscape creative expression rhymes. With the backdrop of a rain forest and a glimpse of the sea. Local musicians of the group Jazz are here with their music. But. It's. Not.
An. All. In. Sight. Gordon serranos craftsman architecture architect Laura Lewis textile fabric art designer create works of art in quiet where they live. Before I started painting I used to do sewing. With all kinds of fabrics I used to do kind of a fabric collage and. I became
interested in the. Techniques used to decorate the fabrics especially Japanese fabrics. They're so beautiful in the way that they were decorated and at that time there was very little information available about the techniques that were used. So I started to. Seek information about. The different styles of painting that the Japanese used and the different techniques used in dying or working on souq is very much of a pleasure because it takes the to die so well and the colors. Are very. Very true and shimmering. It's very light to work with. It only takes a light touch and sometimes it's like a painting with a
feather almost. Well this is my sketchbook. And. A lot of times when I'm doing the design it's so. Very improvised even though I have. Drawings to work from it becomes very different when you're dealing with a large scale of two or three yards of fabric. I keep in mind certain elements that I'd like to use certain design elements and. I improvise from there as to what other lines I'll be using in the design. My work is quite recognizable by the what might be called a flamboyant glaze. It's a combination of scenic painting and Japanese brush painting. It's you don't find a true image there as you would
paint on canvas. The glazes of course are not accurate color that you see before they're fired so it's more of an impression. Or a dream or a reflection on the imagination that comes through in the imagery or you know it is a real quiet out-of-the-way peaceful place and. That allows an artist to develop. His own style without the trappings of. The competition. Environment here is so inspiring. I wake up every day and handing on the weather. Do what you have to do. It's fine. That's what you do that day. If it's rainy and cloudy and can do anything else go work in studio. You know I was. Just 11 I. Took our lessons from a lady in
Hilo Yamamoto. Her influence was one of the more lasting influences in my artistic endeavors. When I went to California I studied architecture Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and that's an experience that I really cherish. I'll never forget. And of course I'll carry with me all my life. A few of our neighbors Eric and Hilary Gunther who are successful orchestrators and would creators. Ourselves called Forest orchards and the reason we call ourselves that is because we have heard about 2500 feet elevation. And we get lots of afternoons with a crowd coming. Clouds come in and. There's a type of terrain in South and Central America. It's called cloud forest conditions which is what we have and that enables us to grow a complete variety of these orchids. These are all hybrids which have been hybridized from the original species starting
in about 1850 people from England went to Central and South American strategy markets and then they. Started making hybrids between the different plants and these are maybe 20 or 30 generations later approximately 25000 naturally occurring. Orchid species in the world. I believer in one of the largest families in the world. From those 25000 species the hybridise has occurred at probably a quarter of a million. Which have actually been registered. A rural Horticultural Society in London. And that's the fun of arguing is to raise them up and see what you're going to get. With different types of wood gathered from nearby forests. The Gunther's perfect wooden increase that making. Process passed on to them by Hillarys father. What makes this bracelet special is that we are making them in a laminated process which is similar to plywood and that it has three layers that
we glued together with epoxy and that makes it possible to make this brace it's very thin and very strong. That's different from the usual wouldn't buy a that you say because usually a wooden bracelet is carved on a lathe of a solid piece of wood and therefore it has inherent weaknesses. But when you laminate the ones you can cut it down to an extremely thin bracelet which makes it real pretty and fine. My father who lived in one may discover it and now work through this process himself over a period of years and was very proud of the fact that he had invented this process and we were very fortunate that he passes on to us and now we're carrying on for him. A town that actually began to get back to the plantations coming soon. It was splendid. The. Nail was put in at that time. So. I. Guess. Structure than that. At that time like all the time patients holding the glass on the cliffs to the Japanese
and those predominate. Portuguese to the south Florida commercial Portuguese area. We have lots of Portuguese culture. In this community and the culture cace is a call that somebody is talking to go to a public function say something alone or something like that is a type of dancing for them to come along to some samba but he gets to dance and they have a good time. Doing this. This.
Is a song that I fear from my heart because I was clear about that here at the Hanako credit union. We had a splendid opportunity to take €100 department store and district it down to basics and to. Do what you see right now when we did a historical preservation the outside and inside it's adaptive reuse. So we picked up some of the items from that period. We had the oak floors if you notice that. And the teller windows had a great song and it's just a kind. Give it a period after that everything is functional everything is
done to make it very functional for us. But on the outside we're very very concerned about and we can go into the building. Oh it's a great time to move in. It's very active of there's an awful lot of activities to go on like. This movie with my family. There's never a dull moment. We're always involved with one thing or the other. There's lots of activities in the community and cohesiveness amongst the people here. And just recently we had a group that began to have classes and training. These girls have gone to court to come back with costumes and things and they find themselves. In this. District.
Actually in smaller. Places like corner and white peel Valley look and feel much as they have for generations as the people of Hama who will continue to play the rich traditions of their past with the future where he will be trouble when the lead up to that goal. No no no. Do you know more helpful here. No more routine. I need to. I need be. How do you feel. Well no leader of the only
me. And you say. Ah. Ah. All the spectrum was funded in part by grants from the people of Chevron in Hawaii and the Hawaii State foundation on culture and the arts
Series
Spectrum Hawaii
Episode Number
507
Episode Number
508
Episode
Gerri Lange Interviews: Jim Dator & Ramsey Pedersen
Episode
Hamakua
Producing Organization
KHET
PBS Hawaii
Contributing Organization
PBS Hawaii (Honolulu, Hawaii)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/225-149p8fr1
If you have more information about this item than what is given here, or if you have concerns about this record, we want to know! Contact us, indicating the AAPB ID (cpb-aacip/225-149p8fr1).
Description
Episode Description
In episode 507, host, Gerri Lange interviews University of Hawaii professor, Jim Dator, and Honolulu Community College Chairman of the Social Science Department, Ramsey Pedersen about the future of life and art in Hawaii. They discuss how the future will affect jobs, culture, arts, media, and leisure time. Episode 508 explores Hamakua, the northwest section of Hawaii and talks about the economic and cultural history of the island and interviews several people about their life in Hamakua. Kia Fronda talks about his family history, his attempt to preserve the Hawaiian way of life, and his taro farm. Francis Morgan, owner of the Hamakua Sugar Company, talks about how he purchased the company to save it and shows some of the ways he is increasing profit. Several artist talks about their process and display their work.
Episode Description
This item is part of the Pacific Islanders section of the AAPI special collection.
Created Date
1987-04-15
Created Date
1987-05-05
Asset type
Episode
Genres
Documentary
Interview
Topics
Economics
History
Local Communities
Fine Arts
Technology
Nature
Employment
Rights
A Production of Hawaii Public Television. Copyright 1987. All rights reserved
Media type
Moving Image
Duration
00:58:52
Embed Code
Copy and paste this HTML to include AAPB content on your blog or webpage.
Credits
Executive Producer: Martin, Ninio J.
Guest: Dator, Jim
Guest: Pedersen, Ramsay
Host: Lange, Gerri
Interviewee: Fronda, Kia
Interviewee: Kaliahi, Charles
Interviewee: Loo, Kelly
Interviewee: Morgan, Francis
Interviewee: Poppe, J. A.
Interviewee: Switzer, Stan
Interviewee: Reyno, Lody
Interviewee: Motta, Fordon
Interviewee: Lewis, Laura
Interviewee: Gunther, Erik
Interviewee: Gunther, Hillary
Interviewee: Mendes, Katherine
Narrator: Scott, Ted
Performer: Jazz Arts
Performer: Honokaa Playboys
Performer: O Povo Das Llhas Dancers
Producer: Wilson, Philip A.
Producing Organization: KHET
Producing Organization: PBS Hawaii
AAPB Contributor Holdings
PBS Hawaii (KHET)
Identifier: 1569.0 (KHET)
Format: Betacam SX
Generation: Dub
Duration: 01:00:00?
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Citations
Chicago: “Spectrum Hawaii; Gerri Lange Interviews: Jim Dator & Ramsey Pedersen; Hamakua,” 1987-04-15, PBS Hawaii, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed March 29, 2024, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-225-149p8fr1.
MLA: “Spectrum Hawaii; Gerri Lange Interviews: Jim Dator & Ramsey Pedersen; Hamakua.” 1987-04-15. PBS Hawaii, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. March 29, 2024. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-225-149p8fr1>.
APA: Spectrum Hawaii; Gerri Lange Interviews: Jim Dator & Ramsey Pedersen; Hamakua. Boston, MA: PBS Hawaii, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-225-149p8fr1