Honolulu AIDS Walk

Recently the 19th Annual AIDS Walk was held by the Kapiolani Park in Waikiki. The event was organized by the Life Foundation and was actually headed by a student from HPU. Liaanne Devi Choo who is a AD/PR major was involved with the foundation as she was interning for the Life Foundation. The event raised the most it has had in 19 years with funds well over $165,000 and that number is still rising as they still have donations coming in.

The event was joined by more than 4000 participants and had more than 200 volunteers which a lot of came proudly from HPU. The walk was a 3 mile walk around the park and was participated by teams and individual walkers. People came dressed up in drag, tie-dye tshirts and many other interesting outifts in order to make their teams stand out.

It is estimated that 3,000 people in Hawaii are living with HIV or AIDS. Approximately 40,000 new HIV infections occur each year in the United States - half of these among individuals under the age of 25

Top prizes at the Honolulu AIDS Walk were awarded to:

1st Place Fundraisers: Harry Byerly and Dwayne Takeno

2nd Place Fundraiser: Elijah Jacobson

3rd Place Fundraiser: Dean Calistro

Best Team Costume: Gaga for a Cure

Top Online Fundraiser: Robin Pacson

Top Fundraising Team: Just Do It

Top Fundraising High School Team: Mid-Pac

Matt Boo Live

Well it's been awhile since i took the stage and i decided to showcase some of the music i have written. I will be performing on an open mic set in Snappers Sports bar lounge 1778 ala moana blvd.unit LL12 honolulu, hi 96815. It's below the Buffola Wild Wings in the Discovery Bay centre. It will be sort of a comedy musical so for those of you who haev the time feel free to drop by. Maybe you can blog about it.

Prison Monologues

I recently attended the Prison Monologues as a part of my internship. The Prison Monologues is part of a creative writing class in the Women's Community Correction Center that allows inmates to showcase their writings to students at high schools.

The program is a highly emotional performance where the inmates get to talk about their lives and the objective of it is to motivate problematic students down the right path and to make better choices for themselves.

First one of the 5 women opens up with saying "I remember as a little girl looking at a balloon tied to my hand, without a worry in the world. Now i wake up to a confined wall and life has turned out so differently for me".

Another inmate relates on her accounts with drugs and how it has ruined her life and her relationship with her daughter. She relates a story about her daughter who sent her a letter saying how much her mother has let her down and only wants to connect when she gets caught be the police everytime.

One woman who was 53 years old accounted how she was "raped by my own father, molested and gang banged beofre the age of 16 and I used drugs to cope with all my problems". She then relates how there were other more positive ways to dealing with the issues and the people who hurt her are free while she victimized herself and ended up in jail.

There was a surprise performance by a former inmate who was released from prison recently and flew in from the Big Island to relate her story. She had been drunk driving and hit into an oncoming car and had killed the passenger in that vehicle.

All the accounts were told to the family court which is a program that minors who are running into trouble with the law such as running away from home, truancy and other minor offences. Nonetheless it seemed to be effective because there were a lot of tears that were shared hearing the accounts of some of the inmates and how they live their lives out in prison. Some had been there for 10 or more years but were allowed to join the program because they were non-violent offenders and also had good behaviour during their stays so far in prison.

Take a Leak.

I recently heard of wikileak.org, an organization which is "A place for journalists, truth tellers, and whistle blowers to leak (publish) personal accounts and evidence of injustice or illegal activity completely anonymously, ..."

Now what made this website so interesting was that it had obtained a decrypted video of the slaying of 12 dozen Iraqi civilians by a U.S air support. 2 Reuters reporters were also killed on the scene. The video is a lengthy one but it is well worth the time to check out. I do warn you that it is a bit graphic. It seems the chopper gunner is having a field day going to town on the civilians with his 50 caliber bullets.

I have always known that in a war there will always be civilian casualties but i am lost for words after seeing the video myself. Normally i write quite lengthy blogs but can't find the right mindset to continue to write this blog.

One point i must bring up though is that at some part of the video you will see that the air support continues to shoot at the people who are down. According to the Geneva convention for the rules of engagement i have found that once a perceived target is down and can no longer fight he is no longer a target and is protected by the Geneva convention. The person must then be provided with the proper medical care and be treated humanely. Before i say anything judgmental i must stop myself. It is up to you to decide for yourself what is right or wrong and whether the actions were justified and on top of everything necessary.

Wikileaks needs donations to continue running so if you have a bunch of dollars lying around try to donate to them but it's no pressure for broke college students to try to keep them running ok.


i wish i had more things that were funny to say and put one or two insensitive comments to make light of the situation but i really can't but for the sake of the booze blog tradition i leave you with this:

"Confucius he say: War does not determine who is right. War determines who is left".

peace,
boo

Gigapanties

Me and Chris had scheduled unknowingly our Gigapan shoot on our spring break. The shock on our faces when we looked at each other as Prof. Britos reminded us of it. We didn't want to spend our spring break doing any schoolwork or any work for that matter.

Prof. Britos i had suggested a bunch of different places to Prof. Britos such as the my friends place that over Paololo Valley which overlooked the the views of Waikiki and the ocean something that was overdone many times before and i had also suggested the Pali lookout which was a bit of a hike. Me and Chris didn't really feel like a hike so i had suggested that we do the view of the Ala Wai taking the pictures from the McCully brigde because it had not been done before. Me and Chris agreed it was a great idea.

So we set up to meet our teacher in school. To our surprise the professor was dressed to hike the Pali with a water bottle, hiking shoes and all. I assumed there was some sort of miscommunication because we were dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. I still think that the professor did it on purpose so that we would take pictures of the Pali instead. He agreed to look at the Ala Wai to see if we could shoot it there. I thought for sure we were going to shoot the Ala Wai. As soon as we got to the Ala Wai the professor said no it's not going to work. "Go get your stuff. We're going to the Pali". Me and Chris stared blankly at each other. Hung over and disorientated we were sure we would die on the treacherous 10 minute hike up the Pali. Heavy heartedly we changed into our hiking gear. We droved to the Pali in his black pimping BMW 5 series with a choice of a bad pop radio station.

We got to the Pali and thank god we saw that it was cloudy. So there was no real point of climbing all the way up. Anyway below the Pali it was windy and me and Chris(who both hate cold weather) were freezing our balls off. I couldn't imagine how cold it would be up there. So we started off setting up the camera following his instructions closely. We put his camera on and started to configure the gigapan unit. We picked our highest point and our lowest point. The gigapan showed us that we need 1120 pictures to be taken. While we waited for the pictures to be taken the professor told us about the gigapan project. Interestingly it involved a lot of high profile organizations such as Nasa, National Geographic and Google. He told us that he had been invited by Gigapan.org and they gave the beta unit to him. He decided to get HPU involved and made it apart of his class curriculum.

I was surprised to see what a huge project this was before this i had just taken this project pretty lightly because really i didn't think anyone would care. As he gave us further information especially on the future uses of our projects i began to be more interested. The HPU gigapan pictures that we took are also going to be featured in a our media festivals and will be printed our as artwork. I felt a little remorse on not taking this more seriously but felt better that we had chosen to go up to the Pali.

The Britos also gave us a brief history of the Pali to keep us from getting bored. The Great Battle of Nu'uanu had taken place there. It was the bloodiest battle of Hawaii where Kamehameha 1 had taken over the island of Oahu. The King's opposition, some 400 of them were driven off the ridge to their painful deaths. After story time Britos sent us away to do some fieldwork. When we came back he told us that an undercover policeman talked to him and said he was there looking for robbers. At least we know the cops are doing their jobs because our friend's car was broken into the day before. Britos also told us the police officer told him an old man of about 80 fell to his death trying to get his hat that was blew off in the wind. There is a lesson here people. Buy a new hat. Even in the old man's death other people had to risk their lives as the fireman had to hike and recover his body something that was not as easy to do in that given terrain.

We had a hitch at the last part of the gigapan shoot when the camera got stuck but Britos went back and adjusted it. He told us that a program would stitch all the photos together and give us one large picture. Me and Chris had a lot of fun that day and were glad we put in a bit more effort into this project. I also am thankful that Britos took time out of his spring break as well to help us out with the project.

At the end our picture looks pretty good when compared to Annabelle's "Nuclear Holocaust Makapuu" and that our gigapan picture ended up in the top 10 surprisingly.

Media Freedom and Journalistic Ethics

As a mock-reporter. I feel it is especially important for me to talk about what is important for me as a mock-journalist. Hopefully people who do end up in the journalism industry will be able to take this with them into the field.

First let us get to media freedom. A country that enjoys this freedom is of course the United States of America. Beautiful. Now we need something on the opposite side of the continuum which for the purpose of this exercise we will use Russia. Now let us discuss Russia.Russia has all kinds of laws and bureaucracy to silence it's media. According to the the International Press Institute Russia is one of the most dangerous countries for journalists. Vladimir Putin to me is a gangster. Just how all politicians are. He is the scum of society. You might say that i am a bit conceded but it takes one scum of society to know the other. Here's why. Anna Politkovskaya. Does her name ring a bell? It might not. Anna was a journalist in Russia and a human rights activist as well. She was born on the 30th of August 1958 and passed away on the 7th of October 2006. I don't know which was her cause of death. 2 bullets to the chest or the bullet in her shoulder or the bullet in her head all at point blank range in an elevator.

Now she isn't the only case in Russia. Vladamir Putin has reportedly said to be responsible for over 27 deaths of journalists in his country. All of them were critics of his administration. It is said a further 200 deaths are connected with the Russian government. Talk about not being able to take criticism well. Putin goes out and gives his speeches and vows to find the killers responsible but all of these murders go unsolved. Anna Politkovskaya's murderers were acquitted. I could go on forever on the Russian governments misdoings but it would take me eons. I want to get to the important part of this blog which is media freedom.

The media is the protector of the people and not to mention important for the development of a nation. If a journalist cannot talk about the misdeeds of a a certain administration, how will the country ever progress. If we silence things like corruption there is no moving forward. Media freedom would mean that the government would always be in check and do what they are supposed to be doing, which is provide a better tomorrow for it's people.

Now let me get to the United States. The United States is a country that prides themselves on media freedom on the basis of freedom of speech. Freedom of speech is beautiful but Americans do not appreciate it and sometimes it is abused. Freedom of speech also allows people to say rather unintelligent things and getting away with it. I want to talk about how this freedom of speech in the media is abused. The best example i can think about is FOX News. I have been following FOX News for sometime now and am enraged to find that a lot of things they say have got nothing to do with protecting the people but rather protecting their interests. FOX represents the interest of conservative republicans and will say anything to bring the democrats down. They do not report on news but provide commentary and opinions to mislead the people. Often they distort the truth and even sometimes lie.

Personally i feel that no news organization should have anyone's side. I know it is difficult but news reporters and agencies need to remember they have a duty to their people and their country. It is not about politics. It is about the plain truth delivered in an objective way. It is about the news not about what you think the news is. Which brings me to my next point which is journalistic ethics.

Journalistic ethics is about delivering the truth. Well in plain English be ethical. Journalists should not serve the interests of anyone but the people. With transparency about the truth can one's nation move forward. Journalistic ethics is not about just showing terrorist killing people but rather showing military killing innocent civilians as well. There can be no side.

The U.S has great potential to lead the world but the country remains divided all the time. Fox News often bashes the Obama Administration for no good reason but because people mistake them for telling the truth often they do not want to support anything the democratic government wants to do even if it is for good. Journalists should not spin the truth. Obama should take a few pointers from Putin about dealing with his critics. Seriously.

In conclusion i feel that we need to find a balance between the two examples given.
One is that we need to protect our journalists when they are doing their jobs and give them media freedom but laws need to be set up so that this freedom is not abused. For example you may allow someone freedom of speech but you must have laws set up so that if he uses that freedom of speech to incite racial hate he may be punished. The same can be done with journalistic freedom because as Fox News has shown us that we can't really trust journalists to be ethical or uphold journalistic integrity. Two news organizations that i respect who have are fearless are the BBC News and Al-Jazeera(English) organizations. I do however hope that the future journalist who read this find themselves to be less of Glenn Beck(FOX News) and have more of Anna Politkovskaya fearlessness in them.

In loving memory of Anna Politkovskaya (30th August 1958 - 7th October 2006)

The Soul-o Eurotrip

I'm graduating in Fall. I still haven't figured out what i want to do with my life. I've decided to take a trip of self discovery by myself. Do a bit of soul-searching. Spend some time alone deep in my dirty thoughts. So I'm planning on heading out to Europe during the summer. I've had so much motherlovin trouble planning the trip so hopefully when you plan you're trip it's a bit easier for you guys. It's going to need to be as cheap as possible as the euro is ridiculously strong at the moment so i'm going to skip all the 5 star hotels and leave that for my trip to more war torn- poverty stricken countries.(thumbs up for poverty)

Tip 1: Traveling
Book everything you can now. Don't wait till you get there. This will help avoid the fluctuating currency exchange from getting to you. I'm going to need to book my flight ticket and rail passes from over here where it's counted in U.S dollars instead of the god-damned Euro. Also remember to pack just one suitcase because you can get onto most transportation with just one suitcase instead of two. I know it's hard ladies but you don't need one suitcase for your clothes and another to pack that fat arse of yours. Pun intended. Remember airlines will also charge you extra for that heavy arse of yours. Ok i'll stop. No really. I'll stop. Also check out travel agencies as they sometimes have good deals but the best way i have found is to book your tickets online and eliminate the middle man altogether.

Tip 2: Housing
Youth hostels are a great way to save money with price ranges from 15-20 Euros. You might have to share a bath and by that i mean a few rooms share a bathroom not you and a beautiful eastern european girl sharing a bath although it's not as bad as it seems. Youth hostels also have kitchens for you to cook and are rather clean and well kept. I'm used to having certain luxuries in life and i am willing to trade them off for a taste of what life is without a private room, room service, and get rid of my rather pricey eating out habits to trade for 3 months of dollar menus and ramen noodles. Staying with friends also help. Studying in HPU has helped me make friends from all over the world which means saving a lot of money on hotels in the future. Summer i found is a horrible time to travel as a lot of people LEAVE to have their own holidays.Another interesting way of living is via couchsurfing.com which is a website that allows people from all over the world to host guests on the couches of their homes. This method is also free.

Tip 3: Choosing your locations.
I've chosen my locations according to where i know people. An ex-girlfriend has told me i could stay with her in Brussels, Belgium(i know i'm not going to be staying without having to give a few favors) Other ex's refuse to talk to me(i wonder why). One of my close guy buddies lives in Paris the weird thing is he said i can sleep with him in his bed(must be a French thing, again i'm sure i have to give a few favors). I will also be staying with a friend in Amsterdam. How could one think of visiting Europe without making a stop at the Mecca of Hash Brownies? Because i have NOTHING to my name i will also need to go to the cheaper side of Europe. Some countries i have researched have not adopted the Euro such as Croatia which US $1=5.14 Krunas which means i will live like a King and Czech Republic which US $1=about 18 Koruna which means i will live like a God. I might not need to pack underwear to the Czech republic as i can probably employ people to hold my balls for me. I'm going to end my trip probably in Italy. I would love to see Rome and Venice to top my trip of with a cherry. I have avoided going to London even though i want to party there so bad as the British Pound will pound my wallet to kingdom come. I'm also going to be terrorizing Germany. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Tip 4: Transportation
An open jaw ticket is a ticket where you fly into one country and leave from another. This will save you money and time on traveling back into the original country you came from. The Eurorail which connects most countries is a cheap way of travelling across Europe. The price ranges are from 300-500 USD which can bring you from 2-5 countries. The only problem with this rubbish system is that it connects you to 5 neighboring countries only. So you have to plan your trip around five neighboring countries. What a BS system. The rail isn't so affordable and the prices quoted are already with youth discounts. A good way is to go by bus i have found it adds about 4 hours more on your trip but beggars can't be choosers. Flights within Europe are also quite affordable when compared to the rail system but the thing is they get canceled if the seats don't get filled up. Renting a car is a breeze but i'm not sure of the cost because you have to pay for gas and insurance not ideal.

Tip 5: Eating
Europeans have great specials i have learned at lunch. You can get big meals for less than 10 euros at lunch where the specials are at. Another life saver for me would be good old healthy MCDONALDS i just need to eat to survive really not for taste. I also cook a great Ramen with my secret ingredient which is EGG. Jamie Oliver would be proud and Gordon Ramsey(the potty-mouth Chef of Hell's Kitchen) would commend me.

Tip 6: Save some money here and there
Being Asian i can't help but try to save some money here and there. I found helpful tips are to stay in touch via e-mail and chat rather than calling. Taking out a bigger sum of money is will also help you save money as the banks not only charge an ATM fee but a currency converting fee each time you make a transaction. Remember to notify your bankruptcy mongers i mean credit card companies to notify them that you will be abroad or they will freeze your card which you may need in emergency situations.

I hope that my trip goes well and that i don't get sold into the eastern European sex trade. Wait what am i saying? i do hope i get trafficked. This time i get to spend alone and broaden my horizons will hopefully give me some time to figure what my next steps in life are.