Back in the Day - Big Mele Hawaii

YouTube Video by JonHawaii2003 Tool - Cold and Ugly live 1993.

The Big Mele took place in Hawaii at Kualoa Ranch which faced scenic "China Man's Hat" in the beautiful backdrop of paradise. The outdoor festival took place from sunrise into the starry nights from 1993 till 1999. The music genre was: grunge, hip hop, punk, dance hall and rock provided by Goldenvoice and other sponsors such as T&C Surf and Streets of Madness, where I worked as a teenager at the time. As far as I can remember, the festival also included food, piercing, tattoo artist and much more vendors. I really wish I had taken pictures of this memorable time for many of my generation's high life living on the rock. The Mele's were always hot, dusty and outright bitchin'. People would all gather to watch their favorite bands under the Hawaiian sun; enjoying good music, friends and people watching. Along with the music of the time period, skateboarders were on a ramp skating to live performances by:

• 1993 (Inaugural): The Violent Femmes, Stone Temple Pilots, Tool, Fishbone and Primus
• 1994: Porno for Pyros, Blind Melon, Social Distortion, Chokebore, NOFX
• 1995: Tool (Canceled and mocked), Rancid, Down By Law, Face to Face, Guttermouth
• 1996: Cypress Hill, Presidents of the United States, No Doubt, Dance Hall Crashers, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Dishwalla, and CIV
• 1997: Wu-Tang Clan, 311, NoFX, Save Ferris, and Incubus
• 1998: Matchbox 20, Blink-182, Candlebox, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Homegrown, and the Long Beach Dub Allstars
• 1999: The Offspring, Bad Religion, Fun Lovin' Criminals, The Vandals, NOFX (surprise 3 song set), and The Flys (Held at the Turtle Bay Hilton)

Gosh, I miss those care free days as a youngster in O' Hawai'i nei. Those days really feel like faint dreams now. I only attended the Big Mele's from 1993 till 1997, then the music started to change and so did I. I guess all good things must come to an end and so did the Big Mele's in 2000. Radio Free Hawaii had a lot of influence in diversifying Hawaii's music culture. They had a system of submitting music/song ballots every week which were collected from ballot boxes at retail locations. Each week they would tally up the ballots for the top requested songs of the people. They also showcased new music suggestions by their listeners & gave them their due glory on air. You can check out Radio Free Hawaii's Chart Archive also if you want to see and hear more about the Big Mele 1997 from the Honolulu Starbulletin Archive.

What the Bleep do we Know?

"What the Bleep do we Know?" is a documentary film about quantum physics, spiritual connection and consciousness; where spirituality meets science and how it affects our perception of the world around us. This intriguing film explains how positive and negative energy affects us and everything around us. An episode in this documentary makes reference to a study done in Japan by Masaru Emoto called: "The Message of Water". In his study, Mr. Emoto studied the molecular structure of water and what affects it. His findings were astonishing. In his experiments, Emoto took water samples and attached positive spoken and typed words, music and positive energy to each sample. For example, he attached the word "love and appreciation" to a water sample, then froze it and photographed the water molecules in it's crystalized form. Each water sample given positive words and energy made beautiful water crystals like the one in the picture to the left. There are several supernova images of water crystals formed by positive energies such as: love, zen buddhist blessed crystals, thank you, happiness, truth, soul, gratitude, peace and water samples that were prayed upon. Others with negative energy and words, produced misshaped blobs. This film is not entirely about Masaru Emoto's message, it is mainly about quantum physics, combined with kinetic energy and how everything around us is unified. For example, it explains how past events influence our perception of our future. It is a deep thinking documentary, and to some level it is kindred to the philosophy given in the film "The Secret". If you put the genuine positive energy out to the universe, the energy will give back positive results to you. I feel these films should be taken for what they are worth and nothing more than helping people open their mind-set to other ways of thinking about the world around us.

Tony Zerga Photography

This photograph was taken by my friend of many years, Tony Zerga. Tony's keen eye and appreciation of nature's gifts flourished his passion for photography. His aperture captures the unique and intricate hidden beauties of the Hawaiian Island's. More of Tony's work can be viewed on-line at www.flicker.com/photos/tonyzerga

The 50th Law by Robert Greene and 50 Cent

I'm currently reading an insightful book: The 50th Law by Robert Greene and 50 Cent. I know what your thinking, oh G'z another biography about a gangster turned into a rapper, actor, entrepreneur, executive producer and now self acclaimed writer...Pssh! As trite as it may seem, 50 collaborated with 3 Time NYT best-selling author of The 48 Laws of Power, Robert Green. The 48 Laws of Power is about the art of war, seduction and power. Greene interprets Curtis Jackson's story of growing up on the streets as a drug dealer and applying his honed fearlessness in the corporate world. This book is about realism and how to look at all problems with out fear and overcoming them. Every issue or problem has a resolution, but you have to get over the fear of failure and look at these challenges as opportunities. It's an easy read compared to The 48 Laws of Power, intense! For some reason, I find the best books at the bookstore/news stand at LAX airport while I'm waiting to board flights to Honolulu. The reason why this book leaped out at me was it's black and gold embossed leather-like book cover, satin ribbon bookmark and gold finished paper. Yeah, I judged this book by it's cover...

Objectified and Helvetica

Now that I have time to myself, I've been keeping my mind stylized. Yes, stylized! Helvetica: Independent Film by Gary Hustwit is a must see film for people who are into design, history, language, marketing/advertising or peps like me, who just appreciate visual arts. Gotta love Apple iTunes and their recommendations: "others who bought this film also purchased" - Objectified: Documentary Film also by Gary Hustwit; its like a media Genius! If you enjoy watching Helvetica, you will definitely be engaged by Objectified. Both films will open your mind to the philosophy of engineers/designers. What's really sweet is you don't have to purchase to own these films, they are available for rent for $2.99 each on Apple iTunes. So get yourself a venti iced sugar-free cinnamon dolce soy latte from Starbucks, put on your thinking caps and enjoy!