WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.350 align:middle line:90% 00:00:06.350 --> 00:00:08.090 align:middle line:90% I'll bet you all have questions. 00:00:08.090 --> 00:00:10.790 align:middle line:90% [LAUGHTER] 00:00:10.790 --> 00:00:12.290 align:middle line:90% And we have time for a few. 00:00:12.290 --> 00:00:14.690 align:middle line:84% So if you want to raise your hand, 00:00:14.690 --> 00:00:16.580 align:middle line:84% I will come to you with this microphone 00:00:16.580 --> 00:00:19.870 align:middle line:84% and you can ask a question of both Craig and Yona. 00:00:19.870 --> 00:00:23.500 align:middle line:84% They've both been very generous to offer their answers. 00:00:23.500 --> 00:00:25.130 align:middle line:90% So first question. 00:00:25.130 --> 00:00:27.920 align:middle line:90% 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:29.840 align:middle line:90% This question is for Craig. 00:00:29.840 --> 00:00:32.570 align:middle line:84% I had the pleasure of living on the Big Island for a while 00:00:32.570 --> 00:00:35.630 align:middle line:84% and one of the delicacies there was spam musubi. 00:00:35.630 --> 00:00:38.570 align:middle line:90% I got a song about that too. 00:00:38.570 --> 00:00:40.730 align:middle line:90% Is that also on Oahu? 00:00:40.730 --> 00:00:42.380 align:middle line:90% Yeah. 00:00:42.380 --> 00:00:47.160 align:middle line:84% So for those who don't know spam musubi 00:00:47.160 --> 00:00:51.450 align:middle line:84% is basically a piece of fried spam put on top of sushi rice 00:00:51.450 --> 00:00:54.630 align:middle line:84% and then wrapped in the seaweed, the nori. 00:00:54.630 --> 00:00:57.727 align:middle line:84% And then sometimes there's like teriyaki. 00:00:57.727 --> 00:00:58.560 align:middle line:90% I actually do have-- 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:01.290 align:middle line:90% 00:01:01.290 --> 00:01:04.319 align:middle line:90% it's delicious. 00:01:04.319 --> 00:01:04.950 align:middle line:90% It's amazing. 00:01:04.950 --> 00:01:06.630 align:middle line:84% And the kids, it's like a big lunchtime, 00:01:06.630 --> 00:01:09.000 align:middle line:84% kids pack it in their lunchboxes for school. 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:13.470 align:middle line:84% It's a big food you see a lot in like plantations or whatever. 00:01:13.470 --> 00:01:16.020 align:middle line:90% But it's still very popular. 00:01:16.020 --> 00:01:18.990 align:middle line:84% There's a group on Oahu that set the record for the largest spam 00:01:18.990 --> 00:01:22.470 align:middle line:84% musubi and they made it during this food festival 00:01:22.470 --> 00:01:24.990 align:middle line:90% called Spam Jam in Waikiki. 00:01:24.990 --> 00:01:28.170 align:middle line:84% This is the largest festival in Hawaii. 00:01:28.170 --> 00:01:31.260 align:middle line:90% Thanks for your comment. 00:01:31.260 --> 00:01:33.630 align:middle line:84% So I remember when you came to our class 00:01:33.630 --> 00:01:36.060 align:middle line:84% and I looked at you and I said, "intentions?" 00:01:36.060 --> 00:01:41.010 align:middle line:84% with a lot of question marks, same question. 00:01:41.010 --> 00:01:43.950 align:middle line:84% Intentions with what you read today? 00:01:43.950 --> 00:01:45.270 align:middle line:90% Sure. 00:01:45.270 --> 00:01:49.972 align:middle line:84% So besides being a poet, I'm also an activist. 00:01:49.972 --> 00:01:51.930 align:middle line:84% I'm trying to get involved in the food movement 00:01:51.930 --> 00:01:54.780 align:middle line:84% and thinking about how poetry can 00:01:54.780 --> 00:01:57.780 align:middle line:90% help decolonize our diet, yeah. 00:01:57.780 --> 00:02:00.280 align:middle line:84% I also have an audio album of poetry, 00:02:00.280 --> 00:02:01.470 align:middle line:90% it's called Undercurrent. 00:02:01.470 --> 00:02:03.580 align:middle line:84% You could download it on your iTunes 00:02:03.580 --> 00:02:07.350 align:middle line:84% it's $9.99 for the album, $0.99 a poem. 00:02:07.350 --> 00:02:08.850 align:middle line:84% Anyways I'm working on the new album 00:02:08.850 --> 00:02:11.920 align:middle line:90% is called Ruined Appetites. 00:02:11.920 --> 00:02:15.660 align:middle line:84% So basically I want to ruin people's appetites. 00:02:15.660 --> 00:02:16.602 align:middle line:90% That's my intention. 00:02:16.602 --> 00:02:18.810 align:middle line:84% I want you every time you are about to open that kind 00:02:18.810 --> 00:02:23.878 align:middle line:90% of spam, think about me. 00:02:23.878 --> 00:02:25.920 align:middle line:84% And when you're about to eat some Vienna sausage, 00:02:25.920 --> 00:02:26.850 align:middle line:90% think about Tyler. 00:02:26.850 --> 00:02:34.320 align:middle line:90% 00:02:34.320 --> 00:02:37.050 align:middle line:84% This is a question for both Craig and Yona. 00:02:37.050 --> 00:02:41.130 align:middle line:84% You both have beautiful styles of performance 00:02:41.130 --> 00:02:46.860 align:middle line:84% that I think also other poets might want to emulate 00:02:46.860 --> 00:02:52.870 align:middle line:84% but might be intimidated or not confident enough to pursue. 00:02:52.870 --> 00:02:56.593 align:middle line:84% So for those in the audience who may, 00:02:56.593 --> 00:02:58.260 align:middle line:84% I'm sure having listened to you, they're 00:02:58.260 --> 00:03:00.680 align:middle line:90% like, I wish I could do that. 00:03:00.680 --> 00:03:03.090 align:middle line:84% Could you two say a little bit about how 00:03:03.090 --> 00:03:06.000 align:middle line:84% your style of performing your poems has evolved 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:11.340 align:middle line:84% and how you developed your idea of what you want to say 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:12.900 align:middle line:90% and also how you want to say it. 00:03:12.900 --> 00:03:19.240 align:middle line:90% 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:20.240 align:middle line:90% That's a great question. 00:03:20.240 --> 00:03:22.880 align:middle line:90% 00:03:22.880 --> 00:03:27.980 align:middle line:84% My reading style developed over time. 00:03:27.980 --> 00:03:32.420 align:middle line:84% And part of it was that it came out of, I don't know, 00:03:32.420 --> 00:03:35.240 align:middle line:84% what I felt was this prejudice against what 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:40.130 align:middle line:84% people call performance poetry or slam poetry, sometimes. 00:03:40.130 --> 00:03:44.630 align:middle line:84% That there had to be this huge distance between poetry 00:03:44.630 --> 00:03:49.280 align:middle line:84% for the page and poetry that was supposedly performed. 00:03:49.280 --> 00:03:52.580 align:middle line:84% And I think it's all a performance anyway even 00:03:52.580 --> 00:03:57.200 align:middle line:84% the elbow patches on the blazer type of reading. 00:03:57.200 --> 00:04:00.620 align:middle line:84% So I was just working through that question 00:04:00.620 --> 00:04:02.330 align:middle line:84% over a long period of time and then 00:04:02.330 --> 00:04:08.480 align:middle line:84% I also was influenced by Thomas Sayers Ellis and Tracie Morris, 00:04:08.480 --> 00:04:10.970 align:middle line:84% more specifically, just thinking about the ways 00:04:10.970 --> 00:04:14.480 align:middle line:90% that they read their work. 00:04:14.480 --> 00:04:19.769 align:middle line:84% And I had to grow into it to become more confident about it. 00:04:19.769 --> 00:04:22.370 align:middle line:90% But that's it. 00:04:22.370 --> 00:04:23.120 align:middle line:90% Short version. 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:27.230 align:middle line:90% 00:04:27.230 --> 00:04:29.270 align:middle line:84% I should probably say I'm not always like this. 00:04:29.270 --> 00:04:34.610 align:middle line:90% 00:04:34.610 --> 00:04:36.770 align:middle line:84% The rest of my book is very different. 00:04:36.770 --> 00:04:40.490 align:middle line:84% But for those few poems, I think food 00:04:40.490 --> 00:04:42.740 align:middle line:84% is something that we should celebrate 00:04:42.740 --> 00:04:44.660 align:middle line:84% and that we should have fun with. 00:04:44.660 --> 00:04:46.400 align:middle line:84% And so I tried to write those poems 00:04:46.400 --> 00:04:50.600 align:middle line:84% and I tried to perform those poems in a way that's fun. 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:53.600 align:middle line:84% My dad always says too, if you're eating Vienna sausage 00:04:53.600 --> 00:04:56.927 align:middle line:90% alone, you're doing it wrong. 00:04:56.927 --> 00:04:58.760 align:middle line:84% Partly because food practices in the Pacific 00:04:58.760 --> 00:05:00.650 align:middle line:90% are always communal. 00:05:00.650 --> 00:05:02.850 align:middle line:84% They're meant to bring people together. 00:05:02.850 --> 00:05:07.730 align:middle line:84% So usually I have my poetry entourage, 00:05:07.730 --> 00:05:12.182 align:middle line:84% we're called Ruined Appetites, that's our band name. 00:05:12.182 --> 00:05:13.640 align:middle line:84% But obviously I couldn't bring them 00:05:13.640 --> 00:05:17.600 align:middle line:84% all here so I'm grateful for the volunteers and just 00:05:17.600 --> 00:05:21.830 align:middle line:84% to find fun ways to get the audience involved. 00:05:21.830 --> 00:05:23.390 align:middle line:84% In Hawaii, in the Pacific too there's 00:05:23.390 --> 00:05:25.910 align:middle line:84% a lot of multimedia performances. 00:05:25.910 --> 00:05:29.210 align:middle line:84% So there are poets who may also be hula dancers 00:05:29.210 --> 00:05:33.170 align:middle line:84% or they're chanters who collaborate with musicians 00:05:33.170 --> 00:05:34.922 align:middle line:90% and so on. 00:05:34.922 --> 00:05:37.830 align:middle line:90% So I obviously can't sing. 00:05:37.830 --> 00:05:41.840 align:middle line:84% Usually my wife is the one who does the singing for our songs. 00:05:41.840 --> 00:05:45.593 align:middle line:84% And so just trying to find a fun way where, 00:05:45.593 --> 00:05:47.760 align:middle line:84% you do something different, try to see what happens, 00:05:47.760 --> 00:05:48.885 align:middle line:90% doesn't have to be perfect. 00:05:48.885 --> 00:05:52.580 align:middle line:84% You don't have to be a great singer or a great performer. 00:05:52.580 --> 00:05:55.930 align:middle line:90% Just have to have fun, I think. 00:05:55.930 --> 00:05:59.670 align:middle line:84% Well, thank you both so much and thank you everyone for coming. 00:05:59.670 --> 00:06:02.890 align:middle line:84% I would bet, nod your agreement or shake your head, no, 00:06:02.890 --> 00:06:05.390 align:middle line:84% but I'll bet that they would be willing to continue question 00:06:05.390 --> 00:06:07.970 align:middle line:90% and answer period informally. 00:06:07.970 --> 00:06:10.190 align:middle line:84% I know for a fact that Kurt and Mark would 00:06:10.190 --> 00:06:13.970 align:middle line:84% love to sell you a book and feel free to come up for a signing 00:06:13.970 --> 00:06:15.780 align:middle line:90% and we'll see you all next time. 00:06:15.780 --> 00:06:17.470 align:middle line:90% Thank you.