Homespun Honolulu

I made a comment the other day that struck me out of the blue. Some of us at work were talking about the Hawaii Superferry drama and I suddenly blurted out, “This is just like Captain Cook all over again!” The ladies laughed at me. But, the more I think about it, the less willing I am to let go of this visual.

Okay, first of all, watch this video from KHON Channel 2. Watch it first and then come back.

Did you watch it? Okay, here is a statement, go ahead and read it…

I know, the English is very old, but when you put Captain Cook’s own words together with that video… it’s almost funny. It really isn’t funny, but I just can’t help but laugh at it.

I thought about the pictures and the news casts and it suddenly struck me and that’s why I blurted it out. I’ll agree that it was a silly statement on my part, but you’ve got to admit, it sure feels strange! Somebody else in the office did make the comment, however, that “some people never change.”

The most peculiar thing is that nobody made noise about any of the other ships coming in to town to do business here. It’s distressing to think that the noise is all about moving people rather than goods. I still don’t get it.

Is history repeating itself? No, that’s not it. Actually, it’s worse. What’s really disturbing and revealing is this article in the Honolulu Advertiser. It’s not the article so much as it is the comments and the verbal stone throwing.

I think we’re all waiting to find out what the real crux of the issue is. Is the Superferry just caught in the crossfire? There are a lot of theories flying around but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see how it works itself out.

It was a normal thing to do on a Saturday afternoon. To go run. I needed to pick up a prescription for Mom, so I went a little further than usual. I was passing Linekona School, now known as the Academy Art Center. Linekona has a history of being many things (mostly educational) and is now primarily an art school and a place that hosts small art exhibits. This charming building sits across the street from the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Now, on Saturday, while passing this historic-looking building, I was a intrigued by a large camel on the lawn. “What the heck?” I had to investigate this. Well, it seems that this camel was… well, just there. I was informed that there had been other camels on the lawn too but that they had already fallen over. There was an art exhibit going on but that camel had nothing to do with the exhibit on display. It didn’t matter, this peculiar dromedary, which was about to collapse like the others, was what led me inside.

Read the rest of this entry »

We discussed Seal Life Park’s fun-loving dolphins in this previous post and we left the rest of the park out of the discussion. The dolphins were so much the star performers that they deserved a write-up all their own.

There is much more there to see. So, we went back to Sea Life Park again just to be sure I had enough pictorial loot to share the rest of the Park’s nautical rascals efficiently. There is a lot more to the Park than just dolphins.

The most attractive characteristic that the Park has, in my opinion, is its involvement with taking in and caring for wounded animals. Many of the sea birds at the park are there because they were wounded in some way. Some of them may never fly again but Sea Life Park is their home and they are there for visitors to see and observe while being cared for by the Park staff.

There’s something interesting about people and wild animals. We all want to be so sure that we have made a connection with them. It is rewarding in some way that we make an emotional connection with these animals. What is that? Do we want to let them know that we appreciate them, that they are welcome in our world? Or, are we seeking their acceptance?

Read the rest of this entry »

Carnival of Aloha

The first monthly Carnival of Aloha will make it’s debut on Labor Day, September 3rd. This post is just to reach out to Hawaii bloggers and let them know, or  to remind them, that submissions are due next Wednesday, August 29th.

I was going to post this reminder yesterday but I was distracted by a few other things that interfered with my timing. Here is the link to the guidelines that are there to, hopefully, keep everything running smoothly.

Going forward, this blog carnival will go live on the Internet on what will usually be the first Monday of each month. The deadline to submit your post will always be on the last Wednesday of the prior month. So, if you miss this carnival, don’t worry, there will be another one a month from now.

For next month, the due date for submissions will be September 26th, and the date for it to go live on the Internet will be October 1st.

If you have been to the Islands on vacation and have a post about your time in Hawaii, those posts are welcome to join the Carnival as well! The form to submit your post can be found here.

The Hawaii Super Ferry, which we mentioned here, had a practice run yesterday. Apparently it went well… except some people forgot about being sea sick. The Super Ferry is scheduled for its first actual run on August 28th. I’m sure the stories from passengers and the media coverage will be interesting! My advice to passengers is to take some Dramamine or keep some crackers in your pocket. No empty stomachs… it’s worse that way!

Now, about that Bike Show… I have the list of the category winners, compliments of Ollie Boy Productions. The following is a list of the classes and the 1st-place winners for each. I’m not real sure about the pictures since I am unable to match the names with the bikes, but, I wanted to get their names out there anyway!

• Trike Class: Roxanne Rodriques (you go girl!)
• New Old School Class: Philllip (Chico) J. Lucero
• Full Custom Class: Mike Aiwohi
• Mild Custom Class: Bob Uyman
• Local Boy Class: Walter Kamai
• Manufactured Class: Willie Gonzalves
• Moped Class: Cycle Imports
• Metric Class: Cami Orvedal

Congratulations to all of these 1st-Place winners! I apologize for the lack of pictures of the winning bikes! I’ll be braver next time and be sure to ask people, “Eh, whose bike ‘dis?” At least then I’ll be able to match the pictures with the winners! Mahalo, Matt, for making the list available! If I’ve messed up somewhere, let me know and we’ll fix it up right away.

We recently talked about Duane “Dog” Chapman being cleared of the charges pending in Mexico and the simultaneous release of his book, “You Can Run But You Can’t Hide”. Well, The Dog is already a New York Times best seller. That’s an update for you! I still haven’t gotten a copy. I will.

While we’re talking about books, I can’t help but mention that Ian Lind’s wife, Meda Chesney-Lind is about to have her book released too! “Beyond Bad Girls: Gender, Violence and Hype” is written in conjunction with a colleague, Katherine Irwin.

Here’s the editorial review posted on Amazon.com:

“In this important new work, two respected criminologists challenge the characterization of the new ‘bad girl’ arguing that it is only a new attempt to punish girls who are not the stereotypical depiction of good. Through interviews with young women, educators and people in the criminal justice system, Beyond Bad Girls exposes the formal and informal systems of socio-cultural control imposed on girls.”

After reading that comment, I could only think, “No kidding — it’s about time somebody said something!” That one line, “…exposes the formal and informal systems of socio-cultural control imposed on girls,” was enough for me! Yeah, uh huh… gotta have it! My copy’s on hold. Borders will have it available on August 28th. If you’re interested, you might want to call them at (808-591-8995) and order a copy or put your copy on hold too! Or, order it through Amazon.com.

Just when you think you’ve got a bunch of great “friends” in the morning to wake you up and tell you what’s going on in the World, they leave. KHON Channel 2 seems to have had quite the revolving door in recent months. In reality, it feels that way to me because it’s the only station I watch in the morning… well, the only station I listen to in the morning. They moved Tanya Joaquin to the evening news. Which, was okay, I guess. It’s probably good for her so that’s a good thing. Kirk Matthews is still there and he’s the rock in the morning.

Ron Mizutani from the evening news has decided to change jobs completely. Watching the KHON video farewell (the link has expired, sorry) and doing the math, I’m guessing that Mr. Mizutani is close to my age and he’s probably tired of deadlines and late nights. I’m tired too. It catches up to you after a while. In a perfect world you can watch the news from your couch rather than scramble out of bed to get to work now, right Ron? Well, I’m with Joe Moore, I have a feeling that the seasoned Ron Mizutani will miss it too much and do the boomerang thing before too awfully long and be back in the limelight.

In that same video Leslie Wilcox let drop that we would be seeing Mizutani in his business suit on Bishop Street. But… Hawaiian Telcom? (Thank you to Honolulu Advertiser’s entertainment writer, Wayne Harada, for that tidbit.) From television station to telephone company? Less stress? Perhaps. But, in a business suit? Uh, not unless you’re an attorney on your way to court or a businessman in from the mainland who doesn’t know any better. Nice slacks and a collared aloha shirt. Done. Leslie Wilcox left the station for PBS, so she can’t talk. But, she has been leaning toward the non-profit sector for some time now anyway. The Lokahi Giving Project was her baby. Good luck, Leslie! PBS is lucky to have you.

While things do leave through that revolving door, they come sneaking in too. Here’s a relatively new addition that flew in from one of the radio stations, KQMQ-FM 93.1 to be specific, back in April. Since I rarely have time for the radio these days, how was I to know where Justin Cruz came from? Thank you, Google. Since he was added to KHON’s evening shift, I missed it altogether until just recently when they pulled him in to help cover things in the morning. Thank you to the vacation and maternity-leave gang for that one!

Here’s a look at weatherman, Justin Cruz. (This link will only get you the most recent morning weather report, sorry.) It’s just nice to have someone talk to you rather than at you, someone who talks to you like you have a brain, and someone who sounds educated in the process. Mr. Cruz is a great addition to the KHON News team!

It’s hard to buffer the jarring loss of Howard Dicus who checked in from Pacific Business News for the “How Hawaii Works” segment every morning. Man! Howard always filled us in on all of the business gossip! His delivery was so straightforward, down to earth and touched with his sense of humor.

My condolences go out to PBN for losing Mr. Dicus and to KHON for having to cut that tie. Howard has moved on to competitor KGMB Channel 9 at this point and he is seen above talking to a staff member from Bank of Hawaii about the mortgage market and the sub-prime lender fiasco going on here and across the nation.

I guess I’ll have to figure out how to flip between channels in the morning. Or, maybe I can record one and watch the other. Oh, nuts! Will you media people please just sit still?!?

It’s Admissions Day for the State of Hawaii. This day falls on the 3rd Friday of August and commemorates the date that Hawaii became the 50th United State.

On August 21, 1959, Hawaii was admitted to the Union of the United States, following right behind Alaska, which had just been admitted earlier that same year as the 49th State.

The interesting thing to note here is that the State of Hawaii representative that was in Washington to represent the State and who stood behind President Eisenhower during the ceremony, was House member-elect, Representative Daniel K. Inouye. Mr. Inouye remains, even until today, one of Hawaii’s representatives and now carries the title of Senator!

---

The 2007 Made in Hawaii Festival is this weekend! In fact, it’s already in progress at Blaisdell Center. There is supposed to be more than 400 vendors selling books, plants, art work, clothes, and of course food! All things made in Hawaii! This annual event is scheduled to continue until 5:00 pm Sunday. Check it out!

Home Turf Media’s Carnival of Cities carries the tag line, “An Armchair Traveler’s Dream Come True.” I think that it is just that! With the quality of submissions from bloggers around the world, how can you go wrong?

Homespun Honolulu is proud to host the Carnival of Cities this week and I’m proud to share all of these fantastic cities and their happenings with all with you! So, kick back, relax in that armchair and get ready to tour some of the World’s cities through the eyes of the people who actually live there. I think we should make our journey on the Merry Go Round this week. Since we will need to circle the globe we’ll need to be on a Carnival horse that’s on the fly! Many thanks to Virtual Horses for the pretty picture!

Read the rest of this entry »

Looking at NOAA’s proposed trajectory of Hurricane Flossie, I can’t help but be reminded of 1992 and Hurricane Iniki’s actual progress and sudden turn to the North. Nobody is sounding any warnings and nobody wants to be an alarmist when there’s nothing there to substantiate any such warnings. So far.

I just remember watching the updates as Iniki came ever closer and most of the news channels kept it live and the weather maps constantly updated. It passed under us and it was just going to go on its way, right? Wrong! Suddenly Iniki changed it’s mind, veered North and cruised right on through Kauai. We couldn’t reach them. News media, the telephone company and just about everybody else was without a line into Kauai.

We shudder now but I suppose it could have been worse. I’m sure the people of Kauai would say, “How?!?” Well, the casualties were property, not human life. Of course, if something devastating like that cut through Maui or Oahu… the devastating property and financial losses might, in themselves, be enough to… I don’t wanna talk about it.

Shall we talk about the weather? Nah. We’ll just stay vigilant and, with the help of the weather and news people, keep an eye on things. Actually we will be keeping an eye on things until our hurricane season is over in November. Mahalo to the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for keeping the community in the loop and for keeping these historic weather charts on file and accessible.

Tonight: For all of the educators and citizens concerned with education, KHET’s Island Insights will be focusing on Early Childhood Education tonight! Dan Boylan will be the moderator hosting Hawaii’s Congresswoman Mazie Hirono and Mr. Alfred Castle, the Executive Director of the Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation this evening.

Congresswoman Hirono is the politician who introduced the Providing Resources Early for Kids (PRE-K) Act. This Act is designed to “improve early childhood education and prepare children for success in school and in life.”

The Samuel N. & Mary Castle Foundation, represented this evening by Mr. Alfred Castle, has its primary focus set also to early childhood education. We’ll talk more about the Castle Foundation at a later date, I promise!

This should be a show worth watching! Apparently, call-ins are allowed during the show too!

---

Artists - Hurry! The Kim Taylor Reece Gallery has issued a call to all of you aspiring artists out there and “all artists interested in participating” in this event! This is the Gallery’s 1st Juried Show.I had to look that up. “Juried” show means that “you must submit slides or photographs which are reviewed by a jury (a knowledgeable committee) and your work will be accepted into the show based on technical skill, creativity, the medium, and/or other requirements.”

Anyway, here are the guidelines as I received them (about five hours ago):

• Open to all Artists 18 and older, Any fine art media is acceptable.
• Artists are being asked to submit their work for review by 6 p.m. on
  August 13, 2007
• CD, Slides, E-mail or in person will be accepted
• Artist will be notified of results by August 20, 2007
• Finalist artwork must be ready to display by August 28, 2007
• Judging by Clemente Lagundimao on September 5, 2007
• A reception for the selected artist, the press and guest will be
  held September 7, 2007

The entry forms, detailed submissions requirements and further information are all available on www.KimTaylorReece.com.

For more information, contact:
Kim Taylor Reece Gallery
1142 Bethel Street
Honolulu, Hawaii. 96813
(808) 546-1144
info@KimTaylorReece.com

This is exciting stuff! We did a story about their grand opening a few months ago. I’m impressed that they are doing something like this! I can’t wait until September 7th!