Homespun Honolulu

Before zoning out and letting my mind wander off on Monday, I did manage to focus for just a bit so that I could check in on the grand opening of the Stop Rail Now office.

Some people seem to think that the rail will be a good addition to our landscape and that it will help alleviate the problems with transportation and traffic. I don’t think so.

I’m sorry but I am inclined to be more supportive of the research done by the staff at the University of Hawaii and I will go with those who are in the know rather than those looking to make a name for themselves. I will even go so far as to say that if you work downtown, or nearby, and if you’re a registered voter, go ahead and print out the petition, send me a message or leave a comment here so that I can contact you. I will collect them from you and deliver them to the Stop Rail Now office myself!

We have the right to vote on this project! Get your co-workers to sign it too! As long as this is what people want to do and as long as they’re registered to vote, then go for it!

This movement is not without its supporters, as you can see. If you have questions or need assistance, contact the office at (808) 536-4384.

We have to maintain the beauty of our island! Honolulu has just been rated as the “greenest city in the nation.” I think we should focus more on keeping it that way and focus on keeping our skyline free of rail tracks and other mechanical paraphernalia.

At the very least it is a decision that should be made by the citizens as a whole, not unilaterally by a hired official.

Stop Rail Now
627 South Street, Suite 4
Honolulu, HI 96813

The composition of our chain of islands has a perceived yet invisible strand that holds us together. Okay, I’m not much on the topography of the ocean floor. While there may be years of lava flows keeping us tight, the strand I’m referring to is the cultural and emotional strand shared by island residents — no matter which island they’re living on. For the most part, we love our environment, we love our weather and we love our ocean and its wealth of sea dwelling creatures.

A few weeks back, my mother and I took a little whale sighting cruise. We didn’t see any. We were given tickets for a return engagement because of it. With tax time and other responsibilities, we never made it to that free repeat cruise we were promised. So, I went looking for other options. I thought about the submarine ride they have somewhere near Waikiki but Mom is claustrophobic so that wouldn’t be good. There are other sea-going vessels but they’re not all wheelchair accessible. I’m still looking.

In the mean time, I want to share something they have on Maui that I’m wishing we had on Oahu. I will confess at this point that, while we were on that little cruise on Oahu, I couldn’t help but say things to myself like, “I wish we were on Maui; we would be seeing whales if we were on Maui!”

There is this business on Maui that has a variety of activities that it offers. A catamaran with “unobstructed, panoramic viewing” sounds good to me! The difference? They’ve taken it a few steps beyond. They’re not just into whale watching, they’re covering all of the ocean basics with a hands-on approach. They’re not just riding on the water, they’re going in the water. Pride of Maui sounds like a great idea if you want to snorkel Maui!

Pride of Maui includes Molokini crater in its list of activities.  I caught myself comparing Maui’s Molokini crater with Oahu’s Hanauma Bay — without the locked gates and restricted parking. I’m being a little tough on Hanauma Bay and I need to remind people that I’m here on Oahu, not over there on Maui. Who knows what’s going on back on Maui’s shore. Perhaps Maui residents can fill us in on this little tidbit.

In Oahu’s (Honolulu’s) defense, the City and County of Honolulu, as irritating as it is, aims only to protect Hanauma Bay from a variety of threats to its health and preservation. Those threats weren’t there thirty-five or forty years ago. We had free reign back then.

One of the things that caught my attention with this venue of Maui snorkeling was their inclusion of snorkeling at “Turtle Town” on their list of activities. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. No, Pride of Maui didn’t make it up — it’s an actual area on Maui, or rather, along the shoreline of Maui where the turtles hang out.

As paranoid as I am about preservation, I was happy to find that I didn’t have to look too far to be sure that Pride of Maui is paranoid about it too. The warning is right on their site:

“The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles are a protected species. Close encounters are sometimes initiated by the turtles. We respect their space and have discovered that by swimming calmly and respectfully, they will often swim closer to get a look at you.”

“Touching, chasing, or riding the turtles is unlawful and strictly prohibited.”

Thank you for that, Pride of Maui. I appreciate it when the tourist/business industry takes these things seriously! Mahalo to National Geographic for that honu picture!

I was happy to hear on one of the news channels recently that the Hawaiian sea turtle, honu, has recovered, for the most part, quite nicely. The comment made was that, what they thought would take 100 years to restore, has taken only 30. They’re still protected but at least we can see that our preservation efforts are not in vain. Perhaps sometime in our lifetime we will hear the same about our humpback whales!

The beauty of our natural environment extends from the tropical rain forests to the deep, life-sustaining oceans. The islands share these things in common and are linked by these cultural and emotional threads. We’re all working on preserving the environment along with the language and culture that makes Hawaii who and what we are! Island businesses are contributing to our ability to learn and share these things with each other and with our visitors.

Technorati Tags: Island Business, Maui, Ocean Wildlife, Snorkeling

That’s all of the Net in one net. Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration but if it keeps growing, this description of Alltop may not be so much of an overstatement after all.

In any case, this aggregated conglomeration of informational blogs and news sites just appeared under my nose. A lot of things have just appeared right under my nose recently!

Have you ever been oblivious to your surroundings and suddenly been shaken into the realization of something? Imagine yourself swimming at Hanauma Bay only to suddenly notice you’re swimming alongside a 500-pound manatee — it’s sort of like that.

I Got Into Alltop’s Net

Let me explain. I didn’t put my blog there, but there it was. That in itself was pretty cool. Then I read a little about the site designer, Guy Kawasaki, I looked around at the others listed there with me, and suddenly I found myself feeling just a little overwhelmed! Am I overreacting? I certainly hope not!

Somehow my darling blog earned itself a spot in this neat niche on the Net. While this niche is certainly an ever-expanding one, Homespun Honolulu was actually accepted into this net of niches on the Net! Thanks, Guy!

Hang on, it gets better! There’s one more thing I want to point out. Not only is this an ever-growing Goliath of an Internet Network, but its founder is a published writer and even writes a column for Forbes Magazine! That’s some impressive stuff to put on a resume if I’ve ever heard any!

A Little Personal Opinion

The beauty of Alltop is that, the way it’s organized, you can get a chunk of thoughts, news and opinions right in one spot. I am finding more often than not that it’s actually more beneficial to read the blogs about any given topic. While you might not get all the facts, what you do get, for the most part, is the truth. Readers will read about what’s really happening as seen through the eyes of those who are in the middle of things.

I’m so very tired of sensational journalism. I do love our media and I know the goal is to sell themselves with the juiciest, breaking news but, media guys, give it a rest and leave the fluff to your viewers! Tell us the truth, as much as you know about the truth and leave the embellishments and analysis to the listeners and their own points of view. We want to make up our own minds, based on the facts you provide.

I don’t know what put me up on that soap box but I must say that I was particularly grateful for Alltop’s addition of things I really want to know about and/or understand. What better way to understand the stance, the thinking, and the emotions behind something than to get it from the source? Am I being naive? Maybe.

Aliya at her Evolution blog said it best when she posted:

“Featuring approximately 150-160 Islamic news sites and general bloggery written by Muslims, the site aptly demonstrates that Muslims are a diverse bunch, with a wide spectrum of of views and opinions. In the same vein as the Gallup world polls, it’s the ideal place to go if you find out for yourself what Muslims really think.”

She’s talking about this area of Alltop and I agree and send out thanks to Guy for providing these kinds of educational experiences for those of us who really want to understand and follow the events around the World as they “really” happen and as they relate to us in our own lives.

Alltop shares many links to so many groups of links about related subject matter. Topics may include such things as fashion, celebrities, sports, Macintosh, science, topics about going green, and even automotive sites. Guy himself referred to it appropriately as a “digital magazine rack.” I’m impressed, grateful, and humbled.

I knew it. You knew it. It’s been in the news. We’ve known about it for quite some time (since 2004 or so). But, to see it dissolve right before your eyes is not the easiest thing to witness. As an ardent fan of the dairy industry, that orange circle with the “f” in it didn’t simply mean “Foremost” to me, it meant milk!

I still remember, when I was little, how excited I was to see the cow on the lawn at Foremost. The cow was fake but I kept looking for real ones. It’s a dairy! I used to think, “They must be milking the cows somewhere!” They’ve removed the cow from the lawn. It’s gone. They were milking the cows… in Waianae and elsewhere. From what I understand, a lot of our dairy farmers are gone too. Things were no longer profitable.

I don’t know if it’s the statue being gone from the lawn or the site of the building deserted that has the most impact on me but I just needed to talk about it. I guess that maybe it’s an end of an era — a reminder of how old I am?

The removal of the equipment is pretty troubling. I can’t help it. I’m a dairy freak and milk is important to me! Yes, this is an old story but in no time at all, when someone says Foremost, the kids are going to say, “Who?”

Don’t worry, all is not lost — it’s Lani Moo to the rescue! Their logo also means more to me than just “Meadow Gold,” it means milk! Meadow Gold continues to come to the rescue for us cheese-loving, milk-drinking fanatics.

These trucks, much like the Matson, Coca-Cola, and Pepsi trucks, are ones I try not to get run over by while cutting through the grocery store parking lot. I will admit that I am hoping those trucks are carrying my pineapple cottage cheese! Did I mention that I’m a dairy freak?

I have to add here that Meadow Gold has always had a significantly larger name-recognition thing going during my lifetime. Their community involvement is tremendous and they have been known to work with other companies to support community events. I’ve seen it. That could be a huge part of it! I’ll talk about them later, I promise. For now, suffice it to say that I’m just glad they’re here!

I didn’t make this cow story up. The Honolulu Star-Bulletin covered the story back in 2004 when it first happened and one of their photographers got a great picture of the cow of my childhood, before it was removed. I wonder where that cow is now. Hmmm…

by CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL
Honolulu Star-Bulletin photo

Technorati Tags: Island Business, Meadow Gold, Dairy Industry, Foremost

With the change in blog ownership and management around here a few months back, I needed to redraft the business cards for my blog. It is always a challenge to try to come up with something creative, but it’s always easier when you have a little bit of assistance and the input of a person in the know!

Once again, Diane at Ohana Printing stepped up to the plate to help me out with this little project. Diane found the appropriate artwork to satisfy what was on my mind. Things fell into place and I am very happy with my little card.

Some people may be wondering about the red Ohia flower in the upper left corner. Yes, I know the Ilima is Oahu’s flower. The Ohia is representative of my passionate personality more than anything else. Why the Ohia? The tragic love story that makes up its Hawaiian legend has endeared this flower to me from the very moment I heard it.

The Ohia Lehua is actually the flower of the Big Island of Hawaii, but after hearing the legend of this flower, it has remained a very beautiful blossom near and dear to my heart. This emotional reaction is just indicative of the kind of passion shared by bloggers — one that keeps us all writing and talking and grumbling and…

So, now that we’ve got that all cleared up, it’s back to business as usual!

Technorati Tags: Ohana Printing, Business Cards

Chaminade University of Honolulu is an interesting place. Sitting adjacent to St. Louis High School in Kaimuki, Chaminade has a very traditional-looking campus with a not-so-traditional focus on entrepreneurship.

I was asked by an instructor, Danielle Lum, to visit her communications class and talk about… blogging! Really? Me? Gulp! Okay, I can do that. I think everybody’s blogging pal, Ryan Ozawa, was the one who dropped a note to let people know Danielle was looking for someone. I can only hope that I wasn’t a disappointment.

Let’s put it this way, I wasn’t too pleased with myself. Between tax time and three or four other things pulling on my time (and my mind), I wasn’t prepared like I wanted to be, or like I should have been. The delay between blog posts around here for the past several weeks is indicative of that!

Anyway, I am very glad I was able to visit with these students — it had an unexpected impact on me. I was at least able to tell them some important things that I have learned — to not look to make money blogging, to write consistently with passion, and that when your start your business (not if, but when), a blog should accompany your business’ website.

These are things that have struck me over recent months and I was happy to share them! I was lucky enough to have their instructor there to ask pointed questions and open the way for conversation. It opened things up for some of the students to ask questions too. Those questions actually reminded me of things I wanted to say. I was nervous, I admit that. They were cool!

It was exciting to see these young people on their journey of higher learning! The interpersonal relationship with their instructor was interesting to observe. The rapport that the students had with Ms. Lum created a nice relaxed atmosphere that, I believe, is more conducive to the learning process.

Chaminade University does have the traditional classes for the traditional areas of study but it also takes pride in its pre-professional programs. The atmosphere of higher learning is very obvious and I feel very comfortable in saying that it is an institution that Honolulu should be proud of. I was humbled by the invitation and I remain humbled by the approach taken to the collegiate education being bestowed on these lucky students.

I don’t know who is the luckiest in this whole scenario but I need to send a huge “Mahalo!” out to Danielle Lum for having me, to her students for tolerating me, and to Chaminade for the opportunity to see a segment of our future!

There’s nothing that ignites a keyboard better than things that ruffle your feathers, make your hair stand up or just plain make you furious!

The Good…

…started out bad. The State of Hawaii’s Department of Health actually had the audacity to try to push through a Bill that would allow any moron to put tattoos on people without being licensed and without having any sanitary procedures or other requirements in place. What?!? What were they thinking?!?

Somebody decided that it was okay to loosen the rules on the Tattoo industry because we hadn’t had any disease outbreaks from tattooing. Hello?!? No, duh! That’s because those regulations were in place to protect the consumers and the public at large! They can’t be that dumb!

Associated Press Writer, Mark Niesse, has a nice write up about the issue. There is also a quote contained in that piece from Anna Paige. Ms. Paige was a spokesperson for the Artists on a news clip that I saw a few days ago. She gets it, the other artists get it, what’s wrong with everyone else? How did it even get this far? Senator Rosalyn Baker said that the Bill, “needs more work before becoming a law.” I’ll say! Is that ever an understatement!
This is a much bigger issue than people seem to realize. These are needles we’re talking about. Hello?!? Think about it, friends, family members and anyone who comes in contact with those seeking and acquiring tattoos are at risk by this kind of deregulation. I’m sorry, I just cannot believe that the Board of Health would have even considered such a thing! It’s just so damn irresponsible!

Anyway, that stupid Bill was killed by the Senate yesterday after the Tattoo artists themselves made a stink about it on Monday. I heard about it on Friday and I went ballistic! Then I saw a news clip where several tattoo companies had gotten together to share their concerns. So, I waited. Their businesses and their clients both need protection from this kind of legislative nonsense!

I will restate, once again, that the image of the Tattoo industry, one that seems to be held by the general populace, is not necessarily an accurate one. This is a wonderful example — it was the artists themselves who yelled about this crazy idea and I say “hats off” and a huge “Mahalo!” to Honolulu’s Tattoo Artists! Thanks gang, for keeping us safe! You stood up, you came forward and you made a good thing happen!

So, what’s Bad?

The weather. Well, not really… Kilauea is bad. Our friends and families on the Big Island of Hawaii are choking on the sulphuric fumes from the volcano, Volcano National Park has been closed yet again, and the American Red Cross is standing by in case there is a need to evacuate some people.

Meanwhile, Oahu residents are suffering from extreme headaches, nasal problems and throat irritation. We can only venture a guess as to how they are feeling on the Big Island. So, while Kilauea is just being a volcano and doing what they do, we’re just breathing some bad air. It has not become a medical issue, yet.

Ugly!

There was a meeting Monday night (last Monday) about the rail system. Did you know about it? Yeah, I didn’t either. But, there was a notice about it from the City and County of Honolulu’s News and Events email. The notice said that, “Monday’s meeting on rail transit will be held from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the cafeteria of Radford High School.” When did I get the email? At 8:51 p.m. Monday evening –twenty or so minutes after the meeting was over. Yes, I confirmed it; it was this past Monday night.

Is the Mayor trying to avoid confrontation? Perhaps. I will talk more about my thoughts on TheRail later, I promise. It has become an even bigger issue than simply transportation.

Was this late notice intentional? Maybe, maybe not. At the very least it was negligent and it sure looked ugly. Even more flagrant is the other part of that notice. The rest of the notice is all about the curbside recycling program. There will be meetings for that all over Oahu. There’s even a schedule for those meetings. But, there’s no schedule for rail meetings. Looks very sneaky. Ugly.

Paradise Cruise, Ltd. has a lovely little cruise ship that changes its mission during the year and at different times of the day.

I couldn’t resist getting this “picture of a picture” since it was a nice capture of the whole boat. This photo looks like it was taken some time back but I’m really not sure. The picture looks old, but the boat itself actually looks a lot brighter than the picture portrays it to be.

We happened to be passing this boat the other day while we were at Aloha Tower looking for something good to eat. My mother was very attracted to the hula dancing that was going on as people were either getting on or off of the boat. I’m not sure which. Mom decided that she really wanted to go on this boat.

I checked in with their little business office and saw that they were in the middle of a season of whale watching cruises. Hmmm… that sounded like something I could get into! So, we signed up and a few weeks later, off we went to see whales! Of course I had to make them tell me all about how careful they are to avoid striking any of these giant mammals. I was satisfied with the description of their procedures that they shared.

The boat was comfortably full of people and the seating on the level where lunch was provided was actually very comfortable. I will say that the food, while alright, wasn’t the delicious spread I was hoping for based on the price we paid for this cruise. Even the kama’aina rates were still kind of steep, I thought.

This was kind of neat — being able to see Honolulu from a different angle. It was nice to see it from a vantage point that doesn’t happen very often.

Of course it’s always important to have drinks, alcoholic and otherwise, available to passengers. You had to pay extra for them though. A soda was $3 and a margarita was $6. The bar tender was young, cute and very professional. I asked her if she went to bar-tending school and she said that, yes, she had. I smiled and teasingly asked if she went to the one on Beretania Street. Uh, she said, “Yes, that’s the one.” I was kidding! But, sure enough.

Here’s a clue as to just how insular I am — at one point when we were far enough out and the view looked similar to the one above, I suddenly had a very strong feeling of melancholy. I had an unexpected pang of anxiety and longing for them to “take me home.” It didn’t last long but it was a little weird for that fleeting moment. As if Honolulu wouldn’t survive without me being on shore. Tsk!

That stupidity being said, the water out there was so blue and so inviting! I swear if I didn’t have to worry about my camera and my cell phone… and my mother’s nerves… I really wanted to be swimming in that water! I don’t think the staff of the Star of Honolulu would have appreciated it if I had decided to take a swim on their time.

I just had to get the above shot! Remember this story about my attitude problem with the guards near the Department of Homeland Security? The one where they wouldn’t let me get a picture of the Matson containers? I got a picture from the other side of that scene. So, I got my way, eventually.

At the end of the cruise, while passengers were waiting to disembark, the guitar player who has been serenading people had two of the servers start dancing hula. They were very good! Maybe not dressed appropriately for hula, but good nonetheless. It did explain why some of their name tags had the word “Performer” written on them. Nice touch guys!

All in all, the cruise was quite nice. The water was soft and it felt almost like a large hammock. An interesting thing to point out was that while out and away from the shore, it was actually very cool. It was almost cold enough to wear a sweater. One of the girls said it would feel very hot once we reached shore. She was right. Once we got off the boat, the weather was sticky and humid.

Many of the cruises offered on this ship are seasonal. The one we were on, the whale watching cruise, was just that. You might be wondering why there are no pictures of whales. Well, we didn’t see any. The agreement that the Star of Honolulu made with the passengers of this cruise was that the passengers would all go again for free if they didn’t see any whales.

We’ll take the journey once more before whale season is over. This time, we’ll eat before we board. It will be nice to ride the boat one more time and enjoy the sleepy sway of the ocean beneath. Maybe then I’ll have pictures of whales to share!

Star of Honolulu
Honolulu Harbor, Pier 8
Honolulu, HI 96813
Phone: (808) 983-7827

Do you need help keeping track of time? The Clock Collection has many different methods of keeping track of the hours in a day.

There’s a multitude of clocks for your table, bedside or desktop.

No room on your table tops? How about hanging one on the wall?

We all know that a person can never have too many clocks!

If the wall’s no good for your decor either, how about a classic grandfather clock?

There’s nothing like the Big Ben sound to sing you to sleep or to chime you out the door in the morning!

Mei Whei Wu has been specializing in these time-keeping antiques, and their repair, since 1981.

Here Mei is seen explaining the difference between the time-keeping functions of the grandfather clock and the cuckoo clock. Their weights and timing are not as alike as you might think. They function somewhat differently but their inner workings are equally delicate.

The Clock Collection not only repairs the internal workings of the clocks but the cabinetry as well.

As you can see, several people rely on the handi-work of The Clock Collection to repair their darling time pieces.

So, do you have the time? I do!

Here’s our darling cuckoo back at home — safe and sound and running happily and efficiently again. It hangs on the wall happily tick-tocking after just a little bit of TLC from Mei and her staff.

Thanks, Mei!

The Clock Collection
762 Kapiolani Blvd
Honolulu, HI 96813
(808) 596-8127

The Honolulu Advertiser shares this story. Back in August I talked about the local media personnel moving all over the place and we talked about how we thought Ron Mizutani would eventually miss the news too much and find his way home. I don’t remember how many months it was that Joe Moore gave Ron to return to the news scene but, ultimately, Joe was right!

I have had such a problem with motivation this past week and, for whatever reason, this news has given me a little boost. Don’t ask. I guess KHON2, as a whole, just has the effect on me — they’re, for whatever reason, inspirational. I know some would disagree with my choice of media outlet, but there it is. I do love all the news channels at various times, but the morning is when I have my quiet time to share with the morning news gang.

The Advertiser also noted that Mizutani’s airtime has not yet been determined. My comment to that is, “who cares?!?” He’s come home, that’s what matters. Nice catch, Channel 2! How about playing Frisbee with KGMB and catch the Dicus disk? Just a suggestion. By the way, I do love that van. Obviously.

Technorati Tags: Hawaii News