Homespun Honolulu

Happy New Year Everyone! 

Two Carnival Announcements:

Carnival of Aloha - If you’re still thinking about submitting your article and you’re worried about the deadline, I’ve changed the deadline to tomorrow (Sunday) at noon.  So, send your posts in you guys!

Carnival of Cities - The Carnival of Cities was the guide by which the Carnival of Aloha was set up.  When Homespun Honolulu began, the Carnival of Cities started at the same time by the same organization.  Every once in a while I think about the Carnival of Cities and send in an article that means a lot to me, which I just did recently.

Oh my!  I got nervous when I saw this!  Twenty-three (23) entries in this particular edition of the Carnival of Cities.  Kudos to the host of the Carnival this time!  Roaming Tales — I like that name!

Car shows are not normally my area of interest but this one was special and I had to be there to capture the scene a couple of weeks ago at Aloha Tower Marketplace. What was so special about it? The Oahu Motorsports Advisory Council put together this show to highlight the “Build the Track” campaign to provide a place for the different motor sports to enjoy their sport.

Right at the edge of the mall’s main entrance sat this race car. That’s what it’s all about – Build the Track! Since I found out about this campaign I have heard several comments. One of those comments was that there is a lack of interest. Well, let’s look through these pictures and you tell me if there’s a “lack of interest!”

There were trucks, cars and even a couple of motorcycles parked all over the place. I didn’t know where to turn first. With so much to see that it was hard to stay focused while trying to take in every corner of this automotive pageantry.

There were trucks with added character, truck-like coverings with a patriotic flair, and organizations whose specialty is, well, trucks.

I gave up trying to get perfect, clear pictures — there were just too many people walking around and too many balloons to get in front of the camera. Suddenly, it dawned on me that I should just take those shots so that I could show everyone how there’s such a “lack of interest” in this venue. Lack of interest my foot!

There was a truckload of representatives from several automotive firms and there were a few vendors sharing their ideas. In addition to those sponsors, there were others as well. This brings up another comment that was made to me recently about the track project. “They need big sponsors to make it happen.” The translation of that is that they need money. Oddly enough, there were no booths collecting donations. This was to raise awareness and to gain support of the community.

It wasn’t just the automotive places or tire stores who took part in this event! At least one of our radio stations, HOT I-94 (93.9 if you want to be picky), was there. There may have been other stations but I was focused on the automobiles.

There was at least one branch of the armed services in attendance. The National Guard even had their own vehicle there!

It’s quite obvious that this project was not completely without some governmental support! Even the sheriff’s office was there with their vehicle all pretty and shiny for the occasion.

Relax, they weren’t there to serve anyone with papers. They were there, I think, to show support while probably hoping “The Track” would come to fruition. They would have less drama with the freeway racing that we have seen so much of recently.

This brings up another statement that was made to me a couple of months ago. The statement went something like, “Those are not experienced racers doing that!” I know that. We all know that. What we have is young people wanting to race and having no place to do so.

When I was hanging with friends in the late 70’s and early 80’s, people went to Hawaii Raceway Park every weekend! Teens had something to do, something that captivated them and kept them out of trouble. They closed Hawaii Raceway Park. It’s gone. There is no place for them to go.

Youth of all ages love racing, they love anything with a motor that they can ride. That adoration doesn’t die with age.

There is no age limitation for the fascination with auto racing. The organizers of this show knew it too!

There’s just something about it that draws out the excited smiles of our keiki!

This really was a family event and everyone seemed to be having a great time. The real focus though was on the automobiles.

People were making their way in and out and around the vehicles on display.

There were many exhibitors enjoying the opportunity to share their hobby with others.

The vehicle above was my favorite drenching of colors but the intensity of conversation was even more interesting to observe. The passion, like a lot of things we involve ourselves in, is very intense for this activity!

I was hard-pressed, a few times, to figure out who was enjoying things more — the visitors or the exhibitors!

There was a lot of information to absorb and a lot of vintage vehicles to see and examine — inside and out.

I will continue making my point as we move down but I just couldn’t let any of these pictures be left without sharing them.

This way, everyone can get a better feel for just how important this event was to the organizers, and just how important this sporting venue is to so many.

We’ve got cobras under the hood and engines that are as clean and shiny as the car’s exteriors!

Beautiful colors and classic models glistened around every corner.

These racers have the traditional look of those race cars in the video games! Wow, they really do look like that!

Why do I care? I don’t race, I don’t like loud noises, I don’t like smoke, screeching wheels, or the smell of burning rubber. So, what’s it to me? I grew up on the West side of Oahu and every weekend there was almost always someone who was not home because they were reportedly at Hawaii Raceway Park. It was a life’s passion for many and a fun hobby for others. It was a place for youth to go and to burn off their energy instead of getting into trouble.

As I mentioned, they closed Hawaii Raceway Park. It has never been replaced. Nobody shared a place for the racers to go. They’re working on it!

There were no booths collecting donations but there was this booth to sign their petition with room for comments. Yes, I signed it and yes, I left a comment!

This says it all in a nutshell. “We Just Wanna Race!” The best argument that I have heard was that every other sport or hobby has it’s place to go. Basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis, golf, bowling, running, swimming, shooting, and just about anything else you can think of, has it’s own place to happen — it’s own field, it’s own course, etc. Everything, that is, except for racing. Good point!

This was the best photo! Isn’t he cute? He was so amazed at the sight of all those trucks! Oblivious to all else, I think he was just amazed that his toy trucks had become reality. Right along the sidewalk too!

Okay, we couldn’t let the bikes go unnoticed. There were a couple of them there. They too need a place to race. We all know the dangers of motorcycle racing. It would be better for all if they had a place designed just for that purpose.

My heart goes out to the racing community and I can comfortably say they have my full support. I would rather put my support behind TheTrack than that stupid rail! If you feel they’re right, watch them, follow their progress and support their efforts. Our community needs a track to replace what we lost. Let’s support them while they Build the Track!

Technorati Tags: Auto Racing, Build the Track, Car Show

It’s been a long time since I joined an edition of the Carnival of Cities. I sent in my post about the No Rail petition, hoping to get some feedback from other cities about the impact that rail transit has had on their cities.

There hasn’t been any feedback as of yet but it was interesting to see how the Carnival of Cities has spread its wings over time. It has become almost a Carnival of Travel! It’s certainly worth a read to see what’s happening in other places to see if you want to travel there!

You can pick up a lot of information about all kinds of things across all kinds of country borders!

Here’s a small taste of what they’ve got going:

• In Spain we visit the Costa Blanca Website
• We then visit Sweeden at Eyeflare.com
• Then we go back to Spain to check out their open-air market at Me, My Kid and Life
• Hey, Scotland! We move over just a tad to Edinburgh at Europe A La Carte Blog
• Then we go to Rome with Culture Shock
• We get to go to France with France Tales
• You’ve got to see these pictures in Vienna from Mes Crazy Experiences
• Go to England with the Traveling Mamas
• The host of the Carnival takes us to Nicaragua via the host blog, Roaming Tales

Then Roaming Tales takes us flying around some American cities for just a bit:

• My favorite, okay one of my favorites, for this Carnival is this one in San Antonio
• We get to see some of the arts in San Francisco via CatSynth.com
• Leslie Carbone, who has joined us for the Carnival of Aloha before, will take us to Washington (D.C.) to see the Smithsonian
• Go see more art on South Beach via the Seabird Chronicles which takes us to Miami
• Miami checks in for a second time as Solo Friendly talks about the welcome warmth of that city in February
• In Cincinnati we learn about USA-made vodka at Cincinnati Locavore

This is how I got involved:

• I just wanted to talk about how NOT to travel around Honolulu

Now, don’t think about getting lost over there and forget to cross back over the Pacific!  Be sure to check back here for the Carnival of Aloha which will go live on Monday!

There’s one thing people in Hawaii love to do and it doesn’t matter which island you’re on or which side of town — we love to eat! Restaurants are a great thing but our menu items are often, much like us, an ethnic blend of recipes we have tweaked and morphed to our own liking. This is where our local grocery stores come into the picture and take on the highest priority!

I never noticed this sign until I was walking around with a camera. I never noticed the other half of it either… Safeway has been in Honolulu as long as I have! I knew there was something good about this place. Works for me!

It was three and a half years ago that I wrote a letter to Safeway’s corporate office in Arizona. I couldn’t think of any other way to let them know how pleased I was with my favorite grocery store. I opened the letter saying,

“Sometimes it really pains me that there is nothing that can be done by a consumer to fully show their earnest appreciation for the staff of an establishment like this one.”

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Let’s Go “Catch the Dream!”

Meet Major Mynah! He’s actually a vintage bird but I couldn’t resist getting his picture. This is an old logo dating back a decade or so ago to when Hawaii Winter Baseball first started making the rounds.

Currently, home base seems to be Hans L’Orange Park in Waipahu. There are games on Maui (at Iron Maehara Stadium and in Hilo on the Big Island (at Francis Wong Stadium). For a full schedule of games, times and locations, go here.

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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!

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NEWS BULLETIN!

Homespun Honolulu will have the privilege of hosting the Carnival of Cities next week! We will be receiving the baton from Budget Globetrotting that is currently hosting the Carnival this week.

If you want to invite everyone to take a ride over to your blog, submit a story about your city for next week, or any week, using this form.

You may also visit here to get more information about the Carnival and to read through the guidelines for your submissions. You will also be able to get a feel for this event by visiting some of the past Carnivals that are listed on this site as well.

It doesn’t matter what the topic is, as long as it’s about your town or city we want to share it with the blogosphere! So, come join the Carnival! There’s no ticket purchase required!

Check back here this coming Monday (August 13th) to see who has come to our virtual Carnival to share stories about their city!

Sea Life Park is one of Hawaii’s star visitor attractions. Everyone loves the wildlife from the sea! It had been years since the last time I was there. As much as I hate to admit it, I have to say that when we visited the Park about a year ago, I left the Park just a little disappointed.

The shows were very much geared to the visiting tourists, which is to be expected, but even more so to the little kids. Are those things important? Yes, of course they are! But the bulk of the crowd, while tourists, were at an age where a little more educational brain stimulation could have been thrown in and was definitely in order!

Sea Life Park has changed things a bit since then and they have added things to the park that were never there before. These additions may be because they were purchased not too long ago by Dolphin Discovery, an organization that has six different ocean parks across the country, one of which is now Sea Life Park.

NOTE: Before I continue I need to point out that the trainers will NEVER reprimand or punish these animals in any way. These are wild animals and they are given all of the respect that they are due. So, when a trick doesn’t work, you try it again. If the show fails, you move on and try to work on it for the next time.

Continuing on, out of all the marine animals I think dolphins are the biggest crowd pleasers. They can dance across the pool for us…

…they can leap into the air to please an audience (or just because they want some free fish for doing, on cue, what comes naturally). I swear, Sea Life Park has the best back drop for photo taking!

They can also toss you across the pool if you ask them to!

But, you know, the best pictures and the funniest videos are taken when kids or pets are misbehaving. When the atmosphere is charged with excitement and expectation, these charming creatures catch the excitement bug too! After all, it’s THEIR show! They ARE the show! Well, they took over and stole the show from the trainers one day while we were there on a return visit.

Kids are always the most naughty when they’re together and want to play. Apparently the dolphins are the same way! By being rascals and flipping a fin or two at the trainers they decided to not let themselves be separated from the next group of performers but to join them instead! While the trainers kept trying to separate them, the show host / announcer found himself in the position of educating the crowd and even taking questions to stall for time.

Great! So everybody gets into the act. Crowd involvement and spectator engagement! What a novel idea! I think it works better to have these attention seekers shock the crowd while having a conversation with the audience instead of just talking at them. These rascals were obeying the commands to get their fish, they just didn’t want to be separated — no way, no how! Not one, not two and not even three — five of these aquatic brats in the air at once!

After the show was over I couldn’t wait to talk to the young trainers (who were about to be reprimanded) and tell them that it was the best show I had seen and to let them know that, “the next time the dolphins decide to misbehave, I’m there!” I also thanked them for sharing some knowledge with us this time and we let them how much better it was this time than it had been a year or so before.

Their supervisor person (or possibly their professor since the trainers may have been graduate students in oceanography or something) then said to them, “See, after all the work you’ve been doing…” Ahem.

Aside from all that, there is the wolphin, Kekaimalu. She is half bottle nose dolphin and half false killer whale and she pulls characteristics from both sides. Her weight is in between that of a bottle nose and a false killer whale, her color is a nice charcoal-gray combination of the dolphin’s gray and the false killer whale’s black. Even Kekaimalu’s tooth count is in the middle. Bottle nose dolphins have 88 teeth while false killer whales have 44; Kekaimalu has 66 teeth! Even her facial features are a clear combination of the bottle nose of the dolphin and the rounder, less-protruding profile of the false killer whale. Kekaimalu is also, if I’m not mistaken, the middle culprit in our photo of five rascals above. She may have been the ring leader for all I know!

Kekaimalu was not supposed to be born. The photo above was “borrowed” from Wikipedia and shows Kekaimalu as a youngster with her parents. She is also not supposed to be able to reproduce. Surprise! Kekaimalu has had three babies. Only one is still living but that surviving daughter and Kekaimalu both live at Sea Life Park and are the only wolphins in captivity. Kekaimalu is 21 years old this year. Hopefully she will live the normal lifespan of the bottle nose which is between 40 and 50 years.

I found an interesting tidbit of information while I was doing a little research about these guys. Even though dolphins are surrounded by water the salt-water environment of the ocean is more like a desert for them. They can’t drink that salt water because their bodies would use even more water trying to desalinate what they drink. Their water comes from the foods they eat and from the internal process of metabolizing fat. So, even though Kekaimalu is now 21 and can now drink legally, it would only dehydrate her if she tried.

There are several more animal attractions at Sea Life Park but the dolphins did so well that day that they deserve all the glory in this post. We will talk about Sea Life Park and its other residents again soon, I promise! Thank you, Sea Life Park, for the improvements and for a great show, and thank you, Kekaimalu and the gang, for all of these Kodak moments!

The Carnival of Cities is being hosted at Buenos Aires this week. It’s kind of nice to have this particular event every week. We all get to travel without the expense and we get to hear from real people who live there are have been there and have a story to tell or something to share.

Anyway, I get to re-introduce this concept of the Carnival of Cities all over again for all of those people who have not seen one before. That’s always a good thing! For the sake of consistency, we’ll go along in the same order as this week’s host.

Our first stop at the Carnival this week is Brazil! Tony Galvez shares very colorful pictures of the Tanabata Matsuri festival coloring up the streets of Sao Paulo. Tony shares with us that this is an event that happens every July and has been going on in this Brazilian city since 1979. We’re so used to this here in Honolulu but I guess it would be unusual in Brazil. Well, not anymore!

We move on to our host’s part of the world where Dalila tells us the 7 things to do when visiting Palermo Viejo. She also tells us not to get mixed up since most of the streets have Latin American names. The three main streets: El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica.  Yeah, I guess that could get confusing.

Next we get some advice from Steve Madsen on what to do in London, England. You can get some great travel tips from this blog too!

This is not the first time that we’ve visited the River Ribble in Preston, England. This one is a river worth saving and at Save the Ribble, the Riversider asks if the Preston Vision Board is Split Over the River Barrage.

Visiting Cyprus… that sounds so exotic doesn’t it? Described as an island nation in the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus shares something similar to us. Okay, they have one large island and we have 8 small ones, but they’re surrounded by water too! Sue shares an evening at Larnaka Beach with us over at her cypruslife blog.

What’s a cyber trip around the world without a stop in Switzerland? Our blogger at This non-American Life tells us all about a Zuri Fascht festival there. It didn’t sound like Jul was altogether happy with the event but the post does indicate that most of the other people at the festival enjoyed themselves.

This is way cool! We are fortunate to hear from someone in the Middle East! We’ve got to send a little aloha from here to the city of Dubai where Grace tries very hard to assure us that all is safe.  I kind of have to agree with her! Thanks, Grace, for sharing this with us! It’s nice to know that there’s peace somewhere among the turbulence!

Jon Rochetti at the DC Traveler found Paris! Uh, he found it in Virginia. Jon tells us all about this little town and the charming Ashby Inn & Restaurant. You’ve gotta love a place that has no problem painting its walls some other color rather than boring old white! I love the warmth of those red walls! A picture says a thousand words. When in Paris (Virginia), make sure you stay at that Inn… the food sounds pretty darn good too. Nice job, Jon!

Surprise, surprise! Hawaii has got two posts in the Carnival this week! At An Island Life, Kailani tells us about her warm family weekend on The Valley Island of Maui. I like the name, Baby Bug! This is how Kailani refers to her youngest little one. Too cute! Close to the beach and still close to air conditioning — life is good! Sounds wonderful, Kailani!

Hopping over one island, Evelyn (me) at Homespun Honolulu shares a post for the biker enthusiasts as Local Pride of the Island puts on its first annual bike show. Lots of motorcycles, lots of vendors, and one very hot sun! Bikes were entered in different classes for judging — a post with the names of the winners to follow!

Then we get to hear from Cherie about the Tango Magic in Denver, Colorado as we journey back across the Pacific and relive an interesting afternoon at the “Tango Temple” with the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop. I think the name, tangocherie sounds like a cool drink. Hey, we just got to Denver after being in the hot Hawaiian sun! I just like that name.

Are you guys dizzy yet?

Well, we get to sit for just a bit for a softball tournament (of sorts) at The San Diego Beat. Carole gives all the in’s and out’s of how San Diego is Going Over-the-Line and then she tells us how to get there, where to be for what we want to do and she even provides videos showing just what it’s all about! I’m glad she included those YouTube videos!  Thanks, Carole!

Of course after watching all of that, you’re probably more tired now than dizzy!

Let’s move on to Jamestown! You guys do realize that we’re back in Virginia again, right? That’s okay because we’re looking at things from a historic perspective this time. Sheila from Family Travel, See the World with Your Kids, shares a nice little story about Who’s on First in Jamestown? The two things I liked about this post were Sheila’s shared fascination with the archeological excavations that continue to go on there, and her reference to the “real story” of Pocahontas, both with links if you want to dig for further information. Thank you, Sheila! I enjoyed this.

Wait, we’re not done with the west coast of America yet. Did you guys know that there is a memorial to fishermen in Seattle? Check out the Fishermen’s Terminal that Mary Jo from the Seattle Traveler chose to share with us this week. According to Mary Jo, the statue is made out of bronze and stone and commemorates the fisher-people (fishermen and fisherwomen) that have been lost at sea. There’s a picture, and a link! Check it out!

Don’t get too comfortable just yet. We’ve got one more long jump across the country to New York where we get to visit Meredith Matthew’s Lemonade Stand. We meet up with Meredith to Take a Virtual Walk in New York City this Afternoon!

Whew! That’s the Carnival for this week but there’s more to come next Monday. It should be interesting to see what the Carnival will bring and where it will take us next week!

It has been busy and so have I! But, we cannot let it go by without taking a peek at who and what’s in the ring!

Take another excursion around the world at Home Turf Media’s Carnival of Cities and see what kind of performers have stepped into the ring this week!

First of all, we go to the hidden part of New York, under the city (literally) to find “The Book.” I so wished for a picture of this scary yet fascinating journey to this mini, underground work of art. This one has got to be my pick of the week.

Next the carnival leads you back to Homespun Honolulu (which is where you are right now) for you to see the Extreme Makeover which was quite the circus!

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