Homespun Honolulu

King Lunalilo’s tomb was blessed with new kahili a few weeks ago as part of the King’s 175th birthday.  These kahili were beautiful new additions to replace the old ones that were not in the greatest of shape after all of these years.

Apparently the making of the new kahili was orchestrated by Paulette Nohealani Kahalepuna which says to me that these kahili were not only crafted of feathers but that they were done correctly, carefully, and beautifully.

The gentleman pictured here on the left is Kamehameha Maertens.  He is quite familiar with the kahili in King Lunalilo’s tomb.  Back in 1938 an article in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin listed him as one of the kahili bearers back then. Mr. Maertens’ grandson took him to the new kahili event to celebrate Lunalilo’s 175th birthday on January 31st at the King’s tomb on the grounds of Kawaiaha’o Church.

That, in my opinion, is certainly something worth talking about — a man revisits a part of history that he himself was a part of.  I’m not sure how many of us will be around long enough to see history repeat itself or to say we actually had a hand in it!

In the Star-Bulletin article, Kamehameha Maertens was listed incorrectly as a member of the Royal Order of Kamehameha.  His first name may have been the reason for the reporter’s confusion but he was certainly an important part of the royal procession paying tribute to the memory of a man who was once a very popular monarch.

After all of those years gone by, I can’t help but wonder if he ever dreamed that his own grandchild would push for the preservation of the Hawaiian culture through the protection, perpetuation, and restoration of its treasured language.  In case you can’t get into Facebook, here’s the meat of what’s on the other end of this link:

“After the unlawful overthrow of the Hawaiian government by white supremacists, four generations of Hawaiian people endured cultural genocide beginning in 1896 when the Hawaiian language was banned as a medium of public instruction. 30+ years have passed since the 1978 Hawai’i State Constitution nominally restored Hawaiian as an official language along with English, yet speakers of Hawaiian cannot vote using their language. Without public information readily available in Hawaiian, the current policy of English-only community services is indeed tantamount to ethnic cleansing! Will you please join with us to implement Hawai’i’s Official Languages Act to put this unfortunate era of cultural genocide against Hawaiian speaking people behind us for good?”

I’ve talked about this before and, while it is a touchy subject, most people will agree that it is a terrible thing to cut off a people from their own language.  It is a wretched behavior for a country claiming to be “civilized.”  Make no mistake about it, I’m an American and proud of it, but there are times when I just don’t know what we were thinking!  But I digress.

There are quite a few of us who missed the Hawaiian-language boat in school and are now trying to learn.  This is where Mr. Maertens’ grandson comes in.  Michael Malulani Odegaard is trying to help us do just that.  Some students are doing better than others.  I have to admit that life, as usual, gets in the way of that too.  Mahalo, Kumu, for all you do and for your infinite patience!

For those of you looking to learn ‘olelo Hawai’i or looking to brush up on your skills a little, there are small classes available on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 8:00 PM and Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 7:00 PM.  Follow this link for more information about the Wednesday evening class and for contact information in case you have questions.

For those who try to call it a dead language, I’m very happy to let you know that you are sadly mistaken!  It’s alive and well and getting stronger every day!

Comments left on Facebook will be copied and shared here on Homespun Honolulu so everyone will be able to listen to your thoughts and input.

While listening to the tsunami warnings this morning and the boat harbors asking boat owners to move their vessels out into deeper water, I couldn’t help but think about “my boat.”  What happens to the Falls of Clyde when a threat like this one comes over the Civil Defense and other warning systems?

Relatively recently I received an email message about the Falls of Clyde with this YouTube video.  I cried.  Of course.  I almost started again while making sure this link worked.  The video kind of shows what many people wanted to have happen to the Falls before the Friends of the Falls of Clyde stepped up to stop it.

I’ve been thinking about sharing this here but there is nothing like the threat of a tidal wave to get someone to their keyboard.  Still listening to the news and all of the closed City parks, shopping malls, and golf courses, etc., I’m more worried about the sea vessels getting bashed.

Hmmm… a tsunami moves at the speed of a jet.  It’s scheduled to hit the Big Island of Hawai’i at about 11:05 this morning, February 27, 2010, and the rest of the islands in succession after that.  Hilo Bay is going to be the lucky recipient of this “event.”

Standing by and worrying about how it will all pan out.

Updated 03/01/2010 - No impact.  Civil Defense did a good job.  Local media stayed on top of the crisis and kept us informed from start to finish.  No panic.  There was just a lot of people doing what they felt needed to be done.

Now that Hawai’i is in the clear, I can’t help but think about poor Chile.  Google offers some ways to help if you can.

I can’t help but be confused when I listen to and watch some of the strange things that our Country’s administrators, or potential administrators, are doing and saying.  Forgive me but I just have to shake my head at some of this stuff.

Who Makes These Rules? 

My indignation all started just before New Years when a potential walking disaster boarded an airplane on one of our airlines.  It’s safe to say that many of us were left wondering how that happened.

Howard Dicus has always seemed to have a great amount of aloha for airplanes and the airlines.  I love his ability to always put an intelligent yet un-lofty spin on things.  This article about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab (the aforementioned walking disaster) was no exception.

I wrote this post a couple of years ago and at the end of it you can see that I really do have a great respect and admiration for our Department of Homeland Security but, who is this woman?!? Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, said,

“…putting him on the list required specific derogatory information that was not available.”

What the *BLEEP*?!?  Hello?!?  Woman, information like you received has got to be enough to issue at least a warning and put this person on the watch list, or something!  Were you on vacation in September, 2001?  One would like to think that it is a better thing to er on the side of security overkill!  Don’t ya think? We can stop Joan Rivers from boarding a plane, but not a potential loose cannon?  Oh, wait, that was a Costa Rican airport.  Sigh.

Oh well, I guess that the Department of Homeland Security will not be hiring me anytime soon — scratch that Federal job!

This next news story made me wonder.  Sarah Palin must like the camera.  Instead of running for office, she is moving from politics to the media.  I’m sure she’ll be very good at this job with Fox and I’m actually looking forward to seeing what she does with it!  I guess that takes her out of the Presidential pool.  Doesn’t it?

It was not my intention to give so much link love to Yahoo! but they just happened to have some good write-ups that helped me make my points. Thanks, Yahoo!, for the good content.

Things are equally foggy voggy here at home.  On Sunday we couldn’t really tell if we had rain clouds, vog, or a little bit of both.  It has been that way for quite a while as you will see below.

Last, and probably the least of my cloudy curiosity, I have to share this picture and warn readers that what follows is purely speculation on my part.  Hey, I’m a blogger who must have pictures and this one was worth a thousand words!  (Okay, so maybe it only gets about a hundred words.)

Keep in mind that my paranoid brain was working overtime.  Taken on the west side of O’ahu, this picture shows some rather strange behavior going on several days before the First Family even arrived in Honolulu (yes, that thought did cross my mind).  It just seemed odd to me that a helicopter would hover so low to the ground (I was sitting in my car when I took this).  Looking for hit men?  Snipers?  Escapees?  Drug dealers?  The area was curiously void of homeless people so it got me thinking that maybe they cleared the area.  I don’t even know if that was a military ‘copter, there was too much vog as you can see.  It was just weird.

Maybe I need Sudafed to uncloud my brain.

The anticipation is greater than Heinz ketchup!  This is yet another event that I wait for every year.  Perhaps the greatest community event in Honolulu!  Okay, so I’m biased.

Yes, I know the Honolulu Marathon really is “all that,” in many ways, but the Great Aloha Run seems to be more about community involvement and sharing the aloha that we all hold so dear.

Come to think of it, there seems to be a lot more visitors for the Honolulu Marathon than there are for the Great Aloha Run.  Does the Great Aloha Run have visitors from elsewhere?  Oh yeah!  Last year we had participants join us from various places around the continental U.S. and even some from Canada.

Every year there are 20,000+ participants in this event and they are walking, running, and just plain having a good time with their families and friends.

Even the events that kick off the event are full of fun.  Meadow Gold saw to that this year.  On Fort Street in downtown Honolulu both Lani Moo and POG (Passion Orange Guava) were there to add a little to the festivities.

There are a lot of sponsors but this year, the Title Sponsor is Kaiser Permanente.  I suppose that’s a bit more fitting than Hawaiian Telcom, being that the Great Aloha Run does give a heck of a strong push for health and fitness.

If you haven’t signed up yet, don’t worry, there’s still time!  You can get the registration form, fill it out and mail it in.  You can even wait for the Sports, Health & Fitness Expo (February 12, 13 & 14), the three days before the event, and register then!

There is no event quite like this one to light a fire under me to start “talking” again.  I miss writing, I miss talking, and I so miss sharing!  We’ll talk about the New Year and early resolutions in a bit.  Right now, let’s talk about Christmas and one of the landmark events that signal that it is upon us.

Street Bikers United Hawaii joined forces with the United States Marine Corps Reserve, just as they do every year.  The fun part is that there are always new surprises and fun things to see.

Every year I wait for this event, just because.

Phenomenons like this one happen across the country.  Hawai’i is not the only State to see this happen.  Yes, I call it a phenomenon because our bikers just show up with little provocation.  I’m obviously not the only one who looks forward to this!

There is just something so delightful about a bunch of toy-carting bikers that is enough to make people’s hearts all warm and fuzzy.  Of course that’s after they’re done scratching their heads.

It’s an awesome sight; let me show you!

Since I need to get rid of my wheels (since I have four instead of only 2) before I venture out with my camera, I find a safe spot to get rid of them and go the rest of the way on foot to Magic Island where the event begins.

Many bikers get close to Magic Island but some stop for breakfast before continuing — including Santa and some of his elves.

When I first got there the parking lot was already starting to fill up.

It was amazing to watch the lot fill up and get more and more crowded.  Who would have thought that there were even that many bikes on Oahu?

The lot was filling with more bikes, more Santas, more toys, and more enthusiasm.  When all was said and done, there were over 6,500 bikes!

As they continued to file in, I kept thinking about just how perfect the weather was for a day like this.  It wasn’t too hot but the sun was out and being its usual bright self.  

It was a good thing that it wasn’t too hot because the volunteers directing the influx of bikers were being kept very busy!  The bikers dressed in Santa suits must have been baking up pretty nicely as well.

There were more people than bikes because a lot of the bikers had their ladies with them.

Here is Ralph and Wanda — these two go everywhere together!  I was looking for them because I really don’t know anybody else personally.  I found them!  These two are inseparable and theirs is a heartwarming relationship to watch.

Here’s a dad with his little lady.  This cutie got a lot of attention from those of us with cameras — you can tell by the shadows off to the right.  You can also tell that she was a little embarrassed by all of the attention.

There were a variety of other kinds of passengers too!

All of these characters riding with these ferocious bikers. Terrible, terrible! :)

Here is a favorite group of characters!  GEICO was there walking around and handing out bandannas.  In a feeble attempt to score a gecko scarf I said, “I don’t have a bike but my car is GEICO-insured!”

“It’s all good!” was the response.  Hmmm, that was not so feeble after all.  I ended up with a couple of crisply-folded bandannas tucked in at my waist — I was a walking advertisement!  Trust me, they didn’t mind.

The run/parade was supposed to start at 10:00 am but at 10:30 bikers were still filing into the park.

At the ultimate destination, Kapiolani Community College, the Marines collected the cargo from the bikers and still the smiles of participants and spectators continued to appear on faces old and young.

Here, Santa had the Grinch all tied up!

This Grinch was on the loose.

Lions, tigers, and bears, oh my!

At the end of the line the bikes are more spread out so you can see all of the polishing that went on before this event.

You can also see a few more oddities that we missed at the beginning of all this.  I’m guessing those are moose antlers but they do quite nicely as reindeer antlers.  It’s Christmas time and these “reindeer” can fly!  As always, they should fly safely.

Now that I’ve shared all of that, I have to say how happy I am to be sharing this fun event with everyone and I’m sorry that I have not been writing and sharing more recently.  The fire has been lit — thanks to Street Bikers United and our Marines!  I’m starting early with my resolutions.  I hereby resolve to post more often and try not to let a down time like this happen again!

I’ve got two weeks to whip this baby into shape!  

That’s Kawaiaha’o Church at the end of the rainbow in this photo.  It’s all about the angle. It might be Queen’s hospital or Honolulu Hale  at the end of that rainbow, if you were coming from a different direction, but this worked for me! It worked even better when this story about finding the iwi (bones) hit the news.  This happens so very often when new construction happens.  My initial comment when I heard about this  was, “tell me a better place to have something like this happen?!?”  This is on the Church grounds.  They have indeed found treasure at the end of that rainbow! (Just for recognition’s sake, I have included a photo of Kawaiaha’o Church below that was taken from the angle that people are most accustomed to seeing.)

Hawaiians have always believed that the power or mana of a person, their spiritual essence as it were, is in their bones (iwi).  Many Hawaiians still hold fast to this belief and many others, whether they believe it or not, recognize and respect it as a valuable part of our culture.  We will revisit this topic in a future post because I want to learn and share more about it.  I think it will help to explain some things that have puzzled me, and probably some things that have puzzled others.

Even if the traditional Hawaiian view of the significance of the iwi (bones) is not their view, most local people will take a step back, respect the significance of findings such as this, and send everything to a screeching halt!  I applaud the deference shown by our government offices and the businesses that honor this tradition.

Then I saw this and was aghast!  It was okay when they were widening Queen Street and relocated the remains of many.  Nobody complained then.  If they did, I never heard about it, or it escaped me completely.

I only know this grave stone that sits on the corner of the church property, at the intersection of Punchbowl and Queen Streets, that carries an inscription that reads:

“In memory of our beloved unknown friends of yesteryears found in unmarked graves during the excavation of Queen Street.  These 102 beloved souls are committed unto Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, and their remains tenderly laid to rest in peace in this place.”  November 20, 1988

A little church trying to enhance its ability to help and educate the community is now the target of this ugly publicity?  An article I read said that the remains of the family in question were not touched.  I’m not a party to any of this and I do not know all the details but, if this is the case and there was no damage done, all I can say is, “Auwe!“

For all of the times that something like this has happened, I can’t think of a better situation.  The families can rest assured that this matter will be handled with the greatest of care.  My heart goes out to this little church and its parishioners.  This is quite a quandary but I know that the iwi will be given the full focus and attention of the leaders and members of this historic institution.

Sending heartfelt wishes for a peaceful resolution and for God’s blessings for Kawaiaha’o Church and the treasured iwi entrusted to their loving care!

I didn’t know it had a special day.  I just always thought it was a fundamental right that was established many, many years ago.  But then, I’m spoiled-rotten.  I’m an American and for us it is a rudimentary kind of ingredient, or the foundation even, of our media as we know it today — both written and televised. 

Bloggers Unite!  So, why are we talking about it?  We want all journalists to have that same spoiled-rotten, power-of-the-pen that we have, no matter where they are in the World!

Here’s the goal:

Objective:
World Press Freedom Day is annually observed on May 3 to inform the international community that freedom of the press and freedom of expression are fundamental

The United Nations General Assembly declared 3 May to be World Press Freedom Day[1][2] to raise awareness of the importance of freedom of the press and remind governments of their duty to respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression enshrined under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and marking the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek, a statement of free press principles put together by African newspaper journalists in 1991.

Did you guys know that this was celebrated every May 3rd?  I didn’t know that.  We’re supposed to know this stuff.  I wasn’t paying attention.  The rest of the World is supposed to know it too!  Freedom of the press and freedom of expression is a human rights issue — we’ve got it and we’re not giving it up!

I wouldn’t want it any other way and I want to “feel” what journalists, bloggers, and the literary wizards of the World are trying to share.  To clip a writer’s wings is just wrong.  Happy World Press Freedom Day!  Let’s keep it that way.

This post has been pending for a while now.  It was put it on the back burner for a variety of reasons but this past Monday (I think it was Monday) one more fatality brought it right back up, front and center!

A couple of Sundays ago, a young woman riding a motorcycle in Waialua lost control of the bike, hit the guardrail, and was pronounced dead at the scene.  She was only 27 years old!  Her passenger was 23 and, while injured, survived the crash.  Apparently it’s not uncommon for a passenger to be thrown clear and suffer little or no injury.

People who have cruised through this blog from time to time know that I am a big proponent of motorcycle safety.   The media reports on the fatality rates on our roadways.  I have seen a variety of numbers reported but one of the reports said that this was already the 7th one this year, on Oahu, which matches the total of all of those that happened in 2008.  HPD said that the motorcycle accident at the end of February was the 17th but that may have been traffic fatalities in total, not just motorcycle-related accidents.   No matter how you look at it, it’s just way too many!

If you’re a biker, I know you guys want to just brush me off but, guess what?  I’m not the only one!  Listen to the words from some of your own!  Am I wrong?  Still think I’m over-reacting?

I’ve been telling myself that I’m becoming my mother — I worry too much about people’s safety.  With no biological children of my own, I guess I have a deep-seated, maternal need to adopt all of our Oahu ohana who constantly put themselves at risk.  I worry about all of the things that any good mother would worry about — the risks involved with dangerous locations, dangerous equipment with sharp blades, and all dangerously fast-moving vehicles with a bad rap.

The fear of accidents and the heavy grief over the loss of a friend or loved one would be unbearable.  It doesn’t happen often but when it’s someone you know, once is already too much.  The lu’ulu’u (heavy grief) caused by a tragedy like this lingers over the community for several days and is hard to shake off, especially when you have friends and family who share the same hobby.  The danger is something that mothers and spouses have to deal with and/or shake off every time their loved ones step outside the door.

Another one that is not usually on my radar of concern, is another favorite pastime that I had forgotten about. Factor in another relatively-recent incident and this particular activity moves right back to the forefront.  Granted, this was a truly unfortunate case of po’ino (hard luck or peril) that caused this tragedy.  I guess technology makes things more dangerous now.  Mahalo to KITV4 for keeping that link active for us.

We have several hunters on the island (responsible ones who don’t kill other people’s pets; don’t even let me get started on that one again) who hunt pigs, goats, deer (on the Big Island), etc. using a variety of techniques.  I’ve lost friends because of accidents in the mountain so I can speak with a little bit of authority on this.

Yes, I do worry about animal rights and , were it not for the destruction done to the environment by these non-indigenous characters, I would be screaming about their slaughter.  Don’t worry, the photo of this charming little guy was actually borrowed from a photographer who took this in India.  It’s illegal to kill the pigs there.  They are necessary to that ecosystem (destructive of ours).

To avoid sharing a bloody photo, I got permission from Flickr.com member, zedaxis22, to borrow this wonderful photo of this wild boar.  If I had not told you this photo was taken in India, you never would have known the difference.  I didn’t! Thank you, zedaxis22, I’m glad that this little guy is in India because I would hate to see anything happen to a fine creature like that.

With the exception of the wild animals and the choice of equipment, this past time would be no more dangerous than hiking, right?  Wrong.  The problem is, there are so many other factors to consider.  Hunters consistently step off any paths or trails created for hikers.  They need to go where their targets go, which is usually anywhere but the marked trails.

In short, I’m sending strong urgings to friends and family who are passionate about their favorite pastimes:  please use caution, please make good decisions, and please remember your loved ones before you take those dangerous steps.

Strong urgings to drivers:  “Look Twice, Save a Life.  Motorcycles are Everywhere.”  This is especially true now that gas prices have made us think about our methods of transportation.

Drive smart, ride smart, and play smart!

UPDATE:  This evening, April 10th, KHON2 News reported that the City, Mayor Hannemann and the Honolulu Police Department, have started “Operation Chinatown.”  They have “tripled the number of police officers” and they’re “taking back the streets!”

It’s not going to be easy, we know that.  We just need to keep our eyes open and share the responsibility of keeping our home a happy place.  Our job is to let them know when we see bad things happening.  Hey, it’s a Neighborhood Watch!

Anyway, write this number down, 768-6800.  This is the Chinatown Alert Hotline — if you see something going on, call and let them know!  (If it’s an emergency, call 911 like you always would.)

Let’s help the City take back the streets!  Store that number in your cell phone — I did! Mahalo to the Mayor and the Chief of Police for taking action!

Excuse me, Mr. Mayor?  I thought we were cleaning up Honolulu’s Chinatown.  How much are we expected to pussyfoot around crap like this?  I’m sorry guys but this has got to stop!  I work only five or so blocks away from these areas and I live only about a mile away.  I walk these streets and I run passed those areas.  My friends, family and loved ones do too. 

We all, at one time or another, shop in the vicinity of this drama — during the day time.  Something happens around here when the sun goes down.  The rule of thumb that I generally follow is to not travel west of Nuuanu after sunset.  There’s already blood on the street between Fort and Smith Streets because of the raunchy clientele over there; you don’t even have to get to Nuuanu. This is ridiculous.  Sometimes you even have to get mauka of Vineyard Blvd before it’s safe.    

Since other cities have no problem giving one-way tickets to homeless people (yes, we all know about it), why don’t we do the same for the non-resident homeless and the drug pushers?  Send them back!  

Send the drug lords skanks in a separate boat, a leaking one.  Vicious?  Perhaps.  But, Chief Correa of the Honolulu Police Department is right, they have no business here!  They have no right to shed blood on our streets and we have no desire to lose any of our officers to their shenanigans either!  

This is our home and they’re tarnishing all the beauty and camaraderie that we have tried so hard to create and propagate.  I’m not making this up.  The Honolulu Advertiser stated that both the residents and the merchants are concerned that the increase in crime will “undo years of revitalization efforts.”

It’s cool when our own local newspapers and media take these things to task but it’s a little troubling when blogs and media outlets elsewhere pick this stuff up.  I am pleased that The Snitch (I like that name) was kind enough to actually accept the ownership of this particular gang element.  Thanks, Joe.

Even the kama’aina homeless are afraid.  They don’t admit to their fear but when they talk among themselves you can hear it in their voices. Hello, Mr. Mayor?  We’re supposed to be focused on making our home green, not blood red. 

With tears in my eyes I ask you why.  Why is it that I, my friends, and my neighbors have to be afraid to take the dog for a walk or to go buy a damn soda?  Tell me!