Homespun Honolulu

We’ll all know now! Look at what we’ve got over on the right margin! This has got to be my favorite widget! People are looking at this and saying, “So what?” This will show us how close we are to the full moon and we can watch it as it gets bigger (waxing) or as it gets smaller (waning). It’s cool to see how accurate this thing is when it looks just like that in the night sky! So far so good! It looks very accurate tonight!

It’s interesting to learn that although the sun is much larger and should have a greater pull on our atmosphere, the moon is closer and actually has a more direct impact on our tides and a lot of things we never even think about.

People are still saying, “So what?!?” Well, let’s see… shall we go swimming 8 or 10 days after the full moon? Best avoid the south (Diamond Head) and west (Makaha) shores of Oahu! The box jellyfish may be floating around all over the place. If you have not been stung by one, trust me, you don’t want to be. Even worse, you don’t want to find out that you’re allergic to them! I’m not making this up. Don’t believe me? See for yourself! I would imagine the same thing happens, not just in Hawaii, but where ever the jellies go swimming!

Okay, so we’ll go fishing instead. If you’re a fisherman, this may prove more important to you than you think!

Salt-water anglers argue that tides have a greater influence on fish feeding habits than the moon itself. It must be understood that the tides are governed by the phases and transit of the moon. Certain marine phenomena occur with precise regularity during the lunar month and solar/lunar cycle.”

We already discovered that with the jellyfish. Mahalo to King’s Outdoor World for that educational tidbit!

Don’t like the water very much? Rather be planting a garden? Guess what? Some people even do Gardening by the Moon!

Still not impressed? Ever ask anyone about when customers are obnoxious? Ever wonder why people are “all” driving so crazy on any given day for no particular reason? Ever ask your local telephone company when the crank calls happen most? I know that some staff at Hawaiian Telcom will cringe if you remind them that the next day is a full moon. That is when the most complaints and crank calls happen!

It makes sense if you think about it — we humans are mostly water according the US Geological Survey which says that, “Up to 60 percent of the human body is water, the brain is composed of 70 percent water, and the lungs are nearly 90 percent water.” Well, um, if the moon can control how water behaves, and since we’re mostly water… I would say that we are definitely susceptible to the pull of good old Mr. Moon. I know he pulls on my strings every now and then, or at least that’s who I like to blame it on!

Just for the record, the moon is currently waxing. In case I’ve got you interested now, we will be admiring a full moon on September 26th. I don’t need to tell you, you can just check out our new addition on the right!

I’m still looking for this crazy white bird. Manu-o-ku (which is a white fairy tern), now recognized as Honolulu’s official bird, is still hiding from my camera. The Star Bulletin’s photographer found one for their story released back in April. I guess I need to cross the street because they aren’t hanging out by Iolani Palace. Maybe I will find one eventually.

Until then, I found these guys! I had to do some searching for what they’re called because they are the cutest darn things. The official title for these birds is Grey Java Sparrow.

They are also sometimes referred to as the Java Rice Bird, Java Temple Bird or Paddy Bird. Paddy bird refers to rice paddies. They like rice… uh, so do the rest of us in Hawaii! You can read more about them here. This is what they sound like. They look like a cross between a parakeet and a finch, but, their color is different from both of these other birds.

These are their babies learning how to forage in the grass for food. They haven’t developed much color yet except for their telltale pink-orange beaks. They’re so tiny they disappear in the grass in some spots. Their are two adults with each gang of little ones and those are, presumably, their parents. Judging by the size of this little troop, their nest must have escaped any pesky over-sized geckos!

They look almost fake or like they’re made of plastic. They let me get pretty close but they had to give me that side glance to be sure I wasn’t getting too close.

They are cute as heck! These tiny finch-like babies sit in pairs on trees with only wispy branches. There are four or five sets at a time snuggled in pairs on the same branch but spaced about a foot apart. No, I’m not a bird watcher. I just want to get a picture of my official city bird. But, in the meantime, I couldn’t resist these cuties.

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!

People always talk about sunrises and sunsets. Nobody ever talks about moonrises. Let me tell you, they’re gorgeous! Catch them at the right moment and they’ll make you catch your breath. The only thing more beautiful than a Honolulu sunset is the rising of a Blue Moon over Honolulu.

Nobody seemed to be able to agree which month was the Blue Moon month, May or June. Some calendars said that May 31st was a full moon while others said the full moon fell on June 1st. While the astrologers are busy disagreeing, we’ll just enjoy them.

It wasn’t raining so I’m not sure why it looked so cloudy; perhaps it was vog (volcano fog) from the Big Island. Whatever the cause, I think it added to the beauty of the moon as it kept peeking through.

Blue moon or not, this one at the tail end of June was a beauty. For us lunar-tics, these natural wonders can make an otherwise stressful day pale in comparison. Perhaps it’s nature’s way of saying every thing’s alright. Works for me! The camera lens seemed to enjoy it too!

Another week, another Carnival! Isn’t it great to not have to drive or look for parking when attending the Carnival of Cities?!?

Homespun Honolulu has joined in the fun once again and has very good company. Here is the list in the same order provided by our Carnival Host and DC Traveler, Jon. A blogger from the b5media family of blogs.

This non-American Life is a great title for a blog! Along with this great title, here’s a great tradition from Vienna — Vienna - Kaffee-und-Kuchen. It’s like the tradition of the Mexican siesta but this afternoon rest period comes with food!

A little historic journey through Honolulu’s past can be found at the Hawaii Maritime Center article. By the way, I’m reading that book about the Falls of Clyde. I’ll keep you guys posted!

For the next stop at this week’s Carnival, we move from as far West in America as you can get, to as far East in America as you can get! We move from Honolulu to New York! It sounds like there will be dancing in the streets of New York on May 19th! Visit this blog and you can find out all about the 2007 Dance Parade in New York.

Texas draws us back from the East. Jami’s neighbors live in gingerbread houses! Well, at least it looks like it, in the Monte Vista area of San Antonio. A real fairytale neighborhood!

Ruth, another b5media blogger, says to everyone, “Let’s Visit Asia” and in the process, she shares a post about the new Westin Hotel in China. Fancy!

For this Carnival of Cities we are really into history. I always like to make pit stops at Wicked Winter. Jaz (those are his initials, cool huh?) tells us all about the history and the Circle of the Montague Avenue area in North Charleston, South Carolina.

John at A DC Birding Blog has a really cool blog. What a tremendous amount of information about wild birds! I’m impressed! John is kind enough in this post to let everyone know where to go look as a carnival prize for travelers!

Eric, at What’s Up Arlington, writes about cool event, Artomatic, that has a variety of art to appeal to a wider audience, and, it’s open late! Here’s something to do in the evening besides the overdone dinner and a movie thing.

David at Brisbane is Home, tell us all about Brisbane’s 2007 Jazz Festival. Tons of links, photos and stories to share! David loves to share photos and his Home Turf has a personality all its own!

My impression of Kathryn over at San Fran Voice is that she is somewhat of a risk taker. I, of course, mean that in the most positive way! She has no problem stepping outside that societal box and I commend her for this! At this Carnival, she shares great information about, as our host puts it, Finding Love and More on Craigslist. You go girl! You gotta love San Francisco for being creative and brave… Kathryn is quite at home right where she is! Read her About page too!

Steve at Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog tells us about a taking a Walking Tour of Santana Row. You guys have got to see this cool place and the human-sized chess board! Aside from that, a chance to visit a place where the Internet gurus hang out is always an enticement for me! Ya think there’s any of their “stuff” available through osmosis?

We have another b5media blogger, Mary Jo, at The Seattle Traveler! Mary Jo writes about Chicks in the City. Look at those legs! Look at that chest! Man, these chicks look great, especially if you’re a raccoon! Okay, okay, so it’s about raising chickens for fresh eggs in Seattle, not sex in the city. But, what a looker! Mary Jo put up a great-looking photo!

At The Digerati Life by Silicon Valley Blogger asks, “Should you Quit School Because You’re Brilliant?” Good question. What if you only THINK you’re brilliant? How brave are you? Braver than I!

Carole at The San Diego Beat educates us on the true meaning of Cinco de Mayo and then shows us how San Diego doesn’t care when they celebrate it, as long as they do! Cinco de Mayo, San Diego Style shares a nice pictorial story with this week’s Carnival goers! In fact, now I know that Taco Bell is where I’m going for lunch!

Riversider at Save The Ribble says, “Dammit, no Dams!” We get to read about the banding together of citizens to protect the beauty and functionality of their environment in this post about a Barrage (dam) across the Rabble River in England.

At The Picket Line by David, has done a book review for us on the Underground Economy of the Poor in Chicago. Sounds like interesting reading! There is a link to Amazon where the book is available. Hmmm… one to get you thinking for sure. Chicago may not be the only one.

Last but certainly not least is the post from our Carnival Host! Jon, from The DC Traveler, tells us about this really cool artistic event about making a mini-film based on a single line of text or dialogue. This is to be done in just 48 hours as part of the 48-HourFilm Project in Washington, DC.

It’s another Carnival alright, and man what a Carnival it is! Behave yourselves and have fun! Well… why don’t you just have fun!

The point at Makapu’u is the most east-facing part of the island of Oahu. The surf coming from the west will hit along that shore first and then flow to either side around the island. Perhaps this is why Sandy Beach is a favorite surfing spot — it’s just around the bend from Makapu’u.

I finally found the entrance to the two-mile hike to the top of Makapu’u point that people keep talking about. I have also heard that, along with the wonderful views at the top of this thing, there are old abandoned bunkers left from World War II. I haven’t seen it yet, but I promise you guys that I will. I will tell you all about it and bring you pictures to go with it!

What I am very familiar with, and what scared me as a child, are the  sheer cliffs along the road that leads to Sandy Beach and Makapu’u Point. It is especially threatening at night, but daylight provides the visual for us here! It doesn’t scare me anymore because now I’m the driver. It scares my mother though… of course it might be my driving that scares her.

The Stuff Romance Novels are Made Of

Those cliffs remind me of the covers of some Harlequin romances  and of the old-time TV show, Dark Shadows. There was always that girl standing on the edge of the cliff with her hair and romantic, white dress blowing in the wind. Standing oh so precariously near the edge waiting to fall to her demise on the jagged rocks and rough surf below. Has he left her? Has she lost him to death or to another woman? Will he come to her in the cold night air? Will he push her over the edge? In reality, there are no such romantic tales to be told. Shucks! But, it’s still a lovely setting for first dates and a great backdrop for wedding photos.

Many people are drawn to this area. Tourists riding on tour buses and driven around in limousines frequent this area. Local residents go here to surf, to run, to bicycle and to just hang out. Even the street bikers are drawn here on their motorcycle runs. There’s a sense of freedom without being too far away from the city. There’s surf crashing against the rocks, great views and a little bit of romance and thrill to come so close to the edge of those sheer cliffs.