Pardon me while I try to make a buck

I was talking with moneywise girlfriend and fellow blogger Elsamart recently and she encouraged me to add banner ads and links to my site via Google Ad Sense. I've known about the program for a while now, but for whatever reason I hesitated. I realized the other day that I'm being silly for resisting and I would take the money under other circumstances. I was even listening to the "clang clang clang" of my neighbor's trash falling into the dump truck the other day and thinking, "Ching ching ching! Those bottles are all 5 cent redeemables! I should raid their trash next time they throw another party!" So let's do the ads! In exchange for your clicks, I pledge to increase the frequency and uniqueness of my content, or just make it more fun. I've got lots in the pipeline. Please stand by!

Memorial Day at Punchbowl

Every year, local boy scouts work feverishly to place a flag and a lei on each gravesite at Hawaii’s National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, or simply, “Punchbowl,” in time for the annual Memorial Day service Monday morning. Three years ago while still on maternity leave with Robbie, I headed out to see it for myself. Of course I was a bit late, but that worked out for the best. While I didn’t get good parking, I did manage to see the end of the ceremony. After its conclusion, I wandered around the grounds and the gravesites and was amazed that within 30 minutes of the ceremony ending, the cemetery had nearly emptied out. Most of the folks and cars were gone, restoring the peace and dignity of the site.
I didn’t make it back this year, but over the weekend I found some images from that day. Pictures posted here were taken with a film (gasp!) camera and have been scanned. In the past three years, I think I remember reading that one of the Unknown tombs from Pearl Harbor has been exhumed. Remains were DNA tested and they were able to identify the service member lost. Not sure which one, but seeing gravesites like this that still remain are very moving.

Annual Lantern Floating at Ala Moana Beach Park

A relatively new tradition in terms of Memorial Day events, and uniquely Hawaiian. Thousands come to Ala Moana Beach Park on Memorial Day to see paper lanterns float out into the water at sunset, each one in memory of someone or something. (This year they even offered free parking and shuttle service from the Convention Center as parking and traffic had been nightmares in years past as the event grew and grew.) I've been meaning to go each year we've been here, just haven't made it. Yesterday we spent the afternoon at a BBQ on the beach on the other side of the island and afterwards headed straight home.
The local news report is above, copied from the Honolulu Advertiser pages. But I like this amateur video below, also grabbed from the Advertiser. It starts out with just music and a close-up of the lanterns, then eventually you hear what I imagine is a Dad yelling, "Hey!" after a wayward child, and ultimately more crowd noise, breaking up the mood a bit. It probably gives you a better idea of the night!

Vog pictures: part 1 of ?

Here are two pictures of the vog taken in our neighborhood last Friday. I've been waiting to post them because I realized after taking them that I don't have any "base" non-voggy shots to compare them to, therefore the impact isn't that great. I've been waiting for a day to get a clear shot as the vog has lifted a little bit, but it's been raining. So, maybe someday comparison shots to come. In this second shot, a bird is perched on the tree top.

Great Hawaiian Rubber Duckie Race

This event happened a few months back, but it was fun and unique, and I took pictures I’m just now getting off the camera (!) so of course want to share here. The local March of Dimes affiliate hosts an annual Rubber Duckie Race on the Ala Wai canal, the manmade canal which more or less divides Waikiki from Honolulu. For a $5.00 donation, you can sponsor a rubber duck that is later tossed into the Ala Wai (as shown below). The current carries the ducks to the finish line a few hundred feet away, and the first set of ducks plucked from the water are recorded. Those with winning ducks receive prizes. Good prizes! I don’t remember any of the prizes but one…a free iPod. And that was for 7th place. I can only assume prizes 1 – 6 were pretty good, too.
I’d heard about this event every year since we arrived, but never got into Waikiki to see it. This year it happened while Noel and Robbie were back East, so I figured it was the perfect time to go. I dropped off Cub with Grandma and Grandpa and then walked over to the race site. As usual, I was cutting it pretty close and nearly missed the big start. All the good “first row” views were gone, so I quickly sized up the crowd and positioned myself behind a short Japanese tourist that I thought I could shoot over. Results are not that great, but I hope they give you a hint of just how much fun this was to watch. Pure silly joy. You can’t see the numbers on the ducks so there is no way you would know if your duck was in the lead or close to a prize, so you just watch and smile.
And the winner is… What you can't see in the pic is that nearly half the ducks were carried by the current and slammed into the wall on the Honolulu side of the canal. The winner came from the middle of the pack.

Preschooler makes stage debut

Here’s our favorite, oldest son performing for the first time in front of a crowd. For his elementary school’s annual May Day Pageant last Friday, the preschoolers performed “The Hukilau Song.” I misunderstood his teacher earlier in the week and I thought they would be singing the Hukilau song. So I asked Robbie a few times what he would be singing and if he wanted to practice before the big day, and he promptly belted out the “ABC song” each time. I thought, oh boy, this might not be good! But as they hustled the youngsters onto the field and started the music, I was relieved that they in fact would not be singing, but performing a preschool-appropriate hula-ish dance. They are pictured above in their lineup, just seconds before the music started. Robbie is the third from the right (or fourth from the left, whichever way your brain works better). He looks very small among those he is pictured with, but he’s in a class of mixed ages from 3 to 5, and he’s the youngest by far.

We’re new at this, but we did shoot a video of the performance which we hope to post soon. (Read: We've got some editing to do!)

Vog = volcanic fog

Scrabble players and crossword puzzle junkies, today I am your new best friend! I share with you a new (at least to me) “-og” word: vog. Due to heavy volcanic activity on the Big Island during the last four-plus weeks, vog is currently blanketing the islands. From the untrained eye it just looks really, really smoggy, almost smoky. It’s made up of sulfer dioxide and other particles spewing from the Kilauea Volcano and it is wreaking havoc on just about everything. Flowers and crops are at risk, not to mention people with weakened immune systems, kids, etc. I can even feel it a little bit (stuffed nose, a little harder to breath) and I breeze through the change in seasons and don’t have any health and/or allergy problems. Stay tuned, I hope to have a picture of it posted within a few days.

Might Mo’ to get mighty mo’ money (and other local news)

The historic WWII battleship Missouri, moored in Pearl Harbor for the last ten years, is scheduled for a makeover. For whatever reason, they’re already reporting that in over a year it will be dry docked for a short period and will get a $9 million dollar cleaning, err, capital improvements. $9 million!

In other big money news, Dog the Bounty Hunter will return to TV this summer after a half-year hiatus due to a wee little vocabulary snafu late last year. This should surprise no one as his show and merchandise are cash cows for the A&E cable network. His publicist (yes, he has one) has been working overtime this week preparing a media day to announce the season 5 premiere scheduled for July. Dog and his wife Beth were pictured in yesterday’s paper looking somber – no doubt at request of said publicist – alongside a smiling African-American man draped in orchid lei who appears to be thinking, “I can’t believe this guy said some stupid things and here I am getting a trip to Hawai’i.” Obviously any coaching on part of the publicist fell on deaf ears.

And finally, in news closer to home, Noel was fired from the downtown firm he'd been working with since early April. Last week Tuesday two partners came in his office late in the afternoon (after he had worked all day drafting a document) and they had the “Yeah, this really isn’t working out” conversation. It wasn’t a surprise and Noel couldn’t be happier. They watched him pack up his things, paid him until they end of the month, and escorted him out of the building. In a stroke of good luck, karma, and timing, he entered into a working partnership with another lawyer in town on Friday. His new business partner even baked him a congratulatory lemon cake when she heard the news that he passed the Hawaii state bar. Yes, he passed! Coincidently, his sister (who sat for the Maryland bar the same days that he sat the Hawaii bar) also found out that she passed her second bar. Now the Tipons have the coasts covered – Tricia is licensed in New York and Maryland, while Noel has California and Hawaii covered. Congratulations Tricia!

Guess who?

Last night we met Noel's parents for dinner at the Ala Moana Center. While waiting for our reservation, we ran into the nearby Banana Republic. Somebody likes to hide behind the men's shirts! The friendly staff only asked us to stop doing this once.

After dinner we went to the relatively new Nordstroms for a card member-only special after-hours event. Festivities included free food and alcohol (!) with a DJ playing music. (He was set up next to the idle piano on the bottom floor. I defintely missed the tranquility of the traditional piano playing, but can see why they wanted the DJ - I think people were buzzed on free pupus and club music and probably spent more.) It was fun. Hopefully we'll get another invitation for their similar fall event - and have more money to spend then. ;)

The stamp geek in me comes out to blog

Coming out on the heels of Lei day, I found out this morning that a new postage stamp will feature a well-known author adorned with a lei. From usps.com:

On May 12, 2008, in Washington, DC, the Postal Service™ will issue a 59–cent, James A. Michener definitive stamp. This stamp in the Distinguished Americans series honors James A. Michener who is best remembered for his novels, often multigenerational sagas that focus on the history of a specific place while spanning vast periods of time.

Designed by Richard Sheaff of Scottsdale, Arizona, and created by Mark Summers, the stamp art is based on a photograph of Michener from the late 1970s. In both the photograph and the stamp art, Michener is shown wearing a Hawaiian lei around his neck.

The Duke statue in Waikiki may be adorned with lei 24/7, but he didn't get one in his stamp. From surfingmuseum.org:

This stamp honors Hawaiian swimmer, surfer and Olympic Games gold medalist Duke Kahanamoku, who was renowned not only for his athletic prowess but also for his grace, humility and good sportsmanship. He is widely considered to be the father of international surfing, and for much of his life he served as a living symbol of hospitality and goodwill to the rest of the world. The portrait on the 2002 stamp, an oil painting by Michael J. Deas, is based on a 1918 photograph from the collection of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu. Visible in the background are depictions of Diamond Head and two surfers riding a wave at Waikiki Beach.

May Day is Lei Day

In Hawaii, they celebrate Lei Day on May 1st. In recognition, ladies are supposed to wear a mu'umu'u. It borders on acceptable, but I think you can also get away with wearing a Hawaiian print dress. Liking neither of these options, I chose to bead a hibuscus cuff bracelet. It's shown on the left. I didn't get too far, but will finish it soon. ;)

In the Commissary the other day, there was a woman wearing a mu'umu'u. Robbie spots her and calls out, "Ghost train!" after something he's watched over and over in one of his favorite DVDs. A train in GeoTrax land ("It's Trax-tastic!") is trying to scare other trains by pulling a large sheet over itself and sounding spooky horns while cruising through tunnels, aka the "ghost train." I laughed when Robbie spotted the dress as it did kind of look like the fabric the Ghost Train drapes on itself. Luckily the woman had no idea!

It's also a day where local musicians hold annual concerts. There are also lei making contests and other fun stuff. Most of it is around Waikiki, so we won't be joining in on that either. But Happy Lei Day anyway!