Halloween preview

Before sitting down to work on Robbie's costume earlier this week, I snapped this picture. Here are the "raw" materials needed for his look, sans Scotch tape and glue which I forgot I needed until I was knee-deep in the project. Cub doesn't have a costume, I'm just not that into it for his age. We'll be trick or treating tomorrow with some friends who are throwing a party for the kids.

DIY pumpkin patch

The only pumpkin patch on Oahu is close to us, on a local road between Ewa and Kapolei. It’s a farm that plants lots of pumpkins and opens its fields to the masses every year before Halloween. They let kids of all ages run up and down the rows and pick fresh pumpkins out of the mineral-rich red dirt that covers the ground.

I started my last job about this time two years ago, and my new boss, with kids of her own in elementary school, asked me if I was going to take Robbie to the pumpkin patch.

Each year before Cub came along I’ve actually loaded Robbie in the car, headed down the hill, and driven by the farm. There are no trees or shade, only miles of red dirt and I just couldn’t stop. It looked dirty and hot and dusty and messy. I know, I know, poor excuses for not letting your son have some fun but still I didn’t stop. When my boss heard this, she smiled sympathetically, and proceeded to tell me how she does it. It went something like this: “First you dress in old, dirty clothes and tennis shoes. Pretty much nothing you might want to wear again. Or plastic shoes you can wash. Then you tarp the seats and the floorboards of the car with plastic so your seats and carpets don’t get dirty. But still dust as much dirt off as you can before entering the car. Once home, take off everything before you get in the house.”

So it should be no surprise when I say we still have not gone to the pumpkin patch! And I don’t plan to. But I wanted some sort of pumpkin experience, so I picked up a large pumpkin and three smaller pumpkins at the commissary (.48 cents a pound!). We love them anyway.

The curious case of the roadside Krispy Kreme

The road that leads out of Kapolei toward the beach is a two lane road that passes the high school and ends at the former gates of the decommissioned Barber’s Point Naval Station. And it desperately needs widening as it is guaranteed to be backed up in the afternoon and evening almost every day of the week. Along the way, a unique bunch of entrepreneurs set up shop. Some days you’ll see flower buckets, some days local fish catches and homemade pastales. Around graduation, you see a ton of lei and balloon stands. One weekend afternoon it even doubled as a garage sale as one family tried to unload some bikes that their kids had outgrown. But one item dumbfounds me – lately there have been a lot of folks selling Krispy Kreme donuts, stacked neatly on the table in the boxes they would get in the store. Except that the closest Krispy Kreme location, and the only in the state, is on Maui. Noel and I have both observed folks bringing extra boxes home to share with family while sitting in the Maui airport waiting to head back to Oahu. But I just have to wonder the path that the ones sitting on the roadside in Kapolei take. They must be like Twinkies and have a long shelf life. Maybe I don’t want to go there…

Red ginger backyard experiment

Our immediate neighbor is a family from Milpitas, CA (right near where I used to work). They own their Hawaiian home as a second, vacation home and they come out every month or so to visit friends and family on Oahu. A few months back, my neighbor, a great gardener, (I swear sometimes they come over for a few days just to weed their side yard and vegetable gardens. Couldn’t we all be so lucky!) knocks on my door and asks if she can cut a few of the red ginger blooms we have in our side yard (planted by a landscaper last year – I cannot take credit for them). She was heading back home and was going to try to grow them at her yard in the Bay Area. Knowing all Mainland-bound flights go through strict agriculture inspections, I asked her how she was going to get them there. Apparently, if all the dirt is completely washed off and you declare them, you’re good to go. Wait, I’m sidetracking myself…what I really learned that day was that you can cut them and then replant them and they grow into larger bushes with a single cut. So I’m trying that with my own red ginger slips - that's what they're called, right? - cut freshly from one side of our yard and inserted into a planter box a few feet away. If you know my Mom and her beautiful gardens, you’d think I’d be a great gardener. You’d be wrong! But I’m learning as I go and having fun even if my kill rate is alarmingly high. You will know if I am succeeding if you see spectacular photographs of lush, blooming red ginger in the future!

Disney reveals detailed Ko Olina resort plans

Late last week, Disney Parks and Resorts unveiled sketches and pictures for the planned hotel and spa at Ko Olina. For those who have been to the man-made Ko Olina coves or the Marriot Ihilani resort, the Disney resort will sit on the first cove, and across the street from the Ihilani driveway. They say it will include 350 hotel rooms and 480 timeshare vacation villas on 21 acres of oceanfront property, and has 3,000+ square feet for the spa alone. You’ve got to wonder how they will squeeze all of that in, but it’s already mapped out, as seen in one of the drawings above. The grand opening isn't scheduled until late 2011, so I hope the economy will pick up by then so that more friends can come out here for vacation and we can see you!

When good affiliates go bad

The fate of aviator Steve Fossett is no longer news. But it was on the night I tivo’d a program on the local ABC channel. When I watched it days later, I was both appalled and annoyed by the information ticker that appeared with a story they would run with the late news. It reads: “Wreckage spotted? Steve Fossetts stuff found”.

Allow me to gripe!

First, let’s start with the smiling anchor team bringing the confirmation of someone’s death. Shouldn’t they have an alternate image on hand when the words they are posting onscreen aren’t so good? And is this really news worthy of a program interruption? It’s not like his remains were found in the Koolau Mountains here on Oahu. He was found where they’d been looking for him for a year. Next, the use of “stuff.” A little respect here, please! That “stuff” turned out to be his remains.

And finally, a grammar goof. More proof that the public schools here might be as bad as they say. I’m guessing that the affiliate has one person entering the ticker text and a second person does not proofread. But they should. It was all I could do to not take a Sharpie to our TV set and add that missing apostrophe. But as noted in a previous post, it’s our only set. Marking it up would not have gone over well with my better half.

Editor’s note: Sorry for that weird, orange glow donned by actor Peter Krauss. It's not a spray tan gone bad. When I’m too lazy to import photos into Lightroom, another editing tool does this when I crop images.

The audacity to ask for $5,000

Up until this year, Noel was not a registered voter. So there’s no other way to explain why he has been receiving contribution solicitations from the McCain campaign other to figure that his name and address were handed over from the military. Oh, and one other tip - John thanks him for his military service. I read the letters as I go through the mail and just laugh at the “scary” thoughts. “If you are at all concerned about the prospect of the Democrats gaining total control of the federal government, then your help is needed right now.” Concerned? Hardly.

But this weekend brought about a new low. Literally as McCain and Palin are making headlines at campaign rallies by attacking Obama’s so-called character issues and associations, a new solicitation arrives, boldly proclaiming, “We must make this campaign about the issues.” And this gem: “As we have already witnessed, the Obama Democrats and their special interest allies are willing to say and do anything to defeat me and all our Republican candidates.” Sorry John, but isn’t that what you’ve asked Sarah to do? Then he had the nerve to ask us, who he is assuming is a military family, for $5,000. “It’s the only way we can defeat the Democrats bid for the White House!” Also included in the mailing was a full letter-size FedEx overnight envelope with the air bill filled out.

I showed it to Noel and asked him what he would like to send to McCain instead of a $5,000 check. I would like to send a scathing letter how he lost my respect when he picked Palin as his VP. Noel suggested the Obama campaign sign that our housing association requested we remove from our front window (all campaign signs are against the bylaws – we got away with it for over three months). He also mentioned an unmentionable, and on second thought said, “Well, maybe not. I think that’s a federal offense.”

Riverside wedding scrapblog

About the Riverside wedding scrapblog

The pictures in the post above are from the wedding we attended in Riverside last month made through Scrapblog. It might take a while to load, if you’re having trouble, click the View Full Size link for another window. The pictures aren’t that great, but I think they convey the spirit of the couple and of the evening. Yes, the ceremony was in their backyard and they held the reception in their cul-de-sac!

A few days ago I clicked a link on the right (a huge no-no in the ad world, but hey, they’re going to make some money off me!) and found one of those online scrapbooking sites. I normally don’t do that sort of thing. Actually, I dislike the real, paper version because it’s wasteful and you end up with stuff that just collects dust on your closet shelf (and in my case, you have to pay movers to move), but this virtual thing I can do! Easy, fun interface with lots of templates. Also something called the "Ken Burns Effect" but I didn't play around with it. Click on the right when the Scraplog ad pops up again and see for yourself! ;)

Flyin' Hawaiians

Good friends Jenn and Mike are in Maui this week for an island vacation. For Jenn, a time to snorkel and relax on the beach with a good book. For Mike, a lifelong Phillies fan, it's a pilgrimage to the homeland of Phillies outfielder, Shane Victorino, aka the Flyin’ Hawaiian. Victorino is somewhat of a common name around the islands, recently I’ve even seen it on a custom license plate. When Mike stumbled on this election sign for a local council race, he stopped for a pic. Kudos to Mike for displaying a respectful shaka, outstretched fingers low and close to the chest, not flung over his head in a wild panic. Mahalo!

We're not normal

Ever find yourself sitting in a lecture and re-organizing the outline in your head? Rephrasing some of the main points of the presentation because you understand what the presenter is trying to get across but he isn’t doing that great of a job? I found myself doing that last week during a parent workshop. (I know, pretty annoying. That’s not the worst of my editing traits. I pointed out to Noel during a routine drive home recently that the font had changed on some of the new freeway signs and they were now inconsistent with the old signs. I believe I left him completely baffled.)

PBSHawaii reaches out to the public schools here via a “Ready to Learn” Parent Workshop. I signed up happily when the flyer came home in Robbie’s backpack one day and didn’t need the teaser “Free Books!” to get me there. Over the course of the hour and a half, the presenter meandered along, making good points here and there, but what I kind of took out of the session was the idea that, “Hey, the TV will be on in your house. We understand that. That’s why you should watch PBS Kids programming, and here’s why.” He ran through a few programs, gave their history, explained some of the ways that the programs help children in reading, writing, etc., and pointed out which program has the endorsement of the National Education Association. (Extremely rare. I think it was this group, could have been the Teachers Association. I don’t see it in my notes now.)

The presenter’s rambling discussion on technology and early adoption lead to an interesting, yet not that shocking discussion on the digital learner. One talking point: cell phones with TV capability is around the corner and TV stations are already addressing this platform in their future programming plans. Then, somewhat out of order, he polled the group of 25 or so parents, ”How many televisions do you have in your house?” I was the only one in the room who said one. The rest said 3 and 4, one might have said 5. The presenter didn’t seem to think this was shocking, he said, “No that’s not too bad. I’ve had one family in [the Waianae area] who had 13. Awful. But to be fair, it was a multigenerational family in one house.” One other almost-laugh-out-loud comment: “Don’t watch the Cartoon Network.”

Along with our free books (Sesame Street board books for Cub, Curious George and other goodies for Robbie), I concluded that I think we’re doing OK with our daily reading and TV watching. And that may not be normal.

If you’re interested in online resources, in addition to www.pbskids.org, check out these recommended sites: Reading is Fundamental (www.rif.org) and the International Reading Association (www.reading.org).

Monday funnies

This goes out to anyone who might need a good laugh right about now. I’ve seen this ad run regularly in the Honolulu Advertiser for a while, maybe even a year, and I finally had to say something about it.

I love the claim of all the ailments he can fix (see surprisingly long list and the “We treat more than shown” comment?!), and the Oscar-winning emotion on the face of the patient on the left, not to mention the pose she strikes. This doctor is not helping the cause of chiropractors, who already have a pretty bad rap. Somewhere in his medical training he also snuck in beauty school, too, as the patient on the right has new, tight braids and her gray is gone! What really stretches the plausibility for me though is the implied notion that this guy can restore your former self. Or transform older patients into their grandchildren. Because there is no way he can make the senior citizen pictured on the left lose 50+ years and take up mountain biking!

Happy Birthday to Cub!

Our little angel baby Cub turns one today. He's currently motoring through the house on two feet, making his way a little longer each time. We're not going to do much today to celebrate. Over the weekend we'll probably have Grandma and Grandpa Tipon over for dinner and birthday cake, then we might hit the beach. We will not be having the Hawaiian traditional "baby luau" where they throw a huge party for the 1st birthday. I'm just not that into those things.

I thought that I might try to trim his hair a little bit, as his baby mullet was beginning to bug me. But watching the VP debate last night, I realize he doesn't have a baby mullet - it's a Joe Biden mullet! That being the case, I think I'll let him rock the 'do through the election.