Mid-week hello

My Lightroom installation has been down for a few weeks now and I can’t access and edit some of the images I want to share. For now, a friendly shot from the Kahala Hotel’s dolphin lagoon. Noel has also promised he would guest blog soon with a few stories and pictures from Alaska, so some good stuff is in the pipeline.

The story that will be told is that I didn’t panic

Noel has said that I don’t tell enough embarrassing stories of my own, so here goes.

Yesterday we enjoyed dinner at the home of Noel’s extended family in Kaneohe. The kids were busy and were easy to get to sleep once we were home. I’m wrapping up things, getting Robbie’s backpack ready for the morning and locking up, etc. before heading to bed. For my last stop, I’m using the bathroom downstairs when I notice this creature less than a foot away to my right! I’m in a bit of a bind because I am still sitting down (and barefoot, no shoes around in the bathroom) and those things move FAST! I don’t shriek loudly, but I manage enough sound a few times to summon Noel upstairs. He comes down to find me running through the kitchen with my pants above my knees.

We have these visitors in the house every couple of months and we both have our own way of getting them to leave. I go to grab the broom – my method is to open the door wide and sweep it out with one big hockey slap shot motion. Noel likes to take a pair of long pliers, grab the thing in the middle, and calmly (more or less) walk it outside to stomp on it. Noel went searching for the pliers, which was my signal that he was going to take care of it this time, so I took the picture above. Note he was stuck here for a bit – I think my hair thwarted him for a brief moment! And for those wondering just how big is he?? The doorframe is 2.5 inches wide, so he’s a good 5 inches long. You'd never guess, but his legs are a freaky red color, too. Needless to say, it took me a few minutes to calm down.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

I experienced the highs and lows of dining on Oahu within the past seven days. This post will focus on the highs!

We celebrated Grandma and Grandpa Tipon’s anniversary on Sunday at the Kahala Resort. Tricia was married there two years ago, and the food at her reception was the best wedding buffet I’d ever had. I figured if they did catering that well, the Sunday brunch would be worth a try. It was fantastic! I didn’t eat the seafood, but the other adults at the table raved about it and went back for more and more. I sampled the sushi and the lobster bisque, and they were all very good. They had a good sampling of other stuff, with many items a tweak or twist of a local favorite. Like the malasada bites. Yum!

Only two negatives for me and they were minor. First, the bread selection was tired. Same ol’, same ol’ “it’s fresh but they seem stale” mini-loaves. I don’t know why more restaurants haven’t stolen a page out of the Cheesecake Factory book and figured out how to serve mouth-watering bread for the masses. Is it that hard? Second, they had a Kung Pao chicken dish which Noel said was good. I went back for some, and was mildly surprised to see it was bone-in, small drummette chicken. I’m not that local and don’t dig chicken like that. So I passed, but my loss.

The service was first-rate. Quite possibly the most serene group of servers I’ve encountered. We were quickly offered a bunch of beverages and juices. I wasn’t expecting much when they said they had an “orange pineapple coconut” juice among the selections, but I tried it and it was divine! Not heavy like you’d expect when you hear it.

And the dessert bar was fun. Never has a chocolate fountain had a better view! They don’t just throw a chocolate fountain at you and call it the last course…they had tons of other stuff, including a unique fruit tapioca and other seemingly exotic items I’d never seen. If you’re here and want to splurge ($55 per person) you’ll want to try this brunch. My father-in-law, a huge brunch fan, immediately put it near the top, if not the top, of his list of “Best on the Island.”
Now for the low…I’ve been wanting to try this Mexican place in the middle of Waikiki, a block and a half from the condo and made it there late last week. So, so disappointing. Will write about it another time. Don’t want that experience to cloud the food high I’m still on from the Sunday brunch.

Back to school!

I'm celebrating back to school week! Public schools across Hawai'i are starting school in what I call a "staggered start," and Robbie's school started today. This picture was NOT taken this morning...as of last night he was not happy about school starting, but this morning I didn't have any trouble getting him in the car nor the classroom. If I could only get Cub to nap most of the morning, I could regain some of the sanity that has slipped away from me in the last couple of years. ;)

The picture above was taken on Sunday, when we celebrated Grandma and Grandpa's wedding anniversary with a brunch at the Kahala Resort. We had just let Robbie have fun and enjoy the chocolate fountain. Like his Mom, he is picky, but luckily like his Dad, he has a sense of restraint. He went easy on the chocolate goodies, and instead of wolfing down many a marshmellow, he chose to carry one around for most of the afternoon. Pictures and brunch review to follow (quick note: it was a winner!).

Future photographer?

When Grandma came to town in late June, Robbie went to town with her digital camera. He loved taking pictures and when he couldn't find the camera, tore through her purse looking for it. We were happy and proud to discover he's pretty good! Here are a few of his shots straight from the camera. His favorite subjects? Mom, brother, toys, and dogs (A "bright" Brady is below - lighting tips are not yet understood by a 3 year old).

Budding artist finds another canvas

Finding this artwork on our kitchen floor was made all the easier to stomach for two reasons: First, crayons seem to have been reformulated so they don’t stick to as much as they used to. A little 409 and some elbow grease, and this came right off. And second, Robbie uncharacteristically posed for the pic when Noel was putting this scene together. It reminded me of another canvas Robbie found around this time last summer – the cover of Noel’s silver Mac Powerbook. It was on my watch, and so freaked out was I that the purple crayon wouldn’t come off that I jumped up to clean it right away and didn’t get a picture. After seeing the floor above, I blurted out, “Oh, no problem. If crayon comes off your Mac, it will come off most anything.” I got a blank stare from Noel. Oops. I guess I opted not to tell him last year and he still didn’t know!

USS Oklahoma BB-37 Memorial

Last December, on the Pearl Harbor anniversary, a new memorial site at Pearl Harbor was introduced. It’s a memorial for the USS Oklahoma, which was second to the USS Arizona in casualties. It sits near the parking lot for the Battleship Missouri tours, on Ford Island (on the other side of the harbor from the Arizona ticket office and gift shops). The upright posts represent the lives lost, standing at attention at the bow of the ship. It’s moving, but sadly overlooked on Ford Island in the shadow of the Missouri. But if you read here, you’ll find the story of its inception and creation, and if you’re ever here, you’ll appreciate it.
I went to take a look back in December and even snapped pictures, but I lost them. So recently I circled back to Ford Island and took some more. More for the “What’s new out here” files for all soon-to-be visitors, frequent visitors, or want-to-be frequent visitors.

Sidebar: I know this isn’t very funny, but scroll down to the end of the page to see the somewhat sour look on the face of the teenager in the last picture. Someday, son, although you don’t look it now, you’ll be very, very proud of your Dad!

King Kamehameha Day

This falls under the “late, but I still wanted to share with you" category…King Kamehameha Day is celebrated annually in early June. It’s a state holiday, and there is a midweek, early morning ceremony to drape his downtown statue downtown in 13 foot lei. I’ve wanted to shoot the event each year since we arrived (it’s a popular postcard shot), but never made it. This year I managed to get there on Sunday afternoon to shoot the statue, which I thought was progress! Good thing we made it when we did, as chance would have it, Noel’s bar swearing in ceremony was in the building behind the statue the following Tuesday, and they had removed all the lei. I thought they might let it be a little longer. One day I will make it to the day-of ceremony, for now I will enjoy these pictures.

Here’s some bonus trivia: There are only three statues of King Kamehameha in the world – Honolulu, the Big Island, and in DC in the Capital building. There would only be two, but when the original Honolulu-bound statue was commissioned and completed, it was lost in a shipwreck. A replacement statue later went up in Honolulu. The original statue was eventually salvaged from the ocean floor and brought to the Big Island. I think all three statues are annually adorned with lei on King Kamehameha Day.

Noel pleads: "VOTE ROBERTS"!

It's Final Vote week and we need your help! (If you don't know what that is, stay with me. I didn't either until yesterday.) Brian Roberts, the Baltimore Orioles second baseman and Tipon Family favorite, is on the ballot to make the 2008 MLB All Star game. He's currently trailing some rookie sensation from Tampa Bay, but faithful readers, we still have hope. Head to this site and click "Brian Roberts, BAL" under the American League line up and vote up to 25 times. I think you have until tomorrow night (Thursday) to cast your vote. If you'd like to work the system and vote with multiple email addresses, even better. Mahalo for your time!

Rare day in the sun

I don’t get out much here. I don’t like being in the hot sun during the day, I’m usually lugging two kids around, and then there is the issue of the rising cost of gas. There’s just not much fun in it for me. I thought when Grandma was here we’d do Sea Life Park, out on the Eastern side of the island, around Hawaii Kai into Waimanalu, but she didn’t show much interest. So I decided to give the kids a break and get out of the house, so off we went yesterday.

We made it in time for the Dolphin Show. I’d read online that they only do one dolphin show a day (don’t know why…) so I made a point to get there for it. The Dolphin Cove is really small, but, oh what a view! From certain vantage points it seems like the park is right on the island’s edge, but a freeway actually runs between. You can even see the Makapu’u Lighthouse.

The star of the show is the whalphin (or wolphin). They call it the “world famous whalphin” but I have a few issues with that! I’d never heard of it and I can’t find a single mention of it – let alone picture - on the website. Turns out it’s not a monster after all; my untrained eye saw a cute creature that just looks bigger and darker than a normal dolphin but had a whale’s tail. It was an “accidental breeding” between a dolphin and a “false whale.” I wish I could tell you more but I don’t get it myself. All I took from it was that somebody didn’t think they’d mate and left ‘em in a tank together. Oops. Mammals will be mammals after all. I sure hope they’re not hiding some freak purtle (penguin and turtle mix, not shown below) in fear that they will have their zoo accreditation taken away!

Noel is currently in Alaska and spent a good chunk of time earlier this week on a boat spotting whales and trying to get the “fluke” shot. Well, when you have a trained whalphin, they do this for about 5-10 seconds, allowing one enough time to: drop the hand of your three year old who was playing with the cove’s rope they asked you not to play with, stop rocking the stroller of your crying 9 month old, pick up your camera, point, and shoot. Ahh, captivity.

Robbie didn’t seem all that into it while we were there. In fact, I thought he watched the prop boat in the middle of the dolphin cove more than the actual spinning dolphins. But when we got home, he asked to see the dolphins again, and later in the backyard was jumping around. I asked if he was jumping like the dolphins and he said, “Yes!” So shame on me for thinking he didn’t get much out of the day. Sadly, we won’t be going back very often as even with the kama ‘aina rates, it cost the three of us $35 plus $4 parking for our 4 hour excursion.

From the Spring Archives

Like the lost roll of film found in the bottom drawer of old, even in the digital camera age, you can find pictures you thought long gone (or didn’t know you had to begin with!). Noel and Robbie headed East in late March to attend a wedding, see Aunty Tricia, and catch a few Orioles games at Camden Yards. While Noel is in Alaska this week on another photo trek (this time to Anchorage and Denali…photos to come!), I’m shooting with the camera he took to DC and Maryland, and I found these fun shots on the card within the camera.
The week-plus they spent there was a bit hard on all parties. Robbie came down with an ear infection that the folks at the Bethesda Medical Center missed and he was pretty sick the whole time. And Noel had tickets to two Orioles games, one which was really, really cold and the other rained out. But here at the National Mall during the cherry blossom blooms, they look like they’re having a good time. I miss DC!

Colbert at the National Portrait Gallery

We’re fans of The Colbert Report here. In a typically funny segment earlier this year, he walked The Mall in Washington DC and humbly shopped his portrait around to various institutions. The Smithsonian took it and hung it on the 2nd or 3rd floor of the National Portrai Gallery…in the hallway between restrooms.

I can’t remember if I told Noel to check it out in early April when he was back East, or if his sister had heard about it and she suggested they go, but here they are! This is one of the shots I was pleasantly surprised to find on the card in the camera last week. I hadn’t seen them yet!

Family Fun

Grandma arrived one week ago today and we're having a good time. On Saturday we hit Waikiki (a rare treat for us) for some time at the beach. Our resident mop-top is above, dashing in and out of the waves. Cub has been enjoying the extra arms around to hold him. His bottom-toothed grin is below.

Does this thing really float?

Not only does it float, it sails. And in recent years, like the humpback whales, it navigates annually between Hawaii and Alaska.
The SBX Radar, shown above, was back in Pearl Harbor for a few weeks earlier this month. I stumbled upon this photo op while on Ford Island one weekend. I also spotted it way out on the horizon last Friday while driving toward town as it was heading back out to see. It’s quite a site. It literally looks like a giant ping pong ball floating around. They say it can track a softball-sized object over New York state from here and that it was instrumental in shooting down the wayward satellite that was hurtling toward earth a few months ago. What I don’t doubt for a moment – its $900 million dollar price tag!

Vog update: Back to normal

The vog is long gone on Oahu, but folks are still talking about it on the Big Island. I saw a news report last Friday (but didn’t see it in print) that an early study shows that vog interferes with rainfall. The more vog, the less rainfall. A little bit scary, considering Hawai’I (at least Oahu) has had a pretty dry year. And on the Big Island, there’s been so much vog activity the crops have already been hurt. But, here’s a cheery, blue sky-and-clouds picture from our neighborhood once the vog cleared away to help one not get too down about it!

Note: The development on the coastline below us in this picture is actually an industrial area. The harbor seen just over the tree on the right is where Noel catches TheBoat (a 10-15 minute ride through Kapolei in the morning). Also, you can't make it out here, but there's an oil refinery and smoke stacks galore. Looks great at night though, 'cause all you can see is lights and you would think it's kind of quaint!

Kidney Walk this Saturday

This Saturday in San Jose, CA, my brother-in-law Brad will be participating in his second Kidney Walk. And this is the second year we’re rooting him on from far away. Robbie and Cub say, "Good luck Uncle Brad!"

Brad is the incoming 2008 – 2009 President of the Board of Directors for the National Kidney Foundation of Northern California and Northern Nevada (http://www.kidneynca.org/). Click here for his Kidney Walk fundraising page.

Click here to see a short speech he gave in 2007 at a Kidney Foundation luncheon with Jane Fonda as the guest speaker. In it he talks about when he first came down with his kidney disease and some of his life since then.

And click here to see him as part of a small panel appearing on a local news station promoting kidney disease and transplant awareness, as well the Saturday walk.

Note for those reading at work - the last two links above take you directly to YouTube and the audio should start immediately.

Mariah Carey seen on Oahu frolicking with a wolphin!

More from the “I just couldn’t make this up if I tried" files - Mariah Carey made the local gossip pages this week as she was here recently filming a music video. If I’m writing about it now, no doubt she is long gone, but here’s what was said in the Advertiser by the same local writer who predicted a Loretta Ables Sayre Tony victory (oops*):

“Singer Mariah Carey was indeed shooting a video ….at Sea Life Park…several segments were done, one of Carey with the park’s dolphins and also with the world’s only wolphin – that’s a whale and dolphin mix – at the park’s Dolphin Cove.”

Wolphin? Whaaaaat? And why only one in the world? My Mom is coming out next week for an extended holiday with me and the boys, and coincidently, Sea Life Park (think Sea World lite) is on our list of things to do. Now I’m even more excited for the day and the possible freak show that awaits us! I’m going to hold off on googling that thing and avoiding a sneak peek so I can be genuinely surprised.

In other gossip related news, it’s been reported that Matt Damon will be spending a chunk of his summer here filming a movie in the coming months. I’m not officially on Matt Damon Watch just yet, but will let you know when I am!

* No, Loretta Ables Sayre didn’t take home a Tony on Sunday. An actress from the “Gypsy” revival won her category. But Ables Sayre was ever gracious in defeat. She was quoted saying, “I’m just thrilled Kristen Chenoweth said my name right!” Ahh, how nice is that?

Bali Ha'i!

The revival of South Pacific is taking NYC by storm and “local girl” Loretta Ables Sayre is leading the charge in the role of Bloody Mary. The Honolulu Advertiser entertainment and theater columnist has filled us in here of her every move, starting with auditions many months ago. He reported this week that she is taking part in a pre-taped Broadway special to air on Saturday. Ables Sayre will be singing Bali Ha’i, the song for which she’ll probably take home a Tony for. Well, according to the Advertiser writer anyway. I realize he's a bit biased.
Here in Hawaii she’s worked the scene for years, in theaters and shows as well as print, radio, and TV ads, you name it. She’s even the voice of my beloved PBS Hawaii. For months her face also greeted me when I paid my cable bill online, as shown above.
So check your local listings and tune in on Saturday for this special. Sounds like an hour well wasted with music and theater!

"Daddy take boat!"

Since Noel has started commuting downtown he’s using more public transportation to avoid the highway traffic. There’s a new option for Leeward Oahu residents to get into downtown in the morning and then back home “pau hana” (end of day) – TheBoat. It’s a pilot program that started last summer and works alongside the established, island-wide bus system, aka “TheBus.”

They don’t have a parking lot at the harbor, so each morning he takes it we load up the kids and head out down toward the water. The first day we tried it, Noel wanted to catch the 5:30 AM ferry. So I roused Robbie around 4:45 AM. Not easy. But the following days and most days since have gotten much better. All I have to do is say, “Daddy’s taking the boat!” and he perks right up. Hence the title above, his version of my greeting. (Noel doesn’t take it every morning - he actually drives in early in the week and leaves his car parked in a lot near his office in the evenings, then drives home Fridays. At least that’s more or less his routine.) And we haven’t done the 5:30 much since Noel changed jobs. We get him on the 6:30 or 8 AM. Much better all around!

I’ve got to start carrying a “real” camera around in the car. Here are a couple more cell phone shots. Even I’m getting tired of them. One is the boat coming into the harbor in the evening, the other is the same evening, but shows the sunset the riders were privileged to just before entering the harbor. To get a sense of how “big” the sunset was, I’ve drawn an arrow to the outline of the boat Noel was on.

And in other “boat news” – it was reported early in the week that Oahu is officially taking bids from companies to have our trash shipped to a Mainland dump via a barge. Landfills here are already past capacity, and have been given an 11th hour extension while environmental assessments are done and shipping contracts are ironed out. Interestingly, both shipping companies named as top candidates will carry our garbage to the same dump in the state of Washington. Oh the irony…we get their beautiful, yummy apples – and here come the rotten cores, right back at ya! We got take out the other day and it made me sad to see that the fork was stamped, “Aloha.” I thought, “Great. They’ll be able to track the trash years from now because this plastic will never break down. Aloha Washington!”

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!

Friday Funnies

It's been a rough week here with Robbie getting sick early in the week and missing three days of school, then Cub catching his bug and having a rough couple of days, too. I saw this little bit in the latest Hawaii edition of the AAA (Auto Club) member magazine and literally laughed out loud. It's a bit cruel to laugh, but I needed it.

"We at AAA Hawai'i want to help mature motorists drive safely. To further that goal, we sponsored Hawai'i's first CarFit event in January. Said one 70-year-old participant, "I loved it. When I drove into the parking lot, they checked to make sure I was wearing my seatbelt. They showed me how to adjust my steering wheel and explained that I need to be able to see over it."

Folks, I couldn't make this up if I wanted to! Driving for 45-50 years (and that's a conservative estimate) without being able to see over the steering wheel!? My apologies to all the shorties, but I'm still cracking myself up over here.

If we can get the kids' noses to stop running for about five minutes this weekend, we're hoping to take some pictures to include with upcoming Mother's Day cards. That's about it for us. Hope your weekend is as ambitious as you want it to be!

And the preaching continues...

While a few people are still talking about Earth Day, thought I would share one more thing with you...

Ever wanted to be an early adopter? Here's your chance! So it's not a tech gadget or a fashion trend, but you will still be making a statement. Most of us are now adopting the use of resusable bags for shopping, but we're still putting produce in plastic and those bags are also filling up the landfills and spilling into our oceans. So I started using resusable cloth produce bags at the supermarket and Farmers' Markets, too.

I saw Ecobags.com spotlighted on Oprah's Earth Day show last year, and finally got around to ordering these bags late last fall. They're great and definitely cut down on the plastic. I have to be the only one using them in Hawaii - or at least at the Barber's Point and Pearl Harbor commissaries - but the cashiers are slowly getting used to me! I have a half dozen in mixed sizes and I throw them into the wash with the whites every couple of weeks.

That's it from me on the subject...really! Thanks all.

Stop that junk mail! And recycle because you probably live in a civilized state.

It’s Earth Day everyone! My turn to hit you over the head with earth-friendly ideas. These tips for stopping junk mail may look familiar; they were provided in USA Weekend over a month ago and I saved the page. I think the site www.greendimes.com will do these for you for a fee, but here’s a helpful list for all of you do-it-yourselfers.

1. Get off the lists. Go to dmachoice.org and click on "Remove my name from those lists." That lets you register with the Mail Preference Service of the Direct Marketing Association to get off mailing lists. Online registration is free (or $1 through the mail) and is good for three years. This move alone should stop 80% of unsolicited mail within four months.

2. Don't register products. Your proof of purchase of a new product serves as a guarantee of warranty for that item, so you don't need to fill out questionnaire-style product registration forms (unless you're concerned about recall alerts). They're used for mailing lists. And never sign up for contests and sweepstakes.

3. Squash the offers. To stop preapproved credit offers, have your name removed from lists supplied by the major consumer credit reporting companies. Visit optoutprescreen.com or call the toll-free number 888-567-8688; with both methods, you're covered for five years. You also can opt out permanently by phone or by mail using a form found on the website.

4. Remain anonymous. Supermarket loyalty cards enable marketers to track buying habits and can generate unsolicited mail. Sign up for cards using a pseudonym like Jane or Joe Shopper, with no address, to preserve your anonymity.

5. Stay vigilant. Buying online is the main culprit for catalog overload. When you make a purchase, immediately send an e-mail to the company or call its toll-free number and ask that your name be removed from the mailing list. And the new catalogchoice.org lets you choose which catalogs to refuse.

While we’re in the vicinity of the subject of recycling, allow me to gripe about so-called (not by me) paradise. I was truly shocked when we moved here three years ago to discover Hawaii didn’t have a curbside recycling program. Anywhere. They have some large recycling dumpsters, but not too many people use them and therefore, surprise! The landfills are filling up fast. I tried to use the dumpsters, but discovered recently that I had been illegally dumping. True story – so used to being able to recycle cereal boxes and other light cardboard packaging with other paper items, I diligently saved all my recyclables in a corner of my garage, loaded the back of the car every month or so, and drove to the drop-off station. The dumpsters have recently had a paint job and with that, new signage that read, “No cereal boxes” next to the paper window. Huh? What am I supposed to do with them then? I guess I’m forced to put them in the landfill??

A curbside recycling pilot program rolled out in two areas last year (not where we live) and is scheduled to be expanded to more parts of Oahu. But don’t hold your breath. The headline screams, “Recycling to expand,” but the fine print states Kapolei/Makakilo program to start in May, 2010. And that only includes cans, bottles, some (not all) plastics, and newspapers. That is no typo people. We will not have a functional recycling program for over two years and it won’t even be comprehensive. Bring me the Governator! I never thought I’d ask to borrow him, but he would whip these morons into shape in a week or two, I’m sure. Want a battery recycling program? Give us about 50 years, please, before we figure that one out!

And what also strikes me as un-earthy, it was noted in today’s paper that Oahu will be getting its first Steve & Barry’s store in the Waikele shops. I’ve never been in one, but not being much of a fashionista, they don’t strike me that great. Maybe I’ll check it out sometime in the next few weeks.

For Dad

If my Dad were alive, he’d be turning 65 today. Although we lost him suddenly when I was in my late 20s, I’ll always be grateful that as a girl the best person I’ll ever know is my father. Even if the day comes when I discover I’ve lived more than half my life without him, he’ll always remain the person I aspire to be and who continues to inspire me.

Words still don't describe how much we miss you, Dad. Happy Birthday.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

At midnight tonight, unlike many, many others here and on the Mainland, I won’t be ordering up my last green beer. I’ll be quietly “aging out” of the coveted 18 – 35 year old demographic. That’s right, tomorrow morning when I awake, I will have magically transcended into the 36-45 cluster, or, gasp, is it 36 – 50?!

What happens now? Does my say in anything matter anymore? Will I ever be bothered with an exit poll again? On second thought, do they even bother with exit polls in Hawaii? Depending on the time of year, we’re 5 or 6 hours behind Eastern Standard Time and usually just a few dots within a square in the lower-left corner of the election night coverage screen in which you can barely make out if they've colored it red or blue. Since statehood 50+ years ago, I don’t think any election has hinged upon Hawaii’s voter turnout!

So I throw this question out to our friends at www.navalgazing.com – does the Wilton School have a cake design for me?

Preschooler Publishes First Blog

Robbie turned 3 on Wednesday and started preschool this week. He is doing well. Loves the toy trains in the classroom and recess. He wanted to say a few things:

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Alien Baby No More

Here's the first recorded shot of Cub smiling. He's actually been smiling for months now, we just haven't gotten the camera out to capture it. I got this yesterday, shot a few more shots, and then the camera battery went dead! Oh well, we'll try another session this weekend.

Why do I call him an "alien baby?" We got the passports for the boys a few weeks ago. They don't glue the picture you submit into the book anymore, they scan the image instead. And somehow in all of that processing they add an orange-pink glow to the picture. So Cub's shot was even more funny - they cropped it tight so his round head fit the frame and then added that tinting. Alien baby! I was a bit relieved that pictures of him like the one above are doing his cuteness justice. Here's his other favorite thing to do - hand in the mouth. Very baby and very cute!

Hawaiians Let Their Blue Flags Fly

I grew up in a state with primaries. I had always thought that a caucus was a vote and that equaled a primary, and didn’t give it much more thought. So, as the Hawaii caucus came closer, I thought I would head to the local polling place sometime during the day, cast a vote, and be done with it. Well, a caucus is not a primary!

Noel caucused on Tuesday at the local middle school. I thought I would be going, too, but opted out late Monday night when I learned more about the Hawaiian caucus that I’ll share with you. It’s not an all day thing. You caucus at a pre-set time – in Hawaii, it was established that the caucus would start at 7:00 PM. And because the Republicans are doing their own thing later this year, it would be for registered Democrats only, but you could become an instant Democrat by filling out a form on the spot. A caucus is also a day that the Dem party convenes and holds meetings. Therefore, they had hoped that once everyone was assembled, they would shut the doors (Noel originally claimed they would lock the doors! How draconian!), discuss party business, then get down to the vote part. And get this: Noel also thought that you would have to walk your ballot up to the candidate’s representative. No silent vote, private ballot, or collection box. I burst out, “So when I vote for Hillary, you’d know?” Oh dear.

But the final blow for me? No kids allowed - only persons of age eligible to vote. We got a little lazy around here. We could have driven into Waikiki and picked up Noel’s Mom to baby sit, but the long round trip didn’t seem worth it. As Noel is an Obama volunteer, we thought it was pretty important for him to get involved, so I stayed home. (I was hoping to do some sort of campy live blogging, but it didn’t pan out. Obviously, as I’m just posting this two days later!)
Here’s the first shot: Chaos! The turnout blew all sorts of expectations.* In our district alone, 600 people came out, whereas in 2004 only 40 showed up. There were reports that some people lined up for two or more hours in other areas. Noel’s Dad circled the parking lot of his designated caucus, couldn’t find anywhere to park, and turned around and headed home. Back in Kapolei with Noel, there was a shortage of pre-printed ballots (shown below, printed eons ago in the political realm) and folks resorted to writing the name of their candidate on random pieces of scratch paper. (Noel later discovered there were a ton of blank ballots and brought a few home, he didn’t know who had misplaced them.) And no, they didn’t lock the doors. They took care of the voting immediately (they had a collection box for votes), and once that was complete, a huge proportion of the voters went home. But Noel stayed around and that’s when it got interesting!

Noel’s ultimate goal is to attend the National Convention as a Hawaiian delegate this August in Denver. To get there, he has to first become a delegate for the State Convention to be held in May where they will vote for national delegates. So the small group of people who hung out after the voting were given a chance to nominate themselves for the state convention. There were about 6 people interested. The organizer asked them who had been a delegate in the past. Three people raised their hands. Then the organizer said, “OK, anyone have any problem with giving the ones who haven’t gone a shot?” So Noel was in! Noel overheard the female companion of one fellow who raised his hand ask him, “Have you really been a delegate in the past?” And the guy sheepishly shook his head no. Honesty paid during this round.

So, off to the State Convention we will go in May. I can tag along as a guest to some of the events (well, with a nominal guest fee) and I’ll have to shake my wallflower tendencies and get out there and campaign for my man. Noel is already working on his talking points.

* In the Sunday paper, Hawaii Senator Inouye wrote a piece in support of Clinton. Trying to discredit Obama’s Hawaiian roots, Inouye wrote: “(Barack Obama) went to school in Hawai’I but he went to Punahou, and that was not a school fro the impoverished.” I’m happy to see that many people still read the paper here. Folks went nuts over this comment, and I think it brought people out against Hillary instead of for her. Punahou is a private school, and true it attracts top athletes and white people (female golf phenom Michelle Wie and...er, well, white people) but according to alums and not-alums alike it is not elitist. And if he hasn’t already shot a future re-election campaign in the foot, Sen. Inouye, one of the state’s nine super delegates, stands by his commitment to vote for Hilary at the National Convention. It’s his right, but goes against the will of the Democrats here, who voted 3:1 in favor of Obama.

A Valentine to you!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! The sentiment shown above was created by...guess who? I bought a bunch of Necco candy hearts the other day and was trying to go all "food stylist" and get fancy with a picture. While arranging them on the table, Robbie takes a few and starts playing with them as well. I look over to see what he did, and realized he had created my money shot!

Modern Day Kamikaze

We extend congratulations to Andrew Millbrooke of Wahiawa, who with a few bad days on the job and a hasty click of the “Send” button has managed to unite the five branches of the military here in Oahu, something that hasn’t been done since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
Seems our Mr. Millbrooke is a waiter at a very popular North Shore eatery who had the unfortunate idea to write an op-ed letter to the Honolulu Advertiser in which he stated that all members of the military are bad tippers. Well, the military and non-military alike took up the cause and fired back over the course of the week, one of my faves being, “It seems that you don’t like your current job…May I suggest you show your true patriotism and join the military?” In his original missive, he all but said the name of the restaurant, and the owners had to send their own rebuttal on the subject, saying they do not share his views and the military is always welcome. No word on whether or not he was still employed there, but we can guarantee if he is, he is often requested.

“Bring Me the Beagle”

With these words, history was made at the Westminster Dog Show this week! Noel and I cheered along with the thousands in Madison Square Garden as Uno took the top prize. I’m sure most of you have heard the news or have seen this cutie making the TV rounds, but I just had to say kudos to the judges who chose the beagle over not one, but two (!) poodles with pom poms stuck to his/her shaved rear.
And if you allow me a quick PSA, if you or someone you know is thinking about getting a beagle, try a local beagle rescue group. Our beagle mixes were from the local pound and another dog rescue group, but we did try a beagle group, too. If you’re on the East Coast, anywhere near the VA / MD / DC area, check out www.brewbeagles.org. My sister-in-law got her two beagles from them, and continues to work with the group by fostering a third or fourth dog every couple of months. They hold an annual “BeagleFest” fundraiser which we attended one spring before we left the area, and it’s a riot. Think one big dog park – with about a hundred beagles. (Cal, our social dog, was gone in a heartbeat and we lost him for a bit. Brady, the shy one, stuck by our side.) Good memories!

Lost Child, Found Fashion Sense

I was shopping yesterday and temporarily lost Robbie in a department store. I found it hard to discipline him for not staying near me when he appeared after five minutes wearing these Versace shades from the nearby Accessories department!

Clooney won’t stump for Obama, but Noel will!

It’s Super Tuesday everyone. If you’re in a state where votes are being counted today, I hope you will head or have already headed to the polls. Hawaii is not a “Super Tuesday” state - we’ll be holding a caucus later in the month. However, Noel will be engaging in Super Tuesday activity as he plans to head downtown this afternoon to join a group of Obama supporters to watch Super Tuesday results coverage. Yes, you read that right! Noel is an Obama supporter. Last week he attended a meeting for potential volunteers, and plans to join the Obama campaign once he’s done with the Bar exam. I’m just happy he’s voting; for as long as I’ve known him he didn’t participate in any elections. And that he’s backing a Dem is icing on the cake! If he allows me to blog about it (and I think he will), I’ll be sure to provide any insider-information and nuggets from within the campaign trenches. He’s already provided a few nuggets on the varied personalities of fellow volunteers: The Collegian in Charge – 23-year old female lead volunteer, organizer of the volunteers. When she found out there were hopeful 15- and 16-year olds at the meeting, she barked; “You’re too young to vote. You’ll be babysitting while parents are voting at the caucus.” (!) The Army guy – another wannabe volunteer at the meeting last week. Iraq veteran, very much anti-Iraq. And then we have Noel, always having to make a joke, replying to the question, "Why are you here?:" “Well I saw the Obama girl video and that was pretty much it.” He later admitted to me that he was disappointed - he had hoped she would be there.

‘Elele Street? Hey, that’s us!

A water-dropping helicopter helped contain a stubborn brushfire yesterday afternoon in Makakilo. Fire Department spokesman Capt. Earle Kealoha said the fire scorched an estimated 50 to 75 acres on a hillside near 'Elele Street. No lives or property were threatened.
This is the Honolulu Advertiser picture and caption from last Friday’s paper. We had a brushfire at the southern end of the street. There were lots of fire sirens heard throughout the day and a HFD helicopter ran pretty low through our neighborhood, but other than Robbie yelling out “Fire! Fire! Fire!” whenever he heard the sirens (a bit unnerving), there was nothing to worry about. Matter of fact, ace fire spotter that I am, I mistook rain clouds in the sky up the hill for smoke clouds. I thought the helicopter shown in the picture was dropping water on the northern end (up the hill), but it turns out that it was picking up water and then dumping it south. So had the fire gotten out of hand, I would have been standing on our back porch while the fire ravaged our front door.

Family Storms Local Kinkos for Passport Pics

The family will be heading to Vancouver this summer to tag along with Noel while he attends a legal conference on immigration. In preparation for the troop movement, we applied for passports for the little ones. First step? Pictures. We knew it would be difficult, so of course, we tried to get a few laughs from it. And the Kinkos staff was more than willing to try to have a good laugh, too. Even the FedEx driver got into the act and tried to get Robbie to smile. Unsuccessful mission. We snapped a bunch of pics, and the one above was the best. Then they wouldn’t let us hold up Cub, so they threw a large white board on the ground between copiers and we placed him down on the floor. The photographer waited…and waited…and waited for a smile while we silently pleaded…and pleaded…and pleaded for her just to take the picture! She snapped it just before he started crying. The results are above. We tried one more time to place him down, but he cried immediately. So we went with what we had.
Two days later it was off the Main Post Office with applications in hand. I won’t dramatize events there as I am a stamp collector and don’t want the Post Office to hate me. Let’s just say Mission Accomplished and end it there. One funny note that I will add though – the Post Office employer literally takes one look at our pictures and says, “You took these at Pearl City Kinkos?” Umm, yes! And then he says, “We have had to call them recently to say the pictures weren’t acceptable. Looks like they’re getting better.” Those are the better shots?

And yes, all this just to go to Canada! Hopefully now that passports are in hand for all this will allow us more exotic trips in the next 10 years for which they are valid.