"Moke Action"

Moke Action from ʻĀina Paikai on Vimeo.

I promised Mr. Pony several weeks ago that I would post this. Sorry for the delay.

Ken Tanaka Loves You

I searched through our history and I don't think anybody posted anything about Ken yet. If you have, I apologize in advance. I rediscovered Ken when I went searching for a vintage KHON2 end credits shaka montage in response to one of the previous comments on the KGMB theme. BTW - I couldn't find a video of the shaka montage.

The premise is that Ken was a caucasian raised by Japanese parents and is now in search of his birth parents in the US. This series has been on the net for at least 2 years now. I find the videos charming and sweet.

This is the first video where Ken explains his mission.



Here is a video of Ken in Hawaii learning pidgin.



This is Ken's 2009 YouTube award winning video about dreaming about being a robot.



Here is video of Ken's "How to speak fluent Japanese by speaking English" describing Weiner Morning.



He has a blog on blogspot and his own channel on YouTube.

I hope you enjoy them as I do. Ken Tanaka and Ai-BU9 love you.

(Yes, he's an actor - David Ury -and had been on Japanese TV as the "crazy Japanese speaking gaijin", but I still find the stuff charming. Here's a video he posted as himself with his performance reels.)

Christianity in the Hawaii Republican Party

Check out this bit from the chairman of the Republican Party of Hawaii. (He's promoting "Duke" _ Hawaii's lieutenant governor and the party's only serious candidate for governor.)

"Duke will win because the church has been behind him the entire time operating in the POWER and the AUTHORITY of the NAME OF JESUS!"

Hawaii Five-O

Ruby in Honolulu

Happy May Day! This is from the other day. Nice to meet everyone.

I am here

Found in Volcanoes National Park, Pepeiao Cabin Guestbook. First entry I opened to.

"Like Vitamin C"

"Cannabis is probably a necessary nutrient we have been depriving ourselves of, like vitamin C." -The Rev. Nancy Harris

KITV quotes the woman in its story about medical marijuana on the Big Island, where more than 3,000 people - or some 2 percent of the population - have permits.

Doctors (and non-doctors) of the blog - what do you think?

Ala Moana Tower

I've been spoiled this past month working on the 18th floor of the Ala Moana building. Two floors higher and I could have been in the old revolving restaurant, but I can't complain—it was hard enough trying to get work done with a view of the marina during two tsunami warnings! Ah well, thirds the charm.

From the right (with constant daydreaming of a 2012-like apocalypse, and from what I've learned from WoW, I'm pretty sure I can get on roof of the shopping center):

From the left:

I did not know this: the La Ronde was the first revolving restaurant in the world!

Addendum: I couldn't help myself—Panic originally posted this in a comment somewhere I think, but it deserves the front page:

A Decent Map of the Hawaiian Islands

The patriotic origins of Liberty House

A tidbit about Liberty House, the department store that's now part of Macy's, and its parent company American Factors.

The predecessor of American Factors (Amfac) was H. Hackfield, a merchandise house founded by a German sea captain in 1849. Still owned by Germans in 1917, when America entered World War I, Hackfield was taken over by the Alien Property Custodian and sold to a group of Hawaii businessmen in 1918. It was given the patriotic name of American Factors, and its main retail store, which had gone under the name of B.F. Ehlers, was renamed Liberty House.
- "Islands in Transition: The Past, Present and Future of Hawaii's Economy," By Thomas Kemper Hitch. p. 89

I never realized Liberty House, which put hibiscus flowers all over its shopping bags, had such a martial past. It's interesting that Liberty House didn't seem to play up the rah-rah American origins of its name.

(My apologies if you all know this already. I learned this for the first time the other day.)

Dense Valley

Friend and colleague Mika Oshima is writing and drawing a comic about growing up in Manoa, of all places. I'm really liking her compressed-space depictions of the architecture and flora and fauna of the valley. Check out Dense Valley, and watch for updates!

SNL + Hawaii --> ... oh my

From the Honolulu Advertiser:

A "Saturday Night Live" skit depicting a fictitious hotel on Kaua'i while mocking the visitor industry has incited the ire of Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona Jr. and tourism officials, who claim the piece is offensive and crosses the line at a critical time for the state's biggest industry...

When describing where he lives to a table of tourists: "Want to come visit? It's really easy to get to. Just drive through the shantytown, make a right at the meth lab, and you'll see a 15-year-old girl who got pregnant by an out-of-town businessman, then ask for her brother. That's me."

Visitor industry officials said the skit is tasteless and offensive, coming at a time when Hawai'i's tourism industry is suffering from declining arrivals.

Mini asteroid passing right the frick over Hawaii!*

From this article in Sky and Telescope about 2009 DD45, a mini asteroid that's passing between our Earth and its Moon:

...the point of closest approach occurs over the Pacific somewhere west of Tahiti, so the most likely viewers are in Australia, Japan, and maybe Hawaii.

It turns out to be happening basically right now (3:44 AM Hawaii time). So if anyone's up, run outside and look for an amazing spectacle*.

*maybe

Hawaii's Star Bulletin to go tabloid

The Honolulu Star-Bulletin is converting from a broadsheet newspaper to a tabloid and taking steps to deal with the recession. 

In publishing as a tabloid, similar in size to MidWeek [which is canned], the Star-Bulletin will join the ranks of the Chicago Tribune, which added a tabloid last month, and other, mostly newer, publications that publish as tabs.

The article states that there's lay offs for both major news papers here and the closing of neighbor island bureaus, as well. 

It's a darn good thing that nothing important has ever happened on a neighbor island. I'm trying to picture a Maui blogger picking up the slack between surfing runs, and all I see are posts like "lets boycott the ferry some more!" and "the top ten places to hide ur weed."

Twitter Fight!

Kamehameha Schools challenges a tweeting imposter.

Check out the war of words (or Tweets) that flared this month on Twitter.com between the official Kamehameha Schools persona (@KSNews) and a cyber squater that has grabbed onto a related name (@KSBE).

The official school site says:

Aloha. Please do not follow @KSBE. This is not an authorized representative of our organization. Thank you.

The imposter responds:

Do not trust @KSNews. KSBE is the only Kamehameha Schools news source.

One entry from the imposter last week:

As Pauahi’s will clearly states: “Fuck da haoles.”

11:01 PM Jan 26th from web

Stories about Spam fill a slow news day

Barack Obama Snacks on Hawaiian Spam Sushi

President-elect Barack Obama is spending the Christmas holiday Hawaii – relaxing in the sun, playing golf and eating Spam.

On Sunday afternoon, while playing golf with friends at Oahu's Olomana Golf Links, Obama, 47, who grew up on the island, stopped at a snack bar and bought two hot dogs, soft drinks and two orders of a local luncheon specialty called spam musubi – Spam and a fried egg on a bed of rice, held together with a strip of dried seaweed, according to reporters covering his trip.


The snack bar clerk later told the New York Times' Jeff Zeleny the president-elect's tab came to $17.75. Asked how his game was going, Obama answered with a smile, "I'm not that good." He also invited reporters to order a beer and put it on his tab, but none took him up on the offer.

--------------------------------------------



I agree that the sad state of journalism reflected by this article is an issue of concern, especially since it appears even the New York Times is interviewing the snack bar clerk. But even more importantly... can anyone here confirm that the Olomana Golf Course snack bar actually incorporates a fried egg into their spam musubi? Cuz that sounds ridiculous-- or maybe ridiculously good.

Hawaii has rednecks!

This story made my day.

HILO, Hawaii (AP) — A Hilo Chevrolet dealer who tried to crush his Asian auto competition found the stunt a little harder to pull off than expected.

Island Chevrolet general sales manager James Severtson arranged for a Chevrolet Suburban SUV outfitted with massive tires costing $5,000 apiece to drive over a Honda Accord.

On the first attempt Friday, the monster truck blew a hydraulic hose and leaked vital fluid while the Honda remained intact and ready for more.

After several hours, the truck was repaired and driver Ryan Kepiki tried again, this time with a Hyundai Excel sedan parked next to the Honda.

Kepiki drove over the cars' hoods, destroying the windshields to the seeming delight of the rush-hour crowd.

Severtson said the dealership had been planning the crush-fest for a while. But he said it was a happy coincidence President Bush approved a bailout for U.S. automakers as the weekend arrived.

"We'd like to send the message that the best way to support your country is to buy an American vehicle today," Severtson said.

Go to the local paper Web site for more detail and PHOTOS.

What it's like in New York City

My friend Annie lives in New York City. Yesterday, in a meeting I attended virtually by hologram, Annie offered her artistic take on the hypothetical Hawaii presentation of various and sundry foods and beverages. She belittles her own artistic skill, but if we were playing Pictionary, and the answer was "eating Spaghetti by the pool", I'd totally get it. Anyway, here is how Annie gets to work, on the days she bothers to show up. This is what it's like in New York City.



(With various and sundry apologies to Steve Ditko. Really, I'm thinking of sending him a card telling him how sorry I am.)

J. Tribama

Mr. Pony said...

Yes, we have a bit of a history of this sort of thing.

November 5, 2008 9:55 PM

Greetings to Hawaii

Nice one, hawaiguys! 72% for Obama/Biden, woo-hoo!