Homespun Honolulu

Welcome to the first Carnival of Aloha for 2009!

I think starting off the New Year with a Carnival is a great way to kick-start the year and get us off and running. We’ve got some interesting additions and a few chuckles to move us into 2009.  Thank you to all of the participants who continue to make our monthly Carnival a fun event!

The first thing we need for the New Year is some fireworks.  I think all will agree that it helps when those fireworks come naturally!

Pua shares the great fireworks with Hawaii Volcano Videos 2008 posted over at Best Hawaii Vacation with Hawaii Vacation Blog, saying, “Keoki and I submit this month’s Hawaii article with warm wishes for a Hau’oli Makahiki Hou - Happy New Year to all our Hawaii blog friends and visitors. The Big Island’s volcano invites all of you to its special fireworks by Madame Pele! Come and see for yourselves.”

The next thing we need to do is look ahead into the New Year and how things are looking for the coming year.    We need to look at ourselves and I can’t think of a better way to do that than through the eyes of one of our biggest fans.  Sheila over at GoVisitHawaii.com, whom I will label our Ms. Congeniality, always sees us in the best light.

Sheila shares the 2009 Hawaii Travel Trends and Predictions posted at her blog, Hawaii Vacation Blog - GoVisitHawaii.com, saying, “I was fortunate enough to get some Hawaii tourism experts to share their insights and predictions for 2009 Hawaii travel. From everyone’s input, it’s clear that 2009 is going to be a great year to visit Hawaii. I thought I’d share this article to help get the word out - 2009 is going to be a “buyer’s market” for Hawaii vacationers.”

I’m very glad to hear that!  There’s a definite draw here in the Islands and I can’t imagine leaving home.  Even for those who have migrated away from home, their hearts are still right here.

Lovena Harwood joins us to let us know that there is Hawaiian Culture Throughout The World - Jan 2009!  Lovena tells us all about it at her blog, East Coast Wahine, saying, “Hawaiian music and culture have spread far and wide beyond the shores of Hawai’i.”

While we’re still wiping the fireworks out of our eyes, Andrew is here to tell us that there is so much more to the night sky than just man-made sparklers.

Andrew Cooper tells us all about Family Astronomy Night at Thelma Parker Library - A Darker View that he posted over at A Darker View.  I still love that name!

Since we’re talking about things that are naturally made, we need to share another post from our scientific girlfriend talking about us from

GrrlScientist presents When is a Honeyeater not a Honeyeater? The Tricks of Convergent Evolution posted at Living the Scientific Life, saying, “Every once in awhile, I will read a scientific paper that astonishes and delights me so much that I can hardly wait to tell you all about it. Such is the situation with a newly published paper about the Hawai’ian Honeyeaters. In short, due to the remarkable power of convergent evolution, Hawai’ian Honeyeaters have thoroughly deceived taxonomists and ornithologists as to their true origin and identity for more than 200 years.”

I’m just going to share the latest news of the future that just came to light a few days ago.  I’m not sure where my heart is with this at the moment but it’s worth sharing.

Evelyn lets us in on the news that the NFL Goes on Vacation, posted most recently here at HomespunHonolulu.com.  While looking forward to a visit from the NFL this year, 2010 will be a year without them.  Hopefully the NFL will be homesick while they’re away and come back home after 2010!

On a lighter note, while I was perusing Lovena Harwood’s blog I found an interesting little sight listed in her blogroll.  This site is not a very busy blog but I got a kick out of one of the posts and wanted to share it because it gave me a good chuckle.  I don’t know if the story is true but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if it was, and that’s what made me laugh.

Unco (Uncle) Delbert tells a story about Cruel and Unusual Punishment!!! This crack-me-up story was posted by Unco Delbert over at, um, well, I’m not sure. I like the web address which says “nevamine” (never mind) in the address, but then Lovena labeled the link to this blog as “I jus’ sayin…” and I like that too.  But, this blog’s headline says, “Ramblings of one keiki o ka aina …why bodda you?” so I think we’ll just go with that.  K’ den, Uncle, so what?  Thank you for that nice touch of humor!

That concludes this chapter of the Carnival of Aloha.  Don’t forget to submit your blog articles to the next chapter using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of aloha, blog carnival.

Every year Honolulu anxiously sets up to welcome the NFL, its players, cheerleaders and mascots for the Pro Bowl.  We have been doing so for several years now.  It has become a tradition — one that the community looks forward to every year.

Our local residents, businesses, and the tourist industry as well, are all touched by this event in some way — the impact is more far-reaching than you may think.  In addition, those lucky athletes and staff members who are selected to participate in the Pro Bowl get to enjoy a vacation to Hawaii in the process. Here is the 2009 Pro Bowl roster of lucky players.

In 2010 NFL Takes Vacation Away from Hawaii

The cheerleaders and mascots will be dancing to a different drummer in 2010 — the Pro Bowl is scheduled to be played in Miami next year, a week before the Super Bowl, which will also be hosted in Miami, on the same field.

Yes, it’s confirmed, next year’s Pro Bowl will be played at Dolphin Stadium a week before the Super Bowl.  Make no mistake about it, Dolphin Stadium is a quality venue.  I’m not sure how receptive or comfortable Miami will be overall but I’m sure we will hear all about it.

This is going to be the first time since 1979 that Hawaii has not hosted the Pro Bowl.  At a time when we needed this event, and others like it, this decision by the NFL did not come at a very good time for us.

Don’t worry, Swoop, the NFL has got to let you guys come back!  I’ve no personal attraction to the Philadelphia Eagles but you’ve got to love a bird with attitude!  Apparently SportsRant.com thinks so too!

I’m still going to be happy to see them this year with all of the cheerleaders and mascots.  Losing them, however, will be nagging at the back of my mind every minute and with the snap of every photo.  Good luck guys, have fun and, above all, hurry back!

There have been some quiet things happening at our Nuuanu Chevron.  The signs are new and more brightly colored.  The new pumps are not only installed, they’re turned on.  You can see their little screens all lit up in the evening.

The sign changed from telling us that they were renovating to serve us better to let us know they’re looking for people to hire.  Now, if you’re going to hire people, you need to have a place that’s open for these newly-hired people to work in, right?

Okay, this is a dead give away if ever I saw one!  CocaCola would only be there if they were processing a servicing agreement or delivering products.  They would only be doing either one of those things if they had an active business that was going to sell those products.

Then, I got more than a hint in an unexpected place.  The new force taking ownership of this station left us all a comment right here!  This is what was said:

Aloha Evelyn:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

GOOD NEWS!

NUUANU CHEVRON: Your favorite Chevron station located on Nuuanu Avenue will be opening on FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2009.

NEW, IMPROVED STATION! We’ve refreshed Nuuanu Chevron: brand-new gas pumps, bright lights, new signs, freshly painted new color scheme, colorful landscaping, and stocked with your favorite hot & cold beverages and tasty snacks. (We even have your favorite Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts in stock, waiting for your first visit to our store.)

NEW OWNERSHIP & MANAGEMENT: We are a locally-owned family business, honored to provide our customers with outstanding, friendly customer service and the highest quality gasoline and other automotive products and services in Hawaii since 1985. We are excited about opening our new location at Nuuanu Chevron!

AUTOMOTIVE REPAIR SERVICES: Watch Nuuanu Chevron install automotive repair equipment as we get ready to offer top-quality automotive services at realistic prices. We are hiring only the best ASE-certified technicians, and licensed Safety Inspectors to handle all types of automotive services for you, your family, friends and neighbors.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: Our goal at Nuuanu Chevron is customer satisfaction that exceeds your expectations. We strive to earn your loyalty and business by simply providing each customer with outstanding customer service every time.

Please come visit us at NUUANU CHEVRON. And when you identify yourself to the Customer Service Representative on duty, you get a FREE Pop-Tart of your flavor choice, with our compliments.

Aloha Pumehana,

Nuuanu Chevron

What can I say?  I did not expect that but I was very happy to see the announcement that they are opening up on Friday the 2nd of January and I was pleased to read through the other details about the services they plan to provide.  It will be so good to see it open again tomorrow morning!  I can’t wait!

Mahalo to you, Nuuanu Chevron, for getting things back up and running!  That chain-link fence was really beginning to get old!  Oh, we do need to get a vacuum installed again.  They took it out last time and never put it back.  I have my own theory about why you should have it there — I’ll talk to you guys about that later. 

I found a blog loaded with book and reading memes.  Apparently this happens every Thursday. I’m not much into memes but this one caught my attention. Wikipedia kind of explains what a meme is but the explanation doesn’t really help much.  A meme is sort of like joining a conversation about something by adding your own thoughts via your blog.

The most recent post on the Booking Through Thursday blog is about New Year’s Resolutions.  Well, yes, there are books that I have been waiting to read and I’ve been trying to encourage myself to do so.  If I tell you guys I’m going to, then I have to!  Here goes, I’m going to read Raymond Khoury’s The Sanctuary: A Novel

How can anything with a title like that and a dragon design on the cover like this be left behind in the book store?  I couldn’t leave it on the shelf.  In spite of being an advocate of the saying, “never judge a book by its cover,” I have to point out that good titles and great covers will sell those books, especially to suckers like me! 

They’re right, by the way; you can’t judge a book by its cover.  The Sanctuary is not at all about the crazy places my mind wanted to go when I read the title and saw the cover.  It has an historic aspect to it that ties to some of the more recent and familiar drama in the World.  Ancient conspiracies and archaeology sounds like a good match to me!

I love novels with historic backdrops — it makes them so much more believable.  This explains why, out of all the novels written by Danielle Steele, Zoya was my favorite.  They never made a movie out of that one; I’m thinking that it would have been too expensive to produce so no studio wanted to pick it up.

I don’t know anything about Mr. Khoury but he seems to have quite a few strong acclamations and the book’s description makes it sound like a fascinating weave of words.  What I’m really hoping for is some writing inspiration.

Dean Koontz’s The Husband is also on my list.  I know it’s in the house somewhere.  The Husband came highly recommended some time back, so, since I think Koontz rocks, I didn’t question the recommendation; I just went out and bought it!

Thanks, Deb, for the reading inspiration. 

Okay, December just went way too fast!  It was like watching water go down the drain — the last part just goes, “sluuuurp,” and then it’s all gone!   

The deadline for the first 2009 Carnival of Aloha was actually today, BUT, I’ve extended it until Friday the 2nd.  :)  I’m falling behind big time and, with the holiday season and all, I’m guessing that some of you guys are too!

Have a wonderful, safe and happy New Year celebration this evening and when you’re recovering from it all tomorrow, submit a post for the Carnival!  If you like, send in your favorite post of 2008 — just be sure to let me know that’s what you’re doing in the comments so I can make a note of it!

Mahalo to Richard Tajiri’s Christmas Hawaii for a picture-perfect tree that I almost didn’t want to decorate.  But, I did!  I’m hoping that I can be supportive of them at the start of the holiday season next year.

On Friday night we lost power.  We all lost power.  The entire island of Oahu was without power!  No lights, no air conditioners, no hot water, no traffic lights, no stores, no televisions – you get the picture.  Even the surviving radio stations fell off the air a couple of times.

Poor HECO (Hawaiian Electric Company), they were up and at it all night long.  There were a few strokes of lightening that seemed a little too close for comfort and we’re thinking may have actually hit some power lines.  That part, i.e. the cause, is still under investigation.  Apparently, our power system is set up to shut itself down to protect the system from frying when something goes wrong.  We all have to admit, it’s a lot better to be off line for a few hours than for a few days!  Ugh! 

Some places were back up and functioning in nine hours or less but it wasn’t until seventeen hours later that we had power back in our building.  There were still “pockets” of people without power. Two garbage bags of now-dangerous-to-eat groceries went out in the trash.  Thank goodness for Costco – at least we can replace our damaged goods relatively easily.  The financial part is not always so easy.   

Roughing it can be fun but it does get old rather quickly.  I had forgotten how a cold shower feels!  Brrrrr!  But, the house was kind of hot so it was okay.  Of course I then ended up outside in the rain right after that and the wind was nippy. 

After getting the call from home that our power was back on, I did see a HECO truck, one of many, driving around and my heart went out to them.  They looked so tired.  I waved and they waved back.  Albeit not a very safe job, it was probably still preferable to being one of the HECO operators taking phone calls from angry people still without power.

All of that being said, we had good company!  Our darling President-elect was with us for the party.  Relax, the Obama family was just fine.  They ended up with two generators and, I’ll wager, a lot of soggy reporters. 

I had to laugh at the CBS News’ coverage of  the paparazzi media –  Barack and the kids actually managed to run away from them!  Naughty, naughty. I shouldn’t laugh I suppose but I just can’t help it!  :)  While CBS covered the Obamas, the Associated Press covered our power story quickly and summed it up quite nicely. 

We’re okay now, except HECO has to find and define the cause. But, let’s talk about natural energy, shall we?   Of course, we had very little sun and not very much wind either.  You can’t store Mother Nature can you?  Did I mention that we take so much for granted?

The annual drive for the Toys for Tots campaign officially kicked off with the “Bikes for Tykes” event in Downtown Honolulu.  I didn’t know about this event.  It’s the third year and I did not know about it.  I missed it.  I will make it a point to NOT miss it next year!

The Marine Toys for Tots Foundation is on my list of wonderful organizations and the local Marines in Kaneohe do them proud!  The Marines and the Hawaii Chapter of Street Bikers United join forces, once a year, to take toys to the keiki — via their motorcycles.  I love this event because it is a rare occasion that we get to see so many riders all together at the same time and, best of all, for a common cause.  Regular readers know how much I love this event.  Guess what?  I missed that too!  The worst part is that I promised you guys last year to get it done this year!

Here is the one photo that I was able to get for this year’s event.  That’s it.  That’s all I have.  Last year I suffered from an equipment failure when my camera decided to have a memory meltdown.  This year, I was severely slowed down in the morning and then the husband locked his keys in the car (with it running) so I missed the end of the run too!

Needless to say, I was not happy.  Again.  This event only happens once a year!  I swear, next year is mine!  I will get those pictures that I discovered I really can get if I have to die trying!  Okay, maybe I won’t go quite that far.

I Have an Attitude Problem

So often seen as the kind of people you don’t want to take home to meet your parents, these tattoo-sporting, bike-riding, beer-drinking hooligans are, for the most part, just the opposite — they’re sheep in wolves clothing! 

These horrible monsters are taking toys to children.  Gasp!  Oh the horror!  Yeah, I’m being a wise a** but cut me some slack.  For all the “bad boy” or “hoochie mama” notoriety they get (yes, women ride too!), they’re just like the rest of us — they are passionate about what they do.  I keep grilling this “they’re good people” stuff into the ground, I know, but I can’t help it.  I can relate to that passion, be it as a loaner or as part of a group.

Any bikers reading this will be thinking, “Yeah!  We’re good!”  Then they hate me because I continue to caution them about safety and helmets and the like.  I can’t help that either!

I did tell the new downtown Honda store that they need a couple of motorcycles in the window if they expect to draw people in.  “We have a location for that,” was the comment.

“I know that,” I quipped back, “so have them lend you guys a couple to draw people into the store and then you guys can sell them the other stuff.  You need bikes on the floor!”  We’ll see what they do.  Trust me, if it happens, you guys will hear about it as soon as it does!  Then again, nobody listens to me so don’t hold your breath.

Anyway, if you can swing it, bikes are always good Christmas gifts.  Big bikes, little bikes, big tykes, little tykes, boys and girls — it’s freedom for the free spirited.  Don’t forget the helmets, knee pads, elbow pads…

I will add a link to this post later that includes all of the pictures that I have from the 2006 event.  Again, I apologize.  I also have four or five other posts sitting here waiting to be written.  Off to work!

Under the current economic circumstances, people might not be traveliong as much as they usually do at this time of year.  I think we’ll just welcome the holiday season with a little help from Matson who has kept their promise to not forget our Christmas trees!  We’ll just let them bring the holiday season to us.

In these difficult times, our communities remember that it is the season of giving — even when that giving become increasingly more difficult.  We still seem to manage though — it’s all about community.

Skeet wants to be sure we’re aware of The Keiki Slippah Wish Fund.  Skeet posted this article over at Skeet’s Stuff and tells us that, “donations are slow this year and the Keiki Slippah Wish Fund needs some more attention.”  Check it out and support Auntie Lynn’s annual sharing some of the aloha!

I had to chuckle when putting this together because I knew that Skeet, our insect expert, wouldn’t mind being followed by geckos.  I don’t know that she wants to take too many of them with her to the mainland but, they’re always good for a carnival ride!

Andrew Cooper shares a post about House Geckos posted at A Darker View, saying, “Just part of life in the tropics…”

Indeed they are!  After that part of life in the tropics, we’ll move over from our star gazing blogger to our girl scientist whose posts I’m always happy to entertain!

GrrlScientist presents Hawai’ian Birds posted at Living the Scientific Life, sharing some educational material in the form of a five-minute video that is an “amateur documentary about Hawai’i’s endangered birds and the causes of their decline.”  It also sheds a little light on some of our indigenous fauna.

Sheila helps us get a little exercise by Hiking Diamond Head (Le’ahi) over at Hawaii Vacation Blog - GoVisitHawaii.com, saying, “Since we’ve probably eaten too much for Thanksgiving, let’s all take a hike to the top of Diamond Head to work off those calories. ;-)”

I know I did, Sheila! We need to work it off but then we need to cool off at the beach!

Sbreslin tells us all about October 2008 in Oahu? over at Hawaii Beaches, saying, “My travels over the last decade to paradise.”    I was reading this bloggers “About” page and I hope he hangs out with us for a long time!  Welcome to the Carnival, Sbreslin, and we hope to hear more from you!

Evelyn, that’s me, has to apologize, not only for being late posting the Carnival, but for being just a little more focused on writing something other than blog posts in November.  But, it was the 10th Anniversary of this literary abandon!  Besides, maybe all of you will join NaNoWriMo next year!  It’s exciting, draining, and very distracting.  I think I need to work on blog posts all year to go live in November, 2009. 

That concludes this chapter of blog aloha.  Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season.  Have fun, stay safe, and behave yourselves.  Okay, maybe you can forget the last one. 

Don’t forget to submit your blog article to the next edition of the Carnival of Aloha using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Technorati tags: carnival of aloha, blog carnival.

Normally I would just ignore a story like this but I decided to read it.  I’m still angry about the so-called “hunter” who killed someone’s pet not too long ago.  This time is different.  An officer, charged with keeping the peace and protecting the environment for the State of Hawaii’s Department of Land and Natural Resources, overstepped his bounds. I need to side with the hunters and their families on this one. 

I used italics and quotes around the word hunters at the beginning of this post because the idiot who killed someone’s pet was anything but!  He was stupid, obnoxious, on private property, and a slew of other things I could say.  I grew up around people who hunted regularly and  something like that was unheard of! 

I never liked the sport because I tend to hate anything that involves the killing of animals.  But, we really need to look at the big picture.  The goal is to catch the animal, not to torture it.  The animal is not discarded, it is used to feed those who are lucky enough to benefit from such a catch.   I speak from experience when I tell you that wild boar blows away the fatty pork you buy in the grocery store! It makes the best laulau. 

Okay, all of that aside, we need to remember that the wild pigs on Oahu are not indigenous to our islands, they are destructive to our rain forests, and they probably have a huge hand in all those leptospirosis warning signs we see posted near many of our rivers.  In short, the hunters (the real ones) are doing us a favor.   

I will say that, yes, on one reported occassion, there were youngsters who broke the rules and were trespassing.  Those rules are there to protect our property and safety.  Agreed.  But, I’m sorry, you don’t pull a gun on a bunch of minors because they were being stupid.  What was he thinking?!?  I am also of like opinion with those sharing the details that a loose canon like that should not be carrying a gun, nevermind any other kind of weapon.   

Let’s see, I do believe that the Honolulu Police Department would classify that as assault and terroristic threatening.  Even HPD would not hire an abusive person like that.  In the real world, we all know that you don’t uphold the law by behaving like a criminal yourself! 

If the DLNR officer in question is that caustic and confrontational, he should join the Army and go to Afghanistan.  This is not a war zone, it’s a community — a crowded one where tempers do flare, but it is a community nonetheless.  

Sending out a special aloha to Ollie Lunasco, the current President of the Oahu Pig Hunters Association, and to the community on the North Shore that I don’t write nearly enough about.  I have to admire you guys for standing up for what’s right and for following up and not just letting it slide — that’s a Neighborhood Watch at its best!   

We want to bid a heart-felt aloha to Madelyn Dunham who passed away just one day before the election of her grandson to the highest office in the Nation and across the globe.  We were all devastated that it happened just one day too soon.  Sigh. 

She was a heck of a lady and one that no one ever forgot.  She left her mark on people she worked with and on people, like me, who only heard about her.  Apparently, from what I’ve read and followed (thank you, CNN); she left her mark on her grandson as well.  He will carry on her drive and determination – we’re counting on it!  I’ve read about things he has done in the past and I don’t doubt it! 

I don’t know who to give credit to for this photo.  I have seen it everywhere.  I have to send a huge mahalo out to whomever it was that took this picture.  I chose to include it here because it shows, not only her maternal adoration of her grandson, but it also confirms that she really was the support that Barack has always claimed her to be.  Most significantly, it shows how very proud she was. 

Many of us, me included, were devastated when she passed away the day before his election.  But, I took comfort in Obama’s acceptance speech when he stated that he knew she was watching.  He’s a strong man but that had to hurt.   

“Who announces days in advance they’re rushing to the side of a loved one who is deathly ill, but keeps campaigning in a race that’s said to be over, only to go to the loved one’s side days later? See, I think this is about something else… This birth certificate business, this lawsuit that a guy named Phillip Berg filed in Philadelphia in August for Obama to produce his genuine birth certificate, and he still hasn’t replied, he hasn’t done so.” 

As much as I hate to admit it, I used to listen to Limbaugh because I thought he was an informed and gifted speaker.  I don’t know what happened but he’s become nothing more than a no-class loser!  To compound the felony, I actually bought Michael Savage’s book because I thought he was intelligent.  Again, what happened?  

Personally, I hope Barack Obama makes them all eat crow! 

Aloha, Madelyn, may your memory stay with us always!