Go Memories!

Yo!  er, that is, I mean:

 ALOHA !

Yeah, yeah...

Waikiki, Beach, Hawaii,

blah blah blah.

My mind is somewhere else-

Later today the

Philadelphia Phillies

will fight to remain

in the World Series Race.

The Phillies broadcasts

 were the soundtrack of my

Summers growing up:

By Sahm, Harry Kalas,

John  Facenda. . .

One day when I was little,

 Dad drove me into the city. . .

After paying some local kids to "watch" our car

we approached a big brick building that blended in

 with all the other brick

 in the city that Philadelphia was

 in the 50's.

My Dad told me that he went to

Mastbaum Technical High School right down the street.

I was a suburban kid,

 but he was teaching me that these were the streets

 we really came from. . .

courtesy (along with above): http://www.conniemackstadium.com/

I saw this on the website above

 and remembered walking past that wall. . .

http://www.baseballforum.com

I'll never forget the brilliant green of the field
after all that brick;

Right in the city!

I remember lots of cement and exposed girders.

 It reminded me of the subway

"The Philadelphia Phillies are the oldest continuous one-city, one-nickname franchise in sports, and no team enjoys as rich a history and as deep a connection with their fans. From their first game in 1883 through the team's back-to-back trips to the World Series in 2008 and 2009, the Phillies have earned a special place in baseball history and cultivated a passionate relationship with fans near and far."

From  THE OFFICIAL, DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF THE PHILLIES

Introduction by Mike Schmidt

Foreword by Christopher Guest

Dedicated to Harry Kalas

There's even a very pleasing Hawaii connection in the person of the athletic
 Shane "The Flyin` Hawaiian" Victorino.
He always seems to be in the thick of it!

So this afternoon (here in Hawaiian Standard Time) 

I will be spending time with FOX Sports,

 and my ghosts:

 Dad, Granddad, Jimmy,

 and the kid I was growing up in Philly.

Hope you make some lifetime memories this weekend,

 no matter how tiny.

 They might just loom large in later times. . .

You may sometime long to recapture the treasures

that seem so plentiful today.

     Warmly, cloudia

And GO PHILLIES!

Status Talisman. . .

Or Stratus Talisman?

ALOHA!

Beauty in all it's forms

heals me.

"Those disabled from work - the aged,

 and invalids -

 have a well-grounded claim

 to care from the state."

Otto von Bismarck, 1881,

 proposing a social insurance program.

"An onion can make people cry,

 but there has never been a vegetable invented

 to make them laugh." 

Will Rogers

"Clothes make the man.

 Naked people have little or no influence on society."

Mark Twain

"The pine stays green in winter...

 wisdom in hardship." 

Norman Douglas 

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We are designed to look for faces

and patterns in behavior.

We interpret the actions of others

without even realizing it.

What we "see"

seems as self evident

as sports teams do

when they are winning.

But leads can be lost;

Momentum is always shifting.

Don't remain moored

to past patterns, habits,

automatic responses.

Cleanse your windows of perception.

Invite a few "what ifs"

to the party.

Get 

tipsy

with the real possibilities

that a shift in attitude

can begin.

O Lord

grant me the wisdom

to discern between

whole, healthy habits,

and stultifying routines -

Help me to be more able

to swim in the cataract of abundance

that surrounds me.

Amen

Bonus Tip:

We assume that our friends

or partners

are making a decision,

or sending a message,

when they are simply on auto-pilot

(as we are).

Remembering that they

are as lost & searching

as yourself

Allows compassion

to blanket and quench

the hot coals of hurt

in cool,

sparkling,

joyous

purity.

      Warmly, cloudia

Fast From Fear

. . . Feast on

ALOHA

Click on the photos :)

"There is no season

 when such pleasant and sunny spots may be lighted on,

 and produce so

pleasant an effect on the feelings,

 as now in October."

Nathaniel Hawthorne

My boat is ever moving,

at a certain time, a certain angle,

a shaft of sun interpolates

and the swinging silver spiral

collaborates

for fleeting seconds

to produce a shadow twin.

Spirals

for EVERYONE!

And then:

gone.

Koko Head

"I am a lonely painter,

I live in a box of paints."

Joni Mitchell 

Noodle Factory.

Enlarge to read the varieties of

noodles :)

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"What is not love

is fear.

Anger

is one of fear's most potent

faces.

And it does exactly

what the fearful ego wants it to do:

It keeps us from receiving

 love

at exactly the moment

that we need it 

most."

        Marianne Williamson & cloudia

Our Closeup - My School

A L O H A!

"President Obama

has a higher favorable rating

than the previous two presidents

had at the same point in their presidencies."

CNN

Two thirds of all people

who have lived to age 65

are alive

NOW!

Scott Caan, Danno

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Looks like we passed our "audition!"

"Hawaii 5-O is off to an impressive start. . . After three weeks it was the No. 1 new show on Television. It may be one of the most recorded shows on DVR, and has been licensed to broadcasters in nearly 200 countries."

  Chris Ender, Senior VP of Communications for CBS-TV, told a local columnist.

The crew has been here in my harbor neighborhood filming more than once (as LOST and the original 5O did), and it is fun to see all the other locations and local faces.

We're also in on some behind the scenes stuff too.

 For example, Scott Caan aggravated an old knee injury while surfing steps from here and had to fly back to LA to see a specialist.

 "Don't worry," producers told us locals, "we'll just write it into the script."

 And so they have. We also saw local funny man

Augie Tulba "loan" a helicopter to the crime fighters in a recent episode.

Alex O’Loughlin as Steve McGarrett  showed some skin in bed this week, and we locals learned that the location for his home is "played" by the Bayer Estate.

 Next week, a local lad, 9 year old Aidan Laprete Powell, will perform his viral  You Tube ukulele version of "Hey Soul Sister" on the show!  (Wonder if he is in class with the fellow Hahaione Elementary School student who plays Danno's daughter, Teilor Grubbs?)

Even if the show wasn't great, we'd all watch it. But I'm thrilled to say that it is a sweet trifle, a fun ride with some heart, and looks to be a true hit.

 The characters are growing on me, too.

Locals have been amused by multiple references to the fictional alma mater of some of those characters, Kukui High School. Some clever fellows started a web page for the school (where they are selling "School" items!)

 Our State Tree, the Kukui is called the Candle Tree for it's fatty nuts which the Hawaiians of old skewered on a coconut mid-rib and burned to give a good, clean light.

Kukui oil is also a capitol skin/hair enhancer and healer. So of course the school mascot is The Fighting Nut. There's even an all-year "reunion" planned for next month and a flourishing Yearbook which you can see HERE. You might even see someone you know!

Go Nuts!

But lots more Hollywood hoo-ha is going on here too:

Justin Bieber performed here last week.

 That's him dripping wet and wearing board shorts  (in a pic shot here)  in a recent People magazine. 

Christina Aguilera and a slew of other celebrities were here on the block this week for the opening  of the new Waikiki Edition Hotel overlooking yours truly.

The place looks VERY exclusive, so I need to plan an outfit and work up my nerve before I check the place out and have a drinky there.

Iron Chef Morimoto has a restaurant at the Edition

and has been here personally

creating quite a stir among his fans

including our many Japanese visitors.

If I hit the lottery, I'll dine there and report back to you.

A local food columnist called it:

"The Best Place to Dine in Honolulu - 

If Someone Else is Picking Up the Check."

And so it goes. . .Fall in Waikiki.

     Thanks for joining me - Go NUTS!  cloudia

Needn't Own Them

A l o h a !

"Everybody suffers.

If you accept your suffering,

you can understand others

better.

But never forget:

life is sweet."

Steven Colbert's Mother, Lorna

as told by her son

"He's a fine fellow

with but one fault;

He's a terrible scoundrel."

Said of a 19th Century Steam-Ship Company lobbyist

"That which you DO -

that is what you ARE."

Ingrid Bettencourt

My Buddy Aiden

Happy First Birthday!

"A truly rich man

 is one whose children run into his arms

 when his hands are empty."

Author Unknown

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Visiting old books,

stories, paintings, faces;

seeing wonders in museums,

gems in a shop,

imbibing epic skies

on a blog

or resounding to

a mellifluous brook. . .

All these things

feed me

and you.

We needn't own them-

but may revisit anytime,

They show us new facets

and intimations

as we develop new ones of our own.

          Thank YOU for visiting! cloudia