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

Diamond Head Sunrise

Aloha!

click on the cloudy clouds

"Sunrise offered a very beautiful spectacle;

 the water was quite unruffled,

 but the motion communicated by the tides

 was so great that,

 although there was not a breath of air stirring,

 the sea heaved slowly

 with a grand and majestic motion." 
George Grey 

"There was never a night

 or a problem

 that could defeat sunrise or hope." 

Bern Williams 

Around Waikiki

ALOHA

 Greetings to

 Y O U!

click on photos for fullest effect

Memorial to Some of My Neighbors;

 I posted about them HERE last week.

"Light gives of itself freely,

 filling all available space.

  It does not seek anything in return;

 it asks not whether you are friend or foe.

  It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished."

  Michael Strassfeld

Local kid Throwing Shaka

"You can always amend a big plan,

 but you can never expand a little one.

 I don't believe in little plans."

Harry S. Truman

"The President is always abused.

 If he isn't, he isn't doing anything."
Harry S. Truman 

"They talk about me like a dog."

President Obama

“The glow of one warm thought  is to me  worth more than money.”

Thomas Jefferson  Thank You for YOUR kind visit

                                                                                        cloudia

Pull!

Aloha, Friend!

That's a BIG Ocean out there!

Way in the distance,

 there just beyond the horizon,

across the 41 mile wide Ka Iwi Channel,

is the Friendly Isle:

Molokai. 

Last Sunday's was the 57th organized modern


outrigger canoe race

between the islands of Oahu and Molokai.

 The Ka iwi Channel between them is regarded as one of the most treacherous spans of ocean on our globe.

 The Molokai Hoe (pronounced: 'HOY') canoe race is one of the longest running annual team sporting events

 in our Hawaii.

   The race perpetuates Hawaii's

 (and Polynesia's)

 most important and historic cultural traditions, 

even while welcoming outrigger canoe paddlers

from around the world!

 This supreme test of physical and mental limits,

 of strength, endurance, courage, &


 determination is,

most urgently,

a forge of teamwork

 as the paddlers confront the Earth's 


extreme

forces together.

 The winning team:
 Shell Va'a from Tahiti!

Check out this short video of canoes approaching Oahu.

That is the back of Diamond Head towards which they

PULL!

Hoe = Paddle. Hoe Wa`a! = Paddle the canoe!

Hoy Somos Todos Los Mineros Chilenos!

HOLA!          A L O H A !

please click on the photos; blogger often clips them short

Spiral Reflection

Aloha is not an idea, ideal, or theory of behavior.

It is a way of being.

It is behavioral

or it is nothing.

Being sincere in your patriotism

doesn't make you right about everything

or excuse intolerance.

"The more helpless a creature,

the more entitled it is

to protection by man

from the cruelty of man."

Gandhi

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Why does a person,

a worker,

have to be trapped underground

for us to care deeply

about them?

Why does a person

have to travel

down into a tomb

to rescue others

for us to really see

and appreciate

the heroism

or everyday 

workers,

people

?

Chile has shown all of us,

has reminded the world,

that in times of challenge

it is proper to pull together.

We Americans

are always proving our truths

by finding fault in others,

by finding someone to blame,

by being 'right'

rather than 

compassionate.

Today,

we are all Chilean.

And in this way

let us so remain!

Warmly, cloudia

Sufficient Unto-

Aloha Friend!

 These Japanese ladies have the right idea:

 Sun Protection

"On vacations: We hit the sunny beaches

 where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin,

 the saltwater off our bodies,

 and the sand out of our belongings."

Erma Bombeck 


Anything to distract ourselves, eh?

 East Oahu's Kaiwi Coastline.

Awesome Nature / Tiny fishermen (See them?)

"It's a privilege

to

grow old."

"Cathy"

Protagonist on Showtime's

 'The Big C'

"Only that day dawns to which we are awake.

 There is more day to dawn.

 The sun is but a morning star."

Henry David Thoreau 

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My motto for today:

"It is enough."

Just for today

I will celebrate

the things that I have

accomplished.

Dwelling on the unfinished,

the never-enough,

is paralyzing.

But reminding myself

that

"It is enough"
makes today
a happy celebration-

and teases my appetite

for

tomorrow.

Give yourself
a pat on the back.




     Good Job!  cloudia