Archive for November, 2007

I heard sad news today that a Peace Corps volunteer that I met while traveling to Vanuatu this September was recently killed. In times like this, I feel it is important to look around and appreciate this world we live in and how, in a blink of an eye, it could be gone. John Roberts was a most generous, thoughtful, and kind person.

I feel it only appropriate to remind us all to give thanks every day. Always remember how valuable life can be.

Yes, you read that right!  For all you David Beckham fans, he is coming with his Los Angeles Galaxy team to compete in this year’s Pan-Pacific Championships (Source: Honolulu Star Bulletin).  It will be a two day event and will be held at the Aloha Stadium on February 20th and 23rd.
Even if you aren’t a Beckham fan, you can just enjoy watching soccer and will be thrilled at this event.  Since this is a four team tournament, you will also get to see the Houston Dynamo, the Gamba Osaka, and a team from the Hyundai A-League Final Series. I’m glad professional organizations are starting to recognize Hawaii as a place to have their events.  As many of you who live here know, we don’t get many events held here.  There aren’t that many big time concerts, almost no sporting events except for the Pro Bowl…you get the picture.  But now, it seems that the tides have turned.  In fact, the UFC is planning to have one of their events in 2008 held at the Aloha Stadium.  This will finally get Hawaii out there and show that we are also a good place to have events.
If you want tickets to this event, they will go on sale next month.  Until then, go to www.PPChampionship.net for the most current information. 

Do you dread the trip to the mall?  Why not try something different this year and not go at all?  There are so many gifts that are rendered useless after a short while, so why not give a gift that means something more than material things?

One of the most memorable gifts I’ve received came last Christmas when a friend of mine made a donation in my name to the Heifer Foundation, a non-profit organization promoting sustainability and self-reliance.

I like to think of Christmas as the season where the kind of giving is to people who are really in need.  It should be a time to really appreciate what we have and help those who don’t have much to value at all.

Not sure what organization to give to?  This site can get you started.

First off, my apologies for not writing recently, as I have been tied up with work until late in the night, and now I am currently in Taiwan on vacation.  With the 30 minute time limit on these computers (which are usually taken by University students), I’m doing what I can.

Anyhow, on to the news!  According to the Honolulu Star Bulletin, Hawaii’s statewide average gas price is now $3.42 per gallon for regular 87 octane gas.  This is 33 cents above the nation’s average, and has tied with California for the top spot.  Right before I left for vacation, I noticed that the gas prices jumped about 15 cents out of nowhere.  That was a big hit, especially since it’s been rather consistent lately hovering around $3 per gallon.  Since I’ve been gone, it’s gone up another 20 cents or so.

You can still find gas cheaper than $3.42 though.  Costco is selling gas for $3.21 a gallon.  Meanwhile, Chevron in the Kakaako area is selling regular gas for $3.43 a gallon.  Yeah, pretty much sucks.  I say stick to the bus, ride a bike, or car pool.  There isn’t much you can do with these high prices.  Maybe for-go that Hummer you always wanted and get a Toyota Yaris.  And even though I don’t write for Rambling News anymore, you can still get good gas tips at this link as well as this one. 

Good luck!  Hopefully gas prices will drop when I get back…but I really doubt it.  I can only see it stay high.

Adults and kids alike will enjoy the visiting Broadway musical, “The Lion King,” playing at the Blaisdell Concert Hall.  The costumes are the most notable and memorable and audiences are able to see characters close-up as they sing and walk through the aisles at the beginning of each half.  The music is fantastic and includes many of the song’s from the Disney movie.  The most memorable voice of the bunch is Rafiki, whose soulful, raspy rendition of “The Circle of Life” will take your breath away.

You must hurry though!  “The Lion King,” plays for just two more weeks until December 9.  Call TicketMaster at #877-750-4400 or order tickets online at www.ticketmaster.com.

If the expected crowd at Aloha Stadium is to be more than 30,000 people, we’ve got the best place for you to park.

If you’re unable to get to the game early, like 6 hours early to get a decent spot this last game, don’t fear the trek out to Ford Island. Some of you probably past the signs that said the only parking left around the stadium was Ford Island parking and you probably didn’t want to venture all the way over the Admiral Clarey Bridge. But for those of you that did you found a great little spot to park.

They take you all the way out on a huge open field, park ya, and shuffle you on a bus back across the bridge. And it doesn’t take that long, it’s a very efficient system. You come right back to Kam Hwy and Salt Lake and have an easy walk to most tailgaters that braved the crowds and started preparing your food and keeping your beer cold.

The cost is only $5 so you save $5 verses the stadium lots which can be a nightmare if you want to try and get out after the game in any reasonable time. With the Ford Island parking you can walk directly back to that intersection, hope on a bus (you may wait a few minutes for a bus but they have a ton so it’s not a long wait), and back to the lot you go.

The great thing is that they only have so many buses so there isn’t a line of cars waiting to get out. You cruise back over the bridge and have a straight shot onto Kamehameha Hwy going east bound. This can get you right back onto H1 and on your way.

We suggest this for those of you not fighting the Aloha Stadium parking crowds this Saturday vs Washington. Let you friends setup the good eats and show up casually late to take advantage of cold beer and good pupu’s.

It was a sell out crowd at Aloha Stadium as the Warriors defeated number 19 ranked Boise State to keep their BCS hopes alive.

It was a packed house, both inside the stadium and outside. People came to tailgate only, try and get a ticket, and just be around the buzz. For a work day, it didn’t look like much of the state was working at all, and rightfully so, the Warriors were making UH history and trying to creep up the BCS rankings for a shot at the Fiesta Bowl, or better!

LSU had just lost to Arkansas in triple overtime, the number 2 and number 4 teams were set to play the next night, and Hawaii was looking to be the only unbeaten team in major college football.

The team took the field to a huge roar and it was on. The student section (where we were sitting) didn’t really sit for almost the entire game. Paper was shredded and tossed. Poms were thrown backwards, and the Warriors were pumped.

UH’s defense which hasn’t always been the best in the league played outstanding, and Colt Brennan played like he truly was a Heisman candidate. He was 40 for 53 with 495 yards passing, 5 touchdown passes and 1 rushing touchdown.

In the end, Hawaii came out victorious, 39-27, the students rushed the field and the Warriors kept their BCS hopes alive while winning their first ever WAC Title.

Next week the Warriors look to round out the season with a home game on Saturday night against Washington.

Considering we are so busy gorging on turkey and yams to do it the day of, the day before giving thanks is the perfect day to give thanks.  So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’d like to give thanks Hawaiian style:

I’m thankful for living on an island where surf can be found any day of the year and for taking days off surfing just because I know it’ll be there tomorrow.  I’m thankful for a family I can always count on and a local community that makes me feel accepted and warm inside.  I’m thankful for the weather.  It’s perfect even when it’s raining.  I’m thankful for rainbows–and even more thankful for double rainbows that arc across the entire urban sky.   I’m thankful for Iz and all of the god-gifted talents on our ‘aina.  I’m thankful for spam musubi, plate lunch, and kalua pig at Keneke’s.  I’m thankful for body surfing at Makapu’u because it reminds me that I’m alive.

And finally, thank you, Erik and Aloha Update for giving me this opportunity to write and for you, the reader, who keeps tuning in.  May you all have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Jon Kelly’s funeral service was held yesterday near his home on Black Point.  Several well-known watermen and Hawaiian rights figures were in attendance.  To him, we owe a great deal: through his organization, Save Our Surf, which he founded in the late 1960’s with the help of George Downing, Kelly rallied key members of the Hawaiian community behind a program that protects Hawaii’s waters.  Thanks to Save Our Surf, Hawaii residents and visitors are able to appreciate this state’s beauty and natural diversity.

Kelly, a waterman himself, spent nearly every day in his late life bodysurfing Kaiko’s.  He died two months ago on October 3, 2007.   To read more about John Kelly and Save Our Surf, visit these sites:

http://www.hawaii-nation.org/turningthetide-7-1.html

http://www.downwindproductions.com/tours/surf/babyqueens1.html

Upon further consideration of my previous rant about the Tita at Bowls, I feel I should make myself clear: Surfing localism is not pervasive–it depends on what you look like, how good you are, and where you paddle out.  We’ve all heard those nightmarish stories about guys getting their faces bashed in by surfers in Makaha.  This kind of bullying behavior is clearly unnecessary, but it is an effective strategy in keeping some surfers out of the water.  Is that the way things should be, though?  I don’t think so.

A fonder illustration: I paddled out to Aina Haina’s nearly every week because I always meet the nicest, most generous surfers in the water.  I never fret about being alone.  I always feel safe.  And I’m willing to accept when it’s crowded because I’m contributing to the crowd.

It’s the lack of toleration and acceptance that bothers me.  We don’t own the water.  We should respect it and share it.