rabbit kekai~90 year old "toes on the nose" longboard surf legend

"Well, my dream is to surf as long as I can. Everybody ask me and I say, ‘Hey, I’m looking at a hundred.’ They laugh but that’s my thing, to keep surfing and keep competing and see how far I can go."

(photo left courtesy of "Toes On The Nose")

tandemonium

sunrise~6:13am

the spirit of the "duke" (august 24, 1890-january 22, 1968)

Duke Paoa Kahinu Mokoe Hulikohola Kahanamoku. The most famous athlete in Hawaiian history revered for his swimming and surfing accomplishments. A recipient of Olympic gold medals for swimming, Duke Kahanamoku was also the first to be inducted to both the Swimming Hall of Fame and the Surfing Hall of Fame.

"Duke", a name given to him by his father, "Duke" senior, when the elder was baptised the name by the visiting Duke of Edinburgh to Hawaii in 1869. Duke Jr. was the eldest of nine, who lived near Waikiki Beach, came from a somewhat influential family. Duke senior was a police officer and his mother was given 20 acres of land from King Kamahameha II, which is now the site of the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

From a young age, Duke practically lived on the beach at Waikiki. A high school drop-out he made a living by becoming a "beachboy" on the beaches. He and his brothers use to amuse the visiting tourists with tandem rides.

Although Kahanamoku will always be honored as a Olympic Gold medalist, an extraordinary swimmer and influential surfer, he was also a movie star and Honolulu's honorary sheriff for over 25 years. Until his death, he served as Hawaii's "Good Will Ambassador".

Today would have been Duke's 119th birthday and more than 40 years after his death, the memories and spirit of the "Duke" lives on.

The 8th Annual "Duke’s OceanFest 2009", Waikiki’s premier ocean sports festival, showcases the greatness of Hawaii’s most famous beach resort. In 2007, The New York Times called Duke’s OceanFest “one of the largest beach and surfing festivals in the country.” This special week long event includes swimming, various surfing forms, stand-up paddle boarding, beach volleyball.

diamond head ambassador

Japanese inspired architecture built in the 1950's. The first owner-occupied "cooperative projects" in Hawaii.

artistry up close

A painter, an illustrator and a photographer take their craft from art to artistry. An incredible feat of eye-candy that takes one into surrealism for MAC Make-Up Art Cosmetics Fall '09 Collection.

The exhibit features New Yorkers, Richard Phillips and Maira Kalman. Painter Phillips transforms his pieces into a "digital cosmetic intervention". His painting was used as a palette and transforms the skin tone and eye make-up by using cosmetics on the surface. Two models (left) were body painted so that they blended onto Phillips painting. His original source came from a vintage porn magazine!

Maira Kalman's illustration is brought to life with a body painted model (left) sitting at a table. The original sketch was of a woman who had come to interview Maira at her studio. Kalman is a well known author and illustrator of children's books.

It took a team of 3 senior artists plus 9 make-up artists, working up to 8 hours to create the look for each model for the two exhibits.

oh you pretty things!

a great way to end the day...

...with a great big smile on my face!

unveiling of hawai'i's statehood stamp~august 21st, 2009

The artwork shows two of Hawai'i's traditional pastimes:canoeing and longboarding.

hawaii:50th state of the union~august 21, 1959

hawaiian patriotic gecko (gekkonidae)

brown stingray (dasyatis lata)

love flamingos

27th annual slack key guitar festival

After my visit with ELVIS, I hurried over to the "27th Annual (Maui-Oahu-Hawaii-Kauai) Ki Ho' Alu Festival". Otherwise known as the "Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival". "Ki ho'alu" means "loosen the keys".

What is "slack key" guitar and how is it different from the "ukulele"?

Well, Hawaiian slack key is a genre of music with a bass line, whereas, the ukulele is tuned higher and there are less strings than the guitar, thus making the sound different. Slack key is when the strings of the guitar are slacked or loosened and the style to which the fingers pick the strings and how the fingers slide on the strings, the sound is a lingering bluesy effect. Think Doc Watson or Jimmy Page. It's a beautifully sweet mesmerizing sound.

Listen to samples    http://www.amazon.com/Hawaiian-Slack-Key-Guitar Masters/dp/B0000030MF/ref=pd_krex_fa_t

The origin of the slack key is said to be in the early 1900's. It may be that the guitars were most likely introduced to Hawaii by the European sailors and that guitars were also brought to Hawaii by Spanish cowboys hired by King Kamehameha III to herd the cattle on Hawaii Island.

At night, the Spanish cowboys would play their guitars and this would intrigue the Hawaiian cowboys, called "paniolos". When the Spanish left Hawaii some of them left their guitars. The Hawaiians would later create their own blend of traditional music~hawaiian slack key.

A musician at this years Slack Key Festival that really impressed me was Makana. He is an unbelievable talent with great showmanship and fervor. He began studying at the age of 11 and started playing professionally at age 13. His own musical blend of traditional Hawaiian Slack Key, that of which is pure Makana, is marking a journey onto his own. His followers are young and old, locals and mainlanders. At 31, Makana has played the best stages worldwide, has opened for renowned performers and has released 6 CD's to date.

Masters of the Hawaiian Slack Key guitar include Ray Kane, Keola Beamer, Sonny Chillingworth, Dennis Kamakahi, Ledward Ka'apana and Gabby Pahinui.

the king who loved hawaii

hungry anyone?

snorkling thru wal-mart

lego surfboard building contest

a golden anniversary

It was 50 years ago today, August 13, 1959.  Ala Moana Shopping Center opened it's doors as the islands first and the largest shopping mall in the US.  A ground breaking event, set on 50 acres of what use to be swamp-land, Ala Moana proudly celebrated with more than 80 retail merchants, 11 of which remains the original merchants ~Sears and Shirokiya (anchor stores), Longs Drugs, Foodland, Crack Seed Center, Dairy Queen, Reyn's, Slipper House, US Postal Service, Territorial Savings Bank and Watumull's. Eight days later, Hawaii would become the 50th State!

A special costume exhibition called "Fifty Years of Fashion In Hawaii" is one of the special features to celebrate Ala Moana's milestone. There are over 50 garments from the University of Hawaii-Manoa's Historic Costume Collection. The influential designs range from swimwear, men's and women's aloha attire and fashions from the 1950's to the 1990's.The pieces represent designers and retailers that have made an impact on Hawaii's fashion and style for over 50 years~Alfred Sheehan, Miss Hawaii, Kamehameha, Carol and Mary and Tori Richards, to name a few.

A small room in the corner of the exhibition are photographic displays of Ala Moana before and after its construction, a timeline of events, vintage photographs of store fronts and shopping center ads. 

Although Ala Moana no longer is the largest shopping center, it remains the largest outdoor shopping center in the US with well over 290 retail stores and over 2.1 million square feet. That's really something special to be proud of for an island in the Pacific~Hawaii, our 50th State.

ferragamo's creations

  'Carmen Miranda' Mirrored Shoe

 

'Ida Lupino' Wedgie Corked Shoe

 

(above) Ferragamo's photographic montage of "shoe lasts" (wooden forms specifically designed for heel height, toe shape and style of footwear) and the famous starlets that wore them.

F-E-R-R-A-G-A-M-O. Salvatore Ferragamo, internationally known as the man born to make shoes and handbags for the rich and famous. Born in Bonito, a region of Campagnia, Italy in 1898, Salvatore made his first pair of shoes when he was just a young boy of nine years old. After his schooling in Naples, Ferragamo, opened a small shop in his parents home. At the age of 16, he then moved to Boston, MA to work with one his brothers in a cowboy boot factory.

It wasn't long after that Ferragamo convinced his brothers to move to Santa Barbara, CA, then south to Hollywood. There he opened a small shoe repair and made-to-order shoes for the wealthy, most to be celebrities, thus designing shoes for the most beautiful women in the movie world.

Due to his partial dissatisfaction for styling shoes for the stars, he also wanted to design shoes that were of comfort, so he went to to USC to study the anatomy of the foot. In 1927, Ferragamo return home to Italy and continued his career in Florence, designing shoes for the most distinguished and affluent women in the world~one of them being Eva Peron.

Throughout all his his of experimenting with outlandish forms and styles and even bankruptcy in 1933, Ferragamo, built his empire even larger with his workforce, making over 350 pairs of hand-made shoes a day by 1955. In 1960, Ferragamo died at the 62, but his legend lives on. His wife and family now run the Ferragamo empire.

The Salvatore Ferragamo's flagship boutique in Waikiki gives the viewers a peek into the world of "Ferragamo's Creations". An installation of exquisite shoes and handbags between the 1920's to 1950's, resurrected in limited numbers from the archives of Ferragamo's iconic designs of over 13,000 originals. Each shoe purchased will come with a certificate of authenticity and describes the shoes history and unique design. The Royal Hawaiian Boutique marks only the second time that this exhibit has travelled in the US. The collection includes shoes created for celebrities~Ava Gardner, Madonna, Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Hepburn,  Audrey Hepburn, Carmen Miranda and Ida Lupino.

A visionary and inspiration, a man ahead of his time with designs from the truly elegant shoe to the most bizarre objet d'art, "Ferragamo's Creations" will live on, long after we've been gone.

waikiki galleria office tower

right up my alley

The "King's Guard Museum" has the most amazing collection of "Hawaiiana" showcased right in the heart of Waikiki.

There's the collection of hula girls and tiki drinking mugs, various bar glasses and stir sticks from many of the obsolete hotels and bars from yesteryear. "Statehood" memorabilia and a wonderful array of porcelain liquor bottles, some depicting the outer islands.

Vintage beer bottles and wooden hangers from various hotels and dry cleaners. A display case full of matches and ashtrays from hotels, niteclubs, restaurants and celebrities. What I wouldn't do to have all of them added to my personal collection. In fact, I would love to own this whole museum!

But it wouldn't be a collectables museum without the soda pop bottles, airline travel bags, a closet full of beautiful "aloha" shirts or even the endless display of "Primo" beer memorabilia.

The best thing about this museum is that it's FREE and that's right up my alley!

bon odori (festival of the dead)

Tonight we went to the Shingon Buddhist Mission in celebration of Bon Odori or Obon, "festival of the dead". It is when the dead souls or ancestors come back home to this world and visit their families. The Obon Festival is held each year throughout the United States at many Buddhist temples, one weekend, anywhere from mid-July to August.

People of all ages, races and color come for the big celebration.

 

The Shingon Mission of Honolulu was first built in 1917 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. It may be the only temple with an outside alter. Two huge carved deities guard the main temple along with the bronze statue of the founder. At the alter are beautiful floral arrangements, food offerings and the blissful aroma of incense permeating the air.

  

The festival opens with a short prayer service atop a large wooden tower erected in the middle of the parking lot. There were taiko drummers, singers and vintage recordings of Obon music. The red paper lanterns hung overhead are to guide the spirits home and back. Men, women and children wearing "kimonos" or "yukatas" adorned many of the dancers, dancing to the repetitive traditional dances, around the tower. There were game booths for the children, food booths filled with many japanese style food~a killer 'poke-style' (bite size pieces of raw fish) sushi handroll and home-baked treats too.

I remember when I was a little girl in elementary school, my mom and dad would parade me to Gardena Buddhist church for Bon Odori practice, just like those hula lessons. After a few weeks of practice came the actual traditional dancing in the church's big parking lot or sometimes the streets in downtown Los Angeles. My younger cousins and I were costumed like little Japanese dolls~authentic silk kimonos and heavy obis around our waist with fan and "kachi-kachi's (castanet) tucked in our obis. We wore white tabi's (Japanese socks) and wedgie type Japanese slippers. Our hair pinned up with beautiful accessories to accent our face and we got to wear lipstick, just like the adults. Had I known then what I know now about the meaning behind the dance and festival, I probably would have made more of an effort to dance with a little more soul to it. Although I have forgotten the steps to the traditional dance of Bon Odori, I come to pay my respect to my ancestors, especially to my father, which also would have been his 81st birthday today. I hope they all have found their way home and back, knowing that I was there waiting for them.

the seal of approval

After two and half months of restoration work, we watched workers

hoist The State Seal of Hawaii back in its original place. 

            

one, two, three...go!

blue pincher crab

dry-docked

no u-turns

after 15 years...another one bites the dust