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Spirit
of Aloha | Articles
| Aloha Shorts | November/December
2007
Aloha
Shorts
News
and Notes from Around our World
PHOTO: STACY POPE |
Another Buzz from Coffee
Our food writer, Joan Namkoong, in this issue on page 54, describes new and promising developments in the strong and getting stronger Hawai‘i-based coffee industry. Read her story and then mark your calendar for the 37th annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, Nov. 2-11, which brings a rush to the Big Island’s famed coffee belt region. More than just a hill of beans, Hawai‘i’s oldest food festival features some 50 events including the International Lantern Parade & Cultural Program, Gevalia Kona Coffee Art Exhibit, Ueshima Kona Coffee Picking Contest, a Living History Farm Tour, seminars and other caffeine-stimulating events. For more information, visit
konacoffeefest.com or call 326-7820. |
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| PHOTO: STACY POPE |
Homespun for
the Holidays
Dreading the seasonal crush at your favorite mall?
Avoid it and have a special Hawai‘i shopping
experience at Honolulu’s annual Mission Houses Museum Holiday Craft Fair, Nov. 24-25, set against the museum’s parkland backdrop of yawning monkeypod
trees and Hawai‘i’s earliest missionary abodes. Little booths
will house fine-quality artisan Island treasures such as glass ornaments, koa wood bowls, Ni‘ihau shell jewelry, Hawaiian quilts, Panama hats and more. Backyard-style music and hula, good food and
catnaps in the grass make this a special Hawaiian holiday affair. More information from the museum at 553 S. King St. in downtown Honolulu,
at missionhouses.org, or call 531-0481.
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PHOTO: STACY POPE
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Our Holiday Bird
Hawai‘i’s state bird, the endemic and endangered nënë, is the rarest goose in the world—but through captive breeding, reintroduction and protection, the population is slowly making a comeback on several islands. This holiday season, you can help them continue to thrive by “adopting” one of the several hundred nënë currently living in Maui’s Haleakalä National Park as a gift for friends or family. The Adopt-a-Nënë Program is a partnership between the park and the Friends for the Nënë Adoption Project. All funds go to protect the birds and other park species from predation and habitat destruction. Adoption fees start at $30 ($20 for students and seniors), and you get a picture of your bird, an adoption certificate and more. Great stocking stuffer!
Visit fhnp.org or call 572-9724. |
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PHOTO: COURTESY OCEAN PROMOTION
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Waxed Out
On O‘ahu’s North Shore, winter means world-class surf. As the waves pick up, so do the crowds and the excitement, and in come the surfers from all parts of the water world to participate in the international surfing industry’s most celebrated annual event, the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. This winter marks 25 years of the Triple Crown, an anniversary certain to bring the biggest names in surfing back to Hawai‘i, where the sport originated. If you’re looking for a real taste of the Islands with all the trimmings, this is it. Competitions begin Nov. 12; visit triplecrownofsurfing.com or call the Surf News Network at 596-SURF for schedules. |
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How to Add Spice
to Your Life
Former Miss Hawai‘i Kanoe Miller is one of the Islands’ best-loved hula performers, and it could be said that more persons have seen her dance than any other hula dancer in history. For three decades, residents and visitors to Halek¯ulani’s House Without a Key in Waik¯ık¯ı have witnessed Kanoe capture the gracious spirit of Hawai‘i. Now her performances to mainly hapa-haole faves are immortalized on a new DVD, featuring the Hiram Olsen Trio and Gary Aiko. Special interviews, commentary and other extras complete the package, and, as far as hula goes, it’s the real thing. To order, visit kanoemiller.com
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The All-Hawai‘i Network
Scheduled to launch by the end of 2007, the locally grown
Pacific Network will be a free, nine-channel, Native Hawaiian-focused Internet television portal featuring news on politics, the arts, science, the environment, sports and more. The brainchild of award-winning Island filmmaker/writer Edgy Lee, the network is supported by
the University of Hawai‘i, Hawai‘i Public Radio and other local
organizations. Check out pacificnetwork.tv and stay tuned.
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Win a $25 Gift Card from Crazy Shirts!
Between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31, all passengers on every Aloha Airlines Hawai‘i-bound flight from the Mainland have a chance to win a $25 gift card from Hawai‘i Crazy Shirts in our continuing family-friendly onboard game. Sometime during the trip, flight attendants will pass out a printed game piece with three questions. The answers are found in this issue of SPIRIT OF ALOHA. Answer the questions correctly, write your name and seat number on the game piece and return it to your flight attendant. A winner will be announced before landing, and awarded the gift card.
All passengers will also receive a coupon good for 10 percent off at any Hawai‘i Crazy Shirts outlet. So, let the game begin! |
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Free Music, Hawaiian-Style
The aloha spirit grows ever
stronger at the Waikïkï Beach Walk with a new Hawaiian entertainment program, Ku Ha‘aheo, “To Cherish with Pride.” Enjoy free hula and music performances every Tuesday from
4:30 to 6 p.m. at the Beach Walk’s plaza lawn on Lewers Street. Visit
waikikibeachwalk.com for more
information. |
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MUSIC:
Listen Up
•John Cruz—One of These Days: Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Cruz has produced and arranged his own album at Jackson Browne’s private studio in Los Angeles, backed by a star-studded array of musicians including Brazilian percussionist Paulinho Da Costa, saxophonist Steve Berlin, bassist Glen Worf and others. This is a big-time album, getting lots of Island and Mainland airplay—and for good reason. It is passionate, spirited, haunting, rebellious and full of the whims and illumination of a world-class talent who is moving into the highest echelons. (Liliko‘i Records, distributed by Mountain Apple Co.)
• Sean & Robi—S&R: These longtime Hawai‘i-based musicians, who won many awards as solo performers, including Female Vocalist of the Year, Contemporary Album of the Year and Reggae Album of the Year, have teamed up for this project of stirring traditional and contemporary Hawaiian music duets, plus Roberta Flack’s big-time hit “Where Is the Love?” Listen to “Kulaiwe,” “Ka Lei E” and other medleys that cut across all Hawaiian music genres. (Poi Pounder Records, distributed by Mountain Apple Co.)
•Teresa Bright—Hawaiinawa: One of Hawai‘i’s most successful singers, award-winning Bright is inspired by the popularity of Okinawan music among Japan’s youth generation in this sweet, gentle collection flavored by kiho‘alu (slack key) tunings, steel guitar, the three-string ‘ukulele-like Okinawan instrument called shanshin, and the Hawaiian language. Bright’s jazz-tinged, sultry voice is backed by noted musicians Ozzie Kotani, Ben Vegas and Bobby Igano. (Mountain Apple Co.)
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Books
• Keeping Hawai‘i Hawai‘i
Protecting the old, the venerable and historic while sustaining a modern growth-oriented economy is the test of all enlightened governments. With its unique historic sites and island-based economy, Hawai‘i is no exception. Hawai‘i’s Historic Corridors, Volume One (Historic Hawai‘i Foundation, Honolulu, 2007) is a slim volume of essays, contemporary photography and archival images on the efforts made to “be the caretakers and protectors of the historic corridors of human existence” and “how a cluster of individual structures and sites are related.” All of the major islands of Hawai‘i are included in the essays written by such varied authorities as a museum director, historian, journalist, historical architect, hotelier turned writer and Native Hawaiian restorer. The book is available online at historichawaii.org or at Nä Mea Hawai‘i/Native Books and Beautiful Things, the ‘Iolani Palace bookshop and Island Keepsakes.
• Guarding the Waves Former Hawai‘i lifeguard and deputy fire chief turned author John R.K. Clark is well noted for his books on the beaches of Hawai‘i, which are small classics in the literature of the oceans. His new book, Guardian of the Sea: Jizo in Hawai‘i (University of Hawai‘i Press, Honolulu, 2007) adds a stirring and valuable footnote to his beach studies, describing the shoreline statues of Jizo erected by first-generation Japanese Americans to guard and protect ‘ulua fishermen casting in dangerous coastal waters. This is a fascinating look at early Japanese culture in Hawai‘i. For more on Clark’s work and interests, and why he wrote this book, see “Under the Hula Moon” in this issue on page 140.
• Chef MagicIn 2003, to celebrate the 10th annual Big Island festival Dolphin Days, the Hilton Waikoloa Village published a collection of recipes called Thirty-Three Chefs, which was a big hit, with proceeds going to local Dolphin Days charities. The new volume, Thirty-Four Chefs (Hilton Waikoloa Village, 2007) continues its sumptuous tradition, featuring the recipes of award-winning local chefs, creators of a true Hawaiian cuisine. Among them are Sam Choy, Peter Merriman, Alan Wong, David Paul Johnson, Daniel Thiebaut, George Mavrothalassitis and Roy Yamaguchi. Order from hiltonwaikoloavillage.com or purchase at various locations on the hotel property.
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