kokua festival 2007

maybe one year i will be home for the kokua festival but it looks like it is not meant to be in 2007. if your calendar is open at the end of april, celebrate earth day weekend with jack johnson & pearl jam frontman & part-time hawaii resident eddie vedder (fyi - if you have the sundance channel do check out the iconoclasts episode with ev & laird hamilton if you have a chance). all proceeds benefit jack's kokua hawaii foundation which educates island keiki on the importance of being green.

the official on sale date is next week but here's a little info on a few hush hush pre-sales:

• sat, feb 10th - remaining tix from the kokua members pre-sale (which has already ended) go on sale at jack johnson's website.

• thu, feb 15th - myspace members who made friends with the kokua festival await instructions to access their own not so secret sale. how very mission: impossible.

• sat, feb 17th - official ticketmaster sale kicks off at 9am hst and the poor souls who didn't score pre-sale tickets hope for the best.

there is a 4 ticket limit which will hopefully keep the ticket supply in the hands of the fans (and away from the profiteers selling tickets for obscene amounts on ebay & craigslist). more details can be found here.

nature calls

 double rings

i finally had a chance to catch up on the stacks of magazines threatening to consume my coffee table and between the pages of lucky discovered the lovely jewelry line designed in the honolulu studio of catherine weitzman. many of the pieces remind me of everyday objects like the colorful glow of these double rings which echo the luminous quality found in the muted tones of beach glass whereas the pattern of the coral disc pendant could double as lace cookies baked by martha.

coral disc necklace + branch earrings

catherine studied classical metalsmithing in italy then went on to apprentice with artisans around the world to fine tune her craft. casting allows each handmade piece to capture the organic detail of the prototype originally created by mother nature and the result is a modern & artful take on the natural world that surrounds us.

you can shop the very extensive collection online or, for those on a budget, click over to uncommon goods which has a handful of pieces still available in their sale section.

get lost

in honor of lost going back on the air tonight, i thought other fans of the show may want to check out the lost virtual tour which maps out all the filming locations around oahu. we always have fun trying to identify the spots used whenever the production goes on location and the website is a nice resource to hit when you're stumped (ex: kate's iowa car chase in "born to run" was really shot at pearlridge).

kudos to the location scouts & production designer for being so imaginative & resourceful when the script calls for them to find and then transform someplace we all know into one of the many lost worlds featured on the show.

and if you really want to dig into the many layers of the show be sure to click over to the transmission, hawaii's very own lost podcast.

sweet heartbreaker

you can always count on big island candies to celebrate the holidays in style. the best thing about their pretty packaging are the treats your sweetheart will find inside. this year they're whipping up chocolate passion truffles & heart shaped versions of their ono chocolate dipped shortbread cookies & chocolate covered brownies just in time for valentine's day.

yes, your beloved may go into sugar shock but, if you are particularly crafty or strapped for cash, you can "give" them a box of sweets in hopes they will share a few bites with you. and if you want to test your love, break a cookie in half and see if they leave the luscious chocolate side for you or take it for his/herself.

hokulani bake shop

last year i wrote about the good kine cookie co. and over the holidays a reader was kind enough to post an update. turns out they are now known as the hokulani bake shop and, lucky me, the cupcakes i wished for are now a reality. no dobash or guava chiffon but you can savor carrot cake, guittard chocolate, madagascar bourbon vanilla, southern red velvet & toasted coconut.

and here's another sweet valentine's idea for downtown worker bees who are crunched for time: place a cupcake order and request delivery to your office via hokulani's cupcakemobile (based at their shop in restaurant row) which will delight your co-workers. of course, you can always order decorated cookies & more on hokulani's redesigned website and have them shipped the old fashioned way.