tropical abc's

a is for aloha!

tropical abc's are such a cute way for your favorite keiki to learn their alphabet. the flash cards were the inspiration of kaua'i artist doug britt so each letter in the alphabet is matched with an island style image (s is for surf, of course!).

while the set is readily available in the islands they can be downright impossible to find online. if you want to order a set as a stocking stuffer then click over to ola's to get hooked up for the holidays.   

secrets of hawaiian warriors

aloha from hawaii! yep, by the time you read this i hope to be kicking it on the beach and enjoying ani's sweetbread & papaya for breakfast. the trip this summer was way too short so among the things on my hit list is a field trip to the bookstore. until then, i thought a few readers may be interested in a book we picked up on the last trip home called lua: art of the hawaiian warrior.

if you fancy yourself a lover of hawaiian history, you may want to pick up a copy of this fascinating book which delves into the centuries old secret martial art that has survived into modern times. the book features background on the philosophy of this almost lost art plus legends, gods & chants, and illustrations depicting techniques still used by lua practioners today.

makana rocks the hawaiian vote

when you consider how long previous generations struggled to secure the right to vote for everyone who could not be categorized as a white land owning man, it is pretty shameful that voter turnout is so low (fact: only 50% of hawaii voters turned out in the 2004 election). know someone who can be counted amongst the other 50% who were "too busy" to vote? let them in on the little secret of the absentee ballot aka the handy dandy voting tool for time crunched citizens.

there is a long overdue effort underway to rock the hawaiian vote so if you want to support the movement then hit the convention center on friday night for a concert featuring makana, barefoot natives & willie k. tickets are $15 and can be purchased at jelly's - aiea, hungry ear records - kailua & the uh campus center. all proceeds will benefit the hawaiian way fund & 2006 native votes count campaign.

p.s. if you're not familiar with slack key virtuoso makana then check out his latest album ki ho'alu over on itunes.

jack johnson 101

the kids are back in school which means it's time to endure yet another off key attempt of "in the mood" from your favorite band geek. if you would prefer a little more "mudfootball" in your life, grab a copy of the jack johnson anthology filled with guitar tabs and piano accompaniments from brushfire fairytales, in between dreams, and on and on.

your ears will be happier and your aspiring musician can impress their friends with their, ahem, artistic take on "sitting, waiting, wishing".

a peek into hawaii's hidden archipelago

 

a few months ago, i had a chance to watch jean-michel cousteau's documentary, voyage to kure, which explored the rarely seen northwestern hawaiian islands. it's a journey that most of us will never have the opportunity to make, and, quite honestly, that's probably a good thing for all the endangered creatures that call this part of the world home.

you can get a glimpse of these rare specimans in archipelago, the latest book from photographers' david liittschwager & susan middleton. you will be amazed at what they found and their stunning photographs reinforce just how important it is for each and every one of us to do our part for the environment.

if you really don't think this matters, let me tell you how disheartening it was to see the animals that
died from ingesting all the plastic crap that clueless people continue to litter across the earth, as well as the tons of fishing nets that volunteers gathered up from the ocean in just one day.

bet you didn't know that this part of hawaii is like a whirlpool gathering up all the stuff that people, as far as thousands of miles away, have tossed into the ocean eventually finding its way into the ecosystem to the unsuspecting wildlife who make all this man-made stuff their next meal.

alrighty, off my soapbox. if you're intrigued you may also want to add remains of a rainbow, another book from l+m featuring rare plants of hawaii, to your book list.

photographs from archipelago are currently on exhibit at the kauai museum until oct 15th.