Elvis has arrived in Hawaii. A few weeks ago the TV Land cable network donated this brand new, bronze likeness of Elvis Presley. The new statue was set up near Honolulu’s Blaisdell Center arena, where in 1973 Elvis performed to a sell out crowd and broadcast the concert by satellite to millions all over the world. On this day, the 30th anniversary of Elvis’s passing, I present this photo of Hawaii’s Elvis statue in his honor.

More photos at this link.

Governor Linda Lingle selected the Hawaii Quarter design at a press conference yesterday. The Hawaii Quarter will be minted in 2008 and will be the final coin of the 50 state series that was started by the U.S. Mint in 1999. Governor Lingle predicts that this will be one of the most sought after coins in the series. The reverse design will feature King Kamehameha the Great, a map of the 8 Hawaiian islands, the state motto, Statehood date (1959) and the familiar “E Pluribus Unum.” Like all the other coins before it, the figure of President George Washington will be featured on the obverse side.
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After the bars have closed on Mau’i and the phone is quiet, I enjoy taking a bit of time and walking through the public areas of the various hotels in Wailea. The paintings, the sculptures, the landscaping, everything in these beautiful destination resorts is absolutely gorgeous. The general public is welcome to partake of this beauty, but few residents avail themselves of this inexpensive (you just have to pay for parking) cultural experience.

This morning, at the end of my shift, I had some business to conduct at the front desk of the Grand Wailea.

From the main entrance (above) to the front desk, this is what I encountered:
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Hawaii’s premier 24 hour film festival event. Showdown in Chinatown is a excellent chance to showcase your talents for all actors, digital cinematographers, and designers.

The idea is simple each month the challenge requires you to create a theme around a genre that is provided, and may also include a set of props, dialogue, or specfic location.

After the challenge has been set filmmakers from around the globe in some cases, rush to write, shoot, edit, and author their DVD into a 3-5 minute film. Which in some case can be very taxing. Not all that enter make it to completion in the 24hr. timeline as any numerous situations can create failure.

When the deadline arrives at 10pm all those that are submitted in time are screened at Thirty Nine Hotel The winners are judged by their peers, by way of audience approval.

So break out your handy cam and shoot it.

The event takes place the third friday of every month in Honolulu’s historic chinatown district

Next Event: August 19th, 2006 @ 39 N. Hotel St., Honolulu, HI.

Venue: Thirty Nine Hotel
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Flashback a few years: I’m at some kind of reception where I’m standing near the headmaster of a fairly prestigious local private high school. His daughter’s at school at a very prestigious university on the mainland. We’re chatting about her career plans. He says she’s probably going to pursue music professionally, but is majoring in education.

Wait for it . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . .

“You know, as something to fall back on,” he says.

Fall. Back. On.

Now, I’m a teacher, so I’m used to hearing the F-phrase on a regular basis, mostly from students who disdain the very career that’s going to enable them to earn their business, medical, law, and engineering degrees and make more in a month than I earn in a year. I am not, however, used to hearing it from the head of a school.
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I’m an English teacher, so not much gets past me when bad grammar or spelling are flying around. Still, I’m an understanding guy; the “you know what I’m talking about” plea works just fine for me on an everyday, informal level.

Screwing up the language in a very public, very preventable manner, though, I find unacceptable. If what you’re trying to communicate is important enough (not to mention expensive enough) to put on a sign, for example, you’ve got to have someone proofread your work. Two someones, if possible! That’s why I have an ongoing project with my students in which they collect very public, grammatically incorrect sign and share them with classmates.

I’ve seen some doozies, but this one nearly gave me a heart-attack:
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I live in America and I’m an American. I happen to have black hair, narrow brown eyes, dark skin, and one of those Asian noses that doesn’t seem to have a nosebridge. There’s no reason for me to think this is unusual, because at least half of the Americans I see every day have similar features.

Half of the Americans I see in everyday life, that is. If I should happen to pick up a magazine or to turn on the television, that fraction quickly drops to well below the national norm. You’d never guess by reading a magazine or watching prime-time television that ten percent of Americans is of Asian descent.
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I saw this car in Kalihi, down near Diner’s Drive-In yesterday and couldn’t believe it. I didn’t snap a picture of it because everyone eating outside Diner’s was huge and mean-looking. When I saw the car again today in exactly the same parking stall, I figured it meant I needed to snap it.

It’s not a good picture, but it is a hand-written sign (on what looks like the inside of a cigarette carton, but I couldn’t be sure) saying, “Caution: Baby on Board.”

What the heck? Somebody’s driving a child around with this much of the rear window obstructed with a sign asking others to be careful? I always thought those Baby On Board signs were stupid, but I take it back. This is stupid.
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The ASSETS Mathematics Team gets ready to get Cartesian.

This was a month ago, but since some OML Alumni crawled out of the woodwork on my last math-related entry, I thought I’d give a little summary of this year’s Math Bowl.
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Sunday is a great day to get out and see some art in Honolulu. There’s always something cool to see and this week I lucked out catching Yoshitomo Nara at the Contemporary Museum, Neo Rauch and Handprints and Footprints in Buddhist Art, both at the Academy of Arts. The photo insert is of one of Nara’s dog sculptures on the grounds of TCM. I first heard about Nara from an article in Giant Robot’s Winter 2001 issue. His signature big eyed illustrations of kids are cute but menacing. You are not quite sure if they will snuggle up to you or chew your leg off.

Another excellent show was Neo Rauch at the Academy of Arts. I would have snuck a photo off at the gallery but the security guards were everywhere. You can check out some of Rauch’s works from this website. Rauch, from Germany, captures a lonely, post-industrial angst in his paintings. They will make you sit and ponder where this world is going. Slightly depressing but very intriguing nonetheless.