Actually, I don’t think the price of gas is too high. Gas costs what it costs and if we really need it, we’ll find a way to cover it. I think the whole gas-price issue is really rooted in something else: it’s a daily, constant reminder of what it costs to live in Hawaii. Most of us love it here, but as with any other place, it’s got its drawbacks, and here is primo example number one.

The way I see it, every time we pass one of these signs, we can either say, “Damn, I live in Hawaii,” or “Thank God, I live in Hawaii.” I like to think of these prices as reminders of how blessed we are. Seriously, I’m not just saying that.

Of course, I take the bus to work.

I’ve always wondered why that spot at the corner of Ala Moana Boulevard and Kalakaua Avenue doesn’t just explode with activity. Perhaps Sizzler just wasn’t something to get excited about–not even a 24-hour Sizzler. The new joint there, Cheeseburger Waikiki, was long in coming and long on promise, so on my first day of spring break, I gave it a shot.

This isn’t it–this is the one in the heart of Waikiki, but I couldn’t find a picture of the new one.
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I meant to post this last weekend, but I actually went to Iona’s “Paint by Numbers” performance that Ryan posted about. I took the first photo before anyone said photography wasn’t allowed. I took the second one because the first one would have been lonely.

I have so much to say about the performance, except I can’t. It’s like…it was so cool, but you had to have been there. The Quadraphonix are always interesting. They play with a chello, guitar, drums and a set of congas. (Actually, I’ve seen them use an electric chello – WTF? Didn’t know they had those…)

The dancers were great. Let’s just say I have never wanted to play with paint so bad in my life. I mean serious, wreck-my-house kind of playing with paint. I’m so glad my son wasn’t around to see this or Something Bad Would Have Happened When We Got Home.

I don’t think young people patronize the arts enough in Hawaii. I wish they did. Next weekend is KTUH’s banquet (Mitchell…). Maybe I can convince some of the active deejays to hook it up more with their listeners.

If you fall somewhere between geek and hippie, chances are you know about Burning Man, an annual event that defies description but falls somewhere in the neighborhood of “fully immersive, participatory art.” More than a few locals make the pilgrimage to the Black Rock Desert, including Ka Pilina, an official Hawaii regional group.

In preparation for this year’s festival, Ka Pilina is staging “Burnal Equinox,” an interactive art show, at Anna Bannana’s Saturday night.
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This weekend, Music In Our Schools Month will be marked with the Hawaii Music Expo. Live performances will be featured on two stages, including dozens of local entertainers, school bands and choruses. In addition to a karaoke contest and autograph sessions, a number of exhibitors will be showcasing music equipment and instruments and a wide range of products and services for both musicians and their fans.

Jake Shimabukuro. American Idol stars Jasmine Trias and Jordan Segundo. Aunty Genoa Keawe, Ho’okena, Ten Feet and more. Bands from Leileihua, Kaiser, Maryknoll, and Waipahu high schools, plus the US Navy Pacific Fleet Stage Band, the Honolulu Boy Choir, and the HPU Jazz Band.

Interested? Head over to the Blaisdell Exhibition Hall this evening, Friday, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $5, children under five get in free.

Sponsored by 99.5 The Breeze and The Performing Artist Academy.

The dedication ceremony was in New York. The images are of forests in the American northeast. But the artist behind the U.S. Postal Service’s latest set of commemorative sovenir stamps is from Hawaii. Hilo painter John D. Dawson is behind the “Northeast Deciduous Forest” stamp sheet, having already designed six previous sheets in the “Nature of America” series (including “Pacific Coral Reef” last year).

Available at post offices and online beginning today, the souvenir stamp sheet includes ten individual stamps depicting a typical Northeastern U.S. deciduous forest, inhabited by an Eastern Red Bat, Black Bear, Eastern Buckmoth, Eastern Chipmunk, White-tailed Deer, Red Eft, Red-shouldered Hawk, Ovenbird, Wild Turkey and a Long-tailed Weasel.

Dawson graduated from the Art Center School in Los Angeles in 1959, and lived and worked as an artist there, and in Idaho, before trading the Rockies for tropical rain forests and relocated to Hilo.

Image courtesy the U.S. Postal Service.