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Kalakaua Avenue

4/28/2024

Books by Patti Liszkay available on Amazon:
"Equal And Opposite Reactions"   http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
   "Hail Mary"    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888
"Tropical Depression"       https://www.amzn.com/B0BTPN7NYY

Kalakaua Avenue

Maybe it's the city girl in me, but I love Honolulu. Especially Waikiki. Especially the beating heart of Waikiki, Kalakaua Avenue.

I love being among the crowds of tourists from all over the world who populate Kalakaua Avenue by day,

...and night.

And though the street is lined with commercial establishments from high end,

...to not as high end,

...it doesn't cost anything to go for a walk down Kalakaua Avenue, as Tom and I did most days, taking in the sights, among them the Bank of Hawaii, doubtless the most beautiful bank building in the world;

...the sight of mountains off in the distance on one side;

...and the beach on the other;

...the frequent oases of local flora and fauna along the way;

...and the Royal Hawaiian Center,

...among others.

We'd often stop along the way at the Royal Hawaiian Center food court,

...for a double cream puff from the Kulu Kulu Honolulu,

...where one can find the most whimsically divine confections.

To me Kalakaua Street is like Fifth Avenue with palm trees, mountains,

...and a beach.

As far as the beach is concerned, I more enjoy snapping pictures of the ocean than getting into it.

And rather than sitting on the beach I much prefer walking along the beach,

...on my way, of course, to Kalakaua Avenue.

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Return To Kamehameha Ukulele

4/25/2024

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Return To Kamehameha Ukulele

...Continued from 4/21/2024:
The day Tom and I arrived in Honolulu, Saturday, March 23, we took a walk along the beach, then headed towards downtown Waikiki (see post from 4/15/2024, https://www.ailantha.com/blog/if-you-wanna-be-where-the-people-are-come-to-honolulu-during-spring-break).

Along our way we passed the Kamehameha Ukulele store,

....where last year I began my journey to becoming a ukulele player, thanks to Ron,
a college student whose evening job was sales clerking and teaching lessons for Kamehameha Ukulele,

...and who agreed to give me an immersive ukulele lesson each day for my five remaining days in Honolulu (see post from 5/9/2023 https://www.ailantha.com/blog/i-ukulelist).

Now I wanted to go inside and see if my teacher was still there. I wanted to thank him and let him know how much I loved playing my ukulele, both solo and with my two Ohio ukulele groups, the Licking County Ukulele Club,

...and the Buckeye Ukulele Society.

And also, if possible, I wanted to play for my teacher my favorite ukulele song, "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire," an old tune from the 1930's sung by a golden-voiced African American group of that time called The Ink Spots,

...that I love playing on my ukulele.

We went into the ukulele store and Ron wasn't there, but the young sales clerk who was informed us that Ron would be working the following night at the Kamehameha store at the Waikiki Marriott.
And so the next evening Tom and I walked - and I toted my ukulele - the mile from our Hotel, the Hale Koa, through downtown Waikiki along Kalakaua Avenue,

...to the Marriott Resort &Spa.

When we found the Kamehameha Ukulele Store inside the hotel we could see through the glass front that Ron was teaching a group class, and so we sat in the lobby for a while where we enjoyed listening to a singer performing Hawaiian songs.

"I knew it was you!" Ron laughed when we entered the store. His friend from the other store had texted him and told him that a couple of folks were looking for him, apparently giving him a pretty good description of us.
As Ron was agreeable to hearing me play, I pulled out my uke and played "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire." To my surprise, he said he'd like to learn the song. And so I told him I'd send him the music and we made an appointment for me to meet him at the Kamehameha store at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which happens to be next door to the Hale Koa,

...and where Ron would be working the following Tuesday evening, at which time I'd teach him to play the song.
I showed up on Tuesday at the store with my ukulele and, wonder of wonder, I who was the student one year ago,

...was this time the teacher.

It was so neat.

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Occurrence At Meijer's On Earth Day

4/22/2024

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This morning I happened to go to Meijer's, our local supermarket/department store,

...for my COVID shot and to do a little shopping.
At the store entrance an employee was handing out Earth Day reusable shopping bags, which I thought was a very nice and appropriate thing to be doing on this Earth Day.
I accepted my reusable Meijer Earth Day bag and set it in my cart along with the other reusable shopping bags that I had brought with me.

I got my COVID shot, then afterwards while strolling through the store I passed the clearance rack in the women's clothing section where I found this cute shirt,

...which I decided to buy.
I checked out at the self-check, and after I scanned my shirt I removed the plastic and metal hangar and walked over to the self-check assistance lady to give her the hanger, which I didn't want or need, for the store to reuse.
"Oh, if you don't want that hangar just throw it in the trash," said the assistance lady.
"What?" I said, "I should...throw it into the trash?"
"Yeah, go ahead and throw it in that trash can right there," said the lady. "We don't want it."
I stood momentarily flummoxed, hangar in hand. Then I tossed the hangar into one of my earth-friendly reusable shopping bags.

I took the hangar home where it now hangs in my closet supporting my new shirt along side the other hangars that support all my other clothes.

I fear that that from now on I will have to take home every plastic and metal hangar from every piece of clothing I ever buy again, lest I leave it at the store from whence it will end up tossed upon the ever-growing planetary landfill.

Then, after I've crossed over the rainbow bridge, my environmentally-conscious children will have to take all the plastic and metal store hangars stuffed into my closet and stuff them into their closets, just as some day their children will have to stuff them into theirs, and their children into theirs, per omnia secula seculorum.
Happy Earth Day, everyone.

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Another Spring, Another Visit To The Hale Koa

4/21/2024

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"Equal And Opposite Reactions"
by Patti Liszkay
Available on Amazon
http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa

Another Spring, Another Visit To The Hale Koa

...Continued from previous post:
Besides a beautiful public park and beach in Waikiki, Fort DeRussy is also home to the U.S. Army Museum of Hawaii, which is free to the public,

...and the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies.

Next to the park and also part of Fort DeRussy is the Hale Koa, the hotel where we stayed, which offers lodgings to active duty members of the military as well as to military retirees (see previous post).

One enters the Hale Koa through a vast, open-air lobby,

...that overlooks Honolulu on one side,

...and on the other side a courtyard planted with tropical flora and fauna ,

...in the center of which is a massive and well-loved Indian Banyan tree named Gus,

...that, snap as many times as I might, I can never quite get a photograph of that captures its glory.

At night the lobby and the courtyard are lit up with a magical glow,

...as was the view from our room.

The courtyard opens into a botanical garden,

...within which is a secluded pool.

On other side of the garden is Happy's,

...the Barefoot Bar,

...an aquatics complex on the beach with an infinity pool and children's area,

...a beach-side snack bar.

...and the path that leads to Waikiki beach, this section of which is also technically military property, but also public property. In fact, all beaches in Hawaii are public property.

Which is as it should be.

...to be continued.

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At Fort DeRussy, Nation Does Not Take Up Gun Against Nation, Nor Will They Train For War Anymore

4/18/2024

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"Tropical Depression"
by Patti Liszkay
Available on Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTPN7NYY

At Fort DeRussy, Nation Does Not Take Up Gun Against Nation, Nor Will They Train For War Anymore

...Continued from yesterday:
We stayed, as we always do while in Honolulu, at the Hale Koa,

...a recreation facility owned by the Department of Defense to provide rest, relaxation and lodging for active duty members of the U.S. military,

...and also for those retired from military service, as is my mate Tom, here a young Army lieutenant back in the early 1970's.

The Hale Koa is located on Fort DeRussy,

...which was originally built in Waikiki by the American army in the early 20th century as a coastal defense unit called Battery Randolph.

Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor the Battery Randolph artillery guns were fired in a practice defense exercise.

Unfortunately, the blast of the guns shattered many of the windows in Waikiki's two upper crust society hotels of the time, the Royal Hawaiian,

...and the Moana.

The guns of Battery Randolph were never fired again and a re-think was given to having an artillery battery stationed along Waikiki beach.
In the subsequent years the old Battery Randolph was transformed into Fort DeRussy, which today consists of 71 acres of beautiful green space, most of which is open to the public,

...and Fort DeRussy Beach, a lovely patch of sand and sea also open to the public, where now off the coast float not battleships,

...but sailboats.

And the snorkeling there, they tell me, is wonderful,

...as is the view of Diamond Head.

To be continued...

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If You Wanna Be Where The People Are, Come To Honolulu During Spring Break

4/15/2024

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"Hail Mary"
by Patti Liszkay
Available on Amazon
https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

If You Wanna Be Where The People Are, Come To Honolulu During Spring Break

Once again the islands, or rather, one island in particular, called to my mate Tom and me.

And so early in the morning on Saturday, March 23, we boarded a flight from Columbus, Ohio, and twelve hours later we arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Our plane was quite full, and many of the passengers appeared to be parents and grandparents with children of all ages. Still, after we deplaned I didn't remember the baggage claim area being as wall-to-wall packed upon previous arrivals in Honolulu as it was this time.

"Is it just me," I asked Tom as we attempted to jockey for a spot near the baggage carousel, "or does it seem like there's a whole lot more people here than usual?"
"Yeah, it does," said Tom. "Is that one of our suitcases coming round?"
"I think so but I can't get anywhere near it, can you?"
"We'll just wait 'til it comes around again," said Tom. "This must be Spring Break."
"On steroids," said I. "And there goes our other suitcase."
After we finally managed to collect our luggage we headed to the airport Budget Rent-a-Car where the line was almost to the door, which, I suppose, stood to reason, since everyone who picked up their luggage now had to to pick up their rental car.
But as it turned out the line moved fast, and everyone seemed in good spirits while we waited our turns. I expect this was because we were all about to begin our Hawaii vacations, and the desk workers were friendly and welcoming in the Hawaiian way. So it was all good.
Soon enough we arrived at our hotel, the Hale Koa in Waikiki,

...where we joined the rest of the afternoon check-ins in the open-air lobby,

...which we found considerably more populated this year than when we've come to the Hale Koa in years past.

Our room was on the fifth floor,

...with views of the mountains,

...the sea.

...and the city.

By the time we settled in it was dinner time, and so we headed down to Happy's,

...the popular on-post short-order eatery near the beach,

...where the food is always good, the portions huge, and the patio seating delightful,

...and, thankfully, not to crowded at the moment we arrived.

We settled on the very tasty Saturday night special, pork and cabbage.

After dinner we walked to the beach and arrived just in time to join the the other beach goers who were there watching the sunset,

Then we found ourselves a spot among the confluence of strollers along the beach,

...with beautiful Diamond Head in the foreground.

Then, though we were tired out from our trip, we couldn't resist walking just a little ways into downtown Waikiki, not to the main thoroughfare, Kalakaua Street, but only as far as Lewers Street, one of the side streets,

...which was nonetheless full of people of all ages.

But in truth, we didn't mind the crowds; for all these people out enjoying this lovely Honolulu night filled the night with life and good energy. And if there were more people in Hawaii over this Spring Break than we'd ever seen before, we took it as a sign that times were perhaps getting better, that more people than ever now had the means to travel with their families to one of the loveliest, friendliest places on the planet,

...which we were happy to share.

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Biden And The Jets

4/4/2024

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Up until now, I've been a Biden supporter right down the line. I thought of him as a very good president. He got us a badly-needed infrastructure bill. His Inflation Reduction Act expanded healthcare coverage, lowered healthcare costs and called for investment in clean energy. His CHIPS act is boosting the production of semiconductors in the United States like a house on fire.
Joe Biden stands up for women's rights, LBGTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, civil rights, and social justice. Biden oversaw the creation of a bipartisan immigration bill that would pass if only hard-headed Congressional Republicans would come to their senses. Under his leadership inflation is down and employment and wages are up, and last month's jobs report surpassed all expectations.
I was grateful for his bringing our relationships with our international allies back to normal after four years of his predecessor alienating our democratic allies and embracing dictators.

I've been on board with Biden's support for Ukraine even as he battles Congress to send badly-needed military aid to that beleaguered nation.
But now I'm finding my up until now staunch support of Joe Biden suddenly on life support. Over - what else? - Israel.
Like most of the rest of the world, my heart and support went out to Israel on October 7. And, like most of the rest of the world, my heart and support have evolved in the months since the focus of the Israeli Defense force, under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu,

...has proven to be not rescuing the hostages but rather wiping the humans of Gaza from the face of the earth. And in this campaign of mass genocide there's been minimal concern on Netanyahu's part for collateral deaths, whether they be the deaths of aid workers, or even of Israeli hostages themselves.

Now, I don't blame Biden for the the horrors committed by Hamas on the Israelis or the horrors committed by the Israelis on the Palestinians. He didn't start this war and in end he can't control the behavior of Hamas or of Netanyahu. And I was willing, in the early days, weeks, and months of the war, to believe that the delicate, high-level negotiations Biden was conducting with Netanyahu would be, though not ideal, the most possible path to ending Israel's assault on Gaza.
But that path never opened and instead there continues day after day, week after week, month after month, more of the same news stories and unbearable images of Gaza being destroyed building by building, home by home, hospital by hospital, life by life, with the death toll up over thirty thousand and rising from injuries, starvation, and all the other things that the Gazan men, women and children are dying of.
And it becomes clearer by the day that, as President of the United States and Israel's principle supplier of arms, Biden could have - and should have - demanded months ago that Israel cease fire and allow the safe passage of food and humanitarian aid to the Gazans.
But what ultimately pushed me to a position that I never would have believed I'd find myself in was the news a few days ago of Biden's response to the Israeli bombing of a convoy of World Central Kitchen workers bringing truckloads of food to starving Gazans. Biden's response was outrage, shock, horror, sadness and immediate authorization for the United States to sell Israel another 19 billion dollars' worth of fighter jets.
It was the jets that did it. It was the jets - along with the 2,000 small bombs, just the right size for killing civilians and aid workers, that Biden threw in with the jets - that pushed me into the camp of those former Biden enthusiasts who now question whether they can even vote for him in the upcoming election. Before the jets I could not understand where those of the Uncommitted faction - who claim that they will vote for neither Trump nor Biden - were coming from. Since Biden's greenlighting of the jets and small bombs, now, sadly, I do. It's not out of anger or a desire to punish Biden or help Trump. It's out of an inability to vote against one's conscience.
Joe Biden recently said that Benjamin Netanyahu needs to have a come to Jesus moment. Forget Netanyahu, he never will have such a moment. In truth it's Biden who needs to have his own come to Jesus moment. Because a very many of us would-be Biden supporters are very close to coming to ours.

References
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/02/us/politics/biden-israel-weapons-deal.html

https://news.yahoo.com/biden-administration-set-greenlight-18-200933896.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

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Kalakaua Avenue

​Kalakaua Avenue

Return To Kamehameha Ukulele

​Return To Kamehameha Ukulele

Occurrence At Meijer's On Earth Day

Another Spring, Another Visit To The Hale Koa

​Another Spring, Another Visit To The Hale Koa

At Fort DeRussy, Nation Does Not Take Up Gun Against Nation, Nor Will They Train For War Anymore

​​At Fort DeRussy, Nation Does Not Take Up Gun Against Nation, Nor Will They Train For War Anymore

If You Wanna Be Where The People Are, Come To Honolulu During Spring Break

​If You Wanna Be Where The People Are, Come To Honolulu During Spring Break

Biden And The Jets

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Kalakaua Avenue

Return To Kamehameha Ukulele

Another Spring, Another Visit To The Hale Koa

At Fort DeRussy, Nation Does Not Take Up Gun Against Nation, Nor Will They Train For War Anymore

If You Wanna Be Where The People Are, Come To Honolulu During Spring Break