Thursday, April 7, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Things that make you go - Huh??
Have you ever noticed the T-shirts some people wear, and wonder how they could possibly think they were a good idea? Fit aside, I can't figure out why people make them or wear them - guess it's that supply and demand thing. Some recent sightings....a young guy with Hawaiian Lifeguard (big red cross and lettering) on the front of what looked like a brand new T. If you aren't a lifeguard, and he most definitely wasn't, are you hoping it's a chick magnet? Would you want to attract the kind of chick who wouldn't know the difference? A middle-aged woman sported the claim "I've got really low self-esteem". (It boggles the mind). A couple made me chuckle, "HAPPILY MARRIED (because my wife told me I am)" and "I was out of sick days, so this morning I called in dead". And don't get me started on Hello Kitty...
The other thing I've noticed are the multitudes of people who spend a good part of their day staring into little tiny screens on all manner of hand-held devices. It especially strikes me here when they're on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and they're shouting into their phone or stroking a screen in an effort to communicate with someone who is probably on another part of the same beautiful beach. Eventually they'll all need interpersonal communication therapy to actually speak to someone face to face. Am I sounding old and crabby?
Well, I think it's time to head home. I'm starting to recognize the homeless people here and I even know the groupings that claim certain pavillions along the beach. There are the wounded armed forces vets, the local thugs, the mentally ill, and amongst them, the tourists who sit anywhere there's shade. The latter are the smarter tourists who aren't out getting burned crispy by the sun. There's also the fine line between looking tanned, and looking like you're spending as much time outside as the homeless. I don't have a shopping cart or a tent, but I do carry a backpack.
Aloha
The other thing I've noticed are the multitudes of people who spend a good part of their day staring into little tiny screens on all manner of hand-held devices. It especially strikes me here when they're on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and they're shouting into their phone or stroking a screen in an effort to communicate with someone who is probably on another part of the same beautiful beach. Eventually they'll all need interpersonal communication therapy to actually speak to someone face to face. Am I sounding old and crabby?
Well, I think it's time to head home. I'm starting to recognize the homeless people here and I even know the groupings that claim certain pavillions along the beach. There are the wounded armed forces vets, the local thugs, the mentally ill, and amongst them, the tourists who sit anywhere there's shade. The latter are the smarter tourists who aren't out getting burned crispy by the sun. There's also the fine line between looking tanned, and looking like you're spending as much time outside as the homeless. I don't have a shopping cart or a tent, but I do carry a backpack.
Aloha
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Kilts and flip flops
Sorry about the lack of photos, but there's nowhere to plug in my camera here. I'll add them when I get home, although it doesn't seem safe yet to leave here - temperatures in Kingston are hovering around zero and that's still way too cool!
Today was the Scottish Highland Festival in the park across from Waikiki beach. Picture bagpipers with kilts, flip flopped spectators, surfers cruising through the food tents scarfing scotch eggs and Hawaiian pig plates (pulled pork) and cheers from the nearby "Spirit Competition" (I think that's cheerleaders) spilling over onto the celtic bands that played all afternoon. It was surreal.
I've seen 70-year-olds with boogie boards, very badly dressed tourists, large Hawaians, tiny Asians and everything in between. It's a must-see place, really. I'm off to Kelly O'Neill's to see more live music and who knows what else.
Aloha
Today was the Scottish Highland Festival in the park across from Waikiki beach. Picture bagpipers with kilts, flip flopped spectators, surfers cruising through the food tents scarfing scotch eggs and Hawaiian pig plates (pulled pork) and cheers from the nearby "Spirit Competition" (I think that's cheerleaders) spilling over onto the celtic bands that played all afternoon. It was surreal.
I've seen 70-year-olds with boogie boards, very badly dressed tourists, large Hawaians, tiny Asians and everything in between. It's a must-see place, really. I'm off to Kelly O'Neill's to see more live music and who knows what else.
Aloha
Friday, April 1, 2011
Two Wednesdays...
Just who invented the International dateline??? It's about as easy to understand as the workings of the Internet. This shortcoming caused me to arrive a day early in Waikiki and throw myself on the mercy of the desk clerk at my hotel. Fortunately they had a room and I fell into bed after 36+ hours of travel from Perth.
Everything about the Lonely Planet-recommended hotel is great, except the fussy little concierge who bears a very unfortunate resemblance to the big stuffed gorilla that is parked on a couch in the lobby. Don't ask me... They both have bad posture and look like they've been dropped from a great height. I asked about taking a local bus yesterday and he was evidently unhappy about that and warned me twice not to talk to the bus driver because "he could lose his JOB!" O.K., O.K., I won't talk to bus drivers and next time I'll book a big, fat bus tour that includes hula dancers, fire eaters and ukelele playing.
The zoo here is great and so is the beach, which I'll spend some time on today. For the weekend, I'm deciding between Tango Extravaganza, the Hawaiian Scottish Highland Games(?) and...more beach.
Yesterday I ate my picnic lunch beneath a shady pavailion populated with what looked like the local hoods. They looked harmless enough - playing cards and music and making disparaging remarks about tourists. Things went quiet and when I turned around, there were 4 cops taking pictures of everyone and quietly moving them on. I was glad that they didn't include me in the operation. It was bad enough that I got a written warning about jay walking from a local tourism ambassador. I promised to use the crosswalks from now on...
Aloha
Everything about the Lonely Planet-recommended hotel is great, except the fussy little concierge who bears a very unfortunate resemblance to the big stuffed gorilla that is parked on a couch in the lobby. Don't ask me... They both have bad posture and look like they've been dropped from a great height. I asked about taking a local bus yesterday and he was evidently unhappy about that and warned me twice not to talk to the bus driver because "he could lose his JOB!" O.K., O.K., I won't talk to bus drivers and next time I'll book a big, fat bus tour that includes hula dancers, fire eaters and ukelele playing.
The zoo here is great and so is the beach, which I'll spend some time on today. For the weekend, I'm deciding between Tango Extravaganza, the Hawaiian Scottish Highland Games(?) and...more beach.
Yesterday I ate my picnic lunch beneath a shady pavailion populated with what looked like the local hoods. They looked harmless enough - playing cards and music and making disparaging remarks about tourists. Things went quiet and when I turned around, there were 4 cops taking pictures of everyone and quietly moving them on. I was glad that they didn't include me in the operation. It was bad enough that I got a written warning about jay walking from a local tourism ambassador. I promised to use the crosswalks from now on...
Aloha
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