Category: Life In General

For the ʻōlelo-impared: This is a journal of my travels in Ireland, documented in Hawaiian. The journey begins June 17, 2002.

Test Post From Fargo

No, I’m not in Fargo, ND. Fargo is an outlining application I’m testing out. This is the text. This is Hawaiian text ÄÄ“Ä«ÅÅ« ĀĒĪŌŪ Ê» OK, Hawaiian Unicode doesn’t work when rendered in WordPress, but looks good in Fargo. Hoping Dave and crew will get it figured out soon. 6/10/2013. Crap, still doesn’t work. 7/8/2013. Crap, still doesn’t work.

Teisco Checkmate 15

The male parental unit found this relic while conducting an archaeological dig in his garage. I have no recollection of this at all. I remember my brother Robb and I having Teisco Del Ray guitars when we were in elementary school, but not the amp. Model is a Checkmate 15, 70W tube amp. The custom 6-plug outlet in the back makes me suspect Robb, but maybe it was Millie Moore Danno’s? I want to plug it in and try it out but afraid it may blow up. Maybe take it to a tech first… Update: Mystery solved. It belongs to…

Institute of Hawaiian Music Seeking New Students!

Interested in learning the craft of Hawaiian Music from industry professionals? For the first time since the program’s launch, the Institute of Hawaiian Music is accepting new students starting in Fall 2013. An information session is scheduled Friday, March 8th at the UH-Maui Campus, room 105BCD in the Ka‘a‘ike Building. Attendees will learn more about the history of the program, entry and graduation requirements, and availability of financial aid. The first auditions are scheduled for Saturday, April 27, 2013 from 8AM to 4PM. Priority for the auditions will be given to those who attend the information session. For more information…

Paul Williams: Still Alive

I caught a fascinating, fan’s-eye view documentary on Paul Williams on Palladia yesterday called “Still Alive”. Paul is a Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer, performer and actor who was seemingly everywhere in the 1970s. Even if you weren’t around back then, I bet you’ve heard his music. He’s also the current president of the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP). Aspiring songwriters would do well to become familiar with his work, and anyone struggling with alcohol or drug addiction would hopefully gain some inspiration from his story.

Aaron Swartz: 1986-2013

Twenty six year old Aaron Swartz took his own life on January 11, 2013. He did so after facing the possibility of spending 35 years in jail for what could be characterized as the digital equivalent of borrowing too many library books at one time(1). I never met Aaron, read of his exploits, and first learned of his prodigious talents and voracious curiosity via Dave Winer during a period where I followed Dave’s work closely and used several of his programming and web content tools. I believe it is time that we in academia rethink our role in a system so perveted…

Attacking The Electric Bill, Pt. 2

When my wife and I moved from Hilo back to Maui, we looked into buying a house, but settled on a nice townhouse condo at Ho‘ole‘a Terrace, just outside Wailuku on the road to Waikapū. One of the few drawbacks of this choice (see one view to the right) is that we don’t have the option to add photovoltaic or solar water heating panels. I have written previously about our attempts to get our electric bills under control in our old home in Kurtistown, and these limitations proved to be motivation to find other ways to lower our electric bill.…

New Windows 8 Operating System Supports The Hawaiian Language

While still a devout Macintosh user, I’m extremely grateful for friends at Microsoft who shepherded this project through to completion, and saw that the work we did stayed embedded as Windows 8 was being developed. I’ll be documenting how to activate the keyboard and type the ‘okina and kahakō later, but if you have Win 8, please feel free to explore and experiment. And I would like to ask my fellow Macintosh aficionados to refrain from the normal litany of Windows bashing. This is significant development for the language that will help other important projects move forward. I’m cautiously optimistic…

Maui Here We Come!

It’s official: I will be joining the faculty of the music department at University of Hawai‘i Maui College this summer. Marie and I are going home after 18 wonderful years in East Hawai‘i, and for me, 18 years at UH-Hilo. We leave with lots of great memories, some not so great, but all in all I don’t believe I could have been better prepared for the challenges of my new position, helping to move the Institute of Hawaiian Music forward, and working with the staff and faculty at UH-MC. The adventure begins August 1. E ho‘i ana mākou i ka…

A Hunter’s Christmas Lament

My sister June Donaghy Kramin (AKA, Aunty Bug) and her husband Thomas Kramin live in Minnesota. He liked my little TSA Christmas Carol, and challenged me to come up with one for him. He’s an avid hunter, and once I got rolling on this I couldn’t stop. Took all of 10 minutes: (Sung to the melody of “A Christmas Song”) Tom’s nuts roasting on a barbeque ‘Cause he pissed off Aunty Bug He shot at a deer but his aim was untrue Now there’s one less cat for her to hug The ground’s too hard for him to dig a…

Call For Help With Hawaiian Braille!

Aloha kākou. Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikōlani, our College of Hawaiian Language at UH-Hilo, is having a new building constructed on the UH-Hilo campus. Some of the foundations and concrete columns are already done, and we are anticipating the building’s completion in December of next year. We are having one issue that I would like to get out there and seek some advice and/or help. As our college functions in Hawaiian, we are very picky about language use in the new building. Most of the office and other signs in the complex will be either Hawaiian-only or perhaps Hawaiian and…

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