My friend Rainer in Brazil and I had a long chat online last week about billboards. Here in Hawai‘i they are not allowed, and apparently the São Paulo city council approved a ban on them as well. A friend of Rainer’s posted some pics of the structures that used to hold the board, and mentioned that the structures will need to be removed as well. As it is, the city has the appearance of being economically depressed.
“Where did Paddy go?”
A baggage handler at Dublin airport was locked into the cargo hold of a transatlantic aircraft as it taxied down the runway in 2005. Fortunately he had a cell phone and was able to call a company supervisor who got the tower to pull the plane back before take-off.
Deerfield “Massacre”
My siblings and I have been told about our family connection to the town of Deerfield, Massachussetts many times. I started doing genealogical research on the family and with the help of distant relatives have been able to trace the family tree back to Deerfield and even further to England in the 1500s. There is a great site, Historic Deerfield, with a lot of information on the town’s history and a discussion board. One of the people on that board recommended this book, Captors and Captives: The 1704 French and Indian Raid on Deerfield, and I just picked up a…
Fulbright mtvU
In my last post I mentioned a new program that I was applying to in order to fund my Ireland studies. Well, Wired Blogs has let the cat out of the bag, it is the Fulbright-mtvU program. The story is a bit late for new application – it requires letters of reference, project proposal and a fairly long online application. Also, one of the submissions, either the online app or accompanying documention, need to be received in IIE in NY by March 26 – this Monday. Fortunately I did not have to start from scratch as I had submitted for…
Obligatory Post
I’ve decided that whether or not I have anything to post, I will make at least one post per month here on Culture Hack. Actually I do have things to talk about… While my Fulbright application for UC-Cork was turned down, it apparently isn’t the end of the road. I learned about a new program with a focus on music which may allow me to pursue studies there, and I am preparing an application for it. I’ve also continued my discussions with the folks at the University of Otago in Aotearoa (New Zealand). They are excited about my tentative research…
No Joy In Fulbrightville
I just received the sad word that my Fulbright application was “non recommended”, which means that it will not be sent to Ireland for consideration by their selection panel. While I’m disappointed I’m not really surprised; the scholarships are highly contested and I’m certain that the applicants that they selected were deserving. Unfortunately they provide no feedback whatsoever, so I have no way of knowing what the strengths and weaknesses of my application were. Not that it matters much. My daughter will be a senior in high school in the 2008-2009 year (the next Fulbright cycle), and we both would…
No Joy In Mudville
And Hilo certainly is mudville these days. We’ve enjoyed [sarcasm alert] probably the wettest period of the past 5 or 6 years. I actually enjoy the rain, except that it makes it most difficult to mow the lawn or get anything accomplished outside the house. It also makes my wife miserable. My father, who lives in Kihei on Maui (one of the driest spots in the state) actually has a device next to his bed that generates a rain sound which helps him get to sleep. I know the feeling, the pitter-patter of rain on our metal roof is hypnotic…
Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou!
Aloha k?kou and hau‘oli makahiki hou i? k?kou a pau (Happy New Year to all of us). 2006 went by in a blur and I imagine 2007 will go by even faster. We spent the last week of 2006 on Maui visiting my parents, brother and his family, and my wife’s family as well. I was expecting a lot of rest and relaxation but it was more of a working vacation. I did get to meet up with many old friends, colleagues and former collaborators, and planted seeds for a number of new musical projects. Of course, Kenneth already has…
Mele Kalikimaka and Catching Up
Merry Christmas to the handful of people who actually read this blog. Again, it’s been far too long since my last post. I’ve only been paying attention to this blog as it has been attracting an incredible amount of comment and trackback spam over the past week or so. Thank goodness for Akismet, I finally got around to activating it and I’ve seen none since activating it. My deepest condolences to Conn on the loss of his mother. I lost my maternal grandmother on Thanksgiving day, she was the last of my grandparents. It’s been close to 15 years since…
Woman lights match on plane after passing gas
I can hear the pilot now, “Ladies and gentlemen, we are experiencing severe flatulence and will need to make an emergency landing…”