Monday Trivia #1:
This is an old Primo bottle opener that Meda found in one of her thrift shop runs. It is marked “Hawaii T.H.”, placing it prior to Hawaii statehood in 1959.
And it shows a long neck beer bottle with a Primo label.
You can click on the photo for a larger version.
So the trivia question is this: Did Primo ever come in long neck bottles or is this just an example of a stock advertising illustration? By the time I became familiar with Primo, it was in those distinctive stubby bottles. Anybody know about its earlier history?
Monday Trivia #2: Jack Eagle’s obituary appeared yesterday in the Honolulu Advertiser. I knew Eagle as the ex-father-in-law of Charles Chidiac, the free spending Lebanese businessman behind Palace Development Corporation. Chidiac spent more than $40 million of other people’s money while pushing his Hawaiian Riviera Resort proposed for an undeveloped section of Kau on the Big Island in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Chidiac, part of an influential Lebanese family, came to Hawaii to go to college and married Eagle’s daughter. Chidiac is also a former international arms dealer who was an unindicted coconspirator in the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro scandal and later turned FBI informant in the investigation of the Asian fundraising scandal during the Clinton era that led to the convictions of former Hawaii residents and political players Nora and Gene Lum.
Whether the Hawaiian Riveira was a scam or simply another development done in by too much state regulation is open to interpretation. Chidiac claimed he was shaken down by state officials, but given Chidiac’s background, anything is possible.
Monday trivia #3: What is this bug?
We’ve been attacked by these bugs, whatever they are.
They are perhaps a half-inch long. They do fly, but spend most of their time just sitting on walls and ceilings.
What are they and how do we get rid of them?
Help!
One bill I’m very sorry to see up for final approval is HB2730, now in a conference draft and awaiting final votes in both House and Senate. It carves out new sunshine law exemptions applicable only to neighborhood boards. But it’s obvious that once you begin exemptions for one type of agency, others (like the county councils) are sure to be right there in line asking for their own special conditions.
Some provisions, such as allowing board members to attend meetings of other groups or public information meetings, aren’t bad and should be generally applicable.
But the Office of Information Practices rightly warned that another provision to allow matters to be discussed that are not on the posted meeting agenda could–I would say will–be misused to raise issues and discuss matters without proper notice. That’s a bad precedent, even if some board members think it will be beneficial. This could allow proponents on one side of an issue to preemptively influence the board without the other side being able to respond. It’s very hard to ignore or erase the effects of such discussions even if no votes are allowed until later.
I would have hoped that this Legislature would not water down the sunshine law, but that’s what they are about to do.
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Found a couple of things …
Yes, Primo came in longnecks.
(From Hawaiian Collectibles
And as for the opener, it’s worth something…although the one you have the photo of isn’t in as good a condition:
Hawaiian Breweryana
Amazing what’s out there…and that my day today is so slow that I can find it. (It would be busier but a morning snowfall has canceled all the high school sports).
When the US Pacific Fleet visited Honolulu in 1907, the Evening Bulletin (that later merged with the Hawaiian Star) carried this ad on Sept. 7 of that year:
“Boys of the Navy! Now is your chance to drink the famous PRIMO BEER made in Honolulu.”
Seeing the Primo bottles make we want to ask- what ever happened to “Oly”- Olympia Beer?. When Primo was around no self respecting local would drink anything but “Oly” or Primo. Bring Bud to the party and it made you either a snob or a malahini.
About that insect…
Try asking about it here. My friend Shelly James and her colleagues at Bishop Museum can probably ID it. As for how to eradicate them, I dunno.
Ian,
Please email me a photo of the bug so I can forward it to my other half, who is a pest control professional. He can help you identify it and also give you advice on how to get rid of it.
Lora
Oly. still available. I pick up a sixer often in Kailua.
Aloha! Did you ever find out what that bug was? I have swarms of them on my windows and under the roof. I was worried they were termites at first, then looked closer and saw they were some other insect. Don’t know if they are a pest or not…
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The Firefly Forest
Discovering and enjoying nature
Red-black False Blister Beetle
Some of the most annoying insects found in Hawaii are Red-black False Blister Beetles or Redblack Oedemerids (Ananca bicolor). These nocturnal beetles are highly attracted to lights, and if they are present, they can show up in large numbers to ruin your outdoor evening dining or invade your house through any small holes or gaps in the screens. My first night after moving to Hawaii, I had to remove over 30 of them from my bedroom. The pesky beetles were crawling all over my bed, walls, and ceiling. They had come in through an ill-fitting window screen.
Red-black False Blister Beetle or Redblack Oedemerid (Ananca bicolor)
Red-black False Blister Beetles are not native to the Hawaiian Islands. They were introduced here from other Polynesian islands where they are common. These tropical beetles feed on pollen and form large mating parties on flowers, so Hawaii with its abundance of flowering plants is a paradise for them.
Red-black False Blister Beetles are about 0.4 inches (1 cm) long and have a dark head with prominent mouthparts, a red-orange pronotum, and black elytra. False Blister Beetles (Family Oedemeridae) are similar in appearance to true Blister Beetles (Family Meloidae), but their pronotum narrows toward the elytra, while the pronotum of true Blister Beetles narrows towards the head.
The red and black aposematic (warning) coloration of Red-black False Blister Beetles is a universal symbol to predators that these beetles are irritating or foul-tasting. Like true blister beetles, Red-black False Blister Beetles may contain irritating, blister-causing chemicals and so should not be handled or smashed with your hand. I’ve had them crawl on me and slapped them off, but I’ve always washed wherever they touched and so have not had any ill-effects from touching them. My dog once snapped one buzzing around his face and he immediately spat it out and began pawing at his mouth, so they must taste pretty foul. Another indication of their possible foul taste is that I’ve never seen any of Hawaii’s abundant geckos eating these annoying beetles, although I really wish they would!
Hi, I would like to know about “Jack Eagle building” in Waialua HI, on Waialua Beach road and Aweoweo St. (THere seems to be another similar building at Apuhihi st and Waialua Beach rd.) What was it built for originally? What is the history of the building? Any gossips, anything about it would be good. Even from before the building, if you know anything about that land and that area.
Thank you!