Category Archives: video

Celebrating my sister’s life

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March 28, 2017Tuesday’s gathering at Queen Emma’s Summer Palace in memory of my sister went so very well. Bonnie was Historian and a board member of Daughters of Hawaii, and the Daughters took the lead in organizing this celebration of her life. It was a beautiful morning. Our family owes them so much!

I made the mistake of trying to be both an observer with camera and a key participant. It didn’t work. I eventually had to abandon the camera in favor of dealing with the people who were there to honor their connections with Bonnie.

I did manage to get a few photos.

Click on the photo, above, to see a few more pictures of the morning.

And I also ran my iPhone through parts of the program, including several songs by the Emmalani Serenaders, the Daughters of Hawaii choral group that Bonnie had been a member of.

View the photos, watch a bit of the videos, and you’ll get the flavor of the morning.

Video:

Kaleleonalani, by the Emmalani Serenaders, Daughters of Hawaii. The song was written on the occasion of Queen Emma’s visit to Maui in 1892. 3 minutes.

Kanaka Waiwai, performed by the Emmalani Serenaders. 5 minutes. Click here for more background on the song.

A thoroughly entertaining remembrance of Bonnie by Makalena Shibata of the Daughters of Hawaii. 10 minutes.

Mr. Hao at work

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I shared this on Facebook a few days ago, but thought readers here might also appreciate Hao, the fishing dog, at work.

Hao is among the dogs and their people who we walk with most mornings. This week, the weather was perfect, there were lots of fish visible near the shore, and Hao was in heaven.

To answer the question in advance, Hao’s eyesight isn’t that great and so he rarely actually catches any fish. But the chase is everything!

Remembering V-J Day

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Well, I wasn’t born yet, so I can’t personally remember it.

But it’s good to be reminded of things like this.

September 2 is the anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender at the end of WWII, referred to as “Victory over Japan Day” or simply V-J Day.

By coincidence, last week I opened one of the stamp albums that my mother inherited from UH Professor Carey D. Miller. And there was this gem, a commemorative envelope postmarked in Manila on September 2, 1945.

It’s one of those little tangible things that bridges the gap in time and gives an abstract, historical event more reality.

September 2, 1945

And in honor of the day, the video below is taken from a collection of 16mm films shot in Hawaii on and around VJ Day. It’s a pretty striking bit of history!


Feline Friday: A Toby update, and our Kaaawa cats in 1999

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Here’s an update on Mr. Toby.

The tests eventually showed his urinary infection was caused by the E. coli bacteria, and he’s been on some kind of heavy antibiotic as a result.

We picked him up on the way home from the airport yesterday. He’s doing so much better, although he obviously didn’t enjoy his stay at VCA.

The rest of the cats did their regular thing. No obvious signs of being happy to see us, but then all of them wanted to climb in bed when we collapsed for the night, which is very unusual. And even now, early Friday morning, Romeo is already asleep in my lap, Duke’s at my feet, and Toby is next to me on the table.

And then there’s this.

I was surprised recently to be checking some ancient cd’s and find a folder with these little cat video segments dating from 1999.

The original video files are just 320 x 240 pixels, tiny by today’s standards, but they have survived pretty well.

I quickly threw a few together into this 3 minute video and didn’t have time to edit. So ignore the blank blue section that goes on for several seconds…you haven’t seen the last of the cats until “The End” is announced.

Kili and Wally, our current senior generation of cats, are seen here as youngsters, about a year old. There’s Buster, the white cat who moved in with us soon after we arrived in Kaaawa. Lindsey, one of a pair rescued as kittens from the Laie McDonalds by our friends’ daughters. And Ms. Hiwa, who we adopted after her people moved away and left her to fend for herself. Cat home movies. Bring on the popcorn.