June 10, 2006 - Saturday

I met five of my McPherson cousins last night for the first time any of us can recall. Our grandmothers were sisters, making us second cousins in technical terms, but that label didn't help much as we all tried to get clear on our relations and the minor mystery of why we all live in Hawaii but have never crossed paths at any time that we can recall. Credit cousin and Big Island writer, poet, and occasional attorney Michael McPherson with the idea, and his brother, Howard, for extending the hospitality of his home.

Cousins

We heard Ed Case interviewed by Chad Blair on Hawaii Public Radio yesterday. Case displayed an increasingly aggressive edge as he sharply pressed the typical challenger's call for direct debates with his better known opponent, incumbant senator Dan Akaka. It's no surprise that Akaka has not responded, as few incumbants are willing to provide the equal platform for their opponents unless forced into it.

Here's some free advice for Akaka's strategists--it's time to answer Case's sharp challenge in a way that uses his momentum against itself. Take the image case is projecting--smooth talking lawyer eager for verbal dueling--and turn it back against itself.

In fact, in a period when the public is sick of Washington's "business as usual", it's odd that Case hitting so hard against Akaka for being less than a "real" politician measured by those same "business as usual" standards.

I can see the basic Akaka pitch: "I'm no lawyer, Mr. Case. I am by training and profession an educator, a teacher. I know there's more to getting things done than by a winner-take-all debate. I think we might all be better off if the Senate had more teachers instead of another lawyer."

There's an ethnic and class dimension to this confrontation as well--prep school/Hastings Law v. Kamehameha/UH, although it's early in the campaign to be hitting that level.

Case's problem is that his campaign message seems more likely to pick up voters in an open general election than in the Democratic primary, or so it seems to me. But perhaps his polls say differently.

This was the surprise Mr. Toby got yesterday morning when he turned and looked back up the driveway as he followed us in after our early walk. He's used to be chased by mynahs that swoop down when they catch him in the open, but this bird was from a different world.

Toby's surprise

June 9, 2006 - Friday

Tuesday's photos of the University of Hawaii's Gartley Hall taken in 1922 prompted Peter Rosegg to fill in the historical blank--Do you know who Gartley Hall is named for? If not, you'll find Peter's account very interesting.

Star-Bulletin owner David Black's agreement to purchase the Akron Beacon Journal continues to reverberate. A Beacon Journal story today reports the potential positives of a private owner. And a column in the American Journalism Review yesterday by Rem Rieder says Black is "certainly not a household name."

"But here's one thing we do know about him: The guy has moxie," Rieder writes.

I also noted the comment, tucked away in a story yesterday, that the Akron purchase is seen as an opportunity to shift staff between Hawaii and Ohio, and presumably through other parts of the Black chain.

Thanks to retired newspaper photographer Dick Schmidt, who spent some time at the Star-Bulletin years ago before heading off to California, for pointing out some of the photographic features of the old Hawaii slides I've been scanning.

I love the images you are finding from your mother's Kodachromes (though a few could be Ansco slides?) of the 50s and 60s. It's great to see these-- and I love the fact that they're in classic cardboard slide mounts, without being remounted for scanning or having their edges cropped. Technically, there is an "intrusion" into part of the image from the tiny paper fibers of the cardboard mounts, but I still like to see this detail revealed in scanned original slides as well as their rounded corners; the slide mount is as much a part of the whole "historic package" of that era as the image it frames.

Aaron Stene in Kona notes a West Hawaii Today story reporting that the Public Utilities Commission wants to know whether telephone records of Hawaii residents were turned over to the National Security Agency for its use (you'll need to register for a free account before viewing the story).

And have you noticed that the Advertiser is now posting morning traffic reports and alerts in its "breaking news" section? And they've been doing more of the mid-day updates and additions which, I presume, is probably resulting in more visitors to their site and more work for reporters.

June 8, 2006 - Thursday

Black Press and it's majority owner, David Black, have now added the Akron Beacon Journal to their chain of newspapers. The Star-Bulletin reports this morning that Black is paying $165 million for the former Knight Ridder paper.

A story in the Beacon Journal describes Black as an owner who has invested in news, is considered generally fair, and who doesn't meddle with the newsroom.

Speaking of large sums of money, Robert Reich has a column on the estate tax repeal effort that includes some interesting figures.

What's going on? Now Honolulu Weekly editor Chris Haire has been threatened in a email warning "you're going to get your ass kicked."

Hawaii is not a place to make enemies. You'd better lay low, and watch your back. You can't mess with the locals, bruddah. Someone's gonna take revenge on you.

Haire is trying to figure out who might be behind the threat. I just advised him to file a police report.

Several readers sent along appreciative emails about the old photos I've been scanning. My mother's photos are the most popular, I think, because they take us back to an earlier period that looks vaguely familiar but so very different. Here's a batch of photos taken in different parts of Waikiki in 1967, when there was two-way traffic and parking along Kalakaua and Magic Island was under construction.

June 7, 2006 - Wednesday

I blew it yesterday by failing to locate Advertiser reporter Ken Kobayashi's original story on the Hawaii Supreme Court decision on golf course liability, which appeared on May 15th. The quick Google search that turned up the AP rewrite in numerous other publications failed to include the real thing. Kobayashi's story (via AP) was picked up by The Golf Channel, which boosted its audience. Good work.

Today's Advertiser features a story by Rick Daysog disclosing federal investigations of former state senator Cal Kawamoto. Daysog's story is based on two anonymous sources, although backed by a review of public records, including those of the Campaign Spending Commission and nonprofit groups formed by Kawamoto.

Remember that former House Speaker Danny Kihano was convicted on similar federal charges back in 1997.

What are they thinking over on Maui? According to the Maui News, the county Liquor Control Commission is now enforcing a rule requiring anyone wanting to buy beer, wine, or liquor to produce a government issued photo ID. Everyone is expected to comply, including those obviously over the legal age to make such purchases. In one case cited by the Maui News, a store refused to sell a bottle of wine to a woman in her 80s because she could not produce an acceptable piece of identification.

I have to wonder whether the requirement that everyone identify themselves before being allowed to undertake othewise legal behavior might be a violation of Hawaii's right to privacy.

Hawaii, unlike many other states, has established a constitutional right to privacy. It appears as Article 1, Section 6 of the State Constitution:

RIGHT TO PRIVACY

Section 6. The right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest. The legislature shall take affirmative steps to implement this right. [Add Const Con 1978 and election Nov 7, 1978]

So government-backed intrusions into areas of personal privacy require showing a "compelling state interest" and, typically, are required to be as narrow as possible to accomplish that state interest.

While some might not see the universal ID requirement as intrusive, I would guess that many people cherish their right to have an anonymous drink from time to time, or take a 6-pack home without having to make their identities known. The way the rule is being applied is certainly far broader and more intrusive than necessary to limit underage drinking, and appears to me to be ripe for a challenge. Or, perhaps more appropriately, a legal review by someone sensitive to privacy rights.

Another portrait of the photographer as a young man. I don't remember the circumstances of this one, but from the negatives it was stored with it appears to be taken at either Queens Surf or Ala Moana Park in 1967 or 1968 when there was a good deal of construction going on in both places, and I used the available props.

And here's another small batch of photos from the fifties, this time of the Kahala area.

1954: Kahala Avenue

June 6, 2006 - Tuesday

And a Happy Birthday to brother-in-law Ray Stevens, who turns 60 today on 6/6/06.

The Advertiser's William Cole got the story today about 1st Lt. Ehren K. Watada, the subject of ThankYouLt.org.

And thanks to Michael in Hilo for pointing me to a Hawaii Tribune Herald story about seniors staging an Iraq war protest at the Honokaa High School graduation. Bravo! There's likely a popular teacher there who deserves credit and will instead be getting blamed.

A Hawaii Supreme Court ruling on golf course accident liability didn't make much of an impact here, but an Associated Press story about the decision has run in a number of newspapers around the world over the last few weeks.

In reaction to yesterday's comment about yet another anniversary of my high school graduation, Michael in Hilo writes:

Interesting to read your comments about your aging graduating class. My class just had a reunion to observe the 47th anniversary of our graduation. I did not attend, but I am keeping in touch with some of my classmates by e-mail. We turn 65 this year, and many of us are contemplating our mortality. Our class directory indicates that about 27% of the men and 17% of the women in our class are deceased. Apparently it is an increasingly slippery slope.

A character in Phillip Roth's novel 'Everyman' observes, "Old age isn't a battle, it's a massacre."

Here are a few gems my mother passed on to me last week. They are small photographs which were among the personal papers of Professor Carey D. Miller, who arrived in Hawaii in 1922 and headed the Home Economics Department for decades. I believe these were taken in 1922, the year Miller arrived on campus. The first three buildings, shown here, are Hawaii Hall, Gartley Hall, and the Engineering Building, all still standing. Click on the photo for more.

Gartley Hall, UH Manoa 1922

June 5, 2006 - Monday

Here's a change of pace, neither sunrise nor ocean. Instead, it's the view of the mountains from our street on a warm Sunday afternoon in June. Yesterday afternoon, to be specific. A different perspective on our bit of the island.

A housekeeping announcement: The Google Search is fixed! Richard in Sacramento shook me from Sunday lethargy with news that the search box at the top of the page wasn't working. Searching for terms like Kaaawa or cats came up with zilch. I reinstalled the Google code and it magically is working again. So now you can find all those past entries that have been eluding any recent searches. Actually, I don't know how long it's been out of commission. I'm embarrassed to ask.

I frittered away time over the weekend on two projects, a brief review of the new Panasonic Lumix LX1 camera I've been breaking in, and then an initial foray into an assorted group of photographers who maintain an ongoing "Picture a Week" (or PAW) effort. I intend to go back through my photos since the beginning of the year and select one a week to add to my own PAW collection. Click on this photo for my initial selection from January. More to come.

From Ian's new PAW

Finally, an email from Joe Hilton, who owns the Cigar-Cigar store on King Street, arrived a couple of days ago with a reminder that today is the 41st anniversary of our high school graduation. Ouch.

His message:

Happy 41st graduation anniversary to all you soon-to-be 60 year old curmudgeons of the good life and baby boomer expectations. My advice if you haven’t learned this already is to enjoy your money like you were going to die tomorrow, make lots of friends with young people, get the car of your dreams. Don’t live your life vicariously through others. This may very well be as good as it gets. Grab the brass ring (while you can still focus on it and remember what it is). Live, life, love, or as a much wiser one put it. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we’ll still meet fate face to face.

June 4, 2006 - Sunday

The assessment offered by a reader of Honolulu Weekly drew a number of comments from others in the last several days. Here are some representative excerpts:

I was raised on the original Village Voice in New York City, so perhaps my standards are high, but when I read the alternative press on my travels that's the mental comparison I make. While the Weekly has recently had some excellent alternative features (for example, the cover story on clean elections), the paper generally disappoints at present.

In discussing your post this morning over breakfast, my wife pointed out that many families may not want the paper in the house due to the ads. This seems to be a plague suffered by free alternative weekly papers around the country, but at least some of them are worth showing the kids to demonstrate that journalism takes more forms than the stenography often found in the commercialized dailies. In other words, despite the ads, there is a redeeming value. Weeklies typically offer criticism of the mainstream press, decent food and movie reviews, alternative politics, muckraking and investigative journalism, and some pretty good prose and poetry. The Weekly is no Village Voice. Different editors, though, have shaped it as they liked, and often done extremely well. It's impossible not to compare the Weekly with what it has been under different regimes....

The Weekly is still the paper to pick up for arts/music schedules and movie reviews, and they usually don't do badly with restaurant reviews either. I used to rush to pick up the paper to read Bob Rees and others who dug deeper than the dailies and who had a real sense of advocacy journalism. I find that now I'm not in such a hurry to read it.

* * *

I get pretty tired of people defending the Weekly. We definitely need an alternative voice. But I actually think the current iteration of the Weekly is worse than no Weekly. It fills an economic niche, scaring off others who could do a much better job. By doing so, it shuts off any real outlet for alternative media in what, clearly, is a small media town. It's just like the way the great actor (whose name I always forget) describes the Devil in the movie Broadcast News. The devil isn't the guy who breathes fire and has a forked tail. No. He's the guy that claims to be doing the right thing and maybe even believes it but by lowering the standard bit by bit ensures the Devil's work is done.

* * *

I would love to have the Weekly do is get back to some real reporting - lessen up Mr. Haire's voice - and add some people that have some knowledge of the state. There is sooooo much fodder that is being left alone.  My vision of a cover story is to have Kitty Lagareta and Linda Chu-Takayama together on the cover (2 sides of the same coin)- give them credit for their forays into the making of Hawaii as it is today.

Stories that could be done:

The Honolulu skyline - what about all those new condos coming up on the market (as I look out my office window I count 8 new buildings going up) that most people who live here cannot afford to live in? The gentrification of the Ward Center - just a few years ago they were asking the Legislature for $$$ to build a parking garage. (The Advertiser runs a cover story about Trump's new luxury facility in Waikiki.....so I know they aren't concerned) - what will this do for city traffic, and what will people do in such tall buildings with brown-outs? As I look at them - too few have balconies - nor windows that are friendly to naturally circulating air.....air conditioning is obviously necessary. Who planned this? (the removal of the homeless from Ala Moana Beach sounds all the more plausible as a move brought on by developers)

The Hawaii Medical School - $$ - who will endow it? Can't we make a connection with a stem cell research center in Asia and get some cash into the place? (Look what Harvard is doing - we should be able to make a link due to our location, if nothing else)

The Cancer Center - did you know that people go to the mainland for cancer care too often because we are behind in this issue

The Texization of UH - who are these new guys on the block that the Lingle Board of Regents honor with so much cash - aren't they building on King Street too?

Finally, Weekly editor Chris Haire, whose dominant role in the Weekly drew lots of comment, responded at length.

Ouch. I guess you shouldn't dish it out if you can't take it. It still stings though.

As for the direction of Honolulu Weekly, no, we haven't "decided to fill a nitch for the college-to-age-30 clubbers and the Mad Magazine set" as the letter writer puts it. (And hey, what's wrong with MAD. Yeah, it's silly, but it still has some pretty smart satire in there.) The 20-to-30 set is one of our target audiences. And it needs to be.

In this day and age with circulation numbers plummeting around the nation and more and more younger readers turning to the Internet, if they even read news at all, it' s important to adapt to the times and try to lure those readers. News has changed in some respects: with Fox-style Goebbeldygook being the style du jour, unlikely vehicles like The Daily Show and South Park (two Peabody Award winners) have become the sources of thoughtful, yet silly, analysis. If we don't get younger readers, readers which the Advertiser/Gannett and the Star-Bulletin want, then where will we be in 10, 15, 20 years?

As far as the Robert Rees comments go, so, um, you're saying that Rees was "our greatest alternative-press writer" and the qualifications for that would be what, his use of, as the author of the letter says, "bad facts and personal invective" or the way he passed personal opinion "off as objective journalism." If Rees was here today, I'm not sure how he'd react to your backhanded compliments nor will I speculate.

Regarding my attempts at writing "most of the paper," come on, man, you're ignoring the rest of the paper, a common failure of many Weekly critics. Don't judge the paper on the news section and the news section alone. That at least half, if not the majority of the paper, is chock full of arts and entertainment listings, reviews and picks is apparently forgotten by this writer and others. If they read the back half of the book, they would see the staff as a whole contributes a great deal to the paper. This is a testament to the staff's commitment to the paper, their love of writing and their joy in turning on the public to some of the great things going on and about this town. Slag me all you want, but don't slag them. And get your facts straight before saying I write most of the paper. Kawehi Haug alone wrote a film feature, a theatre review and several Hot Picks last week, while Ryan Senaga wrote a restaurant review, a Hot Pick and two movie reviews. Put me down all you want, but don't ignore the work of our very fine staff.

It's amazing how often I've read comments on Hawaii Threads complaining that the Weekly reports only on other media organizations in town, that we are more concerned about criticizing other reporters than reporting our own news stories. Seriously, do you read the paper? Did you ignore Catharine Lo's pieces on GMOs/Taro patents and Turtle Bay, not to mention this week's report by Catharine on the Democratic Party Convention? Did you overlook last week's piece on Wespac? Repeat this mantra if you must: Honolulu Weekly is not Media Watch. Media Watch is not Honolulu Weekly.

As for the "Island of the Dead," you may like it, you may hate it, you may wonder why we even did it. That's fine. That's your opinion. Send us a letter. We'd love to run it.

CWH

And there's your food for thought on what promises to be another sunny hot day in Hawaii.