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Following yesterday's mention of the NYT's article about Dobelle, I was reminded that the same writer did a story on the state's public schools back in October. Another interesting read.It stormed in Kaaawa for a while last night, with strong, gusty winds blasting rain at the house and threatening our remaining large banana trees or plants, depending on where you came down on that semantic divide. This morning the background roar of the ocean is noticeable, although momentarily drowned out by the arrival of the garbage crew at 5:43 a.m.
At least one securities analyst is predicting a turnaround for U.S. newspaper chains, including Gannett, according to a Reuters' story last week. Any strengthening of the advertising environment will be welcomed news at the Star-Bulletin as well, where even incremental improvements could make a big difference.
Holy bovines! Hawaii Cows is gone! The site was there just a couple of days ago, but hawaiicows.com is now gone. No word yet from site editor Louise K. on whether it's an oversight or an ending. Stay tuned.
I just posted a few photos from our brief jaunt through the Seattle area. It's a bit thin, since I didn't think I should include photos with all our friends, but, hey, it's still worth the price of admission. Click over there on the photo--> and you'll be transported.
Hawaii transplant, Iris Walker, & her stuff
I was up and fully intending to get today's entry done early, but a blast of frigid arctic air in Kaaawa drove me back into bed, but not before placing emergency rations into a few cat dishes.The New York Times ran an interesting profile of UH Prez Dobelle this week that's worth reading.
We're looking forward to Meda's birthday next week, and the 4th anniversary of the rescue of Kili and Wally. You can tell that there's more about that little event coming sometime soon. And we're still celebrating the beginning of Meda's semester sabbatical leave from teaching, as well as my own recent exit from the ranks of the employed.
Here's a great example of an independent web site reporting on local politics. Unfortunately, "local" here means Milwaukee. But the site,MilwaukeeWorld, is credited with blowing the lid off a major retirement fund scandal. Ah, the sweet scent of inspiration.
The gossip sheets are having a field day with Wall Street Journal writer John Fund, the highly visible conservative pundit. He's the guy who wrote so scathingly about Hawaii a couple of years ago. Now he's apparently in some kinky relationship with the daughter of a former girlfriend, with rumors of a pending marriage, wedding announcements received but now denied, a taped telephone conversation "leaked" to the media, and on and on. WeaselSearch.com apparently started the round of tales last September, and they continue to reverberate. Jim Romenesko's MediaNews linked to two related items yesterday. Fund has reportedly taken a leave from the WSJ.Star-Bulletin owner David Black's back in town. His job ads partnership with Monster.com is looking pretty good these days, as Startribune.com (Minneapolis) reports a continuing shift from newspaper to online employment ads.
I'm not entirely sure what this expression meant, but Ms. Kili has been enjoying herself immensely since our return from the mainland. Here she is occupying part of a cardboard box, where she curled up much of yesterday with a new refillable catnip toy. She abandoned the box to take her position in the middle of our bed overnight, but I expect to see her back in the box this morning.
Ms. Kili
Silverman burst through the cat door around 7:30 p.m., just a few minutes after we sat down to eat our first meal back at home-- habanero-lemon-garlic pork with fried local bananas served over rice. Of course, he demanded and received several good helpings delivered by hand as the price of displaying himself, then he moved over and cleaned up all the cat dishes left unattended in the kitchen. It was a fine homecoming.Mr. Silverman was the last of the cats to make his appearance. Leo was the first, although also the most neurotic. He was waiting in the garage when we drove in, then spent most of the rest of the day yowling around the house as if telling us in great detail of his unhappiness at our absence. Ms. Lizzie was waiting in the house, as was Miki, while Wally waited outside on the back deck.
Lizzie's been a bit subdued, perhaps because Wally's been asserting her dominance, so I've been having to apply an extra ration of TLC.
I had to walk out into the back yard to make contact with Ms. Harry, who was right in her regular corner. She was extremely happy to see me, even running up and batting my legs whenever I would turn to walk back to the house. I finally had to pick her up and carry her with me up to the house.
Kili hit the screen door just as it was getting dark, and I found Lindsey rolling on the front steps not too long after that.
This ritual cat roundup marked the end of another interesting trip.
We were struck, as we have been in the past, by the vibrancy, creativity, and imagination on display in Seattle, which by comparison makes Hawaii look dull and conservative. I remain convinced that Hawaii's cultural conservatism is a byproduct of political centralization and a power structure that does not tolerate dissent well, and subtly crushes displays of imagination.
Yet I was still surprised when our friends' nephew, who moved to Seattle about six years ago, told us he loves the area and would not move back to Hawaii. Not because of the economy, or finding a good job, but because there is, in his view, just so much more to do up there in the Northwest.
I finally had a chance to read Erika Engle's Sunday column, which reported on a "restructuring" at Gannett's Honolulu Advertiser which resulted in cutting six management positions, while picking up the former marketing manager of Ala Moana Center.
We didn't plan on a busy social schedule for this quick stopover in Seattle, but it's turned out that way. We've been trying to wander on our own during the day, then have hooked up in the late afternoon or evening with a series of old friends.
We're probably going to be in trouble, because we just don't have enough time to fit in everyone we would really like to see. We just have to say, "next time."
Seattle skyline from
Queen Anne Hill
Last night we ended up at the Muckleshoot Indian Casino just south of Seattle with Iris & Tim Walker, who now live a few minutes away. Iris and I were on Neil Abercrombie's staff for a couple of years more than a decade ago at the Honolulu City Council.The Muckleshoot casino is probably what a lot of folks have in mind for Hawaii, and it appears to be an example of doing it right. It appeared to be a very well-run operation, employing lots of tribal members, and an atmosphere quite a bit more mellow than casinos of comparable size in Las Vegas. Sunday evening and it was busy, although not packed. The casino has expanded several times since opening in 1995, and is now quite a large operation. With the tribe numbering just 1,600 members, it much have a huge impact on their lives, as well as on the surrounding community. I don't know how Washington's casino operations are regulated, or what their overall impact has been, but our friends enjoy the casino as a recreational resource, a diversion that provides low cost meals and a bit of excitement.
This morning's Seattle Times has several thin sections. Business was just four pages, filled mostly with syndicated stories. The front section was just 8 pages, although there were two lengthy local enterprise stories, one on the depressed recycling economy and the other on the lagging development of broadband Internet service.
Seattle cat performersWe've been feeling pretty cat deprived so far this trip, but have compensated by fawning over the few cats we have run into. We wandered into a thrift store run by the Skagit Valley Humane Society up in Mount Vernon, where three beautiful male cats were on display for possible adoption. And there was a street performer featuring trained cats outside the Westlake Mall downtown on Saturday, and I admit that we dropped a few dollars into their bowl.
I'm still trying to imagine what it would take to get any of our cats to be so cooperative.
I'm sorry for the broken image links that appeared here yesterday...they're still a mystery, and may have to stay that way until we're back home tomorrow and I can reload the images.
That's a back door way of saying that I probably won't post a Tuesday entry, since we'll be on the way back to Honolulu. Watch for Wednesday's entry, though, which should be back on my regular schedule.
But there was a snow advisory in effect for higher elevations, with heavy rains said to be heading this way. The local news is reading off the list of places where chains are required. Welcome to winter.
They were just unloading fish and shoveling ice when we made our first pass through Seattle's Public Market down by the waterfront. It was late for our morning walk, after 7:30 before we got out the door. Then it was straight out of the hotel and eight blocks down Pine Street and we were there, before the crowds. And before most of the vendors. Then back to the hotel about an hour later after a stop at the corner Starbucks where we picked up coffee and goodies for a leisurely breakfast in our room.
The Sunday newspaper is a joint product of the Seattle Times and Post-Intelligencer, a throwback to the days of Honolulu's joint Sunday product.
We went through the same routine yesterday (without the Sunday paper, of course), and on a midday outing even had a brief appearance of sun and blue sky, yes, in January in Seattle. It felt like an honor.
Seattle downtown skyline
from Alaskan Way, below the
Pike Place Public Market.My Internet connection is still a bit spotty, and perhaps that was to blame, but from afar, the local news in Saturday's Advertiser looked a lot like the local news in Friday's Star-Bulletin. Just a day later. It seemed like more than a couple of point of overlap. It might have been a product of my online confusion. But, on the other hand, it wouldn't be the first time for the Gannett echo.
Up in Mount Vernon, the tiny, privately owned Skagit Valley Herald competes with the Seattle papers for local readership, and appears to be surviving on the demand for local news. It reminded me that this is close to David Black's territory where Sound Publishing and its chain of weekly papers is carving out a similar niche.
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