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It was bedlam along our coast overnight. Shouts, yells and triumphant shrieks competed with the constant syncopated blasts of multiple automobile horns for dominance of the normally quiet night. For a while, I somehow processed the racket into an ongoing dream, but finally dragged myself to consciousness a bit after 11 p.m. Not your normal Saturday night. It took a few seconds, and then I took it all in. Kahuku must have won the big football playoff, and a quick trip to the computer confirmed the victory.And Kahuku football fans were making the drive back home from Aloha Stadium one long celebratory procession. Kaaawa is located only about halfway between Kaneohe and Kahuku, so the school's another 13 miles or more along this narrow stretch of Kamehameha Highway. But we're included in the Kahuku school district, so Kaaawa's kids end up attending Kahuku High School. And everyone was obviously enjoying the win and the long ride home.
I went back to sleep, letting the sound of the surf roll over the revelry, and in a couple of hours only the ocean remained.
"As to the bananas," one mainland friend commented yesterday, "interesting how the most trivial of posts creates the most noise........"
And so it has.
Francis T., who started it all, weighed back in with a link to the "definitive website on BANANAS... Sorry to say, you lose. It's a PLANT!"
But from MW in Kalihi Valley:
I can't resist flogging this dead banana.
Webster vs. Webster. There is no conflict.The definition of banana includes:
A perennial herbaceous plant of almost treelike size.
The definition of tree includes: a shrub or herb of arborescent form <rose trees> <a banana tree>The first definition, for banana, defines it as herbaceous and treelike; the definition for tree indicates that the term may be used for an herb [herbaceous] of arborescent [treelike] form. The original question was whether or not the term tree could be applied to the banana, not the other way around.
All trees are plants, but not all plants are trees.
And when the wind knocks them down, they are neither.
See "yard waste", which the City will pick up twice a month.
And Hank from Honolulu also took on Webster v. Webster:
The word or name "Webster" is not copyright. Anybody can call any dictionary "Webster" and you often see some of the rip-off cheapos on remainder tables. Therefore, you just have to decide which dictionary is your favorite. I like the Merriam-Webster (notice how cleverly that name IS copyright) and American Heritage. The first is more descriptive which linguists like; the second is more prescriptive (with an encyclopedia function in addition) and more helpful in settling arguments (they have a board of experts that votes ("data"--plural or singular?--gets a 50-50 vote [now that's helpful!]), but I doubt they ever ruled on "banana."And so it goes at 5:45 a.m. on this Saturday morning in Kaaawa. We're trapped at home by the expectation of traffic gridlock caused by the Kaneohe Christmas Parade. The lights of portable traffic signs warned returning motorists last night of the parade's impact between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m., so we've abandoned plans for any casual morning drives. It's one of those self-defeating commercial activities which is designed by area merchants to attract customers, but blocks any shopping for half of one of the few prime shopping days before Christmas. One of those situations where pecuniary logic fails miserably.
The Star-Bulletin announced in this morning's edition that the regular price of a Sunday paper will drop to 75 cents from the current $1.25, an obvious attempt to bolster sales of this important product. Making the Sunday edition work is one of the critical keys to long-term success.Day-O! Come, Mr. Tallyman, tally me banana....
Joe P., former denizen of Detroit now living in Japan, takes the banana another round.
I'll argue with your dictionary with...another dictionary!>From the Websters entry: banana \Ba*na"na\, n. [Sp. banana, name of the fruit.] (Bot.) A perennial herbaceous plant of almost treelike size.
This is interesting. Webster v. Webster.
It's Friday. Time to play. At least that seems to be Ms. Wally's message.
She isn't shy about throwing herself down and digging through the cat toy basket, stopping as appropriate to kick, bite, and rock & roll until satisfied. If only people could be so easily entertained!
I ran into an interesting 1998 article discussing Star-Bulletin owner David Black's acquisition of a failing community newspaper in Washington State and the approach his company, Sound Publishing, saw as necessary for success.
And from Reuters & Yahoo, an excellent analysis of the application of the Geneva Conventions in Afghanistan.
Winter sun in KaaawaThe lights went out in Kaaawa last night. Again. Just after we got home, and before we had a chance to cook dinner. We waited awhile in the deepening darkness, then changed the wick in the old oil lamp and fired it up, which gave a bit of light. Finally we gave up hope in HECO and broke out the sandwich fixings. It was a simple dinner. Leftovers stuffed between slices of bread. It did prompt begging cats, perhaps because we didn't offer them a round of canned cat food. Silverman was the chief beggar, joined by Kili and, late in the meal, Leo. Just about the time we finished eating, power was restored.
Our walk yesterday morning gave us a much better look at wind damage across Kaaawa. Several trees were uprooted, including coconut trees. One coconut tree fell onto Kaaawa Postmaster Jarrett Pang's house, crushing the roof in a front corner, although its not clear to me whether its a room or a covered entry that was hit. A few houses down the street from Jarrett, a car port was demolished. There's lots of cleanup underway in Kaaawa.
There was also a bit more news about Sunday's hiking tragedy. The trail the area where the group was hiking was described to us as a very narrow pig trail along the top of the ridge, not a hiking trail. And the victim's wife or partner was with the group when he fell. This info via a community association leader.
Merriam-Websters Collegiate Dictionary offers this advice on the banana debate:
Main Entry:
tree
Pronunciation:
'trE
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English trEow; akin to Old Norse trE tree, Greek drys, Sanskrit dAru wood
Date:
before 12th century
1 (a) : a woody perennial plant having a single usually elongate main stem generally with few or no branches on its lower part (b) : a shrub or herb of arborescent form <rose trees> <a banana tree>
What more can I say? Who wants to argue with the dictionary?
[Francis T. writes this morning, in response to a reference to my banana trees: "I hate to be picky, but....It's a PLANT, not a TREE. Bananas, that is..." So I revised the entry, even though I've always heard them referred to as trees. Anybody else have anything to add on this topic?]
As the sun rose yesterday, we were able to assess the damage caused by the high winds. We had several large broken branches in the banyan tree below the house, A couple had already crashed to the ground, and several others are hanging and might require a tree trimmer to remove. Our bananas were very lucky--we only lost one. The photo at right was taken just a block away, where bananas were devastated. Tree limbs were down all over Kaaawa, along with a couple of fences that had been blown down. On the drive into town, we saw at least one corrugated metal roof that had been blown off and deposited along the road.
Wind damage in KaaawaPower was on and off in Kaneohe Monday night, disrupting the Star-Bulletin's press run and deliveries for single copy sales.
A friend in Kaneohe commented: " Our power was out in Kaneohe from 8 to 10 p.m. and two other periods between midnight and 3 am, when I had to get up and reset our digital alarm clock. I haven't seen winds like that since Hurricane Iniki."
Our power in Kaaawa stayed on Monday night despite the high winds. But last night, after the wind had stopped and the rain subsided, with no apparent excuse, we lost power. This end of the island stayed dark from 8 p.m. to midnight. Probably just Hawaiian Electric's way of making us feel like part of the action.
Editor & Publisher's online edition ran a less-than-encouraging update on the Star-Bulletin's situation this week. The comment by newspaper consultant Mike Middlesworth set the tone: "My feeling is, in the long run, the Bulletin is not going to succeed."
On the other hand, publisher Don Kendall told E&P that they were on target with a 38 percent share of advertising in October, while owner David Black described himself as "patient".
Pacific Business News also ran a blurb about the E&P update with a negative headline declaring the Star-Bulletin "in trouble."
Meanwhile, E&P also reported the San Francisco Chronicle will cut its staff by 8.5 percent, with all the cuts coming from the ranks of those who came over from the former SF Examiner. Both union and management positions will be impacted. You can bet that the move is being carefully watched by staffers at both Honolulu dailies.
Yesterday started with the dramatic recovery effort on the cliffs behind Kaaawa. We watched as the fire-rescue team hiked to the top of the ridge, then we came back inside for breakfast. When we looked again a few minutes later, the team was hunkered down just below the highest point, while one firefighter rappelled down the longest rope I've ever seen, making his way slowly down to a ledge at the bottom of a crease in the cliff face. The rope looked a lot longer than that dotted line in the Advertiser story this morning, which visually shortens the distance down to that ledge. That stretch of rope looked much longer from where we stood. It was a sobering display, and reminds me that we don't pay these firefighters enough to do what they do.What I don't understand is why reporters haven't jumped on this story. Tragedy in a tropical setting. One minute you're a happy group hiking on a beautiful Sunday afternoon enjoying dramatic views down Oahu's windward coast, and the next minute four or five friends are left screaming and shouting after one of the group slips and falls from the summit, cartwheeling down the sheer rock face. There were witnesses in the small community below. A dramatic and dangerous rescue/recovery effort. Why so little reporting?
Then last night. The wind came first, just as we stopped in the Safeway parking lot in Kaneohe. By the time we got to Kaaawa, the gusts of wind were strong enough to scare me. The cats were already scared. Furniture was blown across the deck. Debris littered the yard. We rounded up frightened cats and closed the cat door, confining them to the house for safe keeping. The rain started later, bringing thunder and lightening as well. Cats don't like thunder. It's still raining. Kaaawa's streams must be raging. I feel like we're in the ark.
The funny thing is that the electricity stayed on last night, through the winds and rain. Normally, the power goes off at the slightest provocation. A gust of wind. Power clicks off. A drizzle in Hauula? Powers off. But despite nature's best efforts last night, Hawaiian Electric kept the juice flowing. Amazing.
It's still dark, so I haven't had a chance to assess the situation outside this morning. We'll probably forego the walk in deference to the continuing rain, although it seems like the wind has died down.
I had to let Silverman out into the storm a few minutes ago. He was just so unhappy at the confinement. I'm guessing that he'll make a quick survey and return after deciding that the house isn't so bad after all. Note: Silverman reappeared at the door, crying and fussing to be let back in and dried off.
I just discovered one household casualty. My trusty Airport, which allows me to roam the house and the Internet simultaneously, is dead. Won't power up. It's almost exactly one year since it died and was resurrected by Apple. Now it appears to be gone again. My wings are clipped. Temporarily, I hope.
It was a grim Sunday afternoon in Kaaawa, with a yellow fire-rescue helicopter circling the cliffs behind us, and rumors swirling that someone had fallen or jumped from an area near the top. Some of the kids next door said they saw someone in a white T-shirt leap off and cartwheel down out of sight. The helicopter flew repeated runs past the steep slopes from mid-afternoon until dark. But there was nothing on the evening news. Perhaps there will be some public information today, even if its to dispel the rumors.The latest: a firefighter at the Kaaawa station confirmed that someone fell from the cliff, and a rescue unit moved in early this morning and sent a team hiking up the ridge. They're nearing the top now (7:22 AM). Obviously, they'll be more on this story later today.
The Sunday Star-Bulletin now regularly has inserts from J.C. Penney, Longs, and K-Mart. Still no Sears, or CompUSA for boys toys. Real estate listings are thin, although auto listings are presentable. Enough for long-term survival? Hopefully.
Jim Romenesko's MediaNews links to another interesting story of reactions to the takeover of a local newspaper in Wisconsin by national chains, most recently Gannett. The story, appearing in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal, examines the fate of the Stevens Point Journal as local control was lost to corporate ownership.
I added another round to the Photo Gallery, in addition to the recent set of Atlanta photos, including several fine sunrises and (surprise) some equally fine cats. Enjoy.
After two long disappearances over two days, Lizzie finally crashed and spent Saturday sleeping at home. The top of my Macintosh was a favored spot, although she also spent some time on top of the kitchen cabinets. She hung around the whole day and into the evening, although I'm not sure whether she's in the house at this early hour this morning. I'll just have to wait and see.
Ms Lizzie
This description was written following Lizzie's long Thanksgiving Day walkabout. When she returned, we locked her inside overnight.It was mass punishment, mass detention.All portals were sealed overnight.
Any cats seeking to leave the house had to request special authority in person.
No bi-coloreds were considered for exit passes.
They fussed for a while, then settled down.This morning we tried various interrogation techniques.
So far, all failed.
We started interrogating neighbors, seeking clues.
So far, no clues have surfaced.All I can say is that I know a lot more that previously about the paths through the overgrown state parcel of land in front of us, and the topography under the tall (and sharp!) California grass on the overgrown corner of our property.
The other cats thought my aimless searching was a great game. I couldn't go too far without locking other cats in the house. As long as they were free, I would have this trail of cats straggling just behind me--Harriet, mewing with excitement; Leo, leading the way; Kili, checking out the scene; and Lindsey, strutting along like the master of the universe. We made up a strange little parade, with me in front, looking for who knows what and chanting the mantra...lizzie? lizzie?
Another scene. Down the hill into the state property, there's a patch with these weed-type plants growing about knee high with nice little purple flowers and lots of honey bees. I turned around at one point, and there was Leo doing sort of a dolphin thing--he would make a leap, then disappear down below the tops of the flowers, then take another leap, and so on, like a cat trying to maneuver through deep snow or something. It cracked me up. I don't know how he managed to accomplish his passage without the bees getting him, but he did.
I also added a few photographs from our recent Atlanta trip. These are pretty idiosyncratic, mostly self-portraits. Small bits of the experience. A bit strange. What can I say?
Click on photo for
the Atlanta gallery
Search this site,
courtesy of the folks at Atomz.com
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