KCC Farmer’s Market:
Nina’s light blue Honda
Sat. Dec. 5th
10:00am – 11am

Our vehicles will be sporting a Slow Food O‘ahu Sign. At KCC we will be located at the Alohea entrance to the KCC parking lot, opposite Diamond Head Theatre. At KFM, we will be in the parking lot on the Waimanalo side, closest to the street.

Funds will be used to support local agriculture & Hawaii farmers.

Please call Laurie 261-1172 for more information.

Sabry Shehata, a professor of agribusiness at the University of Hawai‘i at Hilo, has come up with what looks like a good site about Hawai‘i’s agricultural products. Above is the banner for one of the companies listed at the site.

As someone who’s interviewed and evaluated many job applicants, I thought this advice column was very good.

Mutual Publishing has just published one of the heftiest books of the year: the four-pound Honolulu Stories. Coedited by Gavan Daws and Bennett Hymer, the collection received wide media coverage and is soon to be a classic. Honolulu Magazine said:

An anthology to end all anthologies, Honolulu Stories celebrates, examines and challenges all things related to our city, as seen through 200 years’ worth of writing—and a thousand pages. It’s got everything from Mark Twain to Rap Reiplinger, plus two pieces of fiction from our predecessor, Paradise of the Pacific: 1954’s “The Irresistible Henrique,” and 1946’s “The Forgotten Flea Powder.”

Pictures and a video clip of the launch party held at Coffee Talk can be found at the blog for the book.

Galley Pirate Ship and Blackbeard’s Stage are two of the toys offered at the Pirates! Store. Says the site:

GALLEY PIRATE SHIP
This handcrafted wooden pirate ship features 12 moving pieces including monkey, parrot, gold coin, treasure map and more. Pirate Nathaniel North included.
BLACKBEARD’S STAGE
Sail with Blackbeard on a great adventure in search of vast treasures beneath the sea. Using your magnetic fishing pole, haul up gold coins, gems and riches beyond your wildest dreams. Stow your treasures in the boat’s rear storage compartment. Beware of the fierce shark!

These toys look well crafted, and l’m guessing that they’d be fun for pirates of all ages. Parents are advised, though, that some of the pieces are small and could be swallowed by toddlers. The two toys described here are under $30.

As the site explains, the store was created to support another project:

Welcome to the Pirates! Store LLC on-line store. We are located in Eugene, OR USA. We have been on-line since 1996.

Pirates! Store helps offset the development costs of maintaining the Pirates! Fact and Legend web site (http://www.piratesinfo.com), a large free educational resource.

Every Pirates! Store purchase helps support continued development and upkeep of Pirates! Fact and Legend.

Pirates! Store offers high quality pirate related items. Prices are extremely competitive, and service is world-class. Plus you support an educational resource used by many schools and universities.

Once you have finished browsing our products, we invite you to take a look at our parent site: Pirates! Fact and Legend. There you can learn more about the history of pirates, and discuss any aspect of piracy in our lively message forums.

And while the kids are playing with their toys, you can enjoy your food with piratical glee using the Pirate Toast Stamper!

Nothing prepares the crew for a day of delinquency like a slice of hot, buttered pirate toast with a side of lemon wedges. Just press this 3-3/4″ x 3″ plastic Pirate Toast Stamper into a piece of bread, remove it, then put your bread in the toaster on a dark setting. The resulting toast will be emblazoned with the menacing image of a skull and crossed swords!

Buy from The Rainforest Site and your purchase goes further. Here’s a description from the organization’s site:

Originally launched in May 2000, The Rainforest Site focuses the power of the Internet on a specific ecological need: the preservation of the world’s rainforests. Individuals from around the world visit the site each day to click the “Click Here to Give—it’s FREE” button and help rescue imperiled land. In just its first year of operation, The Rainforest Site generated funds to purchase and preserve over 5,650 acres of endangered land.…

When you shop at The Rainforest Site store, each item you buy also helps fund habitat preservation—at no extra cost to you!

Shown here is a beautiful pin in the form of an orchid. Says Rainforest, “The exotic orchid comes in thousands of fantastic structures, shapes and colors. Explore the unique beauty of one of the most diverse flowers in the world with our pin of sterling silver and vibrant pink spondilus shell. Handmade by a trio of sisters working together in Cuzco, Peru, it’s a loving tribute to the orchid’s timeless beauty. Sterling silver and spondilus shell pin measures 1.5″ L (3.8 cm), and has a pin-and-hook back clasp. Handmade in and fair-trade imported from Peru.”

Other items sold at Rainforest include this tote bag. Says the site:

Our Bohemian Patchwork Tote is a fun and funky bag that’s sure to turn heads. Featuring colorful bands of fabric with different floral designs, this blossomy bag will surely become a favorite! Made in Bali, Indonesia by women who are part of a fair trade cooperative that creates a market for their beautiful handicrafts in order to help them create sustainable incomes and encourage keeping traditional crafts and skills alive. Bag interior is lined with deep, brown 100% cotton, and features a side pouch for wallet or cell phone.…Bag measures 15″ W x 9″ H x 2.5″ D (38.1 x 22.9 x 6.4 cm). Made in and fairly traded from Indonesia

The Rainforest Site’s “fandangle” has a thin lanyard that can be looped or tied around many things, including keys, lamp pulls, belt buckles, and zippers. Measures 2.5″ L (6.4 cm) and is now on sale for $6.95.

One of my favorite videos features a male cat.

BCR, says the user description at youtube, is “an educational non-breeding accredited sanctuary and a registered non-profit 501c3.” Here is more from the user description:

BIG CAT TV is a close look into our day to day operations, the conservation efforts we support, and the 100+ feline residents of “Big Cat Rescue” in Tampa, Fl. USA

Join our Animal Lover’s social network site where you can upload unlimited photos, video and MP3s for free at www.ChatBigCats.com. Our videos (and yours) are much better video quality there.

Our Vision Statement: A world where the animals we share it with are treated with respect and caring and where their habitat is preserved to insure the indefinite future survival of these wonderful gifts of nature. We also hope the same principles of respect and caring will carry over to the way humans treat each other.

Fur Ball, the organization’s annual fundraising event, will be held in October. Wondering what to wear on such an occasion? Big Cat’s webmaster comes to the rescue:

We call the unique Fur Ball attire “Safari Costume Formal”. You can come in traditional formal attire, come in safari, cat print or jungle orientation costume, or any mix in between, such as part formal with cat print accessorizing. Be creative and have fun with it! Use your imagination – get wild! Costume contest prize is a week in a mountain timeshare! To see examples from past years visit www.bigcatrescue.org/FurBallPhotos.htm.

A statement by the founder of the sanctuary—worth reading if you doubt the need for advocating animal rights—can be found here.

I’m not a sports follower or fan, but if by some cosmic accident I find myself in front of the TV when a good game is on, I can become engaged enough to sit down and watch. Reading about sports is something that I did when, for a short time, I was following the achievements of local golfer Tadd Fujikawa.

Recently, Robert Davé told me about his blog, and I was cheered enough by the good writing and good humor to recommend it. So here is the recommendation: take a look at Indie Sport: For the Love of the Game, and I think you’ll find it’s worth your time and energy to read. This mission statement will give you an idea of what to expect:

Indie: Is It in You?
You know you’re indie if your play is motivated by passion, not pay.

You know you’re indie if you rage against the machine, the narcissists, and the greedmeisters who’ve co-opted sport.

From the little leagues to the big leagues we celebrate people, teams, and forces who uplift the spirit . . . and pound mercilessly against all that is toxic in the world of athletics.

Also, be sure to check out the intercollegiate rowing coverage of Captured Speed Productions using the video player at the bottom of the blog’s home page. Davé says this about CSP’s history:

Captured Speed Productions came about when three of us, all Cal alums and former members of the varsity crew, decided to do what had never been done: cover an entire season of competition with video podcasts. The sport is not televised in the US, except during the Olympics, so last season we became the video source for collegiate rowing in the US. The second video on the player is our coverage of the national championship race.