Haleiwa Wedding Tips?

Aloha dear readers:

My very own sister is debating coming out to Hawaii to get married. She is now thinking of a VERY small wedding someplace like Haleiwa. She wants to do something informal (and yes, inexpensive but elegant). I was wondering if any of you, dear readers, can suggest any of the following:

a) An affordable cute beachfront cottage for two (Haleiwa or someplace like it)

b) A justice of the peace in the greater Haleiwa area

c) An amateur/ reasonable photographer who could take video and still pictures (at least somewhat better than me).

d) Any other suggestions (like a good setting), eateries (besides my favorites--Cholo's, Haleiwa Joe, Giovanni's Shrimp Shack, Matsumoto's)... like someone mentioned a Brazillian place on the beach. The Thai there place was cute, but food was so-so. I'm scared of the sushi place up there. I imagine I would take them to places back in Honolulu mostly otherwise.

e) I was also thinking of investigating my favorite island, Lanai; but have no idea if one can do a simple affordable wedding there. I think the main thing she wants to avoid is to feel as if part of a wedding factory. I can't blame her, but imagine it is hard to come up with original and affordable wedding ideas out here. I'll have to call the Hotel Lanai or the Lodge on Sunday.

Any suggestions would be most welcome online or by e-mail. I may drive out to Haleiwa to check things out on Sunday. I can always work in my favorite cafe. Thanks!

PS No exciting diary report for today (nice Bat Mitzvah of a friend's daughter, Pali overlook for 5 minutes [see my Flickr site], laundry, and writing). Happy Spring Break.

Spring Break: Day 1/ SAITO Tetsu

Friday was the start of Spring Break for me. For faculty that means time to catch up with grading, and even time for research. I did both today, from the vantage point of the Pacific Palace Tea Garden in Ala Moana. It was a good day to be covered from the rain, but also somewhat out in the open. This place is now the only café to have Assam Tea -- my favorite. It is also usually has wireless, which is an added benefit. I felt good about reading several good student papers, and also finishing an article.



All work and no play does help with tenure, but would drive me insane, so I went at night to hear jazz contrabassists Testu Saitoh and Nobuyoshi Ino in concert at the Doris Duke Theatre. It is part of the 4th Biennial Hawaii Contrabass Festival. To be honest, I was in the mood for something straight ahead jazz a la Mingus, rather than something free and avant-garde. Alas, the music was quite free, but I came to love it almost immediately. My favorite piece was called “Ombak Hitak Ryukyu,” which started with them imitating the sound of waves on the bass, and later including part of an Okinawan folk song. Except for one funked-out Astor Piazzola piece, the rest of their pieces were Saitoh originals. His sound is something like an eclectic mélange of worldmusic, Pendercki, Cage, Late Mingus, Pärt, Glass, etc. It worked very well. I was pleased that most of the audience stayed, as this kind of sound usually empties Honolulu crowds. Alas, now it is time to go back to work (well, maybe after ramen).

Yuji Ichioka (1936-2002) New Book

Next month UCLA will celebrate the life of pioneering Asian American historian Yuji Ichioka (1936-2002), as well as the publication of his final work, Before Internment: Essays in Prewar Japanese American History by Yuji Ichioka; Edited by Gordon H. Chang and Eiichiro Azuma.

Ichioka was a real inspiration. It was an honor to talk with him a few times over the years. Professor Eiichiro Azuma captured many people's thoughts in his touching tribute in the UCLA Asian American Studies journal Amerasia a few years back.

Blogging ALA and News

Rain, Rain, Rain... Enough already.

Mona just let me know of an ALA wiki for people going to ALA Annual in New Orleans, including a list of conference bloggers. Also, if you are attending ALA in New Orleans, you might be interested that the IFC and AILA will co-sponsor a forum on Native American perspectives on Intellectual Freedom. I was recently talking with Kaleo on a Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) philosophy on IF.

My main international news source, the BBC World Service has really been going downhill these days. Bush House (BBC HQ) has been decreasing quality news and analysis and replacing them with call-in shows. Sigh. One exception though was a fine documentary on the CIA's "extraordinary renditions" and their impact.

If you want to download more news, you might want to check out Tuesday's (21 March 06) Democracy Now broadcast, which you can download. It features a fascinating interview about the Time Magazine story that is having the Pentagon Investigating claims that Marines shot 15 Iraqi Civilians possibly as revenge. It also has a disturbing interview with Former GOP Strategist Kevin Phillips on his new book American Theocracy: The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century. In case you are not familiar with Democracy Now, it has the subtitle "The War and Peace Report," so there is a definite agenda behind the program, but one should get a healthy diet of news from many perspectives.

Spring & Summer Classes (revised)

At our last faculty meeting we revisied the Four-Year Course Plan. It is now online (thanks Mysti!) at http://www.hawaii.edu/slis/courses/4yr.pdf.

Loriene Roy for ALA President!

This is just to remind ALA members of my strong and warm endorsement of Loriene Roy for President. Please check out her campaign website or blog, and please do vote! It really can make a difference. Time is short, but let me know if you want a pamphlet via snail mail as I have a few left. I support Professor Roy because of her integrity as an individual as well as her agenda for libraries. < / lecture >

Snow Closing!

Noriko told me last night that the University of Nebraska was closed due to snow. She gets another day of Spring Break (=research time!). Lincoln might get 12 to 13 inches of snow today.

It has been a while since UH was closed because of snow, although this week's downpour reminds me all too well of the last time campus was closed due to weather.

At the Hawaii Archivist's Conference

Today was a busy but fun day. I was re-elected to the board of the Association of Hawaii Archivists. AHA had our annual conference on Saturday at the Honolulu Academy of Arts and Shangri La. AHA conferences are more often about exploring culture rather than a typical day of workshops and panels about archival practice. They usually are real treats; thus, many librarians and friends join AHA. Today's highlights were Dr. Stephen Little's talk on the "Life in the Pacific of the 1700s: The Cook/Forster Collection of the Georg August University of Göttingen" (as well as the exhibit itself. Judy, Laura, Kanani, and Jim helped me to appreciate kapa and other artifacts. Mary Ann and Ron gave excellent detailed tours of the Academy's archives and library. Both have done an amazing job of developing their collections. They credited Dr. Little with the new vision that allowed them to be professionals. Over lunch I came to understand their respect for his vision.

In the late afternoon many of us went to Shangri La. It was my first time to see Doris Duke's mansion. I've always appreciated the aesthetics of Arab calligraphy and art, so I've been curious about the place for a while. She was a great philanthropist. The natural location and some aspects were breathtaking, especially the tiled floors. It was interesting to understand her vision, although some of the clashing juxtapositions and chatchkees were rather jarring. I am very happy I went though. The tour was quite well done.

The board was exhausted by the end of the day, so we cancelled our working dinner meeting. This allowed me to drop in on the ALA Student Chapter social at Brew Moon. After one of Microbrew and much talking I was ready to call it a day. I did not have energy left to join them in watching Why We Fight back at the Duke Theatre.

I have more photos from the day as a set on my Flickr site.