Legislature Gets TV Facilities… Cooking Show on Agenda?

I think it’s pretty cool that Olelo has opened up a place for legislators and their staff to produce videos and use equipment right at the capital building.

From the Senate Majority Caucus Blog:

“It’s finally here! After much collaboration and anticipation,`Olelo Community Television unveiled their new video production studio today, Monday February 2, 2009, right here at the Capitol.

Studio@Capitol is a full in-house video production facility complete with video production equipment available for rent, two editing stations, and a DVD duplicating center. It is available to all members of the Hawai`i State Legislature, State Administration and staff to create, shoot and edit their own productions…”

Now here is what is blowing me away… A senator has already mentioned the following:

…There is great interest and excitement about what this could mean in terms of new ways to reach out to the public and connect with constituents. You can bet each Senator has their own ideas on how to do that. Among them, there has been mention of hosting a cooking show, an end-of-session wrap up, weekly video podcasting, and much more!…

More Here

So I’m throwing around names of cooking shows that could be possible with some of our current Senators and this is what I’ve come up with… Feel free to add your own:

• “Cooking with Kalani“
• “Brickwoods Oven”
• “Baking with Baker“
• “Frying with Fukunaga“
• “Stewing with Slom“
• “Grilling with Gabbard“
• “Tempuring with Takamine“
• “Burning with Bunda“
• “Garnishing with Green“
• “Poaching Ige’s“
• “Chopped Chun“
• “Wokking Will“
• “Canning with Colleen“
• “Filleting with Fred“
• “Hashing with Hooser“
• “Kimchi with Kim“
• “Les Fat”
• “Kosher with Kokuburn“
• “Braising with Brian“
• “Jambalaya with Jill“
• “Steaming with Tsutsui”
  
• “Sake with Sakamoto“
• “Noodles with Nishihara“
• “Marinating with Michelle“
• “Creaming with Clayton“

I know I’m missing a few… but I figured too many cooks would spoil the broth.

I just love when our tax money is spent on a good cooking show.

Video Proof of George St. Pierre Getting Vaseline Applied

The video of the corner action between rounds 1 and 2 of the recent BJ Penn/George St. Pierre fight:

Lingle Releases $833,00 for Advanced Traveler Information System for Oahu Travelers

Governor Linda Lingle has released $833,000 to implement the first phase of an Advanced Traveler Information System for H-1, H-2 and H-201 (Moanalua) Freeways to help motorists avoid traffic and reduce their commute times…

More Here

Where is Pahoa Town?… Satellite View

I know there have been a few people who have emailed me and asked me where is Pahoa Town?  I figure I my as well put a link on my blog to where it is.

You can zoom in or out to see where Pahoa Town is by using the arrows in the upper left:

George St. Pierre Speaks About the Fight… Video

Ringside From a Ring Girl at UFC 94

Arianny Celeste was a ring girl at the recent UFC 94 fight in Las Vegas.

UFC "Ring Girl" Arianny Celeste on the left

This is her footage right before the BJ Penn vs. George St. Pierre fight.  It gives you probably one of the best seats in the house (just wish she would have shot the whole fight):

Did George St. Pierre Cheat Against BJ Penn… The Poll

People have been complaining from the time the fight was over that George St. Pierre cheated and used Vaseline to grease up his body.  These pictures certainly are damaging:

Cagewriter blogs:

“…It’s pretty clear by watching the video that Nurse had some Vaseline on his hands when he rubbed St. Pierre’s shoulders, back and chest between the first and second rounds.

Why is that a big deal in mixed martial arts? It’s significant because of all the grappling and maneuvering that takes place on the ground. St. Pierre was on top of Penn in the second round and the Hawaiian tried several times to shift his legs up to work for a triangle choke or an armbar. Grip and some friction is huge in these cases and a slippery fighter would make it more difficult to lock on one of those holds. Above you can see, Nurse apply Vaseline to GSP’s face, then get more Vaseline, then rub his shoulders, arms and back…”

Hawaii Idol VI: Contestant Nichole Loa

Hawaiian Idol 2009 now in affect.. sign up today. Semi finals april 11,18,25 grand finals may 9th.. this is NIcole Loa one of many new faces in Hawaiian Idol. Kona Bowl Welcomes Nicole and all her friends to joing us in Hawaiin Idol 2009.. Video by Crowfoot Production tbarrass@hotmail.com

Hawaii Idol VI: Contestant Kimberly Hawkes

Hawaiian Idol is back.. THIS YEAR 2009 HAS MANY NEW FACES.. HERE IS Kimberly Hawks is here to give us a sample of her skills as a singer in this years 2009 Kona Bowl Hawaiian Idol:

Hawaiian Idol VI

Kona Bowl is proud to announce it “2009 Hawaiian Idol Contest”

April 18 – Semi-Finals – Hawaiian Idol VI – 20 contestants perform in front of three judges and the crowd. Crowd vote counts 50%, judges count 50%, top 5 scored singers will be scheduled to return for the finals on May 9th where 1 singer will be crowned as the next Hawaiian Idol!

April 25 – Semi-Finals – Hawaiian Idol VI – 20 contestants perform in front of three judges and the crowd. Crowd vote counts 50%, judges count 50%, top 5 scored singers will be scheduled to return for the finals on May 9th where 1 singer will be crowned as the next Hawaiian Idol!

May 2 – Semi-Finals – Hawaiian Idol VI – 20 contestants perform in front of three judges and the crowd. Crowd vote counts 50%, judges count 50%, top 5 scored singers will be scheduled to return for the finals on May 9th where 1 singer will be crowned as the next Hawaiian Idol!

May 9 – Grand Finale – Hawaiian Idol VI – 20 contestants (Top 5 from each semi-final) return to perform in front of three judges and the crowd. Crowd vote counts 50%, judges count 50%, top 3 scored singers sign 1 final song and the winner will be crowned at the end of the night as the next Hawaiian Idol!

Hawaiian Idol Winner receives $500 cash plus roundtrip airfare and hotel room to Las Vegas where they will compete against 287 finalists at the end of June 2009. Top prizes for Hawaiian Idol include 2 night stay at Hilton Waikoloa Village, 2 night stay at Hilton Grand Vacations Waikoloa, 2 night stay at Marriott Waikoloa Beach Resort & Spa, and many more prizes for the top 10 places!

The winner of the International Karaoke Contest wins $5000 cash, receives a recording contract, and will open for a National Act in Las Vegas in June 2009! 2nd place wins $2000 cash, 3rd place wins $1000 cash!

More Here

Hawaii Agencies Launch Food Safety Program

The State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture and the Hawaii Farm Bureau have partnered for a three-year pilot RFID program designed to promote food safety by enabling product visibility throughout the supply chain. The Hawaii Produce Traceability initiative uses RFID technology to track fresh produce down to the farm, or even field, level.

The initiative, the first of its kind in the U.S., offers a win-win situation for consumers and participating growers. When a food safety issue arises, product recalls can be enacted within an hour. With traceability down to the field level, growers can localize the impact of a recall to the relevant area, minimizing losses.

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Beyond improving food safety, growers, who can participate by either slap-and-ship tagging or usage of a hand-held RFID system, can reap a bounty of other benefits from the program. Gathered data can be used to optimize harvest productivity, strengthen food processing controls, increase cold chain visibility, reduce produce dwell time on shipping and receiving docks, accelerate transportation times between trading partners and improve inventory turns; all this can help increase profit margins in a competitive industry.

Lowry Computer Products developed the first phase of the system, which includes hardware from Motorola and Symbol Technologies, software from Globe Ranger, and UPM Raflatac RFID inlays paired with waterproof labels. Lowry’s own Fresh Harvest tracking solution unifies these components, providing real-time supply chain data including when boxed produce is planted and harvested, what pesticides are used, and when and where RFID-tagged boxes are scanned. All this information is automatically uploaded into a database accessible to both program participants and, via the initiative’s web portal, the general public.

State officials are now planning for the next two phases of the initiative. Enhancements may include RFID-enabled cellphones to enable more farms to participate, and implementing produce temperature tracking to reduce the threat of food spoilage. The program may eventually be expand to cover 5,000 Hawaiian farms.

Funding for the pilot program was provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Economic Development Alliance of Hawaii, the Federal State Marketing Improvement Program, and the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation.

Bank Repo’s Air Kauai Helicopters… Again

On November 11th, I blogged that Air Kauai had it’s helicopters repossessed.

The following day, they were able to get them back.

Well now… they have lost them again!

Air Kauai Inc., a Lihu’e, Hawaii-based company that specializes in island tours, had its helicopter fleet repossessed.

According to The Garden Island, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Faris gave the Bank of Hawaii the go-ahead to repossess two Eurocopter AS 350 helicopters last week.  Air Kauai failed to make its December payment of $31,402 to the bank and a $47,600 down payment to the insurance company, the newspaper reported.According to The Garden Island, the company took out two loans…

More here

“The Ledge” Pt. 3: Relating to Taro Security and GMO

My father-in-law is one of the people spearheading this Taro Bill.  I’m not going to get into the debate here about GMO, but I just thought I’d pass along the information about the bill.

“Uncle (dad) shares a little about his life and connection with Kalo.
This video was made to encourage input from the public on House Bill 1663
prohibiting genetically modified taro.”

HB1663
RELATING TO TARO SECURITY.
Genetically Modified Taro; Prohibition
Prohibits the development, testing, propagation, release, importation, planting, or growing of genetically modified taro in the State of Hawaii.