Maleko’s Hale

Aloha ka kou,

First off, thank you so much Katz for updating the theme graphics here – it totally rocks!  Tonight I’m supposed to be writing an article on how certain strains of micro-algae can ingest CO2 and produce fatty acids which can then be extracted into ethanol and biofuel…  Bleh!  Instead I come here to write this blog, haha!  This must be a record for me – 2 entries in a little over a week.  Here goes:

Last Saturday I hijacked my wife and kids to Wahiawa for the Wahiawa Hongwanji Bon Dance.  Actually they all enjoyed themselves.  My wife and daughter went to the bazaar and bought inexpensive jewelry.  And my son, Mr. “I’m borrrrred – can we go yet?” got a plastic pirate sword out of the deal.  It looked like just about all of

A real treat was the Okinawan Lion Dance put on by one of the Okinawan Dance Clubs:

I was away to Long Beach last week for an EPRI PQ (Electrical Power Research Institute Power Quality) conference.  I’ll spare you the boring details of the conference subject matter but I must say that Long Beach is a nice seaside Southern California town. 

I was at the Renaissance Hotel near the Pike which is an entertainment/restaurant area.  Across the street from the Renaissance is the Rock Bottom Brewery and Restaurant - a great micro-brew pub.  I liked Rock Bottm so much that I went there 2 nights in a row, haha.

We had a great time one evening aboard the Queen Mary which has been docked in Long Beach since 1967.  After a nice heavy pupu party we toured the ship to learn about it’s facinating history.  I highly recommend this if you’re ever in Southern California.

My stay was not without a bit if excitement.  On Wednesday evening, I was outside the hotel and I hear a screech and then a loud boom.  I saw the tail end of the accident where an SUV was rear-ended and then spun around by a small C-class Mercedes which flew up over the curb of the median.  The two guys in the Mercedes get out and start walking away from the scene.  I yell at them to stop but they take off running.  The driver of the SUV is shaken up but he is a ble to get out after the paramedics arrive.  His passenger, unfortunately, has to be wheeled into an ambulance on a gurney.  Hopefully she’s OK.  It was amazing that no one was seriously injured.  What bothered me (other than the two knuckleheads who ran off) was that none of the air bags deployed in either car.

Early next morning (around 1:30 AM)  the fire alarm in the hotel is activated!  I search around for my clothes and wallet and go stumbling down the stairs.  Not too many others have evacuated the hotel.  Turns out to be a false alarm and only the 5th and 6th floor speaker/strobes activated.  This happens twice that afternoon.  I also caught a bad virus which made my flight home miserable.  Bleh!  I seem to be on the road to recovery so I’m just kicking back today.  Oh, and sorry but I didn’t pack a camera for the trip - I should’ve though.