Catch a Wave

Can we talk about food instead?

Who lives in the land of Biscuits as fast food? Bojangle's Hardees Chik Fil A maybe even McDonald's? I don't know that there is anything inherently regional about biscuits, but I suspect they are unavailable some places. And those folks who live there must have been very bad  in another life.  There are other great breakfast foods, but none is as easy to eat as a biscuit and none is as mystical in its preparation. OK, maybe Krispy Kreme doughnuts are as mystical, but they are messy and guilt inducing. I don't think people are as inclined to overdo Hardee's sausage biscuits or Bojangle's cinnamon biscuits as they are KKs, but maybe I am mistaken.

OK, go ahead and discuss this unknown dude's singing. I have never heard of him. I find most descriptions of musicians pretty useless ( think of those Columbia Record Club brochures). 

And another thing. Have you ever picked up some hipster journal and read an article about a band, only to find that you and the writer have so little in common that you can't tell what he is talking about?

The first time I heard PATH I thought to myself "This sounds a little like FORMAT."  Later on, I was relieved to find out I wasn't going crazy. PATH frontman MEMBER'S OPINIONS was in FORMAT for three years before ideological differences with bassist Share Your Opinions ( his artistic arch enemy now, but still his brother) caused him to strike out on his own. The brothers' lifelong interest in ant trail patterns as cosmic rhythm notation has led them in similar directions, but at vastly different volumes. While Members prefers the sweetly acoustic melodies from their breakout album RECENT MEMBER PHOTOS, his brother has gone over to the dark side with the thumping demands of ANNOYING PAID ADVERT,  a disk with certain pop charms, if you like that sort of thing. MO and SYP continue to appear together occasionally as a part of their parents' neo chant collective Dancing About Architecture, but they now make sure they are several feet apart onstage.  Members ' voice has the timbre of 90's revival singer WHAT DO YOU THINK, but without the jangly delivery. Sometimes he will lapse into more of a bluesy vibe, reminiscent of the early recordings of Prime Web, over an eighties dance beat.

[ PATH, with singer MEMBERS OPINIONS is appearing tonight at Still Tragically Hip, Show starts at 10, with mike checks and posturing for the first hour or so. Copies of their new CD, FORMAT THIS, Bass Boy  will be available .]

I've heard of Jack Johnson, but I never really got into him. He seems too much like he's just sitting there with a guitar and singing whatever he feels like. Which I guess for some people is a good thing; but I've always been one for more intricate arrangements and fancy lexis.

Take this little gem of four lines from the Decemberists' song "Bridges and Balloons":

"I do recall our caravel; / A little wicker beetle-shell / with four fine masts and lateen sails / it's bearings on Cair Paravel."

Willie, listen to me very carefully. NOTHING THOSE VENDORS MAKE IS FOOD.

Sure, it looks like food, and they make you think that it's food. But it. is . not. FOOD.

Having said that, I'm a devotée of the biscuit. MY biscuits, of course. I find that where food is concerned, solipsism is not only desirable but in fact it is healthy. I use an organic whole wheat pastry flour, Irish butter, and other ingredients on a rotating basis depending on the Mange-Biscuit occasion: breakfast biscuits get a little sweetening and some extra butter, dinner biscuits get herbed and salted, usw.

The very act of owning a "pastry cutter" will elevate you mightily in the eyes of all. Knowing how to use one efficiently will necessarily increase your consumption of (let's hope) very high quality butter, and this is only a good thing. And the smell of baking biscuits in your home is quite simply to have cracked the door open on the Kitchen of the Gods.

I have Jack Johnson's tunes on high rotation in the iPod. A good reason to like Jack is that YOU could pick up a guitar and start playing and singing like he does. This is, like biscuits, only a good thing. Another of the ilk and quite enjoyable too is Priscilla Ahn:

http://priscillaahn.com/main.htm

My kids have reached the point where when I sing to them they get really embarrassed and stuff pillows in their ears.

Or maybe I totally suck? NO WAY!!!

I saw Leo Kottke once, and as he was about to start singing he explained, "If I can stand the sound of my own voice, then you're all just gonna have to deal with it."

I suspect I'm not the only one who has never been to Hawaii (except a refueling stop on my way to Southeast Asia), never heard of either of the Jack Johnsons, never heard of Mark Murphy, have never read Rolling Stone, and never heard of Jeff Johnson.  Thank goodness I at least remember the Beach Boys! (Whew...)  Tell me I'm not the only one....

Isles, have you ever substituted cold olive oil for butter in your biscuits? If you don't mind the faint pale green tinge, it is said to be better for you. One could make homemade biscuits from just about any oil and they would be better than sto' bought.

I figure there are at least three types/grades of biscuits, each with its own uses and devotees:

1) the true homemade biscuit, which is crumbly and a little dry. It  is a thing of wonder when hot and not too bad split and toasted the next day. You can use the same dough to make a pretty good rolled cinnamon bun.

2) the Southern Fast Food Biscuit, which is cut and made from "scratch" at the restaurant. It is slighly unnatural in its fluffiness, but it is awfully good when fresh. Whether it is better than #1 depends on what you grew up with and which aspects of biscuitness you esteem. Many traditional bakers consider it a little bit insubstantial.

3) the canned biscuit, as in the exploding dough cylinder. Hot out of the oven, it is better than toast and it vaguely resembles both of the two above. To a real cook, it is one step above styrofoam.

I know a lady who makes her own biscuits at home and they turn out slightly more like the Hardees biscuits than like Mama's. I do not know if that is because of how she prefers them or because of the creeping influence of manufacturing. Or maybe Mama's are a touch too solid when viewed objectively. Can anybody be objective about Mama's cooking?

For some very clever observations on kitchen tools as props, check out Alan Kohler's 1960s classic THE MADISON AVENUE COOKBOOK (for people who can't cook, but don't want anyone to know). It comes from that vague time before all things were marketed as "like the pros use"( cameras, stoves, power tools, etc.)  but right at the dawn of american consciousness of fancy cooking.  I am sure a pastyr cutter is a useful tool. I once owned one, but I think I mostly ended up using a fork.    

Sing a song of biscuits, bakin in the oven

Put this on the table, chillun quit that shovin

Mama makes good biscuits, pecans make good pie

Eat your food so you'll grow up and write for Peterman's eye.

OMG - I'm in love... don't tell my husband... (har har). I'm sitting here listening to Jack's music and TOTALLY diggin' it... gonna have to download to the iPod...

Music is my therapy. And as a dancer I'm always not just listening - but feeling music through me. Very cool, this Jack Johnson - can't wait to see how his stuff comes out in my dance classes (I teach...).

I'm inclined to agree with Jonathan that certain things just shouldn't be classified as food... but then, Willie, you mention biscuits from places like Chic-fil-A and... well... food or not, they simply MUST be eaten.

I'm sucker for most things acoustic, that's true. I've got some real good memories with friends and a capella brushfire fairytales. Ever since the curious george thang, he's been a little too cheesy for me.

But the song "Flake" takes my breath away. Probably because the lyrics of the song seem more honest and/or troubled for him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mGeETlU74o&feature=related

 I guess though, as far as the cake goes, John Mayer takes it before JJ does.

This is where Peterman's Eye 2.0 rocks. You all can see the man to whom I'm about to refer.

My brother-in-law gave me Brushfire Fairytales when it first came out. He (brother) grew up in Kauai, surfing. He's the one in the cowboy hat, teaching my son to drive the boat. He's just got this thing about him. Much like the attributes Mr. Peterman described above. He's so calm. And decisive. No mania, no angst. No adolescent rebellion. It soothes me. It soothes my children. Look at my son's face in the pic. I know it soothes my sister (the one in the front of the sister line-up, flashing her legs on the log). You couldn't have picked a better match for her. My brother-in-law coined the phrase, now used by all of our husbands, "Spice down, woman." 

I think it's so perfect that Casey introduced us to Jack, given their similarities. I imagine he consumes quite a bit of Jack in his journey with my sister—the infamous plate thrower. God love her. 

I always bring Jack out when I find myself becoming a little too "Todd and Margo," per Christmas Vacation. And when he's playing on my commute, I'm far less likely to flip people off. So that's saying something.

Ironically, he was playing in the salon last night and am now thinking he might be responsible for the ten inches of hair missing from my head this morning. He just makes you say, Why not?! 

A favorite for all those who have not heard him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rItHumCNNQ

Trask,

Shut up about the biscuits and just listen. You sound like an old man, and we all know you're not.

MissIve. Haircut pictures, toute suite.

And I put up a picture, Ive. I know where your hair went.

Meh. Not into da beach bum.

Isles, love the Leo Kottke quote.  It sounds like something I'd have said.  My out-loud voice is only fit for a deaf showerhead.  My inside voice, though, is Sharon Jones.  I'm wondering, though, how is high-quality butter different than others?  Fat's fat, right? Or can one actually taste the pesticides in the good stuff?

 In Trask's defense, biscuits are a big deal in the South.  Old man or not,  bad biscuits are an affront to humanity.  The topic deserves much consideration.

A pal o' mine has a Jack Johnson Cd for kids.  The kids LOVE it.  And the adults are pretty enamored of it, too.

Isles!

Nice pic. Funny man. But my hair is in an envelope en route to Locks of Love. Sort of gross, actually.

I will post a pic, if I can get my crazy phone to get on board. I'll play some Jack for it, get it to mellow out.

Agent,

You talk like da beach bum. 

Shandonista opens the door on my favorite topic of all time. BUTTER.

When I was a small kid, I used to nick bars of butter out of the fridge, crawl under the bed, and eat them. Maybe my mother weaned me too early?

High quality butter is made from cows that are pasture grass fed, not medicated, and who get lots and lots of sunshine and fresh air. Happy cows, basically. And a really high quality butter is also cultured. Wow, there are some good butters to be had out there.

One of my favorite Lance Armstrong quips, too, is about why he likes racing the Spring Classics (which he didn't get to do much of back in the day). The one thing he singled out of ALL the other reasons to go to Belgium... their butter.

Love him. I even converted my husband along the way, although it took a little while.

After a week like this one (or most, come to think of it), give me an outdoor fire, a martini and Sleep Through the Static and I'm a new person.

Check out All At Once, What You Thought You Need, Broken (from Curious George). Besides delivering thoughtful lyrics, he's also a talented guitarist....

Others with similar "healing powers"?........John Mayer, Norah Jones, Bonnie Raitt, Alison Kraus (I could go on....!)

Here's a couple more musicians worthy of several Gb on the Pods:

Andy McKee
Don Ross
Göran Sollscher
Erik Mongrain
Craig D'Andrea

Most of those guys don't sing. They make their (mostly) acoustic guitars do that for them. I have a playlist called "The Four O'Clock Drink Club", which comes on at some time in the afternoon - I forget - and all those guys are on it. They go great with drinks, and making dinner, and BISCUITS, and having friends over.

I was converted to butter from other forms of fat that I can't believe I ever consumed by a college roommate who was a complete snob but who, bless her pea-pickin' heart, pointed out to me that butter was as cheap as the substitute.  Voila, as they say.

Later, when butter was getting a bad rap by the cholesterol cops, my husband declared he'd never reform and that was that.  Smart man.  I, too, love butter.  Fresh bread (or biscuit or muffin, or knife, or whatever) and butter.  Manna from heaven.  Perhaps I ought to avoid the really good stuff...I see an addiction coming.

This guy is a total Ying to Jack's Yang, but he does a very similar thing to me. Maybe the simple, strumming guitar chords?

Hank III

Total train wreck. I guess his father and grandpappy helped with that. Here's one I love of his, actually Hank I, but it's Hank III doing it. Listen to the intro where he gives 'cred' to his grandfather by calling him a mother f@#ker. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx1jB2UIukw 

Isles,

Posted. Phone would not mellow. Blurry. 

Mr. Peterman, you have NO idea how home-sick you made me for Hawai'i.  I had friends and family members who went in October and I have friends and family members who are going in January...I haven't been in 4 years. 

Before y'all start making fun of me for being spoiled and actually having BEEN to Hawai'i, if you haven't been I don't think you can understand what it is like to live there and have to leave.  I have a deep emotional attachment to the Big Island and I cry every time I have to leave, it just feels like home.

When I hear Jack Johnson or IZ or even bloody Don Ho, it makes me smile and I can't help but think of the places that these sounds were born in.  Surfing in La'ie, walking the beach at Wakiki, driving down the Kuakini highway pasts black fields of lava flow, listening to the humpback whales in Kona Bay, swimming with the turtles at Ho'okena, watching the huge breaks at Lapahoehoe

Heiress,

Can we hear your music anywhere? YouTube? A video clip you can upload onto PE? Would love to hear it.

Maybe if all of us pound on our virtual pub table together? 

Hmmm Missive, how about your next adventure with the PE girls be to the Islands?  We can Drive the Road to Hana, Hike the Chain of Craters trail, Horseback ride in the Waipio Valley, a luau at the PCC, helicopter ride over Kauai, malasadas at Tex's, and take the boat ride out to leave a lei at the Arizona Memorial.

Doc,

You are NOT alone and frankly an i-tunes sampling of today's topic has done nothing change that. I like my music a little more musical.

Isles,

You'd have loved my late father-in-law who, when a broasted potato wedge was overdone and unable to support the band of AAA butter that he had cut- not shaved- off a stick, he simply alternated bites from each. That wasn't what did him in.

This, the day after we turned down two great seats to an NFL game- twice, began with a guy named Eliot calling with what he claims is a great marketing idea for the candy business run by my wife.

I remember his name because he worked into every sentence he uttered for ten minutes.

Had he but known that all it did was remind me of a guy by that name who, trying to get into the pants of a good looking neighbor of ours, told her that he had read: "Everything ever written by Jane Eyre," he might have eased off.

Oddly, it was an approach we believe to have met with success.

Some of the brilliance of Eliot's plan dimmed when it became evident that the only person with the time to figure out how to implement it is me and I know jack about marketing.

If I'm back soon, it will mean that I found help, got smart or gave up an abject, miserable failure.

Nachista,

Brilliant movie piece yesterday!(dust motes.) And I love Iz's "Over The Rainbow."

i don't know about Jack Johnson, but any post that mentions Mark Murphy, the original jazz hipster, is fine in my book. But hey, I can see that pineapple fizz drink now. Maybe I'll give Jack a listen.

Oooh I almost forgot...for you wine lovers you HAVE to go tasting at Volcano Winery, everyone I've sent there has loved it.

When I work out, the music is usually something like Drowning Pool.  When I just want to smile and forget about annoyances, I turn on Jack Johnson or the likes.  You just can't help but smile.

Missive, a couple years ago I read about a study done in England that linked the music that a driver listened to, to their ticket/accident rate.  They found that Wagner's "The Ride of the Valkyries" was the #1 most speeded to song.  The study was recently repeated in Canada and Wagner is still on the no-no list.  Their suggestions...

DRIVING HITS AND MISSES

MUSIC TO DRIVE BY: Gary Jules - "Mad World"
Lemar - "Another Day"
Sugababes - "Too lost in you"
Blue - "Breathe Easy"
Norah Jones - "Come away with me"

MUSIC TO LEAVE AT HOME:
Wagner - "The ride of the Valkyries"
Prodigy - "Firestarter"
Basement Jaxx - "Red Alert"
Faithless - "Insomnia"
Verdi - "Dies Irae (requiem)" SOURCE: RAC Foundation

You guys all SO need to check out pandora.com It is always throwing new music at me mixed in with my old favorites. Been listening to Jack Johnson, the Raconteurs, Maroon 5, Electric Six, Corinne Bailey Rae, Kate Nash, Meat Puppets, Melvin Taylor, The Presidents of the United States of America, Butthole Surfers, Tom Tom Club, Cake, Decembrists, Arcade Fire, Tonio K, Bowling for Soup, and on and on, a wonderful and eclectic rotation that never gets stale. If you don't recognize any of these names, you are so in for a treat. Dozens of others in the Music Genome Project that boggle the mind. Go. Now. Plug into a seriously cool universe. You can shape it, control it too. You cancel what you don't like, and they follow your lead, bringing you new stuff like the music you like, but bands you never heard of.

Stimulating.

Willie-Listen to Jonathan. Morph like a Power Ranger, avoid plastic food, fight your programming, dude.

Trust us on this.

Nachista ~ Count me in but we will have to go to a JJ concert also. Will be Downloading his music into my MP3 later this weekend. AM loving it, hoping that my parents may love it also. 

Miss Ive  ~ Not too much of a fan of Hannk III but I am a HUGE fan of Waylon Jennings son Shooter a little more Southern Rock than daddy, but you can just tell that it has the same soul. 

Remember when I came on begging for help to contact a singer for permission to use her song in our film?

Well we found a band (Chicago-based) who agreed to record an original soundtrack for our project. Is that awesome? And they're coming in for the premiere tomorrow night. I'm thrilled to finally meet them. They're music is gorgeous.

Beaten By Yuri.

Check 'em:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XekhHWQWFY4 

I may have to take some time out from buying myself a house and go get a couple of his CDs. That was beautiful. Thank you for introducing me to him, Peterman.

The artist that gets me to feel warm during cold, bitter times is Imogen Heap. I clearly remember one day at work that I just couldn't shake a deep blue funk. Absolutely nothing was going right. I couldn't get out of bed that morning, traffic was a bear, the boss was just getting out of a two hour meeting just as I was coming in, the works. Apparently my mood was bad enough that the Music Gods took notice, and out of nowhere my favorite song of Imogen's, "Just For Now", started playing over the sound system. The dark clouds occluding my mind cleared instantly, and the rest of the day was glorious. Watching her perform "Just For Now" is incredible. Everything in the video is being done live; it's just her and the audio looping machine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25VGdNU3nrU

Another artist I found out about recently that always makes me smile when she comes up on iTunes is Feist. Her best known song is also my favorite, "1234". The video captures the way the song makes me feel quite well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9D0aTSkslWY

The version she did for Sesame street is quite possibly even cuter than the original.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fciD_II7NI

nachista: I think that anyone who really pays attention in Hawai'i is going to find themselves very attached to the islands. So many tourists just go rushing around to the beach and Volcanoes National Park in between spa treatments, and think that's it. Hawai'i is not to be rushed. Go get yourself lost. You're on an island, you'll find your way back to the hotel in due time. Have yourself a plate lunch, maybe a little Spam musubi, and forget that time exists.

Trask: The thought of putting olive oil in biscuits is tantamount to heresy.

'their music'—Miss Ive needs Jack today. Mania about premiere. Will not see it until EVERYONE does. Could be ugly.

Olivia,

LOVE the tights, little hottie!!!

Cha-chista,

Hawaii. Check.

Rings,

Shooter. Checking now. Gracias.

Trish,

Bonnie Raitt. Hell yes. 

All this talk of food. I've got biscuits in the oven right now, and I'll be having them with tea and apple jelly. And blackberry jam. And peach jam, too.

Face it. I'm a jam and jelly slut. Why have just one kind with biscuits when they don't care what you put on 'em?

Jonathan-thanks for music cues-I'm THERE! Reminded me of Michael Hedges, for some reason. Your pic made me burst out laughing. Adorable headbanger.

Pandora update-Good Charlotte, Les Savy Fav, OK Go, Gang of Four, Shriekback, Interpol, The Jam, The Clash. Hard to type while dancing...

The whole butter thing reminds me of a quote from Third Rock: "Just you and me and a stick of butter-whaddaya say?" I have no idea why...

Celestial Jester, I'm craving mac nut pancakes for breakfast, bento box for lunch, and some good mahi maji for dinner.   Oh and some POG to wash it all down.  You're not making this any easier!

Mahi Mahi, I'm so excited I'm spelling it wrong.

Thanks Isles, now I have to stop at the market on my way home tonight and get some buttermilk to make biscuits.  Already have the fresh creamery butter and the homemade raspberry jam in the fridge.

Jester-Feist and Heap,-SNAP!, baby. Sara Bareilles, buncha fab gals outa Brazil I can't remember just now. Marisa Monte, Mirah, Dido, Cardigans, James Hunter, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings (Thanks for the reminder, Shandonista!). Postal Service. Snow Patrol. Somebody HEP ME!

I drive to Oingo Boingo, and it's always faster and FASTER. In my dark hour, I have a forbidden lust for Korn and Tool. I know, it's so wrong, but I am as a reed in the wind of my cravings...

Missy-thanks. You rock in my world, as you should know. Imagine peace and serenity, gf. Take a deep breath. Sending you good karma.

This pic is SO TAME. You should see me get my groove on. Maybe not. PE is not big enough for my Bad Girl pics...

Mr. Peterman, thanks for introducing me to Jack Johnson. He is addictive indeed.

His music is just the tonic I need for this chilly Midwestern day that up until now, I've been spending underneath the front porch with what I hope is a possum, wrapped up in a down comforter (me, not the possum, ... he can get his own blanket) trying to sleep through this cold/flu thing that snuck up on me yesterday. I'm such a wuss when I'm under the weather; like a sick cat, I always try to find a hiding place to burrow into until it passes.

I can almost feel the heat of the sun on the back of my neck listening to him play and sing. Very nice. Very soothing.

Here is a cut from an album that I find also soothes and transports one to a warmer place. It's "On an Island" by David Gilmore. Hope you like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbWMpJ3SM0Q

I'll be back when I regain my voice. Peace out.

John-So sorry to hear you're puny! You need some good old fashioned TLC, dear. I have hot chicken soup and a cool cool hand for your head. Fight the power, big 'un, you shall overcome.

Picture of biscuits posted. They didn't really last long enough to co-exist with their Peterman's Eye presence. By the time they hit the server, the biscuits had already met their jammy destiny.

OK guys and gals,  Jack Johnson is awesome.  His lyrics are beautiful and full of thought.  Have seen him in concert three times with my boys.  Got to hang out with him and his kids this summer in both Raleigh and Atlanta.  The concerts are a little much for me (crowds) but one on one with a CD is really quite nice.  You don't have to think Hawaii or surfing or beaches to enjoy this guys music. Very soulful.  Give it a listen, you might dig it. 

Olivia:  sounds like we have similer interest in music. 

"jammy destiny"...sounds like a good name for a band...

Just laughed my hind end off at this Jack Johnson and Ben Stiller Video. Ben Stiller running down the Hawaiian beach in camo pajamas!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0H600EnZEg

Nachista,

Check that link. Ben in Jammies running to Jack Johnson= Jammy Destiny. See how I did that? See how hiper-happy-Friday I am?

Peter,

Checked him out. Very Pink Floyd. Nice.,

Captain N.,

You are incredibly hip. Jammin' out with JJ. Nice. 

Hmmmm Missive I believe you're right, they could be the next Tenacious D.

Jonathan-have you ever listened to Johnny A? I think he might fit well into your group...

No, but I'm on his site, right now, and I like. Thanks, Olivia!

Il n'y a pas de quoi, mon ami...

Happy weekend, friends. Very relaxing way to ramp up to the premiere.

Thanks Mr. P.

Hawaii + music = Ozzie Kotani. Like Ku'u Kika Kahiko. All praise to the humuhumunukunukuapua'a. Although the ulua is way more palatable...

Beaches and music wrapped together in a single topic...how nice...a tropical mini-vacation on this Friday...my bags are packed and I have my towel...Mahalo!

Shibbolethian says: "He seems too much like he's just sitting there with a guitar and singing whatever he feels like." Well, that's the intent - that's the Hawaii he is trying to capture. Jack Johnson's style is as relaxed as the Islands. Imagine a long, empty stretch of sandy beach; the soothing sound of waves barely lapping at the shore; gently caressing trade winds coaxing the palm trees into a slight sway; a sublime moment of Zen. It's an entirely different mindset. Any stress, strain or musical intensity would disturb the peacefulness.

For a more intricate style; yet one still tender, calm and breezily pastoral, Hawaiian slack-key guitar is more traditional. It's a manner of musical expression in which some guitar strings are "slacked" to produce different tunings. A soulful resonance is created behind the melody, which mixes well with hula and ocean waves. You might try Keola Beamer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROD4t6AjoeE

Different beaches can be as unique as different types of mountains and music, each lending itself to various feelings and purposes. On the island of Oahu, for example, meander up to the North Shore (away from the tourists that inhabit the South Shore beaches of Waikiki, etc...) and once you have an inkling of your special interest, you'll be able to find a beach that will accommodate. Sunset Beach is a great place for swimming, snorkeling and exploring tide pools...or taking long romantic walks on its 2 miles of white sand. Sharks Cove is ideal for scuba diving and exploring rock and coral reefs. Waimea Bay, with its spectacular waves, is perfect for watching expert surfers. (Not even being remotely close to experts, my husband and I had to be rescued by a lifeguard when we got caught in a strong rip current!)

Basically, it all depends on what you, personally, are looking for in your music, beach, mountain, or life...somewhere in the world, or over-the-rainbow, you can find your heart's desire. Hawaii might just be that place - it is, after all, named the Rainbow State because rainbows occur with such frequency, and, as Olivia noted, simply pronouncing the name of the State fish will easily keep your lips warm...

On a chilly winter's night, I actually find hot jazz always takes me out of the cold.

I like the beaches on the Big Island, there are so many different varieties: green sand, black sand, pebble, coral sand.  Kohala coast has great boogie boarding beaches, Kona coast has excellent diving and snorkelling...the winward side is too rainy to hang out on the beaches much, but they have great waterfalls! 

On Oahu Waikiki and Ala Moana are usually too crowded to get much of anything done, but its pretty cool to get a photo of you learning to surf with Diamondhead in the background.  I like the beaches at Laie...not as crowded as the leeward and south shore beaches and more "user friendly" than the big breaks of the north shore.

I am so excited to speak to someone who is lovingly familiar with Kalapaki Bay.  We stayed in the Marriott and fell absolutely in love with it!  Our view was a picture postcard.  The pool was SPECTACULAR! I befriended some of the locals and had the most marvelous 8 days of my life!  We were there for my sister-in-laws wedding (on the beach of course) and my husband and I celebrated our "first honeymoon" as well.  We never got to have a real honeymoon as newlyweds.  I cried for 3 hours on the way home.  I absolutely felt like I belonged there!  I spent most of my time walking to the port and would stop and visit the ABC (the little grocery store) up about a 1/2 mile from the hotel.  A rooster woke me up every morning at 5 am.  I loved that rooster.  My husband wanted to sleep.  NOT M     

Oops!  Got cut off.  NOT ME!

Kapu actually means "forbidden" and under the rule of the Ali'i, breaking a Kapu meant death.  The ancient Hawaiians could be so violent and war like, hard to reconcile their brutal past with the laid back culture we enjoy today.

Don't believe KAPU signs leading to beaches, it is illegal to block access to beaches and all beaches in Hawai'i are public domain.  A lot of people post KAPU signs where there are no legal restrictions to the public, I understand it but it can get on my nerves.  One of the worst areas for natives to take advantage of dumb hoales is on the road to South Point (Lands end) and from there to Green Sands.  Don't pay them to park there, it isn't their land.  Don't turn around when they tell you that you can't drive on "their" road.

Since Willie started today asking for food, he'll probably want an update by now. The split pea with smoked ham shank soup is simmering. Two more hours to go on that. I just ran up to the Treehouse to retrieve El Syd from her nap, but now I'm going back down to the kitchen where the stand mixer ought to be done kneeding the focaccia dough on its handy little dough hook (I love my Kitchen Aid stand mixer... damned thing is nearly indispensable). An hour and a half rise on that, and then a quick bake, and somebody can yell "Is it soup yet?" and I'll say YES.

I now have 'Rolling Down to Old Maui' stuck in my head.  "Hey Patrick, how do you go FISHING for a whale?" "Well, ya see you get dis huge boat an a harpoon an.." "No Patrick, how you FISH for a whale" "Why do you keep asking dat?" "Patrick, Whales are mammals, not fish...how do you fish for a mammal?"

I hate tourists. I live in a tourist town, too. What nobody knows is that "tourist" is actually an ancient Anasazi word meaning "tastes like chicken".

I lived in Orlando, FL. Naturally, we do our best not to look like tourists when we go to the theme park: avoid cameras, sunscreen, wide-brimmed hats, moving slowly, and looking lost. I refused to go to Walt Disney World in anything but jeans.

I found one of the pictures (a bit worse for wear), now in the travel section, of my son doing the hula in 5th grade - doesn't he look like a happy lad - and his towhead doesn't quite fit the proper image. Living in Hawaii was a great experience. Hurricane Iniki was scary as it barely missed us but, unfortunately, hit the island of Kaua'i. Its destruction was devastating. Here, on the mainland, when a hurricane is looming you can drive inland. On an island, there is simply no place to go. One of the things we enjoyed the most when we returned to the mainland was the fact that you could drive for days in one direction...instead of always going around in circles.  

Olivia,
Thank you for the referral to Pandora.com.and especially for the long-distance TLC. The scent of your chicken soup wafted beneath the front porch and led me back indoors. Besides, the possum was hogging the blankets and smelling a bit gamey.

Kindlee,
Thank you for the ‘Malama pono' 

Everyone at the omnipresent "eye",
Thanks for allowing me to hitchhike on your memories of exotic places and introducing me to so many new sounds (music), sights (movies), tastes, and good reads. . . . .

IZ LIVES! Peace Out . . . . John

Jonathan, would my spoon stand up in your split-pea soup?  Nothing like good zoup memories!

My husband's family is Bohemian...from near Prague and Pilsen. What a small world.

Peter Lake, I don't want to get too personal, but how big is your spoon? I have a thoroughly adequate spoon, and yes, it stands up proudly in the soup.

Your Mom's soup sounds a little thicker than mine. I like the big chunks, too, but I'd put mine down as a about as thick as a stout tapioca, but not as firm as a flan (in a cupboard... sorry, Eddie Izzard joke there). I load it way up on carrots, because my littlest one really likes the carrots. And I put in quite a lot of onion, but I dice it fine and it always disappears after two or three hours of simmering. Same with the celery.

I love split pea soup. This was my first pot of it since last winter, so now I feel like the season might finally be turning. But not really. It's staying unseasonably warm and lovely up here this year. We haven't had any snow. There's not even any forecast. Usually by this time, we've had one or two great big storms. I'm still running around in shorts and flip flops, although today I did have my Peterman flannel shirt on, just for fun.

I've never put potatoes in split pea soup. I'm going to have to check with She Who Must Be Obeyed and see what she thinks about that idea. I kind of like the sound of it.

bon appétit, and yes, loads of carrots...

I think I hear a...ah, spooning contest coming on. Now, boys!

John, I'm glad I lured you out from under the porch. You need to be in a proper bed, where you can whine effectively and be pampered, poor thing. Beer and Akron, anyone?

If you think comparing soup spoon size is odd, you should hear us when we discuss microwave btu's.

Or heck, I remember nights spend debating parameters for the evaluation of surfactant efficiency in remediation on non-aqueous phase liquid contaminated soils. Man, those were some good times.

Jonathan, would that be phospholipid surfactants, or sphingomyelins?

I once debated a hook for my child...

It's ALIVE!!

bonne nuit, rêves doux tous

Dormez-vous bien, m'sieur