Now for something completely different...

Aloha All,

Well, I've decided to take a slight detour of the Orlando pictures today...why? well, just to give a break on the hula stuff (OK, really, because I forgot that I actually DID have a couple pictures of another recent event....)

I may have mentioned that we had some relatives come to visit us ( & if I failed to mention, then I'm saying it now....I can't remember who & when I said this stuff to half of the time...) :)

(Turner Field August 13, 2008)

Anycrap, we had some recent visitors. My brother-in-law & 2 of my husband's cousins came to town for a series of Cubs games that took place here in Atlanta 2 weeks ago..

(Uncles from L to R:Geico, Holly-Bear & Gus...some names MAY have been changed, not necessarily to protect ANYONE!) :)

(hubby has been DYING to see a Cubs game all season....) I guess last time we were up in Chicago the subject came up of how cool it would be for those guys to come down & see the Cubs play the Braves....well, who-da-thunk, it would actually come to fruition, but it did. Turns out hubby's work has season tickets to the Braves games, so somehow, he was granted them & we got to go to the whole series ( well, I got to go 2 cause there was a rain out & hubby had to work...Tues night game was now a Wed day game....), our ohana from up north went to all 3. The girlies got to go to the Wed night game as well...

(Da-Boo & Da-Maka-Bear)

( our youngest still chants "Fu-ku-do-me" & claps her hands while she see the games on TV cause that's what we were doing at the ballpark.....) Anywho, it was a blast, not only to see the Cubbies play, but to have family here & all go to the games together. I felt kinda bad, cause the guys really only got to see the games, time flew SO fast, we didn't have much time to go do anything else, & hubby was kinda bogged down at work, so they didn't really get to go out much, other than the games...oh & enjoy "Waffle House" after the games, cause that's about all that was open around here! ( I knew I should have taken a picture of that too...oh well, next time!) Anycrap, the guys flew in Tues, for the night game, it was delayed due to rain ( which we have finally been getting around here...) So the Tues game, turned into a Wednesday-DAY game, then they stayed 'til Friday ...actually Cousin "Gus" (...not his real name...LONG STORY!) :) had to leave Thursday, so he didn't go to the last game...the other 2 left Friday morning. So I guess there really wasn't much time for sight seeing, but I still felt kinda bad, that we weren't able to do much. But I believe they all had a good time, I know we had a BLAST!!! & Hopefully, they'll come to visit again sometime in the near future!

(Da Ohana)

Anycrap, hope you guys don't mind me posting the pics here on my blog (oops, kinda too late for that, huh?) :) Thank you nui loa, mahalo very much, for everything! Will be sending you a copy of these pics... ( hopefully they'll remember to e-mail some back too, I think my bro-in-law took a couple "good" ones) :)

so for today, "That's all folks"

Laters,

Tina

more pics.....

Aloha,

Well it's another rainy day in Georgia (sounds like a song...) :) which is a good thing, we can always use the rain here. But I did promise to post more pictures & since the girlies are in school, & I'm gopped on coffee & there's not much else to do around the house today (caught up on swaps, everything clean, no dishes...yet, no dirty clothes...) I decided to go on the computer. so here it goes:

This was Friday morning, our 1st meeting with the musicians. We hired them through an e-mail, given to me by the people running the festival. I had contacted them once I found out that our Ohana in Hawaii couldn't come because of a family function that was taking place that same weekend (first obstacle we ran into...) Not a problem, cause the people running the competition, told me, they had a "house" band for hire, so that's how we found out about "Ulumau"! & what a find they are!! Lopaka was the one who contacted me back & we either e-mailed or called back & forth to figure out what was needed. They even sent us an MP3 of them singing so we could "practice" getting use to them. & on Friday morning, we were all together for the 1st time. All in one state, on the same floor, hearing the band for the 1st time in person....it was really happening!!!

We got to practice with them roughly for an hour, we got to use the stage roughly for an hour (kept getting interrupted though, but won't go into that rant....) Found a somewhat empty hallway in the hotel to use to practice a little more....figured it was time to start making our adornments...

(Here's a pic of Puamaeole, making her haku....one of the IL girls...) obstacle # 2... well, due to some miscommunication ( I totally take the blame for this one, just couldn't get a hold of the right ohana at the right time....even though I DID let them know ahead of time....) anywho, long story short, we were unable to get fauna from Hawaii, so figured we could use whatever we could find. Since most of the ladies were flying in, I tried to depend mostly on those of us who were driving down to Florida, but Kiakahi (MO girl) has a WHOLE PLETHORA of ivy & greens in her back yard ( she does outdoor photography...well, not that she takes pictures of the outdoors, she does most of her pictures outdoors....) so I begged (more so demanded...) :) her to bring whatever she could. Polinahe (one of my haumana here....or should I say, one of the GA girls...) :) also has ivy in her yard, so had her ( & hubby too...) bring whatever they could. GA girl Kalani & myself, ended up bringing bamboo leaves ( there's practically a wild forest of them near Kalani's house...) since I have nothing worthy of lei making in my yard & Kalani's maple leaves (yes, I said maple leaves...see how desperate we were getting....ever heard of using maple leaves to make leis?...It could happen....they do work rather well!) were too high to reach, we ended up bringing bag loads of bamboo leaves. Well, along with some (gasp, that I even admit this...) store bought flowers (& by-the-who, Lokelani, what were those flowers?...some kind of lily??...) anywho, we made due with what we had

our room looked like a forest threw up in it!!

I really felt bad about the staff at the hotel, I mean after all, we weren't the only halau doing this...I mean whatever floor you went on, there were others doing the same thing, making leis in lobbies, in hallways, it was too funny...I mean, we tried our best to clean up, I did put down paper first before we even started, but there were leaves EVERYWHERE!! & raffia & newspaper & floss & threads, you name it, we used it! Then as the night moved on, we wondered what to do for kupe'e, leis, etc ( we mostly used ivy & some leather leaf, that we got from another halau from Florida...) for our lei po'o (head leis) but we were quickly running out of time & of usable leaves for neck leis...Luckily we brought Kukui nut leis for our neck, Kiakahi brought enough kukui nui leis to breakdown for our kupe'e (wristlets & anklets) That covered it for kahiko (ancient) but what of our auana (modern, dance..)? Well earlier, Loke & I went on a search for flowers, which we ended up finding the lilies (at a Publix of all places...) & I had also brought white shell leis that we were going to use for our auana anyways...but we still needed something....That's when Loke decided to try to mess around with the bamboo leaves...what can we do with those? Well I suggested to try to haku them like our lei po'o...nah that didn't work, how about wili (braid...) them....nah didn't like how that was turning out....Loke : what about sewing them? ( ku'i), well....now that seemed to work...

so here's Loke ku'i-ing away....they really did turn out rather nice! & If there was a will, we'd find a way! & we certainly did! & this was just our first night!.....

I don't know for sure what time I finally went to bed ( roughly it had to been after 2am....) but little-by-little, whoever was done, we told them to try to go to bed...so as 1 would finish a lei, "ok, now go to bed..." was the next demand! Turns out none of us really got any sleep & for our 1st number we did kahiko ( & with no makeup on, which I'm sure the ladies STILL don't forgive me for that one.....long story....) :) we really did look like a bunch of pissed off volcano goddesses ready to BLOW! :) but it got better.....it really did!

'nuff for today, will continue the saga tomorrow....

a hui hou,

Tina

got some pictures...yea!!!!

Mahalo nui loa to my haumana Kiakahi (the MO in GA-IL-MO.....) :) for sending me some pictures from our competition in Orlando this past July....I knew I could count on you...I hope to get some more from my other haumana as soon as possible....

...but so far, here's a couple of groups shots:

This was our Kahiko costume. We did a mele called "Aia La O Pele" it roughly describes a ranting & destruction rampage that Pele (the Fire, or Volcano Goddess...) had...

This was our auana costume. The ladies did a mele called "Poliahu" (Poliahu is the Snow Goddess...) It's a beautiful song that was written by Frank Hewett a very wonderful Kumu hula & composer. Anywho, we covered the "Big Island" of Hawaii by dancing about 2 of the most powerful entities on that Island (not to mention that my Ohana is from the Big Island, so that really had the most to do with my mele choices...)

These were the VERY talented gentlemen who played the music for our halau (they also played for other groups there too....the "house" band so to speak...) Their names are Lopaka (on the left) & Kaleo (on the right) collectively they are known in Orlando as Ulumau. These guys really were FANTASTIC I mean the harmony & sounds from these 2 guys, sounds like an entire choir of singers. The version of "Poliahu" we chose was from a group called Ho'okena ( there are 5 singers in Ho'okena...) & these 2 sounded like 5 ( I hope that made sense...) We were so impressed on how well they played for us, I mean, no matter how much we thanked them, it really wasn't enough. They really made the girls WANT to dance, they were THAT great!!!

& this is Kiakahi (also known as Debbie...) :) she is my haumana from Missouri. (please ignore the odd tan marks on the chick next to Kiakahi...I'll explain that in one of the next rants...)

As I have stated in past posts, I had haumana (students) there from 3 different states, Illinois, Georgia & Missouri & these ladies really worked their buns off to get to Orlando & compete! (In fact that Friday before the competition was the FIRST time we all were together in the same state!!!!) It was rough to practice & get everyone on the same sheet of music, but we did it! & any obstacle that got in our way, we overcame it & I am so PROUD of these wonderful students of mine!!

Kiakahi actually sent an entire disc of pictures, but I'm having a heck of a time downloading them onto blogger for some reason (this was my 3rd try...) so I will post some more tomorrow...(I know, I give up too easy...) but I'll babble some more of our adventure then too (besides, my little ones are back from school already & demanding some snacks....) :) again, I give in too easy there as well! Mahalo nui loa, Kiakahi, I can't wait to see what else the others took....

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

A hui hou,

Tina

...and by the who!

Hau'oli la hanau o 'oe...

hau'oli la hanau o 'oe...

hau'oli la hanau o ko'u makuahine!

HAU'OLI LA HANAU O 'OE!!!!

Happy 74th Mama!!!

Love your ohana down in Georgia!!!

Hey, that's my Brother!!!

well, can't remember if I had made mention in this blog about my brother Pat being in a film, or not, so, figured, I could talk about him today!

Back in June, he spent the month filming a movie in Chicago called "Fancypants" it's roughly about a washed up pro wrestler who (with the help of his biggest fan, a little boy...)decides to end his career in a big bang ( & he helps the kid & his family out in the end as well...) I think it's supposed to be a comedy, but it's also kinda a drama/love story/comedy type of film ( my brother's words...)

Anywho, last Wednesday he had an article in the local Chicago Tribune about him so I figured I'd try to put a link up about it (hope this works...)here this was an interview at a local pub that we usually hold some of our "family meetings" at :) it's a place called Mugsy's in Forest Park, IL

Anycrap, they filmed it in a month ( that happened to be the time we last headed up to Chicago, we were also there to help take care of mom & pop so he wouldn't have to worry about his filming schedule & our parents at the same time...)

The funniest part was, he's NEVER acted before, so to get the lead role, even though he's never done ANY kind of acting before, was really a pleasant surprise to the whole family! It's supposed to come out sometime next year ( so will keep up on that here as well....) There were some other (real) pro wrestlers & actors in the film as well: Rowdy Roddy Piper, Hollywood Yates ( I believe he's called WOLF???) & another person known as Venom ( now please don't laugh at me, I really don't know who the "Wolf" & "Venom" people are, cause I'm not into wrestling....but I've heard they are well known...) But some of the people I HAVE heard of is Robert Carradine, Richard Kind & Roddy Piper& they are all in this movie as well. Anywho, we're all proud of the lunkhead!!! ( & yes, I can still call him a lunkhead, cause even if he does get all "famous" on us I'm still his little sister & always will be... ) :)

Anywho...check out the links & by all means keep the film somewhere in the back of your memory & check it out when it comes to your neighborhood! CONGRATULATIONS BRO!!! & hope this becomes a career for you!

Love Ya ! Your Sis-Tina

School's started...

Aloha to all,

Well, another school year has already started with my little ones. I still have mixed feelings about it all. Everyone ( & their mother...) :) has been telling me how GREAT & WONDERFUL it'll be when they start up ( cause now ALL 3 are in school...) well, I'm rather sad that my little shadow is gone! I know how selfish this all sounds, but I miss them terribly!! But the good news, they all LOVE their new schools!!! My eldest is now in middle school & already, she says she loves it more than grade school (which is very good news cause she was starting to get very discouraged with 5th grade, last year...) & My middle & youngest were excited to go to the "new" school (our borders were changed last year, so they are now in the brand new school that was just built last year....actually I think they JUST finished building it this year...) & the biggest change ( I sadly admit) is mine! My baby is in Kindergarten....WAHHHH! & it's ALL DAY kindergarten too, so no slow, gradual, change. Nope, it's a whole IN-YOUR-FACE change. I know I'll get over it ( I did with the first 2...but they were just in for half day up in Chicago...) but it'll take time, it always does.

I guess the worse part was how my hubby has been teasing me the closer it got to starting up again, on how the youngest isn't going to be here everyday. Last week he was pleasantly reminding me "oh, she won't be asking you what's for breakfast?" or "mommy can I watch Noggin?" or any of those things. But "HA-HA" to him, she still has asked every morning so far, what's for breakfast, but we just have it at 6:30 am instead of 9:00am, so that part hasn't changed :) & he now tells me every morning (so far..) how I can finally get some of my sewing done ( he hates when my projects start piling up around the house...) & how nice & quiet it'll be around the house & even went as far as to say "now you can go get a real job!" That last comment almost got him a black-eye, but I didn't give in to the stupidity! No, instead I have been catching up on some of the things I have been putting off lately (if at least to keep me busy to NOT remind me how quiet the house is...) so yes, some of the sewing is finally getting done. My swaps are getting packaged up & sent. (I actually have filled out some apps on-line for work...but don't tell the hubby that one...) :) so I am trying to stay busy.

Well that's all I have for today, I hope to start up an etsy shop online soon ( that's one of the things I have been putting off lately...) so maybe I CAN get some things done around here now.

Either way, I miss my little monkeys, but they have been coming home with some great stories everyday already. Man, how time flies!

Aloha Pumehana,
Tina