All Blacks Make Haka Hot

As you know, I've been doing my due diligence and Googling for info on New Zealand to prep for a potential vacay there. I'm still undecided whether I want to backpack it on my own or join a small-group tour that's a cross between adventure and budget. I'm leaning toward the tour, even though this vacay is supposed to simulate what it'd be like to be on the road alone.

Most of the tours I'm looking at treat you to a traditional Maori dinner and the videos I've seen of these things look like the Maori version of a luau. Instead of doing hula, they do the haka. My YouTubing research quickly led from these tours to haka done by various sports teams. The majority of the videos are of the All Blacks, a Kiwi rugby team. I don't know if they're the only team that does the haka or even if they're the only team in NZ. I don't know anything about rugby, but once I started watching the videos I couldn't stop.

There seems to be a variety of different haka, but the most common is the one that starts off, "Ka mate, Ka mate, Ka ora Ka ora." This is the one with which I'm familiar (and I assume most other people are as well). It bothered me that I didn't know the words beyond those first few lines. I think it's mostly because the chants are shouted and the words are never distinct enough to understand. Even after watching several videos, I still couldn't get the words down. I finally had to Wikipedia them and read the words while listening to YouTube. Who knows if Wikipedia is even accurate though.



Watching the various videos of the All Blacks, I noticed that these rugby guys are pretty hot . . . even with the ugly, macho-man faces they're making (or is it because of that?). The guys, of course, are all fit and muscular and they're yelling at the top of their lungs as I imagine the cavemen of old used to. And yet, despite all the movement and progress gained through women's lib, I still find their behavior oddly sexy. I mean, there's something to be said about the masculinity, agility and dare I say virility that these guys exude while doing this haka. Their intensity and focus is both intimidating and alluring. It's kinda like looking into the eyes of a wildcat.



And just so you know, I still can't get the words to the haka right. But I'm going to keep trying . . . you know, for educational and cultural exchange purposes and all! LOL!

Corporate Jumps on the YouTube Bandwagon

There's no avoiding it. My company is jumping on the YouTube bandwagon, which means that I'm writing scripts and casting actors from our current pool of staff members to create some kind of viral uprising.

Has Corporate even considered whether this is an effective means to reach our customers? Has anyone analyzed the ROI on this project? It doesn't seem likely. They just want to use today's social media (Twitter and Facebook are just around the corner) for the sake of using it.

So now we're embarking on unnecessary journey with no real map to getting where we need to go. It feels as futile as a uncovering a map for buried treasure and immediately hiring a ship to take me there.

The retarded thing is that Corporate doesn't want to use the media as it is fundamentally intended. The best part about all this web 2.0 stuff is that there's instantaneous feedback from your audience. You get to interact with them immediately rather than attach a note to a pidgeon's leg. However, it doesn't seem like Corporate wants any kind of feedback. They want to continue the old school method of shouting the loudest in order to be heard.

While we are using the current resources available to us, we are not using it wisely. I think we'll just end up abandoning this project halfway through. We'll do a couple videos and then people will lose interest because there's always something better just beyond the horizon. What a waste of time.

2010 Honolulu Festival Photos & Video

Here are the pictures I took at this weekend's Honolulu Festival. I didn't end up staying too long even though it was my first time there. I was surprised at how empty the place was and am not too sure what the cause was. Lack of advertising? Decrease in tourism? Who knows.

YouTube is the Greatest Thing Ever

I do not even know what we all did before the invention of YouTube. I mean seriously, I've been watching videos for over three hours now. And it's not like I'm bouncing around from one stupid video to the next. I searched a specific topic (ie. JET) and found some very cool and informative vids out there by current JETs. Amazing, simply amazing.

The info that is shared through these vids are so engaging and as a viewer you're able to learn so much. The visual nature of it all grabs your attention, even when the video editing skills aren't the greatest. Most people are still able to get the main point across. For someone like me, who is searching for info, it's awesome.

I like how there are so many perspectives on something generic like "living in Japan" or "teaching in Japan." I'm finding all the videos really helpful, especially the ones from the newbies (the people who went over in 2009). They've been there for about six months now and should be settling in. They'll have the best perspectives of the country. My favorite vids are the ones about their hometowns. It's nice to see the different locales where JETs are placed. Some look like fairly large cities. Other that I've seen are totally in the inaka (country).

As I watch these videos, I'm kind of getting anxious about not hearing about the USA interviews. The list of people selected to get interviews is supposed to be posted in late January. Um, it's late January and there's been nothing. I cannot refrain from doing a daily check of the JET website, just in case the list is there. Hmm, now that I think about it, seeing the list posted would be useless to me. I don't carry my ID number around so even if the list was live I wouldn't know if I was on or not. I better start carrying that list around.

JCCH New Year's Ohana Festival

Despite the rain, hundreds of people showed up for the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii's New Year's Ohana Festival held at the cultural center and Moiliili Field today. The place was very, very crowded as people enjoyed the cultural activities, children's education area, food booths, gift shop and performances.

There was a free shuttle moving people between UH's parking structure and the cultural center.


The year of the tiger was celebrated with displays of good luck charms and other items for sale.




Community cultural groups performed for the crowd at the center's courtyard.



Inside there were many cultural crafts . . .


. . . showcasing the handicrafts of many artisans.

There were instructional tables for you to try your hand at caligraphy . . .

. . . and bonsai exhibitions.

Across the street at Moiliili Field, people strolled through food and craft booths.

There were bouncers for the kids . . .

. . . and a taiko performance.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year people! Hope you had a very safe New Year's Eve last night. Just thought I'd post a quick video of my New Year celebration. This is how we do it up in the 808.

So sorry about the wobbly camera work. The thing was so big it was freaking me out. I kept backing up because I was afraid one of the firecrackers were going to fly into my eyes!

This wonderful display of money going up in smoke is courtesy of my sister's neighbor/friend. They apparently do it up big every year. Hope they have the best of luck after all of that!

RIP Patrick

I just read about the death of Patrick Swayze. Such sad news, but I suppose he's in a better place (if you believe in that sort of thing). I can only assume living with pancreatic cancer for the past year or two was no walk in the park for him. At least there will be no more suffering. I'll need to go back and watch Dirty Dancing again in tribute. It's not my fave movie but it has its moments.

Clips from Dirty Dancing:

The Baaa-Studs

This is effin' awesome!

Finance Expo Recap

I spent this weekend at the Blaisdell at the 2009 Personal Finance Expo, the first of its kind for Hawaii. Boy, oh boy, was it slow. Who was the genius who thought to schedule it the same weekend as Bayfest? What a winner!

It was estimated that about 16,000 people would be in attendance according to the organizers. I think they'd be lucky if 2,000 showed up to Saturday and Sunday combined. What a waste of time and man hours. Thank god it's all over.

Despite the hours of intense boredom, the staff who volunteered to come down and help did liven things up a bit. I forgot what it was like to enjoy people around you. Obviously, I don't enjoy my boss' company. It was good to interact with people from other departments. We laughed and joked around like normal people. Jesus, what a fricken concept! People who have a good time together. You can tell I'm terribly deprived of this on a regular basis. Still, it was too much to hope for that my boss wouldn't pull his childish act or snap at someone during this event. He did both today.

I cannot understand how anyone can work alongside this guy and yet I am forced to do so. The guy is a total ass whether he wants to admit it or not. I think it's better when these assholes just embrace it and don't try to hide it. I can almost respect them for standing their ground and just fully living it up. Not my boss. There are moments when I think he believes himself to be sincere and caring, and he tries to pull off the nice guy act. But these childish tantrums that he throws every once in a while just blow his act to hell.

My boss is a grown-ass man and I bet he'd love to just throw himself down on the floor and roll around crying like this kid. At least there's hope that this kid will eventually grow out of it. If not, well then at least he's a cute-looking kid.

Disney Proposal - Real or Really Good Marketing?

I'm not sure whether this video of a marriage proposal is real or if it's just really good marketing. The romantic in me wants to believe this guy is a struggling actor whose day job is waiting tables in between call backs for gigs. That he planned this all with the help of some friends and rehearsed like crazy. That he asked the Disney magic people to help him capture this for posterity.

But the cynic in me believes this is truly a very clever marketing scheme by the Disney folks. What better way to advertise and promote the magic kingdom by having dozens of people witness a magical moment such as this? Who knows if this thing happens once an hour on the half hour?

In any case, this is a cute little vid that made me smile.

Children Full of Life

Most things you get via email are a bunch of crap, and that's not even counting all the spam. But, this email I received tonight is really worth passing on to others because I think we can all take a lesson from it and apply it to our daily lives.

The email contained links to a documentary called Children Full of Life. It followed the fourth grade class of Toshiro Kanamori at an elementary school in Kanazawa, Japan. It follows him throughout the year and highlights some tough life experiences that the kids face.

Unlike most teachers, Kanamori allows his students to dig deeper and encourages them to feel emotions from which most would shy away. He motivates his class to be compassionate and empathetic to one another but to also think independently. To do this, he has each child keep a notebook full of letters and each day students read from their notebook and share their thoughts with each other. The only rule is that the students write honestly and from their hearts.

While the children have only spent two years with Kanamori (3rd and 4th grade), they've confronted serious issues together, such as the death of family members and bullying. Kanamori's favorite word is bonding, and he hopes that by experiencing life together his students will be able to think of others before they think of themselves. He doesn't shelter them from life but helps them through difficult times without condescending to them. Sometimes it's hard to believe the kids are only 10 years old.

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Aquarium by the Bay - Under the Sea

For shits and giggles and because it was free with the Go SF Card, we stopped in at the Aquarium by the Bay while in San Francisco. Surprisingly, it was pretty small (not as small as our Waikiki Aquarium though).

The aquarium is located in the high-traffic Pier 39 area, so it's convenient for most tourists to swing by for an hour or two. It's a good, family-friendly activity that I'm sure the kiddies will enjoy.

Honestly, there are better places out there for this type of thing, but this one's convenient and free if you have the card. However, I don't think I'd pay for admission, especially if I had a large family in tow.

One of the best parts of the aquarium was the jellyfish tanks. They looked awesome against the dark blue water and lighting.

There were a couple types of jellyfish in different tanks. What a life to live, huh? Just bobbing along and floating without a care in the world. Completely lovely.

The other great part of the aquarium was the interactive area where you could actually reach into the water and touch and feel the animals. One tank housed things like starfish and sea cucumbers. I'd never touched a starfish before this experience. You'd think they were soft and squishy, right? No, they felt like coral and were rough and bumpy. Weird and kind of disorienting. I really thought they'd be soft or at least slimy. Not really as thrilling an experience as I had hoped.

The other tank housed some bat rays and leopard sharks. They were so cute. The rays have a little snout/nose that is just precious. When we were there, there was a baby one who was so friendly and would come right up to you.

The rays' skin felt really soft and slippery. They're not slimy at all. Just tap the top of the water to attract their attention and the swim on by. Parents don't need to worry about their little stingers because they're cut off. The staff member overseeing the tank said that the stingers are like fingernails and grow back. Cutting them does not hurt the rays at all and allows them to be used as educational tools for the public.

The leopard sharks are harder to touch. They swam back and forth in the tank, usually in the middle, so it's hard to reach them. Still, when you do get to touch them it's really enjoyable. Their skin is also soft and very smooth too. The only drawback to this experience was that the water was extremely chilly. It was hard to even reach down into the tank because your hand felt like it was about to freeze.

I also forgot to mention that there's a large underwater tunnel that you walk through. This allows you to see the fish, sharks and rays swimming on both sides and above you. It's an interesting experience, although not very unique. There are other aquariums around that have the same thing.

Hyundai's Committment to Customers

I just saw this video and laughed my butt off. Welcome to Wednesday!

Did You Know?

We all realize that technology is lightning fast. But this short vid really hammers that point home. When you think about it, it's amazing what we've accomplished in the past 10, 50 and 100 years. We are doing things now that were not even thought possible only a few years ago. Innovations and people's perspectives are rapidly changing each and every day. Are you ready?

Andy Garcia Reads Pablo Neruda in Il Postino

I found Neruda's "The Saddest Poem" being read by Andy Garcia in the movie "Il Postino." The poem is translated differently from the one I posted. It's called "Tonight I Can Write The Saddest Lines" and it sounds just as haunting.

Where The Hell Is Matt?

Seriously . . . why didn't I think of this first? I mean, geez! How bad could this be right? Traveling around on someone else's dime doing a funny dance? Man, this is genius!