The Bard’s Birthday

April 23, 2008 > MAUI TODAY No Comments
Aloha    

Click for Kahului, Hawaii ForecastNat’l Secretary’s  Day
Day 114 of 2008
252 days left in this year
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Haku mele: Poet
 PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY—  Pawa: Power
 HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “Our leader is a staff that breaks easily.”
 HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “The quality of mercy is not strain’d. It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven upon the place beneath. It is twice blest: It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.” (Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice)

WEB SURF SPOT OF THE WEEK — “The Green Issue” - NYT Magazine
 WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK — National Geographic
PODCAST OF THE WEEK — Earth News
 BLOG OF THE WEEK — The Environmental Blog

 Will Shakespeare

William Shakesepare

HISTORICAL EVENTS ON THIS DAY — April 23rd

  • 1348: The first English order of knighthood is founded (the Order of the Garter) 
  • 1951: The Associated Press begins the first teletypsetting service
  • 1969: Sirhan Sirhan is sentenced to death for assassinating New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (the sentence is later reduced to life imprisonment) 
  • 1980: Artifical skin for burn victims is created 
  • 1989: Students in Beijing China announce class boycotts 
  • 1998: James Earl Ray, who confessed to assassinating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 and then insisted he was framed, dies at a Nashville hospital at age 70 
  • 2002: American cardinals open their meeting with top Vatican officials to discuss the sex abuse scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church in the United States 

BORN ON THIS DAY — April 23rd

  • 1547: Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spanish writer 
  • 1564: William Shakespeare, bard  
  • 1775: M.W. Turner English landscape painter
    1791: James Buchanan, 15th U.S. president 
  • 1813: Stephen Arnold Douglas,  U.S. senator
  • 1858: Max Planck, Nobel physist
  • 1891: Sergey Prokofiev, composer
  • 1899: Vladimir Nabokov,  novelist
  • 1916: Bud Wilkinson, college football coach
  • 1926: J P Donleavy, novelist  
  • 1928: Shirley Temple Black, child actress/ambassador
  • 1936: Roy Orbison, singer
  • 1940: Lee Majors, actor 
  • 1942: Sandra Dee, actress
  • 1949: Blair Brown, tress
  • 1949: John Miles, vocal/guitar/keyboards
  • 1954: Michael Moore, filmmaker
  • 1955: Judy Davis, actress
  • 1957: Jan Hooks, actress
  • 1960: Steve Clark, rock guitarist 
  • 1960: Valerie Bertinelli, actress 
  • 1968: Tim Womack, country musician

Notes From a Weary Traveler

April 23, 2008 Maui Curmudgeon No Comments

Everybody has to complain about something. Here in Boston, the hot topic of the day is gas prices. The gas station next door is currently at $3.39 for regular. I can only imagine what it’s up to at home - $4.28? The local petroleum processors in Hawaii ought to be ashamed of themselves for raping the local wallet. But then, they have no conscience.

Several articles back home have talked about the impending Whole Foods store on Maui, to the point where Down to Earth on Dairy Road was circulating a petition regarding the new store (I don’t remember why). I visited the brand new Whole Foods Shop near Symphony Hall and after three trips I have to say Down to Earth and Mana Foods have little to worry about as far as I can tell.

To begin with, the Whole Foods prices are ridiculous. My reaction nearly everywhere on the mainland is, “Wow, look at how cheap this is,” whatever ‘this’might refer to. Not at Whole Foods - the prices were HIGHER than those on Maui, if you can believe it. $8 for a 2 oz. organic chocolate bar? Who do they think they’re kidding? And if you want Kashi cereal, shop at Costco becuase Whole Foods charges more for their small box on the mainland than Costco does for the large one on Maui.

And the way they tout how they recycle - appears more words than action. Yes, they don’t use plastic bags, but they double bag their “special” paper bags, a thick, nearly cardboard sack that has to cost a lot of trees.

Their selection was nothing to write home about either. I could find neither of the non-dairy milks I buy at Mana any day I need them.

In short, I can’t see how they are going to transport product to Maui and lower the price they charge on the Mainland. But, time will tell.

Finally, what we DO need on Maui is a Trader Joe’s. Good, cheap, often organic foods, lots of choices, and smiling faces. Shopping Joe’s is a happy time. It sure beats the pathetic excuse of a Safeway Store in Kahului.

– Maui Curmudgeon, somewhere in Boston