I support rail because:
1) We need an alternative to more roads and more cars - another way to get around.

2) Transit oriented development works. Livable, walkable communities spring up around rail systems. More freeways create more suburban growth and spawn more freeways.

3) With our tourist industry hit hard in this economic slump, this project will create lots of jobs for a long time, bring in outside Federal money, and re-circulate our excise tax dollars back into our economy. Look up Great Depression and Hoover Dam.

4) Unlike other alternatives like HOT lanes, rail will remove cars from the road, instead of promoting more cars on the road. This means that even if you don’t live along the rail route, you will benefit by having less cars on the road competing for parking and downtown road space. Economics 101 says that over time, more car lanes will PROMOTE more cars flowing into the urban core, which will create more demands on surface streets in Honolulu. True, less traffic on the West Oahu commute, but more traffic once you get into downtown.

The noise from the stop rail people is interesting. People who have never been the tree hugger type are suddenly screaming about how ugly it will look. People who have never been sympathetic to Hawaiian causes are now crying about how rail will disturb Hawaiian iwi. It’s interesting how alliances form for political reasons as witnessed by Ann Kobayashi’s flip-flop on rail (come on, she didn’t flip flop, she is simply groveling for Panos’ voters…and to think, she didn’t tell Duke she was running for mayor so he could take her council seat.)

Now, I’m no engineering professor or retired jeweler, but here are some of their points and my counterpoints:

1) “There are cheaper alternatives to rail that will improve traffic for less.” I agree this is probably true. But, this issue is not only about traffic. It’s about jobs, it’s about planned growth, it’s about starting to move away from the notion of one-man one-car birth rights, it’s about alternative futures.

2) “The elevated rail will look ugly.” Funny, some of the same people who say this want to build a double decker freeway in Honolulu. Personally, I don’t think cars sitting in gridlock on a freeway are very pretty either.

3) “Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann is the devil for pushing this project; it’s all about paying off his cronies and unions.” Funny, this mayor is picking up the ball that was started back in the 60’s when the first studies for Honolulu transportation were commissioned. Different mayors, different studies, millions of dollars later, all agree that Rail is the way to go. Rail was not Mufi’s idea. If the other guys get to build their double decker freeway, I suppose they’re going to use non-union labor.

4) “Nobody will ride this.” Funny, I hear this argument largely coming from the older, established, well off people in upper class East Honolulu or Windward. Life is good when you’re retired and don’t have to commute. I’ve seen the Stop Rail sign wavers on the Pali; they’re all over 60. Is it possible your grandchildren won’t feel as entitled to driving as you do? Just maybe we could be so lucky. Just maybe, your grandchildren would rather text than call, just maybe…they won’t think the same way about public transportation as you do. Just maybe times will change. Just maybe rail is about your grandchildren and NOT about you.

5) “We can’t fill in potholes or fix leaking sewers, we won’t be able to support rail.” Using this logic, let’s just stop building anything. No more new road or sewers…forever!

6) “Rail will promote crime and graffiti.” Last I checked, we don’t have rail now, but we still have crime and graffiti. In fact, long ago we created a system where we gather criminals together so that they can meet and form alliances - it’s called a prison. If rail promotes criminal activity, using the anti rail logic, let’s just do away with the prison system because it encourages criminal activity as well.

7) “The cost for rail will double by the time it’s done - the city will go bankrupt.” I’m glad we can predict the future with such certainty! If the cost will get more over time, we’d better start building NOW. I’m no economist, but let me see… our tax dollars pay for this thing, a large part of which goes back into our local economy, which collects taxes to pay for it…. sounds downright gloomy let’s run for the hills.

“The proposed rail route doesn’t go to UH or Waikiki or the airport.” But, it does go from West Oahu to Waipahu, Pearl City, the Stadium, Downtown and Ala Moana - and you can bet that if you don’t build that part first, you can’t add on the airport, UH or Waikiki later. You got to start somewhere. And hey, if someone doesn’t buy a few vans or busses and starts offering a non-stop shuttle between Ala Moana to Waikiki, or to UH, or to Punahou School, etc… to carry rail riders to their final destination, maybe I will.

9) “Panos is an engineer, and Slater is a retired jeweler; they say rail will be bad for Honolulu.” There are always experts on both sides of every issue. In stocks, one stock broker is convinced a stock will go down and wants to sell; at the same time another stock expert thinks the stock will rise and tries to buy. Is Panos correct and every other city engineer wrong? Maybe he should “educate” us all! Heck, Slater IS a retired jeweler, maybe they’re on to something…the brainwashed majority needs to be fixed!

10) “I don’t live near it, so I won’t ride it and I don’t want to pay for it.” Counterpoint…. well you got me here. I can’t disagree with this statement as this is a valid opinion. But this reminds me of a story…just other day I had to break up a fight between my kids. The two year old took a toy belonging the five year old. He ripped the toy out of her hands and said “that’s mine, she can’t use it, and I don’t want her to play with it.” I couldn’t really disagree with this statement either, even though I think it’s very selfish. Sharing is needed to be a part of a family…and a community. I can excuse my son because he’s five, what’s your excuse?

For some history on this subject, please see my earlier posts about our Japanese adoption experience:

• A Japan Adoption
• Here she is - Our Japan Adoption
• Japan Adoption Agencies
• Bonding with an Adopted Child
• Traveling to Japan to Pick up Our Adopted Daughter

Today, our not so little Japanese daughter is nearly 2 and half years old. She is in the 100% category for weight for her age and 75% in height. So much for a petite Japanese girl! She is a very active and bubbly child and has recently been talking up a storm; and sometimes we even can understand her! (Our little alien has turned into a true little human) When I look back to the time when we first brought her home from Japan; she was such a stoic little baby, our adopted daughter has really blossomed. She has truly been a blessing to our family. So, on to some details.

For those considering a Japanese adoption, please understand that I don’t have some kind of inside track on how get it done today as the Japanese adoption landscape has changed a lot in the last two years. As of this writing, I know that the two most active Japanese adoption agencies (International Family and Agency to Rescue Children) have nearly stopped doing adoptions. As I understand, the primary reason is because of the advanced age of their principals. In an earlier post, I wrote about a California based contact for Agency to Rescue Children…I while back I received an email from this person saying that the Agency to Rescue Children is no longer accepting applications. That is the last I know about it. As for International Family (the agency we used), I know that they are still in business, but don’t seem to be placing many children anymore. I really don’t know their current status. Since we brought our daughter home two years ago, I know of a handful of babies who have been adopted out of Japan, but after that, the path seems to have dried up. If anyone can add any factual information, please add your comments here to share with others.

For those who are new adopted parents (not just of Japanese adoptions), my comment is this; HANG IN THERE, it’s totally worth it! Having trouble bonding? Stick to it and your baby will meet you half way. As we have one birth child and one adopted child, I can say that today we love both children exactly the same even though it may not have started out that way. Our son was actually the first to really take to the baby (and visa versa) but I suppose they could just relate to each other on a level only children understand. Yes, it wasn’t easy and it wasn’t anything like bonding to a birth child (unless maybe if you’re adopting an newborn infant). We’ve started telling our adopted daughter that we chose her to join our family and that she was special because she was born in Japan. Of course she doesn’t understand any of this, but we don’t want to hide her adopted status from her. After all, it is something that really does make her a special child, and certainly no less loved.

In April 2008, we took our adopted daughter back to the homeland (Japan) for a visit to the clinic where she was born. A good way to connect with her roots. Here she is at a hot spring in Hakone Japan.

At 2 years and 4 months, she’s growing up fast!

For those interested in the adoption process, I can only say, oh my God, what a long process! We brought our daughter home in October of 2006 and our adoption was finally finalized in court in November of 2007. To top it off, we have yet to finish some immigration issues with the Federal government and get her a US Passport - blah, blah, blah. All the while, our adoption attorney’s time clock was ticking away. It got to be a LOT more expensive than we ever imagined. HOWEVER, let me stress that this was only our particular experience due to our circumstances. I know from other parents that it’s not always this slow (and pricey).

So where are we today? Well as I write this post, my daughter has done the nightly migration from her bedroom to our bedroom, and she has taken her rightful place in my bed right where I’m supposed to sleep. I will soon carry her down to her room, only to have her migrate back to my bed about an hour after that… Sounds like a pretty normal child doesn’t it?

Or, maybe you’ve seen this sticker…

In Hawaii (and in SoCal I hear), it seems that “cool” young dudes in the import car hot-rod scene think these Japanese stickers are da bomb! Maybe I’m an old fut, cause I don’t get it and I’m seeing more and more of these Japanese stickers on cars all the time. I’ve tried to pull along side one of these guys to ask him why he has this sticker on his car…of course he couldn’t hear me over the loud exhaust and hip-hop music blaring from his car.

Or maybe they don’t know the true meaning behind these stickers from Japan… (I’ll bet Japanese visitors in Hawaii look and laugh at these guys.) So what are these stickers? Well the first sticker, the green and yellow one, is used in Japan to designate a young, new driver. This sticker is known as “Shoshinsha” 初心者マーク（しょしんしゃマーク）or sometimes by “Wakaba” 若葉マーク（わかばマーク）. In Japan, this is one of those things that you certainly DON’T WANT to have on your car. Think of it as the Japanese equivalent to driving around with a big “STUDENT DRIVER” sign plastered on your car. Very cool dude!

A badge of honor - Only the smokin’ hot cars in Japan have these “new driver” stickers on them!

The brown and yellow sticker has a different meaning. In Japan, if you’re a senior citizen, you put this “Koreisha” 高齢者マーク sticker on your car as a way of telling other drivers, “I’m old, don’t bother me!”

So if anyone can tell me where they are getting these Japanese stickers, and WHY they’re putting them on their souped up import cars, please explain it to this old fut. There MUST be a good reason why these stickers are cool. Hey, maybe I need one of these brown and yellow Koreisha stickers for my car!

Jasmine Trias or Jordan Segundo of American Idol fame come to mind, but that would be incorrect. Keali’i Rachel, Jake Shimabukuro and Iz (r.i.p) are talented and well known beyond Hawaii, but they would also be incorrect.

Correct answers: 1) Yuna Ito, 2) Shen Brown, 3) Angela Aki, 4) Melody Ishikawa

Never heard of them? Join the club. The reason is that all have left Hawaii and have reached a level of fame, not in the US mainland, but in Japan. How good are they? Let me introduce a bunch of music vidoes and you can judge for yourself. Even if you don’t have time to watch the whole video, please take a moment to play at least a little of each one; you’re in for a real treat. When you’re done, please ask yourself, why don’t more people (in Hawaii at least) know who they are?

Yuna Ito
A 2001 graduate from McKinley High School in Honolulu, Yuna Ito is one of Japan’s hottest stars today. Her January 16, 2008 single with Celine Dion is climbing the Japanese music charts. But the proof is in the music. Please enjoy the following music videos.

Here’s another Yuna Ito video filmed in Hawaii called “Mahaloha.” The man appearing the video is Micro of the group Def Tech (read on about Def Tech).

Shen Brown of Def Tech
Shenan Brown out of Iolani School is part of group that is bringing Jawaiian music to Japan. Def Tech’s music marries English, Japanese, Hawaiian and Reggae together in a unique blend that deserves to be heard. Shen’s partner is Micro, who sang with Yuna Ito in the “Mahaloha” music video. The following video is live recording of Def Tech’s hit called “My Way.” Pay attention to the English lyrics and you’ll notice there’s a refreshingly positive message in Def Tech’s music.

Here’s a professionally produced music video of Def Tech’s single “Catch the Wave.” Hawaii visitor industry people: note the strong Hawaiian influence seen in living rooms all over Japan.

Angela Aki
Angela Aki is a singer/songwriter/piano player who was born in Japan but graduated from Iolani School (go Raiders!). Angela, who is happa (her father is Japanese and mother is American) has made forays into the US music scene but made it big in Japan in 2006 with the release of her platinum selling album “Home” which peaked at number 2 in the Japanese music charts. Here’s the music video of the album’s title track, “Home.”

Sadly, the following song has no music video, but it was included here because it was a great example of Angela Aki’s English voice. This song, “Surrender” is from her album entitled “Today,” which was released in September 2007.

melody.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Melody Ishikawa (aka ‘melody.’) has established herself as star in the J-pop music scene with a string of hits dating back to 2004. Here’s a music video of her breakthrough single titled “Realize.”

In April 2007, Melody was picked to host an NHK Japan produced, English language music TV show entitled “J-Melo” (seen on NGN in Hawaii). J-Melo is shown worldwide and is intended to share Japanese music with a world audience. Here’s a clip from the TV show where Melody interviews a Japanese/African-American singer, Crystal Kay (watch through the video to hear some Crystal Kay’s R&B J-pop music).

For more info about any of these Japan/Hawaii stars, check out these Wikipedia articles for Yuna Ito, Shen Brown (Def Tech), Angela Aki and Melody. Of course if you want to hear more of their music, YouTube.com has a wealth of content from each artist.

I would certainly love to hear your feedback about these artists with Hawaii ties. Do you think any of these performers could have popular commercial appeal outside of Japan? I’m taking a poll…so let me know what you think.

Talk about parallel parking! Or maybe you use a forklift and lower your car in this space. Good thing this guy sold his F-150 extended cab!

Can you imagine parking here everyday?

Consider this is Japan, the steering wheel is on the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the car! This guy parks his car and has to climb out of the passenger side. I hope he’s skinny!

While it is true that most Japanese people own small cars, it’s also true that like in America, big cars make more of a statement. Americans like big trucks and SUVs, but Japanese people seem to like vans. If you think Toyota, you think of the Sienna van; Honda, the Odyssey, Nissan, the Quest. But in Japan, all the big automakers have a line up a vans that don’t get exported to the States. Here’s a couple of Nissan bad boys that would might even make American men want to drive a van.

No Soccer-mom Nissan Quest here!

Growing up in the 1960’s we used to have a thing called a record player. For you younger folks, a record player was the way we listened to music before CDs and MP3 players.

As a 5 year old child, the single most important record in my collection was Stuart (Stoo) Hample’s The Silly Record. I must have spent days, weeks and months listening to The Silly Record. Amazingly, nearly 40 years later, I am STILL ABLE TO RECITE MOST of it! My wife thinks I’m a freak!

If you don’t know about The Silly Record read no further as this will be of no interest to you. Only a Silly Record fan would care to know that when I was a teenager, in a moment of rare insightfulness, I made a cassette tape recording of The Silly Record. I don’t know what happened to the LP record. And now as an adult I have recently uncovered the tape of The Silly Record and have now ripped it to MP3 for all former fans. Do I dare play this for my 4 year old son? I’m sure he’ll love it, but will he turn out like me? Scary!

So to you 40 to 50 year old fellow freaks out there who actually remember The Silly Record, I present our pal Boodlehiemer in all his glory (Boodlehiemer is the thing with 12 toes standing on top of the record).

I hope Mr. Hample is okay with this post. As this record is currently no where to be found (to purchase) I assume I’m not stepping on any toes.

Right-click the following link and select “Save target as…” to download your copy of The Silly Record (21MB, Mp3 format, 23 mins)

A special thank you goes out to Satoauto.com and his unlimited bandwidth hosting account for hosting this file. I also want to acknowledge PopCereal for having the seemingly only image scans of The Silly Record front and back covers. Also, please visit PopCereal for really complete background info about The Silly Record and Stoo Hample. Groovy!

I ran into this little message printed on the side of a car. In this case the grammar used is not too bad. But the content…well… Now, before you think this was just one person’s idea (the car owner) of poetry, let me assure you that this message was factory OEM stuff. You may need to click on this photo to clearly read it.

Can you hear them? Can you hear the carib screaming?

Son (with a serious tone): Dad? You know I don’t know everything.
Me: Is that right?
Son: Yeah, only God knows everything…. (long pause) …. and Google.

For those looking for some background here, please see my earlier posts on Sumo in Hawaii, a Sumo Primer, and Who to watch in the Hawaii Grand Sumo Tournament.

Following is a NHK news clip (in English) that nicely sets up Hakuho winning the Natsu Basho (May tournament) and practically ensuring Yokozuna promotion.

Hakuho’s promotion came on the heals of a perfect 15-0 performance during the May tournament. After also winning the March tournament, his promotion pretty much set in stone upon the completion of this tournament. On the final day, Hakuho manhandled Yokozuna Asashoryu in a way that made him look befitting of the rank. Asashoryu finished with a disappointing 11-4 record. Following is an NHK clip of that final match, in English of course.

In other developments Ozeki (Champion) Tochiazuma retired from sumo during the Natsu Basho after it was announced that he had a brain injury which would make continuing his sumo career dangerous. This sets the stage where the Hawaii Grand Sumo Tournament will feature two Yokozuna (Asashoryu and Hakuho), and now only three wrestlers with the 2nd highest Ozeki rank, Chiyotaikai, Kaio and Kotooshyu. Sekiwake (Jr. Champion) Kotomitsuki finished the May tournament with a strong record and will be seeking Ozeki promotion in July. Look for Kotomitsuki to be highly motivated when he comes to Hawaii.

As always, check out http://www.sumohawaii.com for more tickets and information about the June 9 & 10, 2007 Hawaii Grand Sumo Tournament.

Me to my son: “Just think, soon your baby sister will be talking! What do you think her first words will be? What will she say to you?”

My son kind of shrugged me off and plainly declared: “Get off of me!”

Our adopted baby girl is growing up too fast! Seems like we just brought her home!