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Stunning woodwork artistry will be on display at the 20th annual Hawaii’s Woodshow, Na Laau o Hawaii, a statewide juried woodworking show, which opens on Sun., April 1 and runs through April 15 at the Honolulu Museum of Art School Gallery at Linekona.  


The show features only art pieces crafted predominately from Hawaii-grown woods. Endangered woods and certain rare species are, of course, prohibited. 


Among nearly 90 pieces that will be on display will be a grey reef shark carved by Clay Simpson of Simpson Artworks on Maui. The entire 650-pound piece, including its massive base, comes from the same single limb of an ear pod tree (Enterolobium cyclocarpum) that was felled a few months ago near the Puunene Post Office in central Maui. Stunning woodwork artistry will be on display at the 20th annual Hawaii’s Woodshow, Na Laau o Hawaii, a statewide juried woodworking show, which opens on Sun., April 1 and runs through April 15 at the Honolulu Museum of Art School Gallery at Linekona.  


— Hawaii Magazine

The 20th Annual Celebration of the Arts Festival celebrates Hawaii’s most reputable artisans, educators, cultural practitioners, speakers and entertainers. Opening ceremonies include traditional oli (chants) from Hawaiian practitioners while music and hula will be continuous throughout the weekend, April 6 - 8, 2012. Hands-on art, demonstrations, cultural panels, music and dance will serve as the common thread to allow visitors and residents the opportunity to interact and enjoy this popular festival which has also been the recipient of the coveted “Keep it Hawaii Kahili Award,” presented by the Hawaii Tourism Authority. For more information, please visit the hotel’s website or the event website. For tickets and reservations please call 808-669-6200.

— Hawaii News Now

In celebration of National Library Week 2012, Barbara Chung Ho will present the “Folk Art of Chinese Knotting,” a free interactive and customized workshop at Kalihi-Palama Public Library on Monday, April 9 at 6 p.m. in the Auditorium. 

Chung Ho, who studied this ancient folk art form in Taiwan, has taught Chinese Knotting to children, teens and adults at Hawaii’s public libraries as well as other venues.  She will share a brief history of the folk art form, conduct a step-by-step demonstration on the basic techniques, and then invite the audience to participate.  All supplies will be provided.

— Hawaii News Now

The Earth and Ocean Festival is designed to showcase and emphasize the treasures of Hawaii Island via booths and educational activities on coral reef and ocean stewardship, traditional cultural practices, local products and foods, education on conservation practices, film and slide presentations, and features Hawaiian entertainment.

Headlining is Darlene Ahuna, one of Hawaii’s foremost female vocalists. She is a multiple Na Hoku Hanohano Award winner, including Female Vocalist of the Year.

— Hawaii 24/7

Growing up Jason Rohrs had his choice of chores. He could cook or he could clean.

“I decided I’d rather cook and have my sister clean,” Rohrs said. “That’s how I started cooking, with my grandparents.”

Rohrs, 26, went to culinary school and then worked in fine-dining establishments in Ohio, perfecting his classic French dishes, before moving to Hawaii to cook at Honolulu’s top-rated restaurant, Chef Mavro.

Rohrs’ career path took a sharp turn when he joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 2009.

— The Day

Unfortunately, the above creative headline was not penned by this writer. “Poi to the World” was the company motto of Craig Walsh’s now defunct Hawaiian company called the Poi Company which made poi and other poi products.

Let’s back up a minute and discuss poi. What is poi?

Poi is known as the soul food of Hawaii. Poi is made from taro, which is also called kalo.

— Empowher

The Hawaii Youth Symphony (HYS) will host a benefit concert for Child & Family Service, featuring award-winning artists and musicians on Sunday, April 15, 4:00 pm at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall.  In lieu of an admission fee, HYS is asking attendees to make a donation to Child & Family Service.

HYS’ annual spring concert will feature Hawaii’s premiere youth orchestra, Youth Symphony I, under the direction of Henry Miyamura. Other guest performers include internationally acclaimed soprano Bai He and veteran trumpet player Stanton Haugen.  Bai He has been performing around the world since she was a young child and was recently named the 2011 winner of the University of Hawaii Concert Competition and is the 2012 winner of the Morning Music Club Scholarship Competition.

The concert will also serve as the world premiere of “Animal Farm”, written by HYS alumnus Michael Thomas-Foumai and “Fantasia for a Queen,” composed by Byron Yasui whose work has been performed internationally including orchestral premieres at New York’s Carnegie Hall, the Purcell Room at London’s Royal Festival Hall and various venues throughout Europe, Australia, and North, Central and South America.

— Hawaii News Now

Does this mining light make me look fat?

With a mining light perched on my head and life jacket strapped around my torso, it probably wasn’t my best look, but both are required pieces of safety equipment when preparing to traverse a series of tunnels dug into the side of a mountain on the north end of the tropical Island of Hawaii.

It was last October when I found myself on the northern tip of Hawaii to experience a Kohala Ditch Adventure, an eco-tour that includes perching on a sit-a-top kayak while gliding through narrow culverts and tunnels built in the early 1900s as a way to redirect water for irrigation to then-precious sugar cane plantations. The last sugar plantation closed in Kohala in 1975, but today tourists and locals alike can travel parts of the ditch system, which moves millions of gallons of water every day, is 22.5 miles long and boasts 57 tunnels, 19 flumes and six miles of open culverts. The ditch tour itself covers 2.5 miles and takes about 90 minutes. It’s a spectacular 90 minutes.

— Huffington Post

The Plaza Club invites the public to downtown Honolulu for a First Friday pau hana celebration on April 6, between 5:30 and 7:30 p.m., featuring Cuban works of art by self-described organic artist, Lazaro Batista.

Batista fuses an eclectic array of styles, including Impressionism, Cubism and Surrealism. His collections have appeared in art galleries, all across North America, including New York City, Washington, D.C., Miami and Canada. The Plaza Club’s Sunset Lounge hosts the event, which also offers happy hour drink specials and an ono pupu bar. Prices for the pupu bar menu start at $8 for non-members.

Admission is free. Parking in the building is free after 5:00 p.m. with validation. Dress code is business casual, which includes jeans.  For more information and to make reservations, call (808) 521-8905 or contact frontdesk@theplazaclub.com.

— Hawaii News Now

Windward Community College presents the 2nd Annual Palikû Arts Festival, a unique interactive arts experience, set for March 31, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in and around the grounds of Palikû Theatre on the Windward Community College campus in Kaneohe. Last year’s festival was hugely successful, attracting approximately 4,000 people!

A family friendly event, the Palikû Arts Festival will include a free performance at Palikû Theatre and fun hands-on opportunities to get involved in art, music, literature, theatre and movement. The festival is free to the public and open to all ages. Attendees are encouraged to come in costume or festive clothing. ‘Ono food will be available from shave ice to crepes and curry.

— Hawaii News Now

To mark the 20th anniversary of its annual Celebration of the Arts, The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua has chosen the theme, “Me Ke Aloha … With Aloha to all.”

Considering that “aloha” is the most used word identifying Hawaii to the rest of the world, you might wonder what more can be said on the subject.

Plenty, especially since the word is also so easily misused — misunderstand, at least —when it comes to all of its subtle meanings and implications.

— Maui News

The Volcano House, the iconic red inn and restaurant overlooking Kīlauea caldera in Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, may finally reopen after two years and more than $4 million in renovations.

Long known for the flames that had flickered continuously in its stone fireplace since 1877 — with a brief rehousing when the lodge had to be rebuilt in 1941 — the hotel closed after the National Park Service failed to receive any bids on its lease in 2009, according to a June 2010Hawaii magazine article. The embers died out on New Year’s Day 2010, the article by Peter von Buol notes, with this comment from former park spokesperson Mardi Lane: “While it’s nice to have a focal point in the hotel, we want something that is green, and that’s not a 24/7 fireplace.”

— SF Gate

Prehistoric peoples managed fisheries in sustainable ways that may have lessons for efforts to reform modern-day counterparts, U.S. and Canadian scientists say.

Researchers from the University of Hawaii and Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada, studied reef fisheries in Hawaii since the islands were first colonized 700 years ago and found early cultures learned how to get high yields without overexploitation.

The earliest Hawaiians had little farming and were reliant on the sea for much of their food, consuming an estimated 400 pounds per capita per year, about the same consumed in Pacific island countries that rely on seafood today, researchers said.

— Sci-Tech Today

Friday, Sept. 21 is the date of the 17th Mealani’s Taste of the Hawaiian Range and Agriculture Festival. Sprawling again inside and out of Hilton Waikoloa Village, the annual event showcases the isle’s grass-fed beef industry while bringing together local ranchers, farmers, restaurateurs and eager eaters to celebrate a bounty of locally produced food.

More than 30 of the state’s top chefs dazzle diners 6-8 p.m. with delectable dishes using grass-fed beef, pork, lamb, goat, mutton and wild boar — plus a cornucopia of fresh island fruit, veggies, honey, spices and beverages.

Culinary adventure seekers can taste and enjoy all the cuts of grass-fed beef — everything from tongue to tail — prepared expertly by Hawaii chefs. Enjoy familiar cuts like sirloin tip and ribs, plus beef cheek and the infamous “rocky mountain oysters” or bull testicles.

— Hawaii 24/7

Imagine taking part in small, private gourmet dinners with wine pairings selected by four of California’s top producers of Pinot Noir. Perfect. Now imagine learning about these wines by attending exclusive seminars and tastings at Four Seasons Resort Maui, June 7-9, 2012 during a weekend of palate-pleasing events led by vintners from Anthill Farm Wineries, Brewer-Clifton, Costa de Oro and Patz & Hall. Even more perfect is the panoply of luxuries and comforts while staying at this continuously celebrated and award-winning resort. Put it all together and it becomes an unforgettable event for wine lovers and foodies alike. In fact, this program is one of a series of “Unforgettable Events” featured at the resort.

The three-day event, “Four Pinots at Four Seasons Resort Maui,” includes seminars hosted by Master Sommelier Roberto Viernes and exclusive wine-paired dinners held at each of the resort’s award-winning restaurants-Ferraro’s, Spago Maui and DUO, with a fourth dinner taking place locally at Capische. “Each wine dinner gives guests a personalized opportunity to interact directly with the winemakers. It’s going to be a high-touch affair,” says Mark Simon, director of marketing, Four Seasons Resort Maui. There will be many opportunities for wine aficionados and food lovers to learn from these vintners about what makes Pinot Noir so special. “We’ve come together because of our absolute love of Pinot Noir. ‘Four Pinots at Four Seasons’ is the perfect opportunity to showcase the dynamic essence of this really small appellation,” says Steve Clifton of Brewer-Clifton.

— SF Gate

Last week, the contestants jetted off to scenic Hawaii, where the group learned that it was indeed possible to lose weight while on vacation. The suddenly ally-less Kim kept her hopes afloat by being dropping the highest percentage, while Megan fell below the Yellow Line wither her mom Kimmy. Naturally, Kimmy fell on her sword for her daughter, and she was sent home. Seven remain. 

This week’s excuse du jour: “Exercise is boring.” This was disproved early on, as Mark, Buddy, Jeremy and Kim went to a Zumba class. I’d heard of Zumba, but never really seen it. It’s like a combination aerobics class and dance party, and it looked like a blast. Buddy turned out to be the life of the party, showing off some white-guy dance moves that had Jeremy (and me) laughing like crazy. Even Dolvett got down and funky. 

A lot of attention was paid to Megan this week by Bob, for the simple reason that she has been in last place in percentage dropped for a significant portion of the season. And it’s true, she tends to seesaw back and forth between bad weeks and so-so weeks, and Bob concludes that it’s because her work ethic slips when he’s not there to push her. But push her he did, during a bike ride up a very steep mountain/hill. To her credit, she did not stop once, even after leaving Conda and Christine in her dust. Good for her. 

— Television Blend

Hawaii Preparatory Academy hosts the free Big Island Celebrate Reading Festival 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday April 21.

Students from sixth grade up through college, their interested relatives and friends, and readers and retirees of all ages in the community are welcome.

Between the opening and closing reading performances at the Gates Performing Arts Center, authors will be available to read and/or talk with, in three half-hour sessions.

— Hawaii 24/7

America is a land of immigrants and a huge influx over the years has brought a rich cornucopia of different cultures and cuisines to this country. But for a very long time, the only ethnic cuisine that gained any significant degree of prominence on our plates was Italian, with sides of Americanized Chinese and Mexican.

Over the past decade or two, this situation has drastically changed. Multiple ethnic cuisines now influence American restaurant menus, and new retail product introductions. While Italian, Chinese and Mexican cuisines are on the top (but now with more authentic flavors coming to the fore, along with regional dishes), new menu items and product launches are inspired by foods from tropical areas like Hawaii, the Caribbean, South America and Southeast Asia.

Hawaii’s melting pot

Hawaiian cuisine has become a melting pot of different ethnic cuisines, including American, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Polynesian and Portuguese. Common ingredients used in Hawaiian cuisine include Asian teriyaki, Chinese five-spice powder, wasabi, Japanese soy sauce, Filipino bagoong(fermented fish or shrimp and salt), and huli-huli sauce (ginger, soy sauce, red chiles, salt and water). Hawaiian sea salt is a traditional seasoning for native Hawaiian dishes such as kalua pork (wrapped in tior banana leaves and roasted in an underground pit), poke (a cold salad made with raw fish, soy sauce, green onions, seaweed and sesame oil) and Hawaiian jerky (beef made with soy sauce and sometimes pineapple juice). Alaea (volcanic red clay) enriches the salt with iron oxide and imparts a characteristic red color.

— Food Product Design

TJ Maxx is holding a job fair in Honolulu this week to hire employees for three stores it plans to open on Oahu.

The job fair is being held from Tuesday through Thursday at the Kalia Tower in theHilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, according to an ad in a local newspaper.

The company is seeking to hire everything from administrative coordinators to sales associates to an overnight stocking crew.

— Hawaii Business News

In my recent visit to Hawaii, I made a stop at the local kava bar. I wanted to brush up on my kava herb knowledge and to see what the kava hubbub was all about.

For centuries, Hawaiians and the Pacific Islanders have used kava as part of their ceremonial rituals. Even today, my Hawaiian ʺbruhhdahsʺ regularly enjoy drinking kava.

Kava, which is a plant with deep roots, is native to the Hawaiian and South Pacific Islands. Kava is also known as awa, kava pepper, kava kava or piper methysticum.

— Empowher

Mike Daisey, the monologuist whose tale of visiting Apple factories in China was revealed to have been partially fabricated, has written a blog post apologizing to, well, pretty much everyone: His audiences, his colleagues in theater, journalists he lied to and human-rights advocates whose jobs may have been made harder by his deceit.

Daisey will also host a public forum at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company on March 27 at 7 p.m., to address D.C. audiences’ questions and concerns. Woolly produced Daisey’s show, “The Agony and the Esctasy of Steve Jobs” in 2011, and will be remounting the production this summer.

— Washington Post

Look to the west after sunset Sunday night and, unless clouds impede the view, you’ll see three worlds.

One is the moon, a thin crescent, upturned like a smiley face. The second is Jupiter, a gas giant reduced by distance to a bright dot. It’ll be just to the left of the lunar smile, like a beauty mark.

Above the moon and Jupiter, about a fist’s distance away on an outstretched arm, will be Venus, beaming like a headlight.

— Washington Post

When her mother died, Cheryl Strayed was cast into an abyss. To pull herself out of it, she tried sex, drugs, and long-distance hiking – although not simultaneously. She put drug use and empty relationships behind her (although just barely) before she set off on a solitary 1,100-mile hike on the Pacific Crest Trail.

That’s not to say that Strayed was well prepared for what she was undertaking. She had never backpacked before and spent the night before she left pulling brand-new outdoors equipment out of its packaging.

— The Christian Science Monitor

Steve McGarrett’s love life is looking up. Michelle Borth, who appeared in five episodes of Hawaii Five-0‘s first two seasons as McGarrett’s squeeze, will join the CBS procedural as a regular when it returns for a third season in the fall. She will reprise her role as McGarrett’s girlfriend, Lt. Catherine Rollins. Borth, repped by CAA, New Wave Entertainment and Marcy Morris, first guest starred in the fourth episode ofHawaii Five-0‘s first season and was most recently seen in an episode last month.

— Deadline

For all the Spam musubi, high housing costs and low wages, Hawaii routinely scores the highest of all U.S. states on “well being,” the Gallup-Healthways index of emotional and physical health, work environment and other factors. So it’s only fitting that the host of television’s longest-running workout show has been happily based in Honolulu for nearly three decades — and looks just as fit as when his “Bodies in Motion” began.

Gilad Janklowicz, who goes by his first name, launched the half-hour aerobics and toning show in 1983, creating a signature style with scenic oceanfront locations and a handful of exercisers of varying ages and fitness; it didn’t hurt that he’s a handsome Bert Convy lookalike with a slight Israeli accent. When ESPN picked “Bodies in Motion” up in 1985, the show went the old-school equivalent of viral, leading to a spinoff starring his sister, Ada, called “Basic Training” and an 11-year run on the sports network before moving on to other cable channels.

— SF Gate

The last frontier on Earth is out-of-this-world, desolate, foreboding, and moon-like, James Cameron said after diving to the deepest part of the ocean.

And he loved it.

“My feeling was one of complete isolation from all of humanity,” Cameron said Monday, shortly after returning from the strange cold dark place 7 miles below the western Pacific Ocean that only two men have been to. “I felt like I literally, in the space of one day, had gone to another planet and come back. It’s been a very surreal day.”

— USA Today

Punahou School and Slow Food® O’ahu are hosting a free, public screening of “Ingredients Hawai’i,” a 2012 documentary on the islands’ thriving, local food community. The 30-minute film will be shown on Wednesday, April 4, 2012, at 6:15 p.m. at Thurston Memorial Chapel on the school campus. The screening, part of Punahou’s Food for Thought film-and-discussion series, will be preceded by samplings from local farmers at 5:30 p.m. and followed by a discussion with the film’s director and executive producer, Robert Bates. Seating for 400 is available on a first-come, first-served basis; parking on campus is free. For information on the event, go to www.punahou.edu/foodforthought or call 808.945.1352. For more information on the film, visit www.ingredientshawaii.com.

— Hawaii News Now

Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa is making it easier to “hang ten” with the introduction of a new surf school and Waikiki beach hotel package!

Champion long board surfer Kai Sallas continues his father’s tradition of surf instruction with the creation of Pro Surf School Hawaii, located at Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. His long history and love for the sport began when he was 12 years old, stemming from dad Jr. Sallas who taught young Kai and helped revitalize the surfing culture as one of the original Waikiki Beach Boys. Now, the Waikiki oceanfront hotel is offering a value-added Surf Package for guests to enjoy the waves and learn to surf with Kai and his professional team!

“With Pro Surf School Hawaii now on-site, our guests have the perfect opportunity to learn water safety and surf techniques, tailored to his or her skill level,” said Michael Nisky, general manager of Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort & Spa. “Our beachfront location is especially convenient for guests to practice the skills they have learned, with a safe surf break just a quick paddle away.”

— Market Watch

The panoramic photos are as beautiful as they are enticing. In one picture, David Chatsuthiphan is seen perched on a narrow ridge as he peers over the Pali Lookout on Oahu.

“You see these amazing bird’s eye views that actually become little bit addicting,” said Chatsuthiphan. 

The thrill of extreme hiking was so alluring that the 33-year-old web designer created his own website, Unreal Hawaii.

— KITV

With a quarter-million dollars at stake, even the tempting taste of a Hawaiian luau couldn’t break the contestants!

Producers wanted to see if the final eight could go on vacation and still shed the fat. So, they flew them to Hawaii, and we went behind-the-scenes to find out which contestants were carrying their weight.

For weeks now, we’ve watched. Lots of pain … and thankfully, for them, no gain.

— Hawaii News Now

Critically-acclaimed conductor and pianist Jeffrey Kahane joins the Hawai‘i Symphony Orchestra for two extraordinary concerts of classical music blockbusters featuring Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” on Sunday, April 1 at 4 p.m. and Tuesday, April 3 at 7 p.m. at Honolulu’s Blaisdell Concert Hall. Kahane will perform and conduct Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto in this much-anticipated spring concert. Tickets start at $30 and are on sale now at the Hawai‘i Symphony Box Office: (808) 593-9468. Student tickets are $10.

“I’m delighted to be returning to Honolulu to perform two of the most beloved works in the symphonic repertoire,” said Kahane. “The Fourth Concerto of Beethoven is the concerto I have played more than any other, and after more than three decades it remains one of the concertos closest to my heart, a work that never ceases to move and inspire me. It is truly one of the most revolutionary works in the concerto form, and it is an especially wonderful experience for me to conduct it from the piano.”

— Hawaii Reporter

Southwest Airline celebrated the arrival of its first 737-800 planes.

The new, larger plane will start hauling passengers next month.

The plane holds 175 passengers, 38 more than the biggest plane now in Southwest’s fleet.

— KHON

School gardens around Hawaii Island are in full bloom, and students and teachers at several school gardens are opening their gates for tours and tastings in April.

On these tours, the public can enjoy produce grown and prepared by the students, teachers, and volunteers, and see how food self-reliance is growing in our communities.

The tours will be April 14, 21, and 28, and are hosted by The Kohala Center, a local nonprofit with an emphasis on education, environment, and empowerment. Lunch is offered on some of the tours.

— Hawaii Tribune Herald

It’s the eternal question in real estate: Should I buy or rent?

The answer has never been clearer: Buy.

In 98 of the top 100 housing markets, buying a home is more affordable than renting, according to the online real estate company Trulia. Only Honolulu and San Francisco buck the trend.

There are several reasons. Home prices are falling. Mortgage interest rates are at historically low levels. And rents are on the rise.

— CNN

XO Group Inc., a global media and technology leader and creator of the top two wedding websites, TheKnot.com and WeddingChannel.com, today released the results of its annual Real Weddings Survey, which surveyed nearly 18,000 US couples married in 2011. TheKnot.com & WeddingChannel.com 2011 Real Weddings Survey captures detailed information on wedding budget, style preferences, event characteristics and other key information related to the bridal demographic.

— Market Watch

It’s a good time to be a scotch lover in Hawaii. It’s been less than a week since I went to a whisky tasting with Dewar’s Brand Ambassador Gabe Cardarella, and now there are several other events on the horizon.

While at Saturday’s Eat the Street Mililani, I ran into Dan and Mary Peddie from the Hawaii Scottish Association. I was aware there was an upcoming scotch event, but Dan and Mary explained the scope of what was coming up over the next two weekends.

It all starts Friday, March 23, at Willows Restaurant, with the 3rd annual Grand Scotch Tour, featuring up to 30 scotches from renowned distilleries Aberfeldy, Balvenie, Clynelish, the Glenlivet, Highland Park, Macallan and more. Tickets are $70 pre-sale or $80 at the door. Whether you’re a longtime scotch lover like me, or a novice, this is the event to attend to broaden your whisky experience.

— Nonstop Honolulu

Sunseekers are making way for dump trucks along a portion of Oahu’s Waikiki Beach this spring, thanks to a $2.3 million project to widen one of the world’s best known strands.

The goal is to add as much as 37 feet of offshore sand along a one-third mile stretch from the Duke Kahanamoku statue at Kuhio beach past the Royal Hawaiian Hotel - and that means three trucks hauling sand 7 a.m. to noon, seven days a week to April 14, reports Honolulu’s Khon2.com. It also means that some parts of the beach have been washed by water turned milky white from harmless silt seepage.

The area’s shoreline is eroding 1 to 2 feet per year, letting water rush into seawalls and a hotel restaurant bar during south shore swells and peak high tide.

— USA Today

The White Knight Party is a fundraising event for Tau Dance Theatre! There will be live music, dance performances, a silent auction and an art show! The event is Thursday, March 22, 2012 from 6:00pm to 11:30pm at The Venue. There’s a $10 suggested donation at the door and if you wear white you could win a surprise door prize!

Tau Dance Theatre is a non-profit organization and Hawaii’s critically acclaimed professional dance company. It is dedicated to perpetuate traditional Hawaiian art forms while setting new and unique dance standards by blending Pacific and Asian themes with Western contemporary theatrical disciplines. Since 1992, Tau Dance Theatre has successfully provided educational outreach performing arts activities to local, national and international institutions.

— Hawaii News Now

Designer for a Day today announced that seven Hawaii non-profit organizations are the recipients of its inaugural Designer for a Dream program, a special community service campaign that features free online design consultations and space makeover projects. In addition, Designer for a Day is partnering with Chaminade University to provide students real-world interior design experience to complete the free makeovers.

The Designer for a Dream winners are:

• March of Dimes
• Life Foundation
• Kahi Mohala
• Kumu Kahua Theatre
• PARENTS
• CUC Thrift Store (Central Union Church)
• YWCA  of Hawaii Island (Hilo)

Receiving full-day design makeovers of a selected space ($1,500 value) are March of Dimes and Life Foundation. Groups awarded a half-day comprehensive design service consultation viawww.designerforadayhawaii.com ($750 value) are Kahi Mohala, Kumu Kahua Theatre, PARENTS, CUC Thrift Store (Central Union Church), and YWCA of Hawaii Island (Hilo).

— Hawaii News Now

Broadway In Hawaii / MagicSpace Entertainment announced its first-ever subscription series will include three Honolulu premieres - the critically-acclaimed Blue Man Group and, direct from Broadway, Rain – A Tribute to the BeatlesandBroadway’s Biggest Blockbuster, Wicked.  Season ticket holders can see all three shows at Blaisdell Concert Hall for less than $120.  Season tickets go on sale April 2.  Visit Broadwayinhawaii.com to receive information by email, Facebook or Twitter.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Wicked, Rain – A Tribute To The Beatles and Blue Man Group to Honolulu,” says Broadway in Hawaii CEO John Ballard. “Our Hawaiian audiences have been incredibly welcoming in the past and it’s an honor to share these extraordinary shows with everyone in the community. These three productions represent not only some of the most popular shows in entertainment today, they also embody a spirit of creativity that has made them true innovators in the performing arts. We’re confident that Honolulu audiences will embrace Wicked, Rain and Blue Man Group as each show makes its Hawaii debut.

— Hawaii Reporter

Like slack-key guitar, quilting is an enduring island art that evolved from an imported tradition. Hawaiian women adapted the textile art brought to the islands by missionaries and made it their own expressive tradition.

Now the Honolulu Museum of Art puts on view a dozen of its prized Hawaiian quilts in “Regal and Royal Hawaiian Quilts,” revealing a response to a century and a half of adaptation and change, sewn by skilled hands. The exhibition is on view through June 17.

Six of the quilts feature the distinctive floral design most familiar in contemporary quilts, and in dramatic color combinations not often seen today.

— Antiques and the Arts

At the heart of almost every local tailgate party, potluck, celebration and social gathering is poke — Hawaii’s soul food.

For several contestants at celebrity chef Sam Choy’s Keauhou Poke Contest Sunday, poke encompasses more than just the components — a melange of seasoned cubes of fresh, raw fish and other ingredients. It’s not just an ubiquitous pupu, but “a tradition” and “quintessential Hawaii food.” It’s recipes that have been passed down for generations or tweaked into the most imaginative combinations, perfectly reflecting the Hawaiian Islands culture and lifestyle.

For Choy, the contest at the Keauhou Sheraton Bay Resort & Spa was a “very rewarding” opportunity to “educate the public about poke’s origins and acknowledge those who carry on its traditions.”

— West Hawaii Today

High school students can showcase their artistic talents and get a shot at a $1,000 scholarship.

Congresswoman Colleen Hanabusa is inviting high school students from the First Congressional District to enter the 2012 Kulia I Ka Nu`u Congressional Art Competition. Artwork entries must be submitted to her Honolulu office no later than Friday, March 30, 2012.

The competition is open to all high school students attending school or being home schooled in the First Congressional District, which runs from Mililani and Ewa Beach to Hawaii Kai. Each student is limited to one entry, which must be submitted through his or her school. Artwork must be original and no larger than 27” wide x 27” high x 3” deep, including matting, and can weigh no more than 15 pounds.

— KHON 

Revitalizing Breadfruit project is partnering with Community Harvest Hawaii on a Kona Community Breadfruit Harvest on Saturday, March 24.

Community Harvest Hawaii is a project that harvests, processes and shares excess food that would otherwise fall from the trees and be wasted.

Fruits collected include citrus, coconut, breadfruit, guava, avocado, banana and others. 

— Fresh Plaza

As the crush of passengers boarded United Flight 618 to Hawaii here last month, they passed by a silver-haired flight attendant in bifocals who greeted them with an “Aloha, welcome aboard.”

Most of them appeared more focused on finding their seats than sizing up the flight crew, but this flight attendant, Ron Akana, stood out, not least because of the 11 sparkling rhinestones on the wings pinned to his lapel. The first one was to commemorate his 10-year anniversary as a flight attendant, and he was given another for every subsequent five years of flying.

Yes, Mr. Akana has worked as a flight attendant for 63 years, clocking some 20 million miles along the way, the equivalent of circling the globe about 800 times or flying roughly 40 times to the moon and back. Though no one tracks seniority across all airlines, he is widely believed to hold the title of longest-serving flight attendant in the United States.

— NY Times

Hawaii is an epicenter of delicious food.

Everywhere you look and smell, something tasty calls your name and you have no choice but to find and devour it.

Many of Hawaii’s speciality foods are beach friendly – a culinary collection of dishes that are easy to transport, wrapped in plastic or foam and eaten with hands or disposable chopsticks.

— Migrationology

This year’s Philadelphia International Flower Show theme “Hawaii: Islands of Aloha,” may have inspired you to think warm, tropical thoughts. But how do you get that tropical feel in your own garden?

Large foliage, colorful flowers, and wonderful floral aromas add that special tropical feel to Hawaiian gardens. However, true native Hawaiian gardens focus on subtle colors and the textural qualities of the leaves and stones, according to Anna Yorba, registered landscape architect and owner ofHawaiian Garden Design LLC, based in Aiea, Hawaii, just outside of Honolulu. To create your own “special island” in your backyard, pick stones, plants and colors to suit your own tastes.

Hawaiian gardens are famous for plants with huge, upright leaves that provide an architectural quality. Taro (Colocasia), a signature Hawaiian plant, yields poi, a food staple of native Hawaiians. Here in Pennsylvania, taro or elephant’s ear bulbs grow well in the summer garden to help create that tropical feel. Alocasia bulbs are similar to Colocassia, but have thicker, waxier leaves. These bulbs are frost-tender bulbs should be treated as annuals or lifted in late fall. Other plants that you’d expect to find in the Hawaiian landscape include philodendrons, gardenias, ginger, banana, bamboo and palms.

— Newtown Patch

To start a meal with a salad at chef Ed Kenney’s Town restaurant on Oahu is no mundane graze before the good stuff arrives. The arugula is earthy, perfectly peppery. The cilantro pops. The citrus is bold. Food tastes more intense—better—in Hawaii, and it’s not because the warm breeze on your bare arms is making you island-drunk.

It’s the sun, and the rich, dark soil at places like Ma‘o Organic Farms, where Kenney gets his greens. And although 85 to 90 percent of Hawaii’s food is still imported—the Islands have a long and complicated agricultural history—the grassroots movement to grow more food locally has reached a tipping point.

Even a few years ago, choice beyond tropical fruit was limited, Kenney notes. “Now, we have purslane, carrots, heirloom beans. Farmers’ markets with one row of stalls now have four.” Ranchers, cheesemakers, and mushroom growers are adding more fresh options, beyond veggies, helping to inspire a new era of Hawaii cuisine. Go taste for yourself.

— Sunset

^“Try the fried moi–makes you go moemoe right aftah,” a fisherman at a nearby picnic table said with a chuckle as he examined a shirtless local boy soaking in the newly spruced-up Heeia Pier. The boy’s eyes circled around the freshly written chalkboard specials with an indecisive gaze. “Sounds good,” he said. “Still get the same menu?”

Well, not exactly. Entrepreneur Russ Inouye (founder of event promotions company Vertical Junkies) and chef Mark “Gooch” Noguchi, alum of Town and Chef Mavro, took over the reins of the modest deli, which had been run by the Choy family for about 35 years. Engaging talent from Kanoe Sandefur and Blaine Tomita from the Kailua eatery Prima, this innovative team takes mostly Windward side-grown produce and other local ingredients and funnels them into flavorful gustatory delights. The lustrous gourmet lunches are wrapped in a modest plate-lunch package best enjoyed at the coveted spot on the edge of the pier to the right of the take-out window, where you can watch the ‘aama crab slyly scuttle across the rocks.

— Honolulu Weekly

The MTV Show Jackass has been known to pull some stupid stunts.  Recently Steve-O had a comedy tour where he toured the islands.

— Damon Tucker