Tammy Yee

Two Hawaiian Monk Seals Murdered, a Third Found Dead...

2011-12-29T18:52:00.001-10:00

When I created a poster for NOAA in 2007 commemorating the launch of the Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery program, there were 1200 monk seals remaining. Now there are 900. And now this: two monk seals have been killed on Molokai, and activist Walter Ritte, a long-time community activist on Molokai, reveals that:

"The elders are saying that these monk seals are not Hawaiian. Our young people are calling these seals an invasive species brought in by government. The seals are now the easy targets of blame for the many ills of our depleting fisheries. We need to stand up for the truth: These seals are not only Hawaiian, but have been here longer than the Hawaiians."

In addition, Republican Representative Cynthia Thielan has taken a stand against protecting the species: http://www.civilbeat.com/articles/2011/12/05/14137-thielen-takes-stand-against-added-protections-for-hawaii-monk-seal/

Auwe, Thielan. I thought you were cool. No more. Once these creatures are gone, they are gone.

Occupy Economics

2011-12-29T08:15:00.000-10:00

Occupy Economics from Softbox on Vimeo.

Holiday Book Signings at Barnes & Noble!

2011-11-14T14:21:00.001-10:00

Drop by to say hello, or have your books autographed in time for the holidays.

Saturday, November 19, 3-4pm
Barnes & Noble, Kahala Mall

Book Signing, Illustrating and Original Artwork in support of ASSETS School Book Fair

Lynne Wikoff

Tammy Yee

Saturday, November 26, 11am-noon
Barnes & Noble, Kahala Mall

Meet and Greet Mutual Publishing's Authors and Illustrators:

Michael Koyama
Deb McGuire
Matthew Kaopio
Marsha Gibson
Lynne Wikoff
Tammy Yee

Not to be Missed: Fiction Workshop with Donna Jo Napoli

2011-10-21T19:34:00.000-10:00

I took a workshop from Donna Jo, and she's stellar:

Fiction Workshop with Donna Jo Napoli
Friday and Saturday, December 9 and 10, 2011

Donna Jo Napoli, multi-award-winning author of dozens of middle grade and YA novels and picture books (and a university professor of linguistics) will be back by popular demand for another great fiction-writing workshop. (See her website at www.donnajonapoli.com) The workshop will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, December 9 and 10; Friday’s location is Paki Hale (adjacent to Kapiolani Park) and Saturday’s location is the Aina Haina Library meeting room. Cost is $200 for members, $225 to nonmembers. Enrollment is limited, and the workshop is almost full. Preference to members. To sign up and/or for more information, please email Lynne at lwikoff@lava.net.

THE WORLD OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE WITH AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR AND YOSEMITE NATURALIST MICHAEL ELSOHN ROSS

2011-10-21T16:52:00.001-10:00

Passing it on...

THE WORLD OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE WITH AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR AND YOSEMITE NATURALIST MICHAEL ELSOHN ROSS

UHM Outreach College Noncredit Workshop

Writing Your Children's Book
with Michael Elsohn Ross
Tuesday and Thursday, Nov 3 & Nov 8 • 6:00-9:00pm • UHM George Hall 214 • $65 • To register: 956-8400 or www.outreach.hawaii.edu/noncredit

"What impresses me years later is that I wrote a kids' book without knowing much about children's literature. Ignorance was bliss, because I wrote and illustrated free of the constraints of trying to fit a mold. I created with kids in mind..."-- Michael Elsohn Ross

Writing books for children is very different from other genres since the audiences are kids and the publishers, buyers, and librarians are adults. Michael Elsohn Ross, naturalist and award-winning author of over 40 books for children, offers this entertaining and informative class for anyone with a love of children's literature, and an interest in writing or illustrating books.

In his 2-day workshop, Ross explores the wide variety of styles and formats of current books, and shares some useful writing and publishing tools gleaned from his extensive experience in the field. Participants will have a chance to write and edit short pieces, as well as gain an overview of the publishing process.

Michael Elsohn Ross lives on a bluff overlooking the Merced River, right next to Yosemite National Park. Since 1975 he has worked as a naturalist in Yosemite where he continues to lead field classes for the Yosemite Association. He is the educational director of Yosemite Guides and teaches writing workshops at Cal State Fresno and other US Mainland colleges.

Ross' nature and science books include Sandbox Scientists, a guide to setting up science activities for 2-8-year-olds; Cycles, a series of books introducing young people to various cycles in nature and the environment; You're the Scientist books, providing a creative outlet for young experimenters; and The Happy Camper Handbook, a guide to help kids prepare for camping in the great outdoors. Picture books include Snug as a Bug, Baby Bear Isn't Hungry, and What's the Matter in Mr. Whisker's Room? Turning from science to art, Ross wrote Nature Art with Chiura Obata, a biography of a Japanese-American artist who was interned during World War II and
a related title, Salvador Dali and the Surrealists: Their Lives and Ideals. Ross also added to the "World's Children" book series with Children of Northern Ireland and Children of Puerto Rico.

Visit the author's website at: http://www.bugauthor.com/

I AM NOT MOVING

2011-10-18T13:56:00.000-10:00

Of the People. For the People. I am not moving. Make it viral. Pass it on.

Debate Debacle

2011-10-01T07:37:00.006-10:00

Here's why I listen to the debates...

Mitt Romney wants to restore foreign policy based on American interests (hmmm...didn't we support a lot of tyrants based on our own interests...and are now paying the price?) and thinks corporations are people (who have the right to bear arms!).

Despite the Wall Street fiasco, Ron Paul believes in more deregulation, because corporations can police themselves. He used the Industrial Revolution as an example (yeah, we're all beneficiaries of the IR, but I seem to recall that before evil labor laws, there was child labor. Not so good at self-regulating back then, were we?).

Michele Bachmann would eliminate corporate taxes and believes we should raise revenues not by taxing the rich, but by "broadening the base" (that's YOU, seniors, single moms and impoverished families).

Sarah Palin skirts the issue of declaring her candidacy by saying she can do more good if she's not limited by a title--aka, the Presidency (You betcha! Just like all the good you've done for Alaska after bailing on them!).

And Rick Perry, dear Rick Perry, resorts to throwing incoherent sucker punches at Romney.

What a line up.

Keeping it Simple: Fareed Zakaria Explains the Debt Ceiling

2011-07-30T07:49:00.000-10:00

Fareed's Take: The damage is already done!

"The vote to have higher expenditures than tax revenues is - in effect - a vote to borrow money to cover the difference. And in the United States, Congress - including Republicans - voted for a budget in which expenditures exceeded tax revenues.

The logical consequence of that budget - again, passed by Republicans and Democrats, is that the government has to make up the difference by borrowing. To come at it now after the budget has been passed is like getting your Visa bill and calling up the company to say, 'Actually we don't want to buy all that stuff we bought.'

That's not how it works. First you pay the bill, then you can change your spending habits."

Read full article on CNN

What Next, Slavery?

2011-07-21T10:54:00.001-10:00

I like listening to both sides of the political spectrum. I'll even pop an antacid, swallow my gastric reflux, and stomach Ann Coulter because the lady sometimes makes a reasonable, albeit shrill, argument for conservative policy (until the voices in her head take over and she succumbs to her paranoid delusions). Michelle Malkin, on the other hand, drives me crazy. I don't know how that woman looks at herself in the mirror each morning, with all the hate oozing from her pores.

But what I don't understand is how anyone can put on blinders and rationalize what Tea Party Nation President Judson Phillips had to say about the Constitution in regard to voting rights:

"The Founding Fathers originally said, they put certain restrictions on who gets the right to vote. It wasn't you were just a citizen and you got to vote. Some of the restrictions, you know, you obviously would not think about today. But one of those was you had to be a property owner. And that makes a lot of sense, because if you're a property owner you actually have a vested stake in the community. If you're not a property owner, you know, I'm sorry but property owners have a little bit more of a vested interest in the community than non-property owners."

Defenders argue that Phillips made it clear that restricting voting rights to land owners is something "you obviously would not think about today"—but you can't deny he's waxing nostalgic, not when he says in his own words, that the restriction "makes a lot of sense."

Compounded with Rush Limbaugh's stance that we should question voting rights for those "who can’t even feed and clothe themselves," and I'm about ready to hurl.

Cutting services to the poor while extending tax cuts to the rich, granting corporations the constitutional right to free speech, and now, even discussing restricting voting from those who can't feed themselves and who don't own property—seems to be an assault on everything noble and decent in America.

©2011 Tammy Yee

Pregnant Dolls and Breastfeeding Toys

2011-07-19T13:41:00.000-10:00

Remember pregnant Midge? She and her entire Happy Family line were pulled from Walmart store shelves in 2002 in response to customer complaints. Many found her offensive, believing she sexualized young girls and glorified motherhood over career. Others felt she promoted teen pregnancy and single motherhood. Originally created to counter complaints that her best friend Barbie was a sexual bombshell, Midge was now in the center of a sexual scandal of her own.

Eager to satisfy the monster retailer, Mattel re-packaged the baby momma. This time around, Midge wasn't pregnant. And to make sure things would stay that way, cardboard cutout Alan stood guard beside her.

According to Mattel's Consumer Relations Answer Center, Midge came complete with

"wedding ring, earrings and shoes plus baby plus accessories."

Now THAT's a Happy Family! With Midge no longer pregnant, she could have her shoes back! Mattel's official description also added, "Doll cannot stand alone." Apparently.

Poor Midge, damned for being too homely and damned for being too sexy, was an all-too-real reflection of America's schizoid hangup over sex and sexuality. I, on the other hand, found her too unreal. The lady was 39 years old when she got knocked up yet looked like a sixteen-year-old, and she possessed a detachable belly for easy baby delivery. If Mattel wanted to make her realistic and discourage teen pregnancy, they would have given Midge arm waddles and an epidural.

A decade later, we're still hung up—how else to explain the extremes that assail us? On one hand, out-of-touch idiots at Abercrombie & Fitch believe padded bikinis and thongs are the next best thing for little girls; on the other hand, reality TV families like TLC's Duggars defy common sense with their compulsive and irresponsible display of fecundity—if kids were cats, they'd be labeled animal hoarders. It comes as no surprise then, that the Bebé Glotón (literally, "gluttonous baby") breastfeeding doll has come under fire. In America, it's okay to have 19 kids, but God forbid if you breastfeed your baby at the mall.

©2011 Tammy Yee

New ways to embarrass your child...ideas for fathers everywhere

2011-06-15T18:12:00.000-10:00

This guy wins my vote for best dad, ever. From the Telegraph:

"It can be embarrassing when your parents wave you off to school, but you have to feel especially sorry for 15-year-old Rain Price, whose father insists on dressing in a different comical outfit every day. Dale Price has adopted 170 wacky costumes to see off the school bus as it passes the family home in American Fork, Utah."

View full slideshow here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/8559331/Father-waves-at-his-sons-school-bus-wearing-a-different-costume-every-day.html

It transforms, but can it save the world from Megatron?

2011-06-15T18:00:00.003-10:00

Mind-blowing transforming, space-saving furniture from Italian designers--though I do wonder how durable they are. I'm just disappointed the Swiss Army didn't think of it first:

NPR: "Is Rejoicing (bin Laden's death) Morally Justified?" What the hoo ha?

2011-05-02T22:32:00.001-10:00

CNN correspondent Ali Velshi got jostled by the fist-pumping, flag-waving crowd at Ground Zero and there I was, barely able to muster a "what does it mean?" à la Double Rainbow Guy. What good is astonishment without celebration? What good is a double rainbow without the interpretation of a stoned, rotund hippie? I felt cheated.

Revelry was rampant. In front of the White House, at baseball games and through the streets of Waikiki. Meanwhile, I channel surfed. I wanted a glimpse of folks like me—not unpatriotic, but in quiet reflection. So when Velshi reported there were some who made the Ground Zero pilgrimage with photos in hand to kneel and pray in solitude, then didn't produce, I was cheated once again.

Or maybe, like me, they wanted to be left alone to sort through the horrific memory of 9-11 and come to some sort of acceptance that a body slipping quietly into the Arabian Sea was as much closure as could be hoped for—justice without joy.

So when NPR asked, "Is It Wrong to Celebrate Bin Laden's Death?" I was more than peeved. The last thing I need right now is moral preaching from the Left, the Right, or anyone in between about how I should deal with bin Laden's death. According to University at Buffalo minister Mike Hayes,

"We are called to forgiveness. And that is the only way that we can be truly free. Holding onto our hatred keeps us in slavery to bin Laden's madness and gives the terrorists continued power over us."

I am sorry, Mr. Hayes. I respect your path toward acceptance, but I am not consumed by hatred because I choose not to forgive bin Laden. Some acts are unforgivable.

Oregon Coast Children's Book Writers Workshop

2011-04-24T00:14:00.002-10:00

Passing it along, from http://www.occbww.com/:

OREGON COAST CHILDREN'S BOOK WRITERS WORKSHOP, SUMMER 2011

This summer, July 11-15 we will proudly present the ninth Oregon Coast Children's Book Writers Workshop, www.occbww.com, in the exquisite Oregon coast town of Oceanside. At this time the class is three-quarters full. If you care to join us, probably it would be a good idea to sign up soon by using the registration form at the site.

The instructors for the workshop will include five established children's book authors (between them, specializing in YA and middle school novels, picture books, non-fiction, magazine pieces, and poetry), two children's book editors from major houses, and one children's book agent. Summer Workshop 2011 promises to be our best yet because:

- The instructor-student ratio will be a maximum of one to seven
- Each day you will meet with an instructor for at least one comprehensive consultation
- You can have one-on-one informal meetings with instructors each day as well
- Every student who wishes can have an anonymous first page manuscript critique by all eight instructors in front of the class
- We will offer at least twelve instructional lectures on various aspects of writing and publishing
- There will be two evening presentations by instructors
- Out-of-class consultations with instructors are available
- There will be at least three guest lectures/writing workshops
- There will be two wonderful parties (quite appropriate for friends, partners, spouses, children)

If you are ambitious to publish a children's book (or simply adore children's books) this is the workshop for you. It will allow you to connect directly with authors, editors, agents who are active in the children's book business. If you go to the website and look under Evaluations, you'll see that it's received extraordinarily high praise.

The course is available for graduate credit.

For complete information visit www.occbww.com

Marines lip dub Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me"

2011-04-24T00:11:00.001-10:00

However you feel about the situation in the Middle East, pray for our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. I love them all.

The Physiology of a Broken Heart

2011-03-29T02:44:00.011-10:00

"The course of true love never did run smooth."

~William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

A recently published study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has confirmed what we, and legions of poets, playwrights and troubadours have known all along—that being dumped hurts. Hurts like your heart is being ripped out. Literally.

Researchers at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, studied 19 men and 21 women, all of whom had experienced an unwanted breakup within the past six months. Brain imaging (MRI) scans were used to map each subject's response during two painful tasks. In the Physical Pain Task, participants experienced the application of painful and non-painful heat to their left forearm. In the Social Rejection Task, participants first viewed a photo of a friend while recalling a positive experience. Next, they viewed a headshot of their ex-partner as they recalled being rejected. Through MRI scans, researchers demonstrated that rejection and physical pain stimulated shared regions of the brain.

And how, one might ask, could one volunteer for such a lively experiment?

"Participants were recruited via flyers posted...on Facebook and Craig's List. All participants were right-handed (recall the burning left forearm) and received $175 for their participation."

That must have been a hellova flyer.

All joking aside, the study furthers our understanding of how we process pain in the complex somatosensory cortex, with implications for the management of chronic pain. A. D. "Bud" Craig, principal investigator/director at the Atkinson Pain Research Laboratory, describes how pain is processed when we stub our toe:

"Sensory neurons flash a message to the spinal cord, spinal cord neurons relay the message to the brain, and the brain decides (a) damage has occurred, (b) it has been inflicted on the toe, and (c) something needs to be done (we start hobbling, raise the foot, utter an expletive). It may feel as if our toe is throbbing, but the experience is all contained within a mental projection of the condition of our toe within our brain."

Thus pain, as explained by Dr. Donald A. Ranney, is not a sensation, but a perception:

"This perception is real, whether or not harm has occurred or is occurring. Cognition is involved in the formulation of this perception. There are emotional consequences, and behavioral responses to the cognitive and emotional aspects of pain."

"Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence."

~Henry Louis Mencken

This perception of pain brings me back to love, for what condition is more prone to misperception? From heart to lips and ears to heart, we stumble in love—and this is where my science-loving mind deviates from the U-M study. Something lacks in comparing a scalded forearm to a broken heart. You don't pine for a forearm—your heart won't race, your breath won't quicken—and you don't plan your life and future around it. Certainly, you won't be grieving six months later over the minor discomfort you suffered for answering the university's Craig's List ad.

How does one explain the physical symptoms—the chest pain, palpitations and shortness of breath— of heartbreak? According to Robert Emery and Jim Coan, professors of psychology at the University of Virginia,

"Emotional pain involves the same brain regions as physical pain...the anterior cingulate cortex may respond by increasing the activity of the vagus nerve—the nerve that starts in the brain stem and connects to the neck, chest and abdomen. When the vagus nerve is overstimulated, it can cause pain and nausea."

This association of physical pain with emotional pain may be related to the survival of our species. Whether on the Pleistocene savannah or in New York City, we thrive in social groups, with friends and family to watch our backs. As Naomi Eisenberger at UCLA explains,

"The social attachment system is piggy-backed onto the physical pain system to make sure we stay connected to close others. Being wrenched from another or rejected by a group is painful, so we avoid it."

The problem arises when emotional pain persists. An inability or unwillingness to move through the stages of bereavement can progress to what neuroscientist Mary Frances O'Connor calls "complex grief":

"They experience a lot of bitterness and anger, that their future is senseless. They don't adapt with time as others do."

Like physical pain, emotional pain can lead to chronic, debilitating heartbreak.

"You say that love is nonsense.... I tell you it is no such thing. For weeks and months it is a steady physical pain, an ache about the heart, never leaving one, by night or by day; a long strain on one's nerves like toothache or rheumatism, not intolerable at any one instant, but exhausting by its steady drain on the strength."

~Henry Brooks Adams

Southampton Writers Conference

2011-03-19T17:01:00.003-10:00

I don't endorse workshops that I haven't personally attended, but I can attest from having participated in SCBWI conferences in LA and Hawaii, the Maui Writer's Conference (where I secured an agent), and the Big Sur Children's Writing Workshop, that these events can be energizing opportunities to learn from professionals and network.

Here's information I received about the upcoming Southampton Writers Conference, focusing on writing, playwriting, screenwriting and writing for children:

Be one of the 240 writers who visit our bucolic campus this summer to study with Pulitzer Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and National Book Award winners in poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, novel, personal essay, short story, playwriting, children’s literature, YA novel, screenwriting, and the musical book.

12 to 1 student-faculty ratio
9 am to 9 pm emersion in workshops, electives, and evening events
5 and 11 day conferences
A thriving community of writers
Graduate credit available

Now in its 36th year, The Southampton Writers Conference is excited to announce its summer lineup:

Southampton Writers Conference - July 13-24, 2011
Creative Nonfiction with Matthew Klam
Fiction with Melissa Bank
Memoir with Roger Rosenblatt
Novel with Meg Wolitzer
Poetry with Billy Collins
Poetry with Mark Doty
Poetry with Julie Sheehan
Personal Essay with David Rakoff
Short Story with TBA

Southampton Playwriting Conference - July 6-10, 2011/ July 13-24 2011
Session I: July 6-10 (5 days) Playwriting with Adam Bock
Session I: July 6-10 (5 days) Playwriting with Leslie Ayvazian
Session II: July 13-24 (11 days) Musical Book with Marsha Norman
Session II: July 13-24 (11 days) Playwriting with Emily Mann
Session II: July 13-24 (11 days) Playwriting with Jon Robin Baitz

Southampton Screenwriting Conference - July 6-10, 2011
How to Write Stronger Scenes with Andrew Bienen
Structuring Your Screenplay with Christina Lazaridi
Finding Your Story with Frank Pugliese
Breaking The Back of Your Story with Paula Brancato
TBA with Stephen Molton

Southampton Children’s Literature Conference - July 6-10, 2011
You Don't Have to Choose: Lessons Learned While Balancing Playful Picture Books with Rigorous Research with Chris Barton
Hearing Voices: Writing YA Fiction with Patricia McCormick
The Write Stuff: Nonfiction and Historical Fiction with Andrea Davis Pinkney
How to Extract a Fable: Writing with Message and Mission with Peter H. Reynolds
All in the Telling: Writing the Middle Grade Novel with Tor Seidler

Visit www.stonybrook.edu/writers for more information, author bios and applications

Tsunami hits Kona Coast, Big Island of Hawaii

2011-03-11T17:50:00.001-10:00

This is Ali'i Drive, the waterfront tourist center of Kona. Waves flooded the lobby of the King Kamehameha Hotel. The basement of Hulihe'e Palace is flooded, and damage to the first floor and its many artifacts is not known. Seven houses suffered extensive damage in Napoopoo near Kealakekua Bay, including one house which was washed out to sea.

Mahalo to our excellent Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for evacuating inundation zones.

Unbelievable footage from Ali'i Drive:

Check out triathlon.competitor.com for more photos (by Joel Noa) of Kona Coast damage:

This is the small bay/lagoon near the King Kamehameha hotel...normally there's a wide crescent of white sand curving from the hale (thatched house) to the wall at left. My boys kayaked and built sand castles in the sheltered cove.

SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) Conference in Hawaii

2011-02-11T10:45:00.000-10:00

2011 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Preview

Reka Simonsen, executive editor at Houghton Children’s Books

Author John Ritter

Illustrator Michael Furuya

Our 2011 conference is set for Saturday, February 19, at the Ala Moana Hotel, Ilima Room, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Featured guests will be Reka Simonsen, executive editor at Houghton Children’s Books, author John Ritter, and illustrator Michael Furuya. Plan to come and “be with your people” at this inspiring annual event!

In addition, John Ritter will lead an optional fiction workshop, “How to Give your Stories Depth, Interest and Intrigue,” for conference attendees the day before the conference, Friday, February 18, at Paki Hale from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., followed by lunch and schmooze until 2:30 p.m.
We have emailed complete information recently, and it is also available at the link below, but here are some of the highlights.

For all:

“A Primer on Queries and Synopses and Postcards” with Reka Simonsen.
“How to Make Your Website Work for You (even if you don’t have one yet)” panel discussion with John Ritter, Tammy Yee, Sue Wyshynski and Elizabeth Oh.
first-pages/first look session with Reka Simonsen, John Ritter and Michael Furuya.
optional manuscript and portfolio critiques.

Especially for writers:

session with acclaimed novelist John Ritter (www.johnhritter.com ) “Is Your Issue Showing?: how to explore cultural or political themes in our books without sacrificing story”
optional fiction workshop with John Ritter (for novelists and picture book writers)

Especially for illustrators:

“From page to Stage and Beyond,” session with children’s book illustrator and ‘Ohi‘a Productions co-founder Michael Furuya.

Costs and Deadlines:
The cost of the February 19th conference (including lunch) is $90 for members, or $120 for nonmembers, with additional fees for optional manuscript, dummy, or portfolio critiques.

The cost of the optional February 18th fiction workshop with John Ritter is $60 for members and $85 for nonmembers (space available); optional lunch is an additional $15. Please note: you must be registered for the conference to attend the workshop.

Postmark deadline to register for the conference with manuscript critique is January 18, 2011. You must send your manuscript(s) in with your registration and fee(s).
Deadline to register for the conference and fiction workshop is February 11, 2011.
Deadline to register for the conference alone or with portfolio critique is February11, 2011.

2011 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Information and Registration

Prophetic. In Congresswoman Gifford's own words...

2011-01-08T18:00:00.003-10:00

"Don't Retreat, instead - RELOAD!"

- Sarah Palin, tweeting after the historical health care reform vote

"The way that (Sarah Palin's political action committee website) has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gun sight over our district...when people do that, you've got to realize there are consequences to that."

- Gabrielle Giffords, March 25 2010

Map from Palin's political action committee website, singling out 20 Democratic members of Congress by targeting them on a map in the cross hairs of a rifle scope, with Gabrielle Giffords fourth on the list:

Palin has since removed the map from her site.

Of note: the image remains on Palin's Facebook page.

THE DIGITAL STORY OF THE NATIVITY

2010-12-21T09:37:00.000-10:00

Merry Christmas, all.

Your Pancake Looks Like What?

2010-12-16T07:56:00.000-10:00

Here's a solution to those intrusive full body scanners proposed by the TSA. Stop by your friendly airport Burger King and buy pancakes to hide your junk. Sorry folks, the french toast won't work--it's gotta be pancakes.

According to the Journal of Transportation Security,

"It is very likely that a large (15-20 cm in diameter), irregularly-shaped, cm-thick pancake with beveled edges, taped to the abdomen, would be invisible to this technology, ironically, because of its large volume, since it is easily confused with normal anatomy."

Really? Confused with normal anatomy? I wonder if a hamburger patty would work as well.

Read full article at the Economist (Beating the full-body scanner).

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Scanner-Defying Pancakes

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor & Satire Blog</a>

March to Keep Fear Alive

The Green Way to Power Your Christmas Lights...

2010-12-08T16:23:00.000-10:00

Now if only I can get my hands on an electric eel...well, not literally...

"Everytime the eel moves, it generates 800 watts of electricity. Two aluminum electrodes inside the eel's tank capture that energy and send it down a wire to a nearby Christmas tree."

~http://news.discovery.com/tech/electric-eel-powers-christmas-tree.html

Loose Lips Sink Ships? WikiLeaks is here to stay

2010-11-30T10:38:00.001-10:00

He-who-drinks-like-a-fish

Charles is less popular than the Queen. Andrew cusses about journalists interfering with international trade deals. Kim Jong Il drinks like a fish. King Abdullah, who suggests implanting chips into Guantanamo detainees as a way to track them (as he does his Arabian stallions and falcons...gotta admire his practicality), has a speech impediment. Moammar Gadhafi has a "voluptuous blonde" nurse/companion that he won't leave home without. (Gadhafi also hates flying long distances or over water and insists on staying in the first floor of any building....hmmm, a little paranoid, Moammar?)

Seriously, folks?

Snooki, WMD

I'm sure there are more incriminating documents, but the classified soap opera allegedly downloaded by U.S. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning makes his motive, "I want people to see the truth ... because without information, you cannot make informed decisions as a public," sound more like the impetus behind Jersey Shore (maybe we ought to unload Snooki on Kim Jong Il to disrupt his nuclear program).

Granted, the first two batches of leaked intelligence involved Afghanistan and Iraq battlefield reports, but the latest release of information downloaded from the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet), "a network used to distribute not particularly sensitive information that is classified at the secret level and below," is the diplomatic equivalent of juicy cocktail party gossip.

And since when did hackers become our heroes? Manning was busted after he contacted famed hacker Adrian Lamo, confessing his leaking of 90,000 documents revealing secret information about U.S. war strategy. Maybe Manning wanted Lamo's help. Maybe he wanted Lamo's adulation. Instead, Lamo (who has received death threats for his actions) alerted authorities:

"I went to the right authorities, because it seemed incomprehensible that someone could leak that massive amount of data and not have it endanger human life...If I had acted for my own comfort and convenience and sat on my hands with that information, and I had endangered national security ... I would have been the worst kind of coward."

And now WikiLeaks has been hit by several massive DDoS (distributed denial of service--whatever that is) hacker attacks, which have been unsuccessful in shutting down the site, but have resulted in slow downs. "The Jester," who goes by the Twitter handle th3j35t3r, is a self-described "hacktivist" who claims to have disabled terrorist and extremist sites as well.

And how is China responding to WikiLeaks? By blocking it through the "Great Firewall." Seriously. It didn't work on the Mongols, and it will only slow down the cyber onslaught.

©2010 Tammy Yee

Inequality in Taxation...a follow up to letting tax cuts for the wealthy expire

2010-11-30T10:34:00.000-10:00

President Obama's proposal to freeze the pay for federal workers could save up to $60 billion over 10 years, while the revenue from letting tax cuts for the wealthy expire would save nearly $40 billion next year alone:

"Restoring those top marginal tax rates will help bring down the long-term debt, pulling in almost a trillion dollars of revenues over next ten years. That’s not nearly enough to make a major dent in the nation’s projected deficits, but...it would at least signal to financial markets we’re serious about cutting that long-term deficit."

~former Labor Department secretary Robert Reich

What kind of idiot math is that? 60 billion verses one trillion. And still the rabid Tea Party activists and Glenn Beck zombies believe the crap they are spoon-fed about trickle down economics and job creation.

Greg David (Crain's New York Business) points out that "Republicans argue that higher tax rates on the wealthy will cripple economic growth because it is these people who invest and drive economic growth." The truth is that those in the high income brackets are saving and investing at higher rates than ever, not spending and driving the economy as once thought. It is, in fact, the middle-class who tend to live paycheck-to-paycheck, and are doing all the spending. Seriously folks, all those shoppers camping out at Walmart on Black Friday were not investing in hedge funds.

"Overall, the six years following the Bush tax cuts saw a 4.8 percent increase in jobs.....President Clinton, after raising taxes in 1993, oversaw an economy that (saw) an increase of 16.2 percent, and more than three times better than under the Bush tax cuts."

~Michael Linden, Michael Ettlinger, the Center for American Progress
Three Good Reasons to Let the High-End Bush Tax Cuts Disappear This Year

So why do we continue to burden the middle class while coddling the rich, creating the largest socioeconomic gap in history?

©2010 Tammy Yee

On Extending Tax Cuts for the Rich

2010-11-22T19:46:00.000-10:00

"I think that people at the high end, people like myself, should be paying a lot more in taxes. We have it better than we've ever had it...The rich are always going to say that, you know, 'Just give us more money, and we'll go out and spend more, and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you.' But that has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on."

~Billionaire Warren Buffett

Work Isn't Over Once You're Published....

2010-11-17T08:51:00.000-10:00

It's in the contract:

"The Authors agree to promote the Work to the best of his/her abilities...particularly in the first quarter following the Work's publication..."

Expect to find a similar clause in all your contracts, detailing your required participation in autograph sessions, interviews, and digital promotion on websites and social networking sites.

In the New York Times editorial, "I Wrote It, Must I Also Hustle It?" television personality and author Dick Cavett details his experience in having to promote his latest book, coming off of a dozen back-to-back radio interviews. We should all be so lucky, but what he drives home is the responsibility for authors to participate in promoting their work. Another article by Mr. Cavett details what many authors (including myself) have experienced: finding that stores haven't been able to sell your books, despite all the promotion you've done, not because they've been selling out but because they haven't been getting them from the publisher: "An Author’s Nightmare."

Update: Nipper, the Baby River Dolphin, Loses his Battle to Live

2010-11-16T16:54:00.001-10:00

Piky the penguin, monitoring little Nipper's first swim.

Piky stands vigil over Nipper's empty pool.

Nipper, the rare baby La Plata river dolphin rescued from a Uruguayan beach, died at dawn on November 13, 2010 due to complications from hypothermia and respiratory failure. Although his prognosis was grim, one couldn't help but cheer the little fellow on...photos of the "smiling" calf raised awareness to the plight of endangered river dolphins, and the story of Piky, the rehabilitated erect-crested penguin's bond with the little cetacean was especially touching. It's difficult not to anthropomophize these beautiful creatures when witnessing such behavior.

Now it's believed the little dolphin may have been deaf, an ailment implicated in the "1,200 to 1,600 cases of dolphins and whales that wash ashore in the US every year." In any case, Nipper is believed to have sustained injuries consistent with net entanglement. According to Richard Tesore, head of the NGO Rescate Fauna Marina that cared for the sick dolphin, "2000-4000 Plata River dolphins die each year from being entangled in fishing nets."

To read more about Nipper, visit http://www.globalanimal.org/2010/11/13/23179/23179/.

The Animators of Life

2010-11-16T04:08:00.000-10:00

From the New York Times:

"Building on decades of research and mountains of data, scientists and animators are now recreating in vivid and sometimes jaw-dropping detail the complex inner machinery of living cells."

Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Plan

2010-11-16T04:03:00.004-10:00

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes moving weaned female monk seal pups to mainland Hawaiian Islands, where there are less predators, to improve the survival rate of sexually mature females:

"According to NMFS, 60 to 90 percent of NWHI (North West Hawaiian Islands) seals die by the age of three. However, research has shown that MHI (Main Hawaiian Islands) seals do well, with 60 percent surviving to adulthood. Jeff Walters, of the NMFS, said a reason for this could be that there are less predators and competitors on MHI."

Read the full article here, detailing concerns the local community has on the impact relocating seal pups may have on fishing:The Molokai Dispatch~Save Our Seals


Locals swim alongside KP2, an abandoned monk seal pup raised by humans

KP2's friendliness was of concern. Officials worried his playfulness might injure people as he matured.

Nipper the Rescued Baby River Dolphin

2010-11-09T20:56:00.001-10:00

Having done conservation art of the Irrawaddy dolphin for Baiji.org, I'm especially interested in the plight of river dolphins. So when I heard about little Nipper, I was thrilled to see rare photos of a live river dolphin calf, yet apprehensive about its poor prognosis.

Injured by a fishing net and washed ashore, a 10-day-old La Plata River dolphin (nicknamed Nipper) was found by tourists on a Uruguayan beach and brought to the SOS marine animal rescue center for rehabilitation and treatment of its injuries.

One of four remaining river dolphin species, the Franciscana Dolphin (Pontoporia blainvillei) is one of the rarest and least understood dolphins in South America. Found in the Brazil's Doce River, Argentina's Peninsula Valdes and in the coastal waters of Uruguay, it is the only species of river dolphins that can be found in salt water.

River dolphins are notoriously difficult to rehabilitate or keep in captivity, so little Nipper's chances of survival are grim. According to Animals Asia Foundation,

"River dolphins are notoriously difficult to keep in captivity. Reports suggest that of more than 100 Amazon River dolphins taken into captivity since 1965, the vast majority of individuals died within months of removal from the wild. Today, as far as we are aware, only five wild-caught Amazon River dolphins remain in captivity. Similar efforts to capture and breed China’s Yangtze River dolphin (also known as the baiji) have also failed. The baiji is now considered to be functionally extinct in the wild and there are no baiji alive in captivity."

Richard Tesore, head of the NGO Rescate Fauna Marina offers Nipper a bottle.

For more photos and to learn more about Nipper's rehabilitation, visit Global Animal (www.globalanimal.org)

Arctic Aerial Photos -- National Geographic

2010-11-08T09:04:00.000-10:00

Visit Arctic Aerial Photos -- National Geographic for full slideshow:

George Takei Calls Out Anti-Gay Arkansas School Board Member

2010-11-05T06:37:00.001-10:00

Mission Houses Museum: Bookfair and Story-a-thon

2010-10-01T12:56:00.001-10:00

From the Mission Houses Museum:

Please join us at Mission Houses Museum for Historic Bites on Tuesday, Oct 5th at noon in the Chamberlain House Kitchen.

Our topic is...

Victorian Horrors

Senior Curator, Elizabeth Nosek will give a background look at this unique genre of literature during the early 19th century before welcoming author, Mary Shelly who will read from her famous work, Frankenstein...

The program is FREE

Two other pieces of information

This program is a nice introduction to the Story-a-thon: A Celebration of Literacy event on October 22 which begins with Victorian Horrors ($15 a person, registration strongly recommended).
Don't forget this weekend's Bookfair at Barnes & Noble. You can support Mission Houses and read great books!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-01T10:26:00.000-10:00

What is it about this spooky holiday that inspires us to dress up as witches, ghouls and zombies? Americans love Halloween so much, we spend 2 billion dollars a year on costumes, candy and decorations, making it the second highest grossing holiday (after Christmas, of course).

And what about those crazy giant pumpkins, like the 1,500 pound monster grown by Jake van Kooten of British Columbia, who won $9,000 at California's Elk Grove Giant Pumpkin Harvest and Festival? Did he really ship his pumpkin all the way from Canada to California?

If Mr. Kooten's prize money doesn't cover shipping his gourd back to British Columbia, then perhaps he can paddle his pumpkin home, like the good folks at the world's largest pumpkin boat race at the Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival in Germany. Every year enthusiasts don their pumpkin hats and paddle across the moat of a 17th Century castle in 200lb hollowed-out gourds. Between races, visitors can check out the 450 varieties of pumpkins, admire the pumpkin sculptures, and partake in pumpkin pies, stews and curries. Yum. A boat you can eat.

History of Halloween

Unnaturally large squashes aside, Halloween dates back some 2,000 years and in its current form is a mishmash of ancient Celtic practices, Catholic and Roman religious rituals, and of course, modern commercialism. Long before Walmart, October 31 marked the Celtic holiday of Samhain, a harvest festival observing the end of summer, when ancient Celts disguised themselves in costumes and masks and lit bonfires to ward off evil spirits. The harvest holiday was especially important because it marked the seasonal transition between the warm "lighter half" of the year, or the growing season, and the cold, dreary "darker half". This transition from a time of bounty to impending austerity extended into the spiritual world; it was believed that the boundaries between the living and the "otherworld" became especially thin, allowing the dead to pass over into this world.

Samhain and its pagan rituals, and some elements of the Roman festival of Feralia, which honored the dead, became integrated into All Saint's Day and all Soul's Day. In medieval Ireland and Britain, the poor would go from door to door asking for food in return for prayers for the dead, giving rise to "guising", a tradition in which Scottish and Irish children disguised themselves in costumes and went door to door requesting food and coins.

Save on Halloween decorations with these fun, printable Halloween origami and crafts.

Bat Origami	Black Cat Origami
Owl Mask	Owl Origami
Owl Paper Bag Puppet	Pinwheel Spider
Pumpkin Box	Skeleton

Coming Soon at the Hawaii Theater: "TiQri, The Little Snow Fox"

2010-09-12T22:08:00.000-10:00

‘Ōhi'a Productions is launching their new literature to stage Story Surfers program designed for very young audiences at Hawaii Theatre this month, as part of the Theatreʻs thriving education program led by Eden-Lee Murray. The play has been adapted from Belknap Publishing's second Pacific Rim Calabash Book, TiQri, The Little Snow Fox, by its primary author, Tamara Montgomery, especially for Story Surfers, who will tour schools with the show this fall after its gala launch at Hawaii Theatre.

The performance is interactive, with stage sets by the extraordinarily talented Michael Furuya and acting by some of the best performers in Hawaii! Join authors Tammy Montgomery and Jodi Parry Belknap for a book autograph session and to say hello after the show in Hawaii Theatreʻs Weyand Room.

This first in a new series for very young children from ’Ōhi'a is a special one, at a special time during the day (Tuesday, September 21 at 11AM) ideal for home schoolers, grandparents and guardians. There are special prices, too. Keiki under 4 are free, and adult prices are very reasonable.

Grab some tissues...the most moving declaration of love...

2010-09-09T13:04:00.001-10:00

Kristian Anderson, a video editor from Syndney, Australia, has been going through intensive chemotherapy for cancer that has metastasized to his liver. He enlisted the (small) help of screen star Hugh Jackson and New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to create this birthday video for his wife, Rachel.

His prognosis remains uncertain.

WARNING: HAVE TISSUES HANDY

Rachel's Birthday Video from Kristian Anderson on Vimeo.

And the Nobel goes to...

2010-09-08T07:00:00.000-10:00

The Sexiest Dance Moves for Men Identified: http://news.discovery.com/human/sexiest-dance-moves-men.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

Dr. Disco (and his sidekick, Assistant Professor Party) from Northumbria University in the U.K. filmed 19 poor shmoes dancing to a disco beat, created dancing avatars, then showed the film to 37 heterosexual women to evaluate their level of attractiveness. He said the "experiment broke new ground."

Doh! I'm already thinking I went to the wrong university.

Next on his research agenda? Filming dancing women and getting men to judge them. Good luck on finding able and willing research subjects.

Children’s Writing Class at UH Outreach

2010-09-04T09:17:00.000-10:00

For those interested in writing children's nonfiction, this sounds promising (I'm thinking of going):

Michael Elsohn Ross, a science educator and an award-winning author of more than 40 books for children on nature, science, and art will be teaching a two-session noncredit evening course UH called ‘Writing Your Children’s Book’ (Event ID: P11028). The class will meet on November 4 (Thursday) and 9 (Tuesday) from 6 to 9 p.m. in Kuykendall 303, and the course fee is $65. Michael describes the class as follows: “Discover the wide variety of styles and formats of current books, and pick up some useful writing and publishing tools from an author with extensive experience in the field. Participants will have a chance to write and edit short pieces, as well as get an overview of the publishing process.”

Michael, who works as a naturalist in Yosemite, presents at schools and conferences throughout the U.S. and internationally and teaches writing workshops. See his website at www.bugauthor.com. (While we don’t know Michael personally, he’s an SCBWI member, and the Regional Advisor where he lives recommends him highly.) Register online at www.outreach.hawaii.edu/noncredit/registration.asp, or call 956-8400.

And for those not familiar with SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Hawaii's website, check out their online publication, Trade Winds.

This issue features helpful writing and publishing tidbits from the SCBWI Conference in L.A., as well as summary of what local publishers in Hawaii (Island Heritage, Mutual Publishing, Bess Press) are seeking.

Book Launch: Plenty Saimin, by Feng Feng Hutchins

2010-09-04T09:00:00.000-10:00

The celebration will begin Sunday, September 26th, 2010 at 3 p.m. inside Native books. Light refreshments, books, friends and family. Fresh noodle packets of saimin from the Sun Noodle Company will be given away with the first 25-signed copies.

Book Launch Celebration And Signing

Native Book/ Na Mea Hawaii
Ward Warehouse (Ewa end)
1050 Ala Moana Blvd, Honolulu, Hi 96814
www.nativebookshawaii.com

Stories, Storytellers and Their Place in Our Lives

2010-09-04T08:52:00.000-10:00

Join Mission Houses Museum on Tuesday, Sept 7 , 2010 at noon for its monthly "Historic Bites" luncheon lecture in the Chamberlain House Kitchen.

Curator Elizabeth Nosek introduces the museum's program theme for the upcoming year - Talk Story: Legends, Myths & Fables. The museum looks forward to seeing how universal themes and characters appear throughout the world helping us to understand our place in it.

Man Born With No Feet, Arms Inspires Others - Portland News Story - WMTW Portland

2010-08-04T16:39:00.001-10:00

Man Born With No Feet, Arms Inspires Others - Portland News Story - WMTW Portland

Whales' Tails and Turtle Trails

2010-07-28T23:41:00.000-10:00

Ta-daah...I signed books at Hanauma Bay and got my first glimpse of my new children's book from Island Heritage Publishing, Whales' Tails and Turtle Trails. Created in PhotoShop, which will probably be the medium for my next book as well. Very satisfied with the publisher's color reproduction...Hanauma Bay said they pre-ordered the book and were only able to get 12 copies.

What fun!

Face to Face

2010-07-09T09:43:00.002-10:00

"A man finds room in the few square inches of his face for the traits of all his ancestors; for the expression of all his history, and his wants."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Conduct of Life

Reading the news about Chrissy Steltz, an Oregon woman who lost her eyes and nose 11 years ago in a shotgun accident, getting a new face is nothing less than astonishing. Not only because of the prosthetic technology that enabled her physical transformation, but because of her indomitable spirit, with which no amount of plastic surgery can rival.

Equally astonishing is the fact that her $60,000 to $80,000 facial prosthesis is considered "cosmetic" and was denied by health insurance. How can one compare the loss of one's face with an obscene multi-billion dollar industry? I'm not talking about aesthetics. I'm talking about the basic elements by which, like it or not, we are judged. Eyes. A nose. A smile. I'm talking about quality of life and isolation, social or self-imposed.

We remain, at the cellular level, tribal primates who despite our claims of enlightenment, judge at first glance the viability and intentions of mates and rivals by their physical features and facial expressions. Newborns, whose undeveloped visual acuity is somewhere between 20/200 and 20/400, are programmed to fixate on faces, fuzzy as they may be. This is Chrissy's drive for a face neither she nor her blind partner will ever see–a face her young daughter can bond with, in place of the black mask Chrissy has been wearing.

If you object that appearances matter, you are preaching to the wrong choir. My time caring for children with burns and congenital malformations has trained me to view such conditions with clinical detachment. In the process I have met children and families with unimaginable strength, resilience, love and yes, beauty.

Which brings me back to Chrissy. I thought at first to explore the will behind Chrissy and survivors like Iraq veteran Ty Ziegel and chimpanzee attack victim Charla Nash. I doubt any of them would call themselves heroes, though many of us, lacking a better word, would like to label them. But I found myself, like so many others, lacking.

And this perhaps, is at the root of what stirs us in the stories of not only Chrissy, but any survivor of war, of cancer, of tragedy: under similar circumstances, would we be lacking?

Related:

On the history of facial prosthetics: Smithsonian examines the Faces of War.

Amid the horrors of World War I, a corps of artists brought hope to soldiers disfigured in the trenches...

"Extra Ear on Arm 2006-2007, as an exploration of alternative anatomical structures, which at one stage had him seriously contemplating the surgical removal of his ear and its relocation elsewhere on his body or face. Possible sites were the side of his forehead or forearm. But his medical friends — a group of doctors and artists willing to perform unnecessary surgery in the name of art — talked him out of it because the ear would probably die."

Lisa Matsumoto's "Once Upon One Time" Opens Tonight at Manoa Valley Theatre

2010-07-09T07:16:00.000-10:00

Book and lyrics by Lisa Matsumoto
Music by Paul Palmore
Additional songs by Roslyn Catracchia

July 8 - August 8

(From press release)

The Po‘okela Award recognized musical comedy by Hawaii playwright Lisa Matsumoto adapts and intertwines familiar fairy tales into a fun Hawaiian-kine fantasy for the whole family. The action takes place in a mythical local kingdom where outrageous characters meet for one crazy, kapakahi adventure. Characters include Noelani an da Six Menehunes (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Kekoa and Maile (Hansel and Gretel), Red Rose Haku (Little Red Riding Hood), Da Keed Who Wen Cry Mongoose (The Boy Who Cried Wolf), and many more.

Guest Director is Elitei Tatafu, Jr., Guest Music Director is Roslyn Catraccia, Guest Choreographer is Katherine L. Jones. Book and lyrics are by Lisa Matsumoto, music is by Paul Palmore, additional songs are by Roslyn Catracchia and orchestrations are by David Kauahikaua.

To purchase tickets, call 808-988-6131 or buy online at www.manoavalleytheatre.com

Origami Folding Robot

2010-07-07T17:45:00.000-10:00

This little contraption has been programmed to fold itself into a boat or an airplane. Looks like it will be a long wait before they invent Transformer robots...

For more information, visit Discovery News.

SCBWI International Summer Conference

2010-06-06T09:04:00.000-10:00

The 39th Annual SCBWI International Summer Conference features 4 days of agents, editors, publishers, workshps and networking designed to take your writing and illustration to the next level. From individual consultations on your manuscript or portfolio with an editor or agent, to keynotes and targeted workshops from best-selling writers and illustrators, the SCBWI Summer Conference gives you the opportunity to focus on honing your craft while networking with industry decision-makers.

Published or pre-published, you can't afford to miss this opportunity! Get the latest information on the market from the industry leaders in publishing for young people, and be inspired by some of the most well-known authors and illustrators working in children's literature today.

Make sure you're logged in as an SCBWI member, then click on the links above to learn and REGISTER NOW to reserve your place today!

What: 39th Annual Summer Conference
When: July 30 - August 2, 2010
Where: Hyatt Regency Century Plaza, Los Angeles

SCBWI brings together top professionals in the children's publishing world to share their knowledge and expertise with attendees twice each year. The annual SCBWI Summer & Winter conferences are also excellent networking opportunities for those already established in the children's industry, and for those just starting to enter the world of children's book writing and illustrating.

Purple Dragonfly Book Awards Competition

2010-06-06T08:37:00.000-10:00

FIVE STAR PUBLICATIONS UNVEILS NEW LITERARY CONTEST:

PURPLE DRAGONFLY BOOK AWARDS TAKE FLIGHT

CHANDLER, Ariz. — May 21, 2010 – With nearly 25 years of experience under its belt, Five Star Publications knows award-winning books. Its own titles recognized in numerous national writing contests, the Arizona-based publisher is taking its industry expertise to new heights by honoring the work of others. Preparing for its first annual
Purple Dragonfly Book Awards competition, Five Star Publications is raising the bar for children’s books in 19 categories—from stories about families, hobbies and pets to tales about the environment, religion and health.

Submissions must be received by Five Star Publications by June 14, 2010. Winners will be announced at the Arizona Literary Awards Banquet on November 6, 2010 in conjunction with Arizona Authors Association Literary Contest and Book Awards.

“Five Star Publications is proud to announce the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards,” said Linda F. Radke, Five Star founder and president, “because we want to help parents give their children only the best in reading excellence. Geared toward stories for children between the ages of four and 10, the Purple Dragonfly Book Awards are designed to bring families together with great children’s literature, and a Purple Dragonfly seal on a book’s cover lets parents choose new titles for their bookshelves with confidence.”

The Purple Dragonfly Book Awards are currently open to children’s books published between the 2007-2010 calendar years. Exceptions include titles by Five Star’s employees and their immediate family members; contributing editors and writers;
affiliated authors; and close acquaintances and relatives of contest judges. Participation is open to authors of both traditionally published and self-published books from any press except Five Star Publications. A Grand Prize winner and First and Second Place Winners in each category will be selected based on content, originality and overall readability, with emphasis on innovation and creativity.

The Five Star judging panel will include experts from the fields of editing, reviewing, bookselling and publishing. “Being honored with a Purple Dragonfly Award will confer credibility upon each winner, as well as provide extra positive publicity to further their success,” said Radke.

Based in Chandler, AZ, Five Star Publications has been publishing and promoting award- winning fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, children’s literature and professional guides since 1985. For more information, visit www.PurpleDragonflyBookAwards.com.

University of Hawai‘i KIDS FIRST! Film Festival

2010-06-06T08:31:00.000-10:00

The award-winning University of Hawai‘i KIDS FIRST! Film Festival returns with four summer Sundays of free family films. KIDS FIRST!, a project of the Coalition for Quality Children's Media, is the largest traveling children's film festival in the world.

Curated locally by Outreach College and free to the public, the UH KIDS FIRST! Film Festival includes an entire program devoted to animations adapted from children's literature by esteemed authors and illustrators and are free of gratuitous violence; race, gender, or religious bias; inappropriate content; and condescension towards children. Age-appropriate groupings of films entertain through a balance of animation and live action, plus varied themes from different cultures. To add to the festivities, door prizes are awarded at all screenings.

What: University of Hawai‘i KIDS FIRST! Film Festival
When: Sundays • June 13 & 27, July 11 & 18 • 3:00pm
Where: UH Manoa Art Auditorium • FREE!
http://www.outreach.hawaii.edu/summer/kidsfirst.asp

Can't Afford Health Care? Barter!

2010-04-27T07:43:00.001-10:00

Gotta love Stephen Colbert:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Indecision 2010 Midterm Elections - Sue Lowden

www.colbertnation.com

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Fox News

Must Be The Haircut

2010-04-07T09:49:00.002-10:00

Or the underwear.

This dude, in the Taiwanese version of Idol, blows Susan Boyle out of the water with his jaw-dropping rendition of Whitney Houston's "I Will Always Love You."

No Wonder They Call It Cape Fear

2010-04-01T07:46:00.000-10:00

"FAYETTEVILLE, NC (WTVD) -- The North Carolina Medical Board says doctors and interns at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center attempted to induce labor on a patient, but when that didn't work, they performed a cesarean section only to find out there was no baby."

Full story, as if the above wasn't enough.

SNL: Christopher Walken Complies with the US Census

2010-03-28T08:32:00.006-10:00

<p>Watch &amp;lt;a href="http://www.fanpop.com/spots/christopher-walken/videos/1488003"&amp;gt;Saturday Night Live: Census Taker&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; on &amp;lt;a href="http://www.fanpop.com/"&amp;gt;Fanpop&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;</p>

Hackers invade cell phone: A Hawaii Kai man's bill hits $5,000 for unauthorized calls after he answers a call from a phone number he did not know

2010-03-27T20:15:00.000-10:00

From the Honolulu Star Bulletin:

"Hawaii residents apparently are falling victim to a scam triggered simply by answering their mobile phones.

Callers then hack into mobile phones and use the phone number to make long-distance calls and possibly gain access to other information."

Read full article

Finally, hope: "A Covenant for Civility: Come Let Us Reason Together"

2010-03-27T20:06:00.001-10:00

So then, putting away falsehood, let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors, for we are members of one another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for the devil. Thieves must give up stealing; rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only what is useful for building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:25 - 5:2

From The Christian Post:

"The Christian leaders, ranging from conservative evangelicals to liberal mainline Protestants, say they want to contribute to a more civil and moral tone in the nation’s political discourse.

Through 'A Covenant for Civility: Come Let Us Reason Together,' the leaders pledge to try to create 'safe and sacred spaces for common prayer and community discussion” in their churches, which have too often 'reflected the political divisions of our culture rather than the unity we have in the body of Christ.' "

Read full article

Southampton Children’s Literature Conference

2010-03-26T18:48:00.001-10:00

July 28 to August 1, 2010

The Southampton Children’s Literature Conference provides a unique forum in which to
study and discuss the craft of writing for children. World-renowned authors, illustrators
and editors offer inspiration and guidance through workshops, lectures, group discussions
and special presentations. Open to both established and aspiring writers, the Conference
is located in the Hamptons on the East End of New York’s Long Island—a resort area of
natural beauty.

WORKSHOPS
The Children’s Writing Workshops are led by authors and editors of the first rank. The
distinguished faculty includes:

• Caldecott Medal-winning author/illustrator Ed Young
• Award-winning middle-grade author Tor Seidler
• Accomplished editor and novelist Cindy Kane
• Best-selling author/editor Emma Walton Hamilton
• Award-winning YA author Margaret McMullan

GUEST SPEAKERS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
In the afternoons and evenings, participants choose from a wide range of elective sessions
presented by notable authors, editors, publishers, and agents. The schedule of formal and
informal gatherings is rich—from author receptions to open-mic night—with a few
surprises, too.

Among the guest presenters scheduled to appear this year are Arlene Alda and Lisa
DeSimini, Jim and Kate McMullan, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Catherine Creedon,
and Whiting Award-winning poet Julie Sheehan.

We’re pleased to offer three graduate credits to eligible students.

Workshop size is limited; some scholarships still available. Apply now!

http://www.stonybrook.edu/writers
http://www.facebook.com/SouthamptonWriters?ref=ts

Peachtree Publisher's Blogspot: The Development of a Book Cover

2010-03-22T09:38:00.001-10:00

My dear friend and colleague, Shan Correa, just came out with her middle-grade novel, Gaff, and I am so proud of her!

As an author and illustrator, I am well aware of the challenges faced in developing a book cover, and have sometimes wished I could "do-over" a cover.

Peachtree's Blog, Judging a Book by its Cover, features Shan's novel as a demonstration of how a cover was selected:

"When creating anything, especially book covers, changes are going to happen and first ideas will become third ideas or even sixth ideas. But, with every change or every new idea comes a more polished and a more cohesive cover, so that the end result is something that we are all proud of and something that highlights the story."

Congratulations, Shan!

Uncool Video of the Day: Tea Protesters Mock Man with Parkinson's

2010-03-21T08:21:00.000-10:00

Is this what we have come to as a nation? Have we lost our sense of civility and community? I bet these people will tell you they go to church every Sunday, though it is obvious they should reflect upon "What Would Jesus Do." I am ashamed of these Americans.

Cool Video of the Day: Water Droplets and Surface Tension

2010-03-21T08:18:00.001-10:00

Poetry advice to lighten your day

2010-03-15T09:51:00.001-10:00

"I have a new method of poetry. All you got to do is look over your notebooks...And think of anything that comes into your head, especially the miseries...Then arrange in lines of two, three or four words each, don't bother about sentences."

~Allen Ginsberg, American Poet

National Children's Book Week Art Display

2010-03-13T09:56:00.000-10:00

May 6 to June 16, 2010
Kapiolani Community College Library

To celebrate National Children’s Book Week in May, SCBWI-Hawaii will put on its first-ever exhibit of children’s book art by Hawaii artists. All members and friends are invited to the opening on May 6, 2010, from 4 to 6 pm In front of the Kapiolani Community College Library.

Artists exhibiting will be Scott Goto, Yuko Green, Jeff Langcaon, James Rumford, Esther Szegedy, and Tammy Yee. David Behlke of Koa Gallery will curate. The exhibit will be up in the library gallery until June 16 and will be open during weekday hours (for specific times, see http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu/libraryinfo/hours or call 808-734-9268)

MEDAH Fundraiser at Pyramids Restaurant

2010-03-12T17:07:00.000-10:00

More Publishing Trends: Literary Lion John Edgar Wideman Chooses Lulu

2010-03-10T07:07:00.001-10:00

"John Edgar Wideman, a fixture of the American literary establishment and two-time winner of the prestigious Faulkner Award for fiction, has chosen to publish his latest work through Lulu, breaking from the traditional model he has used to successfully publish more than 20 other works.

"Wideman decided against a traditional publishing contract — and royalty advance — for Briefs because he wanted more control over the publishing process and to develop a more direct connection with his readers. He also wanted to experiment at a time when the publishing industry is undergoing more revolution than evolution."

Read the entire article on Yahoo Finance.

So what's an author to do? The recording industry, on the front lines of digital sharing, is half of what it was a decade ago. Newspapers are folding, Kindle, Nook and the iPad are here to stay.

Personally, since I both write and illustrate and the rights return to me once my books go out of print, I've been thinking about converting those out-of-print titles to print-on-demand.

Trends: Thinking About Self Publishing?

2010-03-03T08:32:00.000-10:00

Self-Publishing, Author Services Open Floodgates for Writers

from Carla King, March 1, 2010 (on pbs.org):

"Mid-level authors already know that the era of large advances, generous royalties, book tours and media spots are over. They have to spend their own time and money to create a website and publicize their books. Publishers just don't have the resources to offer them full support. Why? The Internet, online bookstores, e-books, and an economy in decline are cited as some root causes of the steady slump in the traditional publishing industry. In 2005 sales were down by 9 percent (and have continued to fall). Yet in 2006 print-on-demand exploded..."

Read the full article.

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER NEW ELEMENT

2010-03-03T08:22:00.001-10:00

Oxford University researchers have discovered the heaviest element yet
known to science. The new element, Governmentium (symbol=Gv), has one
neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88 deputy neutrons and 198 assistant
deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which
are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called
pillocks. Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert. However,
it can be detected, because it impedes every reaction with which it
comes into contact.

A tiny amount of Governmentium can cause a reaction that would
normally take less than a second, to take from 4 days to 4 years to
complete. Governmentium has a normal half-life of 2 to 6 years. It
does not decay, but instead undergoes a reorganisation in which a
portion of the assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places..

In fact, Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since
each reorganisation will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming
isodopes. This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists
to believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a
critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as a
critical morass. When catalysed with money, Governmentium becomes
Administratium (symbol=Ad), an element that radiates just as much
energy as Governmentium, since it has half as many pillocks but twice
as many morons.

2010 Lorin Tarr Gill Biennial Writing Competition

2010-03-03T08:12:00.000-10:00

Rock-n-Roll Workshop to benefit Waldorf School

2010-03-03T08:07:00.000-10:00

Forwarded from a friend:

ROCK-N-ROLL THERAPY!!

What if you could change your life through music?
What if you could break though life's fears and
limitations with songs?
What if you could have a wild, fun, deep, powerful time doing Rock-N-Roll Therapy?

Breakthrough Performance Workshop takes you on a journey deeper into yourself using the vehicle of music and your voice. Yes, YOUR voice - not the voice you think you should have - not the voice you think others will approve of - but YOUR voice - the voice you were born with -- YOUR authentic sound. And by extension opening up to more joy, presence, confidence, passion, aliveness and much more! Breakthrough Performance has been transforming people's lives all over the mainland for the past 15 years. Now it's here in Hawaii!

If you love to sing... if you're terrified of singing.... If you secretly want to sing but don't think you can carry a tune.... ...Breakthrough Performance can launch you into the next level of growth - open up doors of possibility that you thought were locked & bolted shut. Everyone on this planet was meant to sing and be fully expressed. Everyone on this planet has a unique, authentic voice. Unleash your power. Liberate your voice. Discover the freedom of being You.

DONT MISS THIS EXTRAORDINARY EVENT

Sunday, March 21

Breakthrough Performance and Dance Party
A BENEFIT for the Honolulu Waldorf School

6:30 Performance
8:00 Dance Party
$15, Gordon Biersch Restaurant

Aloha Tower

Call 888-3768 for tickets

EXPERIENCE IT FOR YOURSELF

FREE INTRO WORKSHOPS

Friday, February 19 ~ 7-9pm
3020 Hibiscus Drive, Diamond Head ~ 388-4308
Sunday, February 21 ~ 12:45pm-2pm
Windward Center for Spiritual Living
King Intermediate School
46-155 Kamehameha Highway, Kaneohe
Wednesday, February 24 ~ 7-9pm
3670 Kalihi St. Honolulu ~ 284-2345
Thursday, March 4, 7pm-9pm
Unity of Hawaii
3608 Diamond Head Circle
Wednesday, March 10 ~ 7pm-9pm
2507 Rainbow Drive, Manoa

Breakthrough Weekend Workshops

February 26-28
Honolulu Waldorf School
March 26-28
Manoa / Honolulu

Breakthrough Performance 8 week Workshop

March 6 through May 2
(check website for details)

Call for more information -808-888-3768 or 805-450-0919
Mick and Tess Pulver
www.bigembrace.com
info@bigembrace.com

Healthcare: $1000 Toothbrush?

2010-03-03T07:49:00.001-10:00

Worst Jobs

2010-03-03T07:46:00.000-10:00

Had a rough day at work? There's always someone worse off:

Lost Generation

2010-02-08T08:00:00.003-10:00

SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Hawaii Annual Conference

2010-02-01T08:26:00.003-10:00

Saturday, February 27, 2010, 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Ala Moana Hotel, Garden Room

Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, you’ll benefit from this banner program. Polish your skills and hone your talents as you plunge into the world of children’s books!

Featured speakers:

Nancy Siscoe

Nancy Siscoe: Associate Publishing Director and Executive Editor, Knopf & Crown Books for Young Readers

Kathi Appelt: multi-award-winning author of both picture books and novels

Margaret South: Hawaii-based writing teacher

James Rumford: multi-award winning picture book author/illustrator

Tammy Yee: author/illustrator of numerous picture books

Scott Goto: illustrator of several picture books, and now an author/illustrator

Sessions:

For all:
general session with Nancy Siscoe, executive editor at Knopf on character development in both text and illustration.
after-lunch panel with representatives from Mutual Publishing, Island Heritage, and Bess Press who will talk about what kinds of manuscripts they are looking for and how to submit to them.
optional manuscript and portfolio critiques.

For writers:
hands-on session with Newbury honoree Kathi Appelt on “Endowed Objects–What’s in your Character’s ‘Magic Box?’”
first-pages session
session on “The Art of Story” with Margaret South, who wowed us all at last year’s conference.

For illustrators:
hands-on session with James Rumford, “Now That’s Another Story: the Art of the Picture Book”
presentation with Tammy Yee on “The (Happy) Marriage of Illustration and Technology”
presentation with Scott Goto “Working from References and Other Tricks of the Trade”

And, for conference attendees,

Kathi Appelt Fiction Workshop: Friday, February 26, 2010
On the day before the annual conference, author and teacher Kathi Appelt (THE UNDERNEATH) will lead an all-day, limited-attendance fiction workshop at a location to be determined.

For more information, visit SCBWI-Hawaii's Website or contact Lynne at lwikoff@lava.net

8th Annual Big Sur Writing Workshop for Adult Fiction, Young Adult and Middle-Grade Fiction

2010-02-01T04:30:00.001-10:00

Writing Workshop for Adult Fiction, Young Adult and Middle Grade Fiction, March 12-14, 2010.

A weekend packed with experts in publishing to help writers polish their manuscripts.

Special Saturday evening program with New York Times bestselling thriller author, Barry Eisler!

Congratulation to Vanitha Sankaran who attended the Big Sur Writer's Workshop in 2008. Her book, Watermark: A Novel of the Middle Ages, will be coming out from Avon this April.

Testimonies from the last workshop:

"This is the first conference I have walked away thinking this was worth every penny. I actually feel like I have something of value, and I am a better writer for going."

"The critique groups were amazing. The editors, agents, and authors were very approachable, and their comments/edits were invaluable. The writers in both critique groups shared fresh/unique perspectives, with an uninhibited ear/eye for what was and was not working. I stayed up nearly all night on both nights to create a revised first chapter that's both immediate and evocative...
...kick your butt in a good way workshop. It was inspiring."

"The best part was the intensity. The editors/agents are so down to earth & accessible. I like that serious writers were here to discuss work. It raised the standards for people!"

______________________________

The Henry Miller Library is a non-profit arts organization.

2010 Biennial Writers' Conference: Write Where You Are

2010-02-01T04:00:00.002-10:00

When:

Friday, April 9, 7:30-9:30 pm
Saturday, April 10, 8-5 pm

Where:
Punahou School

1601 Punahou Street
Honolulu

Workshops that inspire discussions that stimulate...a conference for all writers and aspiring writers.

Keynote Address and Special Workshop by Lisa Yee, award-winning young adult author.

See flyer below.

Another Opportunity for Writers: July 12-16 and July 19-23, 2010

2010-01-06T12:15:00.000-10:00

Passing along info about the Oregon Coast Children's Book Writers Workshop...sounds like a great reason to travel to the Northwest!

OREGON COAST CHILDREN'S BOOK WRITERS WORKSHOPS, SUMMER 2010
www.occbww.com

Next summer, July 12-16 and July 19-23, 2010 we proudly will present the eighth Oregon Coast Children's Book Writers Workshops, www.occbww.com, in the exquisite Oregon coast town of Oceanside. The instructors for each workshop will include five established children's book authors (between them, specializing in YA and middle school novels, picture books, non-fiction, magazine pieces, and poetry), two children's book editors from major houses, and one children's book agent. Summer Workshops 2010 promise to be our best yet because

- The instructor-student ratio will be a maximum of one to six,
- Each day, you will meet with an instructor for at least one comprehensive consultation, and
- You can have one-on-one informal meetings with instructors each day as well, and
- Every student who wishes can have an anonymous first page manuscript critique by all eight instructors in front of the class, and
- We will offer at least twelve instructional lectures on various aspects of writing and publishing, and
- There will be two evening readings/discussions by instructors, and
- Out-of-class consultations with instructors are available, and
- There will be at least three guest lectures, and
- There will be two wonderful parties (quite appropriate for friends, partners, spouses, children)

If you are ambitious to publish a children's book (or simply adore children's books), this is the workshop for you. It will allow you to connect directly with authors, editors, agents who are active in the children's book business. If you go to the website and look under Evaluations, you'll see that it's received extraordinarily high praise (some listed below).

The course is available for graduate credit.

For complete information we welcome you to visit our website at www.occbww.com

We always tend to fill up early and turn many people away who wish to attend simply because there isn't space. So, if this is of interest, you may want to register sooner than later. There's a generous refund policy (described at the website) if you decide not to attend.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Oregon Coast Children's Book Writers Workshop
www.occbww.com

Editing/Revision Workshop for Honolulu Writers

2010-01-04T08:13:00.001-10:00

Here's a workshop I would advise Honolulu residents and visitors to look into. I've known Lynne Wikoff for years. In addition to being the Co-Regional Adviser of the Hawaii Chapter of SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators), Lynne is a gifted writer and editor whose support and advice I have come to respect and cherish.

Edit my own work? Me??? Revision Secrets of the Pros

When: Saturdays, February 6 and 13, 2010, 9 a.m. to 12 noon
Where: Honolulu, Hawaii
Cost: $60 Enrollment is limited.
Contact: lwikoff@lava.net

Instructor Lynne Wikoff:

"Over the past three decades, I’ve written columns in both the Advertiser and Stat-Bulletin, published several articles in national magazines, worked in corporate communications and PR, and been a free-lancer editor and writer. I’ve had two books published by Island Heritage and currently have a completed novel under consideration by agents."

Workshop Description:

Today’s harried editors are demanding close-to-perfect manuscripts. That means the task of revision falls to writers. (Yes, you.) Whether you’re ready to refine a completed novel draft or you want to temporarily switch from writing to editing, I can help.

In two 3-hour sessions, I’ll reveal the tricks of the editor’s trade—revision techniques sure to make your manuscript stronger. (Maybe even strong enough to sell!)

Session 1 – The Best Story: Overview Editing
Structure/plot/scenes; character inventory; believability; where to expand, where to contract; timelines; format
Session 2 – The Best Words: Content Editing
Tighten and strengthen; dialogue; description; a good start; Q & A

Breakthrough Performance: Free Mini Workshop

2010-01-04T08:00:00.003-10:00

It’s about authenticity, creative expression, and truly claiming your VOICE (it’s NOT about singing, folks....)

BREAKTHROUGH JANUARY WEEKEND
– SPECIAL LAST MINUTE DISCOUNT OFFERED!

When: January 8-10, 2010, Friday 7pm-10pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am-6pm
Where: Waldorf School, Honolulu
Cost: $275

FREE MINI-WORKSHOP
Thursday, January 7th – 7:00 pm-9:00 pm

Where: Unity at Diamondhead

Whether you’re a comedian/ improviser, a housewife, (or both); a writer, an actor, an accountant, a hair stylist, or just looking for a life-changing, fun, incredible musical experience – join professional rock musician Mick Pulver for a transformational personal growth weekend guaranteed to make you sing!!! (whether you can sing a note or NOT!)

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE WEEKEND IS HERE FROM SANTA BARBARA!(Watch the video at http://www.bigembrace.com)

Your voice holds the key to your power, passion and presence. Your voice/body connection is the doorway to a fuller richer more expressive you! This is a rockin’, inspirational weekend of music, movement, voice/ body
experiences, that will open new doors to what is possible! It culminates with YOU singing with a live, rock band!!!

CALL MICK PULVER DIRECTLY 805 450 0919 to receive special, last-minute discount!

Putting it into perspective: "The Known Universe"

2009-12-29T09:57:00.000-10:00

From the American Museum of Natural History:

Mindblowing Cardboard Entertainer from Italy

2009-12-13T07:57:00.000-10:00

Ennio Marchetto is a world renowned and awarded comedian who has created his own theatrical language mixing mime, dance, music and quick change costumes made out of cardboard and paper. In 18 years Ennio has performed in over 70 countries for more than a million people. His show has received numerous awards and international critical acclaim.

He does impressions of stars and singers using paper costumes that transform from one person into another.

This Ain't Your Momma's Grandma

2009-12-11T08:13:00.001-10:00

We ought to learn a thing or two from the Brits. First Susan Boyle, now Paddy Jones, a 75-year-old grandmother who blew away judges with her victory in Spain's version of "Britain's Got Talent."

Not only does Jones wear a daring dress and perform flips and slides during her salsa routine, but she even "feels up" her dancing partner, 40 years her junior. Check out the expressions of the judges.

Jones, who has seven grandchildren, only took up dancing five years ago, after the death of her husband.

Something for us all to aspire to, ladies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZUyjguBvSo&feature=player_embedded

Need help sticking to your diet this holiday season? Here's some unappetizing things you can deep fry...

2009-12-11T07:22:00.000-10:00

Deep fried scorpions...

Deep fried soda...

View the complete list of artery busters here.

Mystery Spiral in the Skies Over Norway

2009-12-10T18:49:00.000-10:00

And an animation of the scientific explanation...spiral ejecta from a failed Bulava ICBM launched from a nuclear submarine in the White Sea...

Tourist Smuggles 44 Lizards in his Underwear

2009-12-08T17:11:00.000-10:00

From EcoWordly.com:

"A 58-year-old man from Germany was attempting to board a flight when he was searched by Customs officials...officials discovered a small package concealed in Hans Kurt Kubus underwear. The package contained eight separate hand-sewn compartments that held 24 geckos from five different species and 20 live skinks from two species."

Read the full article.

Surfers Riding on the Backs of Monsters, December 7, 2009

2009-12-07T23:18:00.006-10:00

And photos of Waimea Bay by MICHAEL GOULDING, The Orange County Register:

They came from all over: veteran Australian surfer Tom Carroll, who severely injured his ankle while surfing at WaimeaBay.

Anyone got a spare?

High Surf at Shark's Cove, North Shore O'ahu

2009-12-07T23:10:00.003-10:00

This is where I often go tide pooling, off of Pupukea.

A view of Shark's Cove, the same area seen when the video pans left. The size of people standing on the pool's outer rim give you a sense of scale. Bigger waves are expected tomorrow, with the High Surf Warning extended through Wednesday. Organizers are 90% sure that the Eddie Aikau Invitational will be held tomorrow.

DOH! The Hawaii Department of Health's Public Relations Fiasco

2009-12-06T13:23:00.004-10:00

Glass sculpture of the H1N1 virus, by installation artist Luke Jerram.

In a world where viruses exchange genes more readily than Tiger Woods exchanges mistresses, is it any wonder there's so much confusion over swine flu?

Although reports indicate the U.S. outbreak may have already peaked, with Wisconsin (6222 cases), Texas (5151 cases) and Illinois (3404 cases) recording the most infections, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano advises we not get too smug— a second wave of influenza may be imminent. And despite an increase in the production and availability of vaccine, most Americans remain leary of anything the Feds can squeeze into a syringe. Nevermind the sweaty guy coughing in the airline seat next to you, with his eyeballs rolling back into his head— it's become patriotic to be paranoid.

Face it, folks– while much ado was made about Napolitano, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the pork industry insisting the virus be referred to by its scientific name, H1N1 (Lipstick on a pig! Political correctness!), a pandemic is still a pandemic. In this pressurized cabin we call Earth, we're all breathing recycled air. Think of vaccination as the oxygen mask we don before helping our fellow passengers.

So, how did the Hawaii Department of Health (DOH!) screw up? First off, let me say that the DOH is filled with hard-working professionals dedicated to protecting and improving the "health and environment for all people in Hawai'i," and certain circumstances, like the shortage of H1N1 vaccine, is beyond their control.

However, as with FEMA, the Civil Defense or any other government agency involved in disaster management, we rightfully expect the DOH to inform and guide us. When President Obama declared H1N1 a national emergency, there should have been protocols in place. Releasing public service announcements without establishing an adequate supply and distribution, nor the capacity to track the distribution and administration of vaccine only compounded the public's frustration and confusion.

With CDC guidelines clearly stating priority should be given to "pregnant women, people who live with or care for children younger than 6 months of age, healthcare and emergency medical services personnel, persons between the ages of 6 months and 24 years old, and people ages of 25 through 64 years of age who are at higher risk for 2009 H1N1 because of chronic health disorders or compromised immune systems," how could the DOH justify giving 7,174 state workers priority status for H1N1 vaccination, putting them ahead of the CDC's target populations?

These workers were identified as critical personnel:

"Positions (which have) to do with continuity of operations of government," (Civil Defense spokesman Ray) Lovell said. "You don't want a whole department to shut down because you lost key people, out with the flu."

The list includes critical workers for everything from the taxation department to the health department's clean water branch to the transportation department.

Eloise Aguiar, Advertiser Staff Writer

Great. I feel much better knowing that my good friend, who has muscular dystropy yet can't obtain vaccination, can still be taxed if he falls ill. Indeed, first-responders and emergency workers, and even employees critical to our infrastructure such as waste management workers and such, should be vaccinated. But the taxation department?

Granted, the program to give priority to state workers has been temporarily suspended in response to the public uproar, but it's too little, too late. Part the DOH's responsibility is to calm the population and avoid this kind of public relations disaster when we need them most. And they can't blame this mess on state furloughs— that's becoming a tired excuse— nor can they blame it, as one Honolulu Advertiser commentator noted, on the failure of private doctors to comply with paperwork, not when healthcare workers not employed by the state still go unvaccinated.

Step up to the plate, DOH, and learn from this experience. I applaud you for your good work and intentions, but get it straight now, before you face more serious challenges like SARS and H5N1 (Avian Influenza).

Surprise! Too many Asians and Pacific Islanders in Hawaii for Palin!

2009-12-06T08:55:00.001-10:00

In the New Yorker's review of Sarah Palin's new book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," critic Sam Tannenhaus reveals what her father says is the real reason she left Hawaii Pacific University after only one semester:

(Palin) is equally circumspect on the issue of ethnicity, pointing out that Todd, whom she met in high school, is “part Yupik Eskimo” and opened her to the “social diversity” of Alaska. (Wasilla is more than eighty per cent white.)Palin, though notoriously ill-travelled outside the United States, did journey far to the first of the four colleges she attended, in Hawaii. She and a friend who went with her lasted only one semester. “Hawaii was a little too perfect,” Palin writes. “Perpetual sunshine isn’t necessarily conducive to serious academics for eighteen-year-old Alaska girls.” Perhaps not. But Palin’s father, Chuck Heath, gave a different account to Conroy and Walshe. According to him, the presence of so many Asians and Pacific Islanders made her uncomfortable: “They were a minority type thing and it wasn’t glamorous, so she came home.” In any case, Palin reports that she much preferred her last stop, the University of Idaho, “because it was much like Alaska yet still ‘Outside.’ ”

And here I thought she left HPU because it was in the best interest of the state that she not finish out another term merely for the sake of doing so.

I guess this means I'd better dig up my fabricated birth certificate.

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2009/12/07/091207crbo_books_tanenhaus#ixzz0Yw2v5dTU

Recession humor: SNL skit on Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao

2009-12-06T08:23:00.003-10:00

Amazing Art of Alyssa Monks

2009-12-03T08:03:00.000-10:00

The photorealistic art of Alyssa Monks:

Smirk 48x64, oil on linen, 2009, Alyssa Monks

Baptism 42x56, oil on linen, 2008, Alyssa Monks

The Race 72x96, oil on linen, 2007, Alyssa Monks

Kuntz-Kamera Museum of St. Petersburg

2009-12-03T07:48:00.000-10:00

'Kuntzkamera' (is) a museum in St. Petersburg. It’s a really strange place, was founded by Russian Tsar Peter the First. He collected different weird stuff all over the Russia to this museum: freaky people and animals preserved in alcohol, torture instruments, strange paintings and much more.

More...

Writing Workshop with Pat Wood, November 14

2009-11-09T08:18:00.001-10:00

Best selling author, Pat Wood, will be holding a one-day writing workshop on Saturday, November 14, at the University of Hawaii Lab School Campus.

8:30-12:30: WRITING WORKSHOP
Bring writing samples and Pat will work with students on pitch and synopsis, plus give sample critiques. The morning session will be geared toward writers of all genres of FICTION (literary, mystery, historical, YA, romance, supernatural, etc.) and those who write memoirs. $85

1:00-3:30: THE BUSINESS OF WRITING
Lecture format talk about publishing and the business of publishing. Find out how to query, if you need an agent? Should you have your complete manuscript written? Q&A to follow. $50.

Take both sessions for $125 ($10 discount) plus an opportunity for individualized feedback on your revised piece (after the conference) from author Patricia Wood by email.

For more information, contact Jacqui Pirl: 224-4008 or tropicalparadise@hawaii.rr.com.
Limited openings. Only 25 openings left.

Free Speech Follies...AGAIN

2009-10-28T23:05:00.025-10:00

A month ago, I wrote about Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. Absolutists believe campaign finance reform is in violation of the First Amendment — corporations should have the same right to free speech enjoyed by individuals. They argue there's no evidence that overturning campaign finance reform will result in an influx of corporate wealth and influence into the political arena.

Riiight. Here's how corporations are already using the First Amendment: three of the nation's top credit rating agencies, Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch, have hired big-time constitutional lawyers to argue that they can't be held responsible or sued for giving stellar ratings to crappy, high-risk bonds that later default, robbing us of our retirement savings.

Why? Because they're protected by free speech.

According to a Huffington Post Investigative Fund examination of court filings,

"...congressional testimony and Securities and Exchange Commission documents illustrates how the companies have repeatedly invoked that right to free speech to dodge government regulation and court action. The raters have never lost a courtroom battle to a disgruntled investor, not even in the Enron scandal. Enron enjoyed high grades on its bonds just four days before it filed for bankruptcy in 2001."

Educate me, Mr. Constitutional-lawyer-in-the-pocket-of-big-business, because I don't see how this is different from a doctor saying that, in his opinion, the grapefruit-sized tumor on the CAT scan is Aunt Bessie's leftover fruit salad. Surely he can't be held accountable for his incompetence, because his opinion was an expression of free speech.

In Corporate free speech? Since when? (Boston Globe), Jim Sleeper points out that:

"A republic periodically has to save capitalism from itself. Corporations are creations of the republic, not its equals or superiors. We citizens charter them, protect them legally, subsidize them, and even bail them out - and punish them when, as with Pfizer Chemical, their profit-maximizing violates drug-safety rules."

Furthermore,

"As inanimate entities, (corporations) are incapable of what the political philosopher Michael Sandel calls 'a willingness to sacrifice individual interests for the sake of the common good, and the ability to deliberate well about common purposes and ends.'"

The lowdown? Don't let fearmongers fool you into believing you'll be stripped of your First Amendment rights (and Second Amendment, and so on) and America will crumble if we don't grant corporations freedom of speech.

Freedom of speech has never been healthier — even the recently passed hate-crimes bill (Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act), which expands federal hate-crimes statutes to include sexual orientation and gender identity, won't, as conservatives feared, "criminalize preaching the Gospel and put preachers in the crosshairs."

So go on, say what you want, even if it's hateful. So long as it doesn't incite acts of violence and lawlessness, you're still covered by the First Amendment.

©2009 Tammy Yee

Forget 2012, it's Apocalypse Now!

2009-10-24T16:33:00.069-10:00

Go forth, ye pilgrims, to Chichén Itzá and Tikal in search of Mayan prophecy and New Age Rapture, so that ye may spare we skeptics the long buffet lines at Down to Earth that we have so long endured...

And whilst you await divine inspiration—amusing the true Mayan descendants with thine fanny packs and crystals—do partake in the local economy and buy an abundance of native textiles.

Where will you be on December 21, 2012?

If Y2K was any example, I expect the most we'll do here in Hawaii is hunker down with extra batteries, rice and toilet paper. We islanders can endure any catastrophe—even a Matson strike, God forbid—but the day we can't have our two scoops of rice and wipe our ass after, is the day marking the end of the world.

My fears surrounding 2012 involve the human element. Magnetic polar reversals and the collapse of the magnetosphere are beyond my control. It's the crazies with their own polar issues who scare me. In the midst of global events, we occupy ourselves with celebrity, conjure conspiracies and arm ourselves.

Now, I'm not claiming to be above it all. I can't account for the hours spent Googling Heenes, Schulers, Propofol and burning rabbits (yes, the Swedes are burning 6,000 bunnies as biofuel—admit it, even YOU can't look away) instead of writing and painting. While I justify my fascination with crazies by claiming an understanding of human nature and its extremes is fodder for good fiction, what exactly is going on?

Timothy Melly, in his book Empire of Conspiracy: The Culture of Paranoia in Postwar America, believes this phenomenon arises when someone 1) holds strong individualist values (their right to free choice without interference from a larger entity) and 2) lacks a sense of control. Hmmm...that sounds like 60% of Americans, or more. And while Momma Nature can hardly be regarded as a bureaucracy hellbent on destruction and deception, she has been kicking our ass lately, and making us feel mighty humble. Powerless. Paranoid. But I believe our susceptibility (or gullibility) goes further than reactionary individuals feeling small and helpless—I think we Americans have become intellectually lazy (I said "we," so don't you go calling me anti-American).

So here's the lowdown.

According to Archaeology Magazine, the publication of the Archaeological Institute of America, the Mayans had an odometer, the Long Count. However,

"when the Maya odometer turns over, after 13 baktuns (5,125.37 years), the world begins anew. Your car, on the other hand, just gets older and one step closer to the junkyard."

It seems obvious that if the last cycle of creation occurred 5,100 years ago, when time ended and the world began anew, then we should look at what was going on in 3100 BC. Work began in Stonehenge. Upper and Lower Egypt were unified, creating the first Egyptian dynasty. Sumer developed as the first center of Mesopotamian civilization. Poor Ötzi the Iceman was murdered in the Alps. Well what do you know, there were no cataclysmic events, and it seems history was well underway before the cycle of creation began. Quoting Homer (Simpson), "Doh!"

As for the magnetosphere, that puppy has been wandering around since Earth's creation. Fueled by whirlpools and currents of liquid iron within the planet's outer core, this magnetic field protects us from a barrage of solar wind that would otherwise make Earth uninhabitable...as is Mars (aka Schwarzenegger in Total Recall—lifeless).

It waxes and wanes, and completely flips every 300,000 years or so, the last event occurring some 780,000 years ago. This, combined with measurements indicating that the magnetosphere has declined some 10%, prompt conspiracy theorists to believe another event is long overdue. However, according to NASA, there's no way to make such a prediction, and despite the decline, "Earth's present-day magnetic field is, in fact, much stronger than normal."

Scientists studying magnetic strips around mid-ocean ridges have been able to track the history of Earth's magnetic field, dating back millions of years:

"They've also learned what happens during a magnetic flip. Reversals take a few thousand years to complete, and during that time--contrary to popular belief--the magnetic field does not vanish. 'It just gets more complicated,' says Glatzmaier. Magnetic lines of force near Earth's surface become twisted and tangled, and magnetic poles pop up in unaccustomed places. A south magnetic pole might emerge over Africa, for instance, or a north pole over Tahiti. Weird. But it's still a planetary magnetic field, and it still protects us from space radiation and solar storms."

A crazy planetary alignment with the plane of the Milky Way and the black hole at the center is another invention quoted by 2012 theorists as evidence for catastrophe. However, according to David Morrison, senior scientist at the NASA Astrobiology Institute,

"...there is no planetary alignment in December 2012. As to 'alignment with the center of the Milky Way' that is a meaningless phrase. It may sound scientific, but it is devoid of content. To put it bluntly, these claims on the Internet of alignments and catastrophe in December 2012 are lies. If more people...checked out these crazy claims, we would all be better off."

Will there be electronic disruption and a skyrocketing incidence of skin cancer should the poles flip? Who knows. Will it happen in 2012? A flip in the House and Senate would be more likely.

All I know is that if the Mayans are right, I'll be in Tahiti...watching the auroras, with an ample supply of rice and toilet paper.

©2009 Tammy Yee
All rights reserved.

Scary!

2009-10-24T16:23:00.006-10:00

From the Huffington Post: last minute Halloween masks to download and scare the Dickens out of any child!

Amorous Rare Parrot Shags Wildlife Photographer

2009-10-04T22:27:00.009-10:00

There are only 125 kakapo left, so few that each has been named by conservationists. These ancient flightless parrots can live 95 years and as long as 125 years.

More kakapo info: http://www.kakaporecovery.org.nz/

U.S. Forest Service Warns Against Campers Drinking Tecate Beer, Eating Tortillas and Playing Spanish Music

2009-09-29T23:59:00.006-10:00

I've been making it my goal, these past few years, to visit as many National Parks as I possibly can. Undeterred by recent legislation allowing guns in the parks, I must now rethink packing spam in my cabin.

This from Think Progress:

The US Forest Service issued and then retracted a Labor Day warning advising hikers to “beware of campers in national forests drinking Tecate beer, eating tortillas and playing Spanish music” because “they could be armed marijuana growers.” A high-ranking Forest Service official in Colorado also identified people speaking Spanish and eating Spam or Tuna as “warning signs of possible drug trafficking.”

Smokey, why you be a hating bear?

Q & A With Award-Winning Novelist Richard Peck

2009-09-29T10:29:00.023-10:00

"Nobody but a reader ever became a writer, and nobody but a very good reader ever became an editor."

~Richard Peck

Full article on www.publishersweekly.com.

Some of my fellow SCBWIers (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) have had the good fortune to attend one of Richard Peck's workshops. Years later, they can't stop raving about him--and for good reason.

A prolific writer and speaker, Peck has written over 18 novels for young readers, including the Newbery Award-winning A Year Down Yonder. He is also the winner of the 1990 Margaret A. Edwards Award, a prestigious award sponsored by the Young Adult Library Services Association of the American Library Association in cooperation with School Library Journal; the 1990 National Council of Teachers of English/ALAN Award for outstanding contributions to young adult literature; and the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Allan Poe Award.

One of my favorite quotes from the Publishers Weekly article addresses a topic I often encounter when meeting new writers:

"Nobody wants to read your diary. I think that’s a problem with a lot of young people who want to write—they think they have a life story to share with us. J.K. Rowling didn’t attend Hogwarts and Beatrix Potter was never a rabbit, but it’s awfully hard for young writers to understand that the world is not waiting for their life story."

Sue Cowing and Lynne Wikoff, in a review of Richard Peck’s workshop, share his "Ten Commandments of Writing for the Young":

Do not commit autobiography—use other people's memories, not your own. (He writes in the first person to eliminate himself.)

Don't begin the story too early—avoid too much background. Instead, start with the human voice (all readers are lonely) and action.

Do not allow adult characters to take over—especially the mother. A wise adult is okay, but the main character must solve the problem.

Avoid sentimentality. Childhood is a jungle, not a garden. You can't both protect and portray characters. We're writing the biographies of the survivors. If it's too sweet, there's no triumph.

Don't patronize anybody—don't write "down" and don't give advice. Raise questions. What do you wonder? No unsolicited advice. No happily ever after.

Don't attempt to recreate the wheel unaided. To write, you must read.

Do market research till it comes out your ears. Get publishers' catalogues, read award-winners.

Don't communicate with young readers by e-mail. Snail mail letters.

If you see an adverb, shoot it. Replace adverbs with better verbs; they are the mark of an amateur.

Use good vocabulary. Don't write if you don't know the meaning of "fustian."

For more tidbits from Richard Peck's workshop, read the review.

Finished digital art for a children's book

2009-09-29T09:57:00.007-10:00

Barbarians at the ballot

2009-09-20T08:27:00.039-10:00

"I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations which dare already to challenge our government in a trial of strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country."
~Thomas Jefferson, in an 1816 letter to George Logan

"Instead of serving a king, our leaders could serve Burger King."
~Stephen Colbert, on the intentions of the Framers

Forget the misguided fear of socialized medicine...can no one see the corporate elephant in the room? The Supreme Court will soon be ruling on the constitutionality of campaign finance reform limiting the free speech of corporations (Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission).

Forget what started all this nonsense, "Hillary: The Movie", a conservative "documentary" critical of the then presidential candidate. Personally, I think Hillary is as fair game as Sarah Palin--both should be able to withstand the slings and arrows inherent in any political campaign with the aplomb expected of leaders in high office; though I do think in the case of Palin, the lady doth protest too much. More like whine incoherently.

What's really at stake is the 102-year-old ban against corporations using their vaults of confiscated souls--oops, I mean cold hard cash--to influence congressional and presidential elections. Section 203 of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (McCain-Feingold Act) bars corporations (including nonprofit agencies using the corporate form) and unions from using their own treasury funds to broadcast ads to single out and attack a candidate within 30 days before a primary, or 60 days before a general election.

Not being a lawyer, I suppose this means they can circumvent 203 and attack a candidate if the money is derived from a PAC--a Political Action Committee, like MoveOn.org--or if the ad is against legislation or general ideology instead of a specific candidate. Like banning Baby Dancing in subways, which everyone knows is a threat to national security.

And how do corporations plan to circumvent campaign finance reform? "Free speech," they shout. "We're people, too!"

I doubt the Framers of the U.S. Constitution, when they wrote the Bill of Rights, had corporations in mind. The people of the times were overwhelmingly and rightfully distrustful of tyranny and would never dream of swapping, as Stephen Colbert points out, King George with Burger King.

The intention of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, also known as the Reconstruction Amendment, was to include former slaves freed after the Civil War by granting citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," thus granting them Constitutional rights. (Yes, Birthers, Barack is a citizen, whatever you choose to waste your time obsessing about.) So how can any corporation be a citizen protected by constitutional rights? Are corporations "born?" And what of companies like Toyota, not born in "The Boss's" U.S.A.?

This bullshit of corporations as living, breathing persons dates back to 1886 (Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company), when railroad companies argued they were persons protected by the 14th Amendment. The problem is, the only decision made by the Supreme Court regarding the personhood and citizenship of corporations was to "(avoid) meeting the question."

However, court reporter J.C. Bancroft Davis (who happened to be a former president of Newburgh and New York Railway Co.) printed a quotation by Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite in the syllabus and case history above the opinion:

"The court does not wish to hear argument on the question whether the provision in the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, which forbids a State to deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws, applies to these corporations. We are all of the opinion that it does."

This statement was made pre-argument and appears only in the headnotes on the case: no opinion was ever rendered regarding the extension of the 14th Amendment to corporations.

The kicker is that Michael Kinder uncovered correspondence in the National Archives between Chief Justice Waite and court reporter Davis which supports that it was not the intention of the Justices that Davis' preface be regarded as the court's ruling. When Davis wrote Waite requesting verification of his quotation, the Chief Justice replied:

"I think your mem. in the California Rail Road tax cases expresses with sufficient accuracy what was said before the arguments began. I leave it with you to determine whether anything need be said about it in the report inasmuch as we avoided meeting the Constitutional question in the decision."

Suck on that, conspiracy theorists.

So, if corporations are people, too, can they vote? Does the creepy Burger King have the right to bear arms? And can I be first in line to sucker punch Goldman-Sachs?

©2009 Tammy Yee

Kseniya Simonova, a testament to the power of art

2009-09-20T08:09:00.006-10:00

Sand artist Kseniya Simonova moved audiences to tears creating an animated painting on an illuminated screen memorializing the Great Patriotic War, which killed one in every four Ukrainians.

Hands dancing across the table in a choreography of fine finger strokes and broad sweeps, she transforms lovers into bomb raids, flames and finally, hope.

Ms. Simonova is the winner of Ukraine's Got Talent.

Overreaction to Obama's speech to schoolchildren

2009-09-08T07:04:00.006-10:00

The Hawaii Department of Education has joined other school districts in deciding not to show President Obama's speech, which encourages kids to stay in school and take accountability for their future. In the midst of scandals over torture and misinformation on weapons of mass destruction, I would never have protested President Bush telling kids to stay in school.

Prepared Text of Obama's Speech to School Children - KHON2.com

Posted using ShareThis

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Even former First Lady Laura Bush, a former school teacher promoting global literacy at a United Nations meeting in Paris, acknowledges that "there's a place for the president of the United States to talk to school children and encourage school children" to stay in school, and laments that "we're polarized. ... A lot of people on the right, a lot of people on the left. We've seen that for the last eight years. ... We're still seeing it."

Tammy Yee

Two Hawaiian Monk Seals Murdered, a Third Found Dead...

Occupy Economics

Holiday Book Signings at Barnes & Noble!

Not to be Missed: Fiction Workshop with Donna Jo Napoli﻿

THE WORLD OF CHILDREN'S LITERATURE WITH AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR AND YOSEMITE NATURALIST MICHAEL ELSOHN ROSS

I AM NOT MOVING

Of the People. For the People. I am not moving. Make it viral. Pass it on.

Debate Debacle

Keeping it Simple: Fareed Zakaria Explains the Debt Ceiling

Fareed's Take: The damage is already done!

Read full article on CNN

What Next, Slavery?

Pregnant Dolls and Breastfeeding Toys

New ways to embarrass your child...ideas for fathers everywhere

It transforms, but can it save the world from Megatron?

NPR: "Is Rejoicing (bin Laden's death) Morally Justified?" What the hoo ha?

Oregon Coast Children's Book Writers Workshop

Marines lip dub Britney Spears' "Hold It Against Me"

The Physiology of a Broken Heart

Southampton Writers Conference

Tsunami hits Kona Coast, Big Island of Hawaii

SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators) Conference in Hawaii

2011 SCBWI-Hawaii Conference Preview

Prophetic. In Congresswoman Gifford's own words...

THE DIGITAL STORY OF THE NATIVITY

Your Pancake Looks Like What?

The Green Way to Power Your Christmas Lights...

Loose Lips Sink Ships? WikiLeaks is here to stay

Inequality in Taxation...a follow up to letting tax cuts for the wealthy expire

On Extending Tax Cuts for the Rich

Work Isn't Over Once You're Published....

Update: Nipper, the Baby River Dolphin, Loses his Battle to Live

The Animators of Life

Hawaiian Monk Seal Recovery Plan

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) proposes moving weaned female monk seal pups to mainland Hawaiian Islands, where there are less predators, to improve the survival rate of sexually mature females:

Read the full article here, detailing concerns the local community has on the impact relocating seal pups may have on fishing:The Molokai Dispatch~Save Our Seals

Nipper the Rescued Baby River Dolphin

Arctic Aerial Photos -- National Geographic

George Takei Calls Out Anti-Gay Arkansas School Board Member

Mission Houses Museum: Bookfair and Story-a-thon

Happy Halloween

Coming Soon at the Hawaii Theater: "TiQri, The Little Snow Fox"

Grab some tissues...the most moving declaration of love...

And the Nobel goes to...

Children’s Writing Class at UH Outreach

Book Launch: Plenty Saimin, by Feng Feng Hutchins

Stories, Storytellers and Their Place in Our Lives

Man Born With No Feet, Arms Inspires Others - Portland News Story - WMTW Portland

Whales' Tails and Turtle Trails

Face to Face

Lisa Matsumoto's "Once Upon One Time" Opens Tonight at Manoa Valley Theatre

Origami Folding Robot

SCBWI International Summer Conference

Purple Dragonfly Book Awards Competition

University of Hawai‘i KIDS FIRST! Film Festival

Can't Afford Health Care? Barter!

Must Be The Haircut

No Wonder They Call It Cape Fear

SNL: Christopher Walken Complies with the US Census

Hackers invade cell phone: A Hawaii Kai man's bill hits $5,000 for unauthorized calls after he answers a call from a phone number he did not know

Finally, hope: "A Covenant for Civility: Come Let Us Reason Together"

Southampton Children’s Literature Conference

Peachtree Publisher's Blogspot: The Development of a Book Cover

Uncool Video of the Day: Tea Protesters Mock Man with Parkinson's

Cool Video of the Day: Water Droplets and Surface Tension

Poetry advice to lighten your day

National Children's Book Week Art Display

MEDAH Fundraiser at Pyramids Restaurant

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Self-Publishing, Author Services Open Floodgates for Writers

SCIENTISTS DISCOVER NEW ELEMENT

2010 Lorin Tarr Gill Biennial Writing Competition

Rock-n-Roll Workshop to benefit Waldorf School

Healthcare: $1000 Toothbrush?

Worst Jobs

Lost Generation

SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) Hawaii Annual Conference

8th Annual Big Sur Writing Workshop for Adult Fiction, Young Adult and Middle-Grade Fiction

Not to be Missed: Fiction Workshop with Donna Jo Napoli

BREAKTHROUGH JANUARY WEEKEND
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FREE MINI-WORKSHOP
Thursday, January 7th – 7:00 pm-9:00 pm