Month: November 2005

The Weekend Before Election Day

Wow – your Hawaii travelogue has been great reading, FC! Glad that you and P- have been having fun!

Election Day Eve in the Metropolitan area: the NJ gubernatorial race is getting so sleazy – Mrs. Corzine gets quoted in the NY Times about her ex-husband, Senator Corzine (Dem.) (that she’s very much not endorsing her ex-husband); so of course, Mr. Forrester (Rep.) has it in his commercial; but then these rumors of affairs and corruption are getting rampant and crazy. I could have sworn it was about the issues (and the candidates haven’t done a very good job of that). I’m glad I don’t vote in NJ!

The NYC mayoral race continues. I’ll leave it at that.

So, I gave in tonight, and watched one of the new sci-fi schows of this season. I watched an entire episode “Threshold” on CBS. Very much an X-Files mode (and it’s because of my watching too much X-Files that I find myself tuned out to these new shows). But, the star Carla Gugino is a good watch and it’d be nice for her to have a show that’s not cancelled. She plays Molly, the head scientist leading the contingency against the invading alien DNA. Brent Spiner (Data/Dr. Soong of Star Trek fame) is doing a nice job as the resident biologist, along with a solid cast including Peter Dinklage and Charles S. Dutton. It feels more like Carla Gugino and These Guys, but curiously creepy show. Aliens Invading!

I missed “Smallville” last night, only catching the end of the episode. Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) is helping his old friend, the US Senator of Kansas (played by Tom Wopat) find his moral compass again. Jeez, I missed seeing the original Dukes of Hazard! (and, apparently, missed seeing Clark and Lois irritate each other; aww. They’re so cute – why are they making a new Superman movie without these two actors who are already Clark and Lois on tv?).

“Entertainment Weekly” and TV Guide reports that FOX doesn’t know what to do with the final nine episodes of “Prison Break” – FOX wants to keep the show on the air, but has no time slot for it. Geez. I still haven’t gotten myself to watch a full hour since the series premiere, and it seems like a weird psycho but interesting show, and you don’t know what time slot to put it in now? How about ditching a reality show (I think we can live without “Trading Spouses”) or crappy sitcom(s) (yes, I mean “American Dad” and “War At Home” on Sunday nights – they suck for a so-called cartoon and a stereotypical un-PC studio audience type of sitcom). EW and TV Guide theorize that FOX may consider doing an X-File on Prison Break – put it on Friday or Sunday nights (which worked for “X-Files”). Not a bad idea, really. Although, I’d hate for “Prison Break” to go up against “Cold Case” (CBS) or “Desperate Houswives” (ABC) on Sunday or up against “Threshold” and “Numbers” (CBS) on Fridays. FOX has to consider options here before letting “Prison Break” sit out for the spring.

EW’s new issue profiles the newest Harry Potter movie – “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire” (aka Book 4). How exciting. Well, then again, Book 4 leads the way to the darkness of 5 and 6, and well, we’ll see…

And, there’s the coming of the Narnia movie: “The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.” This better not be a movie that’ll screw up a perfectly good fantasy series. I was too young to ever pick up on the Christian themes, but the books has fascinating characters and ideas. This fall may wind up having great movies (if done correctly!).

Cultural Route

Thursday: Drove to `Iolani Palace, the only royal palace in the United States. P- wasn’t so impressed with the outside, but then we entered from the side. However, the inside won her over. So many modern conveniences, such as electricity, telephones, and hot and cold running water, were put in by the reigning king, who was a Renaisannce man in his own right.

Walked to Chinatown and had dim sum at Legend Seafood. The best dish was the scallops wrapped in rice noodle sheets. Went to the Makauna Marketplace and saw various vendors. We bought lei at Cindy’s Lei; they are really beautiful. Walked back downtown past Hawaii Pacific University and into the Cathedral of Our Lady of Heavenly Peace.

Drove back to the hotel and tried to book a catamaran ride, but the boat had suffered some reef damage, and won’t be back in service until Saturday. Walked down Waikiki; P- had a little spill and bruised her knee and ankle. However, she was a trouper and made it to the Duke statue. Walked back and found the Japanese duty-free mall. Loads of Hello Kitty! Unfortunately we can’t buy the duty free items.

Picked up the car back at the hotel and drove to Sushi Sasabone. The head chef started out a bit cold (he has the reputation of being the sushi version of the “soup nazi”) but he warmed up to us as we were astounded by the quality of the dishes in his bar-side omakase. He searches the world to get the best fish, and knows exactly where it comes from – Maine, Boston, several places in Japan, local Hawaiian fish, and lobster from a French claimed area of Antarctica. Pricy, but worth every penny — better than anything we’ve had in New York. We were so stuffed. The wierd thing is that none of the Japanese visitors in Waikiki seemed to know anything about this place. Recommended.

Hard Sell

The package included a free breakfast, which we were shuttled to. It turned out to be the vacation equivilent of a timeshare lecture. What a hard sell. At least we got out of there by 9. We went to the Maui Divers center, where they make Hawaiian coral jewelry. Very very nice.

We drove out to Pearl Harbor, going to the Arizona and Missouri memorials. Very moving to have gone on All Souls Day. Arizona marked the beginning of World War II with more than a thousand hands lost on board. Missouri is the Pacific version of the Intrepid; the Japanese surrendered on its deck at the end of World War II.

Driving back, we got stuck on the highway during rush hour. We got off at Chinatown; it was mostly closed by the time we got there, but we had some good Vietnamese food. It was way too much food. Afterwards, we were trying to find the Sony Expo at the Ala Moana Hotel; instead we were snagged at the Ala Moana shopping center, the largest open air mall in the US. It’s already Christmas (Mele Kalikimaka) season here, so everything was out. There’s a supermarket in the rear of the mall, where we loaded up on cheap fruit drinks and water.