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January 18, 2007

Hawaii State Legislature Opening Day

The Hawaii State Legislature kicks off each session with Opening Day ceremonies, featuring much pomp and circumstance, music, and food. Lots of food. While the speeches and music are a draw, and all the open doors at the State Capitol provide an excellent opportunity for lobbyists and activists to plead their case, most of the crowd packs the halls of government for the free lunch.

Familiar faces captured include Ed Case, Will Espero, Suzanne Chun Oakland, Karl Rhoads, Carol Fukunaga, and Josh Green. Music is "Life In These Islands" by Kaukahi, as performed live at Opening Day.

You can also view this video at YouTube, Google Video, and BlipTV. The iPod-optimized MP4 file served up in the feed (MP4/26MB) is here. You can also download the movie in multiple sizes and formats here, courtesy the Internet Archive.

UPDATE: Check out this excellent overview of the food served up by Hawaii lawmakers by Larry Geller at The Free Range Gourmet. http://www.lightfantastic.org/imr/extras/videoblog/content/2007/openingday.mov

Posted by Ryan at 12:04 AM | Comments (1)

January 7, 2007

go! Interisland

For our New Year's trip to the Big Island, our family flew go! (a subsidiary of Mesa Air Group of Phoenix, Ariz.), which operates four Bombardier CRJ-200ER jets for its interisland service. With ticket prices as low as $19, go! has been aggressively battling Hawaii's two incumbent, locally-grown carriers, Hawaiian Airlines and Aloha Airlines. All five of us traveled for what it would've cost for just two of us three years ago. The jets are smaller and the frills non-existent (they charge you for juice), but they get you there, and that's what matters. Our kids, especially, loved boarding from the tarmac.

Music is "LostCode" from Plethora by MRDC (Magnatune).

You can also view this video at YouTube, Google Video, and BlipTV. The iPod-optimized MP4 file served up in the feed (MP4/30MB) is here. You can also download the movie in other sizes and formats here, courtesy the Internet Archive. http://www.lightfantastic.org/imr/extras/videoblog/content/2007/gointerisland.mov

Posted by Ryan at 1:06 AM | Comments (2)