As we walked to the Capitol I wondered what kind of turn out there would be since I hadn't heard a whole lot of publicity about it. I didn't see much of a crowd walking toward it and we were only about 15 minutes early.
Dennis wanted me to see the renovation work that was being done on the Capitol.
I liked the dramatic look of seeing the sky in the center of the roof.
We passed the Iolani Palace to get to the Ewa (west of the capitol) side lawn. East, west, north, south directions are never given in Hawaii. It's always mauka (mountain), makai (ocean), or the direction of a town which is what Ewa is.
The Capitol really is a beautiful building. It's supposed to look like a volcano at the center with palm trees, and the ocean around it.
Dennis taught me to do a panoramic a while ago. I was afraid to try it on my own with Photoshop. He took a series of photos of the Capitol and told me to go home and photomerge it as homework. Well... it's not perfect. But it's a start. (Please click on the panoramic for full effect.)
OK... Dennis stopped by this afternoon and fine tuned it a bit. And do you think I remembered what he taught me?
The 11:00 AM start time came and went. Organizers arrived shortly and set up a tarp and the sign. That was hopeful.
More people showed up. Dennis and I had a prime spot under a shade tree (thank goodness!) and set up our goza (straw beach mat) and had our Panda Express lunch.
More people gradually arrived. The organizers said we they were starting on Hawaiian time... about a half hour late.
Now it was getting quite interesting. Was that lady supposed to be a pregnant hula dancer with a plant growing out of her head?
I was going to take a photo of this couple, but decided to take a photo of the news people taking a photo of them instead.
The signs were a lot of fun.
I thought we weren't supposed to bring signs, but they were all respectful and added to the festivity.
These guys were having a great time.
And then the show started. There were comedians, politicians and musicians.
The crowd grew.
Christina Gomez sang a song about birds while the DJ held the mic for her.
And then... too soon, Art came to pick me up to go home. Dennis went to do some work at the office. As I was leaving I could see more people had shown up and the rally was in full swing.
Our next stop was Leeward College to drop off our laptop at the E-waste site. We topped it off with a trip to Waikele Mall where Art went to get some energy gels for his marathon training. They were all out at Sports Authority, but we consoled ourselves by sharing a large shave ice. I still think the little Mountain Magic stand has the best shave ice on the island.
It was such a super, sunny, satisfying, SANE Saturday!
A rally to restore sanity sounds fun. There certainly seems to be a need in some parts of the States.
ReplyDeleteYour Capitol building is beautiful and I like the Hawaiian way of directing - N,S,E or W are so boring ;-)
looks like fun, we saw the capital building when we were there. Hawaiian time that reminds me of Brazilan time when we lived there. Manana was fine if today didn't work.
ReplyDeleteI love watching sky in the center of the roof too! It looks like u have had fun! =)
ReplyDeleteWe sure need something like that here in Canada, Kay. Our prime minister is a nutcase and a liar. He has Canada spending millions of dollars on fighter jets. Fighter jets? Who are we gonna fight? He thinks the Russian are going to invade Canada. Duh.
ReplyDeleteGlad you and Dennis, and you and Art, had a good day. That shave ice looks super. I love the pictures of your family on the side.
-- K
Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel
The rally had a slow start, but at least it didn't turn into a riot or shouting match between adversaries.
ReplyDeleteAnd, hey, I would love to have shave ice right now!
I didn't know shave ices could get that big!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds like the best day out ever -- the Gay Agenda (especially #3, Call Mom) made me laugh out loud -- so true! What's people's problem?
My friend Elizabeth was planning to go to the one in DC, and I'll be calling her to hear all about it. Yours sounds much more laid back and fun already.
Your panoramic looks fabulous -- I'm going to try one too, next time I'm out. I never tried it!
Kay, thank you for attending the Restore Sanity rally. I wish I could say I attended the one here but it was rainy and cold and I was a wimp.
ReplyDeleteYou got some really good pictures of the signs....a great way to share the event with us. It looks like it was a pretty sane Rally to Restore Sanity there.
ReplyDeleteI loved seeing your report of the Hawaiian version of "The Rally". There's nothing like 'island time'. We experience a bit of that on Whidbey Island, where life just slows down a bit.
ReplyDeleteJake was at the rally in Seattle, but it was cold and wet, and he reported that although there were some fun signs, he just couldn't get into it.
We recorded the DC rally and watched some of it. There were over 200,000 people,having a pleasant time in the sunshine. It was sort of funny.
I wish we really could restore sanity. I guess it's a start that enough people realize we need to.
glad you enjoyed the rally and showed your support at the same time! I love shaved ice. That building with the sky in the centre is intriguing.
ReplyDeleteYes, but was sanity restored? I think the best way to restore sanity is to turn off the news stations!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the signs...this is such a nasty season with some really far out people running...hope people get out to vote no matter how they feel about the candidates...
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as if it were the perfect fit for the day. :) Great panorama you made too. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great day you had!
ReplyDeleteThere was a satellite rally at restaurant/pub in Cleveland but I don't like griving in Cleveland so I didn't go and I'm betting it was rowdier than yours. We Ohioans party hearty.
Instead, I watched the Washington rally and it looked awesome and fun AND it drew twice as many people as Glen Beck's Tea Party rally!!! It proves that sanity is not overrated and still popular.
my initial perception of "Rally to Restore Sanity" was quite different than the actual reality of the event which turned out to be a very civil event. The signs were on the level of superbowl ads and everybody tolerated each other views.
ReplyDeleteI watched the Washington one and loved Tony Bennett singing America. Jon's speech was terrific, and I thought the 'reasonable awards' were great!
ReplyDeleteHey, we went to a small neighborhood "sanity" event and dropped off a bunch of stuff at the e-waste! Great minds think alike, as they say!
ReplyDeleteDemos can be great fun. I remember when we demonstrated against the cruise missiles in the Hague in the eighties,that there were planes circling over our heads with banners. One said: "Rather a cruise missile in the garden than the enemy in my kitchen!" and a plane flying behind it had a banner saying:"Nobody in my kitchen and nothing in my garden".
ReplyDeleteYea... those were the days... Well I wish president Obama a lot of support!
Oh, and Kay thank you for your kind words!! You are also a very beautiful person!
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