" Movie Stars and stuff " 'Bettejo Dux (Classic Wednesday)

Bettejo Dux has lived on the cosmic Garden Island of Kaua'i for over 40 years.Bettejo is a regular columnist in the Garden Island news and is the author of the
famed novella, "The Scam."
www.bettejodux.com
Please note; Bettejo is writing about this since there was a recent call for extras for the upcoming filming of the fourth movie in the blockbuster dinosaur franchise.
 'Jurassic Park' set to begin filming on Kaua'i this Spring. 
http://thegardenisland.com/news/local/a-jurassic-audition/article_888b20ca-ad91-11e3-a863-0019bb2963f4.html?_dc=921306638745.5911

 Movie Stars and stuff 

“I was a movie star once.”

“Ignore her. She’s trying out for a part in Jurassic World.”

“The oldest lady dinosaur in the flock?”

“Did dinosaurs come in flocks?”

“They came in herds-herbivores- or packs-carnivores. I’m surrounded by idiots. Shut up and eat your cracker. This is my story.”

“Pass the dip.”

“It was a hundred years ago. We were beautiful then.”

“This cracker is stale and the dip’s icky.”

“Columbia Pictures had blocked pesos in the Philippines, so they sent a flock of Hollywood types, a director, a darling starlit, a handsome guy who wore makeup in the day time and a couple of really weird scripts. I was a darling on the stage of the Manila Theater Guild and all guild members tried out for parts. I was cast as a singer.

Our set was a dive on the waterfront. I wore a black lace terno. Fitted to the knees and then flared, I loved it. Gorgeous sleeves. It was beautiful. It was me. It was mine.”

“Major production. Bring your own costume.”

“Yeah? Well, the night of first filming was big time.The entire  block around the joint was cordoned off. Yellow ribbons, cops galore. We arrived on the set in long black limousines. Glorious stars on a red carpet.  It was a dance hall and a bar, while bright white whirligig lights-the rage of olden days-spun and spattered as extras danced the night away on a cold hard solid concrete floor.

I think it must have taken twenty shots to get me through my big scene. I’m a terrible singer. But between takes I sat at a round table with the handsome Hollywood actor drinking coca cola laced with rum. My performance kept getting better and better. So I was told.

Between sacred move star land there was a  bar where commoners were corralled   behind a four-foot high concrete wall. But it wasn’t long before a tipsy scruffy groundling clambered over the wall and walked a crooked mile to our star-studded table.”

“I know who you are,” he blubbered  and began at the top of a list of famous names in the movie business. I shook my head. At the end of the list he slobbered in nasty anger, “Then who are you?”

“I’m Bettejo Dux,”I responded hiccuping with great dignity.

“Never heard of’ya,” he stumbled his way back to the wall and disappeared head first, ass over tea kettle, on there other side. I hoped he landed on his head.

“Isn't that  pain in the neck?” My handsome companion said, continuing to rub my foot. Standing for hours holding up a mike does make your feet hurt. “Being accosted by creeps like that is part of the price we pay for fame.

“The price is too high.” I wobbled from the table took center stage and did a perfect take. All the extras  applauded. They could rest their feet.


I don’t like making movies. Being yelled at by a director with a bull horn is not healthy.

Movie star, Bettejo Dux
(Pronounce Dukes) on far right---Fast curtain...

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"Difference between Hawai'i & Alaska..." 'Obama Da Dog' (Source) rewritten originally was California and Texas

Obama Da Dog lives in Kapa'a Hawai'i with her best friend
James "Kimo" Rosen. Obama is a regular contributor to dakinetalk, although at times
she is constipated too...   ;D)

Hawaii

The Governor of Hawa'ii is jogging with his dog along a nature trail.
A coyote jumps out and attacks the Governor's dog, then bites the Governor. 

The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie"Bambi" and
then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing what is natural. 

He calls animal control. Animal Control captures the coyote and bills
the state $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it. 

He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the
State $200 testing it for diseases. 

The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for
diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged. 

The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts
a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals. 

The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a
"coyote awareness program" for residents of the area. 

The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies
and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world. 

The Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack.
The state spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with
additional special training re the nature of coyotes. 

PETA protests the coyote's relocation and files a $5 million
suit against the state. 


Alaska


The Governor of Alaska is jogging with his dog along a nature trail.
A coyote jumps out and attacks his dog. 

The Governor shoots the coyote with his state-issued pistol and keeps jogging.
The Governor has spent $.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge. 

The buzzards eat the dead coyote. 

And that, my friends, is why Hawaii  is broke and Alaska is not.

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"Hi Uncle Tom..." 'Robert Bitos Gandia' (Source)

 Guest-blogger,Robert Bitos Gandia sitting on left...
Robert is an avid cook (ono gandule rice) and always laughing!!
He works at Syngenta as a Research Associate.
Robert lives in Kekaha on Kauai's west-side and loves football!!

Hi Uncle Tom

Hi Uncle Tom,
I am a lady aged 26, I left my husband with the maid and my baby at home, I drove for just
about 2 km from home & my car engine started to overheat so I had to turn back to get another
car, when I got home I found my husband in bed with our maid, I don't know what to do now please help me.

UNCLE TOM'S REPLY:

Over heating of the engine after such short distance can be caused by problems associated with the radiator, you need to check the oil and water level in your engine before you start your journey, you must also make sure your car is
serviced regularly to avoid problems in future hope this helps.

P.S. Anonymous from Facebook;
A little girl was watching her parents get dressed for a party. When she sees her father put his tuxedo jacket on she warns, "Dad, you shouldn't wear that jacket."

"And why not, darling?"


"Because you know that it always gives you a headache the next morning."


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"A flood of memories..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead lives in Amherst New York and has worked in

the ophthalmology field of medicine for over 30 years.

A flood of memories, remembering the  good Ole days....

I work with a girl that is half my age...she could be my daughter...the other day we began to discuss the advances that have been made in TV watching and programming.  She told me her son liked to watch the old cartoons of Tom and Jerry and Jetsons. A flood of memories came back to me about the good ole days when TV was simple with simple plots, black and white and one had to get up from their seat to turn the channel. I can't help but believe that those simple times were so much better for everyone in so many ways.  First of all, watching TV brought more exercise ; you had to actually move to surf the channels, plots were so simple and just enjoyable...no violence in programming for kids, just good fun.  And in our house there was a limit to how many hours we were allowed to watch the mindless TV...no day time watching except on Saturday am and weekday evenings.  

There were more important things to do besides sitting in front of the tube such as cleaning our rooms or just playing outside in the FRESH air.  Now our children are being raised on the clicker TV where we can view hundred of channels with a movement of one finger; kids veg out on the couch for hours at a time and snack - maybe this has only complicated our children's  health in more than one way...I guess that's why we call them the GOOD OLE Days.

P.S. This YouTube will change you in exactly 60 seconds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXjE68-_jBs

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"MINIMUM WAGE MYTHS..." 'Douglas Dunn' (Guest-blogger)

Guest blogger Douglas Dunn  is a regular commenter and guest-blogger on dakinetalk... Doug runs a small publishing consulting business in San Diego county and is a  certified American sign language (ASL) interpreter (for Deaf people),  last but not least he has been a Democratic Party media spokesperson and has had  the good fortune to work with Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Doug also drives a Nissan Leaf !

Doug drives  a Nissan Leaf electric car and  is doing his part to help save the planet along with

saving quite a few dollars by never ever having to purchase gas , ever!

Doug with President Obama back in
2007 at the California Democratic Convention

Editor's note, Doug is debating dakinetalk  blog of 03-06-14;
"Minimum wage increase,It's a bust..."
http://dakinetalk.blogspot.com/2014/03/minimum-wage-increaseits-bust-james.html

MINIMUM WAGE MYTHS

The two arguments most commonly used by conservatives against raising the minimum wage are that it would cause inflation (the cost of labor being passed on to consumers) and that it would reduce employment. Both have been totally debunked by actual economists in economic journals when not funded by the fast-food industry.

As to inflation:

Consumer PRICE is not based on the cost of goods. That is a myth promoted by those who want to scare consumers into supporting lower wages to workers. PRICE is set at the intersection of SUPPLY and DEMAND. At best, cost of goods is one indirect component of SUPPLY.

They can't just "pass the costs along" — they can't sell for more than is allowed by DEMAND — "what the market will bear."

PRICE is NEVER based on cost. People produce stuff they can't sell all the time, and end up selling it at a loss (think about how real estate goes "under water" or what a "short sale" means). New Balance athletic shoes are better quality, MADE IN AMERICA with American wages at higher costs, but sell for a LOWER PRICE than Nike, which is a poorer quality and cheaper (slave labor) production costs, but has more consumer demand because they have better marketing PR. From 1955 to 1975, McDonald's repeatedly complied with numerous significant increases in the minimum wage (which brought it to almost $20/hr in inflation-adjusted equivalent today), yet the price of a basic McDonald’s hamburger, in that entire 20-year period, stayed completely constant at a flat 19¢ — no price increase at all.

And, yes, even IF you passed along the costs, which doesn't actually happen, because compensation to low wage workers is only a fraction of operating costs, the actual price increase if the entire cost were passed along to consumers, which has never occurred in the past, the actual increase would be extremely small.

By the way, how come conservatives who are so concerned about raising wages for the poorest workers are never concerned about the effect on consumer price of waging CEO compensation?

As long as goods are still profitable, even if the margin is diminished, the supply will continue and the price still cannot exceed what the market will bear.

Example: Minimum wage in New York City is $7.25 / hr. Minimum wage in San Francisco is $10.55 / hr — $3.30 per hour higher. Yet a Big Mac in San Francisco does not cost more than in New York City. It is still about the interplay between SUPPLY and DEMAND.

As to causing higher unemployment:

The conservative MYTH that minimum wages reduce employment (because of the supply/demand dynamic they were so quick to overlook in discussing consumer prices), in that if you raise the cost of something, you will have less of it; ergo, raise the cost of labor and you will have less of it.

This myth has been utterly debunked by replicated university studies (and I have the specific references for anyone who wants them) that were NOT funded by the fast-food industry.

Yes, labor is an economic commodity, and raising the price should theoretically reduce the supply, BUT only in a simplistic, myopic, one-dimensional conservative world lacking nuance.

In the reality, what real-world studies have proven, is that LABOR is PEOPLE (duh!) — and the WORKERS who make up the "commodity" element of labor play MULTIPLE roles in the economy; they are multi-dimensional, and it is more complex than simplistic CONs understand. WORKERS are also CONSUMERS, and when they have more money in their pockets, they increase DEMAND, which requires more supply of goods and services, and to satisfy that DEMAND, and produce that SUPPLY, more workers need to be hired, and EMPLOYMENT IS INCREASED. Business owners do not hire teenagers out of the goodness of their hearts because they just love young people or because they have extra money burning a hole in their pockets. They hire exactly the fewest number of workers they need to meet consumer demand. So when consumer demand goes up, so does hiring, even if the profit margin for the employer is narrower. As long as there is one, it will go up.

But NO ONE WILL BE HIRED if no one can afford to buy what no one is making thus resulting in no demand.

And the conservatives only point to the economic cost of low wage workers, never to CEO compensation nor do they explain why CEO's or shareholders should pay LOWER tax rates on their higher incomes.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this blog site do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the publisher of Dakinetalk the blog, but they could?

If you would like to express yourself about any subject you feel passionate about, please  feel free to submit a guest blog to dakinetalk. Please limit guest blogs between 200-500 words, along with a short bio and photo of yourself. Send all blog submissions to; jrsensei@hotmail.com  who knows your blog could go viral!

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"The Visionary..." 'Bettejo Dux' (Classic Wednesday)

Bettejo Dux has lived on the cosmic Garden Island of Kaua'i for over 40 years.
Bettejo is a regular columnist in the Garden Island news and is the author of the
famed novella, "The Scam."
www.bettejodux.com

The Visionary

1. "Characterized by vision of foresight."

2. Having the nature of fantasies  or dreams; illusory.

That's from the American Dictionary of the English Language. Third Edition. It's a thick book-weighs more than me. Full of words. An oldie but a goodie, it has 2,140 pages

That's a lotta pages. A lotta words. Writers love words.  Once an Editor called me a 'visionary'. Is that good or is that bad? Words are a writer's stock in trade. Some people buy our wares, some don't. But, I'm thinking, is it good to be a visionary?

I know the value of 'being here now'.  Love to spend a lot of time in the now. To immerse myself in the present, feel a cool caressing wind on my face.  Taste it, touch it with my tongue. Listen to the birds. I live in old Hawaii-lucky me-and birds love it. My land is alive with the song of bird songs. Songs they have sung for a thousand years. They sing most of their songs sitting on a branch or a fence or a table top between munchings

But I also love to travel in the past and adventure into the future. It's  a three dimensional world.

As one grows older, it's a temptation to live in lhe past. Indulge in reverie. All the good stuff, like cream on the top of old milk bottles, it's a treat to all the inner workings of humanity. I love human beings. I love all living things. I think that's  a healthy endeavor. But I don't think it's healthy to dwell there.

One of my fondest memories is a country horse show. A horse named Joey. Dapple gray Anglo Arab. His mama was an Arab, his daddy was an American Saddlebred. Joey could walk with any Tennessee Walker he met  up with. His was the classic American Saddlebred rack. A four beat walk that moved. The event I remember, though,  was this: the ring was in a 'sunken' amphitheater.  Horse shows were big time events in California in those days. A hundred people must have been seated above and surrounding the arena. Joey and I were standing on level ground at the top and in the ring a costume event was taking place. A cowboy on a horse and two guys in a cow costume, one the front legs, the other the back legs, were cavorting. Joey shorted, lifted his tail, arched his neck, and pranced his way through the seated crowd. I just sat there enjoying the ride. My mother almost fainted.  It was a risky business threading our way through the chairs.  We stole the show and the cowboys loved it. When Joey got close enough to see what they really were, he said, for all to see and hear, "What a bunch of goofs."

So what has this to do with visionary? Well, you can envision the past. Relive it. Write about it as I'm doing here and I think that's a delightfully healthy visionary thing to do.

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"The Good Ole Days..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen'

 James “Kimo” Rosen is a retired professional photographer living in Kapa'a 

with his best friend Obama Da Dog, Rosen also blogs as a hobby.

 A similar version of this blog appeared in the 03-10-14 edition

of the Kauai Garden Island News;

http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/longing-for-the-good-ol-days/article_f2f76370-a809-11e3-ba88-0019bb2963f4.html

If you like it please click recommend on the top right or bottom of page. The link is below.



http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/longing-for-the-good-ol-days/article_f2f76370-a809-11e3-ba88-0019bb2963f4.html

The Good Ole Days

I recently made the rounds on the Kaua'i bus to my doctor and run a few errands. I have not used the bus much the past few years and to my dismay the buses are now overcrowded. Like the airlines, seats are closer together giving you no personal head space between you and the people sitting in front, behind and next to you. My luck would have  it, the person in the seat behind me was a chronic cougher who did not cover their mouth, not a pleasant experience for this germaphobe.

My Doctors office was filled with out of town walk-ins causing a 90 minute wait.  This used to be a small ma and pa doctors office used by  the community, now with tourism at an all time high I cannot even go to my doctors office without tourists and large crowds. Great for visitors, not good for kama'aina. I bite my tongue since I believe to have the best doctor in the world, so I put up with it.

Driving is also out of control with bumper to bumper to traffic and when you do mange to gain momentum on  the open road  you will most likely be tailgated, nobody on Kauai seems to follow  the simple rule of one car length for each  10 miles per hour...

The public pool is no longer like cheers bar. It used to be a place where everyone knew your name and  they were all glad you came. No longer are there the friendly hello's, head nods and small talk. Everyone is waiting for a lane to swim laps, and yes most lanes are now occupied by visitors.

My favorite place to shop has become a mecca for visitors too. I believe the concierges at the local hotels are now telling visitors on rainy days to go to the local Big Box store and wheel around an empty shopping cart and pretend your shopping and eat all the free samples of food.

I no longer recognize as many people at the grocery store and the wait at the checkout lane is out of control.

Restaurants are charging an arm and leg and the quality of  food does not reflect the high prices being charged. The restaurants make money off visitors with no worries about return business. Most restaurants after 7:00 P.M cater  primarily to visitors. There is no incentive for our restaurants or food trucks to pass on reasonably priced meals since tourism is peaking and every night there will be new people, here today gone tomorrow. 

Real estate is out of control. Many locals live two and three  generations in a small home. A fixer upper home in Hanamaulu on Kauai can cost upwards of $500,000 with no garage or basement. Hanamaulu is no resort, more a working class neighborhood.

The only thing that hasn't changed I cannot write  or talk about, since soon it will be discovered by the masses and I will be neglected for a more wealthy looking visitor.

 I have only been here 15 years and can hardly believe my eyes on the changes and overcrowding. I can only imagine how those born and raised here feel.

Costco outdoor cafe is about the only affordable place to eat on Kauai. Costco knowing this makes the cafe available to all, you are not required to show your membership card to eat there. I believe this is Costco's way of giving back to the community. The long lines prove the fact that reasonably priced dining is desired and needed. 

Times are changing, it's time for more roads, more hiking trails,  more franchised restaurants like Olive garden,  and some good cheap buffets. For now I'd settle for a nice Wendy's with a salad bar. 

This past year has been a banner year for tourism on Kauai.  My friends in visitor related business are delighted. They tell me this past January and February had a record number of sales in everything from bicycle rentals to shaved ice.

Things will never be what they were, everything changes,sometimes  for the good and at times for the  bad. For   many reading this, these are the good ole days, for others and myself, the good ole days are long gone.

 Sometimes we complain about family, yet still love them. Kauai is like family to me, I Love you Kauai! Oy, the problems of living in a small tourist ridden community.  

http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/longing-for-the-good-ol-days/article_f2f76370-a809-11e3-ba88-0019bb2963f4.html

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