"California dreamin..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead  lives in Amherst, N.Y. and has
worked in the ophthalmology field of medicine for
over 30 years.

California dreamin

California dreamin...although it is only February..I am planning my next vacation for May

...It has been such a long long winter in Buffalo this year that I need to have something to look forward to, Spring being only 20 days away is not enough motivation this year in view of the fact that it has snowed 26 out of 28 days this month!  

Maybe its the age, maybe its the time of year...but I can no longer tolerate this miserable weather daily, worrying about the drive into work, etc. It has become an interference in my lifestyle, an interruption in my life.  I am not one to sit still and deal with weather cancelling my plans.  

Kudos to those that live in areas like Alaska, Iceland etc that see nothing but cold and snow for months at a time...I think Winter weather is for the young...never thought I'd say that...but this season may have been the straw that broke the camels back.

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"Free shock treatment on Kauai..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen' Best of, oringinal run date; 10-11-2011

Special; best of dakinetalk. This blog originally ran October 11,2011 Blog #454

"Free shock treatment on Kauai,..." 'James "Kimo" Rosen

Kauai Island Utility Cooperative is the most expensive electricity in America, which can make ones hair stand on end....

Electricity on Kauai is so expensive, over 40 cents a kilowatt that toasting marshmallows over your electric range can cost more than the  bag of marshmallows....

It is said that electricity can make your hair stand on end when shocked.

I am  shocked by  KIUC,(Kauai Islands electric company) a member owned cooperative. This member owned cooperative makes my hair stand on end. (as you can see, above) ;D)


It was recently divulged after much fanfare what our member owned cooperative pays for rent in it's current location across from Kukui Grove shopping center.


One of the reasons Kaua'i has one of the highest electric rates in the country at over 40 cents a kilowatt hour is this member owned cooperative pays approximately  $90,000 a month rent! I would hope that includes electric? That means just for rent we are paying over one million a year. I would think that common sense might tell you after 5 years you could by prime real estate and erect your own building...


Talk about electricity causing shock, you don't need a psychiatric diagnosis for shock treatment on Kauai, KIUC supplies it to us all  for free with our monthly bill.

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? ;D)

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!

"Food..." '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

Food

Want to pursue one hot topic?  Try food for a subject.  Amazing how complicated the basic need to eat food has become,and we all need to eat I've heard of Breathtarians--believers who claim food and possibly water are not necessary-but as a devout non- believer I sincerely doubt their existence. Never met one in person.  If there's one in the vicinity, I'd be happy to have a little chat.

I'm not one. I love a good hot bowl of soup as well as the next guy. Better than the next guy more than likely. All due to my faithful Vitamix.

When I was a little kid there was no such animal. Making soup has always been easy but it was a long process. Making broth to use in soup is still a long process, takes about three hours simmering broken bones in a pot of water, salt and vinegar.

Thinking about food in the past is a human indulgence  I sometimes love to wander about in.

I remember milkmen with milk bottle in milk trucks . The bottles had a narrow neck with a metal cap and the top two inches  was a yellow rich cream that sometimes my mother would let me skim off and add to a bowl of cereal and strawberries. Home grown strawberries raised  in a ceramic pot that looked, i imagined, like a miniature hanging garden of Babylon.   The cereal was usually Quick Quaker Oats-which can still be found on grocery shelves in round cardboard boxes with a picture of a  white-haired, white-scarfed  Quaker gentleman in a blue hat on the front-and brewed as it's been brewed aromatically for generations. I still love the smell.

Then there were soda fountains  Milk shakes, all flavors, root beer floats. Chocolate cokes in coca cola glasses I drank too much of when my mother wasn't looking.

Today, eating is so complicated. What to eat? Where to buy it? How to cook it?  So many questions, quizzes and debates a guy could go hungry trying to respond or answer all of them.

All kids drank milk. Loved vegetables 'cause their mothers knew how to cook them. Ate fresh laid eggs collected every morning. Shared food-fruit, vegetables, eggs- with neighbors, friends and animals. Dogs loved eggs and vegetables. Cats loved cream.  Hens  loved bugs and worms and no one complained about crowing roosters. Fertilized eggs were his contribution and his harem of hens proud members of the family. Sometimes we'd let the eggs hatch and give the young away.I never could tell what was a girl chick, what was a boy, but my father could. This was how people lived. Even those in the city bought produce from small and large farms, ranches, dairies

Today, it's so complicated. Best not to ask question and-for goodness' sake-don't dare whisper the word 'Franken' lettuce. So what if it bred with a rat? Be tolerant.

Two easy questions. Do you eat to live? Or do you live to eat?

Yes or no?

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"All Marriage Should Be Gay..." '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.

This blog appeared in the 02-24-14 edition of the Kaua'i garden Island news;
If you like this blog please go to the link below and click on recommend.
http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/all-marriage-should-be-gay/article_6d187474-9d0a-11e3-9d2f-0019bb2963f4.html

All Marriage Should Be Gay

One of my favorite TV shows is "Wheel of Fortune," I guess every person over 55 including myself loves 'Wheel of Fortune!?'

After the first round puzzle Pat Sajak introduces the players and they all say something about themselves. Usually something like I've been married for 10 years to my beautiful and awesome wife, who is also my best friend.  They always say positive things.  They say  gay (happy) stuff about spouses. They never say realities like," I've been married to my husband for 10 years and he cheats on me constantly and is abusing alcohol."

Why are the gays so excited  with the passage of the recent same sex marriage bill? With marriage comes divorce  more than 50 percent of the time. There are nasty custody battles when keiki and pets are involved.  Are they ready to be taken to the cleaners for infidelities, and are they ready for the heartbreak of a former spouse re-marrying another partner? 

The traditional definition of "gay" according to my  oxford, dictionary thesaurus  is  light hearted, brightly coloured and  extremely happy. Therefore gay marriage is really just marriage.

The dilemma with 'gay' marriage is many take it wrong, since  all marriages should be gay,(happy) just as all divorces are either nasty, depressing , costly, or all of the above. Do you think  when a homosexual couple gets divorced they will seek a gay divorce? Probably not, since divorce is not a happy (gay) thing

Everything seems centered around the gays. It has become highly accepted and seems the new cool is to be gay.

Every evening newscast usually has something about gay marriage, civil unions or a new professional sports figure coming out of the closet. A recent headline  concerning the winter Olympics read,"
Winter Olympics off to colourful start as countries show they're not Putin up with anti-gay laws."
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/winter-olympics-colourful-start-countries-3123337

The recent  February 17th edition of Sports Illustrated featured on the cover Missouri state defensive lineman Michael Sam. Sam was  named a first-team All-American of the 2013 season and has publicly come out as gay. The college football star is eligible for the 2014 NFL Draft and is said to become the first active openly gay player in NFL  history. Players are being interviewed about it and the general consensus seems to bare that nobody really seems to care about his personal life. They are however concerned if he can play football, and from all indications he can.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/09/michael-sam-gay-missouri-nfl_n_4757221.html

...And last year  Sports Illustrated magazine featured Jason Collins, a gay NBA basketball player. The story had nothing to do with any sports achievement but just the fact he was a gay and came out of the closet.
It has become politically correct to accept gay anything and everything.  Nowadays It seems every sit-com, reality show feature movie and even the Olympics take into account the gay lifestyle. 

I am opposed to same sex marriage, not for the same reasons as religious fundamentalists, but because I am against marriage in general. The hippie movement of the 1960's had it right with living together.  If you really love someone you don't need a license warranted by some politician,lawyer or religious leader,for obvious reasons.

It's gotten to be that one feels left out if your not  a homosexual or lesbian, or should I say gay? Not  that there's anything wrong with that.

Epilogue; (added for blog,not in newspaper column)
The only problem I foresee is showering after practice and games. It would be like a straight guy getting to shower with 52 naked woman...

http://thegardenisland.com/news/opinion/guest/all-marriage-should-be-gay/article_6d187474-9d0a-11e3-9d2f-0019bb2963f4.html

P.S. A beautiful YouTube video, "Cows jump for joy!" Its worth the watch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUZ1YLhIAg8


Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared From Facebook...

"In Search of the perfect Matzo Ball Soup..." 'Judith Whitehead' (Inspiration Sunday)

Judith Whitehead  lives in Amherst, N.Y. and has
worked in the ophthalmology field of medicine for
over 30 years.

In Search of the perfect Matzo Ball Soup

Kimo's chicken potato, carrot and spinach matzo ball soup!

I feel like the Janice Oaken, a foodie that reviews restaurants, of matzo Ball soup. I have sampled this  kind of soup from the East Coast to the West in search of the perfect and most flavorful bowl of the soup for the soul, the Jewish penicillin, the most comfort soup around.

Recently I was in Cleveland and visited Lenny and Corkys’ kosher deli; I have to say I was disappointed with their recipe, the matzo ball was light and flavorful but the broth was dark yellow and very fatty tasting with no flavor except the greasy taste . 

This year Buffalo had its first deli open up kosher style in many years since our beloved Mastmans’ closed a few years ago. I was eager in anticipation to taste their soup.   They have soft matzo balls as well but the broth and the ball have no flavor, although their soup has some nice carrots and noodles in it…it is in desperate  need of salt,  I am not one that adds any salt to anything but this soup is lacking something…flavor. 

 I sampled Carneige  Deli in Manhattan this summer; their soup was very delicious…I think they have the recipe down after being open for the last 50 years or more. Their soup was most enjoyable and flavorful.  We have spent many times sampling Jerry's  Deli that is  a chain that spans  the entire US from Florida to California.  They also are in  a tie with Carneige Deli…great soup, great flavor and feather- light matzo balls which is the goal to a good soup.

I always have my eye out in my travels for a great deli to try; I always buy a corned beef sandwich on rye with a bowl of their soup.  If anyone has tried a great combination in any city near you…please share…
Until my next sampling…happy tasting.

P.S. Check out Oma's recipe for the perfect Matzo ball soup;

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/omas-fabulous-matzo-ball-soup/



Hana Hou, (Encore) Shared From Facebook...

"Who needs a Doctor when you have Google..." '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  dakinetalk blog ran about two years ago, this has been updated
from 150 words to 500 words.. Hope you like it! 

Who needs a Doctor when you have Google

Twenty years ago if you didn't feel good you went to the doctor. Twenty years ago if your dog was whoozing and  sleeping all day, you would take your buddy to the vet. Twenty years ago if you were writing a thesis for your masters degree you'd go to the library. Twenty years ago if you needed somebody's phone number, you used a phone book or called 411. Twenty years ago if you needed a recipe for meatloaf, you asked a friend or consulted a recipe book.

Fast forward to 2014 where anything you need to know can be looked up instantaneously  via any  web search engine. The internet is available not only on computers but on most cell phones,ipads, ipods, androids and tablets. There are many search engines on which to consult about anything and everything. There is Bing, Ask, Dogpile, Yahoo, Google and many more search engines of which to ask any question the human mind can think, or even dream of.

Search engines are the encyclopedia of this era. Anything you need to know you can type into a search engine. Any person you need information on you can type into a search engine. The most popular search engine is “Google”and the term “Google it” has become synonymous with telling someone to look it up on a search engine. Just like the term ‘Xerox’ became synonymous with the word copy, although there are many copy machine manufacturers ‘Xerox’ became the hype, just as ‘Google’  is now the hype. Nobody ever says I am going to Bing, Dogpile or Yahoo  it.

The name Google is believed to be named after the misspelling of the mathematical term "googol." The term "googol" means the number one which is then followed by one hundred zeros.

The word Google sounds like baby talk, on the contrary it has answers to almost everything. I love to Google names from my past, like old girlfriends or people from elementary school, high school, college and even the names of  those amongst you reading this.  

Google is also  the gateway to information  for business people, stars and politicians, it allows them to check in on their personal persona from the public's point of view.  Many rich people actually have staff that will do Google searches daily checking for slander libel and whatever else may be in cyberspace.

I  tested Google for accuracy and  'Googled,' "Kaua'i's greatest newspaper." The number  one entry was,  'The Garden Island news.' The number  two entry was 'Midweek magazine.' Of course, I was only testing Google on their accuracy--and to my highest expectation it was spot on! Just like the great Oz there is now the great Google.

How many people have ever Googled themselves? Googling yourself sounds like something the priest might discipline you for.  Googling yourself actually feels good. Anyone with a computer who  has not Googled themselves is most likely lying. Googling yourself is something almost  everyone has done,  however most people never admit to it-- plus it just sounds cool to say, "Google it."

I am recommending to everyone, forget what the masses say and go ‘Google’ yourself at least once.  You won’t go blind and you may just learn a thing or two about that person in the mirror, I most certainly did. Go ahead, go Google yourself, try it, you'll like it!

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"Marital Misunderstanding..." 'Obama Da Dog' (Source)

Obama Da dog lives in Kapa'a with her best friend
and confidant, James "kimo" Rosen.

Marital Misunderstanding

How men and women record things in their diaries......

Wife's Diary:

Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird.
We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner.
I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was
upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it.
Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere
quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much..

I asked him what was wrong; He said, 'Nothing.
I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset.
He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me,
and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly, and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you, too.'

When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely,
as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore.
He just sat there quietly, and watched TV. He continued to seem
distant and absent.

Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed.
About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was
distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep;
I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster.

Husband's Diary:

A two-foot putt... who the hell misses a two-foot putt ?

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