You Have a Chance to Bid on Stuff that Used to be Owned by Japanese Billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto

Photo of the Day: November 19, 2013.

Yes, tacky stone and marble statues that once graced several Kahala Avenue properties belonging to eccentric Japanese billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto are up for auction along with hundreds of other items from his former Kahala homes this coming weekend. Oahu Auctions are putting the items up for bid at a public auction to be held this Saturday, November 23 starting at 9:30 am. The auction will be held at 4631 Kahala Ave. in Honolulu, east of Diamond Head.

Alexander and Baldwin (A&B) new owners of the former Kawamoto properties have decided to sell all of the items and eventually upgrade and sell the neglected upscale properties in one of Honolulu's most ritzy neighborhoods.

Details from the auction flyer:

Kahala Auction

Massive Collection of Artwork & Furnishings from Multiple Homes

Saturday, November 23, 2013
9:30 am • 4631 Kahala Avenue

No Reserves-No Upsets-ALL MUST GO!

A treasure trove of European and Asian furnishings, small and life-size marble and bronze statues, wall décor, lamps, chandeliers, fine china, trays, pottery, dining room and bedroom sets, leather chairs and sofa sets, chaise lounges, outdoor furniture, display cabinets, chairs, contemporary rattan pieces, French and Italian mirrors, area rugs, desks, entertainment centers, an assortment of chests, commodes, marble pedestals, console tables, porcelain figurines, wooden masks, framed art concrete pagodas, garden sculptures.... and much more!

Preview at oahuauctions.com or 11/23 - 8:00am Terms: 13% buyer's premium cash, check, credit card with local I.D. Some items subject to pre-sale. All items sold as is, where is. For additional info call Oahu Auctions (808) 321-7419.

Above is a small sample of some of the items available for bid. Check the Oahu Auctions website for more photos and details.

A few months ago shortly after the Kawamoto properties were sold to A&B, I walked along Kahala Avenue to take the following pictures:





More photos in my flickr set: Kahala Ave. Junk Art

T-Shirts Blowing in the Wind

More than 800 t-shirt designs from around the world were hung out to dry as high art during the windy weekend at Kaka'ako Makai Gateway Park this weekend, May 27 - 29. Most of the T-shirts came from Japan that were designed by artists from all over the world who paid a small fee to the organization sponsoring the event.

That chief sponsor is the Seaside Gallery in Kochi Japan who have made it an art to stage various outdoor exhibitions of several types around Japan and the world. According to their brochure, some of the exhibits included the T-Shirt Art Exhibition (here in Hawaii for the first time), Sand Sculpture, a Washed Ashore Exhibit, Whale Watching and a Quilt Exhibition in the Sea Breeze.

More information at:

www.alohaartweek.com

The main coordinator is the Seaside Gallery in Kochi Japan.

sunabi.com

E-mail: nitari@sunabi.com

This weekend's exhibit was open and free to the public.



One of the many individual designs. This one is touching remembrance of someone who has gone.

Slideshow:

Honokaa Boy - The Movie

I don't know too much about the movie Honokaa Boy except that parts of it were filmed in Honokaa on the Big Island of Hawaii. My Dad told me about the film late last year, though at the time I don't think it had a title. Apparently he and some senior citizens in town were hired as extras for a one day shoot. He said he spent most of the day just waiting around (typical of most film and TV shoots) for something to happen. I don't know if what they recorded of them got into the film. If so, probably a small snippet, but more than likely it all fell on the cutting room floor.

Honokaa Boy made its world premiere debut late last month (February 24) at the Honokaa Peoples' Theater. From the Big Island Video News site, it reads:

"The Japanese language foreign film, "loosely based" on the book by Leo Yoshida, was filmed in Honokaa in October, and incorporates many of Honokaa's well known landmarks into the story.

The main character in the film (who visits and falls in love with the small Hawaii town) becomes a projectionist at the Honokaa People's Theatre. In the film, it is while working at the theatre that the main character befriends and grows close to a seamstress."

From the trailer above one can see that the ol' Honokaa Peoples' Theater is central to this movie's story. The Big Island Video News goes on to say that the movie has already put Honokaa on the map as Japanese visitors are beginning to come to visit the town to see some of the locations portrayed in the film.

Hopefully Honokaa Boy will show up soon in Honolulu. The movie website indicates a March 14 release date. I'd be interested in watching it. If not then I'll surely look for a DVD.

Additional Links:

• Honokaa Boy Film Site
• Honokaa Boy on IMDB
• Honokaa Boy Trailer on YouTube.com
• Honokaa Boy Premiere
• Honokaa Peoples' Theater
• Honokaa Town

www.flickr.com

Pork Report - Hawaii's Wasteful Spending

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii released its first annual Hawaii Pork Report on January 26 at the State Capitol. The 28 page publication is a report outlines areas of government waste perpetuated by both the State of Hawaii and the City & County of Honolulu.

The biggest item of government waste is the $7 billion fixed rail project that has been fast tracked by Mayor Mufi Hannemann and the City. The Hawaii Pork Report takes the mayor and city to task on the $2.9 million spent on public relations and advertising that occurred during the 2008 election season.

Mufi's train is being financed largely by local taxpayers through a dedicated portion of the State's most regressive General Excise Tax. In 2005 the State Legislature and Governor Linda Lingle allowed this tax to increase by passing HB 1309. The Governor was and is still chastised by fiscal conservatives, taxpayers, business and even some legislators for allowing this tax to become law without her signature. She was very close to vetoing HB 1309 in July 2005 but buckled claiming this was "a home rule issue" for the counties.

Baloney!

Three of the four counties in Hawaii turned down the 12.5% tax increase with only the rail lusting City & County of Honolulu going after it. When the Honolulu City Council voted 5 to 2 in favor of authorizing this tax, Mayor Mufi quickly signed it into law. While the City reaps the benefits of collecting funds from this additional tax, the State is the entity that is responsible for collecting this tax from businesses and dolling it out to the County. The State in response to this responsibility promptly took 10% of the additional tax right off the top as an administrative expense.

In the meantime most taxpayers, businesses, tourists and the military throughout the State are screwed with more taxes to pay. The GE tax increase took effect on January 1, 2007.

The cost for the proposed rail has ballooned to pass $5.3 billion with estimates now going as high as $7 billion just to build it. No one knows how much it will cost to maintain it.

Government has the responsibility to use tax dollars wisely in order to build and maintain public infrastructure. Road, sewers, schools and libraries are some examples of wisely using taxpayer funds. Building a rail that studies have shown will be ugly, intrusive and used by less than 10% of the traveling public is not a good use of taxpayer funds.

The major problem with the rail financing is that a dedicated tax is being used to fund this thing.

The Hawaii Pork Report goes on to point out other areas of government waste including the arts (is art an essential government service?), the City's "Stairway to Heaven", "The Boat", teacher vacations at Disneyland, the $1 million upgrade to the State Capitol's central mosaic, and first class travel by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA) trustees.

OHA itself is a waste of government funds as the only thing they do is collect rent from the so-called "Ceded Lands", dream of new ways to spend tax dollars, and fight among themselves. I would not be surprised if they are plotting ways to overthrow the State of Hawaii and take the islands back to 1893 as an independent kingdom.

The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii plan to release a new report every year. The current one can be downloaded online from this link:

HAWAII PORK REPORT 2009



Photo & video: David Williams talks about the publication and government waste at January 26 press conference.