A few weeks back, I was searching for images of ‘o’o birds for the Gardner article, when I came across this fine piece by Andrew R. Plack:
Wow! I haven’t seen many pieces on mohoids this well done. His other paintings on the Hawaiian fauna are amazing too. Check them out at his website.
I love, love, love the zoo. Now, I know there are a lot of valid critiques out there about zoos, but my view is that zoos help create meaningful passion in people.
*From Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i
When it comes to the environment and our interactions with it, passion is definitely involved. There are a lot of different points of views that people have which can lead to very heated arguments. Everybody seems to have a different way of saving the planet. Or not save, I suppose.
*From Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i
*From Manual of the Flowering Plants of Hawai’i
Native sweet-smelling Hibiscus (Hibiscus arnottianus)
Now we’re getting into the meat of things. Helping restore a native forest has been one of the most satisfying things I’ve done here in Hawai’i.
I have a couple of posts that I am working on right now, but I wanted to get the word out on this one that is near and dear to me. One of my lifetime goals is to see every single extant Hawaiian lobeliad in its natural environment. Many are quite rare and it takes special effort to find them.
This is going to be a series of post where I highlight a particular species of lobeliad that I have taken pictures of in the wild. I’ve been hiking quite a bit lately and luckily with some of the preeminent field biologists here. Let’s put it this way, next to a rock, I am an all-knowing god. Next to these guys…. I am a rock.
Just my backyard, but still pretty
William Hillebrand called the lobeliads “the peculiar pride of our (Hawaiian) flora” and I heartily concur. Stay tuned.
Each winter, Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) come to Ka’ena Point on O’ahu to mate and breed.
I was completely captivated by Project Runway this year. Being the introspective guy that I am, I had to ask myself how could I fall in love with something that I don’t understand at all?
Fashion perplexes me, especially this fashion forward stuff. The judge’s critiques are over my head. Then again, part of the reason I enjoy Hawai’i is that I don’t have to wear shoes anymore. And I am proud of the mud stains and rips in my hiking clothes for the validation they give me. Fashion, in a professional sense, is something that I don’t really think about.
But if I had to pin it down, I am compelled by Project Runway because it is a real and elegant way of testing and channelling people’s passions. This isn’t a show with Joe Fratboy sneering in the confessional “I’m not here to make friends, I’m here to win”…. this contrived challenge. No million dollar prize here because you ate 10 pounds of sheep eyeballs faster than anyone else while dangling from the side of a building. It takes a very real aspiration, fashion design, and challenges it. “You want to be a world renown fashion designer? Fine make me a dress. Maybe you’re not as good as you think you are.”
I certainly long for that in what I do. I love nature, I love animals, I love the interactions between humans and their environment. What talent can I test to see if I am as good as I think I am? What’s my elegant cocktail dress?
Project Runway is reality tv at its best. The cast of characters this season was great too. Congratulations Gretchen! I’m envious that you have been tested in a way I can only dream of.
Studia Mirabilium 