Big corporations, golf courses and hotels have been taking water from locals for years. Now the fire may result in even more devastating water theft

But with aggressive expansion plans, 7-Elevens across the U.S. might soon look a little more like those here. --- Everyone has their favorite 7-Eleven food: For one friend, whose first job out of college was stocking cigars at 7-Eleven, it’s the shrimp pork hash that reminds her of her childhood manapua truck. For another, it’s the fried chicken musubi, his energy bar for a paddle run. A farmer’s guilty pleasure is the ingeniously cellophane-sheathed tuna sushi that you roll in the still-crisp nori. And of course, there’s the ever popular Spam musubi—7-Eleven Hawai‘i sells 14,000 every day, requiring a pallet’s worth (2,000 cans) of Spam. For me, it’s the lup cheong manapua, warm from the steam case, the Chinese salami wrapped up in the dough equivalent of a puffer jacket. 7-Eleven Hawai‘i feels like one of those brands in Hawai‘i, like McDonald’s and Longs Drugs, that gets us. You won’t find our level of affection for 7-Eleven on the Mainland, just as you won’t find lau lau and kālua pig, recently spotted at the Second Avenue location in Kaimukī (the first 7-Eleven in Hawai‘i when it opened in 1978) and others. […] Franchisees manage the majority of Mainland 7-Eleven stores. In Hawai‘i, all are owned by 7-Eleven Hawai‘i, which reports directly to Japan. But that doesn’t mean every store stocks the same items: Each outpost is responsible for its own daily ordering, to better adapt to its customers. Roadwork outside the Waipahu location meant the store manager there had to order larger bentos and more drinks to keep up with construction workers’ appetites. And when schools closed last March, 7-Elevens saw a drop in musubi sales as students stopped coming into the stores every morning.

When you can’t experience the forest in person, try connecting with Hawai‘i’s native species by bringing them into your digital lifestyle. With downloadable backgrounds, you can decorate your smartphone or your computer desktop. With our virtual meeting backgrounds you can invite a pueo or a hapu‘u fern to join you on your next video conference call.

The discovery of Hawaii Sign Language in 2013 amazed linguists. But as the number of users dwindles, can it survive the twin threats of globalisation and a rift in the community?

Also, I was under the false impression before they began that it was going to be a Queen cover band, so I was super disappointed with that.

Hahaha: Someone did Clones of the Queen a big favor by adding an opening act to the show. No disrespect to the local talent, as they’re certainly on their way to bigger things and it was a big night for them — but The Cure needed no help to fill a venue the size of Blaisdell Arena, or to give Hawaii an unforgettable milestone event.

Portraits of 200 friends. A creative collaboration. Monotypes by Adam Funari. Photographs by Michael Keany.

From Honolulu’s Department of Information Technology, city/government data made publicly available for citizens to use and build apps around. Collaboration with Code for America in some cases. ‘Citizens Analyzing Numbers Discover Opportunity’

New album from Stephen Agustin and The Fourth Wall strikes timeless chords.

Hawaii was always going to be a tricky state to cover, detached from the mainland by some 2000 miles its music scene is naturally very insular. Of course I found the usual Ukulele music, but in my eyes no one plays the Uke as wonderfully as Elsa Rae. I also found a lot of hip hop, reggae, a little bit of indie and of course my Hawaii representative Welwing. The first and only instrumental entry into the State Of Music project, Welwing is a one man show headed by Matthew McVickar, a mainland exile doing his thing in the Pacific Ocean.

Incase you didn’t get to watch and learn about all of the producers battling we compiled all the videos shot & produced by Hypoetical, big ups.  Enjoy and hope to see you out on Friday Ni…

My swimming lessons.

‘ I present to you a Hawaii punk mix, which was put together by our comrade Harry, an ex-pat Hawaii punk currently living in Los Angeles, CA. He's been in a lot of bands since his teens, and is currently playing in Hands Like Bricks, Harry and the Hendersons and Black Fag (The Absolutely Fabulous Tribute to Black Flag) in L.A. and Eddie Murphy's Law when he visits the 808. ‘Harry made a mix for a friend who was curious about the scene over here. It kinda goes all over spectrum through genres and decades, with lots of old school stuff and a few current jams as well. Some bands on here have a discography of demos and albums, some only got to record one or two songs for a comp, so you get a really broad idea of the music scene over the years. Harry also wrote some great notes to go with it, which you'll find when you open the zip file.’

Great photos from Hallowbaloo this year, including the Baths show that I opened!

Sabrina asked local bands about their experience with Kickstarter, including me for the ‘Gate’ EP project funded on the site.

Christa Wittmier reviewing my first Lapwing show at Kaleidoscope back in 2009.

I ran a 5K yesterday after not running in several years and somehow finished 43rd with a pace of 7:59. I am in pain right now, but I feel like running again.

Two Portlanders who blog about their experience in Honolulu covered our Clones of the Queen/At Sea show. Very nice!

My friend Niko Rivas interviewed me and wrote up this great column on my Lapwing EP.

‘At Sea (Honolulu, HI) @ thirtyninehotel, Honolulu, HI. 12th, July 2011.’ ‘Not merely a reunion, but a reinvention, as the band rearranges their instrumentation and song writing style, switching from long-form drone inspired post-rock epics to a more concise semi-pop-structure featuring former cellist (now guitarist/singer), Yvonne Harada on vocals.’

I just helped Anil Dash fix his blog and, in return, he fully funded the writing supplies for this program at the Volcano School of Arts & Science that I selected on DonorsChoose. Go internet!

“The tracks on Clones’ Gate EP are composed of dark, spacious, myriad textures, but if songs were colors, they would be lavender instead of black.”

Sabrina profiles the weekly music showcase. Ross: “But Kaleidoscope may have some form of a legacy. I think it’s helped organize and increase the quality of music, to a point where I feel like a number of our bands are at a stage where they can crossover. We’ve played some role in that. And a role as well in the transformation of Chinatown. I know for absolute certain that we’ve been at the heart of some indelible moments in peoples lives. And that is a hell of a thing.”

This success story is almost entirely the result of efforts by my friend Mike Pooley, who works at Mountain Apple Company and is about to go free-lance to offer his digital marketing services to the world! “These efforts are a great example of how an artist can capitalize on viral buzz. By linking to their free-download offer from the YouTube video, Mountain Apple Company harnessed the video’s exposure to increase their fan base. Their store is beautiful & well-designed, and their marketing efforts drove direct-to-fan sales around the globe.”

Christa covers last week's COTQ/Red Rockets improv music/performance art collab at thirtyninehotel. “Five or six people were crowded around a man sitting with a television over his head, suspended from the ceiling. Just his face was showing, so they were taking that opportunity to cover his face with glow-in-the-dark paint.”

Profile of friend Dominic Amorin's noise music netlabel.

A picture of Chaz with two fans and a brief mention of the show. “As I’m packing a bag for Los Angeles this week I’m laughing to myself because I already know the dialogues I’m going to have with everyone there. It’s going to be about here. How we got to see Toro Y Moi and how the weather is getting hot for spring.”

A video by Jordan Blackmon, bassist for Toro Y Moi.

Photos by Tracy Chan. “The South Carolina-based ‘chillwave’ musician and his band brought their signature brand of funky, groovy, electronic shoegaze jams to a sold-out show at NextDoor Saturday night. Opening were local acts Clones of the Queen and Painted Highways. Although the club was packed and sweaty, people really got into the music, some dancing and some just swaying with eyes closed.”