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What the Heck?
John Heckathorn
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GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
For the past five years, Robert Mon has organized his monthly Moonwalk on the night of the full moon. The five-mile hike through Kahala to Puu o Kaimuki is more of a social event.
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Moonwalk is social, high-tech and random
Random Acts of Lunacy: Last Wednesday at Triangle Park, 19 people, most of whom didn't know each other, showed up at 6 p.m. for Bob's Monthly Moonwalk.
Bob is Robert Mon, program specialist for the state High Technology Development Corp. For the past five years, each month on the night of the full moon, Mon has organized his Moonwalk.
If "organize" is the right word. He started with friends and friends of friends, but now he simply e-mails a route, a meeting place and a time to some 500 people. Recipients forward the e-mail, post it on Web sites.
"People just show up," says Mon. "Never all the same people. Sometimes I don't know half of them." There have been as few as 10 and as many as 60.
Last Wednesday's Moonwalk included a random collection of lawyers, Web designers, grad students, a waitress from Denny's, a Navy wife, a school librarian, a budget analyst and a math tutor.
The five-mile jaunt through Kahala to Puu o Kaimuki was more a social event than exercise. The usual get-acquainted question was: How did you find out about this? Most from Web sites like Global Pau Hana or MeetIn.org. "I'm not high-tech," said Thomas Chock, a nursery owner. "I just sat next to Bob on a plane."
Someone's friends drive by, park their car and join the walk in progress. Others drop out when it rains a little. Most meet afterward at Big City Diner, joined by a few slackers who skipped the walk.
Over a Bud Lite at Big City, Ming Tan, a civil engineer who relocated to Honolulu three months ago, says, "When I got here, I didn't know anyone. So I went on the Web. Bob's Moonwalk is great. It's fun, it's free and now I have friends."
Political Dirty Laundry: CafePress.com is selling Linda Lingle '06 thongs, in six styles. Thongs are also available for Iwase, Akaka, Case and a few other Hawaii candidates. The online merchant promises its thongs stay out of sight under the lowest of low-rise pants, should you wish to keep your political allegiances discreet.
Speaking of Politics: Tuesday, the night of the epic traffic jam, I ran into Randy and Jan Iwase outside the Hawaii Theatre. They were in town from Mililani to catch the premiere of Tom Coffman's new film, "The First Battle."
"We wanted to show our support for Tom," said Iwase. "Of course, we didn't know 'support' meant we were going to have to drive home through Kahuku."
The trip home took three hours. "Never driven so slowly," said Iwase. Asked if he'd been tempted to campaign up and down the row of gridlocked cars, he said, "Should have thought of that. There were thousands of voters there. But not in a good mood."
Oahu traffic? Try Maui: Last weekend, chef Nicholas Salvi and his crew at the new Lahaina E&O Trading Company worked until 2 a.m., preparing 500 portions of quail and fancy desserts for Maui Chefs Present, a $130-a-head fundraiser scheduled for the next night.
Then Salvi and two sous chefs tried to drive home to Kihei, only to be delayed two hours when a fire closed the only road. Nonetheless, Salvi and his crew headed back to work at 8 a.m.
But the fire, which eventually consumed 4,000 acres, still burned. The road was closed at Maalaea. The trio of chefs turned around and tried to get to Lahaina on the one-lane road that winds around the back of the West Maui Mountains. They were stopped by police, who were letting only residents through.
The chefs returned to Maalaea, only to be stuck for hours in a truck whose air conditioning died. Finally, tipped off by a sympathetic cop, they raced back to Kahului, where they boarded a special Island Air flight and flew to Kapalua.
Borrowing a truck, since theirs was parked at Kahului airport, they made the 6 p.m. event with 10 minutes to spare. "Once we got set up, we popped open a beer and gave each other high-fives," says Salvi.
Too Many Talents: Robert Pennybacker has written major TV documentaries ("IZ: The Man Behind The Music") and produced and directed award-winning films ("Living Your Dying"). He's just finished working with Emme Tomimbang on her "9-11 Remembered" program, which airs tomorrow on KHON.
Still, it was a shock to find out he could sing. After two years of lessons with Buzz Tennent, Pennybacker made his public debut. He quieted a First Friday crowd at new club Dragon Upstairs, with a succession of Cole Porter, Rogers & Hart, and Billy Strayhorn tunes.
Afterwards Tennent told him, "That's the best I've ever heard you."
Pennybacker said, "The crowd was so noisy, I figured I either had to really do it or go home."
Retardé: Devotees of downtown bars may be saddened to learn that Dave Stewart's Brasserie du Vin, with its faux Provencal courtyard and list of 275 wines, did not open this weekend as hoped. "Next week if we're lucky," says Stewart.
On the Wing: Chef Carolyn Hootkins flies in to do a "royal" organic dinner at the Halekulani on Thursday. Hootkins learned to cook organic when she was executive chef to Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
"Prince Charles had one of the first organic farms in Europe," says Hootkins. So what's the prince's favorite thing to eat? Wild birds -- pheasant, grouse, guinea hens -- he shoots himself. Any game birds on the Halekulani menu? "No," says Hootkins. "I've had my fill of that, really."