Life looks better on 2 wheels
POSTED: Sunday, November 02, 2008
| This story has been corrected. See below. |
The first time he hopped on one, President Bush managed to fall off a Segway. I didn't.
I'd wanted to ride one of the high-tech, stand-up scooters for some time. The problem: They cost $6,000, and I didn't know anyone who had one.
Then I was having dinner with friends Alan and Jeanne Rice.
Alan not only has a Segway, which he rides all over Waikiki, downtown, into elevators and down office corridors, he's also the state's only Segway dealer. He offers Segway tours at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.
Back of the Hilton, Rice insisted on having me weave around pylons for 15 minutes before letting me loose.
The trick to riding a Segway is trusting it. Full of sensors and computers, the damn thing thinks. Lean a little, it goes where you're going. Lean back hard and it stops faster than you could stop walking. The only hard part is standing still - get a little twitchy, the machine tries to figure out what you're doing and keep you balanced.
Training pau, we went on a sunset jaunt round Ala Moana Park. You move faster than someone walking, not as fast as someone running. We were passed by a runner who looked to be in his 80s.
The park is beautiful at sunset. We zipped along the seawall, past a church picnic, getting hungry from the scent of dinner sizzling on a score of hibachis. We took a few small hills just for the fun of it.
Although the Segway has yet to meet sales expectations anywhere, Rice is a believer. “;It's perfect for Honolulu, perfect.”; He's hoping the new rail system - if there is one - makes room for Segways. “;How else will people get to and from the stations?”;
On the way back, I was having a great time. Rice had set the Segway in beginner mode, no faster than 4 mph. But a Segway will do 12 mph. All the way, I kept thinking, “;Come on, Alan, let's go, let's go.”;
Standing Room Only
Dropped by Pearl Ultra Lounge for the launch of another new vodka, called - unsubtly - Opulent. It's distilled in the Midwest, from corn.
“;For those of you swimming in excess capital,”; reads the Web site, “;consider Opulent a small luxury to tide you over until the day you finally close on the purchase of your own small country.”;
They threw an opulent party - martinis, food, and absolutely my favorite part, an attractive young lady in a black minidress standing on the bar, pouring shots through the middle of a giant ice sculpture shaped like an Opulent bottle.
She was Kristen Drapesa, a real estate broker. “;You look pretty comfortable up there,”; I said. “;You spend a lot of time on top of bars?
“;No,”; she said with a smile. “;Only this time, 'cause I'm getting paid.”;
Contemporary Update
Last month, the Contemporary Museum marked its 20th anniversary. It was only fitting to make one of my rare visits.
I missed the day on which they handed out free cupcakes. Still, the drive up is always rewarding - that above-it-all feeling you get gazing down at the congested streets and packed high-rises of Honolulu from the terraced gardens of a former kamaaina estate, just as if you were rich yourself.
Plus there's always the disbelief of turning a corner and seeing a metal statue that looks like a giant pink bra someone has dropped on the floor.
The museum is packed into two houses and has purchased a third, the Cooke-Petersen house, which Richard Chamberlain once rented.
I got a chance to walk through - and wanted to move in immediately.
The pink marble bathroom aside, the Vladimir Ossipoff-designed residence is all austere elegance. The museum can't change it much, even the bathroom, because it's on the state Register of Historic Places. The house will be repurposed as a cafe and library, the last fortuitous because Ossipoff designed a room full of bookshelves.
Despite having to lay off staff recently, the museum is ambitious going into its third decade. In addition to readapting the Cooke-Peterson house, there are plans for a new glass-walled gallery. Of the $12+ million needed, the museum has $8 million in hand, but the slowing economy is likely to delay the project, originally intended for next year.
Still, with all the folderol for its anniversary, the museum is doing its best. The least you might do is go see it.
A Juicy Art Story
There's a small church on the Big Island that's just going to have to wait for its stained-glass window of St. Columba to be restored. (He's a real saint, from the sixth century.)
James Erickson, the islands' stained glass expert, is busy. Erickson is married to painter Margo Goodwill. (You'll remember her palm tree mural on the wall of The Wave nightclub).
The two are doing a rare joint show, opening Nov. 20, Pohl Gallery. “;That means he has to get in the studio and paint,”; says Goodwill.
Erickson is painting fruit slices. “;It's kind of esoteric,”; he says, “;but if they don't sell, I wanted to paint something I'd like hanging around here.”; In addition, he's doing some stained-glass windows of lime, persimmon, papaya and pomegranate slices.
“;I wonder if there's a church of vegetarians somewhere that would like sliced-fruit stained-glass windows,”; he muses. “;Maybe some vegetables as well. I could do a great cucumber slice.”;
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