CUISINE OF HAWAII, TASTING THE PARADISE IN EARTH

Today, The Stones have received the wonderful visit of Wade Ueoka, one of the top ten chefs in Hawaii.

 

Wade has been talking about Hawaiian cuisine and he has cooked his specialities especially for our family.

Before Wade's arrival, The Stones have been studying Some/Any/No Compounds and Can/Could/Will be able to verb tenses.

The cuisine of Hawaii incorporates five distinct styles of food, reflecting the diverse food history of settlement and immigration in the Hawaiian Islands.

In the pre-contact period of Ancient Hawaii (300 AD–1778), Polynesian voyagers brought plants and animals to the Islands. As Native Hawaiians settled the area, they fished, raised taro for poi, planted coconuts, sugarcane, sweet potatoes and yams, and cooked meat and fish in earth ovens.

After first contact in 1778, European and American cuisine arrived along with missionaries and whalers, who introduced their own foods and built large sugarcane plantations. Christian missionaries brought New England cuisine while whalers introduced salted fish which eventually transformed into the side dish lomilomi salmon.

As pineapple and sugarcane plantations grew, so did demand for labor, bringing many immigrant groups to the Islands between 1850 and 1930. Immigrant workers brought cuisines from China, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and Portugal after arriving in Hawaii, introducing their new foods and influencing the region.

More information: Some/Any/No Compounds & Can/Could/Will be able to

The introduction of new ethnic foods, such as Chinese char siu bao (manapua), Portuguese sweet bread and malasadas, Puerto Rican Pasteles, and the Japanese bento, combined with the existing indigenous, European and American foods in the plantation working environments and in the local communities. This blend of cuisines formed a local food style unique to Hawaii, resulting in plantation foods like the plate lunch, snacks like Spam musubi, and dishes like the loco moco. 

Shortly after World War II several well known local restaurants opened their doors to serve Hawaiian Food. Chefs further refined the local style by inventing Hawaii Regional Cuisine in 1992, a style of cooking that makes use of locally grown ingredients to blend all of Hawaii's historical influences together to form a new fusion cuisine.

When Polynesian seafarers arrived on the Hawaiian Islands in 300–500 AD, few edible plants existed in the new land, aside from ferns, Hāpuʻu ʻiʻi, whose uncoiled fronds are eaten boiled, and fruits that grew at higher elevations. Botanists and archaeologists believe that the Polynesian voyagers introduced anywhere between 27 and more than 30 plants to the islands, known as canoe plants, mainly for food. The most important of them was taro.

For centuries taro, and the poi made from it, was the main staple of their diet, and it is still much loved today. In addition to taro the Polynesians brought sweet potatoes. These are believed to have come from Polynesian contact with the New World.

More information: Hawaii Magazine

The Marquesans, the first settlers from Polynesia, brought breadfruit and the Tahitians later introduced the baking banana. These settlers from Polynesia also brought coconuts, candlenuts, known in Hawaiian as kukui nuts, and sugarcane. They found plenty of fish, shellfish, and limu in the new land. Flightless birds were easy to catch and nests were full of eggs for the taking.

Most Pacific islands had no meat animals except bats and lizards, so ancient Polynesians sailed the Pacific with pigs, chickens and dogs as cargo. Pigs were raised for religious sacrifice, and the meat was offered at altars, some of which was consumed by priests and the rest eaten in a mass celebration. The early Hawaiian diet was diverse, and may have included as many as 130 different types of seafood and 230 types of sweet potatoes. Some species of land and sea birds were consumed into extinction.

Sea salt was a common condiment in ancient Hawaii, and Inamona, a relish made of roasted, mashed kukui nutmeats, sea salt and sometimes mixed with seaweeds, often accompanied the meals.

At important occasions, a traditional feast, ‘aha‘aina, was held. When a woman was to have her first child, her husband started raising a pig for the ‘Aha‘aina Mawaewae feast that was celebrated for the birth of a child.

 

Besides the pig, mullet, shrimp, crab, seaweeds and taro leaves were required for the feast. The modern name for such feasts, lū‘au, was not used until 1856, replacing the Hawaiian words ‘aha‘aina and pā‘ina. The name lū‘au came from the name of a food always served at a ‘aha‘aina -young taro tops baked with coconut milk and chicken or octopus. Prior to cooking, pigs and dogs were killed by strangulation or by holding their nostrils shut, in order to conserve the animal's blood. Meat was prepared by flattening out the whole eviscerated animal and broiling it over hot coals, or it was spitted on sticks. Large pieces of meat, such as fowl, pigs and dogs, would be typically cooked in earth ovens, or spitted over a fire during ceremonial feasts.

Hawaiian earth ovens, known as an imu, combine roasting and steaming in a method called kālua. A pit is dug into earth and lined with volcanic rocks and other rocks that do not split when heated to a high temperature, such as granite. A fire is built with embers, and when the rocks are glowing hot, the embers are removed and the foods wrapped in ti, ginger or banana leaves are put into the pit, covered with wet leaves, mats and a layer of earth.

Water may be added through a bamboo tube to create steam. The intense heat from the hot rocks cooked food thoroughly -the quantity of food for several days could be cooked at once, taken out and eaten as needed, and the cover replaced to keep the remainder warm.

Sweet potatoes, taro, breadfruit and other vegetables were cooked in the imu, as well as fish. Saltwater eel was salted and dried before being put into the imu. Chickens, pigs and dogs were put into the imu with hot rocks inserted in the abdominal cavities. Men did all of the cooking, and food for women was cooked in a separate imu; afterwards men and women ate meals separately. The ancient practice of cooking with the imu continues to this day, for special occasions.

More information: The Culture Trip

In 1778, Captain James Cook arrived at the island of Niihau, leaving a ram goat, ewes, a boar, an English sow, and seeds for melons, pumpkins, and onions.

In 1793, Captain George Vancouver brought the first cattle to the islands; longhorns from California were presented to King Kamehameha I. With no natural predators, the new cattle multiplied out of control; the king hired an American man named John Parker to capture and domesticate cattle. Many of the cattle were butchered and beef was introduced to Hawaiian cuisine.

Tuna is the most important fish in Hawaiian cuisine. Varieties include the skipjack tuna (aku), the yellowfin tuna (ahi), and the albacore tuna (tombo). Ahi in particular has a long history, since ancient Hawaiians used it on long ocean voyages because it is well preserved when salted and dried. A large portion of the local tuna fishery goes to Japan to be sold for sashimi. Tuna is eaten as sashimi in Hawaii as well, but is also grilled or sautéed, or made into poke.

The Pacific blue marlin (kajiki) is barbecued or grilled, but should not be overcooked due to its very low fat content. The broadbill swordfish (shutome), popular and shipped all over the mainland United States, is high in fat and its steaks may be grilled, broiled, or used in stir-fries.

The groupers (hapuu) are most often steamed. The red snapper (onaga) is steamed, poached, or baked. The pink snapper (opakapaka) has a higher fat, and is steamed or baked, served with a light sauce. The Wahoo (ono) is grilled or sautéed, and the dolphin fish (mahimahi) is usually cut into steaks and fried or grilled. The moonfish (opah) is used for broiling, smoking, or making sashimi.

More information: The Daily Meal

Poke is a local cuisine that originally involved preserving raw fish or other seafood such as octopus with sea salt and rubbing it (lomi) with seasonings or cutting it into small pieces. Seasonings made of seaweed, kukui nut, and sea salt were traditionally used for the Hawaiian poke. Since first contact with Western and Asian cultures, scallions, chili peppers, and soy sauce have become common additions to it. Poke is different from sashimi, since the former is usually rough-cut and piled onto a plate, and can be made with less expensive pieces of fish.

During the early 1970s, poke became an appetizer to have with beer or to bring to a party.

Showing the island's Asian influence, teriyaki has become the most popular way of treating meats, including Spam. Other common Asian spices include five-spice powder from China, wasabi and Shoyu, soy sauce from Japan, and bagoong from the Philippines.

Types of spices local for Hawaii cuisine include aloha shoyu, huli-huli sauce, and chili pepper water.

More information: The New York Times

All four elements were happening in equal measure
-the cuisine, the wine, the service,
and the overall ambience.
It taught me that dining could happen at a spiritual level.
 

Charlie Trotter

DISCOVERING THE MOST FAMOUS SURFERS FROM HAWAII

Today, The Stones have been talking with DR by Meet. DR has explained them the risks of surfing and extreme sports.

While The Stones have been listening to DR, The Grandma has been reading about the most famous surfers from Hawaii.

Duke Kahanamoku

Probably considered the forefather of professional surfing, Duke Kahanamoku is widely revered as an icon and a beloved character of modern Hawaiian history. Hawaii was still its own kingdom when Kahanamoku was born. He grew up during the annexation of Hawaii and is a strong representative of Hawaiian culture and attitude.

After retiring from an incredible Olympic swimming career representing the U.S. internationally, Kahanamoku toured around the world. It was at this time that he was able to introduce the Hawaiian sport of surfing in places like Australia and California. Today, visitors can admire his nine-foot bronze statue on Waikiki beach, where locals honor him constantly, placing multitudes of freshly made leis to hang off of his outstretched arms.

Eddie Aikau

Eddie Aikau's career in the water started strong. He was the first lifeguard protecting beaches on the North Shore of Oahu with its famous giant waves that would sometimes reach 20 feet. Rescuing over 500 people, Aikau became a local hero to the community. Aikau's Hawaiian heritage was also something he was extremely proud of, garnering even more local support in the community.

In 1978, he was recruited by the Polynesian Voyaging Society as a member of the Hōkūleʻa crew on their second voyage. Unfortunately, the canoe capsized by the island of Molokai. As was his nature, Aikau paddled out towards the island of Lanai to seek help and unfortunately was not seen again. Hawaii's beloved big wave surfer was lost at sea at the young age of 31.

Today, the fame of his bravery is honored in surf competitions as well as charities that support the sustainability and advancement of Hawaiian culture. Beach and surf gear with the writing Eddie Would Go honors his memory and fearlessness in taking on the biggest of waves.

More information: Surfing Waves

Bethany Hamilton

Probably one of the most inspirational people in the public eye, Bethany Hamilton has proved to be unstoppable. A Kauai native and born into a surfing family, she started competing at the age of eight. Unfortunately, Hamilton was the victim of an attack by one of nature's toughest predators. In 2003, at the age of 13, Hamilton was surfing with her best friend when she was attacked by a tiger shark. She lost her left arm almost completely, making it difficult to continue the sport. This wasn’t enough to stop her, though. Barely skipping a beat, she returned merely a month after her attack.

Hamilton continued to be a force in the surf community, taking first place at Pipeline Women's Pro in 2014. Now a mother, she's still in the water competing and has become a role model for not only women or those in the surfing community, but people everywhere. Hamilton not only competes, but is also now a speaker and author.

Andy Irons

A native of Kauai, Andy was known to those around him as someone with a lot of heart. Even the headline of his public rivalry with Kelly Slater was complemented by their respect for one another. In his intense and impressive surfing career, he won three world titles, as well as over 20 international victories.

However, he battled substance abuse and difficulties with a possible bipolar disorder. This ended sadly with his passing in 2010, shocking the community. Andy's legacy, which has been honored in a film called Andy Irons: Kissed by God, reminds us that we are all human.

Laird Hamilton

Tow-in surfing is under some serious debate in the professional community, with some believing that it takes away from the sport and others claiming that it makes it even better. What no one can argue is that Laird Hamilton was a revolutionary in what had been a very traditional sport originating in Hawaii.

Hailing from the island of Oahu, Hamilton paved the way for many new ideas in the surf community. He was involved in the innovative conception and introduction of SUP boarding and hydrofoil, as well as tow-in surfing, a game changer and time saver for those brave enough to surf the big waves.

More information: Surfer Today

 We're all equal before a wave.

Laird Hamilton

ISRAEL KAʻANOʻI KAMAKAWIWOʻOLE, UKULELE PLAYER

The Stones love music and visiting Hawaii i s a great opportunity to discover native songs and popular Hawaiian music. Joan Stone, who is a great musician and plays ukulele, has wanted to pay homage to one of the most popular Hawaiian musicians, Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole, whose songs and ukulele have been influencing musicians around the world since the 90's.

Israel Kaʻanoʻi Kamakawiwoʻole, in Hawaiian of the fearless eye, the bold face; (May 20, 1959-June 26, 1997), also called Bruddah Iz or IZ, was an American singer-lyricist, musician, and Hawaiian sovereignty activist.

He achieved commercial success outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993. His medley of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World was released on his albums Ka ʻAnoʻi and Facing Future, and was subsequently featured in several films, television programs, and television commercials.

Along with his ukulele playing and incorporation of other genres, such as jazz and reggae, Kamakawiwoʻole remains influential in Hawaiian music.

Kamakawiwoʻole was born at Kuakini Medical Center in Honolulu to Henry Hank Kaleialoha Naniwa Kamakawiwoʻole Jr. and Evangeline Angie Leinani Kamakawiwoʻole. The notable Hawaiian musician Moe Keale was his uncle and a major musical influence. Kamakawiwoʻole was raised in the community of Kaimuki, where his parents had met and married.

He began playing music with his older brother Skippy and cousin Allen Thornton at the age of 11, being exposed to the music of Hawaiian entertainers of the time such as Peter Moon, Palani Vaughn, and Don Ho, who frequented the establishment where Kamakawiwoʻole's parents worked.

Hawaiian musician Del Beazley spoke of the first time he heard Kamakawiwoʻole perform, when, while playing for a graduation party, the whole room fell silent on hearing him sing. He remained in Hawaii as his brother Skippy entered the Army in 1971 and his cousin Allen moved to the mainland in 1976.

In his early teens, he studied at Upward Bound (UB) of the University of Hawaii at Hilo and his family moved to Mākaha. There he met Louis Kauakahi, Sam Gray, and Jerome Koko. Together with Skippy, they formed the Makaha Sons of Niʻihau. A part of the Hawaiian Renaissance, the band's blend of contemporary and traditional styles gained in popularity as they toured Hawaii and the mainland United States, releasing fifteen successful albums.

Kamakawiwoʻole's aim was to make music that stayed true to the typical sound of traditional Hawaiian music.

The Makaha Sons of Niʻihau recorded No Kristo in 1976 and released several more albums, including Hoʻoluana, Kahea O Keale, Keala, Makaha Sons of Niʻihau and Mahalo Ke Akua.

The group became Hawaii's most popular contemporary traditional group with breakout albums 1984's Puana Hou Me Ke Aloha and its follow-up, 1986's Hoʻola. 

Kamakawiwoʻole's last recorded album with the group was 1991's Hoʻoluana. It remains the group's top-selling CD.

In 1982, Skippy died at age 28 of a heart attack related to obesity. Later the same year, Kamakawiwoʻole married his childhood sweetheart Marlene. Soon after, they had a daughter whom they named Ceslie-Ann Wehi (born c. 1983).

In 1990, Kamakawiwoʻole released his first solo album Ka ʻAnoʻi, which won awards for Contemporary Album of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year from the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts (HARA).

Facing Future was released in 1993 by The Mountain Apple Company. It featured a version of his most popular song, the medley Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World, along with Hawaiʻi 78, White Sandy Beach of Hawaiʻi, Maui Hawaiian Sup'pa Man, and Kaulana Kawaihae. The decision to include a cover of Somewhere Over the Rainbow was said to be a last-minute one by his producer Jon de Mello and Kamakawiwoʻole.

In 1994, Kamakawiwoʻole was voted favorite entertainer of the year by the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts (HARA). E Ala E (1995) featured the political title song ʻE Ala ʻE and Kaleohano, and N Dis Life (1996) featured In This Life and Starting All Over Again.

In 1997, Kamakawiwoʻole was again honored by HARA at the Annual Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards for Male Vocalist of the Year, Favorite Entertainer of the Year, Album of the Year, and Island Contemporary Album of the Year. He watched the awards ceremony from a hospital room.

Kamakawiwo'ole's Facing Future has become the best-selling Hawaiian album of all time.

Kamakawiwoʻole was known for promoting Hawaiian rights and Hawaiian independence, both through his lyrics, which often stated the case for independence directly, and through his own actions. For example, the lyric in his song Hawaiʻi '78: The life of this land is the life of the people/and that to care for the land (malama ʻāina) is to care for the Hawaiian culture, is a statement that many consider to summarize his Hawaiian ideals.

The state motto of Hawaiʻi is a recurring line in the song and encompasses the meaning of his message: Ua Mau ke Ea o ka ʻĀina i ka Pono, proclaimed by King Kamehameha III when Hawaiʻi regained sovereignty in 1843. It can be roughly translated as: The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.

Kamakawiwoʻole used his music to promote awareness of his belief that a second-class status had been pushed onto fellow natives by the tourist industry.

Kamakawiwoʻole suffered from obesity throughout his life. Beset with respiratory, heart, and other medical problems, he died at the age of 38 in the Queen's Medical Center on June 26, 1997. At the time of his death, Kamakawiwoʻole had a wife, Marlene Kamakawiwoʻole, and a daughter, Ceslie-Ann Wehi.

The Hawaiian flag flew at half-staff on July 10, 1997, the day of Kamakawiwoʻole's funeral. His koa wood casket lay at the state capitol building in Honolulu, making him the third person and the only non-government official to be so honored. Approximately 10,000 people attended his funeral. Thousands of fans gathered as his ashes were scattered into the Pacific Ocean at Mākua Beach on July 12, 1997.

According to witnesses, many people commemorated him by honking their car and truck horns on all Hawaiian highways that day. Scenes from the funeral and scattering of Kamakawiwoʻole's ashes were featured in official music videos of Over the Rainbow, released posthumously by Mountain Apple Company. As of July 2020, the two videos, as featured on YouTube, have collectively received over a billion views.

More information: Instagram

I guess this is gonna sound kind of weird,
but I'm not scared for myself for dying.
Because I believe all these places are temporary.
This is just one shell.
Because we Hawaiians live in both worlds.

 Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

 

Daniel Stone likes tales. He writes beautiful ones and he has recommended to The Stones to watch Lava, a computer-animated musical short film that has a closer relation with Israel Kamakawiwoʻole.

Lava is a 2014 American computer-animated musical short film, produced by Pixar Animation Studios.

Directed by James Ford Murphy and produced by Andrea Warren, it premiered at the Hiroshima International Animation Festival on June 14, 2014, and was theatrically released alongside Pixar's Inside Out, on June 19, 2015. The short is a musical love story that takes place over thousands of years.

It is set to a song written by Murphy, and was inspired by the isolated beauty of tropical islands and the explosive allure of ocean volcanoes. In an interview with KHON, Murphy explained that his interest in Hawaii began 25 years prior while honeymooning on the main island of Hawai'i.

Years later, he heard Israel Kamakawiwoʻole's rendition of Somewhere over the Rainbow, which touched him. I put together this fascination and love and this experience I had with my wife in Hawaii, with this feeling I had for this song and thought, wow, if I could blend those two things, it would be really -a film I would love to see."

The idea began to coalesce while attending the wedding of his sister, who married at the age of 43. As my sister stood up on the altar, I thought about how happy she was and how long she'd waited for her very special day. There, at my sister’s wedding, I remembered Loihi and I had an epiphany... What if my sister was a volcano? And what if volcanoes spend their entire lives searching for love, like humans do?"

The plot talks about a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean, where a lonely volcano watches the wildlife creatures frolic with their mates and wishes to find one of his own. He sings a song (lava) to the ocean each day for thousands of years, gradually venting his lava and sinking into the water, but does not realize that an undersea female volcano has heard him every day and has fallen in love with him.

She emerges on the day when that volcano becomes almost extinct, but her face is turned away and she cannot see him. He sinks fully into the ocean, heartbroken, but revives, full of lava when he hears her singing his song to him. His fire is re-ignited, he erupts back to the surface, this time right next to her, and the two form a single island where they are together, singing his song together.

More information: Disney Fandom

Hawaiian to me is a feeling of getting somewhere,
without stepping on anybodys toes,
without causing friction with anybody.
 

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole

'ALOHA FROM HAWAII VIA SATELLITE' BY ELVIS PRESLEY

Yesterday, Jessica Fletcher and The Grandma were talking about a friend in common who was celebrating her 95th anniversary, Angela Lansbury.

 

Angela is considered one of the most respectable actresses currently and she has a long career with great roles in theatre, TV and cinema.

 

Jessica and The Grandma remember how Angela explained to them about one of her favourite films, Blue Hawaii, a movie filmed in Hawaii with Elvis Presley. They have been talking about this film and about one of the most popular Elvis's LP's and films, Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite.

Blue Hawaii is a 1961 American musical romantic comedy film directed by Norman Taurog and starring Elvis Presley.

 

The screenplay by Hal Kanter was nominated by the Writers Guild of America in 1962 in the category of Best Written American Musical.

 

The film opened at number two in box office receipts for that week and, despite mixed reviews from critics, finished as the 10th top-grossing film of 1961 and 14th for 1962 on the Variety national box office survey, earning $5 million. The film won a fourth place prize Laurel Award in the category of Top Musical of 1961
 

Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite is a live album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley, released by RCA Records in February 1973.

 

It peaked at #1 on the Billboard chart in the spring of the same year. Despite the satellite innovation, the US did not air the concert until April 4. 

Aloha from Hawaii, which was a worldwide ratings smash, went to #1 on the Billboard album chart. The album dominated the charts, reaching #1 in both the pop and country charts in the US.

The album was certified Gold on February 13, 1973, platinum and 2× Platinum on May 20, 1988, 3× Platinum on July 15, 1999, and 5× Platinum on August 1, 2002, by the RIAA. On April 15, 2016, the BPI certified the album Silver for sales of 60,000 units.

Aloha from Hawaii is a two-disc set -only the second such release of Presley's career, the first being 1969's double set From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis, which contained one album each of studio and concert recordings. It was initially released only in quadraphonic sound, becoming the first album in the format to top the Billboard album chart. After Quadrophonic sound failed to catch on, RCA issued a standard stereophonic version of the album.

The album contains all the live performances from the TV special, but omits the five songs Presley recorded after the show and which were featured on the original broadcast; these would be issued later on the album Mahalo from Elvis. The album also omits Presley's brief announcement concerning the concert being presented for the benefit of the Kui Lee Cancer Fund.

This is the penultimate live album that Presley released during his lifetime, the last being Elvis Recorded Live on Stage in Memphis the following year. Later soundtracks for the TV special Elvis in Concert and the documentary This Is Elvis were released posthumously.

More information: Elvis Australia

 (Angela Lansbury)

Chad think of who you are,
remember you come from a fine family.

 
(Elvis Presley)

I'm sure you'll do enough remembering for both of us.

 

Blue Hawaii

ANGELA LANSBURY, 'MURDER SHE WROTE' IN HONOLULU

Today, The Grandma wants to pay homage to one of her greatest friends, Jessica Fletcher (Angela Lansbury), who celebrates her 95th birthday.

Jessica has visited The Stones in Honolulu and she has explained to them how she resolve a crime with Magnum P.I. some decades ago, when both of them stayed in Honolulu working together.

Jessica Beatrice Fletcher, born Jessica Beatrice MacGill, known as J.B. Fletcher when writing, is a character and the protagonist portrayed by award-winning actress Angela Lansbury on the American television series Murder, She Wrote. 

Fletcher is a best-selling author of mystery novels, an English teacher, amateur detective, criminology professor, and congresswoman.

More information: Eighties Kids

Angela Brigid Lansbury (October 16, 1925) is a British-Irish-American actress who has played many theater, television, and film roles.

Her career has spanned almost eight decades, much of it in the United States. Her work has received international attention. She is recognised as the earliest surviving Academy Award nominee and one of the last surviving stars from the Golden Age of Hollywood.

Lansbury was born to Irish actress Moyna Macgill and British politician Edgar Lansbury, an upper-middle-class family in Regent's Park, central London. To escape the Blitz, in 1940 she moved to the United States with her mother and two brothers, and she studied acting in New York City. Proceeding to Hollywood in 1942, she signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and obtained her first film roles, in Gaslight (1944) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), earning her two Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe Award.

She appeared in eleven further films for MGM, mostly in supporting roles such as National Velvet (1944), and The Harvey Girls. After her contract ended in 1952 she began supplementing her cinematic work with theatrical appearances. Although largely seen as a B-list star during this period, her appearance in the film The Manchurian Candidate (1962) received widespread acclaim, was cited as being one of her finest performances and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Moving into musical theater, Lansbury finally gained stardom for playing the leading role in the Broadway musical Mame (1966), which earned her a range of awards.

Amid difficulties in her personal life, Lansbury moved from California to County Cork, Ireland in 1970, and continued with her theatrical and cinematic appearances throughout the decade including starring in Disney's Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) and the stage musicals Gypsy, Sweeney Todd, and The King and I.

Moving into television, she achieved worldwide fame as fictional writer and sleuth Jessica Fletcher in the American whodunit series Murder, She Wrote, which ran for twelve seasons from 1984 until 1996, becoming one of the longest-running detective drama series in television history.

Through Corymore Productions, a company that she co-owned with her husband Peter Shaw, Lansbury assumed ownership of the series and was its executive producer for the final four seasons. Since then, she has toured in a variety of international theatrical productions and continued to make occasional appearances in films including Beauty and the Beast (1991), Nanny McPhee (2005) and Mary Poppins Returns (2018).

Lansbury has received an Honorary Oscar and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and has won five Tony Awards, six Golden Globes, and an Olivier Award. She has also been nominated for numerous other industry awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress on three occasions, and various Primetime Emmy Awards on eighteen occasions, and a Grammy Award.

In 2014, Lansbury was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. She has been the subject of three biographies.

In the 1960s, The New York Times referred to Lansbury as the First Lady of Musical Theatre. Lansbury described herself as an actress who could also sing, with Sondheim stating that she had a strong voice, albeit with a limited range.

Lansbury's authorised biographer Martin Gottfried described her as an American icon, with a practically saintly public image.

More information: Twitter @_AngelaLansbury

 Mystery is something that appeals to most everybody.

Angela Lansbury

WE MUST PROTECT ENVIRONMENT, WE NEED OUR PLANET

Today, The Grandma has been reading about the environmental risks in Hawaii.

 

Basically, there are four important issues: plastic pollutioin, tourism, invasive species and air quality.

 

The family has been reading about what Hawaiians must do and mustn't do to protect their islands and live with a good qualitity of life. While The Grandma was reading about Hawaiian issues, The Stones have been practising some English grammar. They have reviewed Modal Verbs (Must & Need) and Countable/Uncountable (Much, Many, A lot of, A little & A few).

The majority of environmental issues affecting Hawaii today are related to pressures from increasing human and animal population and urban expansion both directly on the islands as well as overseas. These include tourism, urbanization, climate change implications, pollution and invasive species.

The waters surrounding the Hawaiian Islands are affected by increasing waste products like marine debris from land and ocean sources washing onto shore as well as effluents generated and released from the islands themselves. Oceans in particular are being devastated by factors including marine debris, plastic pollution, and tourism.

More information: Must/Mustn't & Need/Needn't

Marine debris is defined as any persistent solid material that is both a land-based and ocean-based issue faced across the world. The positioning of Hawaii in particular makes it a high-impact target for marine debris, given the natural ocean currents and its relative location to the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone. As a result, marine debris is not limited to waste from the islands exclusively but is also carried from other locations around the world.

Although plastic pollution remains under the umbrella of marine debris, it is one of the largest concerns affecting marine life and the most ubiquitous source of pollution across the oceans.

Historically, the U.S. military used the ocean as a dumping ground for munitions from 1919 to 1970, and the U.S. army dumped 16,000 mustard gas bombs in deep water, south of Pearl Harbor after World War II. Presently, floating plastic garbage from disposable consumer products accumulate in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, from debris eventually find its way onto the reefs and beaches in Hawaii.

Kamilo Beach, located at the southern tip of the Big Island, has been devastated by plastic pollution from the patch and was named The Dirtiest Beach in the World by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). Unique to this site is the abundance of both microplastic and meso-plastic, where geologists found plastic-infused rocks called plastiglomerates; they expect this new rock become a part of the fossil record, indicating the intensity of human influence on the environment.

More information: Much/Many/A lot of & A little/A few

Plastiglomerates are formed when melted plastic binds together sand, shells, pebbles, basalt, coral and wood, or seeps into the cavities of larger rocks to form a rock-plastic hybrid; although they were not discovered until 2012 by Captain Charles Moore from Algalita Marine Research Institute, plastiglomerates occur in other parts of the world, in part by fire-using activities such as bonfires.

The presence of plastic is harmful to marine life, including seabirds, that often get entangled in plastic or mistake plastics as food sources and consume them. Studies show that ingestion can block gastric enzyme secretion, diminish feeding stimulus, lower hormone levels, and lead to reproductive failure.

Tourism in Hawaii began in the 19th century and persists today with its tropical weather and landscapes. Welcoming over seven million visitors annually, it is one of the major contributors to Hawaii's economy.

Although it adds to the state’s economic growth, tourism is a non-geologically driven environmental issue that also degrades the island ecosystems islands, primarily Hawaiʻi, Oʻahu, Maui, and Kauaʻi, the sites of the major tourism industries. Major concerns of the urban infrastructure development for tourism include habitat loss for local flora and fauna, energy use, consumer waste and pollution, and water shortages. Because of their need to satisfy travel customers, resort destinations’ reliance on the shining sun, a comfortable climate, and the beautiful sea heighten resource use.

More information: Hawaii Community Foundation

Invasive species are non-native organisms that are introduced, often by humans, to an ecosystem. However, what differentiates invasive species from non-native species is their negative impact and threat to economic, environmental, and human health, which aided by their ability to easily adapt and reproduce. Although invasive species may be introduced naturally, they are typically introduced by accidental or intentional means; intentional purposes include habitat restoration and removal of pests.

A number of plant species are now extinct due to grazing livestock, and aggressive non-indigenous species taking over the land. Almost 40% of the endangered species in the United States are Hawaiian species, while nearly 75% of all U.S. extinctions have occurred in Hawaii.

Prior to the arrival of non-natives, some bird species were made extinct, or pushed to near extinctio from the collection of feathers by Native Hawaiians. With the arrival of James Cook in 1778, a new set of environmental threats emerged. Alien species such as cats, dogs, rabbits, pigs, and rats affected a number of indigenous species.

Hawaii is known as the extinction capital of the world with the extinction of nearly half (140) of its historically recorded native bird species.

Some of the alien species that are currently affecting Hawaii include cane toads, mongoose, coquí frogs, gall wasps, Mediterranean, Oriental, and melon flies that damage crops, ants that destroy native insects, and bacteria that infect waters.

Compared with the mainland United States, Hawaii's rating on the air quality index is ranked among the best. Approximately 47% of all emissions are caused by burning fossil fuel for electricity production. Ground transport is the second biggest contributor with 22%, while air transport contributes 19%.

More information: Hawaii Conservation

The major problems in the world are the result
of the differences between the way nature
works and the way people think.

Gregory Bateson

THE STONES HAVE TO PREPARE THEIR CAMBRIDGE EXAM

Today, The Stones and The Grandma have talked with MJ by Google Meet. They are in Honolulu and MJ is in Sant Boi de Llobregat preparing their A2 Cambridge Exam documentation.

The family is preparing this important exam in Hawaii without interferences and surrounded by a wonderful an amazing environment that helps them to study and understand all the English grammar that they are discovering.

They have reviewed Modal Verbs (Have to/Don't have to); Countable and Uncountable (Some/Any) and they have started to prepare their own stories to pass their Cambridge speaking.

The University of Cambridge, legal name The Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University of Cambridge, is a collegiate research university in Cambridge, England.

Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's fourth-oldest surviving university.

The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople. The two English ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as Oxbridge.

Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 semi-autonomous constituent colleges and over 150 academic departments, faculties and other institutions organised into six schools.

All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities.

More information: Have to/Don't have to

All students are members of a college. Cambridge does not have a main campus, and its colleges and central facilities are scattered throughout the city. Undergraduate teaching at Cambridge is organised around weekly small-group supervisions in the colleges –a feature unique to the Oxbridge system. These are supported by classes, lectures, seminars, laboratory work and occasionally further supervisions provided by the central university faculties and departments. Postgraduate teaching is provided predominantly centrally.

Cambridge University Press, a department of the university, is the oldest university press in the world and currently the second largest university press in the world.

Cambridge Assessment, also a department of the university, is one of the world's leading examining bodies and provides assessment to over eight million learners globally every year.

The university also operates eight cultural and scientific museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, as well as a botanic garden. Cambridge's libraries, of which there are 116, hold a total of around 16 million books, around nine million of which are in Cambridge University Library, a legal deposit library.

The university is home to, but independent of, the Cambridge Union -the world's oldest debating society. The university is closely linked to the development of the high-tech business cluster known as Silicon Fen. It is the central member of Cambridge University Health Partners, an academic health science centre based around the Cambridge Biomedical Campus.

Cambridge has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers, actors, monarchs and other heads of state.

More information: Some/Any

As of October 2020, 121 Nobel laureates, 11 Fields Medalists, 7 Turing Award winners and 14 British prime ministers have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, alumni, faculty or research staff. University alumni have won 194 Olympic medals.

By the late 12th century, the Cambridge area already had a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation, due to monks from the nearby bishopric church of Ely. However, it was an incident at Oxford which is most likely to have led to the establishment of the university: three Oxford scholars were hanged by the town authorities for the death of a woman, without consulting the ecclesiastical authorities, who would normally take precedence and pardon the scholars in such a case, but were at that time in conflict with King John.

Fearing more violence from the townsfolk, scholars from the University of Oxford started to move away to cities such as Paris, Reading, and Cambridge. Subsequently, enough scholars remained in Cambridge to form the nucleus of a new university when it had become safe enough for academia to resume at Oxford.

In order to claim precedence, it is common for Cambridge to trace its founding to the 1231 charter from King Henry III granting it the right to discipline its own members (ius non-trahi extra) and an exemption from some taxes; Oxford was not granted similar rights until 1248.

A bull in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach everywhere in Christendom. After Cambridge was described as a studium generale in a letter from Pope Nicholas IV in 1290, and confirmed as such in a bull by Pope John XXII in 1318, it became common for researchers from other European medieval universities to visit Cambridge to study or to give lecture courses.

More information: University of Cambridge

Cambridge is one of the best universities in the world,
especially in my field.

Stephen Hawking