Month: February 2008

New Website – Secret of the Crystal Skulls



Nadya Wynd, who lives on Kauai wrote a new screenplay, Secret of the Crystal Skulls. It is set at the beautiful Na Pali coast of Kauai, where Andy and I hiked many times.

Teenage hikers and their injured Kahuna guide, helped by the Menehune (Hawaii’s legendary little people) during a raging hurricane, discover a secret world and two magical crystal skulls.

Fifteen-year-old MAT is sent on an hiking trip to the beautiful Na Pali Coast of Kauai, while his mother honeymoons with husband #3 at the Hyatt.

At the British Museum, archeologist SIMON CHENEY has two weeks to produce new findings on a crystal skull project or it will be terminated. Lured by clues from an ancient Hawaiian chant, Simon heads for Kauai in search of a crystal skull..

KILO, Mat’s Kahuna guide, introduces him to Huna, (Hawaiian spirituality). Mat is intrigued, but the mood is broken by the arrival of his fellow hikers, preppies flashing their brand-name equipment, GPS, and attitude.

They head out as Mat befriends JILL, an ecology-minded seventeen year-old who appreciates the beauty of Hawaii and its mythology. Mat vies for her attention with two rivals, who team up to humiliate him.

As Simon heads up into the mountains of Kauai with a Samoan guide and his superstitious brother, a tropical storm becomes a hurricane, headed directly for Kauai. The hurricane turns the teenagers’ hike into a life-threatening event until a rescue helicopter comes to their aide. Only able to carry five, Mat and Jill volunteer to wait with Kilo for the helicopter’s return. When Kilo is seriously injured, Mat and Jill must seek help from the Menehune.

Mat and Jill are astonished when the Menehune introduce them to the power and significance of the crystal skull. Simon discovers the cave, steals the skull and hurries to deliver it to the museum. Mat, Jill and Kilo rush into the night to recover the skull. In the ensuing chase, Mat must face his fear, Jill her insecurity and Simon, his mortality.

In a remarkable turn of events, everyone learns they have a role to play in safeguarding the crystal skull and disseminating its important message.

After seeing Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, those who want to experience more, understand more, go deeper into the phenomenon and mystery of the crystal skulls, will want to see this movie.

So… why is this on the Baby Blog? Because I designed the website, and I am really proud of it, and I also like the screenplay a lot. I hope very much the movie is going to be produced soon, and on Kauai.

Oahu Feb. 2008

We went to Oahu from Feb. 1st to the 5th. Leilani loves to travel, and not even camping in the rain can spoil her fun. Well, too much driving puts a little damper on it, but other than that she was happy as can be.

Andy adds: Oddly, it wasn’t the driving around this time that caused her worst behavior (although me driving in circles trying to find the scenic route to the aquarium was no fun for anyone). Whereas last time in Oahu, Leilani voluntarily closed her eyes to nap in the car when she was tired, this time she screamed her head off. So after the first 2 days of that, we didn’t even try to get her to nap in the car. Instead we took her to parks and museums and let her run around, and she mostly let us go places. All in all, we really got to see a lot, and she got lots of play-time.

On the shuttle bus to the car rental place, ready for a big adventure. I think she liked the bus more than the airplane, probably because she wasn’t strapped in. Come to think of it, she probably rides less in a bus than on a plane. She first called it a school bus (which are pictured most in her books, and seems to fascinate her), so I had to explain that it was a “shuttle bus.”

Our campsite – we took the photo right after we had pitched the tent, it was the last time it was dry enough to sit outside for the entire trip. For me the constant rain and the mud on the campground were a bit of a problem, because I tried to keep my clothes clean (at least for the first few minutes…), but Leilani loved the mud and the puddles.

The pigs also liked the mud, and weren’t afraid to come close—at first. We chased them, I with the camera and Andy and Leilani hollering loudly. The campground host came by several times to inquire about them, he looked like someone thinking about dinner.

They came pretty close to the tent when they coulndn’t see us. We had to be sure and remove all food when we went away.

Leilani still likes pickles and fish for breakfast, she asked for them:

We need to buy a third headlamp! That’s how she “read” in the tent at night.

An Easter Island statue in front of the Bishop museum. Andy asked her to point to the big nose…

The Bishop museum has a science building that Leilani enjoyed very much—Daddy too, especially the remote controlled underwater robot submarine. Here she is inside a simulated volcano, about to slide down the lava tube.

We found a jade vine and made some earrings.

That was one of her favorite exhibits – a miniature grocery store. This was one case where we had to take turns entertaining Leilani while the other parent could enjoy the museum.

Leilani really likes museums now. At the Academy of Art we stayed for almost 4 hours… the last hour of which cost us a $50 parking ticket. But it’s a great museum with lots to see and great courtyards for Leilani to explore and just run around.

Near the Waikiki aquarium we found this cool swing, made from the tangled branches of a Banyan tree. The aquarium was less of a hit this time, it was too soon after the last time. But again, she had space to run around on their lawn, and so she was happy.

Feeding the pigeons:

Honolulu from the Punchbowl (just for the memories: I sat in the car while Leilani cried and Sonja took a walk, and then once she fell asleep driving in circles, we switched, and I got to see the view. Then we just read books in the car while she finished her forced nap.)

The children’s museum was Leilani’s favorite. Here we are inside a kaleidoscope.

Blowing giant bubbles is harder than it looks…

Oahu – Chinese New Year

Saturday, Feb 2nd we watched the Chinese New Year’s Parade. It is now 4706 in the Chinese calendar, the year of the rat. Dollar bills are being fed to the lions and dragons for good luck, and Leilani is mighty brave when it comes to lions and dragons – especially for someone who is very afraid of Santa Claus…

Leilani is playing in the street while waiting for the parade to start.

Are the coming yet?

Here lion, lion, lion, come, I got lion food…

Her y’go lion:

Too close for comfort, Leilani faces her fears:

Bye bye nice lion…

nom-nom-nom

A tiny bit scary… (according to her own words)

It’s the year of the rat.

Click to watch video:

Oahu – Punahou Carnival

I figured if I ever wad to post this article I better make 3 out of it: We were in Oahu for 5 days 2 weeks ago. The very first thing we did – after pitching our tent and waiting for Leilani’s nap to end – was to visit the Punahou Carnival.

We had gone there last year and all of us had loved it. It was pretty rainy and very muddy this year, but we still had a lot of fun.

Look, there is Kauai!

Helicopters are fun!

But Merry-Go-Rounds even more so

Andy took this one while riding on the horse next to her (while yelling wave to Mommy, fortunately Leilani was smarter than that and did not let go of the pole…)

She had called that one the “Dancy” or “Tanzi” last year. This year she referred to it as the dragons or the dinosaurs.

At the end of the day Leilani demanded the camera, we were in a hurry and I was weighted down with lots of books and things we had bought at the “White Elephant Sale” and was not in the mood to put the stuff down and find the camera to give it to her. I asked what she wanted to take a picture of, she pointed to the little church with the late sunset behind and said “The tower, the castle”. That moment I realized that she did not just want to play, but had artistic vision. I did not help her frame it (although I cropped it later in photoshop), and right after she had taken it she asked me to show it to her in the viewfinder, and seemed very pleased with the result.

I have not put a video on YouTube in a while. I tried 3 times, the quality want from unusable to awful to bad. Then I tried 3 more times and it stayed at “bad”. I guess that’s it, and I’ll try to find a better way to publish videos…