Ocean photos by Pono Cambell
Aerial photos by Zak Noyle
OHANA WAʻA
Tuesday, June 20th, 2017 by Cuzzo
MOKOLIʻI
Monday, May 22nd, 2017 by Cuzzo
Headed out early Sunday morning for some east side adventure with Capri and her bff Vai’iti. Dropped anchor at our destination just about the same time most kids are finishing their first bowl of Fruity Peebles. Short swim to the rocky coastline and the girls were off and running. Too blessed to be stressed… lucky you live Hawaiʻi! Aloha – RM
CHRISTMAS IN APRIL
Wednesday, April 26th, 2017 by FITTED
CHRISTMAS IN APRIL
By Haylee Watson
When I got the chance to design a hat last spring for the Hui 2016 Collection, I decided to base my design on a space which always inspired me, The Blue Room, in ʻIolani Palace. I was inspired by the room’s intricate designs and bold royal blue and contrasting golden hues. About a year later, a man named Brian Mikami messaged me and said he received The Blue Room Slaps Wind for Christmas from one of his sons. He was super stoked about the hat because he had done work on The Blue Room. Brian upholstered and restored much of the furniture in The Blue Room. In fact, the final chair that he upholstered for the room was dropped off at ʻIolani Palace on Christmas morning in 1991!! After sharing his awesome story and a brief history of ʻIolani Palaceʻs Blue Room, he invited me to come check out his workshop near Kapahulu.
Kauwila, Lily, and I went to Brianʻs workshop and man, did we get the coolest history lesson! Brian showed us pictures, invoices, and even letters he saved from when he was working on The Blue Room furniture. He showed us pictures of special knotting techniques he used, horsehair that was in the furniture from the original Palace furniture, and even a picture of the couch that had a bullet shot! He began discussing the process of upholstery for the pieces and told us about a traditional technique called spit tacking. A spit tacker would load tacks in their mouth and spit them out onto a magnetic head of a hammer, then they would hammer the tack into the upholstery to hold down the fabric. He said some professionals would take out all their teeth to make the process quicker, and some who accidentally swallow tacks, would quickly eat bread so they wouldn’t slash up their insides or tear a hole when it came out the other end. We also got the chance to see and touch the silk fabric he used to upholster the Blue Room pieces. Amazingly the silk fabric was all hand-made for the Palace by Scalamandré, an American fabric company who did prints for The White House and castles throughout Europe. Later on, Brian was kind enough to give us a piece of that fabric.
We would like to give a huge mahalo to Brian Mikami for sharing a literal piece of history, as well as sharing your detailed craftsmanship and process. It was like Christmas in April! Not only did we leave with new insights and a silk piece of history, we also left with Brianʻs inspiration. We were reminded to never let your craftsmanship skill down, and were reaffirmed to do what you are passionate about, and just enjoy life. ALOHA SERVED DAILY.
Mahalo Nui,
Haylee
DAY TRIPPERS
Tuesday, April 18th, 2017 by Cuzzo
Quick booze cruise with the boyz to Molos last week, and when I say booze cruise I mean that Capt. and crew were in full tilt mode from the night before when I showed up at the HK ramp at 4am. I was no exception having been forced to drink some brown fire water with my father in-law the previous evening. Even though I managed to get a full nights sleep it didn’t stop me from burping up the toxic scotch fumes before our departure. We managed to launch the boat and navigate the technical harbor exit without incident regardless of our inebriated state of mind. It wasn’t easy, neither was keeping my dinner down. All four courses were spewed all over the ocean like a chunky green oil slick only a few minutes into our crossing. Oh well it happens to the best of us. When the sun finally rose and the lures were in the water everyone seemed a bit more relaxed, myself included. Capt. C-Bal activated the auto pilot and retreated to his bunk for some much needed r&r, he didn’t reappear until he heard the rawkus from his crew at the stern… double Mahi hook up will wake anyone up! It was total chaos with bean bags flying all over the place as the sleep deprived crew scrambled to get both fish in the boat. The Capt. seemly unimpressed or simply to tired to give a fuck peeked out of the cabin and said “handle that boys” and went back to his bunk. Classic. Good thing his first mate Mr. Cassanova was on board and still awake because he took charge and we had both fish landed but not without our full concentration. Mr. Cassanova then turned up the Jawaiian jams and proceeded to serve some of the best damn sweet bread sliders I have ever tasted. My belly was happy and finally feeling strong enough to begin my own rehydration with cuzzo lights. With 2 fish in the box the lures were pulled in and we motored down the coast a bit, this coast is so freaking photogenic that one just can’t help but act like a tourist and start snapping away pics. And snap away we did. Many Mahalos to Capt. and crew for another successful channel crossing! Aloha – until next time. – RM
Editor’s note : It is advised that when embarking on an all day boat trip starting in the early AM hours that one refrains from drinking alcohol the night before and gets a minimum of six hours sleep.
