Who would you bring back to life and what would you serve for dinner

        If I had a choice, I would bring Israel Kamakawiwo'ole (Brudda Iz) back to life.  He is one of the most famous and popular Hawaiian musicians, and did not deserve to die at such a young age of 38 by a heart attack.  Tom Moffatt, a Hawaiian promoter, once said, "His whole life was music, and love for the people of Hawaii". He was surrounded by music throughout his entire childhood, growing up on Oahu, where the ukulele flourished. His first performance happened when he was eleven years old.  I would bring him back to life because he is such an inspirational musician that I would love to have even the slightest minute interviewing and learning from him. Throughout his last years, Iz suffered from severe obesity, at one point carried 769 pounds (350 kg).  This made his performances quite the spectacle. Picture a giant with a miniature guitar, this is what Israel looked like, and caught the audience in a river of melodies and beautiful sounds.

        For dinner I would serve him a small plate prawns.  I know that to give him a buffet would only serve to undermine his efforts to lose weight, so I would find the most delicious caviar and prawns, spend hours preparing this meager meal, and give it to him in the candlelight of a fire on the beach.  Then we would relax, sit down, and play ukulele together.

Page 110 of my 400 page autobiography

           I was ten years old when I finished 6th grade.  That was a great year for me.  I was finally coming into my own, understanding myself and my friends. My friendships became stronger till the bond became unbreakable. That was the year that I learned the capitol of every state in the US.  I would play games with my grandpa in the summertime seeing who could get more state-capitol questions correct.  Of course I would always win, for I had memorized each of the 50 capitols by heart.  I took much pride in myself for doing this. Nevertheless, when the next year came by, all but several capitols were gone from my memory. That summer I spent at my family's lake house in Oregon with my cousins.  It was a time where you didn't have to worry about schoolwork, or other responsibilities.  It was a summer of fun under the sun, where pure joy and happiness of young kids pierced the hearts of businessmen, men with no freedom.  I knew from seeing these men envy our play that I would never get a job like that.  No, my job would be one on the ocean, or out in the wild examining animals.  Or it would be building bridges across great mountains or even conducting a team to create an underground tunnel.
         That summer my cousins and I entered a go carting race. We built our car out of scrap plywood, two by fours, nails, axles and tires from the dump.  My grandfather helped us build it, thats probably why we won the race.  He was once a professional race car driver, so he was very intelligible on the aspects and fundamentals of car building. The race happened on a sunny day above the lake. Our course was to race down the hill, weave through cones, and go off a small ramp into the water.  For this last thing, our car had to be a boat at the same time, which we created from an old bit of fiberglass.  My cousins and I zoomed down the hill, flew through the air, and glided onto the calm surface of the lake.  Rejoicing our win, we all ran back to the lake house for a celebratory meal of roast turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, and a big salad of fresh greens, which at that time none of us kids liked.  After that, we all went for a swim in the refreshing waters and went home to our beds, snuggly, warm, and content with our lives.

Tokyo Life

Tokyo, Japan

           We are amidst the chaotic hustle and bustle of Japanese life in Tokyo. In the underground train station, several thousand people pass by at a quick pace, always needing to be somewhere at a certain time. Businessmen in suits, couples, parents with their children, and groups of school kids headed to their destination with no distractions. This is one of the most descriptive ways to describe the Japanese people: an infinite loyalty, a strong mentality, and most of all, a dependable personality.
          As I watch what seem to me an overcrowded station, and an outburst of people walking in every direction, I come to realize that this is normal.  I tried to picture myself in this lifestyle. I see myself with stylized hair, a premeditated outfit, yet a bit garish for my taste, consisting of several specifically designed layers of clothing, friskily on my way someplace. In each direction looming buildings block my view of the sky, which is nonetheless cloudy most of the time. It is obvious to me that I could never live a life working in a cubicle of an office, hurrying to and fro, and at the same time it empowers me to work harder realizing there are half a million people doing that every day.
          However, there is also a feeling of Zen and peacefulness among the people.  Once you step out into the countryside you're entire view of Japan changes.  The artistic gardens, the steep, tiled roofs of temples, the walkways through trees, and the serene ponds running through it all creating this amazing land. The hillsides are filled with life among flowers in the springtime, and are still when the snows come. I am sure I could live in this beauty.  Being from the islands gives you this lifestyle which is so easygoing and calm you don't have to worry about offices and luminescent lights. Nevertheless, Japan is an incredible place.

Private Spaceship for Tourists

Yahoo News reports that the first shuttle to take tourists into space is built and will soon be ready for customers. Its specific purpose is to take those curious people with an extra $200,000 floating around in their pockets on an ephemeral, yet magnificent journey to into space. The private spaceship is built and owned by Virgin Galactic, a reliable airline company.

Last Sunday the company completed its first solo flight with the rocket SpaceShipTwo designed for private passage into space. It achieved safe entry through the stratosphere and into the mesosphere, the second and third major layers of the earth’s atmosphere. In doing this, Virgin Galactic is one step closer to fly its paying passengers. This major milestone will make the program to become the world’s first manned commercial space vehicle.

SpaceShipTwo is carried to an altitude of 45,000 feet by its “mothership,” a larger plane, and is then released. After its separation, SpaceShipTwo will use rocket boosters to fly into space. It is manned by two pilots, and can fit six passengers. The spacecraft will glide back to earth for a safe landing. At $200,000 a ticket, several hundred people are interested and can’t wait the day for liftoff. Even though it is still undergoing rigorous testing, there is already a long list of 370 paid customers with a total deposit of $50 million awaiting the day to experience space not through television, internet, or telescopes, but through their very own eyes. Imagine 40 years ago, a street vender looking up into the heavens. He would never think that he himself could be up there viewing the enigma of space. Of course he might have to obtain a higher income, but eventually he might make it there. It is an amazing journey and an incredible step into the modern world of humankind.

Yahoo news story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20101011/ap_tr_ge/us_travel_brief_space_tourism_1