"The Youth of Bacchus" by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1884. Andrea found this painting and posted it as a comment on
a post I made about hedonism. Click the image to see the full size version.
Lately I've been thinking and reading about hedonism, the assertion that pleasure and pain are the only human motivators. The argument has been going on since the time of the ancient Greeks. Time to put an end to it. A simple counterexample should suffice to disprove hedonism. All that's needed is to find some desired outcome or wanted state of the world, that when achieved would be displeasing. —A post of mine on Facebook
In response to my post, above, Andrea posted this art image:
Later in the morning we picked up a gift for us at The Kahala.
It's a painting on metal by Thomas Deir.
An interesting quote from Facebook:
“American traditions and the American ethic require us to be truthful, but the most important reason is that truth is the best propaganda and lies are the worst. To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; to be credible we must be truthful. It is as simple as that.”—Edward R. Murrow, speaking as Director of USIA, in testimony before a congressional committee (May 1963)
After swimming I did pullups and walked to the street to photograph the Aquarium with people lined up to go in at 9:15.
At least nine popups in this large gathering on the lawn.
Policemen with coffee and doughnuts.
They had free coffee and doughnuts for passersby.
An overview of the area in the mall. Andrea went to frame store to get her new print framed.
Monica with her Chinese banyan.
We had three spaces and two easy-ups on Nuuanu Avenue by the Marks Building.
Andrea and I walked down Nuuanu Avenue to look at other art exhibits.
Scott came by with his dog. Photo by Andrea.
Bill watched me work on my escambron. Photo by Andrea.
Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, running for City Council district 6, came by to look at the bonsai. Photo by Andrea.
Vocal music and a band were performing most of the day.
John talks about the bonsai he brought to show.
Photo taken during the show-and-tell portion of the meeting.
A member talks about the ficus pen jing he brought.
Talking about my ironwood bonsai.
Monday morning I got the press release for The Zombie Philosopher from Page Publishing.
We received a sympathy card from the Aina Haina Community Association, of which Lenore was a founding President, long ago.
Josh, our waiter, took this photo. Cheers! We each had the five course meal with wine pairing.
The lobster bisque was sensational. Photo by Andrea.
Yum!
Looks like rabbit food. Heated anchovy and olive oil dip on the side.
Service was slow and there was a lot of waiting between courses. Photo by Andrea.
The first group to perform is ready. Photo by Andrea.
Andrea with Kilohana.
Most of the halau.
They had a picnic afterward. Photo by Andrea.
Some of the bristlecone pines in the eastern Sierra mountains are over 4,000 years old. Archive photo from an email on October 16.
A few hours later and the citrus tree has been pruned, root washed, root pruned, and planted in a growing pot. Now wait two years.
Click the image to see the full sized version.
Andrea scanned this photo of Bill's fourth grade class. Bare feet were allowed in school back then (1957).
Wisdom from the Black Dragon, my friend Ron Van Clief.
Andrea photographed this maiapilo blossom with two bees on our morning walk on Monday.
Sea grape bonsai in a growing box.
Autograph tree forest after pruning.
Sea grape bonsai after pruning.
Cake was served. Holly was the master of ceremonies.
Senator Stanley Chang presented a certificate of congratulations, signed by the State Senate.
State director of libraries, Stanley, Holly, and Mary.
The library staff gave Andrea this card.
Saturday morning I photographed this suiseki (viewing stone) on a Philipine mahogany dai that I made.
Sunday afternoon Andrea and I went over to Joleen's to take her some homemade humus and to photograph the flowering tree in the stream.
I did 15 pull-ups and chin-ups altogether.
Andrea painted a gourd, now named Ghostly.
I had a MHC tour group of five women who did a chant of permission and left an offering at the heiau.
The Kalani training session had about two dozen students ranging from freshmen to seniors.
I talked first about inspiration and then about motor torque vs. speed curves.
Andrea photographed some of our decorations when going out for our evening walk.
I planned to talk about pulse width modulation, used by the Jaguar motor controller.
At the reception afterward.
Later on Saturday Andrea photographed the ofrenda she had established in memory of Lenore.
John's magnificent banyan. Photo by Andrea.
A very large rock planting of junipers. Photo by Andrea.
HBA and RBC founder Mike Uyeno's twin trunk bonsai. Photo by Andrea.
Escambron, AKA haggerbush. Photo by Andrea.
Alvin Chang's shohin display. Photo by Andrea.
Alvin's second shohin display. Photo by Andrea.
Just before the doors opened, they were lined up around the cafeteria building.
Just after the doors opened.
Alvin Chang begins his demo on a juniper. To me, it looks like a prostrata, but he called it a San Jose juniper.
I was MC for the three demonstrations from 10:15 through 1:00 PM. Photo by Andrea.
Andrea volunteered in the holding area. People could put away purchases and go back for more.
The second demonstration was by sensei Ed Murakami who began doing bonsai in 1971. Photo by Andrea.
Nelson helped Alvin with the demonstration tree. Photo by Andrea.
Friend and Charlene posing with Alvin's demo tree. Photo by Andrea.
I auctioned Ed's demo tree and Steve won the bidding. Photo by Andrea.
Jim did the third demonstration of a rock planting of a procumbens nana juniper. Photo by Andrea.
Jim and partner with the completed demo planting. Photo by Andrea.
All ready with self-serve treats at 5:30 PM. Photo by Andrea.
The chief ghoul. Photo by Andrea.
Looking in the front window before drawing the blinds. Photo by Andrea.
Mom's ofrenda table. "Ofrenda" is a Spanish word for offering. Photo by Andrea.
Email Richard dot J dot Wagner at gmail dot com