GETTING UP HERE WAS JUST THE HALF OF IT!

Dragon on a Telephone Pole
Seattle's Chinatown/International District
(Hawaiian Odysseus photo)

Pssst...hey, you there...yeah, you!

Look, I'm a little embarrassed about something, and I could use your help.

Sure, I look ferocious and everything.  I'm a dragon, after all.

And when I leaped up and climbed this pole, oh, what an impressive sight that was!  Drew a lot of oohs and aahs from the locals.  

But, truth be told, I'm not good with heights.

In fact, I'm just a wuss!

So...I was wondering, my friend.  Could you, uh, call 911 for me?  

I know the fire department rescues cats from trees.

Uh, could you ask the Fire Chief if they do dragons?

                        

DYLAN DEMONSTRATES HIS AQUATIC PROWESS

Dylan the Swimmer

(Video courtesy of

 (Silas K. Aqui)

Dylan Imaikalani Watanabe was only four years old when the above video was made.

Already a gifted student and talented entertainer, Dylan is also very athletic.

After his first season of T-ball, he is very busy with basketball.

Later in the year, he will be joining a youth football team.

And every chance he gets, he's having fun in the pool or at the beach.

Dylan's message to his peers is simple yet poignant:

KEEPING PHYSICALLY ACTIVE 

ENHANCES BRAIN DEVELOPMENT!

  

SPICE IT ALL UP WITH 

ALOHA AND MAHALO, 

AND YOU WILL HAVE A HAPPY LIFE!

I think Dylan's onto a winning strategy for any age group, don't you?

                       

DYLAN THE HOOPSTER!

Dylan Visualizing His Shot
2011 Hoop Season
(Photo courtesy of Silas K. Aqui)

Uncle Joe, are you watching?

Wanna see me make a basket?

Okay, this is my fourth attempt.  Remember, I am using an official-sized basketball here, not the smaller ball we use for our 5-year-old league.

(Dylan, quietly, to himself):  Be the ball!  Be the ball!  Find your way into the net!  Remember the secret!  See it happen before it happens...and then it happens!)

Dylan Perseveres!

(Video courtesy of Silas K. Aqui)

                                         

The E! True Hollywood Story Is Interesting, But Often Makes Me Sad

    Thanks to Wm Rowe

I've been watching The E! True Hollywood Story with my Free On Demand feature that is offered from my satellite provider. I admit that I like the morbid ones like the worst Hollywood deaths. Although, it makes me sad to remember some of the talented people that lost their lives so early in their careers.
There are always a few that I had forgotten about and then the show will remind me, like Phil Hartman. I used to watch him on Saturday Night Live and he always made me laugh. The show also told the story of how Chris Farley and John Belushi died of a drug overdose.
Actress Dana Plato was included in the episode and she sadly committed suicide with drugs. I used to watch Different Strokes when I was a kid and it's just too bad what happened to her career and her life after that.
It makes me wonder what these people could have accomplished had they lived. I wonder what funny movies Phil, Chris and John would have been a part of and maybe Dana could have made a comeback. Or, I would have enjoyed reading about her settling down with a husband and a family.
I watch Free On Demand with my satellite TV from cabletelevision.com and this feature gives me a large selection of television shows that I can enjoy.

                

DYLAN IMAIKALANI WATANABE WORLD PREMIERE MUSIC VIDEO

Dylan and Papa (Grandpa Wayne) at Pagoda Hotel in Honolulu
(Photo courtesy of Kathleen W.)

Hi, everyone!  It's Dylan once again, and this time I just flew back from Tillamook, Oregon, and am staying here at the Pagoda Hotel with Papa and Nana, my grandparents, en route to Kauai.

Each year, I set new goals for myself.  

(See the following link.)

http://hawaiianodysseus.blogspot.com/2011/01/dylan-utilizing-secret.html

I am now aspiring to be a top ten finalist for AMERICAN IDOL.  

Why not set my sights higher and strive to be THE

American Idol?

For one thing, I'm still in kindergarten.  (Kids, if you learn only one thing from me through these blog posts, let it be this:  STAY IN SCHOOL, KIDS!)

For another, I have this theory that top ten finalists actually have more commercial longevity and cut more records than the majority of the Idol winners.

Finally, I love living on Kauai.  I never want to be so far away that I can't readily get back home to my GGMA's hugs and kisses.  GGMA (Gee Gee Ma) is my great-grandmother Marion A. who just turned 78 years young a couple of days ago.

I like Jawaiian music--you know, that happy go lucky mixture of reggae beat and ukulele strumming. Two of my favorite singers are Bob Marley and Jason Mraz.

With the videotaping and loving critique of my Uncle Charlie, then, I'd like to share with you the world premiere singing video of yours truly, the one and only Don Ho of the Hawaiian kindergarten crowd and the absolute rave of luaus from the Big Island to Niihau--

DYLAN IMAIKALANI WATANABE!

(With loving mahalo and acknowledgment

 to Jason Mraz)

THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, GGMA!

              

PHONE CALL FROM DYLAN

Uncle Joe and Aunty Rita
(Photo courtesy of Ryan)

Hello, Aunty Rita!

Oh, hi!  Is this Dylan?

Yes.

So good to hear from you.  Wait just a second...let me get Uncle Joe on the line, too, okay?

Alright.

Hi, Dylan!  Wow!  What a nice surprise!  You called just as we finished dinner at the Spaghetti Factory in Lynnwood, Washington.  Wish you were here.

Aunty Rita and Uncle Joe, the reason I'm calling is to thank you for the nice picture of you that I got in the mail today.

Oh, Dylan, you're very welcome.  Uncle Joe and I think the world of you.

Thanks, Aunty Rita!  I have to go to basketball practice soon, but I have two things to say before I go.

Sure, Dyl.  Go ahead.

Aunty Rita, you are as beautiful as ever.  

Well, thank you, Dylan!  So kind of you to say so.

And as for you, Uncle Joe...

Yes, Dylan?

I think you should go into real estate.

That's an interesting comment.  Why do you say that, Dylan?

Because you're doing a great job of developing that forehead.

                    

HOLEY COW!

Dylan with Papa (Grandpa Wayne) and Bovine Friend
Tillamook Cheese Factory, Oregon
(Photo courtesy of Kathleen W.)

Hi, Friends!

It's Dylan again, and I'm here with Papa at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.  This is an awesome place and so much fun for kids of all ages!  Wish you all were here!

The above photo was taken in an upbeat moment and was expressly meant to bring you joy.  But I did some thinking about it and grew concerned about how some of our viewers--especially the younger kids like me--might misinterpret its context.

So, here are some things that this picture is NOT about.

1)  The cow depicted did not recently have a lobotomy.

2)  Rumors aside, it is not true that Papa and I were abducted by evil aliens and subjected to heinous human/animal organ grafting experiments.

3)  This is not about my rascal efforts to reenact the biblical Jonah story and coercing this cow to swallow me.

4)  It is not true that sharpshooter Sgt. York shockingly missed a turkey and took this cow's face off instead.  (See link below.)

http://hawaiianodysseus2.blogspot.com/2011/03/turkeys-cruising-town-photo-courtesy-of.html

5)  This Holstein does not have Mad Cow's Disease.  (Neither do I, as a matter of fact.)

6)  Papa is not trying to choke himself.

7)  Finally, and listen up, kids, because this is very, very, very important:

NO COWS WERE KILLED OR INJURED 

IN THE MAKING OF THIS POST!   

Thanks, everyone, for helping us keep this LIGHTHEARTED and FUN!

This is Dylan Imaikalani Watanabe signing out until next time.  Aloha and mahalo, my friends!

                                         

WOOLLY BUGGER

Mom Lehua, Woolly Bugger, Ryder Silas aka BULA, and Dad Bryson
(Photo courtesy of Kathleen W.)

Okay, apparently my last blog post caused quite a stir in the sheep population of Tillamook, Oregon.  (See:  http://hawaiianodysseus2.blogspot.com/2011/03/wolf-in-sheeps-clothing.html.)

Sheep are quite literal, and so they hung on every word of my post with great trepidation.  They actually thought I was a real wolf and that I was going to their splendid and pacific sheep village and eat them all up.

Poor sheep!  

Anyway, I couldn't have their dread and sleepless nights on my conscience, so I asked Mom and Dad (See!  I told you I had great genetics!) to drive me to that neck of the woods so I could put my ovine friends at ease.

Long story short, I met with their leader, WOOLLY BUGGER.  (Yes, all you fly tying and fly fishing enthusiasts...this is the actual ram whose name was used for that world-renown streamer fly!)  

Which gave me pause to wonder...would I catch my quota of trout just by throwing Woolly Bugger into the local stream?  Anyway...

Woolly Bugger was so relieved with my reassuring news that he invited Dad to pull on his horns.

WHAT?  

That's right, you heard me correctly.  You see, Woolly doubles as the village's very own slot machine.  Every afternoon, just before doing his swing shift at the local Tillamook casino, Mr. Bugger swallows a treasure chestful of gold coins.  

When you pull on his horns, his eyes roll back into his spongy head for just a second or two, and when he comes out of a kind of catatonic spell, you then can see the apples, oranges, and lemons unscrolling in his little biddy sheep eyes.

On this date, my dad was very lucky.  In just his second try, the ram lit up like a Christmas tree and puked out 37 gold coins.  (In the photo above, we're recreating the scene.  My mom is so good with money that she deposited our winnings in the nearest bank before Dad and I could throw any of it away.  Mom's frugal like that.)

Woolly Bugger announced the good news to all the sheep in the village clan that I wasn't a real wolf in spite of my proclamations that I was one BAAAAAAAD dude.

Dad and Mom were excited and happy about hitting the jackpot.

And I was thankful to get a 2-lb block of Tillamook Mizithra Cheese from Woolly Bugger, made from the milk of his beloved wife, Ewe Tube.

All in all, then, it was a banner day for everyone concerned.

With an abundance of aloha and mahalo to all my Blogger fans, this is Bula signing out.  Ciao!