A PHOTO TOUR OF MY FANTASTICAL LIFE

I thought, what should I do today, and ended up having a roast duck / ginger chicken bento with a bottle of beer on Magic Island:

I sat under the shade of a coconut tree right next to the Rip Curl surfing meet:

I was entertained by blaring horns and announcements of which surfer was up and his/her score.  It then occurred to me, how lucky I am, but that this fantasy of my present existence is something I've largely enjoyed my entire life.  Fantastical has negative connotations:  fanciful, imaginary, capricious and highly unrealistic.  But also could mean extraordinarily good and fabulously terrific.  Thus, when you combine both, you have my life.

Looking back towards Honolulu from Magic Island:

This is Ala Moana Beach, where I swan when very young, and in the background, Kakaako, where I spent my first 17 years.  In these environs are Queen's Hospital, where I was born, and the schools I attended:  Pohukaina Elementary (no longer here at 690 Pohukaina, but the tallest building in Hawaii, 650 feet, is being planned), Central Intermediate (now called middle school) and McKinley High School (yes, I was in the class of 1958).

My upbringing was merely okay.  Here, with my dog, Blackie:

I don't remember ever wanting to be a dentist.  Maybe the highlight of my fantasy life during this Honolulu phase was that during my senior year of high school the three girls I dated all were beauties:  Jane Kuroda (Farrington) and Karen Dobashi (Roosevelt) were in the Cherry Blossom Pageant, while Alice Ige (Kaimuki) became a Miss Teenage Hawaii.  I wonder what happened to them, although I long ago heard that Jane had triplets.  Maybe someone reading this posting will alert them.  So, anyway, at the age of 17, I had a choice of going to the California Institute of Technology or Stanford, and went to the latter (the ending summarizes my years here):

My older brother, Stan, who I later found out might have been the foremost marine structural engineer of his time, got me a job at the Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory in Port Hueneme, where he worked, and I stayed with his family for three summers.  His home in Oxnard had two orange, grapefruit and lemon trees that bore fruit continuously as long as he lived there for more than half a century.  Much more recently, to the left is my younger brother Dan picking a grapefruit.  The problem with places like Oxnard and San Francisco is that the cold currents pass close by and make the weather too chilly for me.  In 1958 when I first went to Oxnard it was a farming community of 40,000 known for lima beans and lemons.  Today, with more than 200,000, real estate there costs more than Hawaii.  People from Los Angeles build second homes here because during summer months, when it might be 115 F in Santa Paula, only 15 miles away, Oxnard could be 65 F.

President John F. Kennedy created the Peace Corps during my junior year, so many of my closest classmates chose to go to places like Ivory Coast, Philippines and the like for less than $100/month to improve the world.  Thus, I too had to suffer a bit and ended up at the southernmost community in the USA, Naalehu, working for the Hutchison Sugar Company for $500/month, to save the sugar industry.  Here is where I met Pearl, who was a nurse in the next town, Pahala.  We got married, were sent to the Kilauea Sugar Company on Kauai and lived in a trainee cottage next to which South Pacific was partially filmed.  Here Bloody Mary sung Happy Talk to France Nuyen (right) and John Kerr.  Pearl and Pepper at our backyard waterfall below.

How's this for fantasy?  Pearl and France looked like identical twins.  They were also born in July of 1939 and were the same height.  We were married for 47 years and I've now dropped her ashes at more than fifty sites around the world and planted perhaps a hundred Gold Trees in her memory.  This is part of the reason why I've now travelled around the world at least ten times.  My latest adventure was completed this past fall, and I have created a possible future fantasy, my 2018 Global Cruise.  Scarily, there seems to be some actual movement, as on Sunday I''m having dinner with a candidate (and maybe two) to enter Step 2 of the process.  

In the Epilogue of my SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Planet Earth, I calculated that there was only one chance in 10 trillion that I could have lived the life I lived.  This was on top of the fact that there was only one chance in 10 with 34 zeros that I should have been born.  

I did not even include the odds on getting into Stanford, earning a PhD in biochemical engineering, still having an office at the University of Hawaii now for 44 years and having a professional life where I worked under Edward Teller, on laser fusion, helped Carl Sagan get his first real Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence funding from Congress, and draft the hydrogen legislation that became the Matsunaga Hydrogen Act.  But I continue these impossible quests, as for example, the Blue Revolution.

Life for Pearl and I in Louisiana was rewarding and experienceful.  We drove across the country a couple of times.  At LSU we had Peter Maravich and Tiger football, and all those festivals virtually every weekend.  Here we are in the bayous amidst Spanish Moss.  A PhD in biochemical engineering prepared me for the various environmental and energy crises to come.

My 44 years at the University of Hawaii, in particular, epitomized fantasia, for I was able to design my own courses to teach, from Technology & Society to Computer Graphics to Environmental Engineering.  At one time in the late '70's I had four offices:  Hawaii Hall in the Chancellor's Office, as Associate Dean of Engineering, faculty room in the Civil Engineering Department and new laboratory in Holmes Hall (left).  Today, in my 17th year of retirement, I'm in the Pacific Ocean Science and Technology building:

My room with books and assorted accomplishments:

There is something gratifying about spending 44 years focusing on the ocean, hydrogen, renewable energy and  research administration, and being recognized for doing a commendable job.

One of the benefits of being an engineering professor is being able to dabble in your fantasies, so I worked at places like the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, NASA's Ames Research Center on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and the U.S. Senate, where I drafted original bills for ocean thermal energy conversion and hydrogen.  Three years in Washington, D.C. also meant Concerts on the Mall, link to decision-makers in government, being close by the Smithsonian and train rides to New York City, Philadelphia and Boston.

One book I am especially proud of was produced by one of my Technology and Society classes.  They got National Science Foundation funding to publish this text, which was picked up by the Hawaii State Department of Education to use in high schools.  Mind you, this was more than 40 years ago.

On the walls:

You will note a poster of the St. Andrews Old Course at the top, where I played a couple times:

While my scores here are not worthy of note, in the 1990's the course fee was only $40, plus $75 for a required caddie.  On the other wall I show my best game, at Ala Wai, a score of 74:

I have maintained a one handicap throughout my life...per hole. This scorecard is othewise balanced with more distinguished memorabilia, such as Congressional legislation for which I was responsible, as for example the Matsunaga Hydrogen Act:

Let me close with a few things from my Stanford Class of '62 50th Reunion Class Book:

As you can't really read the fine print:

WHAT I DO FOR A LIVING:  After a career of teaching and administration at the University of Hawaii, I am in active retirement to Save Planet Earth and Humanity.  I've written three books on the subject and have posted more than a hundred articles in THE HUFFINGTON POST.  Of particular interest to me is Blue Revolution Hawaii, an organization for which I am the Chief Visionary.

MOST VALUABLE THINGS I LEARNED AT STANFORD

Upon graduation, I observed that my high school classmates were better engineers from their education at the University of Hawaii.  However, I was able to communicate at a higher level--better appreciate music, art and culture in general--had a more worldly view of things--and most important of all, had the confidence to be innovative and enterprising.

I still can't quite believe that this fantastical life actually happened.  So I ask myself, what have I really accomplished?  Well, not much, but I tried.  Perhaps a few seeds were planted.  I think I here and there made a potential difference, and the world will thusly be a better place to live someday.  Above it all, I certainly enjoyed my life...and here I am now comfortably in Purgatory, also known as 15 Craigside.

More so, my fantasy continues, for in a few days I leave for six straight days of golfing in Napa (actually, Vacaville, which has become a rather nice boutiquish village), then on to San Francisco (where the Stanford Chemical Engineering Department is hosting something), Seoul, Tokyo and back home to Honolulu.  This particular Purgatory allows you to still enjoy Planet Earth.

Oh, tomorrow, part 2 of Humanity's Greatest Challenges:  Outer Space.

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THE WORLD'S LARGEST SOLAR POWER PLANT TO BE IN DUBAI

A few months ago when I was in Dubai I indicated that it:

• Already had the tallest building in the world (Burj Khalifa--830 meters or 2722 feet), and is constructing a taller one (right) as a gift to the city to open for their 2020 World Expo (Dubai hosts).  Height?  To be after announced after completion.
• Changsha in China three years ago broke ground for a building ten meters taller than the Burj Khalifa, but bureaucracy got in the way, and the project appears to have been stopped.
• Saudi Arabia will have a 1001 (3284 feet) meter high tower by 2020 in Jeddah, called, appropriately enough, Jeddah Tower.

• Ah, but Dubai is planning for Dubai City Tower in 2025, also known as Dubai Vertical City, to be 2400 meters or 7900 feet tall.  

• A mile is 5280 feet and the top of the spire of the Empire State Building in New York City is all of 443 meters or 1454 feet high.
• Already had the largest shopping center in the world and is building a bigger one.  Dubai Mall, with 1200 stores, gets 75 million visitors--more that the Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls and Disney World, combined.  The next one will be called Mall of the World:

• Already is the busiest airport in the world (Heathrow is #2) with 70 million passengers, and will add concourse D this year to handle a total of 90 million passengers, then expand to 100 million by 2020.

Well, solar energy fans, Dubai will soon have the largest solar power plant in the world at 800 MW:

This facility will produce electricity at the lowest rate in the world:  3 cents/kWh.

Anyway, that was the announcement.  The reality is that the first module will only be a 200 MW. concentrated solar system, for an ultimate 3000 MW solar park.  The winning bid by Masdar (owned by the Abu Dhabi government) and a Spanish company FRV, which is now owned by Saudi Arabia.  You will note a general absence of Western countries in these competitions.  UAE / Saudi Arabia beat the Chinese bid (JinkoSolar) by 19%, but only because the government will be financing the system.

China has the biggest solar PV park at 850 MW, while the U.S.'s Ivanpah Solar (thermal) Power Facility is rated at 392 MW, and Morocco just turned on the first phase of its concentrated solar power plant, 160 MW towards 580 MW.  These solar maps show the highest solar potential sites are Africa and the Middle East.  They are finally beginning to wake up.

I will tomorrow report on my fantastical life, and on Friday continue my series on Humanity's Greatest Challenges by focusing on outer space.

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22 YEARS OF CLASSIC ARTS SHOWCASE

A few times/year I get eclectic and write about Baroque music and even Shakespeare.
The outer space segment of Humanity's Greatest Challenge will come in two days, for tomorrow I will report on the largest solar energy project in the world...located in Dubai.

But today is the 22nd anniversary of Classic Arts Showcase (CAS).  As far as I know, I'm the only person in Hawaii who watches this program.  It's in low definition, Channel 53, Oceanic, from 6AM to 8AM on weekdays, sometimes.  Also, whoever is managing this program in Olelo regularly screws up, for the shows are many times repeated.  For all these years CAS has produced three 8-hour blocks every day, so there should be almost 25,000 original mixes.  Just this annoyance of Olelo makes me sometimes want to switch to Dish Network, for their channel 9406 covers this program 24 hours/day, every day.   500 stations carry CAS in the U.S. and Canada.  You can also go online.

Mind you, I don't watch CAS all that much.  As I rest in bed in the early morning after I wake up, I jump around the news/sports and other channels, turning to 53 when everything else is uninteresting, which is most of the time.   

What I enjoy is the unexpected pleasure of:

• Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse Dancing in the Dark from The Band Wagon
• Arturo Toscanini conducting Overture Tannhauser
• a clip from The Third Man, and what a theme

Here is a blog site that has also written about CAS.  I quote:

Mr. Rigler was a businessman, a World War II veteran, and a philanthropic lover of the arts who sought to increase that audience in a world that was rapidly discarding classical works in favor of newer mediums and technologies. Mr. Rigler and his business partner Mr. Deutsch invested in a number of classical arts endeavors, notably the New York City Opera and the Kennedy Center in DC, and their estates and the Foundation are what enable the 24-hour continuous CAS programming with no begging.  (Rigler to the left, Deutsch right, with Beverley Sills in the middle)

CAS was modeled after early MTV, to show continuous video clips in random order, with the exceptions being that there are no hosts, VJs, or commercials of any sort, and it seems to have maintained its exact format for all these years. As a lover of classical music, and especially classic dance and theater styles, I get easily exhausted by all things modern, and I often run to CAS as a fast-acting balm, an instantaneous relief that's always there for me.

CAS could cut back on telling who they are and how everything is free and how great Rigler was, by about a factor of ten.  But this break allows me the freedom to switch back to real time for a short while.  Anyway, like this blog site, CAS might now be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, for Lloyd Rigler passed away in 2003, and left enough money for maybe twenty years, which means there might only be seven years left.  So find out how you can watch Classic Arts Showcase.

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HUMANITY'S GREATEST CHALLENGES

There are dozens of lists addressing Humanity's Greatest Challenges.  Let me cite just one from the Millennium Project:

15 Global Challenges (get details by clicking on any one)

1. How can sustainable development be achieved for all while addressing global climate change?
2. How can everyone have sufficient clean water without conflict?
3. How can population growth and resources be brought into balance?
4. How can genuine democracy emerge from authoritarian regimes?
5. How can policymaking be made more sensitive to global long-term perspectives?
6. How can the global convergence of information and communications technologies work for everyone?
7. How can ethical market economies be encouraged to help reduce the gap between rich and poor?
8. How can the threat of new and reemerging diseases and immune micro-organisms be reduced?
9. How can the capacity to decide be improved as the nature of work and institutions change?
10. How can shared values and new security strategies reduce ethnic conflicts, terrorism, and the use of weapons of mass destruction?
11. How can the changing status of women help improve the human condition?
12. How can transnational organized crime networks be stopped from becoming more powerful and sophisticated global enterprises?
13. How can growing energy demands be met safely and efficiently?
14. How can scientific and technological breakthroughs be accelerated to improve the human condition?
15. How can ethical considerations become more routinely incorporated into global decisions?

You no doubt never heard of the Millennium Project, but it's been around now for a decade, and involves the United Nations, Smithsonian and futurists.  Of course we need responsible organizations to take on these challenges, but trying to deal with the above, in toto, while necessary, for everything is connected to everything else, is essentially a hopeless task, similar to my trying to Save Planet Earth and Humanity.

Globaltopia whittles the 15 down to 10.  However, study groups trip over themselves just trying to agree on the problems and how they are connected.  So, over the next couple of postings, I will just provide a few simple solutions to the ones in my region of expertise.

First of all, society never solves much of anything unless there is a true crisis, such as World War II, the Cold War, ozone hole and the Great Depression.  

• Thus, global warming will remain an issue until hundreds of millions suddenly perish.  A 5 cent/pound carbon dioxide credit will solve the problem, but we have a world political / free enterprise system that effectively prevents progress for the sake of economic profit. 
• Our population will continue to increase until universal economic development is attained.  This might take another century.
• The problem is whether at some point there will be a tipping point to temperature or number of people at which peak the simple solution will come with a lot of anguish when billions actually perish.  

A corollary matter is who will pay for these simple solutions.  If the Middle East wars will cost us $6 trillion, one source is to use those funds in the future through the avoidance of such needless excursions.

Thus, I'll skip over population, democracy/war/peace, global climate change and most of the 15 above topics, for they are intractable and not worthy of my time, or yours.  Tomorrow I'll take a look at outer space and suggest what is a waste of time and where might come opportunities for advancing our society.  Then, I'll propose our oceans as the true next frontier for economic progress.  Energy?  Sure.  Human genomics. Of course.  Artificial intelligence:  boon or bane?  The list remains endless.

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EYE IN THE SKY: Drone Warfare

Eye in the Sky is a highly rated R film showing how much of future wars will be fought, like a video game from your living room.  Rotten Tomatoes reviewers gave it a 94% rating, and 87% of audiences liked it.  If you want the standard complete review, click on Godfrey Cheshire's critique or RogerEbert.com.

Helen Mirren is good, but miscast.  How often do you see an active 70-year old British female colonel?  Alan Rickman was also fine, but too a tad old, at 69, to be a British general.  He recently passed away of pancreatic cancer.

The stars of the movie were drones, with the beetle perhaps the most fascinating.  There was also a hummingbird.  

But the reality is that these flying "camera" are not yet ready for active duty.  The high definition quality of each scene seemed too good to be true, but, then again, Google has you covered, sometimes in real time, and you might not know about that.  I wrote in "google map, 15 Craigside Place," and, whoa, I can see my parked car.  No beetle yet, though, to catch me punching out this posting.

The operation was world-wide:

• Target:  al-Shabab militants in Nairobi, Kenya
• Control centers:  Whitehall in London and military base in Sussex
• Drone technology:  U.S. Military personnel in Las Vegas (they were the pilots who pulled the trigger to send the missile) and Honolulu (facial recognition technology)

No Western boots on the ground, for the only human in imminent danger was a Somalian working for a British spy agency.

While technology took center stage, the all-pervading purpose had to do with the morality of drone warfare.  Remember, just last month, a U.S. drone strike killed 150 or so "terrorists" in Somali.  You're never quite sure these days of who really died.  And we're not supposed to be at war there.

The British used American technology, but life is not so simple.  A good part of the beginning showed a typical Kenyan suburb family where a young girl is careful about using a hula hoop, for it is now appropriate for children to have fun in this neighborhood.  So just about when a long fought decision to send a missile to destroy a house where two terrorists were being fitted with vest bombs gets a go, this girl sets up a table to sell home-made bread right next to the target.

American decision-makers had no problem with giving the approval, for these terrorists could well kill hundreds, so in war you take a few losses.  The British, at the almost every level showed a higher humanity, but more, probably, to cover themselves in case of failure.  The American Secretary of State, found playing ping pong in Beijing, called his UK mates wusses for not proceeding.  This process took up most of the movie:  trying to connect with the British Prime Minister and such for the okay.

The American "pilot" in Las Vegas essentially refused to pull the trigger, for there was an 85% chance that the girl might not survive.  But the chain of command found a way (mostly pushed by that old female colonel) to drop the odds to 45%, in sequence two missiles were fired from a drone, killing the terrorists...and little girl.

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