If You Only Have…

• Four minutes and one second, listen to Over the Rhine’s ‘Trouble,’ from the album The Trumpet Child.
• Two hours, listen to author Mavis Hara read from her first collection of stories, An Offering of Rice (UH-Manoa’s Campus Center Ballroom, Wed. 9/26, 7pm, free).
• Three hours, eat wine and cheese and help keep the country country at Defend O’ahu Coalition’s fundraiser to save the North Shore (Honolulu Design Center, Fri. 9/21, 5:30pm, keepthenorthshorecountry
.org)

The Trumpet Child
Over the Rhine
Great Speckled Dog, $16.98

Sustain yourself

Three events to help you tread lightly

1. The Chamber of Commerce of Hawai’i, Sustain Hawai’i and the Hawaiian Electric Company host the 2007 Sustainability for Business Forum. Learn how to be corporate and green–and how taking some sustainable initiative could make you even more successful. Feature topics include: The business impact of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon trading, facility assessments for sustainable business opportunities, sustainable business investments in Hawai’i, marketing your business as sustainable, sustainable initiatives in Hawai’i and how they will affect your business, expanded utility rebates and financial incentives for energy efficiency.

Ala Moana Hotel, Hibiscus Ballroom, 410 Atkinson Dr. Thu. 9/20, 8am-12pm, register at [cochhawaii.org].

2. The Department of Environmental Services holds its annual Discover Recycling Fair this week. Learn how to transform yourself into a mean green recycling machine. Get tips on how to recycle at home, at work or on the run and learn where all that old use-up stuff goes.

Blaisdell Arena, 777 Ward Ave., Thu. 9/20 & Fri. 9/21, 12-3:30pm; Sat. 9/22, 9am-5pm, free, [opala.org].

3.Hawai’i 2050 Sustainability Task Force holds a mega meeting to make a new plan for the state that includes forums on creating a sustainable economy, society and environment. The first state plan was adopted more than three decades ago in 1978 and it’s time for an update. The new plan will take into consideration how the state has changed economically, societally and environmentally.

Hawai’i 2050 objectives are to create a new state planning process that will guide us–from regular folks to government officials–to create a sustainable Hawai’i and to reflect in that plan the values of the residents of Hawai’i.

The catch: The whole deal is a federal initiative, so your guess is as good as ours as to whether anything will really get done. But it’s the thought that counts, right?

Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa, Coral Ballrooms, 2005 Kalia Rd., Sat. 9/22, 8am-12:30pm, register at [hawaii2050.org].

Cheap Eats

Covenant Books and Coffee

Gluttony knows no bounds, be it cultural or religious. Good food is good food, be it Amish-made fried chicken and mashed potatoes or a Buddhist monastery’s mock duck dish. With that said, Covenant Books and Coffee in Kaimuki, both a Christian bookstore and a cafe, serves up some of the most delicious soups on the island, no matter what path in life you choose to follow.

On one particular day, the Manhattan Seafood Chowder–simmering since 5:30am–was laden with succulent shrimp, tomatoes, red potatoes and bacon in a thick, flavorful base. Accompanied by one-half of a four-inch high sandwich of smoked chicken and homemade pesto with provolone cheese, the meal deal for $6.25 was filling without being in excess. And supervisor James Takamatsu had the food on the table within three minutes.

Plot your soup intake by checking out the soup calendar online–daily specials range from the popular corn and roasted garlic chowder, to the seasonal pumpkin bisque with garlic croutons, to local classics like Portuguese bean soup. Eat a light meal of soup, served with a dinner roll, for only $3.50.

For you coffee lovers, don’t overlook the 100 percent Hawaiian grown coffee from the neighbor islands, which is roasted right in the cafe. Sip on a Covenant Cafe Mocha Supreme made with full flavor Molokai espresso for $3.

The path of the Lord may not be for everybody, but the Lord sure knows the way to a mean bisque.

–Margot Seeto

Movie Review

Let’s Get Lost (1988)

Director Bruce Weber’s Oscar-nominated documentary about the troubled life and times of jazz great Chet Baker, here digitally restored for sound and picture quality and waiting for its December DVD debut, is essentially Weber’s love letter to a man who captured his ears–and his admiration–so completely.

The film opens at the end of Baker’s life. The derelict Baker, a worn-out 50-something-year-old–far too young to be looking like this–strolls dream-like on a Santa Monica beach, flanked by two women who adore him. They swoon, even now. And it’s all he’s ever known: swoony, foolish women and a dreamy existence, though most of the dream-likeness was almost always a result of drugs and alcohol.

We learn that as the films progresses. That despite his magic trumpet-playing fingers and his smooth trumpet-like voice, his was an empty life riddled with excess: too much booze, too many drugs, too many women. Too much. It was all too much. Even for him. And, like a rock-star cliche, the once beautiful square-jawed statue of talent withered into a foggy, toothless, blurry reflection of his old self. His story is told with two hours of interviews with family members, friends, lovers and fans. They all agree on one thing: Chet Baker was wildly talented and wildly tragic.

The film, shot in black and white to mirror the times, is a sad, but often charming–that was one of his blessings, and his ultimate curse–slice of life that should have had a happy ending. 

–Kawehi Haug

University of Hawai’i-Manoa, Spalding Auditorium, Sun 9/23, 5pm, $3 students, $5 general, 223-0130

Off the rack

Photo Credit: Margot Seeto

Merrick’s Cowboy Cookout Sausage is a mix of beef, carrots, garden peas and Granny Smith Apples. Free-range chicken breast pieces wrapped around slices of sweet potato sound delicious, too. Drooling yet? These tasty-sounding morsels are meant for your dog or cat, but no worries–you can totally chow down on the sausage alongside Fido and Fluffy, on all fours and sans utensils if you wish.

Naturally Pet carries human-grade, USDA-inspected and mostly organic cat and dog food, along with natural pet care items such as herbal flea powder. Owner Yumi Iseki (pictured), with her flower child demeanor, usually chills with her two cats and feisty dog behind the counter. She opened Naturally Pet eight years ago after her cat fell ill, and Iseki found herself cooking only organic food from the mainland for the little one.

At the store, you can choose to have your naturalness in frozen, freeze-dried or dehydrated form (your pets can pretend they are Spacecats, as you crunch away on your Astronaut Ice Cream). For the vegetarian dogs, or those that are actually allergic to meat, try the Zen Vegetarian Holistic wellness formula, which is also corn- and wheat-free. Freeze-dried organic turkey livers and dried paper-thin strips of Montana beef are great training treats, lower in toxins and little in portion so your pup won’t become a porker. Keep your canine senses alert for the kangaroo meat treats that will arrive at Naturally Pet soon. Now stick your tongue back in your mouth and go pop a chicken pot pie-flavored biscuit.

–M. S.

Naturally Pet

535 Ward Ave., Ste. 106
591-9944, naturallypet.com
Hours: Mon.-Fri. 10am-7pm, Sat. 10am-5pm
What they sell: Human-grade pet treats–one for Sparky, one for you, one for Sparky, one for youÖ
Price range: $1.50-$58
Payment: AmEx, JCB, MC, V

$10 Well Spent

The Light Bulb Source (535 Ward Ave., 596-2214) is the only specialized store of its kind in the state.

Having trouble finding a bulb for that hot lamp you bought in Germany? Have one of the store’s 10- or 20-year veteran employees find the correct adapter, or special order the right bulbs for you. Want to start going green and saving green in a Gore-DiCaprioesque fashion? An 11-watt compact fluorescent bulb’s light output, at $8.99 a pop, is equivalent to a 40-watt incandescent bulb’s, and will reward you with 75 percent in energy savings. Or try a Sylvania Dot-It Bright White LED Light for $9.99–use it as a tap night light, to check dollah bills for authenticity or as an accent for flowers at the bottom of a vase.

Who knew light bulbs could be so much fun? –M. S.