Presenting for NACE's month learning journey: How To Teach Your GORRILLA on How To Use Tweeter & Not Loose Friends

I'm looking forward speaking in front of the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) tonight at Formaggio Grill in Kailua. 

Monthly Meeting for Caterers and Event Professional to meet, network, and enjoy good food/beverage. This month learning journey is "How To Teach Your GORRILLA on How To Use Tweeter & Not Loose Friends" and the speakers for this event is Michael Miller Tiki's Grill & Bar Director of Sales and Marketing and Dusty Grable Manager of Formaggio Grill.



Welcome to NACE Hawaii

NACE Hawaii provides catering and event professionals superior education, networking, and resources to enhance career success and deliver excellence to clients.

Read more about the NACE Hawaii chapter

What is NACE?

NACE MISSION STATEMENT: To provide catering and event professionals superior education, networking and resources to enhance career success and deliver excellence to clients. Dedicated to promoting career success for its members and the professionalism of the industry, the National Association of Catering Executives (NACE) offers educational programs, professional certification, chapter initiatives, networking opportunities, recognition and awards programs, a job bank, community service projects and the industry’s most prestigious annual conference.

Read more about NACE

Tiki's Celebrates CSTS-125 Launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis w/ Tacos & Drinks

A great video from our friends at NASA & PBS. We know many of you will not be able to attend this week’s Taco Tiki Tuesday. Tom and The Crew from Tiki’s Grill & Bar will tip our glasses towards the stars as a salute. You have your job too do and so do we!
5pm today - Tiki Taco Tuesday at Tiki's! $2 Tacos! $3 Drink Specials! Live Music, free valet parking! The sun is shining in Waikiki today!

Getting Ready to get Married in 13 days - So let's replace the Deck!

Here are some photos of the deck and post and pier system. Once we started we found wood rot and lots of damage. Alex is my brother that flew in from Puna to do most of the work. I'm the helper.

Most experts agree that the average life expectancy of a wood deck is 10 to 15 years. It is estimated that there are millions of decks in the U.S. that are beyond their useful life and may be unsafe. In fact, the number of deck collapses has increased in recent years. From 2001 to 2006, there have been nearly 350 reported injuries and 17 deaths as a result of deck failures.

As we work on the sections we evaluate its construction to make sure it's structurally sound and safe. Using the proper structural connectors and fasteners (like nails and screws) as well as regular maintenance are the keys to a safe, strong deck.

We are using hanger and other products from Simpson.

Simpson Strong-Tie - Helping to Build Stronger, Safer Structures

Simpson Strong-Tie - structural connectors, shearwalls, anchors, fastening systems, and seismic testing for stronger and safer wood and steel construction.
1. Ledger Attachment
The ledger connection, where the deck connects to the house, is the most common failure point on a poorly built deck. It's very important to use lag screws (SDS) or through-bolts rather than nails to secure your deck to the ledger board.

2. Joist-to-Ledger
The floor joists intersect into a beam or ledger board and must be properly secured.

3. Joist-to-Beam
The beams must be secured to the joists that support the floor of the deck.

4. Beam-to-Post
The post must be properly connected to the beams underneath the deck.

5. Railing Post-to-Deck Framing
People often get injured due to weak or wobbly railings on a deck. The railing must be properly attached to the perimeter of the deck as well as the floor joists running underneath the deck.

6.Stair Stringer-to-Deck Framing
The stair stringers that run along each of the stair steps (or treads) must be secured to the deck framing.

7. Stair Tread-to-Stringer
Each stair step (or tread) must be tied to the stair stringers.

8. Post-to-Concrete
Post bases are used to connect the post to the footing or concrete slab underneath your deck.

As you evaluate the safety and construction of your new or existing deck, knowing these simple steps will help to ensure your deck is structurally sound and properly maintained.

1. Check Out Your Deck
The first step in making your deck safe is knowing that it may not be. Decks are potentially the most dangerous part of the house, according to some experts. Factors, such as improper construction, exposure to the elements and lack of maintenance can make your deck unsafe. It's important to look for the warning signs: missing or loose connections, corrosion, rot and cracks. If you are unsure about the safety of your deck, consult with a professional such as a structural engineer or contractor.

2. Carry the Weight
For most homeowners, the deck is a popular gathering place for friends and family. Like a house, a deck must be designed to support the weight of people and objects placed on it as well as the forces of Mother Nature like wind, snow and earthquakes. Knowing how weight and other forces can affect the safety of your deck is important. There are three types of forces that put pressure on your deck, causing strain to the critical connections that keep it together:
  • Gravity – downward pressure typically caused from people standing on the deck or from snow and ice.
  • Lateral – a back and forth (horizontal) motion caused by people walking on the deck and/or leaning on a railing. Wind and earthquakes can also create lateral movement.
  • Uplift – wind flows under the deck creating a lifting effect. People standing on the overhang of the deck also creates upward pressure on the connection that attaches the deck to the adjacent support structure (typically your home).

3. Create a Path
A continuous load path, that is. A continuous load path is a method of construction that creates a series of solid connections within the structure of the deck that transfers load through its frame to the ground and adjacent support structure (commonly your home). If your deck is built with a continuous load path, it will be better equipped to resist the forces that can weaken your deck.

4. Combat Corrosion
Decks and the metal connectors that keep them connected and safe are exposed to the elements. Over time, metal connectors, screws and nails can corrode and weaken the structure of your deck, especially if the right product is not used. If you live in an area prone to moisture, such as along the coast or near bodies of water, the risk of corrosion is much higher. Chemicals in pressure-treated woods and other corrosive elements can also damage your deck. Using connectors, screws and nails that are made from stainless steel is the best way to combat corrosion. When choosing connectors, take into account where you live and how weather and the environment may affect your deck. For critical information about corrosion and connector selection, click here.

5. Maintain a Safe Deck
Just like other parts of your home, regular maintenance and inspection are required. To prolong the life of your deck, you need to check for things like loose boards or protruding nails. You should also keep your deck clean from debris and depending on type of deck boards used, keep them sealed to protect against water and sun damage.


Mother Day Menu Item "What is a Andagi?" @tikisgrill

I over heard one of our waiters ask Chef "Kapo" Kapolanialaimaka Kealoha. "What is a Andagi?" so he made a few up to try before Mother's Day. I only took two, but now I want to see if there are any more left. I love my job!

Here the Mother's day menu at Tiki's Grill & Bar. http://bit.ly/TikiMOM

Sātā andāgī (サ�タ�アンダ�ギ�) are sweet deep fried buns of dough similar to doughnuts, native to Okinawa. They are also popular in Hawaii, sometimes known there simply as andagi. Traditional Okinawan andagi is make by mixing flour, sugar and eggs. The ingredients are mixed into a ball and deep fried.

Sātā means "sugar", while andāgī or anda-agī means "deep fried" ("oil" (anda) + "fried" (agī)) in Okinawan. (Sātā and anda-agī are called satō and abura-age in Japanese.) It is also known as sātā andagī and sātā anragī.

Sata andagi are a part of Okinawan cuisine. Like most confectioneries from the Ryukyu Islands, the techniques for making them are descended from a combination of Chinese and Japanese[1], although other sources say it simply is a derivative of a Chinese dish. They are typically prepared so that the outside is crispy and browned while the inside is light and cake-like.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sata_andagi" --From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Tweet-up The Drink!" Rum, Pineapple & Banana Liqueur, Cran & Pine Juice, limes, Tiki Umbrella! @tikisgrill

At Tiki's Grill & Bar  @tikisgrill we have some big time aloha for our friends on Twitter.

So we created a drink called the "Tweet-up The Drink!"

Only me @MahaloMichael and the Bartenders know about it so far......  It's so new the cocktailers and managers don't even know about it yet.  I have created a secret key that is located on the second page of the Champagne screen on our POS. (Just in case the our staff says "I don't know what your talking about".)

I have asked the bartenders to use my stash of Tommy Bahama Rum while supplies last. I just ordered some other rums to try out with this drink.  It's on special till May 20th and for a limited time afterward for $4. You must order it with a twitter device! Cell phone, PDA, Laptop, Desktops are fine too.
It will always be on special if someone wants to plan a Tweet-up! You can DM me @MahaloMichael and I can set things up!

Here is some more info on what a Tweet-up is:

tweetup
n. A real world meeting between two or more people who know each other through the online Twitter service.

Earliest Citation:
This is a blog entry that was inspired by a face-to-face meeting between two bloggers who connected via Twitter. What would you call that? A Twittermeet? A Tweetup? Cast your vote in the comment section.
—Scott Monty, "Be the Ball, Danny," The Social Media Marketing Blog, March 21, 2007

Notes:
I added microblogging ("posting short thoughts and ideas to a personal blog, particularly by using instant messaging software or a cell phone") about a year ago (June 7, 2007). Then, as now, the major buzz in the microblogging space (as the venture capitalists would say) centers around Twitter, a site that combines social networking and microblogging. (Thank your deity of choice that they didn't stick with the original name: twttr.) Twitter operates by periodically asking members a simple question: "What are you doing?" Members respond via instant messaging, short message service (SMS), third-party programs, or the Twitter site with text-based posts — called tweets — no more than 140 characters long. (When Twitter won an award at the 2007 South by Southwest festival, their acceptance speech was apropos: "We'd like to thank you in 140 characters or less. And we just did!")

If you'd like to follow Word Spy on Twitter, see twitter.com/wordspy.

And now it's a name of a Drink!

"Tweet-up The Drink!" Rum, Pineapple & Banana Liqueur, Cranberry & Pineapple Juice, fresh limes, Tiki Umbrella!

Bartending Challenge for Skyy Infusions Pineapple Vodka

Here are some of the photos from the Bartending Challenge for Skyy Infusions Pineapple Vodka held at Tiki's Grill & Bar and Indigo's.

Photos by: Christopher Teves -Publisher-Editor -Hawaii Beverage Guide

Some of the most popular spring and summer time drink specialties can be created with delicious Skyy Infusions Pineapple as a key ingredient.

Skyy Vodka possesses a sterling reputation as one of the most popular suppliers of vodka in the country. They have come out with a new Skyy Infusions Pineapple flavor that is the first Pineapple vodka to be infused with real fruit in the entire nation. Skilled drink makers and thousands of bartenders from all over the country have already begun implementing Skyy Vodka’s creations of various nighttime beverages.

Skyy Infusions Pineapple Vodka is so flavorful and smooth that you can even pour a small glass on the rocks and enjoy a delicious beverage with no mixer.

Many people prefer to mix Skyy Infusions Pineapple Vodka with lemon-lime soda, various energy drinks or a wide variety of other beverages depending on personal preference. Whether you prefer to consume Skyy Vodka’s Pineapple Tiki Kit on the rocks, mixed with another beverage or as part of a complex seasonal cocktail, you will be enjoying the phenomenal natural flavor of Skyy brand vodka.  --
TheCelebrityCafe.com Staff

Tree trimming in Hawaii. I'm taking a break to rest and send this out.

This morning I was up early trimming trees. I'm taking a break before, I load it into my truck and drive to Hawaiian Earth Products Windward, Ltd. (Kailua).  Location: Kapaa Quarry Rd. – go left at fork in road immediately past Tsf Station – HEP is immediately on right side of road just past the fork. Still lost call: 261-5877

I plan to grab a few buckets of free organic mulch to use in our dry land taro patch. June is the month we will replant the keikis taro plants, my Grandfather gave us on our last trip to Kona. If I had a wood chipper, I would be able to save my self a bunch of time and physical energy. If anyone know of someone that want to get rid of a chipper please let me know. 

The Tree in the back with the light green is a Kukui nut tree.

The photo with me and the polo saw shows a Jambul, Java Plum or Portuguese Plum. "Malabar plum" 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Candlenut (Aleurites moluccanus), is a flowering tree in the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, also known as Candleberry, Indian walnut, Kemiri, Varnish tree or Kukui nut tree.

Its native range is impossible to establish precisely because of early spread by humans, and the tree is now distributed throughout the New and Old World tropics. It grows to a height of 15–25 metres (49–82 ft), with wide spreading or pendulous branches. The leaves are pale green, simple and ovate, or trilobed or rarely 5-lobed, with an acute apex, 10–20 centimetres (3.9–7.9 in) long. The nut is round, 4–6 centimetres (1.6–2.4 in) in diameter; the seed inside has a very hard seed coat and a high oil content, which allows its use as a candle (see below), hence its name.

The nut is often used cooked in Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine, where it is called kemiri in Indonesian or buah keras in Malay. On the island of Java in Indonesia, it is used to make a thick sauce that is eaten with vegetables and rice. Outside of Southeast Asia, macadamia nuts are sometimes substituted for candlenuts when they are not available, as they have a similarly high oil content and texture when pounded. The flavor, however, is quite different, as the candlenut is much more bitter. Because the nuts contains saponin and phorbol, they are mildly toxic when raw.[1]

Several parts of the plant have been used in traditional medicine in most of the areas where it is native. The oil is an irritant and laxative and sometimes used like castor oil. It is also used as a hair stimulant or additive to hair treatment systems. The seed kernels have a laxative effect. In Japan its bark has been used on tumors. In Sumatra, pounded seeds, burned with charcoal, are applied around the navel for costiveness. In Malaya, the pulped kernels or boiled leaves are used in poultices for headache, fevers, ulcers, swollen joints, and gonorrhea. In Hawaiʻi, the flowers and the sap at the top of the husk (when just removed from the branch) were used to treat eʻa (oral candidiasis) in children.

In Ancient Hawaiʻi, the nuts, named kukui were burned to provide light. The nuts were strung in a row on a palm leaf midrib, lit one end, and burned one by one every 15 minutes or so. This led to their use as a measure of time. One could instruct someone to return home before the second nut burned out. Hawaiians also extracted the oil from the nut and burned it in a stone oil lamp called a kukui hele po (light, darkness goes) with a wick made of kapa cloth.

Candle nuts are also roasted and mixed into a paste with salt to form a Hawaiian condiment known as inamona. Inamona is a key ingredient in traditional Hawaiian poke. It is the state tree of Hawaiʻi.[2]

Hawaiians also had many other uses for the tree, including: leis from the shells, leaves and flowers; ink for tattoos from charred nuts; a varnish with the oil; and fishermen would chew the nuts and spit them on the water to break the surface tension and remove reflections, giving them greater underwater visibility A red-brown dye made from the inner bark was used on kapa and aho (Touchardia latifolia cordage). A coating of kukui oil helped preserve ʻupena (fishing nets). Kukui represents the island of Molokaʻi, whose symbolic color is the silvery green of the kukui leaf.[3] The nohona waʻa (seats), pale (gunwales) of waʻa (outrigger canoes) were made from the wood.[4] The trunk was sometimes used to make smaller canoes used for fishing.[5]

In Tonga, still nowadays, ripe nuts, named tuitui are pounded into a paste, tukilamulamu, used as soap or shampoo.

Modern cultivation is mostly for the oil. In plantations, each tree will produce 30–80 kilograms (66–180 lb) of nuts, and the nuts yield 15 to 20% of their weight in oil. Most of the oil is used locally rather than figuring in international trade.

Jambul (Syzygium cumini) is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, native to India, Pakistan and Indonesia. It is also known as Jamun, Nerale Hannu, Njaval, Jamblang, Jambolan, Black Plum, Damson Plum, Duhat Plum, Jambolan Plum, Java Plum or Portuguese Plum. "Malabar plum" may also refer to other species of Syzygium.

It is also grown in other areas of southern and southeastern Asia including the Philippines, Myanmar, and Afghanistan. The tree was also introduced to Florida, USA in 1911 by the USDA, and is also now commonly planted in Suriname. In Brazil, where it was introduced from India during Portuguese colonization, it has dispersed spontaneously in the wild in some places, as its fruits are eagerly sought by various native birds. such as thrushes, tanagers and the Great Kiskadee. Scientific synonyms include Syzygium jambolanum, Eugenia cumini and Eugenia jambolana.


A fairly fast growing species, it can reach heights of up to 30 m and can live more than 100 years. Its dense foliage provides shade and is grown just for its ornamental value. The wood is strong and is water resistant. Because of this it is used in railway sleepers and to install motors in wells. It is sometimes used to make cheap furniture and village dwellings though it is relatively hard to work on.

Jamun trees start flowering from March to April. The flowers of Jamun are fragrant and small, about 5 mm in diameter. The fruits develop by May or June and resemble large berries. The fruit is oblong, ovoid, starts green and turns pink to shining crimson black as it matures. A variant of the tree produces white coloured fruit. The fruit has a combination of sweet, mildly sour and astringent flavour and tends to colour the tongue purple. The seed is also used in various alternative healing systems like Ayurveda (to control diabetes, for example[1].), Unani and Chinese medicine for digestive ailments. The leaves and bark are used for controlling blood pressure and gingivitis. Wine and vinegar are also made from the fruit. It has a high source in vitamin A and vitamin C.

Keeping the Tikis happy. New music added from South Pacific.

Some of our Tikis were getting a little bummed out about not hearing music from their native islands. So we got some new music to add to the play list.

For the most part they like it, just like human taste in music you can't please everyone. Our tiki from Easter Island is a little stoned faced. It might be because there is only one track from his home island. Not sure it's just a feeling we got.

Track 9 is by O-shen a very tatented and cool guy. He will swing in to Tiki's Grill & Bar now and then and has been spotted at Pink Tiki on Fridays.

An extraordinary collection of contemporary music from the beautiful islands of the South Pacific
                                                                                         RealAudio or Windows Media


 
1 Te Vaka    Luliana • (Tokelau/Samoa/New Zealand)

2 Matato'a    Mana Ma'Ohi • (Rapa Nui/Easter Island)

3 Te Vaka    Sei Ma Le Losa • (Tokelau/Samoa/New Zealand)

4 Telek    Abebe • (Papua New Guinea)

5 Te Vaka    Haloa Olohega • (Tokelau/Samoa/New Zealand)

6 OK! Ryos    Nengone Nodegu • (New Caledonia)

7 Whirimako Black    Wahine Whakairo • (New Zealand)

8 Te Vaka    Nukukehe • (Tokelau/Samoa/New Zealand)

9 O-shen    Siasi • (Papua New Guinea)

10 OK! Ryos    Co Era So • (New Caledonia)

11 Gurejele    Watolea • (New Caledonia)

To hear sample tracks, select RealAudio or Windows Media format.
Putumayo presents South Pacific Islands, one of the first widely distributed collections of contemporary music from this remote region of the world. In fact, most of the artists featured on South Pacific Islands are little known outside their country of origin.

Both Telek and O-shen come from Papua New Guinea, a tropical archipelago of dense rainforests and active volcanoes. Telek combines ancient Tolai traditions and contemporary Western music without compromising his native culture. O-shen, the son of American missionaries who was raised in a remote Papuan village, fuses traditional Pacific music with hip-hop and reggae.

OK! Ryos and Gurejele are leading figures in New Caledonia’s Kaneka movement, a unique music that blends local polyphonic singing styles and traditional rhythms of the Kanak culture with pop and world beat flavors.

Te Vaka, a New Zealand-based band with members from across Oceania, is creating a pan-Pacific pop music that incorporates elements from a variety of cultures into an appealing fusion. Fellow New Zealander Whirimako Black endeavors to bring Maori music, culture, and language to a broader audience.

Finally, from far-off Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, comes Matato’a. Their native language is now spoken by less than 3000 people and is blended here with an upbeat, cross-cultural mix of music.

You can by the CD at http://www.putumayo.com/en/catalog_item.php?album_id=180#

Or just stop in to Tiki's and enjoy it with our Tikis!