Hanging Ten on the D Line

Yesterday morning on the commute to work, I had one of those iPod moments, when the shuffle served up a song that seemed so bizarrely fitting, it brought tears to my eyes, sort of like the effect pretty much any version of "Knocking on Heaven's Door" has on any death or funeral scene (a fact that coincidence melded the Bob Dylan version with the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince).

So, last week I was chatting on the phone with one of my loyal readers and he told me how his neice had recently been hospitalized in Honolulu over Christmas. The story was upbeat, however, as he noted how special it was that a legion of pro surfers had descended upon Kapiolani Children's Hospital and afforded the patients a special holiday treat. Those of you not from Hawai'i, imagine your local pro sports team doing the same; in the 50th state, surfers are celebrities, especially the professional ones, who make just as much, if not more, from endorsements.

Anyway, while chatting with said loyal reader (whose neice is well and home, now), I was able to retrieve the story with the help of Google news, and can be accessed here. At the time, I scanned it and printed it out for later consumption.

Later happened to be yesterday morning when I pulled the printout from my briefcase on the D train on the way into Manhattan. Halfway through this heart-warming story, my iPod shuffle shuffled it's way into "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" by Mark Keali'i Ho'omalu and the Kamehameha School Children's Chorus, from the soundtrack from Disney's Lilo and Stitch. Sure, it's a coincidence, but with over 8300 songs to choose from, it was quite uncanny. Aside from maybe the Sixties classic "Pipeline," and some Beach Boys' tunes, a better surfing song has not been written. A translation of the Hawaiian and the song can be linked here. You'll need RealPlayer to listen.

Aloha e aloha e
'Ano 'ai ke aloha e
Aloha ae aloha e
A nu ay ki aloha e

There’s no place I’d rather be
Then on my surfboard out at sea
Lingering in the ocean blue
And If I had one wish come true
I’d surf till the sun sets
Beyond the horizon

A wiki wiki mai lohi lohi
Lawe mai i ko papa he'e nalu
Flyin by on the Hawaiian roller coaster ride

A wiki wiki mai lohi lohi
La we mai iko papa he na lu
Pi'i na nalu la lahalaha
O ka moana hanupanupa
Lalala i kala hanahana
Me ke kai hoene i ka pu'e one
Helehele mai kakou e
Hawaiian roller coaster ride

There’s no place I’d rather be
Than on the seashore dry, wet free
On golden sand is where I lay
And if I only had my way
I'd play til the sun sets
Beyond the horizon

Lalala i kala hanahana
Me ke kai hoene i ka pu'e one
It’s time to try the Hawaiian Roller coaster ride

Hang loose, hang ten, howzit, shake a shaka
No worry, no fear, ain't no biggie braddah
Cuttin' in, cuttin' up, cuttin' back, cuttin' out
Frontside, backside, goofy footed, wipe out

Looking for the wipeout
Let's get jumpin', surf's up and pumpin'
Coastin' with the motion of the ocean
Whirlpools swirling, cascading, twirling
Hawaiian roller coaster ride

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Much Aloha. Have a good weekend!