Noon Position: N 19º 30′ 06.00″ – W 154º 12′ 23.99″
Out on the deck this morning the sun was playing with the clouds. Every lap required a stop to take a couple of photos.
We were still several miles out from land so it was interesting to find a cricket on board.
The 9:30 lecture; “1000 Words of Hawaiian You Already Know” was a great introduction to linguistics and how a language changes words borrowed from another language. Really interesting stuff.
The 11:00 was a documentary film that didn’t really appeal, so we decamped to the upper level of the Explorer’s Lounge and read till lunch.
Shortly after lunch we came within sight of land (the ‘big island’ of Hawai’i).
At 4:30 we took a break from land watching to attend a forum on Captain Bligh (hero or villan?).
Then it was time for church. Since we will be overnighting in port tomorrow the decision was made to move the service to Saturday. I got to preach. They didn’t excommunicate me so I guess it was OK.
The cafe was decorated for our Hawaii arrival.
And the food was a Hawaiian feast. They were even wandering around with trays full of a drink called ‘Blue Hawaiian’. We tried a bit but didn’t want to compromise our brain cells before trivia.
However Cheryl has been trying out several different (and unfamiliar) drinks.
Up in the Explorer’s lounge, the trivia is preceded by our resident guitarist Zeus. He’s really good. And tonight he was joined for a couple of numbers by the Viking Vocalists. This is the trio that puts on evening musical variety shows.
Bruce’s Brain Busters kind-of busted our brains. We even missed a couple of easy ones and ended up with 12 out of 26. Don’t tell Jesse, but I couldn’t remember how big a ‘standard Rubik’s Cube’ is.
Back in our stateroom, licking our BBB wounds, we watched the video of the 6:30 lecture on Moby Dick.
“The greatest Novel that nobody’s read” or “An interminable narrative about an angry guy who chases a big fish”
Resident Story Master Russell Lee did an excellent job of introducing this most epic of tales. He explained how this novel examines:
- The Pursuit of Truth,
- The Nature of God,
- Fate vs. Free Will,
- Good vs. Evil,
- The Meaning of Life.
He also tied it to more recent interpretations: Man of Lamancha, The movie Jaws, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek: First Contact, Bone.
Then it was time to put the finishing touches on this and head for bed.
Tomorrow is Honolulu, our feet on dry land, a museum and a bit of shopping. Can’t wait.
Till then, R