1/24/13

Freezing rain ...

... there is a Samoan word for it - “timu ‘aisa” - though it doesn’t happen there.  Only timu (rain) without 'aisa (ice).

This morning, rush hour was slush hour and the commute was a headache. Freezing rain. It’s an unusual weather phenomenon. It’s rare and comes with a scare that no one should dare. I have driven in snow - in blizzards and occasional snowstorms. I have driven in heavy downpours, but this was the first time I’ve driven in freezing rain. On my windshield, rain turned to ice once it hit the glass. Ice before my eyes.

The road was deceptively clear and looked dry but it’s a treacherous sheet of ice. Luckily I was in the backup that stretched for miles which made me slow down to 5-10 mph. I decided to get off the freeway because it was both a parking lot and a demolition derby. I drove down the ramp - slowly. I rested my foot on the brake pedal and the car immediately started to skid and slide, and there were already cars everywhere - on and off the road. I let the car slide... and slide. No hard or sudden braking otherwise I would have done a 360 much less a donut right there. The rain was mostly mizzle and drizzle - but e laikiki ae ma’igi (skimpy yet stinging) especially because of the ice. Well, I managed to avoid having to call the kamupagi igisiua (insurance company).

Here are some of the pictures of the mess this morning of which I was not a part - luckily!!!

when you can't get over it or around it, get under it ...

oops ...ooops ...ooops again ... and again

one of these cars is supposed to prevent - not involved in - crashes/accidents

watch out, I'm sliding your way ... slowly but surely ...BANG! ... There!
pictures: ksl

1/17/13

Donny and I agree ... LOL!

...yep, thaaat Donny.

Previously (May 2011 - to be specific) I had a post about my boyhood memories of Donny Osmond as a teen idol. And from that post, I have the following excerpt (plus picture) about Donny on Piers Morgan (CNN), but more importantly about Donny and Mr. Bieber:
Piers brought up JB (Justin Bieber) during the show and asked Donny about an advice he would give JB. Donny said he would tell him to hold on tight, and be strong because it’s going to be a long bumpy ride.  Funny that when JB first came on the scene, his hairstyle seemed new and fresh to young boys and girls - well they need to see Donny’s hair in this picture - we definitely know who the real trendsetter is ....:)


...and you ask, “So?”

Well, last Saturday (January 12, 2013 - to be specific) Donny had a concert in Kentucky and part of his show’s repertoire was showing a video of his younger days including this picture:



Then Donny asked the audience: “Do you know who that little kid was on screen?” Everyone laughed when he said,  “That was Justin Bieber, but I had the haircut first." 

...hey Donny did you read my blog?  ...hahahaaayeaaahhhriiiigght!

1/16/13

Very Sad ...if true


(Click >) Manti Te'o's Inspirational Story a Hoax

...still developing

UPDATE:  Manti's statement as reported by ESPN
"This is incredibly embarrassing to talk about, but over an extended period of time, I developed an emotional relationship with a woman I met online. We maintained what I thought to be an authentic relationship by communicating frequently online and on the phone, and I grew to care deeply about her. To realize that I was the victim of what was apparently someone's sick joke and constant lies was, and is, painful and humiliating. It further pains me that the grief I felt and the sympathies expressed to me at the time of my grandmother's death in September were in any way deepened by what I believed to be another significant loss in my life. I am enormously grateful for the support of my family, friends and Notre Dame fans throughout this year. To think that I shared with them my happiness about my relationship and details that I thought to be true about her just makes me sick. I hope that people can understand how trying and confusing this whole experience has been. In retrospect, I obviously should have been much more cautious. If anything good comes of this, I hope it is that others will be far more guarded when they engage with people online than I was. Fortunately, I have many wonderful things in my life, and I'm looking forward to putting this painful experience behind me as I focus on preparing for the NFL Draft."

1/15/13

Si’osi’omaga vs. Si’osi’omiaga

There is apparently a disagreement/debate on the above words as to which one is the proper Samoan translation of “environment”. The Samoa Observer has the letter (here)  by one of the readers concerning this. I have already sent my response, a copy (modified) of which is given below.

Dear Editor:
(I hope this does not turn into another faalogona vs. faalogoga debate again for me. RIL my good friend Rev. Fauolo.)

This is a valid discussion point on the Samoan language. With language - which can get quite volatile - sometimes we have to rely on its natural and intuitive development, especially among native speakers to settle a linguistic issue. Anyway, here’s my lua pene, ia poo sene fo'i - same difference, though perhaps not in the case of  si’osi’omaga  and  si’osi’omiaga.

I firmly believe it depends on the root/base word. There are two possibilities in this case - one more correct than the other - “si’osi’o” and “si’osi’omia”. The former, though not often used, at least in the context at hand, is the more correct and veritable root/base, hence the word “si’osi’omaga” after the “maga” declension rule.  For example: faasino/maga, inu/maga, faaalu/maga, etc. These inflections hold true even if we use the “si’o” morpheme as the root/base word - si’o / si’o-maga / si’o-mia.

“Mia” - like “maga” - is an inflection (conjugation to be specific) in the form of a suffix as in tanu/tanumia, inu/inumia, faasino/faasinomia, masalo/masalomia, etc.  Moreover, if we take the word “faasino” and apply the same “rule” that produces “si’osi’omiaga” we would then have faasinomaga and faasinomia which are valid standard Samoan words.  But faasinomiaga on the other hand, is invalid, non-standard, awkward and vulgar. The same goes with other words above, and especially for inu / inumaga / inumia.  Truth is, you would not want to argue on the side of si’osi’omiaga when you have already considered applying the same rule to inumia. (Tulou!)

Again the root/base word is the keySi’o and  si’osi’o are the correct ones; si’osi’omia (already inflected) is not and should not serve as the root word.  Therefore, put simply, si’osi’omiaga is an anomaly at best and vulgarity at worst.

It is also interesting to see the similarity - not a blueprint- of the si'osi'omaga pattern and construction with its English translation - si’o/si’osi’o (surround); si’osi’o-maga (surround-ing); si’osi’o-mia (surround-ed).  In other words, one cannot say “surroundeding” which would be the equivalent of si’osi’omiaga - using the same paradigm and parameters as noted.

Oh well, just a thought and my sao/saoga/saofaga to the issue regarding the si'osi'omaga o le gagana.

Faafetai lava,
LV  Letalu

1/11/13

The Governor and my blog

(Note: This post is neither driven nor initiated by name-dropping or any obsequiousness - explicit or otherwise. Rather it is to point out an anticipated ambiguity that I was aware of when I started my blog, especially with reference to its name and title.)


Two days ago, the Samoa Observer printed an article (here) on the inauguration of the new Governor of American Samoa. The event was held at the “Malae o le Talu” - an historic malae (open field). As you may have noticed - if you had clicked on the link - the name of the malae was incorrectly rendered as “Malae o Letalu”.  So in good faith I submitted the following comment (recalled from memory because it has since been removed):

LOL!  If I'm not mistaken the venue/location of the inauguration should be “Malae o le Talu” and not "Malae o Letalu". This is interesting because the latter is the title and name of my blog. In fact, this is what I posted in my blog to avoid the ambiguity:

For those in the know, the [blog] title - more phonetic than syntactic- can also be a pun on “Malae o le Talu”, a familiar and important historic malae in American Samoa where, in 1900, Tutuila - the main island - was ceded to the United States.

The irony in all this, is that one of the names/titles of the new Governor is Letalu. And so for the namesake, and at least for this particular occasion, your reporter/writer can be exonerated. Notwithstanding, thank you for the blog promotion; and best wishes to the new governor.
The complete name of the new Governor is Lolo Letalu Matalasi Moliga, which makes it all the more interesting and seemingly prophetic in connection with the name of the venue - again, in an ironic and phonetic sense. At the same time, I suspect that “Letalu” in the Governor’s name was the reason for the reporter transcribing it the way it is, and not necessarily a misinterpretation of the real name of the malae, or it could be that he/she may have seen my blog title prior and therefore took it to be the same as that of the AS malae.

Anyway, my comment was submitted and printed - but was later removed. I do not know for what reason. For those who read my blog and also frequent the online Samoa Observer, the association may have been immediate when reading the title of the article.  Some, especially those who haven’t read my malae post (where the distinction is made), may have thought that I borrowed - literally and verbatim - the title/name of my blog. The truth is that the American Samoa malae may have been an added inspiration for my title, but not as a direct result of it.  Ia fai aku ai fo’i ...

ae ia maguia le kausaga fou
le 'au makukua ma le 'au kalavou
maka fiafia ae aua le faagogou
ia sau fo’i le fuaka ma loga lou
ma ia folau oukou sa i le malu ae le o le sousou
maguia oukou i le alofa o le Loukou!
ae ola le kamaloa mai Fulu’asou
Kiuuussssssosoooou!

UPDATE:  The Samoa Observer has removed my comment from the comment section (end of article) and moved it to Letters to the Editor section (here). Thank you to the staff!

1/2/13

New Year's Eve

New Year’s Eve is when our whole family gets together for games and fun. It’s a family tradition, like Christmas and Thanksgiving. Fortunately, our daughters, husbands and children (grandchildren) do not live far away. All of them drive for only an hour or less - no travels from out of state or country.

New Year’s Eve this year fell on a Monday and so for Family Home Evening (FHE), we had a Family Games Evening (FGE). Everyone had fun - children and adults alike. The holiday season for me always means quality family time and so instead of the usual blog posts, I've decided to document our FGE with pictures which should be worth more words than an actual post.

...the weather outside was a bit frightful

but the fire inside was delightful

so some played video games

others played FB ... as in foosball ... but maybe online FB too?... LOL!

air hockey and ping pong ... 'twas COOL!

... and some taking others to school in POOL



          And finally it was time for food ... actually FEUD  "Family Feud" that is - our own version

...projected on a big screen,  there was something for everyone to digest

... from states

to famous Americans ...

... to island names

and some famous village names ....LOL!
  And so from our family to yours:
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"