5/29/15

His Graduation...

... a Sweet Celeibration!
... he graduated from Seminary (LDS) last Sunday, from High School last night and in a
few weeks, he's leaving on his Mission.  Our oldest grandson/child, Kalobe. Love him!!
Celebration to continue ...

... today (5/30) he went through the temple 
... with his parents



... mantle being passed on

... dearie, i and some of our children with him
... dearie and angie (kalobe's mom) - our oldest

... us at lunch afterwards

... with his mom and mama

5/14/15

10 Foods To Stop Eating Today - IF you love your body

Men's Fitness
May 11, 2015

“I need to eat healthier.” That’s been your refrain, for what, the past five years? Get it together, man. If you’re ready to take steps towards better health and, naturally, a better body, start today...[to not eat the following]:

1. Processed Meats
In a 2013 study published in BMC Medicine, researchers concluded that of 26,344 deaths studied, high consumption of processed meat was responsible for 3.3 percent of them. Apart from being packed with preservatives and sodium, processed, packaged meats are high in nitrates, which have been linked to stomach cancer, says Jim White, R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics and owner of Jim White Fitness training studios. And many processed meats are shockingly low in protein, giving your cold-cut sandwich little if any redeeming qualities, says dietician Georgie Fear, R.D., author of Lean Habits for Lifelong Weight Loss.

2. Margarine
Billed as a healthy alternative to butter, margarine’s trans fats, which put you at risk for heart disease and diabetes, are far worse than the natural saturated fat you’ll find in butter, Fear says. Does your margarine’s label say, “0 trans fat.” That might be a flat-out lie. The Food and Drug Administration currently allows food manufacturers to claim their products are trans-fat free as long as they contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fat in each recommended serving. While you’re tossing out your margarine, you should also take a look at the labels on any frozen food and bakery items you have in your kitchen. Many contain margarine as an ingredient, Fear says.

3. Sugary Cereals
Millions of guys start each and every day in one of the worst ways possible. High in sugar and low in nutrition, sugary cereals set you up for fat gain and a 3pm slump. Meanwhile, it’s basically impossible to eat a recommended serving of cereal, which, for many brands, is just ¾ of a cup—not even half a bowl. “The sugar and crunch produces a dopamine surge in the brain, which urges us to keep going,” Fear says. And since most guys don’t buy cereal in single-serving packages, it’s easy to eat five or more servings in a single sitting. Congratulations, you’ve just consumed three days’ worth of sugar.

4. Fast-Food Burgers
“Ultra cheap food is made from ultra cheap ingredients, and burgers are no different,” Fear says. “Even if you try to minimize the bacon, fries, soda, cheeses, and sauces added to your fast-food meal, the meat in your burger is a far cry from what you’d buy from a butcher. In one Annals of Diagnostic Pathology study, researchers studied eight fast-food brands and found that all of their burgers contained between 2.1 percent and 14.8 percent meat. The rest was water, connective tissue, blood vessels, nerves, fat, cartilage, and, in some, even parasites. Gag.

5. Donuts
“Considering that refined grains, sugar, and deep-fried foods are all independently unhealthy, you have to admire the donut for falling into all three categories,” Fear says. And, as if the 400-plus calories of sugar and fat (including trans fat) per serving wasn’t bad enough, some food manufacturers and donut shops use nanoparticles such as titanium dioxide, which the International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans.

6. Microwave Popcorn
Does anyone eat popcorn because they are actually hungry? Either way, microwave popcorn doesn’t have much going for it in the nutrition department. All of its trans fats pretty much outdo any benefits its fiber holds. Meanwhile, some brands contain diacetyl-containing butter flavorings, which when breathed in, can cause life-threatening lung disease such as bronchiolitis obliterans, according to research from Brown University. And, in many popcorn manufacturing plant workers, it has. While some manufacturers have subbed out diacetyl with other chemicals, study researchers believe many of them may be just as harmful. If you have a hankering for popcorn, pop it yourself on the stove or in an air popper.

7. Toaster Pastries
“My local food bank has stopped taking these,” White says. “If your food bank doesn’t want them, they have to be bad. I honestly think they are one of the worst foods you could possibly eat.” These are typically high in sugar, trans fats, and low in protein and fiber. Plus, they have minimal vitamins and minerals. And just look at the ingredients list. It’s staggering that food manufacturers could even manage to fit all of those ridiculously long chemical names on the package.

8. Blended Coffee Drinks
By itself, coffee can be great for you. But your blended beverage probably contains more sugar and fat than actual coffee. “Guys can easily consume a quarter of their daily recommended calories in a single drink,” White says. And that’s in a drink—it won’t even fill you up. Plus, by spiking your blood sugar and insulin levels, it guarantees a sugar and energy crash that will leave you raiding the snack drawer 30 minutes later.

9. Bagels
As far as we’re concerned, any refined carb can suck it. But, if we had to pick the worst offender, we’d have to go with bagels. Not only are their carbs refined, leaving you with little more than sugar in bagel form, they can weigh in at 400 calories each, White says. And that’s before you slather them in cream cheese or cut them in half and fill them with bacon (see #1!).

10. Soda
Right now, soda is arguably public enemy number-one—and for good reason. The list of reasons you shouldn’t drink the stuff are staggering. Among them, you’ve got weight gain, diabetes, and heart disease, White says. But if it hasn’t stopped you from drinking soda, let us ask you one thing: do you smoke? Of course not, right? Well, according to 2014 study in the American Journal of Public Health, drinking soda can age you by as much as smoking. It’s something to think about.

5/12/15

RugBYU again, again, again...

... and again.

Two Saturdays ago, BYU went into Rio Tinto Stadium (Sandy, Utah) with an undefeated record to play the Bears of the University of California (Berkeley) for the College Rugby National Championship.  It was number 1 (BYU) against number 2 (CAL).

The result was the same as in the previous three championship games - BYU won again, this time by the score of 30-27.  They're national champions - four years in a row. A "four-peat".

Jonny Linehan (of Auckland, NZ) played a major part in BYU's win with his conversion (kicking) skills.  Rumors are that Linehan might make a crossover move to play as a punter/kicker on the BYU Football team.  The rugby-style punter is becoming a trend in American college football and Linehan should do well.  Congratulations to the BYU rugby team for another perfect season!

"Hoia Taitama!"

...the victory haka

... takes two or more bears to slow down a cougar

... part of the BYU fandom

Jonny Linehan

Photos: KSL, Deseret News and BYU Rugby Facebook

5/7/15

Salaevalu or Sala'evalu?

Salaevalu Si'ilata Purcell (ca. 1820-1907)
First of all, my wife is from the line of Ned William PURCELL and Salaevalu/Sala’evalu SI'ILATA, hence the title of the post.

Dearie's Purcell family has an upcoming reunion and the above dilemma has been raised by some. Though the main part of the inquiry involves the presence or absence of the glottal stop diacritic in the matriarch's name (Salaevalu), my take here is more on the perceivably correct meaning, origin and spelling of the name.  Duly, I  have some personal interest in my wife's gafa (genealogy), and so I thought I would share some thoughts on the issue.  This is uncharted territory and to those who may take umbrage at my supposition, ia 'aua ne'i popona le toa i se finagalo faamolemole (please let not your heart be troubled, or knotty and gnarled like the toa tree).

This analysis is strictly a conjecture backed by educated guesses and some research.  Moreover, this is not an attempt at rehashing the gafa, only to shed some light on part of it.

The real name, I think, at least what it may have been originally, is Saalaevalu (Sa-ala-e-valu) - (that is with an additional "a" within the first syllables) and would have been written as "Sa Alaevalu",  where the prefix "Sa" is a Samoan morpheme designating a renown clan/tribe or family name as in Sa Tupua, Sa Malietoa, Sa Levalasi, etc.  Alaevalu refers to a family or tribe.  In other words Salaevalu is actually a contraction of Sa Alaevalu - or has evolved to what it is today.  Perhaps a good contemporary example is Sa Auimatagi (another important family of Samoa) which contracts to "Sauimatagi"  in some cases; and notably in speech.  Contractions are common in Samoan as in many other languages.

I will now reason and elaborate.

If the above "Sa Alaevalu" theory is correct, then the immediate logical question would be: Was there such a clan, family, title or at least a person named "Alaevalu"?  Otherwise the whole premise of "Sa Alaevalu" collapses.  The answer is a definite yes there was, and it was a woman/female as recorded on this familysearch website as part of the oral histories of Samoa  (click here)
(Note: The name Mulivai Purcell appears in the document (click here) which may be more of a coincidence than of kinship. I think his name appears as one who conducted the field interviews.) Alaevalu seems a woman of nobility.  Her father is listed as Tuitoga (Tui is a prefix which signals a kingly title in Tonga and Samoa - e.g Tuiatua, Tuia'ana).  It was/is not uncommon for women of Samoa and Tonga to hold noble and royal/kingly titles.

The Tongan Connection- Halaevalu, Salaevalu and Alaevalu
The connection is important in tracing and determining the origin of Salaevalu - the literal name.  It's a known fact that some bonafide Samoan names have Tongan links and etymologies - and vice versa. The connection also may give support to the possibility of a Tongan link for the Si'ilata family.  The Purcell family, on the other hand, has several Tongan connections.

A member of the Purcell family said that the name (Salaevalu) should be written with the ' (glottal stop diacritic) since the Tongan counterpart Halaevalu has one. The implication is that since the two names - Salaevalu and Halaevalu - have phonetic and spelling similarities they apparently do share kinship too.  Well, not necessarily.  Though what may make the notion and assumption valid, true, and practical is for both to have the same meaning.

Based on my experience of listening to Tongan speech, the glottal stop is very common though not as vocalized as in Samoan.  The reason is that in Tongan, the "real" pronounced glottal stop is rendered using the "k" consonant.  Samoan, during its evolution, has dropped the "k" and replaced it with the glottal stop in many of the words.  Examples include: puaka/pua'a; faka/fa'a, lakalaka/la'ala'a, tuku/tu’u, etc.).

And so although Halaevalu and Salaevalu are phonetically similar, they actually don't share the same meaning.  But in order for the premise of a direct lineage connection through the names (as proposed by some Purcell family members) to be credible and convincing, the two homonyms need to also have the same or similar meaning - not just the same sound.  In some Tongan/Samoan cognates like "hiva/siva" "hau/sau" (notice the "h" and "s" pattern) the sound and meaning are the same. Unfortunately, not in the case of Halaevalu and Salaevalu.  Salaevalu means “eight punishments” (Sala means punishment or violation) and Halaevalu means “eight ways/paths/roads” and therefore the presumed shared link and connection fail.

And here’s where Alaevalu becomes crucial and relevant.  Alaevalu, like Halaevalu, literally means “eight ways/paths/roads” ... Bingo!??

Conclusion
Once again, Alaevalu is the cognate of Halaevalu.  Both have the same meaning  - Ala/Hala means “way or path” and valu means “eight”. Also, as mentioned above, Sa is a Samoan prefix/morpheme designation for tribe/clan/family.  Hence, Sa+Alaevalu=Saalaevalu or Salaevalu as it is presently known.  Incidentally, IF Saalaevalu were the original name (and I argue that it was) then the glottal stop is not part of the name based on its native pronunciation.  Interestingly enough, Alaevalu and Halaevalu are titles/names of women of nobility (another shared commonality), in Samoa and Tonga respectively, albeit with/of different time spans.

So what I have proposed here has to do mainly with name origin, derivation and connections, and not so much of an actual kinship based on those.  Moreover, it may or may not have any effect or bearing on how the name Salaevalu is spelled today; however, it may evoke some degree of interest and curiosity about its seemingly reasonable and believable etymology.

And by the way, if you're still curious as to how Salaevalu may be pronounced, take a listen to these several other funny pronunciations (click on the speaker/sound waves symbols after the link/page loads).

Disclaimer:
The above analysis is strictly a result of personal observation, critical knowledge  and understanding of Samoan name origins and other related fields.  Again it is given and intended as an hypothesis and should not be construed as fact. Lastly, to the best of my knowledge, this conjecture/theory has never before been argued or proposed.  Faafetai Tele.

Ma le Faaaloalo