Pretty good painting for one who’s never been here

Matson Navigation Co. executives are expressing delight that a photo of one of their container ships, the R.J. Pfeiffer, inspired one of four postage stamps paying tribute to the U.S. Merchant Marine. But the artist, Dennis Lyall, was trying to give it a generic appearance.

"I wasn’t trying to make it look like a Matson ship," Lyall said when reached at his Connecticut studio. "Those usually have a big ‘M’ on them."

His design has the look of those vintage collectible prints Matson commissioned for its cruise-line menus — a coincidence, Lyall said. And it depicts Diamond Head from the less famous perspective, coming around from the Kahala side. It’s an accurate rendering, but just by chance: The artist has never been to Hawaii.

Healthy eaters have a reason to be Happy

There was a time not too long ago, young whippersnappers, when you could not buy yogurt at your typical grocery store — or sprouts, or tofu, or any number of healthy foods that most of us now take for granted as mainstream food offerings.

But times have changed, as highlighted most recently by McDonalds announcing it will add apple slices and reduce the portions of french fries in its Happy Meals for children.

Cynics suspect the move is a ploy by McDonalds to placate government regulators critical of companies that push junk food to kids. McDonald’s insists it just wants to do the right thing, and will do so with foods that meet its "reputation for great taste and affordability."

Whatever the reason, it’s a reason to be happy — especially if you’re one of those people who can remember when the notion of health foods was considered cultish or kooky.