Hawaii’s moment in the Oscar firmament

Hawaii may not have had a gazillion moments in the Oscar spotlight, but they were pretty choice. The showcase for "The Descendants" started with the first shot of host Billy Crystal’s opening video montage, and in this spoof it’s the comic who gets a hospital-bed kiss from the star, George Clooney. Lots of laughter and buzz around that.

In his signature musical medley, Crystal sang lyrics about the Hawaii-filmed feature to the tune of "Hawaiian War Chant." Crystal had to explain that to the theater crowd, but the home audience here all got it.

Finally, the film’s single statuette was for the Best Adapted Screenplay award. And the on-stage tribute from writers Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash was to "our Hawaiian flower," Kaui Hart Hemmings, who penned the original novel. Take a bow, Hawaii.

Take the Leap tomorrow

If you’re inputting something into your calendar tomorrow, don’t forget — it’s Feb. 29, not March 1, as this is a leap year.

Once every four years, adding the 29th day in February keeps our calendar aligned with the Earth’s revolutions around the sun. Since it takes Earth 365.242199 days — approximately — to circle around the sun, nearly six hours is lost off the calendar each year. So, it’s Feb. 29 to the rescue every four years, bringing things back into sync.