Tornado Trouble

In the very early hours of Feb. 28, 2004 a tornado ripped through South Kona in the Milolii Mauka subdivision. A swath of destruction left trees and utility poles down, lifted one home off its foundation moving it 15 feet with the owner and her pets inside. Power was finally restored late Sunday. Here's some video I shot of the house damaged the worst by the tornado, there were other homes damaged in the subdivision.
Tornado damage movie (4.4MB)

Stormy Saturday

Swells move in Saturday off Pahoehoe Beach Park where this tree was uprooted by powerful winds. Windy conditions brought down trees everywhere, snapped telephone lines and cable tv lines and even had some trees set afire after resting on live power lines. Glennon's boat has been bashed beyond saving along with a catamaran which was smashed into kindling and there's a dive barge banging up against the Kailua seawall after breaking free of its mooring.

Kona Storm

This afternoon a storm moving down the Hawaiian island chain finally hit the Big Island despite a beautiful day on the our trip up the coast. Wave action was rough in Kona which brought kids down to the Kailua Pier for body boarding and surfing. Whenever we have a big storm or hurricane the surge produces excellent body boarding conditions in the normally tranquil area next to the pier. And this was only a few hours after low tide, if the surge continues it would only get worse at high tide at about 10:37 p.m.


A boat owned by Glennon, not sure if it's him personally or via one of the many organizations he's involved in, ended up on the rocks near Ahuena Heiau. A very sad sight to see anytime this happens since saving the boat is difficult unless you get it back out into the water within a few hours. Glennon is in South Korea for some kind of workshop and as far as I know nobody has been able to get in touch with him.

Because Michael, the other WHT photog, already had still photos of the action down there I grabbed my video camera and shot some footage. The storm surge washed over the pier, sent geysers of water up over the seawall onto passing vehicles and brought out a crowd of gawkers. High winds swept back the tops of palms like dog ears out a car window. Flotsam littered the water near the pier on the calm side while body boarders had a field day on the active side which resembled a hugh washing machine in action.

Here's the video of the action. If you can't see any video then your computer probably needs QuickTime which is a free download from Apple, you can get it at this link.

Here's the video for broadband connections. Size: 4.6MB

Spelunking the Kona Coast

Andrea glows from the sunlight streaming through a skylight of a collapsed lava tube. Exploring lava tubes on the Kona coast.

Cracks in the ceiling of the lava tube stream light like lasers into the dark void below ground.

The beams spotlight the rocks inside the lava tube. Notice the ti leaf for good luck, not that we're superstitious, but why take a chance.

Andrea puts herself in the path of the beams shining like a beacon. I told her the photo reminded me of a Marylin Manson photo for some reason, a scary thought.

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Andrea is the page designer at the newspaper and accompanied me and two others on a spelunking adventure. If you want to see more photos Karen, one of the other spelunkers, may post photos on her blog pages.

Passing GO without stopping to take a photo

Okay, today was a failure, so I'm going to take a pass today on the POTD (I'm allowed to do that ain't I?) I spent the day trying to straighten things up at home (note the word 'try', plus more experimentation with the expresso machine). Tomorrow should generate some images as I play the part of tourist, or maybe tour guide with friends on a trip up the Kona-Kohala coast.

From Russia with love

Today I got to follow around a Russian girl going to Parker School on the Big Island. Although these photos weren't really shot on my own personal trip I doubt they'll get published as they aren't tack-sharp due to crappy optics I've been provided with, plus I turned in other stuff. But the jerky sequence gives you an idea of how she's a smiley, happy person she is while she's studying Hamlet by Shakespeare in English class. Her English is actually very good, just hope she doesn't get ruined by learning Pidgin English.

Bummer that I didn't have the chance to shoot an actual personal shot today but with just 30 minutes left in the day I don't think it's going to happen. And it looks like Karen partially got her wish, her photo got pushed-off the front page of this blog. Banished to the archives along with Brian.

At least I got laundry done while I slaved away at home on the computer. Now that frees-up some playtime for Thursday and Friday. I'll probably put on my tourist hat on Friday which should produce something for the POTD. Then again we're supposed to get hit by some rain/snow (on the summits) storm late Friday. Stay tuned, might be a freaky Friday.

And speaking of freaky, if you have a pair of headphones and your computer can play back mp2 sound files listen to this binaural recording of a pair of dogs running around the Aiea loop trail. It won't work with normal speakers, you have to use headphones, the open air type work the best.

Keep your eyes on the hands.

A mirrored shot of me shooting photos of hula lessons with Michael Pang's hula halau in Waimea. Okay, I shot this Tuesday, but it'll have to hold over till I post something from Wed.

Round, round, get around, I get around...

Once again 7 a.m. found me down at the walking/running path at Maka‘eo doing my daily 7 miles. That's me, on the left, with Gordon one of the regulars and a member of Friends for Fitness. Gordon tends to go around the path in the opposite direction so we exhange 'good morning' welcomes and talk story sometimes, at least it gives me an excuse to stop and rest. Despite being on crutches and leg braces Gordon is there just about every morning working out, if you go down to the path and see him, tell him Baron said hi.

The day is just starting so I may post another photo later, but otherwise thanks to my camera cellphone I got off easy today for the POTD.

Sayonara Starbucks

Anyone that knows me knows that I love to cook (and we all love to eat don't we?) I've been shelling out $4/visit for a grande cappuccino at Starbucks (I usually dump the change for the baristas) but now that's a thing of the past. I just got my Krups expresso/cappuccino machine today in the mail. This baby rocks! It's easy to use and I made a perfect cup of cappuccino the first time out.


Check out the frothy foam cap on that cup. An easy to make cup, easy to clean (I use ESE Pods, for folks who are coffee experts), quick and compact in size this machine is a winner. Okay, maybe I sound a bit overboard about this machine but when you figure ($4x5)x52=$1,040 for drinking Starbucks on working days every week this gizmo is well worth it. Plus I can make decaffeinated expresso/cappuccino when I want to drink it at night.

Now if anyone wants to buy me a set of nice cappuccino and expresso cups I'd invite them over in a New York second. The next step is using ground coffee instead of cheating with the pods. It's a good thing I'm friends with Kona coffee farmers because it's gonna be manna from heaven from now on.

This morning I headed down the walking/running path for a 7 a.m. workout, did a bunch of intervals running and walking. Did the last four laps with Ken (the computer tech guy from work) who showed-up unexpectedly. Had a chat with him about the tech problems at work, is there any department without problems? It's nice to see that more employees are working out down there, the previous night Karen and I saw a gal from work and her husband walking for their first time. It's good stress relief, good for the psyche along with one's physical health. God only knows our employees could use some stress relief.

Maka`eo Sunset

Sunset at the Maka`eo Walking/Running path at the Old Kona Airport Park. This is where I've been spending much of my free time the past month or so doing laps. At first it was for a fitness team challenge, now it's just for myself. I got up to 50 miles/week then got hit with shin splints and I thought I'd do zero during the last week of the fitness challenge but managed to painfully pound out another 30 miles. Alas, my team came in second place despite our total mileage after a month of 517.5 miles. The winning team had 680.7 miles, there's always next year. (A little bird told me we may have been the actual 1st place team, some dubious math may have played a part) For our 2nd place finish our team members all got free passes for the Body Glove cruise which means a fun cruise on a catamaran around off the Kona coast then a stop to snorkle near Honokohau harbor. Not bad for 2nd place, there may even be food involved in this cruise.

The beach and ocean is just beyond those trees in the distance, a nice place to catch the green flash of a sunset into the ocean which Karen and I saw one day. Okay, I lied, I'm partial red-green colorblind so Karen saw it, I'll just have to trust her that it happened.


Yet another fountain grass photo, this time with sunset light instead of sunrise. This grass is actually quite a pest here in Hawaii but I like the way the light hits the tops.

Karen said I should blog more about what I say/do so here it goes. Today Karen was saying that she's 'getting fat', yeah right, I told her I doubt she could get membership to the 'fat club' and that we'd have to leave her on the doorstep standing on the welcome mat. In fact I told her I didn't know how she remained slim despite the amount of food we're stuffing into our faces. I said she must have a tapeworm.

"The tapeworm is the future," I told Karen. "It's the next big thing after the Atkins diet." When people get tired of being restricted to all that meat eating we'll have our own personal tapeworms that will allow us to eat anything we want. If we're really gonna pig-out we can get more than one. It would be like a little pet that would pop out of our mouths every once in awhile so we could pat it on the head for doing such a good job. She laughed and thought it was another of my crazy ideas.

Goat's head soup (with apologies to the Rolling Stones)

Up close and personal with a goat while on assignment Saturday at the Keiki Fun Farm Day at Konawaena High School. This goat got pretty close to my 14mm lens.

Wot? No picture?

Okay, was busy at work shooting photos but none really for myself. I did teach a couple of little kids how to chimp on a Canon 1D though as they were eager to spin the dial to see what had been shot at the basketball game I attended. a POTD (Picture Of The Day) will get posted tomorrow morning from my day's shoot, at least that's something. I need to get more sleep, this 3-5 hours/night ain't cutting it and since I have a cat that wakes me at about 6 a.m. or earlier every morning I need to gain the hours on the front end of the REM cycle.

Good night....

Super-size those drinks

Karen ponders the meaning of life, or maybe just the operation of her Sony digicam at Mahina Pizza. A nice place to have a pizza and you can even bring your own brew and the prices are good. It's a one woman operation at the pizza joint in the North Kona Shopping Center.

This is our pizza which couldn't even remain whole before I took a photo as we were starving. It's the Five-O, no doubt in reference to the TV show with Jack Lord. Ham, macadamia nuts, pineapple along with red onions top this pie, 'book 'em Dano!'

It's a small world after all

Finally heard from Maile in China. She ran into one of my former classmates while hitchin' a ride in Japan. Laurie Fukunaga (that's her in the photo, circa 1977) and I were classmates at Kaimuki High School. Our two most famous alumni are probably former Hawaii Lt. Gov. Mazie Hirono and underworld hit-man Ronald Ching (I don't think Ching graduated although he did attend). Okay, there are some bank vice-presidents and musical artists and sports dudes but you gotta admit politics and the crime assassins are more interesting.

The POTD will be posted later when I find something to shoot.

Take a bottle, drink it down, pass it around...

Brian, our Sports Editor, with a brewski at Hard Rock Cafe - Kona, in a week before he'll be back on the East Coast for a vacation. I forgot my digital camera in the car, so my cellphone camera provided this grainy image. Other photos were withheld from the Internet to protect the innocent.

New PowerBook...hot damn!

My iBook (she was a good computer that served me well) has gone to China with Maile. But this afternoon my 15" PowerBook arrived and occupied me a few hours, how could I resist, so I could restore my files. I left it running and went to the office to finish working on photos. The battery needed to be run down to be calibrated. This is one nice laptop

Updates TK

This slacking is getting bad, no computer for the past two days then bam...my new PowerBook arrives this afternoon so I wasn't able to update this blog. Too many applications need to be re-installed on the laptop. Sleep will come first tonight, the blog photo updates will have to wait until tomorrow morning.

Woke up early today to take Maile to the airport for her big trip to China. Six months seems like a long time when we're standing at the edge of the last day in Kona and the brink of her first day in China. I'm sure her 1/2 year in China will be well spent, filled with adventure and hopefully some time for her to update her blog so we can experience it vicariously. My old laptop found a new home with Maile and will accompany her on the adventure in China. When Karen and I dropped her off at the airport we missed her as soon as she left to stand in line so we went back and gave her an extra hug for the road.

Time to sleep....

Comment thingy & Behind the 'Shop of Horrors'

Okay, I finally got a link for comments on this page, it appears to work. Blast away. POTD to come later. --Baron




Here I am, in the mirror, working in the dressing room at HPA (Hawaii Preparatory Academy) photographing some girls getting ready for a dress rehersal of 'Little Shop of Horrors.' Bad lighting, plus I'm back to using WHT's Canon D30 which is an older digital camera. Been in protest mode the past month or so and not using my own gear, which is better than the newspaper's stuff. I just got tired of spending thousands of dollars to be properly equipped then wondering where all my money is going.

Fish Tacos

Okay, I slacked-off and didn't really take the time to shoot a photo for myself, but I did take the time to make a fish taco after a long day at work for dinner. Chilie tomato tortilla, cajun ono fish, wasabi macadamia nuts and the fixings. Pretty yummy.

Work took me visiting with a homeless group to ask about a fellow homeless man who was hit and killed by an on-duty police officer in a very early morning driving accident yesterday. Folks couldn't recall the victim until one of them mentioned something about the seizures the guy suffered from, then suddenly memories appeared clear in the minds of everyone, the eyes start to well in some but no actual tears are shed. They speak about him like a fallen brother, someone they called friend, someone they didn't always get along with, someone who they enjoyed being with, someone who didn't need to die, someone they will miss.

The group circles for a pule (prayer) before their lunchtime meal, provided by a local church group, then almost as an afterthought one person mentions the victim's name and for him to be blessed as they release hands. The reporter coaxes stories about the victim out of people, some don't want their names mentioned, some don't want their pictures taken, others speak in anger about the plight of the homeless in Kona and the system that prolongs their situation.

The site of the accident on Alii Drive looks quite normal upon casual observation with only the flattened, gray-white ash of road flares providing a clue of the location. Closer observation reveals a chalk circle with the words 'right shoe' on the road shoulder. Farther down the road is a discarded latex glove from a paramedic or police officer and a faded chalk circle in the center of the road around an ugly dark stain which runs over to the shoulder. There isn't much to actually see but the mind fills in the blanks pretty well.

That's it for today, this was supposed to be about fish tacos but work tends to get in the way of my leisure time and meals.

Fountain Grass

Fountain grass, feathery tops dancing to the wind warming to the light flowing over Mt. Hualalai. Sunrise at the Old Kona Airport park.

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This is the first photo of 364 to come over the next year. My friend Jenna made a resolution to take a photo a day just for herself, not for her paper (though some have been published). A great idea and great ideas tend to get stolen, so I can't take credit, you'll have to visit Jenna's webpage yourself.