Smiley, happy, people

Date or Daughter?
If you see Rosie (that's the guy on the left) around town with this beautiful 19 year-old girl you can humor him as being 'da man' or you can know the truth that it's a friend of his son that's visiting the Big Island. Rosie is the local public access channel sports video guy and he was at the rodeo in Honokaa for Memorial Day weekend. The gal, didn't get her name, didn't have anything to do so she decided to tag along. Rosie put her to work by making her fetch camera batteries when she wasn't enjoying the rodeo action. Actually she was a very sweet gal, and I guess Rosie is still 'da man' anyway...his son is on the mainland.


Hoku and her fiance Chris at Durty Jakes. Hoku was a reporter at WHT before moving to Oahu to work for a PR firm and hooking up with Chris. The two were actually classmates at HPA and were on the Big Island for a grand HPA reunion for all alumni.


Andrea and Carly joined us at Durty Jakes after a very long day putting together West Hawaii Today's first broadsheet issue. Starting June 1st we're a broadsheet paper instead of a tabloid. Much stress and rushing around is being done to get us up to speed on putting together the new product.


Our new sports editor Joe joined us for a drink. He's been put through the ringer learning how to put together WHT as a tabloid only to later have to learn it all over again putting together the broadsheet. A long night for both him and the page designers at work.

POTD Vacation

As the music group the Go-Go's said
CHORUS:
Vacation
All I ever wanted
Vacation
Had to get away

I've decided to put the Picture of the Day on vacation for at least a week to give myself a break. I will probably continue to take photos but no update for a week. Of course i could always break-down and post something but don't count on it.

It's more likely that the cameraphone photo will continue to be updated on the right side but not the usual posts. And it's possible that there may be a big update with stuff from my week off the blog, but don't hold your breath.

Aloha,
Baron

Triathlon = Pain Festival

Click on the picture above to see a short 10 second video of the start of the Keauhou-Kona Triathlon in Kona. If you don't have QuickTime updated on your computer click on the QuickTime link to the right in the sidebar to get the latest software for free.

A 1/2 Ironman distance triathlon this race had a clear blue sky during the race which made for a somewhat hot day. The course change was brutal for some as the run portion took a grueling uphill to the turn-around, then already tired legs had to strain to brake the running speed coming off the hill. Some of the world-class triathletes walked the hill as it proved to be punishing.


Chris rakes rocks out of the beach sand at the swim finish fronting King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel then spells out ALOHA in the sand for triathletes.

Skip this post, do not pass go, do not collect $200

Update to May 22nd post

I've updated my May 22nd post about flying over Waimea with video and a map of my flight path. Click on this link or go to it via the archives on the right.

The dinner party

Eggplant parmesan at Travis and Peggy's apartment in Holualoa. A housewarming party they really outdid themselves, and us too, by hosting a dinner party beyond our worthyness. Italian food with pastas, salads, breads, toppings, cheesecake and gelatto all fresh made.


There's never a hesitation with Brian when it comes to food as he gets some pasta and sauce. Travis and Peggy must have made an agreement with the gods as it had been raining a good portion of the day and dark clouds ruled the afternoon over Holualoa. But during dinner it left the air clear, clean and cool with not a drop of rain.


Brian, Rani and Tiffany at the dinner party. Folks weren't too happy being blinded by the camera flash since we were dinning by candlelight, thus the lack of photos from this event. It was best enjoyed without shooting photos anyway.

The peace garden

The lazy day started late with a trip to Paleaku Peace Garden in Honaunau down the road from Chula's goddess house. The retreat has a nice view of Kealakekua Bay and is a peaceful place.


Chula relaxes at Paleaku Peace Gardens in Honaunau.


Another shot of Chula kicking it back at Paleaku Peace Gardens.


One of the statues at the peace garden. When I photographed this statue over 10 years ago I noticed that the bowl in his hand was actually a skullcap but since then it has been painted to look like a regular bowl.

First the Shrimp, then we get Durty and finish with Lobster

We started out at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. for some Bubba Boilers (A Kona Brew beer with a shot for about $5.50) then headed over to Durty Jakes where our favorite waitress Kerri (on left) took care of us. Here she mugs with Brian.


Brian snapped this one of me and Andrea in the short time we spent at Durty Jakes before heading up to Lulu's.


Brian greets Carly at Durty Jakes or maybe he's doing his imitation of a T-Rex.


Andrea at Durty Jakes. We'll have to get one for her mom without a beer next time if we remember.


Then it was up to the Lobster Lounge which is the dance floor at Lulu's upstairs. Being Thursday night there was nobody dancing so we ended up having the whole dance floor to ourselves, it's much more fun and crowded on Fridays or Saturdays. Here's Andrea getting sandwiched between Carly and Brian.


The girls tried to sandwich Ched, our page designer from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, but he was mostly interested in his camera phone rather than dancing with the girls. Priorities Ched, priorities.


The guys couldn't keep up with the girls dancing so Andrea and Carly take over the dance floor themselves.

Photographers in the dark(room)

Due to our growing editorial staff the photographers have been moved into our old darkroom, which isn't really dark unless you turn the lights off. Much bitching and consternation and tantrums erupted from the other photographer, from what I've heard, regarding this move. I just want to get things set-up to work. Many folks are playing musical desks but change is inevitable and is the very nature of the news business.

I'm going to update my previous May 22nd post with some video so stay tuned.

A Pair of Page Designers

Chula hoists a glass of Kona Brewing Company's Golden Ale at Durty Jakes.

We had originally gone to Hard Rock Cafe with Carley, our new page designer, but the waitress there said they didn't serve pitchers of beer. In fact our waitress misinformed us that nobody serves pitchers of beer, not Durty Jakes, not Bubba Gumps, no pitchers at other bars. Yeah right, we've had pitchers of beer at most other bars so we left.


Here's Carly, our new page designer at work having a glass of Golden Ale at Durty Jakes, her first try for Kona Brew. She just flew in from the west coast that day after driving across country from the east coast to ship her car off.

Our staff is getting to full strength, we're still waiting on a reporter and an editor for North Hawaii News to show-up. Plus a good chance of two interns this summer. Aaron Kehoe from the Brooks Institute of Photography will probably be our photo intern though a program set-up with his instructor PF.

The Continental

Some of the goodies from Arlene's last minute cupboard clean-out made for a continental breakfast. Poha berry jam with cream cheese on one piece of rye toast along with sweet cream butter on another piece and a cup of cappuccino.

A day of rest

Worked all day, no personal photos today.

Hard Rock Cumbia Cafe

Andrea #1 and Jim at the Hard Rock Cafe which featured the Latinos Band for live entertainment playing cumbia, salsa and other types of Latin American music. Several of the band members were playing a gig doing the opening act for the Greg Rollie Band for a Waikoloa concert so the place wasn't as rolling as it was on Cinco de Mayo.


Sylvia and Melita also attended for the Latin American music but they, along with Jim and Karen left for Durty Jake's leaving me with the two Andreas to enjoy the music.

Winging over Waipio

Today work took me flying over Waimea, over Waipio Valley and back. Seeing the island from the air is a great way to see things.


Here we leave Waipio Valley flying over Kukuihaele back to the Waimea-Kohala airport. You'll have to see the Sunday, May 23rd West Hawaii Today to see why I was in the air.


Click on the image above to see a movie of my flight, broadband users only as it's about 9MB in size. We took-off from Waimea-Kohala airport, winged over Waimea town, flew over the back of Waipio Valley then went as far as Waimanu valley before flying back over Kukuihaele and back to the airport with the final view of Mauna Kea in the distance.


A map showing the track of my flight according to my GPS unit that I had on during the flight.

Grey day at the bay

A grey day at Kealakekua Bay where much of the beach sand is gone and only rocks remain.


This rock, from the previous post, made it to the bay wrapped in ti leaf for good luck, or maybe to just keep any bad spirits within. A friend of mine had visited me long ago and took this rock from the island. He later sent it back saying he had run into a string of bad luck. It has sat in my desk at work for awhile, yes it was back on the Big Island but he never told me where he got the rock from. I assumed he got it from Kealakekua Bay as I lived near there and it looked similar to the type of rocks found there. So I wrapped it up and took it back to Kealakekua Bay to make peace with whatever spirits there may be. I don't have a desk at work anymore so I had to get it out of there anyway.

Had it brought me bad luck as I've kept it in the desk? Had it continued to bring my friend bad luck as it never returned to its original location? I don't know. Chula poo-poos the whole superstitious affair and considers it to just be a rock. I say, why take a chance. The rock is back to the area where it came from, generally, and maybe now I should take a trip to Las Vegas just to test this theory. Can a MegaBucks win be far off? Anyway, Chula and Karen accompanied me for this meca for some mercy.


Chula tries out some make-up when we got back to the hippie house. She looks calm now but about a minute after this terror struck. One of those big cane spiders was on the wall to the left below the mirror. Chula is freaked by these giant spiders. I tried to thwack it but it got away.


Later a trip to an import store found goodies to buy for Chula and Karen and the store had these different hangings near the cashier area.

We never did make the banana bread. We decided that it was too much work at this short notice. We needed ingredients, a sifter and bread pans.


The last photo of the day was of Travis and his girlfriend Peggy who just moved over from the east coast. It was one of the hottest, muggy nights I've experienced in Kona. Very unusual weather. We tried to cool-off here at the Kona Brew Pub but there was no breeze. Off we went to Cassandra's but it was even hotter there, finally we settled-in at Sam's Hideaway and airconditioned bar.

Banana Bread

Chula asked me for a banana bread recipe, here's my favorite. If you make it right it comes out like a nice light cake rather than the heavy banana bread most recipes make.

Clicking on the image above will take you to a bigger version of the recipe that you can print out.

Enjoy

Two days in a row

Another day with no POTD. It's times like these when I consider just erasing this whole blog. So what should I do? Erase the whole blog and not worry about it? Take a week off from blogging? Take the two days as a rest and start back up again tomorrow?

Yes, this was supposed to just a a pretty (or sometimes not so pretty, after all photos of me are on there too. ha) picture of the day but it has started to become, dare I say it, a normal blog with rants, raves and reviews on life.

To blog or not to blog, that is the question.

I'm drawing a blank

No Picture Of The Day today. But i did get my car back from the mechanic today so that's something to celebrate. Now I've got two cars at home, I've got to ditch the rental tomorrow. That's it for today, maybe Adventure Friday will return.

SNAFU=Situation Normal All F**ked Up

I celebrated too early, my WiFi (aka Apple Airport) is down again. I think the base station is okay, it has something to do with my PowerBook side. Darn technology. I'm back to wired instead of wireless.

The Airport is open again

Actually I'm talking about my Apple Airport Base Station which is my wireless cable modem router (for those not used to geek-speak you can say 'HUH?' about now). Anyway, this gizmo allows me to connect my PowerBook to the internet at high speed without wires and the connection had not been working this past month. Some snafu with the software update I did on my laptop probably had much to do with it. But after much fiddling around things seem to be going swimmingly at the moment.

That's a poor excuse for a POTD but sometimes that just happens.

And it must be a slow news day in Honolulu today as KGMB-TV once again ran my accident photo (see previous post) on their 6 p.m. newscast tonight. And there wasn't even much of an update to the story.

I've been Googled

Just an observation. I noticed that lots of folks have been hitting this blog through Google. If you type-in the words big Kahuna buger picture or maybe the keywords Lokelani McMichael picture into Google and hit return you'll find this blog page. Sorry folks, you won't find a photo of either of those things here, not quite false advertising but but it just goes to show how deep Google's search engine goes.

Okay, if you're really that desperate to see Loke I have a video of her in her underwear here. Not that there's anything revealing about it as there are better photos of her on her homepage.

Loke's a sweet gal and we see her often in Kona when she's in town. She's not hard to find, just go to, or better yet participate in local running or swimming events or visit the family store Pacific Vibrations. Now if we can just convince her to come out for karaoke night, I hear she's been practicing.

A slow Monday

Okay, those aren't my feet, they belong to Chula who took a shot with my camera. Chula says she likes to take photos of herself when she's bored. It was a pretty slow day, kind of overcast, hot and muggy. I'm not sure about those TV weather folks who said Kona had the low temperature in the state at night as it didn't feel that way.


Chula with a big (what do they call it at BK? Super-Sized is McDs, Biggie is Wendy's) Burger King drinks. It used to always amaze me how I'd see little kids sitting on the curb in front of 7-Eleven with one of those monster super-sized Biggest Big Gulp drinks, holding onto a cup the size of their heads with two hands. Not sure how they drink that stuff, maybe they end up spilling it or maybe it was never full in the first place. Okay, her drink isn't that big, by American standards, probably just a medium.


The Rock. There's a back-story behind this rock which I'll get into on a future blog post. It has to do with the superstition that taking rocks from Hawaii is bad luck and folks send lots of rocks back from the mainland after bad things happen to them. Let this be a warning, don't take rocks home from Hawaii, it upsets the gods or worse yet the goddesses. This rock will find its way home this week.


Just got this in the mail today, it's an underwater housing for my new Canon PowerShot s500 digital camera. Sweet! There are some times when having a housing would be nice while on assignment. I do have an Ewa-Marine housing for my bigger film camera but it's hard to work the controls. This high-tech housing has controls for every button and switch on the camera. It's good down to 130 feet in depth but it'll probably find more of a workout during rainstorms, or snorkeling. Very spiffy.


Finally I got a call tonight by Chula saying I'm famous or at least my photo is. Seems KGMB-TV in Honolulu wanted to run one of my photos on their 10 p.m. newscast regarding a pedestrian accident I shot yesterday. The editor gave them permission and here it is. Credit for the newspaper but none for me of course. I don't mind that much but how about some money for the shot? They pay for video being submitted for their newscasts. I mean, sure I'd like some money but even if the paper got the money we could use that to buy some extra photo gear we don't have like maybe a tripod, batteries and the like. Our photo department is really lacking basic equipment and here we are giving away photos to the competition.

Okay, I don't want to end on a negative note. Ah, did I mention I got a new underwater housing today?....

Ono, outdated and outstanding

Today lunch was at Quinn's Almost By The Sea resturant. When you see the fresh ono on the menu for the fresh fish of the day that means it's a great time to either get a fish sandwich (I like it cajun style) or fish 'n chips. I opted for the ono fish 'n chips. The stuff tastes great but after the 2nd piece of fish you start to realize how much batter and oil you're eating. Karen and I decided that the next time we order fish 'n chips we'll split a single order as there's just too much to eat in one sitting.


Here's just some of the stuff in our darkroom at work, this stuff is outdated now that we've gone digital and I have no doubt this stuff, much of which I personally own, will be cleared out to make room for our growing department. We'll be moving a workstation into this space so it won't exactlly be very dark anymore.


Finally, on way home I turned down my road and had to pull over for this outstanding view of a Kona sunset (that's my rental car on the right). It wasn't going to be a clear sky to watch the sun sink into the ocean but I liked the colors and clouds.

Working on the water

Long distance canoe race day in Kawaihae and I've hitched a ride on an official's boat. Lucky I don't get seasick as we were pitching around pretty good out there, plus taking photos at the same time.

If you've noticed the fuzzy camera cellphone photos. I'm still in the protective phase with my new compact camera so I left that at home. The cellphone is insured, and yes, I did get salt water splashed over me and some on the phone. But hey, it's still working.

Hanging at the Hippie House aka: Chula's pad

Chula attacks a frozen pizza with a spoon. Actually this was a lame attempt to redistribute chicken on a frozen Garlic chicken pizza. The little chicken squares tended to bounce off the pizza when attacked so we had to let them stay huddled together.


That's more like it. The cooked pizza with dusted with red pepper flakes. Food was the bait on the end of a hook as Chula got me to come over and install a new car stereo in her ride. A pretty sweet stereo that plays both audio CDs and MP3 CDs. After eating I was surprisingly still motivated enough to install the unit. Works great.


Lots of garlic also made it into lunch via the hodgepodge salad dressing we whipped-up out of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, zest, garlic and spices.


Mmmm...salad


A few moments before installing the car stereo. While most people are slaving away at work Friday's are my Sunday when I get to relax. And it is pretty relaxing at the Hippie House.


Here's the stereo in Chula's ride.

New camera

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that my new Canon PowerShot s500 arrived yesterday so today's photos at lunch are taken with it. Sweet little camera. Here my cat hogs my futon next to the camera box.

Dropping in the universe

Today I was having a conversation with a couple of state workers and things started to drift to politics. So I needed an escape hatch, not that I mind talking politics, but opinions always get heated, so I asked them where do the locals go to eat food in Honokaa? We all agreed that Tex Drive Inn with their 'ono kine' malasadas has gone quite touristy. They suggested I go to a place just below Honokaa High School so off I drove to C.C. Jon's Snack-in Shoppe.

School got out early on Wed and I got to the snack shop about 10min after the last bell rang. It was my late lunch and wasn't sure if I should really try the tiny shop but decided to check it out.


When I walked in the doorway I was transported back in time to another universe. An age of innocence, where jars of candy against the wall awaited the pointing fingers of kids to be chosen like puppies in a pet store. And candy is asked for not by name but by the color of its package.


Kids jammed the counter near the shave ice machine where an elderly Japanese man carefully packed the snow onto cups and re-quizzed kids as to what flavor they wanted. The man is deliberate and careful building the shave ice and the kids are all very patient and polite waiting their turns.

Everyone in there, except me, ordered like they've done it a million times before. I heard someone order a large vanilla Coke. Now I know Coke now makes vanilla flavor, along with lime, lemon and cherry, but this place had a dispenser, not bottled soda. Then I noticed that they were adding flavored syrups to the soda for an extra charge. Vanilla, coconut and other flavors.

At a round table in the tiny snack shop high school boys relax and lean back in their chairs talking-story to each other. Younger kids had more purpose ordering drinks, food, candy and shave ice. This was their universe and I was just lucky enough to be sitting there like a bug on the wall taking it all in. It was like watching some Discovery Channel special about local soda-fountain shops. I am also lucky enough, I figure, that I look local and blended-in and didn't disrupt life in the shop.

I probably need to get back here to make some photos. Sitting there at the old style soda-fountain counter on glittery, shiny red round vinyl seats really takes me back in time. Back to when things were simple, folks got along and life was good. Everyone should have such a place to go to often or at least visit.

Mud Puddle Mirror

A self-portrait taken in a mud puddle in Waimea with a canopy of eucalyptus trees overhead. Maybe I should submit it to the Mirror Project. Not much to report today. My car is still in the shop, I'm still driving a rental car and for once Waimea wasn't raining, at least while I was there.

Tequila!

Tonight Travis came by to see what he might want out of the stash of goodies Arlene gave me. He took much of it and went away with Mai Tai and Margarita mix too. I was also going to give him this bottle of tequila that was unfamiliar to me. Then he and I noticed that there was a price tag on it. It said $62. I told him if it costs $62 for that bottle not only would I have to keep it but we would have to try some. I got a couple of sake cups for shot glasses, Travis iced-down some of the tequila and we had a shot each. Pretty smooth stuff. To think I almost gave this away.

Happy Jack

That's Jack, Arlene's husband, happy as a clam with his 2nd schooner at the Harbor House down at Honokohau Harbor. For their last meal in Kona Jack decided that he and Arlene should go to the place he will miss the most, a place where he says the burgers are the best, the beer the coldest and the atmosphere to his liking. He got all of that.


Then Jack talked about what he thought of what was going on in Iraq. I'll just say that Rush Limbaugh would have felt comfortable having a few beers and a Harbor House burger with Jack. It's a good thing Jack was our side during WWII. Arlene says Jack's duty as a U.S. Marine in Europe during WWII was guarding whore-houses in France after all the fighting was done. She said Jack explained he drank a lot of good French wine during that time. Like all Marines Jack will always be a Marine.

I once gave Arlene a National Press Photographer's Association poster of the famous Pulitzer Prize winning photo of the flag raising over Iwo JIma on Mt. Surabachi. It was a nice poster, had the image plus one of the NPPA photographer who shot the image. Arlene said Jack almost cried, that he had been looking for that Iwo Jima photo nice enough to frame for years. That day they got a nice frame to go around the poster and had it mounted onto poster board. And there it hung in their house until they packed it away for the move to Alaska. Being a Marine Jack treasures the image and Arlene said he still tears-up when the U.S. Marine Corps band goes past in a parade.


Arlene didn't have a burger, she had a more sensible fresh ahi fish plate. Might be some of the last fresh ahi she will have in awhile. Arlene assured me that there will always be a welcoming door should I ever travel to Alaska. We've been friends for awhile along with being co-workers. Jack suggested I visit about July 5th when the air is thick with bugs. He said I should freeze some Harbor House burgers and bring them over when I visit. Hopefully some day I may take them up on the offer to stay at their place, except for the hanging out with the bugs.


And one final photo of Jack and Arlene. Probably the last photo of them in Kona as the next time they come this way will be for the airport tomorrow. I'm sure this is not the last we see of Arlene Stephl, maybe Jack as he'd rather be Moose hunting.


Karen and Chula once asked me what Jack looked like I told them Popeye. Do you see the resemblance? Ha. Jack may be a curmudgeon but he's a good guy.

Funfetti and Fitness

Yesterday Chula had a craving for cupcakes, not any cupcakes, Funfetti cupcakes. Okay, I'm old, I've never heard of Funfetti cupcakes but she seemed to know exactlly what they were and asked me to pick up a box and the matching frosting at KTA supermarket. Then she came over and we made some cupcakes, okay she did most of the work but I did stir the batter, set the timer and eat a few. The cupcakes in the photo above were at work today as she brought in the leftovers along with some salsa and chips to everyone's delight.


To alleviate the guilt of eating cupcakes I hit the walking track with Karen. I'm sure we must have worked-off, three or maybe four of the little colorful sprinkles baked into the cupcakes or on the frosting.

What's wrong with this picture?

Here's a photo of my ride, a rental car, a plain white Dodge Neon. Notice anything wrong? Look closely, something Dodge did to save money.

When you think you've figured it out or don't want to guess just click on the image to find the answer. Now I don't know how much money Dodge saved but it's a PITA (pain in the ass) especially if it's raining and I'm on that side and I didn't know about this feature. I mean really, how much money did they save?

The err of my ways

It's always not good when your digital camera stops working and shows an error on the LCD screen. I was able to clear the error but it kept occuring when I used my teleconverter on a lens. So I had to stop using the teleconverter. Looks like I'm back to using the junky WHT lens since I need a long lens to shoot golf this afternoon.

Jesus Juice

Jesus watches over Chula's cooking area in the Goddess Lair to keep us safe.

I should have taken a photo of the rental car I got today. I finally let Mike get his old Jimmy 4x4 back so he could use it to launch his boat at the harbor, plus it was leaking like a sieve in the pouring rain. I rented a compact for a week over the internet and when I got to the rental company they were all out of compacts. My choices were a PT Cruiser, MiniVan or a big town car. I didn't want a gas guzzler that's big to park so I skipped the 'pimp-mobile' town car and passed on the mommy mini-van so I got the PT Cruiser. I was already 1 hour late to meet Chula at Costco so I was in a hurry when they shuttled me over to the car lot. The PT Cruiser turned out to be this orangey-red car with flames painted on the sides. The girl at the counter said I could change it later to a different car if I wanted and I was late so I drove off in the flamebouyant vehicle.

When I got to Costco and mentioned my ride to Chula she said she wouldn't be caught dead in a PT Cruiser, let alone one with flames on the side. I agreed, not exactlly a low-key car for a newspaper photographer. I mean, someone actually paid extra for that paint scheme? It's called Flames on Inferno Red according to this linked website. Yuk. So after I parted with Chula I called the rental company and asked to exchange for a different car, I needed something low-key, not 'hey look at me' in color. My choices were now pimp-mobile or mommy minivan. I asked for the pimp.

At the rental lot a guy working there asked me what kind of car I had ordered online and I told him 'compact.' A Dodge Neon, white in color, had just been returned by a customer and I would get that. So now I'm in a economical, pedestrian white Dodge Neon sedan. Sometimes it's just better to be average.

Soy sauce spillage

My nose tells no lies, I found the soy sauce spillage. Arlene had turned the bottle upside down saying it was capped inside so I let her put it in this bag with stuff. It did have a cap inside, but that had a tear in it plus all the bumping around probably let the shoyu fly. At least the spill was contained to a plastic bag. Now I've got to stop blogging and start cleaning this place up.

Everything but the kitchen sink

Went to Waikoloa Village today to get Arlene's old Mac that she's giving to me. Not sure what I'm going to do with it yet but I'm sure I'll find some worthy cause for it. The drive home was at dusk and halfway to Kona there was a wall of dark clouds to be driven through with rain along the way. You can see the other car's headlight illuminating the clouds and fog on the highway.


I went to Arlene's to get a computer but ended up with a car-load of food, cleaning products and booze. This is the last week Arlene and her husband will be going to their old home in Waikoloa Village, they're already staying at a friend's condo unit. So she emptied-out the kitchen and gave me everything she could put into boxes, bags and baskets. Here's a photo of all the booze that won't be making the trip to Alaska. Actually I'm going back tomorrow to help her with her new computer and she promises more booze for me. Jack promised me a case of motor oil.

Hopefully Chula will be dropping by tonight to take some of the foodstuffs that Arlene gave me. My apartment is a mess, my refrigerator is full and for some reason I can smell soy sauce that must be leaking somewhere. It's too much of a mess for a photo. Looks like were going to have to eat our way out of this bonanza of food. And no moose-meat in the windfall, Jack said it was too precious to be given away so they had their last moose-roast with some friends. He said he bought a rib-eye that nobody touched, all their friends went for the moose-roast.

Arlene gave me an open invitation to visit them up in Alaska. Maybe someday I'll take them up on the offer. Moose-meat and salmon anyone?

Nikon numbskulls

As you can see the quality of my blog photos has taken a hit, I've been using my cellphone camera for photos. I sent my Nikon CoolPix 4500 in for service about a month ago to Nikon in California. I haven't heard from them since. I sent it off securely packed, with the camera inside a plastic bag with the service form I downloaded from their site, encased in styrofoam peanuts. I also insured it at the Post Office. Their website is no help as you need a service number for inquiries, they give you one once they get the camera in for service. I've sent in emails and when calling their phone number it's an endless wait on the phone. I'm getting pretty discouraged with Nikon.

I may just buy a new camera, then sell my CoolPix 4500 when it does finally get back from service, or when I get the insurance money.

No wonder the rest of my camera gear is made by Canon .

Cinco de Sushi

More rainy weather for Waimea and this rainbow popped-out over Parker Ranch pasture land as I was driving back to Kona. There were quite a few cars stopped on the side of the highway to take in the colorful sight.


Brian digs into some sushi at Izakaya Kai sushi bar in Kona. Not only did we have three kinds of sushi there but chips and salsa too! Not that they serve chips and salsa every day, it was just on the menu for Cinco de Mayo. Good sushi, some Kirin Ichiban beer and some hot udon soup for Karen who's nursing some kind of cold. Karen headed home, Brian and I headed for Hard Rock Cafe.


Off to HRC to listen to a Latin band playing and Brian got the bartender to hand him this sombrero that was on the bar, he ended up leaving HRC with it. The music was excellent, the crowd danced all night. Our friend Ruben played the drums in the band. He's quite the runner and can usually be found in local races like the Peaman events. Tall Andrea joined us, Brian left, TA checked-out the Latino guys and we closed down HRC.

Note that the Latin music band will be playing at Beachcomber's in Kona on Sunday night so that's where we'll probably be.

Pro Procrastinating

I've had this iMac over a week, replaced the hard drive, reinstalled the operating system and reinstalled the address book, documents and other owner files. I got it all back together then decided that I should have changed the internal clock battery. So here it sits, the product of my procrastination in needing a new clock battery. Yes, I have the battery which I bought the other day, I just need to take the machine apart again, install the battery and put it back together. Can I not procrastinate in the 1/2 to 1 hour needed to install the battery and get it back to my friends?

Notice that my camera cellphone continues to take photos for the POTD. I sent my Nikon CoolPix in for service, never heard a single word from Nikon regarding the fix. I've emailed them, still no word. Looks like I'm going to have to call and see what's going on. I did insure the package being sent to the service center but hopefully I won't have to use that.

Drug abuse and the consequences

Today a co-worker that I went to high school with asked me if I remembered a girl named Robyn Mizumoto, now Robyn Nakaji. I said I didn't remember her but the name sounded familiar. She graduated a year ahead of me so she wasn't in my class other than the band which all three of us played in. He mentioned it because she had been found beaten to death on Oahu this past week.

An update to the story revealed the how brutal the murder was. We wondered out loud what could have happened to this girl that he described as your "normal local Japanese girl" in high school who played in the band with us. She married her high school boyfriend, Daryl Nakaji, after high school hence the name change.

One can only wonder at how her life changed between high school and her death. The news story indicates drugs playing a role in her death. Anything can be abused to the point of ruining someone's life, drugs, food, sex, the internet, etc. Many folks can indulge in recreational habits in moderation but there are few folks that just can't. I don't know the circumstances of what happened beyond the newspaper reports but it sounds like drug abuse by those charged in the murder probably played a part. I don't want to stand on a soap-box about drug use...when you get down to it, it was a murderer that killed Robyn, not drugs. Here's a photo of her from my old yearbook may she rest in peace.

Hot and Sticky in Kona

That's the cruiseship Amsterdam in Kailua Bay as seen from Hale Halawai in town. Yesterday was hot and humid, even more than usual due to Kona winds. That's when the winds reverse and instead of the tradewinds coming from the north-east the wind comes from the south-south-west. This made Kailua-Kona on the windward side of the island. Hot, humid, cloudy and we had thunder yesterday. Today Kona was fairly clear, still a bit muggy but it looks like the tradewinds are coming back. Weather should be pretty good for the rest of the week.

Due to the recent rainy weather we are now dealing with mosquitoes. I don't care what people claim about citronella candles, electronic gizmos and anti-mosquito plants, the only thing I've found to repel those bloodsuckers are either: Spray-on repellent with deet like OFF! or King Mosquito coils. People in Hawaii are familiar with the slightly sweet & thick smelling mosquito coils. This is the only thing that works if you want to be outside and don't want to spray insecticide on yourself. I'm sure there are $500 methane powered mosquito killers but you gotta be pretty serious to buy one of those.

My car will get a rebuilt engine and will be in the shop for a couple of weeks. Better for me to know what's going on instead of being stressed in limbo. Once I get my car back "Adventure Fridays" will probably continue.

Baron bonks

Bonk = hitting the wall in a marathon

Okay, it's been a burn-out week as I continue to work and deal with my car. Probably an update on the car situation tomorrow. Looks like a rebuilt engine will get installed in the car as there may be more problems with the existing engine, plus the lack of mechanics who will repair it. So no POTD. Better Luck Tomorrow.

Children's Day streamers

Carp streamers were flying above Kona Hongwanji Mission in Kealakekua. May 5th is celebrated as Children's Day in Japan (and Hawaii). Previously known as Boys Day it was renamed Children's Day in 1948. The carps are usually flown at homes with each carp representing a male living in the home with the biggest carp being the father.

May 5th may have a Japanese twist for us as well. Plans are for going to a sushi bar before celebrating Mexico's liberation from the French on Cinco de Mayo. Okay, we're going out for a few drinks but Cinco de Mayo is a good excuse.