Do you feel lucky? Punk?

Sat down at my desk at home and saw something jump in the shadows between the edge of the desk and a drawer. At first I figured it might be one of those big golddust gekkos but the microsecond that my brain saw part of it told me 'mouse.' I pushed the drawer slowly back to reveal a mouse holding on and possibly looking for an escape route or more likely a better hiding space. It jumped down and was trying to hide behind part of the drawer.

I don't often waste time with sticky traps, snap traps and the like. So the pellet gun was called into action. I bought it a number of years ago because my cat kept bringing live mice or rats into the house and I needed a way to dispatch the rodents.

Let's just say the mouse lost this battle. No photos of the aftermath, one shot did it, a tnt. Charlton Heston would be proud.

Space, the final frontier

Covered an astronaut today at the Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka Space Center today. One of the educators brought by a space suit so I took a shot and you can see me in the gold visor reflection.

From what I've read Neil Armstrong performed one of the biggest NASA P.R. blunders in history. He never handed the still camera to 'Buzz' Aldrin when they were on the moon with Apollo 11. So there were no still photographs of Neil Armstrong on the moon taken. The first guy to set foot on the moon and nobody shot his photo while he was there! So when LIFE magazine wanted a photo of Neil Armstrong on the moon for the cover of their magazine they had to use a photo similar to this one. A photo of 'Buzz' Aldrin but with Neil Armstrong reflected in the visor.


One of the NASA guys were passing out goodies to everyone who showed-up, some NASA stickers and a couple of pins. One pin is the 45th anniversary pin for NASA, the other is a little gold space shuttle.

The NASA event was a commemoration of the 19th anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger disaster. I remember that day. I woke-up very early in the morning, maybe about 3:30a.m. or 4a.m., I was tossing and turning and couldn't get back to sleep and felt something was wrong. So I turned-on my TV set and saw them replaying the shuttle explosion that had happened withing the past few hours. Shocking. I was on Oahu and called someone on the Big Island, I woke him up. He was very sleepy and asked me what was up.

Me: Turn on your TV
Him: What channel?
Me: Any channel
Him: Oh, wow.

I've heard older folks talk about where they were and what they were doing when they heard president Kennedy was shot. The three events that stick out in my mind where I could pinpoint where I was and what I was doing are: Elvis dying, Ronald Regan being shot and the space shuttle Challenger disaster. How about you?

The dog days

Shooting softball is always a hassle when you have to photograph the game from behind a chain link fence. You've got to follow the action, keep your lens centered in one of the diamond shaped holes in the fencing which is smaller than the front of the lens, and because I'm using the company's gear and not my own I have to shoot everything on manual focus. I also have to keep my hand cupped over the front to throw a shadow onto the fence or it would show-up in the photos themselves. For photo geeks I also had to shoot pretty much wide open to avoid the fence in the photos.

The old camera I'm provided with has a very slow, inaccurate autofocus, impossible to be used for any action (or even non-action events). Lucky for me I can still snap the focus controls manually like in the old days pre-autofocus. I aways have to roll my eyes when I read about younger photographers saying the autofocus of their cameras aren't fast enough, I mean, just throw it into manual.


This little doggie was tethered on the Konawaena side of the ballfield and it was a little bigger than you see it in this photo. The dog looked like a little toy bouncing around on the grass trying to get people's attention to be played with. But this was a championship game so most of the attention was on the field. The doggie's name is Coco.

Book Clip

Some folks have asked about the book clip I use to keep my book open when reading so I put a link on this page, under LINKS of course. Makes it easy to have lunch and read without growing a third hand to keep my book pages open.

Turn right, then veer left

I had written in an earlier post that maybe the only way to get a moderate in the White House, someone close to the center of the political spectrum is to join the GOP and move it left. Who will the democrats field in 2008? Would you rather have someone from the far right rubber-stamped with the seal of approval by these two guys like baby Bush? I found this info in, American Rhapsody by Joe Eszterhas.

• Pat Robertson keeps predicting the end of the world as casually and as often as weathermen in Arizona predict thunderstorms.
  
• Jerry Falwell thinks Tinky Winky is gay because he's purple and carries a purse and has a triangle on his head.
  
• Pat Robertson rails against premarital sex but adjusted his wedding date to hide the fact the child was conceived out of wedlock.
  
• Jerry Falwell said he asked Jimmy Carter, "Sir, why do you have known practicing homosexuals on your senior staff in the White House."
  
• Pat Robertson was taped at a Businessmen's Fellowship event, saying, "Satan begone...a hernia has been healed. If you're wearing a truss, you can take it off,. It's gone! Several people are being healed of hemorrhoids and varicose veins!"
  
• Jerry Falwell, discussing welfare recipients, said, "That crowd ought to be left to starve until they decide that a job is a good deal."
  
• Pat Robertson called himself and expert in tax law on his resume although he had failed the bar exam in New York State and never practiced.
  
• Jerry Falwell sold a videotape on his TV show that accused Bill Clinton of being a murderer.
  
• Pat Robertson said, "A Supreme Court ruling is not the law," and that Congress should "ignore a Supreme Court ruling if it so chooses."
  
• Jerry Falwell demanded a federal task force to consider quarantine or imprisonment for gay people who have sex after they've been diagnosed with AIDS.
  

Democrats the choice is yours. Either field someone who can win, hire James Carville early in the game, or back a moderate Republican before we have someone from the far right shoved down our throats. You have four years, begin now to find or develop someone. I mean, even Sports Illustrated is already preparing to cover the 2008 Olympic games in China, you can never start too early.

Killing bugs

Still working the bugs out of the blog change, so if you see some weirdness in the next few days or weeks that's why. If you find any major problems just email me and let me know.

Cha...cha...cha...changes

If you're a regular visitor to this blog you'll have notice some changes, black background and a new title on top. I'm no longer going to force myself to post something every day. You may get some posts day after day, but if I don't feel like it you won't get anything.

That's it, maybe I'll get less Google hits for Lokelani since I've taken the word 'picture' out of the title.

Outlook...cloudy

Yesterday was clear as a bell on the golf course, and today it was clear and hot down at the Hilton Waikoloa for the USTA tennis I had to photograph but up here in Waimea it was solid clouds. This should be the view of Mauna Kea on my drive back to Kona.

Twenty one

John, Dan and another volunteer at the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai Golf Club. A very long day with the tournament going 21 holes on this last day, three extra sudden-death playoff holes before Dana Quigley pulled-off the win.


Click on the above image for a bigger size of this panoramic 180 degree image of the 18th green at Hualalai Golf Club. As you can see by the leaderboard Dana Quigley had the lead over Tom Watson as he played the 18th, but he blew a putt which forced the playoff. I was here on 18 waiting for Quigley to make his putt.

I've got blisters on my feet from covering the golf, schlepping all that equipment all over the golf course. Actually I got the blisters yesterday when the leaderboard was malfunctioning and wasn't being updated for 3-4 holes of play so I couldn't tell who was in the lead or by how much so I had to chase down a number of players on the course. Today was a little better but still 21 holes to cover is a lot.

Sushi to go

One last get together with Karen, this time at the sushi bar Izakaya-Kai in town. Andrea, Karen, Brian, me and Carly, photo courtesy of our waitress.


Karen and a gift bag from Andrea, some skeletons and candy for the road.


The sushi quickly disappearing.


One more toast of sake, and iced tea for me, before the night is over.

No photo today.

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Oh, the Places You'll Go! -- by Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy gal who'll decide where to go.


Karen's last day at work, that's her on the far left, having a last lunch with the rest of us taking this opportunity to freeload a lunch on the company. She's off to New Mexico so I gave her the Dr. Seuss book mentioned above with a little editing since it's written for a boy. Sure the Mexican food there is great but will she find an equivalent to Ba-Le?


An Andrea photo of feet, for those who are so inclined to foot fetishes.

Went later up to Kohala to the Kohala Book Shop and the tip of the day is Frank Morgan's recommendation that instead of using Amazon.com to use abebooks which has a much larger selection of books than Amazon.com has. So if you're a book junkie, give them a try.

Mr. Fixit day

No photos today, busy working on the car, got new tires yesterday, changed oil and oil filter today, new air filter and some new hold-down fasteners to replace worn ones on the trim. Also cleaned the battery terminals and protected them with electrical spray. My car has been having problems starting this past week, I don't think it's a weak battery, might be some other electrical problem but it has been starting okay now.

The end soon?

Shot some photos today but they were pretty blurry. I wasn't under the influence of anything but my camera may have been.

This blog may be ending soon. I started this blog on Feb. 15, 2004 so it's coming up on the one year anniversary in less than a month. It might survive but maybe not as a post a day blog. Or it may be retired and a new blog created.

Anyway, as I said the end may be near. Who knows what the future may hold.

Aloha,
Baron

Waning waves

A short little movie of the wave action in Kailua Bay, it's dying down a bit from the previous day but the walking track is still closed.

Waves aplenty

Folks watch the wave action near Honokohau Harbor. Beautiful weather with clear skies, light winds, snowcapped summits and lots of wave action due to a storm system west of the islands.

How big were the waves? This picture isn't a good representation, it's just a quick snap with my little PowerShot s500. When the tide was higher they were doing tow-in surfing off Spencer Beach Park, lots of surfers all along the Kona-Kohala coastline.

You can see some photos of a kayaker caught in the impact zone at Kawaihae Harbor on my SportsShooter.com page, for awhile anyway until I change the images out.

No POTD

One more for the snow

One last shot of Mauna Kea summit as seen from Waimea near the rodeo grounds. Not sure if I'll be able to make it up there for some snow fun.

Mauna Kea Snow

A view from the parking lot of our Waimea office looking at Mauna Kea summit with the Thelma Parker Memorial Public and School Library in the foreground.


Abbie on assignment on the backside above Waipio Valley with Mauna Kea in the back.

Busy workin'

All ahead, warp factor 0.000000000000001

Normal afternoon traffic heading into Kona on the upper highway. Feels like I'm back in Los Angeles but with only one lane instead of six to choose from.

Mauna Loa snow

A view of Mauna Loa summit from the Maka`eo walking path at Old Kona Airport Park. Good snowfall on Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, not sure if it snowed on Hualalai and if it did it probably melted before we could see it. You're looking over the flank of Mt. Hualalai with Mauna Loa behind it, very clear day and it will no doubt start melting the snow.

No POTD

Middle Earth has left the building

I guess it's official. I was in town covering the rainstorm that has hit the island and took a quick look at Middle Earth Bookstore. I hadn't been here since they were in their final month of business. The space was empty and looked pretty darn big without all the shelves in there. Sad to see the bookstore gone.

Listening to the sun

Yup, down at the walking path again as it's a new corporate walking challenge. I figured I'd get in a few miles during my split-shift work schedule today. I was listening to Podcasts whle making my way around the path to make the time go fast. I did have to stop to take a few sunset photos.

I'm on the West Hawaii Today team #3 this time.

Going over the edge

Carolyn works on her notes while out on assignment in Keauhou. We were there before the long drive down to South Point.


I told Carolyn she looked like a ghostwalker as she could walk on air. Click on the photo to see what's up with that.


Carolyn wearing my extra clothes that I keep in my car in case I have to jump in the ocean or get thrashed on assignment (I've had myself covered in mud or salt water while working so having a change of clothes is nice.). I said she looked funny in the clothes which reminded me of the lines from Pulp Fiction.

JULES AND VINCENT in their tee-shirts and swim trunks. They look a million miles away from the black-suited, bad-asses we first met.
THE WOLF Perfect. Perfect. We couldn't've planned this better. You guys look like...what do they look like, Jimmie?
JIMMIE Dorks. They look like a couple of dorks.
The Wolf and Jimmie laugh.
JULES Ha ha ha. They're your clothes, motherfucker.

Yeah, she's wearing my clothes and had to explain that over the cellphone when she told her boyfriend "I'm wearing Baron's clothes."

Jan 7 no POTD, busy

Busy with other things so no POTD.

Who's your daddy?

Sam checks me out getting a cellphone photo in the kitchen.


Sam and Daddy Max back in the kitchen. Had to make a stop to visit Max after work for a belated New Year's toast with the expensive tequila I had bought. Also as a return favor for the Pho when I was down and out with that nasty cold. I told him I didn't want to drop by until I was all healthy.

Power to the people, most of the time

Mela will like this seeing her coworkers in action.


Woke-up to find the power off in my apartment. It was like dejavu with the water problem, but I could hear heavy trucks outside so I figured it was a crew out there working. Sure enough even through my curtains I could see the HELCO trucks.

I went out and talked to the guys working and they said they knocked on doors to inform folks power would be out for at least a hour as they replaces some kind of power box outside. This is the same box that was rewired when I had power problems before.


So here the are, working on the box replacement. I could still surf the internet and such as I had backup batter power and a laptop. Not much else going on today.

Yeast, it's not just for baking anymore

Hilarious podcast recommended by Adam Curry is Yeast Radio. It's run by Madge Weignstein the self-proclaimed "Bloated Lesbian." The plunger podcast is about 14 minutes long but cracked me up.

This stuff is NSFW (Not Safe For Work) and should only be listened to by those who aren't easily offended. For those who are easily offended, let us know so we can watch you while you listen.

*Just in case you folks listen to Yeast Radio, realize that it's a comedy Podcast with a guy playing Madge. So don't get too caught-up in it.

No POTD

My day off, no Picture Of The Day. I found out yesterday that Abbie is planning on puttin my photo and recipe for a Hot Totty in North Hawaii News since she needs a recipe this week and is a little short on copy. It's fine with me as I've noticed that this blog page has been getting a number of hits from Google and Yahoo from folks looking how to put together a Hot Totty. Must be a lot of colds out there.

Here's a 'real' Hot Totty (or Hot Toddy depending on how you like to spell it) recipe.

Foggy Driving

Pretty foggy in the mauka areas of Kona and even foggier in Waimea. Click on the above image to see how visability was getting pretty bad as I was headed to Waimea. In Waimea you could see cars about 150 feet away, if they had their lights on.

Grey Day

A cold grey day down at Banyans surf spot for a keiki surf contest. Waves were about 1-2 feet, probably good for the little kids that would be in trouble with bigger sets but a bit small for the more experienced kids. Thunderheads were offshore moving in and it just started to sprinkle as I headed to my car.


A group of boys after their heat in the surf contest.

Earlier in the day was a housefire but the rest of the day was rather uneventful. The islands are supposed to get hit with some pounding rain, the island of Kauai got hit pretty hard with flooding and sinkholes that swallowed cars. We were pretty lucky.

Go back one space, comment bug

I actually shot some photos on the 1st for this blog, you'll see them in the previous gallery. Shots taken at Cactus Bar & Grill were after midnight, that isn't cheating is it?

Comments are not showing up for some strange reason, your comment is there Travis but a server fix is coming...hopefully.

*Update* Comments are now fixed.