Gas in Hilo

Gas in Hilo
Originally uploaded by MediaBaron.

Bayside Chevron in Hilo

G4 in Waiakea

G4 in Waiakea
Originally uploaded by MediaBaron.

Setting up William's PowerMac G4 in Waiakea.

Katrina Images

Some images from fellow SportsShooter.com member Vincent Laforet of the New York Times. He said it reminds him of how he felt after watching Apocalypse Now.

If you have the latest version of Safari on a Mac or another RSS reader you can view the latest news from the local paper in New Orleans at feed://rss.nola.com/nola_Times-Picayune/index.rss

The hurt doesn't start for a day or two

The floodwaters are still rising, people are dead, others are hurt, homeless, out of a job. Be thankful for what you have and donate to the Red Cross, just click on their logo here. Hurricane Katrina is really going to tax the resources of the country in that area.

I've covered floods on Oahu once and the day after a flood/disaster people talk freely, are happy to be alive and relate stories about the devestation. It isn't until a day or more later that it really sinks in as to what they've lost and need to rebuild. So don't let the TV interviews fool you when you hear someone calmly talking about how their house got wiped off the planet, it's going to hit them later and hit them hard.

Dawn and Drew lead the way

Drew Domkus, of the Dawn and Drew Show, has annouced that he's quitting his day job to do Podcasting full time. This mom & pop media vehicle has taken-off like a bat out of hell in the past year and it's good to see one of the pioneers to see some of the fruits of their labors.

Katrina and the Wave

Click on the above graphic to go to some live webcams in New Orleans. Katrina will indeed create waves with storm surges that may very well devestate New Orleans. Hawaii being a similar tourist based area people here can feel for folks there. I should have urged my mom to buy travel insurance, she told me a few months ago she was going to an AARP Convention in New Orleans in September, I did try to stress to her that it was going to be hurricane season and forecasters were predicting a busy season. She's already planning an alternate trip as she expects the AARP Convention to not happen, it's going to cost some money to change those tickets.

And is there any connection to the Orek Vacuum Cleaner commercials on CNN where Orek claims his vacuum cleaner has the same power as a "Category Two Hurricane."

National Hurricane Center lInk to track Katrina

CNN is predicting $70/barrel of crude oil when markets open tomorrow due to the shut-down of many oil rigs in the gulf due to the hurricane. Might want to gas up before prices rise yet again.

*UPDATE* Crap, no prediction needed. It's already Monday in some places and oil is indeed over $70/barrel.

Flower Power

Lots of orchids at the Kona Daifukuji Orchid Show/Sale.


Orchids for sale.


More orchids. Amazing to see all the different types.


This bumble bee kept taking in the nectar on the back of the orchid flowers on the stems. It must have had a field day with all those flowers there.

What? No free chinaware or toy fire truck with that?

I remember as a kid when the gas stations used to beg bribe drivers to pull in for a fill-up (actually they did the filling up, you stayed in your car). They would check the oil, tires, windshield fluid, wash windows and give away free stuff like drinking glasses, plates, toy fire trucks and other goodies. Now when I pull in Chevron to pump my own gas I see that they have a toy car covered in pretend mud that they offer to sell you.

Wait till Labor Day weekend when gas prices will be at a record high and people will take road trips. It's pretty easy to predict that we'll be seeing segments on the national TV news of drivers either stuck in traffic or at gas stations asking about fuel prices. TV is so predictable sometimes.

Brian turns high-carb

Remember when the bad guys in the Superman movie were trapped in a a flat panel in space? Well the same has happened to Brian, but he's in a sheet cake in Orange County.

Actually he sent me this cameraphone image of some work shindig where they were honoring their six new hires by putting their images on the cake. I can just see Brian playing tough-guy walking up to people saying, "you wanna piece of me?"

Take meds, apply heat, relax, repeat

I've had a killer headache for the past week or so, felt like a brain tumor. My doc, on Saturday told me it's a strained muscle in my neck that has fellow muscles spasming along with it. So yes, it's official...I'm a spaz. Anyway she wrote me a script for some muscle relaxant meds, anti-inflamatory meds and recommended a heat pack or balm.

I got some Tiger Balm but it's kind of reminds me of that old-man BenGay smell. So I found this ThermaCare stuff in the store and it rocks! It's an air-activated heat pack that lasts 8 hours, no smelly balms. I just wouldn't recommend walking out in public with the heat wrap on your neck unless you want to look like you had been attacked by a rabid dog as it looks like a big bandage.

Funny, during the kayaking my neck/head didn't hurt at all so I think exercise keeps the spasming muscles distracted or something. I'm finally feeling some relief today. Whew!

K2 - Kayak Trip #2

Another trip across Kealakekua Bay on a kayak trip, this time with Dawn from Kohala. The secrets to avoiding the crowds of kayakers on a Sunday? Leave early since kayak stores often don't open till 7:30am, go on a gray rainy day as it looks uninviting to visitors. As it turns out the gray day was just for show as it didn't rain on us kayaking and provided cool paddling.


Halfway across the bay. If you notice it looks like Dawn is wearing a wristwatch on her left arm but it's not. She told me she gets motion-sickness (in cars, planes, on the ocean, in the ocean and probably in outer space should she get a ride on the space shuttle). So I let her test my Relief Band which you can get at http://www.aeromedix.com. And it worked! She didn't get sick on the way over or back across the bay even with the rolling swells on the way back. Amazing gizmo.


We were the first kayaks on the shore and it took a bit longer for some others to show up but not a big crowd at all which was nice.


When you pull-up to shore you'll find this plaque in the shallows.


Besides the nice trip across the bay I had another motive for going back, a geocache site. Captain Cook's Monumental Cache is not far from where we pulled up in our kayaks and I wanted to drop the Lost Cheesehead Travel Bug into the cache as I had held onto it for over two months hoping to take it to Oahu.


Another shot of inside the geocache before I added some goodies.


The Captain Cook monument. It's not often you get to see it up close. You either have a 45-60 minute hike down to it or a nice one-mile kayak across the bay.


The engraving on the monument. As Dawn notes the error where it says Captain Cook discovered these islands. Ah...if he discovered these islands who were all those people that came out to greet him in outrigger canoes?


Another shot of the monument from the landing of the jetty. The large engraved stone on the right (front of the monument) reads:

THIS JETTY
WAS ERECTED BY
THE
COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
IN MEMORY OF
CAPTAIN JAMES COOK R.N.
THE DISCOVERER
OF BOTH
AUSTRALIA AND THESE ISLANDS



Yellow Tangs in Kealakekua Bay.


Click on the above image for an underwater video. Filesize is 3.2MB so if you're on dial-up you may want to pass on this. Also it uses the new H.264 QuickTime codec.

*UPDATE* I'm posting this on the blog itself from the comments so it gets Googled in case people are looking for the answer to this question.

Is the land on which the Captain Cook Monument sits sovereign British land?

Short answer about the monument being on British soil - NO.
Longer answer - National Historic Register shows land in the Kealakekua Bay Historical District is owned by the State and Private ownership. So this was not a definitive answer so I contacted the Kona Historical Society. Land was given by Cleghorn and Likelike to Major James Hay Wodehouse, "and his heirs and assigns In Trust however for the following uses and purposes and for none other that is to say in trust to keep and maintain on granted premises a monument in memory of Captain Cook..." Per the deed of conveyance (copy held at the Kona Historical Society.
Even Longer answer - There is no record showing that Wodehouse or his heirs ever gave the land to the British Government. So the land is still owned by his heirs and with current international laws the British Government can not obtain title to the land.

How did this rumor start?? Seems that the Tax assessor sent the King of England a notice of Real Property Assessment back in 1938. Subsequently, a letter of apology was sent from the Board of Tax Commissioners, Third Taxation Division.
This information is from a copy of a letter to the editor of the Tribune Herald who ran the story, I suspect in November of 1954 (but that is my guess based on the letter.)

That's it. No British soil in Kealakekua Bay. Mystery solved thanks to the Archivist at the Kona Historical Society.

-- Dawn

Going up, up, up

Maybe my next car will have to be a Smart Car to get 60mpg.

Kayaking in Kealakekua Bay

Finally made it kayaking! Headed across Kealakekua Bay to the north side with Travis and Robin who had her own kayak stored for a year without using it. These kayaks have gone begging to be in the water and it was a great time. Smooth conditions, cool weather and clear water. A one mile trip each way across the bay. I let Robin use my Canon s500 in a waterproof housing for photos of fish though I almost regretted it as rescue choppers zoomed into the bay in a rescue operation. I think was actually an exercise after watching them. More kayaking in the future for sure.

This post is brought to you by the letter 'B'

Blog, Beer, Bubba's Boilers, Birthday, Blasted


Mike puts on some specs to raise his IQ a few points before dropping it with a round of Bubba's Boilers at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. It's his birthday and I'm the designated driver so birthday drinks were welcomed.


The real owner of the super smart specs.


A birthday present from Carolyn to Mike. Are you happy to see her or is that a shrimp in your pocket?


Carolyn gets a cameraphone pic of Mike and his shrimpy friend.


Carolyn and Joe chimp the shrimp photo.


Then it was Irish Car Bomb time for Mike.


Downing the ICB.


One more birthday toast for the night.

Pre Bday Beers

Robin plays fan club to Mike's karaoke performance at the Parrot Lounge. Only a few hours till his birthday.

Rocky coastline

The rocky coastline at Mahukona in North Kohala.

Another sunset, another going away get-together

Another Kona sunset, this time from Huggo's On The Rocks as we bid our graphic artist Sunny aloha. As typical in Kona when that last bit of sun drops below the horizon people actually applaud it's performance.


Toasting Sunny who's wearing the lei.


Some sunset pupu for us like nachos in the front and prime rib behind.


Digging into the pupu and drinks.


More toasts.


Some people had a bit too many of these.

Sunny's last day

Sunny's last day
Originally uploaded by MediaBaron.

Sunny's going away at Huggo's on the Rocks

Bread without the carbs

A fresh loaf of low-carb bread that's good for you as it has lots of fiber and ground flaxseeds. I think this loaf was my best yet, I think I was putting too much Splenda in it before so the yeast got too active and made for some holey bread. I've also gotten good at slicing straight even pieces.

An itch to swim?

A hugh ant super-highway down at Napoopoo Beach where I photographed tbe start of a a 4.25 mile swim to Honaunau Bay. These ants were streaming by the millions along the seawall, I had warn people about the put their foot up on the wall or lean against it.


Napoopoo Beach where the start of the swim is supposed to occur. A pretty nice day for a swim.

Aloha Ali

The group gathered to bid Ali farewell at the Sheraton Keauhou.


More folks


Even more folks.


Ali hits the dance floor.


Ali treated us all to shots.


And later he's feeling no pain. He will be missed at the paper in Kona.

The Last Sunset

Can you ever really get tired of those Kona sunsets? A view from the Sheraton Keauhou Resort at the oceanside bar where after sunset you can see manta rays doing somersaults in the ocean.

A group of us went out feting our departing circulation manager who will be going to our Las Vegas paper. This was his last Kona sunset for awhile. More pictures to be posted later.

Ali's last nite in Kona

Ali's last nite in Kona
Originally uploaded by MediaBaron.

Drinks at the Sheraton Keauhou.


Ron, Ali and Tracy. More photos TK.

Rings of fire

At the site of a 25K+ acre brushfire one of the tree stumps along the fire line reveals a tough past. From the looks of the rings exposed by fire crews cutting it down it appears that this wasn't the first time the tree had seen harsh times in the Waikoloa area. Life must have been tough growing in high winds, little water and past fires. It finally succumbed to a chain saw.


A black and white version of the area.

Gone Fishing

Assignment today was spending the day aboard a charter fishing boat for the Hawaii International Billfish Tournament


Our new sportswriter Brendan wishes his sister a happy birthday about halfway through our nine-hour day aboard the Rod Bender in the HIBT.

A very calm day motoring around off the Kona Coast for a day of deep sea fishing. We were assigned to cover the Malindi Game Fishing Club of Kenya with their three generations of anglers on board. A great group and they tagged and released two blue marlins to get into third place on the leaderboard on the first of five days of fishing.


Conditions on the ocean were very smooth due to the lack of wind which meant increased vog in Kona from Kilauea Volcano. Not that it was hot on the boat since we were motoring around the whole time providing a nice breeze on deck, in the cabin it was air conditioned too. Cloud cover provided relief from the sun which did come out a number of times.

Click on the Cellphone Images stuff on the sidebar on the right to view a short little video of the senior member of the club kicking back in the fighting chair as we motor off the Kona Coast.