Life in Paradise

For sale

2012-01-28T15:31:00.003-10:00

Only driven by a little old lady on Sundays

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/cto/2823428609.html

Aloha!

Hawaii-50

2012-01-17T20:56:00.002-10:00

How about Hawaii-5 No. I'm done. I live in Hawaii. I wanted to like the show. I TRIED to like the show. I'm sorry but for the most part the story lines have been so ridiculous that I can't watch it anymore. Not to mention the suspension of belief required to accept what is happening most of the time is beyond my capacity to say "um yeah, that could work"

Aloha!

Holey Moley

2012-01-12T15:44:00.002-10:00

Is it just me or are the holes in saltine crackers larger than they used to be? Now butter or peanut butter squishes through like a Play-Doh press.

The conspiracy theorist in me thinks it's intentional. If you have that much more space there's that much less dough used in each cracker. Less dough in cracker = more dough in corporate coffers.

Aloha!

Unclean

2012-01-12T00:13:00.002-10:00

The other day Tsuma-san and I went to our favorite ramen shop after a run. Good plan, run for an hour and then wreck it in 20 minutes.

Anyway, they were really happy to see us and everybody was Happy New Year wishes all around. They usually comp us a couple of pieces of gyoza to go along with our ramen. This time was no different. In fact they were so full of the New Year's spirit they comped us two orders of gyoza, 8 pieces. Usually Tsuma-san can finish up all the gyoza but the problem was, since the place was slow, like nobody else in there slow, they just hung around our table and we talked.

So that left me in a bit of a pickle. Either explain that I'm a vegetarian (which I've tried to do once or twice before but wasn't able to get my point across) or eat some gyoza. I opted for the latter and over the course of dinner ended up eating 3 pieces of gyoza. The dipping sauce Tsuma-san had mixed up was really spicy so I didn't taste much of anything but hot. It didn't suddenly make me want to start eating meat again. They must have really been happy to see us because a little later they also brought out a plate with a couple slices of char siu on it but I didn't eat any.

After dinner I didn't feel any different. My stomach wasn't doing flip-flops or anything. Didn't feel like Superman either. Just same ole, same ole.

Before that the last time I can remember deliberately eating meat might have been almost 10 years ago. Was in a bar with the guys and somebody had a bunch of opihi. I tried one just for the experience. Tasted like a clam BTW.

Aloha!

Just say GMO

2012-01-09T08:44:00.000-10:00

Running near the Hawaii Convention Center I mused out loud "Where did all these pasty white people come from?"
Round the corner "Hawaii Convention Center Welcomes the American Farm Bureau Federation."
"Oh."
I was half tempted to run home and make a sign that reads "NO TO GMO" and "Monsanto go home!"
Little known fact; Hawaii is the world's largest producer of GMO seed corn.

Aloha!

It's all in the cards

2011-12-29T10:49:00.006-10:00

Birthday Cards that is

Mahalo!

Total win!

2011-12-27T21:03:00.000-10:00

Aloha!

Rock and Roll

2011-12-27T19:47:00.000-10:00

A couple of weeks ago Tsuma-san and I had dinner with another couple at their place. We enjoyed it and it turns out they are really into Rockband. Really into it. The had a drum kit, 2 different guitars, a bass, a keyboard and a microphone.

We played Rockband for several songs, Tsuma-san and I trading off between the keyboard and bass and they played the guitar and drums. Us on super n00b mode, them on awesome stadium rocker mode. It was fun and the game has a pretty quick learning curve. One thing I did notice is you pick a song that you like and know pretty well but then you spend all your effort trying to get it right you don't really get to enjoy the song itself.

Anyway I told you that story so I could tell you this one. We went to Christmas morning Mass and an idea occurred to me. The Catholic Church should make a bunch of their songs available for free to people who play Rockband and Guitar Hero and the like. It would be a the best PR they've had in a long time. Just so long as they don't change the words every couple of years.

Aloha!

Jetta sighting

2011-12-20T23:03:00.000-10:00

Yup. I was walking with a friend of mine in Iwilei after finishing lunch and Tsuma-san's Jetta goes driving by. Same color and dents. It had some new left front end damage but it was definitely her car. I told the guy I was with "See ya!" and went running after it.

It pulled into the Lowe's parking lot as I came running around the corner of the building. I think I may have spooked whoever was driving by the way I was looking around because they backed out of the parking stall they had just pulled into and drove off. But not before I got the license plate number. In hindsight I should have causally strolled through the parking lot but I was pretty amped.

Whip out the cell phone and dial 911
"911 Police, Fire, Ambulance?"
"Police"
Get transfer to HPD
"WIFE'S CAR....STOLEN A YEAR AGO...JUST DROVE BY ME!"
After an excruciating 10 minute conversation where I have to go over the original theft details and what just happened the dispatcher finally get to where she says something along the lines of "...what would you like us to do?" I replied that I want them to send a cruiser to where ever the car is registered now and get my car back. She comes back with "I'm not sure we can do that..." At which point I said, and I quote "I would think this is what you guys would consider to be A GOOD LEAD." Grrrrrr. She then asks me if I'd like to speak with an officer. Yes. I'll be out in front of the Iwilei Costco. We end the call and I walk over to Costco. About 10 minutes later I get a call from a HPD officer and he asks me if I'm still following the car. Facepalm. "No I'm not following the car. I was walking and it drove by me. I last saw it heading Ewa bound on Nimitz Hwy." "Ok we'll drive around in the area and call you if we find any thing." Yeah, thanks, you've been helpful. Shit the car could have been repainted and posted on Craigslist by now.

The next morning I called HPD, non-emergency. I had pulled out my copy of the original police report and gave the incident number to the guy who answered the phone. For some reason he says the he's not finding it so he looks it up by the old license plate number. I spend another 10 minutes telling the whole fricking story all over again and then he says "Ok, I'll transfer you to Auto Theft Detail" I'm starting to slap the wrinkles off of my forehead. Before he transfers me I ask him what incident number he has so I can give it to auto theft detail. He reads me the number and it's the same number on the report I have and gave to him. Forehead slap, Go!

I get to tell the whole story again to some guy in Auto Theft Detail before he says ok, I'll transfer you. Slappity slap. The phone rings a couple of times and I end up in some voicemail box. Slap. I leave the incident number and my cell phone and hang up. grrrr

A couple of hours later I get a call from an officer and I TELL THE WHOLE DAMN STORY AGAIN. I was getting pretty tired of repeating it but at least this time I was telling it to the guy who might be able to do something about it. But judging by the way he said that it's on his way home and he'll drive by to take a look and see if he sees the car I'm not too optimistic.

While I'm waiting for HPD to do something, anything, there's a website run by the judicial system that you can search and one of the criteria is license plate number. You'll only get a hit if the person/vehicle has been involved in any sort of court action. Lo and behold the person who the car is now registered to has picked up two tickets since Tsuma-san's car was stolen. One of the tickets has been turned over to collections. What a surprise. The guy is a real loser that society is going to be paying for for as long as he can fog a mirror. Two pages of court records. One of which is was being involved in a chop-shop selling stolen motorcycles. Not saying that this is the guy who stole the car but the circumstantial evidence is pretty overwhelming.

So other than having the name of the loser who stole the car there's not much more I can do for now. The chop-shop operation he was involved in previously was out in Waipahu. Unfortunately it's not exactly an area I can easily detour through on my daily routine. HPD isn't saying who or where the car is registered so unless anybody knows somebody who can run a plate in Hawaii I'm kind of at a dead end again.

Does St. Anthony find stolen things? The Catholics should drop all this forgiveness stuff and get a Patron Saint of Smiting Thine Enemy. The pews would be packed.

Aloha!

Winter solstice

2011-12-20T22:27:00.001-10:00

One year to go! I'm nervously excited but not scared. Not yet anyway. Just to be on the safe side we'll go to Christmas Mass.

Aloha!

Hot Tamales

2011-12-03T19:05:00.001-10:00

Costco has green chili and cheese tamales. Usually we're not much for the prepackaged nuke and eat type of stuff but I give these 2 thumbs up.

Aloha!

Pollyanna

2011-11-28T12:30:00.001-10:00

Post 'em while it's still on sale.

Aloha!

I had it

2011-11-19T23:57:00.001-10:00

and then I lost it.

I played a perfect game in Hearts. Shot the Moon 4 times in a row. I've gotten 3 in a row a number of times but getting the 4th one is the hard one. Since you don't pass any cards on the 4th hand you have no way to improve your hand. I went to take a screen shot of the final score and accidentally hit Ctrl-Break instead of Ctrl-PrntScrn :(( So you're just going to have to take my word for it.

Aloha!

Dammit

2011-11-19T08:23:00.001-10:00

Target doesn't carry Carnation Chocolate Malted Milk anymore so now I'm FORCED to get my fix at the golden asshole.

Aloha!

Say what?

2011-11-17T22:27:00.001-10:00

So for reason I'm not going to go into I found myself in need of 4 gift cards. The easy way out would be to buy 4 Ala Moana Mall gift cards. That way the recipient could use them at any store they wanted and I only have to make one stop.

Except Ala Moana Mall now has a $3.00 service charge on each gift card. Say what? Are you high? So I switched to Plan B and picked up a gift card at 4 different retailers, 3 of which have a store at the mall but they also have multiple locations around Oahu so odds are probably better than 75% the cards will be used somewhere other than the mall. 100% odds the 4th card will be used somewhere other than the mall. 100% odds that the cards will be used at retailers I support too. If I had gotten the Ala Moana cards who knows, somebody might have used them at Abercrombie and Fitch or the Disney store or some other equally lame location.

It's a General Growth Property so acting like a-holes at the expense of their retailers comes naturally. That's some fine short term thinking. I wonder if they share directors with some of the airlines.

Aloha!

APEC

2011-11-16T10:19:00.001-10:00

Friday I made my sign so I would be ready for the anti-APEC rally and march on Saturday.

Cool huh? Backside read:

THIS IS

NOT THE

CHANGE

I WAS

HOPING

FOR

Walked down to the protest meeting location about an hour before the march was supposed to start. Until I got to Old Stadium Park in Moiliili, where the protest was starting, I felt kind of silly carrying the sign down King St. alone.

The protesters themselves were a pretty mixed bunch. A group of Vietnamese who have some beef with China, some Native Hawaiian rights activists, a Japanese farmers co-op, some anti-GMO people, some OWS, and other assorted rabble.

For the most part I stood along the sidewalk and sign waved at cars along with a bunch of other people until the march was ready to get under way. The organizers passed out green wristbands with phone numbers to the ACLU on the chance anybody got arrested. News crews from NBC and TBS came by, shot some video real quick and left. As far as I saw they didn't talk to anybody and frankly didn't look real happy to be there in the first place. Maybe the C team gets to shoot protest video and the A and B teams get the world leaders.

Anyway off we went, about 300 protesters and about 100 police officers. There were several plainclothes cops in aloha shirts w/ identifying arm badge, some cops in uniform riding in cars (and video taping) and a whole phalanx of bicycle cops in yellow t-shirts. One good thing (probably the only good thing) about having all those cops is they stopped traffic as we crossed intersections which helped keep the march together. Seeing how Saturday was also the worst day for traffic it probably helped keep the road rage down as cars had to sit through lights as we went through.

The plan was to try and get as close to Hale Koa hotel as possible. Since we had run near the area the night before I knew there wasn't a snowball's chance in Hell of getting anywhere near Hale Koa. We marched about as far as Wailana Coffee House. Ala Moana BLVD was closed and there was an 8' high chain link fence running down the center of the road. The fence was also covered in black cloth so you couldn't see anything going on on the other side. Or maybe the cloth was there so the 1% wouldn't have their day spoiled by seeing us. The bicycle cops all lined up between us and the fence with their bikes turned to form an additional obstacle. At this point I really have to wonder just what they were expecting. To call the number of police assigned to our peaceful protest overkill would be an understatement. Easy money overtime. Even though the road was closed they still scolded you if you got off the sidewalk.

We did some chanting and I tried (but not very hard) to get the lady with the megaphone to do the Woodstock FISH cheer but to no avail. After milling around for a while we marched over to the small triangle park were Kaulakaula Ave and Kuhio Ave meet at the beginning of Waikiki. More chanting, a few speeches and what not and then we walked back to Old Stadium Park. And that was that. I didn't stick around for long. Called Tsuma-san for a ride called it a night.

Most of the news coverage was pretty much "rah-rah-rah, look, Hawaii's on the world stage." The protests received scant coverage. A little bit of a letdown.

The OWS movement is still camping out but the city counsel is supposed to vote on an ordnance tomorrow that gives the police the power to confiscate property on a sidewalk if it hasn't moved in 24 hours. Basically it's an anti-homeless/anti-OWS bill. I don't know if the ACLU will fight it if it passes. I'm not feeling very optimistic right now.

Aloha!

Motorcade

2011-11-12T21:56:00.001-10:00

Motorcade, motorcade, drives where ever a motorcade drives.

As you may or may not know APEC took place in Honolulu last weekend. Friday night Tsuma-san and I went out for a run. Normally we would drive to DH or Ala Moana BP but since traffic has been majorly hosed around town we decided to start our run from the house instead.

We immediately encountered lots of cops and military all the way down Wilder Ave. Obviously some body's motorcade was going to be coming through. It seemed odd to me that you would bring a motorcade through surface streets but maybe being that it was still earlier in the evening it was easier to close a bunch of streets than the freeway. Or maybe they just wanted to keep people guessing. Whatever the reason Tsuma-san and I decided to change our run so we could see the motorcade. Quick tip - If the police haven't even closed the road yet but are still getting situated you still have a good 20~30 minutes before the action. We ran down Wilder and then stood around for a bit. Then decided to run back up Wilder where we stood around for a bit. Then we crossed the street and ran back down Wilder and stood around for a bit before the police started actually closing the road to traffic. There were actual HPD and lots of guys in military uniforms. The guys in military uniforms were National Guard. The were still business like but not near as standoffish as the HPD officers. Once the actual closure was in effect you couldn't even cross the road on foot. I saw a couple of people get scolded for trying. It seemed a little extreme. We were close enough to a cop we could hear his radio so had some idea of where the "package", as they referred to it, was. You definitely don't want people trying to run across the road when the VIP motorcade comes because they sure ain't stopping to exchange insurance information if something happens. They came buzzing by at a pretty good clip. Couple of cops on motorcycles, some vans with lots of antennas, a couple of dark Mercedes, one with little flags on the front quarterpanels, followed by more vans with antennas and an ambulance and cops cars bringing up the rear.

They still waited another minute before opening up the road. I asked one of the cops who it was. I had asked before hand but they wouldn't say. Dmitry Medvedev. Actually the cop didn't say Dmitry Medveded, he said "The President of Russia."

We continued our run over Keeamoku and down towards Ala Moana BP (which the security forces were using as a staging area) and traffic was completely hosed. I know we got home faster than the people sitting in cars.

On the way home I stopped by (de)occupy honolulu* to find out where and when the APEC protests were.

Aloha!

*even though they are part of the larger OWS they named themselves (de)occupy as a nod towards the history of Hawaii

Clairvoyant

2011-11-02T18:20:00.001-10:00

Or just confused. Monday around noon I was talking to a guy about the NFL games over the weekend and how many of my picks went the other way. St Louis v New Orleans, Carolina v Minnesota etc. Yeah Philly stomped Dallas. Anyway at some point during the conversation I said something along the lines of "San Diego losing to KC". Here's the weird part; SD v KC was the Monday night game and hadn't even kicked off yet. Sure 'nuf KC beat SD outright even though SD was a 3.5 point favorite. 'Natch I had picked SD in my pick em pool.

Aloha!

OWS II

2011-10-25T01:05:00.001-10:00

Went down to the OWS protest movement again on Saturday for a couple of hours. It was much smaller than last Saturday and there was no march through Waikiki.

I spent an hour or so holding signs out along Ala Moana BLVD with a couple of other protesters. Didn't get a whole lot of reaction either way. Some people honked in support but not a lot. At one point a minivan in the center lane began to shout something at us just as the light they were waiting at turned green. I don't know what he was saying but I know it wasn't encouragement. By sheer serendipity a car in the right lane began furiously honking in support and completely shut him down. We all had a good laugh over it.

After a while we went back to the HQ and ate. I had brought a dozen hard boiled eggs down with me that I stuck in a cooler when I first arrived but couldn't find any salt so didn't eat any. No mayonnaise either so I had a pretty bland tomato sandwich. I hung around for a little while longer talking to people before bicycling home.

Monday evening I walked down to Thomas Square to hold signs. They had decided to move from Ala Moana Park to Thomas Square due to it being a dog friendly park. I liked it better because probably 90% of the vehicle traffic going by in the evening is people going home from work. We got a lot more support from passing motorists in an hour, before it got dark and the rush hour tapered off, than we did in a couple of hours along Ala Moana BLVD. Not to mention it's within walking distance.

Monday I stuck around for the General Assembly meeting. One of the problems with a quasi-leaderless movement that is trying to be all inclusive is, well you have to include everybody. And everybody has an opinion. And a lot of it is, to put it bluntly, stupid. After they went over the ground rules for discussion they opened it up to proposals. Right out of the gate some lady had a problem with people taking pictures at the protest and general assembly meeting and wanted to see if there was a way to stop it. If you have a leader they would just say, "No, stupid proposal. Next." Instead you have a 25 minute discussion blab blab blab before adopting some stupidly worded proposal that if you're taking pictures and if the person you took a picture of asks you to delete it would you be so kind as to delete it. Discussion on two more proposals that weren't much better took the better part of an hour before I decided I'd heard enough and walked home.

I'm going to continue to support OWS and sign wave when I get the chance. Or maybe work behind the scenes to make sure they have condiments or something but I doubt I'm going to hang around listening to too much more of what I heard tonight.

Aloha!

High on the hog

2011-10-23T16:13:00.002-10:00

Don't you just hate it when you've been good for a week, managed to knock off a pound or two and then somebody comes along and fattens you up again?

Tsuma-san had some relatives from Japan blow through town last week. One of her rich cousins was getting married.

Monday we (about 15 of us) had dinner at China Garden. It seems like more and more I like Chinese food less and less but they made a vegetable chow mein for me that was pretty good.

Tuesday about 10 of us had dinner at Hy's Steakhouse. I tried to get out of it because last time I had dinner at a steakhouse I swore off them. Not that I really give a shit what other people eat, because I don't, but being a vegetarian in a steakhouse just sucks. But the family really wanted me to come so I obliged. It was a better experience than I was expecting. What I didn't eat in steak I made up in Tawny Port

Wednesday (wedding day) we had dinner for 19 in a private room at Hau Tree Lanai. Mmmm Tawny Port

Thursday we had dinner for 19 at Michel's. What? Tawny Port for dinner again?!

They definitely dropped some major $$$$$ all around.

Aloha!

OWS

2011-10-17T08:33:00.003-10:00

I went down to the demonstration to get my fair share of abuse. Not really...about the abuse I mean. I did go down to the OWS protest. Let me step back for a moment.

Thursday night we went for a run at Ala Moana BP. Tsuma-san and Laura are in marathon training mode so planned on running much farther than I was. My foot is better but I'm not about to test it by seeing how fast/how far I can run. Anyway, there was a small group of OWS people at Ala Moana. Since I finished much earlier I walked over and talked to a few of them. That's when I found out about the Saturday rally.

So Saturday I rode my bicycle down to Ala Moana BP and joined up with the crowd. It was bigger than I expected. I estimated 200+ and later on the news said about 300. Once I arrived I immediately wished I had made a clever sign to carry with me. Next time. My favorite was the lady wearing the sign that read "I'm 65 and I'm pissed". Other faves: "Lobbying equals Bribery" "I'll believe corporations are people when Texas executes one"

The protesters hung around Ala Moana BP for a little while and then started a walk through Waikiki to Kapiolani Park. Lots of chanting going on the whole time.
We got sold out! BANKS GOT BAILED OUT!
Show me what democracy looks like! THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS LIKE!!
Who's streets?! OUR STREETS!!

The police were there but real low key. They were wearing untucked aloha shirts (still had a bulge on one hip). The only distinguishing feature was a blaze orange arm patch with a sewn in patch that looked like a HPD badge. The only time they made themselves know was when the march stalled or stopped along the route they would make sure everybody moved to one side of the sidewalk.

Didn't see a whole lot of reaction from the people in Waikiki. Bewilderment on the faces of the Japanese tourists and not much else from the rest. Some passionate horn honking from a couple of cars but they were the exception.

Having my bike with me turned out to me a bit of a hassle. I walked with it but felt, for lack of a better word, felt large with in in a crowd that was 99% (no pun intended) pedestrian.

The news was there. I watched the coverage on a couple of stations and it seemed pretty reasonable. Unfortunately you can't really control who gets in front of the camera. Some good comments and some derp.

I'm looking forward to the next one.

Aloha!

Perfect timing

2011-10-06T18:17:00.002-10:00

Immediately after A-rod struck out an ice cream truck goes by outside. The crowd shots of dejected Yankees fans set to a background music of the happy plink plink plink tune coming from the ice cream truck was too perfect.

Aloha!

New retirement program

2011-09-19T19:00:00.002-10:00

So I'm in this NFL pick-em league (online, against the spread, must pick every game, no money) and so far I'm 13-16 ATS in week 1 and 10-16 ATS in week 2. Been burned by the Eagles in both weeks too. So anybody have 20K they want to bankroll me with?

Aloha!

past performance is not a guarantee of future results, individual results may vary, involves risk and possible loss of principal, short the Seahawks

My Team

2011-09-02T22:46:00.002-10:00

Such as it is:
Starters:
Philip Rivers (SD - QB)
Anquan Boldin (Bal - WR)
Sidney Rice (Sea - WR)
Julio Jones (Atl - WR)
Chris Johnson (Ten - RB)
Steven Jackson (StL - RB)
Vernon Davis (SF - TE)

Bench:
Brandon Jacobs (NYG - RB)
Michael Crabtree (SF - WR)
Matt Cassel (KC - QB)
Denarius Moore (Oak - WR)
Lance Kendricks (StL - TE)
Kendall Hunter (SF - RB)

Kickers
Alex Henery (Phi - K)

Defense/Special Teams
Baltimore (Bal - DEF)

I'm ok with it, not thrilled but ok. Only problem right I have right now is both Rivers and Cassel have a bye on the same week(6)and I wish the third WR was a WR/TE flex position.

Aloha!

Greek Yogurt

2011-07-26T15:17:00.000-10:00

So kept hearing about how good this stuff is for you so I decided to pick some up. And what do you know, they're right. If you put enough Carnation Chocolate Malted in it it tastes just like chocolate pudding.

Aloha!

Habit

2011-07-14T21:36:00.001-10:00

That's the only reason I can think of for why I would be checking for an expiration date on a jar of hot kim chee.

Aloha!

Having a bad hair day?

2011-07-09T20:09:00.005-10:00

Cry me a river. At least you're not having a bicycle helmet + full sun + no hair day.

Aloha!

Suspicions confirmed

2011-06-23T08:31:00.004-10:00

Good thing we didn't pick up chips and the like on our errand run the other day.

According to this study they are about the worst food for weight gain. Of course you kind of knew that but this paints a pretty bad picture for potatoes. Cheese fared better than I would have expected and I wish rice would have been listed.

Aloha!

You can't always buy what you want

2011-06-21T21:48:00.003-10:00

But you can buy what you need. Tsuma-san and I went to Costco, Wal-Mart* and Foodland (in that order) and didn't buy ONE item that we hadn't planned on picking up ahead of time. No chips, beer, candy, etc. I guess we're so accustomed to picking up additional stuff that actually felt kind of odd not coming home with extras.

Aloha!

*I hate shopping there but they recently remodeled their Keeaumoku St. store and sent out free $5 dollar gift cards. Didn't even need to give an e-mail address to activate it. Our total after subtracting the gift card was $6.04.

Your reward

2011-05-29T20:21:00.008-10:00

for being patient. I'm using the term reward loosely.

Our trip to Japan in 7 minutes 17 seconds. The music I recorded in a Japanese department store called Loft. It was getting close to Mother's Day and they had it on endless play near the card section. I didn't get a recording of it but, I guess what you would call their theme, was playing outside set to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

You might want to put your mouse over the pause button in case you want to take a better look at some of the pictures or the annotations go by too quickly. Also the volume control is right next to the pause/play button and Thank You Ma Ma is a bit of an earworm.

The little bird bath looking thing that the crow is splashing around in is for washing your hands before going up to pray at the temple.

Kind of a interesting trick of the light/lens flare in the first picture of the Buddha.

I marked this video as unlisted but feel free to send the link to family and friends. I didn't want just any YouTube bozo stumbling across it. Only bozos I already know :)

So without further ado Japan 2011

Aloha!

Hello Blog

2011-05-09T17:25:00.002-10:00

Been over a month since I've been here. 1/2 that time was in Japan so I have an excuse. Lots of stories/pics but this week and next are shaping up to be pretty busy too so you'll just have to have patience.

Aloha!

Can you guess?

2011-04-07T21:09:00.004-10:00

One of these words is not like the others. One of these words just doesn't belong.

Did you guess which word is not like the others?

Aloha!

WWF

2011-04-02T20:46:00.001-10:00

Get on these guys mailing list and you never need to buy address labels or scratch paper again.

Aloha!

e-mail

2011-03-14T22:56:00.001-10:00

In case you didn't get the e-mail my e-mail is hosed up. Thanks for nothing Hummingbird Hosting. I'm in the process of transferring to another hosting provider but it will take a couple of days.

Aloha!

Funny game

2011-03-12T23:37:00.003-10:00

Played golf last weekend for the first time in a while and did terrible. Shot a 106 on a pretty easy course. Put my driver away after the 6th hole because I couldn't hit a fairway. Couldn't putt. A bad round all around.

So when they called me earlier in the week to see if I wanted to play this weekend I said I'll pass until I get some time at the driving range. Later in the week they asked me again because they needed a 4th so I reluctantly said ok.

Today I could do ~~no wrong~~ almost no wrong. Shot an 85 on a slightly more difficult course. Left me scratching my head and wondering where the hell did that come from? A 21 stroke swing in one week.

Funny game.

Aloha!

dumb phone

2011-03-11T13:50:00.002-10:00

The Tsunami post was the first time I've ever blogged using my Blackberry Storm. Whoever decided to call these things "smart phones" is a "dumb ass"

Aloha!

Tsunami

2011-03-11T11:22:00.002-10:00

This tsunami played out a lot like the last one.

I think people took it more seriously than the last one due to seeing the video coming out of Japan. I know we did..

Went to the grocery store for water and nonperishable staples shortly after they announced. The. the store was already slammed and getting busier fast.
I stayed up and watched news video coming out of Japan until the waves arrived a little after 3. Once I saw the first two surges I knew we had dodged a bullet again.

Tsuma-san got an e-mail around midnight letting her know that her family was safe.

Everybody I've see today is dragging a little due to lack of sleep.

Aloha!

Lent

2011-03-09T13:01:00.001-10:00

No alcohol. It's almost like I'll be in a desert.

Aloha!

dammitallsomuch

2011-03-09T13:00:00.001-10:00

Tsuma-san's boss who she really liked has resigned. Back to uncertainty.

Aloha!

Odd

2011-02-26T10:22:00.003-10:00

Odd but in a good way. I've been busier since I was let go than I have been in the past several of months. But I think the stresses of the past couple of weeks has finally caught up with me and I'm coming down with a cold. On our 5 year wedding anniversary too. Seems about par for the course. If I remember correctly I was just getting over a cold at our wedding.

Aloha!

Gad Zooks!

2011-02-04T16:17:00.013-10:00

I've been sacked! Axed! Shown the door! Given the boot! Chopped! Handed my walking papers! Given the pink slip! Shot by the man who holds the gun that fires cost! Canned! Terminated! Let go! 86'ed! In other words; I've been fired!

This seems appropriate:

^Good thing one of us does.

Somebody asked me "So what are you going to do Monday?"
My reply, "Sleep in."

Aloha!

Athletes

2011-01-31T09:14:00.003-10:00

Two weeks ago Tsuma-san and I went to the Sony Open in Hawaii. It was pretty cool to see PGA pros in action but one of the thoughts that struck me was that these guys don't look any different than the shlubs I play with. The only difference is they can accurately knock the shit out of a golf ball.

Cut to last week when there happened to a couple of NFL players on the same flight as me to Lanai. They were going over to give a talk at the school, study hard, don't do drugs, stay active and don't let your agent talk you into holding out beyond the 2nd game of the pre-season. Eh, maybe not that last one but that's not my point. My point is you just know these guys are different. Kind of hard to explain and if you didn't know the ProBowl as in town you might not know exactly which sport they play but one look, and you would know that they're pros.

Aloha!

Pretty much

2011-01-19T10:51:00.001-10:00

Aloha!

Wow

2011-01-08T20:52:00.002-10:00

The Seahawks won. Who would have thunk it? Pretty much nobody as far as I can tell.

The Onion said it Best

Now; Go Eagles!

Aloha!

Clever

2011-01-05T08:42:00.001-10:00

People worry about how much they eat from Thanksgiving to New Year's when they should be worrying about how much they from New Year's to Thanksgiving.

Aloha!

Happy New Year

2011-01-02T14:16:00.007-10:00

Went over to a friends place for New Year's Eve. Tsuma-san ate lots of traditional Japanese food. I ate pizza, boiled peanuts and drank beer, Cockburn's Tawny Porto and some of the smoothest Sake I've ever tried.

Honolulu itself was pretty quiet. Especially considering this is the last year for all fireworks right down to sparklers. Hurray for overreaching governments. I hope they cut first responder budgets by the exact amount of revenue generated by the tax on fireworks to offset the loss. No fireworks, no firework generated fires and injuries, right? But wait, if you buy a permit then you are allowed to purchase firecrackers. They put that in as a nod to the cultural aspect of firecrackers. I think you could make a claim for the cultural aspect of haoles using sparklers. This whole thing pisses me off so much.

Later that evening we went into Waikiki to watch the fireworks.

Times Square?! WTF?! Why would you even want to put that up there? Just put up Waikiki 2011 or something similar. Times Square pffft

The beach wasn't that crowded either, relativity speaking.

Short movie of the countdown and the start of the fireworks.

New Years Day we were supposed to get up and run around Diamondhead. Unfortunately I was stricken with a case of temporary paralysis...musta gotten some bad peanuts or something... Anyway Tsuma-san got up and went for a run around Ala Moana BP. A little later in the afternoon I was able to move about so we went to the temple and dropped off the used up omamori and reloaded our luck with some fresh ones. Hope they work better than the batch we got last year.

Today was much better with a run around Diamondhead followed by a dip in the ocean. Does Jan 2nd count for Polar Bear club membership?

Happy New Year!

Aloha!

B-day dinner

2010-12-30T00:24:00.024-10:00

I originally started this as a part of Ho Ho Ho! but it was getting long enough for it's own post

For B-day dinner we went out to a pizza place called V-Lounge that's been getting a lot of good write ups. Don't believe the hype. We walked in and the place looks like a sports bar that converts to a dance joint later in the evening. The place smelled more like an old sports bar than a pizza restaurant too. Nothing says culinary excellence like the odor of stale beer and urinal cakes. To paraphrase Jake, this don't look like no pizza joint to me.
We take a seat at the only available table (except the booth with the reserved sign) but it's one of those small high round tables so instead of sitting comfortably we're perched on bar stools. The reason we got the last table wasn't that the place was busy but because there weren't a lot of tables. It looks like you could fit at least another 4 or 5 tables. I'm guessing it makes it easier to convert to a club without a lot of tables and chairs in the way. There's a long bench along one wall that had about 5 two top tables but a group had pushed them all together to make one long table. Too bad they were only using three of them. Thanks guys.
A waitress comes promptly and asks what we'd like to drink. "What do you have on tap?" "Sorry, no taps." "Ok, I'll have a Longboard then." "Sorry we don't carry Longboard." ohhhkkaay. These guys aren't earning any points so far. I opt for a Peroni and Tsuma-san has a Miller Lite.
We look over the menu and the restaurant and debate whether we should cut our losses. It takes a bit but we finally decide that we'll never know until we try the pizza. Then it takes a bit more to decide what we want. I was tempted to go for the classic Margherita but finally settled on a build your own instead. Tsuma-san went for the Salsiccia. Mine was basically the Margherita with onions. I wanted to add tomatoes too but the waitress said they won't unless I skip the sauce because it waters down the crust. So no tomatoes. Weird menu choices. Where's the bell peppers? Garlic? Olives anybody? No Parmesan cheese or chili flake shakers either. They did have a bottle of mystery hot sauce (no label) on the table. I guess it's his restaurant and he can run it any way he likes but...
The pizzas arrived in fairly quick order and looked pretty good, I'm guessing a scant 14" across with a nice 1" crust. And here's where the rubber meets the road as they say, taste.
The crust was fantastic. I'm a bread lover and this was good stuff. Unfortunately that's were the good part ended. The rest of the flavors were lost under the taste of the onions. They were still too raw. I suspect what happens is that the wood fired ovens are too hot. If they left the pizza in long enough to properly cook the onions the crust would be beyond done. I even picked off a bit of the onions to try and get some balance but it wasn't happening. I felt there wasn't enough sauce or cheese either. More would have helped tip the flavor balance back to level. Even the basil was whole leaves instead of a nice chiffonade scattered across the pie.
Tsuma-san didn't fair much better. Her pie had lots of slices of sausage, ricotta, and onions but it doesn't come with any sauce that I could see (unless they brush it with oil). She had the opposite problem and said there was too much cheese.
Like we kept telling each other, you don't know until you try. Now we know.

For dessert we walked over to Panya for a piece of cake. Tsuma-san had a piece of pumpkin cheesecake with coffee and I had a slice of tiramisu with a cocktail made from chocolate syrup/Godiva Liqueur/cream and vodka. I don't eat it a lot of tiramisu because I'm not a big fan of the flavor of coffee. Fortunately it was pretty mild. So was the drink. We wandered around the mall a little and then had a nightcap at Longhi's. Tsuma-san had a piña colada and I had a Kentucky Cooler. Both drinks were good but a little light on the pours.

Thus ended my special day.

Aloha!

Ho Ho Ho!

2010-12-29T21:07:00.008-10:00

Well we managed to make it through another Christmas and b-day. A couple of days and another year will be in the books too (knock wood).

Christmas was ok for me, a little rocky for Tsuma-san. She came down with some sort of stomach flu/food poisoning Christmas Eve. I blame Don Quijote meat. She's not so sure of the cause but she slept all day the 24th. Didn't eat anything either - now that's a Christmas miracle. Just would wake up every couple of hours, drink a little Gatorade and go back to sleep. (Gatorade mixed up from the powder, not the flavored HFCS in a bottle crap)
Christmas Eve I watched It's A Wonderful Life and wrapped presents. As many times as I've seen that movie for some reason this time the thought occurred to me that maybe the whole thing takes place in George's head in just a moment while he's on the bridge. Something about how it started snowing again as he had his head down repeating "I want to live again. I want to live again." had An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge feel to it. Wouldn't explain how Mark Twain ended up in the collection basket but whatever.
We had planned on going to midnight Mass with some friends but had to cancel. Never made it out in the morning either. I've looked into some trying out UCC churches but they don't seem to offer any Saturday or Sunday evening services which is a deal breaker for us.
Got some cool swag. There's a small learning curve to the Dynoflex wrist exerciser but it doesn't take long. I've been using it so much that I could feel my forearm ache when I used the peppermill today while making a Quorn turkey sandwich. Made two "turkey roasts" for Christmas dinner so we would have plenty of leftovers. Tried their roasting bag method this time but can't really say there was much difference. Tsuma-san was only able to eat just a small portion of everything.
Scored a flat cast iron skillet. I asked for it specifically so I can give this idea a try. Bought some "Manhattan Style" dill pickles at Whole Paycheck. They're alright but certainly no threat to Guss' or Essex St. Got LOTS of chocolate too. How did they know? Running gear, kitchen gadgets, some gift cards and more stuff that escapes me at the moment. Please, no offense intended if I didn't list something you gave me. I'm getting up there in years you know. Another year older. Woke up crying at 3:00am on the 28th. Just kidding but my doctor did tell me I should start taking aspirin daily.

The company is making me take the week between Christmas and New Year's off. Cheap bastards. I had hoped that having the week off I'd be able to get out to run, ride or golf but the weather has been wet and/or threatening enough to pretty much kill those ideas. I feel badly for the people who decided Christmas in Hawaii would be the ticket this year. They're not going back with a tan.

The tree is looking pretty sad about now. Next year I'm going to have somebody in the PacNW go to a u-cut place, find a nice 3' tree, murder it, wrap it up and ship it out. It would be worth it. Ours was so far gone from the start that it quit sucking water after just a couple of days. It's not going to make it to the Epiphany, I can tell you that.

I hope to get out and ride real soon. When I do I'll be wearing my new GoPro helmet cam that Tsuma-san bought me for my B-day. Just playing around with mounts and what-not you look pretty geeky but I don't really care. Watch for follow-ups on this gift.

One gift that I have had the chance to check out is my new Omron blood pressure monitor. First thing this morning, 130/80 and 51 bpm. So a little higher than you want to see but still ok. I'll continue to monitor it and get a good baseline before I start to worry/do anything. I don't remember Tsuma-san's numbers exactly but I remember the first number was an even 100.

I also got a trivit, golf balls and some new underwear too. Happy B-day to me!

Aloha!

Hawaii 5-0

2010-12-07T19:21:00.003-10:00

Have to say I'm a little disappointed in the show so far. Most episodes start out ok but by the time we (mostly me) have finished the bowl of real popcorn (NOT microwave) the show starts to get ridiculous and/or unbelievable. It's like the writers are trying too hard to make it a clever action show. Slow it down a little, make it a little more realistic and it'll be ok.

Aloha!

O Tannenbaum

2010-12-07T19:17:00.002-10:00

Bought a Christmas Tree for the first time in, oh I don't know 15 years maybe, on an impulse. First ever Christmas Tree for Tsuma-san. She was thrilled. It needs more decorations but sure smells nice.

Aloha!

Happy Butter

2010-11-25T18:55:00.002-10:00

As I was eating Thanksgiving dinner I was thinking about how much butter you're eating. Butter in the stuffing, used to sweat down the onions and leeks. Butter in the mashed potatoes, butter on the corn, butter in the gravy (roux), butter in the butter rolls, butter in the pie crust and if you eat meat you can give your turkey a seasoned butter rubdown. So be sure and give some thanks to butter when you're busy giving thanks for everything else.

My head hurts, ohh..that Chimay is a mean beer

Aloha!

Pollyanna

2010-11-22T07:54:00.003-10:00

Post em in the comments section.

Aloha!

Sob Story

2010-11-14T21:48:00.008-10:00

No, a Saab story.

After a long and arduous search our long, highly localized, nightmare is over.
Tsuma-san now has her own set of wheels. Which is a good thing because much longer and it either going to be get a car or get a divorce :)

Behold, a Merlot Red 2004 Saab 9-5 Arc Wagon.

It scores high in the MSN Relibility Index and with it's 2.3 liter Inline 4 Turbo and steering wheel mounted paddle shifters, Tsuma-san wants a license plate that reads IEATBMW

Note the electronic seat position memory buttons along the bottom of the seat.

There is one double-edged sword about buying a Saab in Hawaii. There is only one dealership so if you get mad at their service department there's not much in the way of other options. OTOH if you're a small family run dealership you don't want pissed off owners doubly mad about being forced to come to you so you might take better care of them. Only time will answer that question for us.

Aloha!

nary an ounce

2010-10-27T09:19:00.003-10:00

Jumped on the trusty Tanita Scale* this morning and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't gain an ounce over the past week.

Now I just need to figure out how to lose 25lbs by Dec 12th.

Aloha!

*The Tanita Scale has a memory function. I would highly recommend this scale. Unlike most scales it gives you the same reading if you step off and step back on.

Scab

2010-10-14T09:23:00.004-10:00

Tsuma-san; Innocent pawn in high powered negotiations between union and management or union busting thug?

She has been pulled off of her regular duties to help out at the hotel while the union stages a 5 day strike. I don't know all the ins and outs but I know Tsuma-san really doesn't want any part of any of any of this.

Just another log on the fire that is boiling the kettle of stress around here lately.

Aloha!

I hope

2010-10-10T20:14:00.002-10:00

I hope they do another run of Pepsi Throwback sometime soon. I'm down to my last six.

Aloha!

Nothing yet

2010-10-04T19:01:00.006-10:00

From talking to a number of people the car could be anywhere but it's probably not a joyride theft. I guess there's either one of two things that likely happened. Either somebody buys a nearly identical wrecked/salvaged car at an insurance auction so now they have a bad car but good VIN. Steal similar car; good car/bad VIN. Pull the VIN off the salvage car and put it on the stolen car and now they have a good car with a good VIN that they can sell. Or it's being parted out.

We looked at a bunch of cars this weekend. So much so I sunburned the back of my neck standing around on car lots Sunday. Have test driven about 5 of them but still haven't found the what we're looking for.

Aloha!

What a rip-off

2010-09-27T09:43:00.002-10:00

Tsuma-san's car was stolen out of our parking space last night.

Aloha!

Can't

2010-09-26T20:32:00.006-10:00

Can't have a Critical Mass with only one atom.

Friday I bailed out of work as early as I dared and rode as fast as I could to where CM is supposed to start from. I was a good 20 minutes late but I haven't found CM to be overly concerned with what time they actually get going. There is no set route for the ride but the ones I've attended have followed a certain pattern so I rode towards the gathering place using roads that they were most likely to start with. Didn't see anybody. Hmmm. Nobody at the starting location. hmmmm. Road along King St., Kapiolani Ave., Ala Moana Blvd., Kaulakaula Ave, Ala Wai Blvd., and didn't see any riders. mmmm So I either missed them completely or there was no interest. I'm hoping I flat out missed them because I'd be really disappointed if that 3 weeks after a Roberts tour bus ran over and killed a UH student nobody cared enough to show up and show the city that "Hey! There's a problem here! Do something you chickenshit shitheads!"

Aloha!

Needs

2010-08-31T10:40:00.005-10:00

I needs to get a helmet cam. I keep saying this but this morning I would have captured something that other people might actually have wanted to watch.

As I was coming up the road where the Menehune Water Company parks their trucks along the opposite side of the road a tractor/trailer combo started to pull out. It wasn't one of the full sized 40' trailers but one of the 20' ones. But instead of pulling out all that happened was the truck drove out from underneath the trailer, with predictable results. The back axle came a couple of feet off the ground when the trailer fell down on to its landing gear with a pretty loud bang. The trailer soon began to "bleed" water. As I rode by I took a good look to see how bent the landing gear was and surprisingly it didn't look too bad. Looked like it wouldn't have been damaged at all except for the trailer was sitting on a downslope when it happened. Somewhere off in the distance a baby began to cry. Would have made a cool 15 second video. You win again gravity.

Aloha!

Nobody showed

2010-08-27T22:12:00.005-10:00

Went to ride the Honolulu Critical Mass ride today and nobody was there. I arrived a little before 5:00pm and waited until about 5:20pm before packing it in. As I was waiting I asked a couple of cyclists riding by who looked like the CM type if they were there for the ride but nada. Just so happened that right after I left I caught up with a guy on a 'bent. waiting to turn left on King St.

King is a major thoroughfare so I said hello, mentioned something about safety in numbers and we rode side by side for several blocks. I don't know if he was trying to test me or what but he rode pretty fast. I know he was pushing because at the lights he was slightly out of breath. Me too. About 1/2 way down King a woman joined us while we were waiting at a red light. Mr. 'Bent lost us both at the next yellow. We rode side by side and talked a little and I told her the whole Critical Mass/no show story. She is familiar with Critical Mass. Turns out she's part of a interesting sounding group called Bicycle Manoa and sounded pretty interested in working to try and get a better turnout next month. Time will tell.

Aloha!

They're back

2010-08-25T10:49:00.003-10:00

Yeah! Pepsi Throwback is back! Showed up on the shelves last weekend. A quick check on the web says the run is from July 31st for 5 weeks or as long as supplies last. Since they just showed up here last weekend I'm guessing that gives me until mid-September to stock up. Odd isn't it that "Made With Real Sugar" is a selling point.

I tried Whole Foods and a couple of other boutique brands after Throwback disappeared last time but they just didn't cut it in the taste department. Not to mention the lack of caffeine.

Aloha!

Keep looking up

2010-08-21T20:11:00.003-10:00

Just read where Jack Horkheimer has died. I remember his show on PBS, first called Star Hustler and then the name was later changed to Star Gazer. Had a kind of quirky delivery and was super enthusiastic about astronomy. A real loss. Here's a YouTube link to his last show

Aloha!

Two words

2010-08-13T07:58:00.001-10:00

Root canal.

If I was an elephant some villages would be getting their shit trampled into the ground right now.

Aloha!

Signs you might not live in the best neighborhood

2010-08-10T20:17:00.014-10:00

Dog the Bounty Hunter shows up looking for somebody.

If you've ever watched the show the places they go to try and nab some fugitive from justice aren't usually the high rent districts.

I was on my way home from my run when I could see some people kind of hanging around like something was going on so 'natch I had to check it out. Dog and the crew were still looking serious so I suspect they weren't there for long before I came along. I went back inside, grabbed my camera and got one or two halfway decent pics. There were a lot of other people doing the same thing.

You can't really tell in my pictures but they're all pretty short.

Shot a very short video too. I think Beth, Dog's wife, likes me. You can tell by the way she looks at me in disdain before turning away.

They originally started with a building a little bit up the street from us and fanned out once they discovered Yolinda wasn't there. Definitely not a high rent looking place.

They hung around for quite a while. I know this not because I stuck around but I could see people hanging around outside for a while. Tsuma-san was very disappointed as she missed seeing them by about 10 minutes.

Aloha!

My V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N

2010-08-09T09:16:00.003-10:00

Unfortunately not for a while yet (like not until the end of April 2011) but Tsuma-san and I have booked a flight to the Land of the Rising Sun. We're timing it so that we can spend a couple of days in Tokyo and Kyoto with Greg after he gets done visiting friends in Korea. After that Greg heads home and we go to Osaka to spend some time with the in-laws.

Aloha!

A riddle

2010-08-01T19:08:00.007-10:00

What goes coo coo coo splat?

The STUPID pigeon at the Ala Moana BP parking lot that still can't manage to get out of the way of a car moving at idle speed.
I had just pulled out of my parking stall and was still crawling through the parking lot. There was a group of doves and pigeons feeding on something on the ground so I didn't speed up but approached them at an idle. What is that, maybe 5mph? ~~100%~~ 99.99% of the time they all fly safely away. Well apparently even idle speed was too fast for one particularly stupid pigeon 'cause sure enough bump-bump. I don't like to kill animals, even flying shitbag pigeons, but I have a hard time feeling too badly about removing this one from the gene pool.

Aloha!

You are getting sleepy...

2010-07-31T12:59:00.003-10:00

...very sleepy. Now you are under my command. You will go to the store, pick up a baguette, about 1 lb of flavorful tomatoes, fresh basil, and garlic if you don't have some laying around your kitchen. When you get home you will core, seed and dice the tomatoes, finely chop a clove of garlic, rough chop several leaves of the basil, dump the works into a bowl, add some olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, slice and toast the baguette, spoon the tomato mixture on the toasted bread, sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and eat. Please note that adding balsamic vinegar to the mixture is philistine and should not me done. You will wake up after your first bite.

Aloha!

Daisy Bell

2010-07-05T14:31:00.005-10:00

...of a bicycle built for two.

Since you can never have enough excitement in your life we are thinking...mmm...thinking might be too strong of a word. We are entertaining the idea of buying a tandem bicycle. First up we needed to rent one for a test run. The bike passed the first two tests; we can transport it on the car rack and we can get it in and out of the elevator/building.

Let me say right off the bat these bikes are NOT for novice riders. It might seem like a romantic idea to rent, buy, borrow or steal one and go riding along the boardwalk or through fields of waving grain but that is not the case. I've been bicycling off and on for my whole life but believe me this is a whole different animal. If you're interested in knowing more about tandem bicycles start here.

We went to a deserted industrial area parking lot to begin our experiment. Sunday and July 4th, it doesn't get much more deserted than that. To start I did a couple of solo test starts, turns and stops to get a feel for the bike. Everything is different and takes some getting used to. They are somewhat heavier than a "normal" bicycle but not unmanageable. The extra weight and longer wheelbase does make the bike much less nimble and maneuverable. Next up the same short starts and stops with Tusma-san in the stoker position. After we felt we had enough of an idea of what we were doing that we weren't going to spontaneously crash and/or otherwise end up on YouTube through somebody's security camera footage we moved on to the road. I'd say all in all we did pretty well. We didn't crash anyway. We started with couple of short rides up and down hill and then progressed to slightly longer ones. The particular bike we rented wasn't a very good fit for us and the derailleur wasn't that well adjusted so we didn't try any real distance but we rode enough to know that we would be willing to try it again.

Aloha!

Gone

2010-06-30T10:29:00.003-10:00

Pepsi Throwback is no more. I'm bummed. Everything else uses HFCS except the high end sodas like Jones and Waialua but they don't make a cola flavor. Henry Weinhard's uses HFCS and they sell for a premium which is neither here nor there but for $5.00+ for a six pack of soda you think they could use real sugar.

Anybody ever tried making their own soda? Because I see a foray into making homemade soda in my not too distant future.

Aloha!

Why is it

2010-06-18T20:40:00.004-10:00

Why is it I can bicycle for a couple of hours and arrive where ever I was going feeling good mentally, physically and even spiritually, but I can't go 2 miles in a car without some clueless idiot pissing me off?

I'm seriously considering buying a dash cam system just so I can document really great moments in cluelessness on Youtube.

Aloha!

Hurray!

2010-06-13T18:38:00.002-10:00

It hit 70 degrees in Seattle on Saturday

Aloha!

Dried

2010-05-14T16:48:00.006-10:00

The problem with Italian food is four days later you're hungry again.

For years I've been buying Barilla pasta pretty much based on the fact that it is the largest pasta maker in Italy. I figured that to be the largest pasta maker in Italy they have to be doing something right. OTOH Kraft might be the largest cheese maker in the US for all I know and nobody is going to accuse them of making great cheeses anytime soon. I never really gave it much thought until the other day when both Barilla and DaVinci were on sale for the same price but the regular price for the DaVinci pasta was almost a dollar more; which is significant when you're talking about a product that sells for $1.50~$3.50 a pound. So I bought the DaVinci but haven't tried it yet.

But that got me thinking; what's the best tasting dried pasta out there? What say you all?

Spare me any 'make it fresh' comments. Until I'm living somewhere with a kitchen that has about twice the square footage of the current one and I can have 6 hens-a-laying out back providing me with a steady supply of good, fresh, eggs it will have to be dried.

Aloha!

Clean up on aisle 5

2010-04-22T21:17:00.002-10:00

So we're in Don Quijote and I pick up a carton of eggs to check them before we buy them. Before I even open the carton this one suicidal egg manages to leap out and dies an ugly death on the front of the egg case. Oops. Obviously it was unintentional but for whatever reason it struck me as kind of funny and gave me a case of the giggles for a couple of minutes.

Aloha!

Wilted Caesar Salad

2010-04-11T22:37:00.008-10:00

I'm not talking about some salad that's been tossed with heated dressing (bacon fat seems to be a popular choice) or lettuce that's been stirred around in a large skillet or wok. I'm talking about a Caesar Salad that's been made up with croutons, dressing and Parmesan cheese and then put in the fridge for 12~24 hours until it becomes a little wilted.

Like a lot of great tastes I discovered this accidentally but I really like it. It's a toss up whether I like it that way more or when everything is fresh and crispy. Probably in the minority here and I don't see it catching on in restaurants (would be a great way to get rid of leftover salad though) but next time you're making a Caesar salad make some extra to toss in the fridge and see for yourself.

Aloha!

Adulthood rite of passage

2010-04-11T22:20:00.002-10:00

Bought a real bed and mattress. Queen sized and solid. Doesn't squeak, sag, have lumps or transfer motion. They certainly aren't giving them away but it was time. I have no idea how old the old set was but the mattress and box spring was a JCPenney Ecstasy III. Yeah, we were due.

Aloha!

Throwback Throwdown

2010-04-03T22:32:00.004-10:00

Did a blind taste test between Pepsi (HFCS) and Pepsi Throwback (sugar).

I smelled both samples before tasting. Sample A had much more nose than Sample B.
A small sip of each. Sample A was slightly but still noticeably sweeter than Sample B.
Then a real drink of each.
Carbonation was equal between the two samples.
Both had nice cola flavor with Sample A having a little longer finish.
Sample B had better mouth feel and a more polished taste.
Overall the taste between the two was pretty close but I chose Sample B as the one I preferred.

Tada! Sample B was the Pepsi Throwback.

Aloha!

Junk food junkie

2010-03-24T22:00:00.003-10:00

Pepsi Throwback as arrived in the Islands. I doubt Pepsi created a soda using real sugar, as opposed to the evil HFCS, out of the goodness of their corporate hearts. More likely the price of sugar has dropped and the price of corn has risen to the point where it made sense to manufacture it that way. Or maybe it has something to do with Passover. I don't care. I picked up a 12 pack this evening (cans unfortunately) and am looking forward to trying one real soon.

Hope they go real good with potato chips. Lays has introduced two new flavors. Tangy Carolina BBQ and Balsamic Sweet Onion. I've tried both and prefer the Carolina BBQ. I think I even prefer them over the regular KC Masterpiece BBQ chips.

Really looking forward to eating chocolate again too. If somebody gave me a brown candle shaped like a bunny in a basket I'd probably be half-way through it before I realized it wasn't chocolate. Easter can't get here soon enough.

Aloha!

Just for OTHER

2010-03-12T14:28:00.002-10:00

Doesn't really address my error though

Aloha!

Fine dining at it's finest

2010-03-02T12:21:00.010-10:00

Happy Four Years to us!

A little late with the post but to celebrate our 4th anniversary we ate at Alan Wong's

And not just ate but ate like kings and queens. We had the 7 course prix fixe menu with wine pairings. I should have taken notes. It kind of felt like being a judge on Iron Chef or something.

At first I wasn't real impressed. They greeted us, we gave our name and then just stood there like bumps. They didn't say "One second and we'll take you to our table...blah blah blah"...or anything. After a minute of standing there like bumps the lady who was seating people returned and took us to our table. Didn't say much, just seated us, fluffed our napkins and left. After a minute our bread and water arrived. The bread came with butter that had..um..had some other stuff mixed in that made it taste better. Should have taken notes.

1st. A vegetable terrine. Goat cheese on the bottom layer, beets, something else (maybe fennel) and a sort of crumble crust with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Pairing was Champagne Deutz, “Brut Classic”, France, N.V. Tsuma-san had truffle Ahi poke, on an avocado salsa, sprinkled with bubu arare (small rice craker) wrapped in nori with Sake - Yuki No Bosha, Junmai Daiginjo, Akita, Japan. By now I've tasted enough Sake to know the taste and this was some pretty good stuff.

2nd. A cold tomato soup served in a large martini glass that you consume like a drink, no spoon. Made with red and yellow tomatoes that they must have poured into the glass at the same time. One side was mostly yellow, the other side mostly red. In the soup was small, almost minced but still cubed pieces of avocado and maybe cucumber. Garnished with basil leaf. White wine. Tsuma-san had the same but her's included a piece of grilled mozzarella cheese (which didn't have much flavor) and a small Kalua pig sandwich paired with Champagne Deutz, “Brut Classic”, France, N.V

3rd. A Chinese soup with pieces of nori and a vegetable dumpling in it. A little bland actually. Probably my least favorite dish. White wine. Tsuma-san had Kabayaki unagi (eel), foie gras and pork hash terrine with Donnhoff, "Oberhauser Brucke", Riesling Spatlese, Nabe, Germany, 2008

By the third dish we were really having fun with the tasting and drinking

4th. Crusted fried tofu over a small pile of tiny, very sweet, pieces of corn paired with Sake. Tsuma-san had pan seared Moi, and lobster truffle nage, yuba (tofu skin*), eryngi mushrooms with Chablis, Roland Lavantureux, France, 2007

5th. Eggplant and pieces of galangal (kind of like bamboo shoots) in a Thai curry sauce. Tsuma-san had lobster with the same galangal and Thai curry sauce with Vouvray, Champalou, Loire Valley, France, 2007.

By now we were starting to feel full and maybe just a hint of concern about whether we could finish.

6th. Asparagus truffle risotto and interesting enough the only rice during the whole meal. Tsuma-san had steak with tomato curry chutney and mashed and carmelized kubocha (Japanese pumpkin). I had a white and Tsuma-san had a Girard, Petite Sirah, Napa Valley, California, 2007; the only red wine of the night.

7th. Dessert. Click the picture to get a better look. From left to right: That's not a coconut. It's a chocolate shell with coconut flake on the outside and filled with house coconut vanilla ice cream. A lemon tart. Pineapple cheesecake. Chocolate bar. Pairing was with Brachetto, Abbazia di S. Gaudenzio, Piedmonte, Italy, N.V. Sort of a sparkling rosé. Very tastey all. Tsuma-san was pretty much done at this point. A little taste of each was about all she could handle. Lucky for me I still had the tiniest bit of room left.

They brought us a couple of house brittle covered mac nuts dusted in powdered sugar and that was that. Since I knew there was going to be chocolate I had given myself special dispensation before hand. By the end, 2 and a half hours later, I was very impressed.

I resisted the temptation to ask any of the staff if they had an Obama story. Barack and Michelle (no kids) ate there while they were on vacation here in December.

Not something I would do a lot but certainly a meal fit for a 4th anniversary

*I had never heard of yuba before we had some in Kyoto and I really like it. It's the skin that forms on the top when making tofu. I've tried the packaged stuff and I would say skip it but if you get the chance to try it at a restaurant that has good connections or makes their own tofu I wouldn't hesitate.

Aloha!

Tsunami 2010

2010-03-02T12:00:00.003-10:00

The reason there wasn't a Tsunami post is because there wasn't anything to post about. A friend of mine called me around 5:40am. He was supposed to pick me up at 6:00am to go golfing and told me about the tsunami alert.

I told Tsuma-san what was up and went into Waikiki to show some hotels that we take care of how to forward their operator consoles. Since front desk is a 24/7 position forwarding the consoles isn't something they're familiar with. I stopped by the grocery store on the way home for a little bit of groceries and breakfast pastries NOT to load up on water/bread/TP. Seriously people. And I heard that Sunday Costco, Sam's Club etc had bunches of returns. If I was the merchant I'd refuse to accept it and then maybe next time you won't be a greedy, panicky asshole.

Not that they would learn. During the earthquake there was a run on milk, eggs and bread. Yeah...those are the items I want if the power goes out for an extended period of time.

After that we just sat around watching TV and doing laundry. I did get a call from the building manager asking how things were going. He said he had received a call from somebody who lives on one of the upper floors wanting to know if they were safe. If something generates a wave big enough that it reaches our place, forget it, 'cause it's game over, all over the Pacific.

There was some wave action in Hilo Bay and it was kind of interesting to see the shots of Waikiki streets and beach deserted but other than that by nothing much happened. By 2~3 o'clock life was pretty much back to normal. We went down to Ala Moana Mall and maybe a 1/4~1/3 of the stores were still closed but that was the only thing to indicate that today had been any different than any other day. That and I didn't get to play golf.

Aloha!

Give it up

2010-02-16T10:08:00.003-10:00

Yes, Lent is upon us once again. This year I'm grabbing for the brass ring. Giving up the big one, the mother of all sacrafices, chocolate. If I make it I figure I'm a shoe-in when the day comes that St. Peter interviews me.

Aloha!

Employee Jeopardy!

2010-02-12T11:51:00.005-10:00

I'll take phrases I'll never hear for $200, Alex.
"Congratulations, you've been chosen as.."
Bzzz....What is "Employee of the Year?"
Not me but congratulations to Tsuma-san for being picked EOTY!

Aloha!

Silpat

2010-02-02T08:50:00.003-10:00

How long do these things last? I can wash mine and have it feeling squeaky clean. Once it dries it feels very greasy. I don't want to bake any cookies on it as I'm afraid they might pick up the olive oil/garlic flavor from roasting the asparagus or potatoes or broccoli or whatever.

Buy two or three and keep them sorted, sweet and savory? Switch to parchment?

Aloha!

Pennies from Heaven

2010-01-03T21:02:00.006-10:00

Guess how much 58.4 pounds of coins are worth?

You're looking at roughly a 10 year accumulation of pocket change. Guard to relieve. Pulled the handle out of the bucket trying to lift it. Sorry Greg. Transferred everything to a cotton sack and hauled it down to one of those Coinstar machines. I've resisted taking coins to those machines in the past because I always felt a take of 8% is too big of a hit for counting my change. Besides any bank that's worth its salt should be able to count them for you. When I'm a multi-millionaire I'll take a sack full of loose change to the bank and if they refuse to count them I'll withdraw my millions from them to teach them a lesson in customer service. But now you can select to get an Amazon (or any one of a 1/2 dozen other companies) voucher with 0% counting fee.

We culled out all the quarters for laundry and still ended up with an Amazon voucher worth $341.21. Should have done this before Christmas.

Aloha!

Off to a good start

2010-01-02T19:23:00.007-10:00

Shot my best round ever (so far). An 86 at West Loch Golf Course. Shouldn't get too ahead of myself as the course plays fairly easy. Biggest factors were light winds and the driver was working, never got in trouble off the tee, came close once or twice but when it's your day, it's your day. My putter didn't hurt me, which it has been known to do. Like some guy told me once about golf; The most important thing about a round of golf is you take the other guy's money.

Hope the rest of the year goes as well.

Aloha!

Whew!

2009-12-31T23:10:00.007-10:00

End of a decade, haven't yet decayed.

Where does the time go?

Been a busy couple of weeks, post marathon. Shop and get everything ready for Christmas. Made choke amount of Chex Mix and about 3 double batches of cookies. Between Tsuma-san and I we gave away about 20 bags of goodies to friends and co-workers.

Got lots of cool stuff from both sides of the ocean for Christmas and have already burned through some of the gift cards. Ditto for my birthday.

On the 29th we went to a pizza place downtown I've been hearing good things about JJ Dolans. Never been there before but before we left Tsuma-san asked me if it was ok to wear her "I 'heart' BEER" t-shirt. I told her that if she wore that shirt she'd get good comments.

After circling the block once looking for on-street parking we pay the $6 at the lot and get ready to eat. Place was moderately full but there were still tables available. We sat in the far corner and as soon as the waitress comes over she says "I love your shirt." to Tsuma-san as she hands us menus. They have lots of good stuff on tap and I order a Anchor Steam and Tsuma-san gets a Longboard.

Some dislikes:
Paper plates and when I asked for silverware they provided plastic forks and knives.
No salad options on the menu.
If you build your own pie the pricing for all the toppings are $1.50. Come on...There's no way ham or Italian sausage is equal in value to a handful of garlic or some pepperoncini.
Some likes: The atmosphere is nice and the pizza was really really good.
While we were eating another guy who works there comes over and says he likes Tsuma-san's shirt. Asks her where she got it and what size was it. A little later he comes back and gives her a green tee-shirt with off-white lettering that says "I 'shamrock' PIZZA" Hey! It's my birthday, I'm the one who picked the place and I'm even part Irish...where's my tee-shirt? I don't know if he was the manager or what as he never identified himself but that was pretty cool of him. Place was packed by the time we left.

Tuesday and Wednesday I golfed at two different courses that I've never been to before, Royal Kunia and Hawaii Prince. I like Royal Kunia better but there was very little wind the day we played. I understand it can be much more challanging when the trades are on as it's up on a hill.

Which brings us to today so I'll end this by wishing you a Happy New Year, Hau'oli Makahiki Hou, Shinnen Omedeto, or how ever you prefer to say it!!

Aloha!

Pollyanna

2009-11-28T19:42:00.002-10:00

Here it is, the place to list your wanted swag. Or post a link to your amazon.com wish list. Or deride the commercialism of Christmas. Whatever floats your boat.

Aloha!

What to do

2009-11-10T22:06:00.003-10:00

So I have this car, a 1995 Madza MX-3. How come I have this car is too long to go into and unimportant to this post. So the Madza was legally parked on street and some bozo hits it. Did some damage, doesn't look bad from the outside and doesn't effect the way the car runs or drives but it's something I sure would run several hundred dollars to fix. Apparently a car tried to make a U-turn and didn't see this guy coming up the street. He hits the brakes and swerves and hits my car. Cops come, fill out their paper work and leave. They didn't really seem to care about the car that caused the accident, just the guy who hit my car and the paperwork they handed me only has his name on it.

'Natch the guy has no insurance. Judging by the car he was driving I'm sure the reason he has no insurance is because he has no money. So I talk to my insurance guy and he says I should try the guy first because that way I don't generate a claim, not to mention my deductible. I do have under/uninsured motorist on my insurance. It's required by law. I've talked to the guy a couple of times now but am getting nowhere. He said he had a card from the guy who started the whole thing but hadn't heard back from him. AFAIK that guy got away free and clear. Sorry to say the police didn't seem real interested in the backstory.

So do I file a claim with my insurance company? After all I've been giving them my hard earned money all these years. They're going to turn around and go after a guy who has no money a lot harder than I have been. But it's not my fault that he doesn't have insurance. What do insurance companies do? Write it off as uncollectiable debt if they can't get the money? Garmish wages? (I don't know what he does for a living) That's the price you pay for not having insurance. Any repairs won't increase the value of the car, it's a 1995 after all. It's not like he crushed in the side of the car or anything, he hit the rear bumper but hard enough to do some damage.

So shrug it off and take it in the shorts? But dude hit my car...that should be worth something. What to do? What to do?

Aloha!

Rot in jail

2009-11-04T23:25:00.003-10:00

It's hard to cheer when in the end all that happens is a couple of people end up getting their lives turned upside down over something that never should have happened in the first place but I, for one, am glad to see this guy put away for while.

Aloha!

Up yours Ross

2009-10-27T22:31:00.003-10:00

Cashier as we're checking out: "Do you qualify for the Tuesday discount?" aka Senior Discount. Up yours Ross.

Aloha!

Lovely

2009-10-24T07:38:00.002-10:00

I think that I shall never see
A poem as lovely as a coconut

Eh...The world will have to wait for Joyce Kilmer.

Aloha!

Timing is everything

2009-10-07T12:46:00.006-10:00

So I need a new battery for my cordless screwdriver/drill since the ones I have just don't hold a charge anymore. Hele on down to Home Depot and head over to the tool department. FORTY DOLLARS for a freaking battery! Who are they kidding. Sixty dollars for a 2 pack. Who's in charge of pricing around here, Nosferatu? Hem and haw for a bit and while I'm standing there some guy comes up and picks up a charger and battery. Hello...

"Excuse me, are you going to buy a single battery? Because I was about to do the same thing and if you want to what we can do is, you buy the charger and a two pack of batteries and afterwards I'll give you $31 for one of the batteries. That way we both save a couple of dollars." "Yeah, sounds good to me."

Good timing indeed.

Aloha!

You know you're out in the middle of nowhere when...

2009-09-17T21:31:00.003-10:00

...the plane can't take off because the runway lights are off for reasons unknown. Then as we are deplaning to go back and wait in the terminal the lights come back on again. First time I've ever done a Chinese fire drill with an airplane.

Aloha!

Holo holo

2009-08-29T12:06:00.018-10:00

I'm not sure if holo holo is Hawaiian or pidgin but when you hear it used it means "getting away" or "short vacation with no real purpose"

Tsuma-san and I spent a weekend on Lanai. About time too since I've been going there for 10+ years. She was there once before but only for a couple of hours. This time she had much more time to relax and take a look around.

We flew out Friday afternoon on Island Air. I've been doing it for so long it's no big deal but to Tsuma-san the plane was a little too small and the flight a little too bumpy for comfort.

She was very happy to get her feet back on the ground.

Wild Turkeys along side the road ~~greeted~~ ran from us

The first night we spent at the Four Seasons Resort, The Lodge at Koele.

Not what you usually expect a resort in Hawaii to look like. More of a English countryside lodge. But I've never been to England let alone a countryside lodge there so take that description with a grain of salt. Like Tsuma-san kept saying "It doesn't even feel like you're in Hawaii anymore." You're at 1,300'+ so the air is cooler and the trees/vegetation is different than what you are used to seeing. The ubiquitous palm trees are replaced with Cook Pine and Banyan trees.

There's a great room with a large fireplace at each end and lots of tables and chairs to lose yourself in.

We wandered the grounds a little and went into town to eat dinner. On the way back to the Lodge we drove out of town to look at the stars. Amazing and so beautiful. There were some clouds but you could easily see the Milky Way with well defined dust bands. I don't think the seeing would have been that good if you had a telescope as the stars were really twinkling but for us the twinkling added to the moment.

The next morning we had breakfast at the Lodge and then transfered to Manele.

I had an 11:00am tee-time at the Experience at Koele. Shot a 96. 48/48 so I was consistent but the wind was really snorting. One never knows but I'm sure I would have been at least 4 strokes less, probably more. No matter still had a great time.

While I was golfing Tsuma-san took the shuttle down to Manele Bay Hotel. She checked in, changed and then spent the next several hours sitting by the pool. (not my photo)

After finished golfing and caught up with Tsuma-san at Manele. Manele is more of a "traditional" Hawaii resort

A room with a view.

We had a FANTASTIC dinner at one of the restaurants on property; Ihilani.

We ordered two 2 course prix fixe dinners, one that included a formaggio course and one that included a dessert course.

I don't have any more pictures of dinner but here's the run down:

My first course: Bean and White Truffle Soup, Fusilli, White Truffle Essence, Jerusalem Artichokes, Celery Root. Very good and more soup there than I expected. I was hoping the celery flavor wouldn't come through too much but every now and again *crunch* :Þ
Tsuma-san's first course: Oven-Roasted Beet Salad, Goat Cheese and Celery Root Mousseline, Candied Grapefruit
My second course: House-Made Potato Gnocchi, Tarragon and Sweet Corn Cream
Tsuma-san's second course: Shutome, Artichoke Purée, Olives, Tomatoes, Capers and White Anchovies
Dessert course: Zucotto – Praline and Milk-Chocolate Mousse, Caramelised Lana'i Bananas, Hazelnut Sponge Cake
We had a bottle of Joseph Phelps Savignon Blanc 2006. Good and kind of dry for Savingon Blanc.

We were oh so full but oh so happy by the time we rolled out of there. Fantastic meal.

Later that evening we went for a dip in the pool and to check out the stars.

The next morning we weren't really hungry so had a bagel and lounged around the pool a little more before packing up and checking out.

All in all a really fun trip that was long overdue for us.

We said goodbye to the turkeys. These are Manele turkeys, not airport turkeys as seen above.

And Island Air wants us to come back again soon.

Aloha!

This could make for an interesting week

2009-08-09T13:20:00.005-10:00

I wonder if this means we get Tuesday and/or Wednesday off.

Aloha!

Pizza!

2009-08-04T13:06:00.004-10:00

Watched the Food Network show The Best Thing I Ever Ate the other day. I know..I know...what can I say...the remote was too far away. Anyway if you're not familiar with the show they ask a number of the FN personalities what the best thing they ever ate, say, fried or burger or what ever. Anyway they were doing pizza. NY placed a couple (no surprise there) but so did Seattle (surprise surprise).

Ted Allen picked:
Arugula & Parmesan Pizza - Graziella's
232 Vanderbilt Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11238
(718) 789-5663

Frankly I thought it looked better before the arugula but I respect Ted Allen's opinion on food.

Alexandra Guarnaschelli picked:
Yukon Gold Potato Pizza - Five Points
31 Great Jones Street
New York, NY
(212) 253-5700

An interesting choice. She even mentioned that you don't normally think of potatoes and pizza but you'll have to trust her on this.

When Tyler Florence said Seattle the only two places I could think of were Pagliacci or Piecora's but although they made make a decent pie they're not going to get picked out of the crowd.

Tyler Florence picked:
Truffle Cheese and Roasted Mushroom Pizza - Serious Pie
316 Virginia St
Seattle, WA 98101-1117
(206) 838-7388

Hadn't heard of Serious Pie before this show. I'm not a fan of mushrooms but I'm willing to bet the rest of their pizzas are put together with the same attention to detail/ingredients as this one. Putting it on the list of places to go when I'm back in town.

I'm willing to bet le chocolatier already knows about this last one.

Aaron Sanchez picked:
Chocolate Pizza - Max Brenner
841 Broadway
New York, NY 10003
(212) 388-0030

So get out there, start eating, and let us who live in the land where California Pizza Kitchen is considered high-end gourmet stuff know what's cooking.

Aloha!

How do you say "Paparazzi" in Japanese?

2009-07-17T14:01:00.009-10:00

Japan's Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko were in town the other day and I managed to get a couple of snaps.

Later that night Tsuma-san and I were going over an overpass and noticed H1 was shut down so we pulled off and watched the motorcade to go by. Tsuma-san was ~~pretty~~ really, really, really excited about the whole royal couple visit.

The next day she was able to see them as they entered a luncheon at Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Aloha!

Taking suggestions

2009-07-07T21:59:00.002-10:00

Yeah! Watermelons are in season and we've been eating our fill. Usually I cut, seed and cube the whole thing and toss it into a large Tupperware. Works great but at the bottom of the Tupperware collects a good 1/2 cup to cup of essence of watermelon. I hate to toss it so I'm soliciting ideas for something to do with the juice. The only thing I can think of involves Watermelon juice, simple syrup (maybe tonic water or club soda) and vodka and maybe a sprig of mint. Haven't tried it yet though, any mixologists want to enligthen me? Make ice cubes and do?? Marinate something??

Aloha!

Everybody's a critic

2009-06-27T21:23:00.004-10:00

Even me. Tsuma-san and I went to see "Departures" today. We don't go to many movies but she wanted to see this one. It is a Japanese movie, subtitled in English, that won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film. Powerful movie. Recommended but bring tissues or a handkerchief. I don't really want to go into what the movie is about because for me the less I know about a movie ahead of time the better. I feel it should be up the Director/Producer/Editor/Writers/Actors to lay the story out in front of me. They do it in this movie in a way that will have you thinking about...about stuff...for a while.

Aloha!

PS: Seriously, bring lots of tissues