« December 2004 | Main | February 2005 »
January 30, 2005
sand bagged surf report
{sunset view tonight from our street}
surf report for the day today was stated as: 0-2feet tops.
ha yeah right! we pulled into the look out over our spots of cliffs & mansions @ 730am this morning. there had to have been 100 cars in the park & on the side of the roads, which more times than not is a bad sign. it even suggests that the line-up is way packed with weekend warriors out for a thrill before the sunday to-do lists.
the view we had from the car was that the waves were stacking up 3-4 in a line & @ least head high or more on the larger ones. we scambled down the mongoose path as fast as we could. paddled out for one of the best sessions yet this winter. all those countless days of going out in the typical diamond head hump & bump waves finally came together. head high 50-100yrd long with nice walls. ye caught some serious sick waves. all the locals/ regulars were hooting & yelping for her as she dropped in on waves a foot or more over her head. everybody was having a great time while catching some of the best waves. since the surf report was saying no waves for the south shore, most folks were heading for the north shore to catch the serious monsters @ 8-12feet hawaiian or 12-15ft regular size.
anyhow we stayed until we could no longer paddle as our arms felt like complete lead weights. it was hard to leave, but the crowds had grown & the waves were dying off into the mid-morning sun. i guess the coconut wireless was late today as the crowds showed up mid-day after the morning waves dropped.
a beautiful sunny day...a whole lazy sunday to ourselves! we came home ( our house 1 | our house 2) & took a nap & caught up with some family on the phone. then we took off for the market to go grocery shopping for fish and a few odds and ends. we shop at this store called "daiea", a huge japanese grocery story that's got everything & anything that you need.
after dinner, we snuck upstairs to our roomates area & practiced some fancy footwork on their tandem custom made surfboard. shhhh, don't tell'em :) ( corey's fancy footwork | ye's fancy footwork )
on another note, last night we went out for dinner. typical standard night of where to go & what are we craving. so we went to china town for a drive by of a new place called the green door cafe. when we got there we realized it was the 1st week of chinese new years celebration. thousands of people, food, firecrackers, dancers & dragon dances. of course we left the damn camera at home! ugh. anyway, it was fun to see all the people & the food was authentic as you can get.
some of the dragon dancing is done on poles. meaning like pillars all spread out in a line of 40 yards.
looked like this from the air: ( - : - : - - :: - : )
each line & dash means it's a foot placement with a small ledge (6-8") to stand 7-9 feet in the air. the way that the martial artists moved on the poles is just like the game "hop scotch".
Posted by Single Fin at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)
January 27, 2005
ground hog day
alohas folks, another day here in the tropics. we read in the papers about how crazy the weather has been back on the mainland. our friends & family keep us in the loop as to how many shovels full of snow it takes to drive one mad. some places it's even a lack thereof that has driven them mad. my mom dropped me an email the other day. she sounded like ol'man winter had finally delivered the last slap to her tough new york core. it was -20 or something nutty like that for a few days in a row. i think she said it has reached a high of 5degrees. sorry to hear that....
in a way i'm sorry to say this, yet lately it's been so nice here that it's hard to do anything but try to come up with reasons NOT to go to work. sanity days of indoor sickness with the only cure being to go outside & play in the sun. even though it's january, it might as well could be july or even november, it's all the same here. we've come to realize that seasons are good. living on the west coast for years taught us that lesson.
anyhow, we'll try to send some sunshine your way, until then we hope these pictures create warm day dreams for you.
( last nights sunset: sunset image 1 | sunset image 2 )
on another note, our roomie that we share the house with is a professional surfboard shaper. he's been plowing foam for nearly 40 years. within the last couple, he has been asked to make the annual probowl surf boards for the NFC & AFC. check this years wall mount he has for the Feb,05 game at the Aloha Stadium.
probowl image 1 | probowl image 2
Posted by Single Fin at 10:40 PM | Comments (2)
January 26, 2005
chalk dust
josh kinberg's case has finally been dropped. not sure if some of you remember or even knew. but josh built a bike with a (sms) wireless message system which sprayed biodegrade-able water soluble chalked messages fed by the "internet site" onto the street as he rode the bike along. he was arrested this past fall while discussing his bike in an interview with MSNBC. he was in town to protest @ the republican candidate convention in NYC.
of course no exact charges were filed at the time, but he was arrested none the less.
gottta love the big blue wall of the NYPD. being a newyorker i can honestly say NYPD is a exact reflection of the motto: ("fear" ... goes hand and hand with power)
its good and bad in my opinion.
if you watch the video, you'll see 4 cops standing around for a long time waiting to hear back from dispatch if they should arrest josh or not. in newyork terms when 4 cops stand around for 20mintes that would mean another 100+ drug deals happen, 50 more tricks are turned, multiple physical assults, shots fired from a crime scene, a few pick pockets get to run free, burglery or 4 in progress & some old lady was sexually assulated. this happens everyday multiple times in a city of this size.
the funny thing is a sizeable percentage of NYPD cops are such slackers that even if they were on the beat for the wasted 20 minutes, theses crimes would go on carefree anyway.
its obvious josh is a city threat.
ha ha ha yeah right.
Posted by Single Fin at 03:31 PM | Comments (1)
January 25, 2005
studio ideas
these are very cool affordable housing units. might give lower income housing a whole new feel, even college dorm potential. could even be a starter kit for urban families, single mom's, outreach programs & the list goes on. they might even be painted light earth tones or trimmed out with wood & set in a back drop as mtn chalet/ lake house rentals. could even stack a couple on each other & cutt a floor plan out for a circular stair case with a roof deck up top. maybe even built with more recycled materials. more photos "here "
could even be good for schools to use as classrooms or smaller sized daycare centers. i could see these in more progressive cities at first, as they might be a little to bold for some others to adopt. of course there other factors to consider such as weather, climate, topography & gradient issues. i just like the idea of unique growth & style.
on that note, last week i was looking at some photos & stumbled across this.
check out urban living in "hong kong here"
its like o'ahu with 8-10x's more people & a little less land mass.
Posted by Single Fin at 11:28 AM | Comments (5)
January 24, 2005
what a cutie
ok ok, how can one resist this face? congrats to jen & greg. your lil'girl is a knockout. :-)
Posted by Single Fin at 01:24 PM | Comments (2)
January 23, 2005
Manafest...
just wanted to share with you all how our saturday went. i am taking a doula class every saturday from 9 to 11am, furthering my education on how to be support for birth mothers, in and/or out of the hospitals. we got to share our birth stories that day about how we were born. thank you, mom for all that you've endured!! i owe my sense of peace and happiness to how you felt when i was in your belly. and also my hard working nature and activeness...when you used to walk at least 8 miles to and from the market during your pregnancy up till the very end and in between contractions.
corey was at work playing on the internet, doing some kind of research or other...my little nerd. i've never seen somebody so passionate about technology. it's a nice replacement to our tv, since we haven't had one since we've moved here. "kill your tv"-that's the bumper sticker corey's got on one of his water bottles. it's amazing how much you can do and learn without a tv blaring in the room. don't get me wrong...it's a nice escape every so often from life. we've chosen to escape life from time to time in other different ways, one of them being surfing!! :)
he picked me up afterwards and we cruised over to diamond head, ate lunch at our surf lookout to check out the waves. people everywhere...all types on all types of different boards out there. at least 50 people out there!! we decided to go home and catch some waves before our function. had an okay session, given all the people in the water. corey's advice to me amidst the crowded sea, "remember don't look at the person that you're trying to avoid as you're surfing down the line and check out the break, to see if someone's coming your way." it's kind of like an obstacle course on the week-ends. you really gotta know what you're doing so you don't get hurt. i found myself just trying to sit out deep to avoid the congestion. corey is my little protector in the sea, as well as the land. i call him "grandma", because he's such a worrier. and yes, i know he just wants to make sure that i'll be okay.
on to our next saturday event...the mana fest. the sun was setting, sinking into the clear blue ocean, not a cloud in sight that day. the smell of tropical flowers lined the streets. mmmm, plumerias...my favorite flower. i got all excited about seeing a little pomegranite hanging off a bush. for those of you who know me well, it doesn't take much to make me happy!!
there was lots of schmoozing at the mansion...looking around at who's who...blah, blah. when you didn't feel like mingling with the eccentric community, there was always entertainment going on. live music, belly dancers, fire dancers, drumming off to the side, massages, fashion show, live "earth slave" auctions... and most importantly good healthy food!! check out the pic's ! { image 1 | image 2 | image 3 | image 4 | image 5 | image 6 | image 7 | image 8 | image 9 | image 10 }
all in all, it was a very entertaining evening of hawaii's organic farming socialites. corey and i are happy to say that we were able to contribute to a good cause, as well as learn a little bit more about another sub-culture here.
feel free to drop a comment or two...looking forward to hearing from you!!
loving aloha,
soul sista' (ye)
Posted by Single Fin at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)
samosa's
damn girlscouts, once a year the girls in green camp outside of every supermarket in town. go figure.
after shopping for 1/2 an hour for groceries the girls strike as you go for the car. they know your hungry as they wave those boxes of cookies at you. how could you not be, you just looked at food for a straight 30minutes. needless to say a box of samosa cookies never makes is past a few hours for us.
Posted by Single Fin at 06:08 PM | Comments (0)
January 21, 2005
shutterbug
{ex of submissions to photofriday's wkly contest (for fun)to be entitled: "crowded" }
lately i've been trying to carry the digital camera everywhere. try to build up some art, work on some shots & satisfy creative urges i may have on the spot. kind of a new years resolution & kinda not.
anyhow, been looking at these 2 photo urls lately. been trying to setup the plugin for my " flickr" account. which will morph into our photo gallery. guess i just need to sit down & give it a few hours until i'm finished. maybe this weekend if the surfing here is junkie.
another site i like is "photofriday". sometimes its nice to observe what others see through a lens. especially if the folks are from all over the world. photofriday is nice due to the fact they pic a weekly theme/motto & then you can just shoot what you feel for that motto. then submit for the contest. i don't think you win anything. its more about other folks with similar interests having fun as a shutterbug
Posted by Single Fin at 05:55 PM | Comments (0)
January 20, 2005
last nights movie
caught some easy entertainment last night down @ the honolulu academy of arts building. (the doris duke theater)
lots of good actors have been SURFacing out of south america over the past years. most notable to today's film fans in the states is the recent work of gael garcía bernal ("click here") from y' tu mama tambien (2001) & last years "the motorcycle diaries" (2004). so when we heard "nicotina" was going to be playing for 5 bucks @ the art house, we were stoked. (lead in this is costar Diego Luna from Y' tu mama tambien)
after seeing it, we thought it was a good film with some fun dark humor. i'm not going to bore you with a long review. to many people out on the net already review the hell out everything.
yet i will bore you with a quick rant hissy fit: hollywood movies are mainly sh_t & its all a bunch of nonsense anyway! either you like it for your own reasons or you don't for other reasons. no point in letting someone else "tell" you what's cool or interesting. which brings me to a point: main stream movies are crap,...just watch them...its all a bunch of crap. modern sedatives in a pixel format. ok ok thats harsh i know. not all are tHAt bad. i will say some are good in order to take back some negatives said above. yet the good flicks seem to be far & few compared to what gets slapped up on the screens for us to pay 8-9bucks a seat. seems like as soon as a good idea is made, here comes hollywood's agents to filter, copy & morph it. example of a sad irony is how indie film festivals are all heavily sponsored by huge corporations that are only doing it for branding image intentions. you know what i mean...."hey i'm so&so blank&blank & i wear _____ clothes, drive ____ car, or drink ______ vodka". so sad when creative people have to subject themselves to this BS just to get funds & visability for people to see their mind expansive creations. a damn shame really, mostly hollywood is after ROI & to make sure its proper demographic gets the right ad placements. so then we can BUY blah blah blah. i guess the question is when do we as consumers choose to say yes & no in today's film BS ? ye & i feel the same way about movies: "that it is all a crowded dark room & sometimes the light switch is hidden". speaking of which, josh if you are reading this entry it would be nice to hear your opinion since this is a field (indie films) you have deeper experiences in.
anyhow. here's some cheap rental referrals if you can find'em. sorry for the rant, more or less just thoughts & an expression session.
"nicotina" ("here ")
"amores perrros" (director alejandro gonzalez inarritu)
"in july" (actor: Moritz Bleibtreu)
"das (The) experiment" (actor: Moritz Bleibtreu)
Posted by Single Fin at 04:57 PM | Comments (5)
sunset wednesday night
off to see the sunset & meet up with ye after she taught her yoga class. sunset was epic tonight & we were able to snap a few shots. will write more later...
click these if you like:
sailing away
Posted by Single Fin at 12:53 AM | Comments (2)
January 19, 2005
up early this morning
a view from the "cliffs" high above the break.
up early this morning for a much needed session. the weather in the south shore has been junk for the last week. kona weather & trade winds all week long. made for nasty surf & lots of cabin fever for us southern island surfers. not to mention during all the bad weather last week the island got a nice southern & western swell. so we had waves but they ended up being blown out or choppy.
anyhow, this morning the winds are gone & the weather has cleared. sun was cracking about 7am & the line up was filling up with all the normal locals. good vibe in the water this morning. lots of people chattering about this & that. only bummer was on the paddle out when i scrapped a little reef & broke my fin off. ah well, lucky i had another fin set up in the car. by the time i returned ye was paddling into a sweet head high wave. of course she was sitting the deepest out & catches one of the best waves of the morning. (:-P) all the locals where hooting & yelling in encouragement. lots of gals in the water this morning as well. which i think is why people were having so much fun & being chill.
as you can tell here:
ye looks happy/satisfied as she loads up the boards to head home. i'm sure she'll be daydreaming all day about her sweet waves this morning.
Posted by Single Fin at 11:52 AM | Comments (1)
January 18, 2005
chicks with sticks
this one goes out for all the ladies out there....
check these vid's out. all you need is real player or the microsoft player. each movie gives you a choice & plays it streamed from the site. these gals like to rip, laugh, giggle & enjoy life.
a good short preview below:
"fashion"
click on the first vid if you like when you get to the below link:
aka: girl surfer
in my opinion it's much more fun to surf with women who are stoked & having fun. a good number of men in the water are assholes & its nice to kick'em down a notch.
to counter this factor in a fun way:
ye & i are working on a trick. surfing some breaks can be competitive & alot of the guys like to just take waves as they choose. so as ye has been getting better she wants to catch choice bigger waves. this dynamic always seems to make for a situation that people get screwed on. (example A: jerk guy, example B: gal who likes to surf)
so an idea that has worked off & on has been the following. she sits a little bit off from me in the line-up (shoulder or inside) as i'll wait & get a good spot. then as the wave comes in i start to paddle. mind you i'm sitting deep with a 10 footer. so for someone to drop in on me at that point is taking their own risk. more or less when you sit deep you get choice of the bigger waves to paddle for. (all surfers know this) but every now & again you get the retard out there who wants to take waves from chicks just becasue they can. anyhow, as i go for it ye starts paddling as well. surfers see me getting after it, then they see ye paddling & they back off thinking someone will get it for sure. at that point ye is up & going. i trim back or go left & she goes right on a nice front side wall.
it is a work in progress as you can see. ye can hold her own as many of you know. yet its fun to have a tactic or 2 to play when needed. so far we have had some good results. she's resistant to the next idea but i want to add some 1st base coach looking hand signals for fun. mostly just to confuse people & for a good laugh. so far its been shot down.
aloha & enjoy
Posted by Single Fin at 06:34 PM | Comments (0)
January 17, 2005
more more more....design
today is MLK day, my motto is just be nice to people different than you & understand that we all are struggling to find happiness in our own paths.
since i have some free time & the day off, i'm slugging down a hot cup of java & searching the net. poor ye has been out all night delivering a baby. little sleep & determination to bring a new life into the world as safe as possible. geesh she's catching babies like a pro-bowl receiver. lol ;-}
anyhow, in my crawlin's of interest i've come across some rather fun things. check out the rock posters i came across on the core 77's site. i have some blank walls i can see a 4'x6' going up in a heart beat.
you can view the artist at this "spot here"
on another note....check this out:
i bought one of his books about 2 years ago. old skool traditional work by horiyoshi III. one of his pupil's is "horitomo". horiyoshi III has his own work " here " . i'm not interested in his bigger pieces. those take oh...?...about 10-20 years to do. plus it's a helleva lot of ink that i'm not ready to suck up.
i do like the style of work, technique used & image results. gives me inspiration for my own design.
Posted by Single Fin at 12:07 PM | Comments (0)
pillbox
needed to get out of honolulu today. loaded up the car & headed off to the other side of the island to get outside. we drove the long way over to kailua to hike the pillbox trail. pill box is referring to the old pillbox shaped army bunkers left behind on the smaller range.
needless to say it was good to just get away & outdoors. we brought the camera along & thought we might share.
view of rabbit island off to the left
nice beach on the left island & a easy paddle to spend a day alone
a little refresher after the hike
Posted by Single Fin at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)
January 15, 2005
Hartmann Residence, CT
front side & then back side of 1500sq ft house.
damn attractive little place. not a very big lot either. (looks like 240'x40' lot, = 9400sq ft, = less than 1/4th of an acre) nice looking glass windows to give some great light, & the use of vertical space is inviting to see. the structure is a wood frame w/structural steel moment frame.
the thing that throws me is this quote from the architect: "Our first big constraint was the measurements of this shotgun lot, explained Roger Ferris, AIA of Roger Ferris + Partners, We decided the design would have to be open in the front, open in the back, but private on the sides since neighboring residences would be within 15 feet of the house.”
don't get me wrong, i do like the dwelling. but in a way it's a shame to put so much into a home & you can literally toss some borrowed sugar right back into the neighbors hands through the kitchen window. i'm under the assumption today's home owners have many lists of things they can do with & without. i bet its tough to make this list.
Posted by Single Fin at 01:37 PM | Comments (2)
January 14, 2005
hawaii friends art
alohas, finally getting around to posting artwork of another friend of mine. jason's a cool cat that i work with here in honolulu. he's our teams graphic artist. a self taught artist/creator of the graphics world, guitar & paint brushes. not to mention he is a fellow cycling junkie.
my comments: i like the use of textures & shading to define emotion. thats a hard thing to work with & one of the most significant talents i notice when looking at his works.
enjoy...
P.S. don't rip off his shots or he will google your ass until he hunts you down. :-)
"Jason's home page"
Posted by Single Fin at 12:07 PM | Comments (1)
re-design
stupid webpage....let it be known! CSS is driving me nuts. god damn web language.. *($&@^%&^!&*(&#@^*&#%@*%$!@%#%!^#@)$_&)!%$$&^&^ iS all i can say about that.
anyhow, i've been trying to post the photo section. also been working on getting the right hand sidebar cleaned up & better looking. would like to add a better header with some functional tab style selection menus. add a articles section, MP3 area & other cool features. getting the photoshop thingy up & running. dreamweaver seems to kick my ass every time i open it up. damn vortex of my free time right there. geez this is already starting to sound more & more like a redesign document request rather than a blog entry. guess it's time to resort to buying a book(s). i can google the hell out of the net, but thats now costing me lots of time & ye is starting to think i love my imac more than our free time together after dinner.
so for the moment i'm saying screw the links section. grrrrr!
i'm making a pledge. or a blog new years resolution of sorts. for the next 3 & 1/2 months every saturday morning for 3-4 hours i'm cracking the whip & learning 4 new tools of web design. Ye will be taking classes for this time so there is no excuses for me.
my hit list will entail:
1. MT & MT plugins, file mgmt as well
2. dreamweaver
3. adobe photoshop
4. basic CSS coding
yup, that is my statement & you heard it here folks. this site looks LAME. 3 columns with a weak faded back drop shadow....i'm redesigning this hussy site & its only been up for about 2months. such a short love affair we had. it was a torrid romance but the flames will burn on & grow into a burning inferno of some wanna-be's code monkey half ass design. i hope...
Posted by Single Fin at 12:58 AM | Comments (2)
January 13, 2005
mid-day work....daydreaming of mexico
a pic like this can cause me to day dream for hours in a day. a little mexican beer, warm water, no watches, nice sunsets, camp fires, fresh fish, sleeping on the coast, a nice point & a couple weeks away from people.
geez i need some coffee to get me out of the late afternoon lull.
Posted by Single Fin at 05:18 PM | Comments (0)
flash backs
riding the coat tails of my last blog. currently spinning in my ipod: the late 70's & early 80's. figure music is a great way to relive the past. damn i love this album & band. i think a remake in a violent fem kinda way would be sweeeeeet. oh the memories of a carefree childhood day, banana seat bikes & rock-n-roll dreams.
in my mind...its all in my mind..
JUST WHAT I NEEDED
The Cars
i don't mind you coming here
and wasting all my time
'cause when you're standing oh so near
i kinda lose my mind
it's not the perfume that you wear
it's not the ribbons in your hair
i don't mind you coming here
and wasting all my time
i don't mind you hanging out
and talking in your sleep
it doesn't matter where you've been
as long as it was deep
you always knew to wear it well
you look so fancy i can tell
i don't mind you hanging out
and talking in your sleep
i guess you're just what i needed
i needed someone to feed
i guess you're just what i needed
i needed someone to bleed
Posted by Single Fin at 11:06 AM | Comments (1)
January 12, 2005
sex, drugs, harleys & cocoa puffs
seems like in the last year i've been searching more & more for info related to the ideas of the future, current struggles & aftermath of the our pop culture of today. more of a side interest of our images, music, technology, education, jobs, media, etc. interested in learning about a perspective on the things we see now in our everyday life & how or why they have come to be. on an odd note this hunt sometimes/often finds me discovering that the recent generations are in the aftermath of the baby boomers. one way or another i've found some share of responsibility being laid upon those shoulders. i know i know it’s a stretch to make a dig like that. but is it that far of from the truth? a boomer will bitch & complain over the suggestion. i guess this is another topic for another day. but as for the boomers generation, the "gimme gimme what i want" generation, which makes up of one of the largest $demographics$ in the USA. i'm still perplexed & in search of additonal thoughts.
which brings me to another odd thought i have: the recent last 10 year harley resurgence.
i like harley's don't get me wrong. for years as i kid some of my fondest memories are meeting many of my dads friends that were hells angels, my first motor cycle ride was on a harley. several of my gen x friends are avid daily riders. so now that i've stated some poorly ill-claimed loyalty, my question may be an obvious to answer or might not be: as for today's society of boomers(which IS harley's target auidence)..is the harley the new red corvette? the glenching of old and new? most bikes i see are 2 seats, some are 1. is the 1 seater an image of true individuality? much more of a stance than the 2 seater of inviting co-pilot adventure? dennis hopper rode a 2 seater (him & his backpack) in the movie easy rider. fonda & jack rode a 2 seater with a long steel back rack with packs. an icon image of unknown road travel in the 70's hay day. are today’s harley boomer riders now just weekend warriors living in the aftermath of what was once past, then going home to the 2.5 kids, SUV, stocks & to worry about social security? of course i'm referring to the masses here, using a get out of jail free card for sure by the wide casted scope to make these remarks. so if your reading this & your a boomer...step it up a notch & look at the bigger pic here before you hammer me with long ass winded banter of blah blah cus i'm this & i'm that blah
honest questions here, not digs.
anyhow, i'm not really looking for finger pointing reads. more looking for reads on the cultures living in the states as a analysis of today’s lifestyle in media, health, education etc. so many influences of today & looking for litttle factual clues along the way. many things out there to be flipped through & scrolled over. found this great article linked off one of the sites i frequent in my morning net crawlin's. "here"
this one in particular reflects on some very interesting facts that are hard to discount. "here"
to add to the same light i just finished "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto" by chuck klosterman. it’s more of a gen x book (1965-1978 or there about). he's a senior writer for spin mag. smart bastard with a tweaked perspective of life. the book is broken into chapters or more essay style. made me laugh in alot of ways. easy read & i give it a 4 out of 5 based on the fact he's not afraid to talk about the issues existing in our society of pop culture, music & social graces. he also uses a very unique gift to look at a subject in a light many wish they could.
i'm at work & really don't want to write a review. gen x lazy today i guess. but i've read several & they all say very similar things. here is a couple if you care:
"here"
Posted by Single Fin at 01:08 PM | Comments (2)
January 11, 2005
sunset tonight
earlier in the morning we tried to head out surfing. had the boards loaded up & drove to cliffs for a session. ye was getting stoked to ride her new board again. we rounded the corner where you can catch the 1st glimpse of the waves....."junky & windy". then in denial of the last image of junk waves, we headed to the lookout past the light house. looked out the window only to see 2 surfers in the water with ziltch for waves. so we headed home in hopes of a nap before work. made it back in time to catch the warmth still in the blankets from when we left.
after work we headed down on the scoot to kaimana beach for the sunset. (pics above) one of our resolutions is to catch as many sunsets as possible.
maybe in the morning the waves will be better.
Posted by Single Fin at 11:43 PM | Comments (0)
new apple release today (on sale 1.22.05)
aloha all. check out apple's new mini mac. nice little box that is 6"x6"x2" with 1.4GHz & a G4 with 80mb hard drive. complete with ilife & much more. nice simple design as well. 500 bucks for the lil'guy. sounds like a good buy for those looking to get into apple's toys. not to mention apple put out a "ipod shuffle" stick the size of a trident pack of gum. 1gig & oh so tiny.
Posted by Single Fin at 04:24 PM | Comments (0)
January 10, 2005
new year baby arrival...
aloha everyone,
just logging in another entry....it's been a wonderous 24 hours. we just assisted a delivery for our very first baby of the new year. another beautiful baby boy was born early this morning at 4:56am out on the north shore. i am truly honored and blessed to be a part of this celebration!!
our birth team consisted of myself, the mother's husband, lori, and lori's husband, kimo. during her very last stages of pushing...picture the mom, aya, laying on her back, feet up in the air, pushing against my hands as i'm leaning into her legs with all my might, lori crouched up like a ball in between aya's legs, trying to make room for baby's head, kimo running back and forth for hot water, aya's husband holding her from behind. and all of us breathing together in unison...for peace and relaxation in between contractions :)
take good care & keep in touch.
with love,
ye
Posted by Single Fin at 10:48 PM | Comments (1)
2005 Detroit Auto Show
the detroit auto show is happening this week. not that we're shopping or anything. rather happy with our 1 older car, bicycles & moped. more interested in the upcoming full efficiency model hybrids & most importantly the hydrogen full cell cars in the works. the NY Times is doing a decent following of the auto show if you want to see go "here". even though they demo a SUV, its the technology that matters. in time we will have smaller cars with even better mileage due to weighing less.
Check out a brief breakdown interview with the VP of R&D @ GM about hydorgen cells/cars:
Introduced on Sunday: General Motors’ Sequel, a hydrogen-powered S.U.V. design study.
What’s the point? General Motors has a three-step strategy to get from here to hydrogen, and the all-wheel-drive Sequel S.U.V. is the farthest-out of the three,
Is it real? Larry Burns, head of G.M.’s hybrid programs, said the Sequel is doable and practical, but not yet affordable.
The company line: Rick Wagoner, G.M.’s chairman and chief executive, said Sequel is “our most significant step yet in the reinvention of the automobile,” and “the ultimate answer to eliminating the automobile from the environmental equation.”
The view from here: With all those holes in the body, front and rear, to direct cooling air, it isn’t exactly pretty. But the underlying technology is sound, and the interior is roomy and beautiful.
What makes it tick? Sequel uses the 11-inch-thick “skateboard” chassis from two previous fuel-cell-powered concept vehicles – now you know why they call it the Sequel – to house the tanks of compressed hydrogen that feed the fuel cells. Three electric motors, two front and one rear, move the Sequel, a vehicle that is about the same size as a Cadillac SRX sport wagon. G.M. claims a 0-60 time of less than 10 seconds, and a range of 300 miles on its fuel load of eight kilograms of hydrogen.
How much? How soon? G.M. said that the company will work to have a drivable version later this year; mass production would not come before 2010. No price for a production version was offered.
Posted by Single Fin at 01:39 PM | Comments (7)
January 09, 2005
Discovery Team's new bike
getting to be late tonight, ye is out on a baby delivery up on the north shore. so i'm left with some paperback pages & catching up on the latter post of the day from cyclingnews.com. reading about the recent court decision in france in favor of lance. then came across these photos...
there she is, the latest rig for Lance & company. damn its a fast looking bike. all kinds of chatter on the wires about what the new schedule will be for the year. some indications here & there, but nothing being set in stone. looks like the big sponsors for the team are Discovery Channel, Advanced Micro Devices, Trek, 24 Hour Fitness & Berry Floor Communications. Hardware is Trek, Shimano, Bontrager & Chris King.
Posted by Single Fin at 11:35 PM | Comments (0)
GO PACKERS!
today @ 330pm CT the pack is playing up in Lambeau Field against a friend & foe the vikings. should be one of the games of the year. this moring Lambeau field was under snow, so a call went out to the town to get folks to come down and volunteer to help shovel it out for the playoff game today. it's expected to be a "high" of -1degrees and a low of -8. brrrrrrrrr
my one playoff wish: win it for Reggie White. i've been a pack fan for along time & it was sad to hear the news of his passing. unlike most football players of today. Reggie was a man of honor, a minister of his faith, & carried the true sense of sportsmanship.
good luck vikings....you'll need it today.
Posted by Single Fin at 09:58 AM | Comments (28)
January 08, 2005
ye's a happy surfer
check it out. "ye's custom new 9ft board !"
kimo brought it over last night once the glassers finished up the last bit of work. nice looking new ride for ye to get out there & rip it up. art work was concepted/drafted by ye, painted by lori & lori's husband kimo shaped it by hand. a true o'hana made surf stick. a well deserved & appreciated new toy. this board will be more suitable for her next few years of growth. she's become pretty damn good by the way, especially for being at it for only a year. getting more & more dialed in as she practices. like us all she has good days & bad days. somedays the waves like to slap her around & others she does the slapping back. sometmes i think she has been listening to me to much. now all she wants to do is paddle out deep to the edge of the lineup with all us guys & wait for the big sets. funny image in a way: a bunch of bigger brown skin guys, making small talk, huge boards...& then there's ye paddling as fast as she can to catch the biggest wave with her pigtails flapping in the air.
anyhow, we headed out this morning to the eastern side of the island. just up from chinaman's hat & the old sugar mill ruins. caught the surf right when the tides were changing. so we had some nice waves coming in as the tide was pulling out. made for some nice drops & bigger mushy faced rides. logged 3hours in the water. great 1st session for ye's new board. both of us finally got out of the ocean with pruned looking hands & lips, a little to much sun, plenty of waves & alot of laughs. damn good day if i say so myself. with the newest addition of ye's board this bumps the quiver up to 6. :-}
(point of reference: the blue & white board is 10ft tall, all the rest are mainly 9ft, the shorty is 7'2")
(a note about the shaper: Kimo has beeen shaping boards for about 40years, a hawaii raised surfer & shaper. his boards are rode by many many locals, which in its own right is a testament to the quality.
"Kimo Greene surfboards")
aloha's
Posted by Single Fin at 08:23 PM | Comments (998)
January 07, 2005
snow report: Bellingham in town got 5"
jaja i know your snow deprived right now. cruzing to & from work in the chill of the seattle mornings. with the hopes it's a prelude to snow. trying to keep sane as you day dream of a road trip up the cascades in a toasty warm car, a little itunes, ski's racked on the roof, a good co-pilot & a hot cup of java. oh wait, maybe this is my day dream. geez i really miss the snow.
anyhow my good friend, i just talked with big al up in belly-jam. says they got snow (5" in town!) & are bagging out of work to get some fresh turns in. Then to rub it in he sent me some nice shots of him backcountry the other weekend. check it out:
also here -->"allan is a poser"
...on another note: Mauna Kea Mtn (13,796 ft in elevation) has snow now. mainly good for snowboarding near the summit of the Big Island peak, but still a chance to surf & ski in the same day!or a little old skool style sledding would work as well.
Posted by Single Fin at 11:26 AM | Comments (113)
rhambutans
not many words tonight. just like the textures & color.
Posted by Single Fin at 01:41 AM | Comments (0)
January 05, 2005
hacking the ipod
forget homemade pies & cookies. i hear that stuff makes us all chubby anyway. check out what i found, a link that lets you hack a way at the ipod! YEAH!
the latest in powering your ipod with an external battery pack. this example, which is now making the rounds around the web is made out of an altoids case, (2) 9v batteries, (2) AA batteries and a FireWire connector, adding about 10 hours of extra play—good for that international flight you’d likely miss when the man sees this in your bag. or for those long rides, day ski sessions that you wish the ipod could handle. check it out in detail at "this link"
source from "this link"
ok...just found one more cool idea, check it out...a pocket mint case headphone amp! 
click the pic to find the info!
Posted by Single Fin at 10:24 PM | Comments (2)
helping hawaii's local organic farms
"a post-industrial indigenous unification bash"
this looks like a fun event for those reading this blog that are local. it's nice to see "ono pono" & the IKOH moving forward with such great support. so much of hawaii's food is shipped over from the mainland. not only is it expensive to bring here, but also more times than not it's heavily grown under chemicals.
nice to have choices.
we like choices.
especially when we are ingesting food for life & energy.
Posted by Single Fin at 01:21 PM | Comments (1)
January 04, 2005
Gung Hay Fat Choy : Wishing you happiness & prosperity
"A festive holiday celebrated for about two weeks. The Lunar New Year is observed by the Chinese, Koreans & Vietnamese. The event takes place during the first three days of the first lunar month (late January or early February)
The Chinese Lunar New Year is the longest chronological record in history, dating from 2600 B.C. when the Emperor Huang Ti introduced the first cycle of the zodiac. Like the Western calendar, the Chinese lunar calendar is a yearly one. However, this calendar is based on the movements of the moon, with each month beginning a new moon. Because of this cyclical dating, the beginning of the year can fall anywhere between late January & the middle of February. A complete cycle takes 60 years & is made up of five cycles of 12 years each.
In honor of this traditional holiday the USPS has announced the release of a series of stamps marking the celebrations.
Other interesting facts...
Lunar Year Animal: Year of the Rooster (1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005)
Theme: Chinese New Year is known as the Spring Festival, a celebration of renewal & coming prosperity.
Colors: Red (for good luck) & gold (for prosperity) (Note: white flowers & decorations should be avoided because they symbolize death in some Asian cultures.)
Foods: Fried foods (symbolizing gold & prosperity); noodles (long life); whole fish (togetherness & abundance); pot-sticker dumplings; sweet rice dumplings; lotus seeds.
Symbols: Lion-dragons; lanterns; incense; flowers, especially spring blossoms; oranges & tangerines; kumquats; red envelopes; firecrackers.
Traditions: To start the festival, vows are made, homes are cleaned, debts are paid, new clothing, and new rice & other foods are purchased. Families gather for a festive banquet on the eve of the New Year. A parade features a giant dancing lion-dragon made of silk and paper, accompanied by drums, gongs, cymbals & firecrackers to scare away evil spirits. People visit friends, exchange gifts & trays of candy, & give small red envelopes containing money (lai si) to children & young, unmarried adults. Red scrolls bearing "Spring Couplets" in classical Chinese are hung in doorways to bring good luck. Houses are decorated with lanterns on the last day of the festival."
Posted by Single Fin at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)
January 03, 2005
catching up with friends
a big thanks goes out to roger & malia (as well as her mom & dad) for last nights great family dinner. the second year in a row spending a new years meal together. good wine, food and sweets all around. no skiing or cycling though. just getting fat & seeing who would give in & go up for seconds. sorry to see some friendly faces have to leave & return to the mainland. wishing that more of you folks might come to visit.
as promised roger, here is a great sunset pic for you to help the rainy day blues. i snapped it a week or so back. don't let that seattle winter get to you!
winter sunset
on another note: it came up in conversation the other night over dinner...that some of the guys i work with like to play jokes on each other. of course i do love a good game of surprise as well, so this leads to some humor at work. sometimes it leads to enough humor to push one over the edge. i had forgotten about these photos i had from this summer when i started with the game dev team. i had left for NY for 2 weeks at the time. so the guys thought it might be fun to do:
another shot "here"
many ha ha ha's were had over this. pretty much the entire team had a hand in tin foiling the entire desk. i did use the desk as it was for a day or so then had to take most of it down. mainly due to the blurred vision & slight headache from all the shortband radio waves being attracted by my desk. except i did leave the key board as it was. kept the finger warm for the rest of the year.
oh yes, for a return favor of the prank...i then filled the idea creators office space with 40+cubic feet of packing peanuts, bubble wrap & 2 weeks worth of crumpled up news papers.
Ahhhh the lonely humor of the dilbert life.
Posted by Single Fin at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)
January 01, 2005
new years day celebration
no better way to start the new year than to jump into something different right from the get go. today ye & i were invited to attend a hawaiian/japanese style family brunch. lori (ye's partner doc) asked us to come over to hang with her & the family for the mid-day festivities. we've been over a few times in the last year & they have adotped us as their extended family, as we have with them. needless to say the day was filled with music, singing, great food & other sincere holiday cheer.
here are some highlights:
the food was traditional style new years dishes. each representing a meaning of life & encouragement for the upcoming year. ( click here to see: FOOD & Desserts )
after the eating came the music & singing. touched with some sake and hot tea's. many of us got first hand lessons from a uncle who is a ukulele teacher. (check out ye playing "aloha oe" & the crew playing "over the rainbow")
somewhere around mid-afternoon, after multiple lessons, watching college football, playing with kids and eating MORE...our other friends called us to meet up later. our seattle friends roger & malia were back from the big island & thought about chilling out with us tonight.
just when we thought we were done with the holiday eating, wham-o...another reason to indulge falls right into our lap. we suppose we could force a few beers & some fresh fish in somewhere?
Posted by Single Fin at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
Happy New Year ~ 2005 ~
Aloha everyone. we wish you all a happy new year. may you have good fortune & happiness this upcoming year.
ye and i are home for the night. luckily our house has a spectacular view of waikiki's & ala moana's firework displays. 'provided for a little living room light show of sorts & not to mention the locals are a bunch of pyros & could put an indian reservation to shame over the battle of fireworks. 'not kidding either. i would venture to say every available parking lot, super market & residential street has people running around setting fire to anything that will spark & explode. it's a hysterical image to see someone crouch down on all fours in the middle of a parking lot while clutching a beer & set fire to a rocket. then they run like hell for cover to watch with oohhs & ahhs. i bet tomorrow there will be a fair share of burnt fingers & singed hairs at the new years dinner tables.
from our windows it looks like world war 3 in honolulu. our neighbor, the church across the street probably set off maybe 4-5thousand firecrackers in the last hour. the guy 2 houses down has been at it for about 2hours non-stop blowing everything up he can set a match to. i bet the budlights are flowing tonight. we love it! locals like to get crazy & enjoy the new year. they make the festivals that much more fun for us all to watch.
anyhow, surf's up in the morning & it's a whole new day/year out there kids.
be careful, live it up, do something off the wall & may you find the new year to be full of wonder.
Posted by Single Fin at 02:20 AM | Comments (260)