Helicopter II

It turned out that Tuesday's Coast Guard helicopter was assisting federal marshals in conjunction with the police department in a fugitive roundup. The police department has its own helicopter but the feds have a huge arsenal at their disposal. Well, this morning, a helicopter off undetermined origin is back. It's too far away to discern the markings, whether it's the police. If it is, in this instance, it's bs. The area the helicopter is encircling is over the Ala Wai golf course fairways itself. Dunno what that would be about.



It took a few shots. Those LCD viewfinders can be a bit cumbersome.

Wednesday's Apparently's

Huckleberry Finn is back with a first mate on their way to the Mississippi. These pics aren't the best resolution because they're taken with my older 4 megapixel clunker as such the telephoto is limited in scope.


Tonight's second guest. You've probably ran into this guy outside a Waikiki store waiting nervously as always for his master to finish up shopping.

Yesterday's Post

I mentioned yesterday about an unnecessary 4-hour freeway closure due to an accident from a driver entering the freeway in the wrong direction. Btw, the driver clearly at fault was the only fatality, but still, the 'condolence factor' kicks in, specifically, the length of the freeway closure is a makeshift memorial relegating the inconvenience to commuters caught in the procession being late to work, etc., secondary to the time required to complete a thorough investigation in accordance with the nature of a death. But to determine what? There's numerous eyewitnesses on the scene with earlier calls to 9-11 reporting a driver traveling in the wrong directions. There are also thousands of passing motorists who already tracked the debris with their tires far and wide miles down the road before the area was cordoned off and the freeway closed.

Tuesday's Guarding the Coast

It musta took me 50 shots from the lanai (belcony) to get the Coast Guard sikorsky dauphin¹ helicopter in the picture. What it was doing flying sorties above the Ala Wai canal for over 20-minutes is....

(¹ mahalo, Nani)

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Well, you've probably heard for yourself on tonight's news that the Coast Guard helicopter was participating in some kind of "an ongoing operation" in association with the Honolulu police departmen, get it, heli....cop....ter. Speaking of cops, yesterday the police dept. closed down the freeway for 4-hours to investigate an accident scene. The person who caused the accident was driving the wrong way. Anyways, the controversy revolves around what evidence would you be looking for for four hours to determine blame I guess with a situation where the perpetrator drives the wrong direction on the freeway, hits a car, causing another car to veer and hit the median? If this extended freeway closures weren't the standard M.O. every time there's an accident involving a fatality on the freeway, then it wouldn't be as bad as it is to the commuters late for work, and for all intents and purposes, an insult as it represents to common sense. Perhaps, it's all about something as simple as overtime. But it sure seems stupid.

What is Wrong with the World?

I was on the freeway just above Pearl City and I signaled to merge right, to position myself into the lane for the freeway exit a half a mile up the road, up the road not down the road since the exit is at the top of a hill, and this beach in the adjacent lane, huge space btw, speeds up so there's no gap to merge into. Holy Harry Porter, I'll just merge behind her then, again beach, okay I feel better, but than she takes the same freeway exit, so she just about knew that was my intention too, not just getting in front of her. What is wrong with the world.

The Sun Also Rises

Today, July 16, 2011, 6:05:28 AM


And lest you think, I'm the only one living on this side of the island, I backlit the photo to show you proof positive that there's a few more inhabitants. Probably blogging for all I know. Or for all I would want to know. That's a shot of the mountains and hills across the Ala Wai canal. (more later)

Spouting Off

Tonight's guest .... the Williams Sonoma non-spill spout that I bought a while back to stick onto the Wesson cooking oil bottle because I was tired of grabbing a sticky oil bottle. Inevitably, excess cooking oil drips over the edge of the bottle's mouth and down the sides of the plastic container. Even the freakin cap gets sticky. Then the handle on the refrigerator door gets grease on it a moment later. Then the volume button on the tv. Then the keyboards. Then the computer mouse. Just having some fun. At any rate, the non-spill spout was the solution.



The problem was finding a bottle with the right size mouth for the non-spill spout to fit into. Eventually, I found a maple syrup container that worked and have been using it for the past two months with no leakage. To my good fortune, the maple syrup bottle happen to have a promotional "50-percent more" capacity because typically, maple syrup bottles aren't that large to begin with. And yea, it's the cheapest maple syrup on the store shelf since things were still in beta and bottle collecting gets expensive otherwise. Just in case you're wondering, indeed, a glass bottle would work, the spout would fit perfectly, but I don't like glass containers around the stove. And el cheapo bartender's spouts won't keep excess oil from off the sides of a cooking oil bottle. The Williams Sonoma spout is extra spill-proof in that regards and of course more expensive.

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Something that Bugs Me

I never ever saw one of these bugs before. It introduced itself by landing on the edge of the monitor screen. Even late night tv shows have better guests drop in on them. The bug seems to fly more than it likes to crawl. For some strange reason the general shape of the bug reminded me of a stink bug, the kind, you squeeze, and true to it's reputation, let's out a foul potent odor. That's tonight's bugology lesson.

AM Saturday

I've rarely get to see 4-man canoes in the naturally carbonated waters of the Ala Wai canal. The photos were taken 6am-ish, in the morning. The person operating the inflatable raft was their coach (photo below). When I happened to look down from the lanai, the 4-man team were engaged in approximately 200-meters all out sprints. None of that row row your boat gently down the stream for this group. Btw, Blogger has been off and on for me this morning, and during some of last night Blogger wasn't running on all cylinders either.

Friday Tidbits

As always, Happy Aloha Friday, if it is, or if it isn't. Korean Festival tomorrow at Kapiolani Park in Waikiki (photo above). They're setting up for tomorrow. You're already aware for yourself that 2 out of the 4 regular cast members of the Hawaii Five-O task force are koreans. Grace Park (Canadian actress) and Daniel Dae Kim (Korean-American, previously of "Lost", also filmed in Hawaii). Perhaps, Grace will grace the festival with a guest appearance as the master of ceremonies, other than that, the highlight of the annual Korean Festival will remain the kim chee eating contest. The winning prize is free perfume for a week.

We briefly interrupt regular programming to bring you the following message....



Our tradewinds have been blustery over the past few days. The plastic chair mat, that I bought from Office Depot, that I set out "temporarily" on the lanai (balcony), Home Depot had rolled up the chair mat and taped the roll together for delivery, well the tradewinds knocked over the rolled chair mat and the roll eventually lodged itself of course against the end of the movable lanai door, essentially locking the door shut from the outside. The harder I tried to push the lanai door open, the more stubbornly the roll lodged itself in place. In the end, I had to stick the handle of a mop through the open jalousies to free the roll using the mop sideways.

So, Disposed.

That's a tube and a nozzle from off another spray can that I stuck onto the Raid insect spray can. The Raid can has lasted 6 months so far. The object was to restrict the burst of spray to the insect in the line of fire instead of an entire square foot zone around the proximity of the target insect. In the process, the retrofit conserves the liquid in the Raid container probably quadrupling its useful life. The odd thing is that when I point the tube an inch away from the insect in the bullseye, the insect apparently freezes in position, perhaps thinking it's about to win the lottery. Then, one less insect.

Another odd thing, since it's happened enough times that the situation has become noteworthy, as in, it's a I'll mention it on the blog thingie. I get on our apartment building's elevator, press the button for the lobby floor. On its way down, the elevator stops to let another resident on. I step back to make room for the boarding passenger. However, when the elevator reaches the lobby floor and the door opens, the second occupant confoundedly motions for me to step out first as if to extend me a courtesy of sorts in spite of being closer to the elevator entrance since he got on after me in the elevator in that descending order. In return, I motion for him to step out first. Sometimes, twice.

Oranges, and Casey Anthony.

I forgot to mention that the oranges pictured in Sunday's post were lush inside. The Chinatown proprietor lets the oranges ripen in the sunlight. Well, at least, where the rack with the oranges on top of it, the rack, is setup outside exposed to sunlight unlike the supermarket fruits and vegetables basking in artificial light indoors ripening on the vine under a coat of paste wax. I picked out four oranges, the best of the lot, with not a single blemish mark from customers squeezing them for reason known only to their circle of connoisseurs, but when the bunch rung up to almost a whopping $4.00, I told the proprietor to take two of the oranges back, that my wallet only desired two oranges. That would have been almost an entire $1 bill per individual orange even at a lowly 99¢ per pound. I surmise that's due to the water content. Just like bananas. Ever rung up a bunch of bananas? Same thing. Of course I had no way of knowing at the time that the oranges sported USDA meat under their skin. I don't necessarily mean the best tasting oranges that I've ever ate on the planet, but the full body-ness. At any rate, the thing I most appreciate shopping at a Chinatown store is that they just want to sell you the merchandise, and they wouldn't be any happier whether the customer happens to be Joe the Plumber or Mr. Famous Person. That's a mutual since all I want is to buy the same merchandise. Thusly, things always worked out for me in Chinatown.

The Fourth of July was a NO-INTERNET day for me. A holiday in its own right. Does that make any sense at all. Yea, it does if you remember....the Internet makes you stupid. Anyways, the only tv that I did watch was the local news because the usual nothing but 24-hour news channels that I normally watch, had wall to wall coverage of the Casey Anthony case ad nauseam even though the jury was deliberating behind closed doors and the courtroom itself was empty. Casey Anthony was declared not guilty. Despite what you believe is the truth, there was no circumstantial evidence that tied Casey to the murder. To convict Casey of murder, would be tantamount to designating the prosecution as the beneficiary of the beyond a reasonable doubt rule. That's not the way it works in the USA. Just ask O.J. Simpson. Micheal Jackson. Anyways, a higher court would have reversed a guilty verdict on appeal. A legal expert on tv said that the prosecution got greedy. If the prosecution had sought a somewhat lesser charge of manslaughter, there would be six jurors without a lethal injection closure. A murder trial requires 12 jurors.

Happy 4th of July

Tonight's Parade

Pardon the non-clarity of the photos, the parade started at 6 o'clock tonight, and the falling shadows reduced the available light. Or, I still haven't gotten the knack of adjusting the exposure, wink.


Hawaii's Ambassador of Aloha, Danny Kaleikini. Still the genuine article.




The same city and county Royal Hawaiian Band who were playing music at Kapiolani Park Bandstand in the previous post.


Miss Teen Hawaii USA.


There's a humorous nickname for these type of vehicles. Can't seem to remember.

Sunday at Kapiolani Park in Waikiki

I heard the Royal Hawaiian Band playing at Kapiolani Park Bandstand Pavilion when I was passing by. Decided to stop by, and to my delight there musta been only 100 people in the audience. Plenty seats available.






I dunno who the Master of Ceremonies was, but he had a radio broadcaster's voice. It gave a professional, professional something, to the concert. He sang along on a song too later.






I like the concrete pads they installed under the benches, instead of the plain dirt.

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Later in China Town....


If you remember in the previous post, I was ranting about round onions costing a $1.59 per pound in the supermarket. 90¢ Cheaper in Chinatown, as are other fruits and vegetables.

Saturday.....Sit-urday

I bought this chair the other day from Office Depot on Ala Moana Blvd. for $180. Office Depot delivers merchandise over $50 for free, too. Assembly required which turned out to be a lot of fun bonus. The amount of time that I spend at the computer calls for something comfortable to sit on. The old chair, the seat part, was tilted at the front due to metal fatigue, and it was getting to be anti-ergonomical to the extreme on the southern hemisphere. How's the condition of your own computer chair? I also decided it was time to purchase a new chair mat since the wheels of the old chair had worn potholes into the plastic mat at spots. And if you're wondering....no, it's not leather. But then the artificial leather is easier to maintain. I think the old chair lasted some 7-years. Not all that bad.

Remember Obama's speech about withdrawing troops from Afghanistan? If my math is right, Obama is planning to pull out only the troops that was added for the surge. That's not a military pullout in my book. What's keeping US troops in Afghanistan? A 100 al-Qaeda fighters? Possibly, but more likely, the 100,000 military contractors, who would be out of work without a war. While soldiers stationed in Afghanistan make $70,000, a military contractor makes $170,000, a $100,000 more for a phony position. Not all, but many do. Dishwashers obviously don't make much. It's become a money war and there's nothing better that the military contractors would like than for the US to embed themselves in Afghanistan indefinitely so they can roll over their cash windfall like it was a dead cat. Perhaps, Obama should cease listening to the advice of his generals who would be influenced by their friendship with Daddy Warbucks and their pals at the military industrial complex base camp.

IMHO, the resurgence of the Taliban is a bogus excuse for remaining in Afghanistan. Sure, the Taliban harbored al-Qaeda in the days following 9/11. However, that was mainly due to an obligation they were beholden to al-Qaeda for assassinating the leader of the rival tribe, the Northern Alliance, only a few days earlier. I highly doubt that the Taliban would invite al-Qaeda back to Afghanistan to train for executing another 9/11 type mission. From personal experience, the Taliban knows fully well the repercussions on their fiefdom that another terrorist attack on US soil entails. And now that the US has been in Afghanistan for a decade, we know the nooks and crannies of the terrain like the back of your hand.

When al-Qaeda pulls off a suicide attack on US soil, the world feels sorry for the US, but when al-Qaeda terrorists attack another country, the victim country is angry at the US. The US saved Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda's collective ass during Russia's military occupation of Afghanistan. In that sense, al-Qaeda is the evil stepchild of the US parent. Had the US not provided stinger missiles to the Mujahideen, they along with al-Qaeda would have been history. The Russian gunship pilots were afraid to fly since they were losing a helicopter gunship and their crew a day and the Russian roulette took it's toll and devastated the pilots' morale. If the current Afghanistan War was a play, it would be a penned as a tragedy. It would begin with an enemy of your enemy is a friend. Ever heard of the case where a child who murders his parents pleads for mercy from the judge because he's now an orphan? In this hypothetical play, it's the parent who pleads for mercy.

Friday's Sojourn

"Sojourn," I actually had to look up the word on Websters Online, and got a Netflex pop-up ad in the process on the Websters webpage, btw, the word means "temporary stay." I had thought sojourn meant a pleasant or peaceful trip to a mountain meadow, or something to that effect, but the word refers more to the length that you stayed at a mountain meadow. Meanwhile, going to get into that Netflex thing someday. Is it better than YouTube? That's a rhetorical question. Don't write an answer in the comment section. Excuse me for a moment, the zenon lamp on my desk is shinning in my eyes. Okay, back, after adjusting the zenon lamp. Opps it's already Saturday. This post was dated Friday. Regular readers to this blog will know what I'm referring to. All five of them. Rabbit Island, below.




The road carved into the side of the cliffs leading down from Makapuu scenic lookout to Sea Life Park has been repaved and chain link fence has been staked to the mountain side to prevent boulders from tumbling down on the traffic. The stop sign in the photo just before a bend in the road is the unofficial demarcation line between town and country on island's eastern tip.


When onions get to be $1.59/lb., I refuse to buy them.

Latest News

I went shopping at Longs Drugs (CVS) in Moiliili, the one that moved into the former Star Supermarket building. Star Supermarket had been there for eons and it left a void in the neighborhood after Times bought out the Star Supermarket chain and decided to close the Moiliili branch and there's hasn't been a new tenant in the vacated space for a while. This Longs Drugs branch was located only 2 city blocks down the same street but it's that much closer for the University of Hawaii student's residing around the area just downhill from the Manoa campus. Plus the old location of the Moiliili Longs Drugs was across the street from Stadium Park, formerly Honolulu Stadium years back. The stoplight-less crosswalk that you cross to get to Longs Drugs from the Stadium Park side was about the dangerous crosswalk in town, so it's safer for pedestrians to cross the street at the new Longs Drugs location.

There's a drive-through pharmacy window on one side of the building which I've never seen before. Since Longs Drugs is open 24-hours, there's a Bank of Hawaii branch inside Longs, open 24-hours too. Who has money. Just thinking out loud. When I went outside I saw this local guy taking out his ukulele from what I surmise was a ukulele bag. It wasn't like a guitar case, it was cloth. Then he puts his pooch inside the bag with only the pooch's head sticking out taking in the world. Oh, the bag was inside a shopping cart and now the pooch is riding inside the shopping cart if you get the picture. I guess the owner thought that the store might object to someone pushing his pooch in a shopping cart through the aisles, however can't simply leave pooch tied up outside. The owner saw me looking at the situation as he passed by, said something incomprehensible, and we both laughed out loud simultaneously. Then no sooner had the owner and the pooch entered the front door, this older guy and his wife passes by with their pooch wearing a sleeveless jacket, of sorts. The only difference is that second pooch is riding with his paws up on the front of the shopping cart in plain sight. If only pooches could talk.

Lighting in the Sky and Thunder in the Hills

These were taken at 10pm, when normally the sky would have been pitch black. The lighting or their flashes went on non-stop, occasionally every second.

Friday's

Happy Aloha Friday to you, if it is, a Happy Aloha Friday, if it ain't.

The case against former Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards brought up something that I was totally unaware of, that is, there is such a thing as an "intent law" versus an "non-intent law." For example, if you take off your pants, or skirt, and run pantless or skirtless around town with abandon, that would fall under the purview of breaking a non-intent law. You're guilty as is. You cannot claim that you suffer from bouts of poor memory and occasionally forget to put on pants or a skirt.

However, with the John Edwards' case, that's falls under intent laws. The prosecution has to establish the existence of "intent," specifically that he deliberately set out to break campaign spending laws. At issue is Edwards allowing $925,000 in hush money to be transferred to his mistress's bank account while he was running for vice president. Even if it is absolutely clear that hush money is not the way campaign funds should be legally spent, Edwards' defense is that he wasn't aware that the hush money would be classified as a campaign contribution. Two individuals donated the almost million dollars, almost half a million a piece, for whatever reasons, and as far as everybody knows, the money went straight to Edwards' mistress, not to Edwards' campaign chest, then re-routed to the mistress. Since obviously there is no question that the money wasn't meant for his campaign to be spent on tv ads, or to print out campaign signs to begin with, the mitigating circumstance is in Edwards' favor. Anyways, that's Edwards' non-intent defense in response to breaking an "intent law." Btw....why didn't multi-millionaire Edwards simply give his mistress a million dollars from his own bank account? The answer is that Edwards was afraid that his wife would have found out about the affair.

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There's an online newspaper called Honolulu Civil Beat that I just found out about. It was started by Pierre Omidyar, founder/chairman of the eBay, who lives in Honolulu. They only focus on City and State legislation related stories for the moment. They've been in business for just over a year, but perhaps in the future, the Web paper will branch out into including more popular kind news too. Honolulu is a one newspaper town and another daily newspaper would be a welcomed addition even if it's in a non-paper format.