Two triple crown competitors chatting it up before tackling the 8-12' swell.
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Neglected to mention...
Part of the "Military Culture Course" that I am taking as part of my quest for a raise from the State of Hawaii was a trip to the Arizona Memorial. I guess it's sort of a shame that we haven't visited before...but that made this "required" visit all the more interesting.
Our tour was a private and special tour kicked off by a welcome from the Admiral of PACCOM (Pacific Command, pronounced pay-com and not pac-com for some reason)...it seemed like he was pretty important.
We took a pretty comfortable barge (with two navy officers as tour guides) around Ford Island (the man-made island in the center of Pearl Harbor) and saw the Utah Memorial (which is more impressive than the Arizona, because you can actually see the partially righted ship).
The best story award goes to the sailor that showed us the big dent in the side of the USS Missouri. Apparently a Japanese kamikaze pilot flew along the water directly into the side of the "Mighty Mo" in an attempt to single handedly sink the battleship. The 18" thick steel thwarted his attempt, but the dent remains. The commander of that ship was so impressed by this act of bravery, he ordered his sailors to make a Japanese flag, and held a funeral for this pilot at sea.
We came around to the Arizona Memorial where we could actually get off the barge. The memorial itself is pretty impressive, supported by two cement beams and held above the Arizona, making no contact with it. Inside the memorial, one can look through Hawaii's clear water and see the rusted details of the fallen battleship. A few of the gun turrets protrude through the water. The most captivating thing about the memorial is the oil that leaks from the hull of the ship (they say about five quarts a day), the navy officers called this the "tears of the Arizona."
The wall of memorial is very sobering; it's hard to see over a thousand names that represent individuals that died within minutes of each other. The attack by the Japanese was so quick that most of the sailors did not have time to escape the ship before it was sunk, and as it stands today there are over 900 bodies still entombed aboard the USS Arizona. The few sailors that survived the attack have all agreed to be buried with their shipmates, having their ashes placed aboard the ship by divers.
I'm surprised at how this affected me.
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
OP Hawaii
We went to the North Shore to see the swell today...It also happened to be the finals of the first leg of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing.
We arrived about halfway through the 35 minute final. The conditions were choppy, but huge (the pics don't do justice). I was excited to hear that Mick Fanning was in the finals...he's Australian and the first surfer I read about in a surf mag. He had some huge accident a year or so ago, tore his hamstring during a fall in a surf comp, and has come back this year to do very well.
Below are some pics, some I took, some I found. The next leg is Pipeline (which breaks closer to shore, so my 3x zoom may actually produce some pictures that you can see). Check out the fearless Keiki (kid).
Monday, November 21, 2005
CSI: Caruso
For the first time since maybe season one...I am watching an episode of CSI. I think this happens to be CSI: Miami. I tend to steer clear of television drama, because, honestly, I don't have the attention span for it. Something caught my eye tonight, and I'm glad I've stayed away.
Here's the reason for this entry: Either David Caruso is the most annoying person on the planet, or the writers of CSI: Miami are just trying to make me not want to watch their show..."Dare ya not to watch," they sneer. In the span of two scenes, lasting a combined two minutes, Caruso addressed the person he was talking to by name six times. Example, Caruso: "What do we have, Alex?" (Presumably) Alex: "Two dead bodies, both under 21. I just don't like it." Caruso: "Neither will their parents, Alex."
As I was transcribing this example, Caruso did it two (scratch that) five more times while interrogating a suspect. C: "Nick, take hime away. Later, Chris."
Has anyone else noticed this, or are you too scared to admit you watch...?
My favorite things too...
Ok, I admit. When I saw a commercial for Oprah's "Favorite Things" show, I thought, "I'd like to watch that." I love it when that crazy lady "gives" stuff away.
(Just so everyone knows and doesn't get any delusions of charity, the companies whose products are featured on this show donate the items to Oprah's show as a tax write-off and in return get the best ever free advertising to the demographic with, typically, the most Christmas-present buying power...)
Sidenote: While I worked at Target, I had an extremely well-to-do 65+ year old woman come in the day after the show, wander back to the electronics department, and ask if she NEEDED a pod-thingy, referring, of course, to an IPOD...and, of course, I responded that she definitely needed one. (I wish Target paid comission, or at all, for that matter).
As further testament to my above belief, oprah.com has the following statement below it's picture of the Sony Vaio...
Having trouble ordering your favorite thing? Due to heavy traffic, some websites may become inaccessible throughout the day. We suggest you try again later!
So everyone is clear, again, this quote is posted below a Notebook Computer with a MSRP of $1599.00. Oh, to have that power for one afternoon! "Well, if it's good enough for Oprah..."
My best tally is that the total amount that these (well-deserving) Katrina support workers walked away with is (approximately) $4900, not including the Neimann Marcus diamond watch where no price was listed...
Another Sidenote: Spell-check has not joined the Oprahsphere, because it suggested I change "Oprah" to "ovary"
....fitting.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Michigan...will you ever learn?
An 18 year old high school student becomes mayor of Hillsdale, MI. click here and here
And by the quotes you'd never know this kid is like, totally, still in high school.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Tuesday, November 08, 2005
Novembrrrr
That's how we say "November" in New Brunswick.
I just realized a few minutes ago that it was November. It doesn't usually take me 8 days to adjust to a new month...I keep glancing back at the calendar to make sure it doesn't say June; just checked again, and it doesn't.
It's 10:00pm here and I just walked outside to take some trash to the curb. One year ago to the minute (I'm quite sure of this) I walked outside wearing similar clothes to perform the same task. Tonight I strolled to the curb and thought, "What a nice night." I think my thought from last year was, "Where are my freakin' shoes?"
It's probably about 72 degrees right now in Hawaii...ok, according to weather.com it's 75. They have Muncie, IN (last place of residence) listed at 64 (not bad Indiana), and 0 degrees Celsius (or 32 degrees Farenheit, for you uncultured types) in Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada (my birthplace).
While I was surfing today, someone asked me if I was cold...She must have been kidding, I kinda did one of those double takes, "Are you serious? I'm surfing in Novembrrr," I said.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
New Phone #'s
JoAnna and I both have new cell numbers making our old number obsolete. If you did not receive an email containing the new number, leave a comment and I will make sure you get it.
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