Sunday, October 25, 2009

A Little Island Hopping

Last week we did a little scouting for business opportunities. We started on Lana'i and ended up on Oahu. We got some good ideas, and some rest and saw some beautiful places.




View of the Fourseasons at Manele Bay from the beach. There are great rates available for kama'aina (locals). It's off season, and a still a bit slow.





Maui on the left, and Kaho'olawe on the right. On a clear day, you can see Hawaii Island behind Kaho'olawe.






View from the sitting room.

























The sitting room. The entire resort has a Chinese theme.






One of the many murals depicting a traditional Chinese wedding.






Up country at Kolele






Up country again.







Fourseasons at Kolele





Lana'i City. Sounds, looks and smells like a little Colorado town.





We had forgotten how much croquet sucks. Apparently others had not, as the courts were all vacant. I almost scored a sextuple peel, but when I missed I went back to taking pictures.






Growing on a Banyon Tree.











An aircraft hanger on Ford Island abandoned after the December 7, 1941 attack and showing damage caused by the explosion of the USS Arizona (blown out windows).





The original control tower on Ford Island.






That'll carry a lot of Twinkies...

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Post Ironman workout

I spent the 2009 Ironman World Championships standing on the sidelines with my camera (for about an hour) waiting for a Pullet Surprise moment. Didn't get a one, even with over 200 shots taken. The next day at our local gym, I thought about racism and politics.

Our gym has a bank of tv's with the sound off, but CC on, in front of the elliptical machines, stationary bikes and stare-masters. This particular day, I was watching Fox News because that was on one of the monitors. The other monitors had Oprah, and a "Secret lives of women" episode about prostitution that I really wanted to watch, but didn't because...well, I didn't. On Fox news, BTW, I don't watch news channels anymore. They all seem like my Ma's opera when I was young: Lots of screeching, so you know there must be something important going on, but it's too much trouble to figure it all out. Ditto with internet news sources which seem to be all blogs.

Anyway, these three white guys, and one white woman were talking about how some people think that criticism of Obama is racist. At least twice, the talking heads said "I don't care if he's green, or purple..." another said "I don't care if he is mauve or puse..." They also said, repeatedly, "I don't have a racist bone in my body..." Was it Shakespeare that said "Methinks he doth protest too much?"

I was struck that none said: "I don't care if he's black or brown..." they just used Barney colors. Does that mean they DO care if he's black or brown? And further, I do have a racist bone in my body. I have my guard up when I meet an older white male...the difference is, I recognize my prejudices and don't let them get in the way of personal interactions...they just warn me a little...

Dunno where I'm going with all this.

Monday, October 05, 2009

Kona Ironman 2009, Part 1

It's that time of year again; the Ironman World Championship. This is the week when the village and most of Ali'i Drive slows to a crawl or shuts down completely due to bicycles riding three abreast and runners swerving into traffic to avoid a stick or pebble on the shoulder.

I enjoy this race. I like all the hoopla and the hype, enjoy seeing the elite athletes training on the roads, and I'm a runner and cyclist myself. But even I find myself growing increasingly annoyed by the slow pace on Ali'i Drive.

Yesterday evening while returning from my walk with Jack and Saylor at End of the World, I heard a horn blare (a rarity here) and screeching tires. Ahead of me an athlete had suddenly swerved her bike into the street, nearly getting hit. As I passed her, I slowed and told her how close she came to dying, not so much because of the car and the serve, but because she did that in front of ME. (My reader will remember that I seem to attract fatal accidents).

Maybe I'll try to post some photos, it's fun to see the transformation of Kailua from a sleepy village to the host of an international event. On the other hand, it's dang hot, and who needs traffic and crowds?

Sunday, September 13, 2009

For the Non-Facebook crowd

Andrea was written up by the Girls By Design crew. Here's what they say about the site:


"THIS SITE IS THE FIRST STEP FOR KRISTIN KREUK AND KENDRA VOTH TOWARDS CREATING A PLACE WHERE TEEN GIRLS CAN COME TOGETHER TO EXPLORE, EXPRESS, CREATE AND REALIZE THEIR POTENTIAL TOGETHER."

I don't think they mean to shout.


Click Here for the Article

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Rant Alert

Today is Tioli's last day open to the public. As I walked around the shop turning on lights and fans, I thought back to the first days of setting up shop and opening for business. We had something special here, but times have changed enough that we've been left in the dust.

Even when we opened almost five years ago, we were a dinosaur, an anchronism. We were a shoppe like those of olde where you went as much to socialize and hear the news as you did to buy. We bartered products for food, we extended credit, we gave away pens and toy gliders. We carried Slinkys and jigsaw puzzles for crying out loud. About all we didn't do was allow folks to spit on the floor.

On Sunday we got together with a couple we met through the shop. They said they had a business opportunity for us. They were overwhelmed, they said, with their internet business and needed someone to help. Sarah and I thought it was related to their sales of fine art giclees and originals. They showed up at the restaurant all spiffed up in mainland-style business attire. I figured they had just come from church, but learned soon enough that they hadn't.

They went through a long presentation involving a canned speech and visuals. They talked about how Amazon makes their money, and how the internet is on the cusp of revolutionizing small businesses. My heart sunk more and more with each moment, and Sarah's rage waxed with each moment. I finally realized that it was just another multi-level marketing scheme like Pre-paid Legal or Amway.

I tried to pin them down to the bottom line. "I'm out of work," I said. "I need an income. How much can we expect to make for our 20 hours per week investment?" They had their answer but it was so wacky that it took me several minutes to believe it. You don't MAKE money in this scheme, you SAVE money, and the money you SAVE is your income. You pay your $55.00 a month, and that lets you buy wholesale from hundreds of businesses and choose from millions of products that you already use, from clothing to paper towels. As you recruit other marks, your discount percentage grows.

We said this was not for us. Sarah said buying online is what helped to sink our business (which is definately true). We said this was so far from our committment and desire to be a part of and contribute to our community that it would be a soul-sucking thing. Further, without an income it doesn't matter how much we might save, because we aren't going to be able to spend on clothing and digital cameras and a flat screen tv.

I felt betrayed by these folks, ambushed, like I feel around Mormons and Jehovah's Witlesses and like my marks must have felt when I was involved in Evangelism Explosion way back when. I was disappointed, too, that they didn't understand what Tioli's was about, and by extension what we were about.

It reminded me of the friends I wrote about awhile back. Like the couple in the older story, the couple we met on Sunday started in a very patronizing manner. They didn't find about their target audience, they didn't try to find out our background or business philosophy, they assumed that since we're white and in business for ourselves we must be conservative republicans, religious, and only interested in making as much money as we can, traveling as far as we can, and buying as much stuff as we can.

The couple Sunday started by commending me for my willingness to talk about our financial troubles, and my apparent egolessness (HA! ask Sarah about that one). I don't remember where I was going with that, and I don't care anymore.

End Rant Alert.

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Les Paul

My all time favorite guitar is the Gibson Les Paul Standard, about a 1957 vintage. The instrument is named after the inventor of the electric guitar and many of the multi-track recording techniques we use on a daily basis today. Les Paul died today at 94.

Here are a couple videos, one of Les Paul and Chet Atkins doing a blues number. And the other of Eddie VanHalen. Skip a bit of the Van Halen video till you get to the end. All the wacko sounds and shredding that we take for granted were made possible by LP.






Sunday, August 09, 2009

Ready for Some Weather Drama

But maybe not THIS much.







Looks like Byron and Tosha might miss the fun...