Aloha! Part 1: Oahu

Camille at Lanikai Beach

Just got back from Hawaii, so I'm still pretty fried at the moment, operating on Hawaii time (which is three hours behind from PST. We visited Oahu and Maui, and had a fun time. All-in-all, 12 days just isn't enough time to completely relax and enjoy those two islands. But we sure did try!

Hanauma Bay

What I liked about Oahu:
1. Hanauma Bay. Beautiful nature preserve, very calm and shallow waters. In fact, it's a bit too shallow, especially early in the morning, so snorkeling is a bit difficult. You have to try and avoid stepping on coral, and that's difficult when you can't really swim without gashing yourself on coral since it's so shallow. It got better later in the morning, just before we left (naturally). The Halona Blowhole a mile or so down the road was also cool.
2. The drive around North Shore, especially La'ie point. The scenery was surreal. Oh, and it was fun seeing the "sets" they used for Lost, especially the "Shrimp Shack" one in "Sydney".
3. The H3 highway. Driving through that tunnel, through the mountain...wow.
4. Pearl Harbor. I've visited it the last time I was in Oahu, and the experience still gets to me. I think it was Meryl Streep narrating that very touching film, right?
5. The view from Diamond Head. But the hike sucks, especially carrying the kids at one point or another. The shaved ice after the hike made up for it, though.

View from the top of Diamond Head

What I didn't like about Oahu:
1. The speed limit. It's a bit disconcerting, coming from California where people flash their lights when you're driving 5 miles over the speed limit. Then you get stuck driving 25 miles an hour.
2. The crowds in Waikiki. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency, which was beautiful, but the Waikiki area just had so many people. And this was the low season.
3. The streets of Honolulu. Oahu Revealed mentioned that the person who designed the road system in Honolulu was not all there. He was telling the truth. Trying to get to H1 East? Well, it's easy to find H1 West, but finding the onramp to H1 East was a nightmare.
4. This one Vietnamese restaurant near Legend Seafood. I think it was called "Old Saigon Restaurant" or something over at Kuhio Ave. Overpriced, and the service is rude. First, they tell us to leave our strollers outside, so we fold the strollers. Then we try to move the table since it was so close to the wall that we couldn't squeeze in. Can't move it, the boss will get mad. Then they served mediocre food starting from $10 up (better food can be had at the Internation Marketplace Food Court, for crying out loud). Then they tack on 15% gratuity even though it wasn't mentioned anywhere. Do NOT eat here. Go across the street to Legend Seafood, where the place was sparkling, the service was great, and the food was exceptional for the price.

La'ie Point

But hey, I'm reaching. Oahu was still fun, and we especially enjoyed our road trip around the island.

Three

The twins turned three today. They didn't have an elaborate party--just a simple cake, two balloons, and presents. They seem to have enjoyed themselves--at the end of it all they were still looking for more "presents". That's Grandma helping them blow out the cake.

Happy Birthday, Amelie and Camille!

bookoftheweek: The Name of the Wind

I'm a sucker for a good character-building novel. More often than not a fantasy author is so concerned with building his or her world (replete with maps and a glossary) that the characters populating it suffer, becoming one-dimensional cutouts. When an author decides to concentrate on his characters, the world seems to follow suit. Terry Pratchett is an excellent example. His first Discworld novel was funny in some parts, but seemed like your run-of-the-mill spoof of your basic fantasy. As he hit his stride, creating memorable characters as Vimes, Carrot and the Witches, Discworld grew to be as real as Middle Earth.

Patrick Rothfuss' first novel, The Name of the Wind tells the story of Kvothe, an innkeeper who is not all that he seems. It is a story within a story--Kvothe in the present time, narrating his past growing up. In a way, it's a bit like the first Recluce novel by Modesitt, where he tells how Lerris grows from a bored youth to a woodworker to one of the greatest order-mages in that world. In Rothfuss' novel, it tells of Kvothe's transformation from troubador's son to sympathy-user (read: magic-user).

It's an excellent book, one I couldn't put down. Probably the best book I've read so far this year (unless Harry has a few tricks up his sleeve...). Very Highly Recommended.

SMS Princess

So a 13-year old girl is the US text messaging champ, having bested 250 other competitors, winning by texting the word "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

I'd like to see how she does against Pinoys, though.

What's In A Name

I heard over the radio today that Geri Haliwell (Ginger Spice) named her daughter Bluebell Madonna. This continues the tradition that another Spice Girl, Melanie Brown started (having named her daughters Fortuna and Phoenix Chi).

Now, when I was younger I had decided that my child's name would be Cybil, after the lead actress in Moonlighting. Years later I saw the movie Amelie, fell in love with it (and with Audrey Tautou), and used that instead. So there's probably a method to the madness of celebs naming their kids. Here are some of the more interesting ones:

• Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes: Suri. Depending where you are, it could mean "princess" (Hebrew), "sun" (Indian) or "pickpocket" (Japanese). It can also refer to an edible grub in the Amazon, or an alpaca.
  
• Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin: Apple Blythe Alison. Actually, "Apple" isn't that bad; I knew a girl named Apple...
  
• Julia Roberts: Phinnaeus Walter. Around the World in 80 Days fan, perhaps?
  
• Bruce Willis and Demi Moore: Rumer, Scout and Tallulah. "Fame", "Observer" and "Princess"--unless she's named after the famous actress.
  
• Angelina Jolie: Maddox, Pax, Zahara and Shiloh. "Generous", "Peace", "Flower" and "Messiah". Her youngest got stuck with a name that's a bit hard to live up to, don't you think?
• Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger: Ireland. Not quite sure about naming kids after countries--um, not that Roman is taken from a city or anything...
  
• Britney Spears: Sean Preston seems normal enough, but Jayden James is a bit unusual. This is kinda like Apple, though, in that there are people named Jayden/Jaden that I know.
• Edge: Blue Angel. Fun times when she grows up. "Why is your name Blue Angel?" "Ask my dad Edge." "O-kay."
  
• Nicolas Cage: Kal-El. Up, up and away! I think he took his role as Superman a bit too seriously (ironically, he never did go on to play the part)
• Robert Rodriguez: Four sons, named Rocket, Racer, Rebel and Rogue. Pretty cool, actually. His daughter's named Rhiannon, which is a bit more common.
• Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale: Kingston. He'll probably be a computer engineer someday.

My favorite child name, though, is the one that the daughter of Penn Jillette carries: Moxie Crimefighter.

Let's Get It Started

The NBA Playoffs are finally upon us. How did my predictions go? As I recall, here was my original prediction:

WEST:
(1) Lakers/Suns, Rockets/Mavericks, Clippers/Nuggets, Spurs/Hornets
(2) Suns/Mavericks, Spurs/Clippers
(3) Mavericks/Spurs
(4) Spurs

EAST:
(1) Bulls/Pistons, Heat/Magic, Cavs/Wizards, Nets/Pacers
(2) Bulls/Heat, Cavs/Nets
(3) Heat/Cavs
(4) Heat

with the Spurs winning it all in 6.

I got most of the East correct, and got 6 out of 8 in the West. My new prediction?

WEST:
(2) Mavs/Rockets, Suns/Spurs
(3) Mavs/Spurs
(4) Spurs (although this is iffy given the Crawford situation)

EAST:
(2) Pistons/Bulls (mild upset, but Flash isn't 100%), Cavs/Raptors
(3) Pistons/Cavs
(4) Pistons

Spurs in 7 in a last hurrah. Sheed too out of shape.

Another "Which Character Are You" -- Star Wars style!

So here we go again with another useless test to determine which fictional character you're most like. This time it's Star Wars. Link has SW music and the site itself has some NSFW content, so be warned!

Take the quiz.

Argh.



Well, at least I get to have Natalie Portman's picture.

American Idol

I've never really liked country, so it wasn't a surprise that I found country night on American Idol a bit boring. Surprisingly, Phil was one of the best, belaying my prediction from last week that he would be bottom three (still possible, though). Also surprising was that there was no tongue baths for Chris and Lakisha; and that Simon voiced out what a lot of viewers were thinking, that Melinda should stop it with the "who, me?" act.

And Chris! Talking! Back! He meant to sing nasally? Yikes. Lakisha looked like she was ready to sass on someone.

Bottom three should be Sanjaya, Lakisha and Chris. I wouldn't be surprised if Phil was the one leaving, but I'm guessing Lakisha leaves tomorrow.

Watchlist 2007

Children of Men. What happens to civilization when it can no longer have children? It breaks down. Thus begins Children of Men, a dark, depressing movie set against the backdrop of the grim England of 2027.

Clive Owen does his usual stellar acting job. I've enjoyed his work ever since his turns as the Driver in the BMW shorts. Here he's just your ordinary pencil-pusher, who gets unwillingly thrust in the role of protector. A woman has gotten pregnant, amust get her to a mysterious group called The Human Project, who are trying to figure out why there are no more births.

A couple of people I talked to hated this movie, saying it was hard to follow. Personally, I liked the movie. I didn't really find it that hard to figure out what was going on, although you do have to follow the dialogue somewhat in order to catch some things. Another complaint was that there was "too much talking". Sure, it's no 300, but does every movie have to be? There were a lot of "action sequences", but just enough to fit the movie.

In the final analysis, though, I liked this movie because it made me think. About how it would be like without my kids, without the ability to have kids. About what side I would be on--the government, desperately seeking to keep control of a crumbling society? The rebels, who want to use whatever they can as a symbol, even if it means losing their souls? Everything is in shades of gray--even The Human Project.

American Idol

For every show, there are four things I look forward to:

1. What Melinda is going to sing
2. What Blake is going to perform
3. What Sanjaya's hair is going to look like
4. What Haley is going to wear

Now they've gotten rid of #4! Boo. Looks like they're exercising their producer powers and just cutting off the chaff in order. Heck, I don't think I even need to watch to predict that Phil's gone next week.

Covers

There's a lot of buzz right now about two videos on YouTube: Kermit's Hurt and Alanis' cover of My Humps. The former I read from Calai's blog while Alanis I found through the Dope. Kermit was disturbing, while Alanis was just so wrong...but funny (and, dare I say it...ironic). She even looks a bit like Jennifer Love-Hewitt, but without JLH's assets.

My favorite cover on YouTube, though, has to be Mat Weddle's acoustic Hey Ya. Then again, I'm a sucker for acoustic performances.

All We Hear Is...

I hardly listen to music anymore whenever I'm driving. I still like music, to be sure, but mostly I listen to it whenever I'm working. Instead, I usually listen to talk radio--Kevin and Bean on the way to work, sports talk on the way back home. The talk radio keeps me awake.

Of course, the gold standard is Kevin and Bean. They're hilarious. Even the side characters (Ralph, Psycho Mike, Lightning and Lisa) are pretty funny too. At any other time, though, I listen to sports talk. My top radio sports personalities:

1. Matt "Money" Smith. Not surprising, really, seeing as he used to be the sports guy on Kevin and Bean. He has a very mellow voice, and is quite funny himself. I actually liked him better with Grande and Cook; Petros is a bit obnoxious sometimes--and not in a good way. Sometimes you can feel the tension between the two, as was the case when they argued over which was the better burger: Fatburger or In N' Out.

2. Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann. Okay, so these are two people. However, Dan by himself is a bit boring; pair him with Keith, though--magic. I enjoyed these two in the early days of SportsCenter, and I was sad when Keith left. These two just have chemistry, kind of like that old married couple who bicker but are perfect for each other.

3. Tony Bruno. I discovered this guy back when he was still with Andrew Siciliano. I'm not really sure why he just suddenly disappeared from Fox Sports radio--I think he went to Sirius or XM for a while. Now he's back in the morning on 1540. I tune in when K&B are on break. A welcome respite from Simers and Cowherd. Funny, funny guy.

4. Jim Rome. You either love him or you hate him. His "clones" are what make the show. Some are hilarious, others are just sad.

5. The Loose Cannons. Honestly, I dislike Vic The Brick. He's too much of a Laker homer, and I doubt he believes all that zen gibberish he spouts. But put him together with Mychal Thompson and Steve Hartman and you've got comedy gold. Once in a while they actually make sense, but the entertainment value when they argue is priceless. I heard Vic and Mychal yesterday without Hartman, and it just wasn't the same.

American Idol

It's pretty telling when the one thing I noticed about the contestants is what they wore, rather than how their singing was. Oh, sure, Melinda was great as always, and I had no problem with what she wore (except that it accentuated the fact that she has no neck). Also, contrary to what the judges said, I thought Phil was pretty good. The rest?

• Blake looked great, but his performance this week was forgettable.
• Chris looked like he borrowed the vest and hat from Ryan's suit. I'm beginning to believe the whispers that he's the chosen one; that was a pretty nasally, forgettable performance, and yet the judges "loved" it.
• Sanjaya sang Tony Bennett and dressed John Travolta. Yikes. He does have a good voice, though, although he fades in and out.
• Once again Lakisha gets some good advice from the week's mentor, and chooses to ignore it.
• Jordin was very Disney Princess today. Why do they keep harping on Haley being pageant princess, and yet pretend that Jordin isn't? Both of them will be right at home over at the Disney channel--and both can go on to bigger and better things.
• Liked Haley's shoulder roll at the end. Hey, eye candy is eye candy, and I'll enjoy it until she's gone...

...which is probably this week. I'd say Gina (who was so forgettable this week that I forgot to include her in my summary), Haley and Phil are in the bottom 3, with Haley going home. Oh well.

Cheese, Gromit, Cheese

I've been a big fan of Wallace and Gromit ever since I saw A Close Shave on a plane on a flight to Sydney. News that Gromit is "subbing" for Nipper in the classic RCA logo (HMV in the UK) made me smile.

More Wallace and Gromit, please.

bookoftheweek: Fangland

When I was a kid there was this television series called Cliffhangers!. It was a television series featuring three different stories, each one ending in a cliffhanger every week. The most memorable of the three was The Curse of Dracula. Yes, a vampire series.

Supposedly, Dracula was the evil one; however, you couldn't help but be drawn to him. The "heroine" sure seemed to think so.

Fangland, as the cheesy title indicates, is a modern day take on Dracula. You won't find any charming vampires, pointy fangs, wooden stakes or Van Helsings wandering around in this book. The author specifically points this out by saying that this version had teeth that were round, almost black; eats chicken with garlic; and has a reflection in the mirror. He isn't quite friendly, though, and he does drink blood--but not in the expected manner. Not a man (or creature) to be messed with.

There's also a nod to Bram Stoker in the guise of the main protagonist, Evangeline Harker, an associate producer for The Hour (a sly wink to 60 Minutes, which the author, John Marks, worked on) who was sent to Romania to track down a European crime boss for an interview. Instead, she gets drawn into a world that she didn't quite expect.

Fangland is unusual in the sense that the story moves forward in different ways; through the first person, via Harker; the third person, through a minor character's eyes; through e-mail correspondence; through a journal; and through a police report. This does not make the book difficult to follow; really, it's an interesting device, and Marks makes good use of it.

It's a good read, and I stayed up over three nights in order to finish it. Appropriately enough, I finished it at the stroke of midnight. No joke.

Lost

Argh. Just when I thought I wouldn't lose anything else (after my Zen Micro fiasco), I go ahead and lose my wallet. Either it dropped while I was playing with my kids at the mall, or someone picked me. *sigh* I've gone ahead and cancelled all my credit cards and have an appointment with the DMV to get my license replaced; but it's just such a pain, you know? Now I have to worry about identity theft as well.

Time to watch my credit statements, I guess.

The Force Is Strong With This One

So the United States Postal Service is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Wars by coming out with a collection of stamps on May 25. They even allow you to vote for a single stamp which will then be sold in its own sheet. Right now Darth Vader is leading, but voted for Yoda I did. Imagine, sending mail with the little green guy on it! I don't really write letters anymore what with e-mail and IM, but I'm sure people like Calai will get a kick out of it.

Now, I've never been a stamp collector, but the USPS has come out with several interesting collections over the past year. There's The Muppets and DC Superheroes. They also released Disney stamps, but PJ and her sisters liked them so much that they used them. Sigh.

After Star Wars is the Marvel Superheroes collection.

Now, I'm not exactly sure what to do with these after I get them. Frame them possibly? I have the same problem with a Cars holographic lithograph and a Transformers: The Movie holographic lithograph.

American Idol

So what exactly was today's theme? "Songs on Gwen Stefani's iPod"?

Lakisha and Melinda were wearing matching shower curtains. Heh. Although according to PJ their outfits are what's in nowadays. I wouldn't know.

It's turning into a two-person show--Melinda and Blake. Jordin's trying to catch up, but today's performance was just a mess. Haley reverted to Miss USA mode.

Bottom three: Fauxhawk, Sligh and Haley. Haley's probably out, although we might be "surprised" by a Sligh elimination.

Watchlist 2007

300. IMAX. Wow.

Watchlist 2007

An Inconvenient Truth. When I was in college I joined this organization called Green Response. It was a group dedicated to "saving the environment". Membership was pretty small. The only memorable thing I remember our group doing was sell t-shirts (which I designed, unfortunately). Our message was good, but I don't think anyone really wanted to listen. We didn't sell that many shirts.

I'm not sure if it was because nobody cared about the message, or because the delivery of that message left much to be desired.

Al Gore's Acadamy-Award winning movie An Inconvenient Truth reminds me of that organization. It's a powerful message about global warming; his facts and figures are pretty convincing, and pretty frightening. Unfortunately, his delivery leaves much to be desired. I fell asleep midway through and got poked awake. I then spent the next thirty minutes half-listening to his lecture, and concentrating more on his MacBook Pro (or was that an iBook?) and his use of Keynote for his slides (I assume that was Keynote, no?).

He did make some funny cracks ("I'm the former next president of the United States. I don't find that funny."), but on the whole he's about as charismatic as a block of wood. Slick Willie Clinton would've kept my attention for the entire ninety minutes. Which is a shame--Gore had something good to say.