When I first discovered this series in Japan a few years back, I had a gut feeling the Re-ment Mini Figure collection would end up being a cult hit. My friend and her mother love mini everythings, and especially the fake Japanese foods that you see in display cases outside of the restaurants.

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There was once a restaurant called Baci Du in Kaimuki on Waialae Avenue, right next to Ninnikuya (the garlic restaurant) & Beau Soleil. I’m thinking this is the same company out in Kailua, since they also sport the dark green sign with the sexy lips.

I just took this picture to torture you guys.

Enjoy.

Spent Christmas weekend in Kula, Maui. Had an awesome time, but that VOG really messed me up! I had never experienced it like that before, because usually by the time that stuff gets to Oahu it’s pretty thinned out. Driving down into town from Kula, you couldn’t see what was below. Just a thick, white blanket of vog hovering over what is normally a beautiful view of the land below. Allergies kicked into full swing as we got halfway down the mountain. So, although I had a blast, I appear to be the token “rudolph” in all the pics that were taken during that trip. And no, I will not post any of them here. Instead, I’ll let you see what the weather was like for yourself:

As we approach New Year’s Eve, I’m tempted to go out and buy a mask. I hear there are free ones at Ala Moana Center stage. With the lack of tradewinds, I’m sure the atmostphere will end up looking like the photo above…with a silght tinge of gun powder scent.
Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Note: pictures in this article are in thumbnail form. Click on them to enlarge.

This past Christmas Eve found me at my Auntie Sharon’s place in Kaneohe, catching up with my aunties, uncles, cousins, & grandparents, something I haven’t had time or found time to do for awhile. I know; I suck. But I just finished editing 71 photos, & that’s not counting the ones I deleted, so cut me some slack. =)
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This morning I went outside to the back porch to feed my fish & found the curtain over the tank rack pulled back & some of the tank lids left open. I wondered if I had left them like that, & then I saw that my blue betta’s tank was empty.

Someone fished him out & threw him on the grass.

I’m very sad. I wonder how long he suffered.

I finally got around to purchasing tickets to see Elvis Costello next April, when the Honolulu Advertiser floats this rumor story: U2 might play Aloha Stadium in April. Holy Smoke. I’ve been wanting to see U2 for years. In fact, I was recently considering flying to either the mainland or elsewhere to catch one of their concerts when U2 goes on the second leg of their world tour next year. And then suddenly they might come here! Apparently, local promoters are trying to get them to come here on the way back from Australia. That would be awesome. And if they’re that awesome, maybe I will follow them to another venue and catch it again haha.

*sigh* The only junk part about this is it highlights a big problem Honolulu has about bringing down performing artists. A lot of people assume the problem is distance, but it’s not. It’s the lack of a suitable venue. Or, more correctly, a suitably-sized venue. We don’t have anything that really fits the needs of a headlining artist. Right now, we can fit maybe 8,000 people per night into the Blaisdell Arena, which would necessitate multiple shows in order to pay the bills and make money. (Artists generally don’t like to do this as it’s tiring, expensive and they’d really rather clean house in one concert.) The other choice is to secure the Aloha Stadium and try to pack that with as many people as possible to cover the considerable expense of converting and playing that venue. We don’t have a 20,000 seat venue anywhere on the island unless you consider throwing the concert out at Kualoa ranch on the North Shore, and that’s really out of the question for a large number of these acts. So yeah, we have a void and 20,000 people would be the magic number for a single show in Honolulu for many, many acts. Doesn’t make sense? Imagine Eminem, Gwen Stefani or Coldplay playing to only 8,000 people in the Blaisdell Arena. Too small? Ok, imagine them agreeing to play the entire weekend. No way, right? These guys aren’t the Eagles. They’re not concert bands. But what are the odds that any of them could fill Aloha Stadium either? No way. Only acts like U2 can pack the stadium. So really, it’s the venue we lack here, and because of that, we lose out on a lot of concerts. Sucks huh? But then again, Elvis Costello and U2 (possibly) in one month? Wow.

Please God,

Let there be a new broadband connection in Hawaii that can do better than Time Warner Oceanic Cable. Come on, I’m not asking for much.

Note: thumbnails seem to have been temporarily (I hope!) disabled, so I fear you guys are gonna have to deal with big pictures. Sure, I could resize them, but… too bad. Christmas is the day after tomorrow already.

Last Friday Joy & I headed down to Ala Moana (Japan’s) Shopping Center for a little exercise & possibly even some gift purchasing (wishful thinking). Lo & behold, there was our friend & fellow WoW player Bryan starring as Mele the Christmas Menehune on the Ala Moana Center Stage in Ohi’a Productions’ “The Christmas Gift of Aloha.”

I’ve never tried to photograph stuff under stage lights before, so don’t expect any good pictures. They will probably be as bad as my leech photos. Joy & I both took a truckload of photos & none of them came out good. I had dinner with a photographer friend the other night & he said that stage lighting messes him up too, so now I don’t feel so bad.

Bryan is co-owner of our current hangout (hey, gotta support the guildmate!), Slammers Bar & Grill, located off Kapiolani Avenue near Brian’s Billiards. They have great food & delicious Jager Bombs & I know that plugging the bar in this article isn’t going to save me from Bryan’s wrath the next time we visit his place but, you know, I had to try.

Warning: clicking to continue reading this blog will subject you to many relatively large photos.
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Yesterday I spent nearly 2 hours at the Hawaiian Airlines interisland terminal awaiting my flight to Hilo. One of my carry-ons was my trusty old Macintosh iBook laptop. I knew Honolulu airport had wireless internet, for a price of course. Regardless I fired up my web browser and the airport software. Did some rudimentary (unsucessful, no-connect) searching before I hit upon ShakaNet’s service, which is the commercial vendor for the airport.
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This charming creature is some sort of Hawaiian “balloon spider” or something like that. I saw it on display at the Bishop Museum. I’m not sure if it is an endemic species or merely indigenous, but those little threads coming out of the butt end of it allows the spider to float away on the wind. Looking at it creeps me out., not because I hate spiders, but because it looks remarkably like a freaking Flood Infectious Form from Halo. Anyone who’s ever played Halo before remembers exactly when those things started popping out in the game. Ugh I feel itchy just thinking about it.