Friday 5 for September 12: Spending

Help fund Honokaa Peoples' Theatre digital projection system.

1. What crowd-funding projects have you supported? If you haven’t supported any, were there some that really intrigued you?

I am helping Honokaa Peoples' Theatre fund the purchase of a $60,000 digital projection system. The theatre in my hometown is somewhere that I spent a lot of time during my childhood and teen years going to and enjoying movies. It is one of those old, standalone, single screen theatres that surprisingly is still in business today showing movies, thanks to the dedication of its current owners. The place was built in 1930.

Time has caught up with the theatre and the distribution companies that send movies to theatres large and small are going 100% digital by the end of the year. That means no more film for small theatres like the one in Honokaa. They have to go digital or not be able to show movies at all. It would be sad if the theatre that I went to see such classic movies as The Sound of Music, Planet of the Apes, 2001, Mary Poppins, Star Wars, Patton, The Love Bug, Paradise Hawaiian Style, and many others would go dark.

The theatre has become famous in recent years after the Japanese movie Honokaa Boy was made there and premiered at the theatre in 2009. My Dad had a bit part in this movie and today the theatre has permission to show Honokaa Boy almost in perpetuity. I just saw the movie during my most recent trip to Honokaa, even though my family already owns a copy on DVD.

To find out more about Honokaa Peoples' Theatre and the crowd sourcing project to get the digital projector go to their website.

2. How much of your monthly bill-paying is done online?

I pay my storage bill, web hosting and domain bills, some credit card bills online. I still use old fashioned checks to pay other bills sent in the mail, like homeowner's insurance and taxes!

3. What are some of the more memorable things you’ve bought or sold in online auctions?

I've never sold anything in an online auction. I frankly don't use eBay very much, but I have been happy with some vintage Minolta camera lenses that I bought a few years back.

4. What experience do you have with purchasing digital entertainment (music, movies, TV shows, or live web shows, for example) online?

I'm an Amazon Prime customer and subscribe to the Prime streaming service where I get streaming movies, TV shows, music and free shipping for almost anything I buy there. I like Amazon Prime. Even at $99 a year it still is a good bargain if you spend a lot of time watching streaming video (with no commercials) and listen to record albums you never got around to actually buying. I also like to occasionally buy actual CDs and they have free MP3 files that go along with some CDs you buy, which means you don't have to rip them yourself.

I like Amazon Prime not because of the videos, music and free shipping but the fact that I only have to pay the bill once a year. That I really like because I am not a fan of monthly billing. Got enough of that.

I also buy digital music from Amazon as well as iTunes and occasionally smaller venders like CD Baby or even the music artists themselves.

I don't "buy" digital videos. I rather stream them from the many free sources available or through Amazon.com.

5. What kind of stuff have you bought or sold from personal online craft stores, such as are found on Etsy?

Nothing.

Questions generated from the Friday 5 blog.

Friday 5 for July 18 - All is Fair

A day late and a dollar short. From Scrivener's Friday 5...

Hello, and welcome to this weeks Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there; then leave a comment below so well all know where to check out your responses. Please don't forget to link us from your website!

1. How do you feel about carnival rides?

Too expensive to ride these days but still nice to photograph if admission to the carnival is free.

2. How do you feel about carnival games?

I never play them because I never win and yes, they are expensive.

3. Whats your favorite carnival food?

Carnival food is expensive, but who doesn't like cotton candy? I would put cotton candy as a favorite, but don't eat it often. Too much sugar!

4. Which animals do you look forward to seeing at the fair?

Humans waiting in line for tickets, rides, the sideshow, food and games.

5. How much does it cost to ride the bus in your city?

$2.50 a trip. Will probably increase when the stupid train is built.

Thanks for participating, and have a Tilt-a-Whirl of a weekend!




Riding The Bus is sometimes like a carnival ride. You stop and go, see strange attractions and take in strange smells. Oooooooh.....

Friday 5 for July 4: Schwag*

From Scrivener's Friday 5 site.



1. What’s the most practically useful article of schwag* you’ve ever received?

Pens are particularly useful especially when you have to find one in a hurry. Always seem to be a promotional pen in my house somewhere.

2. What’s the most useless schwag you’ve ever received?

Bumper Stickers - I don't like to deface my car and the sticky residue many leave behind after they are peeled off. Yuck!

Buttons - I never wear them.

Irregularly Shaped CDs - They can get suck in your computer!!!!

3. What schwag do you receive on a regular basis, and how do you feel about it?

Pens - I like getting them because I don't have to buy any! Second to that I would probably say T-shirts and then tote bags. Free tickets are good depending on the event.

4. What’s something that could reasonably be great schwag material but for some reason isn’t?

Flash media cards. Who doesn't need a free one every now and then?

5. What the schwag that’s physically closest to you right now?

Pens, tote bag, water bottle.

* From Wikipedia: Promotional merchandise, promotional items, promotional products, promotional gifts, or advertising gifts, sometimes nicknamed swag or schwag, are articles of merchandise (often branded with a logo) used in marketing and communication programs. They are given away to promote a company, corporate image, brand, or event. These items are usually imprinted with a company’s name, logo or slogan, and given away at trade shows, conferences, and as part of guerrilla marketing campaigns.



The schwag in these photos include pens, pencils, two campaign brochures, one for Chris Lethem running for Senate in the 12th District (Honolulu) and for Carol Kaapu running for State House in Kalihi. Other items include a flashlight, tire pressure gauge and a Michlen tire guy statue.

Friday 5 for June 27: I Scream

From Scrivener's Friday 5 blog on "I Scream".

1. What’s something this past week that made you slightly bananas?

I ate 3 bananas this week.

2. What did you do last Sunday? What are you planning for this coming Sunday?

Reviewed 389 photos I took the night before at a political fund raiser. The only plan for this Sunday is to go to the airport at 10 in the night and pick up a friend that is coming home from Bellingham WA.

3. What’s something you fudged this past week?

A report that pulled data from a spreadsheet.

4. What was this week’s most interesting scoop?

Something about another friend getting a new bed. Not elaborating here.

5. What was the cherry on top of your good or bad week?

Good: Being with my special friend who is not the friend in #2 or #4 above.

Next....

Frdaiy 5 for June 13: Shopping

Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5

1. Roughly how many plastic shopping bags do you think are in your house right now, and which store is represented most by them?

I have hundreds, maybe thousands of plastic bags in my home. I am stocking up on them because they will be banned by the environmental wackos and the government sympathizers come July 2015 here in Honolulu. It really sucks to not get a bag for free of any type at your favorite store. This is coming to Honolulu because the government and the environmental wackos think that bags harm the earth. I recycle the plastic bags I get from the store and use them mainly as trash containers instead of buying the more expensive "Glad" type of trash bags that come rolled up in a box. Why use those when stores give out free plastic bags? Have been going on for decades. Why do government think they can always change our behavioral habits? It totally sucks.

The store most represented in my collection is 1. Don Quijote followed by 2. WalMart.

2. Roughly how many gift cards do you possess, and about how much are they worth in sum?

Several, most of them being self bought iTunes gift cards from Apple. They are worth over $50 as a collection.

3. What’s an aisle at your favorite grocery store or drugstore that you pretty much never walk down?

Feminine hygiene products. Have no need for those.

4. When you shop for groceries, are you most likely to grab a shopping cart or a shopping basket? How often do you grab neither?

Basket. Use neither when I know I'm only going in for one quick item.

5. What was the last thing you purchased just in case?

In order - batteries, toilet paper and rice. Hawaii is too dependent on overseas shipping not to have enough of these items. What if there is a natural disaster or worst, a shipping strike?

Friday 5 for May 16 - Shadows

Evil: Mufi Train Hannemman. Oh No Not Again!



Evil: Governor Abercrombie: Too much of a socialist agenda for Hawaii. No in 2014.



Evil: State Senator Clayton Hee - running for Lt. Governor? Hell no. May be a good reason for me to pull a "D" ballot in the primary to specifically vote AGAINST this guy. Shan is better. Shan's a nice guy.

SCRIVENER'S FRIDAY 5 MAY 16 - SHADOWS

1. When have you had to choose the lesser of two evils?

Seems to occur every election season in Democrat heavy Hawaii. In 2004 it was a choice for mayor: Mufi or Duke? Hell I dumped a blank ballot into the box for that election. Both were rail proponents and I hated both of them. One would have died in office.

And again? More elections.... Abercrombie vs. Mufi this year? Yuck. Maybe I might vote for this guy named David if I pull a D ballot. The R ballot generally has no interesting races even though I identify more with the R's than the D's... Sheesh.

2. When have your good intentions resulted in something awful?

At work when I had to defend one of our co-workers from an evil co-worker in another department. Things went from bad to worst and are unforgivable. The line "Kill All the Lawyers" holds true in this case.

3. In your experience, have two wrongs ever made a right?

Yes, but I am not giving an example of this because I could probably be killed by radical extremists.

4. When have you had to let virtue be its own reward?

Recently but can't be disclosed. Sorry.

5. What is the worst toll stress has ever taken on you?

Work was one of the worst 4 months in my life. Tanks like to run over people. Tanks eat their own kind.

The End.

Not the Friday 5: Bonus Questions #6

From Scrivener's Friday 5 site.

Bonus Questions, 6

And the hits keep coming.

1. What store’s departure from your preferred shopping mall most saddened you?
2. What’s good to eat at your preferred shopping mall?
3. What services (as opposed to goods) do you pay for at your preferred shopping mall?
4. What’s a store you’ve never been inside at your preferred shopping mall?
5. What kind of store would you most welcome in your preferred shopping mall?
6. What did you most recently purchase at an office supply store?
7. What did you most recently purchase at a book store?
8. What did you most recently purchase at a drugstore?
9. What did you most recently purchase at a convenience store?
10. What did you most recently purchase at a thrift shop?

I'm skipping the Friday 5 questions this week and just going for these.

All of the answers below refer to Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu, the biggest shopping mall in Hawaii which is located about 3 blocks away from my residence.



1. Closings: The most recent store to have departed the Ala Moana Center that I miss is SEARS. Stupid center management took out one of the most local friendly stores and are replacing it with high priced town houses, Bloomingdales and other high priced stores. Ala Moana certainly has lost all the local charm it once had and it is now and has been for at least the last 20 years, an expensive high end mall... which is very sad and misses the intention of the center when it was first built in the late 1950s. Through the 1960s and 1970s it was the most popular shopping mall for local people to go to and get goods and services that were for the most part, affordable.

That all said here is the death roll of some stores and restaurants that were once at Ala Moana Center and are now all gone, mostly replaced with high-end, expensive boutique type establishments:

• Sears
• Woolworth
• JC Penney
• Zippys'
• Sharper Image (another good place to browse but I never bought anything from them)
• DJ's Sound City (record store)
• Ritz (clothing)
• Walden Books
• Honolulu Book Store
• Patti's Chinese Kitchen
• Francis Camera (was not very cheap but was a good place to browse)
• Hawaiian Airlines Ticket Counter
• Aloha Airlines Ticket Counter (the airline went out of business in 2008)
• Keiki Land
• Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor
• L and L Drive In

2. Good stuff to eat at your favorite shopping mall? In Ala Moana Center there is always a fallback to McDonald's since they are affordable and anything else you can take out of either Foodland or Longs' Drug. Otherwise I like all the Japanese bento places in the Shirokiya store. Another good thing they have at Shirokiya is a good selection of used, affordable CDs, DVDs and video games.

3. Services at Shopping Mall: The U.S. Post Office at Ala Moana Center is open on Saturdays!

4. Never Been Inside: Ala Moana Center - Many of the high end boutique stores and high end restaurants like Mortons' and Assagio's.

5. Store most welcome? In Ala Moana Center? Sears or Target. Something that is affordable for local people. That said, it is good that WalMart is only a block away from the expensive mall.

6. Most recently purchased at an office supply store? Paper.

7. Book Store purchase? Nothing recently.

8. Drugstore? Most recent purchase was toothpaste and soap at Longs.

The last two answers do not pertain to Ala Moana Center:

9. Convenence store purchase? Gas at a small place along Kapahulu Ave.

10. Thrift shop purchase: A 35 mm Minolta SLR camera a few years ago.

Friday 5 for March 14 - Breath

From Scrivener's Friday 5 site:



Questions

1. What are your weapons in the fight against bad breath?
2. What activity most recently caused you to be out of breath?
3. How does your breath smell right now?
4. What are some songs in your iTunes (or other media player) whose titles contain the word “breath” or “breathe?” Which is your favorite?
5. What was the last thing you cleaned using condensation from your breath?

Answers

1. Toothpaste and mouth wash.

2. Not telling.

3. Bad because at this moment I am sick.

4. Breath songs: Not too many songs with the word "breath" in their titles. I do have a few more with "breathe". So I'll combine them and make this top 10 list:

1. The Air That I Breathe - The Hollies (1974) 

2. Every Breath You Take - The Police (1983) 

3. Take My Breath Away - Berlin (1986) 

4. Locomotive Breath - Jethro Tull (1972) 

5. Geek Stink Breath - Green Day (1995) 

6. Life and Breath - Climax (1972) 

7. Breathless - The Corrs (2000) 

8. You Took My Breath Away - Traveling Wilburys (1990) 

9. Hold My Breath - The Downtown Fiction (2009) 

10. Breathe Your Name - Sixpence None the Richer (2009)

5. Condensation from Breath / Clean? Occasionally a camera lens, as long as it is the filter in front that I am cleaning.

Friday 5 for March 7 - In Your Ear

From Scrivener's Friday 5 Blog:

"Hello, and welcome to this week’s Friday 5! Please copy these questions to your webspace. Answer the questions there, then leave a comment below so we’ll all know where to check out your responses. Please don’t forget to link us from your website!"



QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

1. What is a most pleasant sound to wake up hearing?

Maybe my "girl friend".

2. What is a most pleasant sound to fall asleep hearing?

1. Music. 2. Talk radio.

3. What’s a more annoying sound: car alarms or leaf-blowers?

In my urban environment, car alarms definitely are annoying. Don't have many trees in my area, so no leaf blowers in this concrete jungle.

4. What’s a sound most people seem to like but you hate?

Jawaiian music. Hardcore gangsta rap music.

5. What’s a sound most people seem to hate but you like?

Airplanes of all types... jets, turboprops, more.

Friday Five - Bonus Wednesday

OK here's something new.... from Scrivener's Friday 5 site:

Hello, and welcome to Bonus Questions for Wednesday, the 5th of March! You know what to do.

1. What’s on your toilet tank?
2. What’s on the dashboard of your car?
3. What’s on top of your fridge?
4. What’s on your front porch?
5. What’s on your bathroom sink?
6. How have you personalized your space at work?
7. What’s the most you’ve spent on one meal out, and was it worth it?
8. What’s the greatest height you’ve looked down from?
9. What animal have you seen in the wild that most people see only in books, in other visual media, or in zoos?
10. Among songs in your iTunes (or other media player), how many contain the word “eye” or “eyes,” and which is your favorite?

Thanks for participating, and happy middle-of-the-week day!

Answers to Questions:

1. Toilet tank - Nothing mostly but sometimes soap.



2. Dashboard of my car - Nothing unless I put my iPod on top of it.

3. Fridge - The Microwave is on top of my fridge... my fridge is half size so that's why. I live in a small apartment.

4. Front porch - I have none since I live in a condo. Condo, apartment both same to me.

5. Bathroom Sink - Bar of soap

6. Personalized workspace - One of my MacBook Pro's since the official office computers are PCs only.

7. Most spent on a meal out - More than $120 at Ruth Chris Steak House about 3 times a few years ago. More recently $71 at Mediterrano. As long as I am having a meal with a good friend it is worth it. If I eat alone, then Zippys' or Burger King will do fine!

8. Greatest Height Look Down From - Perhaps 32,000 feet from an airplane. On the ground, that would be in 1974 when I went to the 88th floor of the Empire State Building in NYC. I would have gone to the top, but the line for the single elevator was too damn long and we did not have time to wait!

9. Animal in the Wild - Mongoose perhaps, usually running across the road to avoid being hit.

10. Eye songs - Got 123 songs with "eye(s)" in the title. If I go by total plays so far for this year, the two most favorites are "Ebony Eyes" by The Stylistics and "The Story in Your Eye" by The Moody Blues.

Friday 5 for Jan. 24, 2014 - Alternate Uses

1. A sticky note is supposed to be used for sticking notes temporarily to stuff. What’s a different way you’ve used a sticky note?

Don't use them much beyond their intended purpose.


2. Plastic cutlery is supposed to be used for moving food from a plate to your mouth a few times before being discarded. What’s a different way you’ve used plastic cutlery?


Use in a potted plant to dig out weeds.


3. Books are supposed to be for reading. What’s a different way you’ve used a book?

Pile up a bunch of books near the door and you have a door stop! Thick, heavy books are also good for use as a tool to flatten curled objects such as photos, posters or maps.


4. A file folder is supposed to be used for holding and organizing important papers. What’s a different way you’ve used a file folder?

Back in the day when I could not find an index card I used to cut a file folder to size and make audio cassette case label J-cards. You can get about 3 of them from an 8 1/2 x 11 size file folder.

5. A shoe is an article of clothing meant for wearing on a foot. What’s a different way you’ve used a shoe?

WEAPON -

"If you cannot find da slippah, and da cock-a-roach stay runnin' away, u get da shoe and hit em DEAD!

Betta yet if u stay wearing da shoe, just step on da roach and hear da buggah crunch!"

Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5.