Friday 5 for December 25: Todayish

From Scrivener's Friday 5 weblog:

1. When were you last up on the house top?

Haven't been to the top of my building. I don't live in a house.

2. What’s a cookie you dislike?

Fig Newtons and anything that has raisins in it.

3. How many people named Carol (or Carole) do you know?

One.

4. How much snow have you got on the roof?

It will be a cold day in hell when that happens in my part of the world - Honolulu, Hawaii.

5. Whose lap did you last sit on, and who last sat on yours?

A: Probably one of my parents decades ago.
B: Not naming any names for the second part.

Photo credit: Tristan Martin on Flickr

Friday 5 for December 18: Know How

Been a while since I fooled around with this... but here goes:

"Hi. 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!"



1. What’s something you know how to do beneath the hood of a car?

Open the hood, top off the oil, top off the radiator water, top off the windshield washer water, check the oil, trans fluid, radiator water, windshield washer water, jump start the battery, jump start another vehicle from car battery (without getting shocked), check the battery, remove and install the battery, check the fan belts, but after that, it is time to take the car in for servicing if it needs more.... like alternator replacement, change the oil, other major fluids, spark plugs, etc.

2. What’s something you know how to fold a piece of paper into?

Airplane, boat, hat, and make that four corner numbered square thing (forgot what it is called)..... Plus I can crumple it up and hopefully and accurately shoot the paper ball into a wastebasket without missing.

3. What’s something you know how to do in the outdoors?

Walk, take photos, drive my car, relax outside, the usual, casual stuff.

4. What’s something you know how to do with a length of rope?

Probably tie it. Don't do much rope.

5. What’s something you know how to do with a deck of cards?

Shuffle, play stupid card games, cheat at Solitaire. I don't gamble.

Friday 5 for November 6: Symbols

From Scrivener's Friday 5 blog:

1. Which of the standard keyboard symbols best describes your mood right now?

This: 

2. On your brand-new family coat-of-arms, created right now whether you already have one or not, what animal is the central figure, representing the spirit and character of your family?

It would have 3: Cat, Bear and Wolf.

3. In what ways is your vehicle symbolic of you?

My 1993 Toyota Corolla - cheap, thrifty, durable, old.

4. What charms, figurines, or objects do you keep at hand to remind you of something or someone?

Mostly photos for the special people in my life. Don't have any symbolic items that I can think of.

5. What song lyric best sums up your feelings heading into the weekend?

Right now... "Frustrated" by The Knack because I'm pissed at blogger! @#$!! - Had to do this post twice!!!!!

frustrated she's getting to me
frustrated do what you do to me
frustrated

Friday 5 for Octrober 16: Goings On

The following questions come from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.

QUESTIONS

1. What’s an issue you wish more people knew about?
2. When were you last outraged about something?
3. When you were a kid, what was the first news story to make an impression on you?
4. What’s getting far too much media attention lately?
5. What’s a consumer product you’d recommend to others?

ANSWERS

1. Killing of unborn babies at Planned Parenthood and government funding for such atrocities.

2. I am still outraged about the general excise taxes we have to pay to support the city's biggest mistake of the 21st century: RAIL.



3. Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. I was only 7 years old and the way it hit me was perhaps weeks later when a copies of Life magazine showed all of the photos from that motorcade procession in Dallas Texas. As a kid who did not know any better, the killing of the President of the United States was like someone had killed God. I also remember my Mom crying about it.

4. Gay rights.

5. Chromebooks for people who want a cheap, secondary computer. They are the best laptops for traveling since your data is not on the Chromebook but stored in the cloud. Nice!

Friday 5 for October 9: It's Time to Play the Music

I don't see what the following questions have to do with music, but here goes.... from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog:

QUESTIONS

1. How do you feel about honeydew and other melons?
2. How are your little piggies?
3. What kind of experience do you have with scooters?
4. What animal frightens you most?
5. Apples, celery, and walnuts dressed in mayo and served atop a bed of lettuce are popularly known as a Waldorf Salad. What’s your favorite salad with a name?

ANSWERS



1. The only edible melon that I like is watermelon!

2. I'm just going to mention The Beatles' song "Piggies" which was written by George Harrison. This keeps it in the realm of "music" which is the strange topic heading for this.

3. None.

4. Dogs. I am not a "dog person".

5. Potato Macaroni Salad has no other name.

Friday 5 for October 2: Up and Autumn

From Scrivener's Friday 5 website:

QUESTIONS

1. Where do you rank October among the twelve months of the year?
2. What time is the sun coming up where you live, and how does it affect your life or schedule?
3. How do you manage to get enough fresh air and exercise in bad-weather months?
4. Holidays and weather aside, what are the best and worst things about the autumn months?
5. What are some good songs for the soundtrack of the season?

ANSWERS

1. 10th!

2. The sun rises at 6:23 AM tomorrow. For the remainder of the month it will be rising a little later everyday but well within the confines of 6:23 AM to nearly 7:00 AM. More information:

http://www.sunrisesunset.com/

Just look for the link to Honolulu or type in any locale in the search box.



3. Wake up early, walk, take pictures of the sunrise, sunset or the night. Picture taking is a motivator for me, sometimes even in the rain.

4. See below:

BEST THINGS ABOUT AUTUMN MONTHS

1. Sun rises later, sun sets earlier.
2. On the south side of Oahu I get sunrises and sunsets that climb out and set in the ocean... which makes for nice pictures.
3. Start of new fall TV season. Get to sample new TV shows and predict which ones will die before fall ends.
4. Cooler weather
5. Hurricane season ends November 30 in theory.

WORST THINGS ABOUT AUTUMN MONTHS

1. Sun sets earlier.
2. Daylight hours are shorter.
3. More traffic on the road since school is back in session.
4. Supposedly more rain during fall and winter months.
5. I hate flying in bad weather.

5. Good songs for Autumn soundtrack... hmm.. this can go anywhere.
Here are 10 of them that I associate with the autumn months for various unrelated reasons.

1. Uncle Albert / Admiral Halsey - Paul & Linda McCartney
2. Season of the Witch - Donovan
3. Fall Down - Toad the Wet Sprocket
4. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
5. Orinoco Flow (Sail Away) - Enya
6. Under a Violet Moon - Blackmore's Night
7. Magnet and Steel - Walter Egan
8. Everything is Coming Our Way - Santana
9. The Time Warp - Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack
10. The Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett

You can listen to all 10 songs here:

Friday 5 for September 18: Procrastination

Answering this now instead of putting it off for later.

QUESTIONS

1. What haven’t you framed yet?
2. What haven’t you thrown out yet?
3. What haven’t you repaired yet?
4. Whom haven’t you called or emailed yet?
5. What haven’t you seen yet?

ANSWERS

1. A picture.

2. Stuff that I have to throw out but haven't sorted yet. Want any mixed cassette tapes?

3. Dell Netbook computer a friend gave to me. Computer works. Hard drive is dead. I want to take that out, put in a small SSD drive and install Linux on this thing.

4. My cousin.



5. Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens

Friday 5 for September 4: Letter of the Law

The following is taken from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.

QUESTIONS

1. What are the ABCs of dining out?
2. What are the Three Cs of dating?
3. What should you SHOP for in gift-giving?
4. What are the four Ps of petcare?
5. How do you go WILD in seeking a good time?

ANSWERS

I'll take a stab at this...



1. Affordable Beautiful Cuisine

2. Comfortable Cuddly Creativeness

3. Something Helpful Or Practical

4. Petting, Pampering, Playing, Perception

5. I don't. I'm not a party animal.

Friday 5 for August 28: Extra Medium

Media questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 site. Can't pass on these even 2 days late.

QUESTIONS

1. What forms of media consumption do you pay for?
2. When did you last read a physical newspaper?
3. What percentage of your television consumption is watched live as it’s broadcast, versus on-demand, via recording, or some other stored or streamed medium?
4. What’s been the big local story in your area this week?
5. What is the most recent thing you regretted clicking?

ANSWERS

1. At the current time only internet access. That is the most important because it gives me access to many free media resources such as YouTube, Hulu, Google Photos, iHeartRadio, various streaming TV stations, radio, news sites and blogs.

2. Today - Hawaii Tribune Herald. I'm on the Big Island to September 5.

3. Home in Honolulu I get live TV broadcasts for free via antenna. Mostly it is the local TV news, some sports and other special events that may be viewed live over the air. Online I get some local news events reported live on streaming media plus a few times that I am watching the Geek News Central broadcast live or TWIT TV. All free. Probably about 12%.

On demand and streaming stored media would be everything else... YouTube, Vimeo, Hulu free (not Plus), Local TV News on demand content, Smithsonian Channel, Pluto TV, Crackle many others. I will renew my Amazon Prime subscription at a later date.

4. Hurricanes Kilo, Igancio and Jimena.

5. Sidekick email monitoring app and website. Avoid this at all cost. Serious privacy issues involved with this. Excessive emails after registration. Hard to delete. You have been warned.

Friday 5 for August 21: Cure for What Ails ‘Ya

From Scrivener's Friday 5 blog:

Questions:

1. What’s the greatest lovesong of all time?
2. What’s in the background of the most recent two pictures of you?
3. What was the primary cause of your most recent mishap?
4. Why can’t I be you?
5. What did you do on the 13th?

Answers:

1. Too hard to answer with only one song. But on a whim I'll just go with "I'll Follow the Sun" by The Beatles. The Beatles are my all time favorite rock group. They had many love songs. This is one of my favorites. Other artists have had some great love songs too, but since you only want one, that is what I am going with. Don't have time to create a list.

2. A wall.

3. Can't recall any recent mishaps.

4. You would not like my social conservative viewpoints and my long term health problems.




5. August 13 was the day after my Mom died. My brother, sister and I made preliminary funeral plans on the 13th before we went to see the funeral director on the 14th. Mom was 83. Sad.

Friday 5 for August 7 - La La La La La

From Scrivener's Friday 5 blog:
"Long-time (and even short-time) participants in the Friday 5 pretty much know that my two favorite topics to ask questions about are food and music. And I’ve had a pretty good music-filled week, so here are five questions inspired by that."

1.What’s your favorite song about a specific city?

Gosh there are plenty of city songs that i like. Here are 10 of them.

1. Honolulu City Lights - Keola and Kapono Beamer + the remake by The Carpenters. The song captures the essence of wanting to go back home to Honolulu.

2. City of the Angels - This song by Journey is my favorite for LAX.

3. The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace - always loved this fictional account of gangsters and Al Capone. The record went to #1 in 1974. The song could also fit in question #2.

4. Honey's Tune (Hilo's Such A Rainy Old Town) - by Olomana - This song just feels "so Hilo" especially about the rain. You got to have lived there or been on the Big Island of Hawaii to know what I mean.

5. El Paso - Marty Robbins - one of the best story songs ever, this is like an audio movie rolled into 5 minutes. From back in the days of real country music.

6. Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John - a great, uptempo dance song about a tennis team from Philly. Great arrangement and orchestration. #1 in 1975.

7. Echo Valley 2-6809 - The Partridge Family - One of the best songs on PF's Sound Magazine.

8. San Francisco - Scott McKenzie  - hippie song from 1967. "Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair".

9. London's Calling - The Clash for when you're angry.

10. Summer Night City - A Euro-pop song by ABBA from 1979. Location is probably fictitious or wherever there is a hot disco.

2. What’s your favorite song about a real, historical figure?

1. Candle in the Wind by Elton John (1973 - Marilyn Monroe) - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road - 1973 Live in Australia - 1987
2. James K. Polk - They Might Be Giants (1990 on Istanbul Not Constantinople CD single)
3. Hey Jude - The Beatles (Julian Lennon, 1968 - he's not historical but he is part of Beatles history)
4. I'm Henry the 8th I Am - Herman's Hermits (1965) - Fun from when I was a kid.

3. What are your favorite song and favorite group (or solo artist) from the classic Motown era?

Way too much to list just one.

1. My Girl - The Temptations (1965)
2. Superstition - Stevie Wonder (1972)
3. Love Child - Diana Ross & the Supremes (1968)
4. Get Ready - Rare Earth (1970)
5. I Heard it Through the Grapevine - Marvin Gaye (1968)
6. Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder (1974)
7. Reach Out (I'll Be There) - The Four Tops (1966)
8. Second That Emotion - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1969)
9. Tears of a Clown - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles (1970)
10. War - Edwin Starr (1970)

I would like to include "Midnight Train to Georgia" by Gladys Knight & the Pips but this was released in 1973 on Buddah Records after they left Motown.

Favorite artist - Stevie Wonder (especially after he took creative control of his music in 1970).

Favorite group - Rare Earth (they were on a Motown imprint from 1969 to 1974)

Today Motown is just part of Universal Music and not its own label anymore.

4. What’s your favorite song by a musician (or band) you really dislike?

"The Real Slim Shady" by Eminem - definitely not a fan, but the song is ok.

5. What’s your favorite song with the word “song” in its title?

1. Song on the Radio - Al Stewart (1978) from Time Passages
2. Look What They've Done to My Song Ma - Melaine or The New Seekers (early 1970s)
3. Songs From the Wood - Jethro Tull (1978)
4. This Song - George Harrison (1976) - about being sued for My Sweet Lord.
5. The Christmas Song - Nat King Cole "chestnuts roasting on an open fire...."

Friday 5 for July 31: Fresh Catch

1. What were your feelings the last time you stood on a scale?

Heavy

2. In what ways are you old school, and in what ways are you new school?

Old School

1. I own and still use a landline phone.
2. I still pay many bills by mailing out a check.
3. I own a component stereo system with turntable, analog mixer, CD player, and cassette deck.
4. I own and play many vinyl records - LPs and 45s.
5. I still own many audio cassette tapes - many custom mixes created by me.
6. I have a big collection of film cameras and I still shoot film from time to time. My favorite cameras are the Minolta X700 and Minolta XD11.
7. I watch some of my TV with an antenna set-up. Bonafide cord cutter.
8. I still read books that have paper pages and don't require a screen or batteries.
9. My car is a 1993 Toyota - no internet, no bluetooth, only one embedded computer system.

New School

1. I own 2 Chromebook laptop computers.
2. I own several Macs.
3. I stream music from Google Play (my own collection), iHeart Radio, Pandora and more... only the free tiers.
4. I cut my cable TV cord. No more paying high TV bills for channels I dont watch.
5. I stream many TV shows and videos using mostly free service tiers such as Hulu (standard), YouTube, Pluto TV, Crackle, and more.

3. What big event is coming down the pike for you?



40th Year Reunion for Honokaa Class of 1975 Aug. 1, 2015.

4. In which social situations do you thrive, and in which do you flounder?

Flounder - Most social situations with large groups of people.
Thrive - Meeting with one or two friends at the time.

5. When was the last time a fad hooked you?

Pogs. I collected some in the 1990s and the ad agency I worked for back then created some.

Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.

Friday 5 for July 10: Hard Time

From Scrivener's Friday 5 of July 10.

1. What’s the story of someone you know who has spent time in prison?

Person is still in an Arizona prison for murder.

2. What is the most official trouble you’ve ever been in?

Trouble? Me. I'm an angel.... (Harp music playing)

3. What’s the last program you binge-watched?

Thirteen part documentary series - "World War II in color". Good content but the color was mostly computer generated over old black and white footage.

4. What would be good prison nicknames for a few people you know?

"Bully", "Womanizer", "Tank", "Traitor", "Lapdog", "Bookworm"

5. Of the usual prison jobs (library, electrical shop, laundry, cafeteria, gardener, clerical, etc.), which would you ask to be assigned to? Feel free to be creative!

I'd go for Librarian because from what I learned most prisons have a fairly good law library and access to LexisNexis law database services. Plus a good place to spend a lot of time reading all the books, and maybe even get some internet.

Friday 5 for June 26: So Rank

Questions are off Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.

1. What memories do you have of an old-fashioned general store?

Small, cramped, full of merchandise stacked on shelves and usually friendly people to deal with.

2. What’s something people think incorrectly of your home state (or country) but still contains a kernel of truth?

Hawaii - Many people think it is a “melting pot” of ethnic groups and for the most part it is correct. However there still is racism and discrimination if you talk to certain people or groups.

3. What are the major differences between you and your best (non-romantic) friend?

I support the construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope and my friend does not. (Top photo is of the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope that is slated to be built on Mauna Kea.)

4. What’s something you were the captain of?

Junior Police Officer (JPO) in the 6th grade.

5. What’s the story of your first private moment with a high-school romantic interest?

If it was revealed it would not be private anymore.

Friday 5 for June 20: Scattergories Part V

From Scrivener's Friday 5. Scattergories Part 5. Read all about it at the link below. Basically you let the random letter generator pick a letter for you and answer the questions below with words that begin with that letter. On first crack I got M!

1. What’s a refreshing beverage whose name begins with the letter?



Milk shake

2. What ailment whose name begins with the letter have you suffered from? Mumps

3. What horrible creature whose name begins with the letter do you resemble in your foulest mood?



Monster

4. What emotion whose name begins with the letter have you experienced in the past week? Melancholy

5. What’s an item in your purse, wallet, or backpack whose name begins with the letter?


Money

Friday 5 for May 22 - Mail Order

The tower version of this computer was the largest item I got in mail order.

A week late and a dollar short but here are may answers to the May 22 topic "Mail Order" from Scrivener's Friday 5 site.

The Questions:

1. What is your most recently mail-ordered item?
2. What’s a catalog you’ve always wanted to order from but never have?
3. What is physically the largest item you ever mail-ordered?
4. What catalogs do you still receive in the actual mail?
5. What are some obscure or unusual catalogs you’ve received?

The Answers:

1. The last time I got an item actually mail ordered to me from Amazon.com was probably a CD - can't remember which one it was, but it was in 2014. Haven't ordered anything physical from Amazon this year.

2. Catalog I always wanted but never have.... SEARS - They discontinued the big catalog several years ago. But now I wish I had those since the SEARS store in Honolulu was torn down to make way for some high end stores.

3. Largest physical thing I actually got in the mail was way back in 1997 when I got my PowerCenter 150 Macintosh Clone desktop computer tower and monitor from Power Computing out of Round Rock, Texas. That was a good computer and was my main workhorse with Mac OS 7.6 to OS 8.5 and BeOS until 2001. Was a secondary platform until around 2009 when I sold it. 

4. Currently no catalogs.

5. In the distant past I used to get a scientific supply catalog from Porter Spear Company and recently I've been annoyed with some junkie sports betting catalogs. Those are immediately thrown in the trash. My favorite catalog that I used to get was Crutchfield and the occasional C-Crane electronics catalog.

Friday 5 for May 8: Vinegar and Brown Paper

Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.



1. What kinds of vinegar do you have in your pantry?

None at this time.

2. What was the last purchase you made that was carried home in a brown paper bag?

Groceries from Malama Market in Honokaa on the Big Island of Hawaii. There is a plastic bag ban on the Big Island but some stores do give out a paper bag and charge you a nickel for it I believe. Most recent purchase as such was on Sunday, May 3, 2015.

3. What home remedies do you swear by?

Chicken soup for when you have a cold, keeping warm and out of the draft when you're sick, bed rest when you're sick.... that kind of stuff.

4. How many Jacks and Jills do you know?

Jack Schneider, a businessman, and State Senator Jill Tokuda are two that are at the top of my head.

5. How would you rate your gift-wrapping skills?

I use a lot of tape, and can wrap adequately. Photo at the top shows gifts wrapped by my sister and her cat, Poof sitting on them.

Friday 5 for May 1: Baby It's Spring

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!

1. How do you feel about the smell of babies?

It depends when you smell them. Mostly good but avoid after a poop.

2. Pretty much all animal babies are cute, but which are the cutest?

Kittens.

3. Veggies are pretty good in their adult form, but put the word “baby” in front of some of their names, and they can be transcendent. Which baby veggies do you especially love?

Don’t know about love but I would say baby carrots are convenient.

4. How cute a baby were you?

Ugly

5. How many songs in your digital library have the word “baby” in their titles, and which is your favorite?

Currently 250 miles away from my 16,000+ iTunes Library but off the top of my head here are my top 10 baby songs:

1. Baby Blue - Badfinger (1972) - This is the one played the most
2. Pretty Baby - Blondie (1978)
3. Baby You’re A Rich Man - The Beatles (1967)
4. Don’t Drop the Baby - The Judybats (1991)
5. Baby I Need Your Lovin’ - Johnny Rivers (1967)
6. Cry Baby Cry - The Beatles (1968)
7. Be My Baby - The Ronnettes (1963)
8. Baby It’s You - Smith (1969); The Beatles (1963)
9. Baby Hold On - Eddie Money (1978)
10. Baby I’m A Want You - Bread (1971)

Friday 5 for April 10: Opposition

From Scrivener's Friday 5 website, this week's topic is OPPOSITION.

1. What’s a current political or social issue on which you stand opposed?

There are plenty things to oppose. Here are a few of them:

Honolulu Fixed Rail Project - Too expensive, won't solve traffic woes, mainly lining pockets for developers. Ugly as shit. Tax burden on the public is too great. Stop rail now.

President Barack Obama - Everything about his tenure as president is bad. He is trying to move to country too far to the left. I oppose Obamacare, normalization of relations with communist Cuba, rule by executive orders, outlandish spending for Hawaii and other vacations, arrogant, Benghazi, allowing illegal immigrants to achieve legal status, and much, much more.

More Taxes - Politicians are never to be trusted when it comes to managing government finances because they almost always advocate for increasing taxes. Especially Democrats and liberals. Taxes should be cut.

Need I add more to this list? Not now.

2. What forces have worked against your efforts this week?

More than you would want to know.

3. Would you rather have to climb a steep hill in order to get into your house, or climb a steep hill in order to get out?

I actually prefer flat, level ground. Hills should only be a backdrop that you look at from down below and appear in landscape photographs. Hills and mountains should also be avoided by low flying aircraft.

4. In what way have you recently made things difficult for someone else?

Now why would I want to disclose that...next....

5. In what way has the “opposites attract” cliche been true in your life?

Kind of sort of with my current close, friend.

Friday 5 for April 3: Extinction

From Scrivener's Friday 5 site: "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!"

1. What’s the coolest of the extinct animal species? 

For this exercise I'd go with the Dodo bird. It definitely was not cool and was probably the ugliest bird that ever existed on Earth. The thing couldn't fly, had no natural predators on its home island of Mauritius, and fell prey to non-native animals such as rats and pigs. They were hunted by sailors for food. The bird became extinct in the 1660s.

Speaking of dodo's, I know a few humans who would qualify as such. Hah!

2. What classification (however you want to define that) of human being seems to be an endangered species? 

My family line. We don't have much children after the current generation so my kind are definitely endangered. Otherwise it has been noted that in 200 to 300 years, blond people will become extinct due to a lot of interracial births.

3. How do you feel about the disappearance of the neighborhood video rental store?

I don't miss it as much as the record store. Both record and video stores were good places to browse and if motivated buy music or a movie. Today we got streaming which is what seems to be dominant. Back in the day I preferred to buy vs. rent since I usually always forgot to return the video on time.

 

I think CDs are better than pure digital files. 

Plus you can get many used ones like this for as low as $1.00.

4. What’s an older technology that you consider better than a newer technology that’s replaced it?

I like compact discs better than just plain old MP3 or AAC files you purchase or download online. Today some used compact discs can be bought at a dollar each which is way cheaper than buying only one single track as a downloadable file for $1.29 each.

But then again, I still like and hold on to a lot of my old vinyl records. Records are cool to play and they come with big graphics and information that you don't get with many CDs and almost not ever with digital.

When it comes to single song purchases, with vinyl records you usually always got two songs (A side and B side) for the price of one, no matter how much they charged for that single. And some of those B-sides were killer tracks that never appeared on record albums and CDs until years later when the record company or artist issued them on an expensive compilation album.

5. What no-longer-available snack item do you miss most?

Horlick's malted milk chocolate candy that came in a bottle for a long time. I used to like the bubblegum cigarettes, and the sugary juice candy that came in a wax container shaped like a gun.

Friday 5 for March 27: Without Lamps, There’d Be No Light

From Scrivener's Friday 5:

"One of my favorite movies of all time celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and I had the pleasure to see it on the big screen for the first time Thursday evening. I was sixteen when it came out (yes; I’m 46), and too young to see it in theaters then, so although I’ve seen it on cable and DVD at least fifty times, this experience was a first, and it was incredible. So this week’s questions are inspired by that film."

1. When you were seventeen, how did you spend most of your Saturdays?

At home or with friends.

2. What was your high school locker like?

Cluttered if it was not vandalized.

3. When did you last have to replace a missing screw? 

Can't exactly remember. If I take something apart I put the screws in empty 35mm film containers so that they don't get lost.

4. What was the last thing you drank out of a Thermos?

That's a long time ago. Can't remember... probably hot water or chicken soup.

5. Do you still possess anything you created in high school (say, an elephant lamp that lights up when pull the trunk)?

I was on the high school yearbook staff, so that means I still have my senior yearbook from Herff Jones.... are they still in business? Their crummy book binding started falling apart shortly after we got our books. Josten's is better.

Video: "Don't You Forget About Me" by Simple Minds. The song was used in the movie The Breakfast Club as the closing credits ran on top of it. The track also topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985.

Molly Ringwald: Loved "Pretty in Pink" and I wish she had gone with Duckie. Haven't seen her in anything recent.

Ally Sheedy: "Number 5 is alive!" "Nice software"... heh heh

It's sad that John Hughes died unexpectedly. "Bueller, Bueller, Bueller?"....

Friday 5 for March 20, 2015 - Stitches

I saw this question last week, and meant to reply then since I recently had some stitches put in. A week late and a dollar short but now my response is up. Mmmmm.

1. Where on your body have you had stitches, and what were the circumstances? 

You see the photos at the top and bottom of this post? Well those are the most detailed photos you'll see of me anywhere. Last year after what I thought was a giant zit on my back that bothered me for a few years, I decided to have it checked. The doctor said it was a cyst and that I could have it removed. So one day in late September 2014 I had the darn thing removed through a "minor" surgical process.

As you can see from the photos at the top the cyst was quite large. There it is in the little cup. Gigantic pustule that occasionally oozed from time to time when I had it. 

Doctor removed it and replaced the incision with the stitches you can see above and below this paragraph. The top picture is of the first day. The bottom photos are of subsequent months... November, December 2014, and March 2015. Photos by the doctor's nurse on the first day, and by friend Lisa and sister Sandra. I took the photo of the cyst in the container with the nickel. It is located on a part of my back that I can't reach.

The hospital kept the pustule, examined it and declared it cancer free! Yeah.

2. Who most recently left you in stitches? 

Myself and my sister several years ago after she noted the holes in my socks and we laughed about it a lot.

3. “A stitch in time saves nine,” says the proverb, which means that mending one small tear in a fabric now prevents having to make nine stitches later when the damage is worse. How has this been illustrated in your life? 

See number one above if it is about me. Otherwise the other one I can literally think of is when my Dad had bypass surgery and he had big stitches all over. This was back in 1988. Doctors gave him another 10 years on life at that time. He lived longer than that and passed away in 2010.

4. What are your thoughts on Disney’s Lilo and Stitch? 

"Ohana means family and nobody gets left behind." Loved  the movie; good storyline and it is based in Hawaii. What's not to like? It is the only Disney animated flick I have in my DVD collection. This was also the last movie I saw in the Waikiki #3 theater back in 2002.

5. What experience do you have with needle and thread?

I can sew a button back on to a piece of clothing. That's about it unless you consider the stitches story at Q1.

Friday 5 for January 16, 2015: Home is Where the Hearth Is!

Haven't done one of these for a while.. but Scrivener hits on a favorite topic of mine... CLUTTER! Hah!



1. What is your approach to dealing with (or preventing) clutter?

I have none. I have plenty of clutter. The only things that I got rid of in significant numbers were VHS and Betamax tapes. My place is very small.

2. What kinds of (tangible) things do you seem to have an unreasonable time letting go of?



All of them: Record albums, 45 rpm vinyl singles, cassette tapes, CDs, DVDs, books, camera gear, computers (I had to trim down to laptops, desktops take up a lot of space), old photographs, negatives, a lot!!!!

3. If you could start completely over with your existing living space (and money were only a slight limitation), how would you make it more suited to you and your lifestyle?

Clean out the clutter, slim down on the stuff I have, remodel the place so that it is more of a home office entertainment center. I'd like to get a big screen HDTV put in someday with a better sound system than I have now.

4. How many standalone small kitchen appliances do you own, and how many do you use regularly?

Microwave, toaster, rice cooker... those are the only ones that qualify as small kitchen appliances. Use them with some regularity.

5. What does your current living space really need more of? ROOM!

Friday 5 for January 9: Song Stuff

Well I guess I have to answer this one retroactively. The nice thing about Blogger is that I can backdate late blog entries. So here goes....

1. What’s a song that reminds you of your parents?

I wasn't at their wedding, but I think "The Hawaiian Wedding Song" was featured then.... way back in 1955. My Dad liked jazz music, big band... Lawerence Welk stuff. He also liked Hawaiian music, Arthur Lyman, Don Ho, The Four Amigoes and even some songs by Elvis Presley.

My Mom was mostly into country music and Hawaiian. However I remember her teaching us "The Twist" by Chubby Checker, "The Bunny Hop" and "Hokey Pokey" when we were kids.

In a nutshell, no one song reminds me of my parents but instead several of them.

2. What’s a song that makes you think of food?



"Junk Food Junkie" by Larry Groce from 1976... "in the daytime I'm Mr. Natural, just as healthy as I can be... in the night time I'm a junk food junkie, good Lord have mercy on me!"

3. What’s a memorable song from a movie soundtrack?

Theme from "Star Wars" - Song is so good that it is used to start all 6 movies so far. My top 10 movie soundtrack songs:



1. Star Wars - John Williams / London Symphony Orchestra
2. Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees (Saturday Night Fever)
3. Over the Rainbow - Judy Garland (The Wizard of Oz)
4. A Hard Day's Night - The Beatles (A Hard Days Night)
5. Theme From "Jaws" - John Williams / London Symphony (Jaws)
6. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey) - Strauss / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
7. Lara's Theme / Somewhere My Love - Maurice Jarre (Dr. Zhivago)
8. Grease - Franki Valli (Grease)
9. Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky") - Bill Conti
10. Theme from the "Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" - Ennio Morricone / Hugo Montenegro

There are many more.

4. What was your favorite song from 2014?



"My Silver Lining" by First Aid Kit got the most plays last year on my iTunes and iPods. I really liked that song. Haven't compiled my list of Top 100 songs of 2014 yet.


5. What are your favorite songs for when you’re behind the wheel?

1. Deadman's Curve - Jan & Dean
2. Behind the Wheel / Route 66 medley - Depeche Mode
3. Go Your Own Way - Fleetwood Mac
4. Breaking Into Cars - The Raveonettes
5. Love in a Trashcan - The Raveonettes
6. Slow Ride - Foghat
7. Bad to the Bone - George Thorogood & the Destroyers
8. Suzy & Jeffrey - Blondie
9. The Crunge - Led Zeppelin
10. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival