Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Friday 5 for December 27, 2019: Year End Awards



Hey it's Tuesday, December 31, the last day of the year 2019. This post will finish up my Friday 5 Answers Blog for 2019 as I answer these questions as published to Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.

Here's wishing anyone reading this, a Happy New Year in 2020. The Roaring 20's are back.

And now the questions with answers:


1. Who is your 2019 most valuable player?


In short order: MYSELF. If I don't value me, then what more is there to value?


2. Who is your 2019 newcomer of the year?


My new Grand Niece born April 11, 2019. She lives with her Mom and Dad in Texas.


3. Who is your 2019 most improved player?


My sister. She and my cousins took the lead with our family reunion this past May.


4. Who is your 2019 comeback player of the year?


My friend who lives in Waikiki for being resilient against the bad things put upon him by his family.


5. Who receives your 2019 team spirit award?


My friend Lisa for encouragement, optimism, talent, knowledge, perseverance and survival against tremendous odds. Despite the anguish and pain that she is in, I've found her to be very kind and helpful toward others and myself through the years and today.



The last sunrise of 2019, December 31 - Honolulu, Hawaii

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Friday 5 for December 13: Accidents Will Happen

The following questions are from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog:

1. What was the last thing you spilled?

Water! Good thing it wasn't near any of my electronics.

2. What was the last thing you broke?

I think it was one of my friend's ceramic art piece that was hanging above her doorway a few months ago. Sorry.

3. What was the last thing you dented?

My head??? Huh! My car? No. I know... a plastic bottle!

4. What was the last thing you tore?

Snagged a piece of my shirt... you know something sticking out and you walk by it and for some reason your shirt sleeve gets snagged on it. Ugh!

5. What was the last thing you stumbled over?

Uneven city sidewalk. There are plenty in Honolulu. Tree roots growing under sidewalks pushing the cement up. Could be dangerous.

Otherwise a box of stuff in my own home!



The world's worst drivers probably live in Russia.

Friday, December 6, 2019

Friday 5 for December 6: Five for Five

From Scrivener's Friday 5 blog, out answers are to be five words per question. Here goes:

1. In exactly five words, how was your week?

It was a ho-hum week.

2. In exactly five words, what’s up this weekend?

Rainy today, sunny Saturday, Sunday.




3. In exactly five words, what are you feeling great about?

Feeling good to be alive!

4. In exactly five words, what’s giving you confidence?

Hoping 2020 may be better.

5. In exactly five words, what’re you listening to?

"I Should Have Known Better"




Saturday, November 30, 2019

Friday 5 for November 29: Thrill of Victory (And the Agony of Defeat)

Many, many years ago there was a television program called ABC's Wide World of Sports. It was a weekly Saturday afternoon feature that showcased all kinds of sporting events from many parts of the world.

The sporting events showcased over the years included automobile racing, basketball games, football games, snow skiing, track and field championships and other events too numerous to mention. The program started in 1961 and lasted to 1998. After that it was periodically on the ABC network until the early 2000s.

One of their most memorable slogans used to promote the weekly show was this: "The Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat".

I always remembered the defeat part of the intro reel with a skier crashing into the snow! Here is the video for that memorable program introduction:


So what has all this have to do with this week's Friday 5? I'll be focusing on the "agony of defeat" part.

To say it all here... I suck at sports. I was no good at any sports from the time I was in elementary school to today. I was the last kid picked for school class teams. I never played any organized sports. I never played by myself either. 

The closest thing that I consider a sport is walking. I only do that to keep fit and hopefully live longer. That's it. No running. No jogging, No cross country. No soccer, football, baseball, basketball, golf or whatever. Zero. Nada.

If channel surfing was a sport, perhaps so. But I cut my cable cord in 2011, so I don't even do that. I hardly ever watch sports on TV. I don't even have a TV at this time. I just stream free stuff on my Macs, Chromebook and Android.

OK we're straying now.

Here are my answers to this week's Friday 5 as presented by Scrivener.

1. Which summer Olympics event would you have the best chance of winning?

Hahahaha.... Summer Olympic sports include soccer, baseball, swimming, diving and a whole lot of others. I rarely ever watch the Olympics. Depending on where the Olympics were held, many of the sports they showed in Hawaii during prime time were over before they began, especially those in Asia and Europe. Kind of anti-climatic to get excited about something that got over hours before you woke up.

Olympic sport? Is Golf an Olympic Sport? Maybe that, though I'd have a huge big fat score of 200 strokes over par. Ha!

Shooting is a sport isn't it? I remember going to the shooting range once and fired off a few rounds on a Luger... Um... what is that dirt exploding beyond the target back there??? Oh my shots...  I missed!
That can get expensive.

The agony of defeat.

2. Which winter Olympics event would you have the best chance of winning?

Ahh... Well one that I maybe could have tried if we had snow and ice here... and if it was free. I never been to that Ice Palace place in Aiea.

But in the movie "HELP" that featured The Beatles and their wonderful music, there is a segment of them pushing this big heavy weight thing on the ice around. I later learned it's called "curling".

Looks like you don't need to use ice skates for this because I don't skate and never have. There is the fear of falling too. I don't know what the objective of this game is, but it looks  like you have to move the weight or whatever the thing is from one place to another.

Spare me from the agony of defeat. Maybe there is hope.

3. Which competitive reality TV program would you have the best chance of winning?

If they gave a prize away for "Hoarders" I definitely could have win that one at one time.

The thrill of victory!

Now I won't since I did a major de-cluttering back in 2016.

4. Which traditional TV game show would you have the best chance of winning?

I used to watch Wheel of Fortune with my Mom whenever I stayed with her. I could figure out most of the puzzles.

Potential agony and potential win. Yay!

5. The Pulitzer Prize is awarded for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature, and musical composition. The Newbery Medal is awarded to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. What would a prize named after you be for?

The Ah Ching Trophy for the most ridiculous last name. In order to qualify your name must be constantly mispronounced, misspelled especially by computer generated mail and websites, ridiculed in public while you were a kid, and have your kids be ridiculed by said name too.

OK... now I'll go wallow in my list of past defeats in life. Bye!

Friday, November 22, 2019

Friday 5 for November 22: Places to Go


Five questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 site.



1. What’s the closest you’ve come to having a hangout where everybody knows your name?

Since I am just a homebody, I have to say my own home... and when someone comes to visit, well everybody knows my name! I hang out at home the most.

2. Where do you go when you want to be around people but don’t want to talk to anyone or be recognized?

I generally try to avoid crowds, but usually when I am at Ala Moana Shopping Center or the big box retail place, I generally don't run into anyone I know... and if I see someone I know and I want to avoid them, there are usually places to duck into like an aisle or a shop.

Secondarily, a busy airport is another place where no one will probably know you... though you can't just go there and blend in like you used to long, long time ago (before 911 security measures).

3. Where can you go if you need a little bit of sleep but home is unavailable?

Um... the beach or a park.... maybe the public library... er... church.... a committee hearing at the state legislature.... school! Anyplace that may be boring.

Of course if  you want to pay, there are always hotels.

4. Where do you dine out when you’ve got very little to spend?

$1.50 menu at McDonalds or $2.49 for 10 chicken nuggets and Burger King.

5. What TV show’s characters’ hangout spot do you most wish were right around the corner?

The easy one to mention is CHEERS... where everyone knows your name as the theme song proclaims.
However for me this would be my top 5:

  1. Holodeck - Star Trek TNG Enterprise, Deep Space 9 - create your own virtual scenario and have fun. 
  2. Ten Forward - Star Trek TNG Enterprise - talk to Guinan for words of wisdom. Heh.
  3. The Zocalo - Babylon 5 - shopping area, food court, bar where you can meet all the weirdoes from different worlds.
  4. Cantina at Mos Eisley Station -  Star Wars - bar.
  5. Restaurant - Seinfeld... um... a place so generic where you can plan or complain or whatever. You can also eat there, though no one said how great or bad the food was...not that I can recall. Actually this is a real restaurant that the show used the exterior of.

Sunday, November 3, 2019

Friday 5 for November 1: Food Mood

From the Friday 5 blog... comes another topic on food.*

1. What’s the best striped food?
From when I was a kid, I always liked 
these striped cookies from Keebler.

2. What’s the best spotted food? 

I don't  know  about spotted food. I associate that with age... like bread that is growing green mold spots... cheese with mold growing on it. Because this comes to mind, I don't think I want spotted food.


Spotted food? Really??? 

3. What’s the best layered food?

  • Any multi layered cake with chocolate frosting between each layer will do fine.
  • I guess the second layered food I like is lasanga.


4. What’s the best swirly food? 

We're back to junk dessert food for this which is so good... cinnamon roll is good or the strawberry one. Mmmm... sugar and too much for me. Look at all the junk food so far in this post... we got like really crappy food (moldy bread) to really sweet but not totally good for you food and we haven't even made it to #5.

                

5. What’s the best black-and-white food?


And drumroll please, back to my childhood... OREO COOKIES! Yep, the ultimate, black and white food... Just don't eat too much all at once... because what goes in black and white comes out all...... black! Muahahahahahaha!

I hope my doctor doesn't read this... heh... Most of these foods I should not eat... especially #2.... and too much of #5 because you would not like the color of your #2. That's it for my sugar and cholesterol fix for today.

This was fun compared to the last Friday 5 I answered.

* Photos come from various public domain files.


Sunday, October 20, 2019

Friday 5 for October 18: Doubt

The questions come from Scrivener's Friday 5 page.

I doubt if any of this will be good.

1. What were you recently sure of, but are now having doubts about?

As a pessimist, I am never 100% sure of mostly anything except for death and taxes, since anything else can and sometimes do go wrong.

Currently I am having serious doubts on whether I can continue on my current track until January 2020. And then I have to figure the rest of that year out.

Lately I have been having serious doubts about the operation of my car. Perhaps it is time to get rid of it.

2. What’s something you’d like to see this weekend but probably won’t?

I still have a chance to see and photograph the sunset if I make an effort. All plans to catch the sunrise have been scrapped for this weekend, as it has for most of my life since July.

3. When were your doubts pleasantly verified?

Usually when something bad happens and it is manifested. Then I think I should have either done it earlier or not do it at all. It largely depends on the situation you are in.

4. When were your doubts pleasantly disproven?

Sometimes when my friend tells me about a process that is new to me that I doubt when I first hear about it. I am a skeptic and not that open to adopting new ideas right away until I can read more about it and see it verified through another information source or by another person.

5. What’s something you have absolutely no doubts about?

We will certainly die. The only thing we can do is try to put that fate off for as long as possible.

Yep, this week's Friday 5 is a downer. No doubt about that!

Friday, October 11, 2019

Friday 5 for October 11: Enclosures

First off to 勝美 and onebadscrivener: Thank you for your thoughtful comments on my last blog entry. While I frequently diss Apple, I still recognize that they make the best operating systems on the planet and some of the best hardware too. As for mittens, yep, in Hawaii those are rarely used.

Now onward with this week's Friday 5: Enclosures.

1. What’s something (besides an electronic device) for which you spent extra money on a protective case?


A toothbrush case is a good thing to have to hold your toothbrush in. You can rest assured that while the implement is being stored mostly in your dark bathroom, nasty critters such as cockroaches are not climbing on the bristles that you will later put in your mouth!





2. What product’s packaging do you find excessive or inadequate?



Anything and everything that comes in a hard to open BLISTER PACK. Lots of small, hard consumer products are packaged in a blister pack. Most of them are horrible things to try and open without injuring yourself. Why can't products be put in a simple cardboard box with a cheap plastic film window for display purposes. Why blister packs?

I guess they don't want people stealing the product from the store? They don't want you to open the product when you get home? What? What?

File this under "Annoyingly Excessive".

Runner up: Any new high tech Apple and other devices. Packaging made for vain people who want to do un-boxing videos. [sigh]

3. What are your preferences for food storage containers?

PLASTIC works wonders. Sterilite, Rubbermaid and other similar containers that I can find for sale, hopefully cheap at WalMart will usually get my purchase when I need them.

4. This coming week, what would you like to be shielded from?

Bills, bill collectors, pop up ads, useless notifications, annoying spam emails, telemarketing phone calls, uninvited guests, and other annoyances in everyday life. It's the same crap every week. This is never ending.

5. What’s something interesting you’re keeping in a plastic storage box in your home?

Let's see.... In a big Sterilite container(s) I have the following:

1. Apple G3 iBook Laptop computer - screen is messed up, boots OSX.
2. HP Netbook computer - needs new hard drive; should get an SSD for that and install a Linux on it.
3. Tons and tons of old photos and negatives (various containers) - needs sorting and purging; from my film days.
4. A container of some older film cameras. Minolta, Yashica, Ricoh, Kodak and a few others... various models. Most probably do work.
5. Plastic containers with DVDs and CDs. I've pretty much stopped buying these since I had to do a great big purge back in 2016 to make room in my cluttered apartment.

Lots of somethings.

Friday, October 4, 2019

Friday 5 for October 4: Time to Face the Strain

From Scrivener's weekly 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!

When I first posted this, its title began, “Friday 5 for March 11…” Can you tell I dislike autumn?"

Um... it is October 4.



1. When did you last make an adjustment to your daily getting-ready routine?

Started about late July, dealing with an unintentional vehicle. It's a long story that tires me, and I don't want to get into it.

2. When did you last try a new personal hygiene product?

Last week. Don't know if I will change to this... but it is called Magsol Magnesium Deodorant.

3. What food or drink item have you most recently added to your regular consumption?

Nothing too recent. I have to keep on staying on my diet of regular vegetables,  fresh fruit, some chicken and fish basically. I have tried and like some of the frozen ready to microwave, low sodium frozen packaged alternative veggies as either a main dish or a supplement. They have some good ones for sale cheap at $2.59 in Target. I am sure they are cheaper on the U.S. mainland.

4. What’s a brand-named product you recently abandoned your loyalty to?

Apple.

Once upon a time I used to be a loyal user to all Apple products that I could afford and own. I have owned several Macintosh computers from desktops to recent laptops like the MacBook Pro series.

I bought into the iPod ecosystem and have seven of them in my inventory, including one iPod Touch.

That is where I began to sour.

After several years of ownership of those iPods, I found that the built in batteries don't last very long. When I spend $200, $400, $600 or more for a device, I expect the damn things to last a looong time... much like how my old CRT TV, Radio Shack stereo mixer and other audio gear have lasted... But no... not the iPods... after 5 years of regular use, the batteries drained and did not hold a charge for very long... nearly 10 years on, the iPod Touch like totally died. Will not boot up, not even when placed on the AC powered dock or speakers.  I paid $500 for that thing.

If I could easily replace the batteries on these things I would. But to get into any Apple iDevice, you have to pry the darn thing open, fiddle with complex disassembly and reassembly just to get the battery out and put a new one in. Often it will take a rocket scientist like person to do it. In the case of the iPod Touch most websites I went to concluded that to replace the battery is not worth the time and effort... so again they mandate we chuck it. How sad that most users will have to chuck otherwise perfectly working devices on the account of a worn battery!

Apple... you suck!

iPhone? iPad? All potential carriers of the same battery ware problem. I read somewhere that the iPhone doesn't have a very long shelf life as Apple has shown to throttle them down and shutting older models out of their precious, walled gardened ecosystem. At the low end of $800 for an iPhone, to me it is not worth the price you pay if the darn thing is not going to last beyond five years.

Mac OS is a great operating system. I love Mac OS. However newer Macs seem to suffer from the same problem of not lasting as long as their predecessors. What makes me even more sour on many newer Macs is that Apple took away built in ports that we have come to know and love, like the SD card slot and CD drive. They obviously don't want us burning our CDs to iTunes like it was before.

Hell, they even discontinued iTunes, though I kind of understand that since it became a huge feature laden piece of bloatware. I am just afraid that whatever succeeds it will have some kind of utility to rip and burn CDs... even if I have to get an external CD / DVD drive.

The best Mac I ever owned was my Power Mac G4 tower. That was an affordable Mac that had plenty of expansion options. It is too bad that Apple did not continue to make similar models with Intel processors. Now if you want an expandable desktop Mac you have to buy the super expensive MacPro model.

Most Mac models have no expansion and the laptops have the dreaded built in batteries. While I am not totally shut out of considering another new Mac, I am certainly not going to buy into the higher end models.... nor another laptop from Apple. What I am looking at is to go back to the desktop and get a Mac Mini of some sort.

As for a laptop, I bought into Chromebook some years ago, and I am looking to update that to a newer model, at a much lower price over a Mac.

Windows you say? I use those at work. Not going there.

As for portable devices, that leaves me with only Android or some other type of lesser known OS. Sadly Android makers are following in the footsteps of Apple and offering more devices with dreadful built in batteries.

It is lucky that in 2016 when I was forced to switch providers and a phone, I got an Android with a removable battery. I already switch out the battery once and I probably will do it again down the road instead of buying a new phone. That is how these things should be... maximize our investment for the longest time possible. Even Android with their lower prices on the mid-tier are not cheap. All I ask is for the damn things to last.

So what is this stupid obsession with "thin" anyway? Thin is what brought us those dreadful built in batteries on phones, tablets and laptops. Enough already with the built in batteries.

Did I say I HATE BUILT IN BATTERIES? OK. I do.

Are we going to wait for the day when someone's MacBook Pro, iPhone or high end Samsung phone catches fire and explodes a passenger jetliner in the air sending it crashing down to the ground, before the government starts to mandate that all devices with built in batteries are banned from flights? At the rate we are going, this could happen someday.

So to the manufacturer's out there... get off the built in battery bandwagon and offer us devices with easy to remove batteries. It may save lives!

OK.. enough of this rant. I think I'll go spin some vinyl records on my 40-year-old vintage Technics turntable now.

5. What item in your wardrobe have you recently moved out of the regular rotation?

Regularly have to replace socks and underwear... You do too? Right?

Thursday, October 3, 2019

Friday 5 for September 27 - For Ric and Ben



The following questions are from Scrivener's weekly Friday 5 blog. I started working on this last week, but only now got around to finishing it. Happy and safe driving folks.

1. Where did you go the first time you drove by yourself?

I  became a legal driver several decades ago when I was 15. Where did I go the first time I soloed? I probably went about 2 miles to downtown Honokaa, went to the store and then another 2 miles to home. I think. It was so long ago how can I totally remember that? But a short drive would be the thing I would have done.

2. Who was the first non-family non-instructor you drove anywhere, and where did you go?

Again this was so long ago, I don't exactly remember. More than likely it was one of my school classmates. Can't even remember where I went.

3. What’s the dumbest thing you’ve done behind the wheel?

Again many, many years ago on a two lane highway I was trying to pass two large, slow moving trucks at the same time.... um.... the tiny little Toyota I was driving did not have enough power to accelerate on the slight incline going up the highway. I had barely passed the first truck when a large car was coming straight for me.... um.... the two trucks were fairly close together.... luckily the driver of the truck I passed slowed down and I think the one in front sped up a bit and left me an opening so that I could get back into my lane.

As soon as I made it into my lane, the oncoming car passed swiftly by. It was only a few seconds to spare.... if the opening was not there, I probably would have gotten into a bad accident and perhaps died.

4. What’s the nicest drive you’ve ever taken?

I haven't been to or drove to many places outside of Hawaii. Therefore most of my driving have been done in Hawaii. For each island that I drove on, here are the nicest places:



Kauai island - Back in 2005 I drove all the way to the end of the road up to Kauai's north shore. Going through Hanalei and passing over that iconic steel bridge that gets flooded out during heavy rains was nice. The road up there ends up at a nice beach. Everything in Hanalei and the North shore of Kauai is green, wet and beautiful.

Island of Oahu - Driving in Honolulu sucks because of traffic... and it is not very scenic except maybe passing near Waikiki Beach. Driving out to Waimanalo and Kailua is pretty scenic along Kalanianaole Highway... Otherwise the most scenic drive is on the long and winding road up and down Tantalus drive.

Island of Maui - The drive up to Haleakala crater is always nice. The last time I did that one was back in 1983. Long before that my Dad drove us along the Hana Highway to Hana and back to Lahaina... decades ago.



Island of Hawaii (Big Island) - There are plenty of roads that I consider scenic on the my favorite island. Here is a list of them:
  • Kohala mauka highway, from Waimea town to Hawi along the slopes of Kohala Mountain. Beautiful drive especially in the late afternoon during "golden hour" to get a view of Mauna Kea and other areas from the height advantage of Kohala... the colors of the setting sun are nice from here.
  • Anywhere along the Hamakua Coast, Highway 19 from Hilo to Honokaa. There are several older side roads which offer drivers beautiful green scenery. The scenic highway between Pepeekeo and Papaikou is especially green and beautiful. If you have $$, a stop at Hawaii Botanical Gardens is well worth the price of the high admission... at least once to take pictures.
  • Puna / Volcano area - Many scenic spots in this hostile area, recently overrun by lava last year. Volcanoes National Park and the Chain of Craters road within are must do drives and stops.
  • Ahualoa Road / Old Mamalahoa Highway to Waimea - A nice scenic drive through a forested but homesteaded area, and then through several miles of green pastureland to the main highway near Waimea.
  • Mana Road - If you have a 4 wheel drive vehicle, this is a nice road to take if you have access through the higher back country of rain forest and pasture grasslands.
  • Unfortunately I have never driven up the roads to Mauna Kea or Mauna Loa, nor all the way through the Saddle Road. When I am on Hawaii Island, those roads don't go where I need or want to go, and I don't have access to a 4 wheel drive vehicle without paying money to use one.
5. Who’s the worst driver you know?

The ones who cut in front of you all of a sudden, and those drivers who lane dive while you patiently await your turn in the designated lane.

R.I.P. Ric Ocasek. Benjamin Orr. #TBT


Friday, September 13, 2019

Friday 5 for September 13: dd/mm/yyyy

Here are my answers to this week’s Friday 5 asked by Scrivener. Great bunch of questions! Have a superstitious-free good Friday the 13th!

1. What’s a good song with a time of day in its title?



"It's Five O Clock Somewhere" - Alan Jackson with Jimmy Buffett … This is such a kick -back end of the work day song.

Other time of day songs I like:
  • Five O Clock World - The Vogues
  • 11:59 - Blondie
  • 8:15 - The Guess Who
  • Twelve Thirty - The Mamas and the Papas
2. What’s a good song with a day of the week in its title?

There are plenty of day songs…. my favorites are:



“Tuesday Afternoon” - The Moody Blues - part of their successful Days of Future Past concept album that came out in 1967. Nice orchestration and includes their signature song, “Nights in White Satin".

Other great "day" songs include:

"Saturday Nights Alright for Fighting" - Elton John - good basic rock n roll fun….
"Saturday Night is Dead" - Graham Parker - one of several scorching rockers off of 1979s Squeezing Out Sparks album.
"Ruby Tuesday" - The Rolling Stones - beautiful song from 1967.
"Manic Monday" - The Bangles first big hit single…. came out in 1986. Written by Prince.
"Monday Monday" - The Mamas and the Papas
"Sunday Will Never Be the Same" - Spanky and our Gang from 1967.
"Friday I'm in Love" - The Cure - really? From 1992's Wish album.




3. What’s a good song with a month in its title?

There aren't too many month songs that come to mind. In the last ten years, this one is a recent favorite:



"Back to December" - Taylor Swift - It was the last good song she had before she became a pop princess.

Other month songs in my collection:

"November Spawned a Monster" - Morrissey
"If We Make It Through December" - Merle Haggard
"Raiders of the Lost Ark March" - John Williams / London Symphony... that's kind of stretching it... heh... from 1981 movie.

4. What’s a good song with a year in its title?

Here are my favorites:



"In the Year 2525" - Zager and Evans - This dystopian song was a huge #1 hit in 1969…. It speculated whether or not the human race would survive and what humans would be doing in the far off future.

Other year songs that I like:

  • Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five - Paul McCartney and Wings.
  • 1984 - Spirit (another dystopian Orwellian song)
  • 1982 - Randy Travis
  • 1999 - Prince
5. What’s a good song with the word “time” in its title?

There are more than 500 songs with “time” in their titles on my iTunes. Some of my favorites are:


  • Time Waits For No One - The Rolling Stones
  • Time Is On My Side - The Rolling Stones
  • The Last Time - The Rolling Stones
  • Big Time - Peter Gabriel
  • Time Has Come Today - The Chambers Brothers
  • No Time - The Guess Who
  • Isn't It About Time - Stephen Stills and Manasas
  • Time - Pink Floyd
  • Time For Me To Fly - REO Speedwagon
  • Time of the Season - The Zombies
  • Comes a  Time - Neil Young
  • Any Old Time - Maria Muldaur
  • Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
  • As Time Goes By - Dooley Wilson (from Casablanca)
And I'm going to stick this one in here because I like this song a lot... "Hung Up" by Madonna in which "time" and a heavy sampling of ABBA's "Gimmie Gimmie A Man After Midnight" figures into the song.... This is from 2005.




And with that video posted, I'm out of time and gotta go. BYE!


Saturday, September 7, 2019

Friday 5 for September 6: From the Top

The following questions come from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.
The theme this week is "From the Top".... hmmm... let's see.
Here are the questions....

1. What’s a food or drink whose bottom is better than its top?

There aren't too much that I can think of here... what do I like scraping bottom for? The leftover chocolate that did not completely dissolve from what's left of hot cocoa comes to mind....  I would also say the ice cubes left at the bottom of a soda or just plain water is something that I like better than the drink.

2. What’s at the top of your weekend agenda?

Not in any particular order... getting some mail out (the kind requiring paper and stamps), cleaning, going grocery shopping, resting, and not much else at the top of my agenda. Generally my weekends are usually ho-hum and I like it that way. Nothing to exciting in my life.

3. When did you last wear a non-hat covering for your head?



Back in 2010 I had the privilege of sailing out on the nuclear aircraft carrier U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. I was there for a media tour as a photographer for an online publication. One thing I remember is that we had to wear a protective headgear called a "cranial" when we went to observe operations on the flight deck of the carrier and also wear that on the helicopter ride back to Joint Base Hickam-Pearl Harbor in Honolulu.

4. What tunes did you spin this week?




As of this posting on my Last FM site the most recent ten tunes played are the following:

I Should Have Known Better - The Beatles
The Happening - The Supremes
(If I'm Dreaming) Just Let Me Dream - Brenda Lee
Happy Together - The Turtles
Don't Worry Baby - The Beach Boys
I Know A Place - Petula Clark
No Milk Today - Herman's Hermits
The Letter - The Box Tops
Jennifer Eccles - The Hollies
Ain't Gonna Move - Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs

I've been on a 1960s rock /pop streak this weekend. Many of the things I play on iTunes or my Android gets logged on Last FM. I also like to play my old vinyl records, tapes, radio or CDs and none of those get logged.

5. When were you last on the roof of a building?

I live on the eighth floor of my 17-floor condo building. Therefore I am on the roof of whoever lives on the 4th through 7th floors of this building. I can also look down on the building next to mine from my 8th floor balcony. Nice view of the air conditioning units is all I will show. Heh.



Saturday, August 17, 2019

Friday 5 for August 9: Scattergories, Part 9!

This is the annual Friday 5 that involves the Random Letter Generator. Questions are from Scrivener's Friday 5 site.

The letter that I stumbled on was "D".

1. What beverage do you enjoy but seldom have?

Drinking a nice thick chocolate or strawberry milk shake.

Digital cameras have allowed me to take more photos than ever before.
2. What’s better now than when you were a kid?

Digital photography is much better than film photography in relation to cost. While I enjoy the process of film photography, the medium is limiting as to how many images we can shoot per roll of 24 or 36 exposures. This was the only way to take photos from when I was a kid and clear into and beyond college.

In the early 2000's, I adopted digital, slowly but surely. By 2003 I was totally in digital, getting my first DSLR camera that year after plodding along with an older point and shoot digital camera.

Unlike my beloved film cameras, digital allows me to shoot photos almost like a drunken sailor in that you can shoot hundreds of pictures per session as long as you have enough flash memory to store it on.

Today digital is the accepted norm for all photographers. You rarely have to consider purchasing film or related digital media like SD cards, and almost all processing from digital is free vs. the processing and image printing cost for film photography.

Digital has made everyone a photographer including the millions who use their smartphones as their main and often, only camera.

3. Who makes you happy?

While it is not always so, my friend Daniel seems to be a happy guy.

4. Where do you go when you want to indulge?

Long long ago I used to shop at this record store called DJ's Sound City at Ala Moana Shopping Center. I love to look at records and other types of sound recordings. If I find something I like I will dish out a reasonable amount of money to get the recording under consideration.

5. Where’s a comfy place to sit?

On a "delightful" chair or couch if I had access to one. At this time I have no really delightful furniture in my home. Most of the furniture I own are a bit old and mostly utilitarian.              

Saturday, August 3, 2019

Friday 5 for August 2: Heartbreak Hotel

The five questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 site are as follows:

1. What’s down at the end of the Boulevard of Broken Dreams?

Green Day, No Cash, No Employment, Death

2. What’s down at the end of My Way? Your way!

3. What’s down at the end of Perfect Circle? 

It's either a new beginning or the same old same old.

4. What’s down at the end of Asian Avenue? North Korea!

5. What’s down at the end of Sunday Drive? 



Just another Manic Monday.

6. What’s down at the end of Stay in Your Lane?

Hopefully HOME in one piece. 

7. What’s down at the end of Any Place? 

Some place.... I hope.

Friday, July 5, 2019

Friday 5 for July 5: Freeeeeeeeeedom!

1. What’s a movie that makes you feel patriotic?

Top 5 movies that make me feel patriotic:



1. Apollo 13 (1995) - Probably one of the best true life event movies that make you feel patriotic with a "can do" attitude of using American ingenunity to bring the crippled spacecraft safely back to Earth.

2. Patton (1970) - George C. Scott was wonderful as the colorful WWII general who kicked ass in more ways than one.

3. The Patriot (2000) - Mel Gibson's revolutionary war movie.

4. Independence Day (1996) - U.S. forces kicked alien ass in this exciting science fiction movie.

5. The Final Countdown (1980) - A good science fiction movie that speculated on what the crew of a nuclear aircraft carrier and all its modern day weaponry would do if they were transported through a time warp back to the Pacific Ocean on December 6, 1941.

Other movies that I think are patriotic: Top Gun (1986), Superman (1978), Casablanca (1942)....

2. When you first started driving, what’s something you did mostly because you could?

Drive instead of walk or relying on someone else to take me around. Independence. Going from Point A to Point B on your own time in your own vehicle in your own personal space with the music playing loud.



3. What’s a good song whose title contains some form of the word “free"?

Top 5 Free Songs....

1. Freedom - Paul McCartney (2001)
2. Free Ride - Edger Winter Group (1973)
3. Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John (1975)
4. The Free Electric Band - Albert Hammond (1972)
5. Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd (1974)

Related - Money For Nothing (And Your Chicks for Free) - Dire Straits (1985)


4. When did you last un-expectely receive something for free?

Long ago back in the late 1980s. This was when 45 MB hard drive cost $435. For some strange reason the Ehman Corporation sent me the drive I paid for and another one a week later of the same thing for free. I was happy as a clam having the two drives connected to my old Mac Plus.

Most recently I think I got like an extra grocery item for free when the check-out person entered the wrong amount.


5. What’s something you’ve given freely in recent weeks?

A lot of time helping my friend move this month.

The Friday 5 Questions

The only Ace Frehley song I know is "New York Groove", which was a top 40 hit in 1978.




Friday, June 28, 2019

Friday 5 for June 28: Dress You Up in My Love



1. For the rest of your life, you get to dispense one condiment out of each fingertip of your right hand, defining “condiment” liberally. Which five do you commit to?

  • Sugar
  • Cinnamon
  • Chocolate
  • Pepper
  • Oregno
2. What is the best way to spiffy-up french fries?

Generally I take my fries plain... very lightly salted if possible, but if I do "spiffy up" basic ketchup is good. Maybe tarter sauce (as shown above) or sweet and sour sauce.

3. The restaurant is out of your favorite salad dressing. What do you order instead?

I can eat salads plain. Have no problem with it.

4. How do you like to modify your favorite heat-and-eat food?

I usually sprinkle pepper on it.

5. In what way do you play with your food?

If taking photos of food is playing, then that pretty much is the extent of it. Mother always said it is not nice to play with your food.

Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5.

Of course when I first saw the topic title, I thought about this song:


Saturday, June 1, 2019

Friday 5 for May 31: Genre

1. What gets an unfairly bad rap?

I am going out on a limb for this one... The current President of the United States, Donald Trump gets a very bad rap from all the people and media who hate him and the kinds of policies that he is committed to "Make America Great Again".

Here is a short list of what our president has accomplished for America: https://www.whitehouse.gov/trump-administration-accomplishments/

This past week President Trump shook the hands of 1,000 U.S. Air Force Academy cadets at their commencement ceremony. This is a good thing. The graduates were totally thrilled by this. The President did not have to stay. The Secret Service and other people in charge of his schedule told him he could leave after shaking the hands of a few top graduates like what other presidents did before him. Trump would have nothing of that. He stood for a long time and honored each graduate. You have to admire him for that.



2. What’s something you’ve done to jazz up your routine?

I'm pretty content with my routine and generally do not do much to change anything unless I have to.

3. When did you last have your mettle tested?

I am trying to help my friend get out of a bad, ongoing situation.

4. What’s something you were once — but are no longer — hardcore into?


Recording compilation tape cassettes. I was very passionate about making custom mixes and even recording record albums in full length so as to preserve the record while playing the tape all of the time.

I used to make my own tape covers for them by hand and later with my Macs using at first Hypercard and later Aldus Pagemaker. Printed them out on a black and white laser printer and hand colored many of them. Later cassettes featured color inkjet art.

This changed after digital became a bigger part of our lives. Today I have tons of iTunes playlists and others taking the place of the mixed tapes I once made before.

This link takes you to photos of several of the cassette tape mixes I used to make: https://www.flickr.com/photos/macprohawaii/albums/72157612073240623

5. What are some porch swings, tire swings, or rope swings you’ve known?

Can't think of any in my life. Just never did any of that. I did ride regular playground swings when I was a kid.

Thursday, May 30, 2019

Friday 5 for May 24: A Week


1. If I give you $20 to spend selfishly by tomorrow evening, what do you spend it on?

Recently back into vinyl again, so probably go to either Hungry Ear or Ideas Books and Records to buy some LPs... maybe 45s.

2. What’s a delivery you recently waited too long for?

Not recently, but prizes I won from a podcast that never came. Was several years ago.

3. How annoying have you been lately?

I try not to be annoying but if I am I apologize.

4. When did you last give someone a ride in your car for the first time?

Not recently.... probably a few years ago when my sister came. Otherwise it's the same few people... Lisa mostly.

5. What was the last piece of candy you ate?

Some small Snickers bar at the Hawaii Geek Meet on May 26.

Link: http://f.riday5.com/2019/05/24/friday-5-a-week/


============

For some reason my comments section won't let me respond to your comments... So amending this post to answer your comments here:

"Thanks folks for the comments. 勝美 - Seems like you got some cool vinyl finds. Not astonishing that the ancillary items that come with special edition releases have higher collectible value, but still that Steel Wheels box is a find.

Scrivner, my recent vinyl finds have been bringing more of my old vinyl back from the Big Island to Honolulu. I've been in vinyl for many years, tapered off in the 90s and early 2000s, and even got rid about 50% of it. Now I am in rebuilding mode but trying to control myself from being a gigantic record hoarder.

That said I am prone to buy used vinyl in good condition at either bargain or a reasonable price. Most recent find that I got from Hungry Ear on Record Store day was a good used copy of Brenda Lee's 1960 DECCA label debut album, "Brenda Lee". That one has some of my favorite Brenda Lee songs including "Sweet Nothins'", "I'm Sorry", "That's All You Gotta Do", "My Baby Likes Western Guys" and " Just Let Him Dream"... great stuff if you like rock-a-billy styled country pop from that era.

Brenda Lee was one of the biggest selling female artists of all time until contemporary ones like Madonna came along. She also headlined shows in England that The Beatles were once the opening act for."

Friday, May 3, 2019

Friday 5 for May 3: Continental Breakfast

Credit: Machu Pichu by Martin St-Amant - Wikipedia - CC-BY-SA-3.0

1. When did you last enjoy some Asian cuisine?

Our office had a luncheon last week at Legends in the Chinese Cultural Plaza. Just the other day I had a Filipino plate lunch. None of it is very good if you are supposed to watch your health.

2. What’s something you’d like to do in South America?

Visit Machu Pichu in Peru. I don't know if you can drive up to it (probably can't) and I almost certainly will never go since travel is very expensive, especially if you are from Hawaii. You have to go northeast first to L.A. or San Diego and then travel down south to get to the continent of South America. Sounds very, very expensive.

You would think Hawaii would start marketing to South America and have a direct flight to at least one country there which could shorten the travel time and cost.

3. What’s a popular tourist thing in Europe you have very little interest in?

Waiting in a long line to see Mona Lisa in crowded conditions just to get a picture of a picture. Ugh. Waiting in a long line to see anything where you finally get there, the time is very limited or the venue is very crowded.

I hope the French government has a huge insurance policy and fire protection on this one. You can fix Notre Dame but if Mona burns up, she's gone forever!

4. Which of Australia’s strange animals do you find most fascinating or adorable?

There are so many strange animals in Australia. Koala bears come to mind as being cute and cuddly, but I would not think so. Kangaroos I'd avoid since they are known to kick with deadly force.... I guess I would like to see a big Emu bird. There we go.

5. What’s something interesting you just learned about Africa?

I can't think of anything significant right off hand. One of my Flickr acquaintances spends a lot of time in Kenya, so I get to see pictures from that region.

Questions from the Friday 5 blog.


Friday, March 15, 2019

Friday 5 for March 8 2019: Parental Control

The following are from Scrivener's Friday 5 site.

Where Am I Goiing


1. Where do you think you’re going?

To work, then home, then work, then home, etc.

2. Who do you think you are?

I am... Me! Learn more here..... and here..... and here.

3. What’s gotten into you?

Lately too much fatty food, salt and sugar. Need to change my ways.... again. 

4. How do you expect to pay for all this?

With funds gained from work.

5. When are you going to come to your senses?

Perhaps when I stop answering questions like this.