Friday, February 23, 2024

Friday 5 for February 23: Noms

 

Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.

1. What’s the strangest food you’ve eaten out of a can?

The usual canned foods I eat are tuna and sardines. Once in a blue moon spam or corned beef. I can't think of anything strange. When it comes to food I tend to go with what is familiar. I am not adventureous.

2. What food most recently made you ill?

I can't think of anything recent. As for something years ago, the only thing I remember are the runs as if my stomach was being pumped. Mamacita's pasta... lovely... gross.

It was most likely spaghetti years ago from Mamacita (I think that is the name) of the Ala Moana Center Food Court complex, which recently closed... for good... After getting sick from their awful food, I never went there again.

3. What movie makes you really want to eat?

Here at home anything that is longer than a half hour on streaming will get me to go back and forth to the fridge or pantry. Most recently it was the movie Tetris on Apple TV before my free subscription ran out. It's a good movie about the development and marketing of the popular computer game Tetris. Developed in the old Soviet Union, sold and pirated on PCs and how it got to the Nintendo Game Boy during the transition of the old Soviet Union into the "new" Russia. Good movie.

4. What haven’t you eaten in a really, really long time?

My Mom's Thanksgiving stuffing and macaroni potato salad. It is something I will never ever eat again considering Mom passed away in 2015 and stopped cooking about two years before that. I miss Mom.

5. What did you most recently eat in a moving vehicle?

My commute to anywhere is generally short, so I can't remember what I recently ate. In the past I've eaten burgers and fries after ordering them through the drive-thru.

Friday, February 9, 2024

Friday 5 for February 9: Insert coin



From Scrivener's Friday 5:

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 vending machine food?

Candy, potato chips and other junk foods are the highlight of most vending machine food fare. My feelings about them? Is this all there is? They are expensive! Cheaper at the supermarket for better food. It is a good thing none are near me.

2. Where on this planet is the vending machine you’ve given the most money?

My bank ATM machine when I make deposits to my own account(s).

3. Have you ever purchased a non-food, non-beverage item from a vending machine?

Yes.... Money! A Bank ATM vends cash when after you insert your bank debit card or any credit card.... in denominations of $20 usually. I only use my debit card for these at my own bank. Don't want to pay for the fees for using my card in some bank that I don't belong to.

Another type of vending machine I used a long time ago is a Jukebox...where you could play a recorded song on a 45 rpm record for about a dime back in my kid days, and a quarter later... long before the Walkman, iPod and other personal music audio devices.

And of course who can forget a payphone? I've used these off and on more than 35 years ago. There are still a few of them around, though the best ones can be found in posh hotels and at big international airports.

4. Where’s the nearest vending machine right now, and what would you get from it if you were to go immediately?

There is a Coca Cola machine four floors down in the building I live in.

5. What would you like to see in a vending machine?

Free money with no fees.





Sunday, February 4, 2024

Friday 5 for February 2: Mayday! Mayday!

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 does it take to make your way in the world today?

Staying focused (which is not easy), keeping myself safe and avoiding risk, being on time and know where I am going. Planning ahead if it is a destination I don't normally go to... Also keeping costs to a minimum if at all possible... Avoiding high priced events, venues and activities.

2. Where do you go to take a break from all your worries?

Can't really escape all he worries, but sometimes to the beach to catch the sunrise or sunset... somewhere in the country if I am so motivated... or else the easy way is to bury myself in recorded music.

3. Where does everybody knows your name and they’re always glad you came? (or where did everybody know your name and were always glad you came?)

Family reunions or more usual, at a funeral for a family member. As you age you end up going to more funerals until your life ends.

4. Which no-longer-in-business establishments are you nostalgic for, and is nostalgia generally a positive or negative emotion?

  • Tower Records
  • Woolworth
  • Kress Store (Downtown Hilo / Kai'ko Mall)
  • SEARS
  • JC Penney's (dept store closed all locatons in Hawaii)
  • DJ's Sound City (record store)
  • The Record Museum
  • Records Hawa
  • Computer City
  • Comp USA
  • Patti's Chinese Kitchen
  • The original Jelly's Records and Books
  • Froggies (records and books)
  • Dairy Queen of Honokaa
  • Hamakua Fountain
  • Waikiki #1 #2 and #3 Theaters
  • Cinerama Theater
  • Honolulu Weekly (free newspaper)
  • Project 3 LTD (Hilo record store)
  • MJS Music (Hilo record store)
  • Interlude Music (record store + books)
  • TKS / T. Kaneshiro Store (Honokaa HI)
  • Ujiki Store (Honokaa HI)
  • KKUA radio 69 on the AM dial
  • KPOI 1380 AM radio
  • KPOI 97.5 FM (98 Rock) - various other rock formats
  • Radio Free Hawaii 102.7 FM
  • Muxtape
  • Finetune.com
  • Power Computing (Mac clone maker)
  • Be Inc. (BeOS)
  • Jaiku (social media website)
  • Modern Photography magazine
  • MacAddict magazine
  • MacUser magazine
I'm sure there are more than I could mention. May all those businesses and their generally affordable prices and merchandise rest in special places in our memories.

5. Which television shows have great opening theme songs with opening title sequences?

My Top 10

  1. Hawaii Five-0 (1968 - 1980 original series)
  2. Miami Vice (Jan Hammer)
  3. Crime Story ("Runaway" by Del Shannon)
  4. Star Trek The Next Generation
  5. Babylon 5 (5 different theme variations for each of the 5 years)
  6. The X Files
  7. The Avengers (British TV series 1960s)
  8. Mission Impossible
  9. Gilligan's Island
  10. Cheers
More for the songs but the opening video clips are mostly memorable.