August 25, 2004
I have been in Kauffman,
I have been in Kauffman, enjoying company of friends, enjoying seeing Brad. But I realized tonight that I've been in a slump since sometime last shcool year when I found out my mom had cancer.
Anyways, long story short, I've been distant... or at least, the part of me that really matters has. Sure you might not have noticed, but then again, how often did I ever open up about the spiritual side or my emotions? The problem is that it's not like I'm just not opening up to you, I'm not really opening up to anyone... even Sarah.
I think I'm afraid to try and love, because I came so close to losing someone dear and it just sent me into a shock. The whole thing has screwed me up to the point where I don't know if I can drag people along with me on this journey that hopefully will find me able to open up to people again and find something that has been missing.
Who knows... I've just been adrift going from day to day for the past few months. Not the way I always like to live.
Change of scenery to San Diego... will it help? who knows...
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Posted by badwillhunting at 01:58 AM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2004
I've been in Kauffman a
I've been in Kauffman a lot recently, not home on the net late at night. Eventually when I get this thing moved (when Brad goes back to Canada) I'll be posting all the pictures and updating based on different things I've done.
Most important thing to note though: Garden State. Rarely have I seen a movie that makes me want to get back in line to see it again right after I leave the theatre. I was completely blown away and it could be this year's Lost in Translation. I loved it and when it gets to Lincoln there is no telling how many times I may see it... and when I own it on DVD... well... I hope there are tons of special features.
Go see it... NOW.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 01:22 AM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2004
First things first, I was
First things first, I was impressed at the beginning because it seemed to be set up really well and heading in a good direction. Besides getting a cell-phone call while climbing mountains in Nepal, I was good all the way up into the temple.
Then it just got stupid. First things first, a face hugger attaches and deposits an egg which hatches minutes later. This is so not even right it's ridiculous. All of the alien gestation was sped up to keep the film moving.
Also - side note, Paul Anderson likes his showing the digital map of the facility, where the people are, and then zooming into their scene. Fucking right out of his Resident Evil film.
The first Alien v. Predator fight was great, I was thinking at about this point: "Maybe it won't be so bad." And then it just got fucked up. The worst of it, the unforgivable of it, was her running around with the Predator with the Alien shield and spear.... WOOO like that's going to do ANYTHING at all. They're running around together and it looks stupid.... I mean just looking at her running with a predator looked wrong, it looked funky...
And what was with the Predators and Aliens, it's like they all grew. "Hey guys, it'll make the movie better if the queen is bigger than ever and the predators have bigger claws and shit." Also, the fact that a woman in the snow who has no fighting experience could take down a Queen when Ellen Ripley needed a powersuit to do it just fucking pissed me off.
The whole thing was laughable, the audience I was with was laughing basically from the point of the alien shield and the spear. Then to add insult to injury the do the sequel thing at the end. Ugh.
Great beginning, horrible ending.
Also - it was rated PG-13, they didn't show any gory death scenes (staple of both films) always cutting away. And then when she's like "You're an ugly mother.... (cut away to her killing it)" I mean FUCK... the word Fuck is a staple of Aliens and they used it liberally and it was funny... but it's all gone.It was so bad it was funny till I remembered they just killed two things I loved...
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Posted by badwillhunting at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)
August 14, 2004
Spent the morning splitting wood
Spent the morning splitting wood with an awesome industrial wood splitter in the back yard. We had a bunch of quick-growing short life trees. They shoot up to 20 feet and die about 10 years later, we were at the 10 year point. So we've cut them down and split them up over the past 3 years as they die, and this is the last of them. The stumps are all destroyed etc.
I'll post some pictures and shit when I move the blog this weekend. I think that's going to be a tonight/tomorrow project. Must find someone to go see AVP....... I'm drawn to it and I can't help myself.
Amigos is more expensive now (boooooo). Taco Bell is slowly increasing its hold on me because I can fill myself up there for 4.50-5.50. Meanwhile, Amigos is 6-7 dollar food place now.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
Been a long day. Quick
Been a long day. Quick recap, my new camera rocks, ribfest is good, Amigos menu change, work can be a bitch.
End Transmission.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2004
Right off the bat -
Right off the bat - I liked Bowling for Columbine. Very interesting commentary on the culture of fear in the US. Definitely deceitful in his ways of bashing people like Heston and the NRA, but all in all, the point was well taken, even if he lied in getting to it.
Farenheit 9/11 - garbage.
Michael Moore is coming to town on student fees supporting the 40,000 dollar fee (130,000 is the budget for the year). I imagine with 7,500 seats at Pershing if they sell tickets they'll make a chunk of it back. However, since it is the use of student fees, the rules state someone with the opposing view must be brought in as well. Note, you can get your student fees back if you request, so you don't have to support this.
This won't happen till Spring, after the election. I guess the only reason it's such a big deal is the election.
Personally, I would like to see the conservative in before the election, and I would almost enjoy it if they got a high-profile conservative - Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter would be as far out as Moore (though Ann Coulter is much hotter than Moore), Rush Limbaugh would have Brian Zimmer saying "ditto", and finally, I'd love to see Bill O'Reilly (though I believe he runs from 50,000-80,000 grand). Hell UPC, Michael Reagan would run a cheap 20 grand.
I'm all for bringing in a liberal, but let's let them debate or something fun like that. I won't protest or anything, that's just what I'd like to see. Hell, at least UPC is getting someone people want to see.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 02:29 AM | Comments (0)
Wow, talk about a movie
Wow, talk about a movie that just jumps from the screen and has sex with your eyeballs. The movie follows the Need for Speed: Underground philosophy: set it at night, use lots of different lighting sources with different colors and plenty of reflective surfaces.
It's not a bad movie to boot, the way it was shot is beautiful and the last two targets have some amazing scenes.
Tomorrow AVP comes out and my camera gets here.
Oh yeah, Michael Moore is coming to town, more on that later.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)
August 12, 2004
Went to Lazlo's tonight with
Went to Lazlo's tonight with Beermann, Nick, Johnson, Joel, Mandy, Sarah, Tracy, and Eric. I ordered the best Lahvosh in the world, chicken, mushroom and artichoke along with a pub club. The lahvosh got out quickly, but our food seemed to be just a tad overdue when a manager showed up saying it was running late at the Lahvosh (that I ordered alone) was free. Swwwweeeet.
Played a new game called Acquire that was fun (though I made a dumb mistake) and then some Mu followed by a game of Citadels.
My camera went from Kansas to Oklahoma, that's THE WRONG WAY!!!! Oh well, it'll be here on Friday, hopefully this site will move over the weekend.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 01:59 AM | Comments (0)
August 11, 2004
Yesterday I didn't feel very
Yesterday I didn't feel very good when I woke up, sore throat, nasty taste in my mouth headache. Today was the same minus the headache. I figured it was random, but I guess my sister is pretty sick with something so hopefully this doesn't get any worse.
Tracy and Eric are in town tonight, so we must go see them and then play some games before the boys all leave to go home for one final week before the year starts.
I finally bought a digital camera, the ultra-portable Canon SD10 was my choice and I imagine this weekend I'll be moving the site to a domain and then posting pictures with updates whenever I can. WHEEEE.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 01:54 PM | Comments (0)
Tuesdays have become sort of
Tuesdays have become sort of ritual around here, with Johnson, Koala and Beermann coming over to enjoy The Amazing Race - one of the best reality shows out there. Tonight, the Frats (Release Candidate 2.0) were philiminated at the Roadblock because they gave up and knew they were last. This is similar to me as when teams lagging on the final leg are told to abandon the remaining tasks and head to the finish line. It's a mercy killing of sorts.
The midget must go though, she's annoying, and her grown-up lawyer cousin is worse. She's a bitch, and if someone bitches back at her she immediately says they are rude. For instance, when a team ran into a terminal after leaving their bags in the taxi, she and her sex toy midget tried to take it over. She acted like they were the assholes for wanting their taxi back. I hate, hate, HATE HER.
In other news, TAR quickly turns into games and tonight was a new one. Mu is a series of card games you can play. The first one was interesting, the second was essentially hearts. Good times as we get to chill out and play games. Apparently tomorrow night Arizonan Tracy will be in town with her boyfriend Eric. He's visiting from far away. I'm going to try to make it, but tomorrow is Poker Night and I missed last week's.
Otherwise, still no contact from Tom Rice. Maybe I'll give Eric the mission to go personally deliver my message when he gets back to Phoenix.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 01:09 AM | Comments (0)
August 10, 2004
It has made little sense
It has made little sense to me how heavily we regulate people coming into this country by air when Mexico and Canada are completely unfortified when it comes to entering the United States. In The Teeth of the Tiger Tom Clancy writes about terrorists who arrive in Columbia and then head up into the United States through Mexico - a scary though considering this is the same man who wrote about an airliner being crashed into the US Capitol Building in the early 1990s.
It used to be if you got caught in the United States illegally by border control, you could demand a hearing in front of an immigration judge and then pretty much just slip off. No more.
Check out this story that does a bit to help, still, there should be a lot more done to secure the Mexican border, I wonder how many illegal off the books jobs have been created in the U.S.
And in other news it's Amazing Race night... more on that later.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 07:32 PM | Comments (0)
Nintendo today revealed the third-party
Nintendo today revealed the third-party lineup for the Nintendo DS. It's pretty cool with some good stuff like Sonic, Castlevania, Snowboard Kids and many others in the lineup. 45 games announced, at least another 22 in development, plus Nintendo's lineup. Yip Chaw.
The biggest announcement from a financial perspective is probably Madden NFL, it supports wireless gameplay too. Imagine jumping on a flight and getting to go against someome you don't know.
It'll be interesting to see if the airlines do anything about wireless gameplay on aircraft. I mean, they let laptops with wireless networking aboard. I imagine a blind eye will be turned towards it, besides, how can they tell you're playing someone else anyway?
Planet GameCube
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Posted by badwillhunting at 03:35 PM | Comments (0)
Nebraska received its 6th verbal
Nebraska received its 6th verbal commit today in 4* offensive guard Rodney Picou. According to Rivals he's the highest rated player we've gotten yet (right with Mr. Harrison Beck) and our 3rd 4 star recruit. Gotta love Coach Callahan.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)
The Nebraska Cornhuskers weren't expecting
The Nebraska Cornhuskers weren't expecting to have Mr. McCray join us this fall. The All-American JuCo punt returner wasn't supposed to be academically eligible to transfer to Nebraska. Apparently it worked out at the last minute though and he's in town. We now have got our first sound bite from him, and we learn why he almost didn't make it:
"I didn't know anything about it," McCray said. "I heard when I got here, they said, 'I thought you wasn't coming.' I was like, 'I didn't know anything about that.' I had no news of that. I thought I was coming all the time."
Seems like we need a Bill Cosby bitch slappin' here.
Special Message to Tom Rice (aka Freemoralagent)... AIM, use it. I still haven't talked to you since you left Kauffman...
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Posted by badwillhunting at 02:22 AM | Comments (0)
Bill O'Reilly went head to
Bill O'Reilly went head to head with Paul Krugman, a Princeton prof and NYT columnist on Tim Russert's program this weekend. Krugman got 0wn3d. The guy was literally shaking because he was just outmatched. It was an awesome sight to behold as Krugman is a nutjob.
Check out this National Review article about it.
Click Here to see the full story (Love you too Beermann)
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Posted by badwillhunting at 12:03 AM | Comments (0)
August 09, 2004
I just saw a report
I just saw a report that the United States has been quietly collecting the change left behind in the bins at metal detectors in airports for the U.S. General Fund. In 9 months, this has added up to a $250,000!
Here's what I say, let's start letting people contribute their change from purchases to the government defecit. I'd gladly contribute my 48 cents change at Amigos, 22 cents are the gas station and 18 cents from Cold Stone. I wonder how much U.S. Currency is lost in couches, beaches, and other places all over the world.
All that said, don't raise my taxes, and don't make people give their change, just offer the ability to. This would be an easier way to get people to contribute (esp. if this is earmarked for the defecit which would be a requirement for me, no government waste here), as even John Kerry won't check the box in Mass. to pay the higher tax rate. But a bit of change every week, that doesn't hurt, and it would add up.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 07:15 PM | Comments (0)
Nintendo just announced a new
Nintendo just announced a new Luigi GameCube controller. I'm a huge Luigi whore, and this controller is like... unbelievably cool. Still, it's an exclusive that you have to use points to get, so I imagine eBaying for this puppy is going to be hard --- kinda like the cool E3 Media Green Controllers were until Microsoft released them publically here... bastards.
Check out Gamespot for the story.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 01:09 PM | Comments (0)
I just got in from
I just got in from Taco Bell with Baja Mountain Dew. It's a Tropical Lime variant of my favorite soda and to be honest, it tastes like shit until you eat something spicy. It's really odd, and I think I'll stick to regular Dew.
It's weird to see this marketing ploy with all of these different Dews. First you had Code Red (added Cherry Syrup), which is now its own drink and not a promotional dew. Livewire is still the summer dew that is essentially relabeled Orange Soda that would allow Keenan to get Kel to do anything. Now we've got Baja, the Taco Bell exclusive.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 12:41 AM | Comments (0)
August 08, 2004
Imagine a film that is
Imagine a film that is actually a bunch of small films, all with actors/musicians talking over coffee and cigarettes. Now imagine that they have nothing to do with each other, except for a few things mentioned across them all. Add in some Bill Murray, Alfred Molina and Iggy Pop and you have a fun time.
There were some boring moments that seemed to drag on, but as a whole the film was funny and intelligent, as well as somewhat thought provoking. Cate Blanchett playing herself and her cousin was an excellent moment, as was Bill Murray working as a waiter and drinking from the coffee pot.
Check it out if you get a chance, I enjoyed it a lot more than The Village. Crazy enough, Collateral is supposed to be good, will have to check that out this week before AVP comes out.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 01:57 AM | Comments (0)
August 07, 2004
The next day was the
The next day was the last day for the trip, and the plan for yesterday’s visit to the North Shore was set for that morning. We learned some interesting things during the car ride…… like…. Uh… hm… maybe we just listened to Maroon 5.
The most entertaining moment came when Ray forgot which way to go. Needing to consult his large sized map of Oahu, he had me take the wheel while he folded out the entire map to the point where I was the only person in the car who could see out the front. Besides crossing the line more than once, it went ok, and my parents in the car behind us didn’t even notice that I was driving from the passenger seat.
We arrived at a place called Shark’s Cove (which doesn’t have any sharks) and got snorkeling gear. We admired the spot where nearly a month before Ray had held his bleeding foot that hasn’t entirely healed to this day, blood stain and all. This fact alone caused my parents to give the lad a first aid kit in hopes that he’ll take better care of himself. But as Ray goes “It’s just a gunshot wound, it’s not that bad.”
We got out into the water and found some cool fish swimming around, as well as an eel or two. Apparently an octopus and a sea turtle also were in the waters according to some divers. There were also some underwater cave passages that we explored a bit, and a coconut in the water quickly turned into a football. After I had my fill of colorful fish and saltwater, I went in to once again take over the sworn duty of guarding our stuff.
Nate came in as well, and in true Raymond form cut his foot open while getting out on the sharp rocks. The profuse bleeding caused the sacrifice of my towel to a greater cause. As we were getting people in, what would happen? It would of course rain a lot more. So after being dry, I’m now wet and my towel is holding in the life blood of one of our Aussie friends. On the plus side, my beach towel now has some awesome blood stains on it, talk about memories.
We managed to get everyone up and get some medical supplies and Nate’s foot was cleaned out and bandaged up. Some of the folks went to grab fruit, but the family headed down the road to grab some shrimp. We found a great shrimp shack/farm and had some absolutely wonderful food there along with the staple of my diet in Hawai’i: Pineapple.
Along the way, the storm had actually got some good surf going on the North Shore, around 8-12 ft waves were being attempted by boogie boarders and surfers alike. The site was an awesome spectacle and we pulled over to stop and watch it for a while. The best part: guys crashing and burning. Heh, I love watching people crash. It’s why auto-racing redeems itself, a car breaking apart into fireballs: priceless.
The time back at the hotel was spent on the beach and shopping. The parents went on a food run and to find some pineapples to take back to the mainland. (Sidenote: I typed States there originally; it’s kinda funny how Hawaii does feel like its own country in some ways). Ray came over, and due to a variety of things it took the parents a while to get back so we sat around and were lazy.
The food was Thai and wasn’t the best I’ve ever had, but it was pretty good and I ate some of that and polished off the burger Katie had ordered from room service. We did this while watching The Amazing Race. My only comments on the show were as follows: The editors have a dirty mind. The challenge names were “Who’s Up for Going Down”, “Rock and Roll” and “Hump and Ride” and many teams were shown saying “look, there’s a shaft.” Dirty minds those editors have. It seems as if the Fast Forward is now just a bonus for the team in first on a particular leg – you get out of having to run around in the desert. We know that the 8-9 hour advantage gained by Colin and Christie over the next team is wiped out in the next episode. When will we see another Yield? And finally, taking all of the money for checking in last on a non-elimination leg is the best change yet.
Enough of that though, after tossing my supply of chocolate covered Macadamia nuts into my bag, I headed with Ray and Josh over to his house for one last bash. It was of course raining outside and there was lightning and thunder as well, another unusual sight (and sound, I suppose) for the islands. The TV had been mentioning for a day or so that Maui was in a Flash Flood warning, Oahu was right behind it.
We drove to the house, and after a rousing game of Uno started watching some awful direct to TV shark movie or something. The CGI was so bad I’m sure people I go to school with could do far better. Everyone was tired, and as goodbyes were started to be said, Ash came out with a didgeridoo between his legs and said “suck it, bitch.” I was more than happy to oblige, if only to give a good show for the girls. Lots of laughter, red faces, and sore cheeks is always a good way to go out.
I shook hands and hugged goodbye – knowing I had met a bunch of people that I could easily hang out with anytime in the future and have a good time with. It was a pleasure meeting these folks and hanging out with them. I hope I see you guys again soon.
The ride back to the hotel was somewhat quiet. There wasn’t really much left to say, but no one wanted to say goodbye. Josh will be in basic in November, and likely won’t see Raymond for a year or more. I may see him six months, but that still seems like too long for such a good friend. I’ll admit that there were plenty of tears in my eyes as I hugged Ray goodbye. I couldn’t get that Eve6 song out of my head.
In a day, we’re going to be gone for good again
Are you willing to be had, are you cool with just tonight
Here’s a toast to all those who hear me all too well.
Here’s to the nights we felt alive, here’s to the tears you knew you’d cry
Here’s to goodbye, tomorrow’s gonna come too soon.
And so it did, and I’m looking forward to getting back out to Hawai’i and hiking around the Big Island with Ray sometime in the next 4-7 months. Maybe I’ll eventually make it out to Australia to see my newfound friends from Down Under. One thing is certain though, my wet shoes are making my feet frickin cold on this airplane.
I hope to hear from everybody (jstevenson(AT)gmail.com) and I hope our paths cross again someday.
Till the next adventure.
J
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Posted by badwillhunting at 04:34 PM | Comments (0)
The dinner plan was to
The dinner plan was to hit-up Outback Steakhouse where Ray works and eat with some friends. I think it was partially Ray wanting to show off his “second family” and I’ll admit, it was pretty good. We also met Jon, the guy Ray is staying with, “Moo” or Amanda, the cooler than hell Aussie whose Survivor and Amazing Race fetish is stellar, and lastly but not least, the oft-mentioned Meg of Ray’s last summer at camp.
There was plenty to talk about, including the fact that Meg will be in Seville, Spain in the fall to take courses. This harkens back to “James and Tim’s European Vacation” and our wandering of Seville for a few days (highlights: the most romantic dinner we’ve had with another guy, American girls who want to hang out attempt to entice us with a BOX of wine, and the Plaza de Espana).
That night came to a close a bit early, as the team had to be up and ready to get to Pearl Harbor bright and early the next morning. This time the mission was a success, we were around 40th in the line and had tickets on the first boat across to the Arizona Memorial.
The Arizona is an experience that is integral to Oahu, and to a larger extent Hawai’i. The small oil slick coming from the leaking oil chambers, the rusted ship, the wall of names, the site of the U.S. Entrance to World War II, and nearby, the ship where World War II was ended. It is quite amazing.
After that, we attempted to hit up a breakfast place that, get this, is open from 11pm to 2pm. No dinner here. God, how I crave a restaurant like this in Lincoln. For all hour food you have three choices: McDonald’s (see Super Size Me for my thoughts on the Golden Arches), The Hi-Way Diner (don’t touch the chicken if you like your bowel movements to be solid), and of course Perkins, which is a watered-down Village Inn. Funny thing though, although most of the McDonald’s in Lincoln are 24 hours, the ones we tried on Waikiki late one night were closed.
After finally getting some food, Ray got done with church and headed over for some afternoon surfing. The waves weren’t too big, but they were doable. The water was crowded though and it made it a bit harder. Not to mention the 12 ft. surfboards we were using. It was sort of hard to get around, but I caught a few waves and got up before biffing pretty hardcore into the sea. My back began to tighten up – which I think was a combination of the weird angle I had to use to get around in the water and the amount of sitting done over recent days. I got out in order to let Mom get in, as she had been faithfully guarding the stuff on the beach. I chilled out, answered Ray’s phone on the beach. Ray had to head off to play drums, and we ended up chowing down at a fish joint called Tiki’s. It came highly recommended, but turned out to just be ok – though the fresh fish was phenomenal. Ray came over to chill out for a while and that was that, one more day in Hawai’i down.
The plan for the next day was to go to a waterfall in the jungle before heading up to the north shore for some snorkeling. This new objective introduced us to the rest of the Aussies, and three carloads of us were off to a lookout point for a great view.
At the point, it was pretty windy, almost bordering on chilly for the guys, and definitely a bit cool for the female folk. In the mean time, some wild chickens got chased around by Josh. I’ve learned better than such things, knowing attacking one chicken can me an a whole flock of them will fill your view while trying to kill you. Dad’s comment: “That’s odd, normally he’s choking the chicken.”
That said, it was time to go to the rainforest and look for a waterfall.
REALLY STUPID MOMENT NUMBER 2: If you’ve seen American Pie 2, you’re familiar with the Rule of Three. For those who don’t know, guys will generally multiply the number of girls that they have slept with by three, while girls divide by three (rounding down). Ray does this too, if he tells you how much of something it would take to fill him up, divide it by three for the correct proportion, if he tells you how long a hike is, multiply by three to get the correct number.
Needless to say, the 15 minute hike was actually about 45. But let’s make sure we have all of the elements right. Firstly, most people were dressed for the beach first, and the quote “15 minute walk”, not a 45 minute jungle hike through very muddy trails. Secondly, differing speeds in Hikers can make a difference, and thirdly, if the trail actually wants you to walk along rocks up a stream, why do you cut a path the other way? Finally, remember that tropical depression, here comes the rain from it.
Needless to say, the forward group of younger kids took the cut path, not the rocks. This path was muddy and had some of the more entertaining challenges on the path as far as big rocks to climb over and tree branches to swing over. In the mean time, it was a dead end. Now, not realizing where the slower people in the group were, we headed back to the main path and sent a scout backwards before realizing they were just around the bend at the waterfall. Wheeeeee. Ultimately everyone got there, and heaven opened up on us. The only thing I forgot was Herbal Essences for that delightful waterfall showering experience. Everyone jumped in a few times, and then headed back, soaked clothes and all. I’ve had showers that were drier than that rainforest.
To make it more fun, Moo left her camera which got soaked (fortunately it was off, and hopefully with a power off for a few days it should dry out nicely) and everyone was soaked to the bone. Ray’s flip flops (formerly of the James Stevenson collection) were destroyed in the mud. Moving across rocks in streams is actually one of my favorite activities (FLASHBACK: Check out “James and Tim’s European Adventure – Andorra Edition for more on mountains and streams). In the end, we all had an awesome time, even though we were really wet.
At the top of the hill where we parked, an old movie ticket stub bled orange everywhere in my wallet, Dad was wearing a leaf has a hat for a little rain protection, and there was no way we were going to make it to the snorkeling place and still be back in time for the Luau (or for some of the guys to get to work).
We got back to the hotel, got dry and got ready to go the Luau. The problem with this is that while the tickets say the show will be canceled. It was coming down HARD and no cancellation. In addition to that, we were in the front outside of the roof, and had been told our tablets would be moved back under cover in case of rain… not so much.
Just to add a little insult to injury, as we walked in, they asked Mom how many people were under 21, she quickly blurted out 4, to my dismay. My ticket was reduced to being worth a virgin drink. Meanwhile we saw out in the rain while eating from a plate with a puddle in it. The appetizer of seaweed and raw salmon was oddly appropriate given the water on our plates. It’s pretty funny when the waiter tells you to eat quickly so your food isn’t soaked, so much for enjoying and savoring what could have been the best meal we had on the island.
After some major complaining to the manager, a refund was issued. We watched the dance show, which had some ok dances, a great fire dance, and was hosted by a genuine one hit wonder. This guy apparently was behind the Billboard Top 10 hit “Nothing is Going to Change My love for you.” Now he’s a singer at cheesy luaus at nights while teaching elementary students by day. I like the song though, so I suppose that made it kind of cool. I’m sure someday he’ll show up on VH1’s “I love 1992 7” and a panel of celebrities will make fun of him. Isn’t it impressive how VH1 is making a ton of money by just running shows that comment on everything else?
After that, Josh, Ray and I went for a stroll around Waikiki. Even though it was only 10 o’clock, there were already plenty of hookers on the street, and guys offering to sell us “herb”. Meanwhile, Ray was triple dog dared to go up to a woman and her teenage daughter and hit on BOTH of them. Other than that, we witnessed a butt slapping contest between a group of girls (hot), Josh tried to convince us to check out the local porn shop (not so hot) and we got thrown out of a park (definitely hot).
All in all, we got into a deep conversation about women and eventually later motives while lying half asleep on couches in the lobby waiting for Ray’s ride to show up. Not a bad evening overall, free food, a great hike, and fun conversation while walking by prostitutes. Also another plug for the European Adventure – check out the Lisbon entry for a little fun about hookers in the Red Light District at three in the morning.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 04:33 PM | Comments (0)
Greetings from the land of
Greetings from the land of Hawai’i and the island of Oahu, where ideal weather conditions actually means several inches of rain, and the current surf condition report has been replaced by a Flash Flood warnings, rock slide announcements and road closings - all thanks to a Pacific tropical depression that has played with the delicate balance of humidity, wind, and of course, precipitation. Living in Georgia for 3 years I saw humidity of 99% many times, in only four days in Hawai’i I saw a humidity of 100%. It seems like something really bad should happen then, like the air should actually be water or something.
But enough of that and back to the fateful departure, a flight that took us on a non-stop flight from Lincoln to Oahu. You’d think this is the reason that the airlines are losing money – flights from Lincoln to Oahu non-stop must surely be profitable, right? Actually though the airlines have nothing to do with the equation as we rode on a KC-135. The government is still flying non-stops from Nebraska to Oahu, maybe this helps explain the deficit, or maybe it’s just that whole conflict in the desert.
Riding a military jet isn’t exactly like being first-class. There are some notable benefits though. Besides the fact that the cockpit is open and you can go chill out with the pilots and check out the front of the airplane, there is also a bubble in the back that lets you see everything going on down below. The drawbacks include a bathroom that contains two tall silos for the men, a small honey pot for the women, and there’s none of this new fangled “running-water” thing.
The other interesting part of flight is that your baggage is actually in the same compartment you are, sitting safely in giant sealed boxes right in front of your seats. This makes for sort of a bar atmosphere, with people drinking, playing cards, hanging out and sleeping on top of the boxes as it is the warmest spot on the plane. The military isn’t super-concerned with comfort on its jets, as evidenced by the fact that you can stick your hand through the obligatory 1/3 inch of padding and feel the actual hull of the airplane which by the time you’ve been at 37,000 ft for 5 hours is pretty god damn cold. But if you brought warm pop with you, you’re in luck, as it’s like having a really fast freezer.
To get up to the airport in time our day started around 1 in the morning Hawai’i time. Considering that I had been up till roughly 10 pm the night before Hawai’i time, I wasn’t too rested. The conditions on the aircraft made sleeping the least of my worries as well, although I managed to put away a few hours of the trip while rolling on the uncomfortable bars, freezing and eventually just giving up.
Never fear though, a laptop always fixes the worries. I was well-prepared for the flight out with downloads of a recent episode of Atlantis that I had missed as well as the DVD-rip of Return of the Jedi needing my close scrutiny for Master George has played with his beloved babies again. My moral dilemma comes two strong: ROTJ now has not only the Ewoks, but the Gunguns too “Wesa Free!”, as well as the insertion of an actor into a film 21 years after its release, at which point the actor was a toddler. But, finally having Star Wars on DVD should trump these changes. Available everywhere September 21st.
Now that I’m done collecting a check from Lucasfilm, we landed in Oahu at the air field near Pearl Harbor. After the slowest baggage guys brought the 40-50 bags around to the tiny terminal at the air base, we then had to wait while the slowest car rental people took forever to get everything straightened out. I’m generally not the grumpy sort, but 25 minutes to get a car?
With that, we were off and enjoying the beautiful traffic. I suppose I had seen pictures of Waikiki and Honolulu before, but I think I was still holding out hope in my heart that it’d look like Maui when we got there. Not so much. Instead, half a million tourists, a couple hundred thousand locals, two monkeys and a guy named Cleopatra all fight for space on the streets. The only entertaining thing to do in traffic is to play State License Plate Bingo, which quickly results in Hawaii being called, and then some long deep silence.
As he would say in that wonderfully amazing Australian accent that just drives the ladies wild, “the mobile” came in handy for getting in touch with Ray – the bastard of a best friend who moved to Oahu earlier this summer. Ray’s living the highlife, using his Australian accent at Outback Steakhouse to win over those precious tips, that and occasionally dropping a fork in front of tablets of visiting elderly Japanese tourists. After my call, Ray was on his way to the hotel to meet us.
The Hale Koa is a hotel on the DeRussy Military Reservation. What’s impressive about the U.S. Government is that it has taken a large amount of the nice beach real estate without really asking anyone’s permission. The beaches at the military complex were a couple of the nicest we’ve seen. We almost felt bad about staying in Waikiki until we heard mosquitoes and other bugs were rampant at the cabins on one military beach. Talk about a biting punishment.
Ray arrived at the hotel as we were unloading, and faster than you can say wallaby we were up in our two adjoining rooms, ocean view. Small beds were a slight inconvenience, only having to bash Josh off from humping my leg in the middle of the night. Ray had to go play drums for a singles convention at his church, which seemed like a good prospect for the lad. He was off, and the decision was made to wander around Waikiki and grab dinner.
Flea markets are fascinating in that bargaining can be somewhat of a lost art in the United States. What’s fun is getting 10 trays that are marked at 60 bucks apiece for 10 each. Best advice: start way low, see how far they come down, and then walk away at least once. Generally they’ll stop you. Still, the fact that they sell product at 15% of its marked price makes you wonder about the folks that pay full price, or if you could get the price even lower. What scares me is that some people probably actually just pay the list price.
After that, a Japanese Steak House was in order. Sushi, steak, chicken, miso, tea, and all sorts of other pleasantries were dinner. A good time, but nothing too spectacular – I actually had a hard time remembering what we did the first night for dinner. It was good, but not particularly memorable. Given that everyone had been up for around 17 hours, we crashed a bit early.
The next day actually resulted in some interesting times. We attempted to hit up Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial at about 7:45, unfortunately, the line was two hours, and we were advised to come back the next morning at 6:30.
We drove around the eastern shore of the island for a while, snapping some pictures and just enjoying the scenery. Driving generally means chilling out to music and taking pictures, and there was plenty of that. After seeing the blow hole, a lava tub that spits out water (not too interesting, but it takes 3 minutes to see), the fellowship of the Hawaii visit headed into the botanical garden in Koko’s Crater.
The legend around this place is that as the island was being given birth to, the goddess’s genitalia left its imprint as Koko’s Crater. The fact that there is clearly an inner and outer crater seems to certainly agree with this account. It was a fun hike though, with some cool sites like a giant cactus monster that ate my sister. Well, it LOOKED like a cactus monster, and I guess it only ate her because I shoved her into it to save myself. Hmm, thinking about it now, it seems to explain the angry looks I got the rest of the day.
Next on the agenda was Hanauma Bay which features over-crowded snorkeling, but more interestingly each shelf of the crater features a different attraction. One, the toilet bowl is a lava tube filled pool that fills up and flushed out quickly. It’s supposed to be quite the ride, but difficult to get out of it as it is deep and slippery. One the other side of the bay is the Witches Brew – not quite the same as Kool-Aid and Vodka, but interestingly close. This is a nasty section of water that is turning and tossing and has all sorts of weird currents.
Upon arriving (but before paying for admission to the bay itself), we find out that both shelves were closed and that the toilet bowl has been closed indefinitely. The thrills and possibility of danger removed, the clan quietly retreated from the bay. We ended up back at the hotel beach enjoying the water, but not braving being flushed in a lava fashioned toilet, and after all the time I had spent on practicing my floating.
REALLY STUPID MISTAKE NUMBER 1: We got down to the beach, and I was expecting a phone call from Ray around 3 o’clock. My cellphone just happened to be in my swimsuit pocket. As I was reach to pull it out, some sunblock got handed to me and the rest is history. Needless to say, the nasty electrical burn mark required a trip to the hospital… no not really. But the phone as absolutely fux0r3d (pardon my 1337-speak).
After using Josh’s roaming cell phone to tell Ray to call the hotel instead of my phone. Ray returned from the singles conference, realizing that the singles that go to Christian singles conferences tend to be in their 30s. A plan was hatched while Dad and I ventured to the AT&T store in order to get things rolling again.
Telling the representative what happened, it turns out that cellphones going for a swim is common among tourists in Hawai’i. I fail hardcore. She then offered me a vacuum sealed case for my phone so it could come with me in the ocean. I think she might’ve thought I didn’t realize electronics + water = God will reign fire and hell upon the earth. It was similar to the time that I broke the antenna assembly off of my other cell phone (while on business in L.A.) and the first thing out of the AT&T guy’s mouth was: “We have many cell phones without antennas. I’m sure they love making little jabs at customers like that, we’re under contract, and don’t want our plan messed up so it’s not like I can say anything to her. Anyways, 52 bucks and a new contract later I had a new Nokia phone, 200 more anytime minutes, nights that start at 7, and most importantly a new phone. Only minor issue is that now when you call me you might get a message that my number is out of service – need to get that fixed.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 04:32 PM | Comments (0)
August 05, 2004
Here's a blog, eventually I'll
Here's a blog, eventually I'll get the domain and such... more to come.
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Posted by badwillhunting at 04:45 PM | Comments (0)