http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvbYKTLeS6M
A quick sniff of the party I’m missing tonight, combine this with a samba band, some bangin’ techno, the usual favours and some good friends. I’m completely brassic after my escapades, but I also felt I was given short notice, “actually I told you three and a half weeks ago,” really ? now that you mention it sounds kinda familiar. I’m pretty gutted to not be there.
There are few things I enjoy more than returning back to Hilo after being away, even for a short time. It’s easy to lose ones appreciation of it, when it is all you see all the time.
The word on the streets is that O’Keefe and Sons Bakery is shutting up shop on Thursday, the cost of shipping flour from the mainland has become too expensive to make ends meet. I have no real sympathy for Jim O’Keefe, but the bakery is the one thing he seemed to have done right and it will be a real shame to see it go, however it does open up the market for some entrepreneur to overcome the logistical problems. The combined food and oil crises will hopefully provide plenty of motivation and opportunity.
Not sure what we are to do for bread now, make our own I guess.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrUWFYkbcmg
Please do not try to recreate any of the hilarious antics in this video, this video is for entertainment purposes only, if you hurt yourself as a result of recreating this stunt, we will laugh at you for being a dumb, or should that be numb ass.
Shlomo just hip’d me to Zero Waste Kaua’i, not really looked at it much yet, but I felt the little I have seen I should give them the plug anyway. Spending time in British Columbia recently has got me a bit pissed at the poor recycling facilities here in Hilo, and Hawai’i state, it’s not that we don’t have them or that people aren’t into recycling, but it isn’t made easy in such simple ways as separate recycling bins in public areas. Having said that, BC could do with some of the biodegradable stuff we have here like corn or potato starch forks, pots or trays. Maybe a little exchange of ideas is called for.
If you are at a loose end in Hilo this weekend, you may want to consider coming down to the BIG Aloha Show, a charity benefit for Community and Family Harmony.
Oahu’s renowned poet Kealoha is master of ceremonies. Performers include Big Island bands Moe Moea and Basic Human Tones, entertainer/vocalist Lady D, guitar/vocal duo Two Souls, pianist/vocalist Aerynn, theatrical dance performer Gloria Baraquio, Tahiti Fete dance winner Aurelia Kinslow, fashion designer Figaroa, Da Beat afternoon host Jase, slack-key guitarist Bolo, DJ Storm and special guests. Sound provided by Pepe Romero and Bad Dog Productions.
Tickets: $15 advance; $20 at the door.
Doors open at 6:00pm for the Art Show and sale organized by Lisa Franklin. Performance starts at 7pm.
The AP …
Big Island crops are shriveling as sulfur dioxide from Kilauea wafts over them and envelops them in “vog,” or volcanic smog. People are wheezing, and schoolchildren are being kept indoors during recess. High gas levels led Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to close several days last month, forcing the evacuation of thousands of visitors.
Residents of this volcanic island are used to toxic gas. But this haze is so bad that farmers are thinking about growing different crops, and many people are worrying about their health.
Kilauea on the Big Island has been erupting continuously since 1983. But in mid-March, a new vent formed at the summit, giving Kilauea two large sulfur dioxide outlets instead of one.
Sulfur dioxide, a pollutant that is also generated by burning coal and oil, can lead to asthma and other respiratory illnesses and aggravate lung and heart disease. When combined with dust and sunlight, it makes vog. Mixed with atmospheric moisture, it produces acid rain.
Exceptionally thick gray-white vog has hovered over parts of the Big Island for weeks, particularly those areas downwind of the crater. The wind has blown vog to Oahu, some 200 miles to the north, bathing Honolulu in a light haze. (The vog is no threat to the U.S. mainland, some 2,500 miles away.)
Some crops are doing fine. Coffee and macadamia nuts, two of the Big Island’s mainstays, appear unaffected. Koa and ohia trees are healthy, but eucalyptus leaves are turning brown, as are Asiatic lilies.
Protea may be the hardest hit, though experts don’t know why. The hand-size blossoms are used in tropical floral arrangements and are a $1.8 million-a-year business in the islands.
One reason the vog is worse is that the new vent is farther inland than the older Puu Oo vent on the mountain’s seaside slope. While gas from the Puu Oo vent often blows out to sea, the new plume is more likely to hit farms and communities in concentrated form.
The county has issued only two temporary, voluntary evacuation advisories for Ocean View and Pahala, which have a combined population of just over 4,000. The vog that has settled over the Big Island has little or no odor.
The emergency room at Ka’u Hospital in Pahala is seeing an average of three people a day — up from two — with symptoms such as coughing and shortness of breath.
Dr. Cliff Field, ER director, said he is more concerned about the potential long-term harm. Large amounts of vog may cause emphysema and chronic lung disease over time. Still, he questioned whether living next to Kilauea is any worse than living in a city like Los Angeles.
The Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation …
We are a collection of volunteer citizens, students, professionals, retirees, and other members of the general public.
There is no criteria or qualification other than that you want to learn or do more.
What we do is promote and sustain the use of Free and Open Source Software. This is software with source code owned by the general public rather than a specific individual or company.
We sustain its use by collecting, refurbishing, and donating hardware running open source software like the k12ltsp to schools and other non-profit organizations. With the donation of hardware, we provide the installation, training and support to make it useful. We promote its use by sponsoring classes, seminars, meetings, and conferences.
In addition to donating hardware, we focus on education. Throughout the year we have classes demonstrating specific strengths of open source software.
As a publicly supported charitable non-profit we do not have resources invested in any particular location.
Like many states, Hawaii needs to save money. We are dependent on software and information technologies that are developed on the mainland at great cost to our taxpayers and at diminished profit to our entrepreneurs. This is a cost that some eventually may not be able to afford. The per seat software licensing fee for many schools, businesses, and government agencies comes at the expense of needed public services. We can change this.
By using openly sourced software, our local graduates and professionals control the code. It enables local businesses and individuals to provide the support and training our schools, charities, and government need and often pay outrageous rates for. By keeping the software cycle of development, testing, and deployment local, our economy grows stronger. The money not spent with proprietary software vendors stays here.
Schools are starved for resources. They can ill afford software licensing fees when teachers are underpaid, books are outdated, and facilities are decaying. Open Source Software benefits them two-fold: by eliminating certain and costly licensing fees and, more importantly, by exposing interested students to the source code that makes programs work.
By installing and supporting Open Source Computer labs, HOSEF is building the technology work force that can support and sustain businesses operating OSS. By hosting workshops, classes, conferences, and seminars, we are educating our Business, Education, Legal, and Government communities about the ramifications of choosing or not choosing OSS solutions.
They are very Linux/GPL centric, and some of the stuff in their About section is questionable, I also get the impression that they feel free open source is always the best solution, however it seems like an admirable cause and should they be interested in expanding their repertoire or knowledge base here in Hilo, I would be more than happy to help.
From the AP via MSNBC …
Two pilots for Hawaii’s go! airlines who overshot a runway by 15 miles while trying to land on the state’s big island have been fired.
Investigators had said they were looking into whether the pilots had fallen asleep when their plane carrying 40 passengers drifted off course during a Feb. 13 flight from Honolulu to Hilo. Air traffic controllers were unable to contact the cockpit for 25 minutes.
The plane landed safely in Hilo.
UPDATE : Reminds me of the joke, “When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep like my father … not screaming in terror like his passengers.”
I used to have an IDE which used to say that to me occasionally on startup.
UPDATE : Aunty reports …
Two commercial airline pilots who fell asleep in the cockpit and overshot their landing by 15 miles have been cleared to return to work.
Earlier this year, the Go! flight from Honolulu to Hilo cruised over its landing target at 21,000 feet.
Alarmed air traffic controllers tried to contact the cockpit a dozen times but got no response for 17 minutes.
The pilots were subsequently fired, but suspensions issued by the US aviation watchdog have now been served.
The US National Transportation Safety Board ruled in June that both pilots “unintentionally fell asleep”.
Captain Scott Oltman was suspended for 60 days by the the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) for careless and reckless operation of an aircraft and for failing to maintain radio communications.
The FAA suspended First Officer Dillon Shepley for 45 days for careless and reckless operation of a plane.
No action was taken against the carrier because it was deemed to have acted within guidelines and had offered the two pilots sufficient rest-time between flights.
I have just pre-ordered Mario Kart Wii !!! aka マリオカートWii !!!
It comes with a Wii wheel^k^k^k^k^k^k^k^k^k I mean a Wii-l !!!
No more Mario Kart 64 !!!
No more lusting after a copy of Mario Kart Double Dash and being put off by having to use the Wii in Gamecube mode and having to use the wired controller !!!
Well maybe a bit of lusting !!!
No playing Mario Kart DS that I completed two years ago !!!
Well maybe when I’m flying !!!
Only ten days way !!!
Apparently !!!
!!!
!!!
UPDATE : Just received an email confirming my copy has shipped !!!
ETA 30th March !!!
!!!
UPDATE : Arrived today, a day early, and I showed great restraint not rushing out and buying a copy yesterday ( which I did when DoubleDash came out, and then sold my spare copy to Pete. )
However B ( who I have not mentioned previously ) leaves Friday, I have taken time off so wii, I mean, we can hang out, maybe we can play it together ( I bought a second Wii-l, ) otherwise I can wait until the wii-kend.
On a side note, it may be the last of the post received on the Big Island as Aloha have gone out of business and they were responsible for flying the post over.
From the Honolulu advertiser …
The news of Aloha Cargo’s shutdown sent shippers scrambling to make alternative arrangements after being caught off guard.
“They just left us high and dry,” said Mike Walters, president of Love’s Bakery, the biggest customer of the Aloha Cargo operation.
“This came as a complete surprise to us because we were assured for the last month that they had a contingency plan.”
Walters, who said Love’s filled six cargo flights each night to the Neighbor Islands, said the bakery had begun to move some of its shipments away from Aloha, such as using the Hawaii Superferry to Maui.
The U.S. Postal Service also relied on Aloha to convey the bulk of its mail sent between O’ahu, Maui and the Big Island. Spokesman Duke Gonzales said the post office was attempting to put its contingency plans into effect.
Others like Art Angel, president of Angel Freight Hawaii, said he had moved his air shipments to Hawaiian Airlines after hearing of Aloha’s bankruptcy weeks ago.