South Point

Well I found the OSFA* computer in the hotel lobby. Sue and I just got back from a dip in the pool, and I thought I'd write a little bit about South Point, while we wait for lunch to heat up.

We got a tip from Kate that it's a good time to make the drive down to South Point and take a plunge off the jumping rocks. So we went. The point itself is the Southern most point in the United States. When you get there, you feel like you are at the end of the world though. Most of South Point is a sheer cliff ten meters above the vast super blue ocean. The water hits the walls so hard that it has actually carved out some amazing caves in the side of the precipice.

I took a running dive off the end. I had this feeling midway down that maybe, just maybe, I had really made a bad decision. Too late. I hit the water pretty hard, but gratefully did not over rotate and end up flopping. What a rush too look around and see Sue peering over the edge way up there, me bobbing down below as if on glass, and then look into the huge gaping caves under the ledge. I swam into a cave about 20 yards from my crash-down. I was intrigued because the back of the cave was lit. It turns out, the water had blasted a hole in the ceiling in the back. Maybe a hundred thousand years ago it was a spout, who knows. From the end of the cave I could look straight up and see blue sky. After I had my fun, I climbed up the enormous rod iron rusty ladder tethered to the side of the cliff. I really felt like I was in the middle of a Lost episode or something.

About two hundred yards further down South Point it finally edges off into the water. Sue and I took a walk down there where frozen giant lava rocks butt heads with huge turqoiuse blue double overhead waves. The picture above is one of Sue, from the minds eye it seemed like she was almost in front of a Posieden Adventure blue screen of a gynourmous wave. It was seriously crazy though how a man devouring, rock pounding break turned into a gentle tidle pool, in less than sixty yards. The lava rock sentinels really do their job well.

On the way there and back we stopped at several places. Basically turning a two and a half hour drive into a four hour marathon Oregon Trail. We stopped at Kona Joe's coffee, and also had a roadside break next to this awesome sixty year old lava field junk yard. Maybe you have to be a guy to get this; but seriously. Rusted up Model T's by a dilapidated mill, in lava bed? It was a total Mad Max moment. Oh, and I'm not saying I did, but I might have taken back some old rusty gears, an odometer and a goat skull to commemorate the event. I wonder what baggage check will think of that.

I'd better wrap this up, but I'll tell you a little about Kona Joe's first. In a phrase, excellent coffee, impressive estate, HORRIBLE service. I had my first experience eating a coffee cherry. There were some trees right there in the parking lot. The gift shop was classic. All wood interiors, 25% marked up tourist stuff, and two (dos) free shots of coffee, accompanied by a pair of chocoloates, a white chocolate covered bean, and standard chocolate covered bean. Noms! The patio/coffee-bar/tour-starting-place/outdoor-pavilion/bella-vista spot was gorgeous. Coffee roasting machines all around. A view of the Kona coast over trellised coffee trees. Super wow. But, but, just TRY and get a cup of coffee from the barista. At five bucks a cup, this is NO factory outlet discount. It was served in a foam (foam? plastic?) cup, there was NO cream available, and no sugar in the raw. So what? the worlds best coffee served from a pump jug, brewed i-dunno-when with Splenda and 2% milk. FAIL!

Okay, okay, so I'm over reacting, the coffee was good. I mean good. Not like that funny tingle you get in your crotch when you are going down-hill on a roller-coaster good, but it was pretty darn good. Smooth to be sure.

(*) OSFA: One Size Fits All

Unplugged

Tick-Tock

I've been working on my "assemblage" art collage again. Usually when an assemblage artist frames something in a box it's referred to as the "shrine" form factor. I'm not a big fan of that word. It sounds so dedicated like a tattoo. I don't want any tattoo forever, and I don't want to make a shrine. Doesn't that sound permanent? Not to mention queerly LA California goth.

So, I figured, if I stick a clock in the middle of my "assemblage" art box it makes it a clock, which... satisfies my creative intentions in two ways. First of all, it's not G__ D___ shrine. Second, it's a clock, so it's actually useful. I mean, a clock, who DOESN'T need another clock? This isn't a piece of art junk, it's a functional useful tool which will let the owner know precisely WHEN they are (assuming it's set correctly.. and mumble mumble mox nix)

Mind you this is no ordinary assemblage clocksterpiece. It is made entirely of things I've found laying around beach parks in Hawaii. Well, so, to be honest, the Hula girl was whittled from wood WHICH I found on the beach. Also the cloth liner on the interior of the box was made from an Aloha shirt which I accidentally ripped on the beach (trying to hastily put it on after a swim w/o unbuttoning it first). Other than that.. this is genuine saline encrusted 100% aloha hakuna mutata beach relic. Wow!

I'm far from done with this thing, I thought I'd shoot a few pieces of it for you so you could see it, and then put a sketch in (below) so you can get an idea where I'm going. It's more of guidelines really, not a roadmap per se.

Furthermore (or is it in conclusion).. or perhaps as an epilogue note. I used to be an embedded hardware developer. My garage is full of old failing electronic parts. I may not be able to resist the urge to put in some actuators or lights etcetera to make the lass jiggle on the hour or something. Hopefully, I'll just be smart about it, keep it an art project and jam the clock in. ... Hopefully.

$420

http://bit.ly/like_buy_iPhone

Dewars Vs. Diamond Head

Ian an Mary are on the boomerang leg of their Hawaiian isles vacation trip. They are staying with us this weekend, and then off for some QT at Turtle Bay before they head home to San Jose. Today we took a little trip to Diamond Head. Afterward we visited the Kona Brewing Company restaurant in Hawaii Kai. They have some crazy pizzas there. Fully ono.

Oh, btw, if you watch the video..um there is no bar at the top of Diamond Head, I was just being a jackass. kgr8thx.

Dead Locke

My high school bud Ian and his wife Mary are in town to visit this weekend and next. Ian and Mary live in San Jose, where he works for Specialized bicycles. His job involves setting up promotions and events for Specialized nationally and internationally. Typically I'll see Ian at least once a year as he passes through town on the way to represent at the Kona Iron Man. It's an added bonus when we get to hang with Mary too.

They are celebrating their half-versary honeymoon here in Hawaii. They will be here this weekend, then off to Kauai for the week, then back again next weekend. The guest bedroom is back in business while they are on our island.

This afternooon, we took in some surf at "Baby Haleiwas" on the North Shore. It's the break where a lot of groups rent boards out to newcomers. It's off to the right of Haleiwa Park. You might have seen it if you watch Lost. I'm pretty sure it's the beach they use for the scene where the guardians tote dead-Locke up in a cargo container on the beach, ark-of-the-covenant style. Lapidus gets a rifle butt to the head.

It would be funny if some of these surf breaks started taking on new bad-ass "Lost" names. Like: "Dead Locke", or "Lapidus Butt". I've often wondered what's in a break name. There are some crazy ones for sure: Gas Chambers, Green Lanterns, Paradise, Swabby Land. Anyway, I'm digressing...

Later this evening after we all came back sunburned and had a siesta, Ian, Mary, Sue (who is awesome) and I all went out to La Mariana. It's the Tiki bar near Sand Island. That place is so classic, leaky roof, bamboo walls, and lanterns made out of puffer-fish. It looks like a potential neighborhood bar for Gilligan's Island. Ya know, a swell place to hang out and speak-easy after a day of helping professor and the Harlem Globe Trotters build a submarine out of coconuts.

Ian an Mary are off to Kauai tomorrow. We'll have more adventures with them when they get back.

Fund Raiser

I'm having a little trouble getting my Kiawi channel swim put together. Originally I was planning to swim from Molokai to Oahu a week before Father's Day in June. The major issue as always is money.

To compensate a Kiawi channel fisherman for the escort, and pay for about thirteen hours of fuel it costs about a thousand dollars total. That doesn't really factor in the cost of other supplies, and covering for incidental costs of volunteers.

A typical crew will have a captain, a spotter and a paddler. Often swells separating the line of sight between the boat and the swimmer are mitigated with a proficient paddler. The paddler will also run food, water and ibuprofin from the boat spotter to the swimmer. The spotter keeps his eye on the swimmer at all times, and gets nourishment ready at preset intervals. The captain? Well, the captain drives the boat, and understandably, makes his living doing it.

For the Kiawi, I'm trying something different. Rather than absorbing all the costs myself, I'm asking for your help. I'm sorry if this is a bit awkward, but I'll try to make it up to you with some value added. I'm throwing in this illustration and my thanks in exchange for support. If you want to give me a hand with this, just go to the cafepress site, and purchase any of the "Red Buoy" products there. So far I have a couple of different sized posters with the illustration. My mark-up is about 60% of the cost of the poster. I will put that toward the channel.

I'm totally blown back by the events in the Gulf of Mexico right now. That coastline will never be the same. Ever. I've never really been an environmentalist, but this issue really tugs at me. Seriously, it's time to start using some of our energy alternatives. Anyway, I digress, anything raised in excess of my fund raising target ($1k) will be donated to a worthy Gulf clean-up related fund. Please post me your comments if you have any suggestions.

About the art. If you scroll down a couple entries you can read about the day I did the hand made illustration. It was inspired by a training swim I did with Brian. We started at sunrise from Kaimana beach hotel, and swam the length of Waikiki, then looped around the red Ala Wai buoy. From there we went in to the Sheraton. Last weekend, I brought a scan of that art into Adobe Illustrator, vectorized it, and brought those paths into Photoshop. I did the painting affects with a Wacom tablet on an iMac. The sketch took about 2 hours, the computer rendering about 5. I hope you enjoy it, and more importantly, I hope it inspires you to reach your own goals as well.