Palm Shadow

The sun casts shadows of palm fronds against our newly painted wall.

Kahekili Highway

Driving down Kahekili Highway in Kāne‘ohe on New Year's Day. We were on our way to play mini-golf with our nieces and nephews at the Bay View Golf Course.

... And Then There Will Be One

June's theme week is "Verticals Volume 2". Leading off this month's theme week is the end of an era, both Honolulu daily newspapers will merge to form one.

Today is the final day for both The Honolulu Advertiser and the Honolulu Star*Bulletin to publish separate issues. From tomorrow, the newspaper becomes the Honolulu Star*Advertiser. The above photo shows both paper's street vending machines side-by-side at the corner of Kaheka and Kapi‘olani Streets.

Magenta Arch

One of my orchid plants has a stem of blooms that have over 30 flowers! Today's photo shows a portion of the arch of flowers.

Lantern Floating 2010

The Na Lei Aloha Foundation Lantern Floating 2010 took place this past Monday on Memorial Day at Magic Island Park. Today's photo was the scene as lanterns were released into the water, and was taken from my TV camera platform. Over 40,000 people attended the event, with a few thousand lanterns released.

Lanterns that honor the dead are floated to sea, it's a Japanese Buddhist ritual called tooroo nagashi. For this event, people wrote the name of a loved one, and sometimes a short message on the paper walls around the candle.

This year, local TV camera operators were used, though our director was from Japan. We managed to work through the language barrier, and had a blast, as the director really got into the broadcast.

Cyclops

Playing around with an ultra wide-angle lens and mirrored ball I came across at the Urban Garden.

Makali‘i Blessing

Hawaiian Airlines had their first Airbus A330-243, N380HA "Makali‘i", blessed today in before employees, local dignitaries, and the media. Kahu (Pastor) Richard Kamanu of Kaumakapili Church blessed the aircraft with Hawai‘i Governor Linda Lingle, Hawaiian Air CEO Mark Dunkerley, and Airbus America President Allan McArtor at the top of the airstairs, with Hawaiian Air flight attendants gathered below.

The cool things about these blessing ceremonies: is that its done in both Hawaiian and English, and incorporates the Hawaiian culture and Christianity.

Crossing King Street

This couple crosses South King Street, one Honolulu's main thoroughfares. While I was editing this photo, I thought this kinda looked like The Beatles' "Abbey Road" album cover, with the white bars of the crosswalk.

Memorial Day

Today, we honor our armed service personnel who serve our country, and especially those gave their lives for this great country of ours.

Kathy's dad was a World War II veteran, who served in the Army's 100th Battalion / 442nd Infantry, which was made up of Japanese-Americans who fought in Europe.

We thank all those who served, and currently serve our armed forces.

On The Beach

Folks here will flock to the beaches this Memorial Day weekend.

Dyann & Todd

During their wedding reception, someone had used rose petals to spell out Dyann and Todd's name on the sign-in table ...

757

This Far Eastern Air Transport Boeing 757-200 is at HNL as its headed for the mainland. The Taipei-based airline went out of business, and their aircraft are moving on to other airlines. The Taiwanese registration code can be barely seen near the nose. It now wears an American registration.

Fill Up Buddy

This guy holds his pooch while pumping gas ... at one point he was holding two dogs while filling up his gas tank.

Tulip Trio

A potted tulip plant that was given to Kat & I ...

Honolua Surfers

With waves hitting the eight-foot face range, dozens of surfers made their way to Honolua (northern end of Maui) to catch waves, like the one above, at the mouth of Honolua Bay. This is the view from the roadside lookout along Hono‘api‘ilani Highway.

Five-O

In the original version of "Hawai‘i Five-O", ‘Iolani Palace was used as the headquarters of the fictional state police unit led by Jack Lord's "Steve McGarrett". The top floor corner was McGarrett's office, and the unit occupied the second floor.

A few days ago, CBS announced that the new version of "Hawai‘i Five-O" will be picked up, and aired on Mondays at 10pm EST & PST (9pm HST) beginning this fall.

Hip Hop Ministry

New Hope Leeward's hip-hop dance ministry, led by youth pastor Justin Masuda (third from right), performs during one of the Sunday services.

Balconies

The balconies of the Ko‘olau Golf Course clubhouse, as seen through a fish-eye lens.

Rainy Tarmac

Honolulu International Airport fell victim to some heavy showers on the morning of the arrival of Hawaiian Air's first Airbus A330. Needless to say everyone involved was worried, but the showers did move on, and the weather cleared for the event.

I took today's photo after going back to my car to grab my jacket, and the rain had tapered off to a drizzle. Thus the rain water caused the reflection of this Hawaiian Air 717, N480HA "Pueo", which was being pushed out of its gate to head off to one of the Neighbor Islands.

Giant Poster

As part of her Christmas gift, our niece Ellie got this giant poster which almost seven feet tall. Everyone had a good laugh when she opened it up. I'm not sure if she put the poster up ...

Yellow Plumeria

Yellow Plumeria in bloom at the Urban Garden Center in Pearl City.

Haleakalā Sun

Clouds roll in as the sun sits high above Haleakalā, as seen from the visitor center.

Pulling The Kayak

This dad pulls his family on the kayak down the shallow part of Kailua Stream which will lead out to Kailua Bay.

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

This month, my parents celebrate their 56th wedding anniversary. Because the actual day was close to Mother's Day, we combined the two, and had lunch at Roy's at the Ko Olina Resort Area. Kat told our waitress that we're celebrating their anniversary, and they got this coconut brownie as a special dessert for them.

Looking Down The Aisle

Looking down St. Peter's Episcopal Church's aisle before a Japanese tourist wedding, with the help of an ultra wide-angle lens.

Touch & Go

A Hawaii Air National Guard Boeing C-17A "Globemaster III" on short finals for MCAF Kāne‘ohe Bay's Runway 4, as seen from He‘eia Kea Boat Harbor. This C-17 was performing touch & go landings at "K-Bay", in which the wheels touch ground, then the plane will power up and take-off. Because HNL is a busy airport, the military will use outlying bases to practice their landings.

I was shooting a wedding not far from the boat harbor, and saw the C-17 making a few approaches in the distance, over Kāne‘ohe Bay. After the my video shoot was done, I went down to He‘eia Kea to see what kind of angle I could get. The big grey cargo jet made a sweeping left turn near the shoreline to line up with the runway. I stayed for a couple of cycles to get shots of the C-17.

Also, May is Armed Forces Month. Thank you to all of our service personnel, and especially those in harm's way!

Gas Pump

Virginia's Antique & Gifts, an antique store in Wahiawa, has this old gas pump at the front door. I remember that the store was once a Chevron service station up until the late 60s or early 70s. Oh yeah, the price per gallon when it was last used ... 48¢! Those days are certainly long gone ...

Fishing In The Lagoon

A few people fish along the shoreline of Ke‘ehi Lagoon.

Rainy Windshield

Caught in a downpour, rain drenches my car

Wood Grain

A close-up of one the planks I bought for our attic ...

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!

Today's photo shows my mom (left) with Kat's mom during a family Christmas party.

Roll Replay!

The EVS replay system for the Aloha Stadium JumboTron. This is how we do replays for the sporting events we do there. The best feature about this system, is that its always recording, so we'll never miss a play.

Head Shop?

These glass heads were for sale at a nearby Pier 1 Imports ... I thought it was a bit strange, and wondered who would decorate their house with these, though it would be ideal for Halloween.

Now Boarding ...

Walking through the Jetway to board our Hawaiian Air flight to Maui, this past November.

Reflections

I was going for the rainbow reflecting in the side view mirror as well as the side of our car. I also got the refection of the interior off of the side window.

Crab Legs

Frozen crab legs for sale at a major grocery store ...

Blue Buzzer

One of the paging devices at Nico's Pier 38 to alert you when your order is ready ... Kat & I highly recommend the food there! Food Network's Guy Fieri did a segment of "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives" there.

In fact, in tonight's edition of "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives", Poke Stop is one of the three eateries featured ...

Wine Glass Kaleidoscope

The theme week for May is "Phone Pix". There are times when busting out any camera might get me into trouble ... thank God for cameras built into cellular phones. Though the quality ain't the greatest ... I still get to capture moments.

Leading this theme week is, looking through a few layers of wine glasses in a store's display.

Expo 2010

Expo 2010 is being held in Shanghai, China, with its theme being "Better City, Better Life". The official airline for Expo 2010 is Shanghai's own China Eastern Airlines. To commemorate their sponsorship of Expo 2010, China Eastern had one of their newest Boeing 737-700s, B-5265, specially painted for the event. The 737 was at HNL as it made its delivery flight from Boeing Field, Seattle, WA to Shanghai. Along with Honolulu, B-5265 made stops at Majuro and Saipan before reaching Shanghai.

Light Truss

Part of one of the light truss towers at New Hope Leeward ...

Going Green

Our second phase of painting, was our bedroom, which we painted this shade of green in the roller tray. In the foreground, of it is a ball of painter's tape we used to mask off parts of the bedroom. I took this after we finished the major parts of the painting.

Piggy

The logo for Nippon Television (NTV) is this neon green pig. I got this little porker in a gift bag given by an NTV reporter and director whom I worked with several years ago. This little pig sits in my car.

Rock Wall At 10,000'

The rock wall that surrounds the 10,200-foot summit area at Haleakalā.

Running On The Beach

This little boy runs toward the ocean at Pahipahialua Beach. Even covered with sand, it didn't seem to faze him from playing with his siblings.

Across The Bay

At southern end of Kāne‘ohe Bay is Marine Corps Base Hawai‘i at Kāne‘ohe Bay on the Mokapu Peninsula, which is seen from the He‘eia Kea Boat Harbor.

Smoke Trails

Smoke trails toward me from the sparklers that our nieces and nephew were playing with on New Year's Eve.

Private Charter

PrivatAir is a Swiss-based business and charter aviation firm that flies globally. A few weeks ago, one of their Boeing 757-200 airliners, HB-IEE, stopped at HNL for a few days and spent another few days at Kahului, Maui. This 757 seats only 49 passengers luxuriously, while the same airliner with a commercial airline can seat over 200 passengers (depending on seating layout).

Passengers can be seen de-planing to board a mini-bus to take them to their hotel. I took this shot while driving down HNL's south ramp to get photos of the 757.

On a side note, the Rolling Stones chartered HB-IEE during their 2003 world tour. During U2's "All You Can't Leave Behind" world tour, the Irish rock band chartered one of PrivatAir's 737s.

Sunny Orchids

For my contribution for Earth Day ....

The sun backlights a bunch of orchids that recently bloomed.

Pinwheels For Prevention

Prevent Child Abuse Hawai‘i is participating in the national Pinwheels For Prevention™ campaign. Hundreds of blue and silver pinwheels were placed on the Beretania Street side of the State Capitol lawn for the week. The pinwheel is the new symbol of the prevention of child abuse and neglect.

Skylight

One of the skylights in the baggage claim area at the Kahului Airport.