are gas prices going up in your area? according to a [cnn] article regular unleaded is on average $1.99/gallon. wish that were the case here. you can checkout the local gas prices by visiting [sanjosegasprices.com] with the link available on the sidebar also.
ah, finally got through the rest of the hawaii vacation photos. albums posted are called:
do you like reading blogs? pop on over to [metblogs] where you can see specific regional/city blogs discussing life in the city and such. there is a blog for [tokyo], [san francisco], [chicago], and other cities. check it out.
you’ve heard of [friendster] right? if you haven’t, friendster is considered a social network. we’ll, if you’ve been using the latest version of [firefox] you might consider social bookmarks, at [del.icio.us]
on del.icio.us you can add, share, and find bookmarks. you can categorize your bookmarks, then add them to firefox as an rss feed so they are live bookmarks. the site looks like it is in pre-beta with some features such as alpha sorting not available. but hey why not give it a try or at least a look-see. you can see what bookmarks you have in common with others.
our favorite new television show this season has to be [lost] wednesay @ 8pm on abc.
quick shot: plane crashes on a deserted island. survivors try to figure out where they are, how to contact someone for help, and who they can trust amongst their group. it’s a dramatic gilligan’s island!
what we like (so far): the story has many mysterious elements surrounding the island as well as passengers on the plane. when i say ‘so far’, you just never know if the show’s storyline will tank as it moves forward. the characters not only ‘purtee’ but have some depth. the writing is strong (again, so far). this is a show brought to you by the makers of felicity and alias.
what we didn’t like: that it’s only on once a week. ugh!
man, it’s october and i’m still talking about our hawaii trip that took place back in august!?!?!?! well, my memory on specifics is fading (yeah, it comes with age, huh). this might be the last time i write about the trip. most of the pictures are posted. just a few more from the last days we stayed. anyway, on with the story….
sandy left oahu on saturday afternoon. for the rest of that day we relaxed. we picked up jane, then had a late dim sum lunch with ann, who was working. we might have went to [ala moana], if not that day i’m sure some other days. but after lunch we did drive to the north shore from shave ice! some time later that night we went to circut city - i needed to figure out how to download the photos i had since the ipod wasn’t accepting my camera’s connection. this is where the photo below was taken:
uncle johnny and auntie linda treated all of us to sunday breakfast at [anna millers] . in the afternoon we headed to russell and majorie’s house, in mililani for an late lunch/early dinner.
russell tried his best to bbq, taking care of most of the food. when it came to the beef he delegated that task to sim.
the following day, after pali lookout, we went to kauai. our plane left early in the morning. funny thing going to kauai, and coming back, was being thoroughly searched. we did the whole nine yards of getting the metal detector ran over our bodies and having our bags searched. heidi’s back had an extra passenger on the outside, which airport security noticed: a cockroach! we figured one of our names was a trigger for being searched or our group size. other way it was a hilarious experience.
with jane’s help, we booked four days and three nights, staying in the [kauai sands hotel]. the kauai sands is a nice little hotel, which if i remember reading correctly, is one of the few family owned hotels left. our rooms (farrah and i in one, yen, heidi and sandy in the other) where above/below each other.
the first day on the island was a little rough for me. for breakfast (most of the days we were there) we ate a place called [eggberts], which was close to the hotel. i think the jet lag plus the food was catching up to me because i was getting tired pretty quickly driving. we made a drive to the poipu area of kauai, where there are more resorts and the ocean is calmer then most of the island. afterward we ate a [puka dog] with the coconut relish. they were out of the star fruit relish. oh well.
for day two on kauai we had nothing special planned, just more sight seeing. we stopped by the visitor’s center in the hotel and asked about boating tours to the napli coast. we decided to take that trip on thursday (the next day). next, we did the eggbert’s deal again in the morning. on the walk back to the room we ran across a gecko:
everyone, including yen, took turns holding the little visitor. we got in the car and made our way around the eastern part of the island. the first place we stopped at was the kilauea lighthouse. see all the white dots in the picture below? those are birds, eh.
we then went to the guava farm about 1/2 a mile away. boy, can the girls shop! they almost bought one of everything in the store. guava this, guava that. ugh. we then made our way up north to the princeville resort. huge, lovely, expensive place. the last place we hit before heading back was hanalei, where we were able to go to a couple of shops in the local center.
thursday rolled around and the big activity that day was the boat trip up the napali coast. i was going to go with the girls, but after hearing it was going to be rough out there i backed out, preferring to spend four hours by myself at the local mall. the boat trip started around 3pm, and planned to end around sunset. from what they describe the trip going up the coast was rough, as the captain sped up there to spend as much time sight seeing as possible. the trek back down the coast was at a more leisurely pace.
the last day on kauai was short, with our plane taking off early afternoon. we made a quick trip to the poipu area to grab our last puka dog (no star fruit relish still). we got to the airport and were promptly search before going to the gate.
ah, back on oahu. so we waited outside for jane to pick us up from the airport. as we waited i continued to scratch my peeling back. heidi had an idea to use her lint brush, wondering how much skin would come off. well, the results are below:
rating: ** 1/2 out of 5
quick shot: ron perlman brings hellboy to life, embodying hellboy both physically and emotionally.
what i liked about the film: the look, the story pace, and the comedic elements.
what i didn’t like: the ending was slightly disappointing, when it had every opportunity to be stronger. perhaps a director’s cut of the dvd - which i think is scheduled later this year - will prove to make a better film than the current version.
every wanted to see how a web site looked, oh say, two years ago? [plug the website address in here] to find out. link courtesy of sa - the slient assassin. (ps. just verified the above lyric/title is correct. can you guess the movie?)
made a template change to the weblog page as well as the photos@ page. lmk if there are any problems with the template, as some customization had to be done. also lmk what you think of the template. i like it because
the style change on the weblog page is meant to partially match the dark look on the photos page.
the day after hanauma bay, we went did more driving around oahu, specifically toward pali lookout. we could have gone the day before, but after six hours in the sun it was difficult to muster any energy.
the drive to pali lookout isn’t that long. in fact, driving to anywhere on the island doesn’t take too long. pali lookout overlooks the kloolau mountain range. it sort of reminds me of twin peaks in city with the wind and view.
after pali lookout we drove further on the highway, stopping for lunch at a local thai restaurant. we then made our way further around the island, stopping along the coast to see manana island (aka rabbit island) and the blow hole also. picture are located in the pali lookout album.
who’s new cadillac is this?
well, let’s ask the car who she belongs to:
yes, farrah’s dad, as of this weekend, is the proud owner of a silver smoke cadillac cts. sweet huh? it’s a pretty smooth ride. six cylinders, sun/moon roof, leather interior, am/fm/cd/xm satellite radio. a very nice car to take on a trip.
well, time to write more about the hawaii trip, since i have some time on my hands. it’s a hot one here today in sunnyvale. i’m not sure if it’s hotter than it was at hanauma bay, but it’s pretty close.
on my first full day on oahu we went to hanauma bay. it was a sunday and the bay was fairly crowded. some things have chanced at the bay. it’s five dollars to get in (the same, i think). before being let loose on the bay you are required to watch a film about the habitat and rules about the reef. the film is about nine minutes long.
the trek down to the bay wasn’t as long as i remember it when farrah and i went back in ‘97. you can still snorkel in the bay, but you can’t feed the fishes any longer. we spent sixhours at the bay. needless to say most of us paid for it with a nice sunburn, especially me. my whole backside and most of my frontside was sunburned. the only one to escape this fate was farrah. [see hanauma bayphotos]
later that same evening, we had a bbq at auntie’s house. oysters, korean bbq, and plenty more to be eaten that night.
after the bbq we rested for more site seeing around oahu.
ugh, getting back from vacation has been rough, especially with work being a drag right now. i’m slowly getting the vacation pictures up. log on a take a look when you get a chance.
in order to get it all down, i’ll start writing about our vacation coinciding with each album. for example, arriving in hawaii:
the trip over
i took off on saturday august 7, 2004 by myself. farrah had left with yen and heidi on wednesday. doug took me to the airport (pic above) and i was off. the flight was straightforward with little turbulence. i bought the lousy two dollar headphones to watch the movie, then promptly fell asleep after eating dinner and missed most of shrek 2.
the humidity was the first thing to hit me when i stepped off the plane. i forgot how wet hawaii could be. luckily i wore shorts on the plane. the first night was spent saying hi to everyone, getting settled, and making plans for the following days of vacation. [see photos in in arriving in hawaii]
congratulations to scott and stefanie on their new baby boy! seth emilio salvotti was born on august 18, 2004 @ 12:33. we’ll need to meet seth and skylar soon.
thanks to fina for this link
rating: **1/2 of 5
quick shot: val kilmer does his bit for country and mamet. a good thriller even though the ending is a bit deux machina.
what i liked about the film mamet’s writing. snappy dialog and interesting plot.
what i didn’t like part of the ending (you’ll know what i mean)
[this link] courtesy of sa. here’s hoping th new batman is better than the last two films. check out the trailer also at the [batman begins] website.
ernie and i went to the shooting range after dinner yesterday. it was ernie’s first time, while i hadn’t been to the range in over three years. we shot a rented 9mm and a .40 smith & wesson. ernie did pretty good being the first time out. i was a little rusty but managed to hit the center of the target a couple of times
the web hosting of the janella sites has changed. fina’s galleries are now located at
[http://nothingcouldbefina.janella.us/]
and janella.com has moved to a new web hosting provider as well. why the changes?
at work we had test web hosting accounts for an old service we no longer offer. the test account i had the domain name janella.us. unfortunately my account was accidentally canceled. i looked at this as an opportunity to try a new hosting provider. so i signed up for [phpwebhosting.com] and moved the dns over to that service.
for janella.com i decided to go with [hostgator.com] after reading recommendations on a web hosting review site. for a short period of time i tried 1and1.com, but didn’t find the service up to snuff.
all of this means that each site will have enough room to grow as we continue to post photos and other content.
enjoy.
did you know that dvd movies can be different from country to country? they are not only defined by region (north america is region 1) but specific countries can have cooler versions than others. this is where a region free dvd player comes in handy!
anyway, a cool site to see what is different is dvdcompare.net for example, look at the different versions of kill bill volume 1. cool huh?
how far can you make this dude walk drunk? use your mouse to control the left-to-right movement.
i’ve been reading comic books again.
it has been several years since i picked up comic books on a regular basis. but late last year i was in a mall and stopped by the comic book store. i picked up two hardback compilations:
both books were excellent in there own way. daredevil was done by the team of loeb and sales. loeb knows how to write a clean story with excellent dialog, while sales can draw in such a minimal but expressive fashion.
by comparison, the morrison written x-men was dark, brooding and sadistic. it was nice to see the x-men go through pain and deliver it back to the enemy at hand. i didn’t feel confused jumping back into the x-men (which was confusing when i left reading the book due to some characters and subplots). morrison did and is continuing to do, an excellent job with the x-men.
after these two books, i’ve been picking up issues here and there. i enjoyed loeb and jim lee’s run on batman, and lee’s current run on superman (more later on this). i’m also enjoying the batman/superman book by loeb and turner.
i’m taking a different approach to my comic book reading now also. i’m more into the hardbound collection as opposed to collecting individual issues. i don’t know, i can’t stand the ‘bagging and boarding’ of comic books any longer. i guess i’m not a collector any longer. i just enjoy good comic art and a good comic story.
i’ve been quietly adding back photos to the page. by quitely i mean i forgot to update this page! anwya, here is what’s been done so far:
new albums
as always, viewing of these albums requires login right. please [register] in order to be able to sign and view an album. as stated before please use a username i can recognize. i will then approve the registration which will allow you to login.
original story appears at
[http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/exeter/05232004/news/17777.htm]
Fan calls it the worst concert ever
HAMPTON - Gloria Dion wants her money back after being subjected to what she calls the worst Jewel concert ever.
Dion, along with her two daughters Nicole and Kaitlin, went to last Saturday’s 8 p.m. Jewel concert at the Hampton Beach Ballroom Casino. The singer performed two concerts that evening at the Casino. People who saw the first said Jewel was at the top of her game and said it was a “rocking show.”
Those who had tickets to the second show saw something quite different, according to Dion.
“People were literally walking out of the show,” she said. “As soon as she came out, she began to insult us. We thought she was joking at first because it was kind of weird.”
Witnesses said Jewel went on a tirade of insults from poking fun at fat people to others with no teeth. At one point, she asked the audience to yell requests and then told them to “shut the hell up.”
“I saw her live in Boston and it was the greatest show I’ve ever been to,” Dion said. “I don’t know if she was having a nervous breakdown or what. She told everyone to stop looking at her teeth and look at her breasts.”
Jewel was on stage for about an hour and played only four to five songs. Halfway through the show, Dion said Jewel began to talk about Zoloft and Paxil for about 10 minutes.
“I don’t know what that was all about,” said Nicole Dion, who came from Canada to see the show. “I don’t know if she was on it or what. Maybe she didn’t take it.”
Dion said Jewel stopped in the middle of her trademark song, “Who will save your soul,” because everyone was singing along. “She said, I would have never guessed you all know the words. I don’t know if she was kidding or what.”
Nicole Dion said the entire experience made her no longer want to be a Jewel fan.
Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom officials said they have not received negative feedback about the show, but radio station 107.1 WERZ that sponsored the concert did.
WERZ Operations Manager Michael O’Donnell said he heard comments about Jewel’s strange behavior during her second performance.
“I got a lot of negative feedback from people who attended the second show,” O’Donnell said. “They were upset with some of the comments they heard her make.
“She said she saw a better audience at a barroom brawl and that all drinkers and smokers were sinners.”
Dion said she doesn’t blame the Casino, but believes something should be done to make it up to them. She said not only was the show bad, but people were not allowed to buy drinks or smoke a cigarette in the smoking room.
Kristen MacKinnon, a manager at the Casino, said it was Jewel’s request that smoking not be allowed at the show. Alcohol was served, but not in the main stage area because Jewel requested no waitresses in the main ballroom while she was on stage.
Dion said Jewel came out for an encore, but instead of singing one of her hit songs, she yodeled for a minute and then left the stage.
When the crowd left the Casino, several people drove by Jewel’s tour bus and screamed obscenities, Dion said.
MacKinnon said no one has called for a refund or to complain, and said both shows were a success.
“The people who I talked to very much enjoyed the show,” said MacKinnon, who admitted to not seeing the second show. “The only problem we ran into was that a lot of people who had tickets for the first show were in traffic and couldn’t get here on time.”
MacKinnon said they tried to accommodate those who showed up late by allowing them to see the second show even though it was already sold out.
O’Donnell said DJs from WERZ’s morning show, Kevin Matthews, Susanne Lewis and Kid Cruise, were supposed to introduce Jewel and plug their show, but never got the opportunity. Jewel went on without any introduction from the DJs.
O’Donnell said the complaints he received enticed him to call Jewel’s management team.
“They basically told me that sometimes she does a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor during her shows,” O’Donnell said.
Calls to Jewel’s management for comment went unreturned.
O’Donnell said he’s not sure what happened between the first and second show. This is the second time WERZ has sponsored a Jewel concert. The first was in 1997 when she was beginning to hit the top of the charts.
“I feel bad for the fans that paid $40 because they wanted to be entertained. All I can say is that I hoped everyone a good time. And if they didn’t, I want them to remember we can’t predict what happens.