June 27, 2007

Updates

I stopped by the dive shop at Waianae Harbor today. I needed to satisfy my curiosity as to why the wrecked plane from Flight 29 Down now resides in their parking lot. I can now confirm that the plane is to be sunk as an artificial reef and eventual dive destination. There are a number of such wrecks ringing the island. The plane will be scoured to remove all traces fo fuel, oil and other harmful contaminants, and the sinking will meet the stringent requirements of various environmental and government watchdog groups. Funding is at least partially secured, so local divers will hopefully not end up negotiating debt to cover the expenses of completing the project.

I visited Iz’s memorial bust today to commemorate the tenth anniversary of his death. The inexpensive lei I draped around his neck is poor recompense for the gift of his music, but was the only gesture I could think of to convey my aloha. Other likeminded fans preceded my visit and I’m sure that more followed. I forgot to watch the news tonight, so I haven’t had an opportunity to see footage of more formal remembrances that I’m sure must have occurred. I’ll have to check tomorrow’s paper and see what I missed.

Technorati Tags: Flight 29 Down, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole

Reviews and More

I’m not a huge fan of movies. Well, that’s not true; there have been many wonderful movies I’ve enjoyed. I’m just not a big enough fan to actually go out to see a movie anymore. I have HBO and Showtime and a few gazillion cable channels, so it’s not as if every movie in the world won’t come to me evenutally, keeping me from having to go to them. My friend, J.E. though, loves movies and does a mighty fine job of reviewing them. She’s honest, straightforward and does not suffer fools gladly, so I know that I can turn to Reviews and More and trust her judgement as to whether a movie is worthy of my time. For instance, even though it wasn’t her favorite among movies she’s seen lately, I found the plot summary in her movie review of The Prestige intriguing enough that I may rent it if it doesn’t come to cable soon. She gives a thorough critique of plot, character and actors in each of her reviews. Her tastes are similar to mine, so I have full confidence in her recommendations as a guideline when I want to be entertained.

How do I know our tastes are similar? Because I’ve read her TV review of season 3 of House and she’s right on the money. I have a bit more affection for the supporting cast than J.E. does, but her analysis of the machinations of the plot are spot-on. She, too, found the Tritter storyline tedious and much overdone, and the “happy,” clean and sober House much less interesting than the complex character we loved to hate.

The “and more” parts of Reviews and More are pretty interesting, too. Books, video games, products and services all get the benefit of her critical eye. I like her balanced treatment of each review she approaches. She bypasses hype and presupposition to give an honest appraisal in each post. That’s made her voice one that I’ve come to trust.

I’ll be reviewing J.E.’s new shopping blog soon, but it may be a few days, so here’s your heads-up on a deadline you’ll want to meet. J.E. is running a contest to promote The Chronic Consumer. You’ve only got a few days left to qualify for the grand prize of $50.00, so check it our now and get your entry in before her generous offer expires!

Technorati Tags: blog reviews, blogs, entertainment, reviews

June 26, 2007

Tuesday Teaser photo proof

Well, I didn’t fool anyone this week, did I?

Congratulations to J.E., who was the first to check in with the right answer. J.E - since there was no winner last week, the prize rolled over. You’ll get two linky love posts and your name will be entered twice in the drawing for a $10.00 gift card this weekend.

Mahalo to everyone for playing!

Technorati Tags: blog contest, contest, photo contest, photo puzzle

Tuesday Teaser for June 26, 2007

Can you identify the item depicted above? Take your best guess and post it in the comments below. If your guess wins, you’ll win a nifty prize. Here’s how it works:

1. Write a comment giving your guess as to what the item is.
2. First person to identify the item wins.
3. The author of this blog will be the sole judge as to what constitutes a correct answer.

What will you win?

1. The author of this blog will write a LINKY LOVE POST (review) about the winner’s blog. The LLP will contain the url for your blog plus at least two deep links and will be posted here on Skeet’s Stuff, a PR4 blog. Skeet writes good reviews.
2. The winner’s name will be entered into a drawing for a $10.00 gift card from Starbucks or Amazon.
3. Drawing for the gift card will be held on or about June 30, 2007, and will include all weekly winners for the month, thus the maximum number of people who will be eligble is four. That’s pretty good odds.

Other stuff

1. All comments to this blog are time and date stamped. The winner will be the first person (according to time and date stamp) to provide the correct answer.
2. No hints will be given.
3. Answers must specifically identify the item. For instance, if the item depicted were to be a button on a remote control, the answer “button on something electronic” would not suffice.
4. Decisions of the judge are final. Don’t argue with me. I won’t answer.
5. I will attempt to post every few hours as to whether or not a winner has been declared, but I am not continuously at the keyboard so please be patient.
6. Entries must be posted before 12:00 a.m. Thursday, June 21, 2007, Hawaii time (GMT -10, approximately forty-eight hours from now.)
7. This is intended to be an ongoing feature at Skeet’s Stuff. If it turns out to be a dud it will cease to exist, but all qualified winners will get their prizes.
8. Skeet’s Stuff is a do-follow blog, so you get some link value just for commenting.
9. Let the fun begin!

Technorati Tags: contests, photos, photo contest, blog contest

June 25, 2007

Israel Kamawiwo’ole - 10 years gone

There will be sadness and smiles on this anniversary. The big man left us ten years ago, but his legacy touches us daily. It is not possible to go one day in Hawaii without hearing his sweet tenor and playful ukelele tickling the ear. I hear it from the radio of the car next to me in traffic. He sings to me as I weigh potatoes and check the freshness date on milk at the grocery. He croons from a CD player as I stroll the beach. His unique version of “What a Wonderful World/Somewhere Over the Rainbow” sells toys and travel on TV. Iz is everywhere. He was - still is - the voice of Hawaii.

Come. Listen to Bruddah Iz. Yeah, that guy. You’ve been hearing his voice in movies and commercials for years. That one song took wing shortly after his death and spread his fame far beyond these islands. Listen to a medley from a new CD that combines Iz tracks with symphonic orchestration. I’m not sure yet what to think of the new sound. I think I prefer the simplicity of Iz, un-fooled-around-with, but I’ll buy the album. We all will. We need it for our Iz collections. It’s more though. Iz did well in his lifetime, but his estate is making more money now than he could ever have imagined. In the last twenty-four hours I’ve heard three people say they’ll buy his “new” music for his daughter. She is ours, too, and we want her to have the financial support of our love for her father, our affection for her. You can listen, read and watch on the Honolulu Advertiser/Bruddah Iz link above and I think you’ll see why. You’ll see why our Sunday paper this week was saturated with Iz, why we were all thrilled with the sample from the new album that arrived with it on our doorsteps.

He called this coast home. I’ve never seen his bust unadorned with lei. He is ever in our minds, this favorite son who spoke for the kanaka - the Hawaiian people - and to us all. The music and the man belong to the whole world now, but he’s a part of us in a way that others can’t know. We know the streets where he grew up, the ocean and beaches where he took his leisure, the drug culture that sucked him in. He was one of the fortunate ones, one of the strong ones who beat that powerful demon. He couldn’t beat his other demon though, the gross obesity that finally smothered the life out of him. His heart was enormous, but not big enough to keep beating under the weight of his nearly half-ton body. He had a heart attack at thirty and succumbed at only thirty-eight. His music has not stopped, though, and Iz has not really left us. He blesses our lives every day. I hope you’ll enjoy a little interlude with him today. Tip your hat to the big man and rejoice that his music lives on.

Technorati Tags: Hawaiian music, Honolulu Advertiser, Israel Kamakawiwo’ole, Iz, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, What a Wonderful World

June 24, 2007

What is your domain name worth?

Have you ever wondered what your domain name is worth? That wasn’t something that I was too concerned with when I selected skeeterbess.com for mine. I wanted to have a name that was all mine, but didn’t worry about what the name could do for me or how much value it would have. I’m a little more internet savvy now and realize that, from an SEO perspective, I chose a terrible name. I’m not considering changing it or selling my domain, but if I ever decide to have a new domain with monetization in mind, I’ll try to get creative with words that are rich in SEO possibilities. No one outside of my own circle knows who or what a skeeterbess is. Everyone knows what money is, what tech means, and what to find on a site with photo in the domain name. I just got my domain name appraisal and wasn’t surprised to learn that my choice is only worth $21.00. Not so much, when you consider that the right name can be sold for $5000, and some have even sold for $10,000. If I’d played my cards right, skeet’s stuff could have been a nice little nest egg for me to cash in someday for my retirement fund.

You can find out what your domain is worth at LeapFish.com. Better yet, use their domain name appraisal tool to try out some creative combinations and come up with a high-value name before you purchase your next domain. Domain registration and hosting services are available from the site, so you can claim your name as soon as you think of it, before someone else makes the same creative leap. They’re a full-service domain name resource center, so you can do it all in one spot. Spending a little time at LeapFish could be the key to turning your next domain name into money in the bank.

Technorati Tags: domain name, domain name appraisal, domain name registration

Plantin’ lettuce

This is the planter that I’ll grow my friend’s lettuce in. It’s got this nifty watering reservoir in the bottom. You can add water from the corners so as not to disturb your plantings. It seems I exaggerated earlier. It’s thirty inches long, not thirty-six as I estimated.

I’m worried that the soil will become compacted in the trough in the bottom, so I added some gravel. No too much - I want the water from the reservoir to contact the soil and travel upwards.

This is a really rich local potting mix. It’s full of mostly-rotted wood debris and has some stones in it, too. It smells like it was scooped from a forest floor, all loamy and fragrant with just a hint of decay.

The seeds are tiny & won’t show up well in a photo. I put them in nine shallow depressions staggered from end to end after I got the soil nice and damp. I have the planter sitting on my front lanai, against the wall of my carport shed. They’ll get direct sun during the middle of each day. If they don’t do well there I’ll try something else. I may put a few seeds in some damp paper towel and see if I can germinate them that way, inside with no direct sun. The tropical noonday sun can be pretty fierce. The seeds were developed for Hawaii, but maybe not for the Leeward Coast. We’ll see.

Technorati Tags: gardening, Hawaii, Hawaii gardening, lettuce, seeds, vegetables

Self Portrait Sunday for June 24, 2007

After















































Before












Go to Digi-Cass to see who else is letting it show.

Technorati Tags: self portrait, Self Portrait Sunday, photos

Posted by skeet @ 12:03 pm • Photos, Meme, Uncategorized • 18 comments  

Home Depot Garden Club Newsletter

I’ve been getting the Home Depot Gardening Club Newsletter for about a month now and I’m really enjoying it. I get an early head’s-up on sales and special promotions, and the gardening emails are especially nice. They sent me a weed-control issue and a coupon for 50% off on week-blocking fabric just as some strange little clumps of vegetation started popping up in my xeriscaped side yard, so I really appreciated that!

My friend Tricia over at As The Garden Grows is enjoying her newsletters too and wrote up a Home Depot Gardening Club Article of her own. Tricia is my mentor when it comes to garden blogging, so I feel like I’m in good company.

Flo lives just across the island from me. I’m just starting to grow some vegetables to go with my herbs, but she’s an old hand at it. She mentioned in a Home Depot Gardening Club Article on her blog that she’s looking to the newsletter for advice, too.

It’s easy to sign up for the Home Depot Gardening Club Newsletter. Just click the link, provide your email address and you’re good to go. I love the special offers and coupons that are selected with gardeners in mind. It’s really nice to qualify for discounts that aren’t availble to anyone else, too. Did I mention that it’s free? Go. Sign up. You’ll thank me later.

Technorati Tags: garden club newsletter, gardening, Home Depot, special offers

A little refuge

Join

It’s a rather bland corner. Take a climbing road about a mile up the mountain from the ocean. You’ll arrive at a corner with condo complexes on each side of the road. There’s nothing else up there but the two complexes. They both have lovely, professionally landscaped grounds that I’ve featured on my blog in the past. I rented a condo there when I first came to the island, before I bought the house. My son and I called it Peacock Corners.

There’s landscaping around the bus stop on the corner, but it’s doesn’t have that oh-so-refined look of professionalism. That’s because it’s a labor of love by one individual. I’ve watched him working there many times, a little old man who probably lives in one of the condos, with no yard to call his own. He’s adopted the corner. I don’t think the county has ever given him any grief about having taken over the public right-of-way land.

There are beaten paths between the plantings, proof that others regularly find a few moments of peace in the cool shade of this little piece of paradise. Stones are artfully arranged around some of the shrubs, and large boulders mark the corner and keep turning cars from straying into the garden. Can’t you just picture a quaint little Bed and Breakfast tucked away in a corner like this, with lovely gardens to walk through as you approach it?

There’s a small cluster of cotton bushes growing at one end. I have no idea why they’re there. They’re certainly not typical of Hawaiian gardens. Maybe the gentleman gardener is a displaced Southerner like me and they remind him of home. Whatever the reason, it must please him to have them there. That’s cool. I want him to be a happy gardener for many years to come.

Here’s my little Sunday project. My dearest friend eats salads every day. She mixes them up, enjoying a wide variety of greens and other tasty tidbits. She lives in a condo with a small paved yard on each side. I found a nice planter, about three feet long by maybe eight inches wide. I’m going to start some of the seeds growing so I’ll have a leafy bounty when her birthday rolls around, and I’ll present it to her with the extra seeds so she can keep it going. Now if I can just remember where I put the third seed packet I’ll be good to go.

Technorati Tags: gardening, gardening in Hawaii, peacock, photos