Standing On The Precipice.

Nicole and I gave up all our cable movie channels a few weeks ago, except HBO. Long story, short; We were getting them free because of a glitch at DirecTV, so instead of increasing our monthly bill, we just got rid of them. HBO in recent weeks has had the award winning movie "Gladiator" starring Russel Crowe in heavy rotation. And since, we've lost nearly 30 movie channels, I've been putting Gladiator on in the background while I putter around the house, or relax in the bedroom.

It would be fair to say that the demise of Rome has been floating around in the back of my brain. It surfaced on Tuesday when I was programming lights for "Miss Pole Star 2009". Yes, it's exactly what you think. It's a contest to find the best pole dancer. 6 dancers were left:

(This is the view from my monitor, I was upstairs behind a curtain and didn't have a direct shot to the stage)

And like in the movie Gladiator, the choice for who stayed on the show and who was "voted" off, was left to the collected crowd of people. And to accent the point, there was a "thumbs up, thumbs down" vote that happened.

You know our society on a downward spiral when reality shows lead the ratings, and reality games shows like "Jingles" and "Miss Pole Star 2009" are taped for mass consumption. Are we on the precipice of the American society tumbling downwards? Need more evidence?

How about a stripping little person (or midget for you less than politically correct folk).

I actually had to stand up and walk away from my console to take these pictures. Apologies for the poor quality.

But this picture I took on my monitor, still not the best quality, but you can see better the underwear and knees socks.

Normally, for shows with live audiences, there's a warm up person, usually a comedian who entertains, the waiting crowd, gives out free stuff, and gives out the rules for being in the audience (cheer loudly, listen to direction, turn off cell phones, etc.). For "Miss Pole Star" we had a stripping little person. I think I'm looking over the cliff, preparing for the downward spiral.

I don't want to be all gloom and doom. I actually had a good time during the filming. The dancers only performed for 30 seconds each and then had a "dance off" to determine the top dancer and the bottom dancer... voted for by a show of thumbs. Programming was a little chaotic because we had no direction from anyone and during rehearsal, they just went from scene to scene without stopping to let lighting adjust. So everything was done on the fly and as long as no one was standing in the dark we were fine. Note for future television directors: Don't put the palest blond person next to an African American on camera. Makes for a hell of a day for the lighting people.



As for today... I'm at my regular weekly gig, Mun2. We shoot 5 shows on the one day we're all here. They're tight on budget, so they keep cutting people and days in an attempt to save money. But here's some pictures of the different sets we shoot on.

The first show they shoot everyday is called "Crash and Yasmin Uncensored". It's basically "The View" for the teenage Hispanic female crowd. But since there's budget cuts, they only have two hosts.

The next show they shoot is called "What Up PPL". It's a show where they take requests and questions from the fans on their website and play them. The host, Yarel, is really nice and very good, hardly messes up her lines so we fly through taping this show.


Yarel is also the host for "Reventon", and "Reventon top 10". Both are shot on the same set which is hidden behind a very large pillar, so I can't ever see what's going on on stage. I have to rely heavily on my monitor to see my lights and their focus. In the picture above, you can see the set for One Nation lit in different colours for Reventon. We had a band perform last show and they needed to use both sets.... 16 member Mariachi band! Both "Reventon", and "Reventon t0p 10" are shot in front of big windows that look out on the central court of City Walk. Consequently, we have to shoot at night so that there isn't any sunlight contaminating the set.

The last show we shoot is called "One Nation". It used to be called "One Nation Under Hip-Hop", but they fired the guy who hosted it and have Yasmin hosting instead. I like Yasmin, she's cool and says thank you to me every night when she finishes. But man, she messes up lines. Not as bad at Carmen Electra who hosted "Miss Pole Star 2009". I won't get into that... it's safe to say, I like getting overtime.

Monday I start a little pre-viz work with Manny for a show we're working on in Orange County. I'll have more to report then...

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All, In 24 Hours.

Sunday morning, the sun once again poked it's head out after 3 days of gloomy wet weather. I liked the last three days, but the colour of the early morning sun was welcome. I stepped outside to fetch the newpaper when I saw, I wasn't the only one who appreciated the rain and sun.Our rose bushes had bloomed a number of very nice roses, and a few of them had already fallen off from the heavy raindrops.

Our birds of paradise plants also poked out their very pretty blossoms.

Even the succulent plants that line our house went from this:To this:

The day was full of promise... So as we promised my uncle, we ventured out to Disneyland. Sean Patrick's first trip to "The Happiest Place on Earth." Of course, we had to go and get the obligatory ears...He's not looking terribly happy. But that's because I had to stop for the picture. If you keep moving, he's happy and looking around. Aside from this grumpy bit, the morning started out well, I met up with my Uncle while his family rode the Dumbo elephants. And then we all went on the Storybook Land boat...Where halfway into the ride, a meltdown ensued. And here were are, trapped on a boat floating in a canal next to little models of towns and castles. We exited the boat and off to the mothers room went Nicole and Sean Patrick. No more rides for him.

I spent the day entertaining my little cousins, Matt and Mia.And for the first time, in my 15 years of coming to Disneyland, I rode the teacups. Guess it takes having kids to get you into that dizziness inducing ride. Better get the practice in before Sean Patrick is ready to spin me silly.

Nicole didn't get to do any rides, sadness... She was the keeper of the baby. It's a good thing my uncle and aunt also have a 9 month old, so while I was riding with Matt and Mia, one of them would join us, and one of them would sit with Nicole and the babies.

As the day wound down, we did get in our obligatory photo op with Mickey
And a photo in front of Sleeping Beauty's castleYou'll have to forgive my wild eyes, but just as I got into position to pose, that couple behind me stopped right where they're at and started playing tonsil hockey. C'mon people! Happiest place on earth! Family friendly! But I guess to be young and in love. Next time, Nicole and are gonna suck face in front of everyone. Exact our revenge!

Next time.

It was time for us to go, it was hovering around 7PM and Sean Patrick's bedtime is 8PM. So we headed home. After tucking him into bed, I joined him in dreamland, sore from the days activities. A fell asleep hard on the bed, only to be awoken by Nicole at 11:30PM. "You have to check this out," she said with a smile on her face.
What the hail? Yes, hail was falling in Altadena. Pea sized stones falling everywhere. It sounded like rain on my brother Matt's metal roof in Hilo.Unbelieveable. Everywhere you looked, the ground was covered in little white balls of ice. By morning, 3 inches of hail fell in Altadena and it's neighboring cities. There were massive pile ups on the 210 freeway, because, well, frankly, no one in L.A. can drive in any kind of inclement weather. Sun softens the brain and makes it forget how to drive in rain, snow, wind, and now hail.

I woke up that morning to leave for work and found my truck buried.

The bed full of hail and my yard looked like it had a fresh layer of snow. But if you looked closer, you'd see, it was little balls of ice. Perfect size for a cold drink.

Even the roof of the house had a layer.

Crazy! All in 24 hours! Pretty flowers, Disneyland, meltdown, hail storm. What next?




How about stripping midgets?

Next blog...

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We Need More of Today... Toilet Paper.

Today is my favorite kind of day in Los Angeles. These are the days that make this place really worth while. Today... It's raining. It doesn't happen often, which may be why I like them so much. Then again, I am from the Windward side of O'ahu, where it rains a lot. But it's not Los Angeles rain.

The biggest difference from here and Hawai'i is the temperature. Right now, it's hovering around 58 degrees. The rain is a constant drizzle, enough to dampen everything. Every now and again there's a bit of a downpour but it doesn't last.

Maybe it's because Altadena is at the foothills of the mountains, or perhaps we're at a bit of elevation (around 1500 feet above sea level), but it just looks like we're in a cloud. I like it. Supposed to be like this off and on for the next 4 or 5 days. Sorry Zoilo and family, you may get a sprinkle while we're at Disneyland. The bonus... It's not going to be busy.

Best part, there's no A/C in the office so it's just above 60 degrees in here while I type. I like cool temperatures and weather.

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While we were in Hawai'i for the holidays, Nicoles younger sister house and pet sat for us here in Los Angeles. Upon our return to Los Angeles, between bouts of trying to catch up with our sleep, Nicole and I had conversations with her about her living situation. I'm not going into detail, but it reminded me of my youth and finding my way.

She's 23 now, the same age I was when I moved out of my parents house and on to Los Angeles. When I first came to the mainland, I didn't move directly to Los Angeles, I moved to a suburb of San Diego called Mira Mesa. If you look it up on a map, it's just north of Mira Mar, home of "Top Gun". Never did see Tom Cruise while I was living there, but I did live with a family who owned a dog named "Cruise" after Tom and his "Top Gun" character. The family I was living with, the Oltmans, their daughter and son were friends of mine from Hawai'i who happened to moved to San Diego a few months before I was moving to L.A. to go to school. I thought it would be a good idea to live with them for the summer before starting school.

They took good care of me. They fed me and let me use the car to go play roller hockey down in San Diego. I didn't have to worry about much. I think it was a good transition from family living with my folks in Hawai'i at a surrogate family in San Diego. No shock of moving into a dorm room on my own with a strange roommate.

As the time drew near to my move to the CalArts dorms, I began to get antsy. I wanted to be prepared for all the things I was going to need to do for myself that I never had to do before. Among those things, the thing I remember most was toilet paper.

Toilet paper is something you never really think about when you live under someone else's roof. It's always there, when it runs out it's replaced or you know where the replacement roll is. You never have to choose what type of toilet paper you're purchasing, you just use what's on hand.

But when you live on your own, it's just one of many choices you now get to make for yourself. You can choose your dish soap, laundry soap, what type and colour coat hangers you have, plates, bowls, utensils, drinking glasses, towels, bed sheets, how often you wash said bed sheets, and toilet paper.

It may not seem like much, but making these small choices are what makes us truly independent. Toilet paper has become my analogy for independence.

Of course, when I moved into the dorms, they provided the toilet paper for us. My roommate Clay and I shared a bathroom with the adjacent dorm room. I'm assuming CalArts wanted to prevent the independence debate by providing the toilet paper. I did however have to make all the other independent choices in August of 1993: Dawn, Tide, white plastic not wire hangars, a set of 1 dollar plates, bowls, utensils, and plastic cups from the dollar store, Target towels and bed sheets, washed once a week.

I bought my first package of toilet paper in May of 1995 when I moved into the house on Bircher Street with 3 other students/friends from CalArts.

I bought Charmin.

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For the Inauguration.

Just finished watching PRESIDENT Obama's speech to our nation, almost cried...

But to lighten the mood (although the mood is not heavy) here's some videos I found. The first one some of you may have already seen... I apologize for the bar at the bottom of the video with ads on it. I'm not smart enough with XHTML to remove it. Anyway, the first video:



I don't know who she is, I don't care really. But you had to see the original in order for the next video to make sense. This video is a remix of the above, by someone who I consider a major talent (and a friend), Mike Relm. He was our opening act for a long time out on Blue Man Group. He's an amazing DJ with an amazing talent and eye. He's the fella that pops up in the video with the record player. Just listen:



Awesome, just awesome. A new dawn for America... and it includes Mike Relm.

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LOL

LOL... Now days, that's text talk for "Laugh Out Loud". It's amazing how technology has made us more connected but less literate. It reminds me of a comedy routine that Andy Bumatai, a local Hawai'i comedian used to perform. It was in the 1980's he was referencing the "valley girl" speak. "Like totally dude. Like, fer sure, fer sure." A study at the time said it was communication breakdown from generation to generation, and Andy would joke that the children of valley girls would squawk like birds, "ugha, ugha ugha". Maybe text messaging, online instant messaging is just what they were talking about...

And speaking of "LOL" and stand-up comedians, I've been working the last few days on "LOL- The Laugh Out Loud Comedy Festival". It's not bad. Some comedians are very funny. You should check out Nikki Payne. She's a very funny comedian from Canada. She was part of the all women festival yesterday, and my favorite. We also had a show of American Indian comedians. VERY funny.

Today, we have a festival called, "Slanted Comedy Fest", which stars all Asian comics. Lotsa Filipinos. Should be good. Here's a shot of the stage with the host, Edwin San Juan:So far, very funny...

Guess I should get back to paying attention to work... Nice having internet at a venue...

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Spring Cleaning at Mun2.

The difference between Los Angeles and Chicago today? A little over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. How crazy is that??? We are having unusually warm weather (83 degrees forcast for today) while Chicago and most of the upper midwest and east are having record low temperatures. I'm not a fan of this. I like a little climate change. Granted, I'm from Hawai'i, and there's very little difference between winter and summer weather, maybe humidity levels and which way the surf comes in, but I like my winters to be colder than my summers and my springs and falls crisp. Today, the temperature feels like spring in L.A.

Perhaps this has something to do with my need to clean. Can't be nesting, the kid's already born. Nicole and Sean Patrick went to Chicago at the beginning of this week and I had grand plans to clean up the house. Instead, I caught the sniffles that Nicole had and spent most of my time on my couch. I got some things cleaned up, but didn't accomplish as much as I had hoped for.

Today and yesterday, I've been back at Mun2 here on City Walk. Last month, before Christmas, I heard that they had stopped filming at the studio, and fired one of the hosts (Frankie). No one knew what the fate was to be of the little studio that used to be a bar and magic show.

But I received a call earlier this week wanting to know if I was available to help set up the "new" Mun2 studio at City Walk. All new lights, all new sets, all new programming, all new, all new, all new. I jumped at the chance, not because everything is new, but because everything that was old, was a mess. The shows that happen in this studio have no regular lighting programmer. They've had the same set up for two years (They started filming in January 2007) and over that time they've had numerous programmers. A few of us have had many repeat visits, but there were also a few "guest" programmers who showed up for one or two days.

All this means is that the lighting console is full of everyone's crap. Everyone has a different programming style, so everyone had to do their own thing for the shows. Now, the console is empty, and I think I set it up in a fashion that takes the monkey out and makes it really easy for anyone to run a show. Part of the problem was the show "Vivo" which featured live bands playing. That show has been cut from the line up, which substantially cuts down on the new programming every week. Hopefully, all new programmers will have to do is set up a look, turn on the key and fill lights, and then type up their blog all afternoon.

That being said, it's dinner break. I'm off tomorrow, maybe I'll get more cleaning done then.

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Why Celebrate Anywhere Else?

I turned 39 this year... At least I think I did. I keep loosing track. It's easy to remember how old my dad is, he was born on a decade (I won't say which one), so you just minus that decade from the year and you get his age... more or less. In 39 years, I have never missed a Christmas in Hawai'i. Never. I've gotten close, where I had to fly out on Christmas day, or the day after. When that happened, I was doing a gig somewhere to celebrate New Years Eve. But I've stopped that now. Why would I want to celebrate New Years Eve anywhere else? Hawai'i is the place.

Twice in recent memory have I not been home in Hawai'i for New Years Eve. For New Years Eve 1998, I did a Luther Vandross show in Atlantic City. At midnight, they stopped the show, brought us champagne and everyone sang "Auld Lang Syne". Then cheered, and then Luther finished the set. New Years Eve 2000 found me sitting at a console on Long Island, New York with Andrea Bocelli. The show ended by 10PM so everyone could get to the real parties, so at midnight, they handed out flashlights and we all held our breath and waited to see if all the computers would fail. They didn't.

New Years Eve in Hawai'i is almost as fun a Christmas, it just involves a lot of fireworks. Every year, at my dad's house we have a barbecue and fireworks. It originally wasn't a big deal. I just wanted to cook some meat and blow up some stuff, and had friends come over if they had nothing better to do. But now, it's sort of an institution. We have a regular crowd that shows up, including all the brothers and family.

These are my brothers wives and kids. On the left is Jackie, and Lina, my brother Ray's wife and daughter. On the right is Susan and Dylan, my brother Matt's wife and son. This is the beginning of the evening, when we're barbecuing and chatting. By 10 PM they usually retire inside until midnight, the reason will be explained later.

This is my brother Matt and his son Dylan. Behind him is the cook, our cousin Jay. He comes in the evening and helps with the food, he's a chef by trade, you see. By 9PM he disappears to go to his fiance's families house for their New Years party (he cooks there too).

Here's my brother Ray and his daughter Lina. She's unbeleivably cute and smart as a whip. She gets the cute part from her dad and her smarts from her mom.

This is Calvin, "King of Salsa." He and his family are regulars at our New Years party. He's been my best friend since high school. Good people.

This is my brother Matt on the left and his friend Keith, another regular. He's one of those quiet types that you have to watch out for. He may not say much, but when he speaks, he doesn't say much.

Here's me and Sean Patrick holding his first firework, your standard Morning Glory. Mainlanders have sparklers, we've got Morning Glories. They're kind of lame, but great for kids to hold. They also serve as great fuses, as you will see in a moment.

Every year we spend more and more money on fireworks.

This was this years stash. The big purple box standing up behind the makeshift shelf we call the "boogie board", because that's how big it is. They also sell ones we call "surf boards", you can imagine how big those are. By the way, we bought two "boogie boards" this year.

Normally, it would be the brothers and the adult male friends who would set off the bulk of the fireworks. There were some kids around, and they set off some, but more often than not they would be fast asleep when midnight rolled around. This year was a bit of a changing of the guards.

This is KR. He's the grandson of my dad's wife, Nilda. They adopted him this past year so this was his first time celebrating New Years in Hawai'i. So he took over setting off most of the fireworks for us. He was joined by a partner in crime.

This is KR on the left and Inoa on the right. Inoa is Calvin's son. Together they set off every single firework we had. Often lighting stuff and then walking away to get other stuff, without even watching the fireworks display. We had to correct them and slow them down a bit. That's why there's only one "boogie board" in the pictures. We hid the second one so they wouldn't set everything off before midnight. Which we were dangerously close to doing the year before.

We were missing one regular this year. Our friend Brian and his wife Jenn alternate years between Hawai'i, where Brian is from, and New Mexico where Jenn is from. This year was New Mexico, but that didn't stop us from getting the phone call from Brian being sad about missing the fun. This next video is for you Brian.



Every year Brian is with us, he brings his own "boogie board". But instead of lighting each piece separately, he goes in my dads kitchen, tears out a big sheet of tinfoil and wraps all the fireworks up in that, then throws a lit pack of Morning Glories on top. This year, Ray took on the challenge of "The Bomb". I told you Morning Glories make great fuses.

A few years back, people complained about the dangers of aerial fireworks, so the government banned them. Which was fine, they were pretty dangerous because they embers often landed on houses and what not and sometime started fires. But within the last 3 or 4 years, the black market has made a real killing on aerial fireworks, especially on the neighbors who live in the house on the hill behind my dad.



The above video was shot at midnight, hence the sustained aerial bursts. But from about 7PM when it get's dark until midnight, there is a constant barrage of aerials exploding behind my dad's house. And it's not just them, they're all over. I've had people come from all over the island tell us the same thing, the aerials and fireworks in general are the worst in Kane'ohe (my hometown). In the video you can also hear our neighbors across the street setting off strings of firecrackers.

By midnight the air is acrid with the stench of gun powder and sulfur. There is a smoke so dense you can barely see across the street. The only safe haven is in the house, where the wives and children recess to by 10PM when the smoke starts to build. I joked this year that when I die, you'll be able to tell my age by cutting my lung open and counting the smoke rings imbedded in there from each New Years Eve.

New Year Eve has always been like this in Hawai'i. My dad has pictures of us boys holding sparklers and were not more than 5 or 6 years old. I've always known New Years Eve like this. And I always want to know New Years Eve like this. I want Sean Patrick to know it too, at least for a few years of his young life, before he finds his own traditions.

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Back on the Blog.

Apologies to all who read this space. I've been very bad at posting. I had every good intention of posting while we were in Hawai'i, but as you'll read below, it wasn't an easy trip. So here's a catch-up post to let you know how our holidays went, and I promise to get back on the blog more regularly.

Nicole and I flew to Hawai'i on Christmas eve. The good part, Sean Patrick was great on the plane. The bad part, we were in such a rush to pack, I forgot to pack the power cable for my computer, so I wasn't able to get online to blog when we landed. Yes, I could have used up my battery power to connect at the hotel, but for some reason, the connection at the hotel doesn't work on my Mac... Nicole's PC, no problem. I'm thinking conspiracy against Macs. Naw, I'm not really thinking that.

Yes, I am from Hawai'i. Yes, I have family there. Yes, we stayed at a hotel and not at a relatives place. Why? Well, all the brothers have started families. My older brother Ray, has his daughter, Carolina, and they (smartly) converted their guest room into her bedroom. So there's no real room for us there. My younger brother, Matthew has his son, Dylan, and they stayed at my dad's house, so they got the guest room. My dad, has adopted the grandson of his wife, so he's now living in the other "spare" room. We stayed at this hotel last Christmas. It's a fine hotel with reasonable rates and comfortable rooms. It's nothing fancy. This year, they actually gave us a room with a partial view.
That's Diamond Head in the background past all the other hotels of Waikiki. Honestly, this time, I wasn't very jazzed about the hotel, aside from the non-Mac friendly internet, they had one of three elevators down for servicing, which made for long, excruciating waits for elevators and then always crowded. It's not fun trying to stuff yourself into an elevator with a baby in a stroller.

As I had said before, Nicole and I arrived on Christmas eve. We landed mid-afternoon with grand plans to get in some final gift shopping and then attend Christmas eve dinner at my brother Ray's house. But first a stop at my dad's so he could meet Sean Patrick.

"Bruiser" is my dad's nickname for Sean Patrick.

Then, somehow (and it happens more often now that we have a kid), time just got away from us. We rushed to the stores to find last minute gifts, then rushed to Ray's house for dinner. But because of miscalculations, dinner was delayed by 2 hours. So by the time Nicole and I lugged everything up to the hotel room, we were too tired to wrap presents, and just fell asleep.

Christmas day brought another interesting story...

After scrambling to get presents wrapped and get to my dad's house for Christmas, we were still late. FYI all future parents, getting anything done with a kid takes 1/2 hour longer, minimum. Matthew and his family flew in that day so when they arrived at my dad's they threw the presents under the tree, we quickly snapped pictures,
And then doled out the presents for everyone to open. Most of the presents were for the kids, which makes for really fun times.

As is often tradition, we have a late lunch at my dad's house, with each family contributing a different dish. Matt had to go shopping for stuff, so he and I headed out to the only grocery store open on Christmas day. This was to be no ordinary shopping trip. Since it's the only store open, everyone was there picking up last minute items. And to add to the fun, they only had two registers open and each had a line 50 people deep. After 20 minutes of standing in line, Matt and I were two people from the register when this woman yelled out, "OH MY GOD, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" We looked over to see a tall skinny Caucasian guy holding his nose as blood drained out onto his shirt and shoes. "That guy just punched him! Somebody stop him!" A couple of customers ran out the door and the store manager came over to the bleeding gentlemen.

"I don't know what happened. He just came up and punched me, I didn't say a word to him. I have no idea who he is," said the guy, as his nose started dripping blood on the floor. The lady, started taking over the situation, "Someone call 9-1-1!" She yelled, "Can someone get some towels or something to wipe up this blood?!"

Matt and I paid for our goods, and walked out to the rental car, only to discover it had a flat tire. Yep, like Christmas eve dinner, Christmas day lunch was going to be delayed. We called my dads house to let him know what was happening. My older brother Ray, volunteered to go to his house and get a scuba tank he had filled and bring it to the store and fill up our tire so we could get home and change it there. So while we waited for Ray, the entirety of the Kaneohe Police force showed up at the store to find out what was going on with the incident. Matt and I watched as different officers questioned everyone involved, even following the guy who threw the punch to his car.

Our theory is that they Caucasian guy parked to close to the other guys car and he took offense to it. And it being Christmas and all, the best course of action was to cold cock they guy, or "false crack", in pidigin english.

Reminds me of a story from my youth... I was in high school and meeting some friends at Zippy's the local equivalent of Denny's for dinner. I parked my car and walked to the door. A local gentleman (I use the term lightly) was holding the door open, so I said thank you and walked in. I found my friends in a booth and sat down and started chatting. A few moments later the guy who was holding the door came up to me and pointed right in my face, "Brah, I was holding dah doah fo mah family, not fo' you. Next time, I going punch you in da face if you walk in front of mah family." I don't recall seeing anyone near him, much less walking in or out of the door. I just nodded and he left. People are strange.

The rest of Christmas went off without a hitch, we were supposed to meet with old family friends, the Stices, for dinner. The Stice girls wanted to meet our children. But they lost track of time too so we arranged to have dinner the following night.

The next evening brought ominous clouds and rain. As Nicole and I drove to the Stices, we could see lighting strikes in the mountains. "That's unusual," I said to Nicole, "Normally we don't get electrical storms, just lots and lots of rain." As we drove on the highway, there was one bright flash, and all the street lights went out, not good. We arrived at the Stices, walked in the house, say hello, introduce Sean Patrick, and then the power goes out. Oh dear.

We stayed anyway and had dinner in the dark. We chatted about old times and about our new budding families. When it came time to leave, Matt (who had left earlier) called my cell phone to tell me that power was out on the entire island and wasn't expected back on for at least 12 hours. Waikiki was mayhem, he said, with fist fights and traffic accidents in the streets. Our hotel was already down one elevator, and the thought of having to lug a stroller up 7 flights of stairs was not appealing. So we slept on the floor of my dad's house.

By morning, power was restored in some parts of the island. Turns out, Hawai'ian Elecitric has a "fail safe" system that if, for any reason, there is a surge somewhere, the entire island's power is shutdown. Doesn't seem very fail safe to me...

That's enough for now. Next blog... How to celebrate New Years Eve, Hawai'ian style.

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