I don't know if any of you heard, but a few months back A&E removed "Dog the Bounty Hunter" from their line-up when Duane "Dog" Chapman was caught making a racist comment about his son's girlfriend. However, in June they began airing re-runs and last Wednesday was the first new episode aired since the incident. I have never viewed this show and had no intention of doing so but I have a friend (L) that LOVES it.
She's been waiting months for it to return. She wrote an article for the school paper about it (which, by the way, I was quoted in. L reported me saying, "I think he epitomizes white trash to the core." I knew she had only taken a snippet of what I had to say so I just looked it up on-line so I could accurately tell you what I said. In doing so, I also noticed the smorgasbord of reader comments where one lady, very passionate about the show, stated, "People like MG in this article calling him "white trash" is just as guilty of bigotry." I couldn't help but laugh.) My friend also thought that the return of new 'Dog' episodes warranted a get-together. So, last week, when I finished at the temple, that's what I went over to her place - well, the guys next door to her place since they have cable, to watch "Dog the Bounty Hunter." According to the online TV guide it was supposed to air at 7 pm but it didn't come on until 10. It ended up being a good thing. L and I were able to watch the season premiere of Project Runway (a show which I LOVE) and make pigs-in-blankets to eat while we viewed 'Dog.' The guys, who hadn't planned their temple session times as well as I had (or perhaps better than I), didn't get home till nearly 9 were also able to watch with us.
In the end, I found the show to be more enjoyable than I thought it would be. I have a feeling that come tomorrow night I'll be watching it again and I'm okay with that. Although, now that I have actually viewed the program, I still would like to state, ""I think he epitomizes white trash to the core."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Bus Fun and Being Rebels at the LOST set and Turtle Beach
Disclaimer: I got really tired as I was writing this and periodically dozed off throughout writing it. I apologize if it doesn't make a whole lot of sense when you read it while you're awake.
One of my dear friends out here left yesterday. She graduated a couple of weeks ago and the school only allowed her to work for a few days following commencement. This meant she had a lot of free time to do things on the island she'd never done while she was in school. She got a copy of my work schedule and would plan her day accordingly so we both could go on adventures. This past Tuesday involved a trip to Lanikai Beach (a.k.a Turtle Beach because of all the turtles that hang-out there) and the set of LOST.
She and I have the worst luck when we take the bus together. Even though buses are scheduled at the stops every 30-40 minutes we almost always end up waiting at least an hour. We don't know how it is possible that this happens to us every time but it does. Anyway, we finally got on the bus and finally made it to Turtle Beach. We decided to walk down to the set of LOST first- appx 1/2 a mile away - then chill with the turtles after.
LOST isn't filming right now so the shacks and other props are saran wrapped and protected from visitors by a bright-orange plastic fence. We walked up to the fence and took a few pictures, then started talking to the two security guards there. They were really nice and told us we should come back the first week of August because that's when the show will resume shooting again. We thanked them and wandered off to see what else there was.
We saw a dirt road on the other side of a bump of sand and decided to check it out. On the other side of the road a sign was posted on a tree that said "NO TRESPASSING." We continued to move toward the road reasoning that if we stayed on the road we wouldn't be trespassing. As we discussed this we walked through a patch of sand that was HOT!!! The bottoms of our feet started burning and we instinctively ran toward the tree and the shade. We pulled out our slippers (flip-flops) and put them on again (it's too hard to walk on the beach with them). My friend decided to creep over by some bushes (always remaining on the road) and take a few more pictures. I started to go with her then stopped. Perhaps some of you are impressed that I didn't sneak around with her, however, the only reason I stayed where I was at was I had received a text from a friend and was replying to it. I was still doing that when she quickly tip-toed passed me and said, "I think they saw me!" We scurried back over the rise and continued to look for more photo options. Once again we found an area that led down to the road. We were near another shack that was covered in the orange glad-bag fencing and could tell that if we took the photo at a lower level you wouldn't be able to see it.
This time I went first. I jumped from the small rise onto the road just in time to be seen by a security truck turning onto the road some 300 ft away. I figured it wasn't in my best interest to run at that point so I stayed where I was at and just laughed with my friend about what we were doing until the truck pulled up by me. He told us we were on government property that was being leased out to LOST. We told him our plans to get a better picture and he relaxed right away. He told us we couldn't go any further though. He also said that they had upped security since last year when they had caught people trying to torch all the shacks and props. He talked to us for another few minutes and then we left.
We walked near the water and took pictures of the sea turtles swimming near the beach. When we got back to Turtle Beach there was a HUGE turtle sitting on a rock warming itself the the sun. Several people got near it to take a picture. I took my friend's picture near it, then, she traded me and attempted to take my picture. Unfortunately, the batteries on my camera were exhausted. She pulled her camera back out and got ready to take the picture when a volunteer beach patrol lady came up to us.
"Step away from the turtle!" she shouted. I was two or three feet from it before she said anything to me.
I moved further away and my friend hurried and snapped a photo.
"You're harassing the turtle! You must remain 5-6 feet away at all times! Get behind the red rope!" We looked and noticed a rope half buried in the sand and stepped on the other side of it.
"These turtles are still considered endangered and you can't harass them like that!" The turtle didn't even act like it had noticed anyone as it basked in the sun, but we had heard enough from the lady and decided it was time to head back to La'ie.
We went to the bus stop and commenced to wait. We decided to call the phone number listed on the sign to get a listing of times the bus was scheduled to stop there. I finally got through to the hold music (which is quite a feat in and of itself - most people are disconnected because the lines can't handle that many calls. My friend and I had been several times before) when we saw the bus off in the distance. We couldn't believe our luck, we'd only been there 20 minutes! I hung up and we waited excitedly. . . until we read the "Out of Service" sign on the public transportation vehicle. Frustrated, we both started calling the information line again. This time my friend made it through. She learned a bus had been scheduled to stop at approximately the time the "Out of Service" bus had passed by and that the next one wouldn't be by for another 40 minutes. We tried to convince ourselves that another one would be coming shortly - that it was following just running late. Our bus-luck proved itself once again and we spent the next 35 minutes waiting for our ride to pick us up.
One of my dear friends out here left yesterday. She graduated a couple of weeks ago and the school only allowed her to work for a few days following commencement. This meant she had a lot of free time to do things on the island she'd never done while she was in school. She got a copy of my work schedule and would plan her day accordingly so we both could go on adventures. This past Tuesday involved a trip to Lanikai Beach (a.k.a Turtle Beach because of all the turtles that hang-out there) and the set of LOST.
She and I have the worst luck when we take the bus together. Even though buses are scheduled at the stops every 30-40 minutes we almost always end up waiting at least an hour. We don't know how it is possible that this happens to us every time but it does. Anyway, we finally got on the bus and finally made it to Turtle Beach. We decided to walk down to the set of LOST first- appx 1/2 a mile away - then chill with the turtles after.
LOST isn't filming right now so the shacks and other props are saran wrapped and protected from visitors by a bright-orange plastic fence. We walked up to the fence and took a few pictures, then started talking to the two security guards there. They were really nice and told us we should come back the first week of August because that's when the show will resume shooting again. We thanked them and wandered off to see what else there was.
We saw a dirt road on the other side of a bump of sand and decided to check it out. On the other side of the road a sign was posted on a tree that said "NO TRESPASSING." We continued to move toward the road reasoning that if we stayed on the road we wouldn't be trespassing. As we discussed this we walked through a patch of sand that was HOT!!! The bottoms of our feet started burning and we instinctively ran toward the tree and the shade. We pulled out our slippers (flip-flops) and put them on again (it's too hard to walk on the beach with them). My friend decided to creep over by some bushes (always remaining on the road) and take a few more pictures. I started to go with her then stopped. Perhaps some of you are impressed that I didn't sneak around with her, however, the only reason I stayed where I was at was I had received a text from a friend and was replying to it. I was still doing that when she quickly tip-toed passed me and said, "I think they saw me!" We scurried back over the rise and continued to look for more photo options. Once again we found an area that led down to the road. We were near another shack that was covered in the orange glad-bag fencing and could tell that if we took the photo at a lower level you wouldn't be able to see it.
This time I went first. I jumped from the small rise onto the road just in time to be seen by a security truck turning onto the road some 300 ft away. I figured it wasn't in my best interest to run at that point so I stayed where I was at and just laughed with my friend about what we were doing until the truck pulled up by me. He told us we were on government property that was being leased out to LOST. We told him our plans to get a better picture and he relaxed right away. He told us we couldn't go any further though. He also said that they had upped security since last year when they had caught people trying to torch all the shacks and props. He talked to us for another few minutes and then we left.
We walked near the water and took pictures of the sea turtles swimming near the beach. When we got back to Turtle Beach there was a HUGE turtle sitting on a rock warming itself the the sun. Several people got near it to take a picture. I took my friend's picture near it, then, she traded me and attempted to take my picture. Unfortunately, the batteries on my camera were exhausted. She pulled her camera back out and got ready to take the picture when a volunteer beach patrol lady came up to us.
"Step away from the turtle!" she shouted. I was two or three feet from it before she said anything to me.
I moved further away and my friend hurried and snapped a photo.
"You're harassing the turtle! You must remain 5-6 feet away at all times! Get behind the red rope!" We looked and noticed a rope half buried in the sand and stepped on the other side of it.
"These turtles are still considered endangered and you can't harass them like that!" The turtle didn't even act like it had noticed anyone as it basked in the sun, but we had heard enough from the lady and decided it was time to head back to La'ie.
We went to the bus stop and commenced to wait. We decided to call the phone number listed on the sign to get a listing of times the bus was scheduled to stop there. I finally got through to the hold music (which is quite a feat in and of itself - most people are disconnected because the lines can't handle that many calls. My friend and I had been several times before) when we saw the bus off in the distance. We couldn't believe our luck, we'd only been there 20 minutes! I hung up and we waited excitedly. . . until we read the "Out of Service" sign on the public transportation vehicle. Frustrated, we both started calling the information line again. This time my friend made it through. She learned a bus had been scheduled to stop at approximately the time the "Out of Service" bus had passed by and that the next one wouldn't be by for another 40 minutes. We tried to convince ourselves that another one would be coming shortly - that it was following just running late. Our bus-luck proved itself once again and we spent the next 35 minutes waiting for our ride to pick us up.
4th of July, cont.
As I said in my previous post we went to Turtle Bay Resort to watch the fireworks. Every year they have booth set-up with people selling things (most likely things people can buy for cheaper at the swap meet) and live music. They scheduled to set fireworks off at 8 p.m. The group I was with didn't realize this and by the time we got everyone out the door, in cars, and going the right direction it was approximately 10 after 8. We all chose to park outside the resort so we wouldn't be caught in traffic and walk to the designated viewing area - which we didn't arrive at until at least 8:35. Normally, we would have missed the whole show, however, at 8 p.m. it had been raining and the show got pushed back. Yeah! We arrived just in time for the start of the show.
Afterwards, everyone ended back at my place. We noticed that across the street in the parking lot at Hukilau Beach people were setting off fireworks. We had sparklers we wanted to do, so we wandered over that way and were invited to watch the fireworks/firecrackers there.
One of the funnest things to watch (which I will never allow my children to do) involved a 6-8 year old boy running in circles and figure 8's with a 15 ft rope of firecrackers, lined up side to side, going off behind him. The rope gradually got smaller as the firecracker at the end would go off, lighting the next one in line, which would then go off and light the next one, etc. He dropped it when it was down to about 2 1/2 - 3 feet and several got lit and went off at the same time. I couldn't help but think of those old movies we have where John spent most of the time just running in circles. I bet if he had grown up in Hawaii he probably would have blown his hand off by the time he was 10.
After we finished with the sparklers we ended up back at my place where we came to the consensus we wanted to end our 'All-American' celebrations with an 'All-American' movie. After considerable deliberation we chose to watch Casino Royale instead.
Afterwards, everyone ended back at my place. We noticed that across the street in the parking lot at Hukilau Beach people were setting off fireworks. We had sparklers we wanted to do, so we wandered over that way and were invited to watch the fireworks/firecrackers there.
One of the funnest things to watch (which I will never allow my children to do) involved a 6-8 year old boy running in circles and figure 8's with a 15 ft rope of firecrackers, lined up side to side, going off behind him. The rope gradually got smaller as the firecracker at the end would go off, lighting the next one in line, which would then go off and light the next one, etc. He dropped it when it was down to about 2 1/2 - 3 feet and several got lit and went off at the same time. I couldn't help but think of those old movies we have where John spent most of the time just running in circles. I bet if he had grown up in Hawaii he probably would have blown his hand off by the time he was 10.
After we finished with the sparklers we ended up back at my place where we came to the consensus we wanted to end our 'All-American' celebrations with an 'All-American' movie. After considerable deliberation we chose to watch Casino Royale instead.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
4th of July
Happy Be-lated Independence Day!
So the 4th of July was last week. Woohoo! That means celebrations and that's what I did - all day long. I started out with a walk on the beach in the morning. That afternoon I went surfing with some friends. When you consider what I did, surfing is a very liberal use of the word. All I did was paddle out on a board until I got close to where the waves were actually starting to hit, then turned around an paddled back in. I didn't want to get pounded by any waves and have them mess my back up. Mom should be proud of me. She once told me that she prays that I'll exercise the common sense she knows I have.
After that a group of us met up to have what we referred to as an "All-American Barbeque." Actually, we met up to shop for the afore-mentioned activity. We decided on hamburgers, watermelon, chips, roasted potatoes, and home-made apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
We went to Turtle BAy Resort and watched the fireworks there. to be continued
So the 4th of July was last week. Woohoo! That means celebrations and that's what I did - all day long. I started out with a walk on the beach in the morning. That afternoon I went surfing with some friends. When you consider what I did, surfing is a very liberal use of the word. All I did was paddle out on a board until I got close to where the waves were actually starting to hit, then turned around an paddled back in. I didn't want to get pounded by any waves and have them mess my back up. Mom should be proud of me. She once told me that she prays that I'll exercise the common sense she knows I have.
After that a group of us met up to have what we referred to as an "All-American Barbeque." Actually, we met up to shop for the afore-mentioned activity. We decided on hamburgers, watermelon, chips, roasted potatoes, and home-made apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
We went to Turtle BAy Resort and watched the fireworks there. to be continued
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Pseudo-Resurrection
I recently noticed a comment to my last blog that stated that no one ever hears from me when I'm in Hawaii. I've also been told that everytime I come back here it's like I drop off the face of the earth. If you ask me, those are not very nice things to say.
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