Category: Life

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So… a week in Hawaii. I guess the main thing to remember is that it is the “big island.” It can take 2½–3 hours to get from one side of the island to the other, and that’s without stopping to see anything along the way.

We stayed in Kailua-Kona, and ended up spending most of our time on that side of the island. Part of it was that, since it was basically a long-delayed honeymoon, we figured we’d splurge on a few tours. So one morning was taken up by a submarine tour through the bay outside Kona, an afternoon was taken up by a whale watching cruise on a catamaran, and an entire afternoon and evening was spent on a trip to the Mauna Kea summit.

Highly recommended guidebook: Hawaii: The Big Island Revealed. It’s written by people who actually live on the islands and just explore them constantly, and they have a very engaging style that will have you reading sections about places you aren’t even planning to go.

We did decide that if we were to stay in Kona again, we’d try to stay closer to town. While the Keauhou Beach Resort has a lot on its grounds—a restaurant, tide pools with sea turtles, a beach, some shops, and even a couple of historical sites including some heiau (temple) ruins—it was too far from Kailua proper. Kailua-Kona (the names seem to be interchangable) is a classic beach town—only in Hawaii—and parking is cramped, expensive, and limited, so you want to walk as much as possible without having to get back to the lot and move your car every two hours.

We didn’t get to see much of the Hilo side, partly because of the tours, and partly because we got back so late from Volcano National Park one night that we couldn’t wake up in time to go anywhere the next day. (Tip: Drive to Volcano Village, fill up the tank, and then enter the park. Otherwise you’ll be searching for an open gas station in the middle of the night, and there really isn’t much between Volcano and Kona, unless it’s off the main highway.)

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Seven days on “the big island” (a.k.a. Hawai‘i) just aren’t enough. Our flight came in at about 5:30 this morning, and I don’t think either of us got more than a few minutes of sleep, so we’ve been catching up during the day. We’ll both be posting comments and photos over the next couple of days as we get to them.

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Back in 2002, people all over the net started getting email from a “time traveller” looking for a dimensional warp generator. Most people assumed it was a joke, and some decided to play along by setting up fake stores or even arranging a drop-off. The “time travel spammer” was eventually identified as spammer Robert Todino, who, unfortunately, was quite serious in his belief that time travelers were interfering with his life. The fake store, the mock DWG made from old computer parts, the offers to supply his equipment, all unwittingly fueled his belief.

This all came out in mid-2003, and aside from immediate fallout and a brief spate of (probably copycat) AIM appearances late last year, the field seems to have been quiet.

Well, guess what showed up in the spam traps over the weekend!

Hello <address removed>,

I’m looking for a good trans_universal transportation unit. Do you have the Mccoy g series self generating watch or similar newer models available? I also need other items you may or may not have available. Please send a (separate) email to me at: <address removed> if available and let me know your terms on doing business.

Thank you
Paul

They’re baaack!

Other sightings: here [archive.org], here [archive.org], and here. Edit: Somehow it seems appropriate that these sightings are now only accessible via the Wayback Machine. (July 28, 2006)

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Just what I always needed! Proving that “you can sell anything on the Internet,” it’s Prairie Tumbleweed Farm [archive.org], purveyor of “organically grown,” “100% Y2K-compliant” tumbleweeds.

It wouldn’t be much use here in Orange County, where all you have to do is pull over to the side of the road at the right time of the year. Maybe in the off-season.

(Via the Daily Sucker. You have been warned.)

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It looks like the FCC isn’t completely insane. After four months, they concluded that the now-infamous Desperate Housewives locker room promo isn’t indecent after all. “Although the scene apparently is intended to be titillating, it simply is not graphic or explicit enough to be indecent under our standard.”

I saw the spot—or at least something that matched the description exactly—and it was no more explicit than typical prime-time fare. I thought it was cheesy, but I honestly didn’t think any more about it, so when the controversy hit, I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was.

But it took them four months to figure this out?

Ah, well, I suppose it’s fast for the FCC. I mean, it took them more than a year to clear a complaint against Angel, by which time the series had been off the air for nine months.

(Incidentally, I’ve never seen a single episode of Desperate Housewives. It just doesn’t look like my kind of show.)

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