winnahs

i've been playing in a basketball league for the past few months and it ended tonight. last game. championship game. we won by about 25. it was nice to finally play well together with my teammates. some of us had never met before playing our first game so we spent the entire season getting to know each other. it was frustrating at times and since the competition wasn't high level, we tended to play sloppier and more tentative ball. but like i said, it all came together tonight and i'm proud of us and glad we played to our potential. our prize? free entry in the next league in a couple months, which is like a $500 value.

sorry i didn't get any photos to post. maybe i'll get some in next time around.

more kualoa pics: chris da podagee clown

this clown was funny. he stood right on the edge of offensive and comedic. but he really has a heart for kids... even the losers of his contestesses won balloons. speaking of which... check out the balloon artistry! stuffs i never seen before... that truck was crazy!

quote of the day...

"can i throw my tooth out the window?" -kaleb gomez-nishida

LWLH: kualoa ranch: da grindz

this party had an old school vibe. its not often people throw these huge deals these days. back in the day, yeah, it was common for people to go all out for a first birthday. not anymore. another thing that was uncommon was the lack of booze, which was great since i don't drink. usually hawaiian luaus get planny beer. what it lacked in alcohol was made up for by the abundance of sugar! weeeeeeeeheeeeee!!!!!

LWLH: kualoa ranch: party pics

went to a baby 1st birthday luau at kualoa ranch on the east side of oahu. beautiful weather, good food and better company. the set up was pretty massive... they pulled out all the stops: heavy pupu table, shave ice, popcorn, cotton candy, live band, clown, raffle ticket drawings, ono hawaiian food with quality poi, horse rides, two kiddie bouncers. was mean.

giraffe peek-a-boo

kaleb took part in an informal speed and quickness workout put on by one of his lacrosse teammate's dad. the giraffes thought it was quite interesting.

LWLH: lanikai beach house

not sure i took a bad photo all day. this place was photogenic.

LWLH: lanikai beach house

are you kidding me? this isn't a postcard, this is real life stuff. wouldn't you like to say to someone, "hey, hi, this is my front yard." yeah, that'd be sweet.

LWLH: lanikai beach house

how are you livin'? this is just one of four properties this family owns around the world. see that huge mirror? it's italian and it's 200 years old. what looks like paper flower decorations around the edges are actually made of glass. they had that spot on the wall specially renovated for it.

multigenerational kid pics

my sister Ren emailed the top photo to my dad. she must've scanned the original hardcopy and added the text in photoshop.

my dad took the bottom photo yesterday on our apartment steps with his phone camera.

two completely different methods of picture taking and making ended up in my email inbox. isn't technology great?

the buycks kids

we spent the afternoon with kennesha and her kids. caleb is the oldest, kendall is #2, and logan is the baby. so funawesomnal!

one word: ron-ron

i was rooting for boston to win, not because i'm a celtics fan, but because i don't like the kobe/phil era lakers. they're geniuses and will always be the alpha dog favorites - it's fun to root against those types. if boston had pulled out the victory though, i'm afraid we'd have missed out on these ron-ron moments. it's weird and sad and funny and great and confusing and honest and puzzling and fascinating and... in the end i really feel happy for him (and the lakers, actually). if you have 17 minutes to waste, press play.

teen changs

jacie and jay boy: present day teen changs.

teen chang

my dad emailed me these photos... i'm not sure where he found them or who took em but there he is, the third kid (if you're counting from left to right). apparently this is his band. brothas had style, no? matching red blazers and skinny ties lookin sharp! he has a high school reunion coming up and the band is getting back together... it's a reunion reunion! and it's serious... guys from the mainland are flying in early to rehearse and everything! somebody put that on youtube!

LWLH: diamond head hike: afterparty

had an early dinner at diamond head grill and grinded across from kapiolani park. earlier in the day i took kaleb surfing at canoes so i spent nearly the entire day in waikiki. its a beautiful place.

LWLH: diamond head hike: funnies

1. we were enjoying the view when we noticed these tarps flapping in the wind down below. not sure if you can see 'em but we counted about 4 "camps" homeless folks had set up in the bushes, literally across the street from million dollar homes.

2. my wife is HAWAIIAN! we almost didn't go hiking because one of her big toes was bruised and she couldn't wear shoes. plan B? slippahs! one the way down, she was like, "i no need slippahs!" and made it down barefoot. meanwhile i had shoes on and an ankle brace. not hawaiian.

3.it's windy at the top. this photo doesn't do the hat graveyard any justice.

4. we were commenting on japanese tourists hiking attire (jeans, longsleeves, dresses, fancy shoes) when this guy walks by wearing a kid on his back!

LWLH: diamond head hike: scenics

got rid of the kids and went on a hike date. chee!

the new karate kid

VS



i'm not sure i'm into it. first of all i'm sorta over the re-doing of old movies thing. it seems like every other movie that comes out now is a re-do. i guess karate kid is a classic, but is it old enough for a re-do? am i in denial of my oldness?

whatever, i'm old, re-do it. but i don't get the new twist... its called karate kid, but its set in china, with chinese jackie chan teaching kungfu. karate=japan. kungfu=china. huh? either hollywood is dumb or hollywood thinks america is dumb. is there an explanation? has anyone asked the producers/director about this little cultural faux pax?

hawaii athletics: on the map

per capita, i think hawaii has the most athletic kids in america. especially in sports where height is not of significant value, we excel. our advantage: heart. coming from an isolated place where historically we have always been considered outsiders imprints on us an underdog mentality. did you see when the ewa beach
kids won the little league world series a few years ago? that was some heart.

this year?
stanford's title winning mens volleyball team... 7 hawaii kids.
hpu just won the DII womens softball title... 11 homegrown girls.
brian clay, the undersized gold medal winning decathalete won yet another meet in austria.
UH womens softball team just beat no. 1 seed alabama to make it to the college world series... 8 hawaiians.
UH mens baseball just won the wac title and is in arizona for their regional tourney... 10 local boys. (kolten wong from hilo was wac tourney mvp)