April 2006 Archives

Just back from almost a week of fun and sometimes sun on the Big Island of Hawaii. For those not familiar with Hawaii geography, the Big Island, is the largest in terms of square miles and also the southernmost island in the chain. On the western and sunnier side, is Kailua-Kona, also known for its Kona coffee and macademia nut plantations. My husband and I stayed in Kailua-Kona for 3 nights at the Kona Village Resort. Unfortunately, the resort did not live up to its brochure or the recommondations of friends, either because of new ownership or outdated information. Althougth in fairness to our friends, it had been three years since their stay at the resort. Somehow the idea of donkeys (kept on site for who knows what reason) braying all night long did not match our idea of a restful vacation. The chef and one of the dinner hostesses were rude, we had to chase after housekeeping for them to even perform rudimentary cleaning, I’ll spare you some of the more disgusting details, and the place was run-down. Not rustic, but run-down. For the amount of money guests pay there really isn’t any excuse for peeling/cracked wallpaper/walls, holes in most screens, so all but the fattest mosquitos could come in and feed, and a toilet that looked like it was installed in the 1960’s. Again, this was not something made to look rustic/antique etc. This was just they were too cheap to replace it.

Despite our letdown with the Kona accomendations, we still made the best of it and had a good time. The weather was mostly sunny, with a few clouds and rain showers here and there. The sea turtles would come and sun themselves on the beach, and we took a glass bottom boat ride out over the reef and saw plenty of tropical fish.

This is getting good reviews and Patrick Stewart looks fantastic as Antony. The Guardian said Patrick Stewart and Harriet Walter were “mesmerizing” as  Antony and Cleopatra.

Seems like they had an interesting bit of excitement on Press night, as a fire alarm went off just barely after the start. The Times Online had more and another good review for the performance.

I look forward to hearing from anyone who gets to see this.

Now playing: Alicia Keys & Adam Levine - Wild Horses (Featuring Adam Levine)

I haven’t read the book yet, (I am such a slacker) but if you’re a fan of the book The Davinci Code or just a person who loves puzzles, Google has a 24 day DaVinci code challenge going. (Link)

Now playing: U2 - Staring At The Sun

Oh no! Not an under construction flashback to the eighties! Sorry but it's necessary. Most of the cosmetics are complete, but some other overhauls means a lot of work and some temporarily broken things.

I’m slowly getting my computer put back together. Even though it is much better, it was still a rather large headache that I could have done without. I think the worst is reconfiguring Photoshop. I had pretty good backups for my image galleries and music videos, but wish I could say the same for Photoshop customizations like brushes, textures and most importantly the actions.

I’m also toying with changing the layout/style of the site a bit, maybe get a simpler design or something. Not sure yet.

Now playing: Coldplay - Square One