[Hacksaw]

Tom's baby @CanuckRightWinger.

[aeneas1]

great story @CanuckRightWinger! yeah, that scene in soul surfer, when she's attacked by the shark, is pretty disturbing, solid family movie tho, we enjoyed it very much (i'm the only one in my family who doesn't surf, wife used to, son and daughter are avid surfers)... surfing tho, ha ha, when i was a kid surfers were a bunch of stoner burnouts, not so much any more, still some around, but it seems that the vast majority are folks who have it together and are active as hell... when in high school my son and his surfing buddies used to hit the water at sunrise, to get in a few sets before school started... the pacific ocean, at daybreak, brrrr, just plain crazy!

speaking of surfing, my son has become a very accomplished board shaper/maker, has developed quite a following, he's very artistic... the thing that's always blown me away tho, when it comes to surfing, is the contradiction - it's such a beautiful, organic sport but board making is such an ugly/toxic process, the fiberglass, epoxy resin, etc., it's nasty stuff.... board makers are much smarter these days, thankfully, they sport masks and often hazmat type overalls but, still, it's nasty, i almost passed out from the fumes when i visited my son's shop for the first time... there's a great clip in vimeo about a guy who makes beautiful wood surf boards, but even then he has to mess with toxic stuff...

anyway, here's some of my son's work:

[actionjack]

westin offered to relocate all of the westin kuai staff, the large majority being locals, to san francisco, seattle, l.a., etc. after iniki so they wouldn't be hurt financially in terms of income, none took westin up on it, all wanted to stay to help rebuild...

re the north side of kauai actionjack mentioned, absolutely beautiful to be sure, but a heck of a risk to plan something in the future there imo, they get so much friggin' rain... speaking of kauai rain, when i first arrived, when i landed at lihue airport, it was absolutely pouring rain, it was impressive as hell, even more impressive was that it didn't let for two weeks straight, night and day, a torrential downpour, i thought was the end of the world, the resort's massive circular swimming was almost blood red from the clay rolling down from the hills, as was the bay, the resort's palatial lobby was packed by the third or fourth day as guests desperately tried to check out, in effort to salvage some of their vacation time on nearby islands, ha ha...

No doubt AI you have to get a little lucky staying up North, I have more good than bad weather there though. But maybe a compromise would be staying at the Marriot near the airport in Lihue. I just had a buddy of mine stay there and loved it. That way we or split between North and South pretty much.

[aeneas1]

No doubt AI you have to get a little lucky staying up North, I have more good than bad weather there though. But maybe a compromise would be staying at the Marriot near the airport in Lihue. I just had a buddy of mine stay there and loved it. That way we or split between North and South pretty much.

the great thing about kauai is that it's so small, which makes it pretty easy to chase sunshine, if it's poring in princeville you can usually find sunshine in poipu, just an hour and some change away by car... the north side is so awesome tho, beginning with, heading north from lihue, kapaa... when i lived on kauai kappa had a couple of absolutely kickass restaurants and bars which didn't feel "touristy" at all, haven't been back in ages so who knows what kapaa is like now... speaking of "touristy", one of my favorite memories of kauai is taking chopper flights around the island, especially to the napali coast, just magical, steep lush green cliffs with ibex goats jumping around, sea turtles popping their heads out of the ocean as you approached the bay... the kicker is, at least when i lived there, just about every chopper pilot was a vietnam vet, guys who booked tons of chopper hours in nam, who found a way to make a nice living in the islands doing what they were trained to do in the army.

[Hacksaw]

Nice decks on your kids sticks.
Shaping for different waves.

Oh and what's wrong with Stoner Surfers bro? LOL

[ramsrams]

Hacksaw, there is another place in this world where the soil is red. ( Neil rocked on that one, didn’t he?)

No surfing, but the beauty is unparalleled. Prince Edward Island, Canada’s smallest province. Yes, it has red soil. You ain’t lived until you’ve seen the sunrise on the Cardigan River. Best way to express it, we’re all normal guys that have done that golf trip 40 years in a row, and we’re all hungover, but nobody complains when I get them up to watch it.

To me, that is impressive.

[ramsrams]

Blasting “Like a Hurricane” right now. Off of my old Dual, hey you keep it up, nothin sounds better. Reprise Records, and It is in immaculate condition.

Sorry neighbors.

[actionjack]

the great thing about kauai is that it's so small, which makes it pretty easy to chase sunshine, if it's poring in princeville you can usually find sunshine in poipu, just an hour and some change away by car... the north side is so awesome tho, beginning with, heading north from lihue, kapaa... when i lived on kauai kappa had a couple of absolutely kickass restaurants and bars which didn't feel "touristy" at all, haven't been back in ages so who knows what kapaa is like now... speaking of "touristy", one of my favorite memories of kauai is taking chopper flights around the island, especially to the napali coast, just magical, steep lush green cliffs with ibex goats jumping around, sea turtles popping their heads out of the ocean as you approached the bay... the kicker is, at least when i lived there, just about every chopper pilot was a vietnam vet, guys who booked tons of chopper hours in nam, who found a way to make a nice living in the islands doing what they were trained to do in the army.

I really enjoy Kapaa as well, and it still has good bars with good live music. One of the things I really enjoyed about Kauai particularly from Kapaa on up to the North is the less "touristy" it feels. I have never done the chopper thing, but I think you just put me over the edge and will try it next June. It looks like I will get married there, as all my family and friends or up for going to a destination wedding. I have hiked and done boat excursions along the Napali Coast. You are spot on, it's magical there.

[Hacksaw]

Our Suh thread has gone Aloha. Even Suh's folks are Cameroonian and Jamaican so we're not only off topic but in the wrong ocean.

A hui hoe

[TomSlick]

I really enjoy Kapaa as well, and it still has good bars with good live music. One of the things I really enjoyed about Kauai particularly from Kapaa on up to the North is the less "touristy" it feels. I have never done the chopper thing, but I think you just put me over the edge and will try it next June. It looks like I will get married there, as all my family and friends or up for going to a destination wedding. I have hiked and done boat excursions along the Napali Coast. You are spot on, it's magical there.

If you are going to go helicopter, the locals say that of all the islands, the place to do it is Kauai, and in particular, Waimea Canyon. View from the lookouts is spectacular, but chopper would be awesome as they just hover along the sheer walls...and then go up and down the wall for good measure. Never done it, but we are on the next we go. Blue Hawaii will probably be the service we'll use.

We did a movie/TV tour on Kauai. It was very cool as they take you all over the island and show you where various movies/TV were made. They have a TV in the bus so you can see the scene and then go walk around where it was shot. Lots of movie/tv trivia is given. Background info on what you are looking at, etc. If you are a movie buff, or just like watching them then it is a fun trip. Takes all day.