This weeks Friday 5 questions are courtesy of Friday5.org. Thanks scrivener! And if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow scrivener.
So feel free to cut and paste the questions and answer them or just answer them by number. And don't hesitate to leave additional comments after your answers pertaining to this weeks question: Hoops.
When did you last feel you were required to jump through meaningless hoops to get something you wanted?
When did you last feel you were required to jump through meaningless hoops to get something you wanted?
Tough one. At the airport I have to jump through many hoops, but I wouldn't consider them meaningless - with all the terrorist plots nowadays. Better safe than sorry I always say.
What kinds of hula hoop memories do you have?
Ah, the hula hoop. I remember I had a big pink (yes, pink) one. I could sway that thing around my hips and using the arm-tuck maneuver, get the hula hoop up to my neck. And I could sway it down to my knees, but pumping back up to hips took a lot of work.
Don't know if I could still do it today. My mid-section isn't so concave anymore. LOL
One thing I always wanted to do was open up a hula hoop to see what kind of little rocks or balls were inside that made the "shoop-shoop" sound.
How do you feel about basketball?
I hate basketball. Maybe because the hoop we had growing up was smaller than the regulation size. I think my dad had it made at work. And the backboard was about the size of a stop sign. And when I used to play against my brother (not Rod's Big Bro), he used to cheat and knock me around. Made me hate the game.
What do you think of hoop earrings?
Unlike basketball - I love hoop earrings. Especially the big round kind that the girls used to wear in the 60's - maybe with a few beads threaded through them. There's just something about big hoop earrings that I'm attracted to.
What’s your favorite Whoopi Goldberg movie?
Being that I'm not much of a movie person, I'd have to say Ghosts where Whoopi acted as Oda Mae Brown. That whole movie was good. At a conference I attended in San Diego, the opening guest was Whoopie Goldberg. It was something to see her in person. Good fun that lady!
Well, there you have it: hoops. What's your take on hoops?
And don't forget, this Saturday - The Beat happening at Paparazzi with 3 live bands: Wasabi, King Pins, and Soulz. If you make it down there, look for me and Paula.
Wow, the years seem to go by faster and faster. So every now and then - especially at this time of the year - we need to look back and reflect.
So, I thought we'd look back on the MLC blog entries of 2009 - the ones that seem to really stand out to me. You can click on the titles and it'll link you to the entry.
This will be my last post for 2009 so take your time and revisit some of these posts over the long holiday weekend. The comment area may be closed on most of these entries so feel free to comment here.
And don't forget the annual Red and White Song Contest on KIKU on Friday starting at 5:00 PM. It's become a tradition for me - to at least tape it and watch it later.
What are your new year's traditions? Eat sashimi? Pound mochi? Eat ozoni? Pop firecrackers? Visit relatives?
What were some of your highlights for 2009? Anyone dare to list their resolutions for 2010? Not me.
But before I sign out for 2009, I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope that 2010 is filled with love, good health, prosperity, and happiness.
Well the planets seemed to have aligned this past Saturday night with Halloween falling on a Saturday, a full moon, and the King Pins playing at Hawaiian Brian's.
Paula and I decided to avoid Waikiki this year and spend the evening listening to the King Pins playing oldies music with songs from bands such as Creedence Clearwater Revival, The Rolling Stones, AWB, Stray Cats, Jefferson Airplane and more.
Plus, if you dressed up in a costume, the first round was on the house! We weren't planning to dress up, but... he, he.
First of all, Paula got into the spirit by carving a jabon. That's right, not a pumpkin, but a jabon.
Boo!
After spending the day holding a garage sale, we got ready for our night out.
Japanese tourists! Paula even had the flower on the slipper.
Fishhead and his wife were also there as they shared their table with us.
Uncle Fester and Morticia - with glowing lightbulb!
And Sally and "Lois" greeted everyone at the door.
How cute, yeah?
Lots of people in costume, including a bonsan!
That was classic!
And even the King Pins were in costume.
Check out Harvey in his tutu costume. And crown.
The dance floor was crowded all night.
Check out them heels on Mrs. Claus!
And in between dancing, some even enjoyed a game or two of pool. Who knew Uncle Fester shoots pool.
Morticia ended up kicking Uncle Fester's butt
It was a fun night with good food and excellent music. Special mahalo to Superman808 for putting together yet another successful and safe event. It was the place for MLCers to be!
Mahalo Irwin "Superman808" Santos!
After the King Pins were done, there was free karaoke. But we decided to call it a night as we were pretty tired from waking up early for the garage sale.
On the way home, we came upon a police roadblock. I said to Paula "Pull me over!" - and guess what? They did. Paula said "Well, you got your wish". The cop must've been wondering what is with these Japanese tourists! But we told him it was just our costumes and we went on our merry way. Too bad I can't speak Japanese. LOL
So, how did you spend your Saturday Halloween night? What do you normally do on Halloween night? Pass out candies? Take the kids around? Hide out in the back of the house? Go out and eat a slow, leisurely dinner? Have any Halloween night stories to share? Maybe from your past Halloweens?
I'm telling you, if you MLCers haven't been to one of these retro music dances, you're missing out! Even if you don't dance, just to listen to the music is a blast (from the past).
Here's a couple more chances to join in on the fun.
November 13 - We'll be at this one. Tickets are selling fast!
November 21 at the Hyatt. Book a room and make a whole weekend of it.
Growing up, we had strict rules. We had to be in the house by 5:00 PM. And if your first name's initial was on the calendar on that day, that meant that you had to take a bath first - as soon as you got in the house - at 5:00. And as soon as you were done, the next boy had to take a bath immediately after.
I used to hate that. Why did I have to take a bath so early? All of my friends took a bath whenever they wanted to - usually later in the evening.
But nooo, not in our house. By the time Bob Sevey started the 6:00 news, I was clean and in my pajamas.
This went on until I started working my 3:00 to 6:00 part-time job after school. And as soon as I got home from work - what did I do? I took a bath.
But now that I'm married and have the freedom to do whatever I please (sorta), I can take a bath whenever I feel like it!
And I still take a bath as soon as I come home from work.
But there is a logical reason for doing that. See, after dinner - I get lazy. And knowing that I'd have to get around to taking a bath later, I'd rather do it before dinner - and not worry about it the rest of the night.
Maybe that was the whole reasoning behind the strict rule that my dad put in place.
But at least he could've shared that with us...
Is taking a bath enjoyable for you or seen more as a chore? Do you take a bath early or later in the evening? Or do you "moi-lepo" and take a bath in the morning? Or are you the type that takes a bath at night and takes a shower in the morning?
Okay, Saturday night is Halloween. Last Halloween, Paula and I ventured out to take a drive through Waikiki to see all the people walking around. From Beretania, we turned left onto Kalakaua and it took us about 1 hour just to get to the Hard Rock cafe.
So if you're out driving around and start getting frustrated sitting in traffic, forget Waikiki and head on down to Hawaiian Brian's. Sally and Seattle Gail and company will be there for a King Pins dance party and costume contest. Paula and I will be there (NOT in costume) as will be Mr. and Mrs. Fishhead. I understand Fishhead has an unreal costume. I hope to have pictures.
Flyer courtesy of Irwin Santos
Seating is somewhat limited, but Sally has 60 seats reserved (of which 50+ are already spoken for) so if you know you're going to be there, send me an email and I'll let Sally know to hold you a seat. But act quick. This is turning out to be some Monster Mash.
Sometimes too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.
Costco in Iwilei is one of the busiest if not the busiest Costco in the nation. It doesn't matter if it's a weekend or a weekday - it's packed. Doesn't matter if it's in the morning or the afternoon - it's packed. Doesn't matter if there is a coupon promo or not - it's packed.
And that means stress!
From the minute I get into the left turn lane on Dillingham boulevard, I'm hoping I'll make the green light. Not really stress, just wishful thinking.
When I finally pull into the parking lot, my hands begin to grip the steering wheel a little tighter.
As I pull into a lane and get stuck behind a car waiting for a family to load a whole cart full of goods - and 3 generations of their family - into their mini van, my hands begin to sweat.
After finally getting to drive around the waiting car, I look for an aisle with no waiting cars in it - until I reach the end of the parking lot and accept the fact that each aisle has a waiting car in it.
I drive around and around, looking to get lucky - while hoping no one backs up into me - and I finally score a parking stall. I take a deep breath to compose myself and say "I'm going in".
After dodging a few irate drivers trying to race home before their ice cream melts, I get to the carts. I grab one and luck out as the wheel alignment isn't that bad and it doesn't travel like it has a mind of it's own.
Then I carefully study the mass of people exiting the store to try and find an opening to get across to the entrance - like a fullback that's just been handed the football looking for an opening in the line to run up the field.
Made it! Now I scramble around the others blocking the entrance looking for their membership card, flash my membership card, and I'm in!
I don't dare stop to browse as the sea of humanity is almost pushing me along - and the fear of my heels getting banged keeps me moving forward.
I see a partially empty aisle, pull in and regain my composure.
As I travel down the main corridor, it's pretty smooth sailing - until I reach the meat section. Then it's like merging on the H-1 on a Friday afternoon at 5:00 PM - with traffic traveling in both directions on the same side of the freeway.
I pick up my goods as I weave in and out of folks chatting with each other, bypass the aisles with lines of people waiting for free samples, and pull into the area with the tables of clothes as I regain my composure once again.
Merge back on to the freeway of carts and look for a cashier with the shortest line. "Ooh, there's one with only 3 people in line!". Before I can get there, someone cuts me off and now I'm the 5th person in line. Too bad, so sad - but it'll have to do.
I finally pay for my goods, wait in the line to have my receipt viewed and slashed with a highlighter and I'm out the door.
That is until the cross traffic of people trying to get in the store is preventing me from getting out of the store.
All of a sudden, the hunter now becomes the huntee.
I begin to see daylight and know that the parking lot is just within my reach.
"Screech!" Whoa, watch out for that line of carts being pulled by the cart guys - like an 18 wheeler barreling down the freeway.
Okay, I'm in the parking lot. I maneuver around the waiting cars, get to my car and start loading up.
Okay, done. No time to take my cart to the cart station as there is a car that's been stalking me since I set foot on the black asphalt and has his blinker on waiting for me to vacate my stall. I dump the cart next to the other 5 carts between the parked cars, throw my car into reverse and make my get-away.
Then I realize that I didn't even browse around. All I could do was get in, grab my stuff, and get out. And raise my blood pressure about 10 points in the process.
That's why I prefer Sam's Club. It's not as popular as Costco. I can actually browse around in Sam's. I can play with the computers, don't have to wait in line for samples, and usually find a cashier with only 1 or 2 people in line. It's a much slower pace as Sam's. And I think my blood pressure actually drops when I'm there.
Okay, that last statement is a stretch - but you get the gist of it.
I've emailed Costco before suggesting that they put a parking attendant in their lot. I've seen people almost throw-blows with each other over parking spaces. There isn't much a parking attendant can do about the people waiting for stalls, but at least they can tell the idiots who are parked next to the curb - while their kids run in to buy hot dogs - to move their car.
I think that store has just outgrown itself. It's become too successful. Maybe they should've considered keeping the Salt Lake store open. Or maybe they should consider opening a Costco on the Windward side.
But until something can be done about the congestion in the parking lot and the store - Sam's Club will be my membership store of choice. At least I can browse around in Sam's Club and maybe buy something that I hadn't planned on buying. After all, isn't that the whole objective of making a profit?
What's your take on this? Do you agree that the Iwilei Costco has outgrown itself? Do you cringe at the thought of going there? Do you browse around the store when you're there or do you just go in, grab your stuff and get out? Share your stories with us.
And don't even get me started on trying to buy a hot dog!
What are your plans for Saturday night (Halloween)? Want to put together an MLC table at the King Pins Halloween Bash at Hawaiian Brians? Some of the MLCers will be there including Paula and me, Sally, Seattle Gail, Fishhead and Mrs. Fishhead. There's also going to be a costume contest (I understand Fishhead will be in costume).
Come on - join the fun! Or would you rather be passing out candy...
Flyer courtesy of Irwin Santos
