The Twilight Report

pele's evening eruption

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:21:34 GMT

thurston

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 04:36:17 GMT

Thurston lava tube. Most of these were taken at ISO 6400 on the D700, which I have decided compares favourably with the films Ilford Delta 3200 and Kodak T-Max 3200.

volcano caldera

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:36:48 GMT

I spent most of my time growing up on the edge of an extinct volcano, the caldera of which is much larger than Kīlauea's, but unfortunately, much of our Caldera couldn't be seen at any one time, so Kīlauea in a lot of ways is a lot more impressive looking. Also, our Caldera doesn't have steam and lava coming out of it :)

blackrock

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:17:57 GMT

On the Big Island on the way to Kīlauea.

Форт Елизаветы

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 19:32:27 GMT

Along with the Russian King, we found to our surprise this Russian Fort Elizabeth in ruins in Kaua'i.

(un)official bird

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 13:39:11 GMT

Kaua'i was thick with chickens and roosters. The guidebook said it was because of Hurricane Iniki in 1992. Gail told us they had been around in huge numbers far before that. Who knows.

waimea canyon

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:02:52 GMT

Our last day on Kaua'i wasn't a full one so we went to checkout Waimea Canyon. If we'd had more time I would have liked to do some more hiking here, but as it was mostly looked around the edges.

wall lines

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:05:20 GMT

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:38:48 GMT

9 November 2009 09:40am: Riding the Epping to Chatswood for the first time. So far not much to see as it is all tunnel.
9 November 2009 12:00pm: Confirmed: s-mart has been banned from ever returning to the hotel we were at this weekend. Surprising is the indignity expressed by this.
9 November 2009 07:25pm: Trying the new Vegemite. I can't decide if I like it or loath it. Either way I think I prefer the original.
10 November 2009 11:23am: Dev machine is caught in a five second loop. Groundhog day.
10 November 2009 03:35pm: How many years has it been since I did studio lighting? I'm eager to get back into it.
Yesterday at 08:02am: Today is the day I face my density.
Today at 09:00am: Fox cancels a Joss Whedon project. Surprising?
Today at 09:02am: "at the end of the day" guy is relating an amusing story about voice messages and queues.

twitter.com/plicease

sunset

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:07:27 GMT

panographs

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:57:56 GMT

drakon i lime on the nā pali coast cruise

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:30:35 GMT

nā pali coast by catamaran

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:45:29 GMT

Back to the Hawai'i trip!

This time share salesman who claimed to be a descendant of the Russian aristocracy sold us a three hour tour^[1] on a catamaran tour of the Nā Pali coast on Kaua'i. We didn't buy the story of the “Russian King” (as we called him) and we didn't bite on the time share either (time sink is more like it). I'm not sure I get the appeal of the Russian aristocracy, they seemed like a bloodthirsty lot to me, but hey you film something in black and white and it becomes nostalgic.

Actual tour time was four and a half hours, but for boat tours everything becomes a three hour tour.

retreat!

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:40:01 GMT

The last time I was working somewhere they^[1] decided to do something nice for us peons was when I was still working at The Company in New York State and we had a huge dinner/dance to celebrate the fact that we were the number one ASIC fabricator for that year. I was single at the time, and I didn't really know anyone so it was pretty unpleasant since I tend to be quiet around people who don't know me, but my manager strongly encouraged me to go so I didn't feel like I could say no. The next year we were also number one in ASICs, but the bubble had burst, the economy had taken a dive, and layoffs were looking more likely than a big gala.

Fast forward a few years to the end of the decade and a totally different Continent and s-mart's numbers are looking good and the folks in the trenches have been doing a good job, so they^[2] decided to shout us a weekend away as a reward. I didn't really want to go from the start because it was scheduled the weekend right after I got back from Hawai'i, and also while I get along with pretty much everyone at work, I get sort of bored in social activities with my fellow s-martians. Somehow I never said no though, so I got slotted in as a default “yes”. This was the weekend. Am I a bad person because I don't really need them^[3] to anything “nice” for us? I would just as soon they pay us a bonus for work well done.

I worked from home on Friday because it didn't make sense to go into the city and then leave early to go north. Kai picked me up with Ty and Belinda. I didn't know Ty much aside from the fact that he coincidentally lives in the exact same suburb as I do. I've worked a lot with Kai though so I felt like I knew him pretty well. In a slightly disturbing sign, early in our trip Kai referred to me as the voice of reason.

Kimbot left s-mart a few months ago in an unofficial “I just won't respond to your emails or phone messages” sort of way that really fitted her maturity level, so that left Alison and “at the end of the day” guy as the most irritating people at s-mart. Although “at the end of the day” guy makes me want to put on my earphones and listen to music whenever I hear his grating voice, I don't really think that he is a bag guy, and in fact I sense that he is quite competent at his job. Even Alison has grown on me. Although we come from diametrically opposed points of view on pretty much any subject possible, her vapid disdain for anything remotely practical doesn't bother me so much anymore. In fact, I sense that she is actually pretty good at what she does, and even that her annoying personality probably serves her well in life. In short, things had settled into a stable situation that I hadn't experienced in years, if ever.

Enter Ty. Ty argues loudly with the GPS. He tells me things “as they say in America” which I have never in 26 years living in the states ever heard someone say. It's especially annoying when he does his “American” accent, which is surprisingly much much worse than when I hear Americans trying to do an “Australian” accent. Ty also talks incessantly about Los Vegas, probably my least favourite American city (which ranks even lower than Houston which I also hate), with the reverence that a Catholic would talk about the Vatican. In the car he pretends to act five years old as a “joke”. It's like he has the maturity of Kimbot, but without her compelling robotic personality. In short, Ty is my new favourite least-favourite s-martian. To make things a little bit worse, Belinda and Kai are both pretty cool, but Ty is a catalyst for them, meaning when he is around they inherit to a lesser extent his irritating behaviors. Kai and Ty in particular enjoy talking about cars, a subject that holds zero interest for me beyond, when I need one (currently I do not own a car), having one that will get me from A to B in relative safety. More on that later though.

The place we were staying was situated just above the beach. There was a long lap pool, a smaller swimming pool and two hot tubs. Everything there was too modern to be comfortable, including crucially the chairs. Why can't a light switch simply look and feel like a light switch? Why do the bathroom sinks have to look like a ceramic wok? Just because the accommodation is outrageously expensive doesn't mean it has to lack any functionality or comfort. We stayed at places much much nicer in Hawai'i, in locations far far more exclusive for a fraction of the price. It doesn't at all surprise me that the hotel and most of the neighboring properties are for sale. It reminds me of the blatant excess of the housing boom in which people constructed expensive looking places using shoddy materials and building techniques, only for nobody to want to actually live in them. Except we haven't had a recession in Australia, and we haven't had a housing bust even remotely as bad as in the states. To make things a little worse the second night there I discovered not one, but two giant Tucson sized roaches, one of which I killed and buried at sea. The other one got a mighty thumping but I think he got away. Given that the roaches you see are a small minority of the roaches that are there, it left me with an uneasy feeling that I haven't felt since I lived in Tucson in a building which could have been even charitably referred to as a roach motel.

It rained on and off for most of the weekend. This was disappointing to an extent, and at times it looked as though bringing sunscreen and a beach towel had been extremely optimistic, but although the sun didn't break through the clouds even once, it never rained that hard, and it did stop for long enough to take advantage of the pool on several occasions.

They^[4] provided free beer, wine and champagne. The first night Miklos jumped on a hedge that he thought was grass that couldn't hold his weight and he fell about five feet. Fortunately he was unhurt, or at least too drunk to realize he was hurt and went about his way. The second night somebody tripped over a glass table, fell on it, shattering it, managing to cut himself badly. In part I blame the retarded modern architecture and design. The hedge looked like an accident waiting to happen and who makes a glass table like that that isn't made of safety glass? On the other hand, drinking to excess was definitely a huge factor. The owner was present for at least one of those episodes and expressed concern than somebody would get seriously hurt. As we were leaving today, Kai speculated that if they^[5] were to ask for s-mart to return the owners of the hotel would almost certainly refuse given the outrageous behavior of a small minority s-martians who were there. I was vaguely embarrassed, to be honest, and I think it reflects badly on s-mart as a whole.

The first day I got up at about 7:30am and did some swimming in the lap pool. Followed by some time in the hot tub. I would have been happy to spend the rest of the day there, swimming and reading (even given there wasn't a comfortable place to sit in the place), but my steadfast refusal to sign up for any “activities” defaulted me into the quad bike tour (ATV). I have always hated these vehicles primarily because of the noise pollution, and I've never been particularly interested in riding them because they seem vaguely unsafe. At this point I didn't really feel as though I could decline so I went anyway. After a quick safety speech, which I could barely hear through my helmet, we were off. First we drove around in circles for a bit. Then they took us on a short trip to a nearby ship wreck, which made me wish I had brought my camera! For some reason I had shown more concern for my camera's safety than my own. One of the guides told us about the wreck in an even monotone that sounded as though he were reading from a teleprompter. Then we were back to drive around in circles a few more times. By this time I was starting to feel a little more comfortable on the bike. To their credit everyone else was having a great time, even though afterword they were complaining that the bikes did not have enough power.

Then it was off for a late lunch because everyone was starving even though dinner was only two and a half hours away. Of course because we needed to go somewhere that served alcohol we skipped the Hogs Breath and made it to a pub just in time for them to stop serving their full menu (3:00pm) leaving only pizzas and chips. I got a peperoni pizza, forgetting once again that peperoni in Australia kinda sucks. Australia is A+ for paddle pops (which America lacks), but the peperoni pizza is D+ at best. Even though dinner was only two and a half hours away, it was supposed to be fancy, so I reasoned (correctly as it turns out) that the portions would be small, and a pre-dinner meal was a good thing.

The original plan was to walk to the restaurant, but it started pouring so we almost drove over, but thank the heavens it stopped raining in the nick of time. The walk over was nice, and we even saw some dolphins in the bay! Dinner was a fancy three course affair at a restaurant called “Zest”. The atmosphere was fancy, but they hadn't bothered putting a curtain up for the kitchen so I managed to capture both the fancy chandelier and the bug zapper in the kitchen in the same 35mm DX frame (equivalent view of 52mm in 35mm format). Alcohol was paid for by s-mart, although the drinking at my table was extremely light. I had two lemon squashes at $3 each. Sharon and Kirti jokingly insisted that Colin and I drink on their behalf, although I obviously didn't and Colin only had two small glasses of wine. Actually by a strange coincidence, I wound up at a pretty good table. Sharon won't drink more that the mildest of alcoholic beverages because her physiology, Kirti is a teetotaler and Colin is decidedly not a heavy drinker. Another interesting factoid is that I was the only one at that table who was from Australia originally. Sharon is Chinese from Malaysia like my step-mum Eong, Kirti is a vegisaurus from India and Colin is a quiet guy from South Africa. It occurred to me for the first time, although it shouldn't have taken so long, that Australia's drinking culture was taking it's toll at some of the other tables. It also occurred to me that I should start a s-martian non drinking club. I will drink in moderation; in moderation that is, not entirely because it's dangerous to over drink, more likely because I get plain bored of excess drinking. I understand for some it helps lubricate the conversation, but for me I'd rather just do something else. Sharon at least was in agreement on this, and I think actually Kirti and Colin as well.

I was really tired when we got back to the hotel, so I went straight to bed and did not witness the glass table getting shattered mentioned before, but I heard about it the next morning. When I did get up, I started reading a biography of Ayn Rand on my Kindle, the first chance that I had had that weekend since they^[6] kept dragging me to this or that “activity”. My main interest in Ayn Rand is that a friend of mine once told me she was a devout Objectivst and then a year later told me that Objectivism was a whole lot of rubbish that doesn't really work in real life. This extreme pro- and anti critique of her “philosophy” seems to summarize societies feelings on Ayn Rand, although usually they are expressed by different people. I didn't want to spend the whole weekend reading by any measure (I am not that boring), but I need a little solitude! I'm just that sort of person I guess.

Gordon got up and turned on the TV. It didn't actually bug me, because I did get a little reading in and it was his room too. Note to self: Gordon snores like a freight train and rooming with him is to be avoided at all costs. He switched on Top Gear, which is some UK show about cars. Two of the hosts (?) were evaluating the relative merits of all kinds of cars, most of which I didn't know (or care) anything about (recall if you will that cars are for me primarily a means of getting from A to B in relative safety). It reminded me of listening to Kai and Ty talk about cars, although in the defense of Top Gear, the hosts are professionals and are actually a lot more interesting to listen to even though I don't really care for the material. That said, I don't know where the hell they got their camera man, because I thought the shooting of the cars they were reviewing was painfully awful. A car is a car, but lens choice is a big deal, I guess is shows where my priorities are. Kai made a comment about some car he would get if he had so much money that it just didn't matter anymore, and it reminded me that, as mentioned here before, if money was no object for me, I'd hire Peter Cullen to be my official voice to the world. What kind of strange person am I?

After my shower we watched the episode of TNG where they found the Iconian gateway, and the episode of Voyager about health care which I had always taken for a critique on HMOs, but I realized on re-watching that it could also easily be a critique on socialized medicine. Actually before Star Trek we watched a little of Faux News and their shrill commentary on the debate stateside, so the episode was strangely appropriate. After that we had missed breakfast and everyone had moved out of the main common room we'd been using. I'm not sure, but I think because it was a huge mess that the cleaners had to clean up.

Brad led a little expedition of six of us on a small walk. At first he said it was only a fifteen minute walk, but then he showed us where we were going from the car and I immediately regretted not bringing any water. Brad, by the way, had been the one who got us to the pub the day before just in time for virtually all of their menu to be invalidated. I actually like Brad a lot. He has enormous amount of enthusiasm and he's fun to be around most of the time, even when people are drinking and generally being (to me) boring. He does, however, give the impression at times of not being entirely plugged into reality. The walk turned out to be about fifteen minutes as promised though, and I was glad to get out and for the fresh air.

When we got back to the hotel, Kai asked if I was ready to go. Was I ever? I was ready to go home that morning to be honest. Actually sooner please? When we finally got in the car Kai said “which way do we go” and Ty said “which ever way you want” and I said “I'd go for the fastest route if possible” because I have this tendency to state the obvious at times. Kai made a joke about me wanting to get out of the car with the three of them in it (Kai, Ty and Belinda). It was a joke and I should have just left it at that, but I am pretty sensitive to the way my comments are taken, so I tried to (unnecessarily) explain that it wasn't due to the company, I was just ready to get home. The truth is though, it was the company. In moderation they are fine, but I need my solitude. I need my alone time.

Well, except for Ty. For him it is the company. And it doesn't matter for how long. Five seconds of Ty time is too long.

Now all of that in twitter format:

5 November 2009 03:45pm: "at the end of the day" guy says that guys should check out the couch before buying it because they will end up sleeping on it.
6 November 2009 09:13am: I'm thinking of starting an "at the end of the day" guy blog
6 November 2009 10:35am: First step is to trademark the term "at the end of the day" guy (TM)
6 November 2009 02:54pm: We're on our way up north for the weekend. :)
6 November 2009 03:07pm: In a worrying development, Kai is calling me the voice of reason.
6 November 2009 03:54pm: Ty's job is to argue with the GPS. Speaking of which, I need a GPS with a Peter Cullen voice.
6 November 2009 04:18pm: Rain clouds are looking menacing. At least I brought a book.
6 November 2009 04:29pm: I think I was being optimistic in bringing the sun screen and beach towel. :/ where is the duuude turtle when you need him?
6 November 2009 05:58pm: Free beer and wine, but no free internets.
6 November 2009 06:07pm: I wish lime were here.
Yesterday at 08:22am: This place is too modern to be comfortable.
Yesterday at 09:52am: The beach here is not as good as Terrigal. Good news it isn't raining but the flies are so thick I'm doing the Australian salute.
Yesterday at 10:17am: Ty has to be the expert on everything. And if I hear one more time how great Los Vegas is I'm going to throttle him.
Yesterday at 11:45am: Three boxes of Panadol for those recovering from last night.
Yesterday at 11:56am: Signs that I am back down under: some kids are playing cricket on the beach.
Yesterday at 03:20pm: Missed the full menu at Mermaids by five minutes so we're having pizza.
Yesterday at 05:48pm: Raining again. I may end up as designated driver instead of walking to Zest.
Yesterday at 06:19pm: Dolphin!
Today at 02:54pm: Back in Wyoming.
Today at 05:19pm: Surprisingly "at the end of the day" guy was by far not the most annoying person this weekend, Ty was.

twitter.com/plicease

update: I can confirm that we've been banned from ever returning to the place we stayed at, and the owners are going to ask that s-mart pay for the broken table. Strangely this has elicited mostly ridicule that those that broke the table ought to pay for it.

the giant ants
the giant ants
the giant ants
the giant ants
the giant ants
the giant ants

hanakāpīʻai beach frolic

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:07:17 GMT

hanakāpīʻai waves

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:27:36 GMT

discovering hanakāpīʻai beach

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:07:18 GMT

more from kalalau trail

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:16:54 GMT

kalalau trail, nā pali coast

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:03:31 GMT

We only did the wimpy first two miles (four round trip) of the Kalalau Trail on the Nā Pali Coast, but hey we were on vacation so we were having a good time.

Somebody in our expedition likes caves, but this was just an itty one.

Life is hard in paradise.

talk to the hand

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 01:03:25 GMT

hanalei beach

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 20:08:12 GMT

Our first island was Kaua'i, where we stayed in Hanalei on the north shore just a stones throw from this beach. Each morning, Gail (who ran the B&B where we were staying) would make us breakfast of local fruits, a fruit smoothy and something speical like rice kasha (rice pudding) or waffles. We converted to island time pretty quickly and forgot the day of the week pretty quickly.

The sky turned purple at sunset one night. After the sun went down, on a clear night you could see the Milky Way in all of it's glory.

snow

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:01:40 GMT

leaves

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:01:31 GMT

happy birthday!

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:01:33 GMT

Happy Birthday to my dear sweet lime :)

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:22:36 GMT

14 October 2009 08:51am: Who would win in a fight? Teenage mutant ninja turtles or teenage mutant pirate turtles.
15 October 2009 10:42pm: I am excited about falling asleep.
16 October 2009 05:41pm: It's official. I am on vacation!!!!
17 October 2009 06:00pm: Big Indian Pacific freight train just rushed through my little station at Narara while waiting for the cityrail to Sydney.
18 October 2009 02:45pm: Having my last paddle pop untill I get back to Oz.
23 October 2009 05:58am: Going on a three hour boat tour .... a threeeeee hour tour. Should have read the fine print more closely.
23 October 2009 05:53pm: Made it back to land with 6GB of pictures of the Napali Coast without loosing my lunch.
26 October 2009 01:32pm: I am certain that the locals do not call it that. They string together vowels and watch the tourists contort their mouths for entertainment.
Yesterday at 05:57pm: Hiked Kilauea Iki Crater Trail today where it rained on us! It was fun, interesting and brisk!
Today at 01:32pm: sunburn :(

twitter.com/plicease

The Twilight Report

pele's evening eruption

thurston

volcano caldera

blackrock

Форт Елизаветы

(un)official bird

waimea canyon

wall lines

tweet

sunset

panographs

drakon i lime on the nā pali coast cruise

nā pali coast by catamaran

retreat!

hanakāpīʻai beach frolic

hanakāpīʻai waves

discovering hanakāpīʻai beach

more from kalalau trail

kalalau trail, nā pali coast

talk to the hand

hanalei beach

snow

leaves

happy birthday!

tweet