Hawaiian Style Toro Nagashi

This past Monday afternoon I took a short spin down to the 8th annual Toro Nagashi (aka Lantern Floating Festival) going on at Ala Moana Beach Park. The cops had the whole park blocked off to cars so it was good that I came by bike.

When I got to the Magic Island end of the park I could tell that it was a really big production with a stage and props and tents and tons of security. News reports predicted over 30,000 people and it sure looked like that much. Lots and lots of Japanese people, as expected, since it is a Buddist Festival. But there were all kinds of other people there too, probably because it was advertised as more of a "world" event.

Since I didn't want to ride back home in the dark, I had to just take a couple pictures and leave but at least I got to see some of the pre-positioned floating lanterns up close. Luckily for those of us who couldn't be there, it was shown live on television. But to actually be there, to see the lanterns floating out on the dusk colored waters, though, must be really nice.

I especially liked the message delivered by the head priest with regards to this being a world event. She said that the prayers being carried by these lanterns, and especially the prayers for "World Peace," being let onto these waters at Ala Moana Beach should reach all the peoples of the world. Since the waters here in Hawaii, in essence, are the same waters that encircle the entire globe. Something to think about....."Peace"

Hurt So Good...or Just Plain Hurts

The pain you feel in your legs and butt and back and arms after a 40k TT can hurt two ways.

If you meet your goals, it Hurts So Good!!! But when you fall short...it just plain hurts physically and even more mentally. Click here for my 40k race report: My Cycling Page.

Aserejé by Las Ketchup

My Kind of Music...

Here's another song for my new mp3 player that's suppose to get here during the first week of June, according to Amazon.



I first heard it a couple years ago on an international internet radio station and although the title was strange, the song just really caught my ear right off the bat. It's called Aserejé or The Ketchup Song and it's by a Spanish group called Las Ketchup. When I play this video, I can't help but start dancing and doing the hand shuffle and leg shuffle right in front of my computer, the song is that catchy!!!

"Aserejé, ja deje dejebe tudejebe de sebiunouva majabi an de bugui an de buididipí "

There is also a interesting article about how some of the lyrics (above) were thought up: Wikipedia - The Ketchup Song.

Unbelivebly, this song was #1 in Spain, #1 in France, #1 in Finland, in Belgium, in Italy, in Sweden, in Germany, and #1 in Australia. Man, those folks are so lucky they get to listen to ALL KINDS of good music from all kinds of different countries. As I remember...I was listening to the regular radio back in 2002 and I NEVER heard this cool song here in Hawaii/America!!! Like...that's totally bogus man!!!

Now back to doing my hand shuffle... "Aserejé, ja deje dejebe tudejebe de sebiunouva majabi an de bugui an de buididipí "

North Shore 40k Time Trial

This coming Sunday is Oahu's annual 40K TT which is held evey year on Oahu's North Shore.
Its an out and back course that starts at Malaekahana Beach Park and turns around just past Swanzy Beach Park.

This year should be really nice since I heard from my friend Mark that they paved portions of the course that were in BAD condition last year. All in all its usually a great race and here's what I'm planning for this year: My Cycling Page.

Ipod and Running

Well, not really an Apple Ipod but sort of close. Last night I ordered a new Creative Zen Nano 1GB MP3 player from Amazon.com. It was very cheap at $60 w/ FREE SHIPPING!!!

The reason being...a couple of weeks ago I decided to start doing some "small kine" running again and I found that I really missed getting into my music while I run.

At first I used my trusty digital AM/FM radio, but I soon remembered that they only play cr@p on the radio - same back then as now! So after using my brother's EXPENSIVE and sort of heavy 4GB Ipod a couple of times, I decided that I needed to get my own tunes.

This one seems pretty good since it's lite and you don't need a proprietary battery as it runs off a single AAA battery. All I need to do now is buy some 700mah rechargables and I'll be set. I just hope this Creative product lasts longer than my previous Creative (Nomad) MP3 player that just went blank on one run last week after 2 or 3 years of non-use.

Believe it or not, I was one of the first persons I know to get an MP3 player. The Creative Nomad had only 32MBs of memory, barely ran 1 hour, and it costed like OVER $150 bucks! But, busting some sub-7 min/miles at Ala Moana back in the day with that thing was awesome! I know that once I get it loaded with my kind of music, I can get the same kind of "magic" as I had back then...

Oh man!!! I can't wait...I'm getting all hyped up just thinking about it! Here's one of the first song's I'm putting on...I just love this group MOVE, the cool J-rapper with the Blue Hair, the Kawaii Girl - this song has it all and JUST KICKS A$$!!!***%%%###!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some Thrusday Thoughts...

WEATHER PIXIE:

The latest change to my website is the addition of my weather pixie.
I first saw it on a Flickr friend's website (http://corgiflora.bravejournal.com/) and it looked pretty cool. Depending on the time of day and weather here in Honolulu, it will change all kinds of things. You can get one here: www.weatherpixie.com .


NARA - TODAI-JI:

Cycling News - Pictures from 2006 Tour of Japan

I was just surfing through the latest pictures from the Tour of Japan and to my surprise, the start of Stage 2 was in Nara, right in front of Todai-ji.

And, it reminded me that I need to get back to posting about my Japan trip. My next post will be about my visit to this very temple. This photo brings back some memories: Stage 2 - Start Ceremony.

Got Intel???

Oh No!!!

Don't look now, another of my political blog posts here: Got Intel Inside???.

Click if you dare...

Boy's Day 2006

Boy's Day 2006
Originally uploaded by dancedream2002.

For the last couple of years we haven't had any good luck carp to hang from our home - so this May calendar picture will have to do!

These cookies I won at our annual Boy's Day party which is thrown for the "guys" by all the "girls" in the office. (Btw...we DO need to treat them on Girl Day...OR ELSE!!!)

3...ブラザーズ！！！

Koinobori festival
An original by Corgiflore- Thanks Corgiflore!

このこいがぼくとぼくの
きょうだいです！

オトーサン　ト
ロードサン　ト　
グレーグサン　ト　
ボクは
おめでとう
おとこのこのひ

Happy Boy's Day!

このしゃしんは、くしまさん。。。どうもありまとう

2006 HBL Metric Century Report

This past Sunday, April 30th, was the annual Metric Century Bike Ride. It was kind of fun considering...

Click here for more: 2006 Metric Century Report.