Well it's been awhile. I didn't even realize that the site went down a couple of weeks ago.

I will try and write a bit more. The ugly side of life has reared it's head and I have been busy responding. In other news our friend Kristen has been visiting and we went hordeback riding at Kualoa Ranch which is where alot of Jurassic Park was shot.

Anyway, here are some photos:

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 12:29 PM :[]}|

Well...

Another year is almost gone. Hard to believe.

The weather is great here finally. I love winter in Hawaii!!! Wouldn't mind summer somewhere a bit cooler but at least it is cooler here in summer than NY that is for sure.

I plan on writing a bit more and maybe turning our other domain yadda-yadda.com into a place I can rant a bit more about politics than I would do here.

Anyway first post in a while and that is all for now.

Wende and Crew after the Kona Race!!

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 11:35 PM :[]}|

Our good friend Richie died suddenly yesterday in his house upstate and Wende and I are both in shock. Please say a prayer for his wife and family, and if you knew him, remember him well and toast his memory tonite.

He was a great friend and someone who no matter how much time passed between the last time we hung out, there was never a gap in the friendship or conversation. He will be missed.

Richie Audino

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 11:53 AM :[]}|

Places I have lived...

1.Flushing NY
2. Wantagh NY
3. Mahopac NY
4. Putney Vt
5. Hopkinsville KY
6. Mahopac NY
7. Melbourne FL
8. Peekskill NY
9. Brooklyn NY
10. Bloomington NY
11. Bearsville NY
12. Rosendale NY
13. Brooklyn NY
14. Long Island City NY
15. Jackson Heights NY
16. Waialua HI

Posted for no apparent reason.

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 1:23 AM :[]}|

The waves are supposed to be around 45 feet up here on the North Shore on Wednesday. Nature will be pounding the shores, it should be pretty amazing.

There hasn't really been large surf here this Winter. Saturday we had the largest swell so far this year, 20 or so feet, and it was impressive but not nearly as sick as a 45 foot swell will be...

Batten down the hatches!

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Jan/12/br/br01p.html

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 12:50 AM :[]}|

Heavens to murgatroid! It's been a long time since blogged. So much has happened.

Going back to spring/summer the main thing for me was paddling. I had a red banner year, winning medals in every race I entered from pre-season long distance to regatta to long distance! I even went to states. Unfortunately I will not be doing Molokai this year but that is mainly due to the fact that we were away for a month.

Where did we go? The ARCTIC!!!! What an incredible voyage that was. We were lucky enough to have unbelievable weather-sunny much of the time. It was great crashing through the ice on the Russian icebreaker Kapitain Khlebnikov. We learned alot from the various lectures given by the experts on the trip and we saw alot of wild life. Polar bears, seals, musk ox, arctic fox, arctic hare, lemmings, snow geese, thick-billed murres, walrus and more.

We were able to do a fair amount of hiking, many zodiac rides and flight seeing by helicopter.
The highlight for me was the ice. Pack ice, sea ice, icebergs....it's all good.
ICE IS NICE! As our glaciologist Christoph Mayer would say.

Prior to the Arctic we spent some time in Florida with Bruce's Mom and Dad. His brother Will, girlfriend Julie and their daughter Jordan drove down and completed the family reunion.
Post Arctic we spent a brief time in NYC visiting with Randall and even throwing a party at his new studio. We were able to see many of our East Coast pals at the party. Thanks everyone for showing up.

So that brings us up to now. We are settling back into our Hawaiian life. We both went back to work right away. Fortunately I have been able to arrange for a more civilized work schedule for my self. No more 6 days a week-woo hoo!!! I have gone back to paddling even though I am not racing for a while, and I have already seen tons of turtles and dolphins and many good sunsets. We really are lucky that we live in Hawaii.

Don't forget to check out the photos that Bruce posted below.

Aloha! w

  |{[]: posted by Wende at: 12:06 PM :[]}|

Well we are back from our North American tour. Florida. NY. Ottawa. Resolute. Qaanaaq and points beyond.

It was a amazing trip, way above and beyond anything I had expected. Below are some photos from the Arctic (you can click on them to see a larger version), I will be putting up more photos as well as video when I get a chance.


Map of Our Route (We didn't follow this exactly but it is close)


Map of Region and World Showing Area of Trip


View of the Kapitan Klebnikov at Work


Glacier at Tanquary Fjord


Anthropomorphic Icebergs


Etah, Greenland (Caribou and Glacier)


Qaanaaq, Greenland (Bay and Inuit Boy)


Dundas Harbor, Devon Island (RCMP Station and Bergy Bits)


Looks Like We Had A Great Time


I will be adding more when I get a chance... It was an incredible trip. Gotta start saving for Antarctica now.

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 11:49 AM :[]}|

Hmmm...

I think maybe the President should be held accountable for the claims he makes in the State of the Union speech dont you???

State of the Union Photo Op

If you aren't sick of the lies and hypocrisy of this Admin by now then you need to be smacked around. I will take a lie about a BJ any day over a lie that sends my friends and neighbors to war.

Getting rid of Sadaam was good but at what cost?? If we had waited for a TRUE coalition at least our country wouldn't be solely responsible and maybe some other Arabs would be among the soldiers and Police that are trying to bring order to the country.

Man I hate to say I told ya so...

But...

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 2:13 AM :[]}|

Blog, blog, blog...

Yeah.

Well. Summer is here and lotsa stuff has happened the last few weeks for both me and Wen. What's to say???

Maybe tomrrow...

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 11:38 PM :[]}|

Happy Easter All-

I've been too busy to blog but yesterday I got (took) my first day off of work so that I could do a pre-season long distance canoe race. The race took place on the Waianae side of Oahu and was about 10 miles long. It was a beach start which means you run and jump into your canoe from the beach. It was the first such start I've ever done and boy was it confusing. I paddled with a mixed team (3men, 3women) in the Masters division (35-45yrs old). We came in fifth over all and 1st in our division!!! I've never won first place before and it felt great. They gave out awards after lunch. We got gold medals and t-shirts. Woo hoo!

Today we were planning a hike with Mathew and Sal but it was raining too hard. I guess we'll just take it easy, eat peeps and drink champagne. Peep Out! w

  |{[]: posted by Wende at: 12:52 PM :[]}|

Remember the "news" that a commander of an entire Iraqi division surrendered??

Turns out it was a guy impersonating his commander in order to get better treatment. BELEIVE NOTHING....

--
Excerpt:

"The first few days were intense, but perhaps the easiest part of a complex war. Many of the Iraqi soldiers the allies confronted were ill motivated and ill trained. Some surrendered, and many simply vanished. Even so, some of the celebrated capitulations have turned out to be less than advertised.

American officials were quick to announce the surrender of the commander of the 51st Iraqi Division. Today, they discovered that the "commander" was actually a junior officer masquerading as a higher-up in an attempt to win better treatment."

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/24/intern
ational/worldspecial/24STRA.html

--

Also the "chemical weapons factory" discovered yesterday turns out to have been abandoned "long ago" and the initial reports were most likely leaked to deflect attention from the POW's and halt of the 7th cavalry due to resistance.

--
03/24/2003
Dow Jones News Services
(Copyright © 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)


NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--U.S. officials said Monday that no chemical weapons were found at a suspected site at Najaf in central Iraq, U.S. television networks reported.

NBC News reported from the Pentagon that no chemicals at all were found at the site. CNN, also reporting from the Pentagon, said officials now believe the plant there was abandoned long ago by the Iraqis.


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

http://www.datekdj.newsalert.com/bin/djstory?StoryId=CpN6q0aebqLqWmduWmJu

--
Kinda makes you go huh.....

Don't beleive the hype...

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 4:22 PM :[]}|

Well...

We, and by we I don't mean I endorse this war at all, are at "war" with another 3rd world country... Unbelieveable that so many people supposedly support it. Funny thing is, it seems that the more you probe into why they support it, the more you realize that they have either been fooled into thinking that it was Iraq behind 9/11, or that they are Nationalist fools...

I am sickened by the cynicism of those in government, Bush is an inept moron, but the rest should know better than to make the world even more hostile towards the US by their purposely failed diplomacy. Shock and Awe is going to Shock and Sicken most everyone, except for those in the US who think that laying down 2000+ bombs on sitting ducks, is better than releasing warheads with chemicals. Both create chemical reactions that kill people.

Period.

Bombing the way "we" do it, is definitely by anyones standards, utilizing "weapons of mass destruction"... I mean get real... And if you make an argument that only "responsible" nations should be allowed to employ these weapons, my argument is that as long as international consensus is against us... We are in the minority, and we better be very careful when using weapons that are more devastating than the so called "wmd's" we are invading Iraq over... The "Bush" doctrine may end the war quickly, but it also seems to have a side effect that is dividing this country and uniting the world against us... Wasn't Bush a "uniter not a divider"???

Anyway to make matters worse, SCI-FI channel canceled Farscape. Tonite was the last episode. There is so much crap on TV to begin with and SC-FI cancels the best show to come out in years to replace it with Scare Tactic and Tremors?? Insane.

Uggghhhh.....

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 11:19 PM :[]}|

It was a whale of a day..ha ha hee hee! Yesterday we (Mat, Jaq, Mom, Dad, Sal, Bruce and I) went out on a whale watching tour. The catamaran left from Haleiwa Harbour, 2miles from our home and mere feet from my canoe club.It was an awesome day, blue sky, sunshine, light breeze and moderate waves. Perfect for spotting whales...and boy did we. A mother had just given birth right outside the harbour and we were able to watch the two of them and their escort whale at a very close range. The baby was only hours old and was so small (in whale terms) that it looked more like an overgrown porpoise! We saw other whales on the boat trip breeching, slapping their tails, and spouting and many more as we sat on the lanai up in Pupukea having beer and BBQ later that afternoon. Good time was had by all.- W

  |{[]: posted by Wende at: 10:05 PM :[]}|

Okay, so again I slacked and did not blog for way too long. Things are chugging along. Bruce and I are both working all the time. Hey, maybe when the smoke clears we'll be rich! (more likely we will just be tired). Sunday (the big day off) was awesome however. I got up early and went out paddling with the club. It was the first time I was in a 6man canoe in months. The water was smooth and flat and crystal clear. You could see all the way to the bottom. Later that day we went up to Pupukea and had dinner with the folks and helped them do some chores. As we sat up there on the lanai we saw tons of whales doing their thing, splashing and spouting and breaching. It was alot of fun and a great warm up to next week-end when we plan on going on a boat to do some whale watching up close. Everything has a bit of a sad undertone though as our dear little Whitey Ford is in poor health. He is almost 17 so it is not unexpected but it is hard. Let's just hope he can bounce back and keep us company for a little while longer. Peace.-W

  |{[]: posted by Wende at: 7:36 PM :[]}|

Well, I haven't blogged for so long I don't know what to say. I got about 5mins before I have to leave for work and I thought I'd check in with the sight. Pleasant surprize to see these NY picutes up.Hawaii is great as always but I've been working 6 days a week and will be for a little longer. Bruce is working hard too. I've been able to squeeze in some bike rides and swiming class but no paddling as the waves have been BIG. Mom is in town and Dad will be here soon. Sal is working hard and is now what we refer to as a "townie" meaning he moved to Honolulu. We miss him but our couch is empty so let's have some guests! C'mon, c'mon! -w

  |{[]: posted by Wende at: 7:02 AM :[]}|

Some photos from our recent trip to NYC...

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 1:03 AM :[]}|

Well we are off to the big city in a few hours, but I figured I would try and get these photos of our frst new car up on the web..


Gotta Love The Mini..

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 4:48 PM :[]}|

Mmmmm; Hmmmmm.

It's kinda cool living in Hawaii...

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 2:22 AM :[]}|

Kissinger In Charge Of An Independent Inquiry???

What??

>/###############Salon.com#################/

The day Henry Kissinger cried
My astonishing interview with the man who knows where the bodies are buried...

- - - - - - - - - - - -
By Stephen Talbot


Just when I thought there could be no further desecration of those who perished on Sept. 11, George W. Bush appoints Henry Kissinger to direct an investigation of the government's failure to prevent the terrorist attacks. Honestly, it took my breath away. Even in a time of cynical politics, this is stunning.

I realize, of course, that Bush never wanted any kind of independent investigation to take place -- that the families of the victims compelled him to act. And if the administration's goal is to contain and limit the probe, to avoid embarrassing revelations about U.S. intelligence failures, then Kissinger is just the man.

Forget Karl Rove. This is our true Machiavelli, a statesman famous for conducting foreign policy with a twist of treachery and deceit. From the clandestine bombing of Cambodia to supporting Pinochet's bloody military coup in Chile, Kissinger is a man who has many secrets of his own to hide. Talk about a conflict of interest! How can Kissinger, at age 79, a lifelong member of the national security establishment, a presidential advisor who wiretapped his own colleagues to prevent leaks, suddenly become a truly independent investigator of the CIA, FBI and the White House? Who would ever believe him?

More...

>/###############Salon.com###############/

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 4:15 AM :[]}|

OK. Still Not Blogging In A Timely Fashion.

Shame.

That would be on me... In case you were feeling guilty or sumthin...

Whatever. Nature was and is at it's near peak today surfwise with the massive swell that is pounding the north and west shores right now. This link will probably expire shortly so here's what it more or less said.

"* Effective tonight and Tuesday.

* Surf is forecast to rise to the following Heights...
Kauai and Oahu...20 To 30 feet
Maui molokai and lanai...15 To 25 feet
Big Island...8 To 12 feet."

YEAH!

Not that you can really go near the water when the surf is this big, unless you are a madman or an expert/surfer madman... But it sure is fun to watch. Kinda like watching a tornado from your storm cellar with a milk carton periscope...

Anyway. In other news, just got the deposit on a job that was supposed to start 11/1. Looks like we are starting 12/1. Works out as I am finishing up a new website for a local client and I need the extra few days to fully upgrade the site. WARNING! Some of the following links take you to a site that I had NOTHING to do with creating. BUT, I had to link back to it because of time contraints in building the new site. See if you can figure out which site I created...

http://www.myeranch.com

Hmmmm....

  |{[]: posted by Bruce at: 2:35 AM :[]}|