C&K - Back in the Day and 35 Years Later

It's hard to imagine what it takes to keep a couple of guys going strong in the music industry for 35 years. A lot of hard work? A big PR machine to keep their names fresh in our memories? Lots of money to fuel it all?

Watching Cecilio and Kapono perform at the Waikiki Shell on August 23, 2008, one would think they were simply destined to be together and that's why it still works for them. In a world where fans are fickle, music changes with each new generation and groups disassemble and reform with new members, C&K are a constant.

I was a teenager in the 70s and grew up with their songs. While I can't remember what I ate for dinner two nights ago, I rocked out and sang along to every last one of their songs on Saturday! In a time when life is often difficult and downright scary, with a shaky economy, people who are homeless and hungry and a war which has claimed too many lives with no end in sight, an evening with C&K was a welcome break from it all. Lots of good memories of days gone by when the world was not such a formidable place. I fell in (and out of) love to C&Ks songs. I sat on the beach or cruised in the car with friends and listened to them on the radio. We didn't have CD players, Walkmans or IPods, so the only way to get your C&K fix back then was to either stay home and play a vinyl LP on the stereo or wait for a DJ to pump out their latest hit, which were by no means in short supply then. A big score for your birthday or Christmas was a C&K album!

C&K make it look like a lot of fun with very little effort. They seem to truly enjoy making music together and they express a lot of gratitude and love for their fans. The feelings were mutual! 8,000 of us showed up that night and filled the Shell. More fans were outside of the Shell, bbqing and partying right along, but for free.

Even though they will always be C&K to us, they've had successful solo careers as well over the years. There was even a joke made about the number of reunion concerts they've held. Their fans don't seem to care how many reunion concerts they put on, no matter what they call it, we'll always be grateful for the chance to attend.

Before playing the song we were all waiting for (About You), Cecilio apologized to the audience for a short supply of memorabilia available for purchase. He said they didn't want to seem "egotistical" and ordered only 2,000 pieces of merchandise. That meant only 1 in 8 of us had a chance at a prized souvenir. Could they really have underestimated our loyalty by that much?!

When the last song had been sung and the lights dimmed, all that was left to do was head back home, I felt a twinge of sadness. It had been a really fun night for me with a girlfriend of nearly 20 years. We had both looked forward to the evening and it was more than we had hoped for. Why the sadness?

This is the last concert I will attend in Hawaii. My husband, son and I are getting ready to move to Colorado and make our lives there. The cost of living in Hawaii and trying to own a home here have done us in. Born and reared in Hawaii, I never thought I'd live anywhere else, and I was completely opposed to my husband's occasional suggestions that we move to the mainland. We (or I should say *I*) finally agreed about a year ago that leaving Hawaii was the most reasonable option for us. I do look forward to not living paycheck to paycheck, and purchasing a home we want rather than just what we can afford. Still, I was faced with the finality this concert represented. I had no idea the evening would evoke such strong emotions and I felt a little heavy-hearted when I got home to my sleeping family. Alone with my thoughts, I knew leaving Hawaii is still what we must do.

My spirits were lifted yesterday however, when I saw that C&K were touring and will be playing in Denver this coming September. Then I knew ... if a little bit of Hawaii comes looking for me every now and then, what more could I ask for?

I'll miss my family, friends and the familiarity of my town. I'll miss the view of Kaneohe Bay out of my bedroom window in the early morning light when the water looks like glass. I'll miss double rainbows, malasadas and Chinaman's Hat. I'll miss a lot of things but in order for Colorado to truly work for me, I shamelessly steal a line from one of C&K's songs as a reminder: "It's been a good time together....and the best is yet to come!"

MagicJack, the sequel

I'd previously posted (May 2008)my initial impressions of the MagicJack - a USB device which I decided to try as an alternative phone service, having previously had a regular line through the phone company as well as phone service through our cable company.

For an initial investment of $39.95, you get the USB jack and a year of phone service which includes free long distance to the US and Canada (as well as free international long distance between MagicJack users), Caller ID, 3-way Calling, Call Waiting and Voicemail as well as being registered to the 911 service. Phone service after the year is up costs $19.95 per year. That's right, not per month, per YEAR!

Am I still pleased? You bet! After finally settling on where all our computers would go when we moved into a rental after selling our house, I set the MagicJack up in the master bedroom, on my laptop which connects wirelessly to the internet. I am using a vtech DECT6.0 cordless phone with a satellite phone in the kitchen/living area. Sometimes for fun, we plug in Dan's old red analog hotline and use that! (I am always amazed that the MagicJack can power the bell ringer in that relic!)

Occasionally I experience a lag in the conversation, as well as the person I am talking to sounding choppy. These issues seem to occur when my husband is downloading big files from the internet. Dan suspects the wireless internet setup may impact the performance of the MagicJack somewhat, but again, the lag and choppiness are not constant.

I continue to have fairly frequent call quality issues with my friend in CO, most noticeably on her cell, but also on her landline as well. But there are also times when I have absolutely no problems while talking to her.

After 3 months of exclusive use for a landline, I still believe the MagicJack rocks! Because there are some issues with call quality, I recommend a backup phone (such as a cell), just in case. I have no intention of going back to the phone or cable company for phone service and in fact just ordered 4 more MagicJacks - two for us and the other two to be given as gifts. This might very well BE the greatest invention since canned beer!

This Ain't Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood

"...I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you..."


On Saturday, we moved to a new home. In preparing to leave Hawaii and relocate to Colorado, the first step has been to sell our condo. Because of it's convenient location, we decided to stay on in the complex and rent a smaller unit not far from the one we just sold.

The move has been somewhat stressful as we figure out how to cram all our stuff into about 200 less square feet. Coupled with the fact that the unit's enclosed garage sustained a fire a couple of months ago and has not yet been repaired, leaves us living over it's charred remains and a lanai railing that has a near through and through burn. The garage will be repaired, the unit itself is very well maintained, clean, bug-free and quieter than the one we left behind.

Due to the fire, we have lost the use of the garage for parking. Our property manager told us we would be assigned a guest parking stall on a temporary basis until the garage repairs are completed. Dan noted that the stairs leading up to our unit would serve as a good parking spot for his motorcycle, leaving us with no need for a guest stall, since I could use the tandem parking outside of the garage. He brought his bike over on Saturday and parked it under the stairs. We noted there is no house rule forbidding what he did.

Within about 45 minutes, a security officer approached Dan to advise him he was being cited for parking his motorcycle under the stairs. A neighbor had called in to complain. We had no idea who it was as we don't know anyone who lives in this phase.

Since Dan was busy retrieving belongings, he left on another run and I went down to retrieve the citation from Bo (the security officer). It was an annoyance as I had better things to do with my time. Apparently my neighbor did not.

Unable to contain himself, the neighbor walked past, approached Dan's bike, looked it over than walked over to where Bo and I were. He seemed to either not realize or not care who I was. He asked Bo if he'd cited the motorcycle, at which time I snapped the citation open and held it up and said "yes he did and thanks so much for reporting us."

Lord, that led to an abusive tirade from this guy, whom I should mention is on TWO boards for this complex. He was rude, condescending and nasty - probably out looking for trouble as it seems he delights in patrolling all areas of the complex, looking for and reporting infractions. What a sad little man.

The incident escalated into a very heated exchange with him telling me I could not live in the apartment and I was not to use the guest parking stalls for my vehicle, but rather should park in the burned out garage (of the unit I wasn't supposed to be renting ... yes, it makes as much sense to me as it does to you!)

He refused to cite which house rule we were breaking, belligerently telling me if I had read the rules, I would know. There is NO house rule regarding the parking of motorcycles under the stairs. Further he stated that people like me turn the place into something that looks like trailer park trash.

After more than an hour of unpleasantries and a visit by the police, the incident ended. The sum total being: flared tempers, discord and the final resolution being that the bike remains parked under the stairs.

If this resident had approached us in a reasonable and respectful manner, and tried to be helpful in educating us about the house rules (although as stated earlier, he was referring to a nonexistent rule), the whole matter likely would have been resolved in a calm and friendly manner. Rather than feel his position on the board affords him the right to be disrespectful and condescending, he could have chosen to behave in a civil and neighborly fashion.

Believe it or not, this man had my complete sympathy up until the day he abused me. His garage adjoins ours and was also burned in the fire, resulting in the loss of a good deal of household goods he'd stored in the garage while his unit was being repaired from flood damage. The true irony of all this was the BoD amended the house rules to include a new one in which all residents were required to carry home owner's insurance. This member of 2 governing boards broke that rule and never bothered to obtain insurance. I find this incomprehensible in view of the fact that he goes around being a Rule Nazi with everyone else.

I'm a firm believer in the Universe taking care of things and people in it's own way. I also believe what goes around comes around. Makes me wonder WHAT kind of karmic debt he racked up that his punishment was a flood and a fire. WHEW!! Mind boggling.

MagicJack

I admit to being a big gadget freak. I also admit to being an As Seen On TV junkie ... our home is filled with these products. Some items are worth every penny I paid (like my Butter Butler), but others merely make money for the inventor and leave me, the consumer, feeling ripped off.

Normally, any junk email that sneaks past my spam filters will be manually deposited into the trashcan when I see it. Although I can't remember what the subject of a particular email was, I opened it and fell hook, line and sinker for the pitch. Within 5 minutes I was on their website forking out $39.95 + shipping for a USB device that promises me free phone calls in the US and Canada.

Was I skeptical? Yes. Was I put off by the price? No. I've wasted more than that on products which didn't live up to their claims. And what if this one WORKED?!!

We gave up on the phone company a year ago when we decided to get phone service through the cable company. Our package included internet, cable and phone service for around $150 a month. Being able to make free LD calls was great, as it allowed me to call family and friends in the states without watching the clock. Nor did I have to burn through my cell minutes if I wanted to talk to them other than on a weekend. I could no longer imagine life without digital phone service. We did experience some problems in the beginning - service outage and one very disconcerting time when I clicked to a second call and found out my call waiting did not put the first caller on hold, but left her able to hear my conversation with the second caller. It took close to an hour and several back and forth calls with the cable company to fix that issue and that was the end of any problems.

Enter MagicJack.

For $39.95, this company promised free LD to the US and Canada. The initial investment included the jack, a phone number and a year of phone service. Subsequently, I will pay $19.99 a YEAR for continued phone service. This was too good to be true!

MagicJack employs an existing internet connection; hard wired or wireless to provide VOIP (think Skypes). Instead of using a headset, you can use any regular telephone, so I wouldn't need to buy special equipment once I received it.

It arrived in a rather nondescript envelope. It's packaging was modest, and the devide itself is about the size of a matchbox. The setup was as simple as it gets, truly plug and play - all the software is stored on the device itself and it takes about a minute to get up and running.

My initial test of it was a call to my husband on his cell phone. I was using an ancient Western Electric Princess phone and aside from a bit of a lag, the quality was very good, rivaling traditional telephony.

I next used it to talk to a friend on her cell phone in Colorado. Again I was on my Princess and the call quality was horrible. She was cutting out and we ended up dropping 2 calls before I finally called her back on my digital line. Tracy was excited at the prospect of replacing her landline with the MagicJack until this phone call convinced her it was probably just a gimmick.

I was disappointed because my call to her on the digital line was fine, no cut outs or drops, so it seemed as though MagicJack may not be the greatest alternative. I noticed MagicJack's interface on my PC had a link to click which would allows the user to "optimize" the service. I clicked the link and installed the optimizer. I really wanted this gadget to work. And I really wanted to love it. We had just sold our home and were getting ready to move into a rental which actually costs more than our mortgage, but it is temporary until we move to Colorado, hopefully this year. Being able to cut out a phone line and use this in order to save a few bucks every month was what we were hoping for. Subsequent phone calls behaved as if I were using my digital line. IT WORKS!!!

While this device has what some would call "cons", I think given all that you get out of the MagicJack far outweighs these cons. But for the record:

* Not all area codes are available yet. I could not get an 808 (Hawaii, where I live) area code. I settled for 720 (which is Denver). There is no drawback for me to have a Denver area code, but only for my friends in Hawaii who may call me from their landline, as it will be a long distance call for them. However, if they use their cell phone, they won't pay additional to call me.

* I couldn't keep my existing phone number. Number portability will be available in the future for MagicJack subscribers, but not just yet.

That's about all I can come up with for cons, aside from the fact that if your electricity or internet is out, you can't use your phone. I deal with the same issues using phone service through the cable company.

MagicJack subscribers enjoy the following free services: Call Waiting, Caller ID, Call Forwarding and Directory Assistance as well as free Voicemail (I have to pay an additional fee for voicemail through my cable company).

I currently have my MagicJack installed on my laptop, but it can be installed and used on any computer we own. Highly recommended!

Politically Correct Santa

With the 2007 holiday season behind us (it's officially over in this house - the tree and decorations were taken down and packed away yesterday), my thoughts turned to something I'd read about before Christmas. A company with branches in Australia and the US which supplies Santas to department stores decided their Santas should no longer say "Ho Ho Ho!" because it is the same as the African American vernacular for prostitutes or whores. It is offensive and derogatory to women. Which women is it derogatory to? Street walkers? I'm sure they've been called worse, but probably not by Santa.

The Santas were expected to replace their "invective" with the phrase Ha, Ha, Ha! GIVE ME A BREAK. How far are we going to carry this political correctness crap? Why do we even use the term political correctness? Something is either derogatory and tasteless or it's not. In my mind's eye, referring to something as Politically Incorrect suggests it's not really OFFENSIVE, rather something that we should keep in check.

Don Imus' comment about "nappy-headed hos" was derogatory. Can we say he is politically incorrect? Sure, if you want to be nice about it, otherwise say it like it is - he's a pig. Santa chortling Ho, Ho, Ho! is neither politically incorrect nor derogatory, and if you think it is, get over yourself.

Well-executed censorship is something I don't have a problem with. For example, I appreciate being able to block tv programming that is not suitable for my child. I appreciate the 7-second soundbite which allows for offensive words my child doesn't need to hear on tv to be bleeped. But telling Santa he can no longer say Ho, Ho, Ho! is just going TOO far.

What kind of a mind comes up with the idea that Santa saying Ho, Ho, Ho is derogatory? How much free time would you need to come up with such a distorted assessment of how that phrase *could* be interpreted? More importantly, what ever are we going to do with all the Chinese people whose last name is .... HO!!!

Me and my Chumby

For my birthday this year, my husband Dan bought me a Chumby. If you’ve never heard of a Chumby, it’s because they are new…just started shipping to people who signed up via email about 6 months ago to buy one.

So, what’s a Chumby? It’s a little device (computer) that connects wirelessly to the internet and runs small applications called Widgets. At first glance, I thought it was a GPS (and was a little disappointed that my husband would buy me a GPS since we already have a Garmin and he has GPS for his Nokia Tablet). When Dan explained the features of the Chumby to me, I wasn’t quite sure how or why I would need one….and I immediately gathered that this might well have been something Dan wanted for himself.

Find out more about it by going to www.chumby.com

I’ll give you the nutshell of it here. First of, if you don’t have a wireless network available, your Chumby won’t connect to the Internet. Secondly in order to configure the Chumby, you must have a computer with internet access, as the Chumby is configured through their website. It is motion sensitive (which is pretty neat, although I’ve not yet used anything that required that feature) and also receives user input through a touchscreen.

WIDGETS: there are tons of widgets available on the website. If you are not faint-hearted, they have instructions on how to hack the Chumby and also create your own Widgets. I have no doubt that Dan is going to attempt one or the other (knowing him, probably both).

CHANNELS: Channels serve as categories (think “folders”) which store the Widgets. The Chumby is initially configured with a Default channel. If you don’t care about organization, you can just dump all your widgets in there. Being somewhat anal retentive, I felt compelled to create different channels, one for News, one for Games, one for Webcams … you get the idea.

Each widget can be configured to display for a certain length of time, according to your preferences. For instance, I have two news RSS feeds in my NEWS channel, each set to display for about 30 seconds. So, if I set my Chumby to my news channel, it will cycle through the two news widgets, displaying each for 30 seconds at a time. Dan says you can also lock a widget so it is the only one that displays in the channel.

WHAT’S ON MY CHUMBY:
I managed to incorporate some neat stuff into my Chumby. The really cool thing about it is that you don’t actually store the widgets on the Chumby – they actually run from Chumby.com’s website. So there are no storage limits on widgets.

I have newsfeeds, weather reports, games, social networking (Twitter) and Webcams.

The newsfeeds are from my local newspaper and CNN.com. Weather forecasts are from NOAA. I have two games – one a space type game, the other a Halloween game (like Whack a Mole) and a third widget which is not really a game, but a weird little monster called Raa! If you poke him with your finger, he opens his mouth and lets out a loud RAA! It’s so weird you can’t help but laugh at it.

The webcams are pretty much on display on my Chumby all the time because our son loves to look at them. The three webcams I selected are all located in San Diego, CA. Two are at the San Diego Zoo: the Polar Bear Cam and the Panda Cam. Those two cams are a lot of fun because the polar bears and pandas are always up to something. (Right now, we can see a Panda sound asleep). I’m still out on the Shamu Cam, located in the Killer Whale tank at Sea World. To be honest, the only whale I ever see is the one with the droopy dorsal fin and curled up tail…and what we see looks like looped footage – never changes, day or night, at least not as far as I can tell.

Being that you can only run one channel at a time, if you have several channels set up like I do, you have to manually select which one you want to be “on”. I wouldn’t necessarily want to put everything into a single channel because with an array of 12 Widgets, I may want to see only certain ones when I use the Chumby. If I want to see news feeds, I wouldn’t want to have to cycle through all the Widgets, so that’s why news is in its own channel.

Am I glad Dan bought me one for my birthday? YES! It’s a neat little gadget to have. And while it probably won’t be in great demand before Christmas (because it’s brand new), I have a feeling that this will be one of the “cooler” toys in the near future.

Am I worried about Dan “borrowing” it? No, not for now. His workplace doesn’t have a wireless network. hehehe