Life on the Big Island

July 30, 2008 by admin.

UPDATING THE BLOG from our lanai!
Watch live video from Family Cam on Justin.tv
(Internet connection is so-so here…if picture freezes hit the refresh button)

After landing here in Kona it was nice to see that nothing has changed at the airport. The last time we were here in 2005, there was alot of talk about building a modern terminal with an enclosed air conditioned building and actual jetways. The talk back then was that the airport was out of compliance with some sort of post 9-11 BS rule regarding security. But it never happened. The Big Island is still the simple, uncrowded place that I remember from a couple of years ago as well as when I was kid and hopefully my future home away from home.

After we all picked up our rental vehicles, we headed out to Costco to pick up some groceries before going to the house. While there we ran into some of Paolo’s relatives also doing there groceries. Since we were starving, we also couldn’t resist the pizza and hot dogs at the snack bar. It really hit the spot.

Next we drove about 30 minutes north to Mauna Lani where we will be staying for the next 7 days. We arrived at a nice gated community and located our beautiful temporary home. There’s plenty of room here for the nine of us, so this should be a fun week.

jm
The Editor

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ALOHA!!!!

July 30, 2008 by admin.

Hey fans! We arrived a couple of hours ago here in Kona. The weather is warm, humid and overcast…I guess tropical would be the best way to describe it. While we’re getting settled here at the house, I thought I’d set up the webcam so you can get a taste of what I’m talking about. I’ll update you soon on what’s happening here. But be advised…my internet connection is limited here.
Watch live video from Family Cam on Justin.tv
LIVE from our lanai!

jm
The Editor

Posted in Check it out, Family Events | Print | No Comments »

AS.com Packing for Hawaii, Take 4

July 28, 2008 by admin.

Well, we leave this week for Kona, which will mark the 4th important wedding in Hawaii in the last 5 years. And, there are still single family members so this may not be the last. I’ll try to keep the blog up and running as best as I can while I’m there. But, I don’t think it will be as hard to find time on the Big Island as it was on Waikiki. We’re renting a house this time, so it won’t take as long to do things now. When you’re staying in a big high rise hotel there’s just a lot of walking to get something to eat or to get to your car and it seems like you’re hardly ever in your room.

My next report will be from Hawaii late Wednesday night and I’ll also have the webcam up from time to time broadcasting live video from our “Real World” house. With 9 of us in one house, the broadcast might be interesting. So check back often.

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The Worry Warrior

The Warriors probably only have one major signing left in them and that’s for Andris Biedrins. Once the W’s secure him and you read down that 2008-2009 roster it kinda brings back memories of those playoff drought years with all the decent but non-Allstar caliber players. The only bright side to what we have left is Nellie ball and his “run and gun” high flying offense. With such a young team, if Nelson can expand his regular game rotations to 10 players instead of 7 or 8, he could avoid a 4th quarter energy drop. When Baron Davis was on the team, his skill and leadership was all the team needed to maintain 4 quarter intensity. But now, that motivation is gonna have to come from the strength on the bench and Nellie.

Who is the leader of this team? I understand that Monta is the now the “face” of the franchise, but anything more than that might be putting too much pressure on him. He is a soft spoken player who expresses himself best when the ball is in his hands and he’s driving to the hoop.

The Warriors: All Monta, All The Time

I think the true leader now is Jackson. He has managed to repair his reputation here in the Bay Area and hopefully without B.D. by his side he can continue to keep his personal life trouble free and his basketball life intense.

I’m also hoping that Belinelli comes through as advertised when he was drafted. He was a stud in Europe, but his confidence has suffered here primarily due to him riding the bench for most if not all of last year.

We are going to need extraordinary seasons from most everyone in order to make up for the loss of Baron. This is gonna be an extremley tough season in the west…tougher than last year if you can believe that. I see Portland and the Clippers dancing around the 8th spot with us and Denver. I would add the Sonics to the hunt because of Durant and his phenominal play alone, but I’m just not sure how the Sonics as a whole will take to moving to Oklahoma City yet. It should be a positive experience eventually though.

UPDATE
According to SFGate.com, Andris arrived back in the Bay Area last night and is expected to sign a deal with the Warriors worth about $63 million for 6 years.
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Webcast Schedule
Date: Sunday, August 3rd, 2008.
Time: 3:45pm Hawaii Time/6:45pm PST (California and British Columbia)
If you’re watching from the Philippines, the Webcast will be on Monday, August 4th at 9:45am because of the time difference.
Watch live video from Family Cam on Justin.tv
Interactive Webcast
While you’re watching, is there something you wanna see? No problem. Send me a text of what or who you want to see and I’ll take care of the request. Don’t have my number? Then just text a guest that you know and have them relay your message to me.

jm
The Editor

Posted in Family Events | Print | No Comments »

E Komo Mai (Welcome)

July 25, 2008 by admin.

As we reach the end of another week, I want to take this opportunity to welcome members of Paolo’s extended family in the Philippines who have just learned about AS.com. This site was created by Gabe who then gave me the “keys” to keep it running from day to day, while other family and friends occasionally post their reports as they feel the need. Our main purpose is to document (and I use that word loosely) the “goings on” and the “happenings” of our family and friends, as well as Bay Area current events. I hope you all enjoy next weeks Wedding Webcast, the technology has improved somewhat since we tried it last year with Elaine and Gabe’s Wedding on Oahu and I’ll be testing new equipment this week to see what will put out the best picture to the site. Until then, feel free to explore our pages to find out what kind of family Paolo is marrying into and what you all will also be members of come August 3rd.

Jay M.
Membership #1
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Wedding Webcast News
Watch live video from Family Cam on Justin.tv
I’ve been able to figure out some cool new tools to make the webcast more interesting, but since Gabe will not be making the trip to Hawaii it may be difficult to implement smoothly by myself. At the moment, I’m really struggling with whether I should place a “Chat Session” window next to the LIVE video feed window. On one hand, I think it would be awesome for our “virtual guests” to be able to talk to one another via Chat, but on the other hand, since our site is open to the public, you will also have to put up with rude and obscene comments from strangers. Anyways, if you have an opinion about it one way or another let me know, but for now, there will be no Chat added to the Webcast.
Interactive Webcast
While you’re watching, is there something you wanna see? No problem. Send me a text of what or who you want to see and I’ll take care of the request. Don’t have my number? Then just text a guest that you know or even Carol and Paolo and have them relay your message to me.
Webcast Schedule
Date: Sunday, August 3rd, 2008.
Time: 3:45pm Hawaii Time/6:45pm PST (California and British Columbia)
If you’re watching from the Philippines, the Webcast will be on Monday, August 4th at 9:45am because of the time difference.
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The Worry Warrior

They’re Baaaaaaaaaaackk
It’s a done deal folks, Monta and Kelenna will be back next year! Monta signed his new multi-year, multi-million dollar deal today and the Warriors matched the offer Azibuike received from the Clippers. Now it’s time to lock up Biedrins and sign him up.
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Sunday’s with Mel

Gabe sent Dad the passwords for the site earlier this week so he should be ready to go this weekend. Make sure to check back!

Have a great weekend everyone!

jm
The Editor

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1 Down 3 To Go

July 22, 2008 by admin.

Goodbye Sophia
Estelle Getty, best known for her role as Sophia on the Golden Girls, died today at her home in Southern California. She was 84-years-old. Christ, I thought she was already in her 80’s when the show was on TV in the late ’80s and ’90s. That’s some good acting and makeup. I could never understand why so many people loved that show. I just never got the humor in it or in it’s charachters. That said, I used to really like the Cosby Show during that time but now I wouldn’t be able to sit through five minutes of it. I suppose as time marches on, so do tastes in certain things. Unless you’re Estelle “Forever Eighty” Getty where time just stood still until today. Farewell Estelle…and who will be next, Dorothy, Rose or Blanche?

Okay this is a funny clip…(just pause or lower the volume on the justin.tv screen at the bottom of this post before playing the video.)

If you would like to attend the Golden Girls Marathon, A Tribute to Sophia, contact GG Super Fans, Elaine(President) and Ethel(member), and they will provide you with the date, time and location.
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The Worry Warrior

Mullin Makes a Move

The Dubs made a move today and picked up Marcus Williams, a 2nd year, point guard from the Nets for a couple of draft picks. I have no idea how to feel about this because I don’t know much if anything about this guy. The scouting report on him is that he is physically large, a good ball handler, and strong enough to drive to the hoop amongst the “trees”. I’m sure Ethel will hate this guy because he’s got too many tattoos.

And from what I’ve read about his college days, it looks like the Warriors are gonna need to attach doors and pad locks to the outside of their locker/dressing area. He was caught selling laptops stolen from the dorms at UCONN.
Barnes Signs
It’s official, Matt Barnes is a Sun. He signed a one year contract with them today. You know whats funny, he only played here 2 years, was so-so last year, and will probably get a nice cheer and possibly a standing ovation when he comes back here with the Suns. Then there’s Boom Dizzle, he was here three and half years, was the best player the Warriors have had in decades, and he’ll come back here with the Clips and most likely will get booed. Sorry B.D., I won’t boo you, but I’m still disapointed you left and I won’t shush people wanting to jeer you.
Bookey Watch
Azibuike is still a Warrior for another 3 days…just waiting to see what happens Friday. I say we keep him.
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Justin.tv Reaches Milestone
Watch live video from Family Cam on Justin.tv
I just received information from Gabe who just read a report on TechCrunch.com that said Justin.tv now has 1 million registered users. That’s an incredible figure considering you don’t need to register to the site to view the videos. Also, according to Google Trends, Justin.tv is the leading Live Streaming Site, ahead of Ustream, Stickam, and Mogulus. This was measured by the rate of unique visitors it received over the past four months. Congratulations to Justin and everyone there at Justin.tv.
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Hawaii Here We Come

jm
The Editor

Posted in Check it out | Print | 6 Comments »

Paolo and Caroline’s Wedding Webcast

July 21, 2008 by admin.

Watch live video from Family Cam on Justin.tv

****Special Note****
Our broadcast will begin at 3:45pm, Sunday, August 3rd, Hawaii time.
If you’re watching us from California and Vancouver B.C., that’s 6:45pm.
And if you’re watching us from the Philippines that’s Monday, August 4th at 9:45am.
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The Worry Warrior

The Dubs are on the clock and until the end of Friday to decide what they are gonna do with fan favorite, Kelenna Azibuike. And as usual, the Warriors will wait the maximum amount of time in order to tie up Clippers money for the full 7 days. I haven’t heard what the Clips have offered him but it’s suggested to be around $3 million per year for the next 2 years with an option on the 3rd year. That’s a pretty nice raise for Kelenna who made the league minimum last season of $687,456.
Sizzlin’ Summer
Congrats to the Warrior rookies who almost went undefeated in the Las Vegas Summer League, if it wasn’t for a close 4 point game against the Kings that didn’t go their way at the end. They finished with a record of 4 and 1, along with the Nuggets and the Bucks. The Dubs first round pick, Anthony Randolph did well scoring 30 points in Game 1. Marco Belinelli also found his shot and is looking good. And in case you’re wondering, the worst team in Vegas was the Cavaliers who finished 0 and 5. By the way, the Clips and Lakers finished in the lower half of the pack.
Buh Bye Barnes?
Rusty Simmons, the temporary Warrior beat writer for SFGate.com, came up with a nice scoop yesterday. He got information that the Suns are very interested in Matt Barnes and are trying to work something out with his agent. This is good news for Matty who lost his mother at the beginning of last season and his play never seemed to recover from it. He was lucky to make the 2006-2007 Warrior team that ended up upsetting the Mavs in the first round of the playoffs and he ended up being an important role player on that team. All of us here at AS.com wish him well wherever he ends up.
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Retraction
In previous editions of AS.com the start time for Paolo and Caroline’s Wedding was incorrectly stated as 3pm, Hawaii time (6pm PST). The correct start time (which is already stated correctly above) is 4pm, Hawaii time (7pm PST.) Please make a note of the change and sorry for any inconvience this may have caused. And just another reminder, the Wedding Webcast will begin 15 minutes before the start of the ceremony.

jm
The Editor

Posted in Family Events | Print | No Comments »

TGIF

July 18, 2008 by admin.

American Idol News

Well American Idol came and went. It was a 24 hour a day, 3 day operation that went as smooth as I have ever seen any event go down at the Cow Palace. The producers and their in-house security detail should really be commended for their professionalism. Each member of the staff knows whats expected of them and they just go out and get the job done. Idol is truly a fine tuned machine. They’ll be back in The City in September for the next round of auditions with Paula, Randy and Simon.
Overheard at Idol…
“After this we (city) could probably put our jackets away.” Said one producer to another who noticed the last 3 days here have been a little on the “cool” side. The next stops are Louisville, Ky, Phoenix, Az, Salt Lake City, Ut, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Kansas City, Mo, Jacksonville, Fl, and East Rutherford, N.J.

More Idol news later…
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The Worry Warrior

Still waiting for the Laker’s next move. According to SFGate.com, since the Laker’s didn’t get a copy of the Warriors’ offer sheet until last Friday, the deadline is actually this Friday (today). The suspense is killing me. Well maybe I’m overstating it a little a bit…it’s just Turiaf.
Then to make matters even more complicated, the most hated NBA team at the moment, according to Bay Area fans, the Clippers, have signed Azubuike to an offer sheet and now the Warriors are on the clock to match it within 7 days. I think this is a no brainer Mullie, sign his ass back.
***UPDATE***
The Lakers will not match the Warriors offer…Welcome to the Bay Area Ronny Turiaf!
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The 2nd Annual AS.com ATV Adventure

Next Friday, July 25th, is the deadline to pay for the 15 mile ATV trip in Hawaii on August 4th. For more details, check your email.

jm
The Editor

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