Aloha Everyone!
So it’s actually Friday today. I can’t remember the last time I sent out an Aloha Friday on a Friday.
Alright, let’s dig right in… It’s baseball season. Cubs are 5-3 as of right now, but should continue to improve on that record today versus the pirates. Even without Prior and Wood the Cubs are looking pretty good. Though what’s up with Carlos Zambrano? Yikes, he’s having a rough start. Ah, but don’t you worry, he’s my boy and he’ll come around just fine. I really like the new lineup. Juan Pierre and Jacque Jones are good additions to the lineup and I’m really liking Matt Murton. I think he could be a great player to watch.
There are going to be a lot of good teams to watch out for this year, I think. Especially in the NL Central, which is I think the toughest division in the National League. Of course the Cards are going to be tough as they are every year (though pull out the brooms, how ’bout that sweep!!!) and Cincy always plays us tough. And that team can score some runs. They’ll be a solid team if everyone stays healthy. But the team I’m worried most about is the Brewers. Yep, I said it. They’re not the Brew Crew of old, they are a new team with a LOT of talent. I said it late last year too, watch out for the Brewers this year. I think they could take the top spot in the Central when it’s all said and done. That would leave the Cubs vying for a wildcard. Along with the Cards and maybe the Braves, Phillies, Nationals, Giants, etc. Yea, you noticed I didn’t mention the Mets. I think they could win their division. End the Braves 14 season run. It could happen. I probably shouldn’t pick against conventional wisdom, but their are a lot of good teams in the East too. This is going to be a great year for baseball…
One other note I wanted to make real quick, I told ya so. All of you Sox fans that were bitching about getting rid of Frank Thomas… where you at now? And what did I tell you about Jim Thome? He’s the man.
So all this talk about baseball is leading me to a grand inquiry… I’m looking for someone who’s so excited about this season, loves the game and wants to partake in one of the greatest adventures of their lives… with me….
Can you take off two months this summer? Or work from the road? If so, why not help me plan a two month odyssey to see a game at every ballpark in MLB. Think of the adventure a road trip like this would be. Imagine framing a ticket stub from every ballpark, hot dogs, sunny weather, baseball. Oh, what a journey. Can you handle it? Give me a shout… I’d like to do it. I don’t know how realistic it is, and it would be tough to do on my own, but if any of you want to make the trip with me, yea, that would be one hell of an adventure…
Alright, coming out of la la land now…
I’m working on a new website design for Volcano Winery. They’re a vineyard on the Big Island of Hawai’i. I redesigned all their labels, advertising and apparel, and am now onto their website. It’s coming along great. Should be finished next week sometime. I also did some “studio” photography of their new wine labels. They asked how much I would charge and I said “just make sure the bottles are full when you send them over, and there’s no charge..” I didn’t want to charge for studio photography, because, well… I don’t have a studio and have no real idea of what I’m doing… Thanks for the help with setting that up, Josh… I think you’ll get a kick out of the pictures I took of the “studio.”
Saturday was my birthday. Thanks for the emails and cards! We had our first Outrigger Canoe Race that day and did pretty well. Both Betsy and I raced in a couple different events. Betsy raced the Novice Women’s and the Novice Mixed. I raced the Novice Men’s and in the same boat with her on the Novice Mixed. I also somehow got put on a crew for the Experienced Mixed team. Betsy led her Novice Women’s team to a first place finish. She sat in the first seat and set the pace for the rest of the team. She did great! I led my Novice Men’s and Novice Mixed team to first place finishes as well, sitting in the first seat and setting the pace. The Experienced race was a little more difficult. We had two heats, the first one we came in fourth, but we won the second one qualifying us for the finals. Unfortunately, we didn’t end up racing in the final event. But that’s OK. Together Betsy and I took home four gold medals. Yea, we kick ass!
The event took all day, and after it was all over we were beat. We had plans to go to the Four Seasons for dinner. Not that we could afford it, but we were lucky enough to win a contest for a T-shirt design for the Walk for all Hawai’i. I guess its some kind of charity event. They held a contest for a T-shirt design, winner getting dinner at the restaurant of their choice. So I entered. And won! We decided to have dinner at Pacific Grill where the steaks will run you $57. So all-in-all it was a pretty good birthday.
But it wasn’t over. On Sunday, Betsy kicked me out of the house for a few hours. My buddy Mike and his girlfriend Maria took me out to breakfast. When we got back Betsy had a surprise present waiting for me… A set of Golf Clubs! As you know, I’m a big fan of all sports and anything that keeps me active, and I love golf, though I’m absolutely terrible at it. Not only did she get me a set of clubs, but she booked a tee time for the four of us at a course out here in Maui! Another friend was already up there and waiting for us. How cool!
We played at the Waiehu Golf Club and before we even made it to the first green, we got asked to “Hurry it up” by one of the pros. So we skipped the rest of that whole and after losing several balls to the water on the next we decided to skip that one too. But the rest of the course was awesome! Right along the ocean, beautiful beach and mountain views. I was lucky my brother sent me some golf balls for my birthday because we went through dozens… literally. I felt bad for the groups behind us, but we had an excellent time. Now I want to go out again soon!
Well, I don’t really have anything else to tell you. I guess that’s about it for now. Have a great Easter and hit me back when you get a chance!
Aloha,
Michael
Some of my teammates in the Experienced Mixed group.
Novice Men’s paddling finals. That’s me in the first seat sporting my Cubs Visor, gotta represent…
Betsy and I did really well. We each took first place in two events. Hey and check out them killa rashguards… yep, I designed those too….
The winning design for the “Walk for all Hawai’i tee shirts. For those of you who don’t know the state of Hawai’i, the toes are a map of the islands. I didn’t mess up and put eight deformed toes on there….
The makeshift studio I setup in my house to shoot the new wine labels… How ghetto…
I shot them with a 400mm lens and though it looked pretty lame, the bottles came out looking alright… What do you think about them shnazzy labels.. eh?
