Me and Brad arm-wresting near Pololu Valley
I was on the Big Island in Hawaii for 10 days doing all the things you would expect a person to do in Hawaii. Until the last night when Brad took us to a thug bar that had pool and Karaoke. It was mostly filled with big guys that were tattooed, pierced, and all related. Cousins, brothers, brother in laws, etc. There was also the pool Queen, a woman with long gray hair, a flower in her ear, and wearing a pool glove. Everyone had their own stick. This place was serious. And very local. All of them were either biological family or old friends. Some of them had never left the Island from birth.
Here's the scene: Brad swaggers in, places his quarters down and we all get stared at in silence. It was the first time in many years I walked into a bar and was actually concerned for my safety. One of the locals snarled "Who is this guy?" and that's when I got a little fidgety. Soon enough Brad kicks the local's ass in pool. He beat the Queen!) which has them antsy, but then Brad takes a break and busts out singing Billy Joel's Just the Way You Are in Karaoke! (No wonder his nickname is Badass.) One of the local thugs named Tino (short for Santino) decides to battle Brad in Karaoke (the Karaoke is scored by a machine on accuracy). Apparently these thug-guys never sing (the bartender told me it was the first time she has seen it happen) so this ruckus becomes something of novelty for the locals. Tino sings a sexy-cowboy-meets-poolshark version of Achey Breakey Heart. He starts the songs saying, "This is how the locals do it!" By the end of the song everyone was whistling and hootin' and hollering and the vibe calmed.
I even got out of my chair to sing Blondie (Heart of Glass), Billy Joel (You May Be Right), and Supertramp (The Logical Song.) I tied my score with Tino! But Brad ultimately beat us all. The night ended with my group and the locals singing songs, drinking and laughing. They all hugged us as we left. Oddly, it was one of my favorite nights on the Island. Thanks Brad!
My vacation was also filled with kayaking through the Captain Cook Bay (did you know they ate his body after they killed him?) Lots of snorkeling, hiking, four-wheel driving, hula-hooping, and dancing. But mostly I was laying around resting in the sun.
And lets not forget about the gay-fever that erupted when Obama announced support for gay marriage. At first I scratched my head thinking, "Are we still talking about that?" I thought we were evolving. Shouldn't gay-anything be okay already? Then everyone started to criticize Obama for "using it to get votes," but when you really think about it it takes real balls for a man in his position to announce to the world that he is in support of one of the most controversial civil rights subjects in history. Anything that makes the Pope shudder is fine by me.
Brad and Gina aka: sexy happy lovebirds.
Alyssa and I smiling smiling smiling...
A friend's living room in the jungle near Pahoa
Much of what I did for ten days included just this.
Green Sands Beach (Near South Point)
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