Hearst Castle, La Cuesta Encantada

Well folks it’s Thursday and the start of my weekend. I am going to treat myself to a few well deserved days off and take a trip up the California coast in my Corvette to visit Hearst Castle. I have never been there but from what I hear the tapestries, art art and building structures are truely magnificent and a must see. Truthfully it’s the mediterranean/gothic look and feel of the castle that sucked me into going; I think all of the lion statues and overall mediterranean motif really cast Hearst Castle in its own dimension. When I return I will try to post some behind the scenes pictures of Hearst Castle, that is if I remember to take my camera.

U.S. forces killed on Memorial Day

We normally shy away from posting out political viewpoints on the Web, but its time for us to pull out of these places and start focusing on what needs to be cleaned up in our backyards.

To be honest I have no idea why we are even in some of these countries, isn't that something the UN should be handling? Regardless, when you see type saying "112 slain" its time to make some changes. Read more at msnbc

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the day of observance to honor those who died during each of the wars in which the United States fought.

MIKE, WE MISS YOU!

Thank you to all of the soldiers who died for our country. Taps is played at funerals to let the heavens know that a hero is coming.

Dont forget the men and women that are currently serving our country, hook em up with some goodies, we do.

Give Aloha for Fathers Day

Ok folks, Fathers Day is just around the corner. Yep it’s that magical time of the year when you try to suck up to your dad by getting him a gift. Being a guy I will assure you that it has a much different meaning then Mothers Day, though I am still not quite sure what it means the moms on that particular day. But I do know that you will be quite sorry if you forget.

Men on the other hand are fairly simple, especially when it comes to receiving gifts, because Fathers Day is the one time of the year that we can actually get a gift that we want without any repercussions.

Dad has probably been eyeing something cool for quite some time now (and no, not the sexy neighbor girl). But if you confront dad and ask him why he don’t just go out and buy it the poor guy will probably tell you that the misses won’t allow it.

But wait, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Hopefully all you boys and girls remembered to hook mom up with a gift for Mothers Day, so we can make the assumption that her defenses are probably at a all time low. Fathers Day could very well be the only day that you can fix dad up with something he really wants, of course you need to probe dads mind for the answers. Ha ha good luck! Please allow us to help you with that by giving you some insight on some gift ideas for Dad.

Tools: Yes tools still continue to excite us, dad doesn’t get a lot of recognition until something gets broken around the house and dad has to save the day by fixing it himself. How about replacing the tools you constantly lose or fail to return in a usable condition? Maybe think about getting him a good rechargeable flashlight and one of those 101 piece tool kits from Home Depot?

Clothes: Now here is where you can score extra brownie points. Most women do all of the shopping in the household which includes dads clothing. Shure we wear them with a smile, but I assure you there is a difference of opinion on what looks good and what don’t. But unless dad wants to do his own shopping, he proclaim that it all looks great and he will wear it. But in reality dad wants a car shirt so he can reminisce about the days gone by, back before he met your mom and when he had things.

Food: Any type of food will do as long as you don’t make dad pay for it and mom did not cook it. How about a grip of Chinese food carryout (let dad eat in front of the TV) or if you are by a casino, drive him to the buffet and let him pig out (take your car and burn your gas). Make it even better by giving him $50 of your own money to blow on the slots.

Well there you go, my top picks for Fathers Day 2007

Delete links to Maui Shirts

Ok I am simply floored, I was doing some phrase research on Google the other day and I ran across one of the most horrifying Blogs I have ever seen. The Blog states that it is authored Mickey Steinborn, who also indicates that he is the owner of Maui Shirts. This Blog is full of ramblings and rude comments about his customers. Now I don’t care one bit what people do in their day to day adventures, but you should never bite the hand that feeds you by posting negative comments about your customers on the Web.

In regards to my title, when you link to a site you are giving it an endorsement and guilty by association if the recipients are doing people wrong. But you can be the judge, at the end of this post I will provide you with the address of this site, and yes, I ask that you consider removing any links you may have to his Maui Shirts dot com site.

Below are samplings from the Blog, let it be known that we do not condone nor endorse anything that Mickey Steinborn has to say.

Mickey Steinborn: “They send me nasty email about my poor customer service. They point their finger at me. They shout with bold letters and complain that my customer service is poor. They go out of their way to leave negative feedback in the public forum. The say I communicate poorly. Well, when I run up a goof like this, I simply block their IP address, place their email in the spam blocker and get on with life and real people. I have tried to deal with these negative people. I try to reason with them. It’s simply a waste of my time. They are bent on screwing with me. I will not deal with people who want to bring me down to their level of incompetence.”

DoOD quit spending your time writing in your hateful comments in your blog and take a communications class at your local college.

Mickey Steinborn: “Vindictive Fat Lady with a hair ball stuck in her brain”

Ok that title alone clearly demonstrates that this post is full of hate aimed at plus sized people, a clear sign that some people should not interact with others, ever.

Mickey Steinborn: “Then there’s the sad, misguided customer from Amazon.com who is a 2X. I wonder if she is ugly too? Most big people are kind and friendly. Not this one. She didn’t read the size chart.”

Hmmm were those words supposed to attract more customers?

Mickey Steinborn: “I suggest a diet or date with Richard Simmons for this fat lady before she sings. She has the word kitten in her email address. The only thing kitten about this double X size of a woman is the hair ball she swallowed when she was younger. What an attitude. Vindictive, vicious and just plain stupid. She says my exchange policy is rigid and ridiculous”

Wow, if I took a wild guess I would say that this guy intentionally flamed and insulted this poor customer, and on the Web of all places. We love all sizes of people!

Why someone would feel so compelled to say such bad things about people is probably going to remain a mystery. But when people cross the thresholds of decency and write heresies about their very own customers and then allow it to propagate the Internet, something needs to be said.

Myself, I do my part to help customers as well as business owners, even competitors. A business owner with integrity would never post stuff like that about customers, but it’s clear that integrity is not included in everyone’s DNA. If your talking smack about your customers you should probably redeem yourself as quick as you can, at the very least you owe your customers a sincere and formal apology.

You may find these quoted excerpts at [blog dot mauishirts dot com]

Thanks for reading along and remember to say something nice about your customers! In turn they will say something nice about you!

Wave Shoppe Hawaiian Shirts customer: “We just got our shipment. Thank you so much for your professionalism you make shopping the internet a Blessing Thank you, Ted W.”

Origins of the Hawaiian Shirt

The Palaka shirt’s fascinating beginnings, a Hawaiian staple using a unique material named Tapa.

Think of Hawaii and the first thing that comes to mind is the Hawaiian shirt. This well known garment is the Palaka shirt and has a long history. Little has changed throughout time including the material used. One cliché that comes to mind is ‘styles always come back’, for this shirt style has never gone out. One wouldn’t think of trees being used to make clothing, but for centuries it has been and still is used.

Used for ceremonial and functional use, the Tapa cloth is also found used for the ever popular Palaka shirts as well as wall tapestries in many Hawaiian homes. The Palaka shirt that uses this unusual material has an interesting story in itself. Coming from other countries in Asia such as China and Japan, the Hawaiian field laborers found in their hands shirts with tails. To help protect them from the hot sun the workers improved the shirts for more practical use by taking off the tails and making them of light loose fitting material instead of the rich embroidered silks they were originally made in.

These now traditional Palaka shirts are sometimes seen with the darker print on the inside showing the faded patterns on the outside. It appears the shirt is worn the wrong way, but this is really the way they were created to show the muted pattern. Usually found in traditional basic colors such as black or brown, but are also made in a multitude of colors and fabrics. Tapa fabric is not a very sturdy fabric and tends to be used more for the higher ceremonial purpose and special occasion. It is seen sometimes worn by government officials, chiefs and in weddings.

This material can be found in about every home usually on shirts, decorative quilts or wall ornaments. Tapa’s that are given by a chief or royal family holds more value and most often time will be displayed in the home. Because the process is completely made of and with natural sources it is friendlier to the environment. Even the brushes used to apply the natural dyes and paints are made from sticks with frayed ends. Simplistic and beautiful from a culture that respects nature and tradition in an ever changing modern world it’s good to know that with tradition the old customs of Hawaii still find a place in today’s society. Read the entire article on Origins of the Hawaiian Shirt.

Pets in Paradise

Meet Buddy and Cujo, our highly dysfunctional house pets. Now before you start to question how such cute looking animals could ever become dysfunctional, I ask that you take a moment to get to know them. Let’s start with Buddy the cocker spaniel, whose name alone should be a good indicator. The story with Buddy is that he hails from the south, though stories of trailer park dwelling can not be confirmed.

Legend has it that he lived with some drunken hillbilly that hit him a lot which eventually lead to Buddy being tossed from a pickup truck and left to fend for himself.

When I first met Buddy it was apparent that he assimilated his dig quite well, I remember the house having a ball hitch on it. So eventually Buddy moved in with me in this somewhat fancy town home community, to him it must have been a scene straight out of Beverly Hillbillies, he was in dog paradise. Now I admire Buddy, he treats all things equal, those BMWs and manicured bushes and plants were all treated the same, clearly there is no shame in his game.

So now that we have briefly touched on the genesis and evolution of Buddy, lets all meet Cujo, our 4 year old Pomeranian. Now here is a dog that’s a complete head case, we paid money for Cujo at one of those adopt a pet fairs in Balboa Park. When we adopted her we were told that its name was cookie and that it must have escaped from someone’s house. So ok, it would fit in the C4 Corvette we had back then, plus it was small enough to take for car rides so the adoption papers were signed.

OMG what a terror, what they failed to tell us is that it had not ever developed any social skills; personally I think someone tossed it out the door and the running away part was just a cruel trick. Nonetheless Peggy liked it and renamed it precious (we all know how that story ends) but amazingly after a few short weeks Cujo and Buddy learned to tolerate each other, like vinegar and oil. Around our house it’s pretty much nonstop mayhem with these dogs, Cujos acts of defiance and Buddys evil, but well executed trailer park antics.

Man don’t even make me tell you about the nerve racking snoring that these dogs subject me to at night. But this is what they live for, when they are not bothering each other they can be found lounging on their backs on the couch or trying to coheres me into giving them some of those expensive dog treats. They may well be pets in paradise, but one day I will get the last laugh. Hmm maybe I need a 3rd dog!