Dis should actually should be a Mumblin' Monday post but uh, let's just say I was in "recovery mode" and far from posting anything coherent.    

The past few nights on the news there were so many things locally that just seemed "wrong":

• State delaying tax refunds:   It still falls under the 90 day refund policy - just barely - but if they can "delay" da refund, can we "delay" our payments?
• Army "plans" to bring in super-ferry like military vessals:   So wat? Kama'aina can borrow? Or at least can copy da EIS?
• Kapolei Parkway opens:   Good for traffic, bad for students. Can you say "let's play keiki Frogger?"
• Brand spankin' new $700k command vehicle sits unused for years:   Heck, you can pay me half of dat at $350k and I'll be more than glad to do nothing for years.    
• Bars ask for smoking ban to be lifted for "bars only":   Why don't we just allow drinking and driving since obviously second hand smoke takes too long to kill innocent workahs and patrons?
• HPD doesn't want to deal wit tailgaters (#1 cause of accidents according to KITV - gotta see da video) stating their time and resources are better used for speeders:   Hmmm, so wat does da traffic division do before pau hana time gunning down speeders going to work from da West side to town near Aloha Stadium (hint hint) cause they surah aren't enforcing car pool violators or tailgaters obviously?
• Rail broke ground and is finally being built!:  Ok, so dis one not going happen but a person can dream right?

Personally, there are a few things I'd love to change or see get done:

• How's about anoddah prison or two? We can help stir up da economy wit jobs building and running da prison. How we going do dat I dunno but it surah would be nice to see a few habitual and violent criminals off da streets.
• Get students back to school:   If I had dis much "days off" back wen I was in school... I wouldn't have made my own "holidays".
• Homelessness:   Wat can be said or done about dat? It's a lose-lose cause those who want to "get rid" of it are called insensitive having no compassion and those who want to help are told to keep 'em in their backyard if they like help 'em...... lose-lose....... no can win.
• Wat if we had rail undahground going to da neighbor islands? We got rail AND a "SupahFerry"..........

A guy can wish can't he?

Wat do you want or wish to see happen in da 808? No scade fo' say - could be small could be big. No need be a law thing - it could something as simple as seeing Taco Bell pricing da same hea as da mainland.       Which by da way have you noticed dat it's no longah da "just cause we in Hawai'i get 10 cents premium" on fast food any more? We got jacked and now paying anywea between 20 and 50 cents more!

Wassap Wit Dat!

You tinking outside da box or wat?

I no really kea cause da 49ers aren't in da big game.... sadly haven't been since 1994.     It's been a long 16 years. Wow, it's been really long, I'm even more sad.

Super Bowl Sunday is like no oddah and da Monday following should definitely be declared a national holiday! From pah-tay's at home or at a bar, depending wea you at, you could be spending anywea between four hours or more cause it gets pretty nutz wen you're having a good time. For us, Super Bowl Sunday is like a New Year's tradition - all my friends come ovah with choke food and we just grind da day/night away.

Wat are your plans for Supah Sunday? Anyone pah-tay up? Or do something else? Da roads should be fairly empty to drive most anywea if you do. Wat kine pah-tay foods are your favorite and/or must have? Do you cook or cater? We all love to eat so post your Super Bowl menu and pah-tay foods you plan to grind and or make.

Hea's a joke to kick start your FGF and I hope no one pulls dis MLC move at your pah-tay...........

I was in the coffee bar yesterday when I suddenly realized I desperately needed to fart.
The music was really, really  loud, so I timed my farts with the beat. 
After a couple of  songs, I started to feel better. I finished my coffee and noticed that  everybody was staring at me. 
 
Then I suddenly remembered that I was listening to my iPod.

Have a Happy Feel Good Friday everybodies and pah-tay safe!

Aftah taking one of da dogs out dis morning, I was putting on my work clothes for da day until Da Wife says,

"That shirt looks like a dress on you."

Wassap Wit Dat!

Ok, well it did.      But you see, da people who make clothes don't make it for Hawai'i people, it's for mainland people.

Don't get your panties in a bunch! It's because people in Hawai'i tend to be - on average - on da smaller range of clothes sizings in both males and females with smaller meaning we're shorter of course.

Take for instance me. If you saw me you immediately would have "assumed" I wore a medium to a large.

Au contraire mon frere.

I wear x-large in most cases and depending on who makes da shirt sometimes, and I stress sometimes, a large. Da problem? XL on da mainland means you're generally at least 5'8" and about 200.

Well..... I got da "about 200" part.    

Everyone dat has bought me shirts are always surprised wen I tell them I had to return da shirt for a larger size. I tell them I have "deceiving shoulders". It's actually because I've been involved in sports and weight training most of my life (I know I know my body doesn't look like it now       ) but my upper body is bigger than most people my "size".

Leslie from Island Tails was sooo sweet - wen is she nevah? - and gave me an Island Tails custom embroidered shirt for Christmas..... in a medium. Unfortunately I had to return it back to her (since it was custom) asking if it was supposed to be a baby-tee or some new spandex polo design.       She said I was da same size as Uncle Rodney.... right?

Uh, no.     I also probably got at least 50 pounds on him too.    

I got a few oddah shirts from some generous posters like anklebiters (wea da heck is he btw?) and needless to say my uncle is happy his wardrobe has expanded. NKHEA was totally surprised wen I told him, uh, I wasn't going to fit da shirt he got me wen we first met.    

Even Da Wife, wen we first was dating and I suppose she nevah see me, uh, "in beach clothes" (G rated ya know),  nevah even suspect dat I wear XL shirts. Now she trips out - and laughs her okole off - wen I try and put on da spandex baby-tees.

But therein lies da problem. While I wear XL "on top", da lower half of da shirts are 98% of da time hellah long! Unless I get all my shirts custom tailored it'll tend to be on da longer side. And then of course wen I gotta wear da "nice" shirts, no can even tuck in cause why? Makes my PANTS all poofy and bulky looking.

Say it with me now.........

No can win....... Wassap Wit Dat!

No even get me started on my basketball shorts and jerseys. Da buggahs are like gangstah mu'umu'u's on me!    

Have you evah been "mistaken" for a size you're not? Biggah than you are? Smaller than you are? Do you have sizing issues? Don't you feel "weird" getting da wrong size? Don't you feel even "weirderrrr" giving da wrong size?

So wat? You "808 size" or "mainland size?"

I for one certainly can't believe it but Wassap Wit Dat! turned TWO!     

You read right.

It's been two years since Wassap Wit Dat! began it's crazy journey and still going... for now. Well actually in true WWD! fashion, I'm a little more than two weeks late as da "official" birthdate was January 15th.          Da past year has been a whirlwind of WWD! moments growing, changing and even adding different categories within WWD! trying to keep it fresh and interesting for those who take da time to drop in and share their mana'o or just to say Wassap!

No one really cares or knows about da "birthday" (it is just a blog aftah all) but for every year dat passes, I'm kinda proud at how WWD! has survived and stuck around with da help of Kwonics, Lanceformers and who can forget da Lurkahs. Well, I guess we'll nevah know cause Lurkahs will be Lurkahs... right?    

Wat surprises me da most is dat people actually read dis stuff.      I mean, c'mon, I'm no way even near being a "competent" writer and nevah would have even considered writing anything other than a Google search... why you tink I went into accounting?     Honestly, I really wouldn't be hea if I nevah kept my big mouth shut. For those who know me or had a chance to met me know dat's almost an impossible feat.    

People always ask how I got started writing a blog.

*(borrowed from last year's anniversary blog)*

Well for one thing, I am not a writer - for those who have been reading can already conclude that. To tell you da truth, I barely passed English - obviously not my best subject -  hence the decision to work with numbers.

So why am I blogging for The Honolulu Advertiser?

Well it actually started off as just an observation. (You know how I "notice" things all da time)  As I was reading the paper one day, I noticed that the 'Island Life' section was dominated by women - barely a soul representing da kane except for Michael Tsai.

So I mentioned that to the Senior Vice President/Editor/Newsroom's admin assistant who I work with daily - btw, she's the blog host of Island Tails.

She then said she would mention that to the VP.

BL:     "Heh? Les, I'm still a rookie hea.... you like me get fired already?" 
LES:    "Don't be silly (one of her favorite lines). I'll bring it up and we'll see what he says."

Sooner than you know it I was asked if I wanted to write a blog.

BL:     "A blog? Wat da heck is dat? Plus, I no can write. You know I'm in..... Finance right?"
LES:  "He wants to see a sample of what you mean."

And that's how it all started.

I had to learn about the blog scene - along with some grammatical reviews - since it wasn't as big as it is today and self-teaching yourself new "non-financial" programs, as fun as it is, wasn't part of the Finance job description. Did I mention blogging would be out of love? And thus began a whole new adventure interacting with people who post online and off.

The WWD! hui began to grow, emails started trickling in, posts started getting larger, topics were heated at times - but civil, there were fun ones, Feel Good ones, food reviews, duds, games.... we pretty much ran da gamut didn't we?

It's a cliche I know but WWD! is only as good as the people make it and you guys make it GREAT! ......we got a pretty good thing going now don't we?

When I first started, I was hella intimidated though going against the "Big Boys" like Tsai, Cat and Wes who've spent years establishing themselves and while I'm nowhere near them I'd like to think I'm doing au'right fo' a local boy with nothing to do with writing.

There's so much more to say and you all know I'm a man of few words....       

MAHALOS TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU KWONICS, LANCEFORMERS AND LURKAHS for making Wassap Wit Dat! wat it is today..... well, it ain't squat but it's still good fun anyways.

Below is a short list of some WWD! favorites dat I picked out dis past year. Check 'em, no check 'em no mattah but you may be curious to see if wat you said back then is still wat you would have said today.

JANUARY: 

• Your 15 Seconds Is Up - Some pilau buggah dat needed to get put in his place
• Wat's Mines... Is Now Yours - If you've evah had dat sick feeling in da pit of your stomach
• Vegas Always Gets Ya - A "nightmarish" trip

FEBRUARY:

• MLC Asks WWD!     - Wat "fun" really is
• Every Dog Has Its Day - Two "dogs", same day

MARCH:

• Not Volleyball This Time - No shortage of drama at da baseball field
• OCD At Mickey D's - Surprised to see quite a few OCD posters as well
• Wat? No Can Handle? - Hawai'i tested... or not
• See Wat Hawaii's Missing - For those who missed da Pro Bowl dis year

APRIL:

• Man Way - There's the proper way... and then there's da man way
• A New Beginning - Suckahs!

MAY:

• Happy Mothers Day - Aren't Mom's da best?

JUNE:

• It Was Bound To Happen - Hot button topic

JULY: 

• Make Up Your Damn Mind - One of da few Triad Pah-tays.... but wit one wahine with biggah arms than me
• Wat Da Heck Are Blogs - Trying to explain a blog

AUGUST: 

• Wat Da *Bleep*! -  Two times in one year?
• Awww, Crap! - Literally  

SEPTEMBER:  

• Don't You Just Hate It Wen Dat Happens - Happens to everybody
• WWD! "New" Offerings - Kokua Needed - Still working on da dictionary

OCTOBER: 

• Waiting On The World To Change -  Unreals dis kine
• There's No Crying In Softball - Too funny actually
• Got Inked - Inaugural "808 Pride" post

NOVEMBER:

• High, Low... We Know Who You're Talking To - No need ESP wen using guy-dar

DECEMBER:  

• (Plenty) Travel Blogs - Quite a few from Seattle, Portland and Vegas

And for nostalgic sake, hea's da very first blog at WWD! - FORCED TO SHOP

And there it is in a nutshell, a year of WWD! moments and may WWD! in 2010 bring a little smile, laughter and/or joy into your life even if it's for a minute.

Any Lurkahs care to come out and play?     

You know how we roll at WWD! - wen we can kokua and share any tips, information... anything, we share without hesitation - it's called da Aloha Spirit. Some get more than oddahs, some no more - it's an "attitude" you cannot fake cause it comes from da heart.

I get two bits of "Aloha" I like share with you and best yet?....... They F to da R to da double E! FREE FREE FREE!

Da first not going happen till March but I'm surah more info will pop up again once it gets closer but I wanted to send out a huge Mahalo Nui Loa to Leslie and Sal Hernandez for bringing back a classic dat today's generation will hopefully get a chance to experience da drive-inn.

No, not da drive-thru...... drive-inn movies!  (Click hea' to read da article by Dan Nakaso)

The "new" location is set for Aloha Stadium aftah da swap meet closes up and I'm actually kinda excited about it. One of da catches about it though is dat da movies itself will be dated by a few months as they are not allowed to "compete" (per their licensing agreement) with current movies but who cares? It's more about da atmosphere and da freedom to actually go to da bathroom without stepping on toes right?    

I went to a few and it was fun to actually watch movies "outside". Plus I'm surah all you MLC'ers have some "fond" memories eh?    

I certainly hope you'll get a chance to go since it appears it'll only run for a month and then it's a "see if it's doable" kine of affair.

Da second, is something I hope many of you will take advantage of tomorrow and if not now, hopefully later. You may have heard about it already, you may have not and if you're able to change plans I certainly hope you can check out the USS Missouri on Saturday January 30th. (Click hea' to read da article)

In a rare offering, the Battleship Missouri Memorial will be offering free admission to kama'aina and military personnel to help celebrate the Mighty Mo's official reopening from dry-dock repairs. The "Mighty Mo Pass," which is a new all-in-one ticket to experience the famous battleship, includes a single admission, plus a choice from one of the following tours:

• Mighty Mo Tour (35-minute guided tour)
• Guide2Go iPod Tour (audio-visual tour using the Apple "iPod touch" corresponding to shipboard signage)
• Acoustiguide Tour (audio-only tour also corresponding to signage)
• The option to tour the battleship at one's own pace along a variety of self-guided tour routes.

There is an upgrade to da Battle Stations Tour (additional $25) which features a new 90-minute guided tour. It's da most comprehensive tour and features, including many areas of the ship not accessible without a tour guide. Only Battle Stations Tour participants see da inside of Turret No. 1, an engine room, a plotting room and da "Broadway" (an internal corridor that extends two-thirds of da length of the ship).

Personally, I'd pay da extra $25 and do da Battle Stations Tour. It'll add up if you have a family but if you can afford it, it sounds like da most "fun" and interesting thing to do.

I've always wanted to go on the USS Missouri and unfortunately cannot make the free showing. I am really really disappointed but I promise you, for those who are unable to attend tomorrow's free showing, dat I'll make it there as soon as I can and do an indept blog about it with CHOKE pictures! It's not a "tourist" attraction, it's history and if you don't get chicken skin from it, visit da USS Arizona Memorial next door and you certainly will from dat.

So if you can check it whether it be now or later, make surah you go share with your ohana.

Have a grrrreeeeat weekend everybodies and I hope you'll use and share da two Tips Of Da Day bits!

Happy Feel Good Friday!

Shoots!
k-den