good morning. 8am aloha friday. small waves around the island. was just watching the news and the coast guard is searching for a diver off kahala who went missing yesterday. his friends didn’t know he was missing until they were in the car driving home. i hope he comes back safely… anyway, no surf to talk about. not the greatest conditions for diving, just another day to relax. 5 day until the new year and i still have things i want to accomplish in 2008. so i’m going to work on that. have a nice and safe day…

wow, i just heard of some shocking news out of japan. Iijima Ai was found dead in her tokyo apartment. they suspect suicide. when i first went to japan, i use to watch this late night program called “Gilgamesh Night” and Iijima Ai was the T-back queen on the show. i thought she was pretty hot and was her #1 fan. haha. turned out she was an adult porn star. she then quit the porn business and became a television celebrity. yeah, i thought it was pretty weird for her to go from porn star to celebrity in such a conservative country like japan. but what ever works right. anyway, she retired last year and now this. it’s a pretty sad story. there will probably be a lot of unanswered questions…

this is what Iijima Ai looked like back in the days when i first went to japan. i thought she looked like a japanese doll. today, i’m pretty shocked on her death….
**summer big rights session now on youtube. check out shuji kasuya, ronnie yamada, nick mita, and some of the boys at ala moana park ripping up a fun summer swell in july 2008. enjoy…

good christmas evening. it was a beautiful relaxing day here in hawaii. small waves and big lunches. eat, sleep, eat, and sleep. what a great day!!!

hawaiian food is our family tradition on christmas day. my mom prepares everything and we all end up eating 3 servings. squid luau, kalua pig, lomi salmon, potato salad, kalbi, and poi. i’m feeling pretty big now….

smoked wild boar for pupu’s. i’ll bet anybody that kalua will taste better…

i was watching the tribute to CNN HEROES today on tv. gosh, there were some inspiring stories on how ordinary people are giving back to the community. what did i learn from watching it? now i know what a true hero is. no, it’s not kelly slater, not tiger woods. a true hero is your ordinary person that gives back to people and the community with no intent of getting anything back. it’s just from the heart. after watching that program, it made me realize how fortunate i am to live the life i do. and it also made me realize that i’m not doing enough to give back to this world. it got me thinking. i might not have an answer today, but i will try to figure something out. just wanted to say to all you true heros out there, keep on inspiring people to do good things from the heart and it’s people like you that make this world a better place…
**CLICK HERE AND WATCH THE TOP 10 NOMINEE HERO STORIES. IF YOU DON’T SHED A TEAR, YOUR NOT HUMAN….

**alicia keys sang this song on the show and you have to listed to the words. oh my gosh!!!

evening session diamond head….