Cloudless sky again on Monday morning. Seven days without rain.
Tuesday morning I played tennis on the Kilauea courts.
Tuesday morning I played tennis on the Kilauea courts.
A harpist entertained with classical and Christmas music.
People had plates from a buffet catered by Holoholo Bistro.
Andrea was at the welcome table with Kelsey and Emily (not shown). Photo by Andrea.
People had water, tea, beer, and wine from the host bar.
Former mayor Kirk Caldwell came and sat with Alan, Heide, and me.
Andrea sent me a cat video from stills that google put together for her.
Kiawe tree from seed.
Banyan (Chinese ficus) from a club tree dug from the ground.
Monterey cypress from nursery stock.
Monterey cypress from nursery stock.
I played tennis with friends on Thursday. That's the back side of Diamond Head in the background.
Early Saturday our neighbor living in his burned out house started a fire that smelled like burning trash.
Saturday, the sixth, I received the final cover from my publisher.
Waiting for all to arrive. Photo by Andrea.
I went outside to photograph the view. That's Punchbowl on the left. Click the image for the full resolution version.
A guest, Kala’i Stern, played and sang Christmas songs. Photo by Andrea.
He sang several songs. This one is "Christmas Island."
A Natsunoya staff member took our group photo. Click the image for the full resolution version.
On Monday the crew returned to cut up the pieces of the trees they had left in the stream. Andrea asked them to cut the remaining haole koa and they did.
I made an image of all my paperback books at Amzaon. Bonsai Hawaiian Style is hardback.
I got a cold on Monday so I skipped tennis on Tuesday. Photo by Karen.
On Tuesday afternoon, the wind blew the neighbor's tarp onto our property.
He wasn't around so I took it down.
Andrea photographed our water lily Tuesday afternoon.
A weak cold front came through Thursday morning. Photo by Andrea.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association online board meeting. Formerly Science Fiction Writers of America.
One chart.
Eddie put the banner on the school fence facing traffic. That hump of land is Koko Head, enclosing Hanauma Bay.
Beautiful Andrea awaits the opening at my book signing table.
Keith, Bill, and Kathy behind my show tree, a bougainvillea moyogi.
Eaton's juniper on a rock. The accent plant should point the other way, connecting with the bonsai, or, better, be on the other side.
John Naka wrote extensively about bonsai display in his Bonsai Techniques, Volume II, but not many in Hawaiʻi seem to have read it.
Eaton photographing his show tree.
The public are lined up outside ten minutes before opening at nine. Not as many as prior years.
Inside we are all ready for them.
My show bonsai is in the foreground.
My accent is a suiseki, a viewing stone. This one is eroded by wind from a California desert, a gift from Bill Johnson. Photo by Andrea.
Kathy's juniper on a rock is on the left. She is the Hawaiʻi Bonsai Association (HBA) Treasurer. Keith's ironwood is in the center.
Nelson's escambron is on the right. Nelson has been the HBA Okinawa Festival Co-Chair with me.
A number of nice bonsai displays. We had a big participation from Pearl City Bonsai Club this year.
Display Chair John Arafiles' shohin display. We try to accommodate all who want to show, and as a result our displays tend to be cramped.
A medium-large sized bonsai. Bill discusses something with Kathy.
A few minutes after opening. Customers bring purchases to the holding area.
Lifetime member Keith Schultz agreed to perform a demonstration on a Chinese banyan that I provided. Photo by Andrea.
Keith asked me to assist in bending the trunk while he tightened a holding wire. Photo by Andrea.
A view of the demonstration from the stage.
Keith with the finished bonsai. We decided not to repot it. It was auctioned for forty-five dollars.
A closer view of the banyan tree. It was heavy because it was planted on a rock, not visible. Photo by Andrea.
Next up was our headliner, Alving Chang, President of Classic Bonsai Club. He's been doing bonsai as long as I have. Photo by Andrea.
Alvin looks a bit skeptical as I remove bark from the top of the tree for jin (intentional deadwood). Photo by Andrea.
Adding heavy wire to bend the primary branches. Photo by Andrea.
Alvin added this bonsai mug to the tree for the auction which was won by Andrea for forty dollars. Photo by Andrea.
Kūʻaliʻi, the 1911 Tudor house, from the Mānoa Heritage Center lower gate.
These are the medicinal plants (lā‘au lapa‘au) that we learned more about at Monday's docent education session.
The back door of the education hale.
We were divided into three groups for the competitive education event. My group, "Rick's Snow Angels," won.
Then we all went out into the Kaʻahaʻāina garden to look at the growing plants.
Photo by Andrea.
Andrea sent out all our Christmas cards. This is the photo sheet she enclosed.
Thursday morning I made a video of the stream.
Friday is the sixth day of Hanukkah and Lono presides over Makahiki.
Saturday, the evening of our holiday party, was the seventh day of Hanukkah. Kū is wrapped in white paper for Makahiki.
View of the serving table from the kitchen. Photo by Andrea.
Devin with his back to the surfboard he painted. Photo by Andrea.
Guests settled in with their plates.
Lots of food as usual. Many guests brought wonderful things.
As it got crowded inside, it stopped raining so people could take places outdoors.
The front room was well used, too.
Standing room only for a while.
It was still light outside at 6:06 PM. Betty from next door came with Carl and Doraine. Photo by Andrea.
We had seating for 20 indoors and for 37 outdoors. Photo by Andrea.
New arrivals continued coming and there was plenty for all. Photo by Andrea.
I found a place at a table between Simina and Andrea. Photo by Andrea.
The glass table under the lychee tree was well lit with a pair of white LED drop lights. Photo by Andrea.
Two of the tables were fully occupied. Photo by Simina.
Andrea and I both got plates. Photo by Simina.
Lively conversations. Photo by Andrea.
Things began to settle down before the Christmas trivia game.
I took this photo with Andrea's phone.
The third table set in the background was not used much. I took this photo with Andrea's phone.
Announcing the trivia game in ten minutes. Photo by Andrea.
Gary, Rick, Simina, Kai, and Ryan from Chicago. Photo by Andrea.
Starting the trivia game. Everyone came inside to play. Photo by Andrea.
Andrea prepared three sheets of questions. Karen won the to prize of a copy of Brent and Edward Go to Mars. Photo by Andrea.
New moon in a stratocumulus sky on Monday evening, the 22nd. We had a third of an inch of rain overnight.
We had eight people playing rotate-in doubles. I played ten games.
Meanwhile, Andrea drove to Waimanalo and took photos of and from the beach at Makapuʻu.
Andrea began working on the Monet puzzle that Matt and Diane gave us the afternoon of Christmas Eve.
Christmas morning we went for a walk before breakfast.
Photo op at a Christmas display on our block.
We had papaya with blueberries and stolen with coffee and orange juice for breakfast.
After breakfast we opened presents. I gave Andrea a hardcover book, A Room with a View.
My turn.
It's a bespoke sundial, cut for our latitude and longitude!
Bearing gifts.
What I needed.
Star cards with constellations and planets.
A Japanese sake set.
An electric fly swatter and fertilizer.
Andrea made a meat loaf train for dinner.
Cheers! I made cosmopolitans.
Field Test Review: “Duck, Now™”—The Military’s New GenAI Combat Assistant
After extensive operational testing, I am pleased to report that the military’s new generative AI combat tool performs exactly as advertised—if the advertisement promised comedy.
The system’s flagship feature is real-time survivability advice. Its most impressive alert to date arrived precisely after incoming fire had already stitched the air around us. The message, delivered with the confidence of a TED Talk slide, read: “Recommend evasive action: duck.” This was helpful in the same way an autopsy is helpful to the deceased.
To be fair, the algorithm is working under challenging constraints. Bullets, it turns out, travel faster than electrons do in combat networks. By the time sensor data is fused, encrypted, routed through six command layers, ethically reviewed, and summarized by a large language model trained mostly on PowerPoint decks, the engagement has already concluded. Usually with a crater.
The interface is sleek. The latency is historic. The confidence is absolute.
In one engagement, the system helpfully explained why we should have ducked—complete with a probability estimate and a footnote. The explanation arrived 1.3 seconds after the last round impacted, which in infantry time is roughly three lifetimes. The AI then asked if its recommendation was helpful and requested feedback for continuous improvement.
There is also a morale feature. When rounds crack overhead, the system reassures you that “threat likelihood is being reassessed.” This is comforting, in the same way a weather app is comforting during a tornado that has already removed your roof.
What the tool truly excels at is accountability. If you survive, it can generate a detailed after-action report explaining that the model did detect the threat, did issue guidance, and that any negative outcomes were due to “environmental latency variables.” In other words, the enemy failed to respect the processing timeline.
In summary, this GenAI tool represents a bold step forward for modern warfare. It will not save you. It will, however, explain—at great length and with impeccable formatting—why saving you was theoretically possible under ideal network conditions. Five stars for documentation. Zero stars for timing.
The instructor's mother was practicing serves. We hit a few. Patrick came and we hit some to warm up. Then it began to drizzle and we left.
I installed the bird feeder Malia sent Andrea for Christmas.
Screenshot from the new bird feeder camera.
Red sky in morning. Photo by Andrea in front of Jo's house, two doors up.
Sunday morning video of Andrea leaving for Waimanalo.
Andrea talked to daughter Becky while we walked through the pineapple varieties garden.
The tiny train was just coming out of the train house.
We stopped in Waimea Valley to see the Temple of Lono (Heiau o Lono). Photo by Andrea.
The heiau with kiʻi and hale.
Detailed shot of the Heiau o Lono.
A tourist came to photograph. Photo by Andrea.
We went into the visitor center. Photo by Andrea.
We arrived at the Crouchin Lion restaurant just as they opened at eleven.
Pointing at the crouching lion. Photo by Andrea.
There were people in line who were seated ahead of us.
We ordered beef brisket tacos and french fries. Photo by Andrea.
The advice is don't interfere but record and document and then call the hotline. Know your rights. Right to observe, record, and document in public.
The turnout was huge. The biggest crowd I have ever seen there and I have been attending Church of the Crossroads events since the 1960s.
Zack doing a shaka with the pig.
Sabrina goes for more wood.
Bronson and Sabrina tending the fire while Carl talks to Andrea.
Concern about the fire: it needed to be rekindled. Photo by Andrea.
Getting the optimal heat for roasting the pig using the blower.
I was notified of bird feeder activity and walked over and greeted Sam who had brought his two keiki to return the fish
they had stolen. Both kids were embarassed and ashamed. I said to keep the fish, and later gave them some fish food.
I put a piece of wood on the fire. Photo by Andrea.
The pig is getting done. Zack cools it with the salt water sprayer. Photo by Andrea.
Scorching the skin for pupu using the blower to raise the flame.
A good place for pig roasting against the wall between our houses.
The buffet line is set up on the back lanai.
Matriarch Betty Young is 99. They need a fourth for bridge.
View of the back room.
I play a bridge hand with Lucile, June, and Betty. Photo by Andrea.
The pig is done and now to take of the skin for pupu. Photo by Andrea.
Bronson and Zack at work.
Lots of tidbits. Delicious, salty, and crunchy. Photo by Andrea.
Still working as it gets dark.
Nearly done removing the skin.
The pig is taken to the tables, spit removed, and cut up. The buffet line is open.
Andrea and I sit at a table in the back yard with Ed and Stacy. Libby comes to talk. Photo by Andrea.
The big front room is full.
All those bare feet in the front room.
Email Richard dot J dot Wagner at gmail dot com