Red Bench

Cambria

Cat Face

I found a way to adapt a 25 year old Pentax 50 mm f1.2 lens to my Panasonic DSLR. Once upon a time that lens hung on the front end of a Pentax K1000 35 mm. I am surprised I still have it. I sold the K1000 body years ago. I wanted a portrait lens for my Panasonic G2 but they are too dammed expensive ($400+). A 50 mm on my little 4/3 DSLR is about the same as if it was a 100mm on a 35 mm camera. A 100 mm is a good portrait lens if it at least will open to f1.2. Wide open at f1.2 the background is defused and the face stands out from the background. The adapter cost me $10.00 from ebay. The daily rate for the model in the test shot was considerably more.

My Mom, Uncle Bill, and me

I am back at working on the pictures from my moms album. I really like this one. There are not many pictures of my Uncle Bill in her album. This was taken on the porch at the 109 South 10th St house in Yakima. Do I look to be a year old? Maybe 1936.

Port Orford 4

This is my latest ukulele. I call it "The Port Orford 4" It is a 4 string tenor. The soundboard is Port Orford Cedar. It is a beautiful color with a slight vertical grain pattern. The fretboard and bridge are Rosewood, the neck is Spanish Cedar the peghead is Walnut. The rosette is Paua shell.

You can see the grain pattern in the Cedar in this shot

In this view of the peghead you can see the Gotoh sealed tuning machines

This book matched California (Claro) Walnut really turned out nice. I love working with this wood. It cuts, bends and sands like a dream.

In this 3/4 view you can see the beautiful grain pattern in the California Walnut sides. If you click on these images they will enlarge

The Paua shell rosette turned out pretty nice
Thanks for looking!

My Moms Parents

Mattie McDonald and John Alexander Vann.
I am going through a bunch of pictures that were my moms photo album. I am trying to put them in some order while I still remember who most of them are. Many of the photos were ruined from water damage. A lot of the people in the album were their friends and she did not caption them. I am trying to make a collection of those that I can identify.

Emil James Theisen

My dad at 21 years old, 1919 the year they were married

Hazel Grace (Peggy) Vann

My mom at 18 the year she and my dad married

Julia's Birthday July 4 2011

Here is a shot of Julia's birthday party at the B&B. You can click on the image to see it bigger

Gilbert and Sullivan "Patience"

Last Summer, Julia and Clara were in the Gilbert and Sullivan musical "Patience" Julia played the part of a "maiden" and Clara was a "soldier" in the Guard. Julia and Clara are at the end of this group on the extreme left. Click on the images to enlarge.


That is Julia standing by the three soldiers on the right.


Julia and Clara are in the center rear.


Soldiers and Maidens singing merrily


Last scene of the last act. That is Julia in the white dress. Click on the images to enlarge.

Julia Cellini

October 2011

Louisa Cellini

November 2011

Pat Bending Sides

Pat Inouye working in his shop where he makes ukuleles. He is using his "side bender" to force the side of the ukulele to be bent into shape.

Water Tank Wall

The side of the catchment tank.

Ghost Cat

Boo looking at me as I walked by the window

Barbara and James

Barbara and James at his graduation from kindergarten

Jamming For Japan

Last Saturday Barbara and I and our friends Pat and Paula attended a ukulele jam session at a beach in Hilo. This event was created by Keoki Kahumoku. Keoki is a very well known musician not only in Hawaii but internationally. He plays, and teaches slack key guitar and ukulele. He organizes ukulele workshops for youth every year. He is very involved with community activities especially with the island youth. He is presenting a series of what he calls Ukulele Jam sessions. Raising money for Japan relief. How is works is like this; you show up with your uke and a chair. Keoki will then teach us a song. White boards on both side of the “stage” have the cords written and the cord diagrams drawn. Keoki starts us off showing the strum pattern and starts singing and playing and calling out the cord changes. We sing and play with him. It really works well, you catch on quick. It wasn’t just Keoki teaching, he had several well know players and teachers each taking a session. One of our favorite musicians on the Big Island is Brittni Paiva. We first saw her on the stage in theater in the park. She was 16 she is now 22 and married. Brittini and Keoki gave us a great session. We played the cords and Brittini did the picking. This is a scan of the first CD she made. I think she has 5 released now. Great fun for a great cause.

Brittini Paiva and Keoki Kahumoku

Jammers Jamming, Barbara, Paula and Pat

Having fun and raising money for Japan Relief

The Kilauea Six

Here are pictures of my latest ukulele. It is a six string tenor




The body; top, sides and back are AAA solid Koa all book matched. That means all the pieces were cut from the same log. The fretboard and peg head are Ebony

The neck is Spanish Cedar. Very light and very strong. There is a 1/4 inch diameter carbon fiber rod in the neck running the length of the fretboard. This adds stiffness to the neck without adding much weight.

The rosette is Paua Abalone shell. The bridge is Ebony


The tuning keys are Grover open gear 16:1 turning ratio. The strings are made by Worth. A six string ukulele is tuned just like a four string, G,C,E,A. But a six string has the A string doubled an octave apart and the C string also is doubled and is an octave apart

Louisa's Birthday Party At The Zoo

Happy Birthday Louisa!

Face Painting By Julia

Clara, a few days into being 15

A short break between sessions of running, jumping and sliding down the hill

Ice Cream, design your own cup!

The Beautiful Birthday Girl

The best part! Opening the presents!

Pat and Paula arrive!

Just in case it rained we were under cover