Waikiki, Kapiolani Park and Diamond Head 1975

Several years before we moved to Hawaii a photo from some arduous business trip taken by PND senior. In the early eighties, I ran around Diamond Head occasionally both for fun and in the Honolulu Marathon. The outbound leg goes off to the left and the return comes back on the sea side to the right. The finish is in the park about center frame. I ran the marathon again in 2005 and beat my previous 1980 time by 10mins. Not that I was satisfied with that of course.

Originally posted on November 16, 2012

Picking Pineapple. Lanai, Hawaii 1959

Image dated approximately 1959 on Lanai, Hawaii.

The central part of Lanai was the inside of a volcano and is naturally shaped like the inside of a shallow bowl.  Lanai was nicknamed 'the pineapple isle' since virtually all the arable land there was devoted to growing pineapple.  Related, about 90% of the land was owned by the Dole Pineapple company.  In more recent times, this has all changed and there are now no commercial operations on the island and Dole sold off their holdings about 20 years ago.  The island is (for all intents and purposes) now owned by Larry Ellison of Oracle Computer fame.

Copyright Michael Cairns.  Lanai, Hawaii 1959

Bora Bora Fish Story 1971

I've posted images from this little sequence before and there are five or six images of this old guy spear fishing (almost without getting his feet wet).  PND senior took a series of trips to Bora Bora, Tahiti and New Caledonia in the early 1970s looking for hotel development sites.  On this particular day he told me he followed this old guy for two hours before he finally speared this fish.  Not sure that's enough for dinner though.

In addition to the images I've posted on Flickr and those I've periodically posted on PND, I have now produced a Big Blurb Book: From the Archive 1960 -1980 of some of the images I really thought were special.

I now have an iPad version of this book for sale ($4.99) on the Blurb site which you can find here: STORE

Bangkok: Siam Spirit House

In Thailand, every house and building has a spirit house and this impressive example was located on the grounds of the Siam Intercontinental where the PND family lived in 1968-9.  I've since been told that the next brother down in the clan used to rearrange the figurines and other movable objects around the house which I am pretty sure that's not what they are there for.

During one particularly colossal down pour, I remember being very close to this spot and a large cat fish about a foot long came out of the Klong on the left and up the bank to the concrete path about mid photo.  Scared the crap out of me and it was one of the ugliest things you've ever seen.

When I stayed at this hotel in the mid-1990s, I went looking for the spirit house.  The hotel decided it belonged hidden in the back of the property and out of sight.

In addition to the images I've posted on Flickr and those I've periodically posted on PND, I have now produced a Big Blurb Book: From the Archive 1960 -1980 of some of the images I really thought were special.

I now have an iPad version of this book for sale ($4.99) on the Blurb site which you can find here: STORE

 

Photos from 2012

Not posted before some of my interesting shots from 2012.

Under the El in Chicago trying to keep out of the red hot sun.

A special trip to Kings Cross Station to see the re-opening.

Although around the corner, things in Kings Cross are pretty much the same.

England did quite well in 2012

Little Queenie unexpectedly on a wall in Camden Town

At Frankfurt Bookfair they went all out on the decorating

Back to Ireland for the first time in 20 years but no jet way.

Just another day in Las Vegas.  The pink backpack spoils it.

Sepulveda Blvd - Lucky little lady in the city of light.

Farewell at the US Open for Kimmy.

Look carefully, you don't know what you will see in a hat.

Election night in "election plaza".

The hill at Fort Mason: A killer during an otherwise useless visit to San Francisco

Milking Snake Venom

Another weekly image from my archive. Click on it to make it larger.

There are six or seven images from this scene at a snake farm in Bangkok (August 1969). Yes, there are such things as snake farms and here the guy in white is showing the audience the snakes innards and in particular its fangs.  I've no idea what kind of snake this is but its about 15feet long and a gross yellow color.   I hate snakes but to these guys it's just another day in the office.

In addition to the images I've posted on Flickr and those I've periodically posted on PND, I have now produced a Big Blurb Book: From the Archive 1960 -1980 of some of the images I really thought were special.

I now have an iPad version of this book for sale ($4.99) on the Blurb site which you can find here: STORE

I have to say, even on the iPad the book looks pretty good.