Today marks my father’s 95th birthday. He’s still in Queen’s Hospital, but doing somewhat better. I’m no longer so concerned about whether he’ll survive this bad patch. We’re planning to take a birthday cake to the hospital. I think he’ll enjoy it.

In honor of the occasion, I dredged up some of his old pictures. The most recent in this batch was taken some 55 years ago. That’s pretty amazing!

This first photo was taken about 1937, before he came to Hawaii. Just click on it for the rest of this little album.

This lament comes from longtime reporter and MidWeek columnist Bob Jones:

I’m writing some things for the New York Times about Eric Shinseki’s posting as Veterans Administration chief and digging back into my files and my memory about him when I knew him as a forward observer attached to the 14th Infantry of the 25th Infantry Division in Vietnam near Duc Co, Vietnam, in 1966.

Some things I’m reading in the local press are wrong. He had two Purple Hearts and I was there the day after he got #1. A mortar round blew off all the back of his uniform and hit his shoulder. He refused treatment in order to help a sergeant who was dying.

The local press likes local stories but not within six hours of deadlines. I’d offered one of our papers an exclusive on Shinseki family matters, quotes and deep background at 4:30 p.m. but was told it was too late to print so much or to edit it down. I guess morning dailies are going to “bed” before 6 p.m. these days!

We’re losing journalistic aggressiveness. Remember all those “hold the presses” and “replate” orders of another year?

They don’t have to “replate” any more, just send new computer commands. But sometimes the “evening edition” of my newspaper is in my box by 4 p.m. Same news as the morning edition, just a re-arranged front page.

That’s why people are turning to the internet.

Big Island blogger Damon Tucker wrote to introduce a newcomer:

“…a great new (video) blog out of the Big Island that is doing something unique here….It’s Called “Big Island Video News” and it’s a one man gig run by a nice guy named Dave Corrigan.

I’ve been seeing him at a lot of events lately and he runs a real unique blog that primarily focuses on Video that he has posted.”

And for Sunday reading, you might be interested in these ruminations on Joe the Plumber by my old friend, Gene Stoltzfus.