Random Pix from Hilton Head 2024

More pictures that didn't make their own post...

We went to eat at Mi Tierra, a Mexican restaurant in the middle of the island. They had a nice statue outside and a nicer frozen banana margarita inside. 

Welcoming guests

Most refreshing cactus juice ever!

We went on a long bike ride that didn't involve many pictures, so they wound up here!

Biking down the highway

Biking under the highway

View of Shelter Cove

A funny sign

Marina

We also visited Veterans' Park at the north end of Shelter's Cove Towne Centre. The memorial is to those who served and died in the United States military. It is simple but touching.

By the entrance

A better view of the statue

The memorial

Our accommodations had a private beach that was down a long boardwalk. We visited it a couple of times, including when we arrived which was a night visit.

A long walk

The ocean at night

My daughter in the dark distance

We did some typical playing, such as catch and building sand castles. The water was fairly frigid in late March so we did not do much swimming.

Keep your eye on the ball

Drawing out castle plans

Book Review: The Way of the Househusband Vols. 8 & 9 by Kousuke Oono

The Way of the Househusband Volume 8 by Kousuke Oono

Tatsu the Immortal Dragon (former Yakuza member turned househusband) continues living the domestic life while using his organized crime sensibilities to handle difficulties. He has a bunch of problems like golfing, choosing a DVD to watch on movie night, fighting against mass-produced donuts, dealing with snow, and, in a bonus manga, fighting a zombie apocalypse. The stories are entertaining and light without a lot of consequence (the zombie story is a one-off and not a continuing problem). If you liked previous volumes, you'll like this one.

Mildly recommended.

The Way of the Househusband Volume 9 by Kousuke Oono

More tales from the life of Tatsu--he and his friends tell horror stories by candlelight; a rhino beetle and a stag beetle go head-to-head in a fight, coached by Tatsu and a rival; Tatsu turns sidewalk salesman to help out some favorite shops that are losing business to the mall. The routine is the same as other volumes, with humorous organized-crime takes on everyday situations. The best one was probably Tatsu using his homemaker skills to help some gang members stay cool on the streets during an extreme heatwave.

Mildly recommended.

Movie Review: John Wick Chapter 4 (2023)

John Wick Chapter 4 (2023) directed by Chad Stahelski

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on the run from the High Table, a shadow organization who purpose is not explained in this movie (I haven't seen Chapters 2 or 3, so I probably missed the set-up). He cashes in some favors with friends, including Winston (Ian McShane), the manager of the Continental Hotel in New York. Being friends with John Wick is not good. Winston discovers this when his hotel is destroyed and he is disavowed by the High Table. Wick flees to Japan where he gets the Tokyo Continental Hotel in trouble. In addition to the High Table's thugs (led by the Marquis (Bill Skarsgard) aided by blind Asian assassin Caine (Donnie Yen)), he also has independent bounty hunters after him, including the entertaining Tracker (Shamier Anderson) who has a pet dog who helps out taking down targets. The action ranges all over the Earth, ending climactically in Paris.

The movie has lots of amazing action scenes: gunfights, blade fights, and hand-to-hand combat. Some fights go on too long, though the characters in the movie can shake off pretty much any punishment delivered to them. Also, most of them have bulletproof dress suits, so the blood and gore is minimal. The plot is serviceable, getting from one action sequence to another with at least some minimum of logic (though some scenes are inexplicable except for their cool factor). The drama is overblown, which matches the over-the-top action sequences. I found the movie enjoyable as pure action but it drags on too long. They could have split this fourth movie into two, like in the Twilight or Hunger Games franchises. Maybe they could have thrown in some more character development or pathos beyond the dog being in jeopardy.

Mildly recommended--maybe I should have seen 2 and 3 before watching this. Having seen this, I am not particularly motivated to go back and fill in the gaps.

Kayaking at Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

Our first kayaking trip was the first full day we were on Hilton Head Island. We enjoyed it so much, we went a second time later in the week. This resulted in a deluge of photographs. I'll start with pictures from the first excursion.

Suited up, ready to go

Launching, with help

Figuring out the controls

Second launch

Third one in the water

Exploring the river

Going in the right direction; also, leading from behind

Two out of three people relax when they kayak

Some bird (sorry, I'm no ornithologist)

Cruising under tree branches

Passing a cool house

Passing each other

Passing under a bridge

My turn

Palms on the shore

Someone else going under branches

A third intrepid explorer

Golfers on shore

Potential conflict

Going in style under the bridge

The bigger boat we needed

Conflict breaks out

Boat name or dad joke?

The only alligator we saw (on the first trip)

Paddles everywhere!

Spotting a bird

The bird spotted

A last bridge?

Pipe pretending to be an alligator

Strange name for a road

Really the last bridge

Back by the docks

Our second kayaking trip had more alligators and birds, though the alligators were camera shy. That's okay, because I was alligator-shy. We took a longer, different route and saw some other things, including bubbling waters! I assume that was to keep the waters from being stagnant, though I don't think that would really be a problem.

Second launch

Duck the Branch

My turn at Duck the Branch

Getting out of the woods

Didn't we already pass this house?

A slowly sinking tree

Sunshiny house

So many bridges

Shore bird

Another bridge

Nice reflection

Big house

Trash I picked up

I guess I really like bridges

Bubbling water

More bubbles

Riding through the bubbles

Is this dock bent on purpose?

I guess taking its picture scared the bird?

Ready to fly

Ready to rest

Luckily, too small for us to explore

Crossing the bridge in the other direction

I zoomed to get this shot

Ditto

Last bridge

Coming in for a landing

Pulling himself into drydock

As I said, I did not get any pictures of the gators on the second trip. I barely saw only one of them, though the rest of the family says they saw two different gators.