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I mention quite a few people during the writings about the sand fortresses, and since the site is not really laid out chronologically (in fact, the fortresses are actually listed in reverse chronological order) it was hard to know when to explain who each person is. I could identify someone the first time I write about them, but if a visitor to this site jumps around randomly from page to page, fortress to fortress, which is a fine way to peruse this site, then there is no "first time." And I don't want to explain their identity every time I write about them. So, the web being what it is, a format that allows instant links to relevant associated information, I decided to make this "People Reference Page."
(I don't actually know Thomas Magnum, but I drive past his house all the time, and he occasionally sends me fan mail about my sand fortress web site. I hear Higgins likes it too.)
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Lisa is cool. A PhD student in sociology at the University of Hawaii, specializing in criminology, she's very intelligent and is an excellent writer. She thinks fast on her feet and is a great debater.
She has a great legal mind and sincere compassion for those who can't defend themselves, and already, without any formal law school training, can out-argue most of her lawyer friends. I believe one day the name Lisa Pasko will be spoken in the same context as Alan Dershowitz.
Lisa has many important colleagues in the Sociological community and works closely with a few highly regarded and nationally known Sociologists. Lisa has given presentations throughout the U.S. and Europe, quickly becoming an important figure herself.
Brains, beauty, and a bod to go with them. I told you she's cool.
She often comes to the beach with me when I go to build my sand fortresses. Lisa likes the beach and loves the sun. She often reads a book or takes a nap to pass the time while I'm in the zone with the sand. Occasionally she'll even carve a little too, and some of her improvised design concepts have given me inspiration for a distinct look on some of my fortresses.
She also has her own web site.
Mentioned in: 4290, 5060, 5070, 5140, 5280 (210 JD & Lisa, 25 Girls), 6030 (0 Wide, 20 Girls), 6110, 6170, 6240, 7080 (10 Ronbo, 130, 210 Girls, 330 Low), 8260, 9020 (20 Girls), 9100, A010 (20 Girls), A080, A150, A220, A280, B260, C100, 1281 (150 Wide), 2251, Meiko
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Meiko is a friend of mine from the sociology department at the University of Hawaii. She's really cool. I think she works too hard though, and I'm always trying to get her to do things other than school. I'm glad when she can participate in our Friday night exploits at the local discount bowling alley.
She has accompanied Lisa and I to the beach many times and often takes her own photographs of the sand fortresses. She has also let me use her scanner to digitize about 95% of the photographs seen on this site and usually gets a couple of beers out of her fridge for us during the scanning sessions.
I took a Japanese language class at UH during the 2000 Summer session and it was largely due to her tutoring that I got an "A" in the class.
I am exceedingly grateful for her generosity.
Mentioned in: 5280 (175 Const, 25 Girls), 6030 (0 Wide, 20 Girls), 6110, 6170, 6240, 7080 (10 Ronbo, 210 Girls), 9020 (20 Girls), Fortresses, Reference Links
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My brothers.
I've known them all of their lives and the three of us are inseparable. Whether it's running the scoreboard for a major league sports franchise, road tripping to Las Vegas to knock over a couple of casinos, or just playing a game of Treeball (a McWilliams Brothers™ original), we do it together, with style, with perhaps less arguing than most siblings--and always with an element of silliness.
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We've also invented the wildly successful game, "Hide the Melon," played on a trampoline. The trampoline is a great endorphin generator. Specialty trampoline jumps include: The Miyogi, the Falling Dead Man, the Dead Fish, the Flying Idiot, the Enema (performed with a sprinkler under the trampoline), the very religious jumps, the Crucifixion and the Possession, and the highly technical, "Athlete Getting a Perfect Score at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games Then Getting Assassinated by a Sniper."
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Davey holds an art degree and is a professional artist who works in media ranging from all kinds of paint, to sculpture, pen and ink, and just about anything artistically possible on a computer, including computerized, 3D animation. He has done professional artwork for the band Queensryche and is currently lending his talents to a Bingo video game company. He also plays the guitar.
Ronbo is a highly skilled Internet/network technician. A whiz with computers, he's currently doing work for a large Internet company. I used to be the computer nerd in the family, now I'm always asking him questions about Internet and web site issues. He's an excellent golfer and a certified scuba diver, and now that he uses his mouse for running, he can sometimes beat me at Quake.
They both came to Hawaii for the first time in July 2000 to visit us, and they got to see the sand fortresses in person and help me build a few.
Davey mentioned in: Home, 4070, 5100 (170 Shoe), 7140
(170 Wide, 260 Davey,
35 Brothers, Davey Making Girl,
Davey with Sand Girl,
Brothers at Sunset), 7150,
7090
Ronbo mentioned in: Home, 7080 (10 Ronbo,
130, 20 low),
7090, 7140
(35 Brothers, Brothers at Sunset,
Ronbo's Jellyfish), 7150
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Moira's a person who lives in her own bandwidth. I make fortresses out of the sand; she makes brownies out of it. I take pictures of mine; she eats hers.
From San Francisco originally, she's a partier, laughs easy and often, and is quite a dancer. She's always running off to another lesson. Meringue, Cha Cha, Salsa, Swing, Tango, Jazz, a little Ballet... she knows them all.
Moira is also as sharp as a tack. A PhD student in sociology, she returned to the University of Hawaii for the Fall 2000 semester as an instructor. Being a city gal, she's got street smarts as well as book smarts. She's direct and tells it like it is--a refreshing quality around here on the islands where people can be frustratingly innocuous, and lots of folks just seem to be in a fuzzy haze of contentment that borders on stagnation. There's more to life than that for many people, and Moira is one of them.
Mentioned in: A010 (20 Girls), A150
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Mark and Cindy are a couple of cool cats. They both love Hawaii and are fluent in Japanese. They were married during the summer of 2000 and for their honeymoon, they went to Kadavu in the Fiji Islands to help protect the government from a coup attempt by machete-wielding rebels.
Cindy is a grad student friend from the sociology department at the University of Hawaii. She was one of the few people who were with me at the beach in the beginning, the first time I ever tested my drainage system. Seven months later, she went to the beach with me again and this time witnessed a much more advanced fortress design.
Although technically from Los Angeles, Mark is practically a native of Hawaii and knows quite a bit about the place. His family moved to the Big Island when he was 2, and with the exception of a few years on the mainland for college and a two year stint in Japan, he's spent the bulk of his life in Hawaii, recently working in the family business as a tour guide. If there's one person you should go hiking with in Hawaii, it's him. And I did just that in September 2000 with our friend Matt Carlsen, and hiked to the top of a mountain here on Oahu. From there, we could see Waikiki, Diamondhead, Bellows Beach, Waimanalo, Lanikai, Kailua, and Kaneohe Bay--simultaneously. The following weekend, I took him fortress building.
Mark mentioned in: A010 (165 Guys, 220 Const), A280,
C100, 2251
Cindy mentioned in: A010 (20 Girls), A280,
2251
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Eddie is a laid back kind of guy. He likes the surf and he likes the Earth. Being a surfer, he taught me a few things about the tides that came in handy for my fortress construction. He also happens to be a brilliant sociologist who recently passed his comprehensive exams and, before he even received his PhD, got a gig in Alaska studying the effects of oil drilling on the Native population there. Well, he explained it a little better:
My present job is interesting. One of the main issues we're tackling right now is the manner in which people in traditional subsistence societies are dealing with the forces of modernity.
These situations call for some tricky analysis. New technology enables more effective hunting and fishing but also involves the actor in the conditions and consequences of capitalism. For example, the snowmobile enables rapid travel between villages and hunting sites, but requires income for gas and repairs. Similarly, bigger boats and engines get Hawaiians to the fishing grounds more quickly but maintaining a boat calls for cash. People in both places still use the foods they gather in the traditional ways, sharing much of it in extended family settings. But folks can get caught in a Catch-22 wherein their love of hunting and fishing limits their chances for success in a larger society that tends to reward the dedicated capitalist. Meanwhile, the use of modern technology demands some application of time and attention to acquiring income, at the partial expense of traditional subsistence practices and related social processes.
It's cool having friends that are so smart, although sometimes I need a dictionary to read his emails. He's got a cool dog named Pouli holo oko'a a ka la, for the perfectly round black spot on his white butt. Pouli means eclipse, holo oko'a means whole, and a ka la means of the sun. Once, at a North Shore beach, I helped Pouli dig up crabs and chase them around in the water.
I went on a hike with Ed, Pouli, and Ed's girl friend Lauren, and they showed me which wild berries were edible. I have since enjoyed them many times and wish him much good fortune up there in the frozen tundra of Alaska.
Mentioned in: 5060
Sand Fortresses - Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002 - JD McWilliams