by Rabbett, your Webmeister and caffeine freak....
Ah, coffee and computers...it's the same kind of mix I became used to after 23 years of college and professional radio...coffee in one hand (or inches away) and something techie near the other...I used to twirl knobs on pots and play with slide controls. Guests to my radio shows always asked me if I played the piano. I always told them no and I wasn't lying.
Now, it's coffee and computers. My day begins in front of the keyboard around 6:15 a.m. every day. The kettle whistles when it's time for that first pour- through on my chocolate macadamia nut coffee....the first few sips bring life to these oldish bones and the eyes begin to focus more clearly. I then go about updating the H4 server's weather, satellite pictures, news, sports, forecasts, etc..etc. and then it's another coffee and a recording of Dayle Turner's sports, an ftp to the I.R.H. server and a shower and I am out the door to my real job...(drat!- I long for the day when this will become my real job...)
After work, it's back in front of the heap, more coffee and more html etc. etc....often til 1 or 2 a.m.- but, what's a guy supposed to do during the day? What if I'm downtown and want coffee and might like to check in on the site and see if it's still up and running? Hmmmmm
Recently two coffee houses opened up in our Honolulu. Strangely enough, both are located on Kapahulu Avenue...and stranger still, both have comfy chairs and computers.
Yup, computers... and Internet Connections through these computers. The coffee and computers craze has hit the streets!
On the freeway side of Kapahulu you'll find Coffee Haven . It's in Kilohana Square and it's on the corner facing the freeway overpass and underpass. It's right across the street from K.C. Drive In. Great coffee, interesting folks, scones, pastries, breads and the last time I was in, they were settin' up four or five computer stations. You can cruise on in and have a cup and get your Internet Fix. I really dug their iced Thai coffee!
Now, down the street on the other side of the street, between Zippys and Harpos is the brandie new Internet Cafe Owner Mike Feeney tells me it's where the old Revolution Cafe used to be. (It's also just a door or two down from St. Marks church).
Again, great coffee, cheesecake, pastries, pizza, waffles, unreal espresso and terrific ice "hot chocolate"...Ghiardelli's chocolate to be kinda precise (hope I spelled that right..anyhow it's the brand from San Fran...) The Internet Cafe is bigger, has more room, more tables, more heaps and their connect speeds are awesome.
It's a personal passion play of Aloha Airline's pilot Mike Feeney. They have a 256kb connection to all their heaps there. NOW, they're open 24 hours a day. They've even got new Keiki (kids) software - KID PIX Studio and Disney's Lion King CD ROMS... Why, lots of real cool 'rents have been seen hangin' out with their kids in front of Internet Cafe computers on weekends.
The Internet Cafe now offers email-only accounts to folks for just five bucks a month, so if you need an extra emailbox or you want your first address while you save up for your first Macintosh Power PC, stop in and sign up..it's easy!
Coffee Haven is smaller, more "intimate" and they connect at 28.8kb via modems.
Both spots use Macintoshes. After all, "Easy is Power."
If I didn't have a life, I'd be down on Kapahulu at least once a day or night.
You know... I am gonna try something novel in the world of reviewing...I am gonna suggest that everyone patronize both places and help keep these novel new businesses in business . I think the concept is wonderful. For those of you who might be reading this on someone else's computer and haven't made the jump yet into your own heap and Internet connection, I am gonna suggest that whether you like coffee or not, you take advantage of both spots and get to know the medium. What a wonderful way to enjoy your first taste of the Internet.
For us seasoned old salts, I am gonna recommend that you too stop in. Why what a great way to keep track of what's going on. You can get your mid-morning, mid-afternoon, evening or graveyard Internet fix and you'll enjoy a couple of new "homes away from home" in each of these establishments.
Imagine all the new "literate members of the opposite sex" that one might meet in places like these...imagine actually engaging in meaningful, thoughtful conversations during your very first "intercourse" (er...uh...you know....as in "meeting")!
Honolulu is generally merciless on new restaurants...in fact all new businesses face an 80% chance of extinction in our Honolulu.
Wouldn't it be cool if both Internet & coffee establishments could last the year or maybe more?
Why if they survive, the H4 just might survive too! Why the internet industry itself might have a chance here...why it might turn out to be a wonderful world for everyone after all!
My best wishes to both Coffee Haven and The Internet Cafe , both on Kapahulu Avenue in Honolulu. I wish them the very best and long life.
Again, I urge the computer literate and computer illiterate to frequent these establishments, support your local cafes and most of all, be careful - watch out that you don't spill coffee on those keyboards.
Aloha no,
Rabbett