Kite Oklahoma Surfing

John "Bernie" Armstrong Jr., a decades-long Honolulu media executive who helped dozens of people get started in the business, died last month in Walnut Creek, Calif. He was 72.

Armstrong had been battling cancer for two years and died in a hospice home among relatives on Dec. 21, his son Adam said.

Armstrong was born in Pittsburgh on Sept. 2, 1935, to parents who were entertainers. His father conducted a symphony orchestra on the radio, and his mother was a former stage personality.

After studying at the University of Miami in Florida and spending four years in the Navy, Armstrong found his first successful career -- music, recording four albums and several singles for Warner Bros. with folk groups during the 1960s.

In 1964 he became music and program director at a Pittsburgh radio station, and worked later at KGU-AM in Honolulu after moving to Hawaii in 1973.

The weekend's TV & radio choices

An unfortunate title for a concert broadcast to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of INXS singer Michael Hutchence. But for the benefit of those who missed it first time around, this legendary 1991 gig is shown in its entirety. Filmed at Wembley Stadium before 72,000 hysterical fans, Hutchence tore the stage up with electrifying performances of hits including New Sensation, Never Tear Us Apart and Need You Tonight. It's a fitting tribute to a musician who deserves to be remembered more for his life than his macabre death.

Computer graveyard a shrine to pioneering technology

A huge hard drive from an IBM mainframe computer anchors one corner.

Although substantial, RE-PC's exhibits are tiny compared with the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, which claims the largest and most extensive museum for technology aficionados. Microsoft Corp. also pays homage to early computing pioneers in a well-designed visitor center at its Redmond, Wash., headquarters.

Sunny summer holidays make for busy surf lifeguard

Hot sunny days and Christmas holidays have meant a busy month for Surf Life Saving Northern Region lifeguards.

Over the past four weeks (December 7, 2007 – January 7, 2008), Surf Life Saving Northern Region lifeguards performed 219 rescues and gave 205 beachgoers first aid. Sixty-nine searches were undertaken and more than 49,500 safety interventions were conducted to prevent swimmers from danger.

Lifeguards’ skills were demonstrated with some especially dramatic rescues over this time including assisting the Westpac Rescue Helicopter in rescuing a man who had fallen down rocks at Muriwai, off-duty lifeguards saving a family of four at Piha the week before Christmas, and treating a middle-aged male at Waipu Cove who had a cerebral haemorrhage and required helicopter evacuation.

Arrest warrant issued for alleged movie pirate

Adam is charged with two counts of knowingly distributing copyrighted material, an offence under the legislation.

MUSIC: NetGains

We're not sure why Matt Wilson didn't tell us, during our chat with recent AWE-featured band Captain Ahab & The Sea Crackens, that he was a prolific creator of bedroom pop as well as a surf-tastic bassist. No matter, because now we're on to him.

Our favorites are dub-ish groover "Regenerate Get Cut," where the quiet musician busts out sexy, amusing lines like "My hand on your waistline/ gyrating to the sounds of the breakdown/ and then I fall with the force of a landslide," and excellent doo wop piece "Dissertation," where Wilson's refrain of "rangi-dengi-dengi-diggi-dong-dong" lays the groundwork for a hilarious and melodic falsetto melody.

Surfer Recalls Surviving The Jaws Of Death

MARINA , Calif. -- When Todd Endris tells his story, it sounds like a script to a sequel to "Jaws" -- the movie that terrorized moviegoers years ago. Then he lifts his shirt -- the jawed tracks of stitched flesh crisscross his back and the nightmare becomes a reality.