Island snow mo bettah than East Coast variety

It hasn’t felt like shave ice weather these past few dreary days. But the isle-born president has become so accustomed to the chill of D.C. and Chicago that our version of winter must seem downright sweltering.

And Kailua’s Island Snow outlet was happy to deliver a bit of sweet chill to Barack Obama and the children he sought to entertain on a wet day this week. Shave ice (nice to see some of the mainland press catching on that it’s not "shaved ice") has become an annual first family tradition.

In any case, the folks in Atlanta and other temperate climes digging out from a rare White Christmas surely would trade what they have for a snow cone.

Goodbye, Kodachrome

Kodachrome is fading away this week, as the world’s last lab to process the film is removing the brand from its lineup. Eastman Kodak stopped producing the film a year and a half ago and the scarcity and complicated developing process apparently made it less than worthwhile.

The final 36 slides processed by Dwayne’s Photo in Parson, Kan., were those of photojournalist Steve McCurry, whose photos frequently appear in the National Geographic. Kodak will continue to market Ektachrome. Other brands, including Fujifilm, are alive and blooming and may continue to be the choice of purists.