The name Panzo is steeped in mystery and misunderstanding. I realize that Panzo is also the name of a game with a panda in it and also a common misspelling of Panoz (racing and car-building company) but neither is where the name comes from.
Panzo is short for "Panzo The Dancing Bear" and, indeed, those of you who have been with this site from the absolute beginning will remember the dancing bear logo that originally graced the front page.
"Panzo The Dancing Bear" comes from a mis-heard statement by Miss Significantly Other, Panzo's significant other. If you want the whole, sordid story, you can find it around here somewhere but I'll lay money on you not caring.
Panzo.org grew out of a need of a bunch of long-time friends who had met on AOL a billion years ago and have been inexplicably following each around ever since.
We had lost our old message board site and needed a stable place for a new one. Panzo's owner bought the name, rented a server and created Panzo.org.
The front-end of Panzo.org, the main page, is the Panzo Blog and a store runs off it that contains the rumminations (sic., "rummaging thoughts") of Panzo's brain on t-shirts and various other products.
Thus the front-end is only loosely connected to the message boards and not a direct extension of it.
Panzo is not the owner's real name. That's easily found out elsewhere on the site so we won't go there.
Panzo was born and raised in New Jersey, spent some time in Pennsylvania and moved to Seattle a decade ago. He lives in North Seattle with Miss Significantly Other and two cats.
Panzo's politics are like his stomach, all over the damn place. Mostly, his left side comes out on the site because things right are really over-represented these days. He also has a deep and wide Contrarian streak in him that forces him to go against the popular grain of things.
Panzo seems at first to be paradoxical and doesn't have a problem with that. He hates Old Navy but realizes that their $5 t-shirts fit and feel nice. He dislikes the "Starbucking" of culture, wherein consumers are sold a pre-fabircated experience that's sold as genuine, but enjoys a "grande" mocha now and then.
Like you, he knows that some things are inescapable but that doesn't mean he has to like them.
Shimai (Shee-my)is the boy. He's a local fellow and a large cat with probably either a Norwegian Forest Cat or Maine Coon somewhere in his genes. He's 20 pounds and used to be heavier. He'll eat damn near anything and is a chronic "sink checker". He's seven and thinks he's a dog (characteristics of both breeds mentioned). He's a gray and white tuxedo.
Hoku (Ho-koo) is the girl. She's a country girl from across the mountains. Omak, to be exact. We think she was partially feral. She's Shimai's opposite and the classic aloof feline. She's about six pounds and will only eat dry cat food and crunchy treats. She's a gray muted calico.
Miss Significantly Other was born and raised in Hawaii. She bugged out when she was eighteen and hardly looked back to the rocks except on holidays. When Panzo came along, he really wasn't interested in Hawaii - who needs a place living in a perpetual Jersey summer?
Finally, forced to meet Miss S.O.'s parents and determined to not want to be embarassed by not knowing anything about Hawaii, started learning about the place.
With much respect for the native Hawaiians as well as for those who had successfully created a community from immigrant stock in the middle of the ocean, Panzo visited and did the "falling in love" with Hawaii thing but from a different perspective.
Panzo didn't stay at a resort and didn't have attractive brown people bring him drinks as he lounged by the seaside. He stayed in Kula on Maui and made the trip down to Kihei every day to Kalepolepo and ate at L&L and Wei-Wei Barbecue and Tasty Crust. This didn't make him Hawaiian or local but it did, along with Miss S.O.'s input and friendships with other real locals, give him a better appreciation for the more important Hawaii beyond the fake resort stuff.
So Panzo favors anything that will benefit the Kanaka Maoli and anything that will support sustainability and local control for Hawaii and Hawaiians. He disdains the "Mainlanding" of Hawaii that is corrupting both the Kanaka culture and the island culture that developed in Hawaii over hundreds of years.
As an outgrowth of Panzo's Hawaiian adventures, he's come to respect and enjoy the Hawaiian cultural events here in the Seattle area.
Another outgrowth is the renewed love of her home being experienced by Miss S.O.