Homespun Honolulu

Some things transcend all borders. Luciano Pavarotti died yesterday after a battle with pancreatic cancer. I hate the “C” word! It has cost us much and now it has taken the King of the High C’s! Luciano was 71 years old. Did he come to Hawaii? Yes, we were fortunate to have him visit and sing for us a couple of times. The media reports this morning are giving him credit for “expanding” or reviving an interest in opera. One can only hope that this vocal art will thrive.

Honolulu and the rest of the world say aloha to a man whose name is synonymous with opera. His name has become a household word and will be representative of his genre for years to come, I’m sure. Few things are more beautiful than a clear, crisp tenor voice! Was he my favorite of the tenors? No, but he had one thing that always amazed me — not only control, but comfort.  When hitting those high notes was a struggle for some and work for others, Pavarotti just did it naturally. He didn’t flinch or strain, he just sang! He is one hard act to follow!

For opera fans, the 1982 comedy, Yes, Giorgio, just became a tear-jerker. Aloha menemene from Homespun Honolulu to the family and friends of Luciano Pavarotti, and to the opera fans across the world!

It was a normal thing to do on a Saturday afternoon. To go run. I needed to pick up a prescription for Mom, so I went a little further than usual. I was passing Linekona School, now known as the Academy Art Center. Linekona has a history of being many things (mostly educational) and is now primarily an art school and a place that hosts small art exhibits. This charming building sits across the street from the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Now, on Saturday, while passing this historic-looking building, I was a intrigued by a large camel on the lawn. “What the heck?” I had to investigate this. Well, it seems that this camel was… well, just there. I was informed that there had been other camels on the lawn too but that they had already fallen over. There was an art exhibit going on but that camel had nothing to do with the exhibit on display. It didn’t matter, this peculiar dromedary, which was about to collapse like the others, was what led me inside.

Read the rest of this entry »

One of Honolulu’s more high-end restaurants has kind of left me on the fence. I like the location, the view is wonderful and the architecture is attractive. Parking, however, is problematic. It does not leave a good impression when you need a handicap stall and are told to either use the valet or drop off and go park about a hundred yards away.

So, I’m going to tip a valet to park in the stall that is right where I am standing and if I want to park my car myself I have to walk the length of a football field? (That’s a rocky, lumpy, not-made-for-heels football field.) This is not customer service. That’s strike one in the parking lot before we even get into the restaurant. I’m sorry, I am a strong believer in tips because I know staff are notoriously underpaid, but I also believe in tipping for a reason, i.e. service provided. There was no service to be had in the parking area! Valet service is supposed to be there to assist, not to hinder.

Now, we’ve left the parking-lot incident behind us and decided we would go in and try it anyway. Everyone is very nice and there is a warm reception from the hostess at the front door.

We were seated by an attentive and friendly matradee. The food looked and smelled wonderful. What a colorful variety!

Read the rest of this entry »

The memory of a man who loved Hawaii, as much as Hawaii loved him, was made tangible at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center in Honolulu last Thursday.

There are few places across the country, and maybe even across the world, that wouldn’t boast a fascination and admiration for this pop-music icon. But, I don’t know how many of these places could say that the feeling was, and still is, mutual.

There are many who have memories of his visits and many who tell stories about the concert that this statue commemorates. These 1,100 pounds of bronze immortalize the “Aloha from Hawaii” concert that took place in 1973.

According to some news reports, the concert was broadcast via satellite feed to 40 countries and had an estimated 1.5 billion viewers.

So who’s behind this? TVLand.com, with the permission and participation of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc., enabled this life-sized look alike to make its home on the grounds of Blaisdell Center.

There are still women who remember getting close enough to touch him or people who still have an article from that concert. Even after more than thirty years, the parking lot at Blaisdell was full of several hundred fans, all waiting for the unveiling of our newest tourist attraction.

People still have his pictures and memorabilia decorating their homes. Even at my house there’s a picture on the wall, with a piece of paper with what portends to be an original Elvis Presley signature.

Forbes billionaire, Barbara Cox Anthony, died this morning at the age of 84. According to the evening news, she had been ill for a while.

She was quite a lady. She was one of those people that had money but didn’t flaunt it or live ostentatiously. I knew she was on the Board of La Pietra: Hawaii School for Girls and that she had philanthropic interests but I had no idea that she was also a contributor to the Veterinary School at Colorado State University! That took her up a notch in my book!

Barbara Cox Anthony was a lady with a life story. Maybe we’ll hear more about it on the Biography Channel someday!

Statesman.com reports it like this:

Anthony died Monday at 84 after a long illness. She died in her sleep at her home in Honolulu, with her son and daughter by her side.

“She could run with the foxes or bay with the hounds,” said her son, Jim Kennedy. He described his mother as a fun-loving and sassy woman who was as comfortable dining with her ranch hands as with the Duke of Edinburgh, a woman of deep generosity who was dedicated to the environment and who loved animals and her grandchildren to distraction.

Until her death, Anthony served on the board of directors of Cox Enterprises. She also was chairman of the corporation that publishes the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News.

It’s a great article with a wealth of information about her family, her life and her fun-loving personality!

Aloha, Barbara, this is a loss to us indeed!

It looks like the rest of the evening will be made up of performances and remembrance speeches.

We have heard from very young keiki singing their little hearts out. There have been friends who flew in from the mainland just to be here.

Known entertainers have gotten up and said their farewells and sung a song that they felt Don would have liked them to sing.

For those familiar with the local scene, the following names are just a few of those present to send Don off in style, Hawaiian style:

The Brothers Cazimero, Marlene Sai, Jimmy Borges, Iva Kinimaka, Sam Kapu, former Governor George Ariyoshi, Mayor Mufi Hanneman, Melveen Leed, Willie K, Ed Brown (in from Los Angeles) and others whom I either missed, don’t remember or don’t know. A lot.

Aloha, Don! You will be missed and your memory will never die — not with all this love and with such an extended ohana!

You can see the lyrics and hear the audio by going here. They played this and “I Will Remember You” at the end of the private memorial service. How anyone could have been without tears at that point is beyond me! Even the mayor, they said, was choked up.

You can purchase this here. Ya gotta love Amazon at times like this!

One of the news casters told us that the chanter said that one of the canoes will probably huli (that’s to flip over) because that was Don’s sense of humor. Sure enough, one of the canoes got caught full of water and sinking!  Don is laughing.

I’m assuming that you guys are coming to see if there is information about the farewell services. I have no video but I can write updates as I see them on the live TV channel(s) here.

Hoku and one of her sisters, Don Ho’s daughters, sang at the private service. There was a nice sermon and a military gun salute. Don was a veteran. They played the recording that Don made — I will go find the link and post it in a minute.

The conch shells were blown, there was traditional Hawaiian chant, and people boarded the canoes. They then took his ashes out many others followed. People stood on shore watching. There were a lot of tears during the service, but I can only imagine what emotions were like out there on the ocean!

The last time a traditional Hawaiian memorial service like this was performed was for Duke Kahanamoku.

KHON Channel 2, bless their hearts, will be televising the services live during their newscast tomorrow evening.

If you are in the State of Hawaii, you should be able to catch this. I have tried to search for a live webcast for everybody else, but am yet to find one.

I will keep trying and post it as soon as I find anything.

Apologies to KHON for “borrowing” their lovely artwork. Please tune in if you are able!

In all fairness, KGMB Channel 9 will be doing the same and they will have extended coverage all the way to 10:00 tonight.

Don Ho Dies on April 14, 2007

Don was 76 and died today of heart failure. I am stunned by this news. They called him a “Living Legend” but now he’s gone. Don was a Hawaiian icon — one that most of us grew up with. Talk about a way to burst a person’s Tiny Bubbles!

I grew up with that song from the time I was only three or four years old. Our babysitter would play it and we would sing along. I never knew what the lyrics meant. I always wondered how bubbles could “make you warm all over” if you were all wet.

As I got older, I finally figured out that the bubbles were the ones in the wine, not the bubble bath. You know, like the ones in soda? I still couldn’t figure out how you would keep warm that way. Um, I guess I should mention that I get it now.

Don Ho, left, is pictured here with Engelbert Humperdinck, center, and Hawaii’s local entertainer, Rod Young in a photo taken one January evening in the early ’80’s at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. Yes, that is Engelbert, I was there when this photo was taken.

I was happy to find out from KHON Channel 2 News that Don was here in Honolulu and at home when it happened. He was rushed to Queen’s Hospital where he died at 10:30 am. I’m glad he was here at home; I don’t think he would have wanted to be anywhere else.

Aloha, Don, thank you for all the memories you left for locals and for so many visitors over the years! CNN has posted details and a nice write-up and photo compliments of The Associated Press.