Best local recording

Iz*, Henry Kapono

We meant best recording this year. Although Iz won by an overwhelming majority, Iz no longer is. Iz was. We salute him and rank him your favorite but as far as the best 2006 recording goes, Henry Kapono’s The Wild Hawaiian earns the winning honor. This is a groundbreaking turn for Kapono who embraces his culture and heritage with his first Hawaiian CD. Although it contains classics such as ‘Ke Aloha O Ka Haku–The Queen’s Prayer,’ The Wild Hawaiian is raw, rocking and contagious. Congrats to Jack Johnson who came in at No. 2.

Best local TV show (no Lost)

Da Braddahs

Sometimes we just want to throw down the Weekly, steer clear of the bookshelf, PBS and the History Channel and veg out with OC 16’s James Roche and Tony Silva–Da Braddahs–who can camp it up in Pidgin, fall back on the old Don Ho impersonation routine and inspire us to follow their lead next time we’re slightly sauced. And just a note: We said ‘No Lost.’ Did we get Lost as an answer? Of course we did. (We forgive you. We like it too.)

Best art event

ARTafterdark

The Honolulu Academy of Arts’ monthly shindig for young, hip professionals is the result of innovative planning by like-minded individuals. Known as the alternative to the dinner-and-movie date, which can drain an entire paycheck in one evening, ARTafterDARK is a themed party with live entertainment, gallery strolling, food and drink and mingling in the cool, starry evening. We commend your second choice as well: First Fridays and its open gallery walk is like trick or treating for adults. And to the person who suggested ‘live nude girls’ for this category, the females on our staff say thanks.

[www.artafterdark.org]

Best hula event

Merrie Monarch

What, no runner-up? Let’s agree that Hawai’i can’t go wrong when it comes to hula festivals; it’s all good. That said, the Merrie Monarch with its 43 years of tradition, is indeed the Super Bowl of competition–Hilo’s claim to fame. The annual April event on the Big Island incorporates art exhibits, craft fairs, demonstrations and parades with the intent of preserving and celebrating the culture of Hawai’i and its rich traditions. Congratulations to Na Lei O Kaholoku, this year’s overall winners.

Best non-chain book store

BookEnds

Kailua’s culture connoisseurs have known for years that this is not only a reason to drive to the Windward side, it’s a dang good reason to live there, especially with Lanikai Juice, Morning Brew and Mary Z’s next door. New books? Yep. Used books? Yep. They’re shelved side by side so browsing is best done slowly. A quick scan means you’ll likely miss a treasure you weren’t even looking for. Runnersup Rainbow Books and Music on University Avenue and Jelly’s in ‘Aiea sell music and more in addition to the books.

BookEnds, 600 Kailua Rd., 261-1996

Best attempt to enrich our lives with ideas and conversations

Windward Community College’s Common Book Project

Water cooler talk. Brian Richardson, Windward Community College librarian, aims to move Hawai’i beyond American Idol contestants or Lost’s mysterious numbers for our spirited dialogues. As the coordinator of WCC’s Common Book Project, Richardson plans events, which focus on one book (for Fall 2006 it’s two). Movies, lectures and discussions throughout the semester get people reading, talking about and bonding over the same timely topics. Get started on the upcoming semester: The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman and Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. ‘Taken together, the books should spark a lively debate,’ Richardson says.

[www.wcc.hawaii.edu]/ CommonBook/2006-2007/< \c:

Best place to show your support for stem cell therapy

Don Ho’s Island Grill

OK, it’s a stretch, but Pops does have an interest in the place and did undergo an expensive, brand new stem-cell procedure. You could almost say that with your patronage of the Grill, you’re helping to fund exorbitant medical bills, providing an expanding generation of people the opportunity to earn a deeper passion for the Hawaiian music of yesteryear while helping to boost a living legend toward immortality. Besides, it’s just really cool. Mild kitsch, live music and tropical nostalgia stand alone, but the fun is when Uncle Don actually shows up. It’s kind of like that old episode of The Brady Bunch when Bobby and Cindy run into him at the beach.

Don Ho’s Island Grill, Aloha Tower Marketplace, 528-0807

Best upcoming renovation

Bishop Museum’s Hawaiian Hall

When a renovation project is so big there’s an entire brochure about it, rest assured it’s no ordinary facelift. Remember humid, small-kid day trips to the museum with visiting mainland guests? Bishop Museum’s Hawaiian Hall and its repetitive pattern of artifacts weren’t exactly conducive to education and increasing curiosity. For restless people, it was downright boring. That will all change in 2008 when the iconic building completes its $20 million makeover, both in design and concept. Although air conditioning and an elevator take up a bulk of the budget, the project’s most ambitious aim is to give the public access to a record number of the museum’s hidden collections and a layered, insightful interpretation of the native Hawaiian voice.

1525 Bernice Street, 847-3511, [www.bishopmuseum.org]

Best reason the Bishop Museum needs to step it up

Honolulu Academy of Arts’ Life in the Pacific of the 1700s: The Cook/Forster Collection of the Georg August University of Gottingen

The collection of several hundred practical and ritualistic artifacts from Captain James Cook’s second and third voyages, a gift for the public from academy director Stephen Little and a team of Pacific Island leaders, conservators, designers and artists was astounding in its enormity. Until earlier this year, many descendants of the artisans who made these objects didn’t even know of their existence. It was the first time the entire collection was shown to the public, providing an intimate and comprehensive view into the lives of indigenous peoples prior to the first contact with Westerners. What’s more, the exhibition was free of charge.

Best for-beginners-only orchestra

Oahu Civic Orchestra

Somewhere in between our illustrious Honolulu Symphony and the Portsmouth Sinfonia–who proudly dubbed themselves ‘the world’s worst orchestra’ back in the ’70s–vibrates the earnest sound of the Oahu Civic Orchestra. Volunteers all, these ambitious souls are your neighbors, your librarians, your postal carrier’s dad. Anyone can join. You won’t get paid and you should probably own an instrument, maybe read a little music, but virtuosity is not necessarily encouraged. The purpose is to learn, nurture and enjoy playing both classical and contemporary music by attending rehearsals and performing actual (non-paying) gigs.

Best for-pros-only orchestra

The Matt Catingub Orchestra of Hawai’i

Aren’t we talking about the Honolulu Symphony Pops? Some of them. Pops conductor Catingub recruited players from the symphony, from the Royal Hawaiian Band, from the streets of Honolulu to form his own 39-piece orchestra, currently recording their first CD, which is due out in October. If you’ve managed to sidestep the Pops over the past eight years, or the soothing, tasteful, Grammy-winning Good Night and Good Luck soundtrack, which features Catingub as arranger and saxophonist, you’re missing out. Music students: This is the guy to emulate. Catingub’s orchestra will show face at its first live performance next March during the city’s ‘Return to Romance’ music festival, scheduled to bring in mainland artists and showcase local musicians as well.

Danny Simon

Best living local writer

Lois-Ann Yamanaka

It’s a bit of a no-brainer, but Lois-Ann Yamanaka is not only Hawai’i’s most nationally visible author, she also consistently knocks it out of the fiction-park every time. Her latest novel Behold the Many has caused The Washington Post to call her ‘one of our nation’s most dynamic literary stylists.’ No other contemporary writer in the Islands has garnered that kind of continued mainland literary recognition or has the ability to force the mainland to recognize Hawai’i writing period. Heck, Blu’s Hanging is practically a local college course in itself already.–Ryan Senaga

Best, um, non-living local writer

O.A. Bushnell

Why should only breathing authors get to be in this issue? O. A. Bushnell may have left this plane of existence in 2002, but he is still relevant and influential from the Great Beyond. In this day and age, and especially for this state, it may be more significant than ever that Bushnell wasn’t just a writer/artist, but also a working microbiologist and medical historian who taught classes at UH’s School of Medicine. There was no starving bohemian, I’m-gonna-just-type-on-my-laptop-at-Starbucks-all-day bullshit here. It also helps that novels such as Ka’a'awa, Moloka’i , and the Atlantic Monthly’s 1956 fiction award-winner The Return of Lono are solid foundations for any local literary writer.–R.S.

Steve Wagenseller

Best reason to skip High School Musical

Taurie Kinoshita

Taurie Kinoshita likes to push buttons. Her MFA thesis production as a directing candidate was the bipolar-themed 4.48 Psychosis by British author Sarah Kane, who committed suicide after completing the work. Her Cruel Theatre productions (Kinoshita founded the company) call on audience members to don a costume piece and interact with an actor who’s had the benefit of some rehearsal. Kinoshita may well find a niche as she embarks on the New York theater scene while we lay back in our Rodgers and Hammerstein comfort zone. Break an existential leg, Taurie.