The film What About Bob? posits, “There are two types of people in the world: those who like Neil Diamond and those who don’t.” Maybe, but the likes win by a landslide: Diamond has sold over 115 million albums, placing him third in Adult Contemporary after Sir Elton and Barbara Streisand. In 2011, he outshone himself: He was named a Billboard Icon, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and honored at Kennedy Center.
In this modern generation where everything is hurtling forward, people rarely take the time to stop and look back. But some consider it an art form to collect and treasure the possessions belonging to history.
Be Mine It’s that sweet, overly sentimental time of year; birds are singing and everyone’s drunk off of chocolate truffles and Sweethearts candy. But Valentine’s Day can often place one in a precarious position, if not readily prepared.
Extras / Now in its eighth year, GiRL FeST hosts the annual female empowerment festival at a different time of year than usual–during legislative session. “I’m never scheduling GiRL FeST during session again,” says non-executive director Kathy Xian, half-jokingly.
Literary / As the title implies, Memory Cards, from Susan Schultz’s newest collection of poetry, is a book of cards representing a place where an event, a phrase, a thought triggers a memory which then triggers another memory until the poem ends, with or without resolution. At the heart of it is a layered look at memory’s many tones.
Stage / Recipe for a play: take one book of poetry, preferably plump and fully-grown, with a crop full to bursting. Grasp it by a wing lest it escape, squawking, back onto your shelves.
Galleries / For youngsters growing up in Honolulu before the Hawaiian Renaissance revived an eye and an ear for our own traditions, Paul Gauguin’s “Two Nudes on a Tahitian Beach” in the Honolulu Academy of Arts made art relevant to our daily lives. If the models in this large oil painting had been wearing bikinis, they could, with the sandbar and shorebreak behind them, have been contemporary girls in Waianae or along the North Shore.
The seductive singer-dancer-actor Ben Vereen won back-to-back Tony Awards for his unforgettable roles as Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar in 1972 and as the lead in Pippin in 1973, and was recently on Broadway in I’m Not Rappaport and Wicked. On TV, he played Chicken George in the series Roots and Wayne Brady’s father in How I Met Your Mother.
Music / As a local radio DJ, I am fortunate to have access to a large collection of Hawaiian music. I’m either checking out a newly released album or admiring an old favorite, whether on vinyl, on cassette or on CD.
Concert Review / There’s something really wonderful about the acoustics of the Hawaii Theatre. The sound always seems huge and lively, but you never leave the venue with that annoying ring in your ears from having been exposed to high sound levels.
What’s it take to win the Honolulu Weekly Fiction Contest? Nothing short of an intriguing, beautifully crafted story with a local edge.
How will you spend your New Year’s? Getting together with old friends and creating sweet new memories?
A small, red-lettered sign leads guests into a driveway where a single lantern stands, illuminating a charming pale-pink house with a white fence. Stairs traverse a wide, high-ceilinged space.
Art / The Honolulu Academy of Art is famous for the quality of its Asian art collection and the shows it puts together, so it’s easy to take “Masterpieces of Landscape Painting from the Forbidden City” for granted. That truly definitive art from China’s Forbidden City is on display for regular people in the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a kind of satisfaction in and of itself–but only if you make the visit.
Holly Jolly Garments! It’s an unwritten rule: Buy someone clothing, be sure it comes with a gift receipt.
Cheers Couture Diane Von Furstenberg, Aloha Rag, milk & honey The occasion: “The Cocktail.” In this economy, it’s natural for someone to want to get glam and Occupy Bar once in a while, right? Go all out in high fashion style with haute shops like the new Diane Von Furstenberg or the exclusive boutique collections at milk & honey and Aloha Rag that are sure to turn heads (they did on the Parisian runways, anyway).
Soak Up The Sun Local Motion, Pualani, Hawaiian Island Creations The occasion: “The Beach.” Okay, living in Hawaii, it’s something of a strain to consider going to the beach an “occasion.” That’s why getting dressed for it is akin to slipping on a pair of socks. Going to the beach is like any other thing.
Sweat Some Style Lululemon, HNL Fight Shop, American Apparel The occasion: “Da Gym.” Between treadmills and bench presses, they won’t really need you to look good, thankfully. But you can still help them in the process.
DJ Paul Oakenfold deserves his own star sign. Right there in between something fierce like Leo and Scorpio–his sonic gravity is just that powerful.
Philanthropic gifts are those that truly keep on giving. They can’t break, go out of style or be exchanged for a different size.
Explore. Enjoy.
Walk the Walk Honolulu Aids Walk Volunteer with the Life Foundation, a local organization that provides services to those living with HIV/AIDS, (as well as free HIV testing and education), during the 21st annual Honolulu AIDS Walk at the Kapiolani Park Bandstand on Sunday, April 15, 2012. Performances, food, prizes and family fun follow the 5K.
Clean a Beach Local Foundations Take your family and friends to participate in a beach cleanup: There is a cleanup almost every weekend if you explore opportunities with the Surfrider Foundation, Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, Adopt-A-Beach Hawaii and Beach Environmental Awareness Campaign Hawaii (B.E.A.C.H.). Surfrider’s offering a Holiday Gift Member Package that includes a one-year membership, a bar of Matunas natural wax, a bamboo wax comb and six issues of Making Waves.
Gift Guide / There are many amazing local non-profits. Here are just a few inspirational organizations that could use your physical or financial gifts.
Holiday Gift Guide / Just Brew It Homebrew in Paradise If you’ve ever worked in a brewpub, you might’ve hoped you could one day fill the shoes of the brew master. Thanks to Homebrew in Paradise, you can find supplies and ingredients for making your first batch–over two-dozen types of hops and over three-dozen kinds of grains.
For this year’s Food + Drink issue, we compiled 100-plus memories of the fantastic bites we’ve taken, the culinary experiences we’ve undergone and other tasteful moments of absolutely loving what Hawaii’s food scene has to offer. The result is a mixed plate of the Weekly ‘ohana’s favorite dishes, libations, produce, places and some lesser-known joys.
Respect Your Veg At long last, vegetables are being recognized as culinary stars. The following dishes have two things in common: They’re veggie-centric, if not strictly vegetarian, and best eaten on the spot.
Paitan Broth: Kyoto Ramen Yotekko-Ya If you’re a ramen lover, you know the most important element of the bowl is the broth. At Kyoto Ramen Yotekko-Ya, the paitan broth ($9.95 for paitan chashu ramen) is deeply savory.
Naan: Cafe Maharani “The dough is just special,” says owner Chris Rahman of Cafe Maharani. The naan ($2.99) is made to order and handled very delicately.
Asian: Green Door Cafe Enter into Green Door Cafe to find a whole ‘nother world. Owner Betty Peng is a one-woman show (don’t start with her, or else) and cooks all of her Singaporean dishes to order.
Byron’s Drive-in The vacant, former Byron’s Drive-in building still stands near the airport since closing its doors in February. “We’d always go [to Byron’s] late at night,” says Sabrina Thompson, a Tripler Hospital nurse.
Shinsato Pork: Guava Smoked Scott Shibuya of Guava Smoked made a splash in the farmers’ market scene with his finger-licking good, guava wood-smoked Shinsato Pork. “I really wanted to be my own boss,” he says.
Cheese: Surfing Goat Dairy Owners Thomas and Eva Kafsack moved from Germany to Maui and found that they missed receiving fresh goat cheese from their neighbors’ backyards. A few goats from the Big Island (and a huge investment) later, Surfing Goat Dairy was born.
Decadent Fries: Home Bar and Grill These aren’t ordinary fried potatoes. Chef Neil Nakasone’s Parmesan truffle fries ($8) are an elite class of spuds.
Rotations: Taste Some might say Chef Mark “Gooch” Noguchi and partner Amanda Corby, with the help of another power couple, Poni and Brandon Askew of StreetGrindz, fleshed out the pop-up trend with Taste. But: “Actually, Adam is Taste,” Gooch explains, referring to Taste’s general manager, Adam Lock.
Healthy Food Truck: Beet Box Cafe The Beet Box Cafe is a sit-down eatery located in Haleiwa Town, but their bright yellow lunch wagon is also worth following. The lunchtruck serves organic, vegetarian burritos ($7-10), a special of the day made with farm-to-table ingredients ($10-12), smoothies ($7.50), kombucha ($5) and snacks such as baked goods and dried fruits ($3).
A Cook’s Catch When it comes to fish, freshness really matters, so eating local from our Hawaiian waters is always in the best of taste. Health and sustainability also count.
Whole Foods & Down To Earth Down to Earth offers strictly vegetarian delights such as Bombay spinach, eggplant parmesan, stuffed shells, Thai curry and vegetable korma ($9.59/pound). The tofu and eggplant are always sourced from local producers.
Edible Land: Permablitz Fruit trees flourish in Hawaii but sadly, much goes to waste. Permablitz aims to change that.
Foraging: Strawberry Guava at Waahila Ridge Strawberry guava is invasive to Hawaii, which is why I don’t feel an ounce of guilt picking the small, red fruits in (free!) handfuls whenever I hike up Waahila Ridge. When they’re a light red color, just pull them off the trees, check for bug-made holes and bite in.
Nutmeg and Cloves: Frankie’s Nursery Want to spice up your kitchen? Lynn Tsuruda of Frankie’s Nursery says they sell spices grown in Hawaii, by the plant or the fruit.
Filipino: Pacific Drive out to Central Oahu and find Pacific Supermarket, a haven for all things Southeast Asian. With the Leeward community’s large Filipino population, access to local favorites at Pacific is a big deal.
Korean Chew: Taegu Taegu, more properly pronounced as dae-goo, is either a variety of cod, sliced into strips and seasoned, or a seasoned side dish. There is some confusion, as I came to realize while asking my born-and-raised-in-Korea mom, because those side dishes are made with different fish.
Matcha Latte: Peace Cafe Peace Cafe, a second home for vegans, carries a matcha (green tea) latte with a secret. “The first sip is always the most important,” explains an employee.
Good For You: Kombucha A SCOBY is a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast integral to making kombucha. Kombucha, a fizzy tea, is full of promises to boost detoxification, immunity and digestion and joint health.
Free: Whole Foods Whole Foods Market Kahala offers free cooking classes at CookSpace in Ward Warehouse. “We just did a Health Starts Here cooking class,” says Whole Foods marketing supervisor Natalie Aczon.
Wine Tasting: Kalapawai Cafe Every second Sunday of the month at 3:30 p.m., Kalapawai Cafe holds a free wine tasting. “We [have] five wines.
Dear Friends, Readers, and Advertisers, I am sorry to say that this will be the last issue of the Weekly that we will print. I am sad about closing but I see no way that we can maintain our revenue stream and our fiscal health.
Native Hawaiians and preservationists have pledged to fight a law, signed by Gov. Neil Abercrombie on May 28, that will allow some construction projects to begin before the site has been fully inspected for ancient burials.
Imagine you’re walking through downtown Honolulu and, rather than bypassing an empty, blighted park, you’re drawn into an urban oasis–a forest of fruit-bearing trees and shrubs. You could spend your lunch break chatting with friends in the shade of an ‘ulu tree–and, if you’re hungry, pick whatever’s in season.
Road Rule On May 20, Gov. Abercrombie signed Act 73, requiring all vehicle passengers to buckle up regardless of age or seating arrangement.
Tourists enjoying the Waikiki waterfront were treated to Hawaiian phrases such as “Aole, aole, aole GMO!” chanted by protesters in the March Against Monsanto on Sat., May 25. Translation: No GMOs, ever.
The Hawaii Community Development Authority (HCDA) made its proposed plan to redevelop the Kakaako district available to the community during an open house on Thu., May 23. HCDA Executive Director Tony Ching began with a presentation of the new Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) plan before letting residents ask questions.
In 2011 the city Department of Transportation Services (DTS) was tasked by then-Mayor Peter Carlisle’s administration to shave $10 million from its budget. Over the course of a year, several bus routes were cut and many more were shortened or reconfigured and the frequency of service decreased.
You mentioned in your May 29 GMO article (“Big Pharm Fallout”) that GMO bans were placed on taro and coffee in 2008 in Kohala County. However it was an islandwide ban in Hawaii County.
What a great quote: “I understand that it’s frustrating that we can’t get past the issue of homelessness . .
I know space is limited and you couldn’t put everything in one small article (“Art with HART,” May 29). Here is the rest of what I wanted to have said.
Have five or more contractors “compete” by tackling sections of roadway (“Road Repaving,” May 29). Criteria for competing are expenses, timeliness and a level of quality assurance standards.
Thanks for this article (“The Naked Truth,” May 22), I’m Mykel Hicks, grandson of Sharon Hicks, and I am so proud of my grandma for all she has done for herself, this family and specifically me. She is an amazing grandma who comes with a moving story I hope can help people around the world.
Please remind readers that the HCDA is not interested in providing housing for minimum wage individuals or families, but in providing property developers with profitable opportunities; that our ancient water and sewage lines were not designed to support the needs of thousands of condo and apartment dwellers, but no one is interested in replacing them because no one wants to pay the price (“Civix,” May 22). As a result, Kakaako’s streets are regularly flooded with no sidewalk retreat for pedestrians, wheelchairs, bicyclists, skateboarders, etc., and constantly excavated/repaired to accommodate one project after the other.
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