Cover Story continued

The Medium

Aug 12, 2009

Best of Honolulu 2009

Best non-commerical radio host in the post-“Fistful of Ganas” era

Ross Jackson

KTUH

Sad to say, this one gave you trouble. One reader spoke for (too) many in writing, “Come on, no one listens to local radio anymore.” In the Clear Channel era, it’s a sad truth that too much of our spectrum is taken up by piped-in talk and prefab pop music. We were hoping to uncover a deep and silent audience for the Hawaii Public Radio’s offerings at 88.1 and 89.3FM, and for the often exciting sounds coming out of KTUH at 90.3. Turns out there isn’t much of one–not among those who voted anyway. The good news: our winner was a decisive one. KTUH’s Ross Jackson, whose eclectic, indie-rock driven “Day Dream Nation” show has been soothing the ears of Top 40-weary listeners for years, was your clear choice.

Listen online at [www.ktuh.org], call the request line at 956-7261

Best local newscast

KGMB

A certain newsreader may still be holding it down as Honolulu’s favorite TV personality, but when it comes to our readers’ favorite newscast, we got the scoop: It’s the KGMB 9 crew by a wide margin. Tanya Joaquin and Keahi Tucker anchor the evening broadcast, and our readers like the mix of down-home reporting and a dressed-up set. A fitting tribute in a year when the KGMB family lost its patron saint, legendary anchorman Bob Sevey.

[kgmb9.com]

Best Twitterer

Melissa Chang

RT @Melissa808 PR diva, blogger, writer, runner, traveler, pushy Chinee broad [& w/more than 18k tweets, pr-foodie Melissa Chang is ur fave].

Best use of social media

Facebook

We’ve moved on from 25 Things and random quizzes (No really: what female character from the Bible do you most resemble?) but we just can’t get enough of Facebook. In truth, we were looking for real-life applications, not the computer applications themselves, and when it came to those, one response stood out. Referring to a recent brouhaha over ethnicity-specific social gatherings advertised on the site, one reader commented that “asian table vs haole stool networking event showdown making race relations on the island something people could & did talk about.” The power of social media unleashed! Then someone else wrote, “fuk wit people.” Oh well.

[www.facebook.com]

Best local blog

Tie: Two Beer Queers and [Ilind.net]

The last time we asked, it was Kaa‘awa-based former investigative reporter Ian Lind by a country mile. In a sign that the local blogosphere is beginning to, um, diversify, Russel Kealoha and Bully O’Sullivan’s [twobeerqueers.com] has begun to make a stir on the web. They’re funny guys, and they know their brews (maybe). We just can’t figure out why loving beer makes you “homo for beer.” Maybe it’s all that head.

[www.twobeerqueers.com], [ilind.net]

Best hangout for coconut wireless reporters

Bar 35

Maybe it’s the deceptively loud music inside, fooling high rollers into thinking the walls don’t have ears. Or maybe it’s the deeply relaxing–especially in the late afternoon–orange-and-bamboo courtyard, a few blocks yet a thousand miles from the corridors of power. Probably it’s Dave Stewart’s fearsome collection of the world’s best brews. Either way, let this be a warning to the players among you: when you hit this Chinatown hot spot, everyone’s watching–and listening.

35 N. Hotel St., Mon-Fri 4pm-2am, Sat 6pm-2am, [www.bar35hawaii.com], 537-3535

You said: “Locker room at Honolulu Club.”

Best local television personality

Joe Moore

Not a reporter, but he plays one on TV!

Best bumpersticker

Editors’ Pick: Coolest web site

[weather.hawaii.edu]

As Felicia dumps her warm, sticky love all over us, we’ve been spending a lot of time lately on this fantastic offering from the University of Hawaii’s Department of Meteorology. Whether you’re a weather geek or an art lover, this site will keep you occupied for hours on end with color-keyed maps, satellite images and charts featuring every imaginable weather statistic, from wind speeds to precipitation to temperature. One day last week we even watched the sun’s reflection pass across the mirror of the vast Pacific as a weather satellite hovered in place. Gorgeous. Now if we could just get the local NOAA folks to STOP TYPING THEIR FORECASTS IN ALL CAPS.

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This week

Fortress Oahu

With roots planted in the 1893 overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani and a presence that extends through the entire archipelago, the military’s influence in Hawaii is surpassed only by tourism. The military controls some 236,000 acres throughout the state, including 25 percent of the land mass of Oahu, and thousands of square miles of surrounding airspace and sea.

Breaking The Waves

“I’m having a hard time not swearing right now,” Spike Kane says in his UK accent, all smiles after his first surf session at the second annual Hawaii “They Will Surf Again” event hosted by the Life Rolls On Foundation (LRO). “It just feels so good to be in the water again.” Kane beams.

Greedy, Scheming Saga

Into Willie Sabel’s vast and detailed set enter a cast of rippled sweatshirts and oversized shoulder-pads, thanks to Dusty Behner’s sense of color and history, and Lisa Ponce de Leon’s especially-80s hairstyles. A few of the bunch even manage to hold-their-own against the largeness that is the setting of Dividing the Estate, the newest show to hit Manoa Valley Theatre.

Mayumi Meets Mother Earth

Mayumi Oda, an artist often dubbed the “Matisse of Japan,” is a petite woman with boundless ambitions. In the book Merciful Sea: 45 Years of Serigraphs by Mayumi Oda, meetings with intensely raw and passionate artists, including Ginsberg, Rothko and De Kooning, triggered her to reflect, “I am small.

Editor’s Note

Everything’s coming up mangoes. And last week, we joined the crowd at Foster Botanical Garden to witness the first-ever Honolulu blossoming of Amorphophallus titanium, nicknamed the “Corpse Flower” for its malodorous, fly-catching bouquet.

he’s official

Through the years there have been many mayors who’ve aspired to be governor, but for the first time in Honolulu ’s history, a former governor is running for mayor. At Honolulu Hale on Friday, May 18, as he signed the nomination paperwork making him an official candidate for the 2012 race, Cayetano told the room that, back in January, he made his decision quickly.

Rail suit hangs on

Important back stories are huddled behind last week’s Star-Advertiser headline, “Federal Judge Narrows Lawsuit on Rail.” Foremost is that the lawsuit will go forward unimpeded. The same substantive points of contention including the most important historic and cultural sites are still at issue.

wed lockdown

In announcing his support of same-sex marriage two weeks ago, President Barack Obama reinvigorated a vexed debate. Locally, the wrangle has been deadlocked following the contentious legalization of civil unions and subsequent federal court challenge in January.

outsourced LEI

Thailand grows 75 percent of the flowers used in Hawaiian-made lei, but a flooding in the country last fall destroyed 80 percent of its orchid crops, according to Summer Campos, co-founder of the Hawaiian Lei Company. Together with the graduation season and the growing popularity of lei on the mainland, “All lei prices have inflated due to the orchid shortage,” Campos says.

Bus cuts

Lynne Matusow’s letter [“Goodbye Bus, Hello Rail?” May 16] hit the nail right smack dab on the head. The rail may have its attributes but it seems the more we delve into it the bad seem to outweigh the good.

Second “city”

We have a problem with traffic congestion on the major highways leading into the city; we have the controversy over the issue of rail; and we have the concern over preserving prime agricultural lands. It would seem to me that all these issues point to one thing in one way or another and that is the development of a second city in Kapolei.

Traffic mess

Though you didn’t discuss it in the most recent issue, there was a brief mention of how long it took for the Kinau off-ramp to be completed. Ambulances [had] ALWAYS been able to take the exit BEFORE Kinau, and turn left directly into the Emergency Room.