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Post by ilmatto on Apr 11, 2010 21:46:38 GMT -5
I do think that's the domain of the Japanese, though. Sadly I also exercise claimancy in that domain. I am as insufferably full of crap as any Japanese.
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Post by callipygias on Apr 11, 2010 23:22:00 GMT -5
There are a lot of us embarrassed by this day, because it lacks the Aloha spirit. It just shows that racism is everywhere. I've kind of assumed that the "aloha spirit" is a sort of modern, touristy thing. I mean, I've never thought of Hawaiians as mean or rude or anything, just the opposite in fact, but I've always kind of assumed they were... well, that they enjoy a good, small-scale war. Hard-partying warriors, basically. (Not mean or rude, just war-like. How messed up is that thinking?) Maybe it's just because of the warrior-like pageantry of the dancing that I think that. TV is pretty much my exposure to Hawaii. Also, I'm curious, chicken, is there much of a keep-a-pure-bloodline attitude behind the scenes? I'd think there would have to be with the sheer number of non-Hawaiian genes in the pool. (I hope that doesn't sound insulting, but previous posts have me wondering.)
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Post by afriendlychicken on Apr 12, 2010 3:50:56 GMT -5
There are a lot of us embarrassed by this day, because it lacks the Aloha spirit. It just shows that racism is everywhere. I've kind of assumed that the "aloha spirit" is a sort of modern, touristy thing. I mean, I've never thought of Hawaiians as mean or rude or anything, just the opposite in fact, but I've always kind of assumed they were... well, that they enjoy a good, small-scale war. Hard-partying warriors, basically. (Not mean or rude, just war-like. How messed up is that thinking?) Maybe it's just because of the warrior-like pageantry of the dancing that I think that. TV is pretty much my exposure to Hawaii. Also, I'm curious, chicken, is there much of a keep-a-pure-bloodline attitude behind the scenes? I'd think there would have to be with the sheer number of non-Hawaiian genes in the pool. (I hope that doesn't sound insulting, but previous posts have me wondering.) Warfare was rampant in Hawai'i. Island against island, district against district. Just like Europe, they battled over land rights. It stopped when Kamehameha The Great issued a decree to stop murder, theft and plundering. The idea of spreading the aloha spirit in Hawai'i started sometime after that. I can find references to it back-dated to the 1800's. I don't see a trend to keep the bloodline going. I'm sure there are some that do it. Most of us here just date or marry any race. most of what i know about hawaii is limited to what i learned about it on the brady bunch. I actually really like that Brady Bunch episode. They do a nice job of showing the Arizona Memorial and Waikiki Beach. You can be glad to know we don't have tarantula's here. But if you find a taboo object, put it back!
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Post by afriendlychicken on Apr 12, 2010 5:06:20 GMT -5
Ok, class, twoday we goin' learn how fo' talk 'da pidgin'. Fo' do dat, I goin' use 'da comedy of Rap Reiplinga. Make 'um funny, ah. I hope, la 'dat. (Today, I'll show you how to speak pidgin'. To show you, I'll use the comedy of Rap Reiplinger. I'll do that so you can laugh while learning. I hope...) Numbah one, dis video: I hope 'da buggah make u laff. (First, I'll show you this video. Hope you enjoy.) Numbah two lessen: (Second lesson.) Ok, I pau (That's all for now.) Pidgin' was invented by Filipino immigrants during the days of the sugar cane plantations. Since everyone spoke their own languages, they came up with a mixture that included all the languages, with obvious broken English. Thus, pidgin' English was born. We've been speaking it ever since, and no one here knows how hard it is for me to type my sentences without using it. Rap Reiplinger is considered Hawai'i's greatest comedian. Anyone who lived here in the late 70's, early 80's will always remember him. He died, tragically, at age 33 from a drug overdose. His comedy idols were Sid Caeser and Ernie Kovaks. I hope to be able to share a few more videos of him with you soon. Lastly, I want to leave you with a few images of where I grew up. This is Enchanted Lake in Kailua, Oahu. Our house would have been just off to the right of this image. The mountains you see there were part of my backyard. You can see the other side of this crater rim in the Code Name: Diamond Head episode. This Is Enchanted Lake Shopping Center. It was less then a mile away from my house and I could swear they've been fixing the roads there for 30+ years. Even when I visited there last year. In the background, you see the part of the Koolau range where the Pali lookout is located, for anyone who's ever visited it. And this is Kailua Town. The white beach you see there is where the house is located that President Obama stays in during his visits. My best friend, who still lives in my old neighborhood, tells me the traffic is crazy when he's there, so he just stays indoors as much as he can until he leaves. My friend really dislikes politics. Until next time, Aloha. PS: One day I'll find a video that embeds.
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Post by ilmatto on Apr 12, 2010 7:02:32 GMT -5
I like hawaiian slack string guitar. I like the theme to Waikiki Wedding. Fred Astaire film. The only hawaiian tune to ever win an academy award.
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Post by caucasoididiot on Apr 12, 2010 8:19:16 GMT -5
I loved those Rap Reiplinger bits! Auntie Marialani definitely reminded me of Kovacs' Miklós Molnár. I imagine I could Google him easily enough, but did he have a TV show, videos or what? I'm looking forward to more.
Great pics, too. Funny how the scenery manages to make even a strip mall look enticing.
PS: Don't feel obligated to do poop. Mine has covered that. Or should that be vice versa?
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Post by afriendlychicken on Apr 12, 2010 16:30:48 GMT -5
Rap Reiplinger was a stand-up comedian. He started out as part of a comedy troop called booga-booga. He decided, in the late 70's, to go solo. He didn't have a TV show, unfortunately, but a single TV special. He was an album comedy artist, and the video's I posted are his visual idea's for his studio recordings. The DVD is available, and it's called Rap's Hawaii. I have seen a few videos with him in booga-booga, but they are few and far between. I'll keep posting what I can find.
Waikiki Wedding is still played today. A few other hollywood movie songs about Hawai'i I still hear are Bing Crosby singing Mele Kalikimaka, and amazingly, Honolulu Baby from Laurel and Hardy's Sons Of The Deserts.
Thank you, everyone, for your comments and questions. I now have great ideas for future posts. From slack-key guitar and other Hawaiian music and instruments, mythology stories including the menehunes, Hawai'i as represented in movies and TV, Hawai'i comedy, along with sharing the images and beauty of my home.
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Post by solgroupie on Apr 12, 2010 16:59:22 GMT -5
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Post by afriendlychicken on Apr 12, 2010 19:23:14 GMT -5
That was AWESOME! I had never heard of that song before. The steel guitar sounded just right. I always thought Hawaiian music had borrowed the steel guitar sound from country music. Then a few years ago, when I was doing a little research on Gene Autry, I discovered that country music had taken the sound from Hawaiian music. Well, what do 'ya know?
The only other Rock and Roll song about Hawai'i, besides Elvis', that I can think of, is The Rascals "My Hawaii."
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Post by callipygias on Apr 12, 2010 19:31:55 GMT -5
One of my favorite albums ever was The Kink Kronikles, and it had a pretty cool song called Holiday in Waikiki on it.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Apr 12, 2010 19:48:20 GMT -5
That's right, and I owned that album too! The Beatles actually used a local phrase in one of their songs. When they were here for a concert, they kept hearing an expression we use, "life goes on, bra." Paul ended up putting that in his lyrics too Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da. So, if that line never made sense to you, I hope it does now. They did miss-spell bra(h), though.
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Post by ilmatto on Apr 12, 2010 20:29:15 GMT -5
I always liked the tune Pearly Shells by the Billy Vaughn orchestra; my father listened to it when I was growing up. I was playing it on my PC years later when my hawaiian friend (the half Jp - half Portuguese) started singing along with it and doing hula. Before that moment I never knew that Pearly Shells was a hula song; I had never heard it sung, only orchestral versions.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Apr 13, 2010 0:57:54 GMT -5
"Pearly shells, from the ocean. Shining in the sun, covering up the shore. When I see them, my heart tells me that I love you"...I've forgotten the next line! We used to have to sing that all the time in elementary school. Along with a song called "Hele On To Kauai." You mention some interesting things, illmato. How much has your friend told you about Hawai'i? If you still talk to her, tell her she can correct any mistakes I make! I'm sure I'll make a few.
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Post by ilmatto on Apr 13, 2010 17:51:59 GMT -5
I haven't seen my Hawaiian friend for 9-10 years or so but it's hard to forget any of that stuff. Everything she told me was identical to what you have said. All of my education on Hawaiian matters before that point was from old Hawaii-Five-Oh episodes that I watched endlessly growing up in the 60s & 70s.
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Post by afriendlychicken on Apr 13, 2010 22:48:34 GMT -5
Hawai'i 5-0 was great. I was watching an episode last night and I was totally sucked into it. I had forgotten how dark of a show it was. I want to share a few pictures I snapped today with my cellphone. It gives you an example of Hilo rain. This is Hilo in the rain. I was walking out of Wal-Mart when I was attacked by the forces of nature. Those are my parents. I didn't even realize they were in the shot. I seem to have a bad habit of snapping pictures near parking lots. This is just outside of our only indoor mall, where I've seemed to work forever! I was helping a friend and when I walked out, hours later, it was raining even harder. This last image is of the forest next to our house. The rain had calmed to a drizzle by then. That is where the fish lives... ;D More about the Hilo rain, soon.
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