FREE L.A.: The Grammy Museum Goes Hawaiian

Hawaiian Eye/Aloha Friday Radio may be long gone, but the vibrant Hawaiian music scene lives on. This Friday, L.A. Live’s Grammy Museum is offering a free program featuring this year’s Grammy nominees in the Hawaiian category.

“Hawai’i Goes Grammy: A Tribute to Hawaiian Music” takes place this Friday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. Not only will the event give you an opportunity to check out the museum — which we gave a good review back in December — but you’ll also get what promises to be a good show. Details:

Celebrate the rich cultural heritage of Hawaiian music with The GRAMMY Museum! Join us as 2009 GRAMMY Nominees in the Hawaiian Music category perform on our GRAMMY Sound Stage. Program will also include an onstage interview and musical history lesson with Chief Curator Ken Viste. Admission is free to the public. Museum members receive priority admission. Doors open at 7:30 pm. To reserve tickets, call 213.765.6830 or e-mail programs@grammymuseum.org.

This year’s nominees — yet another group heavy on the slack key guitar, shutting out other subgenres — include “Ikena” by Tia Carrere & Daniel Ho; “Aumakua” by Amy Hanaiali’i; “Force of Nature” by Led Kaapana & Mike Kaawa; “Hawaiian Slack Key Kings Masters Series, Vol. II,” compiled by Chris Lau and Milton Lau; and “The Spirit of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar,” compiled by Daniel Ho, George Kahumoku Jr., Dennis Kamakahi, Paul Konwiser and Wayne Wong.

Hawai’i in the White House, Brah!

AP photo by way of the Honolulu Star Bulletin: President Barack Obama and wife Michelle flash a few shakas as the Punahou marching band march down the Inauguration parade.

How Obama’s Alma Maters are Playing Up (or Down) His Big News

This cracked me up: I went to the Punahou School website to see if the school’s most famous — and now most powerful — alum was mentioned. I love the nonchalant nature of the news brief… like it’s just another mundane piece of news, along side “Guest Clinician Hits Right Note” and “November Service Opportunities.”

In comparison, here’s how Eagle Rock’s own Occidental, where Obama spent the first two years of college, is playing him up:

Hold on there, Oxy — Columbia (where the prexy-elect spent the second half of his undergrad days) is also claiming Obama as its 1983 alum:

Then there’s the Harvard Law School, which puts the Obama news under its normal “Spotlight on Alumni Pursuits” column. Love it — “Hey, guess what Barack Obama ’91 is up to these days — he’s just hanging out, you know, as the PRESIDENT-ELECT!”

Retro Friday: Breakin’ Hawaii

Retro Friday: Breakin’ Hawaii

"Why Can’t I Find A Decent (Blank) In Los Angeles?!"

Stories like this one make my skin crawl: “Los Angeles rivals New York City when it comes to transplants. And one thing all transplants share is a list of gripes about what was better about home. For New Yorkers it’s bagels and pizza. For Austin, Texas, natives, BBQ. For Chicagoans, jazz. For Bostonians — everything. But just scratch the surface and there’s a little bit of everywhere in these United States of L.A. Read on and beat the homesick blues.”

What is it about the L.A. transplants who never bother to get to know their adopted city? I’m constantly surprised by people who have lived here for years, but still don’t know the basics about Los Angeles, don’t pay attention to local politics, never venture into certain parts of town and refuse to become part of the local fabric. (I can’t wait to get the Militant Angeleno‘s take on this piece.)

Hey, there are plenty of spots here in Los Angeles when I want to get a mini-dose of Hawaii (the ever-growing L&L Hawaiian Barbecue chain, King’s Bakery, Whittier College’s Hawaiian concert series, etc.). But I also don’t whine that “things are so much better back home” — perhaps because even though I’m a transplant, Los Angeles now is home.

A few lines that bug me:

“Austin transplant Jenny Sperandeo cites the El Rey, Spaceland and the Troubadour as venues worthy of Austin’s close-knit music scene”: Well, gee, thanks. The Troubadour just celebrated its 50th anniversary, so I’m glad it’s been deemed worthy.

“Without so much as a dedicated country radio station, L.A. is no cowboy mecca.”: I’m thinking the people at KKGO-FM 105.1 “Go Country” might disagree.

“As for deli food, lower your expectations: Filmmaker Rachel Zabar, whose family owns famed New York deli Zabar’s, isn’t impressed with L.A.’s efforts. ‘There are no decent Jewish delis. I’ve been to Jerry’s and thought it was a joke.’”: Well yeah, Jerry’s is a joke. Why no mention of Langer’s?

Mai Tai One On

(Flickr pic by Joyousx).

Hmm, maybe this is one for Huell Howser to answer. An editor I once interned for is putting together a book about the famed Mai Tai, and is looking for personal stories that somehow involve the sweet, rum cocktail.

In the summer of 1992 I interned for both Hawaii Business magazine and Aloha magazine; at the time, the now-defunct Aloha mag (which was geared toward mainland tourists) was edited by Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi.

Now a travel writer, Tsutsumi is looking for tales of first Mai Tais, romantic experiences while drinking a Mai Tai, funny stories, etc. Anyone with an interesting story will be credited in the book — drop me a line and I’ll forward the info.

Mai Tai One On

(Flickr pic by Joyousx).

Hmm, maybe this is one for Huell Howser to answer. An editor I once interned for is putting together a book about the famed Mai Tai, and is looking for personal stories that somehow involve the sweet, rum cocktail.

In the summer of 1992 I interned for both Hawaii Business magazine and Aloha magazine; at the time, the now-defunct Aloha mag (which was geared toward mainland tourists) was edited by Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi.

Now a travel writer, Tsutsumi is looking for tales of first Mai Tais, romantic experiences while drinking a Mai Tai, funny stories, etc. Anyone with an interesting story will be credited in the book — drop me a line and I’ll forward the info.

Tonight on "Hawaiian Eye": A Very Hawai’i Christmas

Set your radio dial at midnight to 88.5 KCSN; I’ll be playing non-stop holiday music from the islands. It’s the perfect alternative to that repetitive stuff you’re hearing on KOST right now.

And no worries, if you can’t stay up tonight, I’ll post a link tomorrow so you can stream, download or podcast it this weekend. It may be chilly outside (well, 62 degrees — chilly in my book), but you can at least pretend you’re closer to the equator.

Gow ‘Bows! Er, I Mean, Go Warriors!

Exciting to see the Hawaii Warrior football team end the season with a perfect 12-0 record — making the team eligible for a BCS bowl game.

UH will probably play the Sugar Bowl — quite a step up from its more recent appearances in the, um, Hawaii Bowl.

The team secured its ranking (No. 10) in the BCS after defeating Washington 35-28 (coming back from what could have been quite a disappointing defeat).

Of course, most of us remember going to UH games and cheering on the, yes, Rainbows. (From what I understand, old habits die hard: Fans still cheer “Go Bows!” in the stands.)

Deciding the nickname “Rainbows” was too wimpy, the school — in what was a controversial move — renamed itself the Warriors in 2000. Here’s the Honolulu Star-Bulletin’s recap at the time.

(Above, left: Pre-2000 logo; right: current logo)