Posted on: Saturday, November 29, 2003
SATURDAY SCOOPS
Choice music for a Mele kalikimaka!
Advertiser Staff
These discs I'd gleefully play — and replay; all are previously released and some are undeniable classics:
• "Christmas Day in Hawai'i Nei," by the Makaha Sons (Poki Records). Louis "Moon" Kauakahi, John Koko and Jerome Koko embody the spirit of giving year-round, so why shouldn't their holiday jaunt be a charm? "I Love Christmas," "Christmas Lu'au" and "Silent Night" reflect the many moods of Christmas. • "Willie Kalikimaka," by Willie K (Mountain Apple). "O Holy Night" is the season's most requested song; it's here in all its chicken-skin glory. Willie goes to town with "Song of Christmas" and "Christmas Island," too. In another life, he might have been Santa. • "Cazimero Christmas Favorites," by the Brothers Cazimero (Mountain Apple). Seventeen tracks have been culled from two CDs by Robert and Roland Cazimero, so this one rocks — to "Jingle Bell Rock," "Away in a Manger/Ho'omaika'i," "Nu 'Oli" and "Me and My Teddy Bear." Your frown will turn upside down with this one. • "Christmas Gift," by Na Leo Pilimehana (NLP Records). Nalani Choy, Lehua Kalima Heine and Angela Morales are the masters of harmony and warmth. "O Holy Night," "Ave Maria," and "Kana Kaloka/Here Comes Santa Claus" provide buoyant images of a family holiday. • "Christmas Time With Eddie Kamae and the Sons of Hawai'i," by the Sons of Hawai'i (Hawai'i Sons Records). Kalikimaka mele abound here; memories galore, too, via "Christmas Long Ago," "I Love Christmas," "Ho'onani I Ka Hale." You know the last one as "Deck the Halls." With boughs of jolly fun.
Jon Orque • The Honolulu Advertiser • "A Loyal Kind of Christmas," by Loyal Garner (Pi'ilani Enterprises). With the Lady of Love gone, her musical legacy is all that's left to cherish — and she displays her radiance on "Me Ke Aloha Nona," "Happy Birthday to You Lord" and "I Believe in Santa Claus." • "Hawai'i's Favorite Christmas Songs," by various artists (Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center/Hula Records). An annual holiday tune-writing competition yielded such gems as "E Aloha E" by R. Keoho Fujimoto, performed by Brickwood Galuteria, and "I'm Coming Home for Christmas" by Manny Cabral, rendered by Jeff Rassmussen and Robi Kahakalau. For these weary ears, however, an "extra" by Eaton Bob Magoon Jr., Ed Kenney and Gordon Phelps, "Numbah One Day of Christmas," is the real present, performed by Kenney and the Honolulu Boy Choir. Remember, save da best for last! Reach Wayne Harada at 525-8067, fax 525-8055 or wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com. Oh, kids, have you been naughty? Or nice? Either way, you can chat with that happy duo, Santa and Mrs. Claus, 2-4 p.m. today at the Ward Warehouse, 'ewa end. There will be cookies and milk, holiday music and crafts for the youngsters, too. It's free.
Craft fairs at Mission Houses and Blaisdell
The Mission Houses Museum's annual holiday craft fair takes place 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and tomorrow, with more than 50 booths. Crafters from the Neighbor Islands and other Pacific islands are participating. Admission is free.
Also at the museum is the exhibit "The Marquesas: Two Centuries of Cultural Traditions" in the Chamberlain House. Admission is $3 during craft fair hours. (Kawaiahao Plaza garage offers $3 parking.)
Here's yet another shopping tip: 400 vendors are offering their goodies at the Blaisdell Center, where the 17th annual Islandwide Christmas Crafts and Food Expo continues, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. today and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. tomorrow. Admission is $3 general, $1 for kids 6 to12.
The ethnic look is what's happening this season. They're draping scarves and shawls on shoulders and hips and piling on necklaces and bangles galore. The real deal — accessories, clothing and gifts from indigenous peoples in places as
diverse as Afghanistan, Tibet, Cambodia and Zambia — is available locally as the Honolulu Academy of Arts opens its World Art Bazaar today.
Many of the exotic pieces have low price tags. For example, a line of reversible garments from India, fashioned from recycled sari fabrics, includes skirts, jackets, wrap pants and vests for $25-$35. Sari silk shawls and scarves are $9.95. There are also shawls of Vietnamese embroidered silk and hard-to-find Cambodian silk.
The men's cotton ikat aloha shirts have been so popular that the shop has added cotton/silk blends and pure silk versions, in addition to long-sleeved shirts, ideal for events calling for "elegant aloha" attire.
The jewelry is up with the trends. There's Thai hill tribe silver and glass, Islamic calligraphy on silver pendants, Aboriginal Walkabout Clay jewelry, oceanic bone hooks from Samoa and silver Afghan pendants with dangling beads that chime.
The World Art Bazaar is open daily except Mondays through Dec. 14. Hours are 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sundays. Admission is free. Validated parking is $2 in the lot on the diamondhead side of the Academy Art Center at Linekona, site of the sale.
The whales are coming, the whales are coming!
On Maui, there's a Welcome Home the Whales Celebration today, with cruises from Ma'alaea and Lahaina harbors departing at 2 p.m. and returning at 4 p.m.
Cost is $19.95 general; $15 for kids 7 to12; keiki 6 and younger go free (one youngster per paying adult). (808) 249-8811.
We're in the middle of a special three-night Sunset on the Beach movie series at Queen's Surf in Waikiki. Tonight's feature is the action adventure "Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life," starring Angelina Jolie. Tomorrow's film is "Hollywood Homicide," a buddy flick starring Harrison Ford and Josh Hartnett. Sunset events begin at 4 p.m. with food booths and entertainment; the movies, on a 30-foot screen, begin after the sun goes down. Admission is free.
Say you had to spend solitary time on Christmas Island ... or any island, for that matter. What Hawaiian CDs would you bring with you to bide the time during the holiday season? No Mathis, no Crosby, no Torme.
• "Home for the Holidays," by Ho'okena (Ho'omau Inc. Records). Ama Aarona, Manu Boyd, Horace K. Dudoit III, Chris Kamaka and Glen H.K. Smith are the vocal-instrumental powerhouses here, notably harmonic on "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," "Mele Kalikimaka ia Kakou," and "The Christmas Song." Haunting holiday ho'omalimali.
Get into the Hawaiian Christmas mood by checking out a few local holiday tunes.
Santa and Mrs. Claus are coming to town
Annual ethnic bazaar shop open
Whale cruises on Maui today welcome back the humpbacks
'Lara Croft' on the beach at sunset tonight
