Friday 5 for May 18: Circumstance and Pomp

It's been months, but I'm back. Answering questions to the May 18 post.

1. What advice do you have for a high school grad getting ready to begin college?

Do not go too deep into debt. Pay off your college loan as soon as possible. Better, try and get a scholarship every year... or at least split your time so that you can work, save money but not too much as there are a lot of studies to do. Don't get the most expensive laptop since these things can be stolen or dropped. Plus computer tech changes so fast it is probably better to use a lower end PC or Mac vs. a high end model for schoolwork unless you are going to film school or something.

2. What advice do you have for a high school grad getting ready to enter the workforce?

Get a good resume together. Have good grades. Have a good work ethic. Be responsible and respectful of your employer and colleagues. Set aside some of your earnings for long term savings. Don't waste money. If needed, move to a more affordable state or locale.

3. What advice do you have for a high school grad who doesn’t know what’s next?

Find something you like to do and see if you can make money at it whether by yourself starting your own business or working for someone engaged in an activity or interest that you like. Focus and focus quickly.

4. What advice do you have for a high school grad whose high school years were disappointing?

If you can, go to a trade school or get some kind of work experience. Be positive. Don't fall into a life of squalor or crime.

5. What do you remember about your own graduation from high school?

We had no computers, no cell phones, no cable or TV streaming services, no internet, almost no nothing that was considered "high tech" except for hi-fi stereo, portable music cassette player/recorders and small TVs.

That all said, my Mom forgot the camera at home and I never got any pictures of my high school graduation... oh well... no biggie. Some of my friends came over to a small gathering we had at our house.  Some of them I never saw again since graduation.

The one good thing was that the music from back in the day was better than a lot of the crap we have today. There was no rap music and that is a good thing.

Photo above from the Honokaa High School Class of 1975 L-R The Dragon school mascot, 1989; Class of 1975 on graduation night, June 1975; Class of 1975 - 2010 reunion; Old campus Honokaa High School - still in use today as part of the school.

 

 This video reminds me of how we have all aged from the 1970s. This song by The Connells called "74-75" was released in 1993. In 2015 another video using the same song and people was made. Look for it here on YouTube.

My question is how many of your classmates from high school have passed on?

In my class of 168 graduates, about 30 have passed on.

Friday 5 for June 18: Heights

 

I thought this week's Friday 5 was going to be about aviation or flying... hmm... Heights... somewhat of a disconnect here.

1. What’s the best non-animated movie musical you’ve seen in the past several years? 

Non-animated movie musical? Haven't seen any in recent years but from my old age and long ago movie list I compiled this Top 5 + 5.... all of them OLD. Sorry.. nothing recent. I don't go to the movies or buy new DVDs anymore.

Just to keep the heights, here are my Top 5 + 5.

1. Grease (1978) - John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John

2. A Hard Day's Night (1964) - The Beatles!

3. That Thing You Do! (1996) - The Wonders!!!!

4. The Sound of Music (1965) - Julie Andrews

5. Blue Hawaii (1961) - Elvis!!!!

6. Help! (1965) - The Beatles!

7. Footloose (1984) - ok nobody sings but a lot of good music & dancing in it.

8. Dirty Dancing (1987) - same reason as #7

9. Mary Poppins (1964) - cheating here; there are a few spots of animation.

10. Singing in the Rain (1951) - Gene Kelly

2. How are you most likely to pass the time during a lengthy blackout?

A blackout would definitely be a low point with no electricity. Ugh!

Top 5 things I would do:

1. Sleep (mostly if it is night time already)

2. Look for all the batteries 

3. Listen to the radio - search for news why power is out

4. Call or text someone if cell towers are working. In this instance I would really miss the landline that I discontinued a couple of years ago.

5. Read (if it is daytime. Not good to read if lighting is bad and you want to save on batteries).

3. When were you last in a swimming pool?

Walked by one recently, did not go in. Underwater is pretty low.

4. What do you remember fondly about the neighborhood where you grew up?

OK... one thing... all of use kids used to ride our bikes around our yard and up and down the neighborhood road. When the paved the road, they first laid a foundation of crushed coral over the old road. They paved it over and later we learned that you could use coral rocks to draw lines and pictures on the road. Next thing we had hopscotch squares drawn on the road and also white lines to mark the lanes on where we would ride our bikes. I was between the ages of 7 and 12 at this time.

5. What language did you study in school, and what’s something you remember how to say?

One  year of Spanish because I think it was required... The only things I kind of remember are:

"Hola!"

"Como estas?"

"No comprende espaneol."

And that's the lowdown on "heights." Adios!

Friday 5 for August 21: One-decade rewind

1. What are some albums you really like from 2010?

By the year 2010 I was mostly buying digital singles from Amazon or iTunes. But I did get a few albums. Here are my top 10.

1. Caro Emerald - Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor
2. Maroon 5 - Hands All Over
3. Neon Trees - Habits
4. Bruno Mars - Doo-Wops and Hooligans
5. Taylor Swift - Speak Now
6. Elton John and Leon Russell - The Union
7. Jack Johnson - To the Sea
8. Katy Perry - Teenage Dream
9. Ringo Starr - Y Not
10. Selena Gomez and the Scene - A Year Without Rain

I really love the Caro Emerald album. It is played with regular frequency to this very day. Discovered her in 2009 on that now defunct The61.com website. She is my most played solo female artist on my Last FM.




2. What are some songs you remember fondly from 2010?

Kind of in numerical order,  here are 10 of them (in retrospect)

1. Need You Now - Lady Antebellum
2. Animal - Neon Trees
3. Misery - Maroon 5
4. Rhythm of Love - Plain White T's
5. Cool My Heels - Nikki Yanofsky
6. Back It Up - Caro Emerald
7. Alejandro - Lady Gaga
8. Hey, Soul Sister - Train
9. Break Your Heart - Taio Cruz
10. Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars

Here are some other notables (in my book)

- A Year Without Rain - Selena Gomez and the Scene
- Bulletproof - La Roux
- I Heard of a Girl - Miss Li
- Back to December - Taylor Swift
- A Night Like This - Caro Emerald
- Walk With You - Ringo Starr
- I Saw The Rain - Lovers and Poets
- Colors - April Smith and the Great Picture Show
- Good To Be Me (Feat. Kid Rock) - Uncle Kracker
- The Sweetest Thing - Camera Obscura
- Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
- A Stitch in Time - Smashing Pumpkins
- We No Speak Americano - Yolanda Be Cool and Dcup - This one is for you Scrivener.

3. What’s your favorite movie released in 2010?

I hardly ever watch movies these days. It started from the 2000s as prices at theaters steadily went up. I kind of had to stop buying DVDs too as I had too much and pay cable was out of the question. In 2011 I cut my cable cord. I only watch streaming video and mostly only on the free channels.

That said the only two movies out of that list that I saw are the following:

- Shrek Forever After - Just saw this a few weeks ago on Tubi TV. Pretty good wrap for the franchise.

- Chronicles of Narnia - Voyage of the Dawn Trader - The only movie I actually paid money to go see at the theater that year. I had seen the previous 2 on the big screen in prior years. This was the 2nd best of the three movies, the original being the best one.

4. Which television programs* debuting in 2010 did you rather enjoy?

- Caprica - Sadly it was cancelled after 18 or so episodes. This was a good prequel to the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series of 2004.

- Hawaii Five-0 - I watched it regularly for the first 2 or 3 years and then grew tired of it. For 2010 it was not bad + plus it kept Hawaii's TV industry alive after LOST wrapped up that year.

- Storage Wars - I never watched this when it first came out, but watch it and its location centric offshoots on TubiTV or Pluto TV when I just feel like vegging out on something stupid. I like free streaming.

5. Which events in 2010 bring back good memories?

The most memorable events that bring back good memories in my life that year was spending a week or so with my Mom and Dad. Dad was in his last months of life. On several days he wanted to see different places on the Big Island where he grew up and lived. I drove Mom and Dad up to Pauuilo Mauka, Kalopa, Ookala and Laupahoehoe all in one day. The plantation camp that he grew up in was torn down years before we revisited the place in 2010. He was kind of sad. I shot a lot of pictures.

I also made a 20 minute video of him talking about some of the memories he had while growing up in Ookala. Here is a one minute clip of that video.




Dad passed away in November of 2010.

Second most memorable event of 2010 was doing a press tour for HawaiiReporter and sailing out on the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier that July for the RIMPAC exercises.

Friday 5 for July 17: Hopscotch and Crayons

Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 site.

1. What was your favorite piece of playground equipment when you were a kid?

Back in the day (we're talking 1962 - 64) our elementary school had this sliding board that was built on a 20 foot embankment. On rainy days a small mud puddle formed at the bottom of the slide. It was funny to watch other kids go splash in the dirty puddle. I never did that part... Mom would have given me lickins'.

2. What do you remember about your first-grade teacher? Pick the earliest grade teacher you remember, if you don’t remember anything about your first-grade teacher.

Mrs. Higa was my first grade teacher. She taught us first grade reading. The three books we started on were My Little Red Storybook, My Little Green Storybook and My Little Blue Storybook. After we got through with those basic readers, we moved on to a book called The Little White House or something like that.

When I think back to those books, they were nice and conservative and achieved the goal of teaching us how to read and more importantly these days, espouse the values of what the United States is supposed to be like.

I wish I still had those books. Some of them are worth money today.

I am too fearful to find out what kids of today are learning. It seems like the curriculum is to lay blame on America and destroy our great country. If that is it, this is really scary for our future.

At the end of our first grade year, the school was getting rid of those books and they gave three of them to me. Less than eight years later, my sister who was eight years my junior, picked up those books and pretty much taught herself how to read before she got to kindergarten. I remember she asked me about words she did not know.

Cool when I think about that today.

Sorry the answer to this question is more about the readers and not so much about the teacher, though I have to give Mrs. Higa credit for teaching us the basics.

3. What’s an especially memorable field trip you took with a class in your very early years?

Yes there are at least a dozen field trips I can remember going with my class at various stages of elementary school. Here are some of my most memorable.

Fifth Grade - JPO excursion to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. This is one of my favorite places to go to, but I rarely ever go these days. Last time I went there was in June 2005.

Fourth Grade - Hilo to visit the Hawaii Tribune Herald where I learned that the Horoscope was a bunch of bullshit, because the person there told us when the teletype broke, someone on the staff would just write one up... of course this was in the olden days when there was no internet. They gave us rolls of blank newsprint. That was fun. On that same trip we also visited the Lyman Museum (the only time I ever been there), and Hilo Macaroni Factory where they used to make Saloon Pilot crackers. We got free crackers!

Sixth Grade - We went to Waimea to the old Kahilu Theater to watch a play... forgot what it was but the presenters were Honolulu Theater for Youth as I recall.

4. What are some fads you remember from your elementary school days? Did you get into them?

The Beatles! - I had the pointy shoes. Heh. Parents would not let me grow my hair long. Had a couple of 45 rpm records... "I Want to Hold Your Hand".

Batman TV Show - with Adam West and Burt Ward was a big thing back in 1966. It was the first show I saw in color on a neighbor's TV set. We went to the full length movie that featured the TV cast. Fun stuff.

5. If your elementary school had food service, what’s a lunch you were especially fond of, and what’s a lunch you were especially not fond of?

Pizza was great. Shoyu chicken and rice was delicious as were most of the cookies.

There was some weird goop that passed for food that covered our rice. Not knowing what it was, we called it S.O.S. - Same Old S**t. We ate the bun, the fruit and drank the milk... but the rest went to the slop recycling counter... yuck... Haven't thought about that in ages.

My second grade class, May 1, 1965.

Friday 5 for May 11: Who Put the Pomp in the Pomp Bah Pomp Bah Pomp

Been a few weeks since I did one of these Friday 5 blog postings. So here goes with my first post for May, 2018.

1. What’s something you remember about your high school graduation?

I attended the graduation for sure and walked the line to pick up my diploma. I think my parents were proud of me... most parents usually are. After graduation, we had a small gathering of my high school classmates and fellow graduates over at my home.

2. If you were asked to speak at a commencement ceremony this year, what would be the theme of your message?

Make America Great Again - It will be good for you and for our country. We need a strong country that is centrally focused on us, while retaining those important, traditional values that have made the United States the greatest nation on earth. Dedicate your lives and work to preserving and supporting our freedoms and the Constitution in all that you do.



3. What items in your possession are marked with the name or logo of your high school or college?

I have no idea where my high school diploma is. I am sure that has the State of Hawaii seal on it, since I graduated from Honokaa High School in Hawaii. I know I have my diploma stashed away from my college. It's in a file drawer, still in the foldable, red binder or whatever it is called. I think I have some class key or something from Honokaa, but don't know where that is. I was never one to buy trinkets like class rings since I considered them to be a waste of money. I do have my high school yearbooks.

4. What do you expect will be your next rite of passage? 

Well the next major thing will be death! Came close to that in late 2015. Enjoying my reprieve on life so far, but as the years go by the only thing that will be a major rite is passing on hopefully to that realm where the bright light shines ever so white and forever. Otherwise I am doomed.

5. What’s a good movie with a graduation scene, or a good movie with a graduation theme?

I can't think of anything recent since I rarely go to the movies or have seen many new ones (post 2010)..... My vague memory would like to recall the following:

Legally Blonde - Ellie did graduate right? Loved her pink Apple iBook G3. Been a few years since I last saw this comedy.

Back to School - Didn't Rodney Dangerfield's character also graduate? I think he did... this came out in 1986 and was one of two movies out that year that pushed the old Isley Brothers song "Twist & Shout", covered by The Beatles, back to the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year. The other movie with the Beatles song the same year was of course, Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

OK those are the only two I can think off right now. I may amend this after I see some of your responses or think of another movie.

Friday 5 for August 18: Homecoming

Happy Hawaii Statehood Day! :D

I haven't seen any Spiderman movie since Spiderman 3 with Toby Maguire in the lead role from 2007. Questions from Scrivener's Friday 5 blog.



1. What’s the crime like in your neighborhood?

July 2017 HPD report to Ala Moana Neighborhood Board #11:

- Honolulu Police Department (HPD) – A sergeant reported the following:

• June 2017/May 2017 Statistics – There were 14/24 motor vehicle thefts, 11/7 burglaries, 169/158 thefts, 33/34 UEMVs (unauthorized entry into motor vehicles), 16/24 assaults, 3/5 sexual assaults, 1/0 graffiti incidents, and 13/21 drug offenses. Total calls for service were 5,754/6,177.

• Business Security Tips – Tips included installing a video security system, having address numbers visible from the street, and knowing the neighbors to watch out for each other.

Don Quijote – Ammons reported that a resident e-mailed him about loud noise and possible criminal activities at the laundry mat. HPD is aware of the situation and he will follow up with the Third (3rd) Watch.

2. If you could have attended one of those high schools with a specific academic focus, such as performing arts, studio arts, sustainability, science and technology, international languages and diplomacy, or some option you thought of yourself, which would you have chosen when you were thirteen?

Business and Technology - unfortunately they did not teach much of that in the government school system back in the day.... though I hear it may be worst now....

3. What was memorable about a party you remember from high school?

After our senior year dance we stayed at the hotel in Kona. We had some crazy party in the room and I remember calling one of our goofy teachers in the middle of the night (like 2AM in the morning) asking if his refrigerator was running. We were also jumping from bed to bed, playing loud music on the cassette player, eating and throwing chicken bones off the balcony of our 4th floor room or something. It was a long time ago. We were still stupid kids.

4. Which of your older relatives is (or was) the handsomest or prettiest?

My cousin Dorian was Miss Aloha Hawaii in 1972 and was first runner up in the Miss Hawaii pageant. Her talent was dancing the hula to the 1960s novelty song "Puka Puka Pants" that was recorded by JoAnn Campbell. She is a few years older than me.

5. What was homecoming like at your high school? How did you feel about it?

Homecoming was a big thing in small town Honokaa where only one government school serviced the entire area consisting of Honokaa, Waimea, Kukuihaele, Kapulena and Paauilo. Homecoming week consisted of something happening on campus daily for 5 days that led to the big football game of the season. We had like pep rallies, movies, intramurals and one year a gigantic water balloon fight. We also had a bonfire the night before the game and also a parade. Highlight for each class was to build a float and have it parade through town following the 2 bands from the community... the Honokaa County Band and the Honokaa High School Band. I was in the band. And then the big football game which as far as I can remember, our school always lost until 1973 and 1974, in which both years Honokaa was the Big Island Insterscholastic League (BIIF) champions. Honokaa's Class of 1975 which I was part seemed to win several of those parade float trophies or whatever as well as the pep rally stuff... probably because for our small school, we had one of the bigger classes at the time.

When the school turned 100 years old there was a large homecoming parade of a sort where a lot of the older classes showed up for still a special celebration. Some photos from that are shown below.

Honokaa town is laid out in such a way that it was always good to have a parade go through it.


The July 2000 Honokaa School Millennium Parade. Photos by Mel.

Catching Up with the Friday 5

This week I have answers to 2 Friday 5's. I looked at last week's 5 and thought they were good enough to answer one week late. I was not near the internet too often last weekend.

Friday 5 for October 15

Every Sha La La La... it's Yesterday Once More...




The Carpenters... Karen and Richard. Unbelievable that Richard is now 64. Wow.

I totally relate to their music since my long ago deceased sister first became a fan. "Now and Then" with the extended "Yesterday Once More" medley combined with 60s oldies is my favorite Carpenters song / side... great stuff!!!!


1. Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near?

They long to be "Close to You" and looking for a free handout!!!!

2. What always gets you down? Paying taxes.


3. If you had to live yesterday once more (literally yesterday, as in Thursday the 14th), which part might be worth writing a pretty pop song about?

"Resizing Photos with Malia"

4. Where’s the coolest place you’ve been where you could look “down on creation?”

That would have to be Volcanoes National Park  - Looking at hot lava oozing out of a crater is the ultimate rush in seeing something being created


5. What’s something in your life that has only just begun? Diet.

---

Friday 5 for October 8

Mementos

1. Do you still have your senior yearbook? Where is it?

Yes. It's at my parents' place. I have a photo of it and the previous year. See above.

2. What souvenir did you bring back from your last trip?

Pictures and a video clip of my Dad.


3. What visible signs are there of your most recent injury?

Scratch on my knee from Poof the Cat.


4. What’s the neatest wedding favor you’ve ever seen?

Can't recall any recent or distant ones.

5. What do you do with playbills and movie-ticket stubs?

I've kept some of them... Rolling Stones ticket stub from 1998.... movie stubs from Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back. Several others. Sadly others have been lost.. Fleetwood Mac 1977 and 1979 concerts.... Eagles 1976 concert.... Elton John 1980 concert...