John Kapualani Koko, a longtime member of the Makaha Sons — a popular traditional Hawaii music trio that played twice at Carnegie Hall and before President Bill Clinton — died yesterday on Oahu. Koko was 51.Koko had been contending with longtime heart problems and was pursuing plans to undergo a heart transplant, according to local print and broadcast media reportsThe…
The Descendants, a dramedy filmed on Oahu and Kauai and packed with a cast of compelling Hawaii characters, picked up an Oscar statuette last night for best adapted screenplay.The screenplay is based on the best-selling novel by Hawaii writer Kaui Hart Hemmings, who reportedly struck up a friendship with director Alexander Payne and assisted him on matters ranging from screenplay…
Opening credits for the original Hawaii Five-O television show last only about one minute. As the fast-paced theme music starts, a big wave rolls toward shore. Next: several quick glimpses of Oahu landmarks, cast members and a beautiful Hawaii model dashing along a sparkling shoreline.If you watch carefully, about halfway through the credits, one more face appears for just one…
We’ve counted your picks from our latest HAWAII Magazine Facebook Ohana poll question: Who is your favorite Hawaii music artist? Ever. The top five vote-getters are on the pages ahead.Your picks specified more than 50 artists, ranging from innovative newcomers with recent hits on pop charts to iconic late artists remembered for setting music trends and recording Hawaii classics in…
Sweden? C’mon, start strumming. Hawaii is tuning up for a try at topping the recent Guinness World Record set on Aug. 20, 2011 when exactly 1,547 ukulele players performed in unison in Helsingborg, Sweden.In the interest of Island pride, passion for music, a fundraising effort and, yes, just plain fun, ukulele players from Hawaii and elsewhere are getting ready to…
In the May/June 2011 issue of HAWAII Magazine, we’re taking readers, in words and photos, to a handful of Hawaii natural wonders it’s likely they haven’t had a chance to see up close and personal.Hawaii abounds with so much unparalleled scenic beauty that there are dozens of breathtaking places throughout the Islands even lifelong residents have never experienced first-hand. The…
The first official movie trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is just out, and Hawai‘i has just as much face time in it as lead star Johnny Depp.The new trailer for the fourth installment in Walt Disney Pictures blockbuster action-comedy series showcases Hawai‘i in all its visual splendor, from Kauai’s rain forests and stunning Napali Coast to…
Family memorial services for Hawaii-born world surfing champion Andy Irons will take place on Sunday, Nov. 14, in his hometown of Hanalei, on Kauai’s north shore.Services will begin at 11 a.m. at “Pine Trees” surf break (Waioli Beach Park) on Hanalei Bay, and include a traditional surfer “paddle-out” ceremony in honor of Irons. During winter wave season, Pine Trees is…
Hawaii-born three-time world champion surfer Andy Irons has died. He was 32.A statement released by Irons’ family this afternoon, a few hours after word of his passing was first reported, said that the surfer had reportedly been stricken with dengue fever, a viral illness typically transmitted by mosquitoes. Irons was in Dallas, Texas, when he passed away while on an…
For the first season of the newly reborn Hawaii Five-0, CBS is holding a competition for college and university bands across the country. The best rendition of the Hawaii Five-0 theme wins $25,000 for its band program and an appearance on CBS.How is the winner determined? By your votes. You can vote once a day through Oct. 4. Click here…
Everyone’s heard of the road to Hana. Thousands of Maui visitors drive it each year. It’s one of the most scenic roads in Hawaii.Less is written about Maui’s other hidden drive, the road from Kapalua around the north side of the West Maui Mountains, even though the road is just as scenic as the Hana Highway. Along the road, which…
Everyone’s heard of the road to Hana. Thousands of Maui visitors drive it each year. It’s one of the most scenic roads in Hawaii.Less is written about Maui’s other hidden drive, the road from Kapalua around the north side of the West Maui Mountains, even though the road is just as scenic as the Hana Highway. Along the road, which…
It’s time to bid “Aloha!” to Capt. Jack Sparrow and his crew.Hawaii location shooting ends today on Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment in Walt Disney Pictures mega-blockbuster action-comedy series.“Mahalo to everyone in Hawaii who made our PIRATES 4 shoot such a great one,” executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer wrote on his Twitter account this morning. “You…
Everyone’s heard of the road to Hana. Thousands of Maui visitors drive it each year, all 52 miles of twisty turns, one-lane bridges and luxurious rainforest scenery. It’s one of the most scenic roads in Hawaii.No one talks much about Maui’s other hidden drive, the road from Kapalua around the north side of the West Maui Mountains, even though the…
Congratulations! It’s a boy! Now he needs a name.Oahu’s Sea Life Park welcomed a new addition to its marine life family on Feb. 27—a healthy male Atlantic bottlenose dolphin born to longtime Dolphin Cove residents Laka and Kaleo. The growing young ‘un will finally get his public debut at the park on June 26. But he still doesn’t have a…
London. Paris. San Francisco. Florence. Austin. The Big Island of Hawaii.The latest episode of Travel Channel’s Samantha Brown’s Great Weekends—airing Saturday at 10 p.m. (Eastern and Pacific), 7 p.m. (Hawaii)—is showcasing as much of the Big Island of Hawaii’s charms as its über-cheerful, ever-game host could squeeze into one hour of television, and three days of traveling last fall.Among Brown’s…
It’s looking like a hana hou for Five-O.Entertainment industry trade papers The Hollywood Reporter and Variety are reporting today that CBS has picked up a redux of the classic Hawaii crime drama series Hawaii Five-O for the network’s fall season. An official announcement from the network is expected on Wednesday.Plans for a new version of Five-O were first announced last…
Jonathan Abela holding an arm full of Hakure. Chef NobuÕs visits MAÕO Organic Farms in the Lualualei Valley, Waianae.Here’s a side of Oahu most visitors never see. We recently accompanied superchef Nobu Matsuhisa on a visit to Ma‘o Farm (Motto: No panic, go organic) in the Lualualei Valley, nestled amid the Waianae Mountains.Famous for his fusion of Japanese and Peruvian…
In the March/April 2010 issue of HAWAII Magazine, we take you to the seldom-visited island of Moloka‘i. We had a great guide, none other than Molokai-raised Hawaiian singer, Raiatea Helm, who at age 25 is already an established international star.She’s also still a Molokai girl. When she is not touring Japan, China, Tahiti or the Mainland U.S., she returns to visit…
In the current issue of HAWAII Magazine, we take you ziplining on Maui. On 34 ziplines, to be exact. Every zipline on the island.Never been ziplining? Your next Maui vacation might be a good place to start.Imagine being strapped into a harness, clipped to a pulley and sent down a steel cable—at speeds up to 50 mph—above and/or through the…
Hawaii’s second New Year—also known as the Chinese New Year—officially starts on Feb. 14, but Downtown Honolulu’s Chinatown arts district kicks off its celebratory events this weekend.The Year of the Tiger celebrations begin Friday with a choy cheng (traditional Chinese lion dance blessing) and continue with these events throughout Chinatown:Friday, Feb. 5:• Chinese lion dance blessing (76 N. King St.)• …
HAWAII Magazine reader Derek Abraham e-mailed us with a question about this year’s 64th annual Aloha Festivals:I am interested in going to Oahu during Aloha Week in September 2010. Could you please send me the exact dates covering Aloha Week? Please give me any information on activities going on during this time.In 1991, Aloha Week was officially renamed the Aloha…
Lights! Camera! Hawaii!Your votes have finally been tallied in our latest HAWAII Magazine Facebook Ohana Poll question!Last month, we asked our HAWAII Magazine Facebook fans to sound off on the question: “What’s your favorite Hawaii-filmed movie?”Apparently, our readers were seriously ready to give us their choices.The list of flicks in our Facebook comment boxes began growing full tilt the moment…
What do a remote Kauai valley, a Big Island black sand beach, a sand dune system on Molokai and a lush forest preserve on Maui all have in common?Apart from each being largely isolated from human contact, each will remain for eternity as they have for eons—beautiful landscapes of untouched Hawaii.The Hawaii chapter of national non-profit The Nature Conservancy is…
