Hawaii 5-O Season Finale

 A L O H A!

What a jazzy Hawaii sky. 

Eighth notes?  NO, SIXTEENTHS!

"Shoulder the sky, my lad,
and drink your ale." 

A. E. Housman

"The brain is wider than the sky. "

Emily Dickinson

“An inexhaustible good nature 

is one of the most precious gifts of heaven, 

spreading itself like oil 

over the troubled sea of thought, 

and keeping the mind smooth and equable

in the roughest weather.”

 

Washington Irving 

  ><}}(°>

Hawaii 5-O has been a clear success for CBS this season and WILL be returning in the Fall.

As A local I'm thrilled that the show is actually good. 

And what a season finale!

Spoiler Alert: If you haven't seen the show yet,

read no further.

First of all I gotta say that the camera-work makes our island and our town look GREAT.

The writers do make our relatively safe home seem dangerous - but that is the price you pay

for hosting such a show.  The original cast did, after all, save our islands from super evil 

criminals every week.

I was happy to see one of my favorite new hang outs featured in the NEXT to last show;

The Downbeat Diner was a great location to bust into and make an arrest.  The place has a bar, 

and All American food like breakfast and burgers, plus a front row seat on the urban circus

that IS Honolulu's famous Hotel Street. 

What I especially appreciate is that I can get my burger

made with Big Island (Hawaii) grass-fed beef, and my friends can get ANYTHING in the place

made full-on VEGAN!

Masi Oka will be coroner on the show next season as a regular cast member.  But just when we 

thought that lovely Kelly Hu had cinched a recurring role, she got BLOWN UP REAL GOOD

in the opening moments of the finale!  

Didn't see that coming.

And now that we are really getting fond of the characters and loving their team,

it looks like 5-O is coming apart at the seams.  

The normally boring, plot device

that is the trusted Governor 

(who formed the 5-O team)

turns out to be in bed with the super criminals

that Steve McGarrett relentlessly hunts! 

I had wondered if Jean Smart would be back in that previously placid role next season.

(Hawaii did replace our female gov

with a male in the last election.)

Well Steve answered that question definitively

with a gunshot to the gubernatorial chest! 

I know politicians are unpopular as a caste right now,

but what a shocker.

Shocking and (dare I say it?) satisfying.

"Take THAT you lying scum bag!"

So Steve ends the season charged with murder.  

Kono (played by Grace Park)

is picked out of a line-up. 

Danny (Scott Caan) seems headed back to the East Coast with his formerly estranged

wife and lil` daughter ( cute local Teilor Grubbs);

Yummy Daniel Dae Kim

finds himself back on the HPD police force

with a promotion

and the job of arresting his friends!

Not too shabby, writers.

  Threaten the thing we love,

and make us know how much we love it!

I can hardly wait for next season.

  We all know that this popular show

will be back next season,

and not just to send McGarrett to prison.

But HOW will this audacious show wrap up all this amazing tumult?!

Who will play Hawaii's new TV governor, 

Arnold Schwarzenegger?

How will Steve and Kono be cleared? 

Will Danny's X-wife really leave her

millionaire developer?

This show has shown a willingness

to dare amazing plot lines.  

What will they do next?!

Rumor has it that big time stars 

are lining up to play guest shots

just like on the original show.

Diddy may even be back.

So be there- ALOHA!

           Do stop by 'comments'  cloudia

BONUS POINTS:

 

Obscure show paved way for Hawaii police dramas

By Lee Cataluna 
POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Dec 21, 2010

That the reboot of "Hawaii Five-0" is doing so well at a time when scripted network dramas are desperate to come up with salable ideas says a lot about the durability of the cops-in-paradise genre.

But long before "Five-0" and "Magnum, P.I." showed up, a formulaic little drama called "Hawaiian Eye" plowed a path that all of the Hawaii-based TV shows would later follow.

Off the air for nearly 50 years and too obscure to be captured on some meticulously restored DVD set, "Hawaiian Eye" is hardly revered or even remembered by fans of Hawaii-based TV shows, probably because so little of it was actually shot in Hawaii.

But in four seasons on ABC, the show probably did more to plant the balmy idea of Hawaii in the minds of middle-class Midwesterners watching TV on wintry Wednesday nights than any glossy magazine spread.

From a tourism marketing standpoint, the timing of "Hawaiian Eye" couldn't have been more perfect. Premiering in October 1959, only months after statehood and simultaneous with the start of regular jet service, the show capitalized on the Hawaii craze that swept the nation.

The show, about a detective agency based at what was then the Hawaiian Village Hotel in Waikiki, followed the adventures of Anthony Eisley and future "Wild, Wild West" star Robert Conrad, punching out bad guys, rescuing beautiful guest stars and doing a lot of smoking.

To local audiences, there was an added treat. Comedic actor, singer and nightclub performer Poncie Ponce got co-star billing (along with Connie Stevens) as the resourceful cab driver Kim Quisado, whose far-flung collection of cousins, uncles and nephews could always be counted on to provide a crucial bit of information from the "street."

Ponce was one of the first Filipino-American actors to get star billing on a network drama.

A few clips of "Hawaiian Eye" are posted on YouTube, including the amazing opening credits that captured Conrad and Eisley surfing off Waikiki. (While Conrad was a natural athlete, Eisley looks a bit shaky on the board, making you wonder how many takes were required to get the shot.) Connie sits safely in a canoe. The scenes are long and slow and sometimes go on for minutes without lines of dialogue while the soundtrack plays.

Besides Ponce, the best part of the show is the most contradictory. While the old "Five-0" is beloved because it's shot on location, "Hawaiian Eye" is hilarious because it was shot on the Warner Bros. lot in Hollywood. Most scenes take place indoors. The set for downtown Honolulu, the scene of an armored truck robbery, looks suspiciously like Gotham City from "Batman."

The show may not have been faithful to Hawaii's scenery, but it got the genre started.

Look For Richard!

"ALOHA &

 Thanks For Swimming By :)

"God writes the gospel not in the Bible alone,

 but on trees and flowers

 and clouds and stars."

  Martin Luther

"When you fish for love,

 bait with your heart,

 not your brain."

Mark Twain

"Painting is something that takes place

 among the colors, 

 ... one has to leave them alone completely,

 so that they can settle the matter

 among themselves." 

Rainer Maria Rilke

My Pal Richard

"A true friend

is someone who thinks that

you are a good egg

even though he knows

that you are slightly

cracked."

Bernard Meltzer

                                      ><}}(°>                                     

                                                                                                           ><}}(°>

Yesterday I had Dim Sum
 with my buddy
 Richard Rodrigues.

"What have you been doing lately?"
 I asked him.

Aside from his usual pro-social activities writing grants

for community organizations and stuff like that, 

Richard has been open to new opportunities lately,

and BOY
 has he latched on to something good!

Tonight after the NFL Football Playoffs
 (here in the States)

CBS will be showing (off) it's most popular
 new TV show of the season:

 Hawaii 5-O.

Watch the scene in the Tsunami HQ

and you will see Richard as a technician

in the crucial action!

He worked with Scott Caan and
Alex O'Loughlin!

Isn't that cool?

But that's not all!

Richard has also been appearing
 as a (background) regular

in the ABC show Off The Map,
 in which our island stands in

for South America.

Richard answered the call
 for a Hispanic-looking adult male

and now makes regular appearances
 as a "local doctor"

on that show!

"That's amazing, Richard!
  I'm so happy for you.
 Anything else?"

"Well," He replied, "I do have a part
 in the film Battleship." 

(currently wrapping up here on Oahu).

Richard is now a member of the actor's union.

Hope he will still find time to meet me in Chinatown!

Possibilities are afoot, Friends!


     Please join us in comments-
          And thanks for stopping by today :)   cloudia

Hawaii 5-O Actor James MacArthur Dead

He originated the role of Danno

on the classic Hawaii 5-O

His Mom was the famous actress Helen Hayes

"Actors cannot choose the manner in which they are born.

 Consequently, it is the one gesture in their lives

 completely devoid of self-consciousness."

Helen Hayes 

"I got into the acting business very young."

James MacArthur 

"Beating the drums for Hawaii is not hard to do...

 the place just grows on you."

James MacArthur

<> 

"Age is not important unless you're a cheese."

Helen Hayes 

Scott Caan, today's Danno

"Childhood is a short season."

Helen Hayes

 "There are five stages in the life of an actor:

 Who's Mary Astor?

 Get me Mary Astor.

 Get me a Mary Astor Type.

 Get me a young Mary Astor.

 Who's Mary Astor?"

Mary Astor

 "When I see the road I've taken,

 I have to say that thanks to good luck,

 because without good luck one can do nothing,

 I've come out pretty well."

James MacArthur 

Aloha, James

Mahalo

Hawaii Local 5-O Insider

ALOHA Friend!

In a perfect place

it would rain at night while you sleep.

Since Waikiki enjoys the best weather on the planet,

that is just what happens!

Today we woke up to cloudy skies, rainbows,

diminishing rain, clean fragrances.

Soon amazing winter skies put on a puffy cloud show;

 It always makes me happy.

The Trade Winds are back too -

 so life feels perfect.

Rainy nights, some cloudy days, breezy,

blue skies, sunshine and WHITE clouds,

 daily highs in the mid 80s (F).

That's Winter in Hawaii.

Inhale Deeply!

“I saw a star, I reached for it, and I missed.  So I accepted the sky.”

Scott Fortini

Good Morning!

“When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back  and laugh at the sky.”

Buddha

My privilege to bring it to you.

Thanks for visiting!

Try leave one comment, eh?

><>

Last night's Hawaii 5-O episode

opened with a cameo by well regarded local waterman, Brian Keaulana, (more here)doing what he does best:

a big water rescue.

It was interesting to see characters talking da kine pidgin

(here) and it wasn't too cringe-inducing.


 A real dynamic:

how malihini Danno doesn't understand pidgin,
 but local boy Steve does.

Honest use of "Haole" as a sort of (sometimes fond) slur.
 It would be dishonest to portray us without any discrimination, but it is VERY different than what is normal on the "mainland"
 and in general we DO have a rainbow culture here.
 But causasian visitor, it never hurts to be sincere and humble (compared to how we act in New York)

and to overlook some post-colonial resentment.

It really all depends on how YOU act. 
Act as a guest, not a visiting white god
 and you should be OK.

It was cool to see a character studying the tidepools,
 but wasn't that Leeward Makaha masquerading as North Shore "Waimea Bay" (caption)
?

Yes!
 Pig hunting and off-road motorcycling are HUGE here!

KAPU means Set apart, Holy, Special, TABOO,
 so interesting to see the local "club" called "Da Kapu."

This is based on a real group of locals who make great friends and bad enemies. Yes, it was drugs for a while, now mostly surfing and related industries.

They have a different name that is known,
 but I ain't calling them out.

Respect! Defend Hawaii.
 Keep the Country Country!

Our tent cities are not full of employed yuppies.

Yes, housing is very hight, and many of our young do have to move mainland fo` work, but our beach tents are full of local Hawaiians and others,

many employed, but homeless and eking out a living on their own islands. That was real prettied-up.

Local kid, ukulele jamming Aidan La Pret (here)
got his moment singing and playing around the campfire.
Did you see/hear him? (we met him before here).


KAPU leader Kawika's (Kah-Vee-Kah)
tribal tattoos looked authentic Polynesian.


"We nevah do noting!" Loved that familiar (pidgin)
refrain from the tough guys once caught.
Rings true :) 




"Katonk" bike rental?"


 A shout out to our Japanese-American WWII veterans (the most decorated units EVER. See here). Katonk is the sound a mainland Japanese head makes when it hits the ground in a boot camp scuffle. The Hawaii guys had a pride and solidarity that mainland-born Japanese-American guys seemed to lack, they "acted haole" and didn't speak pidgin.  Stupid Katonks!


Very nice surfer funeral EXCEPT that all ages are usually represented at such an event!


 Widows, friends, elders, the Kahu (minister)
 travel in outrigger canoes.


Still a moving scene to end on;
 and that was local fave Butch Helemano (here)
(a Reggae/Island Music performer and Kahu
regarded as a Hawaiian cultural expert) presiding.
Good Chanting!


And ending the show with Bruddah Iz?


PERFECT as always!


Show is picked up for next season
and getting better week by week.




       Go Nuts!   cloudia