Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts Announces the 2nd Annual Mele Mei

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Damon

The Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts (“HARA”) is proud to announce the 2nd Annual Mele Mei, a month-long celebration of Hawaiian music, in May 2012. Events include workshops, concert performances, and the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Music Festival and Awards.

Working in partnership with the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority to attract visitors in April and May, when tourism numbers tend to be lower, HARA reached out to various non profit organizations with Hawaiian music related events in May, to create Mele Mei as a month-long destination event. Some events are already well-established, like the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, while others are new. All of the events, however, share the same mission as HARA, which is to promote Hawaiian music.

When the final list of events is confirmed, Mele Mei will encompass more than 30 festivals and events which will culminate with the 35th Annual Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards on May 27th.

The exciting calendar of events, to date, are, as follows.

MELE MEI 2012 – SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

DATE – EVENT

  • April 27, 2012 Media Premiere Luncheon
  • May 1-31 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Music Events at hotels and shopping centers
  • May 1, 2011 “Lei of Stars” Dinner
  • May 5, 2012 HARA Lifetime Achievement Awards Luncheon
  • May 5, 2012 International ‘Ukulele Jam
  • May 5-6, 2012 Hawai‘i Book & Music Festival
  • May 6, 2012 Steel Guitar Concert
  • May 12, 2012 Mele Mei Mother’s Day Concert
  • May 11-13, 2012 Waikiki International Hula Conference
  • May 19-20, 2012 Maiki Aiu Hula Festival
  • May 20, 2012 Slack Key All-Stars Concert
  • May 25-26, 2012 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Music Festival Workshops
  • May 25-26, 2012 Hula I Ke Kai
  • May 27, 2012 The 35th Annual Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards

*More detailed information on these and additional Mele Mei events will be announced soon.

We also hope to include several neighbor island events for Mele Mei 2012.

HARA is scheduling meetings with Waikiki hotels and shopping centers on event venues. Anyone interested in being an event partner should contact HARA at (808) 593-9424, or info@melemei.com.

ABOUT MELE MEI

Sponsored by the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority (HTA), the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), Hawaiian Airlines, and Kintetsu International, Mele Mei is a month-long celebration of the unique music of Hawai’i. It encompasses over 30 events, including workshops, concert performances, award ceremonies, and other activities throughout May. The Nā Hōkū Hanohano Music Festival, including the 35th Annual Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, is the finale of Mele Mei.

Click for more information

For more information, please visit www.melemei.com.

All media requests for Mele Mei may be directed to Mona Wood-Sword at (808) 218-5546, or ikaikacomm@hawaii.rr.com.

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Filed under: aloha, Announcements, Education, Hawaii, Hawaiian, State Affairs, Tourism | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Formula One Racing Star Jenson Button Cruising in Hawaii… Goes Riding With My Friend

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Damon

I found out that the famous Formula One Racing Champion Jenson Button is on Oahu right now.

According to his twitter account he’s been having a good time… but I also see that he went for a bike ride with my friend @MikeZagorski !

Jenson Button's Recent Tweets

Here is the picture from those tweets:

Mike Zagorski is the other guy that set the Hawaii Tandem Altitude Skydiving records with me last week and he sent me this picture of their 76 kilometer ride around Oahu to me:

(L-R: Mike, Georgie, Chris, Jenson, Seth, Shannon, and Jesse behind the lens)

Here is Jensons tweet from yesterday:

Great 76k ride yesterday here on Oahu with @mikezagorski @Chris_Buncombe @Trigrr @jurikooo @SethGB @shannonaoshea & Jesse..

Jenson is quite famous in the United Kingdom where Formula One Racing is huge.  He has more then 708,000 followers on a verified twitter account.

According to Wikipedia:

Like many Formula One drivers, Button resided in the principality of Monaco but he has since moved to Guernsey. He said that it was the great training possibilities that took him away from the tax haven. He also has properties in the United Kingdom and Bahrain. His hobbies include mountain biking, competing in triathlons and body boarding, and his car collection includes a Nissan GT-R, a 1956 VW Campervan, a Honda S600 and a Mercedes C63 AMG, numerous Ferraris (including an Enzo) & his championship winning Brawn BGP 001. He previously owned a blue on black Bugatti Veyron.[

Button has been dating Japanese model Jessica Michibata for two and a half years.Button has two tattoos: a black coat button on his right forearm; and Japanese kanji-characters on his ankle which say “一番” (Ichi ban, “Number One” in Japanese), this was done before he won the world title, and is the name of Button’s triathlon team. Since mid-2010, the same legend has appeared on Button’s race helmet. Button is also a brand ambassador for Head & Shoulders, and has appeared in advertising campaigns for the company.

Mike wrote a post on his website where he states:

Last week I said “I got my Architect license and did a skydive from 21,000ft… What next?”. Late on Friday evening my question was answered: I would meeting up with British Formula 1 driver Jenson Button (2009 World Champion) and Chris Buncombe (2007 Le Mans 24hr Winner – LMP2 Class) for a 3-hours bike ride on O’ahu!

Congratulations to Mike Zagorski for doing some exciting things this past week… but most respectably… receiving your architect license!

I hope Jenson has a great time in Hawaii and if he makes it to the Big Island… I’d love to meet him!

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Filed under: aloha, Blogs | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

US Drought Monitor – The Last Week in Hawaii I Should Have Built an Ark

Posted on December 18, 2011 by Damon

Well the last few weeks on the Big Island have been extremely wet, however the US Drought Monitor doesn’t seem to reflect that.  I wonder where they take these readings?

I would hardly say that the Big Island is in the middle of any sort of “Drought”.  In fact… I really can’t remember the last time that it did not rain for at least a little portion of the day.

Across Kauai, some rains did fall but had little impact. Lihue Airport only has 0.61 inches so far in December, a significant departure from a normal amount of 1.95 inches. Improvement is indicated across the northern portions of the Big Island with precipitation (0.5-5.4 inches) helping to ease the drought. The FSA indicated that ranchers have received some much needed rainfall from Waimea to Kawaihae to Upolu Pt. Leeward areas remained as depicted last week with drought continuing.

Filed under: Agriculture, Announcements, Big Island, Environment, Hawaii, Rumors, Unexplained Phenomenon | Tagged: , , | Leave a Comment »

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