Midlife Crisis Hawaii

Reprinted from October 15th, 2008

High school football – back in the day.  Pep rally’s,  football players wearing their jersey to class.  Ribbons being passed out for the upcoming game.  Then the big night of the game.  The cheering fans.  The surfers acting cool.  The crazies in the student section.  The band geeks playing the fight songs.  And the cheerleaders in their keds, swinging their pom-poms and doing their cheers on the dirt track – behind them, the line of songleaders.

Wait.  Songleaders?

Yes, kiddies.  In our day, we had songleaders.  Okay, coming from a country school (Go Surfriders!), we didn’t have songleaders.  But all the town schools did.

The pretty girls with long straight hair.  Shiny satin dresses in their school color with their name embroidered on the top left corner.  Nylon stocking and low heel shoes.  White gloves.  And the famous carnation lei with the long ribbon streamers of the school’s colors.

While the band played, the cheerleaders would be doing their kicks and jumps and pumping arm motions with their pom-pom, and the songleaders would be doing their smooth routines with almost hula like hand motions and gentle spins with such grace and class.  And the pep squad coordinator would be on the end of the line hitting the big drum, keeping the beat.

It was so contrasting, yet it worked.  Almost like a group of dancers dancing jazz while another group of dancers danced lyrical – all to the same song.

Nowadays, the cheerleaders are doing herky-jerky motions and acrobatic tricks – almost like a mix between hip-hop and street dancing.  And the songleaders… Well, there aren’t any songleaders anymore.

What happened to the songleaders?  They were so graceful and classy.  Their outfits were almost formal attire – especially accented with the carnation lei.  The white gloves and nylon stockings made them look so mature.

I remember when we used to go to town school football games, my friends and I would always take a walk around the field during halftime to scab, er… I mean, to stretch our legs, and we’d pass the pep squad of the opposing team.  The songleaders would look so beautiful.  Almost too classy for us, that we’d silently say to ourselves “out of your league, brah”.

The cheerleaders were hot too – but for me, I was attracted to the songleaders.  I guess I was more of a Lexus than a Porsche kind of guy.

Do tell, where you a songleader or cheerleader kind of guy?  Did you sit with the cool surfer dudes?  The crazies?  The band geeks?  The brain-niacs?  (Did brain-niacs even go to football games?)  And for you ladies, were you ever on the pep squad?  If not, did you ever want to be?

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This Saturday (10/20/12) at Gordon Biersch – FUNKSHUN!

encore |ˈänˌkôr|
noun
a repeated or additional performance of an item at the end of a concert, as called for by an audience.

exclamation
called out by an audience at the end of a concert to request such a performance.

Hey MLCers – Valentine’s Day is right around the corner so if you’re looking for the right present for that someone special – instead of blowing $80 on some flowers that won’t last but a week – I’ve got a tip for you.  Tell your significant other “Let’s go dancing!”.

On March 3rd (Girl’s day), The Beat will be at C’est Si Bon at the Pagoda hotel.  How’s that for a blast from the past!  Remember going to “CSB’s” to catch the Kasuals?

Okay, the Kasuals won’t be playing – but there is a new band in town: Encore

Encore is a band made up of musicians from back in the day.  One of them is Mitchell Fukumoto and I ask Mitch if he could provide us with a little bio of the band.  Here’s Mitch’s take:

ENCORE

Jazz, Funk, Rock, R&B, Hawaiian….Waikiki Stage Shows, Vegas Lounges, Dinner Cruises, Studio session work….

We all bring different backgrounds, history, and genres to the mix and when you combine that with an extremely high level of skill on each instrument…it is not only enjoyable but very musical.

From bands during the Seventies such as Natural High, Asian Blend, Livewire and Reach to playing jazz, funk, and top 40 around town….Encore is not your everyday, slapped-together all star band.

Encore is comprised of Rob Yamamoto (vocals and keyboards), Brian Nakashima (guitar and vocals), Dave Ogata (drums and vocals), Dayton Arima (bass and vocals), and Mitch Fukumoto (keyboards and vocals). With the musicianship in this band, we try to focus on songs that are not covered by other bands such as Love Grows by Edison Lighthouse and Josie by Steely Dan. Keep in mind…these are very difficult songs…but we are able to do justice to these great songs because of the personnel in the band. We will play some numbers that other bands play because we realize people need to hear those songs but we also feel people want to hear these other songs and have not experienced the pleasure of these tunes live.

Good music played well…really as simple as that.

Encore.

In addition to Encore, Funkshun will also be providing some funky dance music.  Can’t go wrong with Funkshun as they’ve developed quite a HUGE following of MLCers around town.  I just love their extended version of “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel“.  Reminds me of the Hula Hut days with Natural High.

Speaking of Natural High, it wouldn’t surprise me if Roy Yonashiro makes an appearance and performs a number or two.  In fact, with Rob Yamamoto AND Roy Yonashiro there, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a small kine Natural High reunion.  No promises though. 

Tickets are $40 pre-sale and includes HEAVY pupus.  Translated for us MLCers: Dinner!

And being that it will be on Girl’s Day, the event is themed “Ladies Night“.  So that means that the first drink for all the girls is FREE!

So guys, surprise your girl with a pair of tickets to The Beat for her Valentine’s Day present.

What’s that?  You girls are saying that your “old man” is living up to his moniker and isn’t interested in going?  K-den, since it’s going to be on Girl’s Day – that automatically entitles you to a “pass”.  Gather all your friends together and make it a Girls Night Out!  Tell them about the “automatic pass” thing since it’s Girl’s Day – you know, in case their old man gives them a hard time.

btw, the last Beat was held on the Halloween weekend and was appropriately titled “Disguise”.  We had a great time.  Wanna see?  Check it out: The Beat – Disguise

Here’s your chance to relive the old “clubbing” days.  Just let me know if you’re interested and I can hook you up with tickets.  And if you have a group of people planning to go, I can get a table reserved for your group.

Oh, one more thing.  No need worry about “uji” guys coming around for ask you to dance.  Nowadays, no need wait for someone to ask you for dance.  You like dance – just get on the dance floor and cut loose.

Remember, We old – We no care.

* Thanks for the Encore bio, Mitch!

It’s Thanksgiving week.  Time for turkey dinner, football, friends and family, and a day off from work.

But more than just that, it’s time for us to reflect and to count our blessings.  To take time to think about everything around us that makes our lives fulfilled.  From good friends to the beauty of the islands.

Me, I’m thankful that I have a loving wife who takes good care of me.  And 2 healthy, beautiful daughters.

After losing my job this year – I’m thankful for all the support from everyone to help me get through the tough times.  For all the encouragement and support.  And I’m thankful for Linda Kato‘s help in dealing with the Unemployment Insurance red tape – and for helping out all my dear co-workers.  I still worry for the ones who haven’t landed a job yet.

Speaking of which, I’m very thankful that I’ve landed a good job at Kamehameha Schools.  It’s very demanding and stressful at times – but it’s employment.  And I feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity.

I’m thankful for fellow blogger Diane Ako for taking the time out to talk with me after the layoff and for giving me a head’s up on what to expect – and how to deal with the decompressing – as she lived through it from the KHNL/KGMB merger.

I am thankful for sally – for introducing us to a great bunch of people that we spend almost every weekend with – dancing the night away.  It’s almost as though we’ve come full circle again to our nightclubbing days.  It keeps us feeling young and our spirits happy.

I’m thankful to Rob@96744 for all the old music and memorabilia that makes me smile when I think of all the good times we had back in the day.  And for all the friends he’s introduced me to – at work and at play.

And I’m especially thankful for all the readers and posters who make Midlife Crisis Hawaii so successful.  From the old-time lurkers to the new-time posters.  Without all your reads and comments, this blog would just be another page lost in cyberspace.

So to prepare you for something more than just another holiday, please share with us things that you are thankful for.  It could be anything – from your pet to your car to watching a full moon light up the evening sky.

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And if anyone wants to join us for a big Christmas party on Saturday at Hawaiian Brians, just let me know and I can get your name on the list.  It’s going to be a packed house and guaranteed to be a lot of fun – as Funkshun will be providing the live music.  Frances will get your juices flowing!

Never did this on MLC.  How about a Friday post of jokes.  Dirty, clean, corny, stale – no matter.

Back when we had our social club, (this is NOT a joke – just some dialog to get the blog started) after the games and food, the girls wanted to dance.  Fast dance.  But us guys was too self-conscious about our dancing skills – or lack thereof – so we liked to tell jokes.

The girls would turn off the lights as a hint.  We’d turn them back on – as a counter-hint.  Eventually, they gave in and we spent the night telling jokes.

So here we go:

These 3 boys helped the neighbor lady clean her yard one day so the lady gave each of them a nickel.  They were so happy!  So they headed down to the store to spend it.
On the way there, the first boy said “I’m going to buy ice cream because ice cream tastes so good.”
The second boy said “I’m going to buy me a toy because it’ll last longer than the ice cream.”
The third boy said “I’m going to buy Tampax.”
The other 2 boys look at him and say “What dat?”
The boy replies “I dunno.  But on TV, it says with Tampax I can go swimming, horseback riding, movies…”

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Question #1: Why did the elephant paint his balls red?
Answer #1: So he could hide in cherry trees.

Question #2: Did you ever see an elephant hiding in a cherry tree?
Answer #2: No?  That’s how good they hide.

Question #3: What do elephants fear the most?
Answer #3: Cherry-pickers.

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This one is done better visually, but I’ll try to explain it.

This little boy just started kindergarten and walked to school everyday.  And he’d have to pass this whore house on the way to school.  The first time he walks by, he looks up and there is this lady standing at a window on the second story.  She makes a “shaka” sign with her hand, puts the tip of her thumb on the side of her head by her temple, wags her little finger and says “Hi, little boy”.  He looks confused and just keeps on walking.
Next day, the lady is there again in the second story window with her hand next to her head, wagging her little finger, saying “Hi, little boy”.
This goes on all through kindergarten.  And first grade.  And second grade, etc.  Everyday she’s there wagging her little finger and saying “Hi, little boy”.
So one day when the boy was in the sixth grade, after the lady wags her finger at him and says “Hi, little boy”, he asked her “Lady, how come from my very first day of school you greet me every morning wagging your little finger and say ‘Hi, little boy’ to me?”.
She points to her little finger and says “Because that’s the size of your pecker”.
The boy says “Oh.”
The next day, the lady is there and wags her little finger and says “Hi, little boy”.
The boy stops, looks up to her, opens his mouth, puts each of his index fingers into the side of his mouth, stretches his mouth open and says “Hi lady!”.

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Okay, let’s hear some of your favorite jokes!

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Don’t forget – it’s just a week away:

An MLC regular emailed me a birthday greeting and posed an interesting question to me and I thought it would make for a good blog entry, so with his blessing, I’m sharing it with you folks:
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So let me ask you this.  Are you happier now at age 52 than you were at age 22?  Or is being younger better?  Most guys I’ve asked said being in their twenties is a whole lot better than being in their fifties.  How do you think Paula would answer?  I haven’t asked as many women but every single one has said they are happier now than when they were in their twenties.  Why the gender disparity?  I suspect it has something to do with people’s expectations of us, as well as expectations we impose on ourselves.
***
First of all, when someone asks me something about when I was a certain age, the first thing I do is convert it to which year it was.  Maybe because age is just a number to me and I recall events by the year.

So, when I was 22, that would’ve been 1980.  That was what I would label my “Rebound Year”.  Just the year before, I had been coming off a 2 year relationship.  My parents had just gotten divorced.  My friends had all moved away for school or military, and I had just started a part time job as an evening computer operator – a job that I worked all by myself.  I was lonely and very depressed.  Back then, we would say that I was “in the pits”.

Then in the spring semester of 1980, I met a guy at KCC and through him I met a lot of the Point After regulars.  Then one of my childhood friends moved back home from Maui and I had my surfing and nightclub buddy back.  I made a 180° turnaround and was now enjoying life.  I was comfortable with my job while wrapping up school, surfing on the weekends, nightclubbing on Saturday nights, sweating out the alcohol playing volleyball at the beach on Sundays.  And I had a ton of friends – both guys and girls.  Life was good.

But was being in my twenties better than being in my fifties?

Honestly, no.

Yeah, it was fun back then, but my life was “empty”.  I just lived for each day back then.  And somewhat recklessly.  “Life in the fast lane” is how I used to refer to it.  It had no meaning.  It was just play, play, play.

But what I have now in my fifties is stability.  And fulfillment.  I have a terrific wife, 2 beautiful daughters, a home, working on the job part , and a ton of friends. <— that’s all of you MLCers!  And I still go dancing on Saturday nights!

Would I want to give it all up if I could relive my twenties?  No way.  My values and priorities today are much different than they were back then.  And plus, my body wouldn’t be able to keep up.  “Life in the fast lane” is now “Life in the cruise-control lane”.

Maybe it’s a guy thing to say that life in the twenties was better than life in the fifties.  But when you really think about – deep down inside you – and look at where you are today, I think a majority of the people would be happy to remain right where they are today.

“Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.”

What’s your take on this?

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And speaking of dancing – don’t forget that the 70′s Nightclub Reunion VIII is coming up in about 3 weeks!  Make your reservations soon!