It’s Super Bowl weekend! You can almost smell all that testosterone in the air! So, answer the Thursday 3 questions for the Super Bowl!
Who are you rooting for – Niners or Ravens?
Are you watching the Super Bowl at home or at a Super Bowl party?
If you’re not going to be watching the game, what are you planning on doing instead?
Here’s my replies:
Who are you rooting for – Niners or Ravens?
Niners! Don’t get me wrong – I still bleed Silver & Black (Oakland Raiders), but I needed to choose an “alternate” team because… you know… the Raiders are junk.
Are you watching the Super Bowl at home or at a Super Bowl party?
I’ll be watching it in the comfort of home. Slouched on the couch, dressed in bodobodos, unshaven, and I can fut when I want.
If you’re not going to be watching the game, what are you planning on doing instead?
N/A. But IF I wasn’t watching the game – being that it’s Sunday – that would mean, wait for it…, just a little bit more Sally… Ok – COSTCO!
Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii – Manoa Grand Ballroom
Hana Hou! If you missed the last Magic Mushroom Re-union Party in July 2012 – Here’s your 2nd chance!
Tickets go on sale on Monday – January 7th. Unfortunately, this time there will be no will call, unless you purchase a Reserved Table (seats 10 people) in advance. Door opens at 6:30 pm. General seating will be first come first served. Tickets are $30 per person. There will be a no-host bar, and a pupu buffet will be available as well as snacks on each table. Parking is $5.00 on site with validation.
The Host, Ed Kanoi of 107.9 KOOL Gold, will be giving away prizes.
Featured bands will be:
* Electric Fish & The Tofu Factory (aka The King Pins) *
* Audissey & Friends, with special guest appearance by Rob Yamamoto & Kenneth Uyeno *
* White Light *
For tickets and event information contact:
Dennis Matsukawa at 271-2622 or at Audissey004@yahoo.com; or
Bernie Ferraria at 220-6329 , or at koolinspiration@hotmail.com.
Tickets also on sale at Dan’s Guitars, Carlos Performance Guitar and Westside Music.
PS: If you have any Magic Mushroom memorabilia, bring/wear it and share with us to see.
** or let me know and I can get you tickets and/or a table
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?
Ready for the long Labor Day weekend? How about we celebrate with music. I’m looking for songs that have to do with work. Could be the song title, lyrics in the song, the band’s name, the artist’s name, a band member’s name – anything related to work, labor, jobs, occupations, etc.
And don’t worry if you’ve posted something that’s already been posted. I don’t expect you to read every single post. Just list the title/lyric/name/etc. and if you’d like, a link to a YouTube video of the song. *Adding more than 2 links in a single post will cause your post to go into moderation – so help me bump up the post count and try to keep it to one link per post. But post as many times as you’d like!
Let’s get the weekend started:
Working for the Weekend – Loverboy
Work To Do – Average White Band
Telephone Man – Meri Wilson
Please Mr. Postman – The Carpenters
The Police (band name)
“Young teacher, the subject of schoolgirl fantasy…”
Don’t Stand So Close To Me – The Police
Whoa, this is harder than I thought. Time to rack your brains.
I thought in honor of Father’s Day, we’d talk about our dads.
My dad worked this whole career at Pearl Harbor. In fact, growing up I thought that once everyone finished school, they worked for the government – like my dad did. I thought it was automatic – from high school straight to working Pearl Harbor.
And when my oldest brother started working at Pearl Harbor, that just confirmed my suspicion. However, my second oldest brother, after getting out of the Army, started working at the post office. That kinda threw me off until I found out that the post office is a government job! (well, technically it’s not). But my theory was being proven and I was expecting to work at some government agency too.
That is until I started getting out more and finding that a lot of my friend’s dads worked in the private sector.
But getting back to dads.
My dad was a card player. I never saw him actually playing poker or anything like that. But at work, they used to have Cribbage tournaments during lunch and he used to come home with trophies. And when he used to read the newspaper – I’d see him studying and following the Bridge strategy that they printed in the comics section.
He was also strictly cash. On paydays, he’d cash his whole check and give my mom a huge wad of cash to pay the bills, buy food, etc. I think he did have a Sears credit card but that was used only for special promotions. Otherwise, it was all cash. And he used to carry a “ching-ching” coin purse also to hold all his coins.
He was not a shopper. In fact, when he used to take his car to Ala Moana Sears for brakes or tires, instead of hanging around the mall, he’d take us walking over to Ala Moana beach park or Magic Island to pass the time. About the only store he did shop in was Sears. And once in a while, we used to get the very aromatic Sears popcorn.
Dad liked fishing too. Me, I didn’t care too much for the sport. But dad used to like taking us to Hanauma bay to go fishing (before it was banned). Or to Allen-Davis beach. Sometimes after a visit to Halmuni’s house, dad used to take us walking around the coastline: Bamboo Ridge, Hanauma bay to Toilet bowl, Makai pier. Mom probably would’ve freaked out if she knew the places dad used to take us.
Dad was an avid orchid grower too. He had a hot-house with all kinds of orchids. Vanda orchids were very popular back in the day. And he’d make us go into the hot-house to water the plants. That’s where the big “garden spiders” lived. The big black ones with the yellow back. I hated those! Used to blast them with the water hose. Dad also raised some nice Cattleya orchids too.
He was a local sports fan too. He used to take us to the Kailua High School football games. Or to Hawaii Islanders baseball games at the old termite palace. I don’t ever remember going to a UH football game though. But we spent many a nights at the bowling alley. Dad loved his bowling.
Dad used to sing in our church’s men’s choir too. Every Monday night they practiced for 1 hour at the church. It was then followed by a night of parking lot volleyball. While the men were practicing, it was our job to plug in the big parking lot flood light, roll the car tires poles in to place, and tie up the volleyball net. Sometimes we ever got to play!
Well, those are my memories of my dad. There’s a lot more – like how he used to coach my baseball teams, or how I remember falling asleep in the back seat of the car returning to Kailua from town, the radio tuned to KUMU, and hearing that whistling sound coming from the slightly cracked open vent window in the front. But I’ll stop here.
What are some of your memories of your dad? What was his interests, his hobbies, or his rules? Share your best memories of your dad with us – in honor of Father’s Day.
I had to work on Sunday. But it was a good thing! (Man, I love my new job). I volunteered to help at the Pro Bowl. We had tasks assigned to us and my job was to wait for the incoming buses after the game and guide them to their proper area.
Some of the others had to report to their stations way before the game started in order to unload the passengers and make sure they knew where to report to after the game to catch their bus back – be it to Waikiki, Kapolei side, the Windward side, or the East side.
There were a few bumps, but overall – it was a success.
But what amazed me was how many mainlanders were at the Pro Bowl. It was almost like 5 to 1 mainlanders compared to the locals. I guess I was just shocked at how many people would save up for a Hawaii vacation just to attend the Pro Bowl. Something we locals take for granted, I guess.
I suppose the cold weather on the mainland has a lot to do with it. And I also suppose that if you were going to schedule a vacation in Hawaii – why not take in the Pro Bowl at the same time!
As we entered the stadium, there was this one girl with her beer in her hand – already ripped and talking in a slurred speech. I wonder if she saw the game or just slept through it.
Then there were these 2 guys walking out a third guy who was sick from too much partying – this before the game even started! Man, talk about a waste of money paying for the ticket. Gotta pace yourself, dude.
And then there were those who didn’t even enter the game! They were tailgating the whole time. Maybe it’s a way to bar-b-que and drink legally and not have to worry about getting busted for drinking in public – like when you chance ‘um at the beach.
But it’s still up in the air whether future Pro Bowls will be continue to be held in Hawaii or not. We like hosting it here. The tourist industry loves it. The tourists love it. And especially the players themselves love it. It’s a no-brainer, right? Hopefully the NFL sees it that way too.
The Pro Bowl was held for 30 consecutive seasons in Hawaii from 1980 to 2009. In 2010, the NFL played it in Florida, but returned back to Hawaii in 2011 and 2012. I say, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.
Let’s hope that the Pro Bowl will continue to be held in Hawaii.
Have you even attended a Pro Bowl? This was my first time checking it out although I didn’t actually sit and watch the game. But I would love to attend it someday – just to see the superstars in action. Would you?
And Sunday is the Super Bowl. New York Giants versus the New England Patriots. The Patriots are giving 3. What’s your take on Sunday’s game?
Sorry, I’m not talking about UH’s first home game on Saturday – Warrior Beat has that covered. I’m talking about the pros.
Tonight kicked of the NFL football season. Here it is at 10:00 PM and I’m just starting to write as I had to watch the Giants vs. Redskins game. Although, neither of those teams are “my team”.
Me, I bleed Silver and Black. Yup, Oakland Raiders, baby! Raider Nation!
I’ve been following the Raiders for about 30 years now. Why the Raiders? I consider the Raiders as the “misfits of football”. Either you love them or you hate them. They’re that kind of a team. A lot of players that couldn’t get along with their team ended up on the Raiders. Some were just bad boys that felt right at home on the Raiders.
I read a book titled Cruisin’ with the Tooz by John Matuszak. I remember how he shared a story about how bright some of the big linemen were. Or weren’t. He went up to this one lineman and asked him “What do you see when you look down mole holes?“. The guy just gave him a blank stare. The Tooz replied “Molasses“. The guy still had that blank look on his face so the Tooz explained to him “It’s a play on words. Molasses. Mole Asses. Get it?“. The guy nods and says “Yeah, I got it“. So the next day, the Tooz sees the lineman again and asks him “Now, what do you see when you look down mole holes?“ The lineman thinks for a moment and replies “Mole assholes“. The Tooz says “No, molasses, not mole assholes!“ The lineman shouts “Hey!, you see what you see and I see what I see, okay?”
Then there was the time that during a game, the center for the opposing team grabs the football and gets ready to hike it. He looks down at the ball and sees written on the ball in permanent marker “F*** You”. Gotta love them Raiders.
Remember Ken Stabler aka The Snake? Anyone remember the Holy Roller play?
How about Lester Hayes of the famous Hayes and Haynes duo. Doesn’t he remind you of someone? O-tay!
And Stickum. That gooey glue-like substance that Lester Hayes used to lather all over his hands and arms to intercept passes with one hand. It worked so good that it was outlawed by the league after the Raiders 1981 Super Bowl victory.
* I heard that Lester Hayes still has a jar of it somewhere…
Or how about Jim Otto with his jersey number of 00. Took me a while to figure it out, but if you remove the two “t”s in his name, you end up with OO.
Marcus Allen – with his cat-like moves and quickness. Always exciting to watch him whenever he got the ball.
Dave Casper, Ted Hendricks, and other Raider legends. But I think the Madden era was the best. However, not being a fair-weather fan, I stick by my Raiders.
There are even some Hawaii connections to the Raiders.
Did you know that Hawaiian Airlines has been flying the Oakland Raiders to all their away games for the last 9 seasons? I remember boarding a Hawaiian Airlines airplane and seeing the Raiders logo on the side of the plane. How cool is that?
And current Raiderette cheerleader Jennifer Nguyen used to be a cheerleader for the Hawaiian Islanders arena football team.
And just earlier this week, the Raiders signed Ashley Lelie to a one year contract. I think he’ll fit right in with the Raiders.
Although last season, the Raiders didn’t do too well. In fact, they did pretty bad. So I had to find myself a “second favorite” team and since my brother-in-law lives in Washington state, I chose the Seattle Seahawks. Plus, they’re in a different conference than the Raiders, so I won’t have to worry about them playing each other – unless they both make it to the Super Bowl.
So who’s your favorite NFL football team? Do you have a “second favorite” team? How long have you been following your team and what attracts you to them? Any memories of your favorite team you’d like to share? Any Hawaii connections?
Did you enjoy the game? Did you enjoy the commercials? Did your team win? Did anyone else catch Christina Aguilera’s screw-up of the Star-Spangled Banner?
I was rooting for the Steelers – only because I wanted to make the game interesting to watch- between munching on Toong Mai from Chinatown last week and C0shiba’s snack mix that C0hiba dropped off on Saturday night at Haw’n Brians. Mmmm! What were you munching on?
But I know a lot of folks watch the game just for the commercials. My favorite commercial wasn’t really a commercial – just a plug for the NFL. It has shades of MLC in there:
(btw, can you name the theme music playing in the background?)
* see that 2 minute Chrysler 200 commercial? Price tag: $9,000,000
If you didn’t watch the big game (like Paula and daughter #1) – how’d you spend your time? They went puppy shopping. Not puppy BUYING, just looking. Whew!
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.
***
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!
MLC Friday5 time. Football season is here! Cut and paste the questions and answers them or just answer them by number – or order. Feel free to add comments to your answers or additional comments relating to football.
Who is your favorite NFL team and why?
Did you play football – Pop Warner, high school, college, pro?
Have you ever been to an NFL football game?
Do you think an NFL team would be successful in Hawaii?
Remember any small kid time neighborhood football memories?
Bonus question: Other than pass interference, how many yards is the longest penalty? *No “googling” allowed.
***
Here’s my replies:
Who is your favorite NFL team and why? Oakland Raiders. Yup, I bleed the Silver and Black. Either you love ‘um or you hate ‘um. I’ve been a Raiders fan from a long time ago when the Raiders were known to play dirty. All the misfits of the NFL that couldn’t get along with their teammates seemed to end up on the Raiders. This pretty much sums up the Raiders:
Did you play football – Pop Warner, high school, college, pro? Nope, nope, nope, and nope. Although I did play on the Kalaheo Intermediate School flag football team when I was in the 9th grade. We actually went to Kawananakoa Intermediate during class time to play them. I don’t remember the outcome, though.
Have you ever been to an NFL football game? I wish. Maybe someday if Las Vegas ever gets an NFL team. LOL
Do you think an NFL team would be successful in Hawaii? Yes, I think so. Of course first we’d need a new stadium. But since NFL teams play only once a week, that gives them a lot of time to travel to Hawaii.
Remember any small kid time neighborhood football memories? I remember playing “2 hand touch” football on the street and the empty lot on the corner. Or we’d go down to the schoolyard, rip strips from rags and play flag football. We used to just tuck the strips of rag into the sides of our shorts and we were good to go. And when we were desperate (like after at a church potluck), we’d take a paper cup, stuff crushed paper cups into it and shape it like a football and use that to play.
Remember when we used to play neighborhood football? Of course we were all barefoot and there was a special technique to hold the ball for kick-offs. Instead of the holder just holding the ball with it’s point on the ground, we used to have the holder use one foot, stand it up with his heel to the ground, then balance the point of the football on his big toe while holding the other point with his finger. Remember that? Could get a lot more air-time on the ball that way!
And here’s a story I posted on a previous MLC blog:
I read a book titled Cruisin’ with the Tooz by John Matuszak. I remember how he shared a story about how bright some of the big linemen were. Or weren’t. He went up to this one lineman and asked him “What do you see when you look down mole holes?“. The guy just gave him a blank stare. The Tooz replied “Molasses“. The guy still had that blank look on his face so the Tooz explained to him “It’s a play on words. Molasses. Mole Asses. Get it?“. The guy nods and says “Yeah, I got it“.
So the next day, the Tooz sees the lineman again and asks him “Now, what do you see when you look down mole holes?“ The lineman thinks for a moment and replies “Mole assholes“. The Tooz says “No, molasses, not mole assholes!“ The lineman shouts “Hey, you see what you see and I see what I see, okay?“
So post your MLC Friday5 answers and share any football stories you might have. And enjoy the games this weekend! Go Raiders!
Rodney Lee is a Baby Boomer - and proud of it. Rodney started the Midlife Crisis blog back in the days of The Honolulu Advertiser and ran it for about 3 years. After The Honolulu Advertiser shut down, Rodney decided to continue his blog here at Midlife Crisis Hawaii. New blog entries are added every Monday and Thursday.
So join Rodney as he reminisces about the good ol' days.
Midlife Crisis Hawaii - where the memories live on.
