First of all, mahalo much to Bruddah Ed for allowing me the honor to share my brain's sporadic moments of mentalness! Man, this is harder than I thought. Anyways, so I was watching WWE wrestling the other night on USA and you know how they have that add, "Characters Wanted?" Well, that made the light bulb go on in my head! I thought, I am related to A LOT of characters. I'm sure all of you can relate cuz every family has at least one. If you can't think of any members resembling some of mine, think again, it might just be you!
I have an Uncle "Frankie" (shout out to frankie!): He's like his name. Frank. His wise @ssness is a welcomed and refreshing ball of fun! He's so free ken hee larry yus that you just wanna sit and talk story with him all night! Once in a while, you are also able to add your own two cents into the pot of mental and sometimes politically incorrect conversations. Admit it. It's what makes roasting marshmallows fun! Like me, his muse is his family. He can usually be heard making fun of the aunties mentioned below.
I not Hawaiian but Aunty Baling-Baling got da bracelets going all da way up her arm like she's Wondah Woman! I swear, she could deflect any and all bullets coming at her in a drive by. If you in da wrong part of da hood, she's da one you use as a shield, not Uncle Bla-lah. She clang clang so much. You know she just loves the attention. But in the back of my head, all her clang clang just reminds me of how my dogs' tags go clang clang when they come running at meal time. I've also noticed that Aunty Bling is not the prettiest aunty in the bunch. I wonder if she blings out to compensate. She's also the same aunty who wears tight, COUGAR print clothes and forgets that she has back fat.
I also have an Aunty Carrie Yokie. Yes, she's the one who thinks she coulddah been a contendah...on American Idol. Remember, I'm Filipino. We all can sing! NOT! She wants to be the next Jasmine. Aunty sings...has a few good notes...then she TRIES Whitney! OH HECK NO! Now, I want to turn on the garden hose and shoot her down like that neighbor's cat in heat sitting on your fence who is screeching all night long! Why, oh why, does she think that little karaoke microphone can transform the sound from her throat into heavenly tunes?
Oh, and you got the aunty who needs NO microphone. We got 100 people at the reunion and, because we're Filipino, it just gets INSANELY loud! We've had PA systems in the past but if the MC is too slow, Aunty Big Mout will just make the announcement for you. And so happen, whatever comes out her mout, is usually incorrect. Like Aunty Carrie, I tink she just likes da sound of her own voice. Her husband can usually be found somewhere in a dark corner, cringing at the sound of her voice and cuddling with a little green bottle that would be considered contraband at said event. Uncle Shame can usually be found with Uncle Mo Shame and Uncle So Shame, the husbands of Aunty Carry and Aunty Bling.
I also have an Uncle Nurse. He likes to push ALL the cousins into the profession. I don't think he realizes we can't all be nurses. Some of my other cousins not so smart, you know what I mean? But really, some of us need to be lawyers and doctors. Over the years, we've learned to just avoid conversations with him. It's hello and good bye. Never, under any circumstances, ask him an open ened question! It will always end up with him trying to get you to change majors or go back to school and do something God didn't give you the passion for. No, he's not a nurse, himself. He used to be a teacher in the Philippines. No one really knows what he does now.
Then, there's the grammy who grew pakalolo just cuz it was a pretty plant. Or so she says. She would tell us how happy it made her when she took care of her plant and pruned off the dried leaves. Nana Maria also has a sister who had a pakalolo plant. Or a few. But Nana Juana was akamai and knew that she could profit from this commodity of a plant which her sister was not aware of. Nana Lolo never had a job when she moved to Hawaii. Which is why cousins laugh when they realized the source of their weekly allowances from their grams was from illegal tradings!
And last but certainly not the least. There's the cousin who is so irritating like a little yappy chihuahua, you just wanna slap him and tape his mouth shut! Cousin Ete is sometimes one in the same as the cousin who whines soo much you just wanna kick him around a little just for fun...or at least until his oloz drop.
Think me brutal? Well, friends, I KNOW YOU WAS LAFFING! Yes, this is what makes up a part of my family. Mind you, we purposely don't serve alcohol at our reunion functions. But, at the end of the day, I think I would not have it any other way. Because, if my family dynamic was anything less, reunions would just be too boring! And, thank the Heavens, I have a family that I can love and make fun of! So, share with the rest of us your stories of your family dynamics. Give us a good laugh that will hold us over this long holiday weekend! Happy 4th everyone. And a special shout out to all those, past and present, who've fought and still fight for this great country of ours!
Following in Coconut Willy's footsteps, sistah snow joined the ranks of the 5+ club last week after correctly guessing Asia Manoa in Manoa, Honolulu, Hawaii. Out of ALL the Chinese restaurants in Hawaii? Really!? Was it that easy snizzow? Anyway, congrats yo!
Since I'm probably floating out somewhere in the middle of the Pacific Ocean/Glacier Bay right now (and I won't be able to get back atcha with an answer right away), I thought I'd try to make this week's WIH a hard one so the convo and speculations would keep a' going.
To make it a tad more challenging, I'm not only looking for the area name, but the specific street name this "tree" is on too. Get um? Got um? Good!
First and foremost, I would like to thank Ed for this opportunity to be a guest blogger. I'm thankful for making new friends through this blog, even though we have never met IRL. Thanks Ed for creating that environment!
So anyways, I think I might've mentioned before that I am a huge music lover. I have a collection of close to a 1000 CD's (it's hard to get an exact number because hubby and I merged collections after we got married – we had lots of duplicates to sell!). I know, I know, in this day and age, you would think that I would just download the songs. But, I guess I'm old-skool in that I would rather buy the CD and rip the songs into MP3's. There's just something I like about having the "hard copy" with CD artwork and liner notes.
There are certain artists (U2, Madonna, REM come to mind) that are able to crank out hit after hit, album after album with tons of success. But, what about those artists who (sadly) hit their prime after only one song? The 1980's seem to have had a lot of one-hit wonders. I'm not sure if they necessarily had a lot more than other decades, or that I just remember them because they were songs I grew up with.
Got any one-hit wonders to add? If you have a website link, or a story related to that song, please share that too. And, to help Ed's post count, let's try posting one song per post. !O7VHVW
As promised, I took the questions you posted on my "Ask a BJ (Penn)" blog with me to Hilo and had BJ answer them for y'all. I've finally had the chance to encode it, uploaded it (to YouTube), annotate it, and publish the puppy for you folks so hurr it is. Enjoy!
BJ Penn answers questions from the World Wide Ed Community
[kuya.d]: Try asking BJ how helpful Gary Ohashi has been in his training and recovery?
[B.J. Penn] Ohhh, Gary Ohashi. Gary Ohashi has been very good for me. I see him once or twice a week. Just adjusts me, put everything in the right areas, so my body's not aching and everything. Thank you Gary. Thanks for helping me out.
[Coconut Willy]: Originally being from Hilo, the feeling is super laid back. I know when I go to visit, I get really lazy. Ask BJ how he keeps up his intensity and motivation.
[B.J. Penn] I get really lazy too actually Coconut Willy. (*laughs*) And it's pretty tough. Nah, you know, when you got something on your head, or you're focused or you wanna do something, you going get out there. Plus too, you don't want to let down all the fans, so that's motivation. Cause you want the fans to say, you know you want the fans to go out there and after you win, you want them to tell their friends, "You see! I told you so! When I talk you listen! You listen to me when I speak to you!" (*laughs*)
[skycastles]: Boxers or briefs?
[B.J. Penn] Boxers, boxers. Boxers or nothing under surf shorts. Surf shorts: nothing. Everything else, boxers.
[skycastles]: What advice would he give to kids coming up who want to get into MMA?
[B.J. Penn] To the kids, I would just say, you know, just go and have fun. If you like to box, go box. If you like wrestling, go wrestle in school. If you like jiu jitsu, go do it and then just keep just doing the one that you think is fun and get as far as that one first. Whether it's wrestling, boxing or kickboxing or jiu jitsu or judo or whatever it is, and then after you're kinda done competing in that, maybe start adding all the other ones in.
[bB]: does he have any aspirations of being a promoter after he retires? maybe something on the lines of a oscar de la hoya.
[B.J. Penn] Maybe I'd want to get involved with the promoter business. But we'll see how things unfold, and, you know, if the UFC is the only company in the future or... We'll see, but for sure I could see myself putting on little fights around Hawaii, around the islands, the different islands, just for the locals.
[frankie]: I'd like to know if he'd like to face GSP again (sans the greasing).
[B.J. Penn] Yup, yup. For sure we want to fight GSP again and we want our opportunity for a rematch.
[uncle jimmy]: since his grandma was the original "little lei lady of waikiki" and wound up owning some chunks of waikiki in the process, and his Mom is a serious entrepreneurial player of note on her own.. does he have a similar entrepreneurial gene and how does it reveal itself?
[B.J. Penn] I don't think my grandma ended up owning any chunks of Waikiki. In fact, I don't think there's many Hawaiians who own a bunch of hotels down (in) Waikiki. (*laughs*)
I would love to keep pushing BJPenn.com and training people and I guess, yeah, just push the web site, push the shop on the web site, and see where we can take it and maybe even get into the promoting stuff.
[Center Of Thought]: What does his diet consist of? What does he eat when training?
[B.J. Penn] OK, my diet, if I'm not training, I'll eat anything, and then if I'm training, I pretty much cut out like breads and pastas. I just eat like the most natural carbohydrates like rice, potatoes, like brown rice, sweet potatoes, oats, you know, poi, like just kinda more natural stuff. And then if I want a cheat meal, then maybe I'll eat a sandwich or something you know, but I try to just cut all that stuff out. And then lean meat and lots of fruits and vegetables.
[Center Of Thought]: What kine music does tha champ listen to?
[B.J. Penn] Listen to… Growing up I listen to everything, but nowadays I listen to more just local music, Hawaiian music, kinda keeps me relaxed. Not gonna go burn rubber down the road and get in trouble. (*laughs*)
[miLL-viLLe]: I want to know how many more fights BJ has left in him.
[B.J. Penn] Every time somebody asks me how many more fights I have left in me, I can't really answer that question cause we always just gotta see how my next fight goes. I'm sure after I beat Kenny Florian, I'll be happy and I'll say we got 50 fights left, you know what I mean, so we just gotta take it fight by fight.
[mcat]: i'm curious what he does when he's not training... any other hobbies?
[B.J. Penn] I'm just hanging out. Maybe go surfing a little bit, maybe, you know, just go swimming, have fun, watch TV, work on BJPenn.com, that's all I do. (*laughs*)
Thank you!
There ya have it! Hope you enjoyed it! Don't forget to also read my full interview with BJ at AroundHawaii.com, live on July 1, 2009!
So it was recently reported that Jon and Kate Gosselin have filed for divorce. Gee, who saw that one coming?
Along those lines, we'll go with that theme for this week's Fave Five blog: Fave Five Reality Show Couples. I needs ta be honest though. I'm more excited to fill out the least fave list. Let's see what we come up with shall we?
Fave Five Reality Show Couples:
Flavor Flav + Anyone- you gotsta love his passion and honesty for trying to find true love on "Flavor of Love." And, although he's admirably decided to stay with his baby's mama following the 3rd and last season, a part of me still wants him to keep going. Can't get enough of that guy man! LOL!
Travis Barker + Shanna Moakler - although they've had a lot of drama following them in the news, I was a fan of their show "Meet the Barkers" back in the day.
Nick Lachey + Jessica Simpson - how can you not like both of them? They seemed to be nice peoples, at least individually... Maybe their life timing was just not right? I secretly wouldn't mind seeing them get back together and film another season of "Newlyweds".
New York + Tailor Made -Â I don't really like Tailor Made, but he and New York (Tiffany Pollard) were like the most unlikely of couples, so "I Love New York" was just fun to watch. Like a train wreck I couldn't look away from.
Jeff Conaway + Vikki Lizzi - one word: dysfunctional. Not sure why I wasted hours of my life watching "Celebrity Rehab" but they were also fun/ridiculous to watch.
Bottom Five Reality Show Couples:
Spencer Pratt + Heidi Montag - these two are number 1 on the hated list and won't ever get overtaken. Why does anyone even care what they're up to? I have no clue. Gotta hand it to Spencer for his decent marketing skills though.
Jon Gosselin + Kate Gosselin - again... who cares!?
Britney Spears and Kevin Federline - ditto
Christopher Knight + Adrianne Curry - again...
Audrina and Justin-Bobby - need I say more?
If making your list proves too challenging, feel free to just dish/vent about any of the above (or others you love/despise).
Happy VHO7V Friday y'all! Have a good weekend! I'm off to Alaska (Bon Voyage!), but be sure to check in for some exciting blogs ahead:
* Monday, June 29 - "BJ Penn Answers Your Questions! [Video]"- Remember the questions you guys submitted for BJ Penn last month? I caught Bruddah BJ on tape answering those questions! This one will be promo'd on the front page of the physical paper as well. Support the 'tiser and pick up a copy k?
* Tuesday, June 30- Sistah NeedaHobby holds it down with a blog of her own called "Is It Any Wonder?", featuring convo and video clips of those one hit wonders we love from yesteryear.
* Wednesday, July 1 - A special edition of "Where In Hawaii Is Edward Sugimoto" is all queued up for y'all!
* Thursday, July 2 - tita leerz represents with her amusing blog: "Family Reunions: Characters Wanted"
* Friday, July 3 - takin' a break since it'll be a holiday for most of us anyway. Happy 4th of July!
* Monday, July 6- props to sistah skycastles (who was originally scheduled for the 29th) for closing out the guest blogging week with a bang with her "Name That Tune Summer Redux" blog.
Support your fellow WWE community peeps and comment away a-ight? Have a good one y'all! See you next month!
Edward Sugimoto is a full-time editor and webmaster and was recently
named as one of the top 50 high-tech leaders in the state of Hawai'i. In
his spare time he enjoys playing sports (snowboarding, softball and jiu
jitsu in particular), discovering hidden gems around town, and watching
reality TV.
