Author: Wayne Harada

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Thanks for having my back

I am not alone.

Seems a lot of people have back pain issues. It’s a common ailment among the elderly and a regular conversation topic.

I’m lucky, however; a lot of folks have my back, supportive of a medical procedure I underwent last Tuesday (March 30) at Queen’s Medical Center.

I’ve struggled with chronic lower back pain for a couple of decades, but always dodged the customary back surgery … because many people, including my primary spine doctor, said to seek alternate means to manage pain since the recovery could be as painful as the operation.

So when I located a pain management doctor who introduced me to a procedure where a battery could be inserted into my body – a stimulator that could manage pain through electronic charges wired to the battery – I signed up.

During a trial week, an external battery bandaged to my back and hooked to wires placed under my skin; the test confirmed I was good candidate for the real deal.

So now I’m recuperating at home, feeling like a bionic man with the battery near my butt and wiring inserted in my spine.

It’s been a curious challenge since. The pain recurs, but I can’t discern if it’s from the wounds of the incision, or my regular back aches, doing its occasional dance. I think it’s a combination of both.

I imagine the pain levels may see-saw, but I have a device that resembles a mini iPhone, which can regulate the power of the jolts: up when needed, down when not.

This new procedure means I won’t have to go in for cortisone shots every three months, which was a regular thing. The shots worked, but the level of relief returned sooner than later.

I’ll have the bandaging removed next Wednesday (April 7) then monitor life with a hidden implant.

This whole episode at least brought a LOL moment, from my cousin emailed me after I sent a photo of me on a gurney at Queen’s prior to being wheeled into the operating room. When she saw me in the required blue head net, she commented: “All I could think about when I saw your pic was, ‘Everything is better with blue bonnet on it…”

Wayne Harada — with hair net and face mask — at Queen’s Hospital Same Day Surgery.
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A Full Year

A year ago (on March 29, 2020), my “Show Biz” column in the Star-Advertiser, made history. It was shut down under dubious circumstances; I was told (falsely) that the coronavirus crisis, which was worsening and affecting the economy, was the reason for terminating the column.

Free-lance writers for the paper were being released to reduce expenses, the decision coming “from the top,” I was led to believe.

It was a lie because at that point, only two contributors were eliminated from the columnist rank. Me and travel writer Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi. The features editor told me that when conditions improved, the column(s) might be reinstated.

Ha! It was pau for good.

I agreed that if times were tough, yes, contributors should be the first to go, to protect full-timers from furloughs.

Ha! again. No other freelancers were terminated.

A year later, neither Cheryl nor I have been offered a chance to reboot. She continues to contribute travel articles in other resources.

I became fully retired and turned to Facebook to post reviews, share entertainment and other chatter, and communicate with former friends and new followers as I began enjoying the freedom of retirement and the uncertainty of unemployment.

The paper has moved on, too, with minimal concern for the performing arts, with diminished coverage and combining sections into bizarre Siamese twins.

I focus on my hobby, creating notecards and holiday-themed lapel pins that folks now wear as accessories on their facemasks. Earlier, I finished a batch of Valentine’s stuff, then Easter projects, and will focus later in the year on Halloween and Christmas.

It’s all a hobby, not a job. No revenue, but tons of fun.

By now, I normally would be planning trips – to Japan and New York – but both destinations are still not ready to welcome visitors nor am I ready to go. Yes, seeing the cherry blossoms in Japan would be joyful; and my passion for Broadway shows will have to wait till later this year, or perhaps next year, when pandemic threats are gone.

So my new normal has already happened. I make time for what I enjoy, with no rigid scheduling. And yes, seniorhood brings health issues, and I will have yet another procedure done at Queen’s this week – aiming to minimize and reduce chronic lower back pains. I have PT sessions twice a week with a personal trainer, who helps me with a regimen that encompasses exercise aimed at maintaining a healthy life.

Strangely, I’ve been busier than ever. The coronavirus tiers now allow more social gatherings and I hope to catch up and schedule more breakfasts and lunches and dinners in the months ahead.

And time is fluid; often on a Wednesday, it feels like Saturday. My calendar has monthly entries for doc visits, PT, and maybe a meal get-together. I can do cat naps a couple of times a week, follow trending shows on Netflix or Amazon Prime, and still have time for my crafts.

Hard to believe, but I had been writing the column for more than 50 years, 45 years as a hired hand, another 10 after retiring in 2008.

Aside from trips, I miss my weekend movies. So far, Consolidated has yet to program blockbusters, so there’s no reason to visit the cinema when “Nomadland” is streamed on Netflix. I’ve bought tickets to Diamond Head Theatre performances and next week, I’ll likely take in a live show at Blue Note Hawaii for the first time since 2020.

It doesn’t seem like it’s been already a year since I uttered my parting line in print, “And that’s Show Biz”…

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Robert Cazimero at Chef Chai’s

It was imperfect, but Robert Cazimero’s return to the limelight last night (March 28) at Chef Chai’s was momentous and a measure of what the local show biz has been lacking for months.

Cazimero’s gig, dubbed the Full Moon Concert, had been a monthly fave at Chai’s, linked to the lunar calendar. It was sidelined last year by the pandemic, so the homecoming of one of Hawaii’s luminous troupers drew a full house.

But like a vehicle idled for an extended time, Cazimero had to pull the throttles, step on the gas, and look in the rear mirror to find his footing. Behind his keyboard, he’s a master, but it took an effort to get his engine purring.

The format here is sharing moods and memories, a structure that allows him to cruise with tunes from all genres, and in the driver’s seat, he doesn’t speed, he coasts and maneuvers his ride without a formal agenda nor a GPS. Thus, it’s a ride that’s equally familiar yet unexpected, because he and his viewers have been on that road before.

It’s curious that the car-ride Hawaiian oldie, “Holo Holo Kaa,” was among the fare, with his two hula dancers, Sky Perkins Gora and Bully Keola Makaiau, chugging along joyfully. This punctuated the evening of magical memories.

Surely, the tapestry of tunes – “Rainbow Connection,” “Keawaiki,” “My Sweet Pikake Lei,” “Waikiki,” “Always,” “At Home in the Islands” – painted a reflective tone of a casual party.

Folks in the audience – Manu Boyd, singing and dancing, Cha Thompson hulaing — joined the celebration. From her seat, singer Nina Keali’iwahamana Rapozo was mouthing the lyrics, simulating a duet with Cazimero, several times.

Of course, there were a couple of Cazimero charm; he shared local-style sing-along ditties, tapping “Happy Birthday,” “Itsy Bitsy Spider,” “I’m. Little Teapot,” “Baa Baa Black Sheep,” “You Are My Sunshine.” Cute, crazy, Cazimero stuff.

Then not surprisingly, he closed his set with a Christmas song he learned back in the day from the late Mahi Beamer. Who else could get away with a yuletide gift now?

Future Full Moon Concerts are scheduled for April 25, May 27, June 24 and July 23. Reservations: 585-0011 or www.chefchai.com.

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Iz’s ‘Rainbow’ Legacy

There’s yet another pot of gold at the end of Israel “Bruddah Iz” Kamakawiwo’ole’s rainbow.

Iz’s iconic hit, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World,” today (March 24) will be added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry for preservation as part the heritage in recorded sound.

Marlene Kamakawiwo’ole, Iz’s widow, said the honor is “a blessing for my ohana and we are so happy to share his magic with the world.”

And Jon de Mello, who produced the disc, said “Our wish is that Iz was here to witness the joy the song brings to the world.”

The inclusion in the registry is not surprising, since “Rainbow” already has logged more than a billion views on YouTube, has been included in dozens of feature films (“Meet Joe Black,” “50 First Dates”), television shows (“EZ,” “Scrubs”), commercials, and has earned multi-platinum sales records in the U.S. and many global nations.

The characteristic “ooooh, ooooh” opening notes are part of the charm of the tune, and even the intro-only has been utilized in commercials. Clearly, it’s Iz’s sound and emotion that appeal to listeners; ironically, Iz was a Hawaiian entertainer but his aloha in the pop tunes is what connected to the world beyond the shores of Hawaii.

The track was included in the best-selling “Facing Future” album, and the medley has emerged as the undisputed No. 1 hit in the annals of Hawaii recordings.

Iz died on June 26, 1997, at age 38, so he never enjoyed the popularity and appeal of “Raiinbow.”

Iz’s inclusion in the registry’s Class of 2020 is also historic: among this year’s honorees is Thomas Edison, for the first-ever sound recording.

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Review: ‘Shout’ at Diamond Head Theatre

‘SHOUT’ AT DIAMOND HEAD THEATRE IS DANDY AS CANDY FOR THESE PANDEMIC TIMES

“Shout: The Mod Musical,” now at the Diamond Head Theatre (through March 28), has a soundtrack jammed with 1960s-early ’70s pop hits mostly with British roots), a modest storyline about five women with life and love issues, and robotic choreography that captures the spirit of the era.

An off-Broadway blast from the past, “Shout’ enables DHT to return to producing shows with a cast of five women, singing to taped music in front of a single set of rectangles and squares depicting five hues – red, green, yellow, orange and blue – with each character designated by the colors. With pandemic practices in place, the theater can only fill 25 pct of its seats and drastically modified the niceties of theater-going: no playbill to identify the performers, which signals a lack of courtesy and respect to the cast. Of course, the audience is masked, with social distancing, and there is neither an intermission nor an apres-show meet-and-greet.

Yet the cast soldiers on, delivering credible performances despite the wafer-thin storyline.

“Shout” is mostly about the nostalgic tunes – popularized by the likes of Petula Clark, Dusty Springfield, Lulu, Marianne Faithful, The Seekers, and others – so you may leave the theater humming a fave like “You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me,” “Wishin’ and Hopin’,” “Georgy Girl,”

“Downtown,” “Don’t Sleep in the Subway,” “To Sir, With Love,” “How Can I Be Sure,” “I Know a Place,” and “You’re My World.” Even “Goldfinger.”

Those were the days, and these were the songs.

The show’s title alludes to a Brit tabloid dubbed, what else, SHOUT, and Red, Green, Yellow, Blue and Orange (as the roles are defined) also share monologues of gripes and issues sent to the magazine’s advice columnist.

The show is like a huge candy jar, with eye-filling vibrant costume colors, as well as the chirpy and contagious music, providing joyful nibbles and sweetness.

John Rampage directed and choreographed with his usual measure of syncopated fun and expression, inspired by that mound of music. There might be repetition in the motion, but the end result is a delightful dance-a-thon. However, take caution: dancing in the aisles is not allowed, but occasional sing-alongs and clap-alongs are welcome.

The show runs Fridays through Sundays, through March 28; some performances are sold out. Tickets: $22, at www.diamondheadtheatre.com