Category: Just Asking

Just asking…

Is it just me, or has Zippy’s Napoleon turnover been on a diet?

Bought one yesterday; was a big, er, small disappointment.

Ate it and wondered how the pastry looked in the recent past, so scrolled images on the Zippy’s website (shown here).

Mine did not have that flaky, fluffy character at all. And the apple filling was nothing like the Napoleon I remember.

And the cost is now $3.25 apiece. Anyone else notice the changes?

Just asking…

Assuming you know and can sing your alma mater (high school), are you able to sing the anthem of one or two other schools?

Most folks know their own alma mater, because it’s commonly performed at school functions.

College alma maters might be tougher to recall, because of few opportunities to sing it en masse, on campus or at football games.

As a Farrington High School grad in Honolulu, I still remember my alma mater, and that of Kamehameha Schools on the heights overlooking Farrington in Kalihi-Kapalama. I have vague but uneven memory of McKinley High School’s alma mater, too, but don’t ask me why.

So where are you on the alma mater totem. Know only yours?

Just asking…

Are you a fan of “The Voice” or “American Idol”?

Of the key talent shows in prime time, do you regularly watch “The Voice” or “American Idol”?

In the early seasons of “Idol,” I watched weekly. Back in the day, that was the TV show to tune in to, because of Jasmine Trias, who was Hawaii’s key “Idol” competitor to make the Top 10 in 2004, and I was a working reporter at the time so had to monitor her week-to-week performance and status.

“Idol” set the highwater mark for vocal contests. A handful of winners or even finalists have made it in some aspect of show biz. Kelly Clarkson, the first winner in, 2002, has built on her fame via important brand-creating hit songs, and parlayed radio and YouTube hits into a daily talk/sing show. Her latest coup is inheriting retired Ellen DeGeneres’ daytime slot and whoa, she’s judging “The Voice.”   Can’t get better than that.

Carrie Underwood, season four victor, in2005, is the most successful former “Idol.” Her hits made her a country music hottie, and her reign as the NFL’s Sunday Night football them singer hasn’t hurt, either.

However, the biggest show biz “name” originating in “Idol,” was not a winner but a Top 10 finalist in 2004, the year Fantasia won and Trias was second. Jennifer Hudson has emerged as the most visible and singer and actress, sought-after celeb because she had the voice and since has been groomed as a bona fide Hollywood figure. She’s also an EGOT – Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winner, conquering all prizes in the show biz orbit. Well, she also is a GG – Golden Globe winner.

Cassadee Pope, who won in 2012, in the third season, is the most successful winner from “The Voice.”  But clearly, for all its fanfare, “The Voice” winners have not prevailed as well. Frankly, the rotating judges – including the likes of Blake Shelton, John Legend, Clarkson, Adam Levine, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Sefani, and Pharrel Williams — are better known than the talent they pick. FYI, Shelton has been the only judge for all 14 seasons. Javier  Colon was announced as the winner of the inaugural season, marking Levine’s first win as a coach.

Just asking…

Has the pandemic altered the meaning of ‘delta’?

Don’t know about you, but the term “delta” has been redefined to be the demonic variant of the coronavirus pandemic.

Not too long ago, betcha most folks linked Delta solely to the name of the airline. Employees there must now cringe whenever “delta variant” is uttered daily on TV or part the newspaper’s coverage of the health crisis.

Linguists know, thanks to the Greeks, that delta is the fourth letter of the alphabet. Military folks regularly utter the term, defining companies: alpha, beta, charley, delta.

Personally, when I heard the delta term in current times, I linked it to the late Helen Reddy’s monster hit from the past “Delta Dawn.”

I still can envision her voice, delivering the number.

Remember?

“Delta Dawn, what’s that flower you have on?
Could it be a faded rose from days gone by?
And did I hear you say he was a-meetin’ you here today
To take you to his mansion in the sky.”

This tune was written by Alex Harvey and Larry Collins, not Reddy. Its meaning deals with a complicated memory the writer Harvey had of his mother.

Indeed, delta has dawned with new relevance and power in life, and no one’s singing about it.

Can I ask someone in radioland to periodically play “Delta Dawn,” so we can reflect and remember simpler and safer times devoid of the pandemic?

Just asking…

Are shopping carts still safe during the current surge of the pandemic virus?

A year ago, food markets like Foodland Farms and Safeway used to dutifully sanitize shopping carts and baskets for customer use. Nowaways, Foodland seems to be continuing the safety measure, Safeway not so much.

Since the viral spreads through eyes, noses and mouths, maybe the potential germs on a cart or basket handle no longer is a big deal.

After all, we’ve all been shopping at Costco, CVS Longs, Walgreen’s, Marukai and Don Quiote, and unless I’ve visited during non-spray-and-sanitize hours, I’ve never seen or experienced any sense of cart maintenance at these stores.  Instead, wipes and lotions are commonly available inside these merchants for self-sanitizing.

What’s your take on this cart issue  — do you wipe down your own, wear gloves, wash hands when you’re home … or just aren’t a worry-wart anymore?