Category: Personal

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”…

Are Hawaii’s pandemic-related “tiers” precise in deciding what’s open and what’s not?

With Hawaii now in Tier 3 on the totem pole to conquer the pandemic, some uncertainties prevail about bars and nightclubs, which are supposed to remain closed in this echelon.

I’ve been asked, why are such venues as Blue Note Hawaii at the Outrigger Waikiki resort and Medici’s at Manoa Marketplace able to stage performances with live audiences?

Both sites serve alcohol, which means they’re sorta-bars; both places also provide dinner service, so they’re sorta-restaurants with limited capacity.

But what they provide –the mix of food, drinks and entertainment – makes them supper clubs, also known as nightclubs in the hospitality biz.

Semantics matter, so regulations require clarity.

Don’t get me wrong; as a former newspaper entertainment editor and columnist, I support the opening of bars and nightclubs, with the appropriate mask-wearing and six-feet social-distancing measures in place. I assume clubgoers to Blue Note and Medici’s don the facial gear, and certainly, I applaud more opportunities for more entertainers to take the stage.

Admittedly, I’ve not been to either venue since the pandemic hit, but can’t wholly buy into the six-feet distancing; the space between tables might be OK, with or without Plexiglas barriers, but the number of patrons on each table might be questionable.

So the regulators should regulate and provide clarify; take the temperature and diagnose the ailment. Are both venues considered restaurants, to qualify for in-house live shows, even if they’re nightclubs in practice?

We’re in the third quarter of Tier-dom, and the strategy in the fourth will help decide if a win is imminent. What’s your take?