Honolulu's Nightlife Diaries

ok. who said they wanted to go with me to seattle. let’s go.
it’s been a long time since i’ve been here. i’m totally revealing my age now but ya, the last time i was here was for my 10 year reunion, circa ‘04. gah! this is the first time of the 21958390843 times i flew in to sea-tac and could actually see mt rainier. yo! i learned how to snowboard on that piece! i also tore my knee up skiing on there when i was seventeen. yuk.

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asger carlsen. just damn.

go ahead. ask me about my weekend. i made it to just about everything i wanted to get to. with the exception of sunday’s red bull crash. i didn’t realize you can have those. i definitely need to chill on drinking too many of those. so ya. photos and stories from my trip and photos and stories from the weekend coming up.

i been wanting to show you these photos since before i left, sorry! i had a pretty epic monday a couple mondays ago so i’ll go ahead and show just that. oh wait, since i’m doing one-day blogs i’ll add in just tuesday. that was the vampire weekend show at pipeline. a nice healthy dose of a weekly one including my trip to seattle will come in a little bit. like next week.
but ya. so many people ask me how i do what i do. i usually say i don’t know. cause… well, i don’t. i can tell you that visits from rob with sustenance definitely help!

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there’s other stuff too. but before you do anything, rsvp for first fashion friday for a goodie bag. GOODIE BAG!

first fashion friday kicks off tonight at 6pm. just like last year’s finale: there’s totally a fashion show and it’s going to be pro. there’s other stuff too– and it’s all free. FREEEEEE. my favorite kind.

later you can wander over to first friday too. see what mat’s been up to with his eco logic project. check out ong king. see some really good goods at chinatown boardroom. stuff.

saturday i’ll be up early at the live breakfast with C&K and sean priester. can’t wait to eat a waffle. saturday night i’ll be at skyline. sorry this isn’t as image-y as usual. i actually got a bank of awesome stuff from mix plate monday AND vampire weekend sitting in my drafts. just gotta do the commentary. probably soon. SOOON!

just saw girl talk on capitol hill with jake the snake. checking out chromeo today after the wedding.
not coming home. til tuesday i mean.

[photo by peter kearns circa 2007]

so last week i had the funniest comment from someone that wouldn’t tell me who they are. they said anyone that knows anything would be at level 4 and because i anticipated that it would be a cluttery hell of ick that i don’t know anything. hm. i wonder what they would say now. cause, i know all i been hearing is …. well let’s just say mister club king might not be the king of clubs. that place has a LOT of promise. i’m just thinking some organization just needs to enter the equation.
but eh! i’m not here to preach. i’m here to show you how lucky i am that i get to see andrew sato, former american idol hopeful, every single day.

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serendipitous that i get sent this photo twice this week. especially when both sources had no idea that it was one of those photos that i just can’t get out of my brain since i first saw it. many thanks to jason in manhattan for finding it and to my two friends for sending.

anyway. life magazine photographers got paid big bucks even back then. miss mchale’s tragedy was actually taken by a college student across the street then published in life.
speaking of life. monday art is gjon mili. also a life photojournalist.

so what a weekend huh. i mean. damn. how many big people-gobbing events can honolulu have? i say as many as possible. it was good to see everything packed with people. PACKED! photos soon. happy monday.

So. want to know the MOST POSSIBLE amount of fun you can possibly have with arts and crafts for grownups? check THIS out! charlie boy turned me on to what i am pretty much calling the coolest thing on the internet right now. cube e craft. you HAVE to try it!

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tonight at the coupula a.k.a. my newfavoriteplacetoseeart noah boss and his crew are hanging up some of their best photos for your enjoyment. i heard brooke is in this show too. wait! WHAT! brooklyn in the flesh? with all her friends? oh man. trust me. it’s not missable. FLASH! at the Design Center. 8pm

SATURDAY

cutie pie famous kid guy from LA graham funke is back in town to gig at skyline saturday night. the last time this face was here i actually danced at a skyline. remember? ara was there she does. it was the most fun i’d had in ages. i know i know, level 4 is opening. but you know what? i got the skinny on that. the opening night is going to be all the big dogs. like bigger than us dogs. hogging up the tables looking at everyone all “look what we built!”. with all the uppityness about who’s getting in, i’m thinking it’s better to check it out another night. i mean, i’m going. but not planning on staying. i want to get down. graham funke down.

speaking of cutie pies, all of the deadbeats are officially my boyfriend. i can NOT get enough of them and am only kicking myself that it took me so long to get out and see their magic. tonight is the debut of strangefruit at mercury and guess who’s playing! oh yes. my boyfriend. they are delicious. they are wicked talented. they will literally make your heart stop. more on that soon, i actually have a long weekly update of photos waiting to be written right now with all my gushing about them. but ya STRANGEFRUIT!

so there is the most ridiculously affordable charity event coming up and i wanted to talk about it. divas doing good. heard of this yet? i’ll tell you– i’m not so sure about being a diva, but i’m 100% sure about doing good. what the hell else are we going to do with ourselves? i spent a considerable amount of time with tanna dang yesterday and dayyyyyum. let me just say if you’re doing to do an epic party make sure to call someone that does them for a living. tanna doesn’t necessarily, but she totally runs the wedding cafe and has a bank of people that specialize in making things look perfect and memorable. there’s going to be food from multiple vendors, an amazing enchanted forest sort of silent auction, stunning linens and deco and it’s at the old kapono’s place at aloha tower. that outside venue on the waterfront. for $25 to do this thing is like the best deal i’ve ever seen. and i’m not just saying that because i’m going to be there to help MC, i’m having a feeling it might be the event of the year? why? well. ALL the procedes are going to kanu hawaii.

i’m a huge fan of kanu hawaii because
a.) it’s local and
b.) it’s a WEBSITE!
but most importantly because it’s where you can log your individual commitments to making hawaii a better place. my fave:
I will Live Aloha

I will learn one Hawaiian word a week.

I will smile and say hello to strangers once a day or more.

i first met sergio with the chinatown visionaries at thirtyninehotel. he was working on a pretty big project next door with some friends. a fully equipped cinema lounge complete with a bar and sound system. a new permanent home for cinema paradise. it sounded so rad. we were all stoked.

like everyone, i was a huge fan of his work and honored to know him. i still remember an e-mail conversation we had one time when he told me he saw something in what i do and that he wanted to help me develop it. he said “there’s more to a photograph than a drunken shaka at 4am outside the wave.” he was so right. i studied his work closely and saw brilliance of an unstaged moment. the honesty of it. it inspired me to move away from the direction i was going and tell my stories in a different way. to try and capture more candids or just share the situation from the exact same perspective i was seeing it instead of gathering people together and being like “ok! smile!”

sergio is single handedly responsible for any honor i have when trying to capture the scene here.

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not sure i even believe this still.

already getting text messages about a memorial tonight at thirtyninehotel.

i don’t know what to do or say.

wait. there’s nothing better than free. love? eh. only if it comes with free stuff.
TODAY! get up the hill you guys. Art Spree! It goes today until 4pm. Free lemonade and coffee from Starbucks, $1 hot dogs, people on stilts, synchronized swimmers, aerialists, the av club with a wicked stage-music thing involving heavy shoes. oh, and the galleries are open. free. freeeeeeeeee art. see art. make art. give it to someone. get love.
Other stuff too. GO.

TONIGHT! omg i am so hot for the Deatbeats. I mean, duh, Harumi the Hymn but WOAH! who’s the super laid back surfer kid wandering in all mellow like in slippers and trunks looking like mark howard casually talking story to whoever, then ten minutes later he is sitting behind the piano MAJORLY killing it?!?! WHO BE YOU! love you guys i’ll be in front of you watching from this moment infinity. bar 35 tonight? no prob. it’s nice and roomy in chinatown these days.

so you’re been asking me how my weekend was. aw! well, i’ll tell you. i been feeling closer and closer to this chick that harumi the hymn routinely posts. it’s meant as a joke about what people who miss their wednesday shows are morphing in to. what’s sad? i’m totally that! without the lovely companionship of a cat! i’m serious. i barely left my house last week. i haven’t been up to much. here, you want proof? this long update isn’t so long. i’ll give you what i have though.

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not sure how we managed without dryfck for so long. never leave the island again, k? thanks!

li wei. can’t get him out of my brain.

About the Fall photographs, Li Wei says, ‘this feeling of having fallen headfirst into something and of having nothing firm under the feet is familiar to everyone. One doesn’t have to fall from another planet to feel it’

it took two seconds of actual research. no “oooo they got shut down by the liquor commission” rumor mongering.

Anyway, here’s the real deal from Kawehi Haug:

•A report issued June 6 by the Liquor Commission stated that Next Door has been put on probation. Liquor Commission administrator Dewey Kim said that the club is indeed having sound problems — and neighbor problems. Kim said there have been, and continue to be, complaints about the club’s noise level, prompting the probation. During the probation period of six months, commission officials will make routine visits to the club to monitor its sound levels. He said the commission did not order the club to close, and that Next Door has been making an effort to solve its sound problems by hiring a sound engineer and making improvements to the air conditioning system, which helps to buffer the sound.

•At 3:15 Thursday, Next Door issued an official statement saying that it will be closed until August 2 for renovation.

The statement said:

The venue will be working on some improvements including adding more air conditioning, re-doing interior decoration, and re-organizing and improving the sound system.

As we approach our 3rd anniversary, we want to improve the quality in ambiance, sound, and our entertainment … All in-house promotions including Acid Wash Wednesday, Chinatown Sessions, and Chinatown Social Club will be postponed until August. These events will NOT be moved to another venue.

Get well soon, Next Door. not sure what the hell i’m going to do without you.

this weekend will be pretty wow. jesus, first friday AND the 4th of july on the same night?!? what the! well, whatever you do i hope it’s fun. if you’re broke or just bored go ahead and check the open bar listing and see if there’s anything worth hitting up. i think i’m gonna hit up jill for some scotch tasting. scotch is yum.
oh and here! i can share what the weekend was like last weekend. i think this was thursday or something when there was all this commotion at the station because the MMA fighters were here. that one in the pink is a GIRL fighter!

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His latest project is happening now. and unlike last time, you already know what’s happening.

This week I embarked on a new project for an exhibition coming up at The Arts at Mark’s Garage. The exhibition is entitled Eco/Logic and it will be based around Hawai’i’s particular ecological problems. I had been meeting with a panel of biologists, community organizers, ecologists, a comedian, and artists about this exhibition; what came out of these discussions was the need to develop systems of sustainability here, particularly on Oahu.

My contribution to this event will be a real time performance/experiment. I will attempt to sustain myself only on things that I can hunt, gather, glean, and barter in the Honolulu area. I will be armed with a fruit picker, knife, fishing pole, bicycle, and some other basic implements. It will be a daily struggle to gather enough calories to sustain my life. I won’t be begging or panhandling, this will be an active search to stay alive. Interactions between myself and those I encounter along this journey will be paramount to give this project life. Also important are secondary interactions with the community. You can visit my daily updated blog to see what I’m up to. Please leave me questions, comments, and suggestions.

Follow and encourage Mat at matkubo.blogspot.com

TOTALLY going to recap this week now before the weekend is over. otherwise you’ll be scrolling infinity, haha. i have to start with monday. it was the last monday of the month which you may or may not remember is industry night at aiea bowl. it’s no joke, man.

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i don’t usually do this anymore. esp after the week i had. but yay. weekend.

FRIDAY
ooo it’s that time of the month! and i’ll tell you right now all the bhutanese thangkas are long gone. it’s asian sensation! i think i mentioned that we got to see the show already, but i’ll just tell you. SEE this show. rice wasn’t in to the whole book-as-art thing. she would rather read them. i myself have way too many. i need to get rid of some. there’s some RADICAL contemporary stuff in the other gallery tho. watch out for the shell-toe Adidas, play majong, jam out to Amitystreet and see the new summer exhibit. wow out with all the young professionals in the sexy courtyards. yay, art after dark!

FRIDAY STILL…. just later…

TWO years of soul clap. pretty much my favorite party ever downtown. come on, let’s spend all our rent money on ’special’ selena-mystery-shots. cause after this past thursday i barely remember my own name. speaking of– i’m about to post all the pics from this week before we get in to the weekend. with that whole industry night bowling starting off monday and things not getting any more mellow, i’ll either have to post or deal with like 8253908 photos come monday. watch this space! and congrats ESKAE!!! you definitely got the whole event thing down. here’s to five more years.

SATURDAY

i know i got my tickets to blue scholars. i’ve had them on nonstop since jake mentioned he was doing this show. loving the sound and can’t wait to see them live. they’re about to go on tour with the Hieroglyphics but whatever. SHIT this is jake’s last oahu event for a while though you guys. he’s on his way over to seattle to work at boeing for a while. eh. i know he’ll be back but i’m pretty bummed out right now about that. jake is the only one that knows what it takes to throw events like jake. unless the whole thing is just a big prank, we’re kind of gonna feel the void he’s leaving very soon. sad face.

SUNDAY

kickball. this time i’m not drinking so much beer. i don’t want to fall out after the first inning again.

that’s all. except maybe flavors of honolulu. or tempo valley at e&o. enjoy your weekend friend.

last night was fun. and funny. i loved seeing people’s reactions to some of the illest stuff that’s been in the academy for a minute. esp laurel nakadate. when i saw her name on the bill for this new asian sensation thing i was like WHAT THE!! I’m really not in to what she does, but i’m SUPER in to what she does to the people who are watching what she does. it’s so raunchy. and awful. and pathetic. and fucking awesome. i seriously hate it. i love it. wait. crap!

anyway, since you’re probably going to the museum friday for art after dark you can go ahead and try to understand the deal with her video. cause she was on art talk! a while back. here ya go.

a few other things since i don’t really post daily daily as much– HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAKANA! holy damn kid. YOU’RE turning 30?!?!? now i definitely feel old. see you tonight at rum fire! but i don’t want to put that info on blast too much cause i want a SEAT!

also: don’t forget it’s the last thursday of the month yo. hip hop night at next door.

you can also enjoy an entire bottle of champagne for free tonight if you are a woman with 5 woman friends. unfortunately, that ain’t me. but that info is here. MUAH.

wonder if there’s a limit as to how many pictures i can have in my weekly. i think this might be it. the only option i have besides big long updates is to separate them into like bi-weekly updates. and that ain’t an option, haw haw.
so ya i gotta tell you, i’m pretty happy that i got the hot ticket. i hear it’s a hot ticket. i heard one of laurel nakadate’s videos is in this show. as well as michael’s BOAT. definitely happy to have this invite.

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how many pictures can you handle in one update? finally got the past week uploaded. there’s like 180. is that cool? sorry. last thursday was kind of epic.

gimme a day or so to get it up. maybe this evening before bowling. we’ll see.

PS: SHOUT OUT TO O DOGG!!! he left the new girl talk cd in my box. it’s making me work in a frenzy today. that music=caffeine!

did you notice i’m not really updating this daily like i used to? do you want me to? not gonna lie, between the work i do for money and the work i do for free there ain’t a whole lotta me left! do you really care about the daily updates anyway? tell me if you do. i’m here. i listen.
a whole new week of stuff begins with possibly the best way to eat a potato on earth. when it’s someone else’s at at thirtyninehotel.

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oh whoops. i forgot to upload from the other little point and shoot. shoot!
welp. here’s some from the wyland hotel a few weeks ago… art by keoki! watermark by the girl who still can’t get it right! ahem. me!

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so before i begin i have to plug one of my favorite sponsors for the epic[ly healthy] lunch at town last week. shoots!

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nothing like getting a text from russ on saturday night that says “sandbar tomorrow!”. it definitely got me home at a decent hour to rest up for the impending sunburn i have now. yay, vertical junkies.
the weeks worth of photos is another bag of epicness. not sure how i’m going to do it but you know it’s coming. my favorite? a four-way tie between going to berlin at aad RIGHT after i found out my bffs art & shanelle are moving there, bringing the wrong lens to denim & diamonds and getting epic accidental close ups of everyone, andre legacy’s hairy butt crack at the sandbar, and daniel dae kim giving me the time of day at nobu’s anniversary party.

there’s more. watch this space.

[monday art is ME. accidential close-up at the hanohano room. oooops.]

ps: have a nice trip, dryfck. i’m going to miss you.