Distraction

A challenging morning today. At about 5:22 this A-M, we came out of the commercial break and Mahealani and I were going into a block of short news stories. Just before we went to video I saw … what appeared to be …. a naked woman walking behind the cameras. My eyes went small then wide as I was reading ” … here’s a look at some of the stories we’re following this morning.” When in fact my eyes were following something else. Mahea saw the look on my face and attempted to stop hereself from laughing out loud. The first story was gas prices. I survived. Then next was a bank robbery but Mahea waved it off. I jumped in and read that story but it sounded odd because I sounded really happy while I was reading it. I was actually trying not to laugh. Then Mahea read a story about Filipino war veterans trying to get benefits and she did laugh and apologize. We came out to a shot of Ben, Mahea and I and explained why Mahea and I lost our composure. We then asked one of the studio cameraman to take a shot of what we were talking about. She was a female body builder who was going to do an interview segment a little later in the show wearing nothing but a bikin. End of the story.

But wait.

There is more.

We checked the air check afterwards and when the cameraman took a shot of this woman he zoomed in on her buttocks as I was saying how distracting it all was.  Just another day on the morning show.

It’s time for Dan to Blog

Hello all. My name is Dan Meisenzahl and I am committed to becoming a regular bogger here on Island Breakfast Blog. It’s just a matter of getting into a habit. I have not fully embrace the information age that we are now all in. Of course I have the cell phone that takes pictures … though I only use it to actually call people. And am on the internet everyday, but that’s about the extent of it. I plan on using this site as a place to let people know about what’s going on behind the scenes. And I’ll start with this troubling little tale from Monday’s morning show newscast.We had the chorus from Aina Haina Elementary on. We’re talking 35 kids and at least that many parents, all crammed into our studio. Mahealani introduced the group and we started playing the music they were to sing to, but they could not hear it in the studio even though it was going out over the air. Mahea rushed back out and apologized for the technical difficulties and we went to commercial. I immediately fixed the problem by jiggling the chord on the speakers. And then we put the kids at the top of the next block where our morning headlines go. Two minutes later, Mahea was re-introducing them and they sang beautifully. After they were done, Ben and I were back on set and I started reading the morning headlines. Unfortunately, the teleprompter operator was on the wrong stories because of the confusion. I had a partial script and managed to get through the first story but I did not have the rest of the scripts because of the scramble. So I started to read slower and slower while praying at the same time that the prompter would soon be in the right place. And after aging two weeks in ten seconds, it did. Nothing like flirting with disaster on a Monday.

 

Rap’s Hawai’i

Just wanted to say kudos to the cast and crew of Honolulu Theatre for Youth’s Rap’s Hawai’i.  It was hilarious and we were all rolling in our seats after seeing popular skits like “The Young Kanakas,” ”The Hypnotist” with those famous words ”life is bitchen,” and others.   

My schoolmate from Kamehameha Charles Timtim played “Aunty Marialani” and we couldn’t stop laughing.  His comedic timing is so good.  Charles and I met each other in drama doing “The Hobbit.”  I believe Charles was a scary goblin.    

Like many people, I’ve done Rap Reiplinger skits for years.    When I was in elementary, me and a friend would do the skits together and perform them on the recess field.  My favorite skit is “The Brooch” from the “Crab Dreams” record.  It’s about a man shopping for nothing in particular when he is confronted by an agressive saleswoman.  The man reluctantly ends up buying a women’s brooch, but then can’t come up with money which causes the saleswoman to have a heart attack.  Later in life, I entered a speech competition with “The Brooch.”

One can only wonder where life would have taken Rap if he were still alive today.

 Mahealani

mahea@kitv.com

Washed Up at the Water Park

http://www.kitv.com/thismorning/index.html 

I’ve reported in blizzards and rain storms, but my most washed up liveshot was at the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park today on the Flow Rider which is the ride where you surf or at least try to. When I got there, I noticed that professional body boarder and Hawaiian Waters lifeguard, Delori Manus, was kicking up a ton of water that splashed outside of the ride.  Hmmm.  What a great place to do a liveshot.  However, she thrashed the water with such force that it nearly knocked me over and the rain jacket that I was wearing did little to protect me.   I actually was reluctant about today’s liveshot after seeing Dan’s previous liveshots at the water park when he wiped out on the Flow Rider for 2 hours of our show and ended up having a sore neck for a couple weeks.  Turns out all you need to do is have someone hold onto you from the side instead of just dropping in.  The Flow Rider is actually more like snowboarding than surfing. 

Thanks to Dan for his creative ideas to also make it look like it I was really surfing major waves at the beach and thanks to the Hawaiian Waters Adventure Park for a really fun and wet morning.

aloha,

Mahealani

mahea@kitv.com

Obama Look-a-like at KITV

Here’s someone who could audition for the Barack Obama character at Saturday Night Live. His name is Sid and he works behind the scenes at KITV in Honolulu. Sid doesn’t really look like Barack Obama, but he’s got a similar tall stature, deep voice and authoritative mannerisms.

Sid actually has acting experience long ago and recent played Obama at the Society of Professional Journalists Gridiron show.

Thanks to Sid’s wife, Patricia for the picture. In the pursuit of fairness, if anyone has a picture of a local Hillary Clinton, John McCain or Mike Huckabee look-a-like, I’d be happy to post it.

aloha,
Mahealani
mahea@kitv.com

The End of an Era

A Big Aloha goes out to KITV 4 Morning newscast director Gale Hermandorfer, better known as “Gale the Gadget Gal,” who occupied the director’s chair for the last time today.

Gale started her segments when what was then called Good Morning Hawaii hit the air in 1996. She’s moving on to greener pastures in Washington State, and we’re going to miss her terribly!

A hui hou, Gale!

P.S. — Mahalo to former KITV’er Rosie Cannell for the pic!

ben@kitv.com

Where is Mahea?/A LOST Opportunity

You won’t see me on the morning show for the rest of September because I’ll be getting some R&R and doing some city hopping as well. We decided to have fun with it so Dan and Ben will give a clue as to where I am. I’ll call into the morning show the next day and let you all know what city I’m in. Just think of it as like “Where in the World is Matt Lauer,” but with absolutely no big network news budget.

On a side note… I got offered a small role on LOST as a t.v. news anchor (I know big stretch) which will be in the next season’s episode 2. But I had to turn it down because the filming was going to be right in the middle of my vacation!!! I was bummed. The opportunity just fell into my lap, but the timing was wrong. Oh well. That’s life.

aloha and stay tuned!
Mahealani

Tadd Fujikawa: Professional Edition

Tadd Fujikawa dropped in for a visit, a day after turning pro. We can confirm for you that it is the same Tadd Fujikawa who visited us as the amateur who dazzled the golf world at the Sony Open.

But there was one difference:. Tadd came with just his parents last time around. This time, mom Lori was back, along with his new agent/attorney Kevin Bell (in the dark jacket) and two other people, who I think were Bell’s assistant (on the high chair) and a local publicist (not in the photo; the gentleman in the glasses is the publicist for another guest, which I’ll discuss shortly). I looked at the group accompanying Tadd, and told him, “I can tell you’ve turned pro; now you have an entourage.” His response? He cracked that big smile and started laughing. As for the entourage, they remained pretty much in the background. There was no advice, at least in the studio, on what to say or how to say it, no extra makeup people. They just followed Tadd around, and Tadd’s still Tadd. We wish him luck in his pro career.

Got something to say about the Taddster turning pro? Click on “comments” below.

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The first thing Tadd said to me as he stepped into the studio was, “Oooooh! I smell food!”

This is some of the food from one of the groups that will be at the sixth annual Korean Festival, tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. at Kapi`olani Park (and the reason for the publicist with the glasses mentioned above). As with good food cooked up on the show, it didn’t get anywhere close to the end of its shelf life.

Ready To Krump?

Members of “KRUMPany” put on quite the demonstration of the latest street dance craze, calling krumping. The group was featured on the cover of a recent issue of MidWeek, which caught our attention.

Best way to describe it is as an aggressive style of street dancing, and frankly, it looks almost like someone having a seizure. But there’s an art to it, and there’s a bond and a lot of support between the dancers.

I also have to give them props for being able to have an extremely high level of positive energy at six o’clock in the morning (and for not laughing when Mahealani and I tried a move or two). Seriously, KRUMPany are cool folks to hang out with. Keep an eye out for them.

Monday Morning Work Outs with Sofija

For several months now, we’ve had the pleasure (AND pain) to have pilates and fitness expert, Sofija (SAH-fee-yuh) Zekovic-Roth, on our show each Monday for a couple short workouts. Even though the segments are only 3 minutes a piece, we really feel it. Our morning worksout are arguably our most popular segment since every where us morning folks go, people talk about the workouts. We are now starting to hear that people are bringing out their exercise balls to workout with us as we do it on television.

The exercises are so beneficial… though Dan may wince from the pain. Yes, the exercises are challenging, but speaking from experience, they really work your targeted areas. I’ve taken private sessions with Sofija and she can really kick your butt into shape. I’ve needed her firm yet calm voice to keep me going when I’ve felt like giving up from fatigue or pure laziness. Sofija is even trained in accupunture, Qi Gong and Euro and Chinese herbs so she really takes a holistic approach to health.

A warm mahalo to Sofija for making Monday mornings more fun. Many people have asked me for her contact info so here it is. Enjoy your exercises!

Sofija Zekovic-Roth
741-5463
sofija@kaimukicare.com