It’s been a long time coming but Dave Matthews is finally heading out here to Hawaii to play with local boy Jack Johnson at the Kokua Festival. The Kokua Festival, for those that don’t know is put on by Jack Johnson and promotes eco friendly businesses and education. A great concert for Jack’s foundation located at the Waikiki Shell in Honolulu.

And finally, Dave Matthews is coming and he’s bringing Tim Reynolds. It should be a great show both days, April 19th and the 20th. I’ll have a report back to all you readers each night and should have a few pictures as well.

Also showing up is Paula Fuga, Mason Jennings, and Go, Jimmy, Go. Check out more at KokuaFestival.com

It’s been quite a while since I’ve went to the Iolani Family Fair…I have to say probably around 7 years ago.  It was pretty fun I must admit, but it is no Punahou Carnival.

So if you’ve never visited the Iolani Family Fair, now is your chance!  This year, the fair will be held this coming Friday and Saturday, from noon to 10:30pm. Just to give you an idea of what type of attractions will be at the fair, and at what times, look below:

Friday:
12:00p Wah Ngai Lion Dance Association
12:30p `Iolani Dance
2:00p `Iolani Stage Bands
4:00p Brother Noland
6:00p Mighty J
7:30p George Kahumoku Jr, Slack Key Master
9:15p Ho’okoa

Saturday:
12:00p Wah Ngai Lion Dance Association
12:30p tba
2:00p Hawaii Music Works
3:30p Reach For the Stars Talent Show
6:00p Beach 5
7:30p Greg Sardinha & Zanuck Lindsey w/ Kimo Artis
9:15p LS 34

There will also be lots of games, activites, and FOOD.  Admission is free, so you should go!  Luckily we live pretty close to the Iolani campus, so we’ll just walk there.  But I would suggest getting there early since parking is limited.  For more information, visit http://www.iolanifair.org/.  Have fun!

“I won’t hesitate no more, noooooo moooore”.  If you recognize those lyrics and have that song playing over and over in your head, then you probably are a Jason Mraz fan .  His popular single “I’m Yours” has been playing all over the country, and is getting regular airtime in various versions on the radio, both live and from his CD.  Well, now you can see him live at the Blaisdell Concert Hall on May 2nd.  Our very own Paula Fuga, who’s claim to fame was from the American Idol auditions, will be his opening act.

Tickets are scheduled to be priced at ONLY $25, $30, and $35!!!  This is a bargain for such a big music star.  And listening to his live music, he really has the talent to showcase his singing.  If you are in Maui, or just a huge Jason Mraz fan, you can catch him May 1st at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Castle Theater.  Those tickets will be available April 11, and you can purchase those tickets at mauiarts.org for the same price as the show at the Blaisdell.

Have fun!

My friend’s sister is the backup singer for this cool reggae band called “Public Property.” They play heaps of feel-good music and are in town this and next weekend, playing at various venues. Don’t miss your chance to check out this sure-fire professional band!

Tonight @ 9 pm at The Loft (in Chinatown)

Friday 2/29 @ 9 pm at Anna Bananas (King Street and University)

Saturday 3/1 @ 9 pm at Boardriders (in Kailua town)

If you can’t catch them live, you can hear them on KTUH 90.3 FM on Monday 3/3 @ 6 pm or check their website for their continued tour on the mainland (through April).

www.PublicProp.com

Flipping through channels last night, I caught a story that A&E will start a new season of Dog the Bounty Hunter.  For Dog fans, this should be very exciting for them.  With the series suspended due to Dog’s racial slur of his son’s girlfriend, and even the indecent exposure story of his workmate Tim Chapman, the show looked like it would never show light anytime soon, if ever.

So why bring it back?  Money and ratings.  Before the show got cancelled, Dog the Bounty Hunter was A&E’s largest watched series.  By taking it off the air, A&E must have suffered some loss in making some money.  This isn’t by any means going to make A&E money again just by bring back the show.  It is ultimately up to the viewers whether the show will survive or not.  Although Dog has apologized profusely, there are people who were his fans that still don’t forgive him, and probably won’t watch the show again.  But hey, give the man a chance.  I know he didn’t do the right thing, but no one is perfect.

I enjoyed the show quite a lot when it was on-air, and since I was born and raised here in Hawaii, it makes the show even more exciting for me.  I think it was good move to bring back the show, not only for its entertainment, but also giving Dog another chance.  Hopefully all goes well with Dog, but he has to watch his back, because now he will be under a more watchful eye.

For all your hardcore MMA fans, and even those of you who are just getting into MMA, make sure you watch the UFC this Saturday where Hilo’s own BJ Penn will be fighting for the UFC Lightweight Championship Belt against Joe Stevenson.  The fight will be live from Newcastle England, so if you want to catch this fight, you will have to wake up in the morning since it will play live in Hawaii at 10am.

I am probably one of the biggest BJ Penn fans out there, and this title match has me pumped up.  If you just compare records, it definitely looks like BJ is at a disadvantage with a record of 12-4-1 (win-loss-draw), whereas Joe is coming in with an impressive 33-7-0.  BUT, what you must know is the quality of opposition BJ has fought against.  GSP, Matt Hughes, Lyoto Machida, Renzo Gracie, Jens Pulver, and Matt Serra, just to name a few.  Joe hasn’t been fighting easy opponents either, but BJ has always been fighting people in the top tier.

The only way I can see Joe win this one is if he can take BJ down, hold him down, and ground and pound his way to an uneventful decision.  There is no possibly way Joe will outstrike BJ, since you saw BJ outstrike GSP, and quite frankly, manhandled him that first round (just look at GSP’s face after the fight).  It might be a jiu-jitsu clinic when it hits the ground, and Joe will have Marc Laimon in his corner.  But come on, BJ’s defining skill is jiu-jitsu.  I can’t see anybody in the UFC period submitting him.  Period.

Then again, BJ can also lose due to his cardio.  He has been notorious for coming in without training hard and running out of gas quickly, mostly relying on his tremendous skill to pull off a victory.  That was especially seen when he was in the 170lb weight division.  Now he has to train to bring his weight down to 155, which will definitely keep him in shape.  Not only that, but I just feel that he is on a different level now ever since beating Jens Pulver a few months back.  He seems more hungry, more willing to train, and will do whatever it takes to win.

Finally, Hilo’s finest is back.  I guarantee the title will be brought back to Hawaii, and will stay here for as long as BJ is in the UFC.

For all of you who used to watch Dog the Bounty Hunter, Dog’s associate Tim Chapman, was caught at the Ala Moana Center in the Bank of Hawaii parking lot with his clothes off in his truck performing lewd acts.  When witnesses contacted Ala Moana security, the security guard asked Tim to put on his clothes and get out of his truck.

Tim put on his clothes, then started his car, hopped a curb and almost hit the security guard.  Now, Tim is charged on suspicion of attempted murder for almost hitting the security guard, and indecent exposure in a public area.What I didn’t know was that Tim had separated from his Samoan wife and had been living out of his truck.  When police went over to his Hawaii Kai home, they were told that information.   But Brook Hart, Tim and Dog’s attorney, has said that this was an entire misunderstanding.

Brook had stated that Tim spilled orange juice on his pants and was looking for a private place to change his pants.  And when the security guard startled him, he panicked and drove away as fast as he can.  If this is true, I can somewhat understand that.  I mean with the latest cancellation of Dog the Bounty Hunter reality show, and with all of them almost losing their celebrity status, Tim separation with his wife is just another bad thing that has happened to the Dog ohana.

Tim has already turned himself into police and was notified that he might be charged for only terroristic threatening instead of the other two charges.  He is currently in a cell block since last night.  Let’s hope all this gets resolved.

ICON Sport, Hawaii’s largest MMA organization has been purchased by media and entertainment company ProElite.  For those of you who don’t know, ProElite has held many huge MMA events, most recently the EliteXC-Uprising event held at the Blaisdell this past September that included Robbie Lawler, Murilo Rua, Charuto, Jake Shields, Mark Oshiro, and Gina Carano, just to name a few.  They are also broadcasted on Showtime PPV, which is huge for the local Hawaii fighters to get national recognition.

ICON Sport has been around since 1995, and if you have been following them, they used to be called SuperBrawl up until TJ Thompson, the owner of ICON, decided to give his organization a more professional name that made MMA more of a sport than merely a barbaric brawl.

It was reported that TJ and co-owner Odd Haugen were paid $350,000 in cash, while giving the pair 200,000 shares of ProElite’s stock, which is currently $8 a share (Source: Honolulu Advertiser).  The Advertiser also reported that if the local promoters meet the financial goals for next year, they will be paid an additional $1000.  This adds up to a total of $1.95 million in cash and stock.  Congrats TJ!

The ProElite events held in Hawaii will be run by TJ and Odd, since they have been successful holding local MMA events and bringing great fighters to the islands including Robbie Lawler, Mayhem Miller, Tim Sylvia, and Frank Trigg.  They were also able to put Hawaii fighters on the map, which include Niko Vitale, Egan Inoue, Kala Hose, and Scott Junk.  This success obviously translates to TJ’s efforts to make MMA popular in Hawaii, and so far, he has done a great job.

The next ProElite event in Hawaii will be an April 26 event, but the card has not been scheduled yet.

ProElite also intends to create a reality show about MMA, most likely to compete with the highly successful The Ultimate Fighter Series on SpikeTV.  They have contacted Mark Burnett, producer of reality shows such as The Apprentice, Survivor, The Contender, and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? just to name a few, to produce their show.  They have not disclosed information as to which cable station will broadcast the series.

Many of you who are into mixed martial arts and the UFC will definitely know about BJ Penn.  What some of you might not know was that Hilo’s BJ Penn was involved in an altercation outsite a Zanzabar nightclub in Waikiki on May 5, 2005, where he hit a Honolulu police officer during a fight that was going on outside.  The police officer was trying to break up a fight, and Penn thought that his brother was getting assaulted.  Penn hit the officer in the face and ran off, where he was then tackled by the officer who was tackled by other men who were helping Penn.  Later, District 6 patrol officers pulled the men off the officer and arrested Penn on suspicion of assaulting a police officer.

Penn has agreed to pay the $2000 in restitution and sentanced to one year probation.  In addition, Penn must abstain from alcohol, submit to substance-abuse treatment, and also perform 50 hours of community service with random drug and alcohol tests (Source: Honolulu Advertiser).  If he does not get into any other trouble during this year, his 3rd degree offense to the police officer will be wiped clean from his record.

What most of us MMA fans are really wondering about is if he will be able to fight in the UFC this January 19th at the Metro Radio Arena in England, where is he scheduled to face Joe Stevenson for the UFC Lightweight Championship of the World.  With the recent Lightweight Champion, Sean Sherk, stripped of his title due to steriod use, this match between Penn and Stevenson will be for the title.  The judge has allowed Penn to fly to England to fight for the title despite the ruling.

This is good news, and I’m sure BJ will bring the belt back to Hawaii!  Good luck BJ!!!  I’m glad everything is finally resolved and you can pursue your dreams!

If you’ve seen the movie Superbad or even the movie previews, you are probably familiar with the character McLovin, who uses a fake Hawaii State ID card to purchase alcohol. Walmart is currently selling a Superbad DVD package set that includes the infamous McLovin Hawaii State ID card.

The city has already contacted Walmart to stop selling and pull the remaining special bundle DVD set that includes the fake ID. Officials have also notified local authorities and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Although the officials are concerned that minors will use the fake ID, not many people really resemble the McLovin character. And even if they do, the ID only has the name McLovin with no last name (or first name). It is only a one name ID card.

The real trouble I can see is what was said by one person on the news, which was that the fake ID card could be modified with a printer and then used to look like a real ID since the card looks like it is made from the same material as the actual ID card.

By recreating a card using the fake ID card, it is definitely considered breaking the law. So for those of you who were able to get a copy of the packaged DVD with the fake ID, don’t get smart. You could end up spending $1000-25,000 and/or 1-10 years in prison. Yeah, it ain’t worth it.