Coronavirus claims mother and father within 2 days of each other

A Seattle-area family is devastated after losing their mother and father -- both victims of the coronavirus -- two days apart.

Elizabeth Mar, 72, the beloved matriarch of the local Hawaiian restaurant, Kona Kitchen, passed away on Wednesday, March 27. Two days later, on Friday, Robert Mar, 78, succumbed to the disease.

“It’s a huge devastation for our family,” daughter Angie Okumoto told the Seattle Times.

“It’s a nightmare I can’t seem to wake up from,” Angie Okumoto said. “I’m just stunned. When she went into the hospital I thought 'I’m sure she’ll make it.' It’s all the more stunning and heartbreaking."

The couple died at the same hospital two days apart, at the exact same time of day: 1:35 a.m. They would have celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this August. 

Liz and Robert have three children and seven grandchildren. 

Since 2002, the family operated the Kona Kitchen, a Seattle-area institution., serving up Hawaiian favorites including loco moco and Kahlua pork. Many of the restaurant's loyal customers addressed Elizabeth Mar as "Auntie" or "Grandma."

Later they opened a second restaurant in Lynwood.

Like most restaurants in Seattle, Kona Kitchen has been struggling with thte shutdown caused by the coranavirus. The Lynwood location has been temporarily closed by the Seattle restaurant is still offering take-out orders.

“We’re just trying to stay afloat,” Okumoto says, “and keep as many employees afloat as much as we can.”

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For takeout from Kona Kitchen, call or stop in to the Seattle location at 8501 Fifth Ave. N.E., Seattle; 206-517-5662; konakitchen.com

TGIF Feature: SNL host Jason Momoa Is the ultimate NBC page

JASON MOMOA, best known for his action roles, will be playing against type by hosting Saturday Night Live tomorrow, Dec. 8.

After playing Khal Drogo in HBO's Game of Thrones, the Hawaii-born Momoa won the role of DC superhero Aquaman. Ahead of the U.S. premiere of Aquaman on December 21. NBC put together a fun, kind of stressful promo prior to Momoa's SNL debut.

First posted on the official SNL YouTube page, the promo begins with an NBC Page - an intern that works in different departments at NBC to get experience in the field - telling Momoa to man the phones while he takes care of an emergency. 

Momoa seems thrilled with the task, and immediately gets a call regarding a question to which he doesn't know the answer. Momoa quickly sets off to figure out the caller's question, which includes a series of physical stunts that include punching Beck Bennett, breaking into Lorne Michaels' office, and breakdancing his way through security lasers. The promo ends with Momoa coming to the realization that the show is recorded live, which turns out to have been the caller's question. 
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Extended trailer of 'Aquaman' makes a big splash

Jason Momoa as Aquaman.

MOVIE TRAILERS, by definition, contains spoilers so let this be a warning: 

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Just a few days after releasing the first official trailer of Aquaman, Warner Bros is giving us an extended look - 5 minutes worth - of the DC hero's upcoming adventure starring Kanaka American Jason Momoa in the title role. (Kanaka=Native Hawaiian)

Directed by James Wan (Furiious 7), the "action-adventure quest" looks spectacular!

The movie follows Arthur Curry (Momoa), the reluctant ruler of Atlantis, who is grappling with his human and Atlantean heritage. Amber Heard stars as Mera, the queen of Atlantis and a superpowered being in her own right, while Patrick Wilson plays Orm/Ocean Master, Aquaman’s half-brother who wants the throne for himself.

Taking a cue from the more successful films from Marvel, it appears that Aquaman will have a lighter tone -- more like Wonder Woman, than the deadly serious Batman -- as revealed in the banter between Amber Heard's Meera and Momoa's Curry. Aquaman's sarcasm and irreverence was first revealed in Justice League.

First introduced in Batman v. Superman, Aquaman returned in Justice League Part One in  2017 before getting his own solo adventure in the upcoming Aquaman. He will reappear again teaming up with his superhero pals in Justice League Part Two slated for the summer of 2019.

Aquaman hits theaters on Dec. 21, 2018, just in time for Christmas.

For an exra added treat, take a look at this trailer narrated by the director.

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ABC developing 'Ohana;' telling Hawaii's story from a non-white perspective

WITH A REBOOT of Magnum P.I., set to debut later this year joining the ongoing series Hawaii Five-O, there comes a new project telling stories from the Hawaiian perspective.
Credit the critical and box office success of Crazy Rich Asians, the Warner Bros. movie featuring an all-Asian cast for encouraging ABC to give the go-ahead for

“The landscape has shifted dramatically in the last 12 months, and maybe in the last week,” writer/journalist Lisa Takeuchi Cullen told The Hollywood Reporter, referencing the renewed interest and demand for Asian and Asian-American stories “Crazy Rich Asians’s” box office and critical success has inspired.

LISA TAKEUCHI CULLEN

Titled Ohana, Cullen’s show is based on Kiana Davenport’s 1994 novel Shark Dialogues that highlights the ways diverse  cultures, United States colonialism and other historical forces have influenced contemporary Hawaii.The word "ohana" is Hawaiian for family.

The proposed series is about four hapa women who inherit the family plantation when their grandmother, a kahuna (e.g. a Hawaiian mystic), dies under mysterious circumstances. “Each of the four protagonists is of a different mixed ethnicity — half-white, half-Japanese, half-Filipino, and half-black — and their unexpected shared inheritance will force them to overcome years of jealousies, misunderstandings, resentments, and secrets,” the source details.

If that's not enough to get the AAPI audience's attention, I don't know what will.

“So many Hawaii-set stories have been told from the white point of view,” Cullen told THR. “This is a story we’re passionate about telling from the point of view of native Hawaiians — Pacific Islanders, people of Asian descent, and people of hapa heritage.”

Cullen is writing the project and the JuVee Productions' husband-and-wife team of Viola Davis and Julius Tennon is producing the project.

Ohana is a project that fits JuVee's goal: "embracing cultures and points of view from all over the world and showing that we all can relate and connect to each other,” Davis and Tennon said in a statement.

Cullen worked as a staff writer and foreign correspondent at Time, and has written two books: memoir Remember Me: A Lively Tour of the New American Way of Death and novel Pastors’ Wives. She wrote and produced the 2013 CBS pilot The Ordained, which centered on a priest-turned-lawyer from a Kennedy-esque family.

Cullen told THR that ABC approved the project on Aug. 17, the same day that Crazy Rich Asians premiered.
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Baseball player, Hawaiians come to the assistance of Kilauea evacuees

SCREEN CAPTURE / CBS

Lava flowed across a Hawaiian street and set a car aflame.

ST. LOUIS CARDINAL's 2nd baseman Kolten Wong is pitching in to help the victims of the Hawaiian volcano Kilauea lava flows.

Wong, a native of Hilo, Hawaii, near the now evacuated community said in a video that he felt a strong kuleana, or responsibility, to help his people by launching a GoFundMe page with the goal of raising $200,000.

“The one thing I know, man is that I love my people and I’m going to do everything for them,” said Wong in the video. “So I ask you guys humbly, I’m creating this GoFundMe page, it’s going to be in my bio, to go check it out … It’s going to be used in the right way…I’m going to make sure every single dollar you do give is going toward these people to help them rebuild what they have, to get their lives started up again and to help the Big Island rebuild.”

The Kilauea volcano has been spewing lava into communities on Hawaii's Big Island since Thursday, forcing more than 1,700 people, including many retirees, to flee from their mountainside homes.

SCREEN CAPTURE

Kolten Wong plays second base for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Accompanying Kilauea's recent activity, have been a series of earthquakes registering as high as the 6.9 that was recorded on Friday evening and have continued into Monday morning. Since these events, there have been continuous warnings pertaining to the ongoing dangers of lava, subsequent earthquakes as well as the sulfur dioxide gas that has been released into the air. 

"With the ongoing and present dangers, I have been in contact with numerous groups on the Big Island and will be donating all proceeds from this campaign to various local non-profits that are on the ground level impacting those affected," said Wong. 

"It’s at a time like this that we must kōkua (help) and come together as an extended ‘ohana (family) to help those in need." 

Out of the fire, a new community organization was born called Puuhonua o Puna, made up an army of volunteers providing assistance and feeding the evacuees.

On Monday (May 8) morning, trucks full of donations where bringing items to the center in Pahoa. People were bringing beds and cots, clothing, food, water, according to Hawaii News Now.

"Puna strong. Puna always comes together and all the islands. This is the Aloha State. There is so much aloha here," volunteer Tiana Dunn told Hawaii News Now.

For more information or to help, click here.

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Report: Racial inequality in the most diverse state in the U.S.

DIOKNO

The taro fields of Hanelei Valley on the island of Kuaii.

ASAM NEWS

A NEW REPORT reinforces Hawaii’s claim as having the most diverse culture, lifestyle and workforce in the nation.

It also highlights glaring racial inequality in the land of paradise.

Big Island Now reports 57% of the total population was non-white. Nearly a fourth of Hawaii’s population identifies as multiracial with the top five races self-reporting as Whites (43%), Filipino (25%), Japanese (22.1%), Native Hawaiian (21.3%) and Chinese (14.1%).

“This gives us an advantage in terms of international trade and tourism by supplying the diversified work force and providing a wide variety of food and cultural activities,” said Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism director, Luis P. Salaveria. “At the same time, there are more demand for government and private services, especially in the areas of education and healthcare.”

Tian told Civil Beat that Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Filipino communities boast high ownership rates and the corresponding high income and economic prosperity.

He also says Marshallese, Tongans and Samoans suffer from higher poverty, unemployment and overcrowding rates. Marshallese has the highest rate of unemployment with more than half living in poverty.

he average age of Marshallese residents is 18.5, the youngest of any racial group on the island.

“They have a lot potential because they are the youngest,” Tian says. “Forty years later they will be well-established.”

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Auli'i Carvalho continues to rise with new TV show

Alui'i Cravalho's character in 'Rise' auditions for a part in a high school production.

ADD ONE MORE name to the short list of AAPI actors to keep an eye on as American television continues its slow march to make the small screen look like the real America.
Auli'i Cravalho, 17, who did Moana's voice in the movie, gets to be in front of the cameraa in TV series Rise, which debuts tomorrow, Tuesday, March 13. In this NBC drama, she is a student actor, who gets to sing live and in person in a high school production of the rock musical Spring Awakening.

The series is a show within a show and follows the production of Spring Awakening from auditions, rehearsals and perhaps the actual debut of the  musical.

The trailer highlights Cravalho as Lillette Suarez, a working class student who joins the drama club. Seven other teenagers will be introduced in the group as well and each one struggles with personal problems like school pressure, unconcerned or sick parents, extra-curricular demands and underage drinking.

"It's about a normal town and normal high schoolers who rise above their particular circumstances," the Hawaii/American Cravalho told The Knockturnal. "I also get to have an incredible cast with me as well. So, not only do I get to sing, but also get to hear their great voices, too."

“There were certainly many similarities and differences between Lilette and I. She’s not one who goes looking for the spotlight certainly, and she’s one that is perhaps more of an introvert, quite unlike myself,” Cravalho told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “I think I’ve found my spot in the spotlight. But in many ways we are similar. She grows up in a single-parent household, as I have. She has big dreams but grows up in a small town.

“For me, it was on a small island. For her, it’s in a small, tiny place that also kind of resembles a small mind-set, which is something that she doesn’t want for herself but something that she’s used to other people putting on her. She works very hard and works to rise above her circumstances, so to speak.”

Rise is actually inspired from a true story of an English teacher Lou Volpe in Pennsylvania who helped change the lives of the kids in his high school theater group.Journalist Michael Sokolove wrote the best seller book "Drama High" from his observations of Volpe, whose students become successful in the entertainment industry.

Comparisons to Glee are unavoidable since Glee is based on the book "Drama High."

"Rise" also stars "How I Met Your Mother" actor Josh Radnor as the teacher Lou Mazzuchelli. Rosie Perez (Tracy), Damon J. Gillespie (Robbie Thorne), Ted Sutherland (Simon), Shannon Purser (Annabelle) and Joe Tippett (Coach Doug Strickland) are also in the series.

i
Last week, the network Monday announced the 50 recipients, chosen from 1,000 school applicants around the country, that will receive NBC’s $10,000 R.I.S.E. (Recognizing and Inspiring Student Expression) America Grants, designed to assist theater programs with production expenses, technical equipment, master classes and other needs. NBC is partnering with the non-profit Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF) on the program.

To qualify for a grant, high schools were required to have a theater program or champion of theater arts on the teaching staff, and a program endangered due to budget constraints. Each school submitted a video about its program and a 500-word essay on why it deserved the money.

“Rise” debuts at 10 p.m. Tuesday, March 13, on NBC and then will move into its regular time slot of 8 p.m. Tuesdays starting March 20.
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TGIF FEATURE; Aquaman like you've never seen him; 2018 teaser trailer

Hawaiian/American actor Jason Momoa as Aquaman will be moodier, more badass.

HERE'S AN EARLY PEEK at Jason Momoa as Aquaman looking more badass than ever in the new movie due a year from now. The "look" is quite different from the Aquaman we saw in this year's Justice League.

Director James Wan (The Conjuring and Furious 7) says in a piece in Entertainment Weekly: “It’s going to look very different, it will feel very different — aesthetically, tonally, story-wise — it’s my own take,” Wan tells EW. “It’s a much more a traditional action-adventure quest movie.”

RELATED: Want to have a body like Jason Momoa?

Unlike the Aquaman in the D.C. comic books, Momoa will go shirtless much of the time. That look is also different from his appearance in the Justice League where his upper torso wore body-hugging armor.

The movie, a solo vehicle for the King of Atlantis, will go into Tim Curry's backstory and how the half-Atlantean and half-human becomes a superhero. His version of Aquaman will include a plenty of scenes in fabled Atlantis, guarantees Wan, a Malaysian/Australian.

Aquaman, due to be released in December 2018, also features Nicole Kidman, Amber Heard, Willem Defoe and Dolph Lundgren.

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Want to have a body like Jason Momoa?

JASON MOMOA has used his physical attributes to advance his career in Hollywood and who could blame him. If you got it - I guess - flaunt it!

Momoa has it. He's got it. Whatever "it" is.

There's nothing wrong with having "it," but for those of us with average physical appearances, Momoa can be an imposing figure in his 6'4" frame. 234 lbs. of muscle and sinew, not to mention the fiery facial expressions of a Pacific Islander doing a haka to roles that take full advantage of his appearance.

Momoa's fierce physicality has been the actor's trademark: From a remake of Conan, to his coming-out role of Khal Diogo in TV's megahit Game of Thrones to his latest (and biggest) role as Aquaman, who makes his debut this month in just-released The Justice League followed by another Aquaman movie due out December next year, in which the King of the Seven Seas takes center stage. (More on this movie in another post.)

How did Momoa get that look? That "it?" Well, first he had the good genes from his native Hawaiian father and his mother, who is German, Irish, and Native American. After that, it was all hard work. 

They key is using light weights so that you don't wear out your body. In Momoa's case, this routine is done two or three times a day, five days a week. If you want to gain that Jason Momoa physique, here is his typical workout when preparing for a film.

If only I could do one-quarter of this workout (courtesy of Muscle & Strength):

Here's an extra added treat. if you haven't seen it yet, in his audition for the barbarian Drogo, he did the haka usually performed by New Zealand's world champion All Black Rugby team at the start of their match to intimidate the opposing team.

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Sessions insults the entire state of Hawaii

HERE'S NEWS for Attorney General Jeff Sessions: Hawaii has been a state of the United States of America for the past 58 years; and Donald Trump is not a king

According to The Washington Post, in an interview on “The Mark Levin Show,” a conservative talk show, earlier this week, Sessions said, “I really am amazed that a judge sitting on an island in the Pacific can issue an order that stops the president of the United States from what appears to be clearly his statutory and constitutional power.” 

As an Asian/American, here's how I interpreted Session's words: How can a brown-skinned judge in the barely civilized, foreign island of Hawaii populated by "others," stop the decree issued by the most powerful ruler on the planet?

Talk about throwing shade against an entire state! AG Sessions marveled at the ability of a judge on an island in the Pacific could stop the Executive Order of King ... er ... Mr. Donald Trump that sought to ban Muslims traveling to the U.S.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson, who was born and raised in Hawaii, issued an order staying Trump's second Muslim ban from being implemented. Sessions implication drew the ire of the state's two U.S. Senators.

Other members of Congress joined in:

In a statement issued Thursday afternoon, Hirono, who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee that vets and confirms federal judges, tweeted out a picture of the unanimous roll call vote confirming Watson. She called Sessions’ suggestion that Watson is somehow unable to carry out his duties impartially “dangerous, ignorant, and prejudiced.”

“I am frankly dumbfounded that our nation’s top lawyer would attack our independent judiciary,” she said. “But we shouldn’t be surprised. This is just the latest in the Trump Administration’s attacks against the very tenets of our Constitution and democracy.”

Sessions should know that the judiciary is a branch of the government that is CO-EQUAL to the executive and legislative branches. 

"Our Constitution created a separation of powers in the United States for a reason," said Hawaii's Attorney General Doug Chin. "Our federal courts, established under article III of the Constitution, are co-equal partners with Congress and the President. It is disappointing AG Sessions does not acknowledge that.”

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