Just found out that IolaniAlumni.com gave some props to other fellow alums that blog.  Glad I made it on the list with headshot and all.  Haha.  I’m sure there’s a lot more of us in cyberspace.  For my fellow alums, be sure to tell them to add your blog to the list.

Iolani Alumni Blogs:  More to read and enjoy…

Another ABDC show focused on the Jackson family.  Last season, it was Michael Jackson (remember Kaba Modern’s version of “Thriller”?) and this week, the groups danced to Janet Jackson.  Fanny Pack, Supreme Soul, and Boogie Bots were the top three…A.S.I.I.D., Super Cr3w, and SoReal Cru were in the bottom three.

So watching the show, I noticed two interesting observations:

• The bottom two from last week were the top two this week.
• The top two last week were the bottom two this week.

Boogie Bots was the only crew that remained consistent…being voted as one of the top crews these past two weeks.

Here’s how I rank the crews this week (I placed the songs they danced to in parentheses):

1. SoReal Cru (”I Get Lonely” off her 1998 The Velvet Rope album) - Can’t believe that they made the bottom three…competition is getting tight!  Damn the girls on this crew are so hot.
2. Fanny Pack (”All Nite (Don’t Stop)” off her 2004 Damita Jo album) - I love this song.  They did show some risk-kay moves…those girls were getting sexual.  Go Cara!
3. Super Cr3w (”Black Cat” off her 1989 Rhythm Nation 1814 album) - That was a sick performance.  All I gotta say is that they deserved to stay.
4. A.S.I.I.D. (”If” off her 1993 janet. album) - One of my favorite songs by Miss Janet.  It was a nice performance.  I’ll miss them and was really rooting for them to go all the way to top three.
5. Boogie Bots (”Control” off her 1986 Control album) - Never really heard of this song before.  That last evolution move was cool.  Overall the performance was okay.  Mad props for incorporating some of Janet’s moves.
6. Supreme Soul (”Nasty” off her 1986 Control album) – Hmm I didn’t get their performance.  Sometimes I don’t think the cameras do them justice.  Wish I was in the audience to actually watch them dance live.

By the way, anyone notice those great Vitamin Water product placements?  Haha.  At least, it’s a lot healthier than last year’s doughnut placements.

Club Monaco opened its first store in Hawaii at the Ala Moana Center.  To celebrate, they partnered with Honolulu Academy of Arts and ARTafterDARK to featured a few local photographers around the store with an event called “See the World in Black and White”.   It was a great event with a lot of attendees checking out the clothes, the black and white photos, and each other.  Haha.  I must say there were a lot of good looking people in attendance

Here’s a short video I took on my FLIP camera and edited on iMovie.  Let me know what you think since I’m still tinkering with my camera and my editing skills.

By the way, the photos were being sold, starting at $175.  Beautiful shots but too rich for my blood.  The photos were almost as expensive as the clothes at Club Monaco.  As you saw on the video, I agree with my friend and probably wait until there’s a sale at the store.  Who pay more that $25 for a pair of boxers?

For those unfamiliar with ARTafterDARK, this group is dedicated to exploring the arts and presents an event the last Friday of each month at the Honolulu Academy of Arts from 6 to 9 p.m.  I’ve been to a couple events and it’s been a hit or miss since I mostly go for the food and entertainment.  Check out their upcoming event in July called “So Sari!”.  A play on Indian culture and Bollywood, guests will have a chance to be creative with flowers by helping to make a pukalam and dine on cuisine from E&O Trading Co.

I feel like I’ve been surrounded by Twitter folks in the past few days.  So many of my colleagues are joining the Twitter family and I’m getting excited.  It’s almost like a disease…it keeps spreading to reach out to more and more PR folks in Hawaii.

When you have time, follow me and some of these local PR folks that are already on my list:

• angelakeen
• buzzbunny
• golfnutn8
• hawaiishoediva
• hiloprgal
• rherhe
• shmerin

For our favorite journalists in Hawaii (yes, you Jason G.), here are the ones that I’m following.  Notice any similarities with them?  Some publications aren’t being represented, but I figured only the cool ones tweet.

• fashiontribe
• sonecessary

And some of my Hawaii social media folks.

• roxannedarling
• supercw
• vbrown

The next step is trying to figure out how to incorporate Twitter into destination marketing.  Any thoughts?  If you were to follow something related to Hawaii, what would you want to learn about?  Deals?  Places to visit?

July is turning into a heavy TV month for me.  There’s so much to watch every week…well from Monday-Thursday at least.  I usually go out Friday through Sunday, so I hardly get to watch primetime TV on the weekends.

Monday: The Mole and No Reservations

• Wow, No Reservation’s Columbia episode looks hella good.  I need to vacation in South America one day.  I’m excited about the new season of Bourdain so far.  I can’t wait for the Tokyo episode…let’s see where he goes this time around.  Here’s a clip of the Columbia episode (thanks to Travel Channel):

After watching this episode, I’m bummed that Tudo de Bom closed in June.  I always wanted to try that place.  Who could pass up on all-you-can-eat meat buffet?  Where else can you find South American food in Hawaii?

Tuesday: Big Brother

• My roommate and I started a new game for Big Brother 10 where we collect points based on the team we selected.  It’s kinda like Fantasy Big Brother.  Update as of July 14, I’m in the lead with two points…Jerry was selected as head of household.  Glad I picked him for my team so far.

Wednesday: Project Runway

• Okay…Project Runway 5 is in two days.  I’m surprised that there hasn’t been too many advertisement for the new season.  Could it be because PR is going to Lifetime next season?  Very suspicious, but I guess Bravo knows what it’s doing.

Thursday: ABDC and Big Brother

• I’m actually going to miss the initial airing of ABDC this week.  Guess I’ll need to tune it when it reruns.

Can’t wait for TOP CHEF 5 to start in Brooklyn!  Hopefully I’ll be there when it starts filming :o)

My “items of the week” postings have been on hiatus for a while now.  I figured it’s a good time to bring it back.  Most of my previous “items of the week” have actually turned into regular postings for me (i.e. February 26, March 3)

• Since the new season of No Reservations premiered last week, I figured I add this show back to my list.  The time spent with the producers in Hawaii have really provided me a better perspective on the show.  By the way, check out this Island Magazine article and read about Bourdain’s real thoughts on Hawaii.

• Here are a couple YouTube celebrities that I came across while reading the Bakit Why blog.  Thought I’d share and see if you like them too.

Sharyn Maceren

tsud123

• Some of my favorite reality shows starts their new season this week.  Big Brother 10 starts tonight. Check out this season’s cast and I have already picked out my top six contestants.  Project Runway 5 premieres this Wednesday (countdown along with Bravo TV) and I can’t wait to see what kind of characters turn up this season.

Are there any other YouTube folks that I should subscribe to?  Who do you predict to win BB10 and PR5?

This week’s theme was speed up.  Speed up was definitely what the bottom three crews needed to do…speed up the rankings so they can remain in the top three.  As you saw, Supreme Soul, Fanny Pack, and Phresh Select were in bottom three…meaning Boogie Bots, Super Cr3w, SoReal Cru, and A.S.I.I.D. in top four.

By the way, what’s up with the sob stories?  I feel like I’m getting emotionally attached to some of these groups.  Interesting approach to connect with the viewers from the producers…not my favorite approach, but it works and I’m sure people will want vote to keep some of these crews in.

So here’s my rundown for this week’s episode and my ranking for each crew:

1. Fanny Pack - I love their play on Mariah’s song.  Awesome performance and that transition was off the hook.  This was the most memorable routine to date.
2. A.S.I.I.D. - Cool ballet moves…that’s hot.  It kinda reminded me of the movie “Center Stage”.  That’s the first time someone done ballet on ABDC. I actually appreciate that this crew is in this season.
3. SoReal Cru - I like their slow and the fast sequences.
4. Boogie Bots - I like their looks…had some missteps here and there.  Digging the stepped up tempo moves…nice hand intricacies.  They really played with the beats in the music.
5. Super Cr3w - I like that sequence throught all the statues.  Pretty cool movements…a bit original.  Why did they choose leg movements for the fast tempo section?  It makes them look slow.  Guess Shane Sparks is rooting for them?
6. Supreme Soul - They were okay but a bit cocky for my taste.  A thumbs up for that “down the line” sequence.  So what did those skulls signify at the end?  The end of Jabbawockeez?  Someone tell me the story behind Supreme Soul and Jabbawockeez.
7. Phresh Select - Their routine didn’t persuade me that they were worth staying in the competition.  Plus I don’t like that fact that they only met up for this show…never really danced with each other before.  Sad to see them go though.

Who are your top three crews to date?

*UPDATE (07/12/0 - Found this blog post on LATimes.com.  Can’t wait to see next week’s episode and I hope Fanny Pack takes us back to Janet Jackson’s 80s era.

So I’ve been an avid Google Reader user to follow all the blogs that I check out every day.  It is highly recommended to try this Google tool since you’ll be able to see all the blog updates and new posts all in one window.  It makes everything so much more efficient.

Back to the point of this post, I was on my Google Reader and was surprised to see a new post by TravelingMamas.com that announced that I was randomly selected to receive one of their prizes for July.  How awesome is that?  These four travel writers/bloggers had visited Hawaii recently and I had assisted with their itinerary on behalf of HVCB.  I’ve been following their blog ever since and commented now and then.  I didn’t remember them announcing their “Boycott the Staycation” giveaways.  Anyways, I get a Gloria Gaynor CD…not my favorite so it’ll be a present for one of my friends.

If you’re interested in winning, check out TravelingMamas.com and leave a comment or check out one of the other ways to be selected.

Work sent me to Oklahoma City last week for a couple days while I went to hang out with a bunch of travel writers.  Last year I had gone to Little Rock, Arkansas, saw the Clinton Presidential Library, and had a decent time staying at the Peabody Hotel (yah…ducks!) .

When I heard that Oklahoma City was the host city this year, I was a bit hesitant about how the conference will go since it’s another city in the middle of America.

Well to my surprise, Oklahoma City is a vibrant city that really caters to young professionals.  There are a ton of activities and attractions to keep you busy from the Chesapeake Boat House to Bricktown to Pole Position Raceway.

Below is a video of what Pole Position Raceway is all about…they really need to open one in Hawaii.  It was such a rush going fast on an electric vehicle.  The footage was filmed on my Flip Ultra camera (you can plug it directly into your computer and TV…the quality is awesome).  My hands were a bit shaky so I’ll need to work on my filming techniques.

Alright.  I slacked off last week and didn’t get a chance to write about the last episode of ABDC seasons two.  I was actually in Oklahoma City for a work conference, so I didn’t really get a chance to watch the episode until it reran on Saturday.  By the way, look for my upcoming posts on Oklahoma City…it was pretty fun.

All I have to say is that no crews really stood out last week.  A.S.I.I.D. and Fanny Pack did well and were my top favorites.  I was bummed that Boogie Bots was in the bottom two and I’m glad they made it to this week’s episode.  It’s time for Xtreme Dance Force to go home.

Now on to this week’s show…let’s list the groups according to best to worst.

1. SoReal Cru…were fun, did a good job, and deemed my favorite this week.  The snake movements were hot and I especially liked the hoodies moves.
2. Fanny Pack…did a great job in the opening sequence.  I can’t believe that they danced to Britney Spears’ “Toy Soldier” and I’m starting to wonder if the producers are pairing them with more techno beat songs.  The end was aiight.  I still like them since their choreography is always tight and different.
3. Supreme Soul…had a great routine and they danced big tonight.  They really utilized the dance floor this time around.  Damn, that peel off/ripple effect was awesome.
4. Super Cr3w…had some good tricks.  Where was the choreography though?  The judges need to point out what this show is about…tricks or choreography?
5. Phresh Select…were pretty creative.  I liked how they played around with the “Big Things Poppin’” theme.
6. Boogie Bots…did okay.  They seemed to have fun with the “Game Over” theme.  I want to root for them but they haven’t really stepped it up to show what they’re all about.
7. A.S.I.I.D.…didn’t really stand out to me this week.  Just something about them doesn’t really stick in my mind.
8. Xtreme Dance Force..deserved to go home.  They got some skills but I still think they’re better off being a boy band.

I got a bit worried when Fanny Pack and Supreme Soul were in the bottom four.  Guess I should’ve voted last week.  Vote people vote!!!

So what do you folks think of this week’s episode?  Leave a comment.