Hawaii Secret Dot Com Blog

I recently attended PodCamp Hawaii. It was a fantastic experience.

As I was waiting for one of the sessions to start, I noticed Wally “Famous Amos”sitting right in back of me. Wally lives in Hawaii. I asked if I could do an interview, and he said, of course.

Wally Amos is an icon in the business world for his Famous Amos cookies. He also gives back to the community in many different ways. For example he has a Read-Aloud show for children on the local PBS station. He also donates a portion of his earnings to various charities.

He truly understands “when you give back….you get back.” He practices the Law of Reciprocity.

I asked him about his latest project. I also wanted to press him about the secret of his success as well as his cookie secrets.

Famous Amos was very forthcoming:

Wally Amos, is one of the secrets of Hawaii.

You can order Wally’s books right here:

Hawaii Secret Dot Com: Learn the Inside Tips About Hawaii
and Hawaii Secrets

Certainly one of the most prolific and most beloved Island treasures is Brother Noland.

I have wathced him perform numerous times and I never get tired of him. He has been around the Island music scene for a number of years. He plays his music and plays it well.

His sound is infectious. His tunes are sometimes topical, sometimes tropical but always very enjoyable. His sound is a mixture of Island funk with a Hawaiian groove thrown in. His tunes are very palatable and enjoyable. The music just seems to drip off of him.

He is also a social activist. He wants people to be aware of how precious their Islands are. He spreads his message with a sense of style as well as a sense of humor.

I was quite pleased to discover a wealth of his music posted on You Tube. Here is one of my favorites:

Discover some of Brother Nolands sounds, right here:

Download an mp3:

Thanks, Brother Noland. Rock on.

Albert Grande
Pizza on Earth.

Hawaii Secret Dot Com: Learn the Inside Tips About Hawaii
and Hawaii Secrets

[#3: Edit Options>MightyAdsense>Adsense Code]

As you may know, I’m a pizzaman. I love making pizza, I love eating pizza and I love talking about pizza… (Here is my website: Pizza Therapy)

This is one of my favorite pizza tales I have ever experienced. Best of all, this extraordinary pizza conversation, had a Hawaii twist.

I happened to be at a Workshop recently and during lunch my favorite topic, pizza, just happened to come up.

Janet, who grew up in Hawaii, in a Japanese-American household, shared the following:

“One night, many years ago, my Dad and Mom decided to take us kids out for pizza. As soon as my Dad tasted the pizza, he said: “This is not real pizza…Now when I was in Italy during the Second World War, that was real pizza…”

(Albert’s side bar: So here goes: a pizza tale, with-in a pizza tale…)

Her father, who had never been out of Hawaii, was stationed in a small Italian town during World War II. They were camped on a farmer’s fields for several weeks. He decided to go for a walk to explore the farm.

The farmer became alarmed, when he noticed this stranger walking around his fields.

“Why” he thought, “was this strange Japanese man, walking around his fields.” He immediately went to get a rifle. He then confronted this man pointing his rifle at him. The farmer soon realized, this Japanese man, was an American. He was a liberator and not a threat to him or his family.

After a while, the Italian farmer and this Japanese man from Hawaii, became friends.

One day the Serviceman was relieving himself near a stream and he noticed something in the water. He went to ask the farmer what he had seen.

The farmer told him, they were eels! Janet’s father was elated. He and his buddies were sick of K-Rations! Now they could feast on fresh eels! The other soldiers from Hawaii rigged some nets together and that night, they had an incredible meal of fresh eels, cooked right in their helmets!

The farmer then shared another secret with him. He said there were wild mushrooms growing wild, right on the farm. The farmer taught him which mushrooms were safe to pick. Soon, their “eel and mushroom dinners” were the talk of the camp.

A short while later, his company had to leave. There was after all, a War going on. Before he left, the farmer invited him to his house for a meal. There, he tasted fresh, home-made pizza, for the first time. The memory of that pizza would never leave him!”

I thanked Janet immensely. I asked her if I could meet her dad, but she explained, he had passed away years before. 

The tale made me think of my own father, who although born in the U.S., had loved to eat eels. He would regularly take us out to his secret spots to search for wild mushrooms. The love of this food had been passed on to him by his own father, who had been raised on a farm in Italy. And so it goes…

pizza on earth and Hawaii,

albert grande
Make Pizza Be Happy…
Hawaii Secret Vacation Information

Hawaii Secret Dot Com: Learn the Inside Tips About Hawaii
and Hawaii Secrets

Hawaii truly has many treasures. Its just that kind of place.

One of the best living treasures is Jake Shimabukuro. Jake is a wizard, a magician, a musician with an inincredible amount of talent. He oozes and drips music. The songs seem to come out of his spirit.

Here is a video of Jake, shredding his ukelele.

It has been special to see him grow and progress as a professional musician. He has matured gracefully. Each incarnation of Jake, has seen him discover new directions for his instrument. He has taken the ukelele places, never before thought possible.

Another special thing is that Jake has been recognized as an incredible talent by other musicians. For example Jimmy Buffet has brought Jake up on stage when he played in Honolulu. Blues Traveler did the same thing. He has been invited to preform with national music acts here in Hawaii and on the mainland, time after time. He is that good.

He is well respected. And humble.

He has a talent and gift that he wants to share. He is extraordinary.

This is one of my favorite tunes he does: While My Guitar Gently Weeps. This was written by Gieorge Harrison, but performed by Eric Clapton on the Beatles White album.

By the way: George Harrison, had a Hawaii connection: he lived in Maui.

Here is an incredible piece of music. Amazing.

Here is a version done by George Harrison and Eric Clapton (Ringo is on drums…)

shred on Jake, shred on…..

All of Hawaii is smiling! Congratulations are in order for all the players, coaches, support staff and especially parents.

Who would have though that a Little league team from Hawaii would capture The Litle League world Series, again.

And because I lived in Waipio for several years, I can say the team is from my home town.

Simply amazing.

Well after incredible odds, this team with heart come through!

Fantastic.

These boys are fantastic role models.
Thank-you.

Respectully submitted,
Albert Grande
Hawaii Secret Dot Com

Hawaii Secret Dot Com: Learn the Inside Tips About Hawaii
and Hawaii Secrets