“Wildest Show in Town,” the summertime “humpday” twilight family favorite at Honolulu Zoo, will launch a 10-week run June 12.
Organizer Roy Sakuma, who also presents the annual Ukulele Festival at Kapiolani Park Bandstand, has lined up an array of community talent for the Wednesday sunset shindig amid the animal popular at the zoo.
The format showcases singers, musicians and recording faves, in genres tapping Hawaiian, jazz, pop, Latin, and ukulele. Each week, residents and visitors alike will assemble and bring or buy their dinnertime meals, to soak in the music and camaraderie. Each week, there will be a drawing for a Kala soprano ukulele for children under 12.
So haul out your datebook, get out your picnic basket and log in one or more of these “Wildest” dates.

The lineup:
• June 12 — Kapena. Ukulele giveaway by Ko’olau Pono and Kanilea Islander Ukulele.
• June 19 — Roy Sakuma and His Super Keikis. Ukulele giveaway by KoAloha and Kala Ukulele.
• June 26 — The Dukes of Surf. Ukulele giveaway by KoAloha and Ko’olau Pono Ukulele.
• July 3 — Holunape. Ukulele giveaway by Kamaka Ukulele.
• July 10 — Manoa DNA. Ukulele giveaway by KoAloha Ukulele.
• July 17— Ohta-san and Nando Suan. Plus ukulele groups from around the world. Ukulele giveaway by Ko’olau Pono and KoAloha Ukulele.
• July 24— Rolando Sanchez and Salsa Hawaii. Ukulele giveaway by Kala Ukulele.
• July 31 — Nelly and Daniel Baduria. Ukulele giveaway by KoAloha Ukulele.
• Aug. 7 — Jimmy Borges and His Jazz All Stars. Ukulele giveaway by Kala Ukulele.
• Aug. 14 — Na Leo Pilimehana. Ukulele giveaway by Ko’olau Pono Ukulele.

‘WILDEST SHOW IN TOWN’
At Honolulu Zoo
6 p.m. Wednesdays, June 12 through Aug. 14; gates open at 4:35 p.m.
$3 at the door
www.roysakuma.net

Lion is the name Alex O'Loughlin and girlfriend Malia Jones have chosen for their bouncing baby boy.
The tot was born Oct. 25 in Honolulu.
O'Loughlin, who plays Steve McGarrett in the Island-filmed CBS procedural,"Hawaii Five-0," also has a son, Saxon, 15, and Jones also has a son, Spike, 3, from previous relationships.
There was no explanation on why the couple named their son Lion. Did he roar like a Leo? Was in the inspiration from "The Lion King"?
Lion joins a growing roster of celebrities with kids with odd names.
Samples:
Ocean, son of actor Forest Whitaker.
Tu, son of actor Rob Morrow. (Tu-Morrow, get it?)
Apple, daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin.
Prime and Blanket, sons of Michael Jackson.
Blue, daughter of Beyonce and Jay-Z.
Egypt, son of Alicia Keys.
Moon and Diva, daughters, and Dweezil and Ahmet, sons, of Frank Zappa.
And then there's the brood of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The girls are named Shilo and Vivienne; the boys are Zahara, Maddox, Shiloh, Pax and Knox.
What's your take on these out-of-the-box oddities?

Author Frances H. Kakugawa, a Pahoa native and former Honolulu educator who now resides in Sacramento, is home for a well-timed visit.
November is National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month and National Family Caregivers’ Month, and Kakugawa is a seasoned speaker on both Alzheimer’s and caregiving. She was caregiver to her mom, who had Alzheimer’s, so she speaks from the heart — and has written about her personal experiences in several books that also embrace her love and joy of poetry. So her voice is worth listening to.
Kakugawa also has a new book, “Wordsworth! Stop the Bulldozer!,” third in a series of children’s volumes about a Hawaiian mouse, so the author is here to launch this Watermark publication. With an environmental theme of getting children tuned in to cherishing and planting trees for a greener future, Kakugawa and her mousey sidekick Wordsworth recently planted a koa tree seedling in an ongoing reforesting project at Hamakua, on the Big Island. In “Bulldozer,” a community faces the possibility of a loss of trees, and Wordsworth and his friends find a way — Kakugawa taps poetry as a vehicle — to reminder us all how trees are different and why they are important in life.
In her caregiving expression, Kakugawa advocates the power of poetry in the caregiving process to build bridges between caregiver and patient, an effortless and meaningful means to deal with emotion and pain. It's an expression she's shared here and across the Mainland.
Kakugawa has published 10 books, including “Wordsworth Dances the Waltz,” “Wordsworth the Poet,” “Mosaic Moon: Caregiving Through Poetry,” “Breaking the Silence,” “Kapoho: Memoir of a Modern Pompeii,” “Teacher, You Look Like a Horse.” ...
Kakugawa’s upcoming appearances:
• Saturday, Nov. 3, 1 p.m., Barnes & Noble Kahala Mall — Children’s book reading and book signing. A portion of book sales will benefit the University of Hawaii-Manoa Children’s Center.
• Saturday, Nov. 10, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii. “Kapoho” presentation, 9:30 am.; book signing, 10 to 10:30 a.m.; aging with dignity presentation 10:30 to 11 a.m.; children’s book reading, 11 to11:30 a.m.; book signing, 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 14, 8:30 a.m. to noon, Hibiscus Ballroom, Ala Moana Hotel. Kakugawa gives the keynote address at 9 a.m.; caregiver’s pen workshop, 11 a.m. Registration: 877-926-8300 or http://aarp.cvent.com/urbancare.

It’s my first Father's Day without dad — and it’s a peculiar feeling. No family dinner gathering, no “best dad” card. Only memories remain.
Dad — Francis Y. Harada — died May 31 after struggling through some tough times.
Earlier in the month, he had been admitted to Castle Medical Center, where IVs and antibiotics “saved” him. For a month, anyway.
At 95, dad was a victim of old age. He had a strong heart, no other medical issues, and he’d wanted to live to 100, but it wasn’t in the cards.
Since mom died in July, 2004, he struggled with loneliness and companionship, and he dearly missed the home-cook meals she made. He insisted on living alone in an apartment they bought and paid for late in life, and managed to get through the days and weeks and months and years, with support from me and my sister.
He mostly lived on cherished memories.
He missed mom dearly, which is why he wanted to live where he felt her presence ...
until it reached a point where he was physically unable to get through the daily routines.
Oh, we’d go over with meals, help with housekeeping, laundry and cleaning, and retain some orderliness in his life. But he began to rely on a walker, refused to use the wheelchair we provided through his medical insurance, and it became obvious that he needed a caregiver.
Reluctantly, he agreed to move in with my sister and her family in Kaneohe last January. He adjusted nicely, but with age taking its toll, he started declining. In his last month, he had Hospice support, but couldn’t eat or drink anything because he had difficulty swallowing. That he lingered three weeks without nutrition or drink astounded the Hospice support team.
Dad was a simple man with a few words. He was never outspoken; his usual reply to a question, whether it was what he wanted to eat or what he needed from the drugstore, was “I don’t know.”
What he didn’t verbalize he “spoke” with action. He always supported the family, remembered birthdays, loved children and grandchildren, adored Misora Hibari music and TV specials, watched football religiously and enjoyed beer and wine.
When he was hospitalized for three days at Castle in May, I shared perhaps the happiest hour with him prior to his release. I had gone over to transport him to my sister’s home after his release; when I peeked into his room, his bed was empty, sending a wave of concern in my mind. So I rushed over the nurse’s station, where three of them were busy at computer terminals. I asked, “Do you know where my dad is?”
Two of them “pointed” with their heads and eyes, to the last nurse; there was dad in his wheelchair, chortling alongside the nurse.
“That’s my son — he writes for the newspaper,” he enthused, introducing me to them before I wheeled him to his room. That response brought a tear to my eye; and afterwards, he wanted to be wheeled to a corridor where he could feel the sunshine and see the mountain greenery and the hubbub of daily traffic.
He wondered about the weather, thankful for the warmth; he reminisced about people and issues regarding his work, from five or six decades earlier, and simply converted to a momentary chatterbox.
He was hungry, so we returned to his room, where his meal was delivered. By his standards, he consumed a lot — all pureed stuff, like potatoes, carrots and pudding. This would pretty much be his last meal.
Over the next week, his declining health made him a shell of a man. He uttered few words, nodded responses occasionally, and had some hallucinations, his reality blurring with his imagination.
My brother-in-law put dad’s collection of Hibari VHS tapes on the TV, which provided him a sense of familiarity; he often played these tapes over and over again while living at his apartment.
Once or twice, he mentioned mom; that he saw her; that she was calling. We told him it was OK to go see her.
But it took nearly three weeks for him to make that journey to the next world.
He is in a better place now, without pain or hunger or health issues. And he is with mom — his wish fulfilled.
He wanted private family services, so his cremated remains will be buried next to mom’s on June 30, completing his life’s his journey.
So Father’s Day is not the same. But we will properly toast him and mom with a family luncheon with his favorite food: Japanese.
Arigato and sayonara, dad, for all you’ve done for us and everyone who loved you. May you truly rest in peace, with our beloved mom.

Despite the return of Alex O’Loughlin as Steve McGarrett in full glory, CBS’ Island-based “Hawaii Five-0” could not win its Monday 9 p.m. (10 p.m. Mainland) slot on May 7, playing second-fiddle to ABC’s “Castle.”
O’Loughlin, absent from a new “Five-0” episode for about seven weeks, including the crossover two-show arc with “NCIS: Los Angeles,” had a frisky, treacherous homecoming in a Yakuza-themed episode (entitled “Ua Hopu,” translated to “arrested” or “to be caught”). Buoyed by the agile action figure nemesis Wo Fat, played with impressive kicks and punches by Mark Dacascos, McG was in his full glory, matching his arch-nemesis kick for kick, punch for punch.
Add a romantic glow from Grace Park as Kono Kalakaua, without clothes and in the shower with a paramour Adam Noshimuri from the dark side, with see-sawing loyalties to him and her investigating ohana. (Does she always make bad choices?) Her cousin Chin Ho Kelly, played by Daniel Dae Kim, provides solace.
Scott Caan as Danno, arrested by the CIA, quickly resumes that bromance with McG, but he and the show are caught between a rock and hard place.
Tired recurring issues, despite superb cinematography. Themes without fresh outlooks.
In the end, the show did not muster up viewership. “Castle,” "Five-0's" main challenger, drew a 2.5 rating in the key18 to 49 adult demographics, compared 2.3 for “Five-0.” In terms of viewers, "Castle" had 12.6 million, "Five-0" 9.2 million.
That was a kick in the butt for the highly anticipated Hawaii procedural, which began with a Japan dateline with McG still seeking out answers to the ongoing, and frankly off-putting Shelburne issue, wherein he captures Wo Fat and tries to shuttle him home, not expecting a planeload of dissidents that lead to a crash, where both McG and WF survive and then try to dodge a search party eager to decimate McG. Etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.
McG had not been in a new episode since March, so his comeback show was highly anticipated and it initially had beefy fisticuffs and kicks — and plenty of action skillfully filmed — but apparently not enough wallop to win its hour.
This episode sets up the season finale May 14.