code='<div id=\'Blog\'> <div class=\'BlogPostGroup\'>   <div class=\'BlogPostDate SiteTitle2\'>04/22/2010</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostLinks\'>   </div>  </div> <div class=\'BlogPost\'><div class=\'hr\'><hr /></div> <div class=\'BlogPostTitle SiteTitle3\'><a href=\'/blog/2010/04/22_Life__Death.asp\'>Life & Death</a> </div> <div class=\'BlogPostText\'><DIV align=center><EMBED style="WIDTH: 186px; HEIGHT: 28px" height=28 type=application/x-mplayer2 pluginspage=http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/Downloads/Contents/MediaPlayer/ width=186 src="/_library/images/05 dust in the wind.mp3" autorewind="true" showdisplay="false" showstatusbar="false" showcontrols="true" autostart="true" filename="/_library/images/05 dust in the wind.mp3"> </DIV><DIV align=left>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV align=left>Hey everybody. Been having a whirlwind year and it&#39;s all good. All except days ago when my father in law passed and a couple dear friends all within a day apart from each other. It&#39;s crazy and it makes you realize how important life is. When you&#39;re young death is the furthest thing from your mind and as time passes on you start to appreciate life and realize that life is all you have. Crazy, but real. God bless my father in law and Noah and Charlie. To all my friends, take care of yourselves and live like there&#39;s no tomorrow.</DIV></div>   <div class=\'BlogPostDetails\'>Posted      <span class=\'BlogPostShowCredit\'>By: <a href=\'\' target=\'_blank\'></a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowDate\'>on 04/22/2010 at <a href=\'/blog/2010/04/22_Life__Death.asp\'>2:30 am</a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowComment\'>with <a href=\'/blog/2010/04/22_Life__Death.asp#Comments\'>1 Comment</a></span>     <BR>Last Comment on: <span class=\'BlogPostShowCommentDate\'>8/30/2010 12:00:31 PM</span>   </div> </div>  <div class=\'BlogPostGroup\'>   <div class=\'BlogPostDate SiteTitle2\'>04/24/2009</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostLinks\'>   </div>  </div> <div class=\'BlogPost\'><div class=\'hr\'><hr /></div> <div class=\'BlogPostTitle SiteTitle3\'><a href=\'/blog/2009/04/24_HEY_EVERYBODY.asp\'>HEY EVERYBODY!</a> </div> <div class=\'BlogPostText\'><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>How&#39;s it going! People have been asking for a blog and what I&#39;m up to lately, so here goes....&nbsp; It&#39;s been a wild &#39;n&#39; crazy year so far (in a good way) and it&#39;s getting better all the time.&nbsp; I took a vacation in January with my family in Evergreen Colorado to visit our good friends Conner, Dane, Lisa and John. It was a great time in the snow on the ice and close to the fireplace.&nbsp;&nbsp; Then we went to California to the NAMM show (musicians tradeshow) and to visit my good bruddah, Jackie(check him&nbsp; out on YouTube, Jackie Bertone, he&#39;s the modern day shrinking man)&nbsp; and sistah, Caprice(she&#39;s just the wonderful person who puts up with&nbsp; Jackie). They are the best fish cakes on this planet.&nbsp;&nbsp; Oh yea, we also got to visit Uncle Mickey and Auntie Minnie and all their friends at the Diz...&nbsp; It was all good fun, but it&#39;s good to be back home in paradise.&nbsp;&nbsp; Right after we got back, we went to the Chinese New Years celebration in Chinatown. Honolulu was raging with dancing lions and fireworks and streets full of people.&nbsp; Happy New Year everybody!!!! <BR><BR>We&#39;ve already had a couple of bumps on the way to today with a couple of dear friends leaving this time zone, but they&#39;re in good hands now and away from all the suffering that the silent terminator seems to bring upon the lives of many.&nbsp; God bless all of our friends who been separated from us. Take care of yourselves everybody, we got it good, enjoy it and appreciate it. <BR><BR>Last Month was a party week with the party animal himself, our happy go lucky sailor, Jimmy Buffet.&nbsp; He blew through these islands like a happy hurricane spreading his music and goodtime spirit throughout. I was fortunate enough to join him on stage at his grand opening of "Margaritaville", in Waikiki, and also at the Waikiki Shell for a few songs and it was an amazing experience.&nbsp;&nbsp; </DIV><DIV><BR>I was so honored a couple of years ago when he recorded one of my songs, "Duke&#39;s on Sunday" on his "Take the Weather with You" CD(check it out it&#39;s hypnotic as only Jimmy can do it), but the icing on the cake was when he closed his show with "Duke&#39;s...".&nbsp;&nbsp; You know I was feeling it Big!&nbsp; It doesn&#39;t get better than that.&nbsp; He&#39;s a really down to earth guy and his people, (and boy he&#39;s got a lot of people), are the nicest folks you&#39;ll ever meet. It&#39;s a treat to be around people like that.&nbsp; Thanks Jimmy, you rock! Check out Margaritaville when you&#39;re in town.&nbsp; You can come by Duke&#39;s on Sunday for some afternoon delight and then head across the street for Margarita&#39;s.<BR><BR>I also just did a PBS Live television special this month.&nbsp; It was called Henry Live!&nbsp; It was a first in concert live program by PBS Hawaii and it was also aired simultaneously on KUMU 94.7FM radio.&nbsp;&nbsp; <BR>It was a pledge drive to raise money for PBS Hawaii.&nbsp; They said it went really well and I was honored to be a part of it and help to make a difference for my source(PBS) for good music programming (Austin City Limits &amp; Sound Stage) and keiki programming(Barney, Elmo, Clifford - all my children&#39;s favorites!) <BR><BR>I have a lot of gigs and appearances coming up, you can check it out on my website, but the next BIG project is "The Wild Hawaiian Experience" The Wild Hawaiian DVD, coming out this summer!&nbsp; Look for it, if you didn&#39;t get a chance to catch the Wild Hawaiian Groovement tour then this is your chance to experience Hawaiian Alternative Rock with Slam poetry, by Kealoha and hip-hop dancing with Intrepid and his dance crew.&nbsp; It&#39;s a must see experience and I&#39;m hoping that It opens up to a national or World tour.&nbsp; Most of you don&#39;t understand the Hawaiian language, but that&#39;s O.K.&nbsp; You&#39;re familiar with Hawaii, so that&#39;s a good start.&nbsp; This will open up a whole new understanding of the Hawaiian language and the Hawaiian culture.&nbsp; The CD was nominated for a Grammy and won Rock album of the year for the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards(Hawaii&#39;s Grammy.&nbsp; Check it out, check it out, check it out... <BR><BR>I&#39;ll sign off for now, and I&#39;ll try to keep in touch on a timelier bases... Thanks for all your support throughout the years.</DIV><DIV><BR>Till then, Peace &amp; Poi, Henry Kapono </DIV><P><BR>&nbsp;</P></div>   <div class=\'BlogPostDetails\'>Posted      <span class=\'BlogPostShowCredit\'>By: <a href=\'\' target=\'_blank\'></a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowDate\'>on 04/24/2009 at <a href=\'/blog/2009/04/24_HEY_EVERYBODY.asp\'>0:03 am</a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowComment\'>with <a href=\'/blog/2009/04/24_HEY_EVERYBODY.asp#Comments\'>0 Comments</a></span>     <BR>Last Comment on: <span class=\'BlogPostShowCommentDate\'>(No comments)</span>   </div> </div>  <div class=\'BlogPostGroup\'>   <div class=\'BlogPostDate SiteTitle2\'>02/18/2008</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostLinks\'>   </div>  </div> <div class=\'BlogPost\'><div class=\'hr\'><hr /></div> <div class=\'BlogPostTitle SiteTitle3\'><a href=\'\'>Something to think about....</a> </div> <div class=\'BlogPostText\'><div align="center"><embed style="WIDTH: 226px; HEIGHT: 30px" pluginspage="http://www.microsoft.com/Windows/Downloads/Contents/MediaPlayer/" src="/_library/media/misc/henry kapono - one man acoustic version_.mp3" width="226" height="30" type="application/x-mplayer2" autorewind="true" showdisplay="false" showstatusbar="false" showcontrols="true" autostart="false" filename="/_library/media/misc/henry kapono - one man acoustic version_.mp3"></div><div>&nbsp;</div><div align="center">Henry Kapono - "One Man"</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Aloha Friends,</div><div>I have never done this before and I especially don&#39;t want to upset those of you who may differ in opinion. If I am infringing on your privacy, I apologize and hope that I still retain your respect as a human being and music maker. "Politics"...to me the word "Politics" has always left me with a bad taste in my mouth and in my lifetime many of our leaders have been less than champions. The past 40 years we have seen a lot of confusion, a lot of disillusion and a lot of broken promises.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>I have a beautiful family. I have been blessed with a beautiful wife, two amazing 18 month old twins, boy and girl, and two beautiful daughters from my first marriage. I look at my children, especially my twins, and it really encourages me to make better choices and better decisions. I want to know that when I leave, they&#39;re going to be all right...Or better. I want to know that they won&#39;t be stuck in the old world with old money and old fashion leadership. Old fashion leadership that has only talked "change" and has left us short "changed." I could go on and on about what has happened or hasn&#39;t happened, but it&#39;s not my style, I would rather spend my time dreaming about a better tomorrow and how I can contribute to it. That brings me to why I&#39;m writing this. It&#39;s not to change your mind or ask you to join me. It&#39;s just to let you know where I stand and how I feel about it. I feel strongly about this and hope and pray that the results of my feelings will be incredibly incredible.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Barack Obama, what do I see? I see "change", I see "hope", I see possibilities, I see truth and honesty. I see a new tomorrow that is for my children, your children and all children. I see and feel good about Barack as president. He has a lot going for him and for us and for the youth of our great nation. This will be our children&#39;s country when all is said and done. Barack sees the new world and he&#39;s intelligent enough to know where the future lies ~ with our children. I believe that he is the best choice for our future as president. I believe that he will do the right things for the future of our great nation. And I believe that he will be the best choice for the future of our children. I&#39;m not choosing him because he&#39;s black. I&#39;m not choosing him because he went to my alma mater. I&#39;m not choosing him because he was born and raised in hawaii. I&#39;m not choosing him because I don&#39;t care. I&#39;m choosing him because I believe him and believe in him.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Thank you everybody. Love and respect to you and your family ~ especially your children.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Henry Kapono</div></div>   <div class=\'BlogPostDetails\'>Posted      <span class=\'BlogPostShowCredit\'>By: <a href=\'\' target=\'_blank\'></a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowDate\'>on 02/18/2008 at <a href=\'\'>1:50 pm</a></span>      <BR>Last Comment on: <span class=\'BlogPostShowCommentDate\'>(No comments)</span>   </div> </div>  <div class=\'BlogPostGroup\'>   <div class=\'BlogPostDate SiteTitle2\'>02/12/2008</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostLinks\'>   </div>  </div> <div class=\'BlogPost\'><div class=\'hr\'><hr /></div> <div class=\'BlogPostTitle SiteTitle3\'><a href=\'\'>SUGAR BOWL FOR CHRISTMAS...THE HEART OF A WARRIOR...A HENRY KAPONO MP3</a> </div> <div class=\'BlogPostText\'><P>Sugar Bowl... that was my ultimate Christmas present this year other than my beautiful twins and my beautiful wife. Christmas was the best ever! I hope all of you had a fantastic Christmas! You know my twins Kapono &amp; Cassandra took Christmas like it was just another day. To them everyday is Christmas. What a concept to embrace. They had a great time because our entire family got together, their Sisters ( my oldest daughters Momi &amp; Kaleo), Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts &amp; Uncles, their Nephew, Cousins and Friends. I must say it was a great family year. Everybody was happy. That&#39;s the greatest gift. Thank you and Happy Birthday! </P><DIV>Sugar Bowl... THE WARRIOR NATION! this past year has been such a great UH football year. Exciting and inspiring. Colt Brennan is an amazing leader, humble, grateful, loyal and team oriented. The whole team as a unit... WOW! I&#39;ve been a big fan since June Jones took over and I&#39;ve watched him build the UH football program into what it is today. He&#39;s an amazing man in so many ways. He has inspired me to write songs for the team that he proudly plays for them. The first time we got together he asked me to play for the team as a pre-game treat for the guys. I wrote a song call, "The Warrior" He plays it every game at pre-game warm ups as well as a compilation of other songs of mine. He had told me about it and I have never had the chance to get to the game early enough with traffic and all until the last game with Washington. I was blown away. Every song played was mine. I felt so honored and proud... Wow! He&#39;s a fan, but I didn&#39;t know how much of one. Thanks June. Well this season was so inspiring that I had to write another song. The sequel to "The Warrior song." This one is called "The Heart of a Warrior", (Thanks to my good friend and recording engineer Gaylord Holomalia for being there at a minutes notice) I have been so inspired by the Warrior games and their undefeated season and the frenzy they have caused in the State of Hawaii. The concept of the song was trying to envision the greatest game ever on this planet. To motivate, inspire and empower them to realize who they are, what they have accomplished and the greatness that the future holds for them. Anyway, I got it to June the day before they left for New Orleans and he was blown away. He plans to play it for the guys throughout the week leading up to the big game. To be honest the song blew me away to because it came to me with such an awEsome power. Anyway, if I&#39;m getting to deep forgive me. I get so possessed when these things happen. </DIV><SPAN class=spanlink onclick="openPopupWindow(&#39;/HEART.asp&#39;,&#39;A&#39;,750,600)">CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE SONG!</SPAN> <DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>To add to this I just finished a music video of a song called, "Ekolu Mea Nui." A Wild Hawaiian song not on the CD, but to be a special feature on the DVD expected to be released in the spring or summer. The translation to the song is the three most important things in life are Hope, Faith and Love. Love being the most important or the best. It&#39;s one of those songs that was a filler for the Wild Hawaiian tour and turned out to be a one take phenomenon. Phenomenon because it rocks so unexpectedly. Anyway, I gave June a copy and he flipped and said it was so powerful and so inspiring. That&#39;s what I wanted to accomplish with the video -- thanks to Andrew Magpoc a fantastic editor living here in paradise, he brought it to life! It&#39;s amazing. Check my website for a possible sneak peek some time in 2008. Well with all that said, please I just hope it moves people to realize the power of love. Jimi Hendrix says it the best, "When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power. The World will know Peace".&nbsp; The video opens with that quote. Well, it&#39;s been an exciting week and it&#39;s only going to get better. My family is all excited about going to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl and so is the band. We&#39;ll be performing at the Hawaiian Cajun Bash for New Years Eve. It&#39;s another amazing story, but maybe another time. If you&#39;re there check out the party we&#39;re gonna rock the place and rock in the New Year. The bash is a fund raiser for the University of Hawaii Na Koa football club as well as for the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity. Go online (<A href="http://www.hawaiiancajunbash.com">www.hawaiiancajunbash.com</A>) and check it out for more info. To all of you all I ask is that you send your positive vibrations to the UH Warriors and check the game out from where ever you &#39;re. Thanks and have a GREAT 2008! It&#39;s gonna be BIG!!!</DIV><P>Henry Kapono</P></div>   <div class=\'BlogPostDetails\'>Posted      <span class=\'BlogPostShowCredit\'>By: <a href=\'\' target=\'_blank\'></a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowDate\'>on 02/12/2008 at <a href=\'\'>6:28 pm</a></span>      <BR>Last Comment on: <span class=\'BlogPostShowCommentDate\'>(No comments)</span>   </div> </div>  <div class=\'BlogPostGroup\'>   <div class=\'BlogPostDate SiteTitle2\'>11/25/2007</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostLinks\'>   </div>  </div> <div class=\'BlogPost\'><div class=\'hr\'><hr /></div> <div class=\'BlogPostTitle SiteTitle3\'><a href=\'\'>University of Hawaii Warriors Rock!  WAC Champions</a> </div> <div class=\'BlogPostText\'><DIV>That&#39;s right, wac champions!&nbsp; what a game.&nbsp; hope you sports fans or warrior fans got a chance to see the hawaii warriors beat boise state.&nbsp; it was a sweet win.&nbsp; this is big for the state of hawaii in so many ways.&nbsp; this team has started something that can only excel each year.&nbsp; these guys will be remembered.&nbsp; they have made dreams come true because of this every kid that aspires to play football will have something so powerful to aspire to.&nbsp; colt brennan was in perfect form.&nbsp; heisman winner hands down.&nbsp; the defense rocked all over boise state!!!&nbsp; they didn&#39;t stop.&nbsp; the offense made it look easy and they were in rare form.&nbsp; it is a great team!&nbsp; hawaii has always been looked upon by the national media as a so-so program, but coach june jones has changed that.&nbsp; june is a very admirable human being who loves what he does, loves his players like i never seen before, loves his coaching staff, loves the people that support him, loves the people of hawaii and it goes on.&nbsp; this guy has so much aloha.&nbsp; hawaii loves him and has been supportive of him throughout the years especially when he had his car accident.&nbsp; he will never forget that.&nbsp; they were there for him like he was their best friend.&nbsp; my opinion of june is that he is a very positive, compassionate, humble, honorable and all around good guy.&nbsp; i have never heard him put anybody or anything down.&nbsp; he&#39;s a motivator and sees the good in people especially his players.&nbsp; he&#39;s the real deal and the support he gets from the hawaii fans is phenomenal.&nbsp; i&#39;m just honored to know him and to be able to call him a friend.&nbsp; congratulations, june!!!&nbsp; you rock!!!&nbsp; washington here come the warriors.&nbsp; anyway, it was an amazing night.&nbsp; it was powerful stuff.&nbsp; you could feel it in the air.&nbsp; wow!&nbsp; very cool!!!&nbsp; the state of hawaii is in high euphoria.&nbsp; oh yeah, let&#39;s not forget uncle willy k&#39;s national anthem performance it was amazing!!!&nbsp; willy you rock!!!&nbsp; what more can i say..."go warriors!"&nbsp; come to think of it i do have one more thing to say...thanks june for making my music a part of your program.&nbsp; when june first came to coach uh he asked me to come and sing for the players kind a like a spirit motivation.&nbsp; well i not only did that, but i also wrote a song for them called, "the warrior."&nbsp; since then we have this bond that like music speaks for itself.&nbsp; anyway, during their pre-game warm ups he&#39;s got his favorite wild hawaiian and duke&#39;s on sunday cuts blasting out his sound system throughout the entire aloha stadium.&nbsp; it&#39;s pretty awesome!&nbsp; i call it junes tunes.&nbsp; junes been a real big supporter of my music and i can&#39;t thank him enough for that.&nbsp; june you rock!!!</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>washington next week.&nbsp; i&#39;ll be there with my wife and about 30 of my former rainbow team mates.&nbsp; yep, i played for the university of hawaii back in the day when they were called the rainbows.&nbsp; i personally like the change to the "warriors" it just has the right vibe.&nbsp; i&#39;ll be singing the national anthem and hawaii pono&#39;i as well and you know i&#39;ll give it everything i got.&nbsp; till next time have a happy and safe holiday season and make 2008 a great year!!!</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV align=center><IMG style="WIDTH: 290px; HEIGHT: 222px" height=259 alt="" src="/_library/images/uh-blog/crowd.jpg" width=344 border=0></DIV><DIV align=center>sold out game!&nbsp; 50,000 hawaii fans believed!</DIV><DIV align=center>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV align=center><IMG style="WIDTH: 266px; HEIGHT: 192px" height=248 alt="" src="/_library/images/uh-blog/lezlee.henry.jpg" width=252 border=0></DIV><DIV align=center>My wife, lezlee, came with me!</DIV><DIV align=center>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV align=center><IMG style="WIDTH: 270px; HEIGHT: 206px" height=324 alt="" src="/_library/images/uh-blog/henry.johnnoland.jpg" width=430 border=0></DIV><DIV align=center>me &amp; my good friend, kumu 1500 sports personality, john noland</DIV><DIV align=center>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV align=center><IMG style="WIDTH: 232px; HEIGHT: 287px" height=425 alt="" src="/_library/images/uh-blog/colt.jones.jpg" width=310 border=0></DIV><DIV align=center>coach &amp; colt makin&#39; it happen!</DIV><DIV align=center>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV align=center><IMG style="WIDTH: 230px; HEIGHT: 297px" height=418 alt="" src="/_library/images/uh-blog/jones.jpg" width=314 border=0></DIV><DIV align=center>coach june jones victorious and surrounded by national media!</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>-henry kapono</DIV></div>   <div class=\'BlogPostDetails\'>Posted      <span class=\'BlogPostShowCredit\'>By: <a href=\'\' target=\'_blank\'></a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowDate\'>on 11/25/2007 at <a href=\'\'>3:26 am</a></span>      <BR>Last Comment on: <span class=\'BlogPostShowCommentDate\'>(No comments)</span>   </div> </div>  <div class=\'BlogPostGroup\'>   <div class=\'BlogPostDate SiteTitle2\'>11/02/2007</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostLinks\'>   </div>  </div> <div class=\'BlogPost\'><div class=\'hr\'><hr /></div> <div class=\'BlogPostTitle SiteTitle3\'><a href=\'\'>Inspiring & Insightful</a> </div> <div class=\'BlogPostText\'><DIV><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Aloha!</SPAN></DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>I&#39;d like to share with the world an inspiring &amp; insightful paper written by my good friend, 17-year old, sarah benton.&nbsp; she&#39;s a senior at taft high school in woodland hills, california.&nbsp; the following is a paper written about her 19-year old brother, alex benton:</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>"I was 11 years old when 9/11 happened.&nbsp; my brother was 13.&nbsp; i didn&#39;t know then that less then 5 years later, my brother would join the army.&nbsp; the slogan is "be the best you can be in the army."&nbsp; We would joke about that and talk about which military group was the best.&nbsp; army?&nbsp; Navy?&nbsp; Airforce?&nbsp; Marines?&nbsp; We joked about a lot of things, but, now that he has been gone for almost 2 years, i realize how much he is doing for me and for the usa.&nbsp; I never really thought about who would inspire me, but, now that i have been asked, it is my brother, alex.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>he started out at fort sill, oklahoma.&nbsp; that is where he did his boot camp training.&nbsp; i was so excited to go there when he would finish and graduate.&nbsp; over the time he was at boot camp, i kept thinking about him.&nbsp; what he was doing.&nbsp; what he was going through.&nbsp; we would get letters from him telling us about his training.&nbsp; how hard it was.&nbsp; how mean the army leaders were.&nbsp; how he had to go into a gas chamber where the soldiers would come out getting sick and coughing.&nbsp; their eyes would be tearing and their noses would be running.&nbsp; it sounded horrible.&nbsp; he also shared about the soldier friends he was making.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>when we finally got to go and see alex, i didn&#39;t know what to expect.&nbsp; i went with my dad and my mom and my dad&#39;s and brother&#39;s close friend from their meeting group.&nbsp; the base camp was very big and we had to ask directions to the different areas at the base.&nbsp; the cab driver was toothless and smoking in the cab.&nbsp; we kept looking at each other trying not to laugh.&nbsp; We managed to find where he was going to graduate and the cab driver dropped us off.&nbsp; We first went to see a drill that the army soldiers would display in front of the families out on the field.&nbsp; It was really cool and i could feel myself wishing i could do what he was doing and if I would be able to do what he was doing.&nbsp; I felt so proud of him.&nbsp; He looked so cool with all the other soldiers.&nbsp; They did a whole fire display, bad vs. good.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>After the field display, we went and watched the group of soldiers graduate.&nbsp; We watched him get his award and then as we headed out the door, we got to watch as they marched with a few different flags.&nbsp; Alex was the one holding the american flag.&nbsp; Again, I felt so proud of him and that I was his sister.&nbsp; Out of all the soldiers, my brother got to hold the american flag.&nbsp; We took a ton of pictures.&nbsp; I think my dad was crying.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>We then waited for the soldiers to come out of the room.&nbsp; It felt like a long, long time, but, he finally came out along with all the other soldiers and we all hugged and took pictures.&nbsp; he even hugged me, which is rare!&nbsp; he was dressed in his full uniform.&nbsp; a different one then out in the field.&nbsp; he looked tired but happy.&nbsp; he didn&#39;t feel very well and had a fever, but, he was ready to go off base.&nbsp; he was really happy to see all of us.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>we all ended up going to mcdonald&#39;s for his first real feast.&nbsp; He was in heaven!&nbsp; We all just talked and talked.&nbsp; actually, we let alex talk the most and we would ask a ton of questions about boot camp.&nbsp; even though he was sick, he was happy to be outside the base and with his family.&nbsp; mom was demanding we go to a drug store and get him medicine, so, we did that after we ate.&nbsp; we were only there for 3 days, i think.&nbsp; then we had to go back to california.&nbsp; i was sad to leave.&nbsp; alex had to stay and find out where he was going to go next.&nbsp; he ended up being stationed in fort drum, new york.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>he has come home a few times to visit.&nbsp; he has only gotten to stay a week at a time. it is always like a reunion when he comes home.&nbsp; a lot of family and friends come to visit.&nbsp; we go out to eat and try to fit a bunch of things in before he has to go back to his base.&nbsp; sushi is one of my brothers favorite things, so we do that more than once.&nbsp; we never know when he is going to get to come home again.&nbsp; he also kept warning us that he was going to be going to iraq at some point.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>about a little over a month ago, it happened.&nbsp; alex left for iraq.&nbsp; his duty is for 16 months.&nbsp; i had a very hard time knowing that it came true.&nbsp; all of us have had a hard time.&nbsp; it is scary and we all wonder when we are going to hear from him next.&nbsp; he sometimes has computer service and sometimes gets to call, but, then, he has to leave and go out to different places in iraq and is never sure when he can call again.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>i love my brother and what he stands for.&nbsp; he made a big decision to join the army when he knew what was at stake.&nbsp; i see all of what he stands for and i realize how important our soldiers are to keep the united states safe.&nbsp; i am scared a lot about his safety and wish he didn&#39;t have to be there, but, i also know his job is one of the most important jobs ever.</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>in conclusion, i have to say that my brother has made a difference in his life and in mine.&nbsp; he is fighting for my freedom and i admire him for his sacrafice.&nbsp; i hope one day i can be like him and do something just as important as what he is doing.&nbsp; i think about him every day and every night.&nbsp; i think about how important he is to me.&nbsp; i am a proud sister of an army soldier and he will always be my hero."</DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV><IMG style="WIDTH: 273px; HEIGHT: 180px" height=473 alt="" src="/_library/images/friends/alex.sarah.benton.jpg" width=631 border=0></DIV></div>   <div class=\'BlogPostDetails\'>Posted      <span class=\'BlogPostShowCredit\'>By: <a href=\'\' target=\'_blank\'></a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowDate\'>on 11/02/2007 at <a href=\'\'>4:48 am</a></span>      <BR>Last Comment on: <span class=\'BlogPostShowCommentDate\'>(No comments)</span>   </div> </div>  <div class=\'BlogPostGroup\'>   <div class=\'BlogPostDate SiteTitle2\'>04/18/2007</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostLinks\'>   </div>  </div> <div class=\'BlogPost\'><div class=\'hr\'><hr /></div> <div class=\'BlogPostTitle SiteTitle3\'><a href=\'\'>I Will Always Remember</a> </div> <div class=\'BlogPostText\'>It&#39;s been awhile since I blogged last, but I&#39;ve been chillin&#39;,  recharging and just zoning.  Well here I am and I hope all of you  have been having a great time.  I&#39;d like to reflect if you don&#39;t mind  on someone that means the World to me and I didn&#39;t realize it until I  took the time to look back.I Will Always Remember, the days of my youth.  Back in the day when  music in Hawaii was flowing like a hot lava stream all along Kalakaua  Avenue.  Just like Bourbon Street in Louisiana.  You could go  anywhere and see great bands.  It was really a renaissance a time  when Hawaii&#39;s musicians were taken serious and rightfully so because  there were some great musicians like for instance:  Kui Lee,  Steve  Logan, Jimmy Borges, The International Set, The Three of Us, Dick  Jensen, Gabby, The Sons of Hawaii, Auntie Genoa Keawe, The Surfers,  Iva Kinimaka to name a few.  Hawaii was exploding with talent and  places to play.  Great groups from the States would come and play the  clubs and it just made it even more exciting.  I was just a kid in a  candy store taking all this in anyway I could.  I&#39;d have friends  sneak me into clubs and eventually got my own fake I.D.  But I  remember sitting outside of clubs and listening to this music that  would just blow me away.  What a time and what an inspiration.   Celebrities from all over the World would come to Hawaii and really  bring their appreciation and enthusiasm.  All of this was an  incredible time and you know all of this was synergized and made  possible because of one man... Don Ho.  I remember sitting outside at  Duke Kahanamoku&#39;s at the International Marketplace and watching the  greatest show on earth.  I remember The Ali&#39;i&#39;s they were World class  musicians from Hawaii and they could back up anybody like Sinatra,  Dean Martin, Sammy Davis all the stars that would come and take the  stage, but when they accompanied Don Ho it took everything to the  next level and the house went crazy.  People always walked out like  they&#39;ve seen it all.  I remember all the beautiful woman that would  fight to get  in and he&#39;d kissed them all.  He was the man and yes  he  was and is Mr. Waikiki.  I just want to say thank you Don for  being a big inspiration to me.  For being a big part of my life.  And  for all those you have helped through the years.  You always gave  from your heart and you always made me feel like a dear friend.  You  are a good man and you will be missed , but never forgotten.  I will  always remember you... God bless!Henry Kapono</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostDetails\'>Posted      <span class=\'BlogPostShowCredit\'>By: <a href=\'\' target=\'_blank\'></a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowDate\'>on 04/18/2007 at <a href=\'\'>9:24 pm</a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowComment\'>with <a href=\'#Comments\'>0 Comments</a></span>     <BR>Last Comment on: <span class=\'BlogPostShowCommentDate\'>(No comments)</span>   </div> </div>  <div class=\'BlogPostGroup\'>   <div class=\'BlogPostDate SiteTitle2\'>03/06/2007</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostLinks\'>   </div>  </div> <div class=\'BlogPost\'><div class=\'hr\'><hr /></div> <div class=\'BlogPostTitle SiteTitle3\'><a href=\'\'>After the Grammy</a> </div> <div class=\'BlogPostText\'>Hey gang We just got back to Paradise after  hanging out in LA with our good friends the Bertone&#39; and just chillin&#39;.By now you all know the Grammy news... Slack key wins again...  I was hoping the industry had a broader perception of Hawaiian music, but such is life.  The Wild Hawaiian would be a stretch, but hey why not... Anyway, I do want to congratulate the winners.  These guys have been doing it their whole life and they have been out there promoting it stateside for sometime now.    Congrats guys!Well time to keep moving  forward the Wild Hawaiian way.  You know how much I believe in the Wild...  I do want to thank all of you for all your support.  The emails, the phone calls, the friends... all of it was incredible.  It really made me feel good to know you&#39;re out there and in strong support of the Wild Hawaiian.  I am also blown away to know that there are a lot of you and growing fast. That to me is worth more than a Grammy.  I would of won hands down if all of  you were voting members of the Grammy foundation.  All I can say is thank you soooo... much!  The Wild Hawaiian being nominated was an honor, but  a long shot.  I was having fun with the idea of winning.  After all is said and done it was a great experience and I&#39;m glad I had that opportunity.  I took my wife and children and we had a great time.  The awards ceremony  for the Hawaiian awards and all non- telecast awards was rather lack lustered but it was Grammy.   The telecast  was really impressive, Police, John Mayer, John Legend, Corrine Bailey Rae, Stevie  Wonder, Tony Bennett, Gnarles Barkley, Christina Aguilera, Red Hot Chili Peppers and on and on.  It was great to see all of them in one place, live.  The Party after featured Chaka Khan and Kool and the Gang tons of food and free drinks.  Hey I do want to mention that Jon Hawes my bass player and Stu Sherman my drummer also made it to the Grammy&#39;s to support me and I was so grateful that they did.  They had a great time as well.  Thanks guys!  Next time we&#39;ll do the telecast segment...yea!!!Moving on...    What&#39;s the next big thing for the Wild Hawaiian?  DVDof the live show, West Coast tour, convention work with Michael McDonald (great guy, awesome musician), an Internaional Film Festival, Rockumentory, yeah"Movie."   Hang tight everybody cause the Wild Hawaiian is just beginnning and the best is yet to come!  Oh yea, there&#39;s a possibilty of a review or maybe feature in a very prestigious music magazine. It&#39;s exciting!!!  I&#39;ll keep you posted.Hope to see you all at Duke&#39;s on Sunday, otherwise...unitl my nextblog-aloha oe, peace and poi!!!!!  Henry Kapono</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostDetails\'>Posted      <span class=\'BlogPostShowCredit\'>By: <a href=\'\' target=\'_blank\'></a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowDate\'>on 03/06/2007 at <a href=\'\'>2:35 pm</a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowComment\'>with <a href=\'#Comments\'>0 Comments</a></span>     <BR>Last Comment on: <span class=\'BlogPostShowCommentDate\'>(No comments)</span>   </div> </div>  <div class=\'BlogPostGroup\'>   <div class=\'BlogPostDate SiteTitle2\'>02/08/2007</div>   <div class=\'BlogPostLinks\'>   </div>  </div> <div class=\'BlogPost\'><div class=\'hr\'><hr /></div> <div class=\'BlogPostTitle SiteTitle3\'><a href=\'\'>First Blog</a> </div> <div class=\'BlogPostText\'><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"><P><STRONG>Aloha Friends,</STRONG></P><P>Well this is my first blog on my new website that just got launched yesterday! Check it out - I guess you already are if you are reading this! I Think it rocks! A lot of thought went into it and it&#39;s got a lot of stuff. Let me know what you think? </P><P>My manager (wife/everything) really did a great job of orchestrating it and with the help of Andrew Manpoc (independent web graphic designer) and Mario at EIS (Empowered Internet Solutions). I salute them for a great job! </P><P>So I have a busy week coming up and people have been asking me about it, so here goes:</P><DIV>First, I am very excited about my Grammy nomination for The Wild Hawaiian and want to thank you for all your support. Who &#39;da thunk? "Grammy?" And The Wild Hawaiian at that. Well certainly not I. The Wild Hawaiian means a lot to me and I never even thought it would have any chance of be nominated for a Grammy because it is such a radical departure from tradition. It is such a stretch into forbidden territory and I am totally in awe of this honor. Well after saying all that ... bring it on! To me being nominated makes a statement that The Wild Hawaiian is being embraced by the academy of music industrial-ites and is reaching people in super-natural ways. Why do I say that? Because I see it happening right before my eyes. People are dancing to it. People are singing to it. And people are curious to know more about this foriegn language and it&#39;s origin. It&#39;s Hawaiian, my native tongue and if you haven&#39;t heard it </DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>yet, please check it out - I think you&#39;ll like it. These are the things i was hoping would happen because I am so proud of my Hawaiian roots (Pure) that I want more people to discover it. The Hawaiian culture is beautiful and I want people to know about it. t&#39;s crucial that the next generation perpetuate it and I felt that through the music </DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>if I could communicate to them my culture in a current style then there is greater hope for a greater tomorrow. Our generation needs to nurture our children so that they can hope, dream, have faith and believe in a greater future as Hawaiians and as Human Beings. I&#39;m getting too deep. </DIV><P>Anyway, the bottom-line is have fun... The Wild Hawaiian way!!! </P><P>Before I move on I want you to know that I thank God everyday for The Wild Hawaiian. I have high hopes and should I win it&#39;ll be easier for me to communicate the Wild Hawaiian message World wide.</P><P>We&#39;ll know by Sunday and I want to thank all my friends, fans and skeptics for your support... Thank you!</P><P>And the Pro Bowl...wow! This is Big and equally as exciting! They actually wanted the Wild Hawaiian and the half time show is themed "Wild Hawaii!" </P><P>.......I just had a mind altering experience that took almost an hour to figure out, but I&#39;m back. Just so you know my computer freaked and I&#39;ve never experienced anything like it before, but I&#39;m back. Where were we? Pro Bowl! Anyway, we rehearsed today and we&#39;re ready to rock. By the way, I have got a great band. Good guys and terrific musicians. Want to know more about them then check them out on the orchestra section of The Wild Hawaiian page - they rock! Anyway, I saw Prince last week in the Super Bowl... he&#39;s unbelievable! And this week The Wild Hawaiian at the Probowl!</P><P>we&#39;re looking forward to it. Check it out if you can. I understand they don&#39;t&nbsp; air the half time&nbsp; celebration, but if things go well they might show some highlights! </P><P>The other artist performing as well is a&nbsp;young girl named Cheyenne. She records with Epic and had an MTV reality show. I don&#39;t know much about her, but I went to her site to hear her music and I like it. The kids love her. </P><P>And then there is The New York Times! This is Big! Anything mentioned is The New York Times is Big. Thanks Nate! You rock! So check out the Q &amp;&nbsp;A multimedia interview. Nice little touch. "Cosmic!" Anyway, it&#39;s all good.</P><DIV>Hey it&#39;s getting pretty late, but before I leave I want to thank everybody for your support and Hey let people know about the Wild Hawaiian and be a part of the Groovement (a movement with a forward groove). Thanks everybody for all your support and look for my next blog after the Grammy&#39;s! </DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>Peace &amp; Poi... </DIV><DIV>&nbsp;</DIV><DIV>Henry</DIV></SPAN></div>   <div class=\'BlogPostDetails\'>Posted      <span class=\'BlogPostShowCredit\'>By: <a href=\'\' target=\'_blank\'></a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowDate\'>on 02/08/2007 at <a href=\'\'>7:21 pm</a></span>      <span class=\'BlogPostShowComment\'>with <a href=\'#Comments\'>0 Comments</a></span>     <BR>Last Comment on: <span class=\'BlogPostShowCommentDate\'>(No comments)</span>   </div> </div> </div>'