E23 MAKE ME LAUGH! Top HI Comic Kaleo Pilanca

You'll LOL or "buss laugh" as Hawai'i locals say, then you may cry. He did! Kaleo Pilanca takes us to the heights of joy as he's known the depths too. Join us for history of comedy, current culture & lots & lots of ALOOOHA!

Book Kaleo "DJ Aloha" today for your party MC or comic show, school or church event by calling (808) 352-7787. CHEE-PONO!

IG @DawnOBrienHI

FB Dawn O'Brien HI

www.ChooseAloha.org

Transcript

Meet Kaleo: Comedy And Aloha Roots

SPEAKER_03 0:12

It's another awesome episode of Aloha Alive today. One of my brata bratas, Kaleo Pilanka.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Aloha, my sister, sister.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

One of Hawaii's top comics ever. He's also an Aloha ambassador with me for the Choose Aloha program. Now in 321 schools statewide from Na'alehu Elementary. Yes. That was your Ohana, the Pilanka family.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Yes, Pilanka Ohana from Kao, Naalehu. And I gotta say, Don took me all the way, specifically, like hand carried me to South Point. Yes. We touched the water and the sand. And right when we touched, look the hair already standing up. It's already standing up. Zoom in on the hair. A whale jumped out of the ocean.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

Praise God. And that is a key nautical point. I'm using a big word right there for Hilo High. Nautical point for all of our Polynesians because it was where they sailed from Aotearoa to the South Point, and they would moor into the rocks where there's a hole still in the rocks. Because Hawaiian is smart. They're like, just put the hole in the rock and Na'alehu Elementary. You saw some of your Pilanka people.

SPEAKER_01 1:25

Beautiful Ohana. So my dad grew up in Naalehu. Kao, Papamoon, Philemon, Pelimon, you know, Filipino Chinese plantation boy riding motorcycle and is living off the grid in Naalehu. And then, of course, he has five brothers, two sisters. And so none of us grew up together because he moved us to Waihole Valley. But all the Ohana from the Pilankas, the girls all change their last name, all coming out, and you can kind of see we all have to be.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

We've worked west side Kikaha Kawaii all the way to Hanale Bay. So from South Point all the way to the most northern point of Hawaii, we take and teach children choose aloha. And so if you're wondering about the decoration on our set today, this is classic Kaleopilanka.

SPEAKER_02 2:18

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 2:18

He likes to support the houseless in Hawaii, who some of them are native Hawaiian, unfortunately, and they uh weave the basket, I mean the coconut hat. So he's so known for it that one day I surprised him. And of course, many of you know that I author children's books. This one, Aloha Almighty Alrighty. Yes. We were at Kahuku Elementary, and I'm bossum out because I said, Oh, Kaleo, there's a certain uncle who helps the cakey right there. Do you recognize the coconut hat, the orange aloha shirt, and the shucka fly? How's it? As he calls the cakey and probably says, Hey, how's it, Keiki?

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Oh, yeah. But that brings so much smiling to all the cakey, kupuna, and it just uh preserves our culture. You know all the cultures of Hawaii, the plantation people. Yes, yes, and I made it into your book. I made it into Don's book. You need to get this book because I not only read it to my own my grandkids now. I have opuna. That's uh my children, any child, even Kupuna. Love your books. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

Because you also work state hospital. Oh, wait, we're jumping ahead of ourselves. But yes, he's in the book. And final footnote, but funny footnote, because you are a funny guy. I showed him that at the Kahuku Elementary, and brother stood there for the he was he was small kind. I was gonna say crying, but local boys don't cry. They get sand in their eyes. Yes, yes, because we're nowhere near a beach and there's no wind, but they get sand in their eyes, and he stood there for the next hour of a rally with the book open to that page and standing with his hand up, waving at the children. I'm like Kaleo, I am paying you to dance and Siva and Haka.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

Act like an orangutan behind Don's back, of course, behind Don's back.

South Point, Heritage, And Ohana Stories

SPEAKER_03 4:08

And you can hear the children laughing because I go, he always has aloha. Is he doing that funny dance behind me right now?

SPEAKER_01 4:15

Yeah, so it's an honor and a blessing to be a part of Aloha Almighty already, uh, one of Don's books. You you want to get on in Don's books, and if you do, she hand selects, so I feel blessed to uh because you helped me on my journey.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

Start something because you know Leo Lani Delima then wanted to be in the next book, and then other friends like Lisa Paquele wanted to be the next next book. Everybody's like, How do I get to be in a book?

SPEAKER_01 4:36

Exactly. So more books to come.

SPEAKER_03 4:37

Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Touching the hearts. But I like the word aloha uh because we live aloha, but it the main is almighty, almighty, almighty. Yes, you know, in my life, you know, Dawn, I made a lot of mistakes in my life, you know, with my having children and and whatnot, because I always kept aloha first. But it wasn't until I realized spreading the aloha. So seven kids that mean all different last names. I love them all with different baby moms, because you know why I lived aloha only.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

You know what, brother? But I love that you went right there. Yes, like we don't even need to do the introductory games, we're just gonna go straight right now. Because you do honor the Almighty now. And when I first met you, kind of, I didn't even I knew of you because of course you've always been a celebrity here in the state of Hawaii. I'll put that out for you.

SPEAKER_00 5:21

I've always been a sobriety, a sobriety, yeah. I've always been a sober I've been a sobriety for at least at least 20 years.

SPEAKER_03 5:27

Not a celibacy, but a celebrity, yes, the opposite of celibacy. And so, brother, I knew of you, and I used to talk about you when you first came to Christ on the Christian radio station. I would get calls telling me, yes, I don't think we're talking about the same Kaleo Pilanka. Yes, yes, and I actually had to tell those people, no, my brother has come to Christ and he is a new creation in Christ. Yes, and one of them was I never told you this, one of your family members called me. I know her, love her, she loves you, but she was trying to make sure I didn't shame the family or shame myself. She said, Don, you may not know. He's kind of um he's free willy out there, he's sharing the aloha, spreading the aloha, doing all kinds of aloha, but you may not want to.

SPEAKER_01 6:09

Imagine when you said free willy, I imagine I said South Point and the whale jumped out of the water. So Don the analogy is is pretty close that when the whale jumps out of the water, and be careful when you're around Khalil, because you might get pregnant. What they said was do not hug Khalil, because nine months from now, you know. And that was the thing. That was the that was the joke. That was the that was the reality.

SPEAKER_03 6:34

He said the same thing. He's also Filipino, and he said, Um, you know what they say, we're just like gremlins, just add water, and he took a sip of his water, and you also have water. So if I may just reach over and remove the water away, removing the water.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

But don't worry, the gremlin's not gonna come out till 12 midnight tonight. So we're good. We good. But you know, aloha also got me into that that that you know, not in a comfortable position. I was getting girls haapai, yeah, different wahine, child support was going up. Wow. There came a time when I was 37. I said, enough is enough. You know, my mom was already saying, Kaleo, what are you doing? What's going on? I'm in morning radio doing April Fools. Mom, one morning I say, Mom, sit down. Oh no, who you got pregnant now, Kaleo? I was like, Mom, April Fools. But I know right there in that moment, I needed to bring Jesus in front of Aloha.

SPEAKER_03 7:20

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Aloha not gonna get me into heaven. Yes. My whole goal into about life right now is did I is my name registered in heaven?

SPEAKER_03 7:28

Oh, come on.

SPEAKER_01 7:29

Aloha, not gonna get me there. Why? And that's hard because we're Hawaiian, we're Polynesian. Yes. What do you mean you're selling out aloha? I'm not selling on aloha. I'm just putting Jesus in front of the aloha.

SPEAKER_03 7:39

Right?

SPEAKER_01 7:39

I'm putting Almighty in front of the aloha. Thank you. Because I let you know now, I did I thought I wasn't doing anything wrong, but I was breaking up households. Going with one girl, getting her pregnant, trying to work it out, it didn't work out. Go with another one, boom. Households were getting broken. My household broken. So I got down on my knee, I cried, I went underwater because good to cry underwater. You cannot tell you, crying underwater. Cool low point, my favorite surf break. I cried underwater and said, Lord, when I come back up, can you lead me to one white one girl, one wahine, one family. Yeah, I've already done enough damage already, man. You know, I felt I feel bad. I and I can no longer joke about it. I can still joke about it, but it's really serious.

SPEAKER_03 8:18

It is serious.

SPEAKER_01 8:19

How my son grew up without a dad. Moon. Like he was like fall. Wow, Kaleo. Not that he grew up without a dad, but I wasn't there for him. You heard stories about your dad getting girls. He's not there for you, no, he didn't get a lot of kids. So my relationship with my son moon had to be re We say we love each other, but imagine all the time we miss. My twins.

SPEAKER_03 8:54

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01 8:56

From zero to three. I seen him. Three to six, I did it. I found them at six, went to court, I said, Oh yeah, I get to see the boy, but the twins already moved on. They already have a dad, they already have a mom. So they moved away, and guess what? They were brought in from a Christian family. So it was hard for me to let them go. Yeah. But then I realized by crying underwater and saying, Wow, this is this Christian man taking care of my kids who I don't even know.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 9:27

But I I put a plate out for a lot of time. I hope they come through the doors. They're 19 now.

SPEAKER_03 9:31

Yeah, leave the light on brother.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

But the light is on on the porch.

SPEAKER_03 9:35

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:35

They may never come back. But I have Jesus in my heart to help me through it and to know that they're loved by this family.

SPEAKER_03 9:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

Christian family.

SPEAKER_03 9:46

And God provided how God is that provided a Christian man to step in as father.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

I could have went there and made hoo-hoo and made all kinds of pillows. But I decided not to. But to take the shame too that comes along with it. It's shame. Right. Oh brother, you get all these kids, but you're not taking care of all of them for real.

SPEAKER_03 10:03

And that's what I'm hearing, Kaleo, is you're talking about consequences. You may not have used that big word, but you are a new creation in Christ. That's in the Bible. It's clear that when you went under the water and you asked God for a fresh chance, He will meet you every time. But He cannot always save us from the consequences. And part of that, as you said, it destroyed families and it it impacted with your children. Yes. So thank you for doing that, Kaleo.

Clean Comedy And A Changed Life

SPEAKER_01 10:32

So that's moon. That's one story, right? Yes, yes. Yeah. Comedy helps me through it. Wow. I laugh at it. Yeah. But I don't know, it's serious. Yeah. My twins, who I love with all my heart and soul, Hazel and Kainalo, who I never see. But I know I love them and all my the Jesus love that you and I share. Yes, sir. And so then I marry my beautiful wife, CJ. Yeah. With her kids, she has three. Okay. So that's how we get the seven, right? So we have Christopher on Kawaii, who's like a Yellowstone cat. He's cool. He's a cool cat. And then Kanoi and Nikki who call me dad the first day.

SPEAKER_03 11:12

So through all my pain.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

And you have her kids calling me dad right off the bat. You're like, wow, this is what I'm missing. And then you have my youngest Kaena, a glow, Kaden, who probably people think, why do you always have them with you?

SPEAKER_03 11:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:25

Because I never really have any of them with me.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

Wow, Kaleo.

SPEAKER_01 11:28

So that's why I held him close.

SPEAKER_03 11:30

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 11:32

To try to um what I lost with the rest.

SPEAKER_03 11:38

Kaleo.

SPEAKER_01 11:39

But I love them all equally. In Jesus' mighty name. Amen. It's just there's a lot of pain in all of them. I cannot fix it.

SPEAKER_03 11:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

But what am I gonna do today?

SPEAKER_03 11:49

There it is.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

To make it better. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 11:51

There it is. And you just said it, Kaleo. And I want to really hone in and highlight that with like a most holy highlighter, with God's highlighter, is I know the person I was before, but I'm a new person today. And what am I going to do today forward? And since I've known you, brother, and and you just heard me say, I used to brag on you on that Christian radio station. I didn't care who called me. It was even one of your family members trying to rebuke me. And I rebuked them right back and said, He is a new creation. And so I saw you then with Caden, with the your youngest, who just went off to college. I just found out.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

Yeah, you're God is leading his way of um, you know, without journey, I made sure that he knew Jesus. Yes, he got me at the right time where Jesus was number one and it's number one in his life.

SPEAKER_03 12:36

He started taking you back to church, right? You can folks are going to anchor still.

SPEAKER_01 12:40

Yes, anchor, so you know.

SPEAKER_03 12:42

I am proud of you, Kaleo. You are an impressive man to even have the honesty and the transparency to just put it out there because God uses the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I handed the Lord a whole lot of ugly all my life, a lot of my life.

SPEAKER_01 12:59

I probably created a lot of ugly circumstances with my Allah.

SPEAKER_03 13:03

But now God says, and He promises in His word, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by doing good, and you do so much good. I've seen you on the sidelines at the games with Caden. I see you cheering him on. I see all the videos on IG when you're driving him to practices. You invested a lot of um Kala, a lot of yourself into him. Myself and CJ.

SPEAKER_01 13:25

So my my wife CJ, I gotta uh give her all the honor and the blessing and the praise because without a beautiful wife, CJ Pilanka by my side to know that when I don't have enough, she's right there to be like, hey, you know, I'll I'll put up$2,000. I'm like, for real? For real? Because you and I know we're we're entertainers, yeah, and we still live paycheck by paycheck. Hand to mouth, bro. Hands of mouth. We live in Hawai'i. And so, like, like August, or when I sent him away to college, I was short, I was short because now we're paying for his tuition,$25,000. And uh that's added on to our rent and everything else that goes along with it. Because there's no scholarship for for junior college in California for the first year. You can develop that next year, but the first year is the one, the test. So I was short on money, and I didn't say anything, I just prayed. And and thank you, CJ. Thank you, CJ. My the the love of my life, my beautiful wife, for for putting down$2,000.

SPEAKER_03 14:17

Like you work, right? We all work in the state of Hawaii, the highest cost of living, the highest taxes. We work our buns.

SPEAKER_02 14:23

Buns off, yes.

SPEAKER_03 14:24

And she is a hardworking woman. She also helps to manage you, right? You're one of Hawaii's top comics. And and she's the contact. I I tried to pre-question you before we started, and I said, What's your contact? What's the website? What was your answer?

SPEAKER_01 14:38

Just call my wife. Because you know, she's good at all the administrative things, right? For me, I'm good at in front of the camera and being at Mr. Aloha, but when it comes to paperwork, pala, and administrative things, call my wife, contracts, organization, calendars, spontaneous, and and just, and maybe that's part of it that got me in trouble in the first place, being spontaneous, Mr. Aloha. So I'm I'm definitely working on org better be organized and just uh well, and there's different gifts.

SPEAKER_03 15:04

You do have a great gift of joy and entertainment, and CJ appreciates that. And she's also has the gift of office. That's actually in the Bible where they organize things, they have the administrative gifts. So Kaleo's number through his wife. That's why he's giving his wife's number out on air. It's not because he's, you know, doing anything else. What's the number if we want to book you to do entertainment?

SPEAKER_01 15:25

352-7787. 352-7787. Choca chuka-chook. That's the jingle that goes along with it. It's right there. But you know, she checks my calendar because you know, you and I we have a lot of things going on throughout the week and everything. So she knows if I'm available. Uh, and that's usually the first start. Am I available? Are we in town? Yes. And then we can go from there. So it's really helpful uh that we just do it that way. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

Now you do comedy, you also MC a lot of parties. You're one of the best MCs I know of.

SPEAKER_01 15:52

Halloween.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

And you keep it all clean, which we'll get to in a minute. But you also work as the director of the state hospital.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

Well, it's the director of recreational therapy. Wow. But I work closely with the new administration who's the director and uh the clinical director. So you got administrative director, clinical director, I'm director of recreational therapy. I love the department, which is all the activities: sports, music, working, work in the colour, cooking, work in the colo. I'll look at an individual if they're if they're in a dark place, and I'll ask what they love to do. Yeah. And then we're gonna go do that because that helps them with healthy alternatives away from drugs, alcohol, and mental health.

SPEAKER_03 16:29

And this all was inspired by working with your dad.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

My dad, yes. Growing up with my dad, he was the probably the best carpenter I ever met. I wasn't a good carpenter, but I was a good helper. I was a carpenter's son. And so Papa Moon was he could build houses and homes, and he's I see his homes that he built around town. He worked for Kobayashi Construction as the supervisor. He's the boss. I'm the boss's son. I'm the guy that's filled up water jug, pick up lunch, keep the chain, sweep sawdust. So I wasn't very good at carpentry, but I saw how he did it. The character that he had, how he got along with the electrician, the plumber, the mason, how he got along. He talked well, he spoke with respect to them. Yes, so they respected him. Sometimes in the construction world, there's colorful words. Right. He never did colorful words, but he treated everybody with so much aloha that they always came to the job site and asked for moon, is moon here, is moon here, is moon here. Because they wanted to see who this guy was. He could build homes, but he was just a respectful man.

SPEAKER_03 17:26

And very down to earth.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Down to earth.

SPEAKER_03 17:28

And then there was a season where your dad became ill.

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Parkinson's disease. So he retired at 65. And that's where he felt he his hands started shaking, the legs started stuttering, and I was like, Dad, what's going on? He goes, Oh no, nothing, nothing. And then we went and he got Parkinson's at 65.

SPEAKER_02 17:48

Wow.

Consequences, Repentance, And Fatherhood

SPEAKER_01 17:48

So we I made it a point to be my dad's personal recreational therapist. We went to the ocean every other day. We went down to the pier, we paddled canoe, we did all these sports, and we hung out, we ate lao la. We ate his favorite food, we went to the movies. That's what a recreational therapist does. Then I realized what God had me do that. Yeah, you're not gonna be the richest person as a recreational therapist, but you're gonna be rich in bringing joy and smiling and helping people to find their light again. Wow. So you're not gonna be the richest on paper. Yeah, like recreational therapists, we don't make a lot of money, but we do make a lot of friends, and we create an ohana atmosphere, a friend atmosphere where people feel like they have hope again. Yes, so my dad, 21 years of Parkinson's, down to the last breath.

SPEAKER_03 18:34

21 years. 21 years.

SPEAKER_01 18:35

So the first 10, right? Yeah, not bad. We can manage.

SPEAKER_03 18:39

Because he's still mobile.

SPEAKER_01 18:40

Still mobile, but your your the use of your muscles and nervous systems are shutting down one at a time. Yeah, and the last to go is your is your is your your speech, your sight, your walking. So first ten, not bad. We're managing, but now he falls down and breaks his hip. So now he breaks his hip and he's at tripler. Now our recreation now is bedside. How do you recover from a broken hip where you're already having a hard time moving?

SPEAKER_03 19:05

Usually it's a year from the end of life for a lot of elderly. Most people seven, eight years.

SPEAKER_01 19:11

Yeah, 15 years max with Parkinson's. Papa Moon went 21.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

Wow. And I realized.

SPEAKER_01 19:16

So at the end part was more bedallised. To get him into car, now your body starts getting rigid, stuck. There's no flexibility. You start Papa Moon started going into in bed. I would come and puddles of sweat in the pores of your not in the pores, but you know when you lie down, you got the crevices, the necks filled with sweat. Wow and cleaning all of this. Cleaning his feet and just trying to massage, no movement at all.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

But that's what Parkinson's It's a living paralysis towards the end.

SPEAKER_01 19:47

Papa Moore took it to the end.

SPEAKER_03 19:49

You care took your dad for 21 years, calling it. 21.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

I was one of them. My mom helped, but we had to take him to Aloha Aloha Rehab. Thank you, Aloha Rehab, for helping him because 24 hour care. And then families know that if you gotta do that, that's not easy because we still gotta work and send that mom, you know. Again, so Aloha Rehab helped a lot. And I would come in and give you spells, right?

SPEAKER_03 20:09

To give you time off is what I mean by that. A bird.

SPEAKER_01 20:12

Well basically to so we could still work and come back in, right? Yeah, yes. And then so I would get there and we still would do recreation activities and take them out to the ocean. But there was a time where we couldn't go ocean anymore. He he was bedridden the last ten, the last the last seven to eight years. And that's where Ukulele comes out, right? Ukulele's favorite m songs and music. But then Papa Moon starts losing his gift of speech and he starts gazing into the clouds. And I'm thinking like he's gonna pass away soon. I don't know when, but he still made it through. By the grace of God, he still made it through. And and and I asked him one day, after like 15 years, Dad, why are you still here? Yeah, you you you you can't get out of bed. I asked him, Did you because you're in love with mom? And he blinked.

SPEAKER_03 20:58

It's because I oh that was his yes, his soulmate, right?

SPEAKER_01 21:02

My mom. My mom, Patsy Pilanka, the the Portuguese of the the community that know everything. You don't need uh Google, you got Patsy Pilanka, she knows everything. How come? Because I saw him on TV, that's why. Now I Googled it this morning. And then when COVID came out, Miss Pilanka, you have COVID. I don't have that COVID, Doc. You know I don't have that COVID. No, I just tested you. You know, doc, I don't have that COVID. That's Patsy Pilanka.

SPEAKER_03 21:25

She's fact-checking her doctor. I like that kind Portuguese.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Yeah, that Portuguese Hawaiian lady.

SPEAKER_03 21:29

She is a strong, strong lady, but that was the love of his life.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

And I I say sorry to uh the Portuguese people because I got scolding for saying Portuguese because that's like the local version, it's the pigeon version. Pigeon version of another word. Portuguese. So old timers like us say Portuguese. So we're correcting ourselves, but we might go in and out of it.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

And you know what? We speak pigeon in the state of Hawaii, so we will just translate for all of you watching from the continent or perhaps from Europe where Portugal is, the original country. Did you know that fun fact I kind of do the James Rocher, right? Fun factoid. Yes. Is we get um Portuguese brought us the ukulele. Speaking of the ukulele, however, they didn't know how to play the ukulele. True story. We just brought it.

SPEAKER_02 22:09

Here's an ukulele.

SPEAKER_03 22:10

Show me.

SPEAKER_00 22:12

I don't know how I brought them for you to play. That is a Portuguese movie.

SPEAKER_03 22:16

I'm not even joking. And and that's what I've always said because there's a rumor, right? We always know Portuguese jokes. I don't find any offense in it. And I'm really, if you're being offended right now, please jump on the joke.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

I'm 100% one quarter Portuguese. Portuguese. And you know, I come from the Machado clan, right? So the baby machado only crawl in circles, right? Baby Mashado. And I go, Duh, baby crawling in circles. Why? What do you name them? Chase? Chase Mashadow. And then when I first started comedy, Bumatai, Kabi, uh, Sam Kapu, Mel Rapid, Kimo Kapu, Kahuano, Melbourne, and Uncle Danny. So they go, Kaleo, you are a protege of these guys. And my cousins in White Hole was mad. Oh, really? Yeah. But you're the perfect. They said I was a protege. Yeah, there was, but they go, Come on, they don't spell Portuguese wrong. Why hole Portuguese was mad. They go, bruh. I'm not mad at that. They shouldn't spell the word Portuguese wrong. It's protege, protege. It's a good word.

SPEAKER_03 23:11

See, and I love this about Portuguese, and I want to say it's not actually a Portuguese joke. It's a true story that's just hilarious. Like it is 75% true.

SPEAKER_01 23:20

15, 25%. See, my math is all off. One plus one, it will always be$11. You know what high school I went to, so now I'm sing sit down diploma. But 25% true, 75%. We make on big Portuguese people. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:31

I took Duke Iono, who is part Portuguese, uh big island. We were, you know, political office thing. And we went through Honokaa, which is like Poachville, right? Like plenty Portuguese over there. Just a wonderful heritage of our um cane sugar and plantation. And I go, Oh yeah, one of my uncles, he he brought home some homing pigeons. He can go steal the homing pigeons. You can already see where this is going. He hid them for like 30 days and then he made it 60 days, doubled down. Then he said, Let's test, let's test the homing pigeons. And he he opened the cover because now this is their home. No, they flew right back to their other home. And that obviously it's not a portike joke. It's a true story that's really funny because it's really true. True stories.

SPEAKER_01 24:16

Real life stories make everything funny.

SPEAKER_03 24:18

I just is that your inspiration, Kaleo? Because you are extremely.

SPEAKER_01 24:22

Well, I took all my so as I was on the stage in Hilo when I had my first chance to do comedy with Pastor Sheldon, Pastor Pauline, Pastor Jonathan, your side of town.

SPEAKER_03 24:31

Pastor Pauline.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

Yes, she's the one that invited me. Pastor Pauline.

SPEAKER_03 24:34

She raised me, right? I've known her since I was four. Pastor Pauline, special.

SPEAKER_01 24:37

I'm with your Hanai daughter over here. She's the one that brought me and said, Kaleo, I trust you to do comedy for our kupuna. Because I see your style of comedy is for Kupuna. You take off the shorts, Opi Kotorois, the bike shorts, you got the hat, you got the shortcut.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

He has other shorts underneath, just in case you're wondering when he said I take off my shorts as comedy.

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Well, it was nice to uh go to go to uh Hilo and share real life. So while I was out I was as I was on stage talking about how I was having children with different girls, I realized it wasn't sharing comedy, it was sharing testimony.

SPEAKER_03 25:07

There we go.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

So comedy is testimony. If I can laugh at what I did and then bring light to it and then add and you know, don't learn from it, yes, that it becomes a testimony.

SPEAKER_03 25:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

And along the way, halfway through, I get down on one knee and I I pray to Father God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit to ask for forgiveness for what I have done.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

That's good.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

And now lead me on. Now my next half of my comedy is leading me on what I'm doing now and and and sharing. And perhaps maybe somebody listening out there will be like, hello, I can relate. I I'm in the same situation as you, brother. Can you can you pray with me? Yes, I can.

SPEAKER_03 25:40

I think a lot of people can relate, especially when you talk about multiple baby mamas and children, and just looking at the way our lives are today and how God can redeem all things back to himself, that goodness can come from when we weren't really living uh a good life or making good choices. So that's your inspiration is you live Hawaii and you just and you tell tell the truth because the nugget of comedy is it's truth. That's when we really laugh, is when something is true.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

And I combined Uncle Frank De Lima because I grew up with Uncle Frank de Lima. Love Uncle Frank. No, it always props, right? So that's why I add props. I just drawn to it. Yeah. And then, you know, um Andy Boomatai with all into Ohana, you know, tutu.

SPEAKER_00 26:18

So morning, you gotta work that bugger out, huh?

SPEAKER_01 26:22

That's tutu for me is Uncle Hey, Uncle Bucky, yeah. Hey, Twee is a good day. So I, you know, I have my own character, but based off of tutu, and then you got Uncle Melway, who had the gift of spontaneous, who who really told me, Call of Be clean. He's the very one who wasn't clean said to me, be clean. Yes. He came out of jail, right? Oh, wow, with whatever, and then that's when I met him, and he said, Boy, I'm gonna tell you something, be clean. I go, Uncle, but you was never clean, right? I was just gonna say his was unclean, but he's he's the one that said be clean.

SPEAKER_03 26:49

And you are marked, you are distinctive. I am so impressed by the fact that you really do keep it clean. Yes, that's how I was able to select you as my cohort, right, to go in to the schools because we gotta keep it clean.

Marriage, Finances, And CJ’s Steadfast Support

SPEAKER_01 27:02

We even gotta be so clean that our innuendos cannot be there anymore. That's right. It's it's like most comics can go up there to blue, blue comedy, right? And then they're innuendos, right? So for me, I ask the Lord, I rebuke, help me to get rid of the innuendos. I had to pray it away. I I pray away anything that doesn't serve us. Yeah, this day and age, if it doesn't it doesn't line up with Jesus Christ, yeah, I don't even entertain it. But there was a time when I was still in that gray area, sure, and I still reach that gray area, sure. But when I reach it, I say, Let us pray. So I don't cross it and then we go right back. But it also brings out that people know, like, oh, is he gonna cross? Is he gonna cross? Is he gonna cross? Let us pray.

SPEAKER_03 27:40

And may I ask you, why do you keep it clean? Why do you not cross over it?

SPEAKER_01 27:44

Because I cringe. I cringe a lot on even my friends. I go back to the old ways of growing up in Hawai'i. When you go to a Wai Hole party or a Hilo party or anywhere in the country, we get a thousand people and Hawaiian music, yeah, you're mandated, not mandated, yeah, mandatory to say hi to every person there. Kupuna. And if you miss anybody, that antibiotic, oh boy, right?

SPEAKER_00 28:07

I think you're too good, eh?

SPEAKER_01 28:09

You boy.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

One person you missed.

SPEAKER_01 28:11

So as a youth, two to them always said you don't speak that way in front of, you know, at church, right? Yeah, I grew up in church. So you don't, whatever comes out of your mouth has to be something good. Right. Life and light and love. I never know those words, but I just knew it had it couldn't be pilau mouth. Right. If you get pilau mouth, you got pinched, you got cracked, you got hit.

SPEAKER_03 28:33

And that's the truth. Because you knew the truth. My parents, my kupuna aunties and uncles would say, if it's not good, then you just keep your mouth shut.

SPEAKER_01 28:39

You don't call anybody by the first name. You call them auntie, uncle. If they make sure they're ready to be called grandma, not yet, but you know, go go, don't do it. Auntie, auntie, auntie, anti, auntie. So speaking correctly, you know, that way our mouth wasn't washed out by soap or chili pepper or mustard or you're gonna wash your mouth out when we get home.

SPEAKER_03 28:59

I thought ivory was a flavor of Colgate. I did. I thought ivory and clean as a whistle. Clean as a whistle. I kept getting my mouth washed off all the time. Or Irish Spring.

SPEAKER_01 29:10

We don't have that anymore.

SPEAKER_03 29:11

Right.

SPEAKER_01 29:12

I think it was what's missing in this world. Thank you, calling people calling people by their first names. Oh, I have to correct my son. What are you doing calling people by their first names? That's auntie and uncle. Okay, okay. It's respect. Um respect. Um, no F, you know. If I'm on stage and I see a three-year-old, I've seen this happen. Comics still swearing and talking about innuendos, and I'm like, did you not see the three-year-old in the front? Oh, and then they I call these people the still people. How do we help the still people? The people still complaining, still complaining, still blaming, still shaming, still blaming others, but not taking accountability for the children. That's called still. Do you want to be a still person or you want to be a flowing person where you like you see the three-year-old and you like, I'm not gonna swear. I'm gonna switch out. I'm gonna, I'm gonna respect. And then you see on Kupuna with the papale and the mu umumu and the flowers, yes, you better not swear.

SPEAKER_03 29:59

Oh my dirt.

SPEAKER_01 30:01

That you write. They can twist your ear off. And so I make a point that I don't no matter who's in the crowd, especially if kupuna, especially if Kiki. Yes, that everything is like, and even you gotta watch Disney, yeah? You gotta be G-rated and make it fun for them. You know, you go over fun where they're like, wow, that I haven't I haven't laughed that way in a long time. Clean, wholesome, family.

SPEAKER_03 30:23

And then everybody can laugh. Everybody can laugh.

SPEAKER_01 30:26

And you get invited back. Yes. If you swear once or anything, you'll never get invited to.

SPEAKER_03 30:30

You don't know who you're gonna offend. And sure, you might get most of the braddas laughing at you, but it might be the boss brata who's like, well, now I can't bring you back because my mom's sitting here.

SPEAKER_01 30:39

Which is why I consciously stopped doing radio. Wow, really? You know, morning radio, I was the funny guy, right? You sure were. Whoever leading the show gonna back you up against the wall. Yeah. They want me to they want me to say stuff that the world wants to hear.

SPEAKER_03 30:52

They want to basically X-rated, R-rated. CMZ, all this kind of wicked Wahine competition. And for me, I said, Let's do a booty call, let's do this.

SPEAKER_01 31:03

Yes. So when I met my wife, CJ, I was on a radio with the first one, the second one, the third one. I'm not blaming radio, but maybe possibly things I've said on a radio just didn't wasn't healthy for the household.

SPEAKER_02 31:14

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

You know, I talked about them. I talked about them because that's what they wanted to hear.

SPEAKER_03 31:18

Sure.

SPEAKER_01 31:19

They didn't want to be talked about, but I did.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

CJ Pilanka, I said to myself, I'll never talk about her on radio.

SPEAKER_03 31:26

Dishonor your bride.

Leaving Radio To Honor Family

SPEAKER_01 31:27

I feel like I ruined all my relationships because of radio and and be and not able to control my my tongue. Wow. Saying things because of entertainment purpose or money purpose or because we want ratings. Wow. I said, you know what? I powered radio. But I am gonna do radio on the weekends, like Uncle Sam Kapoo, where I can control what I say. I can send aloha. I can send have a beautiful day. I can sing, gang, take the family down here and have a good time. And here's a song that maybe not Utu Bang Bang, but because then I, you know what song came up and U-too bang bang. You and I know what that means because we we speak in songs.

SPEAKER_03 32:03

And you know what, children, do not Google that right now. My daughter asked me in the backseat.

SPEAKER_01 32:07

Dad, what is Utu Bang Bang? I said it just means, it just means, it just means I didn't have an answer.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

But keeping it clean and and thank you, then you started talking about CJ, and I want to honor you because you honor your bride. I have to and there has to be a culture of honor and a culture of respect. Honor and respect. And you're not just doing that for kupuna, which is the elderly here in the state of Hawaii, or the Keiki, which is obviously children, but there's also honor for women who are in because we are more sensitive. That's just how it is. So I'm just gonna put it out there. I have a Hawaiian sister, one of your classmates, Lisa Pakele, and she had to stop the back green room because one of the boys was busting out all kinds of jokes, and it was colohe jokes. It was rant, you know, it's a little bit ratchet and rancid. And she said, Excuse me, brother, did you not see these young women here? There were some teenagers in the room. And we, your sisters, are right here listening to that kind of joke. Now, there are other people who might appreciate that, but in this room, we still Polynesia, we still Hawaii. Yes, you still gonna have some respect and honor in this house. So thank you for setting the tone. I think it takes a strong man to stand in the goodness of that. You you're not printing out rules and having it there on a card next to you and holding it up and saying, Men, let's do this. You're living it, you're walking it. Right. Very good. Now, um, and thank you for mentioning that you've done comedy with some of the greats like Lanai, Mel Raposa, Andy Bumatai, right?

SPEAKER_01 33:32

Boggy, the Bratas, uh, Bulayah. We gotta these guys are all paving the road for us. Rap Repinger, you know, we all everyone is good. Everyone is great, and we're all friends, and we're all family. Only have good things to say about everybody.

SPEAKER_03 33:43

And you know what? Local comedy is so different, it really is its own breed.

SPEAKER_01 33:47

And you got the new ones, you know, Tumua and your magic mics. All these guys are doing great things, you know. Keeping it going.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

Let me keep that clear. I love Island Magic Mike, which is one of our local brothers before the you know, there's rumors all abounding all the time. Um, even in COVID-19, you kept us laughing, Kaleo. Where is your source of joy? Who is your source?

SPEAKER_01 34:11

Where is your source? Oh, you know what I did? What I had been doing is clearing my mind of the world, worldly, worldly things. Yeah, and I honestly approach everything now with a blank mind. But I have Jesus in my heart and my now. So my source of energy and my source of comedy now is I know what I know, I know my experiences.

SPEAKER_03 34:34

Yes, you do.

SPEAKER_01 34:35

I cannot just sit down and write stuff, yeah? And you and I had the pleasure and the blessing to sit down with Kupuna. They're passing away now.

SPEAKER_03 34:41

Yes, they are.

Recreational Therapy And Purpose At The State Hospital

SPEAKER_01 34:42

I used to get my motivation by sitting down with Uncle Bernie or uh my uncle Delma, my uncle. Like these are not the big dog comics out there, these are the comedians in my family. There's guys funnier than me before me. These Kupuna guys would come together and play music. My Ohana, Lagapas, Lam Hoes, the Royals, the Planckis, all White Hole Valley, Palancas, the Lentinos, uh, Fernandez, these are all Hannah. We're not related, but we're related by Calabash. Yeah, but they all get together and they sit down, they play music, and they talk story and they have fun. I would sit in on this and just listen and sing, and they would sing Okaleo, Okamanu, Ehoe, my A P Lee. And you know, sweet Lady of Wai Hole. But in between songs is where the stories of the week that's where I would gather. You know, this day and age we get chat GBT and AI. That was our live and direct. But guess what? Most of it passed. Right. I don't have that anymore. Wow. So I find myself by myself nowadays. I don't have that. That that's how I got my comedy developed. Yeah, these past 20 years. Now I'm at a point where it's day one. I don't have those uncles anymore. Uncle Mel has passed, Uncle Delma has passed, Uncle Bernie, Uncle Olive, uncles, Uncle Joe, Uncle Frankie, my dad, Las Vegas, Uncle Frankie. I don't have those Kupuna anymore. So I am co I am silent. I'm in the ocean. Silent. Now ask us, how do I get the story now? I'm gonna leave it at that. I'm day one with you on the podcast now. Yeah, going to Hilo. Yeah, I share my comedy I've known for 20 years. But I want to do something different now. Fresh. I want to do fresh, I want to include Jesus in there.

SPEAKER_03 36:20

Fresh food, fresh fire, and you bring freshness. Fresh Holy Spirit fire. There it is. The Holy Spirit fire.

SPEAKER_01 36:27

When we see the heart with the flame, that's Holy Spirit fire to me on the emoji.

SPEAKER_03 36:30

And you taught me uh a few key terms in Hawaiian, but I learned kauhane hemolale.

SPEAKER_01 36:36

So iloko kainua kamakwa in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. In name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_03 36:52

Surrounded by life.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

But I that was pretty impressive. I asked the Lord to teach me just what I gotta know. I just want to know how to pray.

SPEAKER_02 37:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:08

How to how Jesus wants me to pray, how God wants me to pray, and teach me that. And then you can teach me the Lord's Prayer in Hawaiian. Uh, and I've learned that, and then I learned ho'nani. So I can put one in the beginning, middle, and end. And that way we can speak in English in between and really willy, twine them. And you and I can do them at the schools, we can do them at the state hospital, we can do them at court. Where do people tell us you're not supposed to pray in that kind of name? Right. But you and I do.

SPEAKER_03 37:31

Oh, we sure do.

SPEAKER_01 37:32

And so we do.

SPEAKER_03 37:32

We have two legal languages in the state of Hawaii, and that is Hawaiian first and foremost. That is our host culture, and we speak in English.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

And pigeon. That's true. You gotta put pigeon because that's normally that's what I people go, Kaleo. You're not gonna make it in this industry because you speak pigeon. Guess what? I spoke more pigeon because I'm not gonna lose who I am.

SPEAKER_03 37:51

That is who we are, and we cannot lose uh our identity as an island people. Thank you for answering that the source is the spirit of God's gotta be got the spirit of Allah.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

Because I'm silent in my mind, yeah, but I let my na'oo lead, and where where where Father God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit is located is in my pu and in my na'au, and therefore it goes into my lavenna, my spirit border that's we're going to go to heaven. And then you and I, when we go, we because it's all porno, the when you come into a room full of people, you know that the Holy Spirit is working without saying anything. And everybody get up and go. Come on, clear, clear, clear, clear, clear. So at the state hospital, when I enter the cafeteria, I always test them. That's my assessment. My assessment is not looking at somebody, oh wow, oh wow, he's talking to himself there. Okay, well, well, nice, okay. Okay, let's prescribe them. No, my assessment is I if I'm phono and I'm straight with God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit, and I approach without saying anything, I want to see how many people get off their seat and give me the ha.

SPEAKER_03 38:43

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 38:44

And they say even that's not right. Right. That I go over there and give human touch to people that's in a dark place. That's the most important thing.

SPEAKER_03 38:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 38:52

I do it anyway.

SPEAKER_03 38:53

Connection.

SPEAKER_01 38:53

I do it anywhere. Yes, and you know what I know. The still people are around us, the still blaming, still shaming, still complaining, still making excuses, and still complaining.

SPEAKER_03 39:01

Come on.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

And I was thinking in my spirit, and maybe you can help me with this. Do I run away from those people or do I go in and feed them with the Holy Spirit, the still people? So that they're flowing like Ahupua. The water that's flowing from the Ua far from the heavens into the mountain, into the fresh water, into our low patches, down to the Hawaiian fish pond. And everything is flowing and going. All natural because God created heaven and earth.

SPEAKER_03 39:21

Wow, calendar.

SPEAKER_01 39:22

Genesis 1-1.

SPEAKER_03 39:23

Ooh, power today, family. We're getting a history lesson, we're getting the spiritual lesson.

SPEAKER_01 39:30

Where my pain is at? I have those pain in the beginning that you cry. You help me to because that's what that's that's my next journey. Will my twins come back to me?

SPEAKER_03 39:40

We will pray for that. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 39:42

Without me knowing. And this no hazel canalu. Daddy loves you. I want to say it here on Don's Podcast. That's good. Daddy loves you, and the why home is the light is always on. Moon, I love you. Can I say I love you to all my children? You can. Can I say I love you to my wife?

SPEAKER_03 39:54

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 39:54

CJ, I love you with all my heart and soul.

SPEAKER_03 39:56

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 39:57

Wow. Christopher Kanoi. Nikki Moon Hazel Kainalu Kaena and Little Maria in Mexico.

SPEAKER_03 40:06

Oh joking in the name of it.

SPEAKER_01 40:13

Look like mysterious but funny at the same time. We gotta be. We tears fall, we cry, we laugh. I say little Maria because I wish now that my child support was in Mexico versus America. Because child support is 500 each. But little Maria, I gotta say it.

SPEAKER_03 40:29

You can speak into being and prophesy cheaper child support. It's just a joke.

SPEAKER_01 40:34

Little Maria would have been 33 cents a day for clothes and school and books. I just don't and that's just a joke, guys, because we're communicating.

SPEAKER_03 40:42

Really, we're really joking right now. Okay, thank you for that. Um boy. You know what? Speaking of influencing children with your 33 cents a day, uh, you do influence with something that's far more precious and invaluable, actually, the treasure of aloha. We go into schools and we talk about choosing aloha, right? Not choosing hate, choosing um self-harm, hurting people, bullying, etc. How do you influence Keiki for aloha? Just on a regular everyday, because people are watching and we see the news about you know everything negative, but how do we influence Kiki for good?

SPEAKER_01 41:18

Well, you and I, when we do our assemblies, you know, I I get to I get to play the music. I get to be DJ Aloha. Yes, I get to I think I'm a radio voice. I'm DJ Aloha with my coconut hat and a shaka, a smile, puka shells. Yes, because to me, puka shells worth more than gold, more than anything in the world because it connects us with the the the ocean and the creation that God gave us right here. Yes, and I get to be play music for for for Don as she goes and approaches 500 to 1500 Keiki, and we take them on a journey of courage, yes, of of being courageous. Thank you. And not only that, it's also gratitude. There you go. Being thankful. Attitude of gratitude. Attitude of gratitude, and of course, forgiveness. Yes, you and love comes in many's ways. And I gotta say, Don, thank you so much. Compassion and action, compassion not only compassion, but doing something about it. There you go. Yeah. I had to, I did it without asking, but I know you said, okay, no problem. Oh, it's so I put a I put this sign that I spray painted, choose aloha on top. So it's not an elaborate sign, but I put it at the state hospital.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

Oh my gosh, so I just wanted to let you know. Share a photo so we can put it on the phone.

SPEAKER_01 42:20

But it's it's like the the sign is not elaborate and colorful. No. But guess what? It can be simple. People go, wow, ugly sign. I go, guess what? You looked at it anyway. But the person that helped me make it, uh, Christian brother, said Kaleo, this is the best we can do to put up at state property, right? They gotta make it match. So it's a white sign and black lettering, you know, that matches other signs.

SPEAKER_03 42:40

That's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 42:40

And it says choose aloha. And I share that not only with what I've learned from you going to assemblies, I brought that same feeling because it's free. To give aloha is free.

SPEAKER_03 42:51

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_01 42:52

And a lot of these people are in dark places, and and they don't want to start.

SPEAKER_03 42:57

Right?

SPEAKER_01 42:57

To me, choosing aloha is the perfect start to anything.

SPEAKER_03 43:00

It is.

Caring For Papa Moon Through Parkinson’s

SPEAKER_01 43:01

Say you're suicidal or say you have depression or schizophrenia, you hear voices, auditorial, yeah, auditory hallucinations, and you're just like, you committed a crime. You didn't want to, but you did. It's called mental illness. So you ended up at the state hospital. Yeah, you're in a dark place, nobody people are there just walking by, not even saying hello. That's what it's became. I went in there saying, you know what? A good start, I asked, can I put up a sign? Because when people see it, choose aloha, they're gonna ask me, Kaleo. And I'm gonna just say, let's just start with aloha.

SPEAKER_03 43:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 43:29

You chose aloha today, which is courage, which is gratitude. You woke up, you woke up today, right? Forgiveness, forgiving yourself for whatever you did, and now you can start fresh, and then let's let's love and compassion action. Guess what, Don? It's the biggest thing happening at the state hospital. And it's free. Choose aloha from the administrator to the workers. Yeah, it not only touch the people we're helping, but everybody's walking, and they're wondering, where did that come from? I said, Well, I caught her Kahu, my Kahu Don O'Brien taught me, and now I want to teach you. Thanks. But we plant tea leaf, right? We plant tea leaf, we make lao lao, we make smoke made and onions in the choose aloha class. So we teach them things, we make tuna sandwich, egg sandwich, because that's what they need to learn away from homelessness. Right. Teach them what they need to know. Real life skills. Yeah, I can go over there and be like, but what do you need? Because I never did cook spam eggs and rice. Well, guess what? Here in choose aloha, we're gonna make that right now.

SPEAKER_03 44:21

That's good.

SPEAKER_01 44:22

And then we're gonna break bread by doing it.

SPEAKER_03 44:24

Because you're teaching the principle, but also the practical. Yes. I'm gonna teach you gratitude, but then we also teach you how to make a musu bee or feed yourself an egg salad stuff.

SPEAKER_01 44:32

What choose aloha is at the state hospital?

SPEAKER_03 44:34

I love that. Teaching them life skills, what they need, and that's what choose love, choose aloha is. Thank you to Scarlett Lewis, who loves Kaleo, by the way. She started the Choose Love movement in um after that Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting over 10 years ago, and it went to 120 countries, all 50 states, and Hawaii is the number one state representing it. Thank you, Jesus. But Kaleo and I are out there spreading the choose aloha message, and you're doing it in some of the darkest places with the least of these and the worst of we's.

SPEAKER_01 45:06

I'll show you how far they took it. They see how aloha works. Choose aloha. You and I know that's just another word for Jesus Christ. That's right, a God. People go, Kaleo, you get something different about you. Yes. You love Jesus? I love it. I didn't force anybody, they're just asking me a simple question, and I can go, yes, I do love Jesus. Good. I see the light, my brother.

SPEAKER_03 45:27

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 45:27

Now it's to the point where people are calling me directly. Administration. Kaleo, can you come with us to the most difficult of people in restraints?

SPEAKER_02 45:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 45:38

We want to get people off restraints. Yes. We want to treat them as human beings. Right. We know they made big, big, big mistakes, but it's not my job to judge. I'm at the state hospital. What is the song where if not me, then who? If not now, then when? Yes. So yes, people are gonna be mad at me. Oh, but I cannot believe you're helping people like that. It does state hospital. I said, if not me, then who? Right. I love Jesus Christ with all my heart and soul. He did the same thing. Exactly. And he was persecuted for it. He was whipped and beat up. I'm willing to risk my life to go help somebody the way Jesus helped people.

SPEAKER_03 46:07

And what's the other option if you're not helping that person?

SPEAKER_01 46:09

Then who else can come help?

SPEAKER_03 46:11

Are they just gonna be there till they pass on? I mean, we need somebody to go in and interven do an intervention, intervene.

SPEAKER_01 46:18

We gotta intervene because we gotta get others to be like you and I. We gotta find more dons. We gotta find more badacoleels, the kind that we go out of our way to help a homeless or go out of our way to help people who cannot help themselves.

SPEAKER_02 46:29

That's good.

SPEAKER_01 46:30

Now, when someone is in the restraints, we need to ask them the right questions. There you go. What do you love doing? That's good. Okay, we're gonna take off your restraints for a little while. We're gonna go in the uh this other area. And I just made a fresh cup of uh decaf coffee. I cannot do calf yet because it doesn't mix well with your meds, but guess what? It's nice and warm. Right. A cup of tea, maybe a couple of rich crackers. And we're gonna voila out. We're gonna talk about why perhaps uh the decision you made to hit or assault. But guess what? Once we start asking these courageous questions, these gratitude questions, these forgiveness questions, and these compassion and action questions, guess what happens? Joy comes back. But you and I took the time one-on-one so that these individuals can get back to the group and function, and then they can get back to community and function and be successful in life with a roof over their head, cooking their own food, taking their meds, drinking their water, getting good sleep, and then finding their home church.

SPEAKER_03 47:24

Beautiful number one, yeah. And it comes down to one word connection. Connection. You made a human connection, you treated them as human in that connection. I'm gonna give you a hot cup of tea or decap, we're gonna break bread, right, or Ritz crackers, and we're gonna talk about things you love.

SPEAKER_01 47:40

But guess what happened? But still people wasn't around watching. Oh, they were watching how this was like working. Perhaps because it was working, I got written up. Oh, Khalil, I'm just gonna it's okay because I I say if I'm getting written up for this, wait, first of all, what am I getting written up for again? So I was in this office and saying, Khalil, you get it like like many green sheets. Yeah. Choose aloha. They almost called it a cult. Okay, but you know, this is what is life, right?

SPEAKER_03 48:11

It's an official social emotional learning program. It is certified, it is called science.

SPEAKER_01 48:17

He's he's giving them snacks. No, we're breaking bread. Right. See, look, he's using the word breaking bread. That means it's spiritual. So they look it up. No, breaking bread is just uh coming together of one communion and having communion, but we're coming together. We're eating, we're breaking bread, we're talking story. It sounds like a kanikapila pa'ina to me, right? And so what else? Are they telling me? Well, they keep reading on, they're like, oh God, he broke the rules of the mission of the hospital, he broke the rules of the constitution. They're taking it so far.

SPEAKER_03 48:44

The constitution of the United States.

SPEAKER_01 48:46

So I'm getting rid of my choose aloha mission of trying to bring love basically to these people that they need. Yeah, and I'm seeing it work, Don. Don, I'm seeing it work with these people. They haven't, they're breaking out of this shell. Yeah, they're coming out sharing stories of their childhood before all the drugs, before all the alcohol, before all the crime. They're sharing of the good times. Yeah, and we're laughing, we're breaking bread, we're drinking tea, and guess what, gang? We're gonna do the same thing tomorrow. Good. I see you tomorrow. Thank you, thank you. And we hug, we honey honey. We either say, How's it? Connect. I even some of them that know the honour, they hanu with me. And and and if that drives everybody mad from the world, I'm willing to make a sacrifice how Jesus made that feeling. Wow, thank you. But guess what happened after that? What the people who believe in choose aloha said there's no longer anyone, no one can write up anybody anymore. So they put a stop to them, they put a they put something places like there's you cannot just write up anybody for frivolous things.

SPEAKER_03 49:38

Right. Because that's frivolous. It is frivolous. So to the still. This is a neuroscience program. It is backed by science, and it works because it goes to the root of the issue. It does. And if we heal the root, we're gonna heal the fruit. We're gonna see better fruit. If we heal the man, we heal the land. Thank you for choosing aloha in the state hospital and for living different because mixing our culture of of Kekanaka and Polynesia.

SPEAKER_01 50:00

How we close so close to Ahupua in the Lo'i, in the so we can tie the two together. And to eat food with people, how basically bread. And I ask the guys, the patients, you know, I don't call I don't even call them patients. I call them patience because what do we need? To have patience. That's good. So it's not patient that I'm sick. No, we just gotta all work on patience with a C with each other. So it changes the whole perspective, right? Oh, brother Kaleo. Thanks. Uh thanks for looking at us like that. I said, no, we're all equal here.

SPEAKER_02 50:24

Love it.

SPEAKER_01 50:24

And we're all gonna help. You help me, I help you. I I need things. So I know you guys are masters of what you know. Let's bring that out.

SPEAKER_03 50:30

Yeah, bring out the best.

SPEAKER_01 50:32

You're the best at, and let's go. And that's why I'm reading this book, Don.

SPEAKER_03 50:36

The Way of the Shepherd. Who's Dr. Kevin Lehman?

SPEAKER_01 50:39

So I got this from Hilo, Dr. Um Um well, Pastor Sheldon's wife.

SPEAKER_03 50:45

Yes, Heidi.

SPEAKER_01 50:46

Heidi, she got me this book, so thank you, Heidi. I said, I need help.

SPEAKER_03 50:49

Bruh, you know when you're talking about Hilo, my hometown, he looks right over Sheldon's wife. I'm like Heidi. Heidi, Heidi. I've known them since high school.

SPEAKER_01 50:54

Should I say Heidi's husband? Yeah. I thought of Heidi. I'm now on. We just say it. Yo's Pastor Sheldon's wife, right? From now on. No. Yeah, yeah. That's Heidi's husband up there. You the queen. So thank you for uh and CJ, you know, paid for it. Thank you, CJ. The way of the shepherd. That's so wonderful.

SPEAKER_03 51:09

So it's basically um seven secrets of managing productive people.

SPEAKER_01 51:14

So that's you. Well, I want to learn because I never had an opportunity to be a leader. I was always a soldier, right? Khalil, I need you. Okay. I need you, Khalil. So I needed to learn the way of a shepherd. Thank you. Which is mainly what you and I just said. We listen with our eyes and our ears and our heart. We finally we get to know our people that we're leading.

SPEAKER_03 51:29

It's good.

SPEAKER_01 51:30

Even to the point where, like, hey, how's your how it's how we grew up? How's mommy them? Right? How's daddy them?

SPEAKER_03 51:34

How's Auntie? How's Auntie then?

SPEAKER_01 51:36

We gotta take it that far, even if those people don't like me. Wow. And I gotta face that too.

Culture, Language, And Kupuna Influence

SPEAKER_03 51:40

Beautiful, Kaleo. This is the culture of connection or aloha, the aloha culture, aloha spirit that we're we're renewing and renovating. Renovating. Renovating. Um, but you know, it's kind of like when I hear a lot of people go, Oh, I've discovered this new superfood. It's coconut. And I'm like, Yeah, our people have been eating that for thousands of years. We don't have to rediscover it. We still eating coconut and drinking coconut.

SPEAKER_01 52:05

It wasn't broken, though. Our Ahu Pua was not broken.

SPEAKER_03 52:09

It is. We remember learning Ahu Pu'a in small kids' school time. You had to draw the whole thing from the mountain down to the ocean and all the little things.

SPEAKER_01 52:17

Oh, sorry, let me call you by first name, Uncle Herb. Rest in love. But he drew the Ahupua first. He drew it so that we could follow it.

SPEAKER_00 52:25

And I live in Ahupu'a Wai Hole, which still exists. That water we gotta take care of.

SPEAKER_03 52:30

All the way down to the Loko I uh, which is the fish ponds. On the bottom. I just went to a counselor's office at Holomua Elementary. They love you by the way. Well, you know, they change aloha. And Heidi was there. She's related to Tiffany Thurston and Kathy Thurston, and she had the whole poster of the Ahupua hanging right there.

SPEAKER_01 52:48

You gotta have that around at all times.

SPEAKER_03 52:49

It's not just the practical, it's the principle.

SPEAKER_01 52:52

So I have that up at work as well. Uh because I want somebody to ask me what that is, you know? They go, Claire, what is your class about? Yeah. I said, You see that ahupua right there? It's all about that. The flow. Now people see the picture, but they don't really live it, right? Go in. Yeah. I still love going in. You know, we we love to paddle canoe out in the water in the ocean. When I see heavy rain, I go into them. Uh surfing. I still take that time to surf, get in a loi. Not 100%. It's good, but we still get in when we can.

SPEAKER_03 53:16

And we share culture. Like you walked in, I brought down two bags of oranges and I bless it.

SPEAKER_01 53:21

Mahalo for makanna.

SPEAKER_03 53:22

Bless Clint because somebody gave me a whole uku billion. Thank you, Dawn, from Mili Lani. And of course, I didn't say that at first, Iolani from Mili Lani, but you said, Oh, from Kou. And I go, Oh yeah, Kau via Mililani. But when you get extra, you always bless it for. And it's local produce. So going back to our culture, last question. Boy, time sure flies when I'm having fun, which means I'm on speed warp with you, Kaleo.

SPEAKER_01 53:47

Always DJ Aloha. Two Portuguese people, I tell you right now. They say two wongs make a white, but two Portuguese make a I don't know where we're going to be. So I promise you.

SPEAKER_03 54:01

This is real, certified, licensed Portuguese. I am not. I'm a Portuguese wannabe.

SPEAKER_01 54:06

But you do pretty good. You do pretty good. I know.

SPEAKER_03 54:08

That's what I had to do.

SPEAKER_01 54:08

Just don't let the tongue in come out. But it's good to have a tongue in your on your side when you're in trouble.

SPEAKER_03 54:14

You always want us on your side. You never want to see the other side of us. Last question we always ask every guest um what is aloha to you?

SPEAKER_01 54:22

Aloha to me has changed. Because if you asked me this 20 years ago, it would have been get all kind girls hap high. But now, what aloha means, in the the literal meaning, aloha is in the presence of you and I. When we see, we always touch noses and we hanu. We we breathe in the same air.

SPEAKER_02 54:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 54:41

Right? The same breath. People say, Why are you guys breathing in? Because we're breathing in the same air, which makes us equals. Yes. You know, there's nobody better. That's right. We breathe in the same air. Now you and I have developed the trust for a brother and sister. I hanu with my wife as much as I can. My keiki. My mo Puna now have grandkids coming.

SPEAKER_03 54:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 54:59

I will hanu with people who we establish the connection.

SPEAKER_03 55:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 55:03

And those that don't know, we'll give them the shaka in the house. They're not ready. It's okay. But aloha is is the breath of life. I also hanu with kalo that I nourish and nurture. So if I'm putting something in the ground, I will for one year nurture and nourish if I spend time with them. As well as the people that I help. A homeless person. Aloha is being aware and awakened and alert. Miki makaala is the Hawaiian word. Thank you, Ankuru Kawa'ah. Being Miki Makaala. Always aware. Aware to find an opportunity. So I I I equip myself as a Christian now with dollar bills. Because I never know when I'm gonna see a homeless person. I can buy them one drink.

SPEAKER_02 55:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:43

Right?$3,$4. Right? I equip myself with this. Remember this one? Yeah. My wife gave me this. This goes on our coffee mug. It's a coffee. I'm always thankful every day with our agape love. Yes? Unconditional love. The Jesus faith. Jesus love. I say that to everybody. I say, I love you. Not disrespect to women, not trying to hurt anybody. I love you the way Jesus loves me. And I love you the same way. I have this that uh a young man gave me is if some sometimes somebody might be like, hey Kaleo, read me a scripture. So this is the one I carry with me. The John 14, uh, one to four or six is if you know, letting them know that I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father by but by me. But if they're ready to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they can I don't know it by the prayer, but they can be they can accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Yes, sir. And of course, this is uh I'm always alert, so this is my notes for Don't show today. But aloha to me is paying attention, being aware and alert. Miki makka allah to be ready to help everyone and anyone from the keiki to kupuna, everyone across, and of course, never forget those in heaven, a smile upon us as guardian angels that taught us the way and the wisdom. Father God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is aloha to me. And of course, to cling on to what is love and aloha, courageous, gratitude, forgiveness, and love. And then iki to always ask for blessing in those places that I cannot see. And then being neui, to be grand in everything we do. So when you approach, everybody's standing up. And then knowing that we're on for a journey. Aloha to me is having my my name etched in heaven that it's ready for me. I is my name registered. Aloha to me is is am I doing enough here on earth that my name is registered in heaven? So I I always feel like I'm not not done enough. So I want to learn more, I want to hang out with people who spill uh the Holy Spirit on upon me and go, and then Don, you know and I know Aloha is being still, yeah, finding time to get in the water in the ocean and by yourself away from all the hust and bustle of the world because it's loud.

SPEAKER_03 57:37

The noise.

SPEAKER_01 57:38

The noise. And really, everybody thinks you and I are extroverts, but we're also we're introverts. Yeah, right now we're extroverted, but if you didn't spend time in the ocean or with uh a quiet time, yes, for like days on time, peaceful, like everything's done, we're not able to perform this way. That's right. And to me, that's part of what aloha is, and I'm still learning what aloha is. Aloha is Jesus, Jesus is aloha.

SPEAKER_03 58:01

Wow, you beat me to the punch. I was gonna say, who is your aloha hero?

SPEAKER_01 58:05

And you said it's just it helps me to be the best husband to CJ, the best dad to all my cakeys, even though it's broken. Yeah, I still want to fix it, and I think God is uh fixing it for me so I can see my twins again one day and bring all my you know my kids don't know each other. How sad is that? That's sad. That's sad. But I love Jesus, and I know it's gonna be okay. Amen, brah. And my new grandkids coming up. I love you. Wow, my children, I love you, and all my friends and family, I love you. Mom, I love you. Dad, all my cousins, and just friends and family. I love each and every one of you. I I don't have hate for anybody in this world, and that's what Aloha is to me.

SPEAKER_03 58:43

You the real Aloha hero, brah. And that's why. And I cannot take credit, right? Right? He's crowned. And there he is, and it says hats for sale, but brah would just give them away for free.

SPEAKER_01 58:59

Saleh. Oh, and my other samoy friend who's who who surfed out sandies on a flat day. Tufa. Tufa out, toofa out. He's too fa out, come back in.

SPEAKER_03 59:07

Sale da sole, who has sale. Yeah, and two a tua is a four, right? Two for four. Go my. Um, thank you so much. Kaleo Pilanka, one of the directors at the state hospital. He's also, you can find him online. No more website. Sorry about that, but you can call Kaleo's wife.

SPEAKER_01 59:26

Or IG, there's Instagram, so you can see all the latest videos of Don and I with the schools and just my. I like to put up just quick funnies. Yeah. Or I love to put up stuff with me and Kelly Boy and Leo, you know, the family when we go traveling. Because that's a it's all about having good time. Yeah, good time, good fun. The joy of Jesus. That's aloha. The joy of the Lord is our strength. That's that's Aloha. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:45

Find him online on IG. You can call his wife if you want to book him to MC or party to bring some really royal, grand, holy ha ha's, and it's a lot of laughter, clean humor. Or you can also have um just Kaleo for a really great choose a. Aloha rally at your school. My dear brother and really good friend, I'm so proud of this man. I thank you. Thank you for being Aloha Kirby.

Keeping It Clean: Respect For Keiki And Kupuna

SPEAKER_01 1:00:07

And if you feel pain out there, like I feel we all have pain inside, just know that it exists in all of us. So we all not perfect. We all have the pain. Don't hide it. You have people like Dawn and myself to call and contact so we can pray with you so we can help you through it as well, side by side, equally.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:25

We bless you in the name of Kia kuo maoloa, monaloa, his Keiki Jesus, and Kauhane Hemolele. Aloha tea.