am i the only one ??????

[terryfromkerry]

Hi Coops,

A MagnumMania site-seeing get together in Oahu ! What a wonderful dream. That would be a blast ! A plethora of aloha shirts, baseball caps and facial hair and that's just us guys . I have no doubt our Mania sisters would be just as colourful !

[Fr. Paddy McGuinness]

I have recently started watching an episode a day. I've made it through all the DVDs several times, but like most people I'll let a DVD sit and watch an inferior version on broadcast TV. However I recently moved and changed cable providers. In the past 5 years I've had Comcast and Directv. I ended up with AT&T Uverse, mostly for logistical reasons, in my new home. I can't believe the improvement in picture quality. On top of that they have Encore Classic in HD. My DVR grabs two episodes a day. I know Magnum is not in true HD and that some syndication episodes are a little different than the DVDs, but my love of the show has been reinvigorated. The picture quality is incredible.

I've always enjoyed watching Magnum in the late morning. I lived on Oahu for several years and it is such an outdoor lifestyle. People are up surfing before work. It's not really a place for the late night bar crawlers. I think I enjoy Magnum in the daytime because it reminds me of the life there. Nighttime is just kind of for unwinding and getting ready for the next day. The sun goes down between 6pm or 7pm depending on the time of year. There was always a feeling that the day was at en end. It was the only time in my life my body has functioned instinctually on Mother Nature's clock. Now I don't even start work until noon.

Plus it's fun to be reminded of what it looked like back then. There is an establishing shot in the early seasons of the old Halekulani Hotel. I think they used the photo as the club. What a beautiful place it was. I think the original Charlie Chan books were written by a large Banyan tree in the courtyard. Most of it was knocked and rebuilt in a modern style. They still have the best Mai Tai in Waikiki. It has an outdoor bar named "House Without a Key". You can sit there there by the Pacific in the early evening and enjoy a beverage while watching a modern hula performance. Just a peaceful place. I still visit twice a year but Oahu has, for the most part, become very commercial and modern. You almost have to visit Kauai to get a feel of what Oahu was like in the 80's. As Higgins might say, it really was like an outpost on the edge of the empire.

[308GUY]

Fr Paddy: Enjoyed reading your post very much. I see you don't really post all that much, but I for one would look forward to and enjoy reading more of your experiences on Oahu, since you lived there. Was it the military that took you there originally, or your work, or just personal preference as to living conditions?

Don't mean to pry, just curious. Still on my bucket list to get there at least once, but time waits for no one, and I'm not getting any younger!

If you have pictures and/or stories from your time on the island, it would be very magnanimous of you to share some.

Either way, I did enjoy your post.

[Fr. Paddy McGuinness]

No, not prying at all. I have tons of photos, but I function almost exclusively off an iPad. It doesn't seem that I can post photos from it. Last year I had grabbed a bunch of screen shots of TM's many hairstyles over the 8 seasons. I was going to start a "pick the best" thread, but I couldn get the photos up. I spent four years at Schofield Barracks. That's about half an hour from the overall area where most of MPI was filmed. I got there in 89 just after the show had finished. I was returning from a one year tour in Korea. I think that area, the windward side as the locals call it, Lanikai, Kailua, etc. is the most beautiful part of the Hawaiian Islands. The Napali Coast of Kauai is probably as beautiful, but it's inaccessible. You can walk down to Lanikai or Kailua beach, sit under a tree and spend the whole day just staring at the ocean. It is absolutely mesmerizing. I grew up next the ocean in a place that couldn't be more different. To this day when I visit the windward side I always think of Captain Cook's crewman; the unambitious sailor just along for the ride. There must have been tropical madness. The beauty overwhelms all your senses.

I met my ex-wife taking night classes at the University of Hawaii. She was a local girl from Ewa Beach and followed me back to the mainland. She was miserable in the Midwest and I was stuck in a ten year education cycle. There was no way for me to get back to Hawaii. Eventually it all became too much and we both agreed she should move home, not that I had much choice. I knew what it was like to live a long way from home and not have anyone. By that time we had children. I didn't want them to go, but at that point you're choosing levels of disfunction. What is the best way to get the children to best possible emotional end state this situation will allow? I have no family in the States and she had no family in Chicago. Making her stay even after we were divorced so I could see my kids was just going to breed a lot of animosity. Plus I would probably be moving again when I was done with my residency. That would leave her 4,000 miles from home with two children and no one else. As much as it hurt I helped her move home. She is from a large loving family that took great care of all three of them. My plan was to try to move there when I was at a good point professionally, but by then I was almost 40. 6 years in the Army after college had left me behind the bell curve. She was remarried and her husband had assumed a big roll in my kids lives. It's a difficult situation to find a balancing point. Plus I had stayed in the inactive Army Reserve and in the years after 9/11 I did multiple deployments. I'm 50 now and I still want to return to Hawaii. Life just becomes complicated. I have a great relationship with my kids and their mom. I talk to my kids several times a day. A work acquaintance was surprised to learn we live thousands of miles apart. They are both starting college this fall. One at the University of Hawaii and the other at Cal Poly Pomona. I won't be moving until I'm done paying those bills.

[308GUY]

That was a great read, thanks for posting!

It's said that everyone has a "story" if you take the time to listen, you have certainly substantiated that one!

I'm fairly sure the way things ended up was not the original intention, but it sounds like you worked through it all and in general, everything worked out to at least an "even keel" for all concerned.

You have led a most interesting life too!

I don't own, nor have I even ever played with an "iPad", so I can't really help you with the picture posting thing there. Maybe somebody else who see's this is more up on recent electronic instruments, and can offer some guidance. If you wanted to email pics, I can try to post them for you.

You can walk down to Lanikai or Kailua beach, sit under a tree and spend the whole day just staring at the ocean. It is absolutely mesmerizing.

This sounds absolutely enticing! There's no doubt in my mind that I could indeed, "spend the whole day just staring at the ocean."

Thank you again for posting, it's appreciated. More than a few folks would not be willing.

I hear you on the age thing....I'll turn 65 this year, that's why I say it's dubious as to whether or not I'll ever get there. Now with the estate being sold, the chance of getting there to see it intact becomes an even more "out of reach" goal, unless someone bought it that has preservation, as is, in mind, which is also very doubtful.

But take my word for it, 50 is NOT too old to do whatever you choose! Someone once said, "Life is like sharpening a pencil......you just pick an angle and push." Pick an angle and push dude! You can still do whatever you want.

Still open to any stories you want to share, you know at least one of us will be watching!

[Robert]

Not yet. I finally tracked down season 8 and now have a complete set. I rotate TV shows I watch on DVD and finally watch all of them.

[Clutterbuck]

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome

@ 308guy
That is a good hint for sure! Maybe that would an idea to get deeper involved into that kickstarter topic - the idea appears not so bad - it is a beginning at least. Also interesting to get to know other germans admiring MPI

@eltonsean

This scene makes me jump every time I watch good old Clutterbuck

Very interesting to know, because this is EXACTLY what happens to me every time when watching this scene!

By the way... the picture of your appartment proves that I am not the only one who has his own little Magnum P.I.- SHRINE (I think that term really fits it ) at home . Really nice to see

[eltonsean]

I recently paid a street artist to draw me a magnum picture i had on my iphone. Now it's framed and on my wall. Am I the only one??

[terryfromkerry]

Hi eltonsean and welcome.

I've enjoyed your posts. Love the room. The Aloha Magnum book, Tiger's cap, the shirt, etc. The Magnum portrait looks great. Must say I love that picture from The Big Lebowski. Can't quite make out the vinyl LP is that Bruce Willis ? You're giving me ideas

[Styles Bitchley]

Hi eltonsean and welcome.

I've enjoyed your posts. Love the room. The Aloha Magnum book, Tiger's cap, the shirt, etc. The Magnum portrait looks great. Must say I love that picture from The Big Lebowski. Can't quite make out the vinyl LP is that Bruce Willis ? You're giving me ideas

[terryfromkerry]

Question asked and answered, thanks Styles

[MiniMag]

I started watching the series on Netflix. I'm going season by season, episode by episode. After 1985 I missed all of the show, when I joined the military and eventually went overseas. So I have some catching up to do, and look forward to it!

The only other time I watch MPI out of sequence, is if I can't sleep at night and pull up whatever episodes I can find on YouTube on my phone. Then I set the phone on my nightstand and fall asleep to my favorite television show.

[eltonsean]

Question asked and answered, thanks Styles

exactly, Styles is def on top of things. It's Bruce Willis' album on vinyl.

[Derek]

I recently paid a street artist to draw me a magnum picture i had on my iphone. Now it's framed and on my wall. Am I the only one??

I also like the Big Lebowski picture

[eltonsean]

I also like the Big Lebowski picture

"Ya, well the Dude abides". "The Big Lebowski" movie kinda reminds me of Magnum getting himself caught up in one of his crazy cases. They're both really laid back characters. plus i also enjoy Walter's character and how he's always talking about 'Nam and he's obviously still working through some anger issues This movie always makes me laugh.