He isn't the only oddly-named child in the Tadani clan. There's a brother named Tad and a sister named Windy -- and then there's Marilyn & Darlene. Tadani says he possessed interesting self-awareness even as a child. "I always felt special, like I could get away with things others couldn't. I always feel that if I got into a major car accident, or airplane crash, I'd survive. I'd be the guy on the deserted island, trying to live off lizards and rats."

He says his fearlessness might be attributed to his father's competitiveness, or his involvement in sports (he was a utility player on Castle High School's baseball team: "My trick was to learn every position so the coach needed me and could never cut me!" he laughs.) Although this was the heyday of Castle's drama department, with actor's guru Ron Bright at the helm, Tadani never got near the spotlight off the athletic field. "It was either be a jock or a thespian, one or the other. Thespians just weren't cool enough! Later, I realized that that was the cool side, and the sports was the knucklehead thing I was doing, yeah? Trying to be macho!"

Tadani is a whirlwind of energy, and his big, big world has been filled with diverse experiences. "I did everything from delivering papers to working at 7-11," he says. "I paid for my own education – two years of college, but I worked through my studies. I always had a radio job. We have a poor paying market when it comes to radio stations. That's why I got into TV."

Life In Tinyvision

Tiny Tadani's TV career began, of course, with his stint as a weather guy on KITV-4's "Good Morning, Hawai`i". (Some people still aren't aware that he has worked behind-the-scenes at Oceanic Cable for over a decade; this was the job that paid the bills.) He quit the morning program because he wanted a production of his own; his bosses at Oceanic liked his pitch and told him they'd give him a time slot if he could find sponsorship. When the Tony Group signed on, it was showtime.

On his website (another glorious hoot), Tadani describes his wildly popular TinyTV program as "a cross between Emme and Bula'ia". It's actually more a weird hybrid of reality television, shameless infomercial, and that wild chase scene from Raising Arizona, with the production values of something straight from cable access. Each episode takes 20-40 hours a week to film. "I'm jamming, nights and weekends and lunch hours. My full-time job is doing promotions and producing for Oceanic Cable. Everybody thinks I just do my show and walk around with a camera!" Luckily, his cell phone is provided by sponsor Hawaiian Wireless. "I log on about 4,000 minutes every month! I'm always on the run. If I didn't make use of that time, I wouldn't be able to sleep."

Surprisingly, the strategic cross-promotions on Tadani's show contribute to, rather than detract from, his show's success and appeal. With his frequent visits, camera always in hand, the sponsors have themselves become part of the show. Even "Tiny's Tony Loaner", a free Tony Group car he gets to test-drive for two months at a time, has its own weird presence! "I wash it, and drive it, and promote it, and talk about it in my show every week," he says. "Some shows try to sneak in all this advertising, and people look down on it. I go the opposite way, and tell them right up front, 'This is a 30-minute infomercial. But I'm gonna make it interesting by putting neat things in.'"

The quirky production values are also an oddly important part of the show's charm. "Wherever I am, I'll ask anyone where I'm at to shoot – the security guard, whatever – or my son will do it, or myself." Tadani says he has zero overhead. "I get my airtime through Oceanic negotiated in my contract. That's the difference between me and other local programs."

The first half of Tadani's allotted hour from Oceanic is given each week to Local Kine Grindz, the wacky restaurant review show starring Bruddah Sam and Lina Girl. Initially, Tadani wasn't sure that the segment would be a hit. "I thought Kathy Muneno should have a food show; she did On The Menu on KITV. But Ikaika Kimura [producer and owner of Danica Productions] came to me and said 'You gotta see this show! This big guy named Bruddah Sam is going to go eat at different restaurants.' I wasn't intrigued, but Ikaika has an Avid editing system. I told him, 'Well, I'll give you a half hour of my hour on Oceanic, [if] you edit my show." Sam's wife Lina joined as co-host, and the dining duet of wanderers set off in search of Hawai`i's culinary Holy Grail.

What's That Tiny Sound I Hear?

With A Tiny Help From My Friends, Tadani's new CD, has made a huge splash on the Hawaiian music scene, soaring to #1 in the charts. With pals like Rocky Brown, saxophonist David Choy, Forté, Dita Holifield and fiancé Ellsworth Simeon, Tiny has assembled a pop feast of his favorite old tunes, including "Crazy Love", "Follow Your Road", and "Stone In Love". He didn't forget today's young market when planning the project; each song has a fresh treatment. "I had to update it – a little reggae skank in there, a little hip-hop. Still, I think the soul is me. The kids are gonna think I wrote these songs!"

Tadani was delighted to include his friend Rocky Brown on his new CD. "I met her at an Oceanic Cable keiki talent show. She was a judge." A little sheepishly, he confesses, "I instantly had a crush on her. I used to watch her at Fisherman's Wharf all the time. She was a great talent from Broadway, had just moved here, she wanted to sing. So she'd sing karaoke every weekend. I'd go hang out with her. She didn't know I was all in love with her!" He chuckles. "Unfortunately, she was married!" In its own special way, the CD project was very satisfying for Tadani. "Some people laughed when I handed them my CD; they thought it was a Tiny TV promo! But when they listen to it, they say, 'WOW!'" he tells me proudly. "I've done it all, from disc jockey, to TV new guy, weather guy, sports guy… hosted my own TV show, produced commercials, written columns… Now I'm on the other side. It's something I wanted to conquer."

No matter what he's doing, Tadani says he constantly works to identify with his audience, to anticipate their reactions to his work. "The secret to my success is that I'm able to pull myself out of my body, and look at what I'm doing, and think just like a regular Joe. 'Is that gonna work? Is that kinda neat? Is that funny? If I look at it as a producer, I'm sometimes overly critical or overly nice, if it's my friends. I've got to pull back and just say, 'Hey, would that work?'"

"I don't look up to people… I look straight at 'em. I don't call Ben Cayetano Governor, because he doesn't call me TV Guy. So I call him Ben, and I call Vicki Vicki. I think they appreciate that. I hate it when people call me Mr. Tadani, or, 'Hey, you da TV Guy, yeah?' I'm just me."

He pauses, and dips, one more time, into the deep well of introspection. "This is how I look at it: I give everybody in my life respect. Some people think I kiss ass. I guess I do! I'm just super nice to everybody, and hope that they're nice back to me."

BIG TINY BONUS QUESTIONS!

What five words would you use to describe yourself?
Creative, selfish, humble… [long pause] I don't know if this is one word, but family guy.

Have you found your soul mate yet?
I think I have. I wish I could say it was a girl, but it's probably my son. I think I've realized that, over all these junk relationships I've had. A friend of mine told me, "Your soul mates are your kids. They'll never leave you. They'll always be a part of you. Girlfriends and wives are companions that stay from a day to an eternity. But the kid thing is guaranteed forever.

Who's been your favorite interview, so far?
Kenny Loggins. I was able to win him over with knowledge of his music, because I'm a fan – and I asked the cameraman for a quote from his book, because I don't read. I threw the line at Kenny, and he thought I read the book, so I won him over!

What five things are always in your refrigerator?
Diet Pepsi, milk, eggs, rice… and baking soda.

Where would you like to be in five years?
I'd like to own my own network. Maybe it's not 24 hours, maybe it's just three hours – but I'd like to have something of my own, with my own shows. I want a wife, and another kid maybe. And a dog.