The weekend has finally arrived which means that the Punahou Carnival will be in full swing today and tomorrow.  And since ManoaDNA will be there performing at the Hawaiian Plate tonight from 7 – 8pm, we won’t be appearing at Lulu’s (obviously!).  I really look forward to the carnival every year because not only is it a fun event but the malasadas are to die for!  I usually buy at least a dozen of those sugar- coated deep-fried pieces of dough  … they are SO GOOD!!  There’s nothing like a hot cup of coffee and some chewy hot malasadas on a chilly night … well worth the extra 5,000 calories!

It was a beautiful day at Waialae yesterday as my fellow degenerates and I gathered for an afternoon round of golf.  I ended up shooting an 82 – not bad considering I had a double & a triple bogey on the back nine.  It was just great to be out in the sun, hanging with a bunch of great guys, and taking my frustrations out on that small white ball.  The only “downer” was that the other team kicked our butts – Ants and Mike, two of the group’s highest handicappers decided to play their best golf in years and took us to the cleaners!  Oh well, that’s golf …

Have a great Super Bowl weekend, my friends!

Aloha, “D”

It’s Thursday which means an afternoon round of golf with my fellow degenerates.  And why I’m bragging about this to you guys is because it’s the first thing that I’m actually looking forward to this week!  Things should start picking up tomorrow with the Punahou Carnival, KKPG on Saturday, and the Super Bowl on Sunday.  I’ll be rooting for the Giants to beat the Patriots.  Why, you ask?  Just ‘cuz … plus the fact that I bet an IOLANI shirt vs. a bottle of wine with my buddy Rob in L.A.!

As I said before, this week has been a weird one for me … not really boring but with lots of little things going on – both good and bad.  I’ve had weeks like this before, but for some reason this one really stands out and I’ve been in a mild funk for the last couple of days (as you can tell from my blogs).  No worries, though … you gotta go through this once in a while in order to appreciate the good times.  I did receive a bit of good news – my friend and fellow degenerate, Les, made it through his heart surgery yesterday.  It was touch & go for awhile and there were doubts as to whether he would survive the operation – but he did and he’s now recovering nicely!  Heal quickly, brah … we need you back on the Thursdays!

We had a nice visit at IOLANI from hula sensei, Yoshiko, and several of her haumana who are here visiting from Osaka.  We had met her several years ago when ManoaDNA started over at the E&O Trading Co. in the Ward Centre … man, that seems like such a long time ago!  Anyway, it was great to see her and I hope we see them all again soon …

We had a surprise dinner last night – Alex came over and made us his special fish tacos!  He grilled corn tortillas and added sauteed mahimahi, his own homemade coleslaw, and liberal amounts of Cholula hot sauce.  Along with one of Side Street’s farmers salad with shrimp & avocado, it was just what the doctor ordered!  And as always, I ended up eating way too much (burp!) …

Aloha, “D”

Now I have a question for you guys – the portion of Kona St. where IOLANI is located, between Pensacola & Piikoi Sts. across from Ala Moana Shopping Center is a disaster waiting to happen with no streetlights, no sidewalks, and frequent floodings that create huge potholes too numerous to count.  At night I see more and more pedestrians walking along the poorly lit street (the only lights are from the buildings in the area) and it’s only a matter of time before there’s an accident.  So my question is, who’s responsible for the public’s safety?  Is it the city or the landowner … and who in fact IS the landowner??  Every time there’s a pothole problem I call the City & County hotline which then sends a crew out to repair them.  So if I let them know about the safety issue, will they put up street lights and install some sidewalks too?  Probably not … and it’ll probably take some poor sap getting hit by a car to get any kind of action.  Sad, but true …

I had lunch with my pals from KoAloha yesterday over at Ryan’s Grill at the Ward Centre.  I haven’t been there in a while and was shocked at all the empty space on the 2nd floor restaurant level … Ryan’s looked like it was the only one still open!  I remember when ManoaDNA first started back in 2005 at the E&O Trading Co., who along with Ryan’s, Compadres, and Brew Moon filled that place to capacity with people who came to enjoy the food & music!  Now it’s a ghost town except for Ryan’s … another sign of the times, I guess.

On a brighter note, we’ll be performing at the Punahou Carnival’s Hawaiian Plate this Friday from 7 to 8pm so come on down and enjoy some great food & music!  The boys & I do this every year as our way of giving back to our alma mater … it’s always a lot of fun and we get to see a lot of our former classmates.  And don’t forget to pick up some malasadas too … they’re pretty awesome!  Then on Saturday we’re back at the beautiful Kani Ka Pila Grille, so all in all, another great weekend of music!

Aloha, “D”

It’s Tuesday morning and another beautiful day in paradise!  Not much happening this week except work, work, and more work … pretty boring, huh?  Yesterday was pretty quiet – just lots of meetings and no workout.  Gotta restart my workout regimen again even though I still can’t play squash … it’s been over 8 months since I last played and my shoulder is still not 100%.  Although I’ve been lifting some weights and trying to keep up with my cardio workouts, I have to become more consistent.  Like that Nike slogan says … “Just Do It.”

I stopped in at Side Street last night to have a beer with my friend Cal and as always, we ordered the crispy skin pork as a pupu.  This stuff is so delicious but definitely at the very bottom of the health food list.  And to make matters worse, we ask them to deep fry it too!  Served with a dip of soy sauce and mustard, this stuff is THE BOMB!!  After we were done, I dropped by Tsukuneya to meet up with the boys and ended up ordering a bowl of their spicy shoyu ramen – and spicy it was!  I knew I was in trouble when the waiter brought the dish and I saw all these tiny slices of red chili peppers floating around in the soup!  It was really good though, and a great way to end the evening …

Aloha, “Pops”

Hope you all had a great weekend … I know I did!  This was ManoaDNA’s first weekend of performances for 2012, and it was great to be back making music with the boys again!  On Saturday morning we appeared on the Perry & Price show to promote the Punahou Carnival this coming weekend and bumped into fellow entertainers, the De Lima Ohana, and Lani Misalucha.  Lani performs with SOS Las Vegas and boy, can this girl SING!  She currently has her own show at the Beachcomber showroom and I heard it’s great … so check it out if you have a chance.

Saturday evening was a fun time at the  Kani Ka Pila Grille … and like Lulu’s, it took us a little while to get back into our usual rhythm again.  Once we did, of course, everything just fell into place and off we went!  As all of you know, KKPG is one of the premier spots for island music.  When the hotel was going through its renovations, KKPG was never intended to be a serious entertainment venue so the only sound system installed was for soft “elevator” music – not live stuff.  With live music 7 days a week, that system is obviously now totally shot – last Saturday there were two portable loudspeakers set up in the lobby area behind the stage which looked a little weird.  I hope they eventually install a proper sound system there … it’s a beautiful setting and the #1 spot for island entertainment in Waikiki – bar none!

Played golf with my Selohssa gang out at New Ewa golf course yesterday … shot an 84 in a very up & down type of round (good shot, bad shot, good shot, bad shot, etc.).  Afterward, I headed back to attend our DNA golf club’s annual banquet at Alex’s place.  Man, they had enough food to feed an army!  Mahalo to Tony for getting all the food – it was awesome!  Anyway, the 2011 awards were given out and guess who won for Most Greenies and Club Champion?  Yup – yours truly!  Just goes to show that you don’t have to be a good golfer to win … just better than the other guys!  Hahaha!  Anyway, we all had a blast …. thanks Nick & Alex for organizing last night’s festivities!

Aloha, “D”

Last night was our first time back at Lulu’s in 2012 and it turned into quite an ordeal.  First of all, some of our fans told us that when they called Lulu’s yesterday, someone there said that we weren’t performing that night … what the?!!  Come to think of it though, it may have been better if we didn’t play because  it was Pro Bowl night at Sunset on the Beach right across the street from Lulu’s!  I always dread performing on nights when Sunset on the Beach is happening because the event’s sound system is deafening.  It’s totally distracting for anyone around the area and we always end up straining ourselves trying to be heard above all the noise.  Last night was no different .. except that it was extra loud and irritating.  The worst was when the Pro Bowl cheerleaders took to the stage … I mean, they must’ve cranked the sound up a few decibels because it was BLASTING!!  Then to pile on more misery, they had this lady emcee who had a voice which sounded like fingernails scraping down a chalkboard .. SCREEEEEECH!!!  Pretty awful ….

It’s now Saturday morning (ahhh, quiet) and I’m having a cup of DD coffee before the boys come over.  We’re going down to the Perry & Price show in a little while to do a promo for the Punahou Carnival next week … we always do this every year to help out.  This evening we return to Kani Ka Pila Grille where we’ll actually be able to hear ourselves!  Hahaha!

Aloha, “Pops”

p.s. – Note to Nick:  Do not schedule Lulu’s on any Sunset on the Beach nights … I need to keep what little hearing I have left!

It’s a very quiet & cool morning here in Manoa – not a cloud in the sky and the winds are absolutely still.  There’s still some vog, but not much since it’s been pretty breezy and it rained a bit last night.  The trade winds are supposed to return this weekend but we’ll see …

My Thursday golf outing turned into quite an adventure since the southerly winds blow in the exact opposite direction from our normal trades.  The course played totally different and everyone struggled trying to make adjustments, including me.  A scary thing happened to me on the driving range – I was hitting some iron shots when all of a sudden I got the shanks!  For some reason, my swing totally left me and I started hitting the ball like a hockey puck!  You can’t believe the feeling of utter panic when you’re about to play a round of golf with a bunch of degenerates and your swing decides to take a vacation!  I immediately stopped and tried to calm myself and forget about what just happened … luckily, once we were out on the course my swing reappeared – whew!

I was privileged to be a guest of my good friend, Wayne Miyao, and Wayne Ishihara, president of the HJCC, who hosted a small dinner at Cafe Miro for Mr. Kenzo Tsujimoto and his wife.  Kenzo is the chairman of Capcom, one of the largest video gaming companies in the world (Street Fighter, Dungeon & Dragons series etc.).  He also owns Kenzo Estates, an exclusive winery located in the eastern mountains above Napa.  We enjoyed some fabulous dishes by chef Shigeru Kobayashi paired with (naturally!) Kenzo winery’s sauvignon blanc “Asatsuyu” and meritage “Rindo”.   “Asatsuyu” means morning dew, while “Rindo” is a purple flower similar to the color of the wine.  It was a great evening spent with some very special people and I want to thank Wayne and Wayne for allowing me to be a part of it!

And now, from fine dining to beach bar … ManoaDNA is back at Lulu’s tonight from 6 to 9pm!  See you there!

Aloha, “Pops”

ManoaDNA returned to the stage last night at the Hyatt Waikiki poolside, and as expected, we showed some of the rust from our long holiday layoff.   Although we stumbled a bit in the beginning, we eventually got our act together and the trademark MDNA sound was back!  It was great to be back performing with the boys again … I even didn’t mind waking up this morning with the usual soreness and fatigue in my left hand!  We’ve got a full weekend coming up – Lulu’s on Friday, Perry & Price Show (Punahou Carnival promo) and KKPG on Saturday, so 2012 is off to a busy start!

If the last few days are any indication of what 2012 is going to be like, then we’d better be prepared for some real highs and some real lows!  Yesterday, I had to have a plumber come and check out a really bad smell that was coming from under our house – I had initially thought that it was a dead rat or something.  It turns out that when we did some minor repairs to our house a few years ago, some of the plumbing was done incorrectly … long story short, we had a sewage leak and that was what the smell was!  Gross!  In any case, the problem was immediately fixed (thanks, CNP Plumbing!) and although it’ll take a little while for the smell to go completely away, it’s already barely noticeable.

Oh yeah, and the vog is back … damn!  Every time the winds turn southerly, we get vog from the Big Island.  It’s supposed to last through this weekend and has already started affecting our vocal chords.  Plus, everything looks hazy … kinda like L.A. back in the old days.  Sure hope it goes away soon!

Aloha, “Pops”

I’m excited!  Tonight is ManoaDNA’s first performance of 2012 after a month 1/2 layoff and I can already feel the buzz starting again.  We’ll be at the Hyatt Waikiki poolside from 5 to 8pm, and it’ll be interesting to hear what we sound like after such a long break.  I expect us to be a little rusty right out the gate but things should settle in after a few songs … I hope!  lol!

Rehearsal last night was relaxed and fun … we started working on some new music but really spent most of the time getting “reacquainted” with each other and our instruments.  Alex has been working on a lot of new material during the break, so we’ll be adding some of them to our repertoire in the next few weeks.  It was great to hear the warm vocal harmonies again along with Mark’s solid bass lines … it was almost like hearing it for the first time!  I’m so glad we took the break because it allowed me to recharge my senses and get rid of the staleness which every musician experiences from time to time.  And once you get into that cycle, it’s very hard to be creative and energetic even if the desire is there.  The only downside to taking time off is the physical conditioning that is lost (vocally & instrumentally), but which can be regained in time.  My immediate concern is my left hand since the fingers have probably lost some strength and the fingertip calluses need to be built up again.  But hey – no pain no gain, right?

And so we’re back … let the good times roll!

Aloha, “Pops”

I know I’m late, but better late than never!  It’s the Year of the Dragon and depending on who you talk to, it could mean lots of volatility, uncertainty, or even prosperity for you.  The first thing I plan to do (actually already started) is to “clean house” and get rid of any negative or obsolete things in my life in order to make room for new ideas & opportunities.  I have to admit feeling a little anxious about this Dragon Year because there seems to be two very opposite predictions on what’s in store for us.  One says that it will be another very difficult & volatile year both for business and mankind, while the other side says that the year will be filled with unusually good luck and prosperity for many.   In any case, it appears that the soothsayers have all the bases covered …

We’re already off to a fast start so far.  Yesterday was an exceptionally busy one for both ManoaDNA and IOLANI … lots of customer sales, phone calls, emails, and texts throughout the day.  This morning has been busy too, with lots of emails & texts flying back and forth… and we haven’t even left the house yet!  This better not be an “early ripe – early rot” scenario where things start off gangbusters and then fizzle out at the end .. EH, LLOYD – WASSAMATTA YOU?!  NO NEGATIVE VIBES!!  Oh yeah .. I forgot!

The boys & I resume our weekly rehearsals today and MDNA is back on stage starting with the Hyatt Waikiki tomorrow from 5 – 8pm.  Here we go again … IT’S SHOWTIME!!!!

Aloha, “Pops”