It’s another quiet Wednesday morning here in the valley as I sit here patiently waiting for the coffee to brew. Ahhhhh … nothing like the smell of freshly brewed java in the morning! Also feels like the trades are gone again because the air is absolutely still and my sinuses are getting a little irritated which usually means vog! Crap! There’s really not much to share with you guys today – this week is pretty dead except for the daily struggles of running a small business in Hawai’i (you local business owners know exactly what I’m talking about!).
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”