June update ….

Aloha, everyone!

As I predicted, last week was pretty hectic for both ‘IOLANI and ManoaDNA.  On the business end, I finished up work on a project for next year and turned it over to our attorneys for review.  I’m a little nervous since I know this is where deals tend to fall apart … damn legal issues always seem to get in the way of good ideas!  Whatever happens, I’m gonna need a vacation after this is all over!  And ‘IOLANI on KONA STREET was voted one of Hawai’i’s Best by the StarAdvertiser readers and I want to send a SUPER grateful mahalo to all of our loyal customers who helped make that happen!  I really hope we can continue to exceed your expectations!

Lots of stuff happening on the DNA end … boys are off to LA to visit a good friend who had recent surgery, so Alex will spend some of the time working on his music projects up there.  He’ll be back in time for our Friday & Saturday Lulu’s & Kani Ka Pila gigs but Nick will be staying up there for another week.  Speaking of Lulu’s, the notorious Hawai’i Kai gang came down to enjoy some pau hana merriment.  Led by fearless leaders Scott & Denise, they always turn our Friday nights @ Lulu’s into one big party (can you say “shots” boys & girls??).  They always bring down friends to hear us and give us such great support … mahalo, you guys!!  (The only downside is that I feel like crap the next morning!  hahaha!)  I really felt sorry for our bass player, Mark, because he had another gig right after Lulu’s … and he couldn’t leave because we kept on getting hana hou!  I think he finally left around 9:30pm … trouble was, I think his next gig was at 9:30!  hahaha!  Anyway, moving on … it was great to be back at Kani Ka Pila Grille on Saturday … as I always say, it’s like coming back home for us.  There were many of our Japanese fans in the audience, visitors from the mainland, and family and friends including Dana, one of Scott’s friends who was at Lulu’s the night before.  Dana was a great defensive nose guard for UH back in the days when Bob Wagner was the head football coach and we’d all go down to Aloha Stadium to tailgate and watch the games.  Of course, that was quite a few years ago!

And I played golf yesterday for the first time with my friend Bill’s golf club out at Coral Creek.  Good fun, but my game is still in the toilet … just too inconsistent.  Nice bunch of guys, though … I played with two wild Koreans who were good friends but were giving each other the gas from the get go.  It was hilarious … and boy, can these guys drink!  First time I ever saw guys do shots right after golf!  Hardcore, man ….

And so, it’s the start of another week in paradise … have a good one, everybody!

Aloha, “D”