Aloha, friends! It’s Memorial Day, a day when our nation honors all of the men and women in our military who served and died fighting for the freedoms that we all enjoy today. When we took my mom up to Punchbowl the other day to visit my dad’s grave, I was overwhelmed by the sight of all those flags flying above this final resting place of so many of our heroes. I felt such tremendous pride and humility … it was truly an honor to be there. “Oh say, does that Star-Spangled banner yet wave … o’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.”Â
Memorial Day is also the unofficial start of summer … and if the weather’s any indication, it’s gonna be another hot one! We started the weekend off with another awesome Friday pau hana at Lulu’s. Many of our friends and family were there, including many visitors from Japan and Australia. But the party always goes up (or down!) a notch whenever Scott, Denise, and the Hawai’i Kai gang come in (can you say “shots”, boys & girls?). Talk about another epic night … good thing I didn’t have to get up early the next morning! Earlier in the day, we were at the Princess Kaiulani to do a taping for a TV anniversary special for our good friend, Kimiko-san. She’s the owner of a well-known club in Tokyo called Birdland and heads an all-women Hawaiian music group that comes to perform at the Na Hoku celebration every year. They’re celebrating their 700th TV show by taping a special segment here in Hawai’i … mahalo for including us! On Saturday, we performed at the 1st annual Waterfront Jam, a fundraiser for the Kamehameha Lions Club over at the Aloha Tower Marketplace. We were honored to share the stage with Jake Shimabukuro and Brother Noland in what turned out to be a totally AWESOME event!!  I gotta tell you .. we’ve performed in many of these events with different musicians and bands before, but this past Saturday night was truly exceptional … the synergy on stage that evening was INCREDIBLE – a feeling I can’t even begin to describe! Then at the very end of the evening, the Lions surprised Brother Noland, Jake, and myself by making us honorary members of the Kamehameha Lions! Wow .. we were all speechless, not to mention very honored! I’d like to send a very grateful mahalo out to Amy, Daryl, Kata, Janet, and all of the Kamehameha Lions that worked so hard to put this wonderful event together … you guys are the real stars!
Finally, I joined my Selohssa golf gang yesterday out at the Royal Kunia golf course … and struggled yet again. I don’t know what’s going on with my game – started of with two pars and then proceeded to make 4 double bogeys in a row. I was hitting the ball pretty decent but just stunk around the greens – chunking or skulling easy sand shots and chips, and 3-putting like crazy – stupid stuff like that. Did manage to hack my way to an 88 which on that course is like shooting 100 at Waialae … oh well, it is what it is. At least it was a beautiful day …
Aloha, “D”