Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Maui No Ka Oi Maui Marathon

The closest I get to running in a marathon is to watch up close. I also take advantage of the free muffins, Jamba Juice, Starbucks and fruit. Maui had a very successful Marathon including the 5K, Half-Marathon and Marathon. People fly in from Japan, Jamaica, Germany, Africa and more. Men's winner for 3rd time was Jacob Rotich in a slow time of 2:33:44. Runners say add 10 minuutes for the weather in Maui. Plus the course is a real grind starting in Kahului and ends at Whalers Village in Kaanapali Beach. They run next to over 17 miles of the beach! Nice time to be in Maui!




Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Maui Notes "Island Fever" Buzz

People are talking everywhere about "Island Fever". The Maui locals do not seem to like the title as it has a negative tone to them. Fine with me, however I think Maui should be part of the title. Morgan says the filming is going good so hopefully the new TV reality show will attract a huge following when it airs in early 2007. Hard to miss them filming as the MTV team is everywhere. Today (friday) they are filming on Front St (downtown Lahaina) and a restaurant named Blue. Paia will be tomorrow, so they are getting out of town for the Maui Marathon which takes place this weekend.
Here are some Island Fever team photos.
Aloha! from Maui!










Monday, September 11, 2006

A Taste of Lahaina "Willy K" steals the Show!

The 15th annual Taste of Lahaina was our 1st! Very impressive, nice location, great with view of the Pali and full moon, well organized, and the Music of Maui was impressive but some better than others. We frankly expected the crowds to be larger- Maybe it is time for some changes? How about a new name? "The Willy K Taste of Lahaina"? He was by far the best performer over the two days! WOW! Maui is so lucky to have him here 24/7. I also think they should pull in the dates by one week to get more of the holiday tourist trade. People go to this event for (3) reasons: Taste the Food, Hear good Maui Music and to support the Lahaina community charities. They were not disappointed. The local Maui restaurants went all out! "Best in Show" was a tasty seafood offering from Kaanapali Beach Hotel (winning for the past 4 years). Others included Kimo’s Sansei, Roselani, Gaby's, Pioneer Inn, Hyatt Regency, Zuihao and more. These are photos of the winning dish!











Music highlights:
Willy K:
Closing act was “Willy K”, simply amazing, what a talent. Maui has to be proud of their homegrown superstar. From yodeling to rock he sent everyone home happy! If you ever visit Maui don’t miss him at Hapa's Nightclub in Kihei!













Makaha Sons:
Together for more than 30 years. Formerly called Makaha Sons of NiHau with Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwo'ole. IZ left the band to so solo in 1993. He weighed as much as 750 pounds and died at 38 in 1997. After IZ left they changed the name to Makaha Sons. They were on their “A” game at the festival. At the end of the set Barry Kimokeo joined them and showcased his amazing guitar and singing talents. Very good show!

Ekolu:
The group was formed in 1995 and has a very unique harmonic sound and features another Maui heavyweight singer, Lukela Keala.
Makana:
We also liked Makana, especially his Hawaiian slack-key guitar renditions.
Henry Kapono:
Henry goes "Wild Hawaiian" Hard Rock with local Slam Poetry- we like the C&P stuff like "Butterfly". Here is Henry!. The music overall was good but like most festivals you have to hear the good with the bad!
The radio DJ did not add to the festivities! I was disappointed with the coverage of the Maui Times. Looked like their reporter spent a few minutes on the first day, took some token shots and then left. Their was absolutely nothing about the event in Sunday's paper..too bad.
If in Maui next year I will not miss it!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Island Fever and MTV invade Maui for new TV Show

2 new MTV reality shows will use Valley Isle as a backdrop
The programs will air on MTV in 2007 and feature Maui residents

By Katherine Nichols knichols@starbulletin.com (reprint from Honolulu Star Bulletin)

Oh, the misery of working as a surfing instructor on a yucky white-sand beach on Maui! Or, worse, being young and falling in love and trying to stay loyal to a relationship when beautiful people wander into your life on a daily basis!
It's all part of the drama revolving around two new reality shows set on Maui that will air on MTV in early 2007. "Living Lahaina" started shooting on the Valley Isle yesterday, and "Island Fever" begins filming next Friday. Each show initially will complete eight half-hour episodes over the next 10 weeks.
"Living Lahaina" features a group of instructors at the Royal Hawaiian Surf Academy in Lahaina, who fuel their thrill-seeking sensibilities with an endless quest for adventure. Their exploits will take them on road trips around Maui, as well as to other islands. The cast and crew include an undisclosed mixture of Hawaii residents and people imported from the mainland.
"Island Fever" is more relationship-driven, highlighting a group of "friends and lovers" dealing with the angst surrounding emotional ties and constant temptations to stray. An MTV representative said that everyone in the cast already lived on Maui, and most were born and raised there.
While both shows will accentuate the inherent physical beauty of the setting, "Island Fever" does not plan to relegate Hawaii to the role of backdrop. Producers instead want to incorporate the feel and culture of the island as though it were a character on the show. Hawaii state Film Commissioner Donne Dawson said that producers were receptive to community and cultural concerns, and wanted the show to be as authentic as possible and worked hard to hire residents. "If you're going to be immersing a production in a community for any length of time, it always helps to have a lot of locals on your team," said Dawson. "They know the lay of the land." The shows have different producers, shooting schedules, crews, casts and concepts, so overlap does not seem to be a concern. Content might be, though. "I'm well aware of what reality shows are about," said Maui Film Commissioner Benita Brazier. "I'm well aware that there's going to be some conflict, but I'm positive that it's going to put Maui in a good light. They're being good stewards because they want to come back." Brazier expressed even stronger optimism: "We trust that both productions will take this opportunity to educate themselves and then to document the Maui that most visitors will never experience."
That might be a stretch for a network that caters to a young, edgy set that does not necessarily tune in for an anthropology lesson. Yet everyone involved is excited about what could result in vast and beneficial exposure for the state.
Producers came to Maui in June to shoot a pilot episode for each show, which they presented to MTV executives. Both shows received "green light" status several weeks ago, fueled by a constructive meeting last month in Los Angeles with Hawaii's film commissioners. The decision to proceed was made before the tax incentives of Act 88 went into effect, but the MTV spokeswoman confirmed that those incentives have made shooting in Hawaii even more appealing.