Mai Kai Gents and KoAloha Ukulele article

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[ Edited by: filslash 2008-09-20 15:24 ]

Yeah, boy-howdee! Congrats!

Quote from article:"Judd Finkelstein (he had a beard at the time) carves a tiki as his band, the Maikai Gents, performs behind him at his winery.

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I'm pretty sure that's Crazy Al carving the tiki.

That's toooo funny... That must have been on purpose!?
Well, Judd is just such an omni-talent: Plays the uke, makes wine, carves Tikis...doesn't he build bamboo bars, too? :)

As they say in showbiz: There IS no "bad" (or wrong) press, it's all goood!

I remember seeing a few photos of Iuka Grogg playing the ukulele at La Mariana.
I'll have to search around and see if I can find those terrific shots.

By the way:
http://www.mkgents.com/

Hey Iuka,

After reading that story (mahalo, Fil) I was reminded of Bob Bennedetto sitting at the Lagoon Lounge and telling me about a guitar he was making for Tim Miner. He was using Miner wine as the stain for this archtop he was crafting.

Hmmm, I wonder... Koa stained with Judd's Hill Cab?

Mana, indeed.

Wow, that article turned out splendidly! That was a laugh how APE was identified as The Gents. That's one for those in the know. Oh, well as Sven said .. any press is good press. Thanks for posting this on here, filslash. It was a great surprise as we just got back from being on the road and didn't know the piece had been printed. If anyone on the islands (or otherwise) has a hard copy, we'd love to get a clipping for the ol' scrapbook. Mailing address can be found at http://www.mkgents.com
Pablus, you may be onto something with that wine stain idea. In fact, without giving anything away, we talked about that while I was over there (I think I just gave something away). Keep your eyes open for all sorts of exciting news from KoAloha. They are great craftsmen and all-around folks. In fact, they are about to become a stop on the Waikiki Trolley route and will have a wonderful, educational and entertaining tour. Look 'em up when on Oahu. If you want a similar experience while in Napa Valley, give us a ring. Mahalo!

-Weird Unc

I got the call from Judd this morning to congratulate me on one of my photos making it into the Honolulu Star Bulletin!

This is the correct photo:

Credit read:COURTESY JUDD'S HILL WINES
Since I gave the shots to Judd for promotion
Actual credits: MIND'S EYE PHOTOGRAPHY

and as I wrote to family and friends:
"So for those checking it's the 2nd photo down, a colorful shot at the winery, which reads, "Finkelstein carving a Tiki, (he had a beard then) and his band The Mai Kai Gents".

Actually, that's Crazy Al carving the Tiki and HIS band APE!

Oh well, so much for accuracy in journalism! :)"
http://starbulletin.com/2007/05/07/features/story01.html