We’ve been watching stuff get made, lately. We are a regular, uh, what’s that show called where you get to watch stuff get made? I can’t remember, but we’re like them. We visited an olive oil press and a coffee roaster in Oregon and today, we went to the birthplace of the KoAloha Ukulele.
The shop is a tiny place, when we were there four or five guys were working in the production area while from upstairs, the sound of melodic strumming spilled down the stairs.… continued…
The Flip Flops burst out of obscurity for a few hours on Saturday afternoon to add a little more Aloha to the exhibit at the Wing Luke Asian Museum. The exhibit? It’s about the presence of native Hawaiians in the Pacific Northwest.
The Flip Flops are my “band” – and yes, those quotes are used very much ironically, in case you didn’t get that. We’re a rag tag band of ruffians… no, we’re a roughneck batch of vagabonds… no, we’re, well, we’re something, that’s for sure.… continued…
Yesterday I made the terrible mistake of saying, on Twitter (what’s Twitter?), that I’d YouTube my solo uke rendition of that great disco anthem, I Will Survive, if Passports with Purpose hit 4k by Friday morning PST. This morning we’re at just over 3700 dollars, 300 dollars short of international internet humiliation.
This is what’s called a publicity stunt, were I to have any musical skills worth publicizing. You’ll be sorrier than I will, after all, it’s not like I’m any good, only that foolish.… continued…
It was gray and a bit blowy, but plenty of people filled the streets in Issaquah for the annual Salmon Days festival. Our uke club was invited to play for the second year in a row, six enthusiastic players (you see five on the stage, one of our guys had to run off) played a variety of hapa haole, cowboy, pop, and oldies tunes to a small, bemused crowd.
One of my favorite things about getting out to play at these kind of events is the startled look on the faces of passersby, as though there could not really be that many people playing ukes all at once.… continued…
I confess, I don’t much care for weddings. Given the opportunity, I will try to talk just about anyone out of it. I don’t think much of the bridal industrial complex, a pantheon of evil designed to get you to spend gajillion dollars on “your big day” just as you’re starting your lives together. I think you should spend that money on a spectacularly long honeymoon or something related to your home or oh, just about anything else besides a one day extravaganza.… continued…
