In Between Days

I remember spending nights out dancing to this song - black sport coat, black jeans, and penny loafers. Those times are not anywhere as near as good as life today. Now the song tells me to cherish the moments with my family and children...
In Between Days by The Cure cover:

Lullaby for my daughter.

Hanging Out With Jim D'Ville

Link to Jim D'Ville's website

Jim stopped by the Rochester area last week and I was able to spend some time just listening to him talk about his passion for ukulele and the water; they seem to go together so naturally. I think Jim would agree they both bring a sense of calm and serenity. I listened to him talk about the fish he had made from driftwood and then saw his video that made it all so much clearer; and below you can witness Jim D'Ville's other artistic abilities.

Link to Jim's art.



As Jim's visit to our ukulele club at Cal-Mum got closer and closer I was filled with trepidation about my lack of real playing skills on the ukulele. I have to admit to being rather star-struck when meeting Jim for the first time. I don't have many music heroes in my life; I guess I'm most impressed by someone like Jim who can play a thoughtful melody that makes me feel… something. His playing caries with it the passion that he has for the ukulele, paralleled by his ability to nurture and encourage others to do and feel the same.

I was able hear how Jim came to compose and his "Columbia Galop"  tune in the video below. I was also able to watch him play it about four times while he was here. I can't seem to get this fantastic sound out of my head. Getting it into my hands is a bit harder.



One memorable moment from Jim's workshop at Bernunzio Uptown Music in Rochester was his advice for us to forget all the other failed musical attempts we may have made in our lives. His advice was to stop listening to negative voice in our head and to start listening to the music. He went on to show us all how much we could do if we just became aware of the connectiveness of music.

Photo of Jim from his website playukulelebyear.blogspot.com

Jim ended his stay in the Rochester, N.Y. area by giving the Cal-Mum Ukulele Club a few lessons on how to just strum and enjoy music. He held the attention of more than forty fifth-graders during that hour, which is no small feat. We all walked away better for having the opportunity to meet him and play along.

From my family, the kids in the uke club, and me,
Thank you Jim D'ville.

The Hole Thing

Tom came into school today and shared his experience touring the
Kamaka factory with Fred Kamaka. His tenor uke is beautiful and sounds
wonderful.
He didn't forget his uke buddy. He gave me a genuine Kamaka koa sound
hole disc! My own cool-little piece of Hawaii.

Signature

Tom just sent me a picture of his uke signed by Fred Kamaka. I hope I
get to touch it when he brings it to school in September.

Emulous

So...
I receive an email from our band instructor Tom, who happens to be
vacationing in Hawaii. Tom also happens to be from Hawaii but has been
living in Upstate New York for more than a quarter century. Tom has
mentioned on several occasions that he would like to get a koa Kamaka
tenor ukulele some day... Today seems to be the day, and he sent me a
picture from his Blackberry to prove it.

He already has a Kamaka soprano that he bought in sixth grade for $25.
That was a few years ago.

Congratulations Tom!

Sailing and Ukulele 85 Years Ago

This is a combination of my two favorite activities. At first glance I
thought that the girl was playing a ukulele, on closer inspection I
see that it is a banjolele or banjo uke. They must have been very
popular and appear in a lot of photographs from this era. I've never
had a chance to try one.
Next week I will be sending out letters to all incoming fifth graders
to see how many are interested in joining the Cal-Mum Uke Club. I'm
not really ready to give up on summer vacation yet...

Gearing Up

Summer is here and time for me to start thinking about how to manage
next year's uke club. I was stretched a bit thin last year and felt
like I hadn't been able to give 100% to the kids in the club.

We are in a very small town with a pretty active downtown - two
antique shops, cafe, library, and a coffee shop. I'm hoping that the
coffee shop could play a role in getting kids to have fun playing
their ukuleles. I'm going to see if we can set one night a month aside
for an open mic. It would be great for the kids and the coffee shop.

I also received an email from Jim D'Ville telling me that he was
coming to see our club in October. That is really a special event.
It's great timing for the kids because they will have only had their
ukes for a couple weeks prior to Jim's visit. Their minds will be open
to the great information Jim can share. I am so excited about this
that it has really motivated me to start preparing early for next
year's group.

I'm thinking that we have to get t-shirts with our club logo like we
have had in the past - nothing like a shirt to make one feel they are
part of something special (I always feel special in a club t-shirt).
I'm trying to come up with a slogan for our club. If you happen to
read this post and know of a good one that you could share, please let
me know. Right now I'm thinking I might use a play-on-words like
"Where Uke Can Be You" maybe. That one may be used already, I'll have
to Google it to see.

I'm off to read playukulelebyear.blogspot.com

Photo by allanimitchell flickr
Awarded Nikon Flickr Best Photo 5/1310

End of the School Year Song

Thanks J for suggesting I create an end of the year song. One day I'll have to see what kind of music I could produce if I wasn't strapped for time. My classroom is torn apart with boxes and books everywhere, but I was able to clean a spot of on my desk to record this quickly written song.

Image by rcvernors "Ghosts os Schoolyears Past" Flickr