Sunday, May 31, 2009

Uke Joint Jake....

I know the ukulele has 4 strings.

I understand it was created in Hawaii back in the 19th century.

It is small and easy to carry around.

Perfection in playing it was demonstrated last night during the Spoleto Festival by Jake Shimabukuro.

This young man stood alone on the stage at The Cistern on the College of Charleston campus and blew away the huge crowd.

We were in stunned silence.

We were in awe.

He was magnificent.

He told stories of traveling with various bands and picking up pointers. He loved the challenge of adapting songs for his ukulele that had been written for guitar, piano - even horns.

Years ago he popped up on Youtube as he played a George Harrison tune in New York's Central park for a segment of Ukulele Disco.

He had agreed to play "as long as I don't have to dance."

More than 3,000,000 online hits later, he said he gets amazing e-mails from all over the world inviting him to come and play in their town, in their state, in their country.

When the opportunity comes to go see Jake, do it.

Meanwhile, to sample just a bit of what he sounded like last night, look him up on Youtube playing "As My Guitar Gently Weeps." You'll be happy you did.

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posted by chucker @ 1:02 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

A New Logo Has Popped Up...

"Blogger Event" was on a hand-written sign taped to the door so I climbed the stairs to a room over 39 Rue de Jean restaurant to learn about Charleston parks.

I'm a native and a blogger and was invited to come hear details on a new group that hopes to upgrade more than 120 parks and green spaces. They are starting in the City of Charleston and eventually, plan to encompass the entire area.

Mainly, we were told, parks are ignored or taken for granted until someone makes something happen. Central Park in NYC is a good example of citizen involvement that rescued a landmark park that had been sadly neglected.



I grew up a few blocks from where we were meeting and was amazed there were more than 100 parks in Charleston. It was explained that for every well known Hampton park or Colonial Lake, there are tiny pockets of greenery tucked into almost every neighborhood.

The CPC said that people can participate on many levels, even actual "digging in the dirt."

Since I enjoy - and blog about - live music concerts, maybe this movement will develop new venues for outdoor events. I'm glad I was invited.

Check out details on the new website at www.charlestonparksconservancy.org.

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posted by chucker @ 9:45 PM 1 Comments