modern day maestro

he is adored in japan and is just starting to hit the radar on the mainland thanks to one jimmy buffet. need another clue? pick up a copy of ukulele virtuoso jake shimabukuro's latest cd gently weeps which arrives in stores today.

you're in for quite a surprise if your last recollection of someone playing the ukulele is tiny tim on "the tonight show" (click over to itunes to listen to a clip of "shake it up" from last year's dragon for a rockin' introduction).

like what you hear? jake will be returning to hawaii for a show at the convention center at the end of the month and bring his 21st century uke style when he performs with the honolulu symphony pops over thanksgiving weekend.

jack johnson 101

the kids are back in school which means it's time to endure yet another off key attempt of "in the mood" from your favorite band geek. if you would prefer a little more "mudfootball" in your life, grab a copy of the jack johnson anthology filled with guitar tabs and piano accompaniments from brushfire fairytales, in between dreams, and on and on.

your ears will be happier and your aspiring musician can impress their friends with their, ahem, artistic take on "sitting, waiting, wishing".

growing up local

hopefully, my attempt to whittle down my vanity fair stash while in flight will be accomplished, but if you need something good to read on your next trip then grab a copy of growing up local. this anthology is a nice introduction to many talented local writers whom you may not be familiar with, and the stories they tell are sure to tap into more than a few repressed memories from your childhood.

my favorite: "the gift" by gary pak which is a spooky yet hilarious hawaiian style coming of age story reminiscent of stand by me.

one more reason to love your computer

. . . especially if you have wi-fi. why brave the crowds or circle around kapiolani park trying to find a parking stall when you can enjoy the 24th annual hawaiian slack key guitar festival via lava.net's live video webcast?

the event kicks off on sunday, aug 20th at 11am hst with peter apo and continues on into the evening when melveen leed takes the stage.

a peek into hawaii's hidden archipelago

 

a few months ago, i had a chance to watch jean-michel cousteau's documentary, voyage to kure, which explored the rarely seen northwestern hawaiian islands. it's a journey that most of us will never have the opportunity to make, and, quite honestly, that's probably a good thing for all the endangered creatures that call this part of the world home.

you can get a glimpse of these rare specimans in archipelago, the latest book from photographers' david liittschwager & susan middleton. you will be amazed at what they found and their stunning photographs reinforce just how important it is for each and every one of us to do our part for the environment.

if you really don't think this matters, let me tell you how disheartening it was to see the animals that
died from ingesting all the plastic crap that clueless people continue to litter across the earth, as well as the tons of fishing nets that volunteers gathered up from the ocean in just one day.

bet you didn't know that this part of hawaii is like a whirlpool gathering up all the stuff that people, as far as thousands of miles away, have tossed into the ocean eventually finding its way into the ecosystem to the unsuspecting wildlife who make all this man-made stuff their next meal.

alrighty, off my soapbox. if you're intrigued you may also want to add remains of a rainbow, another book from l+m featuring rare plants of hawaii, to your book list.

photographs from archipelago are currently on exhibit at the kauai museum until oct 15th.