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slipry1
Ha`aha`a
USA
1511 Posts |
 Posted - 10/20/2008 : 1:05:46 PM
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| It was a blast! I had fun playing with Mark, and Elaine won a uke! |
keaka |
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Mark
Ha`aha`a
USA
1628 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2008 : 1:52:54 PM
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Kudos to all involved-- the Eugene Ukulele Festival was a hoot from the first beery sing-a-long to the final Breakfast of Chimpanzees at the Glenwood on Sunday (ya missed that one, Jack.)
I was very impressed with the balance of organization and zaniness.
Highlights?
Eating an ono-licious plate lunch and listening to Maggie's Massive Iron Mango Ukestra; meeting Gordon & Char of Mya-Moe Ukulele and playing their amazing resonator ukes... (guess which one I'm getting....), enjoying a real backyard-style kani kapila and hearing Al (Noeau) singing falsetto; hearing Victoria Vox charm her way into a couple hundred hearts, playing with Jack and my new buddy Tim; James Hill once again blew my socks off.
The classes were fun, too.
Mahalos to Maggie for the hospitality & cartage; to Jack for the beautiful steel playing, to Tim for agreeing to fill in at the last minute; to Brook & Keith for superbness; and to all the volunteers and uke-a-bangers of Eugene. Enjoy your new uke, Elaine!
Can't wait till next year!
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MahinaM
Lokahi
USA
389 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2008 : 10:15:05 AM
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| It was great seeing Mark, Jack, Al (& Marianne), and Elaine (I was amazed she was still standing and willing to travel after the Napa Ukefest!). Thank you all for coming from distant places to come to Eugene!!! Fun was had by all, and the music was amazing. We had a blast! - M |
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noeau
Ha`aha`a
USA
1105 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2008 : 10:23:44 AM
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It was great fun and we got to jam at some people's house in Eugene courtesy of Maggie and so We met some real nice people. Open Mike on Sat was a gas. the only one playing a Hawaiian song. Mark's slot on the show was cool. I forget but it was funny to hear little grass shack mixed with some other slack key classic. Good kine fun to hear that stuff. And slipry1 was a good addition to the mix.
James Hill by the way is a excellent teacher and amazing player. So I going go next year too! |
No'eau, eia au he mea pa'ani wale nō. |
Edited by - noeau on 10/22/2008 10:24:40 AM |
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Julie H
Ha`aha`a
USA
1206 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2008 : 5:48:51 PM
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So Elaine,
Do I understand correctly that you took the train up to Eugene? Tell me how that worked out, I would like to try that in the future.
Julie |
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Elaine
Akahai
USA
98 Posts |
Posted - 10/23/2008 : 3:42:23 PM
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OK, I'm going to try to do an "'Ukulele Tonya" and give you guys all the gorey details.
Train fare from Davis, CA to Eugene was about $114 RT--cheaper than driving and much safer given the element of festival-induced sleep deprivation. Davis has a great little train station with free parking and a restaurant/bar right across the street that was still hopping when I caught the train right about midnight.
Seats on the train are large and there's plenty of room to stretch out and so I caught up on podcasts of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" that I'd downloaded into my MP3, between bouts of sleeping through the night. I even slept through the part of the trip where we had to back-up to reconnect the last car, which had come loose!
I had breakfast and lunch in the dining car and thoroughly enjoyed being waited on...white table cloths and the whole bit. The scenery was gorgeoous and we arrived in Eugene sometime between 3 & 4 pm---more than three hours late. (The rear car got disconnected yet again and after we had backed up to reconnect it, all it's passengers got off and squeezed in with us--no wonder they call it the "Coast StarLate." )
Eugene was absolutely delightful--the motel was a nice walk and a free bus ride away from the station. I caught up with Maggie, Mark, James, Al and Marianne(buddies from Aloha Music Camp) and Hugh and Susan (buddies from George Kahumoku's summer camp on Maui) at Cosmic Pizza. Then Maggie kidnapped a bunch of us to go to Ken's for a great kani ka pila and I had a wonderful snooze on their couch. (Does sleep seem to be prevalent theme?)
I was pretty impressed with the level of organization of the festival, right down to the ukulele-shaped footprints on the sidewalk leading you from one venue to the next--and what a delight to be able to actually take the classes: "Secret Strums" with James Hill, "Moveable Chord Magic" with Marianne Brogan, and "Swing, 'Ukulele Swing" with James, again--all superb. Congratulations to Brook and Keith and all their volunteers for a job very well done.
That evening I enjoyed a big plate of Tater Tots and too many beers with Marianne Brogan of Portland 'Ukulele Festival fame before heading back for the concert. WOW! I've known Mark Nelson for a couple of years but have never seen him strut his stuff like that. (I'm still humming "Moving Day.") And Victoria Vox....she is really something. What a charmer...everyone needs to buy all of her CD's. (She also has T-shirts and panties, but they were a pretty hot item so I didn't get any.) And James Hill on top of that! He just never ceases to amaze me. He and Victoria did a couple of sweet duets and James did that thing with the chopsticks again. It was a great, great show.
But the best part for me was the raffle; I spent the money I saved on cab fare on raffle tickets...a very good investment 'cuz  I won the most delightful little 'ukulele you can imagine, with a cedar-top and rope binding, hand-made by Al McWhorter of Spruce House Ukuleles just for the Uke-tober Fest. It is light as a feather and I love it! Thank-you, Thank-you, Thank-you.
Back at the motel, Marianne and I were treated to a little serenade by Al(what an amazing voice), before calling it a day. (I knew I'd found my soul-mate when I found out Marianne had also downloaded "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!" on her MP3 player, as well!)
The next day I hung out in downtown Eugene, showed off my new 'ukulele in Starbucks for a couple of hours, and did a little shopping until about 5 p.m. when my train came through heading home. I had a beer in the observation car, then dinner in the dining car and made a new best friend, Joy, who has just retired from teaching for 30 years in Kodiak, Alaska, and is on her way to Kona on the Big Island where she's now going to live.....expect to hear from her, Mark.
After that, I slept through the night, got back to Davis about 7 in the morning (only one our late) and was back home by 9.
What a great time!
I can't wait to do it again next year. Julie? What do you think?
Elaine
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Edited by - Elaine on 10/23/2008 3:44:39 PM |
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