My string of good news was snapped this morning when I received an email informing me that my article submission for the International Council of Traditional Music (ICTM) Yearbook was not accepted for publication. The readers offered some valid criticism and useful suggestions, but I doubt that I will have much time to make corrections for a while.
When It Rain It Pours – And It’s A Good Thing
They say bad news travels in threes, sometimes good news does, too. First, I found out late last week that I’m on the final ballot for two N? H?k? Hanohano Awards, along with Kenneth Makuak?ne, and he’s also up for Hawaiian Album of the Year. To top it off, my composition “N? H?k? Pio ‘Ole” was selected as the theme song for the 30th anniversary celebration for the awards. Over the weekend my daughter found out she was one of thirty students who have been accepted to attend the Curie Academy at Cornell University. It is a week-long program in…
Sign O’ The Times
Unless given a reprieve by Congress, many independent webcasters will be run out of business soon. Many podcasters, who largely do it for love and not money, seem to be running out of gas. I’ve been struggling to even get out the farewell podcast I promised months ago, and have been debating whether or not to simply not do it. I was a bit surprised to learn that my buddy Scott is also ending his MacHelpMaui podcast, noting “this is just too much like work.” I agree. He featured a lot of Hawaiian music in it and won fans for…
N? Mele No N? Pua
Kenneth Makuak?ne and I have been collaborating on a mele for a new Hawaiian music heritage program, “N? Mele No N? Pua” (which figuratively is defined as “Music for the Generations”). It will feature two, expansive permanent exhibits highlighting Hawai‘i’s rich musical history, an ongoing monthly Hawaiian music concert series, special educational and cultural events, and interpretive displays – all free and open to the public. There is already a plaque with the song up, but it will undergo change as we’ve updated both the lyrics and the music of the song recently. I was surprised to find information on…
You can quote me (and you’d better get it right!)
Dave has had a lot to say about the press, inaccurate and incomplete reporting and how some reporters have acted at his and others recently decisions to decline interview requests. I’m not in Dave or Jason‘s league as far as being in demand for interviews, but do them occasionally in regards to Hawaiian music, language and technology as it pertains to the language and our programs. As with Dave and Jason, I have had a wide range of experience from having my thoughts concisely and accurately reported, to having them completely misrepresented. Wired Magazine did a feature on some of…
Bualadh bos . . . Gaeltacht goes global
A group of Irish-Canadians have financed a Gaeltacht about 130 miles from Toronto. They have combined to buy 60 acres of land near the small but aptly named village of Erinsville, whose first five mayors were Irish. It would be amazing to see this kind of development happen for the Hawaiian language on the U.S. mainland. [ Free registration required ]
Cleaning Up São Paulo….
My friend Rainer in Brazil and I had a long chat online last week about billboards. Here in Hawai‘i they are not allowed, and apparently the São Paulo city council approved a ban on them as well. A friend of Rainer’s posted some pics of the structures that used to hold the board, and mentioned that the structures will need to be removed as well. As it is, the city has the appearance of being economically depressed.
“Where did Paddy go?”
A baggage handler at Dublin airport was locked into the cargo hold of a transatlantic aircraft as it taxied down the runway in 2005. Fortunately he had a cell phone and was able to call a company supervisor who got the tower to pull the plane back before take-off.
Deerfield “Massacre”
My siblings and I have been told about our family connection to the town of Deerfield, Massachussetts many times. I started doing genealogical research on the family and with the help of distant relatives have been able to trace the family tree back to Deerfield and even further to England in the 1500s. There is a great site, Historic Deerfield, with a lot of information on the town’s history and a discussion board. One of the people on that board recommended this book, Captors and Captives: The 1704 French and Indian Raid on Deerfield, and I just picked up a…
Fulbright mtvU
In my last post I mentioned a new program that I was applying to in order to fund my Ireland studies. Well, Wired Blogs has let the cat out of the bag, it is the Fulbright-mtvU program. The story is a bit late for new application – it requires letters of reference, project proposal and a fairly long online application. Also, one of the submissions, either the online app or accompanying documention, need to be received in IIE in NY by March 26 – this Monday. Fortunately I did not have to start from scratch as I had submitted for…