Pirate Jim's Aloha Tuesday Newsletter - November 1, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Pehea'oe? How are you? Did you survive the attack of the candy monsters last night? We had quite a few gouls and superheroes come calling last night. I think the traffic was a little lighter than at the old ukulele shack, but my smoke machine works way better not being the corner lot. The smoke lingured around our door longer before the wind swept it away. Captain Aaron had a great night as you can see in the picture below.  Avery also won his football game on Saturday. It was the toughest game the have played all year, but pulled off the big Win! Way to go Avery... next up is the city championship this Saturday!

As I mentioned last week I have been involved with something called Dance Montage 2016 at the University of Calgary. Tickets are still available online or at the door. Tonight is our very first production meeting and tech rehearsal so unfortunately I will not be able to join you at the uke jam, but don't fear.... Denise Lister has volunteered to host and lead the jam in my absence so please don't change your plans. I will miss you all tonight. Here's the info:

What: Pirate Jim's Kanikapila

When: Tuesday November 1, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 355 Schubert Place NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership, $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Aloha Tuesday Newsletter - October 25, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Pehea'oe? How are you? Happy Aloha Tuesday! 

I have decided to streamline my announcements by starting up a weekly Aloha Tuesday Newsletter. I have a bunch of announcements to make and I was finding my old way of doing things very taxing and redundant, so comes the birth of Pirate Jim's Aloha Tuesday Newsletter!

This Weeks Jam 

We are coming down to the the last few weeks of football. My son Avery and his team are in the playoffs and won their first round of the tournament this past Saturday beating the Hilltoppers 56-6. If they win this coming Saturday I believe there is a trip to Edmonton in the works to play in the provincials or something like that... regardless.... Go Cowboys! Go Avery Go! 

This means that we will be rotating our jam locations again starting next week, but tonight we'll be back at the Shack!

What: Pirate Jim's Kanikapila  

When: Tuesday October 25, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: Pirate Jim's Ukulele Shack - 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $5.00 drop in, $50 yearly membership

Why: Because we can and we should

Dance Montage 2016 

As I have mentioned the last few weeks I have been working on a project at the University of Calgary called Dance Montage with my good friend and hula dancer Taraya Nahlani Middleton from Nahlani Productions. Back in September we auditioned over 30 dancers and selected 14 of them to share our love for Hawaiian music and hula. We have been working on the dances for two songs and two chant. We are very proud of our accomplishments and we can't wait to share this with you!

Dance Montage performance dates are:

Thursday November 24 at  8pm

Friday November 25 at 8pm

Saturday November 26 at 2pm and 8pm

The show is expected to be about 2hours in length, and you will see a variety of dance styles including Hula. Both Taraya and I will be performing in these shows. You have your choice of dates and times to come see us, and I hope you are able to make one of the performances.

Please visit the following link to purchase your tickets in advance -$15 for adults, $10 for students/seniors. You can always buy tickets at the door as well.

http://scpa.ucalgary.ca/events/dance-montage-2

Calgary Night Market

On the evening of Friday November 18, 2016 I will be performing with Aloha, eh! and the Nahlani Productions Dancers. 

What: Pirate Jim LIVE at the Calgary Night Market

When: Friday November 18, 2016 - 10:15-1:00pm

Where: Eau Claire Market (indoors) 

How Much?: FREE

Well kakou, that's all I can fit into this weeks newsletter. I look forward to seeing you all tonight at the jam or at one of my performances in November. I will be adding individual event listings for each performance to my events page within the next 24hrs. Until next week......... 

 Malama ko aloha 

- Pirate Jim

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - October 18, 2016

Aloha kākou! 

Pehea'oe? How are you? I hope you are all doing well. October is speeding past... Very soon we'll be talking about Christmas! Yikes! I have been working hard on a special project at the University of Calgary the last 5 weeks and I am excited to say things are going very well... I will post more details about Dance Montage later this week. 

Tonight we will meet at my shack in Tuscany!!! Can't wait to strum and sing again!

 When: Tuesday October 18, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - October 11, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Pehea'oe? How are you? I hope you enjoyed your turkey weekend (those of you who celebrate thanksgiving in October that is). I had a good balance of rest and fun with my ohana these past three days. Watching our kids grow up and play with cousins, uncles, grandpa's and grandma's rocks! The feelings and memories holidays create are magical sometimes. I think this can also be said about our ukulele Ohana too. Every Tuesday we sing, laugh and strum our four strings together weaving beautiful memories. I wanna start right now... Doh! Gotta go to work first!

This past weekend I also got to officiate in my first bantam football game. It was a very foggy and cold Saturday afternoon, but I had a blast! Wait till the people in charge find out there is a pirate our there wearing those zebra stripes! Arrrrrrrr!

This weeks jam will be at my Ukulele Shack!

When: Tuesday October 4, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - October 4, 2016

Aloha Kakou!

Pehea'oe? How are you? Happy Aloha Tuesday!

Today I am filled with so much aloha it is crazy! Over the weekend we lost one of our crazy doggies. Our side gate got left open by accident and our precious Bichon/Yorkie/Poo Amy decided to go explore the new neighbourhood. Unfortunately she was soon lost and from reports was going door to door looking for home. In the end she was picked up by the city and is now safe and sound at home. The night she was missing was terrible for the whole family. I don't think any of us realized how attached we are to Amy and the thought of never seeing her again was heart wrenching. Luckily our story has a happy ending.

Tonight we will celebrate and Amy will be here too!!!

See you at my shack tonight kakou! 

When: Tuesday October 4, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim LIVE at Culturefest 2016 - October 2, 2016

Aloha Kakou!

I will be performing with the lovely hula dancers of Nahlani Productions (under the direction of Taraya Middleton), at Culturefest 2016 tomorrow October 2, 2016.

The event is being held at the Genesis Centre in Calgary and we will be performing sometime after 3:00pm. We do not have an official time slot in the program, but if you get there at 3:00pm you will be sure to find us.

Genesis Centre - 7555 Falconridge Blvd. NE

See you there!

- Pirate Jim \m/

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - September 27, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Happy Aloha Tuesday! The last Tuesday of September has come upon us. Can you believe it? Only 2 months left in 2016. Let's start the journey to 2017 tonight with some good old ukulele stress relief! This past week has been full of ups and downs and I know I need some uke therapy myself. 

We will be meeting at my shack again this week so see you tonight at 7:30pm

 When: Tuesday September 27, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

HowMuch: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - September 20, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Pehea'oe? How are you? Happy Aloha Tuesday!!!  

Another week has past and the sun is rising later and later everyday. That means fall is officially here. For me, fall is a time of reflection and rememberance. There are many activities during the fall months that make me feel this way. My wedding anniversary, my dad's birthday, my kids going back to school and Thanksgiving Dinner! All those things are yet to come this year but I feel I am thinking about them earlier than normal. Yesterday I came across an interview with Crowded House on 60 Minutes Australia that totally jump started my journey down memory lane. I have included it below for your enjoyment also. Maybe we'll pull out some Crowded House tunes at tonight's Kanikaplia?

Once again we at my shack tonight... See you there! 

When: Tuesday September 13, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

HowMuch: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should! 

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - September 13, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Pehea'oe? Happy Aloha Tuesday!!! So far the sun is shining and burning off the morning chill. It is definately fall here in the city of Calgary. I hope your September is going well so far. 

This past Saturday my hula dancer (Taraya), and I had the overwhelming opportunity to introduce hula to 30 dance students at the University of Calgary. We were holding auditions for a hula dance piece we are going to perform in something called Dance Montage 2016 (I will post more information on performance dates later this week).  After years of trying to drag people in Calgary kicking and screaming to our hula workshops it was such a refreshing sight to see 30 trained dancers coming into the studio to explore an unkown dance tradition called Hula! We even got them to chant (oli) a little! It gave me chicken skin. My next plan is to turn some of these new hula dancers into ukulele players too! As a side note... I performed in Dance Montage  many years ago with my friends Taylor and Wade. It was a dance piece about a school dance full of nerds and geeks, before nerds and geeks were cool. I played a Michael Jackson impersonator and was not able to properly dance with others. I just kept doing my Michael Jackson moves while the girl nerds got frustrated. It was a lot of fun!!! 

It is still football season for our family so the Kanikapila will be at my shack again tonight.  

 When: Tuesday September 13, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - September 6, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Happy Aloha Tuesday! It's official! It's back to school time for pretty much everyone and the end of another crazy summer! Let's celebrate by strumming our 4-strings till the sun don't shine! (say about 9pm tonight?) 

See you all at the shack tonight! 

 When: Tuesday September 6, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

HowMuch: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - August 30, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Pehea'oe? How are you? Happy Aloha Tuesday! It's also the very last Tuesday of August and some would say summer. The kiddies go back to school next week, the leaves are turning yellow and I can feel the slight fall chill in the air as the sun sets these days.... Well no worries.... Our ukuleles will turn our frowns upside down and into loving smiles when we start strumming together tonight! It's Aaron's official birthday tomorrow (my youngest son), so expect him to be dressed and ready to entertain you all between songs.

This weeks jam will be at my Ukulele Shack!

When: Tuesday August 30, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's - Kanikapila August 23, 2016

Aloha Kakou!

Happy Aloha Tuesday! It may be windy and stormy out there today, but it will be warm and comfy inside my ukulele shack tonight when our fingers start strumming on those 4 string treasures of ours. The leaves are starting to turn yellow around my neighbourhood so that means fall is just around the corner. Let's celebrate the last few days of summer together tonight! I'm thinking it's girly drink time... (non-alcoholic for those driving of course)

I have chosen to shrink my carbon footprint by trading in my car for an electric bike. It's totally battery powered and can recharge using it's solar power plant. It trickle charges when I have it parked in the sun too! So now I can strap my uke to my back and hit the road! If only I could bring it with me when I travel to Hawaii next time.... See you tonight folks! 

When: Tuesday August 23, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - August 16, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Peheae'oe? How are you? Happy Aloha Tuesday!!!  

What a crazy weekend I had. On Saturday night I was performing at two different places at the same time. I'm not sure how we pulled it off, but somehow we did. Thank you Norm, Sean, Taraya and the Nahanli dancers for keeping me on my toes.

Due to football season the weekly jams will be at my ukulele shack over the next few weeks. I apologize to all of you that live down south, but I promise we will return to your neck of the woods as soon as possible. 

 What: Pirate Jim's Kanikapila

When: Tuesday August 16, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership, $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - August 9, 2016

Aloha kākou! 

Happy Aloha Tuesday! I love Tuesdays!!

When I was a kid I loved Tuesday because of the cheap $2.50 movies.... (Even though I didn't usually go to movies on Tuesday nights back then). As letter carrier for Canada Post I love Tuesday because the mail volume is usually much lighter than Monday. HOWEVER the BEST thing about Tuesday night is getting together with you to Kanikapila the evening away!

This is going to be a crazy week for me! I will be posting additional announcements tonight with further details, but this Friday and Saturday night I am performing at Taste of Calgary, for a surprise birthday lu'au and training to become a football official for local league games. Who knows.... In a few years you may see Pirate Jim on TV officiating a CFL game!!! I am very excited!!! 

Due to family scheduling and work constraints I have to move the Kanikapila to my ukulele shack tonight. So....

 What: Pirate Jim's Kanikapila

When: Tuesday August 9, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership, $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - August 2, 2016

Aloha kakou! 

Pehea'oe? How are you? I am doing fantastic and looking forward to the Kanikapila tonight. We are officially half way through summer and we are going to celebrate the ukulele way tonight at The House of Yates! I can't wait to see you all again.

Yesterday I had the honour of performing a few songs with the loveyly hula dancers of NahlaniDance Productions at Olympic Plaza. I felt so honoured to be able to stand on stage facing the Calgary tower (where many athletes received their medals during the 1988 Winter Olympics), and sing Wahine Ilikea. I could feel uncle Dennis smiling as i sang his words. There was actually one gentleman in the front row singing along in Hawaiian.... I was seriously blown away! The smile on his face as he sang with me made me realize he knew what the song was truly about and has seen the heart of the Island of Molokai.

That guy made my summer! Maika'i no!

When: Tuesday August 2, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 425 18A Street NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

 

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - July 26, 2016

Aloha Kakou! 

Pehea'oe? Howzit folks? Is it me or does is seem like the summer is going very quickly? August starts this weekend! Awe! July has been a funny one. Our best laid plans have been changed due to rain, and now football! Originally we planned to be at the house of Yates this week, but it is football equipment pickup night for my son Avery, so we've had to juggle the schedule once again. We'll be back at Barb's place next week and tonight we will gather at my shack!

Since most of us are on the Facebook these days, I thought I would teach you all how to say Happy Birthday in Hawaiian this week. The good thing about this is you can literally practice writing and saying this everyday on FB.... Sometimes more than once.... So here it goes. Happy Birthday in Hawaiian is Hau'oli la hanau. Hau'oli means happy and la hanau means birthday. All right! Start practicing on FB today!

What: Pirate Jim's Kanikapila

When: Tuesday July 26, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership, $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - July 19, 2016

Aloha Kakou!

Pehea'oe? How are you? Things are fantastic here at my ukulele shack. We are settling in at the new shack nicely and I am so excited that it is Tuesday again. Unfortunately our meditation and massage guru has become ill so we are using our back up venue for the jam tonight. This weeks jam will be at the Lister house

When: Tuesday July 19, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 355 Schubert PL NW 

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we shoul!

See you tonight!

- Pirate Jim

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - July 12, 2016

Aloha Kakou! 

Wow! Awe! It's Tuesday already! Can you believe it?

We've had a rainy July so far and it looks like the weather will be changing our plans tonight. We originally were going to have a mixed discipline night of backyard meditation and ukulele jamming at Rockyview Massage in Varsity Acres, but unfortunately the weatherman calls for thunder showers tonight, so we are rescheduling the "experiment" until next week. 

A'ole pilikia. No Worries! We are still going to strum the evening away at my shack tonight. 

 When: Tuesday July 12, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership. $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - July 5, 201

Aloha kakou! 

Pehea'oe? How are you? Today is a historic day. Pirate Jim's Ukulele Shack has officially moved! We are only a few blocks away from the old shack, but the view from here is so much different. We have been so busy this past Canada Day weekend moving couches, boxes and beds! Time for an ukulele jam break methinks!

See you all tonight at the NEW ukulele shack! 

 What: Pirate Jim's Kanikapila

When: Tuesday July 5, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership, $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!

Pirate Jim's Kanikapila - July 5, 201

Aloha kakou! 

Pehea'oe? How are you? Today is a historic day. Pirate Jim's Ukulele Shack has officially moved! We are only a few blocks away from the old shack, but the view from here is so much different. We have been so busy this past Canada Day weekend moving couches, boxes and beds! Time for an ukulele jam break methinks!

See you all tonight at the NEW ukulele shack! 

 What: Pirate Jim's Kanikapila

When: Tuesday July 5, 2016 - 7:30-9:00pm

Where: 60 Tuscany Ridge Way NW

How Much: $50 for a yearly membership, $5 drop in for non-members

Why: Because we can and we should!