Cali Rose | Cali Rose

24 Jul 2012

Marvelous Midwest

This post is part 1 of 11 in the series, “Marvelous Midwest,” about discovering my extended family in Indiana and “ukeing” it up in Missouri. All in one very eventful trip…

I grew up hearing stories about my great uncle Sidney. The musical prodigy. The violinist. The light of this Russian immigrant family that landed in Baltimore around the turn of the century. My grandmother was the eldest of five and twenty or so years later Sidney came along. The baby. It’s wacky, but my mother and Sidney were born the same year and slid into a sometimes contentious brother-sister kind of thing. She was jealous of him because he got all the attention. Maybe too much attention because when Sidney grew up, he vanished. It was like the earth swallowed him whole. Read More

11 Jul 2012

Eeny, Meeny, Mighty Mo

Hubby and I, partners in love and ukulele, are heading east to the land where there is a three hour time difference.

We’re meeting with the riotous Indy Ukers of Indianapolis, Indiana, on Wednesday evening, July 18 from 6:00 to 7:30 P.M. to play, sing, teach a little and have one glorious Kanikapila of a time. Joy central is The Sam Ash Music Store (located at 8284 Center Run Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46250).

And everyone is welcome. Even if you don’t play the ukulele, you can join the fun!

Then we are driving to New Haven, Missouri, which is west of St. Louis, for the Mighty Mo Ukulele Festival, July 20 through July 22, Read More

9 Jul 2012

Life, Death and Scrambled Eggs

As if my wild ride through the car wash last weekend wasn’t enough… (see previous post)

A family of crows, who I suspect helped themselves to the all-you-can-eat salad bar at The Sizzler, took a royal dump on my front windshield. This morning. My husband insists I go straightaway to our own car wash here in the neighborhood. Compared to the crazy sci-fi one in the valley, “The Bubble Machine” is normal. And soon I am on my way to meet a dear friend for breakfast. Driving an extra, extra clean car.

8 Jul 2012

A Car Wash Thrill Ride

I arrive at my house party gig way too early. The trip from my part of Los Angeles to their part of the San Fernando Valley is not so far as the seagull flies, but seagulls don’t have to drive on the 405 Freeway which has turned into a 24/7 construction zone. One little bumper-thumper can jam up the road as if there’s molasses on the asphalt. That is why I leave extra early for my gigs these days.

So what to do with this bonus hour? I know. I’ll drive around. Sightsee.

That’s when I see, I mean really “see” that my windshield is streaked with splotches of gray goo, that a family of crows have left puddles of their digested breakfast on the hood of my car, that the sticky flowers that hang over our carport have turned the rear end of my white sedan into an explosion of purple mush. Obviously I don’t usually consider this an issue of major importance. But tonight I am parking in a client’s driveway and suddenly I want to make a good impression. Boy oh boy, where did that come from?

1 Jul 2012

Intouchable

Hubby and I don’t get out much. We’re too busy woodshedding on our ukuleles and doing “music stuff.” So it’s a real treat to go to the movies and we have a hot date this morning at the mall cinema up the road. The one that shows foreign flicks.

We’re here to see a French movie, “The Intouchables.” The word on the street is “see it or else.” We find our assigned seats. They are cushy comfy and actually rock. A phalanx of women plop down in front of us. I overhear one say she saw the movie two nights ago and loved it so much she had to see it again and bring her mother.

A maroon-festooned usher stands in front of the screen and personally welcomes us to the theater, reminds us to please turn off all the _you-know-what’s_ and of course, enjoy the movie. Maybe he really wants to be an actor, but frankly the young man is so sweet and sincere that we give him a round of applause when he finishes his announcements. I think it’s a very NPR kind of crowd. Read More

27 Jun 2012

Music, Saying Goodbye and Glen Campbell

My husband and I attended the big boisterous party, known as The Hollywood Bowl, to watch Glen Campbell do his farewell performance in Los Angeles. He is saying goodbye. This mega-talented musician, singer, entertainer is slowly taking leave of “this” world, of “his” world and all he holds dear.

Alzheimer’s disease.

21 Jun 2012

Carlsbad, the Kings and You!

Hi Everybody,

oceanhouse — The Ocean House in Carlsbad. The Ukulele Society of America meets in the huge rotunda room. You have to see it to believe it…

Well it’s a fun time in the old town Thursday night, June 28, when my husband Craig and I are the guest artists at the Big Kanikapila! And you are invited! We will share the evening with the wild and wonderful Ukulele Society of America at the Ocean House, located at 300 Carlsbad Village Drive in Carlsbad, California, 92008. And it’s all about Kanikapila joy – food, music, hula dancing, schmoozing and lots of fun. For free! Except for food and beverages. Order dinner, appetizers, drinks (Happy Hour goes to 7:00 P.M) from the menu. I hear that some people play the uke, eat and drink at the same time. I can do that. Sloppy but fun. Read More

13 Jun 2012

Go Kings!

Hi Everybody!

My idea of “sports” is figure skating. Some people would disagree. Especially hockey fans. Chill out… We’re talking about ice-friendly competitions here…

That said, I am over the moon because The Los Angeles Kings finally, and I mean finally, won the coveted Stanley Cup. My husband says to me “I didn’t know you like hockey?” My friends too. “Where did this come from…?” They wonder aloud. Well actually it has everything to do with people and place and time, and hardly anything to do with sports. Read More

26 May 2012

On Websites and Plumbing Fixtures

Hi Everybody!

Amy and I… Well Amy… She has been hard at work re-creating my website, my shiny new billboard in the sky. In an earlier blog I wrote about the challenges I have delegating the various tasks of my life to other people and I was holding onto my website with every grippy joint of my body because I love putting the thing together. I love tweaking it in the middle of the night and feeling that delirious feeling when I push the “publish button” and suddenly a new picture or sentence appears. Like magic.

But I finally handed over the reins to someone who knows graphic-goo, talks techno-talk and possesses the artistic aesthetic to channel my “groove thing” into a website that is fun and pleasing to look at. Read More

5 May 2012

“Ukeing it” out yonder!

Hi Everybody,

Ukulele road warriors, the ones who zig-zag the country performing, teaching, meeting and greeting at festivals and uke groups… They will laugh me off the planet when they find out I have never been to the Midwest.

Our Midwest.

Okay, hubby and I have grabbed the golden lei and made it to Hawaii. And I was born in Washington D.C., so I’ve been ice-skating on the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I wandered around New York City for eight hours, visited Maryland, Virginia and Jersey. When I was very little, the family sojourned to what was called Cape Canaveral in Florida to watch a rocket launch because my father worked for NASA. Read More

23 Apr 2012

Spending Time with My Mentor

Hi Everybody!

billandcaliselfportrait — Befuddled Bill as we snap a self-portrait with my iPhone.

I think he is a mystic. My friend. And mentor. Bill. He lives this life in a different way, as if his eyes can peer through the light dust that covers everything and see right into the heart, the truth of whatever it is. In his younger days Bill loved to hike in the rugged San Gabriel Mountains that loom large, just east of Los Angeles, and one morning he brought me along. There he is, scrambling to the top of a ridge, opening his arms wide, as if he is making the universal gesture for THANK YOU and bellows the words “Wonka Tonka. Big medicine.”

14 Apr 2012

Reno Ukulele Festival – Backstage at the Really Big Show

Ukulele players from near and far settle into the sky-hugging Nugget Hotel for a weekend of “everything ukulele” and then some. This includes two big evening concerts in the historical Celebrity Showroom. Saturday’s opening extravaganza features “The Ukulele All-Stars.”

Plans for the Saturday show are still unfolding as we arrive in Reno and learn we are invited to join the All-Stars for the last song of the set. Of course we are thrilled but I didn’t pack anything razzle-dazzle to wear on such a grand stage and my feet are so sore that I’m in my funky worn-out black clogs instead of high heels. Oh whatever… We’re there! And this is why I bring my iPhone on stage to take a picture of the audience. Gotta capture the moment. Read More

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