Another big crowd to enjoy tonight’s Hawaiian theme. Thanks to Bill and Olivia, we adorned ourselves with pretty plumeria hair clips and colorful leis. Joining them were Ken, Jen, Eric, Dan, Rochelle, WendySue, Newcomers Yanna and Cassidy, Betty, John, Larry, Jack, Anne, PJ, Patricia, Ting and after a very long absence, Gloria and a much longer absence, Geoffrey.

We started off with a left over song of Ken’s from the SUMMER theme. Donna Summer’s HOT STUFF. I found the [Gm] difficult to transition to quickly. Perhaps others did as well. Of course Ken sailed through it flawlessly.

Now, on to the Hawaiian tradition of receiving a lei. It means beloved kiss and when given and received you say “aloha.” As told to us by our new Hawaiian expert, Olivia.

Our first Hawaiian song was from PJ, TINY BUBBLES. A Don Ho classic. Who said “woo hoo?” Was it me? It was excellent. It goes on the list.

The next three where mine. HONOLULU BABY was used in the 1933 movie "Sons of the Desert" staring Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. It was a good one. I enjoy quirky songs and LET’S TALK DIRTY IN HAWAIIAN fit the bill. Some tongue twisting lyrics and easy chords. This was a fun one and we did a great job. And finally, ON A COCONUT ISLAND. I thought it was good. This could be on a play list.

Betty gave us PEARLY SHELLS. Olivia treated us to a hula dance and while we played along. Fun.

Next, Ken gave us LOVELY HULA HANDS. We played a video while Olivia interpreted the lyrics as she danced. We all moved our arms and hands as well. Low impact hula? Olivia is quite talented and graceful. Then we actually played the song and did a very decent job. WendySue said she saw a little boy imitating our moves near the doorway. I think the most fun moments of the night.

One of Ken’s favorites is (SOMEONE TO) LAVA from The Disney 2014 Pixar short film called "Lava". We played along with the video, which I wish we hadn’t done. Our timing was often off a bit and it was distracting. I love walk downs and this has a nice one in the chorus. A sweet song. We have played this a number of times for assorted themes and just for fun. On this evening Ken entertained us with some lava sound effects to add to the fun. Take a look at Cynthia Lin’s tutorial for this song. Add it to the list.

Bill made up a nice chord sheet for THE HAWAIIAN WEDDING SONG. Olivia sang along on her cool karaoke mic. A pretty song and a nice effort by all.

Bill also gave us THE HUKILAU SONG complete with a tutorial of many of the words. It was a fun one. Add it to the list.

WendySue gave us several songs starting with UKULELE LADY. Written in 1925 and covered by many performers over the years including Bing Crosby and Bette Midler. It’s a pretty song but I didn’t love the chord sheet. Try this one and see how you like it. Also list worthy.

Next was ALOHA ‘OE. Again, Olivia sang on the mic. The verses were all in Hawaiian, which proved a challenge for most of us and we were strongest on the chorus, which was in English. A pretty song and with some work could sound much better.

BLUE HAWAII is a pretty song. I do prefer this song sheet though.

And finally for something different we played a country style Hawaiian song called WIAMANALO BLUES. Who knew there was such a genre. We played along with the Aldrine tutorial. I found this enjoyable and one I’d like to learn.

We played along Jen’s 'ULILI E to a YouTube video cover. The chords are easy enough but the only one able to sing it was Jen & Olivia.

And finally with a few minutes to spare we tried the Christmas song MELE KALIKIMAKA (WendySue) which was a hot mess. I wish we had tried Jimmy Buffet’s CHRISTMAS ISLAND (Bill) instead.

And finally one we never got to was WHITE SANDY BEACH (Jen).

The next theme will be "Space". Anything in the sky, anything about space. This should be interesting.

Until then you keep strumming – Aloha,

-- Arlene.