Roy Sakuma

Music Video

the Great Speckled Bird

2 Comments / Music Video

29JUL25

goofy is not a sin

have you heard
big footers get heckled
like the great bird
that is speckled

people can't resist
not everyone agrees
about what exists 
out in the trees

bigfoot t-shirt wear it
goofy is not a sin
the abuse bear it
with a big old grin

and as you go
about your tasks daily
listen to some dobro
and some ukulele

I am still in the holler. I am editing the drone footage that we shot over 4 days last week in the holler hilltop hayfield. I want to arrange the video clips on the timeline so my brother can look at them and see if he likes them before I leave here. I should be able to get that done today or tomorrow.

If this blog majors in bigfoot it will probably pick up a minor in the ukulele. We kicked that off a few posts ago with Roy Sakuma. That post & video is under the Hawaii section in the drop down menu. I also like any type of guitar that uses some type of slide situation. There will be many posts in the future that feature people sliding across different types of guitars. The dobro is a wonderful instrument with all of the different types of resonator cones. I am writing this post in a holler in the mountains. And that is a culture and place that the dobro is very closely associated with. The fact that the young man playing it enrolled at East Tennessee State University is just icing on the cake. I did not attend there but a lot of my friends, family, educators and just a lot of people that I know did.

I hope that bigfoot, the dobro and the ukulele make you smile. That is kind of their thing. If this blog has a goal it would probably be to make that our thing as well.

This is the dobro video link.(1:52)

This is the ukulele video link.(4:45)

Hawaii

make someone smile

1 Comment / Hawaii

17JUL25

like Roy Sakuma

a poem daily
on the run
like the ukulele
it's lots of fun

have to think quick
like a puma
learn how to pick
like Roy Sakuma

might be soon 
do we know
ukulele tunes
in his studio

he has four
just like the strings
let your fun soar
on the uke's wings 

bigfoot is not around
close enough to hear it
but he joins the sound
with his spirit

it is fun there
staying calm
strumming under
the swaying palms

We have mentioned the vibe quite a bit in this blog. Two of my favorite topics are the ukulele and bigfoot. It seems all you have to do is just mention either one and people just naturally smile. And honestly the ukulele is probably even lower key than bigfoot. No pun intended. Most people don’t see the uke as a convenient platform to launch into a debate. Which is not always the case with the big guy.

I thought that the best way to introduce the uke into the blog would be thru this man. I have actually been to his studio in Aiea several times. We once took a six year old there and enrolled him in lessons. I will always remember how pumped up he was after his first lesson. The only thing more impressive than his ambition and dedication at that moment in time was how fast it dried up or evaporated in the following days. In the following years I would tag along on Monday nights on the drive from Kapolei to Aiea during my visits to Oahu. He would be in the back seat playing the uke for the first time since the previous week’s lesson. And even then he would be more focused on negotiating what he considered to be a more favorable place to dine on the trip home than trying to learn the song that he had supposed to have been practicing all week. But I will have to admit it is an entertaining memory.

I remember sitting in the waiting room or office and listening to the kids playing uke in the classrooms behind closed doors with their teachers. The stories that the young moms seemed to tell the most usually revolved around them holding their breath while they watched their six or seven year old carry or swing his or her brand new expensive Hawaiian koa ukulele around like it was one on their other plastic toys. As you will see in the video Roy Sakuma hosted the Annual Ukulele Festival for years.

As we chase and try to ride the right vibe in this blog we salute and recognize Roy Sakuma. He is truly an emissary of the ukulele, joy, fun and happiness. Enjoy the video. Think about picking up a uke. You can pick up one very inexpensively on eBay. A lot of people really like the Makala Dolphin. They are usually around or below $50 on eBay. And mine usually sound as good or better than more expensive solid wood ukuleles. The Dolphin has a plastic back and sides and laminated wood top. This also allows them to come in a whole assortment of colors. In the very near future you will begin to see a ukulele in the beginning of the flyover videos on the blog.

It is a neat video and story in more ways than one. I hope that it inspires you and makes you smile.

Here is the link for the video.(6:27)

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