Hawaii spurns ukulele as state instrument

ichadwick

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In our never ending, "There has to be winners and losers" mentality, we once again witness the inane bickering over flowers, rocks, colors, fish, birds, cars, watches, trees and now musical instruments as the "official" governmental choice as what "best" represents the mindset of whoever can muster up the most votes.

Why not make it a toss up and move on to public policy decisions that affect real people's quality of life experiences?
 
I wasn't aware the original Polynesian settlers brought the steel guitar with them when they discovered Hawaii. Unless the full title is "Official Haole State Instrument"
 
I think this whole pseudo-patriotic "we need an official everything" is pretty wacky. Massachusetts is debating an official state sandwich (the fluffernutter - honest...). South Carolina is debating a state fossil (the woolly mammoth, but held up in the legislature by creationist wingnuts).

What next? An official state salad dressing? Vacuum cleaner bag? Gaming mouse? Binder clip? It never ends.
 
The story makes it seem as if the steel "string" guitar was invented in Hawaii. It was actually a type of steel string guitar, held on the lap, and played with a steel slide. The guitar used was originally meant to be a Spanish classical, so the ukulele and steel guitar both have designs rooted outside of Hawaii. The instrument I associate most with Hawaii has always been the ukulele. In fact, the steel string story seems more like trivia to me, but there is a Hawaii Steel Guitar Association that might be influencing Akaka's objections.
 
The story makes it seem as if the steel "string" guitar was invented in Hawaii. It was actually a type of steel string guitar, held on the lap, and played with a steel slide. The guitar used was originally meant to be a Spanish classical, so the ukulele and steel guitar both have designs rooted outside of Hawaii. The instrument I associate most with Hawaii has always been the ukulele. In fact, the steel string story seems more like trivia to me, but there is a Hawaii Steel Guitar Association that might be influencing Akaka's objections.

Yes and people always say the ukulele is from another country, but that instrument was 5 strings in the documentaries I read about, in Hawaii they changed it to 4 strings and changed the tuning if I understood it correctly. Which means it was basically a new instrument as a mandolin is not a ukulele, a guitar is not a ukulele etc.

I think its a dis-service to Hawaii from a tourism perspective.. but I don't live there so I suppose I don't get an opinion so just ignore me heh!

Georgia's fruit is peaches, but I can tell you from living there for 15 years, all the peaches are in South Carolina, including a gigantic peach on the highway near Gaston.
 
As someone who plays both ukulele and resonator slide guitar, I would have trouble choosing a favorite, too!
 
Yes and people always say the ukulele is from another country, but that instrument was 5 strings in the documentaries I read about, in Hawaii they changed it to 4 strings and changed the tuning if I understood it correctly. Which means it was basically a new instrument as a mandolin is not a ukulele, a guitar is not a ukulele etc.

I think its a dis-service to Hawaii from a tourism perspective.. but I don't live there so I suppose I don't get an opinion so just ignore me heh!

Georgia's fruit is peaches, but I can tell you from living there for 15 years, all the peaches are in South Carolina, including a gigantic peach on the highway near Gaston.

I'm not arguing that ukulele as we know it isn't as Hawaiian as Hawaiian Punch, just that its roots are clearly from somewhere outside of Hawaii. It's sort of like saying English is the official language of the United States, when it clearly originated in England. To say the ukulele is an integral part of Hawaiian culture is hard to dispute, however.
 
If the Hawaiian legislators are looking for an instrument that is truly Hawaiian, they would have to go with the ipu.

Try playing "Aloha'oe on an ipu, though....
 
Y
Georgia's fruit is peaches, but I can tell you from living there for 15 years, all the peaches are in South Carolina, including a gigantic peach on the highway near Gaston.

When I lived in Virginia, I always thought State Tree was the telephone pole.
 
If everyone would quit going on vacation and traveling around being tourists, all this favoritism and "official state widget" stuff would fade into the broken-down fiberglass monument that it deserves.
Now excuse me while I go polish the 20' tall black-spotted fire-hydrant that sits in front of the official Texas Fire Museum.
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I think the whole city/state/country [fill in the blank] thing is a huge waste of time, energy, money, and brain cells.

I think our various paid councilors, legislators, yada, yada should concentrate on meaningful activities like regulating the amount of Dihydrogen Monoxide in city water supplies...

John
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dihydrogen_monoxide_hoax
 
There's a party-pooper in every crowd. Boooo Mr. Akaka!

With a name like Akaka, could he be anything but a party pooper?
 
The fact that legislators put in time on an issue does not mean that the issue is important. In fact, there might well be a direct correlation between the amount of time spent on an issue and the probability of triviality. 35 years of working with a state legislature and any reasonable assessment of this version of the US Congress has convinced me that triviality is safe for legislators. That is why so many embrace it.
 
In Norway, the Unofficial State Spirit is Aquavit.
The rest comes naturally.
And of course, the National Instrument is the Hardanger Fiddle, an eight-string monster that can raise the dead and force the devil himself to his knees, if played by the right hands.
 
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I think state pride should directly correlate with the condition of your infrastructure...

I hit the post button too soon - I think the ukulele is Hawaiian. Whether you like that fact or not, it is Hawaiian. So why not let it be the state instrument?
 
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