Book Him, Danno!

Well, gentle readers, I have been back from Hawaii for about a day and a half, and already I'm looking forward to my next visit. I took bunches of pictures to share with you (mostly of sunsets over the ocean, which make for the most beautiful photographs), but I thought I'd begin with shots taken on one specific evening.

The Hawaii Five-0 season two premiere party and screening took place in Waikiki on September 10th, and I swung by with hundreds of other fans to check it out. I happened to have been in Waikiki last year for the series premiere party for the new Hawaii Five-0, but this soiree was way more intense. Now that the show is a genuine hit, the fans have become significantly more rabid. Nonetheless, it was pretty fun to join the crowd and crane my neck to see a little bit of Hollywood hit Honolulu.

Oh, and for the record, I watched a couple of syndicated episodes of the original Hawaii Five-0 on television while I was in Honolulu. My goodness, what deliciously bad 1970's television. That show was complete genius. In the ironic way.

I'll post more photos from my trip soon, but for now, enjoy these images from the premiere party!

Glamour lights in the Waikiki palms.

Actor Scott Caan, who plays Danny, signing autographs. At first I cursed my amateur photography skills for the blurriness of this shot, but I actually think the blur creates a nice artsy effect, and it certainly captures the manic energy of the event. So let's pretend I meant to do it this way, shall we?

Just a small portion of the crowd assembled to watch the season two premiere ten days before it airs on television.

Hawaii Five-0 fans as far as the eye can see.

Another Day In Paradise

Greetings from the Hawaiian Islands, gentle readers. I am taking yet another holiday in Honolulu, as I tend to do.

I just arrived this morning, and I must say my mood improved exponentially the moment I stepped off the plane. I managed to bring a minor case of bronchitis with me this time (chronic health conditions are such a bore, believe me), but I'm confident that the warm tropical air will clear it up quite nicely.

I intend to spend the next eight days soaking up sun, reading novels, splashing around the Pacific Ocean (well, Waikiki Bay), visiting with Diva Mommy, sipping Mai Tai's and other tropical cocktails, and doing as much karaoke as possible, even with compromised lung capacity. I have every confidence that it will be a lovely time, as always.

Ooh, and my sister Fabulous Patti and I plan to attend the free Hawaii Five-0 season two premiere party on Saturday. We wandered by the series premiere party while we were visiting last September, and it was kind of fun. Now that I actually watch the show (oh, that's right), we may make an effort to get a seat where we actually can see the premiere. Or we'll just wander by again. Either way, it will be a little bit of Hollywood in Waikiki, and that's a winning combination, in my opinion.

I really want to know why life can't just be one constant vacation...

*photo courtesy of aloha.com

Recording "Artist"

Well, haven't I just been woefully neglectful when it comes to updating this chronicle lately? My apologies, gentle readers, but the truth is, life just went back to normal after my trip to L.A. Personally, I find my life to be fascinating, but I am starting to wonder how many posts about karaoke you possibly can read.

That said, this quick post is going to be about music. I've been working on a couple of recording projects lately and have decided that recording music might be one of my favorite things to do ever. My band Sober Nixon recorded our version of Matthew Sweet's "I've Been Waiting" for use as a demo. It's not quite done yet because a few more guitar tracks need to be laid down, but it's coming along. Frustratingly, I had some pitch problems during that recording session, but they were nothing that multiple vocal takes, editing and just a tiny bit of auto-tuning (don't judge) couldn't fix. I was stressed out about my pitch issues at first, but about 100 people have assured me since that every singer has pitch issues sometimes. So I've decided not to worry about it (much) and move on.

Unfortunately, our guitarist Kenn has decided that Sober Nixon isn't the right band for him. Frankly, it probably isn't, given that he's more of a heavy metal/hard rock guy and we cover pop music. He's going to finish up his part on the "I've Been Waiting" recording, but that's it. So for the second time in a year, we're on the hunt for a new guitarist. I've already got some leads on potential players; let's hope we find the right one soon and the line-up can stay consistent for a while.

This afternoon my voice teacher and I made a recording of me singing "Save the Best For Last," a positively beautiful song that became, in my opinion, a little schmaltzy as produced for the Vanessa Williams hit version back in 1992. It's a lovely ditty, though, and I love singing it. Which is a good thing because it's taken me long enough to learn to sing it properly. My voice teacher and I have worked on that song off and on for more than a year, but I think I've got it now. Or at least it's pretty good now. We did a "live" recording, meaning we recorded the piano and my singing simultaneously. That might make it a little challenging to edit together the very best takes of each portion of the song, but regardless, I think it will turn out pretty good. And the live recording means auto-tune isn't possible on this one, so the final product will be me au naturale.

Recording is a lengthy process, but it is so much fun that I can see why professional singers so love what they do. And if/when the final product turns out okay, all the better!