Great Northwest: Luau Tonight, 8PM at the Lodge...

Just in case you haven't been fitted for your grass skirt, here is a reminder; while you are out and about today, grab a few coldies, some coconut shells (to cover your whatnot's) and a perhaps a Hawaiian shirt for those of us who should not be seen topless in public.Tonight (15 Aug 2009) is the GNW Luau. Free to residents (have your membership card at the ready) and $3.00 for guests. BYOB.

See ya there!

Mark Your Calendars: Luau and Casino in GNW...

On the off chance that your social calendar is normally booked solid several weeks ahead of time, I offer you two important events that you should prepare yourself for.

First, if you are a card carrying member of the Great Northwest, you simply must attend the GNW Annual Luau which takes place on Saturday, the 15th of August. Unfortunately, the poster I have does not include a time on it, but my guess is 7'ish. I'll update when I learn more.I should tell you that my wife and I attended the last Luau with neighbors and we had a blast. The GNW Sounds warmed up the crowd with a few festive numbers at the beginning of the event, then a DJ/Karaoke guy came on and really got things going. The event is for adults aged 21 and up and it is a BYOB type of thing. There will be food provided. Don't call PETA, but someone said they might even have a pig on a spit! Check your next Passages for details.

Up next, on Saturday the 5th of September between 7-11pm, the GNW will have a Wild West themed Casino Night. Put on your best jeans, maybe a vest and a cowboy hat, and men, consider wearing one of those fancy western style country and western shirts. I'm going dressed as Porter Wagoner! (Kidding)My wife and I had an awesome time at the first Casino Night. The folks who put it on did a great job and nobody, far as I could tell, was disappointed. This one is not free and it is not BYOB, but everything is very reasonable. Again, learn more in Passages.

We hope to see you at both these fun events!

GNWCIA Annual Luau: Good Time Had By All...

My wife and I joined many neighbors, friends and new acquaintances at a Luau put on by The recreation department of the Great Northwest Community Improvement Association this weekend and I'm here to tell you, we had a blast. This thing has been an annual event for years, and each time we would see the signs posted on the marquees or advertised in the Passages, we just decided it wasn't for us. Well, we couldn't have been more wrong. We had an awesome time and even took a few pictures.The evening started off with several classic numbers reminiscent of Hawaii and the Luau theme by none other than The Great Northwest Sounds. The musical group came dressed for the event in festive Hawaiian styled mu mu's and fetching lei's and flowers. Another great presentation by this all volunteer group.Following The Sounds, DJ Frank got the crowd into the party mood with a wide variety of musical selections from Frank Sinatra, to Garth Brooks to AC/DC and more.I didn't walk around and do an official headcount, but I'm guessing there had to be close to a hundred people, most of whom made great use of the dancing area. I had no idea we have so many excellent dancers. Of course, I was advised by one of my neighbors that I might consider dance lessons before next year's Luau. Meanwhile, local restaurants and catering services provided hungry residents with a complimentary selection of the local dishes - no, not the pu pu platter, but more like the Mexican Plate. Good stuff and special thanks to Casa Posada, Chapparitos and Taqueria El Nortenito. In addition to the Nachos, Chalupas, Taquitos and such, Chairman Richard Garcia got into the act with some grill action for the night. As the dancing continued into the night, folks mingled with one another, met new friends and enjoyed what can only be described as spectacular weather for the poolside event.Next, DJ Frank showed us his Karaoke talent (he really is good) then turned the microphone over to Jose, to show us that, not only is it cool to sing, but it's also cool to well, wear a grass skirt.Many more residents would get up and perform for the crowd and most always, they were greeted with enthusiastic applause and thunderous approval. Okay, not everyone was that great, but not a single tomato was thrown in the direction of the singers.Before we knew it, the party came to a close and we all agreed it was a great way to spend a Saturday Night in the Great Northwest.

Know Your Audience...

Good advice if you ask me; know the audience. Know who it is you are speaking to or at least have a good feel for who might be listening.

I have many people who find this blog through searches and, honestly, I can't anticipate every combination of words that Google might extract from my lunch reviews or strange sightings to have readers end up here, but I do know that I have a very small group of regular visitors to this blog based simply upon the fact that I am writing to people in my city, to people in my neighborhood, and to people I know - at least a little. So regardless of how you got here, I'm writing to people I know or have come to know at least via e-mail.

I'm no prude. My kids have heard me cuss and we have Showtime, HBO and about every other cable channel with filth on demand, though I confess, at a discounted rate.

Okay, so you have my bonifides. I'm not going to wince if you say "shit" in front of me, and I suspect you won't be appalled that I have used such verbiage as an example in illustration of my point. Know your audience.

So we attended a party that was a neighborhood thing. The folks running it did an awesome job of transforming the outdoor pool setting into a Luau atmosphere, and they were sure to check ID's to make sure the attendees were all adults. This was a BYOB event and even though easily the majority of the people attending had gray hair and other signs of being over 40, the staff wanted to be sure no body under age was being served alcohol. So far, so good.

The DJ for the event did a wonderful job of mixing the music up - I mean everything from Frank Sinatra, to Garth Brooks to AC/DC and more. For most of the night, the makeshift dance floor around a pool was filled with people dancing, and I should tell you, there were several couples who danced most of the night and they were not twenty-somethings or thirty-somethings or even forty-somethings. I'll stop there with guessing actual ages, but seriously, these people put on a clinic, no pun intended, on what it means to stay "hip" while qualifying for the AARP discount at an early bird dinner.

Then it was Karaoke time. Our DJ started off by displaying his own vocal talents. At first, as he was trying to show people who may not be familiar with Karaoke how easy it is, I thought he was just playing around with the song, Unchained Melody. He was working the audience and people were getting into it. Turns out he had an incredibly strong voice and easily hit the notes required to finish the song and garner thunderous applause and appreciation from the crowd.

We would enjoy several more singers showing us their talent, and occasional lack of talent, but it was all enjoyable. Then it happened; there is always one person who thinks it would be a hoot to toss a turd in the punchbowl.

Some guy gets up to sing/rap the Kid Rock classic, Cowboy. You may not be familiar with this tune in the full, not suitable for sale at Wal Mart version. Instead, if you have heard it, it probably was the "radio edit" version, where most of the words are filtered out or beeped or, a female voice actually says "Radio Edit".

I don't doubt for a minute that Ol' Blue Eyes, chillin' with his homies, The Rat Pack, used colorful language, but I can't recall hearing him entertain a crowd of enthusiastic fans by shouting profanities at them. Or maybe I missed that video.

I'm not slamming Kid Rock or the fact that some guy in my neighborhood knows the lyrics so well that he didn't require the monitor with the words highlighted with a bouncing ball to sing them. I just have to ask, aside from 13 year olds, who finds it cute or funny or entertaining to shout into a crowd filled with people easily old enough to be your parents, and emphasize the naughty words in between sips from a beer while smirking to friends who believe this to be just the latest crazy thing you've done?

And don't get me wrong, nobody fainted in horror at the mysoginsitic rambling of this guy. The words aren't unfamiliar, though I suspect most had never heard them in this context. The shock was that, somebody - an adult - would demonstrate such a lack of situational awareness and class. Did I mention we were outdoors in the middle of a neighborhood?

Okay, so people in charge quickly moved in to advise the DJ that this was not a good idea. There would be no more distasteful lyrics, and Karoakers were advised not to push the limits of good taste.

I learned later that one of the cohorts of the bad boy rapper approached a neighbor and tried to justify the behavior by pulling the "adult party" card. Really? If it's an adult party, why didn't we just bust out a sheet and shine pornographic movies as a back drop for the dancing? We're all adults, right?

Really, there is a time and a place for everything. Knowing that time and that place is called knowing your audience.