The Dash

The Dash by Linda Ellis

I read of a man who stood to speak at the funeral of a friend

He referred to the dates on her tombstone, from the beginning to the end

He noted that first. her date of her birth and spoke the following date with tears,

But he said what mattered most of all was the dash between those years.

For that dash represents all the time that she spent alive on earth.

And now only those who loved her know what that little line is worth.

For it matters not how much we own; the cars, the house, the cash,

What matters is how we live and love and how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard. Are there things you’d like to change?

For you never know how much time is left, That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough to consider what’s true and real

And always try to understand the way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger, and show appreciation more

And love the people in our lives, like we’ve never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect, and more often wear a smile

Remembering that this special dash might only last a little while.

So, when your eulogy is being read with your life’s actions to rehash

Would you be proud of the things they say about how you spent your dash?

Fortunately, we have so many good people in our dancing circles. The ones in the Night Clubs are just as good. Unfortunately they are divided by so many different factions. The Tango Dancers, the Salsa Dancers and the "Young" always discovering something new. How about the Swing Dancers and the old "Balboa" and they still love it. We should not look down on any of them, they all love to move to the music of their choice.

"Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by Bruddah Iz

But the tough backbone of the entire enchilada is still the experienced partner social dancers. They are the ones that make the rules however not intentional they may be. They establish the "mores." That has been in the past very fragmented but it is gradually coming together with our local social media. Newsletters, Web and Blog sites.

I hope everyone had a nice Easter weekend and there will be a rollicking Cinco De Mayo coming up next month. Everyone is going  to have a ball.

Just Cruising

Town Dancer staying comfortably in front of the other blogs, even though many are already gaining hits through my promotion in the microblogs such as Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest and Facebook. And I am looking into Tumblr as soon as my dry eyes improve.

"Don't go around thinking the world owes you something.

The world owes you nothing, it was here first."

Microsoft has, as they say in politics, "high negatives". That is, a substantial percentage of people very much dislike Microsoft. They used to be too pushy. They have learned their lesson and slowing down on that scam. Now the highest negatives is Adobe Flash Player. At one time Adobe used to be one of the most respected names in the Computer world. Talk about junk comedowns, dis is dem. Their old "simplifier" programmers have been replaced with the new "circus barker" school of complicator.

“Hey There” By Rosemary Clooney

Now they are even interfering with You Tube. You Tube has always made the effort to make it easy for the user. Whereas people have gone to considerable efforts to avoid buying or using Microsoft products as alternative products, now they are doing the same with Adobe. Boycott them!

"Some Enchanted Evening" by Enzio Pinza

There seems to be evidence that we are getting back some of the dancers that we had lost in the last couple decades. And of course, getting new ones. The night clubs have been doing a good job of creating the fun atmosphere and the kids have done the rest, most starting from the "street dancer" group of just moving to music. The entire enchilada looking good.

It has been explained to me. On the bus: The signs in the front section of the bus are in plain sight and in plain language. "Seats for the elderly and the handicapped." I just found out. It is not that these kids can't read the writing on the walls. They cannot read!

Dance, Anyone?

Most of us should be aware that Town Dancer blog remains the leader in our Hawaii blogosphere. And the biggest reason is that they have two Guest Authors and several regular Two Centers, willing to contribute by email information and photo for publication.

"Reading is the most important skill you will ever learn."

How about this Makaha Beach Bar and Lounge,
with a little larger dance floor? Wow!

For All The Men Out There
Just do it! Too many would-be dancers have convinced themselves, or let others tell them, that they "just can’t dance", so they never even attempt to learn. If you can walk, you can learn to dance. Social dancing is composed of steps, forward, back, to the side, and in place. Just forget about competitions, most people are in it for fun not for competitions. Competition people are different people and they will whole heartily agree with this.

It’s the combining of these steps in different ways that creates the pattern of a dance. The steps are learned one at a time, just like when you were two and learning to walk! Don’t let anyone discourage you, you CAN learn to dance! And you could try Line dancing first, you don't need a partner and you can have a ball just moving to the music, like the rest of them.

"May Each Day" by Andy Williams

Just met another guy that lives in the projects in Nanakuli and works in Nanakuli. Just a little better than minimum wage but for him, it is worth ten times, what it is working in Honolulu. He can walk home in 20 minutes and spend a little time with the family. But the Present Rail Party located in Downtown Honolulu does not like that kind of nonsense. You will work and buy everything in Honolulu including your entertainment. Why do you think they spent millions lying about Ben Cayetano? Keep the country, country. No shoestores and no sidewalks. And you can forget about education too.

"Tiny Bubbles" by Don Ho

Pub's Side Note: Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. They are not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you cannot do is ignore them, because they change things.

Digital

We do not have too many in this sector that are into the digital technology. Most that are in have cell phones and a few have computers. As per usual I always put them into the small, medium and large categories. Always three. You want more? You can do as you please.

"The dance is over, the applause subsided, but the joy and feeling

will stay with you forever." ~An Exhibition Dancer. 

First of course are the ones that get along just fine with none of it. People have lived for ages very nicely without. So I think these people can do as they damn well please and we should respect their wishes.

"Paniolo Country" by Melveen Leed.

Second is most of us, that have access to the commodities and use them regularly throughout the day. The cellphone, with email and text is the easiest to use. Then the computer, with with Search Engines, Blog and Web sites available, is quite handy and it may take three or four hours daily.

Then you are in trouble when you use a device for more than five hours per day. Some people find they have to check updates in the middle of the night and even experience withdrawal symptoms when separated from their digital companions for too long. It has led some analyzers to describe this type of behavior as an "addiction."

"Sweet Someone" by Don Ho

Each one of us should determine the impact of this stuff on our lives and do something about minimizing its negative influence. How about a little more dancing. Hey, Hey.

Pub's Side Note: Dance Clubs and other Dance Organizations are already coming to terms with the need to integrate their social media efforts with their content strategy, and are seeing the impact of blogs in terms of lead generation, referral traffic, and membership.

Digital

We do not have too many in this sector that are into the digital technology. Most that are in have cell phones and a few have computers. As per usual I always put them into the small, medium and large categories. Always three. You want more? You can do as you please.

"The dance is over, the applause subsided, but the joy and feeling

will stay with you forever." ~An Exhibition Dancer. 

First of course are the ones that get along just fine with none of it. People have lived for ages very nicely without. So I think these people can do as they damn well please and we should respect their wishes.

"Paniolo Country" by Melveen Leed.

Second is most of us, that have access to the commodities and use them regularly throughout the day. The cellphone, with email and text is the easiest to use. Then the computer, with with Search Engines, Blog and Web sites available, is quite handy and it may take three or four hours daily.

Then you are in trouble when you use a device for more than five hours per day. Some people find they have to check updates in the middle of the night and even experience withdrawal symptoms when separated from their digital companions for too long. It has led some analyzers to describe this type of behavior as an "addiction."

"Sweet Someone" by Don Ho

Each one of us should determine the impact of this stuff on our lives and do something about minimizing its negative influence. How about a little more dancing. Hey, Hey.

Pub's Side Note: Dance Clubs and other Dance Organizations are already coming to terms with the need to integrate their social media efforts with their content strategy, and are seeing the impact of blogs in terms of lead generation, referral traffic, and membership.

Dancers. Where?

I know they are here, all three classes. The mainly music lovers that would rather go to a Night Club in town to listen to live music. Our kind is there too, the lovers of moving to their favorite music in a social atmosphere.  And we also have the kind that are dancers in which dancing is the main thing. They may be Exhibition or Competition Dancers and the music may be secondary. But make no mistake, they can dance.

"You can accept responsibility for your life and realize that it is you

who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”

Dancing in Kokohead? Of course not!

News from Asia:
In China, people can be seen hopping from their bicycles on the way to work to do a few dance turns among early-morning practitioners of Tai Chi in Beijing parks and on the Shanghai Band. The China Daily recently suggested that dance classes could be a healthy way to channel the interests of young people away from premarital sex.

"La Bamba" By Los Lobos

Millions dance in Japan, where ballroom dancing has been regimented into a 12-tier ranking system. Many are inspired by a sentimental Japanese movie, "Shall We Dance?" about a drab office worker who finds meaning for his life on the dance floor. Dancing comes with dim sum at Ocean City Restaurant in Hong Kong and draws celebrities to Paul Bishop's Academy of Dance.

In Thailand the venue is Lumpini Park in Bangkok, where there is already talk of competitin for Olympic medals at the Games coming up, where ballroom dancing is a new event.

"Rock and Roll is Here To Stay" By Danny the Juniors

And in Singapore, the authorities have added ballroom dancing to wine tasting and tennis as an appropriate activity for Government-run matchmaking clubs. That place is jumping.

But nowhere is ballroom dancing bigger than in the Philippines, where ''people power'' and coup attempts are things of the past. Morning, afternoon and evening, in discos, living rooms and stadiums, Filipinos are dancing. They gather under the palm trees in Luneta Park when the born-again Christians are not holding a rally. Plenty of others are dancing up a storm.

Small, Medium and Large

Blogs seem to come in three sizes, (my preferential divisions.) There are smallest, Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus and all of them can expand their capabilities to a Medium size blog. Some are very prominent such as Tumblr. The big ones like Blogger and Word Press can handle pages of text and hundreds of photos, even videos.

"Blogs are whatever we make them. Defining 'blog' may be a fool's errand."

Twitter allows writers to post plain text messages to a variety of followers that can be replied to and easily shared with others. It’s high profile in the media and its adoption by millions of people make it a great place to begin if you’re interested in blogging. Most will go quickly into Google Plus or Facebook because there is more room. Which Platform Should You Choose?

"Good Night Irene" by the Weavers

Micro blogging is a great platform if you want to quickly record thoughts, share succinct ideas and create awareness. You can meet an awful lot of people in a short time. Micro blogging offers the advantage of having a much easier audience to engage with, given that the interaction is live and in real time.

Full functioning blogs, on the other hand, allow you to develop and publish your ideas in a much more comprehensive way. You have more opportunity support and expand your ideas with images, video, links to additional sources, etc. Furthermore, content management systems, such as Blogger and WordPress, are now commonly used by website developers to build interactive and engaging websites for small businesses.

"Morning Dew" by Bruddah Iz

Further complicating the equation are hybrid platforms like Tumblr and Posterous. These platforms are capable of publishing full blog articles, yet they are as easy to use and require about the same technical knowledge as a micro blog. In addition, micro blogs themselves, like ‘New Twitter’ (Twitter with additional features), now allow users to attach images and display video right within the update stream, so the lines between blogging platforms and micro blogging platforms are being blurred all the time.

In a nutshell, choose whichever platform that interests you enough to post (and continue to post!) relevant content to your target audience. And make as many attempts as possible to check the effectiveness of each method. Note which platform your target audience is using. This will provide you a hint as to the most effective type of content for this audience.