Gus Left for San Francisco This Morning

He's off with his uke to work with the composer hired to work on the music for the PBS documentary film that we've been collaborating on with Horse Opera Productions. He will be performing at the screening of the documentary at California State University.

As they say in show biz, "Break a Leg", Gus!

2009 Flame Tree Arts Festival

This year's Flame Tree Arts Festival concluded and, unfortunately, I didn't take any photographs because I was waiting for the battery charger I ordered for my camera to arrive, but the charger arrived too late.

One of the highlights of the Festival for the family was seeing Gus and the young Kaipat kids perform. Gus did a couple numbers, followed by (L-R) Jun, Aj, and Dusty. This was the second time Jun performed at the Flame Tree Arts Festival. Last year, he performed with Gus, though he only played the uke. This year, he got to sing.

The three were joined on stage by Kadie and Josiah (who stood between Jun and AJ). So, with the exception of Jun, all the kids (Kadie, Aj, Josiah, and Dusty) made their performance debutes at the Festival.

Speaking of debutes, we also had TJ operating the camera. He'd never done that before and was pressed into service that day because his Uncle Gus did not bring the tri-pod and, well, consider yourself forewarned. Heh! Heh!

After the kids' numbers, Uncle Gus joined them for one final number. Poor Uncle Gus, he was supposed to grab the uke from Josiah, but Josiah would not surrender the uke to him, so Uncle Gus had to go on with the show and sang while the kids played. Heh! Heh! We had a pretty good laugh about this aftewards.

All in all, everyone had a great time.

Okay, still want to see that video? Again, sorry for the camera work. :)



See you all next year!

Speaking of Olomwaay, someone posted this on Youtube (thanks for sharing!). This was when Olomwaay opened for Jake Shimabukuro at last year's fundraising concert that he held for Beautify CNMI! and HANMI. Gus (in the blue t-shirt in the middle of the red t-shirts) sings lead, backed by Dee Saures, Cris Kaipat, Ben Limes, and Miki Lisua on vocals.

Thank You, Aya-san and Willy-san!

It's been quite a while since Beautify CNMI! friends enjoyed an evening out together. I have to thank Aya-san and Willy-san for the invitation. Arigato Gozaimasu!

The leader of this Japanese group (the gentleman with me in the first photo in this slideshow) brought a group to Saipan last year to shoot a movie and to promote the Japanese version of "Miss Saipan" contest. (The winner got a part in the movie.) Last year, the film crew landed in Saipan and went straight from the airport to Pau Pau Beach to do a cleanup with Beautify CNMI! This gentleman is the film director.

Now, they're back with a new set of contestants and some members of the first crew. Welcome back and thank you for promoting our islands.

To sum up the evening -- the food was delicious, the company was great, and everyone had a great time!



Angelo has a post on this evening and the contest here.

The Beautify CNMI "Beauty Virus" Is Alive And Well

Thanks to Aya-san and Willy-san of Isa CNMI for keeping the Beautify CNMI "Beauty Virus" alive and well!

Gus and I got our niece and nephews together and headed up to the Last Command Post in Marpi, Saipan, this bright Sunday morning for a cleanup with Isa CNMI and 200 visitors from Japan. They are members of the Nenpoushinkyou group in Japan. They say they have 800,000 members. WOW!

I put together this slide show of the day's events. The first 100 or so pictures were taken of the cleanup.

The last pictures are of the first blooming flame tree of the group we planted on lower Dandan Road (the road leading up to Dandan from the Welcome/Adios Sign). We planted these trees last year, and now one of them is already blooming!

The last pictures are of the road sign on Tun Kiyoshi Road.

Thanks to everyone who pitched in to help. Isa CNMI's Aya-san and Willy-san Matsumoto led the effort with Beautify CNMI and her coalition partners MVA, PDI, Tasi Tours, RC&D, PEW, and community members. In addition to Gus and I and our niece Sheena Saures and nephews Peter Saures, Franklin, Josiah and Jun Lizama, other community members who were there included Juanita Fajardo and her niece Breana and nephew Vince.

Once, again, thanks to everyone for a fine job! Arigato-gozaimasu!

Last Day of Flame Tree Arts Festival

Jun joined Gus for a few numbers. Actually, he was only supposed to join Gus for one number, but when he got on stage for the sound check, he decided to stay from beginning to end!


It sure was hot out! But, in the end, it was well worth it. At the end of the performance, Parker presented Gus with an appreciation certificate. (Photo courtesy of sister Nan Kramis.)
Sisters Cil, Vio & Niece Lei enjoying the Festival. (Photo courtesy of Nan Kramis.)
Nan and Cin. (Photo courtesy of Nan.)
Cin & Gus say "See you all next year!"

Uke Virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro To Hold Beautify CNMI/HANMI Fundraiser Concert

Angelo has a post on this Fundraiser Concert here.

For Olomwaay fans, the great news is that Olomwaay will be opening for Jake. Brothers Gus and Cris will be teaming up with Brother Benji Limes to jam some original Olomwaay tunes that we hope to release soon.

So, March 27 is the date. Tickets are $25 pp and $15 children under 12.

Come on out and support a worthy cause!

Little League Fundraiser Dinner Gets Press

http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=69915

The initial meeting with parents, players, and coaches of the Little League All Stars to plan the dinner show for this Saturday, June 30.

Again, here are the basics:

What: Little League All Stars Fundraising Dinner Show

When: Saturday, June 30

Where: Koblerville Youth Learning Center, Koblerville, Saipan

Time: 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Entertainers: Olomwaay Band (Gus' Family Band), Joe Limes' Family Band, some family dancers, and other entertainment.

Price: $5 plate

Come one, Come All! Let's help out the kids.

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And the Little Leaguers got some additional press time in the "Sports" section of the Tribune.

http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=2&newsID=69882

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DON'T FORGET --

The 2nd Family Fund Night is tonight! Don't miss out!!!

LAST CHANCE TO SEE STUCK TONIGHT!

The talented cast and crew of Stuck with Gus Kaipat and Representative Cinta Kaipat.

Hey, Friends--

It's Saturday afternoon and if you're on Saipan and you're looking for something to do this evening, please GO SEE STUCK! This is your last chance to watch this play at the American Memorial Park theatre and it starts at 7 p.m., although you should call the park and speak to the theatre folks just to confirm I'm right on the time.

After the play, you'll have a chance to rub elbows with the stars and the crew at Ocean's at 10 p.m. Tickets are only $5. You can't beat that! Go! Go! Go!

(I'll post other pictures and blog about my experience later.) Gotta go!

7 Random Facts About Me

Alright! Alright, you rascals! I see that some of you tagged me and at least one of you highlighted the fact that everyone has played the Tag Game except for me, so here goes.

1. The #5 plays a significant role in my life. I am the 5th child. My parents had 5 of us and waited 5 years before having 5 more kids. My mother gave birth to 5 boys and 5 girls.

2. I have a serious side, which is the lawyer and lawmaking, community service/activist side of me. And I have a "self-nurturing side" that creeps up on me once in a while and demands that I do NOTHING responsible for anyone else and selfishly concentrate on myself. In this dream, I blissfully go about doing things only for myself, such as work on my artwork, write a book, read more books, work on my photography, learn Japanese, Chinese, Tagalog, Korean, learn to play the uke, guitar and the piano, etc., and sleep in as late as I want to.

3. I manage the popular family band Olomwaay. Brother Gus founded this Band. I produced the Band's first hit album (She Gave Us Love) which sold 2,000 copies in 3 days! This is no joke! Gus composed the original songs "She Gave Us Love," which pays tribute to our Mom and the struggles we endured to survive after our father was murdered, and "Ta Baila Na Dos," a Chamorro Chacha song. Although Olomwaay has been on hiatus for a few years, we're making plans to dust off the cobwebs and get crankin' again. Do I hear music? You betcha! Come see the Band this Friday, May 25, which will be playing at the Karidat Fundraising Dinner at the Aqua Resort. Email me at cintamkaipat@gmail.com if you're interested in details.

4. I composed the lyrics to "My Micronesia," the theme song for the Micro Games that brother Gus composed the music to.

5. I once formed a choir at a large company I worked for in Chicago. The big honchos at the company liked the choir so much that the company bought us a piano! I had fun going out with one of the company attorneys who played the piano to pick out the "company piano." We had several company "concerts" using that piano!

6. I met famous Blues singer Koko Taylor and her band on a plane back from Paris, France. The Band invited me to the Taste of Chicago, where they entertained thousands of people at Grant Park. I became the envy of the thousnds of fans there who saw the guards briefly open the gates to let me in backstage after the band's drummer spotted me and asked the guards to let me in!

7. I once did an experiment in law school that back-fired on me. During an election period for Law Council (the STUCO equivalent for law school), I noticed that they had an opening for one 3rd year representative. I secretly nominated myself and told no one except my best friend Terrance what I'd done. After we had a good laugh about it, he said to me, "You know, Cinta, you know enough people at the Law School (U of MN) that I bet you could just stop a few people in the hallways and ask them to vote for you and you'd win." I said, "What? Are you crazy? I'm going to conduct an experiment. I'm not going to campaign; in fact, I'm not even going to tell a single soul, except you, that I'm running, and we'll see what happens." Well, sure enough. For the next couple weeks or so, my opponents campaigned and posted their posters and, me? I just went about my business.

Finally, Election Day came along and I decided I may as well go and vote. The Law Council President who was overseeing the elections said to me, "The most frequently uttered expression around here is 'Cinta! I didn't know Cinta's running!!!'"

Then it was my turn to be shocked. I walked into the computer lab one evening and the lab monitor said to me "Congratulations!" I said, "Congratulations for what?" He said, "Didn't you run for Law Council? You won!" I was stunned! Honestly stunned! I raced downstairs to the bulletin boards to verify what I'd been told. That's when I learned that I beat out 5 other people for that one slot.

Okay, so how did this back-fire on me, you say? Well, after I got elected to represent the third-year law students at Law Council (law school is only three years full time), I did everything to avoid it, but still ended up being elected Law Council Secretary. Yep; that meant that after every and all Law Council meetings, while everyone else had gone off to do whatever it was they wanted to do, I got stuck staying behind to type up and distribute the minutes. Ugh! Gosh, that was a lot of fun -- NOT! :( Afterwards, I was kicking myself and repeating, "Hey, Cinta, got anymore great ideas? Anymore experiments you wanna try?"

Okay, that fulfills my 7 (useless) random facts about me, but I'm actually having more fun doing this than I thought I would that I've decided to include a bonus. No bonus? Ok. You can stop reading here. :)

Bonus Feature:

Years ago, when I was still living and working in Chicago (well, okay, Evanston), I saw this jazz musician on the Johnny Carson Show. I was really intrigued by the way he played the guitar. He didn't play it the conventional way and it didn't sound conventional either. It was like a piano playing, only there was only one person playing the GUITAR! His name is Stanley Jordan. I was hooked! I even roped some friends into driving to Indiana to see him in concert. I was too chicken to see him backstage (I was too self-conscious about this "music groupie thing"), but my older and more aggressive friend went backstage and secured an autograph for me.

Years later, imagine my delight to find out that Stanley Jordan was going to appear at one of our local record stores within blocks of where I lived. Woo-Hoo! This time, I made sure I was there in person to get my autographed albums and photos, which I promptly sent home to Gus. I said to him, "Check this guy out! You're gonna love him."

Years later, Gus got a job working for MVB. Who does he meet one day? Stanley Jordan, of course! Gus ended up spending time entertaining Stanley Jordan the whole time he was on layover in Saipan on his way to Japan! According to Gus, Stanley even gave a concert here! Now how cool is that?!

Okay, enough said. I tag Bev, Captain Carl, Lex, Marites, and Aya-san and the whole Isa-CNMI team.

Dining For A Good Cause With ISA CNMI and Aqua Resort

Angelo, Gus, and I had a fun dinner with our Beautify CNMI! partners from ISA CNMI and Aqua Resort last Friday, February 9. The leader of ISA CNMI, Aya Matsumoto (second from right), extended the invitation. Domo Arigato, Aya-san! We were glad to do our part to support the fundraising efforts being done on behalf of Beautify CNMI! by Yoshimi-san and the wonderful folks at Aqua Resort. The food is excellent and you get 10% off your meal plus they get to donate 5% to MINA for Beautify CNMI! How cool is that?!

Fun Facts: Did you know that at least 125 people in Japan are interested in Beautify CNMI? Our ISA partners got the buzz going by translating our Beautify CNMI! website (check us out at www.beautifycnmi.com) into Japanese and got the folks in Japan interested in what we're doing here in the CNMI! Is that terrific or is that terrific?

Thank you! Domo Arigato!Si Yu'us Ma'ase! Olomwaay!