I like June, no other month begins on the same day of the week as June. This year June began on a Monday, there isn’t another month starting on a Monday in 2009. Next year it will be a different day but June will be the sole possessor of that starter day too, and this happens every year on both the regular and the leap-year calendar. Darn right amazing, you say, and I agree.
Of Hawaiian importance, June 11th is King Kamehameha (meaning: The Lonely One) Day. It is a public state holiday honoring Kamehameha The Great, the monarch who first established the unified Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. Kamehameha is often referred to as the Napoleon of the Pacific for his prowess in warfare and achievements in diplomacy. This day is celebrated with a beautiful ceremony of an evening draping of long strands of colorful and scented floral leis on the 8 ½ foot tall statue of the king in downtown Honolulu. This amazing ceremony is repeated in the U.S. Capitol where the king’s statue is displayed. Before 2008, shortly after Hawaii-born Barack Obama was nominated, the statue was moved from the dark, back row of the Statuary Hall to a prominent position in the brand new Visitor’s Center at the Capitol. Now that is a show I would like to see if I am ever in D.C. at the right time.
For hard-core English majors and Irish aficionados, June 16th is Bloomsday, a commemorative festival held annually in Dublin and around the world to re-live events from James Joyce’s novel, Ulysses, the date that the characters, Leopold Bloom and his wife-to-be, Nora Barnacle, spent the day strolling. In Mel Brooks’ movie, The Producers, Gene Wilder’s character is named Leo Bloom, an homage to Joyce’s character.
Of course, June 21st is the Summer Solstice (12:45am EST). It is both the longest and the shortest day of the year depending on your location north or south of the equator.
June 21st is also Father’s Day so beat the rush and spend lots of money on the grand guy here at BALI HI and while you are at it, take advantage of our Father’s Day Hawaiian Shirt Sale – 20% off.
And what’s not to like about the name, June, I ask you? After all, that is the name of America’s 1950’s pinnacle of a wife and home-keeper and the mother of Beaver Cleaver.
So, what’s happening at BALI HI and around the Square, you ask? Well, let me tell you, Bali-HI Trading Company is proud to welcome a new artist to Tallahassee. Jon Elliott will be the featured artist for the month of June with an opening reception on 1st Friday, June 5th from 6 to 10 PM.
Jon’s exhibit is called “On the Other Hand”. The expression has a whole new meaning when it comes to Jon’s art and life. For the past 12 years, Jon has lived in a wheelchair after falling 21 feet through a roof onto a cement floor. He spent 4 months in a comma and sustained partial paralysis of his left side. He has neither walked nor been able to use his dominate left arm since.
Jon was a student at the University of Miami, Ringling School of Art and a graduate of Pacific Northwest College of Art. Jon has had to teach himself to paint with his non-dominate right hand, starting with taping the paint brush to his hand. The past 12 years, through perseverance and self adaptation, Jon has developed a new body of work.
Jon’s art startles with its emotion and intensity. What appears at first to be just little slices of daily life upon close examination offer a glimpse of much more beneath the surface of the paint. Be sure to stop by Bali-HI during the month of June to see the work of this emerging young artist. Bali-HI is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 AM until 6 PM and Sunday from 12 to 5 PM.
For Second Sunday at the Railroad Square Art Park the 621 Gallery has put together another spectacular Summer Soulstice Festival. It is going to be hotter than anything Al Gore could predict. They have 5 bands lined up and fun stuff for the whole family that I can’t even tell you about for fear of starting a stampede again.
BANDS: The Windfall, The Frigidaires, Aloonaloona, Jane Jane Pollack, Yellow Dog
So come on out to BALI HI and to Railroad Square and I guarantee you that you will get your summer rolling in greased grooves.
Best Wishes,
Elaine & Bill