Kalai

Last week, I went to an informal concert featuring Kalai.

It was awesome. It was in Holliday, in the mountains. There is this little stage tucked up on a hiking path. The mountains surround you, and the sun set right behind the stage. It was a magical setting.

Kalai sings a song, On My Mind, and it is one of my all-time favorite songs. It is also featured in the new movie Johnny Lingo, which is one of my favorite movies (if you haven't seen it - GO SEE IT NOW! It is awesome, and the soundtrack is incredible. I bought it years ago. Also - if you've never seen the original Johnny Lingo, that is absolutely worth seeing as well. I'm still waiting for my Johnny Lingo to appear...).

As I was looking him up to link to this post, I read his bio. Because that is just how big of a fan I really am.

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Switch to my childhood in Anchorage, Alaska.

There was a family there, with a kid named Kaniela Ka Lei Ali’i ‘O’ Kalani Kala’i. My dad was close with him, as they were both in the Young Men’s. We grew up with that name on our lips, for the sheer… weirdness of it being a legit name. We’d practice saying it, fast and slow, over and over. After not hearing the name for YEARS, I can still say it. That is some hardcore memorization right there.

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Switch back to today, when I’m reading his bio. They have his name, Kalai, and say he was born some looong, complicated, apostrophized Hawaiin name. I skip over it. I can’t pronounce it, so why bother?

I read the rest of the bio, look over his songs, trying to find a download of On My Mind. Which, I couldn’t. Once I’ve decided I’ve officially wasted enough of my time, I go to close down my Kalai research.

As I’m closing down his bio window, I decide to say the name – just for kicks. See how I do.

“Kaniela Ka Lei Ali’i ‘O’ Kalani Kala’I”

Whoooooaaaaa. That sounds awfully familiar… the past comes whooshing into my head.

I know this guy! He and my Dad were besties, once upon a time.

Crazy. Too bad I made this discovery now, and not before the concert when I could have told him and maybe gotten my money back. Friends get into concerts for free, right? And we are practically besties too, obviously.