Somethin’ de Mayo: Time for a fiesta! COME OUT AND PLAY!!!

And... here's a VIRTUAL songbook (LINKS ONLY) that we can use as a resource, but please do bring lots of music of your own as well. Here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/MUJ-Somethin-de-Mayo-Songbook

Here’s a traditional MUJ event... that is pretty untraditional. The first weekend of May is approaching (as it does most years), so it must be time for us to celebrate Somethin’ de Mayo! For those of us gringos that can't count to cinco in Spanish, the event is roughly translated "Something with mayo".

Cinco de Mayo (the Mexican-American holiday) is of course on Sunday; so what exactly is Somethin’ de Mayo? It’s a chance for me to celebrate the fact that I once lived in (New) Mexico; and I love the sound of Latin music (even if I don't understand the words); and gosh, do I also like to eat and drink.

So bring your favorite uke, your fanciest sombrero and extra copies of songs that either have a few SPANISH words in them, or are somehow FOOD-related. (Songs about SPANISH FOOD will of course win the day. And NO, of course I WASN'T kidding about the sombrero!)

CULTURAL APPROPRIATION DISCLAIMERS:
• Will we be enjoying the food, drink and music of a culture we weren’t born to?
YES. And we’ll definitely be doing it inauthentically. And with a great deal of appreciation for the creative folks who invented it.
• If you’re actually Mexican; or at least you took Spanish in school; will we be open to learning the real stuff?
YES! Yes, yes, and again strongly YES!!! Anything you bring (especially Spanish songs) will be highly celebrated!
• For the rest of you, if you bring a song sheet for “I can si clearly now” and tell us that’s all the Spanish you know, we’ll just play along. And of course you can opt out of the Spanish route and bring food or drink songs as well.

SO HOW DO WE DO THIS?
• Start by coming to my house. Yup, Casa Marco, in Denville; last house on the left before you drive into the river. PLEASE TAKE NOTE: I'm trying to be a good neighbor regarding the cars; feel free to pack my driveway if you'll be staying awhile, but if you need to park on the road please stretch out a bit and try to avoid blocking my next-door-neighbor's house or driveways. (Thanks!)
• The plan is music, chat, music, food, music, drinks, music, maybe fall in the river, more music.
• At about 4 pm I’ll have a dinner of chicken tortilla soup, empanadas and sangria.
• NO OBLIGATIONS - just come if you can. But if you’d like to contribute eatables or drinkables, I’d encourage any of the following:

• Snacks of any kind
• Drinks of any kind
• Desserts of any kind
• Bonus points if you (even remotely) follow the Mexican / Spanish theme
  • Feel free to come an hour or two early. (Really, do.) But be warned: I’m likely to make you work in the kitchen. Or play music. Or maybe play music in the kitchen while I work there.

THINGS TO BRING:

• ukulele
• friend (must be willing to sing or clap; ukulele experience a bonus)
• sombrero if you have one
• music to share for playalongs or to play for us (Spanish, Spanglish, food or drinking songs)
• media devices (tablets) to access my wifi, so that everybody with a tablet has access to our entire library of songs
• music stand; or possibly a desk-music stand (the kind you might use in the Creamery), since we'll probably end up outside and I have some deck tables we could play at
• eatables or drinkables to share (if you want)

That’s it! Now COME OUT AND PLAY!!!