Jumping Flea

In Hawaiian the word "ukulele" means jumping flea. The ukulele is a Hawaiian instrument that's a miniature adaptation of a small stringed instrument brought by the Portuguese to Hawaii. The "jumping flea" name comes from how the fingers appear when playing the instrument.

Last week, Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hanneman introduced Barack Obama as Hawaii's "latest and greatest gift"...but after reading about the resurgence in popularity of the ukulele in a New York Times article, I beg to differ.

The Times article mentions how this unconventional little stringed instrument is being used by more musicians and seems to make people smile upon just seeing it. Jason Mraz's video for the song "I'm Yours" features him playing a ukulele. Colbie Caillat uses one as well.

The ukulele is an important part of Hawaiian music and culture. It's a staple at casual backyard family parties. Little kids across Hawaii take ukulele lessons on Saturday mornings, much in the same way their classmates go to soccer practice. In high school, it wasn't unusual to see some musically inclined student carrying one around for an impromptu song in the hall in between classes. While that sounds High School Musical-ish, it wasn't at all but much more casual in that kind of acoustic guitar-playing artsy kid in the corner kind of way.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with Mayor Hanneman-- the ukulele, and other important Hawaiian contributions like surfing, are definitely things I'd put a notch above a politician as Hawaii's great gifts to the world.