As a marketing strategist, I get paid to predict the future. Not the long term, but that much tougher animal, the next year. Of course, no one can really do this. But if you have any talent, you get pretty close to delivering the goods.

I've grown tired of writing "Top Ten Predictions." So this year, I am going with just one. 2009 will be the year of the ukulele. Unless you are like me, you heard it here first. And I've timestamped it in case we soon find others laying claim to the same prediction.

The evidence? I base all predictions on unbelievable coincidences. Here they are:

--A few weeks ago, my wife and I took our son to his first karate tournament. Where? Stockton, California. We knew little about the place. But we quickly learned a lot about the town, including its large Filipino population. The food at this tournament was outstanding. In addition to the expected stuff -- hot dogs, chips, soda -- the organizers offered a Filipino buffet. We sat there in the cafeteria feeling great about the whole experience, when suddenly things got even brighter. A posse of Filipino teenagers suddenly appeared with three to four ... uh huh ... ukuleles. I asked my wife, "what's up with that?"

--Just two days later, I am driving in my car in Palo Alto when I heard a feature on NPR about a Ukulele master. I thought, "too big a coincidence."

It is too big a coincidence. It soon struck me. Obama's Hawaaian heritage must be strumming on people's brains, and the music from those islands must be on on our minds. This New Year's Eve, I am hoping that the new year will be more harmonic, and less discordant, than the last. And based on this most amazing ukulele incident, I am guessing that I am not alone. In the meantime, I leave you with a clip from Jimmy Buffet's Tampa rally for Obama. Mahalo.