Archive for the ‘Uketopia’ Category
Thursday, May 24th, 2007
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This weekend is Folklife Weekend in Seattle. If you find yourself craving that certain musical combination of nerdiness, mixed ethnicity, and crunch, Folklife is for you! Folklife is also a big event for the good people of the Seattle Ukulele Player’s Association - a large contingent shows up to play and it’s a Good Time. We’re at the Intiman on Sunday at 11:30, part of the Ukulele Extravaganza. There might be better players on the planet, but I don’t think anyone else enjoys it quite as much as we do.
The Ukulele Extravaganza goes from 11 am until 1pm - you could get your annual does of uke music out of the way all at once. The Kimball Kids open, followed by SUPA, then there’s a slack key band, and finally, Brook Adams - who’s mighty entertaining, we saw him in Eugene, once. Word has it he can play all of the Beatles Abby Road on his uke. That’s a crazy rumor if ever there was one. Doncha wanna know if it’s true?
Come on down. It makes me happy to see you in the audience when the house lights go up.
[tags]Seattle Ukulele Players Association, Folklife, ukulele[/tags]
Posted in Seattle, Uketopia | 2 Comments »
Monday, April 9th, 2007
Yo, hot stuff. You’re not going to the Portland Ukulele Festival or the No. Cal Ukulele Festival or the San Diego Ukulele Festival or the New York Uke Fest in the same old uke gear that everyone else is wearing, are you? Duh, of course not. You’re going in a Uke Angel T-Shirt from Nerd’s Eye View because yes, you are that cool, that much smarter, and that much better looking than everyone else.
Divine intervention comes in the form of the ukulele. Get yours.
Posted in Uketopia | 1 Comment »
Monday, February 5th, 2007
It’s possible I overdid it. I might even have a little bit of a ukulele hangover, if such a thing exists. My hands are a little stiff, my right shoulder complaining. That because I spent the better part of Saturday afternoon sexing up the chord progressions for Aaron Neville’s “Tell it like it is.” I didn’t quit until I’d worked out the second position and/or the husband said “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, COULD YOU PLAY SOMETHING ELSE FOR A WHILE?” Well, um, no, actually, but even that was okay because it was time to take a breather and head out for, that’s right, live ukulele music and plenty of it.
Can I tell you how much I adore those wacky Canote Brothers? Can I? In ties that are nearly as wide as their smiles, you head on back in time to an era of high waisted trousers and crank start automobiles and never mind that you’re in the basement of a rather swanky and expensive music store, it’s all back porch when those boys swing. Golly gee whiz, did they bring the wholesome tunes and the big smiley times. They were followed by another remarkable player in horn-rimmed specs, the unstoppable Del Ray who makes you say this: Now, how on earth can she get that kind of sound from a ukulele? And how much longer am I going to have to play to get there myself? Longer than I’ve got on the planet, that’s fer sure, unless I quit everything else I’m doing and devote myself to my four stringed companion. As if that wasn’t enough, Del Ray and her smashing bass player were followed by Caravan Gogh, a gypsy jazz/novelty/some third thing combo out of Portland, featuring Jim DeVille on, oh yeah, the ukulele. Man, can that guy strum him some uke. It’s a wonder he doesn’t go through them like, like, like hmmm, come on, clever metaphor here, like Madonna goes through hairstyles? You get it. What I’m saying is that we heard some uke and it was good.
But did I stop there? No, no I did not. Because Sunday was SUPA Sunday. What Super Bowl? I had a room full of uke players - oh, about 40, I’d say - to join in song and strum and wise cracking a plenty. Did I sit up front? Yes I did, to help brave Angela lead on The Rainbow Connection. (Hey, play the chorus twice at the end. Play it once while singing the second time, with the la da da dee bit.) So the weekend wrapped up with a little Buddy Holly, a little Bye Bye Love and now, I’m not sure I’ll be able to pick up the uke again for a few days coz, well, ow. And wow. That was a lot of ukulele. Somebody get me some methadone, stat. I think I’m starting to withdraw.
Y’all ought to come with me, next time, you know who you are.
[tags]ukulele[/tags]
Posted in Uketopia | No Comments »
Monday, January 29th, 2007
… will spread peace and prosperity from the Mediterranean to the North Sea, from the British Isles to the edge of the so-called West.
And if you think we’ll stop there, well, you’ve got another thing coming. We’ve already begun our work in Austria, Germany, and Spain.
Look out. We’re taking over Europe, one uke at a time.
[tags]ukulele[/tags]
Posted in Uketopia | 3 Comments »
Sunday, December 31st, 2006
Posted in Nerdio, Uketopia | 4 Comments »
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006
The CSA sent me Jerusalem artichokes. This is a very odd little vegetable that looks like a little like ginger and tastes a little like an artichoke, only sweeter. The handout that came with the veggies told me to steam them and then pan fry them - I opted for my usual oven roasting solution - adding rosemary and ground pepper to the olive oil in the pan. When they were done, I tossed a couple of chopped leeks and some wine in the pan with the snapper fillets that I’d marinated in lemon juice.
I’d forgotten that snapper plain is just, well, sort of plain. I really should have opted for a very mild sole or something meatier, like halibut steaks. Snapper wants stewing in something and doesn’t have enough flavor to stand alone. I liked the odd little Jerusalem chokes just fine, but I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to have them again as they seem to have disagreed with me. Rather.
The best thing about this Fish Wednesday is that with the husband stateside, I have a companion at the table. He acts all impressed when I throw together Fish Wednesday with little fuss or preparation and it’s handy to have an extra set of hands around the kitchen.
After dinner I hopped in the car to join an handful of cheery uke players at a party where we were the entertainment. We played far too many Xmas songs for my liking, but ’tis the season and hey, when you sign up to play a holiday party at this time of year, whaddaya expect? It was fun to play with a smaller group for a change and we got paid in ginger jam.
[tags]Fish Wednesday[/tags]
Posted in Fish Wednesday, Food, Glorious Food, Uketopia | 1 Comment »
