A depressing ukulele

Robert Wheeler sends along this…”Attached is... made from tongue depressors by my grandson, Marshall Pung. “

More big trouble

Belly up to the bar, it’s Ukulele Noir 20, Wednesday, December 13th at Johnny D’s Nightclub in Davis Square, Somerville Massachuetts. This edition features Craig Robertson, Ham and Legs (Joel Eckhaus and Drinka Overton from Portland, Maine), Tom Harker (from Indiana), Davis Sweet and Mark Occhionero.

All ukulele music (well, some other instruments…and tap dancing!) all night long. All for you.
link

'tis the season

Night came early to Ukuleletown yesterday. 4:30 and the sun was dead and gone. And it was cold, cold as only a northern sea town can get in December. As I walked across the Commons on my way to the subway, I passed by the Frog Pond, which, as it is every year, was being transformed into a public skating rink.
I stopped, even though the wind was biting through my overcoat like a rabid squirrel. The trees had been decorated with lights all around the Pond and the perimeter was packed with small children and their parents watching a huge Zamboni swirl around on the ice, flattening it out for the skaters.
Each child, their breath clouding the chilly evening air, had a pair of skates slung over their shoulder. They were eager to get out there and slice up the virgin ice with those wicked blades.

Artist: ARMAN, Title: "Sliced Ukulele" Edition: 99, Size: 30 x 65 cm

LINK

Dolce and Gabbana Uke?

Well, at least she broke her C string rather than her G. Link

Advent Uke Calendar

Julkalander courtesy of the Ukulele Kommissionen! A ukey treat every day. Link

Riding Along with the Ditty Bops

Nice profile of my friends (friends of Tuba's are friends of mine!), the Ditty Bops on AfterEllen.com.
Link

Music you can sink your teeth into

In one of the seedier sections of Ukuleletown, there’s a small café next to a brothel. The café features music by a fearless, fearsome band called The Tigerlillies. Martyn Jacques, who fronts the band, occasionally is seen playing a resonator ukulele.

If you haven’t heard them yet, go get one of their many albums. They will make your ears vibrate and your heart pump faster. Their live act is magnificently theatrical and twisted…but very musical. Adrian, the bass player, even plays musical saw on a few songs.

the photo was taken by Matt Samolis at a gig last year in Boston.

Bad New/Good News

The bad news: due to overwhelming demand, the "DZ Flea," Dan Zane's limited edition lime green Flea Ukulele is sold out.

The good news: the overwhelming demand bit. Link

Ukulele Pick Livables

Here's a line of housewares made from scrap left over from making felt ukulele picks. It's a really smart idea, although it occurs to me that an even smarter idea would be to design a ukulele pick that could be punched out without producing any waste at all. Shown here is a trivet. A nice conversation piece for your next kanikikapila, nonetheless. Link

Ukulele Kommissionen

I have no idea what avslappnadding or sammanslutning are, but there sure are some swell links and images here.

Ukulelekommissionen är, trots det något formella namnet, en avslappnad sammanslutning av ukuleleentusiaster.

Avslappnad Away!

Link

Update: I fear I may have sparked an unintentional controversy over on the Ukulele Kommissionen forum. I wish there were better Swedish/English translation engines online, because there's clearly an active an enthusiastic uke community in Sweden. If you are a ukuleleentusiaster, welcome to Ukulelia, where every day is Våffeldagen. (Oops, that'll probably get me in dutch, too. Did I say "dutch"?)

da Boss plays da Ukulele

First Eddie Vedder, now Bruce Springsteen...where, oh where, will this crazy ride take us????

to the Bus Stop, that's where

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You should always take a musician seriously

Ah, for the days when musicians were not just annoying cultural artifacts, but actually feared by the general public.

Well, not really. Only if they were carrying an instrument case, because certain members of the community, certain shadier members, were wont to carry Thompson SubMachine Guns in instrument cases.

So all musicians carrying cases were viewed with a jaundiced eye.

Is that why every time I go through the security checkpoint at the airport they HAVE to open my ukulele case and check it?

All I Want For Christmas...

(altogether, now)

...Is a $12,000 Martin 5-K,
A Martin 5-K,
A Martin 5-K,
All I want for Christmas is a $12,000 Martin 5-Kaaaaay!
So I can wish you 'Merry Christmas!'

Link

Coming soon, "Santa Baby (Slip a National Triolian Resophonic Under the Tree, for me...)_

Blog Format Update

Aloha, all. Several readers told us that the blog seemed to be taking a long time to load, so we've reduced the number of items that appear on the page at one time. Everything is still available via the Archive link even if it's dropped off the page.

Drop us a line and let us know what you think of the change.

Lunch with Robert...and Turturro's Peanut

Once again Ukulele Consciousness founder Robert Wheeler braved the twisting streets of Ukuleletown in his smart noir VW convertible to show up at my doorstep for ukuleles, beer and lunch. (in that order)

This time Robert brought with him a sampling of ukuleles named after, built by and distributed by some murky denizens of late twenties (or so) Chicago (or thereabouts). The first ukulele was named after someone mentioned recently on this blog; Bobby Henshaw. A charming player with a smooth, flat neck (like Bobby) and a spruce top. What was the rest of the uke made of? Hell if I know.

Then Robert brought out the prizes: a Bruno soprano with a bound fretboard and the famous Turturro “peanut” soprano. Both were remarkably similar in style, wood and appointments. Dare I say they were made in the same factory? They both sounded great, but the Peanut had an amazing tone. (in spite of the ugly design!)

(click on any image to enlarge it)