Ukulele Noir Slide Show

This is a slide show of the October Ukulele Noir at Johnny Ds. It was done by Boston University student Jordana Feldman...

The Million Ukulele March

Stephen Becker invites other Barack Obama supporters to join the "Million Uke March":

"The Million Uke March is looking for 1,000,000 pickers and grinners, strummers and hummers (that's a small h) and ukaholics of all shapes, stripes and stars to raise your sopranos, concerts, tenors, pineapples, fleas, flukes, banjoleles, box-a-leles and yes, even those baritones, and show your support for an Obama victory in the 2008 Presidential election."

There's even an anthem!

I don't quite understand how all this works, but I'm sure you all will figure it out. Link

(BTW, if anyone knows of a McCain ukulele fan group, drop me a note. In the spirit of bi-partisanship, I'll blog it.)

No tricks, all treat

Have an out-of-body experience. Enhanced aural stimulation provided.

link.

Ukes for Obama

Obama fans will want to check out this short film profiling Ukes for Obama, and their election anthem, Aloha, Mama, I'm Voting for Obama.

Chords and lyrics are here (links to .pdf)

More videos, including Swing State Boogie, are on YouTube.

One man, one hat, one ukulele

This is a performance video from a recent Ukulele Noir. The song is "The Detective's Dilemma".

for more videos

How many ukes????

You'll never be able to look your ukulele in the face (do they have faces?) if you miss this one..."Night of 100 Ukes"
Thursday, Oct. 16 at New York's favorite tiki bar, Otto's Shrunken Head (538 E. 14th Street, between Ave. A & B). This will be a great night of uke excitement, with five fun acts and best of all, NO COVER!

Agent 99 - 10:30
Fez-sational Hawaiian pop from the Big Island of Manhattan!
Hot Time Harv - 10
The Geriatricsʼ Gigolo featuring J-Boy Shine!
Sweet Soubrette and the Shipwrecks - 9
Brooklynʼs femme fatale with her full band!
Craig Chesler - 8
The cool crooner of ukedom!
The Ukemen - 7:30
Rush Kress and friends making their NYC debut!

SUBWAY: L to First Ave. or 4 / 5 / 6 / N / R / Q / W to Union Sq.

more info.

Sample track from NOWHERE

This is one track called "Frontporch" from my upcoming CD called NOWHERE, due out at the end of November.

Frontporch

fair warning! This song contains adult language and situations...

Pardon My (Relative) Silence

Dear Readers,

If you've been a fan of Ukulelia for a while, you've probably noticed that my posting volume has been down for about a year, and why The World's Greatest Ukulele Weblog is only #8 these days.

If you'll take a moment and read this article, you'll get a small taste of what we've been going through for a year. Obviously, it's hard to keep up a blog when you're spending an extraordinary amount of effort trying to keep your disabled son out of jail.

It's a really sad story, and this article doesn't quite convey the amount of stomach acid and legal fees my wife and I have had to incur simply to make sure my son receives the basic education guaranteed him by law.

I am profoundly proud of my son, Garrison, who turned 16 on Saturday. (Happy birthday, Brother.) And I'm profoundly proud of his two sisters, who study hard and do really, really well. And, ironically, I'm proud of our local high school, which is in the highest ranking district in California.

And I'm ashamed that this same, excellent school put a kid with Down Syndrome in a closet. Link

Ukulele Ireland

But so far as I know, James Joyce never played:

"Ulster, Leinster, Munster, Connacht. My, Dog, Has, Fleas. Ukulele Ireland - four strings, four provinces and the truth, brothers and sisters."

Link

Heart Strings - The Story of the Kamaka Ukulele

Thursday, September 18, 2008 at 8:30pm, PBS Hawaii will air Heart Strings - The Story of the Kamaka Ukulele. Plans for re-broadcast on the mainland are in the works, but prolly on Island Time. If you catch the show, drop us a note and tell us how it stay was. Link

Sweetheart Story

Nice article in the Philly Inquirer. Among others, it has some nice things to say about Joseph Todaro.

Philadelphia's first all-ukulele festival, "One Nation Under a Uke," begins today at 7 p.m. with an open mike at the Green Rock Tavern on East Lehigh Avenue, followed by performers doing songs from traditional to obscene.

link.

No Jimmy Buffett, Just Warren and Son

Composer Peter Buffett and his ukulele-playing pater will be on stage at the Paley Center in October. If you can afford to go, you're prolly already a Berkshire-Hathaway shareholder. Gotta buy the whole season series at Paley if you wanna go.

Peter Buffett in Concert and Conversation

Friday, October 3, 2008
6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Paley Center Los Angeles

with special guest Warren Buffet, who wants to see if his investment in those piano lessons paid off [I'd bet my Kamaka Warren wrote that, ed.]

Multimedia musician Peter Buffett is an acclaimed composer for advertising (MTV spots), television documentaries (500 Nations), and theatrical films (Dances with Wolves). Peter will play, sing, and share exclusive videos of his work and philanthropic activities. Special guest Warren Buffett and Peter will attend the private rooftop reception with series subscribers preceding the concert.

Link

Ukulele covers of Jonathan Coulton's "Still Alive" from Portal - Boing Boing

On Ukulelia's big sister blog boingboing today. Link

This Machine Kills Cancer

Activist singer-songwriter Woody Guthrie often scrawled "This Machine Kills Fascists" on his guitar. Ingrid Michaelson carries the flame in a somewhat different vein, this time in a war against cancer. Her new CD, Be OK, will benefit cancer research, specifically through the organization Stand Up to Cancer. The title track is a uke tune, and you can hear it here.

We'll forgive Ingrid for not painting "This Machine Kills Cancer" on her Rick Turner Compass Rose Tenor.

Link

(Photo by Josh Hunter)

Formby Swag

Speaking of George Formby, OBE, the George Formby Society has some swell swag available for purchase. Arrive at your next club meeting sporting an Official George Formby Society Tie. The Face ties turned out nice again, too. Link