Here’s an Old Timey version…

Brave Combo…

This is also called Polka Dziadek, or Grandfather’s Polka

And, for Salvelinas, here’s a version on the soprano Uke…

It’s after Thanksgiving (US), so all holds are barred! Here’s my first Christmas-y share and it’s one of my fave youtubers, Dom!

He’s so bad-ass. Check him out.

Wow — Ukulele Tonya has done the work for all of us with a post full of great Ukulele Christmas tabs.  This is a wonderful collection that took some time to gather.  Thanks, Tonya!  Certainly now is the time to start practicing.

Secara harifah bermakna “menerima (dengan/melalui) tubuh”, maka maknanya adalah seni jatuhan untuk merespon tehnik. MAE-UKEMI adalah jatuhan ke arah depan, USHIRO UKEMI adalah jatuhan ke arah belakang. Idealnya praktisi aikido harus bisa melakukan UKEMI dari posisi apapun dan arah manapun. Perkembangan ketrampilan ukemi yang baik adalah sama pentingnya dengan perkembangan keterampilan melempar dan tidak berarti kurang diperhatikan atau kurang diusahakan. Dalam mempraktikkan ukemi, praktisi memiliki kesempatan untuk memonitor cara seseorang digerakkan untuk mendapatkan pemahaman yang jelas tentang prinsip-prinsip tehnik aikido. Sebagaimana tenik-tehnik aikido standar yang memberikan strategi untuk mempertahankan diri terhadap serangan fisik, maka begitu juga latihan UKEMI menyediakan strategi untuk mempertahankan diri terhadap jatuh (atau bahkan terhadap penerapan tehnik aikido atau yang seperti tehnik aikido!).

Ukemi  pada dasarnya sangat penting karena dapat menghidarkan uke dari cedera pada saat nage melakukan teknik disamping itu pada saat ukemi diusahakan mengikuti arah aliran tenaga nage. Pada prakteknya ukemi harus ada kerja sama antara uke dan nage karena apabila tidak ada kerja sama salah satu diantara keduanya akan mengalami cedera.

Disadur dari http://www.indonesiaaikikai.com/kamus-aikido-indonesia-aikikai/ukemi.html

Happy Thanksgiving folks!!

This is absolutely my most favourite holiday and yet again not able to celebrate it in a style to which I’d like to become accustomed.

Me, I’m thankful for more stuff than you could ever imagine.

Friends, health, senses (the average 5, common and humour included), the divine …

Thankful for my ukes and being able to bash away at them, warbling into the ether.

Recently had an unexpected visit from some folk. They dealt with the state of the house and the state of me, offering good chat and admirable ukulele “stylings”.

Monday night we had the chance to learn “Teenage Kicks” at the Ukearist gathering. Thanks G!

So much more to be thankful for, but preparing for yet another trip …

More on that in future….

Happy Thanksgiving folks!!

This is absolutely my most favourite holiday and yet again not able to celebrate it in a style to which I’d like to become accustomed.

Me, I’m thankful for more stuff than you could ever imagine.

Friends, health, senses (the average 5, common and humour included), the divine …

Thankful for my ukes and being able to bash away at them, warbling into the ether.

Recently had an unexpected visit from some folk. They dealt with the state of the house and the state of me, offering good chat and admirable ukulele “stylings”.

Monday night we had the chance to learn “Teenage Kicks” at the Ukearist gathering. Thanks G!

So much more to be thankful for, but preparing for yet another trip …

More on that in future….

You will fall. Many times. Enjoy the process. Enjoy how the world turns around when you roll and when you fall. However, be up and ready quickly.

Il est temps de pratiquer les classiques pour les veillées de fin d’année. Tous les accords sont brossés vers le bas, sauf celui à la fin de la mesure 4. J’ai indiqué le doigté mesure 9 qui permet une transition en douceur.

Voici le fichier TablEdit, le fichier PDF et la vidéo sur Youtube.

It’s time to practice for Christmas. Watch for the fingering bar 9, for a smooth transition.

Magnificent day of singing and strumming and then some more strumming and singing.

There’s nothing like a few good ukuleles and a few good folk to uke around with!

Here’s a question: “I Only Want To Be With You” (made famous by – among others – Dusty Springfield).

Opinion was divided:

Slow and wistful (and full of longing for someone to realise you are The One)

or

Fast and bouncy (and full of excitement at realising that you’ve met The One)?

Both work, but I opt for one more than the other.

Wondering about other folk ….

When you are not stable, it doesn’t take much force to take you off balance. With experience one not only learns to be more stable but also to test for stability without the use of force.

Five Iron Frenzied – Earth Angel (acoustic uke cover)

I said several days ago that “Twilight Time” is my favorite song of all time, but another one that rates right up there for me is “Earth Angel,” charted by lots of folks but mainly famously done by the Penguins. If you cannot quite place it, it’s the song covered by Marvin Berry and the Starlighters in the Back to the Future movies, the one to which Marty’s parents, George McFly and Lorraine Baines, must dance together at the Enchantment Under the Sea ball in 1955 in order to ensure that Marty and his siblings exist in 1985.

“If you guys ever have kids, and one of them, when he’s eight years old, accidentally sets fire to the living room rug…”

The song had also cropped up not two years earlier in Superman III. Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve, R.I.P) and Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole*) dance to it at their reunion, because otherwise she would have to dance with her loser boyfriend. I think this is the best Superman movie for entertainment value, but basically nobody agrees with me other than the writers of Office Space.

*Fun fact: Annette O’Toole now plays Mrs. Kent, Clark’s adoptive mother, on “Smallville.”

This very beautiful, ethereal cover is by an 18-year-old ukulele aficionado on youtube who goes by the name “FiveIronFrenzied,” not to be confused with the Christian ska band Five Iron Frenzy.

Earth angel, earth angel
Will you be mine?
My darling dear
Love you all the time
I’m just a fool
A fool in love with you

Earth angel, earth angel
The one I adore
Love you forever and ever more
I’m just a fool
A fool in love with you

I fell for you and I knew
The vision of your loveliness
I hope and pray that someday
That I’ll be the vision of your happiness

Earth angel, earth angel
Please be mine
My darling dear
Love you all the time
I’m just a fool
A fool in love with you

I fell for you and I knew
The vision of your loveliness
I hope and pray that someday
That I’ll be the vision of your happiness

Earth angel, earth angel
Please be mine
My darling dear
Love you all the time
I’m just a fool
A fool in love with you

Two years ago, the convention (mentioned in the previous post) was held in Nashville, TN.  When I finished my sessions I went downtown to find a music store.  Found just one — Gruhn’s Guitars beside the Ryman Auditorium.  Gruhn’s  was filled with gems — both new and old ukuleles.

Took this picture, which, at high resolution is now my desktop background.  I held this ukulele, but was afraid I’d drop it. I put it back on the black velvet and took its picture.

People who visit my office ask about the expensive guitar on my computer screen. I acquaint them with the concept of a ukulele.  Inevitably they comment — something so small with such a big price tag.

Aim to eliminate the attack, not the attacker. Having genuine concern for someone makes that person see your perspective. Causing pain to the Uke is incorrect (and therefore ineffective) technique.

I recently found this cute developer called Uke! She has a bunch of neat cosplay items, adorable eyes and fun hair styles!

My favourite products of hers have to be her Ulzzang Doll Eyes and her Nyappy Yellow Bow.

Anywho! Onto the outfit(s) I made using her products!

Be sure to check out her catalog because you won’t be able to resist the awesomeness!

Julia Nunes – God Only Knows (self-recorded ukulele cover)

I’ve featured a few covers already, which I’m now going to go back and retcon by tagging them “The Song Remains the Same.” The term “retcon” is an abbreviation of “retroactive continuity.” It’s commonly used in comics when new conclusions or pieces of information are retroactively applied to established canonical events. An example would be the aftermath of DC’s Crises on Infinite Earths, when established characters such as Alexander Luthor, Jr., were “retconned” out of existence by the events. A retcon does not always undo previously established characters or events; retcons can also fill in missing details in a story’s background. The Wolverine line of the New X-Men comics are a good example — Logan was Weapon X, but Weapon I turned out to have been Captain America. I thought that kicked some fucking ass, myself.

By reading this far, you may have now accidentally learned two things. The Zeppelin thing and the comics bit. No need to thank me. I don’t just care about boobs and Batman. I am also a sensitive soul with a passion for education. God bless me.

Please enjoy this radical uke cover of the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows!” Nunes has a really cool, clear voice, and I am pretty sure she accompanies and harmonizes with herself using simple recording tricks, which is fun. If you are young but a fan of Love Actually, you may know the song from that. If you’re not a child, you may know the song from all over the place your whole life.

Sorry, I just find it wild when people don’t know songs I consider super-famous. At Paolo and Miss D’s wedding, I asked the very young and competent deejay to play “Tainted Love” and first he had me SPELL IT, then he was like, “Don’t have it, I can look for it, though, who sings that?” “Soft Cell,” I replied, totally still reeling in shock that a young person whose entire profession is playing music had never heard of “Tainted Love,” and he was like, “Is that a new group?” It was insane. I didn’t feel old, I just felt shocked, like he might be a space creature who was hiding inside the real deejay’s skin and trying to pass as an American. (Happens all the time.)

Look for more Julia someday when I have lots and lots of time, because in case you don’t read the alt text by hovering your mouse over the pictures, I am going to surprise-marry her. I have super-stiff competition, though.

On Good Morning America (June 30, 2008) Molly Ringwald said that she took up the ukulele after seeing Julia Nunes on YouTube. “I’ve always wanted to play the ukulele, and she completely inspired me,” she said (the wiki).

Holy crap, I love Molly Ringwald. I can’t fight her. She was Frannie in The Stand! Man, this sucks! Julia, you creative minxy little twinkie, you are ripping my imaginary relationships apart. I’m off to strategize, I guess!

Ja ist denn heut’ schon Weihnachten? Erst das tolle Swell Season Konzert und jetzt auch noch ein HD Konzert von Sophie Madeleine! Aufgenommen für The Crypt Sessions spielt sie drei Songs, die wie immer sympathisch daherkommen! Reinschauen lohnt sich!

Those of you at Global Rhythms on Saturday heard Middlebury’s latest sensation: two girls with ukuleles. Their band F.U.C.Kanye may be unfortunately named but their sound makes for a satisfying breath of fresh air to Middlebury’s PowerOwl-heavy music scene. Vid below:

Takes after the uke-sensation Zee Avi: