Apparently, we're late to the game :(

this guy should post more.

http://hatetheukulele.blogspot.com/


mmm, banana hatecakes.

Haz it been a year?

T__T

UkeSlackerBitches

Been almost two months since the last UCB vid.....

I got the baritone blues...

Ok. I've said it before, "My next uke is either custom, or a top-of-the-line KoAloha D-VI..." Blaa, blaa, blaa. I'm supposed to be saving my pennies for that. But now I want a baritone.

Now that I think about it, I don't think any of us UCB folks have one at all...

The first choice is obvious, Mike and Tookta over at mainland have a nice mahogany baritone now. Even with a case and pick-up, it's still about the best bang for the buck out there. Of course it doesn't get me any closer to my D-VI, but hey - we manage our UAS as best we can.

Any of you have or covet a particular baritone? Do tell...

Today's Post is Brought to You by the Letters F, E and A.

So Sesame Street is 40 years old.

Big deal.

Don't get me wrong. SS was a much-needed program when it appeared in 1969. But it became redundant in the 1990's, with the widespread use of cable TV and a host of alternative children's programming. But also, the new programs are designed for the attention-deficit kids of today. Try to watch Elmo and see if there's an unedited shot for more than 4 seconds. I may be showing my age, but I can get dizzy watching the new shows.

Compare that with this: 3 minutes of a 1 camera shot. And two of my favorite characters who have been banned by SS because they were deemed too "ethnic": Roosevelt Franklin and his Momma.

And when did everybody start seeing Snuffaluffagus anyway? He used to reside only in Big Bird's fevered imagination.

Cool New Contest

Enter the Booshman World Ukulele Contest, sponsored by low-budget Spiderman!

I guess it was only a matter of time.

Now that I think about it, my wife never really had a chance. I picked up my (one and only) ukulele again after a few years of neglect right after we got married. I really haven't put it down since. And now, fast-forward to the present day where I own a few more than just one uke. And after I fell into the clutches of the infamous UCB.

Now what happens? My boy wanders out of our bedroom closet wearing my UCB hat. I thought I hid it well enough. As soon as he put it on, he got the look. You know that look. It's the look that AdelletheGreat gets during the chorus while singing a Dead tune. It's the look that Deach give you at the end of one of his blues videos. Well, I got that look from my boy that day.

He put it on again today.

My wife doesn't have a chance.

Inner Beauty

On the tail of Russ' "like" post, I'd like you all to watch this video & be reminded that everything can be beautiful under the right circumstances.

I can haz "like"

it can't be all hate all the time. there are brief moments of "like" in between all the amazing body rockin' hategasms that happen 'round here. i mean, there's got to be some yin to the yang, some light to the dark, some ebony to the...oh you get the point. i was in the shower today, and not huddled up and crying in the corner like usual, but just contemplating the things in life that make me smile. there are so many great things in this world to appreciate, so much wonder and joy for us to behold, it's almost unbearable at times. you know, the kind of joy that makes you want to just gather up all your friends (and sheep if you got'em) and have one big group hug. mmmMMMMAhhhh (that's how you type out the sound of a hug right? no? well fuck you then).

so anyhow, here are some things that made me happy today:

1. a lady walking her dog in front of our house, picked up her dog's poop instead of just leaving it there on the sidewalk like an inconsiderate bitch. so darling

2. a man listening to raucous rap music in his POS hooptie did so at a volume that was inaudible by people on the street and the subwoofers didn't cause said hooptie to rattle like a shopping cart full of empty soda cans. what a delight

3. the clouds in the sky wept a bit, causing little drops of rain to fall and wash all the bird shit off of my car. joy be with you


so tell me lovely internet folk, what brought a smile to your face today?

Did I Say That Outloud?

Yesterday at work we did a story about a police chase involving a bank robber nick-named the Fantasia bandit. He was called this because prior to his stint as a bank robber he was robbing adult video stores. When they caught the guy, the first thing I thought of was "I wonder what they find when they search his car?"...so without thinking, and in a crowded room, I said "I bet they find a black plastic-prosthetic-strap-on-fist in his trunk". A few people laughed, others looked at me in horror (maybe because we had a group of high schoolers here taking a tour at the time). Looking back on it, maybe it was a little over the top.

It's even a bigger problem in on-line conversations. I left a comment once on one of Baron's videos, and someone else replied to me saying how rude I was, and "if you don't like it, don't listen". Really? I don't even know how what I said was construed as offensive but apparently it was. I had a girlfriend once that lived a good 50 miles from me. We would chat on-line sometimes in the evening to save cell phone minutes. One time she was eating and said something about how she is getting fat. I replied with "yeah, you are huge". Of course I was joking. You can all see that right? She didn't get it, and we are no longer together.

It's hard to express kidding, or ribbing without the benefit of voice inflection, facial expressions, juvenile hand gestures, fake-sodomy-hip-thrusts, etc. Especially for idiots like me, who speak without thinking most of the time anyway.

It turns out the bank robber's last name was "Bearcub"....somehow I managed to keep the racial/gay jokes to myself. Maybe I'm learning. but to those who i piss off with my lame attempts at humor...uh..well...you know....(insert some easily misunderstood offensive comment here).

I like this duo

With Russ's last post in mind, here's a ukulele earworm. Beirut'sPostcards from Italy has been covered by everybody and their mom, but this new addition to Youtube caught my ear. Mostly because the ukuleleist has a wonderful opening strum. But the rest is pretty awesome, too. Enjoy! And Russ, your wife is looking for you.

Earworm driving me nuckin futs!

so there have been many times of uncertainty in my life. you know those moments where you really have to sit and think about your feelings, wants, ambitions. this requires the kind of introspective thinking and self reflection that only a walk around a pond or wooded area with your hands clasped behind your back as you gaze thoughtfully at birds and shit can provide. deep thoughts, like should i be a shark or a jet? was i more attracted to Sandy before or after her Pink Ladies sluttification in Grease the movie? should i spend anymore money here in this strip club? So many questions unanswered.

so all that rambling leads me to my most recent question. when you get an earworm to an annoying song that you can't stand, does that mean you secretly like the song? i've often wondered how shitty songs have a way of embedding themselves in your head like so many parasitic wrath of khan brain worms and then have you humming along like a possessed retard. i mean just the other day, i heard some Colbie Caillet song on the radio, and i switched the station immediately, but the song kept going on in my head. i knew the goddamn melody! i had heard it somewhere before, maybe the mall, maybe at applebees, maybe this here strip club, but wherever it was, it was enough so that i know the melody and now it's been stuck in my head. so now i'm asking myself, do i really like this song? but it's not a Kelly Clarkson song, so i can't like it right? has anybody successfully removed an earworm with an icepick? earhole enema? shotgun blast?

ah f*ck my life, i'm going to go hum that song while i wash the dishes now.

The REAL "Bring the Song" Challenge

If you're not part of the Ukulele Underground forum or have totally avoided ukulele videos on Youtube, you don't know what the "Bring the Song" challenge is. But let's assume you do, or you at least checked out the link in this paragraph.

There must be over 300 songs written for GrumpyCoyoteTunes' challenge - and it started in February 2009! If I did my math correctly (and I probably didn't), this translates to almost 2 songs written every day since February 1. And there are many gems in this collection as well as some clunkers. I hope I've written at least one of the former and I KNOW I've written a few of the latter.

But the new challenge is - how are we going to choose 12 or so songs to include on the "Bring the Song" CD? By the end of the challenge on January 31, there will over 400 songs to pick from (half of them written by Deach). Voting for them individually would be asking too much of, well, everybody.

I think a possible solution is to have the songwriters pick their top 3 favorites of their songs. Then to put the voting on the UCB and UU web sites. But Grumpy may already have thought of a good idea on how to do this.

Grumps?

Long Live The Queen!

Of all the things that we get out of this ukulele thing, the greatest by far are the friends we make. And one of our own has a birthday today. So from all of us UCB boys, and the others who frequent this site, Have a Happy Happy Happy Happy Birthday Adelle. We love you.

The E stands for Evil

I hate you E-bay.

I hate how when I load your site, you automatically put "great deals" on ukes right there in the window- pictures & all. Just wave em around in front of my nose... like fresh chocolate chip ukes, right outta the oven. "Mmmm don't these ukes look sooooo good? Free shipping! I know how you love free shipping!"

Ya know what? Scew you E-bay! Maybe I logged on to look for an electric pencil sharpener... or a, or a slightly used set of poker chips. Yeah! See, I was thinking with Christmas coming up I could get some good deals and...

Okay fuck you I was gonna look for ukes.