I'm Howlin' Hobbit @howlinhobbit - Tumblr Blog

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it’s been a while (again). you’ve met Rufus the Resonator Ukulele before but this time you can also see my cool music shirt and the ring (on my left hand), both of which were presents from my sweetie for our 22nd anniversary.

the other ring I got from Sam Kuo at Seattle’s Pike Place Market some years back.

if you like my assorted stuff, please consider buying me a cup of coffee.

#ukulele #resonator #anniversary

heya Tumblr! long time no see. I don’t believe I’ve posted a pic here of my latest ukulele, a concert scale resonator uke, whom I’ve named Rufus. shown here at last night’s open mike at the Valhalla Mead Hall, here in Kalamazoo.

the picture is thanks to my friend Denise M. she’s the host’s wife and, together with Julian (and sometimes Kale) who run sound it’s one of the all too rare bright spots in my existence nowadays.

plus the audience is always fab!

#ukulele #kalamazoo #resonator #open mike #Valhalla Mead Hall

I want the word “queer” back.

There’s an old saying, “There’s nought queer as folk.” Ever hear it? It was the basis for the TV series, Queer As Folk. It’s the old fashioned way of expressing The Doors tune, People Are Strange.

Here’s the 1st definition from the Merriam Webster dictionary.

——***——

1 a : differing in some way from what is usual or normal : ODD, STRANGE, WEIRD

"How queer it seems," Alice said to herself, "to be going messages for a rabbit!"

— Lewis Carroll

The endless and numberless avenues of bewildering pine woods gave him a queer feeling that he was driving through the countless corridors of a dream.

— G. K. Chesterton

b : ECCENTRIC, UNCONVENTIONAL

Dwelling apart in the depths of the woods are the various kinds of mountaineers, —hunters, prospectors, and the like, —rare men, "queer characters," and well worth knowing.

— John Muir

——***——

Nowadays the only meaning you’re allowed to attach to it is in reference homosexual.

I’m what the PC folks insist be called a “cis/het” male. (A truly stupid term, but coming up with such silliness seems to be their forte.)

Using any term about anything the PC muppets haven’t given their imprimatur to is a fucking thought crime. (“Inclusive” my fat ass!)

But yeah. Whatever. I’m also ODD, STRANGE, WEIRD, ECCENTRIC, and UNCONVENTIONAL.

I don’t mind sharing the word with the ever expanding LGBTQetc folk. People will just have to be savvy enough to discern which meaning is intended via context.

Meanwhile, I want the word “queer” back.

If the feminist movement (or at least, their lunatic fringe) can reclaim the word cunt, I can certainly reclaim queer. Of course, great swathes of the UK have ignored their reclamation, so undoubtedly mine will be ignored as well.

That’s OK. I’ve gotten quite used to being ignored.

Thank you for coming to my Tumblr talk.

my sweetie picked up a button for me from the library. they have a basketful at the checkout desk. they change frequently and are free. #americangothic

this may be the outfit for my upcoming video. just taking it for a test run. the results? hoo boy! do I EVER have to practice trying a bowtie! it's been too long since I did that regularly, and my bowtie chops have gotten rusty. other than that, what do you think? (at Kalamazoo, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVWJhv7J-Pc/?utm_medium=tumblr

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it before, but I’m prepping for a video of my dear friend, Jim “The Emergency Folksinger” Nason’s song, Burnt Bean Water.

This will be a solo ukulele (and vocals ) version of the tune. With a special guest appearance of a fez that is perfectly appropriate to the theme of the song.

Seriously.

If you’d like to hear a full band version of it — to compare and contrast the two, if nothing else — I have a ‘rehearsal tape’ (.mp3) from my band, Snake Suspenderz on offer right now.

So… if you drop $1 into my ‘online tip bucket’ (and no more please, it’s only an .mp3!) I’ll email you a copy of the recording.

$1 isn’t much, but in my circumstances it means a lot! I know I’m not the only one in these straights, but even if you can’t cut a buck out of your budget for such frivolity, you can help by sharing this post, or just its info, around on your various social media.

My tip bucket link is: ko-fi.com/howlinhobbit

Thanks much and be well out there!

w00t! my latest video got 200 views in 5 days.

and no, I’m not being sarcastic here. you have to go back six months before you find one of my videos that has 200 or more views.

I’m very grateful to those of you who’ve already watched it. but if you liked it, go ahead and share it around (even if it’s again) with your friends, IRL or online. there might still be some folk out there who’ll dig it.

in any event, all of you be well and, as Eeyore would say, “Thanks for noticing me.”

https://youtu.be/Kl1IcoOAb0s

#Youtube

living on a fixed income is tough. well, I’m living on a broken income. it’s appalling how many times just a few more dollars can help me through the week. if you could occasionally, or maybe even regularly, help me out it’d make an amazing difference.

this site can handle both the occasional and regular donations. thank you!

https://ko-fi.com/howlinhobbit

I posted my latest video about 12 hours ago. It’s a cover of a Curtis Eller tune and I’ve wanted to record it for a long time. I finally got the proverbial “round tuit” (and Mr. Eller’s permission) so here it is. Do check out the description for links to other Curtis Eller music and such.

https://youtu.be/Kl1IcoOAb0s

#ukulele #banjolele #Buster Keaton #Howlin’ Hobbit #Curtis Eller #Youtube

if you, or anyone you know, is an #Ukulele Ace, check out my spif new, limited edition t-shirts. further info on my home page.

Why I re-did Teddy Bears Picnic

I was searching through my videos on YouTube and came across the first video I ever made with my sopranino ukulele (named T.R.) I hadn't realized I'd had the little fella for 13 years!

A lot has happened since then so I'm just going to do bullet points to explain all that's changed.

* my video production chops are way better.

* I've changed the tuning on T.R. by going up a fourth from standard tuning, so he's now tuned CFAD.

* I've changed the key I sing it in.

* The arrangement has gone through several morphs during the course of playing the tune both solo and in a couple different band situations.

In light of all that, I came up with a solo arrangement that allowed me to catch a little of the feel of the band arrangement.

If you've just stumbled across this post and haven't had a chance to watch the video... here it is!

#Youtube #Teddy Bears Picnic #ukulele

Digital Ukulele Lessons

Lesson #1 is Mack The Knife by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht. I call this version 2 Fingered Mack because it uses no chords that take more than 2 fingers to play. It’s based on a version I heard Sting do. The lyrics are a more accurate translation from the original German than the more famous Bobby Darin version and it doesn’t change keys with each verse.

Lesson #2 is Honeysuckle Rose by Fats Waller. It’s mostly easy chords and for the few that aren't, I've tried to come up with workarounds that still sound good.

Lesson #3 is Ain’t Misbhavin’ by Fats Waller, Harry Brooks, and Andy Razaf. It’s a bit more complex in the chords department but still not terribly difficult.

Lesson #4 is Everybody Wants To Be A Cat, a very cool and easy to play jazzy tune from The Aristocats. I know #4 was supposed to be All Of Me, but it took longer to work out the fiddly bits than I expected. It’s still on the way!

There are two ways to get these lessons, the Full Meal Deal and the A La Carte Special.

Here's the step-by-step on how to get the Full Meal Deal.

You need to have the Zoom video conferencing application installed on your computer (or tablet). It's free and is available for most operating systems. Or we can do the video part on my Discord server. This requires a Discord account, but you can use your browser and avoid having to install new software.

The cost for the lesson is $35. Send it to me via my Ko-fi link. I'll be back to you in 24 hours or less.

Once I see the money has been sent I'll send you an email with both the document (a pdf file) and the demo mp3 attached. We'll then set up a date and time for the video portion of the lesson. (The video sessions are 25 minutes long.)

We have the live lesson, and you go on to master the tune and make it your own.

I suggest holding the live video session at least a couple days after you get the files. This will give you a chance to look the song over, maybe play a bit with the chords and, most importantly, you can come into the live part with some questions ready.

Here's how to order the A La Carte Special.

Many, if not most, of you can learn the tune from the demo mp3 and the documentation. I know that if someone else had made these, I would be able to learn from them without the live lesson part.

So...

You can buy the documentation and demo mp3 package for $15. Once your money hits my account, I'll email you the two files and Bob's yer uncle!

If you decide later that you want the live lesson part, you can send $20 and we'll arrange a live session. Again I point out that you'll need either Zoom installed or a Discord account for this part.

Also please note that if we don't use up the whole live video session with your questions that are specific to this lesson, I'll be happy to answer any other ukulele questions I'm able to.

As with the Full Meal Deal, all payments are via my Ko-fi link.

Please spread this post around to any fellow ukulele phreaks you might know!

I look forward to hearing from you!

Howlin' Hobbit — Ukulele Ace

#ukulele #lesson #lessons

living in downtown Kludgeland. I'm working on docs for my next uke lesson. my Linux box recognizes my USB mouse and uses it correctly, but does NOT turn the little skritchy pad mouse off. this leads to me occasionally touching the pad mouse whilst typing, which jumps the cursor to wherever the mouse pointer is, and I'm suddenly typing in the middle of some other paragraph entirely. feh! so far the kludge is working. back to work now. (at Kalamazoo, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSpylsVMP4J/?utm_medium=tumblr

CRACK MELON! ok. it's actually called a Sugar Kissed (Kist?) melon. my sweetie and I found them several years back at our neighborhood QFC and, despite the highish price, decided to try one. their taste and texture beat a cantaloupe into the proverbial cocked hat. you can even eat them right down to the rind with no bitter taste. we ended up buying a LOT of them and joking about our addiction (hence the nickname). ever since we moved here I've been checking any grocery store we went into for them, but no joy. until this past Sunday's grocery run. we're hoping to get a few more before they go out of season. (at Kalamazoo, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CSZ7eSXJ8OO/?utm_medium=tumblr

Limited Edition CD Deal details

I have come across the last nine (out of 75) numbered and signed copies of Hit Single, the mini CD by Hobbit & Hare.

The Details

* I'm setting the price at $10 or more.

* Sorry, but the offer is good in the USA only. Unfortunately sending internationally would jack the postage up way too far. It's already just under half of the minimum $10 charge.

Once I receive payment I'll send a 2nd email to you, requesting which of the remaining numbers you want. Answer that email and I'll shoot your package out to you within a week at the maximum.

* I'll be including a free download code (from Bandcamp.com) if you want to put the tunes in your phone or suchlike device. The mini CD will play fine on most tray-fed CD players. Also, unless I've missed a memo, if you sign up for a free Fan Account on Bandcamp, anything you get from any Bandcamp artist can be streamed to any of your devices for free.

* I'll also be throwing in an old souvenir or two from various bands I've had the pleasure to perform with.

How To Buy It

Send an email to [email protected], letting me know you want one. I'll answer each email, in the order they're received, with the payment link.

When you get there, use the “One Time” button. (Ko-fi doesn’t charge me a percentage for this method.) Set the total to $10 or more and, before hitting “send”, please put your mailing address into the “Your Message” box.

Lastly, I'll respond personally to anybody who sends the first of the emails after the CDs are gone.

Whether you're interested or not, thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you're having a terrific day!

this is Señor Huesos. if I could find a Señor Interlocutor I'd have the start of a Mexican Minstrel Show. (at Kalamazoo, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CR9eXEXlO6o/?utm_medium=tumblr

busily slicing up my new flyers. these are the ones I'm going to pass out to all my neighbors here on our strange little street. (at Kalamazoo, Michigan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CR2Qrj9MfHO/?utm_medium=tumblr

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