Monday Music Mambo

"At the Second Fret, Philadelphia coffeehouse, Jim Kweskin and Jug Band produce carefree musical cookery from compound of such miscellaneous instruments as kazoos, washtubs, hubcaps, washboards and jugs."

Saturday Evening Post, May 30, 1964, "Just Playin' Folks"
photo by John Launois

[left to right, Fritz Richmond, Jim Kweskin, Mel Lyman, David Simon (seated), Geoff Muldaur]

Via EclectiCity

Rfduck is obviously getting giddy and foolish with the onset of final exams. Witness this week's Mambo: “Hello mamboers! School's in session! It's School Day today, according to my source for daily holidays. We're going to do something really creative and fun.”

Your task: Create a mini-course catalogue for Music University. You can make up classes like Guitar Solos 101, Introduction to British Invasion, Advanced Hotel Destruction - anything you want! You can even list professors if you'd like (Prof. J.M. Osbourne for that last course suggestion, perhaps?) Have fun with it!

The Jim Kweskin & Mel Lyman Memorial Jug Band

College of Music and Tuning at Kazoo U.

Class Catalogue:

Music Theory 001 – “Doe, a deer, a female Deer”

Music Theory 002 – The Motion Is The Lotion

Music 101 – Basic Jug Band Music

Music 102 – Advanced Basic Jug Band Music

Music 103 -- Folk Music Theory

Violin 101 --Fiddling

Violin 102 -- Fiddling Around

Violin 103 -- Fiddle Faddling Around

Violin 104 – Jumping from windows without breaking anything

String Instruments 111 -- Hammered Dulcimer

String Instruments 112 -- Getting Hammered

String Instruments 113 -- Picking Banjo

String Instruments 114 (Banjo 105) -- Claw Hammer Style

String Instruments 115 -- Gut Bucket Bass (Playing Music On A G String)

Guitar Tuning 001 – The E String Is Your Friend.

Guitar Tuning 002 – 12 Strings for 5 fingers – Remedial Callous Development

Performance Theater 211 – Maximizing Time In The Arc Light

Folk Music Theory 101 -- Fundamentals of Folk Music: Sixteen Tons of theory

Folk Music Theory 102 (Philosophy 102/Botany 102) – Where Have All The Flowers Gone?

Folk Music Theory 103 (Gospel Singing 101) – Will The Circle Be Unbroken?

Folk Music Theory 104 (Philosophy 104) – Musical Protests (War? What's It Good For?)

Percussion 101 - Stealing Hubcats For Steel Bands

Percussion 102 -- Washboard, Spoons & Syncopation -- An EclectiCity Course

Well, there you have it, such as it is. Hope it brought you a smile this Monday.

Sunday Seven - Episode 88

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Name seven items currently in your freezer. (Add an asterisk next to any that you think really should be thrown away by now!)

1. Pizza

2. frozen cooked shrimp

3. hambburger meat

4. pork loin

5. french fries

6. Fruit juice pops

7. Cod Loins*

John M. Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #163: Weather With You

John roused himself from his travel-induced torpor to say, "Wow -- finally just made it in to where I was going after spending all day at various airports, and now I have just enough time to pop this out before I go to my reading. A busy day indeed! Fortunately, this is an easy Weekend Assignment, proposed by Rap4143:" Weekend Assignment #163: "Take a Picture of Your Local Weather."

Saturday Morning, May 5, 2007

Looking North as a high pressure cell chases the last of a week of rain away.

Hard to believe it was such a deadly night in the Midwest. (unretouched)

MEME: Unconscious Mutterings -- Week 222

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Tumor :: Stage IV

2. Bunch :: grapes

3. Gratitude :: thanks

4. Feel alive :: invigorated

5. Connect :: join

6. Temptation :: chocolate

7. Brighten :: polish

8. Jewelry :: diamonds

9. Tough :: carbide

10. Harmless :: benign

Want to play along? Click here or the image up top.

Saturday Six - Episode 160

Patrick took a moment from the ThighMaster® to explain, “I took Zoey to the Charleston Dog Show this morning, and so I had dogs on the brain for this week’s set of questions.”

“But first, it was Otowi of "Otowi" who was first to play last week's edition. Congratulations!”

Here are this week's "Saturday Six" questions. Either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal...but either way, leave a link to your journal in the comment section to this entry on Patrick's Weekender so that everyone else can visit! To be counted as "first to play," you must be the first player to either answer the questions in a comment or to provide a complete link to the specific entry in your journal in which you answer the questions. A link to your journal in general cannot count. Enjoy!

1. Which makes a better pet: a dog or a cat, and why?
A dog as it is more easily trained, more tractable, has a greater will to please and is more devoted to it's trainer than a cat. Cats have their place; I prefer fricassee myself.
2. A close friend works with an animal rescue organization and tells you that they are desperate for a foster home for a good dog that there is no room for, and that it will be put down unless you can foster it for one week. Would you take the dog in?
So long as it can co-exist with the rest of the menagerie with a minimum of spilled blood.
3. If you could own any pet depicted as a character on a television show, which one would you choose?
Rin-tin-tin, as most of you will not have ever heard of Braveheart.
4. Take the quiz: What Common Dog Breed Are You?

What Common Breed of Dog Are You?

5. If you had the option to reverse places with your pet for a day or have your pet suddenly be able to talk like a human for a day, which would you choose and why?
My dog may be sweet and loveable, but she isn't the brightest bulb in the pack, so the thought of her yammering at me all day lacks much in appeal. Instead, the first option, swapping places, would be the best course of action. Although, I just might be heart broken with her ability to smell.
6. You find you are being relocated to a ritzy neighborhood that has every amenity you would ever want except for one thing: no pets allowed. If you could live there rent/mortgage-free for three years, would you give up a pet to take advantage of the offer?

No, probably not. But not for any real reason to do with the issue of a pet. More, it would be an issue of forced relocation. Ain't gonna happen, baby. Not in this lifetime. I goes where I my wife wants to go, dig?

Cuteness -- Man Style

GrandMonster Brandon got to spend the afternoon with his PawPaw at work recently and I thought you'd like to see what he was doing.


Dad, Brandon and PawPaw pose in front of the Pan Scraper at PawPaw's job in Western Pennsylvania on a fine Spring afternoon.



Looks like there's a new operator in town!

Eat Me, Baby!

Found this marvelous Gator Body Art on the Parkway Rest Stop
gator-body-art.jpg (BMP Image, 500x349 pixels) and thought you'd like to see it, too.

Untitled Document

Stumbled into this server's clutches just now. It's so depressed, even *I* feel guilty for bothering it ...

Untitled Document: "404 - File not found - Direct interface with computer opened..."

Friday Fill-in, #19

If you play, please link back to Janet and leave her a comment letting her know you played, so she can come visit! Thanks :-) Hope this week's is easier for y'all! 1. I'd love _bourbon or Irish whiskey_ with my coffee if I still drank alcohol. 2. Summer can't arrive too fast! 3. My friend _Professor Doug_ is _defending his doctoral dissertation _ . 4. Days like today when the sky is _overcast_ and the weather is _hinting at moisture yet to come_ are so awesome! 5. I am still _jiggy_ with your _jagged ends_. 6. _Jonquils and Daffodils_ are my favorite spring flowers. 7. This weekend, I'm _heading to camp_ and _turning off the phone_.

Wednesday Mind Hump -- Smell-o-vision

Hello humpers! Today is Be Kind To The Smelly Day. I'm not touching that one, so let's make this photo day.

1) Are you a photographer?
No, I'm an amateur photographer only. Yes, I've had some training and I can compose a shot (when I remember) but it turns out I don't have the critical eye of the true photographer. Hence the distinction.
2) If so, tell us about your photo equipment.
These days, I mostly rely on a Fuji S5000 3 megapixel with a 10X optical zoom lens and a Pentax WP10 5 megapixel with a 3X zoom. I still have several Minolta SRT 101 bodies and a fair assortment of lenses, a nice point and shoot Minolta Freedom Zoom 150 35mm with a 5 to 55mm focal length zoom and some underwater P&S throwaways I use when I know they or me is going to get very wet.
3) Describe (or post) one of your favorite photos, either one you've taken or one you've seen.
My favorite photos are by Ansel Adams, in particular his Monolith, The Face of Half Dome, 1927 (above in poster form from art.com)..
4) Do you like having your picture taken?
I'm not terribly photogenic, however I don't mind having my picture taken by someone who knows what they are doing.
5) If you are able, post a photo for us to see!

Hmm. Lots to choose from, even though none of my 35mm stuff is digitized. Let's see, current images which haven't already appeared on the web? How about this one?

The Alphabet Meme

For no apparent reason, other than aggravation (just kidding, dear), Robbie tagged me to participate in this Alphabet Meme. So be it. So I've done it:

A-Available or Single? Neither – I'm happily married and unavailable. Doesn't stop me from flirting, though.

B-Best Friend: Professor Doug (soon to be Herr Doktor Doug).

C-Cake or Pie: Apple pie, cherry pie or strawberry pie with whipped cream.

D-Drink of Choice: Plain Iced Tea in summer, black decaf coffee in winter.

E-Essential Item(s): Glasses, keys, wallet, inhaler, pocket knife, camera, and a book.

F- Favorite Color(s): Didn't I just answer that? Blue on blue, heart ache of heartaches.

G- Gummi Bears or Worms? Neither. I do like the gummi worms on a tombstone or a “dirt” cake.

H- Hometown: Orono, Maine.

I- Indulgence: Chocolate.

J- January or February: February – it's closer to summer.

K- Kids: Six step-children, seventeen grandchildren with another GC on the way.

L- Life is incomplete without: Music. With a melody. Rap, hip-hop and current urban ghetto noise need not apply.

M- Marriage Date: April 1, 1999.

N- Number of Siblings: Two brothers, both dead now.

O- Oranges or Apples? Oranges.

P- Phobias/Fears: Rats. Scorpions. Spider crawling on me (I can tolerate them doing their own thing, so long as I am not directly involved). Death by being burned alive.

Q- Favorite Quote: “Never pass up a chance to take a piss, kiss a woman, hold a baby or honor the dead.”

R- Reasons to smile: Puppies and kittens. Flowers. Smooth paddling/sailing. Success. Young women in springtime. My wife coming in at night from work.

S- Season: Autumn

T- Tag Three: Meanie, Minnie and Moe. If you'd like to do it and no one has tagged you, feel free to blame it on me.

U- Unknown Fact About Me: For such a large man troll, I have small feet.

V – Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals? Omnivore.

W- Worst Habit(s): Well, I've given up smoking and drinking and chasing women. That just leaves being an opinionated curmudgeon ...

X – X-rays or Ultrasounds? Makes no never mind which I have. I've had both.

Y- Your Favorite Foods: I'm with Robbie ... a rare Prime Rib with horseradish sauce, and asparagus with a Tiramisu for dessert.

Z- Zodiac: I prefer the Open Sea ISO 9650, myself.

Monday Music Mambo -- Happy IPOD, Baby!

Rfduck popped an earbud from his ear and said, "Greetings everyone! Welcome to another hump. (WTF? It's only Monday – this is a Mambo!) Today, I'm picking up my brand new iPod! In celebration, here are some questions about music on the go."

1. Do you have an iPod or similar device? Tell us about it.
I've got a SanDisk Sansa e-series 2GB. It has more features than an Ipod Nano and it cost less. It does what I want it to, I can (usually) see the information on the screen and I liked the sound quality. On screens that small, the ability to display images is a joke. I do like it's recording capability. At the moment, I don't know where I put it, though. It's so small...
2. If the answer to question #1 is no, what do you use to listen to music?
I mostly listen to music on my computer these days. I've got some pretty decent Bose speakers and a nice subwoofer hooked up, so it goes most of what I need.
3. How many songs do you have on your mp3 player?
Right now there's only fifty or so.
4. What situations make you want to bring your mp3 player with you? Driving any significant distance with anyone less than 40 years old. Doctor and dentist appointments and any other situation where I know I will have to be sitting idle for a length of time, yet can not get up and walk around to stave off snoozing.

Want to play? Click here.

Monday Madness - Reruns

Mistress Otto has had a busy week. First, there was the visit from the “Postmasters of America” attending their annual convention in Las Vegas and all seeming to be in need of “attitude adjustment.” So Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are a mental blur of whips, lashes, welts and agonal screams. Thursday saw a visit to the chiropractor, where an adjustment of a different sort was administered ... he's been such a bad boy lately. Finally, the annual Lake Tahoe and Las Vegas BDSM and Leather Boys held their annual convention (Kinkfest '07) at the Bellagio. Otto was co-chair of the convention planning committee and the job had her running her tuchus off!

So have a smidgen of pity when she says, “I know some of you aren't particularly fond of naming your most favorite and least favorite of things, but that's all I got this week, my friends! Thanks for playing and have a great week. (Also, I really have been sending notifications to you all; for some reason you're not receiving them?) Just check in every Monday, won't you?” =)

1. Currently, what television commercial is your least favorite? “Head On” Headache remedy. It is so loud it gives me a headache.
2. And which commercial is your most favorite? There's a Home Despot spot with NASCAR driver Tony Stewart as an instructor/inspector during a floor laying class in which one of the students creates a parquet seal (similar to the USA Presidential Seal) commemorating Tony and his #20 Home Depot car. Tickles me, for unknown reasons.
3. Of the sitcoms that are on during "prime time" how many do you watch on a regular basis? Please share. After careful consideration I am forced to conclude there isn't a single “sitcom” on TV today that I watch. Ever. Not just infrequently. Never, ever watch them.
4. Is there a television series that you enjoy watching that is ending this season? Sopranos.
5. Is there any type of program you'd like to see more of on television? Dramas. Particularly half hour dramatic series. They seem to have gone the way of the Dodo Bird.
6. Is there any type of program you'd like to see less of on television? Less of so-called “Reality TV” please. The Amazing Race, American Idol, Dancing With The Stars crapola has got to go before I return to watching mainstream television.
7. Is there a series that is no longer aired that you wish would come back? The original BBC series from the late 70's I, Claudius is one. Also, the 10-part Flame Trees of Thika is another.
8. Do you watch re-runs of anything on television? Yes, I watch reruns of House, The Deadliest Catch, CSI and Crossing Jordan.

Webcam eagles rekindle hopes

"They’ve weathered unusually cold weather in early March and then a harsh Patriot’s Day storm that killed their two chicks, but two eagles whose nest can be seen on the Internet via a Web camera apparently haven’t given up on being parents this year."

Webcam eagles rekindle hopes: "Webcam eagles rekindle hopes"

Sunday Seven - Episode 87

There are lots of photoblogs out there. Some of the most talented photographers find inspiration for their photo excursions from the Round Robin Photo Challenges blog run by Carly, Karen and Steven. The blog is celebrating its second anniversary, and if you’ve never seen it, you should drop by and have a look around.

The way it works is simple: they post a topic, like “Friendship,” (the most recent one), or “Red” or “Spring.” Then people try to take a shot with their cameras that somehow applies to that general topic. With that information, you are ready for this week’s question!

But first, Otowi of "Otowi" was first to play last week. Congratulations!

On to this week's question!

THIS WEEK'S QUESTION:
Name seven photo topics you would suggest for future editions of the Round Robin (or any other) photo challenge! (It doesn’t matter if it’s a topic that has been used before: just pick seven you’d like to see.)

OK, I'll nibble. I've never participated in the Round Robin, so I don't know what they've covered in the past. Here's seven triggers off the top of my head. Even I haven't a clue where they came from.

1. Depth

2. Orange

3. Silence

4. Shattered

5. Warmth

6. Babies

7. Cars

Unconscious Mutterings -- Week 221

I say ... and you think ... ?

1. Order :: Standing

2. Mortician :: undertaker

3. Determine :: guesstimate

4. Ignore :: dismiss

5. Guy :: Gal

6. Train :: locomotive

7. Garlic :: bread

8. Wacky :: Tobacky

9. Parent :: child

10. Burning :: Bush

If you'd like to play along, visit La Luna Niña for particulars. That dyspeptic nature simply dissolves when you do.

Sunday's Sounds -- Michael McGoldrick

Perhaps the world's most talented Celtic Flautist, here with Sharon Shannon, Jim Murray and Frankie Gavin playing "Jewels Of The Ocean" and "Lizzie In The Lowground." Typical YouTube acoustic quality, which means poor. Despite that, well worth the few minutes to listen. Watch out if you tend to tap your toes -- you'll be dancing in the aisle during collection!

Saturday Six - Episode 159

Sorry to be so late posting this week’s edition. I’m still on the diet, so maybe you’ll forgive me if I have food on the brain!

But first, it was Jude of "My Way" who was first to play last week's edition. Congratulations, Jude!

Here are this week's "Saturday Six" questions. Either answer the questions in a comment here, or put the answers in an entry on your journal...but either way, leave a link to your journal so that everyone else can visit! To be counted as "first to play," you must be the first player to either answer the questions in a comment or to provide a complete link to the specific entry in your journal in which you answer the questions. A link to your journal in general cannot count. Enjoy!

1. What’s your favorite kind of bread?
My personal favorite is pumpernickel bread, but what I eat most often is multi-grain.
2. As a kid, did you eat more warm sandwiches or cold ones?
Cold sandwiches – getting hot foods into a one room school house was next to impossible.
3. Which of the following side items do you most prefer with a sandwich: french fries, potato chips, or cole slaw?
Of the three listed, I prefer the chips. In reality, though, what I like is a dill pickle and a side of potato salad.
4. Take the quiz: What kind of sandwich are you?

You Are a Tuna Fish Sandwich

Some people just don't have a taste for you. You are highly unusual. And admit it, you've developed some pretty weird habits over the years. You may seem a bit unsavory from a distance, but anyone who gives you a chance is hooked! Your best friend: The Club Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Turkey Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

5. If you could only use one of the following condiments, are you more likely to use mayonnaise, ketchup or mustard on a sandwich?
I use a light mayonnaise or a homemade mayonnaise if I can. Mustard I reserve for ham sandwiches.
6. A question of deli etiquette: do you eat the dill pickle spear before, with or after your sandwich?
I eat my pickle with my sandwich, thank you very much.

Friday Fill-in, #18

1. OMG I just saw a _hearse making a delivery to a nursing home (of flowers left over from a funeral which they make into bouquets for the dining room)_! 2. _2008 just might be_ ... the end. 3. When I want lobster I generally _have to stifle the desire_. 4. If I can _touch my eyebrows with my tongue_ can you _understand why women find this ugly troll interesting_? 5. What a _Bushie_ sees a _Bushie wants to_ owns. 6. It's been _a hounds age_ since you _had a drink_ 7. This weekend, I'm most looking forward to _reading a book_

If you'd like to play along and get clean copies of this week's questions, just click on this entry's title and you'll be whisked away, almost as if you'd taken a bubble bath in Calgon.

Almost.

Not quite.

John M. Scalzi's Weekend Assignment #162: Karmic Chameleon

From Wickipedia, A Bottlenose Dolphin at SeaWorld San Antonio in San Antonio, Texas, USA

John Scalzi took a moment from perusing the net for new references about "The Last Colony" to exclaim, "Hey! Welcome to the first of the reader-submitted Weekend Assignments, in which I've chosen topics suggested by you, the lovely and talented By The Way readers." This week's question is a head-scratcher of a poser, from Astaryth: Weekend Assignment #162: Reincarnation is a fact and you are going to come back as some type of animal. What kind would you prefer and why? Extra Credit: Do you think you have good Karma or bad? Do you believe in Karma?

Dear John,

By the terms of the parameters of the question coupled with Hindu beliefsconcerning reincarnation and the return on the Wheel of Life, first I have to wonder that we are all coming back as animals. Surely one amongst us is sufficiently holy and enlightened enough to progress further along the wheel...

Besides, I don't WANT to be an animal.

Animals get eaten, run over, hunted, used and abused by humans, experimented upon, and often live short, brutish lives with no redeeming features whatsoever. The basic credo of animal life is do unto others because something bigger will be doing unto you. This
is not a fun way to spend your next trip through creation.

However, assuming I just had to come back as an animal, it would be my distinct pleasure to return as a Tursiops truncatus, the common Bottle-nosed Dolphin. I think I'd like to be one of the top predators in the ocean, roaming the seven seas in a pack, yet highly social with a
well-developed sense of joy, fun and wonder. Good thing I like raw fish, huh?

Before I end this, I must confess that I don't believe in karma as a motivating principle in this universe. However, if I did, I'd be screwed in terms of the Turn to come. Way too many negative events in and about my passage around the wheel this time to be good for karmic advancement. Hell, I'm an atheist – that'd be a sinker in the well of karmic beliefs, for sure.

As always, thinking good thoughts about you and your family. Those stanky feet running unfetterd in your hotel room are a whole 'nother matter entirely.

wil