November 2009 – Page 5

Original Song: Getting Dressed Dance

Alright y'all. This here marks the 6th consecutive #MusicMonday on twitter where I'm posting an original song by yours truly. So... if I slip soon, then just remember that, at one time, I did give you 6 in a row!

Heh.. I wrote this song when my first son was born. Whenever I was dressing him I found that I kept making up this goofy song about how to get dressed (and do it wrong). I started with "Put on your shoes... then take off your pants... put your socks on your hands... that's how you do the getting dressed dance". That's pretty much all I had until one night when my wife and I were baby-sitting our goddaugther (who was probably 12-13 at the time) and we decided it'd be run to record a full version of this song.

This is what came out of it. I keep thinking about fleshing it out and/or maybe adding different/more words, but that's not something that I'm known for. I like to make up a song, record it and then move right along.

So, here is that moment in time, captured in mp3 format. 😉

Getting Dressed Dance by Ukulele Guy (and wife and goddaughter)

Lanikai LU-21 and Lanikai LU-21P

So, I've been pretty intrigued with the Lanikai LU-21 as one of the better choices for a starter ukulele. Heck, even at $70 it seemed like a good deal but the price is just getting cheaper and cheaper. So, I went looking for reviews and I found this great Youtube review of the LU-21.

Pretty thorough! Well, if you do want to get your hands on this ukulele, here are 3 different methods for doing so and also there is another variation you might be interested in.

eBay:

Most of the Lanikai LU-21P ukuleles on ebay are around $79. You can do better than that, right? Well, you might want to bid on this auction for your Lanikai LU-21. Right now it's only $30.

Musician's Friend:

Depending on the deals and specials that are running, sometimes Musician's Friend has cheaper prices than Amazon and other times they don't. However, what they do have is great customer service and a fantastic return policy. Also, if you are looking to buy more than just a ukulele (strings, mics, cords, etc) then you'll spend less time looking at Musician's Friend and overall, I'd expect your cost to be just about the same as Amazon. On the Lanikai LU-21 and LU-21P, though, they are about $10 higher than amazon.

Then look at this cute little pineapple number, the Lanikai LU-21P!

Lanikai LU-21P Pineapple Ukulele Rosewood Fretboard from Musicians Friend — Lanikai LU-21P Pineapple Ukulele Rosewood Fretboard from Musician's Friend

Amazon:

So, in this case at least, Amazon has the best deal (unless you can score that ebay auction for less than $49). Check it out:

Lanikai LU-21P Pinapple Ukulele from Amazon.com

Double -neck Ukulele

Umm... awesome! Why should Junior Brown have all the fun with crazy double-necked instruments. Should I have to suffer the injustice of a single neck ukulele just because they don't exist. Nope. They do exist! Check out this Double Neck Ukulele.

Brand new"D & D"koa double neck handmade ukulele

This is definitely a first for me. Although now that I've had a taste, I want more more more! Give me a dual-neck ukulele/tiple combo! That would rule. Although, I should probably get proficient at a single-neck uke before I go getting greedy.

Ibanez UKC10 Concert Ukulele

I was looking around Musician's Friend for the new arrivals, just seeing if maybe there is some fancy new ukulele that's gonna break my heart. Of course, out of 25 new arrivals, exactly one of them was a ukulele. But, hey, that's better than zero, right? This is the second Ibanez ukulele that I've looked at and I'm intrigued. Does anyone out there have an Ibanez ukulele? The price is pretty good for a starter uke, especially if it's well-made. Here's some info on the Ibanez UKC10 Ukulele Concert with Bag Natural.

Ibanez UKC10 Ukulele Concert with Bag (Natural)

Ibanez UKC10 Ukulele Concert with Bag Features:

* Body Shape: Concert Style Body
* Neck: Mahogany Neck
* Top: Sapele Body
* Tuners: Open Gear Chrome Tuners
* Fretboard: Rosewood Bridge and Fretboard
* Strings: Standard Ukulele Strings
* Finishes: Natural Low Gloss Finish

Ooh! I just found a youtube video of someone playing the Ibanez UKC10 Concert Ukulele. Unfortunately a) It's in French and b) I can't embed it here. But, you can follow the above link to check it out. If anyone has one of these or has played one, please let me know!

Bathroom Ukulele Video (don’t be scared)

Alright, as you may or may not know, I bought a Gorillapod for my Flip Video last week and I've been itching to use this thing. I talked about it in this post, Time to make some videos! (UPDATE). But, this freaking chest cold has been making it impossible to even talk without coughing like a 70 year-old chainsmoker. Well.. I'm tired of waiting. So, while this isn't how I envisioned my first ukulele video going down, I'm still fairly happy with how it turned out. But, I am a little nervous, though, for several reasons:

Now you know what I look like and disappointment is sure to follow. 😉
It took me 5 takes to get one where I didn't cough mid-song. So, this probably isn't the best of the takes, but it's the least interrupted.
I forgot to "dress for success" in this video. I'm effectively one step above pajamas here.

Ah well.. If I start off like this then we have no where to go except for up, right? K. Here ya go.

Oh yeah! My hair isn't always that ridiculous. You are just looking at the remnants of my mohawk from Halloween. My new wave band covered David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust record and our second set was 10 punk rock songs from 1985 or prior (Agent Orange, Fear, Black Flag, etc). I've honestly forgotten that I look so goofy, but I get reminded of it when I see people's faces when I actually do leave the house (which, is rare).