my ukulele progress

[ripock]

Sears Craftsman deep - 1/2" drive sockets last a lifetime... maybe a 13/16th?

Thanks. I know Lowe's has Craftsman and Kobalt but I am really fine. My manhasset is an older one so it is very solid with a very wide base--plus it is low for use with seated musicians. There is no way a cat can knock it over.

 

[ripock]

I had a few lessons from life today about not changing things. I cleaned my stove and occluded some of the spreaders on two of my burners. I had to clean it out with a paperclip. I should have left it alone. By the way, I pulled the top off my stove and I cannot believe how filthy it is. But I had learnt my lesson I left it alone. Secondly, I took my wife to a new cafe in the north valley. It was fine except it was a little loud and expensive. My wife is utterly Scottish and she had to pay $13 for her abstemious meal for which we pay $6 when we go to our local little taqueria in the barrio downtown. I will certainly keep this in mind when I play some music tonight. I am not a devout Jungian but I do think everything is connected at some level. Therefore I will obey the kosmos which is telling me this is not a good time for change.

 

[ripock]

My last thought that I had before my weekend ends: labels and taxonomy. I have this tool that I use to light the pilot lights of my furnaces and stove. It only is adorned with two items. 1. "Bic" because that is its brand. 2. Multi-Purpose. However it isn't multi-purpose. It has one purpose; it sets things aflame. The only way you can consider it multi-purpose is if you parse up the purpose: purpose #1: lights pilot lights; #2: lights candles; #3: lights incense sticks; #4: lights luminaria on Xmas; #5: sets a pile of leaves on fire; #6: melts or softens plastic or rubber materials so that they can be manipulated; #7: set ablaze a bag of poop put on someone's porch as a prank; #8: start a dumpster fire; #9: ignite lighter fluid on a bbq; and #10: burn off the alcohol of an aniline dye after you apply it to wood.

I was thinking about this because there have been a few threads lately about music theory. And to me music theory can be monolithic or you can sub-divide it and create labels of systems of nomenclature.

i just made my wife tilapia poached in ghee and topped with a drizzle of oyster sauce, millet with basil, and hot salad: chard lubricated with coconut oil, lime juice, mustard, and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

I have to write my checks and pay my bills, then I will play and report on my playing.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

My last thought that I had before my weekend ends: labels and taxonomy. I have this tool that I use to light the pilot lights of my furnaces and stove. It only is adorned with two items. 1. "Bic" because that is its brand. 2. Multi-Purpose. However it isn't multi-purpose. It has one purpose; it sets things aflame. The only way you can consider it multi-purpose is if you parse up the purpose: purpose #1: lights pilot lights; #2: lights candles; #3: lights incense sticks; #4: lights luminaria on Xmas; #5: sets a pile of leaves on fire; #6: melts or softens plastic or rubber materials so that they can be manipulated; #7: set ablaze a bag of poop put on someone's porch as a prank; #8: start a dumpster fire; #9: ignite lighter fluid on a bbq; and #10: burn off the alcohol of an aniline dye after you apply it to wood.

I was thinking about this because there have been a few threads lately about music theory. And to me music theory can be monolithic or you can sub-divide it and create labels of systems of nomenclature.

i just made my wife tilapia poached in ghee and topped with a drizzle of oyster sauce, millet with basil, and hot salad: chard lubricated with coconut oil, lime juice, mustard, and a splash of balsamic vinegar.

I have to write my checks and pay my bills, then I will play and report on my playing.

Bless you, ripock, for confirming I’m not the only bloke on earth who still writes checks.

 

[ripock]

Bless you, ripock, for confirming I’m not the only bloke on earth who still writes checks.

What ticks me off about Covid is that the postal service, like all services, have been seriously hampered and hamstrung. So I had to stop using checks with USAA, my insurance, because the postal service couldn't get my check to USAA in a timely manner--even if I posted as soon as I received my bill. I kept on incurring late fees, so with USAA I have to go online and send a virtual check or whatever you call it by sending my routing number and account number. On a related note of humor: I saw a young co-worker of mine sincerely confused when he received a paycheck. He didn't know what he was supposed to do with the document.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

What ticks me off about Covid is that the postal service, like all services, have been seriously hampered and hamstrung. So I had to stop using checks with USAA, my insurance, because the postal service couldn't get my check to USAA in a timely manner--even if I posted as soon as I received my bill. I kept on incurring late fees, so with USAA I have to go online and send a virtual check or whatever you call it by sending my routing number and account number. On a related note of humor: I saw a young co-worker of mine sincerely confused when he received a paycheck. He didn't know what he was supposed to do with the document.

Yet another thing we have in common: been a USAA member for over 3 decades.

 

[ripock]

When I finally came to the end of my day and was able to play for an hour, I harkened to my lesson earlier today and didn't innovate. I stuck with the alt scale. I focused on the diamond-shaped arrangement of notes. However, the G string wasn't yielding the sound I was chasing. So I omitted that corner of the diamond. Then I transition to the E Hirayoshi for that B I was yearning for since the Alt scale doesn't have a B, just the B's enclosures: A# and C.

I also incorporated a trick and I don't know if it has a name. It is pulling the A string off the fretboard briefly to make a trill. when you pull the string off the fretboard it goes up 2 half steps and it has its own special voice. It is an interesting ornament. You're basically taking bad technique and harnessing it. One application is enclosures. If you want to emphasize the E, you play the D# and then pull it off and get an F. By doing so, you play everything around the E before you resolve on the E.

For chords I played a little set of changes in A: Am add9, Em11, B7#5, Em11, Am add9, B°7, Am.

 

[ripock]

I am going to make up a variation of what's been a staple in our household since we spent some time living in Italy. It is our approximation of Tuscan soup and it is going to be even further altered because of my wife's newfound phobia of spice and acidity due to her GERD. So I'll make a soup of unspicy sausage, sauteed white onion, portabella mushroom, barley, and mung beans. I will use mung beans because they are faster to make than the only other bean I currently have on hand: pinto.

No. I recant. I think I will pressure cook some pintos tomorrow while I'm at work. Mung beans are too much like split peas as far as texture. I might keep them in the mix to add some thickness.

 

[Patty]

Yet another thing we have in common: been a USAA member for over 3 decades.

My husband and I just joined.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

My husband and I just joined.

Not the same company it was in the 1980’s or 90’s (for one thing, they never wasted money on advertising back then) but still a fine organization with that unique combo of decent rates and top drawer customer service.

 

[ripock]

I made an interesting soup. Here was my method: brown pork sausage. Add white onion. Add portabella mushrooms. Add pinto beans, barley, and mung beans. Add lemon juice, Tamari sauce, and water. Season with an herb mixture and with a tumeric/salt mixture. It turned out somewhat citrusy because of the lemon juice and because both the herb and salt mixtures includes some citrus peel.

Tonight I am making some de-veined turnip greens, riced sweet potatoes (with regular sweet potato additives such as cinnamon and black strap molasses) and trout. With the trout I am going to be a bit aggressive and saute some onion, asafoetida, and cumin.

For post-prandial entertainment I learned about a mathematical scheme for creating music. You just pick some chord qualities and some intervals, and let the fun begin. I'm thinking for the qualities Δ7, m7+5, ø, dom9. And for the 2nd and 4th quality I will make them major or minor depending on which one is easier to form based on the voicing I choose. So the formula is chord-down a third-chord-down a third-chord-down a fifth--chord down a third.

so that would be EΔ7, C#m7+5, Aø, D#9, BΔ, etc.

 

[ripock]

that trout topping was wonderful. The asafoetida and cumin had an aroma that was vaguely like Indian food but yet it wasn't. I sauteed the onion in ghee and then added the dry ingredients: asa, cumin, umami, and a pinch or two of brown sugar. The mixture started drying out a bit, so I added olive oil and then it turned into a goo similar to when you make caramel.

 

[ploverwing]

it turned into a goo similar to when you make caramel

mmmmmm.... onion goo..... (said in a Homer Simpson-esque drooling manner)

 

[ripock]

That progression I was playing around is tougher than it looks. The main problem is having too many choices. On my fretboards I have an average of six voicings to choose from, so at every juncture you have to make a choice of do I move up in pitch, do I move down, do I move far away, do I stay close? And when do I transition to melodizing?

And I cut my nails too short--a pitfall of being a music-maker--and now I cannot open cans of cat food.

 

[ripock]

I also received my extenders for my manhasset and I have to say I love them. Having a four-page wide stand is delightful. I can now have a few scales, a chord chart, and a circle of fifths up there at the same time.

 

[Patty]

I also received my extenders for my manhasset and I have to say I love them. Having a four-page wide stand is delightful. I can now have a few scales, a chord chart, and a circle of fifths up there at the same time.

Which model Manhasset do you have, the Symphony or the Orchestral? I need one; my Donner won’t do.

 

[ripock]

I believe it is a symphony although I would be hard pressed to distinguish the two. Although I have had mine for a while I discovered today for the first time that it has a telescopic neck after looking at photos of it online. I never knew.

 

[DuckyI]

I have been thinking about buying a Manhasset. They are slightly pricy here but they look like they will last a lifetime, and I like that they are made by an employee-owned company. Is the Orchestral the one with the extra ledger for a pencil etc?

 

[ripock]

It must be because my Symphony doesn't have one. If I had to do it over again, I think I would go ahead and get the fourscore. I bought mine because I wanted something heavy that my cat couldn't knock over during a spass-out. It is definitely an improvement over the folding one I had had for 30 years.

 

[Patty]

I have been thinking about buying a Manhasset. They are slightly pricy here but they look like they will last a lifetime, and I like that they are made by an employee-owned company. Is the Orchestral the one with the extra ledger for a pencil etc?

Yes, it has an extra lip underneath for pencils, violin bow, or what-not (ukulele tuner!). But if you have the Symphony, you can buy a little shelf-lip that attaches below and get the same benefit (in plastic though, not metal).

PS: You can also get a Manhasset stand with a mount for an iPad or such device.

PPS: One other difference between the Orchestral (which has the extra lip) and the Symphony is that the symphony comes in lots of cool colors--orange, purple, green, gray, sage, etc. Orchestral alas is only in black.

Here's the Symphony in purple!

Symphony Stand (Box of 1) Purple | Manhasset