You Can Be Whoever You Wish To Be

I'm told this was one of George Harrison's favorite quotes:

"Create and preserve the image of your choice"

- Ghandi

Killing Time

"All of us in some way are trying to kill time. When it's all said and done, time ends up killing us."
- Jack Fate

Meaning and Non-meaning

"Sometimes it's not enough to know the meaning of things, sometimes we have to know what things don't mean as well. Like what does it mean to not know what the person you love is capable of? Things fall apart, especially all the neat order of rules and laws. The way we look at the world is the way we really are. See it from a fair garden and everything looks cheerful. Climb to a higher plateau and you'll see plunder and murder. Truth and beauty are in the eye of the beholder. I stopped trying to figure everything out a long time ago."

- Jack Fate

A Note From Some Compassionate Friends

From F.U.N (Folk Uke News):

On August 29, 2005, hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, changing the face of the city forever. A group of people rallied to save the thousands of hurricane-affected animals. From this, grew Animal Rescue New Orleans, a non-profit organization run by local volunteers who continue to rescue and care for the animals. Seven months later, there are still thousands of animals living in the most devastated parts of the city. Volunteers go out to 250 square miles of the city to fill food and water stations and trap many animals that are still out there.

Animal Rescue New Orleans is in need of volunteers, food, and donations. Many of the cats and dogs that have been sighted at food and
water stations are pets that were once owned and the owners are still trying to find them. These people are depending on us to feed their pets until they can be trapped and reunited with their families.

There are many different opportunities to help. If you can't make it to New Orleans, and you can't afford to donate, there are still ways that you can help from home.

Visit www.animalrescueneworleans.com
for more information on how to help.

Thanks,Amy and Cathy

Making the World Safe for Democracy...

From Yahoo!News:

The U.S. military will charge seven Marines and a Navy corpsman with murder and other crimes in the April 26 killing of an Iraqi civilian in a village west of Baghdad, a defense official said on Wednesday.
The charges include murder, kidnapping, conspiracy, making false official statements and larceny, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the charges have not yet been announced.
The incident took place in the town of Hamdania in central Iraq, and is a separate case from the November 19 killing of 24 civilians in Haditha in which other Marines are suspected.
Military criminal investigators examined whether the servicemen fatally shot a 52-year-old disabled Iraqi man in the face, then planted a rifle and a shovel next to his body to make it appear he was an insurgent placing a roadside bomb.
In a development in a separate case, the military said a fourth Army soldier, Spc. Juston Graber, has been charged with premeditated murder in connection with the shooting deaths of three detainees in Iraq on May 9. The military had said on Monday three other soldiers were charged in the same killings and with threatening to kill a fellow soldier if he told authorities the truth about the case.
All four soldiers face a possible death penalty.

[Click Here for the Full Story]

Canaanites built Solomon's Temple?!

PaleoJudaica has an interesting post up on Palestinian denials of Jewish historical connections with Jerusalem.

Jake Shimabukuro Limited Edition Ukulele

This just in from Jake's website: Jake and Kamaka Ukuleles are releasing a limited edition Jake signature model uke (pictured above). The Uke is limited to 100 copies and will go for $5,500.00! Those interested in purchasing one of these must enter thier names in a lottery for the chance to buy one. More info on the uke and the lottery available at Jake's site.

Matchstick Ukulele

I discovered this via the Ukulele Sanity March Yahoo Group:

From the website:

Jack Hall from England, U.K. proved that a ukulele didn't need to be made with
conventional tools or from the finest materials to play well, sound good and be
beautiful to look at.

This one-of-a- kind 1984 ukulele was made entirely from used wooden matchsticks...10,000 of them painstakingly glued together with 2 lbs of hide glue... The main distinguishing feature is the burnt matchstick design on the body, the body sides and the peg head. Jack sorted out and hand-picked from piles of matchsticks only those matchsticks with even-sided square burnt ends. He then ingeniously interlocked the blackened, burnt match-heads to form herring bone designs on the front and back of the body, and soldier columns on the body sides and peg head. The original 1984 white wood has aged nicely to rich golden colour.

To complete the project Jack made a case entirely from 200 cardboard matchBoxes.

The ukulele is in the book of Guinness World Records, 2003 Edition. Abbreviated text says, "Tony Hall (UK) owns 10 playable musical instruments made entirely from 106,000 used wooden matchsticks." It has also been played on BBC television. The professional musician who performed with the ukulele said, " The tone and sound is great and it is a pleasure to handle and play."

More photos and information about this instrument can be found here.

Your Own Deeds Determine Your Fate

בשעת מיתתו [עקביה בן מהללאל]... [בנו] אמר לו, אבא, פקד עליי לחבריך. אמר לו, איני מפקד. אמר לו, שמא עוולה מצאת בי. אמר לו, לאו; מעשיך יקרבוך, ומעשיך ירחקוך.
ממשנה: מסכת עדייות ה.ז

---

In the hour of his [`Aqaviah ben Mahalale'el] death... [his son] said to him, "Father, commend me to your colleagues." He replied to him, "I will not commend you." He said to him, "Have you found in me any wrong?" He replied "No. Your own deeds will cause you to be near [to my colleagues] and your own deeds will cause you to be far [from them].

- from the Mishna: Ediyot 5.7

It Has HOW MANY Strings?!?

Another instrument to add to my ever growing wish-list (in case anyone out there is keeping track and/or wealthy and generous!). I found this on Kanile'a Ukulele's website. It is called a Tiple:

(Click Image for Larger Version)
The website describes it thusly:

"The original Tiple (pronounced Teeh-pley) meaning treble in Spanish, were small guitars and like the 'ukulele they were favored by sailors because of their portable size. Martin Guitar Co. in the early 1920s, started to produce what would be considered the modern day Tiple (pronounced "tipple"). At the height of the 'ukulele craze, Martin changed the tuning to match the ukulele and in the mid 1920s they added the Tiple to their catalogue..."

The tiple is strung similar to a mandolin, 8-string ukulele or 12-string guitar, which all have each string strung in pairs or "courses." The difference here is that two of the courses on the tiple are tripled instead of doubled! More from the website:

The string combination of a Tiple is:
Double A 1st course at the same octave (440Hz),

Triple E 2nd course at the high/low/high octave (329.6Hz/164.8Hz/329.6Hz),

Triple C 3rd course with a high/low/high octave (261.6Hz/130.8Hz/261.6Hz),

Double G 4th course with a high/low octave (392Hz/196Hz)

I'm not sure how easy it'd be to play those triple courses, but I bet I'd have a hell of a time learning how!

Hawaiian Kippot

Its just what every ukulele playing Jew needs to look fashionable!

Hawaiian Print Kippot @ Yussel's Place

Who's Playing Uke Now?

Pete Townshend and Roger Daltry, the surviving half of The Who, are gearing up for a new world tour and the release of thier first album of new material since 1982's Its Hard. In his on-line diary Pete has mentioned plans he and Rog have for fitting in some Who rarities into the shows as a treat for the die hard fans. One of the possibilities may be of particular interest to Uke-loving Who fans:

"For the real fanatics (and bootleggers) out there, Roger and I both put together lists of songs we really want to play at some point during the tour this coming year. We have been inspired by the Stones to do this - though we are trying to shorten out marathon show at the same time, so it's hard to find a spot in the show to fit them in...

I will publish a list of so-called "Who Rarities" that we hope to introduce one by one on the American tour later this year. This has some really fun stuff on it including our first Mini-Opera, and stuff like Roger's song HERE FOR MORE and BLUE, RED and GREY performed by me on a ukelele." (Emphasis Mine - JWL)

Who fans will know that "Blue Red and Grey" is from The Who's 1975 Who By Numbers album. So far as I know its never been played live by the band, though Pete did recently play it during an episode of Rachel Fuller's "In the Attic" web-show.

Related Links:

1. Tabs/Chords for "Blue Red and Grey" @ TheWho.net
2. Pete Townshend Article at Ukewiki.org

Pete Townshend, The Comedian

Pete Townshend has reopened his blog, The Boy Who Heard Music to

"provide a direct line for people who want to give me feedback on the
various projects I am working on in the coming year. If you visit my
website........ www.petetownshend.com .......and
check out my diaries you will see that I am posting items about the good and bad
things going on around me at such a busy time, and I mention the fact that a lot
of people have tried to reach out to me. Hopefully this Blog will provide a way
for that to happen. "

He has also started posting chapters of a new story "The Comedian."

"This story will differ from The Boy Who Heard Music because in this case I
am going to incorporate both jokes sent in by Bloggers (with source credits) and
I will take advice on to how the story might evolve"

Creativity

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

6 Things About Me

I stole this idea from Dak-Ind, but since she stole it from someone else I doubt she'll complain ;) I thought it might be a fun challenge to come up with 6 things about myself that a) I don't mind sharing with the world at large and b) regular readers of my blog don't know already. Hopefully this will be entertaining and/or informative for someone other than me!

1) Since I graduated from high school I haven't lived in any one place for more than 3 or 4 years. This has technically been broken by my long stay in PA, but I'm not sure that counts since I only really live there a few months out of the year while I'm going to school in NYC.

2) I love to cook. Over the last few years I've discovered a real love and talent for cooking. My better half has been very impressed by some of the dishes I've come up with. I probably inherited the talent from my grandfather, who was a chef.

3) I'm currently living (at the seminary) less than 30 miles from the hospital in which I was born.

4) I'm currently living close to 3,000 miles from the town I lived during most of the first 18 years of my life.

5) I have no regrets. This is something I couldn't always say, but I am truely content and happy with where I am in life right now and wouldn't change any of the descisions I've made in the past, because any one of those changed choices would change what I have now. And I wouldn't change that for anything.

6) I like myself (ok, I stole this too *L*). Something I haven't always been able to say. In fact, something I haven't truthfully been able to say until quite recently.

Ancient Scripts

I recently ran across this excellent page on ancient scripts, alphabets and languages. Loads of interesting info on Biblically related languages, whis is--no suprise--how I found it.

Ancient Scripts.com

Got Melk?

Now these are the kinds of headlines I never get tired of!

RIP Billy Preston

Singer-songwriter Billy Preston dead at 59

PHOENIX - Billy Preston, the exuberant keyboardist who landed dream gigs with
the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and enjoyed his own series of hit singles,
including "Outta Space" and "Nothing From Nothing," died Tuesday at 59.

Preston's longtime manager, Joyce Moore, said Preston had been in a coma
since November in a care facility and was taken to a hospital in Scottsdale
Saturday after his condition deteriorated.

"He had a very, very beautiful
last few hours and a really beautiful passing," Moore said by telephone from
Germany. "He went home good."

Preston, who had battled chronic kidney
failure, had undergone a kidney transplant in 2002, but the kidney failed and he
has been on dialysis treatments ever since, Moore said earlier this
year.

Known for his big smile and towering afro, Preston was a teen
prodigy on the piano and organ, and lent his gospel-tinged touch to classics
such as the Beatles' "Get Back" and the Stones' "Can't You Hear Me
Knocking?"

He broke out as a solo artist in the 1970s, winning a best
instrumental Grammy in 1973 for "Outta Space," and scoring other hits with "Will
It Go 'Round In Circles," "Nothing From Nothing" and "With You I'm Born Again,"
a duet with Syreeta Wright

Billy with George Harrison and President Ford, 1974

G.W.B.

I was recently browsing Arlo Guthrie's site and while looking over the lyrics to Alice's Resteraunt I had a revelation of sorts (this may not make sense if you're not familiar with the song, so check it out):

G.W.B.

Group W Bench

George W. Bush

Its all making sense now...

Quote for the Day

This popped up on my Google page today:

"In the beginning there was nothing. God said, 'Let there be light!' And there
was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot
better." - Ellen DeGeneres