Banjo versus TV week 95: Christmas

A check-in on the Banjo versus TV project — J.R.'s ongoing plan to spend more time on his banjo than on TV. This post covers 12/20/2009 through 12/26/2009.

Banjo-related stuff that I was given for Christmas:

Thanks to all gift-givers. Hope you get as much enjoyment out of what I got you.

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Also in the last week:

• I got a copy of the Country Cooking CD because it's got some good examples of endings.
  
  
• Way more TV time (7h 9m) than banjo time (1h 46m) as we watched Christmas stuff.
• One activity that counted as both banjo and TV (per the rules): the annual watching of the Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas DVD.
  
  

Cross-posted at J.R.'s Banjo Hangout blog

T-Bar Double Reed Marching Kazoo

If you're looking for something to get for me for Christmas and you're not very good at math the T-Bar Small Double Reed Marching Kazoo will seem like a real bargain. I've been jealous of my friend Arlo's marching kazoo, it's got a terrific sound, I'd really really love it and it's only 27, er...

...okay, that's 27 British pounds. Which at today's exchange rate of 1.63383 USD per pound is $44.11 before international shipping.

But, still, it's a really cool idea and I'm just going to throw it out there as part of J.R.'s wish list. And it's cheaper than the even cooler slimline and standard models. (Which would totally rock.)

Update: Here's a photo of Arlo making me jealous by playing his T-Bar Standard Double Reed Marching Kazoo down in Memphis when the Brass Note Jug Band first got together to dedicate a brass note to Will Shade and the Memphis Jug Band:

Banjo versus TV week 85: Roll your own banjo mute

A check-in on the Banjo versus TV project — J.R.'s ongoing plan to spend more time on his banjo than on TV. This post covers 10/11/2009 through 10/17/2009.

I had some time to kill at an airport terminal and I had my banjo but no mute. I wanted to practice, but I didn't want to disturb people.

So I rolled a mute out of paper napkins.

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Also in the last week:

• I came across the Banjo LiteCase at Stewart-MacDonald.
  
  
  
  I sure like the looks of it! Let's add this to J.R.'s wish list.
• I've been reviewing that DVD of Blazing Bluegrass Banjo Vol 1: Developing Jamming Skills with Greg Cahill. The tabs that come with it are handy, but a little incomplete. I wanted to add his scale practice to my daily routine and it wasn't included in the tabs. So I tabbed it out myself. Here ya go:
  
  
• I got this CD because some day I want to learn Viva Las Vegas on the banjo:
  
  

Banjo versus TV week 80: Fall 2009 TV season

A check-in on the Banjo versus TV project — J.R.'s ongoing plan to spend more time on his banjo than on TV. This post covers 09/06/2009 through 09/12/2009. And yes, it's very late. Been busy.

Here at the Banjo versus TV project I'm not all about the banjo. There's TV, too. So this week, since it's the start of the fall season and there's not a lot going on with the banjo, let's take a look at the TV side of the scale.

Here are the fall season shows I'm watching right now and how much time each one puts on the scale each week.

Show	Minutes
Amazing Race	44
Dollhouse	44
FlashForward	44
Glee	44
Heroes	44
Models of the Runway	22
Project Runway	44
So You Think You Can Dance	44
Tool Academy 2	44
Total	396

So that's 6 hours 36 minutes of TV watching, which means 6 hours 36 minutes of banjo just to balance out the week.

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Also in the last week:

• Skipped the Wednesday night jam at the Montrose so I could watch Glee and So You Think You Can Dance with the redhead.
• Ran across a cool banjo t-shirt.
  
  
  
  Let's add this one to J.R.'s wish list. Blue XL. Update: Got it for Christmas. Thanks!

Banjo versus TV: Week 63

A check-in on the Banjo versus TV project — J.R.'s ongoing plan to spend more time on his banjo than on TV. This post covers 5/10/2009 through 5/16/2009.

Remember how in week 61 I'd ordered two portable power speaker sets? Of course you remember. I only posted it about an hour and a half ago, because it's Memorial Day weekend and I'm catching up.

So never mind that question. The point is, I've compared the two and decided that I prefer the Panasonic RPSPT70 Folding Travel Speakers to the Sentry Clamshell Folding Amplified Speakers. The RPSPT70 sounds much better. Also, if your batteries are dead or the unit is switched off the RPSPT70 can still be used as a non-amplified speaker set. The Sentry model only works when it's got power.

The Sentry isn't without its advantages. Its smaller size and its rounded design is a better fit for a gig bag. And its power switch is kept inside when folded. That's important because the RPSPT70's outside-facing switch tends to get accidentally flipped when I travel. But still, good sound is good sound so I like the RPSPT70.

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Things I learned at this week's banjo lesson:

• I'm thinking of getting better tuners. Dave recommends planetary tuners.
• I've been putting some thought into how I learn.
  • Most of the (few) licks that I know I learned by playing from tablature, memorizing the piece note-for-note.
  • Once the lick has entered my brain this way I can use it in another piece.
  • But I find it very hard to learn a lick simply by repeating the lick itself over and over, as I did when I struggled to learn the first lick of Bill Knopf's Hot Licks & Fiddle Tunes for the Bluegrass Banjo Player:
    
    
  • My conclusion: I need to start picking up some books again and learning their tabs, note-for-note. But I need to be very direct about why I want to learn a particular tab, to avoid the trap of just planing things that sound nice. I want to play things that will teach me the stuff I need to know.
• We explore some ways to create simple variations, like changing some open notes in a song to other notes.

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Also in the last week:

• So, does this video count as watching a banjo video when the banjo is not actually visible?
  
  
• Here's a vid I found from Uncle Earl: Streak o’ Lean, Streak o’ Fat (a.k.a. Hongshao Rou)
  
  
• Speaking of videos, I ran across a banjo-strummin' sneak peak of the upcoming movie Land of the Lost.
  
  
  Movie Trailers - Movies Blog
  
  
  That's a reference, of course, to the banjo-pickin' theme song from the original TV show.
  
  
• Remember in week 58 that I'd wanted to order Tony Trischka's 1976 Melodic Banjo? Perhaps you don't; it's actually been a couple of weeks since I posted that one. Well, I ordered it. Also, Tony Trischka Easy Banjo Solos. I thought about ordering Trischka's Hot Licks For Bluegrass Banjo but, with my upcoming birthday/banjoversary, I added it to my Amazon wish list instead.

Wishing

It's a couple of weeks too late for Christmas and six months too early for my birthday, but I've recently discovered some cool stuff that just has to be added to J.R.'s Wish List.

Zot! Special Edition: The Complete Black and White Collection: 1987-1991 (Hardcover) comes to me via Bully's annual Fun Fifty. The other 49 would all make me happy, too, but I've been wanting to get to know Zot.) Update 6/2009: Got it for my birthday. Thanks, Mom!

Also, I discovered The Austin Lounge Lizards while shifting through CDs at a pawn shop. Why didn't you all tell me about the Lounge Lizards? They're wonderful. I bought their CD, The Drugs I Need, at the aforementioned pawn shop and have added their other albums to my Amazon wish list.

I need a Kooky-Uke

I need a Kooky-Uke. Need it, need it. Neeeeeeed. It.

Jim Craig*, who runs the (highly recommended) Hogeye Music store in Evanston, Illinois, showed me a Polk-A-Lay-Lee and in doing so set me on a quest. Some day, somehow, I must own a Kooky-Uke.

Mind you, the Polk-A-Lay-Lee is not itself a Kooky-Uke. The Polk-A-Lay-Lee – made by the Peterson Company of Ohio — is a knock-off of the Kooky-Uke brand. That's why I'm going to take a pass on any of Peterson's Polk-A-Lay-Lees or Wander-leles and hold out for an actual Swaggerty-brand Kooky-Uke.

And what is an actual Swaggerty-brand Kooky-Uke? Let's ask Jumpin' Jim Beloff*, the author of Jumpin' Jim's Ukulele Beach Party.

Jim has more to say about the Kooky-Ukes, so you should buy the book. He's got pictures, too.

As you can tell from the picture with the blonde, the Trēhōlipee's long headstock has a functional purpose. You play your Trēhōlipee on the beach until somebody yells "Surf's up!" then you flip your Trēhōlipee over, skewer it into the sand and run out to ride the waves on your surfboard. And if you've got a Surf-a-lele, you grab it on your way out since it was designed to be played while riding a surfboard. No kidding. There's even a Rick Griffin illustration on the back of the Surf-a-lele to show you how it's supposed to be done.

Neeeeeeed.

* "Wait a minute. Jim Craig, Jim Beloff and James Robert Jenks?" I hear you ask, because I hear it whenever anyone speaks my name. "Do all ukulele players have the first name of James?" The answer is two-fold. First, yes. Second, it's pronounced OOK-oo-lay-lee.

Banjo versus TV: Week 31

A weekly check-in on the Banjo versus TV project — J.R.'s resolution to spend more time in 2008 on his banjo than on TV. J.R.'s a few weeks behind, so he's furiously getting caught up in order to concentrate on the Four Corners Folk Festival.

I was at a medical device conference in Washington DC this last week. I got a little banjo practice in at a park near my hotel...

...but it was a pretty slow week, banjo-wise. One of the booths at the show had some cool medical swabs...

...which are great for cleaning those hard-to-reach banjo surfaces...

...so I've got that going for me.

Also in the last week:

• At the conference I bought a sweet little digital camera from DigiLife: the PMP DV Camcorder DV1080HD.
  
  
  
  I got a great price, probably because they were clearing out their inventory in anticipation of introducing their new model: the PMP DV Camcorder DDV-V3HD.
• Over on the Internet-videos-count-as-TV-time front, I really enjoyed...
  
  
  I liked it so much, I'm adding a Captain Hammer t-shirt to J.R.'s wish list.
  
  
  
  Am I easy to shop for, or what?

Cool gadget: Tascam MP-GT1 Guitar Trainer

Just a quick note about a cool gadget that Mike, my banjo instructor at Flatts & Sharpe, showed me.

The MP-GT1 Portable MP3 Guitar Trainer by Tascam is an MP3 player with special guitar-learning features. It can play back songs at different speeds without changing the pitch and it can change the pitch without affecting the speed. It loops, it adds special effects. It looks wonderful. Mike loves it.

It lists for $269.00, but Amazon's got it for $169.99. Amazon also has the MP-VT1 MP3 Music & Voice Trainer for $199.00 ($269.99 list). I can't decide which one I'd want. So I added them both to my Amazon wish list.

Cross-posted at J.R. Jenks' blog

Player piano with banjo attachment

How cool is this item for sale on chicago.craigslist.org ?

Baldwin-Modello player piano with banjo attachment. Needs work.

$150 obo you must move
Call Candy @ 847-***-**** or 847-***-****



Location: Glenview, Il

Wish I had the space for it. And a way to move it. And the time to fix it. And the skill to fix it. And a spare banjo to attach to it.

Update: The seller has now (2/1/2008) dropped the price to $100. Won't someone find this gadget a good home?

Thou Shalt Not

Another item for my wish list: 10 Commandments Stickies from MissPoppy.com.

J.R.'s wish list

I'm starting to get the "What do you want for Christmas?" question so I figured I'd blog up a wish list.

I'm keeping this wish list in two three places.

1. Here on my blog, by tagging certain entries with the J.R.'s wish list label.
2. J.R.'s wish list at Amazon.com
3. Update: J.R.'s ThinkGeek wish list