foomart foomart

So Agent 99 had a gig in Brooklyn, at the Blowhole Theater Marathon. They told us ten minutes or three songs, max. They told us we'd be going on around 10:15. So we got there at 9:30 or so, hoping to be able to warm up our instruments and, y'know, tune them and stuff. Turned out the place was claustrophobically packed and oh by the way we go on in ten minutes oh wait did I say ten minutes I meant NOW. So we kind of had to hit the ground strumming. We crammed onto the stage—which was about the size of my dining room table—negotiated our positions around the limited microphones, and I'm pretty sure we played a quick set. It all went by in a blur. I kind of woke up about halfway into the second song. I know we did an encore, not one I expected but fortunately one I knew. From Jersey to Brooklyn for four songs! We finished up and got out quickly; the place was slamfucked and Joe had the perfect excuse since he's got a midterm coming up.

So back on the G train, which was "acting like an F train" while they work on the tracks. A stop or two later some girls got on, and one of them was carrying a pumpkin-orange Mahalo uke. I dug a lei out of my bag (What? I was using it to keep my fez from getting squished.) and put it on her without a word. She was pleased, but clearly not used to the power of the uke...that sort of thing happens all the time once you start carrying a uke around. We talked a little, next thing you know Greg and I have ours out and it's a quick round of Five Foot Two and then we had to pack up and get off the train, giving the bewildered uke girl all the stickers and buttons we could scrounge up after the gig.

Switched trains, got to Manhattan, and we went our separate ways, the boys heading crosstown and uptown and me jumping on the bus which got me home in 10 minutes to be yelled at by Emma, who is still pissed off at us for going away last week and panics a little every time we walk out the door, poor thing.

binki 12:28 AM

Thus far this has been a very good weekend! Our first gig was a smashing success. A whole bunch of awesome people actually came out in the cold to see us. The bar owner has already invited us back. I can't wait to hear what the hell it sounded like from out there.

And today I won an auction for a uke that I really really wanted and actually got a good price on it—I was willing to spend an awful lot more; bargain hunting was the last thing on my mind—but it's nice that it worked out that way. binki 3:19 PM

My computer is in the shop and Photoshop isn't authorized on B's machine so I can't make this image smaller right now, but I'm sure you'll understand why I'm posting it anyway. Just let it load. I'll shrink it down when I get my MacBook back.
Aha, I did it in iPhoto. Here's Todd Rundgren signing my Foolish ukulele. He smiled real big and said, "Sweet!" And that's Liv Tyler/Rundgren/whatever's hand on his arm.

And here's Kasim Sulton wearing a "Four Strings Good" pin I made.

Life is good. binki 12:44 AM

I made the cut! As of next Ensemble practice I'm a full-fledged member. (I said member.) I'm told I have "chops," which is the last thing I expected because I was standing next to Herr Direktor last night at practice, and painfully conscious of every mistake I made. So I'm happy to hear the good outweighed the bad overall.

I am suddenly inspired to practice. I have to put the Foolish uke back together today; I clear coated it yesterday and I think I'm going to call it done. It will be interesting to what it sounds like with all that paint on it. I may have created Art instead, which is fine; it wasn't a great player in the first place. binki 10:56 AM

I wasn't going to post this one; it was my understanding that it would be sent off to England and vanish there. But that hasn't happened, so you're hearing it from me first:
binki 9:49 PM

In case there were any lingering questions about my mental condition, this is what I did yesterday.

slight explanation binki 2:06 PM

So now there will be less YouTubery, and yet there will be more YouTubery. It looks like the video from the show isn't going to be posted on the Ensemble site. but here is a little snippet of some of us goofing off between the official sets.
binki 11:24 PM

I've started popping up on YouTube. For the most part I have my cloak of invisibility on, but there are a couple frames of me out there.

For one, there's the Willie Nelson thing. I mentioned it before, it's this song he and his daughter wrote and they invited people to submit their versions of it. There's still only one uke band version up there, the Strum Bums version, but, if the hippies ever get around to updating the page, someday our version will be there too. I'm way in the back near the red-haired woman, perpetually eclipsed by a tall guy.

I posted before about the Ukulele Cabaret but now the clip is up at Midnight Ukulele Disco. Clearly nothing to write home about—so I blog—I went after practice (as a spectator, not a performer, hence the lack of costume) and when Andru Cann ordered everyone who had a uke to step onstage I complied. Incidentally, the guy dressed as a cardinal is the tall guy from the Peaceful Solution video.

Very soon there will be two or three more things on YouTube with my li'l face more prominently featured...I'll post the links here if I dare.

binki 8:27 AM