Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Fame But , Alas, No Fortune!

In case ya missed it, I was interviewed in the November 25, 2007 San Francisco Chronicle Magazine cover story on ukes. Pretty cool, huh? The article's aptly entitled, "The Return of the Jumping Fleas! Or how we learned to stop worrying and love the ukulele"

The salient part of the story is where it discusses the Berkeley Ukulele Club and I'm quoted (ok, ok!) :

"Another club member, Carol, 48, is evidence of the ukulele's ability to inspire addictively good feelings. Though she's been playing only a year, Carol is already a card-carrying uke fanatic. Literally. Her business card announces her as 'Uke Gal.' Her license plate reads: 'Huulaa.' And her explanation of the ukulele's charm is simple: 'It's social. You play the piano alone, but when you play the ukulele, everyone starts singing and laughing.' "

OK, so I'm totally screwed as my age has been publicly divulged. Not to mention that all those out on the road who witness my poor driving habits will now know who I am!! (Now I "get" those celebs who sue the tabloids for delving into their private lives!!) Just hope that my piano teacher won't be mad at me...

If you wanna read more, here's the link:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/25/CMEQT4UH0.DTL

OH! But there was fame AND fortune in this household earlier in the month...Rachel won the book fair art contest at her school. The theme was "Blizzard of Books." She got her winning entry published on a postcard that was sent out to the school (WOW!), as well as a gift certificate to use at the fair. You go, girl!!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

"Little Carol" Rocks Out

Who knew?? The other night I was looking through some old photo albums and turned this one up. Had no idea...guess I was mistaken when I said I started ukulele back in '06, but it was really back in '63.

My hubby, Dave, is quite the king of parodies: he can "pen" them in his head in two minutes flat while washing the dinner dishes, no exaggeration. (Move over Weird Al!) Most of his compositions tend to the political. However, I'm thinking of commissioning a piece to be entitled "Winter of '63," sung to the Bryan Adams tune of similar name. If it happens, stay tuned for its world premier here.

BTW, in case you were wondering, I was four years old in the photo. You can do the math...

Hazard any guesses as to what I was playing? I shudder to think it was "Wheels on the Bus" but do remember singing "Bill Bailey" when I was a kid. Certainly is a good Tin Pan Alley tune for the uke. Or maybe I was just a poser (at least for my parents camera) so early in my career!!