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Sunday, January 9th, 2005
Jammed with Bob today while a sick Janis moaned in the next room. My fiddle is still in the shop but I was playing Bob's violin on a lot of songs, and switching off with him between violin and guitar, a lot of fun -- I'm definitely picking it back up very quickly, I was getting how to do double-stops and open string drones, even very haltingly up in second position on the E string. This is going to be a great thing. I ordered Alan Kaufman's Beginning Old-Time Fiddle from ALibris for book-learning, and John Salyers' "Home Recordings 1941-42" from The Appalachian Center, for ear training.
posted evening of January 9th, 2005: Respond
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Friday, January 7th, 2005
John finished repairing the bows and I picked them up from him at lunchtime. Very nice -- but unfortunately the man he works for, Yung Chin, took one look at the crack in the violin's body and said I should not be playing it -- that tension from being in tune will destroy the instrument. So... I gave a call to Richard Gagliardi to find out how much it would cost to fix such a crack. His low-end estimate was $2000, which is not going to happen. A bit dejected, I surfed over to E-Bay to find out how much entry-level violins are running -- turns out they are quite cheap. So, I bought a new instrument for $51. This should keep me happy for a while.
posted afternoon of January 7th, 2005: Respond
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Wednesday, January 5th, 2005
I am taking up the violin again, after about 20 years of not playing at all. I had been thinking about it for a while; while we were in California at Thanksgiving I asked my mother how much she thought a lower-end playable violin would cost. Turns out, free! Mom replied that my sister Blythe had my grandfather's violin (the one I played as a kid) but was not playing it; and Blythe agreed to pass it on to me. A few months gone by, and now I have it! (Miriam brought it with her when she came back from visiting the family for Christmas.) The bows need new hair -- I am giving them tonight to John Aniano (friend from CJWA and from the Woodcentral message boards) to be repaired. But even in the current state, I played it some last night and the tone was very nice indeed -- and my fingers seem to remember their positions pretty well, 20 years later. (By a funny coincidence, Bob got loaned a violin a few weeks ago and he is trying to learn to play too. This should open up some nice new territory for jamming.)
posted afternoon of January 5th, 2005: 1 response
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Saturday, December 25th, 2004
Sylvia has gotten interested in singing along, it seems to me like all of a sudden though probably in reality, it is something that has happened gradually. Some stuff she is singing lately -- "I've been lighting all the candles" (scroll down), a Hanukkah ditty sung to the tune of "I've been working on the railroad" which she learned at school; "Little Birdie" and "Weary day", both learned from a folk music CD that we play in the car a lot; "Happy Birthday", she sings a lot regardless of whether there is a party currently in progress. While she was taking a bath this morning with Ellen, I heard her singing "Jackamo fee-no ai nané, Jackamo fee nané" -- the chorus of "Iko Iko", which I've been playing a lot on guitar since I got interested in it recently.
posted evening of December 25th, 2004: Respond
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Wednesday, October 27th, 2004
I started writing a song tonight (well technically last night I guess, the chord progression occurred to me last night and Ellen had an idea for some words tonight, which I fleshed out to a verse): A E7 F A
What do you know, what do you care
A E7 F A
What do you know, what do you care
D D7 E F
Last time I called you you were talkin bout your father
E F D D7
And you wouldn't answer straight when I asked about the water
A
Flowin' by. Needs more words and perhaps more sensible words but the rhythm of it is very nice. Update: 2nd Verse What do you know, what do you care
What do you know, what do you care
Last time I saw you you were thinkin bout tomorrow
And you wouldn't even listen when I asked about the sorrow
In your eye. Update: Here is a bridge, and something like a 3rd Verse Bridge:
D D7 C C9 F E A
What do you know, what do you care
What do you know, what do you care
I'm always askin you how come you can't forgive her
But you won't tell me nothin, always starin at the river
Flowin by.
posted evening of October 27th, 2004: Respond
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Monday, October 11th, 2004
We ate the rest of the pumpkin pie at the guitar jam yesterday, everyone liked it, especially Bob. I mentioned The Plot Against America to Janis, who grew up in Newark; turns out she grew up in the Weequahic section, and her mother was in high school with Philip Roth! (And to answer a question that I had while reading the book, it's pronounced "WEEK-wa'ək".)
posted morning of October 11th, 2004: Respond
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Tuesday, September 14th, 2004
I found an article describing the historical record of the murder of Hattie Carroll, as well as some further legal trouble Billy Zantzinger found himself in in 1991: The True Story of William Zantzinger -- you will need to scroll down to the middle of the page. The site is in Italian but the story is in English. NPR had a show about Zantzinger in 1991: All Things Considered, November 17 1991, first hour of program, reporter Alex Chadwick: "Zantzinger Exploited Blacks on Property". I am going to buy a transcript of the program and will post it here if it is legal to do so.
 An article from Mother Jones about Zantzinger's life. A transcript of the NPR show. Update from January 2009: Zantzinger has died. The Baltimore Sun's obituary has his life story, and some quotes from a number of people involved in the trial. Plus a photo of Zantzinger being led away from the hotel by Baltimore police. The Washington Post obituary has another photo, captionless but I think it is from '91. Reactions from Bryan Waterman and from Peter Eisenstadt.
posted morning of September 14th, 2004: 2 responses
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Tuesday, July 6th, 2004
I watched a half hour or so of Shanghai Love Motel's set at Luna Lounge this evening, and was sorely disappointed to have to leave so soon. They make beautiful music -- combine straight-ahead rock and roll with abstract, cerebral lyrics in a way that reminds me of my two perhaps favorite artists, Dylan and Robyn Hitchcock. (The Dylan influence is clear and goes almost without saying, and they played a dynamite cover of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" when testing the sound system before the show; the Hitchcock influence I'm pretty sure about but am waiting on confirmation or at least non-denial from Bill Millard, the band's bass player, before I assert it. But still I can say their music reminds me of R.H. without being roped into having made a statement about their influences, right?*) Anyway -- I can't say too much more about the music because I only heard 5 songs -- but by all means go listen to their next show if you're in town. I will post about it before it happens.
*Bill responds that yes, he thinks they do have a bit of influence from Hitchcock.
posted evening of July 6th, 2004: Respond
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Friday, June 25th, 2004
Here is a song I think Bob and I could play really well, with Janis on bass and backing vocals -- Take a Walk on the Wild Side. Update: I talked to Bob on the phone this evening and he was pretty enthusiastic about the idea too.
posted afternoon of June 25th, 2004: Respond
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Thursday, June 10th, 2004
Here is a new (to me) lyrics/chords site that I think will prove very useful: P.J.'s Guitar Chords Tabs and Song Lyrics Site -- I think his chords for The Night They Tore Old Dixie Down are spot on and he has lots of other interesting stuff too. And speaking of such things: RUKind.com looks promising too.
posted afternoon of June 10th, 2004: 2 responses
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