Man Dances

___________

Previously: Man Plays Uke

Spelling Bee

My 5-year old asked me the other day how spell a word. "What word? I asked. He pounded his fist on the table.

We had fun thinking of other "words" that couldn't be spelled, like the sound of two hands clapping.

But without further ado, here's how to pronounce a volcano:

Adolf Hitler: Master Thespian

In a recent post I included a picture of Hitler to illustrate the understatement of the tagline "Man playing ukelele" in a YouTube video of a man, well, playing the ukelele. But really, really well.

In light of another two recent posts which feature a Hitler photo (satire) and swastika cheesecake, I thought it might be useful to explain the context. Just in case you thought LoS was going Nazi. Hey, we admire the snappy uniforms as much as the next guy, but we haven't gone down that road. Relax.

The unexplained photo of Hitler wagging his fists comes from a series of shots Hitler had taken of himself practicing his gestures and movements for his speeches. The images at the beginnng of this post are more of the same. They may all come from the same session; I'm not sure. Suit looks the same. I'm sure this will offend, but I can't help but chuckle at this picture. The man who has become a reflex symbol for ultimate evil comes across as Dr. Doom.


If you're anything like us, you'll find this studied and rehearsed nature of seemingly spontaneous displays of anger and emotion something worth pondering. Outpourings of emotion are not always what they appear.

OK, Gid, I'll bite: Ukelele Madness Part 2

The YouTube tagline is: "Man playing the ukelele." Kind of like describing a Hitler in action as "Man giving a speech." (Not really)

Jake 'n' Tim

Hot *d@mn* we're excited for TED 2010!

Jake "uke-god" Shimabukaro's talk has been getting a lot of buzz (at least in my tiny internet world). Here's some snippets of an interview with Jake by Mark Frauenfelder at the conference:



If you liked this, you should listen to Jake play Let's Dance.

Of course for most of us non-Hawaiians (what would Obama think?), Tiny Tim's the man who comes to mind when you speak of the uke. I was fortunate enough to see Tim's 2nd to last performance at a private party at work.

While Tiny Tim may not have possessed Jake's virtuoso fingers, his dada-esque in-your-face-ness is admirable--and it's clear that Tim and Jake shared a certain zest for life:



God bless us, every one!