SILENT FILMS || Niles, Fremont, CA

I was born in Newark, California. Thats about 30 minutes away from San Francisco, across the bay bridge and southeast. My parents divorced when I was so young I couldn't remember it. Early on my father rented a room in an old hotel where Charley Chaplin used to stay when Niles was the "Hollywood" of the silent film era.
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Now there's a small theater at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. The have many silent movies sheduled to be shown there, see the links below...
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http://nilesfilmmuseum.org/
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http://nilesfilmmuseum.org/movies.htm
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My wife, Wendy, is going to have a booth at the Niles 46th Annual Antique Fair and Flea Market, on August 29, 2010 from 6:00am to 4:00pm. She's going to sell her ceramic works.

WENDY's CERAMIC ART

My wife, Wendy, and I are at a Country Folk Art Show in Pleasanton this weekend (20NOV09 thru 22NOV09). She makes Ceramic art all year long and especially likes Halloween and Christmas decorations. She has many items that have lighting inside that give a warm glow and decorate a home with a festive spirit. I am the salesman, accountant and assistant.

Wendy has been experimenting with all sorts of glazes on her Yard Art selection. Recently, she's done several sparkley dragonflies, green man masks, moons & mushrooms.

Here's two small winter scenes.


Check out that glazed frog!



Christmas -- Santa, Penguins, Snowmen, Pumpkins and Gourds
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So what's this got to do with music or ukuleles. Nothin', but I came across another blogger, named Ian, working at a booth across from Wendy's. He saw me drumming on the table. He has a blog called someting like "The World's Greatest Drummer". So it was interesting for TheWorldsGreatestDrummer the HumbleUker to meet. Ah, music -- it brings us together in so many ways.

Wendy's Ukulele Talents (Wife of HU)

Harmony Front (The bee would buzz!)

Wendy did a paint job on the back of an old Harmony ukulele a couple of years ago. She casts, cleans, paints and fires ceramics as nearly a full time job. She had painted some gourd shapes with this flower and I asked her to paint one on this uke too. It really stood out on the black background. Does anybody out there know the person that has this uke now? I sold it on eBay quite a while ago.

Moon River (My Huckleberry Friend)

Here's a photo of me with my busy little bumblebee, Wendy. We've been married for over 28 years now. We love to watch British Mysteries and old 'Merican movies together. We go through phases. Recently Doris Day movies (in particular The Glass Bottom Boat with Arthur Godfrey), Fred Astair and Ginger Rogers, Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, Humphrey Bogart, Hitchcock movies, John Wayne (Hitari), Jimmy Stewart, etc... Love em'.

Breakfast at Tiffany's struck me as an odd movie, but I think it's time to watch it again. I want to see her playing the guitar and driving George Peppard nutty. Moon River is a sweet nostalgic song. Love AH in Roman Holiday, Wait Until Dark and...

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P E R F E C T I O N

Jeff & Wendy West (Puerta Vallarta 2004)

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Sometimes when you attempt something new you get insight into yourself. The addage that those who don't learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them surely rings true for me. Sometimes, I have my struggles with the desire for perfection mixed with procrastination, a desire to collect, and a short attention span. Now when it comes to music and in particular strumming and fingerpicking the ukulele I deal with these issues and my impatience with mediocrity. I know that I have learned quite a bit.

Muscle memory is something that is really amazing. Beginners need to now that the repetition of playing chords early and often may leave with tender fingertips for a while but soon your hands react to those known chord symbols fairly effortlessly. The Bb and E chord shapes come with time.

As a runner, I felt the runner's high. As a ukulele player learning new finger-picking tab arrangements I am considering it a meditation. In my meditations my mind easily takes off from the object of my focus and the trick is to gently say, oops! the goes that monkey leaping off again. Let's real it in and get back on task. So in my ukey-meditation I memorize a bar and play it until comfortable (atleast 3x's successfully) and then the next, etc. Once I have the fingerings memorized I then play the song with a focused-gentle attention. When the mind wanders, I bring it back and start again.

I have found that I need a lot of practice on a single piece of music. I am constantly counting and trying to understand the language of musical notation. I must slow way down when there are dotted note and quick notes. Music has many nuances and like any other language it takes time to feel comfortable.

I was comforted the other day when I handed a piece of music to our club guru. He studied the music. He didn't attempt to play it immediately. Then he worked through a bar at a time. Quite slowly, I was impressed. The aha moment. One doesn't just take off running with a piece of complex music. It takes time, study, noodling with the instrument.

Oh, why did I label this post perfection? I left it blank for sometime because I don't think in exists! I try too hard to sound like an expert but my hands don't have those years of training, nor do my ears, or voice. My little brain cells need to do some more bonding with the appropriate ganglei.