Hello from Western MA!

LuckyXIII

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I joined the site a few weeks ago but was waiting for my first ukulele to arrive before posting my intro thread. I live in western MA (Franklin County area near Greenfield).

I got an uke mostly on a whim. It was a good price and I always did like the sound of them. I figured that once I'm able to do something with it, I'll bring it by my dad's house. He plays around with guitar and has since I was little. So I thought we could play together, or at least have something to talk about. Maybe I'll get him interested and he'll buy one himself. He's retired now and has been complaining about being bored.

I have been watching lots of videos and have bookmarked lots of sites while waiting for my first uke to arrive. It arrived on Monday. Yesterday we had a big snow storm so I had the day off from work. I played around with my uke for most of the afternoon. I'm finally getting the hang of strumming. Now I'll move onto the next steps. I'm having fun so far!

2017-03-15_06-58-31 by Heather, on Flickr
 
Greenfield, MA, the epicenter of Tiny Tim lore. How so? Well, if you take that new uke up to Poet's Seat, and look down at the hospital while you strum it, you might see the ghost of Tiny Tim. He gave an interview at the Book Mill (dont you just love it there!) and then was performing at the Grange Hall in Montague, MA when he suffered his first heart attack. It was a doozy, and he was rushed to Greenfield hospital where he recovered for a long time (2 or more weeks). Finally released, he traveled to Minnesota where, two months later, he suffered a second heart attack, also while performing, and it took his life. He didn't make it to the hospital alive.

Welcome to UU! It's a great, fun, cheerful place.

PS This is audio of the very last interview Tiny Tim ever gave...it was between the Montague heart attack and not long before his fatal coronary in MN. It's the last known recording of Tiny (thank you, Howard). If you don't know who Tiny Tim is, this entire write-up will mean nothing to you, which is cool, too. I grew up in western MA, btw. My heart is still there.

https://youtu.be/_dL4-mBnrLQ
 
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Thank you for the welcome everyone!

coolkayaker1; thanks for the interesting story. :)
 
Welcome Lucky. I think your dad would love the opportunity to play along with you. I know I would with my kids.
 
@bikemech - I went and visited my dad on Saturday, brought my uke along. He pulled out some of his guitars and played a bit. Then he gave me one of them. So now I have that to learn how to play too. So many strings! XD

@JohnM2001 - I've already looked up the Fluke company. They are two hours or so from my house. I've been eyeing the Flea, so I figure if/when I go for my next uke, I'll take a drive out there and play with them in person :)
 
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