my ukulele progress

[ripock]

you nailed the chords. I don't usually play chords with open strings because I don't like how they ring and you cannot really control them. However I found myself on the A# on the 6th fret and then I just happened to play down to the 3rd fret and figured what the hell. I may as well play some chords while I'm down here. How do you like that minor add9? It is a very fussy chord. Depending on how you attack the strum, it can either can a little odd but sweet or it can sound off

 

[Patty]

... I had had an infection and I was not feeling too spry but was just sleeping more and life was uninterrupted except for blowing my nose a lot. However my wife went to the pharmacist and got covid tests. She has covid which means I have it as well. When it was a cold/flu I was okay with just working with it, but now that I have covid I am taking a day off work.

Take the Covid seriously, and take good care of yourselves.

 

[ripock]

we will. For me it is just some stuffy nose. my wife's a little worse off. I just walked up the hill to our pharmacy and got her Plaxcovid or whatever it is called. I was slightly winded because the hills are so steep but otherwise fine. For me a bad day with covid is still better than a good day at work. We're vaxxed and boosted. I wonder how bad it would have been without us doing the minimum and getting our shots.

update: I just came from outside having a pipe to clear my nose. I checked on my wife and she is zonked out on her recliner which is a good sign because she is very sensitive and she hasn't been sleeping well because of the clogged nose. So I'll be returning to work and everything appears to be fine. I'll keep my eye peeled because a young coworker on my team died from Covid last year.

 

[Voran]

Oopsies. Sorry about the COVID. Feel better soon.

 

[ripock]

I haven't written in a while, not because of my brush with covid, but because I was administering final exams for my classes.

Both my wife and I are fine although by different mechanisms. Her father is a neurosurgeon/psychiatrist so that she is more allopathic. My wife went on a drug regimen whereas I went to bed at 9 pm and added a tablespoon of horseradish to meals if I wanted my sinuses cleared. I am pretty much cleared. I went to my fortnightly visits to my pub but my wife insisted on taking a test beforehand as it would be recklessly selfish to infect unknowing people. My test was absolutely negative and I went out and had a few whiskies and read some poetry.

So enough of all that. I don't have any food news because my wife has this strange idea as if her grandmother had made her menu. She is just eating chicken soup and soda crackers. As you may imagine, I am quite nettled about my brow for I do not suffer processed grains lightly. Having crackers in the house is rather vexing, but I am being as supportive as I can be although I know I can beat whatever metric chicken soup can offer as justification.

So let's not talk about it. I'll get my wife back on solid, whole food soon.

I have been appreciating how my ears have changed lately. I was just playing a 2-5-1 progression and completely digging it. Usually I eschew the easy path. Usually the 3 chords are close neighbors and you only need to move a few fingers to transition. In the past, I thought the chords were too similar--almost monotonous--and I would often move along the fretboard to get more variation in sound.

However, I have been very happy grooving on a 2-5-1 where the progression is subtle. So I have been playing the progression and over it playing a combination of modes from the harmonic minor and the melodic minor.

The difference between the harmonic and the melodic minor is just one note. It is just the c versus the c#. No big deal, right? On a theoretical level that is true but on a practical level there is more going on. I have found that there are vast implications. Switching that one note made me rethink my scale shapes on account of mapping out the more efficient patterns. The result is that the two variations on the minor scale produced different shapes and those shapes suggest different melodies based on which notes cohabitate the same strings. So altering one note made a big difference for me.

 

[Down Up Dick]

I haven't written in a while, not because of my brush with covid, but because I was administering final exams for my classes.

Both my wife and I are fine although by different mechanisms. Her father is a neurosurgeon/psychiatrist so that she is more allopathic. My wife went on a drug regimen whereas I went to bed at 9 pm and added a tablespoon of horseradish to meals if I wanted my sinuses cleared. I am pretty much cleared. I went to my fortnightly visits to my pub but my wife insisted on taking a test beforehand as it would be recklessly selfish to infect unknowing people. My test was absolutely negative and I went out and had a few whiskies and read some poetry.

So enough of all that. I don't have any food news because my wife has this strange idea as if her grandmother had made her menu. She is just eating chicken soup and soda crackers. As you may imagine, I am quite nettled about my brow for I do not suffer processed grains lightly. Having crackers in the house is rather vexing, but I am being as supportive as I can be although I know I can beat whatever metric chicken soup can offer as justification.

So let's not talk about it. I'll get my wife back on solid, whole food soon.

I have been appreciating how my ears have changed lately. I was just playing a 2-5-1 progression and completely digging it. Usually I eschew the easy path. Usually the 3 chords are close neighbors and you only need to move a few fingers to transition. In the past, I thought the chords were too similar--almost monotonous--and I would often move along the fretboard to get more variation in sound.

However, I have been very happy grooving on a 2-5-1 where the progression is subtle. So I have been playing the progression and over it playing a combination of modes from the harmonic minor and the melodic minor.

The difference between the harmonic and the melodic minor is just one note. It is just the c versus the c#. No big deal, right? On a theoretical level that is true but on a practical level there is more going on. I have found that there are vast implications. Switching that one note made me rethink my scale shapes on account of mapping out the more efficient patterns. The result is that the two variations on the minor scale produced different shapes and those shapes suggest different melodies based on which notes cohabitate the same strings. So altering one note made a big difference for me.

Glad to hear that you’re done with the Covid and that your wife is on the mend. I enjoy your cookin’ stuff. It’s strange (to me) but interesting. All the chord stuff is over my head. I’m still a wind instrumentalist at heart.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

I haven't written in a while, not because of my brush with covid, but because I was administering final exams for my classes.

Both my wife and I are fine although by different mechanisms. Her father is a neurosurgeon/psychiatrist so that she is more allopathic. My wife went on a drug regimen whereas I went to bed at 9 pm and added a tablespoon of horseradish to meals if I wanted my sinuses cleared. I am pretty much cleared. I went to my fortnightly visits to my pub but my wife insisted on taking a test beforehand as it would be recklessly selfish to infect unknowing people. My test was absolutely negative and I went out and had a few whiskies and read some poetry.

So enough of all that. I don't have any food news because my wife has this strange idea as if her grandmother had made her menu. She is just eating chicken soup and soda crackers. As you may imagine, I am quite nettled about my brow for I do not suffer processed grains lightly. Having crackers in the house is rather vexing, but I am being as supportive as I can be although I know I can beat whatever metric chicken soup can offer as justification.

So let's not talk about it. I'll get my wife back on solid, whole food soon.

I have been appreciating how my ears have changed lately. I was just playing a 2-5-1 progression and completely digging it. Usually I eschew the easy path. Usually the 3 chords are close neighbors and you only need to move a few fingers to transition. In the past, I thought the chords were too similar--almost monotonous--and I would often move along the fretboard to get more variation in sound.

However, I have been very happy grooving on a 2-5-1 where the progression is subtle. So I have been playing the progression and over it playing a combination of modes from the harmonic minor and the melodic minor.

The difference between the harmonic and the melodic minor is just one note. It is just the c versus the c#. No big deal, right? On a theoretical level that is true but on a practical level there is more going on. I have found that there are vast implications. Switching that one note made me rethink my scale shapes on account of mapping out the more efficient patterns. The result is that the two variations on the minor scale produced different shapes and those shapes suggest different melodies based on which notes cohabitate the same strings. So altering one note made a big difference for me.

Happy to hear that you’ve both prevailed over COVID (auto-correct is to blame for the capitalization). I personally find it impossible to stomach chicken soup without soda crackers, and can’t do chili sans cornbread muffins.

 

[Tin Ear]

I too am glad you and the Mrs. are alright after contracting covid.

Looking forward to when you resume cooking reports. I am fascinated in particular with your continued examination of caramelizing onions and your skill at doing that. I am sure I would cremate them or turn them into a sloppy mess if I attempted to do something that fancy.

 

[Patty]

Happy to hear that you’ve both prevailed over COVID (auto-correct is to blame for the capitalization). I personally find it impossible to stomach chicken soup without soda crackers, and can’t do chili sans cornbread muffins.

Yup on the chili w/ cornbread. And after a few days, when the cornbread gets a little dry, you can drop chunks of it right into the leftover chili. Yum! Cornbread dumplings!

 

[Down Up Dick]

Yeah, I had some good ol’ Chili and corn bread muffins two days ago and today again for lunch. Always good, but especially on a chilly day.

 

[ripock]

I haven't thought about chili in a long time. I suppose it is because blanching tomatoes is a drag. And although New Mexico is the chili capital of the world, chili is rarely seen except in restaurants that boast a more Americana menu. Around here what is more common is posole (a hominy soup) or pork stew (braised pork with green chilis in stock). The last time I made chili was about five years ago when I made a Sweetheart chili for Valentine's day. I used beef hearts and pineapple as the center of the flavor to attain my theme. And if we're talking chili, of course we need to address the most controversial topic: does chili include beans or not. I am decidedly pro-bean but I know others say that chili doesn't have beans. My argument is naturally word-based. You have the term chili con carne. That implies that meat is something you add to chili and that chili in its natural state is chili sin que carne. So for me, chili is a bean recipe whereas other people think of it as a meat dish.

 

[Oldscruggsfan]

I haven't thought about chili in a long time. I suppose it is because blanching tomatoes is a drag. And although New Mexico is the chili capital of the world, chili is rarely seen except in restaurants that boast a more Americana menu. Around here what is more common is posole (a hominy soup) or pork stew (braised pork with green chilis in stock). The last time I made chili was about five years ago when I made a Sweetheart chili for Valentine's day. I used beef hearts and pineapple as the center of the flavor to attain my theme. And if we're talking chili, of course we need to address the most controversial topic: does chili include beans or not. I am decidedly pro-bean but I know others say that chili doesn't have beans. My argument is naturally word-based. You have the term chili con carne. That implies that meat is something you add to chili and that chili in its natural state is chili sin que carne. So for me, chili is a bean recipe whereas other people think of it as a meat dish.

Chili must have dark red kidney beans, and I agree with your linguistic basis. I’m also not opposed to adding black beans and tend to do so. I also add red and green bell peppers which is generally frowned upon in this area.

 

[ripock]

Do older people call bell peppers "mangos" in your neck of the wood? When I was in Indiana people in the country consistently called them mangos.

 

[Patty]

I haven't thought about chili in a long time. I suppose it is because blanching tomatoes is a drag. And although New Mexico is the chili capital of the world, chili is rarely seen except in restaurants that boast a more Americana menu. Around here what is more common is posole (a hominy soup) or pork stew (braised pork with green chilis in stock). The last time I made chili was about five years ago when I made a Sweetheart chili for Valentine's day. I used beef hearts and pineapple as the center of the flavor to attain my theme. And if we're talking chili, of course we need to address the most controversial topic: does chili include beans or not. I am decidedly pro-bean but I know others say that chili doesn't have beans. My argument is naturally word-based. You have the term chili con carne. That implies that meat is something you add to chili and that chili in its natural state is chili sin que carne. So for me, chili is a bean recipe whereas other people think of it as a meat dish.

For me, the whole point of the chili is all those lovely beans. Canned
dark red and light red kidney beans, along with the beany juice from the cans. Add tomatoes & meat & spices. Pan of cornbread on the side.

 

[ripock]

I tend to stay away from cans and I guess that's why chili isn't high in my meal rotation. For me chili involves pressure cooking some beans. Kidney beans are my least favorite bean but I'll use them for chili out of tradition although I would much prefer any other bean. Then I blanch a bunch of tomatoes and squish them. Then I add some stock and spices such as garlic, cumin, pulverized pequin chilis, etc. I didn't realize cornbread was such an integral part of the meal. I may have had some cornbread at a restaurant but if I augment chili at all it is usually by putting a layer of hashbrowns beneath the chili. Of course I add meat when required/requested. I usually use some ground lamb or a finely cut porterhouse steak.

 

[ploverwing]

I tend to stay away from cans and I guess that's why chili isn't high in my meal rotation. For me chili involves pressure cooking some beans. Kidney beans are my least favorite bean but I'll use them for chili out of tradition although I would much prefer any other bean. Then I blanch a bunch of tomatoes and squish them. Then I add some stock and spices such as garlic, cumin, pulverized pequin chilis, etc. I didn't realize cornbread was such an integral part of the meal. I may have had some cornbread at a restaurant but if I augment chili at all it is usually by putting a layer of hashbrowns beneath the chili. Of course I add meat when required/requested. I usually use some ground lamb or a finely cut porterhouse steak.

Honestly, I use the beans I have on hand. We grow a lot of dried beans varieties, so just throw a blend into whatever bean thing I'm making. I know red kidneys are essential, but I can't grow them successfully. I do thing chili is a beam dish, with or without meat.

 

[Tin Ear]

Beans in chili is not a stretch at all. Now adding noodles thats were people get testy. Met a guy from Texas once, he got all kinds of bent out of shape about noodles.

Put what you like in Chili - it's your dish. We have a soup contest each year at work. It started off as a Chili cook off. I was the inaugural winner. I put everything I had left over from my refrigerator that I think would be inbounds for chili, including a partial jug of salsa and various other things. Also threw in a secret ingredient - a couple large cans of Hormel Chili - LOL. I didn't do noodles though. My wife makes it with macaroni noodles in it and I don't mind.

At our house the cornbread is reserved for split pea soup.

 

[ripock]

If we could only get our charter adopted and endorsed by the LGBTQIA+ crowd, we'd have the best combined acronym with our parent organization: LGBTQIA+RFLEFFAOUCBB

 

[ripock]

I made supper with a lot more ingredients than usual:
1. trout with garlic powder, red onions, seasoning salt, and olive oil. The interesting thing I did was I took my already finely cut onions and I kept cutting and cutting them until they started changing from solid to liquid.

2. Millet pressure cooked in stock with a pinch of what I suppose amounts to taco seasoning. At least that's how I imagine it. I haven't had a taco since I was a child. After the millet was cooked I put in a liberal amount of basil, tahini, black strap molasses, and tumeric salt.

3. Hot salad: slightly boiled red swiss chard mixed in a bowl with coconut oil and butter (I ran out of coconut oil), lime juice, Colman's mustard flour, and black salt. I needed to use mustard flour because the mustard I recently made was too young and it is bitter until it ages for a day or so.

For music I became obsessed with the m9 chord. The shapes are just Δ7 chords with the root in a different place. However the m9 rooted on the C string is quite a doozy. 4634 is the shape in question. I never ever use the corresponding Δ7 shape because it is impossible. I believe James Hill called it the most difficult shape and I believe it. But I will practice it.

 

[ripock]

Whew, that C-rooted m9 is still eluding me. I can play other versions. For example I can the A-rooted m9 and play it in rhythm and at a rather quick tempo, but if I play the same progression the with C root, I takes me about 2 or 3 extra beats just to form it. And I haven't to form it in a certain sequence starting from the pinky and working up to the index. I cannot reverse the sequence--let alone put all the fingers down simultaneously like you're supposed to. I am practicing on my cigar box which has a guitar neck. Maybe if I use a legitimate uke like my kamaka it will be easier.