Season 432 - Solitude

Well obviously it was a mistake to mention bagpipes. Now I can’t stop thinking about them. I was working in my cubicle once as graphics person for an interactive company, listening to music with my headphones on, as I often did, and someone walked by and said, “Are you listening to bagpipes?” Indeed, I was and the music could be heard from my headphones. It’s a wonder I have my hearing still. Knock wood.
 
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Here is my song for season 432.

There once was a farmer who only fed his cows India ink.
The cows drank so much ink they Mooooooood Indigo.

 
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I shall be released

How appropriate that our host for a Season dedicated to the theme of 'Solitude' should be from Denmark :D
Kierkegaard said:
“On the whole, the longing for solitude is a sign that there still is spirit in a person and is the measure of what spirit there is.

[...] In antiquity as well as in the Middle Ages there was an awareness of this longing for solitude and a respect for what it means; whereas in the constant sociality of our day we shrink from solitude to the point (what a capital epigram!) that no use for it is known other than as a punishment for criminals.”

― Søren Kierkegaard, The Sickness Unto Death: A Christian Psychological Exposition for Upbuilding and Awakening
So just to be contrary to ghost of dear Søren, I've chosen a song about the hope & expectation of being released from solitude.



2nd appearance today for an Argapa (pron 'ary-appa', Swedish for 'Angry Monkey'). This one's a piccolo. Weighs 6oz (170g), and unbelievably loud: louder than it has any right to be. Made from cherry & alder, from trees cut down by the luthier himself, Sven Nyström, 20-odd years ago. D-tuning.
 
Hello, Mikel ... and thanks for the timely theme this week; we are still self-isolating and shall continue to do so, but, I suppose, as there are two of us, plus a dog, I can't really claim to be living in solitude. Since I seem to have misplaced my bagpipes, I decided to opt for the uke and this old Irving Berlin song. I put up the lyrics to fill in a gap on the screen, and was going to add the chords, but since I played it in G, but with the capo on the second fret, I thought that would just be plain confusing!

 
Do you know the main difference between the Scottish bagpipe and the Irish bagpipe?

With the Irish bagpipe you can drink a pint of Guinness whilst playing it.

Those Irish are just genius

My mate Jim plays the Uillean pipes. It is incredible you need a rhythm for the bellows, a rhythm for the bag, the rhythm of the song and you can play chords with the flat of your hand by karate chopping the regulators. On top of that he sings as he plays. I don't know how anyone can do all that at once.
 
Solitude needn't be a negative thing, of course. Here my protagonist is just enjoying his own company and swinging in his hammock.

This song was written at FAWM back in February. Our very own "Pabrizzer" is also a FAWMer and he did a lovely "noodle" that I just couldn't resist putting words to. So here is our collaboration. If I knew how to download youtube videos (of persons other than myself) I'd have set up a video of Brian playing and me singing. He plays this much better than I do. Next time, perhaps.

Hope you enjoy this little ditty:

i think you may have mixed up the vids berni
 
My mate Jim plays the Uillean pipes. It is incredible you need a rhythm for the bellows, a rhythm for the bag, the rhythm of the song and you can play chords with the flat of your hand by karate chopping the regulators. On top of that he sings as he plays. I don't know how anyone can do all that at once.

A full set of Uillean pipes looks like a plumbers nightmare.
 
Well obviously it was a mistake to mention bagpipes. Now I can’t stop thinking about them. I was working in my cubicle once as graphics person for an interactive company, listening to music with my headphones on, as I often did, and someone walked by and said, “Are you listening to bagpipes?” Indeed, I was and the music could be heard from my headphones. It’s a wonder I have my hearing still. Knock wood.

I LOVE this story, Jo!!!! YAY for bagpipes!!!! COOL!!!! Btw, I have background in graphic design, too! :cool:
 
Thanks, Mike, for hosting us this week on the SOTU — I love the theme — I have been working on my entry tonight!!!! Can’t wait to check out all of the other Seasonistas’ postings!!!

Just as a side bar/related note:

I don’t feel so lonely knowing that you are all here!!!! Hugs to you, SEASONISTAS!!!! :)
 
Several weeks ago I was looking out at the Ashokan reservoir, strumming my ukulele and wrote this song. It was a moment of solitude as we were just a few weeks into the quarantine. I put the song away and thought it’s really not very good. But I played it for some friends at a Zoom open mic, and it seemed well received enough. This week’s theme seems perfect for this song so I sang it today and put this video together. Not perfect but few things are.

 
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A full set of Uillean pipes looks like a plumbers nightmare.

The playing of the Bagpipe was banned in Scotland after the uprising of 1745. They were classified as an instrument of war by the loyalist government. They were kept alive in secret.
 
Any chance to play The Ink Spots is an excellent theme for a season in my opinion.



(would love to hear wee Rob have a go at this)
 
Can you imagine trying to practice the bagpipes in secret? ;)

When you start to learn the bagpipes they give you a small instrument called the chanter so you can practice the fingering of the tunes, and I suppose this is how they practised in secret
 
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