Friday, February 07, 2014

More Ukulele

I have been teaching myself to play skiffle songs on the uke; not good for the fingernails at all, but very loud and jolly. In a couple of weeks' time I'm off to Colin's studio in Darlington to record a skiffle album with John Cavener (double bass), Keith Shepherd (drums), Jim Hornsby on Dobro and Martin on rhythm guitar. I'll play uke and guitar and sing and arrange. It will be live so we'll all have to know our stuff backwards.
I've been wanting to become a better musician; I am learning scales on the guitar, very slowly. The boredom threshold is rather low, I'm afraid, as I've never needed these things to write songs.
Meanwhile, I've been tutoring some really interesting student projects: a website for undergraduate research work, and a songwriter who is grappling with lapsed Catholicism and learning how to use Garageband at the same time!
At another University, I have 50 students looking for work placements. That's a lot of CVs to look through.
And we are on strike. One University removes an entire day's pay if you strike for two hours. So of course, you see staff staying off for an entire day, instead of two hours. Where is the sense in that?
I have lost so much money that I probably won't be able to afford to travel to work soon.
Right, I'm off- someone's trying to hack into this computer! I've just had to log in again. See you in a bit.

No comments: