Making soup (and music) on a uke

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal
 - Feb 23, 2011

PHOTO: Pops Bayless teaches ukulele


George Harrison composed hit songs on it, Steve Allen made Lipton soup in it, and at one time it was the most popular instrument in the United States.

It is the ukulele, and apparently this diminutive cousin of the guitar is enjoying a resurgence in the Hill Country.

Recently Club Ed teamed up with Bob Miller’s Acoustic Music Camp to sponsor an all-day camp and concert featuring guitar, banjo, and ukulele. It surprised me that a dozen players of all ages showed up with their ukes.

Pops Bayless - actor, songwriter, pitchman, all around entertainer, and top ukulele instructor - recognizes and revels in the disrespect a large man gets from playing a small instrument.

Where did this new popularity for the uke spring from? “I honestly don’t know,” Bayless said.

He explained that the ukulele keeps coming back in popularity. He guesses this is the fourth big wave for the instrument. The first was in the 1920s, when it was linked with the exotic Hawaiian lifestyle. TV personality Arthur Godfrey brought it back in the 1950s. Godfrey literally sold a million of them made of plastic. That is the model comedian Steve Allen used to mix up a batch of Lipton instant soup on TV.

In the early 1990s, rock, progressive, and punk musicians discovered its sound. In 1993 Israel Kamakawiwo'ole released a popular radio version of Over The Rainbow using the uke.

Now, for some reason, it seems to be popular again.

“I think it’s something that comes on like malaria,” Bayless joked. “Now, any song that can be covered, is covered on the uke. They are even doing rock and roll covers.”

Besides having only four strings, the uke is different than a guitar in another fundamental way.

“What really sets it apart from other instruments is the high string on the back end.” This is called reentrant tuning, with a high G, then C, E, and A - the classic “my dog has fleas” mnenomic. That quirk allows good players to stretch the range, which Bayless demonstrated by playing a bit from Rhapsody in Blue.

Bayless - a founding member of the Asylum Street Spankers - started on mandolin and banjo, but switched to playing the uke “because someone had one.” When he formed his next band, it was all ukes, all the time.

“I got hooked on it,” the self-professed attention-seeker admitted. “I’m a musical performer. In drama you have to go eight weeks through this whole process before you get your ‘cookie.’ With the uke, you can go to an open mic and get your cookie just like that!”

Apparently there are others who share this affinity for the ukulele. The Stringalongs gather every Thursday afternoon at the Dietert Center for their ukulele fix.

Ron Sutton of Hill Country Music reports that the ukes are popular with all ages. “The older folks like them because of their memories of uke music when they were young, and they are drawing the interest of the younger crowd because of all the use of ukes in today's music,” Sutton said.

If nothing else, Bayless points out that the resonator model, with its aluminum cone, makes a handy weapon. “Yes,” he deadpanned, “the National will stop anything smaller than a Fender bass.”

XXX

Club Ed offers music classes on guitar, piano, voice, fiddle, washtub bass, and sometimes, the ukulele. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Dancing toward a new you

by Phil Houseal, as seen in the Kerrville TX Community Journal, Feb 16, 2011


A young man walked in at lunchtime and came up to the counter to register.

“I’d like to sign up for swing dance,” he announced. Then he added the kicker. “I’ve just lost 100 pounds.”

With an introduction like that I just had to know more.

“Leonard” was not a dancer, and admitted he still weighed close to 300 pounds. But he was motivated to make changes in his life, and that path now led him through Club Ed.

So what motivated a self-admitted non-athletic, overweight, unmotivated man to literally get off the couch and on to the dance floor?

His answer: a movie.

It was the 1999 Blast From The Past - about a young man who emerged from a bomb shelter after 35 years. In spite of his naivete, he knew how to ballroom dance, which impressed everyone.

“It sounds silly, but this guy thinks he is a total loser, then gets out on the dance floor and impresses everyone. I thought, I’d like to learn how to dance like that.”

Leonard’s battle with weight began when he was 8 years old. For the next 25 years he followed the path of adding pounds until he got up to 375. What started to reverse the trend was when his mother was hospitalized, and Leonard began eating microwave dinners.

“I wasn’t even trying that as a diet,” he explained. But he noticed he started losing a couple of pounds. That encouraged him to take other steps, figuratively and literally. He cut the salt, then the cola drinks. He started walking so many steps a day (10,000) that he broke several pedometers.

All these small successes led him to the dance course. Of course, it’s not just about learning new steps.

“When you are a weighty person, you are not as sociable as you’d like to be,” he said. People don’t treat you the same. People laugh at you. Life is tough. I thought this would improve my life.”

So how is it working?

I got a report from the dance instructor that Leonard is having a grand time. Turns out he is light on his feet, and as a result of his new skills he has become more confident and outgoing. Other students in the class love him. Not a bad return on a $59 investment.

Before I let Leonard out of my office, I had to ask him what he would say to others who are working to overcome stigmas. His answer was heartfelt.

“No matter how bad things seem in our life, no matter the situation, you can do it. You can do it. You can find the time. You can make it better. You can sit there and feel sorry for yourself, and grab some more ice cream. Put the spoon down! Look inside and find something to motivate you. If you can’t accomplish it, don’t feel bad that you stumble - rally and go back at it.”

Leonard knows it is hard to keep going. His goal is to get down to 200 pounds.

“Don’t give up.”

xxx

Club Ed offers a slate of dance classes including country-western, ballroom, tribal, swing, and more. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

A cure for stress

by Phil Houseal, Feb 9, 2011


What would you say if I told you Club Ed had a cure for stress?

It’s no secret more of us are stressed in this economic climate. So I went back to reread Dale Carnegie’s classic How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.

Those who have read Carnegie’s books know he is fond of using real life examples to illustrate his points. One such anecdotes was about a man who tragically lost not one, but two young daughters. The bereaved parent could not shake his anxiety and depression, until one day his remaining son asked him to build a boat.

At first the father was in no mood to start the project, but he relented and spent three hours working with his son. To his surprise, those three hours were the first time in months he was free of stress.

“I realized,” the father said, “that it is difficult to worry while you are busy doing something that requires planning and thinking.”

This man went on to build his therapy around doing home repair projects, volunteering, and taking adult education classes. The result? He no longer had time or energy to worry - not to mention the side benefits of fixing up his house, raising money for the Red Cross, and learning a foreign language!

Carnegie attributes this phenomenon to the simple fact that the human mind cannot contain two thoughts simultaneously. As an example, he challenges the reader to think of The Statue of Liberty while planning what they will do the next day. Can’t be done.

I recently had more cause than usual to be stressed. My usual reaction to stress is to curl up and stop doing anything. Normally my evenings and weekends are filled with lifelong learning activities - basketball, dance, writing, and playing instruments. At first I thought I would just drop all those activities. My logic was that by foregoing those unnecessary “distractions” I would be able to focus more of my energy on dealing with the stressful situation. But after reading Carnegie, I realized that was self-defeating behavior. Because when you are actively engaged in learning, your mind can’t think worrisome thoughts.

Prove this to yourself. Pick up an instrument and memorize a piece, or sing, or recite a poem out loud. You will forget your other troubles and finish with a refreshed outlook.

I wanted to share this because even if you are not facing some dire situation in your personal life, you owe it to yourself to keep learning and growing. It doesn’t have to be as ambitious as learning to speak Spanish, but it could be learning a new way to bake bread. It could be welding, or dancing, or playing dulcimer, or any of hundreds of other classes you can find right here.

The benefit of lifelong learning isn’t just about learning a new skill. You will also be meeting some pretty neat new folks who share your interest and passion about the subject. They might even have some insight into your stressful situation!

When you take your next Club Ed class, we can’t guarantee you will be free of stress. But we are pretty sure you will leave just a little bit more relaxed, and maybe a little smarter, too.

See you in class.

XXX

Club Ed offers 165 cures for stress. Spring classes are starting now! For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Since 1974, the Kerrville Independent School District has offered Community Education (Club Ed). Each year, Club Ed offers more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

Just write it

by Phil Houseal 2/2/11
As seen in the Kerrville Community Journal



If you have always yearned to write a book, this column will either inspire you or depress you.

Mary Lee Gowland - who will teach Creative Writing for Club Ed - had the very first book she ever wrote published when she was 19 years old.

That’s right. Age 19.

“In my teens I was primarily a poet, and my mother asked if she could read my poems,” she said. Gowland reluctantly agreed. “My mom said, wouldn’t it be fun to make a book!”

Her parents were both professional photographers [see Peter Gowland], so they took “romantic” photos of me to accompany her poems. The book was really popular, and stayed in print for 10 years.

That is the depressing or inspiring part - that this teenager had such easy, early success.

Gowland admits her case was unusual, and does not guarantee such instant success to students in her class. But you can pretty much guarantee no success if you don’t study the art and craft of writing.

After she had published her third book, Gowland started taking, then teaching poetry classes. She joined an academy, lead readings, and brought her poetry into schools. she is currently working with 4th-graders at Daniels Elementary school. This will be her first adult class in this area.

“I like teaching adults, but adults come with ‘I can’t do it’ syndrome. Kids just do it.”

Her advice boils down to that “just do it” mantra.

“Everybody says they want to write, but you have to sit down and do it.”

She will share tips and guidance on getting to that point. Her two top tips are 1) Talk, and 2) Read.

“Everybody can talk, but claim they can’t write. Writing is really just talking on paper. It’s really that simple.”

Reading is essential.

“A lot of people have no idea what good writing is. So if you want to write mysteries, read mysteries. If you want to write romances, read romances. Don’t imitate them; but learn from them.”

The whole point of a writing class is to help each student find his or her own voice. In order to do that, you must experiment with using other’s voices. Some of her lessons involve partially rewriting someone else’s poem, for example.

Other tips are to carry a notebook and take notes when you hear people use a distinct phrase or way of talking.

While Gowland is writing magazine articles for local magazines, her true love is creative writing. When giving guidance on how to do that, she loves to “throw out ideas and have people run with them.”

And rumors of the demise of reading and writing are not true.

“Reading is not dying, we just now have different ways of reading,” she said, noting she received an e-book reader for Christmas. “ I believe you should write stories for whomever you want to reach. There is an audience out there, so you share it with people who appreciate it. I get more satisfaction giving a reading for 10 to 12 people, than having sales of books to people you never see. Granted, you won’t make lot of money. But money should never be your motivation. How many artists make money?”

So you won’t get a guarantee to have a popular bestseller. But Gowland does promise this:

“I want to inspire people to tell stories they want to tell. This class will give you the techniques to help you do that.”

xxx

The new Creative Writing class meets for six Thursdays from 10:30 a.m. to noon beginning Feb 3. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.