Lowbrow Art in the Farmhouse

On Saturday the 17th of September Annemarie Hooghuis & Howlin' Quin de Vreede are having an opening at their amazing farmhouse. They will be exhibiting their artwork and there will be music, beer, barnyard animals & wacky-ness. Speaking of wacky-ness, I too will be exhibiting some of my artwork there and will perform together with Marko as 'The Uke Box' in the afternoon.

I'm really looking forward to this. Quin & Annemarie are such great fun not to mention very talented, exciting artists. Oh, and they have kick-ass taste in music. Always swinging! So come on over and join us if you're close to Rotterdam. It's 'Guaranteed To Swoon' y'all!

Click on the image to ZOOM.

Once Upon A Time In The West

This is our version of 'Cheyenne'.

I forgot about this video. Or maybe i tried to block it out because i look like i got hit by a flower delivery truck. None the less, an obscure part of our show from the XS/XL Show during Museum Night 2010 at the Historic Museum Rotterdam. Oh, and that's René 'Polygoon' Verberne on the bass!

The Next Guided Tour Starts At...

Just finished painting this sign for the Vistors Center at the Kinderdijk. (Actually looks nicer in person. For some reason i just couldn't get the true colors to come through in the photograph.) I'm really getting into this sign painting. I do need some better brushes though and i WANT some '1Shot'. '1Shot' is the big-damn-sign-paintin' business. Expensive though and hard to find around these parts. Can't wait to try it out. Even the can is gorgeous and take a look at those colors. YUM.

One Little Raindrop

I heard this song last week on Radio Dismuke. It's so damn charming. Definitely want to put this great old tune in our repertoire.

Luckily, i found the sheet music which was included in the Vintage Ukulele Sheet Music DVD that i ordered from Ian Chadwick. I recommend this DVD to anyone who loves vintage tunes. The DVD contains more than 2000 files of sheet music available for just 10 bucks! I can't even imagine how many hours of scanning went into this. What a treat!

Anyway, since this has been the rainiest summer i can remember this song seems very appropriate.

The Elegance of a Hand Saw

"Duifje"
Small handsaw i picked up at the market for a couple of Euro's. Printed on the wooden handle, in a wonderful letter type i might add, is 'Duifje', meaning 'Little Dove', a common Dutch pet name for a sweetheart.


Photograph from a 1930's Musical Saw Instructional Booklet


Der Rote Sarafan
I've never heard two Singing Saws played in harmony. I wonder if Marko would like to learn to play the saw?


And lastly, visit Bad Axe Tool Works for some Vintage Hand Saw Goodness.

A Visit to the Paint-By-Number Salon

I have a collection of really awful/fantastic Paint-By-Number paintings, which you can see here. But my collection is nothing compared to this!...

Let's Limberjack

A LimberJack is also known as a Jig Doll, SlapJack, JiggerMan, LimberJim, LimberJill, Dancin' Dan, or Paddle Puppet, particularly common in the Appalachain region in the United States but probably originates in the 'Old World'.

I have seen these before and i loved how the dolls were built and the automation of the figure but quite honestly found it pretty damn irritating to listen to after a short while. You see, these dolls are actually a percussion instrument as the figure 'tap dances' with the help of a paddle. But today i saw this video of a gal named Trish. Now this is some good LimberJacking. Quite humorous as well...



I looked around a bit and found some pretty cool Limberjacks available online. Here's one in doggy form made (and played) by Miss Mary Lee. Her Limberjacks are available at Piper Grove

She also makes a frog Limberjack and a plain one which you could embellish yourself. There are also LimberJack Kits available at Prairie Wind Toys. Excellent gift to find in your shoe from St. Nicolas or in your stocking from Santa! A Limberjack would also be quite easy to make from scratch. Tip: The best Dancing Jacks have an articulated ankle. For more information about Dancing Dans and Limber Jims, visit Chris Brady's Jig Doll Page.

Home Made Pianos

In my last post i shared an article about how to make your own bottle piano, which i really want to make. By coincidence, my buddy Harm ('Goslink') posted a photograph online this morning of a piano he had made. Man, this is the coolest piano ever. Just look at it!...
By the way, speaking of 'the coolest ever', you have bought the Goslink CD already, haven't you?!!!
via Goslink

Un Piano a Bouteilles

Via Agence Eureka

Financial Matters (Or do they?) and Root Vegatables

In my last post i was telling about our financial disaster. About 6 days after that post, Marko received a letter saying he was owed some back taxes from 2009, which completely covered the disaster with a little to spare! But, A few days after that, we got another letter that took away that little bit to spare and then some. So, at the end of the day, i guess we are out of the disaster zone but are now back to being just plain broke.

And what have we learned from all of this crap? Don't waste your time FREAKING OUT. It comes and it goes. As long as there is love in the house, that is the only damn thing that matters, right? And LOVE is definitely in the house. Of course the trick, for me, is to remember this the next time i'm FREAKING OUT.

And now i will conclude with something completely different. Here is a little slide show of a lovely spring day we spent at the Rotterdam Zoo drilling holes in carrots. Roll 'em...