tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84100222009-02-23T06:14:36.899-08:00A small area of the net where Howlin' Hobbit feels free to comment, critique, question or just rant and rave about anything that strikes his fancy at the time.Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.comBlogger270125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-67338222882730657612008-01-07T12:10:00.000-08:002008-01-07T12:21:14.530-08:00

The last time I posted here was over a year ago. I thought that was it. The last post here at Blogger. I was moving to a Simple PHP Blog hosted on my own server and simply put a link back here in its sidebar (for those folks who just have to read everything, I guess) and that was supposed to be the end of it.Well... SPHPBlog has some issues and they weren't getting resolved. So, finally, I

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1161152028000206882006-10-17T23:06:00.000-07:002006-10-17T23:13:48.020-07:00

This is my last post in Don't Make Me Uke!I finally took the advice of several geek friends and decided to host my own blog. Though I've actually been hosting this one on my server, I still had to go through Blogger.com to post and to display the posts.What with the recent spate of hangs while trying to publish and the very long wait (still unfulfilled) for categories, I gave up.Despite my

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1160986549038208262006-10-16T01:15:00.000-07:002006-10-16T01:23:27.573-07:00

... of the emergency blogcast system.This is another test of an offline blogging tool for Linux.I had posted a test from a different one but I deleted it because it had no title on it. (Actually, I'd put the title in but apparently Blogger's API doesn't do well with that feature. It seemed to hose that up when I tried a "direct to blog" thing from YouTube a while back. I had to go in and edit the

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1160608799262051122006-10-13T01:57:00.000-07:002006-10-13T02:04:46.873-07:00

I think I've probably posted before about how much I like to see babies dancing away in their strollers (or the slightly older ones on their feet) as they listen to my music. Rob Hampton, in his blog A Guitar Teacher's Lesson Notebook, relates a great story on babies and rhythm.Rock on, babies!

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1160529467469998262006-10-10T17:48:00.001-07:002006-10-11T15:08:34.173-07:00

With a couple exceptions, everything on Ubuntu has "just worked." And the things that haven't just automatically worked I've gotten to work with a few questions in the proper forums.I plugged in a digital camera and it says "Hey! There's a digital camera. Wanna get the pics off it?"Well, yes... yes I do.I put a blank CD in and it asked how did I want to burn it, data or music?Popped in the little

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1160452021162693902006-10-09T20:34:00.000-07:002006-10-09T20:47:01.183-07:00

I'm not usually a big Garrison Keillor fan -- mind you, Prairie Home Companion can be fun... occasionally -- but today Clicked pointed towards this rant by him (in the "Pahrump Valley Times") that just knocked my socks off.He has some things to say about what's happening to things like habeus corpus that you (or at least, I) would not expect from him.You go, Garrison!

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1159950533885405382006-10-04T01:15:00.000-07:002006-10-04T01:28:53.906-07:00

So I finally bit the bullet and tried Ubuntu Linux on my laptop.It took me six hours to download. After a bit of trouble with the first CD burn, the second started right up. I played a bit with it and decided... wtf, I can re-install Win98 in a half hour or so. Let's try it.It installed easily and in my playing with it thus far I'm impressed.The most impressive part was when I decided to see if I

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1159909351025691512006-10-03T13:56:00.000-07:002006-10-03T14:02:31.073-07:00

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is holding a Bob Dylan Imitation Contest. Prize it two tickets to Dylan's upcoming appearance at the KeyArena.Check it out for a bit of humor. I'm not going to suggest who to vote for because I have two friends and a couple acquaintances in it and I'm not going to tell any of them who I voted for.

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1159854050464184082006-10-02T22:39:00.000-07:002006-10-02T22:41:56.353-07:00

Cuz, y'know, ya never can tell when this skill might come in handy.Don't say I never taught ya nothin' useful.(hat tip to Clicked.)

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1159752769438673632006-10-01T18:30:00.000-07:002006-10-01T18:32:49.443-07:00

My sweet Fallen Angel took the quiz and got...What kind of Sixties Person are you?You are a Mod. Yeah baby.Take this quiz!Quizilla |Join| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab CodeOh, behave!

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1159752310957807932006-10-01T18:19:00.000-07:002006-10-01T18:25:10.976-07:00

OK. You know I don't do these things very often, but this one's concept amused me so...What kind of Sixties Person are you?You are a Radical. Right on!Take this quiz!Quizilla |Join| Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab CodeRight on! Up the revolution!(The Ukulele Revolution, of course.)

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1159732958730253872006-10-01T12:18:00.000-07:002006-10-01T13:04:42.680-07:00

The topic of this post is one of those things that pops up in a lot of religions -- or call them belief systems if you will -- just worded a bit differently.I put out the "call to the universe" quite bluntly when I was looking for the trombone parts of the Humbone. But sometimes the subtler calls are noticed as well.The other day VintageFL posted this topic on the Ukulele Cosmos forums. It's all

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1159412268230496312006-09-27T19:00:00.002-07:002006-09-27T20:05:09.563-07:00

I woke up Monday morning and the Fallen Angel was hip-deep in the piecework sewing she does. I decided I'd go out and look for a stand for the Humbone.First I thought I'd look around at thrift stores and such but after careful consideration I decided I could very well be spending several weeks haunting the places -- with all the attendant burning of petrochemicals -- and not save very much

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1159378743507473252006-09-27T10:31:00.000-07:002006-09-27T10:39:03.526-07:00

Apparently there's no limit to what the political critters want to control. Your life is no longer your own. The Constitution is just a curious old document, only to be waved around during speeches, not actually paid any attention.Keep on voting them in and they'll pad all the corners so you don't bump your soft little noggin on anything, check your plate to make sure you eat your veggies and

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1159377936374297492006-09-27T10:14:00.000-07:002006-09-27T10:25:36.393-07:00

Yesterday golfing legend Byron Nelson passed on. He was 94."Lord Byron" set the standard for golf pros that few live up to today, both in golfing accomplishments and in gentlemanly behavior.In 1945 he set a record of 11 straight victories that today, 61 years later, still stands. He also set a record for lowest season average that stood until golfing phenomenon Tiger Woods burst onto the scene.

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1158976566721834762006-09-22T18:53:00.000-07:002006-09-22T18:56:06.743-07:00

Another terrific satirical piece from McSweeney's Internet Tendency, The Recording Industry Will Destroy You.Pretty much hits the ol' nail on the head.

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1158741154313647872006-09-20T01:09:00.000-07:002006-09-20T01:34:55.683-07:00

About a month ago I wrote about playing with Captain Swing and the Coney Island Corndogs. In that post I mention the Captain's cool kazoo rig. As soon as I saw it I was fascinated and once he blew a solo through it I quoted Will Smith from Independence Day... "I have got to get me one of these!"Well, thanks to the magic of the intarwebs, I got me one of those. I posted a request for a beater

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1158179952782007482006-09-13T13:28:00.000-07:002006-09-13T13:44:21.410-07:00

Yesterday was my day to sell my friend Tom's smart-ass t-shirts at Pike Place Market. Since I live a mere 1/2 mile away I was, as usual, walking.In the last block of my normal route is a branch of the Seattle Athletic Club, which has a clock visible from the sidewalk. I use this clock to see how much time I have left before morning roll call starts.It will tell me, for instance, whether I can

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1158175830242209342006-09-13T12:18:00.000-07:002006-09-13T13:22:59.320-07:00

I think that "personal bests" are better than breaking someone else's record.When you establish a new personal best you're not just saying, "Ha! I beat out ol' so-and-so," you're saying, "I, personally, have improved." Isn't that better?I went out both Sunday and Monday this week and did some busking. I have done way too little of that this summer. On both days I took the time to complete some

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1157993415923024802006-09-11T09:41:00.000-07:002006-09-11T09:50:16.026-07:00

Those who know me well will know that you can hardly describe me as a dove but maybe, while we're all watching retrospectives on the terror 5 years ago and listening to the partisan ranting from both ends of the spectrum on the subject, we can take a moment to think about the 100th anniversary of "satyagraha," the world’s first large-scale nonviolent resistance movement.I'm not advocating

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1157915790841250052006-09-10T12:09:00.000-07:002006-09-10T12:17:18.880-07:00

Blogger.com is busily rolling out its newly revised services. This is another one that reads like a "good news/bad news" joke.The good news? They're finally adding the ability to "tag" your posts so that people can come and only look at the topic(s) they're interested in.The bad news? All of this is currently in beta and not available to just anyone. You can switch to the new version, but your

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1157784524010913272006-09-08T23:41:00.000-07:002006-09-08T23:48:44.010-07:00

I'm having a difficult time believing this one. Does the GOP nominee for the State Superintendent of Education really think it's a good idea to schedule a dove shoot fundraiser for 9/11/06? Or is this some little "joke" from someone on the left?Anyone that can find further info on this, please leave a comment.(Hat tip to Clicked for pointing this out and Boing Boing for running it.)(P.S. This is

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1157783240099891432006-09-08T23:10:00.000-07:002006-09-08T23:31:34.456-07:00

I have just finished reading a marvelous book, The Land of Laughs, by Jonathan Carroll. It is a delightfully twisty little fantasy and I recommend it highly.Best of all, right there on page 75 of the Viking hardcover edition was this perfect description of the next door neighbors in my personal fantasyTM. The hero is describing one of the other main characters...Walking into the living room, I

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1157396249792605932006-09-04T11:51:00.000-07:002006-09-04T11:57:29.810-07:00

By now you've probably already heard that Steve Irwin, "The Crocodile Hunter", was killed by a sting ray while filming on the Australian reef.Mr. Irwin was a one of a kind person. Working class, seemingly simple yet possessed of a greater depth than many, including me, realized. He was very famous in his native Australia but was a superstar here in the US.While I don't want to underplay the

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8410022.post-1157251768618403082006-09-02T19:46:00.000-07:002006-09-02T19:49:28.636-07:00

The wonderfully mad folk at McSweeney's Internet Tendency have given us this jewel: A Letter To Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band From Sgt. Pepper.The miserable bastards.

Howlin' Hobbithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08995816053059542405noreply@blogger.com0