Whistling News and July 4th Music Jam

Hi again,

I installed a SKYPE phone on my computer recently, and have had some interesting phone and online typed conversations with members of my whistling community. Several times three of us have had a 3-way conversation. Other whistlers, including some from India, have given me their SKYPE info. As soon as we can find a time compatible with most of our time zones, we will try to do some group whistling in SKYPE.

My SKYPE whistling friend in Japan advised me today about getting some sound clips added to my http://www.handmelodies.com/ Website, which I will try to have ready for people to hear soon.

July 4th found me and my household and some friends at a neighborhood block party held in a blocked-off three-way intersection. We hauled over our potluck food, lawn furniture, and music instruments. Our family band had a fiddle, guitar, ukulele, my assorted recorders and tin whistles, and, of course, my hands. Mostly I just used the uke and my hands, and we warmed up with "I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy," and if the pitch was too low, I just switched from my cupped hands to the uke. Good news about the uke. Arthritis has limited my uke-playing in recent years, but on July 4, 2009, most of the arthritis in my hands vanished while we were making music. I had such a good time and now feel encouraged to do more with the ukulele.

Time to quit now and see if I can figure out how to get set up to put a few ads on here.