Originally published at Scott Edelman. Please leave any comments there.

I’m home from Worldcon … technically. Both my brain and body are still on London time, which means I’m tired when I should be awake and unable to sleep when I should be tired. But in this brief moment of lucidity, before I launch into a full Loncon3 report-as well as recaps of ( Read more... )

Originally published at Scott Edelman. Please leave any comments there.

I wasn’t able to make it to the June George Formby Society convention in Blackpool. I suspect you weren’t able to be there either. (Well, most of you, anyway.) Luckily, David Brindley was there to film the two-day event, and he’s since cut together a couple of hours of ( Read more... )

Originally published at Scott Edelman. Please leave any comments there.

Whenever I tell people that one of the most joyful parts of the George Formby Society convention I attended two weeks ago was the Thrash, they ask me to explain-what the heck’s a Thrash? And though I tell them it’s that part of a concert during which everyone who wants to is ( Read more... )

Originally published at Scott Edelman. Please leave any comments there.

I was in Blackpool last weekend for the George Formby Society convention, where I met in the flesh friends who’d previously only been virtual, saw some amazing uke players, got a tutorial in Formby-style strumming, and even had a chance to get up and bumble my way through a song ( Read more... )

Originally published at Scott Edelman. Please leave any comments there.

Yesterday, I shared my ragged performance of “When I’m Cleaning Windows” at the George Formby Society convention in Blackpool, and promised that as a reward for enduring it, you’d get to see how the banjo uke is really meant to be played. And so here are eight performers I ( Read more... )

Originally published at Scott Edelman. Please leave any comments there.

I returned late Monday afternoon from a magical weekend at the Imperial Hotel in Blackpool, where I attended one of the George Formby Society’s quarterly conventions. I met in the flesh many friends I’d already made through Facebook and Twitter, made many new friends, sung with ( Read more... )

Originally published at Scott Edelman. Please leave any comments there.

I’ve got a foot in many different worlds. I’ve got a foot in the science fiction world, a foot in the comic book world, a foot in the foodie world, a foot in the ukulele world …

Wait! That’s far too many feet.

In any case, sometimes these worlds overlap, such as when I’m at a ( Read more... )

As those of you who’ve been following my ukulele exploits know, not only did I fall in love with George Formby, but I actually went ahead and joined the George Formby Society, where it turned out I was only the 12th U.S. member.

Since we’re so spaced out across the country, we’ve yet to meet face-to-face, our only contact being via email, Facebook ( Read more... )

Remember how miserable I was when I found myself ukulele-less in Salt Lake City? My withdrawal symptoms gave me the shakes. I was determined not to let that happen again, and yet, I didn’t want to lug my concert-sized uke to Peru.

Luckily, one of my new UK friends, found through George Formby fandom, recommended that I purchase a tiny Kala pocket ( Read more... )

I bought a ukulele five months ago today, and to the dismay of some, I’ve been letting you all share in my progress (or lack thereof), checking in at three months (with “Teddy Bears Picnic“) and four months (with “Side by Side,” “Why Don’t Women Like Me?,” and “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue“).

For my five-month performance, I’ve decided to go with ( Read more... )