Miscellaneous Ukulele Goodies and Info (ukuleleMisc.shtml) | Updated: 01-Jan-2009 - 02:48
A satin Bower bird
(male) above
TOTALLY random stuff I've collected on the web and doesn't have a place in the jazz guitar, ukulele or main publishing pages on the site.
I remember seeing a this bird on TV years ago. And, it stuck with me. Some of the strangest things get into ones's long term memory. Good for Trivial Pursuit but not much more.
Just like the Bower bird that collects a variety of objects like shells, leaves, flowers, feathers, stones, berries, and even discarded plastic items. A bower's U-shaped nest, a structure of sticks and leaves can include hundreds of these objects. The bird will spend hours carefully sorting and arranging his collection, with each thing in a specific place.
All of this to attract the female Bower bird. The things we do!!!
Time, Nov. 28, 1955: According to estimates by the American Musical Conference, the current rankings for numbers of US players by instrument (or type) was as follows: 1st: piano - 19,000,000, 2nd: guitar - 4,000,000, 3rd (tie): all woodwinds and brass - 2,000,000 each, 4th: ukulele - 1,600,000. (link)
See also a related blurb on uke sales: link
Time, March 12, 1928: Honolulu instrument maker George P. Mossman (aka "the Hawaiian Strad") is reported to have created a ukulele that can be heard 1/2 mile away.