(Part 4 of my self-indulgent goodbye – see three previous posts for details.)
When I first entered the online ukulele world, the Top 50 page was my road map. It was the easiest way to find out which sites my new peers thought were the best of the numerous ukulele sites available. After watching many bad YouTube videos, and noticing that there was no site on the Top 50 dedicated to videos, I came up with the idea for this site featuring only the best ukulele videos so you wouldn’t have to watch the bad ones. The funny thing is, with the way the Top 50 was formatted at the time, the number one site looked like a header, not an entry. I assumed the phrase “Ukulele Hunt – Articles for the advancement of the gentleman’s pursuit of the ukulele” was their description of the Top 50, not what I would latter discover to be the Holy Grail of Ukulele Sites.
Applying all my mighty powers to the cause, I came up with probably the most obvious name for this site, UkeTube.com (oh, they will cheer and hail and laugh and might even drop me off their shoulders if they are not careful reveling in my brilliance!!!) only to be thwarted by some domain-parker who has had the name registered for years and still hasn’t done anything with it. Turns out, that was a good thing. Unable to get my first choice, and having already spent all my energy coming up with that great name, I instead settled for the sad facsimile, UkeToob.com.
So I was chugging away at this site before I discovered what my new peers already knew – the best possible uke site had already been made. With impeccable taste in music, funny and biting commentary, excellent tabs and chord sheets, infinite support and advice for beginners and experts, the sole proprietor and auteur of UkuleleHunt.com, Al Wood, is a treasure. If bagpipes had a champion like Al we all might be really annoying our friends and families instead of just boring them with our sad plucking and strumming on the comparatively quite uke.
When I published UkeToob’s first interview (Merrill Garbus of tUnE yArDs) Al sent a note with kind encouragement. I quickly pounced on his kindness and drafted him to be the second interview. Al’s generosity was not exhausted by that interview. Over the few years UkeToob has been online he has been our most vocal supporter. When he saw that I was throwing in the towel, Al was the first to offer to pick up the domain so it wouldn’t slip into oblivion – a better future for the blog than I could have ever hoped for – and I instantly took him up on the offer.
So back to the name. Imagine my embarrassment when I finally noticed that the regular Saturday feature on my favorite ukulele site had the same name (spelled correctly, of course) as my blog! I guess I have a problem with not reading titles and first lines on web pages. It’s a real testament to Al’s character that he never complained about such a gross error. Al, even though you never asked for it, I offer my humble apologies for stepping on the name of your feature, and thank you for all you have done for UkeToob in particular, and for ukulele fans in general. At least five of my new favorite bands I would never have heard of without you. I look forward to each and every post on UkuleleHunt.com, and wish you all the success in the world!
Thank You!
Don Lawson (AKA Donnie Bubbles)