In honor of Imbolc and its buck-toothed seer, I uploaded a sharper copy of some footage I shot two years ago. Groundhogs are among the most solitary of marmots, and I think what we’re seeing here is a territorial dispute over some valuable real estate — the crawlspace under my house.
And as long as we’re watching videos, here’s another one I just uploaded, from the three-banjo jam session. There were other songs they performed more flawlessly, but this is the only one where the video is also half-decent (emphasis on “half”). And yes, it is entirely possible that they interrupted the sleep of the groundhog(s) below the floor.
i love that banjo version of come together. awesome! it’s happy music!
You said it! Actually I think bluegrass or three-finger-style banjo in general has a very bright, happy sound (I’m working on another “medicine show” poem right now that riffs on this oft-commented aspect of banjo music). Of course, I personally prefer the bluesier sound of clawhammer, especially when combined with high, nasal vocals in a minor or modal key, but I’m weird that way.
I just found your site through Dick Jones Patteran Pages.
I love banjo and bluegrass here in California, and have a brother who plays. I don’t know why I cannot open the video on your site, some blocker on my software I guess. Great moon shots, tripod, that’s it!
Hi – thanks for stopping by! If the videos won’t play, you might try a different bowser. Are you on Chrome, by chance? I hear the lastest version has some Flash incompatibilities.
i loved when the groundhog’s face appeared (twice) and then when he or she put his or her little hand on the stone!
also love the banjo music – it is such a positive optimistic sound. I recently posted on my blog about the stringbands of the Mummers Parade in Philly, which I attended every New Year’s Day for probably fifteen or more years when I was growing up. In those days they featured the banjo, accordion and glockenspiel.
Yeah, I saw that post. I was watching Mummers band videos on YouTube at the beginning of January and wondering whether the bands used to be more like what I think of as a string band: banjo, guitar, fiddle, bass.