u/horseanddogguy

I recently added a banjolele to my mix of instruments. I'm still learning the picking and strumming patterns for banjo. To get a cleaner sound I bought a cheap set of finger pics off of Amazon. The strings that came on the instrument are nylgut. I popped the number one string almost right away when I was starting with the finger picks. I wrote it off as a bad string and replaced it.

I'm on day two of a new set of strings and I have noticed that my number one and number two strings are already buggered up. They aren't gonna last very long. I need to order new strings now.

I just added a new banjolele to my warren of ukes. Hurt my shoulder and it hurts to strum. So, I figured it was time to up my finger picking game. Searching YouTube videos on hammerclaw now.

Any specific recommendations on banjolele instruction videos or beginner banjo songs <specifically finger picking> would be greatly appreciated.

I tuned down the instrument to F# B D# G# because I’m a baritone and you can pry my baritone ukes from my cold dead fingers.

I was fortunate enough to take a couple of cooking classes from Martin Yan <Yan Can Cook> many years ago. FINALLY got to use one of his favorite lines.

Me and mine were doing a crab & vegetable stir fry over egg noodles using leftover portions of veggies in the fridge. A refrigerator magnet dish, if you will. I’d already prepped and pre-cooked the slower ingredients like the onions, shiitake mushrooms, and broccoli stems. I added the started ingredients to individual portioning bowls of:

Slow cooked shiitake mushrooms, onions, broccoli stems

Steamed edamame

Diced red bell peppers

Broccoli florets

Sliced zucchini

Diced scallions

Diced garlic

Grated ginger

Lump crab

Pinch of ground sesame seeds

Heavy pinch of lemon pepper and salt

I rimmed the screaming hot wok with avocado oil. Babe wanted to man the wok so I just said throw in 1-bowl at a time and keep stirring and flipping until not quite done. Add the ginger / garlic / teriyaki sauce and keep stirring until you see/smell a little smoke and dump back in the bowl. 1-2 minutes tops per portion in a hot wok.

I turned around to plate the egg noodles. When I looked back, she was just staring at the wok. I grabbed her left butt cheek to distract her and then reached around the right side to get the wok handle to start flip-stirring the wok.

She looked at me startled and that’s when I delivered the line, “It’s a stir fry. Not a stare fry!”

Thank you Martin Yan you glorious bastard wherever you are. The dish was good, but no where near as satisfying at the look of exasperation on her face for a perfectly timed dad-joke quality line.