miko2 | Hong Kong Martial Arts Country Line Clog Dancing Goodness....

Today's Song: Streak of Lean, Streak of Fat by Uncle Earl

The video: Uncle Earl - Streak of Lean, Streak of Fat

The story:

Friday I had a dentist's appointment up in Bellevue at 4 pm.

My dentist is pretty lax in their billing practices. My last visit was late last Spring, and in August they called and said I still owed them $73 something. I thought I'd paid it already, but I went home and looked and I couldn't find a bill. I found an old return envelope from the past Fall, and I used it to mail off a check to them. Since I couldn't remember the exact amount I just wrote one for $74.00.

Two weeks ago they called again saying I owed them $77 something. They seemed a bit confused when I insisted I'd paid them in August, and they said I couldn't have because they hadn't actually billed me since last year. Hmm. Well, whatever, I checked and found my record of the check, and I called the bank. Well, guess what? They had never cashed the check I sent them.

A day later they called me again, but this time they just wanted to schedule an appointment. They seemed confused when I asked about the check. Anyway, they assured me that if they had recieved the check it would have been cashed already, and if they recieved it months late they wouldn't just deposit it. WHen I asked exactly how much I owed them, she said she could waive all of the late fees in this case and it was only $67 something. When I asked for the address to mail it to, she told me just to pay them when I came in for my appointment.

So after my checkup, I wanted to write a check. The dentist's assistant said no, they'd just bill me. I explained that I wanted to pay a past due bill, and she said oh, okay. When I asked what the exact amount was, she said she had no way of knowing, she didn't handle any billing.

So I left them with a check for $67.00. The way they handle their accounts I doubt I'll ever know what the exact amount should have been.

I stopped at the bank to make sure I had enough money to cover rent, the check for the dentist, and the checks I'd written (mostly one for $98 at Fred Meyers -- I bought several Christmas presents). After consideration I transferred $100.00 from savings to checking.

And then, right after the dentist, I went over to Half Price Books at the mall and spent almost $70.00. I bought several Christmas gifts, but I really hadn't planned to spend that kind of money. Whoops! Might have to make sure once again that there's enough money in the account until payday.

While at the mall I picked up a copy of No Depression at the magazine stand. I was really hoping to find a copy of Dirty Linen, but actually No Depression is another very good roots music magazine. (I really should renew my subscription to Dirty Linen though). What sold me on the magazine purchase was a nice interview with the members of Uncle Earl. I have to remember to lend that to

kehf now.

Anyway, that's a roundabout way of saying that, after reading about Uncle Earl, it occured to me that I haven't made them a song of the day pick yet. So, here you go!

Uncle Earl is, by the way, a fabulous bluegrass/roots music/old-time string band featuring one of my favorite musicians, Abigail Washburn. But everyone in the band is fabulous. Gillian Welch plays drums on some of the tracks on their most recent cd, Waterloo, Tennessee, which was produced by John Paul Jones, former (and current actually) bass player for Led Zeppelin.

They were in the Seattle area last July and I was planning to go, but I completely forgot about it. :P

So I go to Youtube... and what do I find? A Hong Kong Martial Arts Action Country Line Clog Dancing video! No, it doesn't make any sense, but it's wonderful fun! It helps if you realize that Abigail speaks fluent Chinese, Kristen is a clog dancer, and they're all a bit wacky... this song already made me laugh every time I heard it, a line dancing fiddle tune with dancing directions/patter shouted out in Mandarin... I was actually planning to make "One True" my song of the day, but this video takes the cake so... just watch it already!

Uncle Earl - Streak of Lean, Streak of Fat

Uncle Earl - One True
Uncle Earl - Coffee's Cold