We Need Active Members

Get off your rusty dusty!

I know that each of us has many demands on our time. Posting entries to our Flatted Fifth blog is at the bottom of our "Things to Do" list. But it is important for our blog members to be active members. I would like each of you to post at least one entry per month.

That seems easy enough, doesn't it! It is easy, very easy. Between now and the end of February, I hope each of you will post a new entry. On March 1st, any member who has not posted an entry will be dropped. If that happens to you, feel free to join again; but keep in mind the one-entry-per-month rule will still apply. From now on, it will be enforced.

Some of you may wonder what to write about. Keep in mind that The Flatted Fifth is an open-ended blog where you may write about anything you wish. Just keep it clean.

For example, write about some movies you've seen recently.

Did any of you see HBO's Lackawanna Blues? It's been airing this month, probably to tie in with February as Black History Month. This is an excellent film about a black woman with a heart of gold. She runs a rooming house during the last half of the 20th Century and always has a diverse group of boarders who are as colorful as they come.

In the 1950s, the rooming house had a Friday night fish fry every week. At these parties, they danced to jump blues. Sometimes they played records, sometimes they had a live jump blues band.

This was also my favorite music in the mid-1950s. I have quite a few jump blues numbers of my Club Alibi web site. Click here to check it out.

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First-Time Visitors

Are you a new visitor to our blog?

If so, scroll around our blog. What's a blog? Well, blog is short for "web log," but that doesn't tell you what it is.

And what is a "flatted fifth?" It's a musical term. If you are a jazz fan, as I am, you know that flatted fifths are at the core of bebop. Just listen to recordings by Bird and/or Dizzy during the mid- and late-1940s (and beyond).

So, what is a blog called "The Flatted Fifth" all about? This blog will discuss anything that pops into my head--or yours (if you're a registered member)! You can talk about bebop or jazz or classical music or Bill O'Reilly or this, that and the other guy--even Larry King! Or say a few words about Aishwarya, the most popular woman on the Internet!

We encourage you to become a registered member, to join our blog. Scroll down the sidebar on the left, looking for the heading that reads, "Push Our Buttons." Click the link that says "Register." Before you know it, you'll be able to "Log In" to post your own entries!

Give it a try! And remember, it's free!

Helping New Bloggers

Yesterday, I experienced the thrill of helping students at the Venice Skills Center in Venice, Calif., learn about blogs. My computer applications teacher, Nina Flores, asked me to spend Friday mornings telling our class about things I enjoy doing on my computer. Blogging is one of them.

I actually talked with two classes, one from 8-10, the other from 10:15-12:15. Most of the students hadn't heard about blogs or blogging. But by the end of each class, most of the students, using Blogger.com, had created their own blog and posted their first entry. I really got a kick out of seeing them do this!

What I hadn't expected were the questions. All of the students had questions as we went along. I'm glad they did, because it showed me they were all involved with what I was talking about.

This coming Friday, we'll review what we did last time and then add a few features to our blogs. I hope the students are having as much fun as I am!