Benjamin Le

#NorthfieldMandolins Big Mon limited. So good.

Spring break gravel ride with a couple of circuits around the Trolly Trail in Belmont and then into Wissahickon Park #PhillyCycling

A nice evening in #Princeton for the #JasonIsbell #SoloAcoustic show.

2/2 Just jump off a Zoom call and be in the park 5 minutes later. All the mental health benefits of getting outside and touching some grass (or gravel) without the barriers of getting psyched up for something more serious. Also: these new mudguards are key.

1/2 Discovered another benefit of the ebike (in addition to it being aces for commuting): Going for a ride in Wissahickon Park without GOING FOR A RIDE. No worrying about getting a workout or having the right gear or eating the right stuff beforehand or bringing enough water.

So excited to have the opportunity to return to #ChrisThile 's #Acousticamp 2025! I attended the inaugural camp in 2023, which was THE BEST TIME EVER, and was bummed couldn't go last summer.

Now I have 5 months to perseverate on which guitar and mandolin to bring (and how to get them to CA).

#NorthfieldMandolins "5-bar" Artist series mandolin with a few non-standard features, including an Italian spruce top, (faux) tortoise binding, and a "Cremona-burst" finish. Sounds even better than it looks. I'm so fortunate that this one lives with me.

"the program will have eliminated more than 6.1 million automobile miles a year. That’s the equivalent of taking up to 478 gas-powered vehicles off the road, which would reduce annual CO2 emissions by nearly 190,000 metric tons."

Northfield EleOcto electric/acoustic octave mandolin handmade by the talented team in Marshall, Michigan.

#TaylorSwift
www.instagram.com/getawaychoir/

This father-daughter duo formed a Taylor Swift choir to keep the Eras Tour alive. Here’s how it’s going Co-created by Mark Engler and his 12-year-old daughter Cylvia, the small-but-mighty Getaway Choir will perform 20 of Taylor Swift's songs — Eras Tour style — on Jan. 11 at Studio 34.

I play electric guitar and mandolin for this project. Come sing on January 11 (details below) in West Philly.

share.inquirer.com/URTd5h

Scrapple

Exciting post-doc opportunity in Discard Studies at Haverford College. Please pass this link along to advanced graduate students and early career researchers (Deadline Jan 9, 2025): apply.interfolio.com/158793

From our friends at Collings Guitars & Mandolins in Austin TX.
#mandolin #acousticguitar

Our 2010 paper was featured on a recent episode of @pauleastwick.bsky.social & @elijfinkel.bsky.social's podcast lovefactually.substack.com/p/episode-11... (~1 minute audio clip below)

A carbon fiber ("carbon timber") mandolin made by KLOS Guitars in Utah just landed.

With graduation in the books, here's my commuting summary for the academic year. Just missed my goal of driving less than 20% of the time but did hit the target of biking on more than 50% of the days.
#bikecommuting #ebike

I commuted on my SO's bike for 1.5 years before getting my own. It's basically been a car replacement for me.

The "SL" (superlight) version of the Vado is a nice bike if you don't need the power of the regular Vado.

We also went with Specialized because of proximity to a local dealer for service. Trek has some good options too, but I tended to prefer the offerings from Specialized.

Indeed @katiecorker.bsky.social!

I have a Specialized Turbo Creo 2 and my SO has a Vado. My Creo is a niche (and not inexpensive) ride, but the Vado is very practical and has plenty of power and carrying capacity. The only downside of the Vado is that it's heavy.

A wet, but fun, Sing Us Home festival in Manayunk (Philadelphia) with Dave Hause & The Mermaid and The Jayhawks.

I'm occasionally (but with greater infrequency these days) in the position of sharing a new article that I was a co-author on, but for the first time I have the pleasure of sharing a new paper that I was a *participant* in.

online.ucpress.edu/collabra/art...

#WillParticipateForAmazonGiftCards

A beautiful day to cruise down the SRT to meet a friend/former colleague in South Philly for tacos.

Correction: 1963 D-28E, not 1961

More #Seattle vintage guitar goodness at Emerald City Guitars, including this 1961 D-28E and another 1936 000-18.

The #Seattle Summit Convention Center is easily the nicest conference venue I've been to in my 25+ year career.
#NASPA2024

Buddy Holly's Gibson J-45 (1943-44) and Woody Guthrie's Martin 000-18 (1936) at the Museum of Popular Culture in Seattle.

Had a nice hike in Jim Thorpe PA yesterday.

Add 2 nights of hotel (maybe could get away with 1, given the schedule) and airfare and it's over $1500 for what amounts to one day of programming: an opening plenary, 3 sessions, a closing plenary, and some other fluff.

Really?