Re the uke, it has, of course, now been taken over succesfully by some schools instead of the recorder in order to introduce young pupils to music making. Probably no bad thing - I recall struggling with the recorder, and being totally uninterested in it. It's an instrument that is difficult to play well, and no doubt put many youngsters off because of this, whereas the ukulele is an easy instrument to get basic chords out of to start with. Played well, it can be a virtuouso's instrument - witness the results which the Ukulele Orchestra of GB attain. As to "wasting their time", Frank, I'd beg to differ. The range of different types of music and song that they achieve would defeat many other musicians, and in certain instances (Anarchy in the UK ?) creates a totally different beast from the original with a good degree of wit and expertise = entertainment with skill and expertise.