MaSSSoftech

This one is pure fun.

Thanks to Al Gore and the miracle of the Internet, I can listen to radio stations around the world from my home base in The Original Las Vegas, N.M., including BBC Radio 3, which is in the midst of its "Proms" season -- probably the best live classical music festival in the world.

While offering some really serious music -- the Proms this summer is heavy on Stravinsky -- BBC Radio 3 also offers some rather whimsical concerts, the best of which features the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain in a concert at 5 p.m. EDT (10 p.m. London time) on Aug. 18.

There are no little grass shacks or other evocations of Hawaii in this live performance from London's Royal Albert Hall. The program includes the Ukulele Orchestra playing Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries, music from the classic British WWI movie "The Dam Busters" and "unorthodox arrangements of songs by The Who and the Sex Pistols."

The ukulele concert concludes with "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and the audience, which will gather in Royal Albert Hall, is encouraged to bring their own ukuleles to join in for a "mass rendition: of the piece." Ahh, one hopes there will always be an England.

You can listen to this concert live by clicking the music player button on the right hand top of the BBC 3 Web page or at a time of your choice for seven days after the broadcast on the Proms iPlayer page.