That awkward moment when the Avett Brothers sum up your entire existence

In one lyric. To wit:

And the person I am, and the person I'll be
Refuse to meet

From their wondrous album The Second Gleam. I love the Avetts because the Avetts are artists. They are flawed human beings (what ho! aren't we all), but they are true artists. Their music is amazing (even the early, raw, rough-edged, shouty songs). Some of the tunes are just crazy and fun, but some are deep and introspective. And like all good art, it leads me, one way or another, towards God. I'll explain this further at some point. 

Avett Love, continued.

What makes them tick? asks the filmmaker.  Hint: "Love one another" is a good place to begin. I can't wait to see this movie.


This remains one of the most exquisitely crafted songs ever written:

I now pretty much officially have plans for September 17

Mrs Beazly, we've gotta book tickets, STAT. 

Alternately, we could try Windsor on the 15th. Saskatoon's own Sheepdogs are opening for them!
(Miss P #3, do you fancy a trip East? Yeah, it would be worth skipping school for a few days...)
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Be still, my Kick Drum Heart

THE AVETT BROTHERS ARE COMING TO EDMONTON! I must remain calm. Absolutely calm. And figure out the logistics (and the finances) of getting to Edmonton on August 11, when I am already booked to see Paul McCartney in Regina on August 14. Let's see: my birthday is in August, and Hubby has for some months been promising me a weekend to Edmonton, and I still haven't collected on my 25th anniversary trip (or for that matter, my 10th anniversary trip)...

Blogging Lite

Due to health concerns. Nothing serious, but two trips to the ER in four days (and being hospitalized 500km from home--while supposedly on a fun weekend!) is enough for me. Silver lining: I've lost 5 pounds, and I get to take a medication derived from belladonna. How cool is that? In the meantime, these guys will be happy to keep you company.

TGIFWTA: this will be my last post on the topic of politics

... at least for a while. Yesterday morning, I read this post over at Deborah Gyapong's "Foolishness to the World" blog. She writes:

Hello all, I am spiritually fortifying myself after the depressing re-election victory of the worst president in American history since Jimmy Carter.
I’m going to the gym and getting on with life after spending way too much emotional energy and time on the Internet riveted to the election.

I said to myself: "My feelings exactly!" I'm not really sure why I felt so compelled to stay abreast of the campaign, or spend so much time reading the (always depressing, sometimes delusional) commentaries and rantings of various writers and bloggers. Especially since I'm not American. 

All I know is that I need a break. As an Advent project (but starting immediately, as in, yesterday), I have decided to go on a starvation diet when it comes to reading about politics. I have already deleted all the political blogs and websites from my "Top Sites" page (even Mark Steyn! so you know I mean bidness), and have determined to read only stuff about faith, mothering, homemaking, and art: you know, the things that actually matter and will really save the world.  Also possibly education (but that gets political too, alas).

Here are the Avett Brothers. I love this recording, because, as one commenter pointed out, it sounds like it came from an old gramophone.



Saddest part: politicians no longer have to "leave town" when their "bad parts start to show"; now they get elected because of them. In other words, the weight of lies no longer brings you down--not in this world. 

Peace.
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TGIFWTA: Beards of Wonder

 Goodbye to the lovely warm weather we enjoyed all through September. The temps have been dropping, and the cold wind has been blowing. Among other harsh realities (the unpacking of the boots, scarves and mittens), we are faced--literally--in the Pinkerton household with Mr. P's annual Growing of the Beard. 

But this has the potential to change everything: the Beard Hat.

Mr. P. grows a beard every winter not to be cool, but for precisely the opposite reason. He walks (a goodly jaunt) to work, and the beard keeps his face and neck warm. But aesthetically (and in other ways too) it doesn't really work for me.

This, despite my love for the Avett Brothers and their Beards of Wonder...

TGIFWTA: toooo cuuuute!

I can just see the Blurn twins in these. Available on the Avett Brother's website. 

Thank Goodness It's Friday With The Avetts: Cars

Today I'm going car-shopping (yet again...yawn... I mean, Oh Yay!) with Mr. P.

It's high time that we found a vehicle to replace the minivan that died last May. Right now we're down to one reliable means of conveyance, and it happens to be our 15-passenger van. (I've always thought we should stencil the nickname "Carbon Footprint" somewhere on it.) I don't particularly like driving it (have certainly never attempted a parallel park in 9 years of ownership), and it just feels plain silly when you need to dash out on an errand and you're roaring around in that behemoth all by yourself. In today's climate (no pun) you almost expect to be scolded in public by some greenie for the sin of offending Gaia.

I don't know what kind of vehicle we'll buy, but it won't be a 63 Ford Galaxie 500 XL (this one is listed at $75,000--yes, you read that right; I didn't put in an extra zero by mistake).











And now, for your Friday listening pleasure, I offer the perennially delightful Seth singing a live rendition of "In the Curve," one of the bonus tracks on the iTunes version of the (uber-fabulous) album Emotionalism.

Don't mind me, I'm just eating my heart out

Because I am NOT in P.E.I. at this very moment. And I am NOT going to the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival this weekend. And so I will NOT be attending the Avett's last concert of 2012 on Canadian soil this very evening. How to console myself?

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From their latest album, The Carpenter: a song of new fatherhood...just beautiful. 

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TGIFWTA: Just FOUR more days!

Until the new Avett Brothers CD is released. Here's the lead/title track from the album, "The Once and Future Carpenter." (Go Joe! Love that cello.)

"If I live the life I'm given, I won't be scared to die." Wise words. 

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TGIFWTA: Salvation Song (update)

This post has been Tweeted by Avett Nation! Woohoo and welcome, Twitter-folk! 

Thank goodness it’s Friday with the Avetts

Heaven help me, sometimes I read the comments posted on YouTube music videos. Some are quite funny and clever, but most are not. This exercise usually serves as a reminder that some people out there seem to have either: 1) way too much time on their hands or else 2) lives fairly devoid of meaning. Which doesn't say much for me, if I'm reading their banal –or profanity laced—ramblings (hint: the phrase “F---- Off” does not constitute an ‘argument’).  But I digress. 

Mrs. Beazly first introduced me to the Avett Brothers last year (eternal thanks) with this post. I merely dabbled for the better part of 18 months (for shame) but this past summer, I delved obsessively with a great deal of enthusiasm into their music. They defy tidy genre categorization, so I won’t even try. Here’s Wikipedia’s attempt:

The Avett Brothers combine bluegrass, country, punk, pop melodies, folk, rock and roll, honky tonk, and ragtime to produce a sound described by the San Francisco Chronicle as having the "heavy sadness of Townes Van Zandt, the light pop concision of Buddy Holly, the tuneful jangle of the Beatles, the raw energy of the Ramones."

They forgot to include grunge and old-timey gospel. I kid you not.

TGIFWTA

Thank Goodness It's Friday With The Avetts.

What a sweet little girl. She looks like a porcelain doll. 

He's playing Hank Williams's guitar. 

If some husbands really wanted to please some wives

...they would book a surprise 25th anniversary trip (which would REALLY be a surprise, since some couples didn't take a trip last year when they were supposed to, and it's actually some couples' 26th anniversary this fall) to beautiful Prince Edward Island in mid-September and start off the holiday with a visit to the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton.

Look who's playing at 6:00 pm on Friday, Sept. 14, in the Budweiser Blues Tent, and even with the taxes and various assorted other fees, it only costs about $60 per ticket.

That's not too much to spend in order to show your appreciation to the woman who cooked your meals, made your bed and washed your dungarees for 25, er 26 years, not to mention who also bore you seven children, and continues to bore you on a daily basis?

What a very fantastic birthday present that might make for some bloggers whose birthday is not too far away.

Alternately (in case some husbands couldn't get time off from work, which is what happened last year), if some sisters wanted to go with some other sisters on the road/plane/ferry trip of a lifetime...
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Why do I love the Avetts? Let me recount the ways

Supporting his family through his daughter’s illness has afforded Crawford a deepening of faith. “This has been the hardest time of my life, my wife’s life,” he says. “I came to God through this experience in a more personal way. I’ve been trying to get closer and nurture that.”
It’s a belief the Avett Brothers all share—each member supporting a personal relationship with God over one driven by culture. However, each member also adamantly insists that theirs is art made by Christians—not “Christian art.”

What more can I add but... Amen, Brothers! (Who knew they had so much in common with Flannery?)

Full article here. 

Jim Croce is smiling down on this one

Seth Avett and Bob Crawford. Need I say more? I feel an entire category for the Avetts coming on.

Oh, and before even more time elapses

Welcome to our 18th follower. In your honour, one of the most bizarre yet funny Avett videos I have ever seen. Happy Friday.

The Avett Brothers - Slight Figure Of Speech - watch more funny videos      

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If you ever wanted to give something back to the Avett Brothers after all the beauty they've brought into the world

now is your chance.
A message from Bob Crawford:

"When people ask us what they can do to help, we ask them to pray for Hallie's recovery. We feel that God has already worked miracles through Hallie and we pray they keep coming."

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For your Sunday listening pleasure...

and deeper contemplation. Yet more Avetts.

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Chicks dig the banjo

I had to check out the blog of our first bona fide follower, and found lots of very cool and funny stuff there, including a video clip of three young brothers who comprise a mean bluegrass trio, The Sleepy Man Banjo Boys. This clip is from an appearance on Letterman last May.



Letterman seems to enjoy their performance, but can't help being a teeny bit of a left-lib jackass (gotta make fun of them plaid-wearing hillbillies!). He takes a little dig at (how brave of him) the youngest of the three. Which kind of shows how clueless the increasingly decrepit Letterman is getting. First of all, Dave, don't presume to give anyone advice about girls. Ever.

And secondly: yes, by gum, chicks dig the banjo.