Purchased: Nikon L20 point&shoot

I‘ll let ya know how it is…but for now it thankfully fills the void between I wish we had video and photographic proof, and WE DO have video and photographic proof. Our last Kodak decided to just…-stop-…working, so we needed another pocket-sized camera for the every day. Good stuff so far.

Beard Cage (or Hey dude, nice hat.)

But how ever shall he drink his tea!??

Oh my, that is one smart chap. Other notable beards include:

Some Photographs of That Day.

Here’s a guy. This is a guy I can really identify with. Here’s an obsession idea I could run with. Every day is a gift, and more often than not, one worth remembering. How good’s your memory? Mine? Not so hot. Flickr helps.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OLIVER!!!

Hard to believe it’s been TWO years since you arrived and changed our world. Thank you for every day and every smile and every laugh. Thank you for being you…Mr. Smallpants.

Oliver 365 Project – Part Two

Remember this? I do. Vaguely.

That was an AMAZING week. I’d do it all over again.

Those Underappreciated Things

Let’s raise our glasses to those things no one else seems to notice. Hiding in the shadows, their value is lost on the masses; quietly rocking your world, their awesomeness is but a heavenly light seemingly shone only upon your own lucky ass. Or…perhaps, you just don’t get out enough and all this shit is everyday type shit to everyone else and you’re clearly just WAY out of it.

Regardless…here’s some crap I know and love that others seem to care less about:

Underappreciated Films:

• Primer
• Fallen
• Starship Troopers
• American Psycho
• eXistenz
• U Turn

Underappreciated Foods:

• Pea Soup
• Sun-dried Tomatoes
• Iceberg Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Celery
• Eggplant
• Lima Beans
• Sour Cream
• Cream of Mushroom Soup

Underappreciated Songs:

• Vultures – PHiSH
• Dead Flowers – The Rolling Stones
• In the Morning of the Magicians – The Flaming Lips
• Country Song – Pink Floyd
• Good Morning Little Schoolgirl – The Grateful Dead
• Kim & Jessie – M83
• Nothing at All – The Shins
• John Wayne Gacy, Jr – Sufjan Stevens
• Brother Named Lee – Citizen Cope
• The Count Five – Psychotic Reaction
• The Mango Song – PHiSH
• I’m Alright – Kenny Logins
• Buggin’ – The Flaming Lips
• Down in Mexico – The Coasters
• Ghostwriter – RJD2
• Send a Message to Her – Beck
• Prison on Route 41 – Calexico and Iron & Wine

Underappreciated Albums:

• Sparkle and Fade – Everclear
• Loaded – The Wood Brothers
• 54-46 Was My Number – Toots & the Maytals
• The Hours – Philip Glass
• Rubberneck – The Toadies
• Jar of Flies – Alice in Chains
• Twin Cinema – New Pornographers
• I and Love and You – The Avett Brothers
• Into the Wild – Eddie Vedder
• Keep it Like a Secret – Built to Spill

Sometimes it’s almost more fun to love these things that no one else seems to care about. Know what I mean? Like being part of some club…like bein cool when you’ve never really been cool. Tell me. What do YOU appreciate????

They are not underappreciated…but I’ll be damned if I can find anything I appreciate MORE; these lovelies originally uploaded by Me on that there Flickr.

Please…have yourself a wonderful day. Lotsa love.

why.

why do I bother.
when the ends just the same.
over and over and over again.
why not move on?
why not give up?
there’s no point in quitting
when I know I’ll just keep on and on and on…

Just gotta shift focus.

The Avett’s Return

Following the show last night, a small crowd grew around the barricade surrounding the Avett Brothers tour bus – the biggest bus I have ever seen – and we were all told that the band had already boarded and would not be signing autographs or meeting with the fans. Disappointed sighs and a general reluctance to move along followed for a bit until the door opened and out walked the band’s tour cellist, Joe Kwon. Crowd excitement grew. Following Joe, out walked Bob Crawford, the band’s bassist. Smiling, they both started to shake hands and sign autographs. Then the brothers came out and the crowd was VERY excited. Someone piped up, “Hey, they told us you wouldn’t be comin’ out to sign autographs,” to which Seth Avett replied, “We just couldn’t help it.”

Joe, Bob and the brothers Avett, Seth and Scott, put on one hell of a show last night. It was a sold out audience at the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, WI, and the Avett Brothers wanted us to know that they appreciated us all comin’ out on a Wednesday night. One long set was briefly divided by a curtain-less call out from the fans with chants and clapping and voices loss in chaotic crescendo crushed back down when Seth declared that sure, they’d play another tune. They preceded to play THREE more tunes and just brought down the house.

The band’s constantly evolving sound was clearly displayed with members swapping instruments, shuffling from drums to keys to even having Bob sing lead on a song. From their original setup with upright bass, banjo and acoustic, their signature sound and fan-favorite tunes poured out over us and we were pleased. Peppered in between were tracks from their newest release, “I and Love and You”, and we were *moved*.

I’ve read complaints that they seem to be drifting too far from the shore; a sentiment reminiscent of reaction to Bob Dylan’s switch to electric that was all too amplified by a fellow show-goer behind me continually declaring that Rick Rubin (the legendary producer who worked with the band on their new album) was taking the band down the Dave Mathews path to “crap-town”. (My words, not his. Poetic, no?)

However one feels about the growth of the band and the product they thankfully chose to share with us, you can’t help but feel excited for them. They work hard, relentlessly touring and composing…and their growing fan base is a testament to that. Three years ago I was introduced to the Avett Brothers at the High Noon Saloon. On a whim, a friend and I had decided to check out a honky-tonk band that was passing through town, BR549. Opening that night were the Avetts, and they stole the show. There were about 50 people in the entire place – if that – and we GOT DOWN. The following two years found the Avetts returning to Madison and to the High Noon and to bigger and bigger crowds. Clearly, as receipts from the Barrymore prove, they’ve outgrown the High Noon, and perhaps even the Barrymore.

Maybe we’ll get treated to TWO shows next year. How’s about a Friday & Saturday night lineup, guys? Waddayasay?

The raw emotion released upon the crowd last night seemed almost involuntary; a catharsis for some terrific love lost, with the pain pressed from their flesh. Or….perhaps, torn? Some people in the crowd had wet eyes, broadly grinning and singing along and for a few moments I was actually somewhere else. A place where classwork and and my job and the day-to-day stress seemed featherweight in comparison to what these four men were sharing with us. Good music does that. It removes your pain and shares with you new perspective and you feel gratitude.

Someone might want to ask the Avetts how they were able to put on the best show Madison has seen this year. They may ask how they managed to put on the best show that I have EVER seen at Madison’s best indoor venue. The Avett Bros need only reply, that they “just couldn’t help it.”

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Vids from the show:
“The Perfect Space”
“SSS”

…here we go.

1. Moth’s Wings – Passion Pit
2. Lisztomania – Phoenix
3. And It Spread – The Avett Brothers
4. West Won – These United States
5. Mama Tried – Merle Haggard
6. Sun it Rises – Fleet Foxes
7. Janglin – Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros8.
8. Cinder And Smoke – Iron and Wine
9. No You Girls – Franz Ferdinand
10. In My Dreams – Eels
11. Say Please (album) – Monsters Of Folk
12. I’ve Got Your Number – Passion Pit
13. Horchata – Vampire Weekend
14. Lasso – Phoenix
15. Don’t You Evah – Spoon
16. Three More Days – Ray LaMontagne
17. Black Dresses – The Builders and The Butchers
18. Stranger – Noah and the Whale

want.

You wanna know what I really want? I really want to be good at something. Anything. Like REALLY good, ya know? I’m only sorta good at this and that…but excel at nothing. Gotta work on that.