Picture Sunday

Well, hello you Sunday nighters. And welcome to another here-we-go-again round of Picture Sunday.

First of all, a warning - there are more pictures of me in this edition of Picture Sunday than you will ever want to see in this lifetime or any other. So either "x" out now or be prepared.

Good weekend, people. Good weekend.

Mr M and I made a trip up to the wilds of Morgantown, WV to see a concert by the one and only, yes, you knew it was coming, Hackensaw Boys. They were playing a club up there, and this was my make-up birthday present, the make-up coming from the Thomas, WV experience I endured alone when Mr M had to bow out.

A different happening from the Purple Fiddle in Thomas, to be sure. Right off the bat, let's get to the bad. Two bad things - the sound was horrible, not The Boys' fault and no mistake, but microphones kept going out and not working, oddly enough microphones directly related to whomever was singing lead at any given time. Frustrating for them, frustrating for me. And - banjo player extraordinaire The Kooky-Eyed Fox kept breaking bridges on his banjo. It happened no fewer than four times, and each time it happened it sounded exactly like a gunshot going off, something that, there in West Virginia, could have been a distinct possibility.

The other bad thing was that the show became what I'd feared from the beginning, Morgantown being the home of West Virginia University, that there'd be a lot of drunken frat boys involved. It didn't happen till about 2/3 of the way through, so I guess I should consider myself lucky, but just loud, obnoxious people ended up around me. But I tried not to care. I bopped up and down there at my great vantage point, a step, which put me with a great view.

And now, this brings me to the good parts. First of all, and I cannot stress this enough, people, you all need to try it for yourselves, it is great attending a concert in the company of an asshole, as is our very own Mr M.

You see, we got there early, I think the correct term would be way early, as we were the first two people there, went and had some dinner, came back, and were still the first two people there, but when the first band started playing, more and more people came around and filled the floor. In front of me. I'm short, you know, and I started getting a terrible case of the hinkies and decided that by the time the Hackensaws arrived onstage I'd be hopelessly without a view.

"Leave it to me," Mr M promised, and he was true to his word. For as the opening band were doing their last number, Mr M said, "Time to move," and he calmly led us right to the front, and found my step, the steps leading to the bar area, where I could not only see, but bounce up and down to the music and lean against a wall if I got tired. Sitting on the stage was really the only thing that could have been better.

And then of course, good doesn't begin to describe the show. Those Hackensaw Boys just play music like nobody's business. And last night was no exception. All the favorites again, and some new ones I hadn't heard them do before. Those little charmers of bluegrass.

And now, let's get back to The Advantages Of Knowing An Asshole. You know, I kind of had this thing, this pipe dream of sorts, since I'd gotten Sherman's picture made with three Hackensaws in Thomas a month ago, that I could get his picture made with the other three and have a complete set. Yes, it's a sad life I lead, but I'm a pod and we all know that. Plus the fact that Sherman came along with us last night carrying his fiddle, which he's decided will broaden his musical scope to bluegrass.

Well, I'm shy, and starstruck, and I have the hardest time going up to people and talking. I only ended up talking to Salvage and Mahlon Hackensaw in Thomas because, well, because they were basically in my face at the time, taking some of the pressure out of it for me.

I'd mentioned this fact to Mr M earlier, not the fact of having Hackensaw Boys in my face, but the fact of wouldn't it be cool to complete my Sherman series, and although he thinks I'm rather lacking in the Sanity Department for being afraid to introduce myself to people, he took it upon himself to get this done for me.

It was amazing. The man was like my personal agent! He was saying, "Now, who do you want to talk to?" Then he'd go find them, shake their hand, introduce himself, introduce me, and ask for a picture. The man's fearless! And of course, all those Boys being so nice and kind, they were happy to oblige.

First we talked to guitarist/vocalist Spits. Cousin Spits, he was once referred to on the stage.



Now there's a sweaty man. Hey, they work hard, those Hackensaws. And you gotta love the "Fame" t-shirt. I didn't want to stare, so I didn't learn if that's the movie cast or the TV show cast on the shirt. Spits was nice.

"OK, who's next?" Mr M said, now on a mission. Well, I needed Four Hackensaw, also known as Ferd Hackensaw, fiddler, very important indeed to Sherman, with his fiddle and all. And so Mr M grabbed Ferd.



Ferd is a very personable guy, btw. Mr M mentioned to him that we'd all actually done a concert together, the famed Rocktoberfest in Winchester, and so Mr M and Ferd went on to have a whole conversation about this, while I stood around watching and wishing I remembered how to talk, and the idea between the two of those men actually transpired that the two of us (Hackensaw Boys & Sauerkraut Band) should play together sometime! I came out of shock long enough to ask Ferd a couple of questions, one about a song they seem to be playing that I have no access to (not recorded), and he told me the story behind the song, which is called "Look Out Dog," and was written from an idea about a wedding they played for a friend who had two dogs, in the wedding, and apparently they loved the dogs as much as they loved each other.

All right. I was down to one Hackensaw Boy. That would be Baby J Hackensaw, the cutest and, for me, somehow most intimidating member of the band. Off Mr M led me to the bar, where he said, "Point him out," and I did, and up he went, introducing and talking and asking for a picture. And Baby J was very sweet and said, "Sure," and even was kind and patient while my camera did some stalling for a moment or two.



Look at that. There's a happy girl. And a happy little red-headed boy. Lots of red in that picture, a blouse (in actuality it's more orange), a red t-shirt, and red hair.

And so that was my foray to the wilds of West Virginia to see the Hackensaws. It's probably going to be a while before I get to see them again, so this will have to hold me.

Anyway, Mr M was a dear, and this so made up for being ditched the first time. Four stars for Mr M.

And now, the recipe du jour.

I've got to say, folks, I'm quite proud of tonight's recipe du jour. I'm proud of it because it was created from the carnage of a failed recipe. (I'm still going to try that recipe; I'll re-engineer it.) Anyway, this comes from the "Party Foods" section of Recipeland, and it is.... Eggbots!



Yes, there they are, coming down from Planet Egg to invade the condiment plate at your party, the little Eggbots. See, they are gathered around the big pickled cauliflower. They think he's their leader. Easy to make, just take your egg yolks, give them some peppercorn eyes, and add antennae. Please remove the antennae before eating, along with the peppercorns unless you want to sneeze.

Happy week.

Betland's Olympic Update:
* Let me just say to you all that today, this very day, March 26th, happens to be the birthday of no less a person himself than Mr Alan F Arkin, my personal idol. Happy birthday, Mr F Arkin.
* According to those in the know, a person can now go to iTunes and subscribe to Huckle-bug, the Stennie/Bet podcast.