how a little culture can't hurt y'all

i went to the bluegrass festival in golden gate park on sunday, which was full of non-football fans masquerading as bluegrass music fans.

i got there right after the giants trounced the rams behind eli manning's four touchdowns, plaxico burress' 200 yards receiving, tiki barber's 128 yards rushing and a defense which caused five fumbles.

i caught a couple of banjo bands - damn good banjo bands, might i add - and a vocalist that split the leaves around me. really fantastic stuff.

(and a quick aside: i really enjoy bluegrass music. it's very pure and honest. but i don't have to dress in overalls or pony-tail my hair to show my affection for it. then again, i wasn't the one masquerading today.)

but the real highlight was to check out my co-star, dolly parton. i watched her perform, and considering i've got context, i can say that she's exactly how you'd imagine her to be. rather, how she is on stage is how she is: eccentric, funny, real, laid back, straight up, warm, charismatic and extremely talented and skillful. extremely.

she sang all her hits and stuff from her new album, which are duets of covers of some of her favorite songs, like "crimson and clover" and "me and bobby mcgee" and she nailed them all. her talent as a writer is only overshadowed by her talent as a singer. she's just completely amazing.

and funny. after she sang "crimson and clover", she said, "y'know, the wind just blew my way, and i'm smellin' whatever it is y'all're smoking. and i can tell you, it ain't crimson or clover". really funny.

if you ever get a chance, just go see her. even if you don't like the music (you're a communist if you don't), you'll laugh your ass off.

as i walked back home, i caught emmylou harris performing. it's one thing to listen to a cd and hear her voice, but it's another to hear it live and really feel the pain and hard living that her voice sells. it's very visceral and gutteral. couldn't really see much of her - i was waaaaaay in the back - but i got a little overwhelmed.

so yeah, that was my sunday. eli manning, dolly parton and emmylou harris.

beats most sundays, huh?