The Flaw at Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & etc.

Sunday: Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest

It all happens again at 9 a.m. Sunday at the beautiful, sun-baked Paramount Ranch near Agoura Hills.

Gaggles of fresh-faced, inordinately talented kids will step to the microphone at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest, brows furrowed in concentration, giving the audience a jolt of raw musical talent and glimpses of the extraordinary musicians they may become.

We hate them.

We, by contrast, trudge to the stage, perform, slink back to our lawn chairs, knowing we'll get hammered in the results by some bands that feature Cute Kids.

They also tend to play better than we do. But that's not the point.

The point is there needs to be a Doddering Old Inept Bluegrass Band category, and you can't get into it until your acne has cleared up.*

Failing that, the Flaw is resigned to -- nay, embraces -- its probable third-place finish.

In fact, we're committed to extending our third-place streak by another year. We're going for the Guiness, folks!**

We're Contestant No. 39, so come and cheer or merely observe the wreckage, sigh, and move on. Full Topanga details are here.


*ingrown whiskers=no problem
**both the record book and the ale

Tuesday: Bluegrass Night at Braemar Country Club. The Recriminations Concert

Tuesday night the Flaw, still licking its wounds from Sunday, will be on stage at the Bluegrass Association of Southern California's Bluegrass Night at the Braemar Country Club. We'll probably be demoralized, which only adds to this incredible entertainment value.

Braemar will be the performance that we could have had at Topanga had if only we'd practiced, but hey -- maybe if we tape it and put it up on the website we still can get some mileage out of it.

(Past attempts at videotaping have included long periods of people standing in front of the camera so you see the little hairs on the back of their necks (we're talking men here, of course -- ha, ha!) accompanied by the soundtrack of bluegrass thrashing for which the Flaw has become so infamous.)

Full Braemar details are here

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http://www.murphysflawband.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Murphys-Flaw/58844108000