Filed under: Austin, entertainment, events, lifestyle, music | Tags: antone's austin, BRAHMS, built by snow, citizen cope, crystal antlers, frightened rabbit, holy fuck, levi's fader fort, live music, local natives, minus the bear, mohawk austin, music festivals, still life still, sxsw 2010, the rural alberta advantage, the white white lights, think about life, we were promised jetpacks
I was going to write about the garden again. I spent time in it yesterday, I took bunches of photos. But I just can’t bring myself to talk about broccoli or radishes or tomatoes right now. Because the most glorious SXSW 2010 was one week ago today. And right now I need nothing more than to sit, reflect, and piece together 5 days of fantastic music and memories.
Day 1 – Wednesay, March 17
The Rural Alberta Advantage -Red7
BRAHMS – Levi’s Fader Fort
a St. Patty's day line for fader fort looks like this.
Okay, so I didn’t accomplish a whole lot on Day 1 of SXSW. We stood in line for an hour at lunchtime to pick up our wristbands for Fader Fort. I went back to the office for a bit and then reemerged on the scene around 5pm at Red7 where I ran into a few friends, made some new ones, and saw The Rural Alberta Advantage. They were alright. The girl was cute. Paying $5 for Lone Star sucked. My more immediate concern was meeting up with friends across the street, which I did after the band finished their set.
We went to Bull McCabe’s and made an album cover. And asses of ourselves, I’m sure. After this point, the night begins to blur a bit. We left Bull McCabe’s for Fader Fort. It was my first SXSW with a Fader Fort wristband and it won’t be my last. Once inside the compound the alcohol was freely flowing (like, $0 for as many drinks as you could carry), BRAHMS was jamming on the stage at the western most end of the complex and the photo booths were endlessly entertaining. From there it was on to Shangri-La, where we ate tamales out of a cooler offered by a sketchy looking gentleman. Somewhere between Fader Fort and Shangri-La a tall British gentleman complimented me on my houndstooth shirt & picked me up and swung me around in the air for a bit. All in all, a successful start to the weekend.
a little taste of the photo booth fun.
Day 2 – Thursday, March 18th
Local Natives – Levi’s Fader Fort
Bomba Estereo – Levi’s Fader Fort
First Aid Kit – Mohawk
Salem – Mohawk
That list looks awfully slim for the amount of awesomeness that we fit into our Thursday schedule. I worked a half day at the office, came home and ran a few miles (in anticipation of the havoc that was about to occupy my life for the following 4 days). My new fun friend Kyle got in from Houston around 3, and we scurried downtown for more fun line-sitting. In total we probably spent an hour and a half waiting in lines till we got into Fader Fort. We made up for the wait by double-fisting two rounds of beers while listening to the crazy woman lead singer for Bombo Estero. That girl could wail. We may have watched another set there too but I can’t remember… pounding two rounds of two drinks each will modify a person’s memory in fairly short order.
ahhhh... free beer smiles.
With beer in our bellies and smiles on our faces we headed towards town in the direction of Mohawk, where my friends were camped out between day parties & the night shows. My friend Hollie (see mafia picture above) had made friends with the Black Keys, the band who had played the last set at Mohawk that afternoon. Hollie’s connections are regularly getting us privileges fit for super-cool kids. It’s always fun to saunter up to the back of a mile long line for the front door, then receive a phone call from someone inside and get quickly ushered in through the back door. Which is precisely what happened for Kyle & I that afternoon. Once inside we milled about with handful of other super-cool kids (band members n groupies n what not). We patiently waited. And waited. At long last the sun fell and the music started up again. We made it through First Aid Kit, which was no small miracle. About halfway through the set friends Otis & Kim sent a full beer directly into Kyle’s face and for a minute I thought his eyes were going to dissolve right out of his sockets. The girls in First Aid Kit were Swedish, and they were okay. But then Salem took the stage. The show was awful. Barely tolerable. We all fought the irresistible urge to slit our wrists or jump off the balcony. Thankfully Hollie, in all of her awesomeness, had ordered up some pizza to be delivered to us at the bar. So we stuffed our faces and concentrated on drinking, eating & blocking the dreadful grunge/rap/drone from our ears.
Day 3 – Friday, March 19th
Still Life Still – Mohawk
We Were Promised Jetpacks – Mohawk
Citizen Cope – Antone’s
Minus the Bear – Antone’s
Frightened Rabbit – Mohawk
Friday was awesome. We started the morning with a trip to Arkie’s Grill (mmmmmm paaaaancakes…). Then off to downtown for an afternoon of amazing show after amazing show. We started towards Mohawk & walked ourselves right into the Onion party upstairs: free Brooklyn Lager & Batter Blaster pancakes. YAY. We Were Promised Jetpacks rocked our socks off. The band before them, Still Life Still, was pretty great also. It was starting out to be a pretty good day.
At Antone’s we were up close & personal for the Citizen Cope show, and then Minus the Bear. Minus the Bear was awesome. They really were. I know there are some Antone’s haters out there, but I actually really love the place. Kyle’s main objective for his SX experience was to see MtB. It was good to check this show off the list.
We hustled back to Mohawk for Frightened Rabbit. The Brooklyn Lager keg was kicked but the Batter Blasters were still flying off the griddle left & right. It’s really bizarre to be at a show and see a bunch of people standing around eating pancakes with their fingers, by the way. Frightened Rabbit sounded great. Just like the LP. I was happy.
We briefly saw the friend group at Sidebar before leaving to meet up with Kyle’s friends at Buenos Aires cafe, where I proceeded to drink too much red wine and enjoyed chatting it up with Kevin the friendly waiter again. Kevin’s always a lot of fun, but he seemed pretty stressed out because of SXSW weekend. My vegetarian crepes were the most delicious thing on the face of this earth – highly recommend them to anyone planning a trip to Buenos Aires Cafe. From the Cafe we journeyed over to Rio Rita, where the girls got Bloody Marys and I got even closer to porcelain god worship. Another truly awesome night.
Day 4 – Saturday, March 20
Crystal Antlers – Galaxy Room
Think About Life – Galaxy Room
Duchess Says – Galaxy Room
Holy Fuck – Galaxy Room
I’m having a hard time remembering Saturday. Many, many braincells had been killed by this point. I know it started with breakfast tacos at Taco Deli. And then a tour of the office for Kyle. And then…? I guess we went downtown. And we saw the awesome shows listed above. And then I think we went to Uncorked for a few glasses of wine. And then Koriente for yummy japanese. And then we met Kim & Sara at Bull McCabe’s? And then we went to some random place to watch the K State game. YES! This is what happened on Saturday, I’m sure of it.
My take-away from Saturday was that Holy Fuck is… holy fuck, awesome. I danced, danced, danced. Think About Life was a super-fun, new, unique, interesting band too. I enjoyed their show a whole ton. What I really loved about both shows was the variety of people in the audience. I swear I saw a farmer my dad’s age leaning against the stage & bobbing his head during Holy Fuck’s set. And at Think About Life, there were folks from all walks of life, all ages, etc. It seemed an appropriate mirror to the unique composition of the band itself.
Day 5 – Sunday, March 21
Built by Snow – Six Stages Over Texas
The White White Lights – Six Stages Over Texas
At this point, I was just happy to still be alive. There weren’t any set plans for music on Sunday. We started with the legendary Juan in a Million for breakfast. Then a tour of Town Lake Park. Then a tour of West Austin (to show Kyle that not all of Austin is gritty like East Austin or 6th Street). And then,“hey, I have those tickets for the show up near UT…. ahhh, what the heck. Let’s go.” Free Lone Star. And Kyle got some sweet gear from Cream Vintage, which the venue backed up to. I discovered that I have a severe girl crush on the lead singer of The White White Lights. The guitarists sunglasses went flying off of his head multiple times. They did Toadies covers? But also their own stuff, that ranged from super sweet to death metal. It was pretty awesome.
And that concludes my recap. It was a long post. There was a lot to cover, and probably lots that I missed. Like the mysterious bruises I found on Monday, and the glass of wine I shattered on Thursday and how Wii Fit continues to be a source of sheer joy after a day of drinking. But those are all small beans compared to the crazy awesome shows we saw & some of the bigger pieces of the puzzle that I summarized here. This alone has already taken me 2 hours to write. It’s too beautiful of a day to waste time collecting & sharing all of the little bean stories.
Did anyone else see some crazy fun stuff that I should’ve seen? Or go to any awesome venues/day parties that need to be added to the list for next year’s SXSW? Please share. If I can fit any more awesome to next year’s SX experience, I’ll be amazed and out-of-my-mind happy. I challenge you to help me achieve this lofty goal.
Filed under: 30th Birthday Party Benefit for SFC, Austin, entertainment, events, friends, go green, outdoors | Tags: 30th birthday party, Austin Farmer's Market, boggy creek, fresh the movie, linkedin, organizing a benefit dinner, sustainable food center benefit
For several months now I’ve been pondering how to appropriately celebrate the anniversary of my 30th year on this lovely earth. I’d considered renting a lake house for the weekend, or possibly renting a party barge. While a lake house and a party boat would be a lot of fun, spending my money and asking my friends to spend their money on such a thing felt selfish & indulgent. After several weeks with no progress or inspiration I started to loose focus. When friends asked what my birthday plans were I shrugged my shoulders and lamely said, “dunno. I’ll start working on it next week…”. I started to hear rumors of interventions being planned in case I didn’t get my act together soon. Then finally last week a miracle happened. At the “Fresh“ screening at Boggy Creek I stumbled upon an idea that really resonated with me: organizing a own birthday event whose proceeds would benefit the Sustainable Food Center.
Why Sustainable Food Center, you ask? For one, their mission statement is close to my heart:
“We cultivate a healthy community by strengthening the local food system
and improving access to nutritious, affordable food.
SFC envisions a food secure community where all children and adults grow,
share and prepare healthy, local food.”
Now there’s a cause I can get on board with. For those who are unfamiliar with the Sustainable Food Center, you may know them through through their Austin Farmer’s Market program. Austin’s Farmer’s Market comes to downtown Austin on Saturday mornings and the Triangle on Wednesday afternoons. In addition to their farmer’s markets, SFC provides support to local farmers, gardeners & the public at large through educational classes, outreach programs & informational assistance. The extent of their influence is great and they are a well respected force in the sustainable food movement in Austin.
With the seeds of a great idea in hand but no plan with which to get them growing, an informal birthday planning committee met today at my house and we began to map out a birthday benefit strategy. This is the plan at present:
- Event will take place at a backyard venue in the afternoon on Sunday, September 20th.
- A $10 donation will be accepted at the door. 100% of proceeds will benefit the Sustainable Food Center.
- Food (tapas-style) will be pot-luck and all guests are asked to bring one dish made with as many locally sourced ingredients as possible.
- Guests will also be asked to bring the recipe for the dish they prepared, to be compiled & distributed to all guests afterwards.
- Locally made beer & wine will be provided.
- A contest for best local dish will be rewarded with an esteemed prize.
- A speaker from SFC will be on hand to talk to us a bit about their organization and mission.
- Young professionals from all walks of life will be in attendance to network over food, drink & fun.
Oh, and if you’re not sold yet – there will be birthday cake!!!!
I’m terribly excited and can’t wait to start sending the invitations out this week. If you are reading this, you are cordially invited! I’m looking forward to spending my 30th birthday mingling amongst friends, food & philanthropy. If you have any ideas or any suggestions on how to make this event great, please share! I’ll be putting the word out to local businesses this week to drum up fun items for raffle or consumption, so if you have any suggestions or contacts that I may be able to look into – let me know & let’s chat soon! :)
Filed under: arts, Austin, entertainment, events, personal | Tags: austin online newspaper, austinpost.org, freelance journalism, linkedin, online newspaper
Dear friends, family & followers of this blog,
I’ll now be contributing to a new online Austin newspaper called AustinPost.org. The site is still Alpha, so it will continue to be refined as the months roll on. Support local freelance journalism by checking in often – you can start by viewing my first post (a recycling from a post made last summer – but maybe a first for some of you who joined the readership more recently): “How to be a Locavore, Volume I”
Thanks all – and keep your comments coming, I really appreciate all you have to say!
Mindy
Filed under: books, entertainment, lifestyle | Tags: "eat, book reviews, elizabeth gilbert, love", paulo coelho, pray, the alchemist
So I passed the 100 post mark with my post yesterday. Since the post wasn’t necessary the most celebratory kind (but it was monumental in it’s own regard), today I bring you this: Post #101! Woohoo!
Friday night I finished reading Elizabeth Gilbert’s, “Eat, Pray, Love“. The book tells the author’s story of self discovery following a difficult divorce at the age of 35.
The book is equally divided into three segments – each describes a leg of a international journey. She travels to three countries – Italy, India & Indonesia. In Italy she endulges in food, wine, friends and all the beauty around her. Hours upon hours of meditation at an ashram in India teaches Liz how to live on very little and how to quiet her mind. In Indonesia she befriends an old medicine man, a young medicine woman, and a Brazillian gentleman who all show her how to balance the extremes she experienced in Italy & India.
It’s easy to identify with Liz’s tale, regardless of whether you’ve been through a tough divorce or break-up. Everyone has had an identity crisis at some point in their lives, right? The book doesn’t dwell on the reasons why Liz takes the trip, but how she takes the trip & what she aims to learn from each. Her writing style is comfortable and easy – it’s very easy to feel as though her thoughts are your own.
Overall a good read, and I would recommend it to friends. I felt that the message was comparable to Paulo Coehlo’s “The Alchemist” . My only complaint was with the India section. Italy and Indonesia were characteristic of her experience – full of life, joy and energy. But in India, when much of her time was spent in quiet solitude, it was difficult to keep reading.
According to the internet (and the NY Times), a movie based on the book is due to be released in 2011.
Filed under: entertainment, movies | Tags: body of lies, chris pine, king corn, movies, nixon/frost, star trek
Summer is officially upon us. Last week our high temps in Austin hovered around the 95 degree mark, and the air was so thick that it would have made more sense to wear a swimsuit to work than pants and a dress shirt. While I did spend some time outdoors in the garden this weekend, I also spent a considerable amount of time indoors enjoying the air conditioning and a few good movies.
The best movie of the weekend was the new Star Trek flick. No surprises there – it seems that everyone who has seen it has had nothing but great things to say about the film. The casting was spot-on, the cinematography was excellent, the story was both exciting and emotional. And Captain Kirk was darn cute. Yep, that’s him on the left. My only complaint was with the costume department. The trekkie uniforms could have been made much tighter.
It’s a toss-up between Frost/Nixon and King Corn for my next favorite film of the weekend. I enjoyed Frost/Nixon because it sparked my interest in the Watergate scandal, the Vietnam War, and the inadequacies of the Nixon administration. I can’t really remember anything I was taught in high school about the topic, and after seeing the film I’d be interested to learn more about that period of time in our government. Good flick, but I needed more background knowledge to really get a lot out of it. King Corn was quite the opposite – I may have gone into the film with too much background knowledge to get anything out of it. The film was an entertaining documentary, but didn’t drive me to any epiphanies I hadn’t already had. What the film did do, however, was reinforce the notion that the agriculture our country promoted in the 1970′s has turned out to be environmentally/socially/medically & economically irresponsible. If you don’t do it already, this film will make you check every ingredient label in the grocery store for all corn-derived products. And then, if you have any amount of self respect, you will put that product back on the shelf and go in search of products that don’t contain corn.
The last and least enjoyable movie of the weekend was Body of Lies. Re: BOY MOVIE. I.e., entertaining but incredibly depressing. War, pain, love & loss – all themes that I generally try to avoid when I’m watching something on my personal time. If I am going to choose to spend 2 hours of my precious free time in front of the boob tube, the movie I’m watching better have an uplifting or educational message to share. Body of Lies had neither. In the final moments of the film they had a chance to bring me back on board, but then cut away with no resolution and only the faintest amount of hope that could ever be imagined. Tyler thought it was great until he saw the expression on my face and then had to deal with my lingering crabbiness for the rest of the evening.
So what have y’all watched recently that you really enjoyed? It’s going to be a long, hot summer – I will need to start adding new titles to my queue!
