Fishrockit Studios' Fun Fun Fun Fest Video

Fishrockit just sent this video to Austin Eavesdropper, a little Valentine of sorts to Fun Fun Fun Fest 2009. I recognize a few peeps here!

Note that this is all RAW footage from the camera, no computer color correcting.

(I only halfway know what that means but I do know it's a big deal.)

Tomorrow night, we join the Metric system

So, Metric is playing here in Austin tomorrow night at La Zona Rosa, and good God there's been a lot of buzz about it. As we were discussing last week, I frequently talk about stuff here in town with the subtle implication that self is DEFINITELY attending (when in fact self has not yet purchased a ticket); this is actually one of those times when ticket order has been secured. Metric is a little bit magical, and when you read from their bio what frontwoman Emily Haines did during a show last year, I think you'll see why:

"Haines had an epiphany during that Phoenix show — she didn't want to be sad anymore. And she didn't want to play those songs. So, about 40 minutes into the show, she stopped "Dr. Blind" mid-verse and said just that: "I don't want to play these songs anymore." Instead, she spent the next half hour talking to her fans, encouraging them to join her at the piano on stage and, for the grand finale, pulling a kid from the audience for an impromptu duet on Metric's "Live It Out."

I love that.

You can still buy Metric tickets here while they last.

Here is Metric's song "Help I'm Alive," enjoyable two ways.

electric

acoustic

Exercise fail, part 2

I write this while mentally preparing for a post-Thanksgiving trip to the gym. It it a solid reminder of what NOT to do while you are there.

Reader, do you know those semi-ridiculous inflatable balls at the gym? The large ones? Yes, they engage your core muscles; yes, I use them; but I'm sorry, they look dumb. That's essentially the gist of this story - the myriad ways in which you can look stupid on an inflatable ball - so hang onto that bit of truth while we set the scene.

So, I'm at 24 Hour Fitness last Sunday, and my whole plan of action was this. I thought, hey, I'm going to be really good, and fit in BOTH cardio and strength training today. Self, way to go.

And with that, I hopped on the elliptical trainer and did my thing.

Well, 15 minutes go by, then 30 minutes. I stepped off, and stumbled over toward the weight lifting zone. Now you have to understand Reader that this is already a highly intimidating and uncomfortable area, what with men giving themselves hernias every time they bench press. Please imagine that you have traveled back in time to the ancient Roman colosseum, with gladiators bare-handing a death match with lions, and that should give you a rough idea of the sounds you'll hear at the weights mat.

It's here that I spotted the ball.

Ok, so, already in a multitasking frame of mind, I sized up the ball, and sat on it for a few crunches. Then, I think, well you know what. Let's make this an ABS workout and an ARMS workout. TWO WORKOUTS AT ONCE.


This is what I was envisioning.

So - still sitting on the ball - I bent down to pick up some 10-pound handweights on the floor resting on either side of me. I leaned back, and prepared to bust out some awesome bench presses.

Apparently, this is not the proper way to "load up."

Do you know that moment of clarity, right before you do something truly awful, where you calmly and rationally think: ERROR. I have ERRED. What I just did was the opposite of CORRECT. Like, when you stub a toe? And it doesn't hurt right away, but you know that wherever your foot was intending to go it sure as hell wasn't into the leg of a damn table and until the pain comes, all you can do is sit there in anticipation and curse yourself for being such a careless and sloppy walker? THAT is what we are talking about.

Well, weights in hand, I could tell right away something was wrong. Things weren't adding up. Because when I leaned back, suddenly, my feet wanted to leave the floor. This caused me to tip ever so slightly....

But. Rather than rolling over right away, I just sort of hung there. Arms off the ground, but both feet off the ground, too. Do you know what beetles look like when they are turned over on their backs? All squirming and helpless, their little legs moving everywhere? "Help, help! I haven't finished evolving....." -That was me.

(PS, this whole scene is made all the more awkward by the fact that no one at the weights area is laughing. Annoyed, yes. Amused, not at all.)

So. While upside down, I saw a girl about five feet away feeling sorry for me. She wasn't concerned so much as she was.....embarrassed. It finally dawned on me to let go of the hand weights, causing me to roll off backwards from the ball into a somersault, volleyball style. I kind of landed on my head, and shook it around, like a dizzy cartoon person with birds flying around it. (Which, by the way, what does that mean? The birds?)

By this point, that girl had true pity written on her face; still no laughter, just vicarious shame. She paused her reps, turned to me and asked: "Did you hurt yourself?"

No, I didn't. But I'm about to kick this ball's ass.

Etsy Austin: No regretsies

A story I wrote for Austinist last week on Etsy Austin got bumped, so I decided to post it here!

EAST 2009 is now finito, but you can visit these crafty women next weekend after your Thanksgiving coma has worn off. R. is baking corn bread and desserts as we speak for Thanksgiving, and preparation for the latter items was described as such:

"I'M GONNA DESTROY SOME PIES TODAY WHILE YOU'RE AT WORK."

In girl language, this can be roughly translated as:

"I am going to bake a pumpkin pie and a pecan pie while you're at the office. I hope you like them!"

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving all, and enjoy CraftRiot upon your return. Without further ado....Etsy Austin! (Pardon all dated references to EAST):

There are many skills your average crafter possesses. Decoupage. Knitting. Some light carpentry. But if there's one thing every crafter knows how to do, it's hustle, y'all. Case in point? Etsy.com, a ginormous online catalog of handmade creations. Open since 2005, Etsy allows entrepreneurial crafters from all over to set up shop on the interwebs. And in October of 2008, our fair city got its very own street team: Etsy Austin.

This week, a chorus of crafters from Etsy Austin dished with Austinist on their year-old organization: They are Samantha Hlavaty (of Nepenthe's Bathtime), Beth Hempton (of The Snuggle Herd), April Wright (of April Wright Design), Lori Hooks (of Adorn Modern), Renee Rice (of Robo Ruku), and Julia Chambers (of Aberrant Crochet). You can check out these ladies, and their stationary-making/metal-fabricating/hat-stitching compatriots this weekend during the East Austin Studio Tour, at Smith Studios on 1406 Smith Road (stop 60 on the tour map).

Tell us about Etsy Austin. How many artists are involved, and how did this group get started?

When Beth Hempton of The Snuggle Herd moved back to Austin in 2008 after living in Seattle for 11 years, she had only been operating her Etsy shop for a couple of months. But she was looking for ways to learn more about Etsy, and share the experience with others. Because Austin is so artsy and there are so many creative entrepreneurs here, Beth was surprised that it didn't have an Etsy street team already, so she started one with the intent of connecting it to the local craft scene and getting members involved in their Austin community. The response was great! The team "started" last October, so Etsy Austin is just over a year old, already having reached its cap of 150 members.

It appears that Etsy Austin has grown incredibly fast in just a year.

Well, not only have we begun to make a name for ourselves here in Austin (which is really cool and exciting) -- we are more organized, too. These days, we have an executive board and committees to handle various tasks, which has led to us participating in many things as a group like SXSW, KGSR's Blues on the Green, the (now-defunct) Austin Handmade Market, and of course E.A.S.T. We also have an upcoming holiday bazaar, Craft Riot!, on Dec. 5th and 6th at Wines.com headquarters. It's all been wonderful because, we have so much fun doing events together, inspiring each other and sharing small business advice.

What types of artists do you have in your midst?

Any and every type imaginable! We come from just about every corner of the artistic world: we've got jewelry makers, fashion designers, soap makers, embroiderers, potters, polymer clay creations, drawings, paintings, screen printing, and so on.

In the past few years, Etsy has opened up this whole new world for crafters looking to market their wares. How else is your group using social media to gain exposure for your members?

We have our Etsy Austin website (which is currently being reconstructed), the Etsy Austin blog, Facebook page, Twitter, MySpace, internet forums, etc. Anytime a buyer wants to shop for an Etsy Austin member's creations, they can type in "teametsyaustin" into Etsy.com's search and voila! In addition, most of us Etsy Austinites have independent business sites and blogs.

Besides being cool-looking, handmade clothes / toys / paper / etc. impart their own version of social justice. (I'm thinking of the Handmade Toy Alliance for example, who gets a shout-out on your blog). Why is handmade better for people?

Besides supporting Austin small businesses, artists, and artisans, and that handmade is a much more environmentally-friendly production process, there is just something very organic about the handmade process that is much less sterile and ties us closer to the human community.

Also, the person who is behind that handmade item actually possesses the focus and wish for their items to be enjoyed. That's what handmade is all about! A real person, a real story, a real process from beginning to end, and a real intent of positive impact behind each handmade piece.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post couldn't end without some visuals, so here are some handmade creations from one of my favorite Etsy Austin sellers, Lucy Blue Studio. Discovered her belt buckles about this time last year, kind of want to buy all these for Christmas presents.

Kat Edmonson: Lucky

I was listening to KUT yesterday in the car, and Kat Edmonson's "Night and Day" came on. God. How talented is she!

I remember seeing Kat at Central Market a few months back while eating on the back patio, and thinking:

".............wait. Why is this free?"

Much like, I imagine, the way my friend Jason felt when he saw Norah Jones play for free at Waterloo Records years ago. This was a short time after she and my roomate Caleb broke up. (True story).

Anyway, here is an animated video someone made for Kat's song "Lucky," which appears on United States of Tara. It's pretty delightful.

Kat is playing at Vino Vino tomorrow night at 7pm. See her and swoon.

Going rouge: Red lips in Austin, Texas

For the past few days Reader, I've been in an introspective sort of mood. As a result, I have been tempted to write something, like, deep and relevant on this blog. A treatise on single-payer health care systems. Our conflicted relationship with The Domain. An examination of our local economy both through the eyes of a food trailer owner, and a diehard UT football game attendee.

But the most pressing issue here in Austin, Texas, Reader? Red lipstick.

First, some context. This trend is not unlike the High Waist Resurgence of May 2009, whereby hipsters near and far shed their low-slung everything and embraced a new era, one of tucked-in shirts and fastidious belting. Remember when you couldn't walk two feet here in Austin without running into a gentle lass, deftly hiking her waist up to chin level? I do.

Now, we are seeing a similar interpretation of Austin's "tidy" street style: a well-defined lip.

When I think of red lips, I think of Ashley Cass, Birds Barbershop's darling social media guru. Every time I run into her, she's wearing her pretty rouge smile, and I think: "How ladylike! How bold! I shall try red lips, too!"

And then I slap on the same boring nude lip gloss.

That's me in the front right, pink boa. Our Garden Party last Sunday. (PS, all of the Trevor Ray pictures from that event are here). A perfect opportunity to go wild with lipstick, non? Imitate the Clara Bow v-shaped mouth? But no. I cowardly reached for gloss, the kind with a name like "Barely There" or "Sand" or "You might as well not wear anything."

However. So intrigued by red lips am I, that I marched up to the Heebie Jeebie this week (a.k.a. H-E-B) and plunked down money for a tube of brightly colored Wet N' Wild. The results were pinker than I wanted, but still - a step in the right direction.

(If it looks like I'm giggling, it's because R. is taking a shower right behind me. Singing).

Let's take a look at other fever-lipped Austin ladies.

Tiffany Diane.

Danielle Thomas.

Stephanie Fraide.

Rachel Donnan.


Leslie Torbett.

Would love to hear you weigh in on the smattering of red lips across our Capitol City, Reader.

Are you yay? Nay?

If "yay," do you use something better than Wet N' Wild? I am embarrassed to say that at dinner last night, I looked down to see traces of my lipstick all over my meal. As if I had been making out with my tacos.

Friendy Fires vs. Dinner.

Sometimes, people ask if I actually attend everything I post about on this blog. The answer is: yes, what are you losers doing?

Completely kidding about that. In fact, tonight is a great example. We were chatting about Friendly Fires here on Austin Eavesdropper a few months ago, and back then, I had every intention of attending. But something (YouTube?) distracted me for two months, and now this show is sold out.

But never fear, friends. Craigslist-happy Austinites are selling their FF tickets. (Ok, seriously? $50? That's a racket, PostingID 1472570670 person).

Anyway, rather than gaze at man-child Ed Mac tonight, I am going to do something I almost NEVER DO for lovely R. Cook!

The problem is this, dear Reader. It's not that Austin Eavesdropper is beyond hope in the kitchen department. It's that her mental ingredient list is as follows:

-Turkey
-Coffee
-Oatmeal

Isn't that sad? Whereas R. can walk into the grocery store and simply let vegetables speak to him like the Produce Whisperer he is, I have zero instincts for interesting foods that taste good together. I go through long phases where I will eat squash for a whole year, veggie burgers a whole year, soup a whole year. It's kind of like my digestive system hosts an annual timeshare.

Reader, do you have any ideas for a Home-Cooked Dinner to prepare? (No julienning anything, please). Here are some I Googled just now.

Shrimp and risotto.

Glazed salmon.

Upside-down Mac N' Cheese pie. (Just joking. That's disgusting.)

Your dinner suggestions, my more talented-at-cooking friends?

Tonight: Drag Queen Bingo

Now seriously - how am I just now hearing about this.

This poster says "Beer and Bingo" - innocuous enough - but trust me, Saffire T. Stone (oh yes, spelled with "ff's!") is emceeing.

Awesome.

Bingo cards = $1 each
Beers = $3 each
7:00pm / Jo's downtown
More details here.

Caleb Does the Bleet-Up, or: My Bleety Valentine

Just when you thought I had shut up, for real, about the Bleet-Up.

Season 2 of Caleb Does is kicking off y'all, and the show's requisite brand of party-hopping is getting a little....twist. They stopped by our soirée for a while, but afterwards, a most unfortunate turn of events occurred.

Below, Caleb gets interviews with moi, Do512 Kristin, Richard from Ultra8201, Swamplot, and more. Oh, and....Freaky Franky Mae. But what a shame.

Stay tuned.

Public Service Announcement: The Austin Garden Party and 1920's slang

So with the exception of seeing John Krasinski present his new movie last night at the Drafthouse (I TOTALLY get it, ladies: John Krasinski is too cute for words, genuine and self-deprecating and talented, topped off with a warm admiration for Austin and a serious jawline), it's been a rather chill weekend. Why? I've been saving up all my muster for tonight's Garden Party!

Yesterday, I swung over to Buffalo Exchange, and picked up some 20sish duds for tonight's festivities: Pink slip dress thing, vertically stitched stockings and lace-up, square-toe shoes. (Austin Eavesdropper already owned that turban hat with flower pin - as well as a large pink feather boa, which in all honesty she is still debating for outfit. Too much pink, methinks).

I turned the flash of the camera off in an attempt to make said ensemble all vintage-y looking.

This is just the regular hanger where I keep my jewelry; I do believe pearls are in order for a proper flapper costume.

Also! A Public Service Announcement (a la Jane Austen's Bleet-Up commercial) has been created for the Austin Garden Party. Once again, try not to let this video blow you away with its professionalism. Picture quality is ever so slightly....BAD, on YouTube, as opposed to iMovie. Like, creepy-lonely-guy-in-the-basement-talking-to-himself BAD. Perhaps a video guru type person knows how to upload iMovie videos so that quality is maintained. Are you out there, video guru?

Moving on: Today, we are discussing 1920s slang:


Wow, I move my head a lot.

Anyway: fellas and dolls, whatcha waiting for? Come spy all the big sixes and bearcats you want tonight at The Liberty. There may even be some juice in it for you!

Artgasm! East Austin Studio Tour kicks off tomorrow

Oh it's on. It's on like Donkey Kong.

The East Austin Studio Tour kicks off tomorrow y'all, and we are talking mayjah changes from years past. Good changes! Of note:

1. LENGTH. In the past, EAST has spanned one weekend. This year, it spans nine days and two weekends. Take that, recession.

2. PARTIES. Also in the past, EAST was open-house style: You walked or rode your little bike from studio to studio, perusing the innards and perhaps watching the artists at work. This year, there are also several parties happening midweek at EAST, one that involves a human-propelled Viking ship.

3. CRAFTING. There is soo much creative badassery to see during EAST - 154 studios, to be exact - but one of Austin Eavesdropper's most anticipated stops is Smith Road Studios, where Etsy Austin will be hanging out and providing craft tutorials. Demos will be held each weekend afternoon, meaning tomorrow and Sunday, and again next Saturday and Sunday. AE can knit a scarf like nobody's business, but is a sad fool when it comes to crocheting. She hopes the Etsy gals can help.

4. AUSTIN GARDEN PARTY. This is not an "official" EAST event, but while you're in the neighborhood this weekend, the first-ever Austin Garden Party will be happening at The Liberty! Think Second Sunday Sock Hop, but '20s themed. There will even be a photo booth there to immortalize your dandy self. 6pm this Sunday.

Some fellow Austinist writers and I are doing artist previews this week and next on EAST, so head over there for additional studio recommendations. Arts editor Emily Weerts penned an excellent survival guide-cum-studio picks list for the festivities, and a printable map for EAST can be found here.

Do you have any must-sees for EAST to contribute, Reader?

Where gardening and Gatsby meet: The Austin Garden Party

If I could project myself back in time, I:

Would be a teenager in the 1920's.
Would learn card tricks.
Would use slang words like "cake eater" and "glad rags."
Would wear boas.
Would be more of a Clara Bow than a Marlene Deitrich. (Marlene...I wish.)

ROWR. Who's with me on this one? I nominate the '20s gals as the sexiest of 20th century decades. The '60s get all the attention. But think about it: these ladies had more clothes on, couldn't drink half the time, and played in movies that were silent. It took WORK to be alluring. Whereas in 1969, I'm pretty sure you could go to the grocery store topless.

Anyway, if you concur, or if you are a fan of things like Second Sunday Sock Hop, then I have a secret for you. It's Gatsby this Sunday.


deets:

THE AUSTIN GARDEN PARTY
Liberty on the east side.
Doors at 6pm, cover $5.
Swingin' 20s and 2000s tunes by Richard Gear.
Photo booth by Trevor Ray Thompson.
Door cover enters you in a drawing for plant prizes, a $50 gift certificate to Breed, and - lest we forget Prohibition - bottles of rum.
In addition to getting fancy, you'll be supporting sustainable living and urban gardening.

RSVP here on Facebook.

Austin Eavesdropper will be there, boa (and wink) in full-effect.

(Me with blond hair. So weird to see now??)

Lady Gaga: Bad Romance

She so crazy!

Matrix + 2001: Space Odyssey + Beowulf + those disturbing greeting cards that distort animals eyes to make them look bigger = Lady Gaga's brand spankin' new video.

Who wants to learn this dance with me? How is Lady Gaga's body so killer? So many questions?


This doesn't have anything to do with Austin, really - besides the fact that I genuinely would like to learn this dance. Maybe the Better Than The Van guys would be up for it. Oh I know they're freaky.

Extra, extra! Austin Bleet-Up pics on the interwebs

Oh, Austin. Your inhabitants are too adorable for words.

Cory Ryan's pictures from last week's Austin Bleet-Up at Mohawk are now up on Flickr. Go have a looksie, yes? If you crave a hard copy - and I think you will - just order here.

Anyone who reads this blog is probably sick of hearing me talk about the Bleet-Up, so Austin Eavesdropper promises to shut up for the next few months. But not without saying:

Austin's community of bloggers + Twitterers + social media types = Massive joy to my heart

Thank you all SO much for coming to the Bleet-Up. When Richard and I started putting it together, we had a veeery loose game plan, but it was our incredible local businesses, bands, and of course bloggers/blog-readers who made this thing a reality. We've got more ideas for the Bleet-Up, both big and small, and welcome your feedback 100%. For now....let's eat up some pretty pictures.

PS: Austin360 / A-List got in on the picture action, too. Go see if you spot yourself!