Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket Photobucket

Saturday, February 27, 2010

TONIGHT: Game Night and Beautiful Revolver

I am a little late getting this up, but hopefully you know about both of these fun parties tonight anyway!


My friend Erin at Recovering Lazyholic, who did a little interview on Austin Eavesdropper not too long ago, designed this poster for Artifact Workshop and Neiliyo.  She has a great write-up of the CD release for "Game Night," happening tonight at Club DeVille.  And, get this - instead of selling CD's, the tracks are going to be made available on a time-sensitive link printed on SLAP BRACELETS! How cool is that?

Immediately following, some of our favorite party-throwers, Knuckle Rumbler, are hosting:

BEAUTIFUL REVOLVER: The Beatles vs. Madonna is at The Scoot Inn tonight, with doors at 9:00pm. RSVP on Do512.

Fun!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Next Wednesday: Me, Mortified.

                                                                                                      Me, Age 8

WOW.

Yes, that would be me, as a child, in the beautiful Olan Mills portrait you see above. Do you like my sleeves?

Here is another picture from the same "shoot:"

Please note how excited I look to be there. Like, "oh my God! Here I am, posing with these striped column things! Wearing a cumberbund! I'VE MADE IT."

Anyway friends, the reason I show you these delightful photographs is because a handful of Austinites and I are going to be in Mortified next week, and I want you to come. You'll probably see these pictures. Or if you're lucky, Glamour Shots.

But what is Mortified, you ask?

"Mortified stars everyday people reading aloud their most embarrassing, pathetic and private teenage diary entries, poems, love letters, lyrics and locker notes – all in front of total strangers.

Part comedy, part theater, and all therapy, Mortified is a comic excavation of the strange and extraordinary things we created as kids. From surviving the sixth grade to accounts of nerd molestation to stories of pet neglect, Mortified Austin is bringing you an all new show filled with angsty tales of adolescent woe."

Mortified is kind of a cultural phenomenon, with the first show beginning in LA several years ago, then spreading to cities all over the country. And our esteemed Austin is one of them! It is also a book, and both book and show have been hailed in Newsweek, Esquire, Glamour, Time Out NY, Bust Magazine, on "This American Life," and more. And on Austin Eavesdropper, of course!   

Several weeks ago GARY! encouraged me to audition for the Austin one, so I did. I'll be honest with you: I am both excited and terrified about the show (especially since it involves me reading some of my old, teenage, really really REALLY BAD love letters in front of many people). But, mostly excited.

There are two performances, and both are happening at the Alamo Drafthouse Ritz.

wednesday, march 3 at 7:00pm: tickets here

The second show is March 10, and it will go on sale in the next week or so.

I hope you can come!


Thursday, February 25, 2010

How to dominate SXSW, Part 2: Tech yourself.

Hiya interwebs. This post is a continuation of our "How to dominate SXSW" series. For Part 1: Plan Your Schedule, click here.

This is the first SXSW that I'll have an iPhone, and maybe it is for you too. Last year, I conducted my SXSW planning on scraps of paper,  but this year I'm going high-tech! Well, somewhat - what I mean by that is I'm relying very much on my iPhone, and that's what this post is all about: The apps that will make your life easier, the Twitter people who will help you, and the back-up battery that you should DEFINITELY get if you're going all iPhone, all the way.  You might know a lot of this stuff already but! Here's what I'm doing, anyway.

(Also: No iPhone? No worries. Check out Lyssa's ever-growing Excel spreadsheet of free SXSW parties, and make sure to swing over to her blog This is Life in Austin where she'll be posting more updates).

how to dominate SXSW, part 2:
tech yourself.

Let's start with practicalities. People, your phone is probably gonna die. By which I mean run out of power before you are ready for that to happen.  So call in some back-up!

Back-Up Battery for iPhones

Get yourself a $10 back-up battery for your iPhone. Trust me there is nothing more annoying than being in the middle of a text about the next party, when all of a sudden your screen goes blank. I say that as an Austinite; if you are an out-of-towner with no working phone, it's not annoying. More like panic-inducing. So go order one of these handy back-up batteries, and here's one my friend Kerissa recommended:

You can purchase this here. Also, I blew this up so you could see it - this particular battery is fairly small.

With phones alive and well, let's get some apps.

Guide SXSW

This is a brand new iPhone app that came out last week, and if you are doing SXSW on the cheap, then my friend this app is for you. Why? It's specifically geared to free, non-wristband SXSW shows, as well as free beer.  Free fun, ahoy!

You can browse SXSW Music parties and shows by venue, band, genre, and date. Then, once you find shows you like, click "Favorite" and it will create a Favorites list for you.




But good things - even free things - come with a price. Guide SXSW is $0.99.

my.SXSW

This is the first-ever official SXSW schedule-based iPhone app, and it is free. This will actually be my first time to go to the conference part of SXSW, and I can already tell it's a major Godsend, because this app includes conference happenings too.

Anyway. Because it is a comprehensive, conference-wide SXSW app, keep in mind that not all of the stuff listed is free - some of the events listed will be badge required.  Here's what you can do with my.SXSW:

-Search/browse the entire official SXSW event list, and then filter by category, sub-category, track, time, and venue.

-Click into events to get details, add to your schedule, see/listen to pictures, video, and audio.

-Map: I LOVE this feature. You can find events going on near your location, and also find out what's going on around you each hour.




If you don't have an iPhone or app-supporting phone, register here and create your schedule online.

Photoshop for iPhone

Alright, this one is admittedly random, HOWEVER. It is free, it is awesome, and if you are taking pictures with your phone for mobile upload, then this is a dreamy piece of App Store booty.

Ok so let's say you're at a show. You take several pictures with your phone. But you either want to upload right THEN to Facebook, or, you want them to be nice-looking when you post to a blog later on. This app allows you to crop, flip, rotate, apply filters, and create color effects, etc., and it is completely intuitive - I know, because regular Photoshop is like impenetrable Confucian philosophy for me, while this app is remarkably easy.


What I'm saying is, people will basically think you are a badass photojournalist when they see the pictures you took...with your PHONE.

Foursquare (or Gowalla)

These are both fairly self-explanatory, and both have staunch loyalists. If you don't have one already, get one. It tells you where your friends are - meaning, their coordinates on a map - making it highly useful for something like SXSW.  Personally, I think I might be in the Gowalla camp.

Bump

...will eventually take the place of business cards. I'm just kidding; I hope nothing takes the place of business cards because they are sweet and Victorian to me. But Bump is ridiculously convenient for networking purposes: you simply open up the Bump app, literally knock it against someone else's phone whose Bump is also activated, and it trades your information with that individual. I'm not sure how. But I think it's magic.

I also want to recommend this great SXSW app guide from Rachel Youens, Austinite-dispatched-to-Australia and founder of Austin Style Watch. She mentions some killer ones I didn't discuss here, like the app for Tipsy Taxi. Good call, Rachel.

Moving on from apps now; let's talk about key Twitter folks to follow who will be scrupulously detailing the highlights of SXSW in real-time.

Twitter Follows for SXSW

Here are some of the people I'll be checking:

SXSW (well, duh.)
SXSW Parties
SXSW Party List (just to be on the safe side)
Ultra8201 (for your SXSW live music shake-down)
The Peen Scene (ditto, ESPECIALLY if your musical tastes are of the dance party, electronically-nimble variety)
MohawkAustin (one of the best SXSW rock venues)
Filter Magazine (because right now they are currently hosting my favorite SXSW parties)
Do512
TimAlamo (his Tweets are sporadic, but I think Tim League will kick it into gear for SXSW film stuff. Or else I'll go attack him with a unicorn)
Austin 360 @ SXSW film
GuyKawasaki (if he comes again this year you KNOW he'll be, like, the best SXSW Interactive Tweeter)
Peter Shankman (followed by this guy)
Perez Hilton (because like it or not his SXSW party is always mind-blowing)
C3 Presents (because together with Playboy, they put on the other gigantic, invite-only SXSW party)
Levi's Fader Fort (will host a several-day free party, and regularly gets great acts)
WornWhite (because she is a genius, an Austinite, works for Filter and always has the inside scoop on...pretty much everything. My afore-mentioned friend with the back-up battery above, Kerissa)
SXSWfreeNOMS (genius. Free food, free drank, of SXSW)
DrinkUpAustin (because why not?)
wristbandless
SXSW Pulse (their bio points to the "news" of SXSW, which I hope is code for gossip!)
bvSXSW (Brooklyn Vegan's special SXSW Twitter)

Along the lines of big-time Twitterers, you might also want to add yourself to Austin Real-Time, a growing list of SXSW attendees, hosted by Mashable. That will get you A+ for in-advance networking.

Finally iPhone users, here's one last tech tip from Kerissa/WornWhite, should AT&T go down momentarily during SXSW:

"Tell people to turn off their 3G and just use Edge if AT&T crashes. You can still send texts then."

Brilliant!

So there you have it, everybody. My tech gameplan for SXSW. If you have any other tech-related tips, please feel free to comment or email me (address in the right margin), and I'll try to add them to this list.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Haute mess.

So I'm not sure what the universe is trying to tell me. It's like it wants me to be a bride again! Only, maybe not a bride who dances like this at her wedding reception:

Ok seriously who dances like that. That's me, working my badonk-a-donk, while my sweet bridesmaid Jill sang her toast. Classy I know.

Anyway, not two weeks after I got to put my wedding dress back on again, I now get to put on a pretty pretty Linda Asaf dress to be in this!

Fancy!

Haute Weddings is happening this Thursday from 6-9pm, at three locations downtown - Studio 563, Eliza Page, and Estilo, and my friend Stephanie at BZ Events helped put it together. (Have you ever been to a progressive dinner? This is like that, but for wedding things.) There will be two fashion shows at Estilo, one at 6:30 and one at 8:00. I believe I am in the 8:00 one.

In addition to the show, there will be vodka and chocolate and stuff. And it is all free! Read the great blog post by BZ Events here, and RSVP here.

Along the lines of weddings, ladies, remember that mock bridal shoot my pals and I did a few weeks ago? Well I just want to tell you the name of the photographer, Laura Lewis, because she is really fabulous. Here is one of the shots she took of moi.

Ah, Laura. You make me look like a lady! And you even tamed my badonk-a-donk.

Monday, February 22, 2010

SXSW 2010 Parties: Filter Magazine. The Temper Trap, Dr. Dog, Miike Snow.

I know I know, you're the boss of you! But as your SXSW comrade-in-arms, may I suggest:

Of note:

The Temper Trap. Did you see 500 Days of Summer? They're on the soundtrack. "Sweet Disposition." I interviewed them last year for G4TV with the delightful Chris Gore, and I can honestly tell you that they are the nicest band I have ever met. Much like The Great Nostalgic in that way, and you know I love them. Also, the vocalist is insane in the membrane.

Dr. Dog. Beatles-y. Loveable. Smart. Yes.

Miike Snow. Dance party. If you happen to watch any CW...cough cough GOSSIP GIRL cough...you may recognize "Animal" from one of the episodes. Don't even front, I know some of you watch.

(Also Miike Snow may possibly have the coolest website ever).

The Filter Magazine Showdown at Cedar Street is a three-day showcase, starting at 11:00am each day and running through early evening. Also, from 11:00am - 1:00pm each day, there will be free barbeque! Pretty radical.

Go RSVP. Right now.

More party news for this one - giveaways and what not - will be updated on Filter's Facebook page.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Justine's, je t'aime.

Last night, Ross and I went to Justine's with a beautiful group of friends.

We had eaten there six days before for Valentine's Day.

I officially have a crush on this place!

A few months back, I wrote a little review on Yelp about Justine's.* Now, I've got many more an eatery to visit here in Austin, but from my experience, Justine's, East Side Show Room, and Blue Dahlia Bistro are the three sexiest places to dine in town.

(Of course if someone would like to refute this theory by treating me to Wink or Parkside - neither of which I've visited yet - then by no means will I stop you!)

Ross and I were talking the other night about the things we look for in a restaurant. His number one thing is food. My number one thing is atmosphere. I know - mine is a tad snobby. And if the food is terrible then of course I'll make a mental note of it. But when we go out to eat, I'm much more attuned to the mood of the space, the lighting, the small special touches (like East Side Show Room's steampunk lamps made out of machinery gears), than my food. Vintage chandelier > perfectly grilled salmon. It's true.

I've also decided that waiting has stopped being an issue for me. I'm not a patient saint all the time, mind you - the first time we ate at Justine's we had to wait a bit, and I was most definitely the annoying patron whining to the hostess every five minutes, "how far up on the list are we now?" - but as I discover the restaurants in Austin that I truly love, I find that typically, they are the ones that require a wait. And that is alright. Because the food is prepared by a few loving hands in a small kitchen. It's small because it's locally owned. (And nine times out of ten, I can drink while I wait, which makes things more than ok.) And because, where do I have to be, really. Nowhere. Between Twittering and texting and everything else, I think I'm starting to welcome these pockets of time where things run a bit slower.

Anyway, enough of all that. The REAL reason I'm writing this post is to show you these post cards Justine's made for their diners on Valentine's Day last weekend, and I loved them so much I asked her - Justin Gilcrease - if she wouldn't mind sharing.


Provocative, non? I heart.

*I am a terrible Yelper. This is one of exactly three Yelp reviews I've done, ever.

Friday, February 19, 2010

A story about a stranger, a street, an opera song.

About a month ago, I posted something rather disheartening, about a stranger. Yesterday, I posted about music. (Well, somewhat about music).

So today, I thought I would tell a nice story about strangers, and about music, too. But before I begin, there's something you need to know about me:

I've always had a dream of someone holding a sign with my name on it at the airport.

As in, a suited chauffeur, holding a hand-written, medium-sized piece of poster that says: "MOSELEY."

Such a funny little wish! I don't know where it comes from. But, several years ago, my sweet parents - who knew about my dream - picked me up at George Bush Intercontinental in Houston holding several signs with my name lovingly scribbled across, grinning madly and shaking them to get my attention, while I floated down an escalator, freshly returned from studying abroad in Italy. I grinned back.

I have another wish, somewhat similar, and I suspect both come from being an only child. Always wanting to recapture that feeling of being the most special.

The dream is this: being serenaded. I want to be serenaded.

But properly, I should add. By which I mean, serenaded in a big, cheesy way.  Lover standing beneath a window, strumming a guitar, crooning something heartfelt and cliche like "More Than Words."  And I've gotten pretty close. I had a college boyfriend, once, who wrote a song for me, recorded it, gave me a CD copy. It was gentle and tender, and I was delighted.

Ross also sang Elvis to me on our wedding day, thereby proving that A) he is the best husband in the world and B) karaoke would eventually be a major theme in our marriage. "Are You Lonesome Tonight" is kind of our song, and he rewrote the talking part where Elvis is all, "Act one was when we met..." to instead be about me in grad school, crying over copies of Jane Austen. I nearly tackled him because it was so awesome.

But, no window serenade. Not from a lover.

Strangers, however? That's a different story.

Twice now, two absolute strangers have sung for me. And both times, it has been opera. This is not a joke. You know how some people have recurring dreams? In my life, I have recurring guest tenors and baritones.  I'm not sure why this occurs. Once it happened in the underground parking lot of Ego's, and before that, in the middle of downtown Sacramento. Here is a story about one of them.

*    *    *

So I was walking back to my car after work. It was well past midnight, and I stumbled out of our office bleary-eyed, and slightly pissed off. It was closing week at our magazine, a hip city magazine in Sacramento, and I had been staring at other people's copy for roughly 12 hours. My stomach hurt. A combination of indigestion from too much ordered-in Chinese take-out, and stress over the grad school TA section I had to teach in a few hours.

Now, as a few readers of this blog know, I recently learned my lesson about walking at night by myself. But on this particular evening, it was 3:00am, my car was a few blocks away, and unlike that night at Shangri-La, I strode alone. Strode, incidentally, by from the old boarding house of that convicted California serial killer, Dorothea Puente.

Anyhow - I was I walking down J Street. As I rounded the corner to the block where my car was parked, I saw a tall person in the dark. They were standing at the opposite end of the block from me, and from what I could tell, we were the only two people outside at this hour. At least in the immediate vicinity.

As I walked, this person turned in my direction, but jerkily, like I had startled them. It was a woman. Hair long and stringy. Bulky, faded Army jacket.

That's when she started towards me.

Nothing to be alarmed about, I thought. Still, I sucked in my breath, reached in my purse to clutch my keys. Partly to get them ready for the car door lock, and partly to look...threatening.

I've never been in a physical altercation in my life, but I have years of fear-of-the-homeless bred into me. Not by my parents necessarily, but by comfortable middle-class culture in general, I believe.  We're always either overly naive or overly cautious, this large swath of us, but for once, I opted for cautious. Slipped each key between my fingers. Pesudo-steel-knuckle-self-defense-101 style.

She was ambling deliberately down the sidewalk, and she had a very slight limp. (More accurately: one of her feet walked like normal, while the other hissed along the pavement as she dragged it.) She giggled to herself. I held my keys tighter.

We were about twenty feet apart.

I could see my gray, small car in the dark, about four car spaces up. But she was closer to it than me. I took my fistful of keys out of my purse to indicate, "look sister, I don't know about you, but I'm about to get in my car and drive it."

She stopped in front of me before I got there. Pointed at me.

"Hey. Girl."

"Um...yes?"

"Hey, would you like to hear some opera?"

She started to smile as she said it. A touch mischievously. I didn't say anything, but instead, stepped off the pavement and onto the street, like my car was actually parked somewhere else.

"Hey. Hey, just WAIT."

"Yes?"

"I SAID, would you like to hear some OPERA."

Fuck. "Um, ok?"

Keep in mind, it was the middle of the night. Completely silent, except for us two souls, and for the far-off flashes of cars on a nearby highway. Just small urban whispers.

She reached out toward me, with a gesture that said, "great, stay right there." Then she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"La..."

The first note was raspy.

"Laaaaah." (Deeper).

"La! La!" (Staccato).

"LA!" (Arms raised in hallelujah chorus).

She was warming up, and totally loving this. I felt awkward.

"LA LA LA LA LA LA LA LA!"

I could tell this was her "number" by the way her arms were going now. They began to get all big and dramatic. Jesus, really? I thought. 

"LA! LA! LuuuuaaaAHH!" 

She was completely going for it, high note and everything, arms up in the air with hands cupped around something invisible, miming like they were holding something precious. Like something you'd see on TV. Something you'd see Celine Dion do.

Then, she stepped off the pavement toward me.

I began walking.

"LAAaaaa...hey! Hey wait! Hey, please."

I stopped. I turned around.

She was lowering herself down onto one knee in the street.  She kept one hand on the ground to steady herself, shakily, and one hand up in the air so as not to lose the momentum.

"La..."

It was soft. She paused to grunt, smacked her hand on her knee to make it still.

"LA....."

I could tell this was the big finish. She squeezed her hands into fists, raised both arms into the air. Shook them at the sky, but nodding at me too and grinning conspiratorially, like, "right?  See what I just did there? I did the fist shake thing, like opera singers, opera singers and their shaky fists!"

Her arms were tense with the moment. It was her most triumphant note.

"LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

God, it was loud. So loud, and in the middle of the night. But she didn't care. She dropped her arms drop down by her sides, breathing, and then the breath turned into a cough.

I was looking down at her. I smiled. And giggled.

She looked up at me. Smiled back, during the cough. Wiped her hands off roughly on her jacket, put both on her knee. Pushed herself up, put her arms out to get her balance.

"Alright I'm going."

She turned away from me, and as she did, I could see her grin, only partially concealed by her clumped hair.  She started limping down the street, in the same direction as she started.

I walked to my car. I opened the door. Everything was, again, quiet.

And in the quiet, I heard her start to clap.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

How to dominate SXSW, Part 1: Plan your schedule.

So, SXSW is about a month away, but if you live here in Austin (and even if you don't) you can sense the rabid anticipation.  "Are you going to the Mashable party?" "Is Soundgarden playing?" "Who is Perez booking?"

I used to think I had to do SXSW the "right" way.  But as it turns out, any attempt to tame the SXSW beast is just crazy talk! You can't do everything. There's too much amazingness. It's like walking into a chocolate shop, only, instead of simply chocolate, this shop also offers unicorn rides, skydiving, a kissing booth manned by your favorite celebrity, overflowing baskets of kittens, laser light show dance parties, and hugs from koala bears. (I may or may not have just described my personal version of heaven).

If you are worried you won't see everything there is to see at SXSW, dash that thought out of your mind right now. You won't. It's cool. But in between now and the big day, Michelle from Wicked Whimsy posed a good idea - why not try putting together a little guide of sorts?  So I thought I'd tell you guys how I tackle SXSW, and hopefully some of it is helpful. I'm going to gear it to the free SXSW experience as much as possible. Let's hustle this together.

NOTE: Most of the advice I offer is in the music and interactive departments of SXSW; I am admittedly very lame with SXSW film tips. If you have some, I would love to supplement this guide with your knowledge. I am attending some screenings for the very first time this year, so by all means, spill your wisdom.

how to dominate sxsw, part 1: 
plan your schedule.

You will undoubtedly end up cobbling together an overlapped, overly ambitious SXSW schedule using various music blogs, Facebook invitations, and party RSVP websites. Since the key word here is RSVP  - which you will do often between now and SXSW - I'm going to direct you to three websites that will help you RSVP like a ninja.

The Official SXSW Grid: Music
This site, to me, is somewhat terrifying. But useful if you know what to look for. I recommend supplementing it with something like this: "SXSW Schedule Initial Impressions," from Matthew Odam at Austin360/the Statesman.

Know that there will likely be some venues here, Austinites, that you have never heard of. That's because new venues are literally created just for SXSW - or more accurately, little-used spaces are spruced up and given a big vinyl sign for SXSW. So if you're like, "why have I never heard of the Intergalactic Rainbow Planetarium?" that's because it literally did not exist last week.

My favorite FREE showcases tend to be: 
-Whatever is happening at Auditorium Shores.
-The Village Voice party.
-The Rachael Ray showcase (you think I'm kidding but I'm not. Last year: New York Dolls, people).
-Filter Magazine's party. Last year, they had Bat for Lashes.
-Many people loved Fader Fort last year, where Kanye made a surprise appearance. I was only at Fader Fort for a little bit (missed Kanye), but they often plan some big hush-hush person.
-Brookyln Vegan co-sponsors many SXSW shows, so hit them up to find out what they're putting on.

To find these parties quickly on the SXSW site, browse the grid by venue. Then enter a search on your web page for "Village Voice," "Filter," etc.

Also never, ever to be missed: The Mess With Texas mini-festival, put on by hometown heroes, Transmission Entertainment. This was far and away my favorite showcase last year, with Cursive, Thao Nguyen, and more. The website is here and will be updated as we near SXSW.

Do512's SXSW Page
...is basically genius. It's a one-stop shop to RSVP for all SXSW shows and parties - music, interactive, and film. Note that it includes both free and badge-required shows here, so keep that in mind when you design your Do512 schedule. I will probably do most of my SXSW party organization here, and if I get a chance, stop by the Do512 offices myself so I can throw my arms around the staff members and smother them with gratitude!

BONUS: If you register on Do512 (looking in your direction, out-of-towners), you'll get their SXSW Top 10 Parties of the Day emails.  DO IT.

ALSO: I'm going to be updating my Do512 SXSW schedule regularly if you want some party ideas. I just started so the list is small - for now. Grow, it shall.

Republic of Austin
This fab local blog is keeping a running list of party recommendations, including some solid interactive party recs.  On that note - guys. If you haven't been to the interactive parties yet, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING. I think we're all hip to the program that social media is pretty much ginormous, and for a few nights in Austin, you can party with the internet game-changers. Last year, I met Peter Shankman, founder of HARO, which was geekily exciting!

Here on Austin Eavesdropper, I'll be posting SXSW parties too - both the big ones and the teensy ones - so you can always come back here for suggestions.  I aim to keep things in a bike-able radius when I do SXSW. I know. Me, biking! It's the one time of year I do it. And it is humorous.

So, there you have it: A primer for planning your SXSW experience. This will no doubt be updated, and I welcome any and all ideas. In closing, here is a glamorous picture of friends Ronnie, GARY!, Sissel and I from last year's SXSW.


What you can see in this picture are bean bag chairs. What you cannot see in this picture is the girl I had just met in the parking lot.

"Hey, do you know where people are going to find a restroom?" I asked.

"Right here." Lifts up dress. "Shhhhhhhhhhhhh."  (That would be the sound of her peeing on the ground right in front of me).

This was the fanciest, most celeb-filled party I attended at SXSW last year.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Music to celebrate the sudden sunshine: Tribella.


Less than two weeks ago, a magical gift appeared in my email inbox. It was a message from Sarah Glynn, front woman of power pop group, Tribella.  She wanted to let me know that their debut CD was about to drop, and would I be interested in reviewing it?

Now Reader, as you may or may not know, I am typically terrible at these things. And by "these things" I mean sounding smart and informed in album review. But! Tribella's soon-to-be-released CD, Thirteen, has been stuck (willingly) in my car stereo for about a week now, and since I love it so much, I'm going to give this one a shot.

Alright, so for years, I was convinced Liz Phair was an Austinite. I'm not sure why (wishful thinking?), but perhaps Tribella had this desire, too. At any rate, the songs on Thirteen reminds me of Phair's gently vindictive lyric sensibilities:

"Once I was born a maker,
Then I became a taker,
America they pulled the wool right over both my eyes."

That's from "Deal Breaker," one of my favorite tracks on the album.

Musically, Tribella has touches of '90s indie pop rocker and fellow Austinite Abra Moore, particularly in Sarah Glynn's vocals, both breathy and powerful at once. (Pause. Raise your hand if you were as obsessed with Abra Moore's song "Four Leaf Clover" as I was?)

The songs on Thirteen, which drops next Tuesday (February 23), have quite a few irresistible pop hooks - I've put my favorites on a player below - but Dena Gerbrecht adds a complex layer of prog rock drums to each track, yielding a rich listen. The result is an album that you'll swallow happily, but not guiltily - this is well-crafted pop. Pop you can feel good about.

Tribella has a CD release show for Thirteen at Lambert's on Saturday, February 27. Here are some goodies below, and if you like, you can buy them for $0.99 each here. I like "Deal Breaker" and "My Guest List" for driving around and blasting; the Eric LeRoc remix of "Guest List" for running or at-home dance party. It's delicious.

Deal Breaker


My Guest List


Guest List (Eric LeRoc Remix)


(Thank you for reading this review!)

Sunday, February 14, 2010

For a thoughtful Valentine's Day: Love and transgendered eight year olds. Or: What's love got to do with it?

Talk about a post title, huh? I dare you not to read.

Below is a Valentine's Day post from GARY!, and it contains a little gift at the end from This American Life, our mutual radio show crush.

For the tender of heart, note that GARY! says this particular show made his eyes water ("that's guy for 'cry,'" he said).  Read, listen, ponder.  Then, tell us what you're thinking about love today if you like! (Me: "For dinner tonight...what outfit do I own that involves chains and/or whips?") Here's GARY!:

Well friends, today is Valentine’s Day.  Yes that’s right.  V-DAY!!!!  Which is, in my humble opinion, one of the more pointless holidays on the calendar.

Now if you think that I’m just another love-scorned guy that is hellbent on ruining Valentine’s Day for the masses, stop right there, because you would only be half right.  I actually consider myself to be somewhat of a romantic...even though this strange holiday seems intent on making half the world feel amazing, and the other half feel extremely left out.  To put it all in perspective, I thought I'd share with you guys something I heard the other day on This American Life, but first - a little background on where I'm coming from.

Now I suppose I should start out by saying, in full disclosure, that I did indeed get out of a relationship in November. This was a particularly hard two weeks for me, but I suppose one of the nice things about living in the land of logic is that given enough time, you can basically rationalize anything.  We weren’t right for each other.

If you have ever found yourself in a relationship with someone just as stubborn as you are, then you know what I’m talking about.  Our saving grace was that Dan was smart enough to actually say that we weren’t right for each other, and two weeks later, I was wise enough to realize he was right.  This is a luxury some people will go their whole lives never knowing, because most people never say anything when a problem arises.  They ignore it. It slowly festers and that one thing eventually becomes three things. And then before you know it, words are being wielded as barbed weapons that we hurl at each other with incredible fervor for the sole purpose of hurting the person we at one time loved.  And then, when it’s all said and done, we can’t even be in the same room with the person we were at one time sharing our life with.  Isn’t that insane?  Isn’t love crazy?

The short answer is yes: love IS crazy, and we all know this, and we STILL continue to search for it over and over again.  But I choose to find beauty in that insanity (see. I told you I was a romantic).

All this is important, because this is the first year that I find myself truly perplexed by St Valentine.  A day dedicated to love.  One of the things that got me thinking about an episode of This American Life I heard earlier this week. This particular episode was called “Somewhere Out There,” and dealt with the idea that there may or may not be a person out there for everyone.

The prologue offers up the idea that there is one particular person for everyone (and using the Drake equation, a Harvard physicist paints a pretty bleak picture of your odds of finding that person).  I found the first act amazing, because while it talks about being broadsided by love, it also talks about how hard it can be to hold on to it.

The second act deals with an entirely different kind of love. Self love. It's about two eight year old kids who travel across the country and become best friends for a night.  What I find amazing about these two kids is that they have truly accepted WHO and WHAT they are from the early age of eight.  I say "what they are" because these two kids are actually transgendered.  Transgendered eight year olds that, from as early as two, identified themselves as girls, and not the boys they were born as.

That these kids already understand that people don't understand them, and probably won't, but that it's ok because they love themselves, and for right now that's good enough for them - this is utterly amazing to me.  I'm hoping this resonates with you as it did for me.

If you have 30 minutes give the first two acts, here, a listen.

That's all I got,
GARY

From ThisAmericanLife.org:

Act Two. Tom Girls.

Lilly and Thomasina have a lot in common. They’re both eight years old. And they were both born boys, although it became clear pretty early on that they'd prefer to be girls. There aren’t all that many kids in the world like them, but recently, at a conference in Seattle on transgender parenting, they met. And they immediately hit it off. They could talk about things with each other that they'd never been able to share with other friends back home. And that’s comforting, even if they never see each other after the conference ends. Producer Mary Beth Kirchner tells the story, with production help from Rebecca Weiker. (17 minutes)

Photo credit above: ThisAmericanLife.org

A song for the anti-Valentine's Day soul.

Do any of you have a friend who makes a particular skill seem kind of effortless?  My friend Rene is like this with outfits, and with Nina, it's funny stories. Last weekend for example, she just about broke my laughing muscle telling a story about shopping for running shoes. That's right...running shoes.

Anyway, my friend Jason of The Lennings can pretty much sing "Old McDonald" and I will think it's the greatest thing, ever. Here is a lo-fi rendition of one of their songs, "See You in Hell," with different lyrics. He told me it was ok to post it if I "thought the suck level was low enough."



It's a little hateful, but a lot pretty.

I love it, Jason.

Friday, February 12, 2010

GARY! has a birthday, internet rejoices! Also: Digital Love.

Well guys, I'm not going to beat around the bush. What I'm about to show you is kinda sexy.

Tonight is Digital Love, a show hosted by dance party BFF's, Knuckle Rumbler.  (Pause. If you are a regular reader of Austin Eavesdropper, you might think that Knuckle Rumbler pays us to talk about their parties. And if you thought that you would actually be right, because they do pay us - generously.  In awkward hugs. The side, one-armed kind, that are like "oh, hey....good to see you....um."  GARY! and I are holding out for full-frontal).

Anyway! Remember how I said this was about to get sexy. This next thing might be a teensy, tiny bit NSFW, but it is enormously clever so if you're boss is awesome, he/she probably won't mind.



This is a video flyer, made by Emmett at Rusty Screw Productions. And if that doesn't convince you to go, here! Look at this pretty pink poster!

If you're anything like me and effortlessly dazzled by pink things, well, I'll see you there. But if you need more information here are some links to sample:

speak
missions
love at 20 
dj markus with a k

Rumor has it SPEAK packed Waterloo Records on Wednesday, and?  They showed up in an Oscar Meyer Weiner Mobile

In addition to the dance party tonight, there will be chocolate. That's right, CHOCOLATE. And an Annie Ray photo booth.

But. Would you believe I haven't even gotten to the most exciting part? GARY!'s birthday is tomorrow!
We're unofficially kicking it off at Digital Love tonight, so if you'd like to meet this handsome man, well....form an even cue, gentlemen.

Poster courtesy of Andrew at Frank + Victor.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Claudia.

This is our cute, cuddly cat, Claudia.


This is why Claudia is kind of a douchebag.

Claudia likes to hunt Ross Husband. Lately, she's been stalking him all over the house. What she'll do is, she'll hide behind a piece of furniture when he enters the room, and then when he walks by, Claudia will MAUL HIS ANKLE like she wants to kill it. Which she probably does.

We're not sure why she has been so attack-y lately, but we're pretty sure smothering her with love is not helping.

"Yuck, STOP IT!" is exactly what she's saying here. If you thought those words while looking at Claudia's face, congratulations because not only are you correct, you share a brain with my cat.

I tried to get a shot of Claudia being all mad and teeth-baring while Ross Husband messed with her on the floor, but she effectively Bruce Lee'd my camera lens:

She is totally round-housing Ross Husband's hand.

Anyway, when she gets anxious, she deals with it by taking it out on our poor red chair in the living room. In the battle between chair and Claudia, I believe the rough breakdown is something like:
Chair = 2
Claudia = 50,000,000

As you can see, Claudia commands a healthy margin.

Here is one more picture of Claudia, looking over at Ross, silently planning to stalk, attack and eat him.

Also? It looks like the white, bright light of heaven is shining into our foyer.

(PS, I'm sorry. I promise GARY! and I will start talking about Austin and stuff to do et. al. soon.  Sometimes I have to take a break and talk about my psycho cat).

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

3 good things + Naughty Valentine's.

Hey you.  Today is Wednesday, and I have terribly exciting news to share!

Actually - news itself somewhat mild, but I hope you'll indulge me anyway.

Two - no, three! - things happened already today that confirmed that, despite gross nasty weather here in Austin spawned from the loins of Satan himself, life is generally good. After my cranky post yesterday about Valentine's Day (the movie), I was in the mood for happy self to return, you know?  The satisfaction that comes with ranting, especially internet ranting, is too temporary.  So here are three GOOD THINGS:

1. I discovered the best blog on the whole internet


Technically this happened last night, but the joy of my discovery hasn't waned, even after a full night's sleep. This blog is Hyperbole and a Half, and it is the first time I've become near evangelical about anything on the internet (aside from this psycho cat). It is also the first time I've ever written a straight-up fan letter to a stranger, because I want the blogger behind it, Allie, to be famous. I do.

Thank you to Hipstercrite's blog roll for helping me discover it, as I have basically been giggling about Allie's Paintbrush bear, dinosaur, and unicorn drawings all day. When I was kissing Ross Husband last night, I accidentally giggled in the middle of the kiss because I was thinking about something Allie said, and all crestfallen he goes, "no...no LAUGHING!" This prompted me to hug him even tighter and remind him that I am inept in this department, i.e., The Department of Not Laughing During Inappropriate Times. This happens a LOT and I always feel bad for it. Ross Husband is much better at controlling his urge to laugh, and yet somehow, he married a person who cannot make it through a knock-knock joke without hyperventillating.

Anyway, Allie makes me hyperventilate.

It's all ok though because this morning, I...

2. Made the bed

Are you falling down because this blog post is so interesting? Well, I don't blame you. It's about to get exciting.

I have this new thing that I do now, every morning. Make the bed! People, I cannot tell you how this is changing my life. I realized you may have stopped by this blog to find out about a show or clothes or some such and now you're probably like: "What? Why. Bed boring, stop." But, let me assure you, making the bed has lasting consequences. And friends, these consequences are good.

Brain = More smart. For example, today when I got dressed, I prepared top half of the body for gym, bottom half of body for work, and now, I cannot get over how unbelievably clever I feel. Is revelation! At the end of the day, I never want to change out of my work outfit if I have put even the most minute amount of thought into it, because it's cute (or half-cute) and I am proud of myself, and want the feeling to last.  Today's outfit is just cute enough, meaning, it's business on bottom, party on top. (By which I mean, Gym Party.) This sudden outfit efficiency could be a random breakthrough, or, it could be my made bed, sending its calming logic to other areas of my life.  I'm going with bed.

Cat = More behaved. An unmade bed is irresistible to my cat Claudia.  She thinks we have created a playground just for her, and this puts her in a feisty, ankle-attacky kind of mood. I have to pull on her tail when she gets this way, and that only makes her more blood-thirsty.  Today she did nothing of the sort! Instead, she took a nap on the floor. That's better, Claudia.

Room = More successful.  A made bed room is a successful person room. It's true. Barack Obama? Made bed. Brad and Angelina? Made bed. Self?  Made. Bed. Are you seeing the company I'm now associating myself with?

Finally, here is the last good thing I want to share with you, because you may want to join me for this:

3. Valentine's at Justine's
I'm not sure what this photo has to do with Justine's, but it's on the Facebook page and I like it!

Ok. So on Sunday night, Valentine's Day, Justine's is have a Marquis de Sade-themed party, and if you had to look up this person on Wikipedia like I just did, you would find out that he is a very racy character indeed. (Don't you love how whenever you hear about a historical French person, it's never like, "well, they wrote a novel, and that was that!" It's always: "oh, they wrote a novel alright. A novel about FREAKY SEX.")

Anyway, according to the publicist, "everyone is encouraged to dress to the nines in vintage lace, rubber, latex, ribbons, black silk, whips, collars, chains – anything their whimsy dreams up that has anything to do with bondage."

Well hot dog, chains and whips? Count me IN. I haven't told Ross Husband about the bondage dress-up part yet...will be interesting to see how he responds. He'll either raise his eyebrows and ask what I'm wearing (excellent question), or ask if we can bring Claudia on a little leash.

The event page on Facebook has lots of info, including the burlesque and musical activities that will be happening. Justine's normally doesn't take reservations but I believe they are taking a limited number for this night. We are going at 8:30.

Thanks for everything, Wednesday!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Gender stereotypes that I wish would end. UPDATED.

Good day, let's talk social constructions!

Ok. This is not the kind of thing GARY! and I normally discuss on Austin Eavesdropper, being far too busy thinking about dance parties and clothes and stuff to fill our heads with weighty matters like gender stereotypes. But, seriously. I want these - and by "these" I mean reductive, uncreative depictions of the Typical Man and Typical Woman - to stop.



Alright. The advertising brains behind this Super Bowl Dodge Charger ad knew it would piss women off, and the feminist response has been said and said well. The commentators include my delightful editor Andrea Grimes at Heartless Doll, and I recommend you reading her post.

The bottom line: women are oppressive nags, men attached to them are neutered drones; women like vampires, men like fast cars. For the thoughtful lady (and gentleman), this commercial is...boring. No woman wants a man like that, and I'm not sure he exists either, except perhaps in the imaginations of people who create Super Bowl commercials. Moving on.



The trailer for Valentine's Day is a smidge more subtle, and yet, it makes me angrier. Angry because I know woman friends of mine, whom I adore and who are smart, sharp, and sane, will pay money to see this movie.

Watching this trailer, I am reminded of the first time I heard "Your Body is a Wonderland" by John Mayer. Even though I am not the ballsiest or certainly the most articulate feminist that ever walked, something feminist indeed pricked up inside me when I heard that song. Something called suspicion. Suspicion for any guy who has ever called my skin "porcelain" and my mouth "candy lips" just so he could get in my pants. And ladies, that is what that song is: an I-will-be-getting-in-your-pants-because-I-am-sensitive song.

Now with the upcoming release of Valentine's Day, that small, suspicious voice is piping up again. I think she's saying: "You about to get played, sucka."

And ladies?  We ARE being played. No one cares whether you are single on Valentine's Day. This is a made-up fret.

I should probably stop right here and say I am not patently against girly movies. Love Actually?  LOVE IT. I'll watch it again and again, cry every time, and replay the scene where Hugh Grant dances to The Pointer Sisters roughly eight times upon each viewing. I will eat every Jane Austen remake up with a big British spoon, quote Clueless 'til I'm blue in the face, and if Colin Firth stars in anything I'm pretty much sold.

But I won't watch a movie that makes me feel like it has been focus grouped to death.  A movie that was made with a very talented, charismatic, and good-looking cast to be sure, but by placing this cast in t-i-r-e-d roles. Queen Latifah is the sassy black friend? You don't say! Ashton Kutcher is aw-shucks boyish yet tender dreamboat? SHOCKING.

Also, and this is a spoiler alert so stop reading if you plan to see this movie. Bradley Cooper gets with a dude in the movie. Did you know that? Watch the trailer again. Doesn't it look like he's got eyes only for Julia? Friends, those come-hither gazes are for Eric Dane, but the marketing team of Valentine's Day carefully excised that detail. Maybe this is so they could save one surprise among a set of storylines we can pretty much figure out ourselves (sorry), but I can think of a few cooler surprises. (Like Kathy Bates getting with Jessical Biel). Warner Bros! Yay for featuring two gay male characters; now step up to the plate and own it!

One last thing to say about all this. I have been trying to figure out why I adored Love Actually, yet met Valentine's Day - and last year, its 2009 doppelganger He's Just Not That Into You - with a hard eye roll.  A tough question. But I think the answer is this: while appealing to my estrogen, Love Actually didn't feel oh-so-carefully calibrated to monetize a made-up point of female insecurity. I know I know - I'm married, so I cannot speak for single women here. But I am willing to bet actual single ladies don't greet Valentine's Day with impending disaster.  I bet they don't beat up pinatas. I bet they don't drink the pain away. When I was single, my friends and I drank...but not for pain. For chocolate. Because red wine and chocolate are delicious together. You know it, and I know it.

(Ok I lied; I have ONE more thing to say and then I promise I'm through. I'm mad Valentine's Day co-opted my beloved Phoenix and Mika. Grumble harumph grumble!)

Thoughts?

EDITOR'S NOTE, 2/14/10: I received an insightful, wise email from Rose at Pink Sun Drops after I posted this, and asked her if I could share part of it with y'all.

Rose and I were discussing exactly which message Valentine's Day, the movie, is trying to peddle about Valentine's Day, the holiday.  Reading her email helped me realize how quickly I latched onto the reductive parts of the film's marketing, and didn't stop to consider the fact that there may be a more subtle, non-couple love lesson squirreled away inside the story itself. On that note, here is Rose:

"Valentine's Day has always symbolized love for me, whether that be with a significant other, your family, or your friends. My Dad said he didn't celebrate Valentine's Day, but would always go out the day after and have teddy bears, chocolates, and balloons delivered to my school for my sister and I. I love that memory. Recently I've become aware that there are indeed women who hate Valentine's Day, though, so I don't mind seeing that take on it either. That being said, I am generally wary of all star casts in movies as they seem to bomb the most often. But I always keep hoping for another Love Actually. I guess in the end I'm hoping this movie emphasizes, as Emma Grace puts it the production notes from the movie, "It doesn't have to be a couples' thing; it can be just about family and friends... as long as you're with people you love."

--Thank you for your gentle words, Rose. If I was a better journalist, I would actually go see the movie, and report back!  Sadly, I am not, but if you go see it, I will be intrigued by your reaction. Please share if you do, yes?

Monday, February 8, 2010

Fashion Freakout 2010.

Friday night, fashion - along with a crowd of about 900 people - freaked out at Mohawk.

Comic Matt Bearden was about the most delightful emcee anyone could ask for.  (So much so that I am currently browsing his website, looking for dates when I can see his stand-up.) The models were not only nice to look at, but cute in their struts, too. Fashion Freakout is one of the only fashion shows I've attended where models are encouraged to show off their personality a little, and respond to the blaring overhead rock music with a touch of air guitar, a shimmy at the end of the catwalk, or a wink at the audience.  We shrieked in kind, and I snapped pictures as fast as I could.

Speaking of pictures: I took SO many that night, but only a few of them turned out lovely. Apologies in advance that so many are taken from the back (but, then, given that these are models, perhaps you won't mind looking at these backsides). For more, hop on over to Everzalez, who snapped some delicious pics, or the commentary and video on News 8. (Note: It's taking my computer a little long to load that particular video, but it's probably just my computer). Amanda at Dishevelled Stars got a ton of amazing shots too, and Indiana at Adored Austin recorded a killer video.


Spotted: Tiffany Diane of Austin is Burning working the shit out of some big hair and black frocks on the runway.

Holy Jebus I loved this show.  There was some serious metal accompanying these looks, prompting cute Keaton O'Neal (wife of Austin AV Club editor Sean O'Neal) and I to give each other knowing fist pumps at one point. Girlfriend knows her metal! "Motley Crue, second album," she said. Keaton, if you're reading this: you are a badass.

While the styling between the three featured vintage shops - Buffalo Exchange, New Bohemia, and Prototype Vintage - was very diverse, my favorite features were: '90s Courtney Love/Hole looks, with grungy teased hair paired and short, poofy prom dresses; lacey tights; tiered taffeta (freaking layers of it); and of course, the abundant black leather. Yummy.

Thanks again Audrie San Miguel for the preview on Austin Eavesdropper, and already, I am entirely too jazzed for FF 2011. 

I love you, Fashion Freakout!