Soon, this will be ME.

Ok, probably not quite that.  But remember when we were all talking about the New Year's Word, and I off-handedly mentioned aerial dance?  I TOTALLY SIGNED UP FOR CLASSES.

They start tomorrow.  I'm going with my friend Kim.  Who is a legitimate dancer.  I am nothing of the sort ... but oh well.

To get excited, I was looking at videos and pictures of aerial dancers all weekend, and it reminded me of this "imagination game" my roommate and I used to play in college. Every time we'd meet someone, we'd cast them in an ongoing, imaginary circus, invented by the two of us. This didn't include just friends; it also included our professors and family.  Every time we'd be in a class together, and the professor would make a certain gesture, all I had to do was mouth "tightrope walker" to Kathryn, and she'd giggle in agreement.

Anyway, of course we both had to cast ourselves, too.  Kathryn was one of the girls with the huge feather headdresses that rode the elephants; I was trapeze!

 (PS. The name of this file, when I found it on the internet, was "Tito on trapeze again.GIF."  How funny is that?  Who named that file?  There goes Tito, again.  Always on that damn trapeze.)

Anyway, it's all coming together now.  I'm taking this trapeze business and making it a reality. 

Kim and I just signed up for beginner classes, and I actually found a video of beginner dancers at Blue Lapis Light -- where we're enrolled -- below.  It's pretty inspiring!  They do drops, and twist themselves up in the scarves, high in the air.  I really can't wait.

(It gets going about a minute in).

Here are some more videos of Blue Lapis Light dancers.

Anyway, I will keep everyone up to speed on my progress. I am not the most graceful person.

Yesterday, for example. I was carrying a basket of laundry outside, and because I have a tendency to shuffle I didn't pick my foot up quite high enough, and stumbled on a tiny, pointy twig sticking up out of the ground. I sprawled out in the side yard by our house, and my clothes went flying! (But fortunately it was the dirty pile.)

I think it might be a sign that my true grace isn't found on land, but in the air.

UPDATED:  Ok.  I just got home from my first class, and it WAS. AWESOME.

I cannot wait to go back.  I thought we'd just learn, like, "this is the mat.  And this, this is the floor" but we actually learned tricks and stuff!  I'm not a floating butterfly yet, but I'm not hopeless either!

UPDATE #2 (1/26/10):  Check it out.  This is class #5.  You can't really see my face, but what it's saying is, "please don't die."

It's Ok To Be Me (Even if I'm a Drag Queen)! - QueerBomb.

It's hard to write this post without getting gossipy.  Because there's an (awesome-sounding) party tonight that is, in fact, born out of a very real controversy. A controversy here in Austin.

So Austin Pride is this weekend, hosted by The Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. It is a two-day event with some MONEY and some extremely well-selected entertainment (Mario Cantone, haaay!) behind it.  This is the 8th year of the festival, and may I just say that after living north of the Bay Area for two years in California, and losing my "Pride virginity" in Los Angeles of all places roughly four years ago with my gay besties, I was thrilled to move back to Austin and see that it HAD a Pride. My little Austin!

However, the official line from Austin Pride is that it is "family-friendly." I.e., no assless chaps. And the subversive, carnivalian, perhaps shocking forms of dress and behavior that come with an assless-chaps-embracing community.

The goal of Austin Pride - again, from organizers - is to be educational, to not alienate, to not scare anybody.

Which I can understand ... sort of. Ross and I were talking about this in the car the other day, and he said: "Well I see their point. They want to be taken seriously."

But that's just the thing. The standards that define "serious" and "silly" in our culture are shaped by heteronormative rules.

(And friends, at SF and Los Angeles Pride, you witness those rules being gleefully broken.  Even though I'm not gay, or a man - though I've sometimes wondered if I might be a sweet gay man inside a woman's body? - that wild anything-goes spirit gives way to some exhilarating celebration. I enjoyed the longest dance party of my entire life at a Paramount Studios back lot that year in LA, a vast sea of shirtless and sweaty pectorals, with me, blond Tolly, happily bobbing away in the center of it.)

"But I know several serious drag queens!" I retorted, to Ross. Which is a lie. All the drag queens I've ever seen, in my life, are hysterical broads. They want to make you laugh.

You're laughing because you begin to see what a made-up thing gender is, where hormones and nature-bequeathed DNA strands stop, and social constructions take over.

Anyway, without getting too off-topic here, a group of queer activists in Austin have organized a "counter-Pride" march and party for tonight: QueerBomb. The idea is to celebrate queer culture in ALL its diverse, eye-popping glory, which I think is AWESOME. 

For context, I give you some Pride background by the Austin Chronicle's Kate Getty, in an analysis she wrote back in 2008:

"The concept of Pride originated out of a riot in Greenwich Village, New York City, June 28, 1969, at the Stonewall Inn to be exact, a speakeasy gay bar. After the events of that fateful evening, Stonewall became known as the place where, for the first time, gays, lesbians, drag queens, and those deemed "different" stood up to the oppression they regularly faced. In 1969, even the simple acts of same-sex dancing and canoodling were enough for search, seizure, and a nice beat-down. Police would raid gay bars on the regular. Queers were sick and disgusting and an easy target. But on that June night, after a day of laying beloved icon Judy Garland to rest, those angry Stonewall patrons pushed back in revolt. The event is cited as the beginning of the modern American LGBT movement. In honor of Stonewall, most communities celebrate Gay Pride in June with locally sanctioned celebrations without the threat of being beaten bloody, thrown into jail or a mental institution, or just plain killed dead."

Kate Messer's also has an article in this week's Chronicle, about QueerBomb, here.

Republic of Austin's Chris Apollo Lynn's insightful, personal post about QueerBomb is here.

And now, I give you tonight's QueerBomb details!:

MARCH: Friday, June 4, 8:30pm (details below)

PARTY: Immediately following march at Independent Studios (501 Studios)

FEATURING: Little Stolen Moments, Christeene, Kings & Things, DJ Jay Jay Booya and DJ Chelsea Starr (of Hot Pants Party fame)

FREE

The march will leave from The Independent and march down 6th, looping back up 7th for the party. Outrageous, gender-bending dress is encouraged.

In the words of one of my buddies (and a QueerBomb ring leader), "let's all look like Xanadu vomited on Sid & Nancy, mmkay?"

(PS: What are YOUR thoughts on Austin Pride and QueerBomb? Would love to hear how you all feel about any and all of it, no matter where you stand. Truly I am trying to take a nuanced viewpoint myself).

TONIGHT: David Bowie, Prince, and YOU. Glam Night at the HIGHBALL.

Hello, dear Austin Eavesdropper readers. What are you doing tonight? Does it involve glitter? I hope so!

My buddy Candace Carlisle of Electric Promotions are having a joint birthday party together at Highball tonight, and it is open to all. No RSVP necessary, just come.

The theme is glam, SO we're having a live David Bowie/Iggy Pop set at 10pm (provided by local faves Frantic Clam), and a Prince set at 11pm (provided by Lost Werks and The Lennings). Then it's all-night (well, until 2am anyway) glam music video dance party!  New York Dolls!  Blondie!  Lady Gaga!

Basically anyone who wears sequins!

On that note, I am dressing up as Bowie and my outfit is halfway finished. Here is the look I am going for:

Oh David Bowie, you are just the dreamiest. I was also thinking of this look, but would you believe that one-sleeve one-legged patchwork unitards are surprisingly hard to find?

Oh well, while I hunt down the rest of my outfit, here is the song I'm singing for inspiration. Even though it is Prince.



Yes! Is this not the most ridiculous. I think they borrowed the set from a Jane Fonda exercise video series. I love you Prince!

Highball typically gets a line anyway on Saturday night so you might want to come early (doors at 9pm), especially since Tito's and Sugar Mama's hooked us up with some treats for early arrivals. Just sayin'.

see you at the glam-off!

TONIGHT: A post from GARY! Behold, They're Coming Back...

Tolly here, physically restraining her gorgeous blogging partner GARY! from throwing up all over the computer, he is so excited about this dance party tonight. I was all, "what is the deal with this Auto Body show, GARY?" and friends, this is what he wrote back.

What you are about to read is a kind-of-adorable expository essay on a handful of (awesome) electric acts, with a special educational section on mash-up music, supplemented by video, wit, and abundant exclamation points.  Here's GARY!: 

Well, hello there!

You might have noticed that I've been mildly absent from the blog lately.  I guess I've been more "behind the scenes," really. Lately I like to think of myself as "The Blog Whisperer" or "The Blogging Intern," but only because I love referring to Tolly as "The Boss." You see it's part of my job here on the AE to keep "The Boss" informed. Even though we only live about two miles from each other, we explore different parts of Austin, and then share our discoveries with each other another and with you guys. So with that said I think it's time to do what I do best, which is gush about something I love. In this case, it's Auto Body, Prepmode, Car Stereo (Wars), Machine, and The Parish.

If you have been following us for a while you may recognize Auto Body from a previous post I did that actually had nothing to do with Auto Body (that's how impressed I was when I saw them for the first time) I believe they included the words "melt your face off." Ring a bell?

Now, Tolly and I realize we gush more than one of those oil derricks in There will Be Blood, but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing - it's gushing, after all, that makes me curious about things. When my friend Lindsay wouldn't shut up about how great Auto Body was, I joined her at The Parish for Free Week and ended up having one of the most EPIC nights I've ever had. So gushing is a good thing, see? It makes miracles happen.

Auto Body:


Auto Body:


So now you know how I feel about Auto Body, so let's move on to another great thing about tonight's show: PREPMODE.

I've had the chance to catch him a few times around town, and let me just say the man gets me. Everywhere he plays, he brings the party with him. He's an expert on the decks, as both a DJ and a turntable-ist, and has more than a few tricks up his sleeve. I believe this is one of the last times you will actually be able to catch him before he jaunts off to the Caribbean as the resident DJ of a cruise ship (no joke). So take my advice and get in on this action while the gettin' is still good. Rumor has it that Prepmode may even drop a couple of turntable mashups himself.

PREPMODE'S "PON DE FLOOR" (MAJOR LAZER) TONE TRICK:


Had enough? Well tough! We still have one more thing to go over before I can let you get back to whatever it was you started ignoring when you decided to read this blog (to which we say THANK YOU!).

Anyway, tonight's action is so good they've even brough Car Stereo (Wars) back from New York to partake in the awesomeness. If you aren't familiar with CSW's you are at least familiar with what it is he does. He's a mashup artist. A what? A MASH-UP. ARTIST. Basically someone that thinks a little differently than your typical DJ. They take 2 different songs with beats that complement each other and mash them together. You may have heard of Girl Talk or The Hood Internet; both are great examples of what a mashup artist does, except the main difference here is that Girl Talk should SERIOUSLY be on a heavy doses of Adderall.

Check out the video example below, courtesy Car Stereo (Wars), and you will see what I'm talking about.

Car Stereo (Wars):


Do yourself a favor and make sure you hit this show up tonight. Tickets are available HERE.

And as an added bonus, if you find me tonight at the show and tell me what the title of this blog post is a quote from, I'm buying you a drink. DM me on Twitter.

Finally, I'd like to share some choice quotes from the press release for this event tonight - i.e., the raddest press release I have ever seen.

The men of Auto Body have completed Priest Party, their debut album, and formal introduction to the world.

Conceived in and birthed from Austin's steamy underground houses of rock, AUTO BODY is live electro fusion. Fueled by their shared bloodlust for sonic divinity, and armed with a war chest of synths, samples, rattlesnakes, and bass, Tibaut Bowman and Felix Moreno crusade the universe in search of the electronic Holy Grail.

THIS Friday, 04.09.10, at 9 PM at The Parish in Austin, Texas.

The lights will be taken to the next level.

The sound will be taken to the next level.

The face-melting will be taken to the next level.

Even the levels on the scale that is used to measure these things will be taken to the next level.

bring your protective eye wear.

That's all I got,

g.

UPDATED: TICKET GIVEAWAY: Perez Party SXSW 2010.

I'm just going to give it to you straight. We have two coveted passes to give away to Perez's SXSW 2010 Party!

This was BY FAR my favorite party of SXSW last year.  Kanye. Yelle. Little Boots. Rye Rye. Ida Maria. Natalie Portman's Shaved Head. Ladyhawke.

At past SXSW parties, Perez has hosted MGMT and Katy Perry. 

It is notoriously tough to get into this party, so I am over the moon that Austin Eavesdropper gets to do a giveaway!  Dance parties may be my most favorite way to spread the love, so if you win you have to promise me that we'll jam together.  My name is Tolly, I have red hair, and you must come find me. Deal?

To enter, please leave a comment on this post by 12pm on Friday.  You must be 21+ to enter, and you also must leave an email address so I can send over the good news if you win!  I will announce winners on Friday.

(You may also want to RSVP for the party here, and while entry is not guaranteed, it certainly does not hurt!)

good luck friends!

UPDATED: **You people are hilarious.** If funniness was the contest you people would clinch it.  My favorite comments left on this post (so far):

(Dana, that's funny because it's true).

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!

A post from GARY!: Adi Fest.

It wouldn't be Friday without a little dance party / music action, now would it?  Here's GARY! to debrief you on tonight's tastiest option, just blocks away from Fashion Freakout at the Mohawk.  Take it away, GARY!

Work has been straight up insane for me this week, and Mother Nature has been downright persistent in her pursuit of bringing me down.  That being the case, I don’t have a lot of time to ramble on here like I normally would, but I did want to take a few minutes out of my day to put on my community organizer hat, in order to drop off an idea at your virtual doorstep for how to enjoy your weekend.

So, first things first: WHO’S ADI?

(While reading this section, may I suggest you pop on over to watch/listen to this slightly racist Kid’s Incorporated cover of the El DeBarge “hit,” Who’s Johnny.)

Adi Fest 2.5: The Cover-Up at Beauty Bar

Now if you are like me, and please bear with me because I'm about to call both of us ignorant, you might be wondering: “Who’s Adi, and why does he get his own Fest?”  I mean, come on! You’ve done some great things, and YOU don’t have YOUR own fest, right?  Well leave it to Aaron Berkowitz and Tolly Moseley (who I now call my "Platonic Friend MPF," wink wink)  to school me in all things Adi.

If you have ever read anything on the Austin music scene, the man probably wrote it.  His Facebook “work” section reads like the life you wish you had.  He currently writes for the Austinist, Transmission Entertainment’s Blog, LUCY Magazine, Soundcheck Magazine, and Country Standard Time. He is also a VJ for Roxwell and a DJ for BreakThruRadio.  These are just the things he does NOW, the list of previous endeavors actually goes on and on, but keep in mind this is the new and improved less verbose Gary.  SO, to put this in perspective,  Adi is the overachiever your parents are ashamed of you for not becoming.  On paper, the man appears to be a little on the super human side, but word on the street is that in person he is actually just a super nice guy that loves what he does and is pretty damn good at it.

So now we can all just simmer down and realize that until we do half the things this guy does, we probably don’t really deserve our own namesake fest like "Adi Fest."  Now that we got that out of the way, what the hell is Adi Fest anyways?  Since I'm short on time today, I'm going to turn this over to the Knuckle Rumbler:

"February 5th it is all going down. Knuckle Rumbler is matching wits with the Austinists’ most congenial music journalist to give your ears a cornucopia of sounds to vibe to. Bouncing from the '60s to '80s to whatever is in Prince Klassen’s grab bag of vinyl tricks, the night is sure to give everyone something they can appreciate, sing along to or just get dirty to on the dance floor.

How are we going to achieve this? With Jimi Hendrix , ZZ Top, and Queen! Repping each legendary artist are tremendous bands. Stonefree Experience (Jimi) , Cheap Sunglasses (ZZ), and Magnifico (Queen) are completely on top of their tribute game. Get ready to hear Bohemian Rhapsody, Sharp Dressed Man, and Purple Haze. In addition we will have Prince Klassen on the turn tables to fill in the gaps and keep the inside party bumpin.

In true Knuckle Rumbler fashion, we will have Alison Narro running a rock n’ roll photo booth so you can prove to your parents the next day that you saw Jimi and Freddie Mercury on the same Beauty Bar stage. And if you are super thirsty, come early and enjoy complimentary beverage or four with Adi courtesy of Birds Barbershop. Other invited but unconfirmed guests include Mama Cass, Jim Morrison, Buddy Holly, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Brett Michaels’ career, John Lennon, and the drummer of Spinal Tap.

Make sure to get there early - Bird's Barbershop will be giving out complimentary beverages from 8 pm 'til they run out. It's only $5 when you RSVP."  --Thanks, Knuckle Rumbler!

RSVP HERE FOR $5 ENTRY.

I'll show you mine, if you show me yours: GARY! gives you the weekend haps

Well bless Patsy, it's Friday!

But. Before you blaze off into the weekend, why not let Austin Eavesdropper's better half give you the inside scoop? Below, GARY! reveals his weekend agenda, and invites you to share your plans in the comments section below.  GARY!, take it away:

Well Reader, we made it.  One more work week has passed us by and we have survived to live work another day.  My intention in writing to you today isn’t to get you down on the fact that in 48 hours we will once again pass go, collect our $200, maybe buy some real estate, and possibly (for some) end up in jail.  Now I know what you are thinking: Did Gary just do a Monopoly™ metaphor for life? Yes. Yes I did.  You see today is Friday.  That means for the next 48 hours we all get to be our own bosses.  We get to do what we want, when we want.  So this begs the question, “What are YOU going to do with YOUR 48 hours?” 

Now it’s sometimes nice to have one of those quiet weekends where you get centered, but this friend, is NOT one of those weekends.   Why you say?  Well for starters have you seen the weather forecast?  This is the kind of weekend to get out there and actually LIVE IN AUSTIN.  And yes I know you already live here, but how often do you experience everything that makes this one of the damn sexiest cities in the US?  I want you to use Austin.  I want you to take advantage of her (yes I’ve decided that Austin is a girl. Deal with it). Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty.

The following takes place between Friday 5:00pm and Sunday 12:00am.
The events occur in real time.

Friday: A Town Called Panic & The Learning Secrets Birthday Blowout

8:00pm

Now I'm going to mount the old soapbox here for a second to give you some advice.  It’s no secret that I have mad LOVE for the Alamo Drafthouse.  Without a doubt it is definitely one of the coolest places I’ve ever been.  When people from outside of Austin hear about it they rarely understand how anyone could love a movie theater this much.  They say things like, well yeah it’s cool that they serve beer and food, but it’s just a movie theater.  When I hear that phrase, I just want to load a tube sock up with a bunch of quarters and starting swinging it over my head like Lucy Lawless in Xena: The Warrior Princess.  JUST A MOVIE THEATER?  How dare you!   

What makes the Drafthouse more than your average AMC/Cinemark are the people behind the scenes.  People like Tim League, Henri Mazza, Lars Nilsen, and Zack Carlson who program some of the coolest things most people outside of LA and NY never get a chance to see.  So when you see them recommend something, you should heed their advice and buy a ticket.  This is exactly what I did when I heard they were bringing A Town Called Panic to Austin.  This film that won the Fantastic Fest Audience Award, and if you visited the Drafthouse in the past two months, then you have surely seen the bizarre stop motion animation trailer featuring a mischievous Cowboy,  his friend Indian, and a Talking Horse. 

According to their website, Panic was never even supposed to play in Austin, and is currently only scheduled for a one week run at the Alamo Ritz. Not sure how long this one is going to be playing, so if you’re interested I would probably go sooner than later. (Tickets here.) Oh and if you are interested in following the Alamo crew on Twitter, you can find them all here.

9:30pm

After the movie it is a short jaunt down the street to Beauty Bar (location location location!) to meet up with those purveyors of fun, Learning Secrets.  Tolly did a post on this party last week that you can find here.  There should still be time to RSVP, but if you are coming, hurry up and get on it.  We ain’t got no time for jibba jabba!

Saturday: Bike Rides, Greenbelts, Beer, and Hip Hop

11:00am

If the forecast is to be believed, it is going to be freaking nice this outside.  Next to Portland we probably have one of the best cities for outdoor activities, so make sure you get out there and take full advantage of the awesomeness by going for a bike ride, a run around Town Lake, or hit up the Greenbelt.  Check out these pics of Cambell’s Hole I took last weekend, and tell me you don’t want to go adventuring on the Greenbelt.

7:00pm

But Gary, what happens when the sun goes down?  I’m glad you asked, because hip hop happens, that’s what.  We have 2 shows to choose from on Saturday.  Aesop Rock is playing at Mohawk.  I love this guy and this is where I will be for sure.  The last time I checked tickets were still available for $20, but I'm told that it is very close to selling out. 

The second show is actually a local act called BetaPlayer.  Show starts at 9:45 over at The Independent, and you can find more info on that show over at Do512.

Sunday: The Lord’s Day

1:00pm

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!  Simply put, find the best damn patio that serves brunch and park yourself there until they kick you out.  Brunch is THE sacred meal.  It is the meal where Jesus turns water into mimosas, and is basically the equivalent of eating a communion wafer that’s been dipped in queso and salsa. YUMMO!  The thing I love about brunch is that depending on the weekend you had,  it also  serves as a quasi therapy session.  It’s when you and your friends get together over some food and drinks to reassemble the puzzle pieces of the last 48 hours. 

My suggestion is to roll up into El Chile Café or Zocalo for some of the best damn Chilaquiles you’ll ever have in your entire life.  If you end up at El Chile try the Chilango Margarita, and if you end up at Zocalo their frozen Sangria is a treat.  

After brunch, it’s up to you because after all, you’re still your own boss for another 12 hours or so.

Hit us up in the comments to let us know what you’ve got up your sleeves this weekend.  After all, I showed you mine, so it’s only right to show us yours.  As they said in the Legend of Billie Jean, Fair is Fair!”  Gosh I really do love Pat Benatar.

That’s all I got,

g.

A little eye candy, a little ear candy: It is Friday.

So let's celebrate!

I'm getting 2 rolls of Holga film developed this weekend, so to whet my appetite, I pulled gems from my favorite Flickr photographers.  Most of these are Holga pics, but some are not.

mariczka

hey azi

jean marc crocfort

This next photographer is very, very special. Her name is Pamela Klaffke, and I kind of stalk her site. A bit. Here is why.

Isn't that magical? I wish I could make my camera do those things.

Also, for your ears: Here's a delicious treat from the ol' YouTube. I pulled it specifically because Classixx is playing tonight for Learning Secrets' birthday show at Beauty Bar. If you like Phoenix, you might dig this too.  And, I can pretty much guarantee you'll get a kick out of the video.


Happy Friday, everybody!

Win Learning Secrets tickets.

Classixx, pictured above, is one of the flashy acts playing at Learning Secrets' birthday party this Friday.  And while there is still time to RSVP, you could always win tickets right here on Austin Eavesdropper.  Yes?  You likey?

Here is a little taste of Classixx.



Woolfy is playing as well, and I must say, self is listening to the big, bassy song "Odyssey" right now and rather enjoys it.  Thank you, sir!

If you are liking what you read, I have two options for you:

A) Be a bling-bling playa and buy yourself a VIP ticket.  They are $30, limited, and grant you access to the VIP area. There, you will get to hang out with these lovely gentlemen (Classixx and Woolfy), recieve a swag bag, and most importantly, be "taken care of" all night. Which sounds overtly sexual but I promise it's not.

B) Enter to win yourself a pair of regular tickets, here! This giveaway involves Twitter, and it involves Travolta.  Because they both begin with the letter "T."

You must answer this question.  Are you ready?  It's kind of obscure, but not readily found (from what I can tell) on the internet.

OK.  You know the scene in Grease when Sandy has just broken up with Danny at the drive-in?  And he croons that incredibly cheesy song "Sandy?"  While he's singing, there is an advertisement for theater refreshments playing on the drive-in's movie screen.  To depict how much Danny and Sandy belong together or whatever, one food items jumps into another.  What are these two items?

WHABAM!

DM me to win.  If we are not already Twitter friends just click here.  Good luck!  A winner will be chose by Thursday at 5:00pm.

Get your swap on!

Who has a weakness for vintage clothing, dance parties, cupcakes and alcohol?  You?  Me?  Let's dance.

Friends!  If you are in the Austin-and-surrounding area, the lovely Sarah Dean from The Year of Living Thriftily and I are putting on a par-tay.  The Austin Rock N' Swap is designed to benefit your wardrobe, your dance moves, and the Earf!  Let me just break down this awesomeness one piece at a time:

CLOTHING SWAP.  You bring 10 gently-used pieces of garment magic to the Austin Rock N' Swap, you get 10 pieces of clothing (or jewelry, accessories, shoes) in return.  No clothes (perhaps you are walking around naked)?  No problem: $5 will secure your entry.

POP-UP SHOPS. If you bring a little extra folding money, you get to peruse two ever-so-lovely pop-up shops by Laced With Romance and Magnolia Family Vintage.

DRANK. Treaty Oak Rum!

CUPCAKES. The Cupcake Bar will be there giving away samples of their famous confections.  In true vintage style, they will have nostalgic candy toppings for your cake!

MUSIC. By KUT FM's Laurie Gallardo!

This is all happening Saturday, January 30, from 6-10pm.  RSVP here for guaranteed entry!  Because once we hit capacity, we have to close this baby up, and then you will be sad.  Visit our Facebook invite too, and scheme with your friends for fashion swap ideas.

So....I cannot even tell you how excited I am about this.  (Are you noting the exclamation points exploding from this post?) Sarah and I met years ago when I was interviewing her for a story in Rare, and since then have been good buddies!  Today, she is a vintage stylist for a variety of shoots and magazines, including one of my faves, Boho.  Check out her wonderful post on the event here, and also be on the lookout for "swap pointers."

Candace Carlisle, talented in so many ways I cannot begin to count, designed our poster!

I am sure I will have more to say about this as we get closer to January 30, but for now, just clap your hands say YEAH!

TONIGHT: A post from GARY! Let's Lose Our Aural Virginity Together

Because do you think I (Tolly) would have been clever/naughty enough to come up with that post title? Of course not. Here's GARY!:

If you're a frequent Eavesdropper, then you have probably seen Knuckle Rumbler mentioned on AE quite a bit.  You see reader, here at AE we are HUGE proponents of fun. We are firm believers in the four tenets of nightlife: Great Music, Good People, Lots of Laughter, and as much dancing as Texas State law permits*.  The reason we get so excited when we catch wind of a Knuckle Rumbler event is because we know that Jill and Aaron never hold back and they ALWAYS throw down a good time.  So what do they have in store for us this time you ask? Well keep reading...

So now that I have you frothing at the mouth, let me tell you what fun awaits you this Saturday. Knuckle Rumbler has gone and teamed up with 101x for their Homegrown Live concert series.  If you aren't familiar with Homegrown Live, it is essentially a concert chalk full of talent from folks right here in Austin (you know, the Live Music Capital of the World). This is the 1st Homegrown Live of the new year, and it is shaping up to be quite a doozy.  This installment brings us the sweet sounds of Zlam Dunk, Freshmillions, The Couch, and Custodian.  (Make sure you click on the hyperlinks to be taken to their respective MySpace pages).

Now I don't mean to play favorites, but the band I am most excited to see here are Fresh Millions.  I'm not excited because I think they are better than any of the other bands, I am merely excited because I have already had the pleasure of catching these guys live last week at the Parish with Auto Body, and can I just take a minute to go off on a tangent and say Ohhh Mhm Geee?  If you haven't seen either one of these bands play, prepare to have your face melted off.  Yes that's right,  They. Will. Melt. Your. Face. Off.  That's how good they are. 

(One girl in the audience was wearing too much Aqua Net hairspray learned the hard way.  True story, and by "true" I mean I totally made that last part up to prove my point that I had THAT good of a time.)

So while Auto Body isn't part of this show, I'm still giving them a shout out because this post is about local musicians, and those guys definitely deserve to be heard.  So yes, while I have seen Fresh Millions play, I am quite the aural virgin when it comes to Zlam Dunk, The Couch, and Custodian.  Figuring you might be finding yourself in the same conundrum as myself, 101x was kind enough to provide some free MP3's for you to download.  So far I am REALLY liking what I hear, and completely stoked to throw on my high tops and head for the middle of the floor with Ms. Moseley to get down proper. 

Maybe we'll see you there, maybe indeed... So if you are like me, and just getting back to your local scene, then come on out to Emo's tomorrow, and we'll pop that cherry proper.

See ya on the dancefloor,
g.

the deets:

When: Today, Saturday, January 16

Where: Emo's
How Much: $8
Time: Doors are at 8pm/Mr. Gattis will be on hand at 9 with some hot Ninja Turtle style pies for your mouths
Custodian goes on around 9:30
More information: Here

*Don't you love how Gary casually slipped in a Footloose reference?  Oh yes, Gary.  I noticed!

Why we all love Learning Secrets.

SO. I've been thinking a lot lately about the suffix "-preneur," as in "entrepreneur," "mommy-preneur," "teen-preneur," etc.  I know, who thinks of these things?  I'll tell you: publicists.  That's right.  MY ILK.

Anyway, I am constantly in awe of people who take their dreams and put the ol' "preneur" gloss on them.  Let me give you an example.  About a month ago, I met a guy at Whole Foods who worked at the capital for over 20 years.  Then one day, as he was leaving work, he said to himself: "You know what?  I want to wash dogs." And that is what he did.  Quit his very secure, very benefits-laden job working for the state, and opened up shop out of his garage as a dog groomer.  Which he does now, full-time.  Lucky bastard?  Kind of. But mostly: Ballsy bastard. 

The first time I told a friend about Learning Secrets, I believe the phrase "living the dream" was included in that sentence.  That is because they are - stay with me now - party-preneurs.  And, lest you think this is a risky business, go ahead and laugh yourself right back to your cubicle, because Learning Secrets is about to turn six!

On Friday, January 22, Learning Secrets is having a six-year-old birthday party at Beauty Bar.  These are the same people who booked Phoenix for a little DJ set at Beauty Bar last Fall, y'all (<---rhyming, I gots it!), so you know they're going to do this thing right.

the skinny:

Musical guests Classixx and Woolfy

A hot-spot booth by Clear (fancy)

Photo booth by Alison Narro

Red Bull Music Academy will record and broadcast the whole thing.  That's right, world - hide your khakis!  Austin hipness is hitting the airwaves!  

Tickets are $5 with RSVP / $8 without

Also. Are you listening, high rollers? Because a teensy amount of VIP passes are available for $30. These passes include personalized, signed white pleather pants from Lady Gaga.  Not really but you should still consider it: email info@learningsecretsmusic.com to inquire/buy.

Happy birthday, Learning Secrets!

Second Sunday Sock Hop!

Is tonight!

Off to try 24 Diner with R.  They won yesterday's chili cook-off, and all the food bloggers at town are foaming at the mouth about it.  We want to foam, too.

NEW YEARS EVE 2009/2010 in AUSTIN

No chit-chat today, let's get this party started. Not comprehensive, just a few of my faves. Commentary below.

NEW YEARS: FOR FOODIES


New Years Day BBQ at Franklin's
Featuring French Toast Casserole, Black Eyed Peas, Cream Sausage Gravy, Grits, Buttermilk Biscuits, and (if all goes well) Chicken Fried Brisket
Tickets (TBD) and more info here


Parkside 2010 New Years Eve Party
Featuring: DJ's, open bar, champagne toast, photo booth, hors d'oeuvres and sweets
Tickets ($100) here
(This photo is of Parkside ceviche because I could not find a big enough poster JPEG; check out informative poster here)

NEW YEARS: FOR DANCE PARTY PEOPLE


2010: A Dance Odyssey
Tickets ($18 pre, $24 day of) here


New Years Eve Sock Hop
Tickets ($10) at door


Mad Classy WITH Irresponsible Voltron
Tickets ($10) here


New Years Eve at Beauty Bar
Tickets ($5 with RSVP, $10 at door): beautybaraustin(at)gmail.com


New Years Eve with DJ Crown
Tickets ($50 pre, $60 at the door) here

NEW YEARS: FOR LIVE MUSIC JUNKIES

Live at Seaholm

Featuring Flosstradamus, DJ Car Stereo (Wars) and SHIV
Tickets ($99) here


Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears WITH Hard Proof Afrobeat
Tickets ($32) here

NYE Mohawk
Featuring: Grupo Fantasma, Brownout, and Peligrosa All-Stars
Tickets ($20 pre, $25 day of) here


New Years Eve at Emo's with Scott Biram
Tickets ($12 pre, $15 day of) here

NEW YEARS: MISCELLANEOUS


First Night Austin
Featuring: Fireworks (!!)
Tickets (FREE except for events at Long Center): Info here


Metallagher (with stABBA and more) at Red 7
Tickets ($10) here


NYE Rock N' Roll Party
Featuring: Stooges cover band, '60s cover band, comedy, DJ's, more
Tickets (FREE for Spider House, $10 for USAA bands): Info here


Juan Pelota's 1st New Year's Day Ride
Tickets (FREE and there will also be free coffee: Info here

Ok so, CLEARLY, there's a loooot going on in this town on New Year's Eve. Austin Eavesdropper will be hitting up two house parties, but if I weren't doing that, I would:

• Probably go to Second Sunday Sock Hop, because you can dress up in a big poofy skirt and dance 'til you're red and sweaty. Is like heaven for me!
• If not that, it's a toss-up between The Parish, Stubb's (Black Joe Lewis and Hard Proof Afrobeat), and Red 7. "stABBA," if you're not familiar, is a metal ABBA cover band. RIGHT. Awesome.
• I feel like every Austinite (and everyone who gets the chance) should see Scott Biram once in their lives. He's a crazy one-man rock, punk, and blues show. Also, R. told me that he survived being hit by a truck once. I'm pretty sure this is true.
• I have always wanted to go to First Night, which is like a big citywide art party. Someday I will. My artistic, magic fairy-like friend Sarah went the first year, and said it was amazing. Sarah, unlike me, is not given to hyperbole and mad exaggeration so when she says "amazing" I believe her. I need to tell you guys about Sarah sometime.