Colleen Kane

Ten Days in Austin, 2010

This was my first year fully doing* the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film/Music/Interactive conference and festival in Austin, Texas.

Springtime in Austin makes most every visitor I met there speak of moving to that fine city. I drove on Friday the 12th from Louisiana with friend and former Scanner co-blogger Brian, and the topic came up often between us and others. The above  photo is from the neighborhood where I parked (free!) each day just blocks from the conference center. I pictured my little family living in this modest house after seeing the resident couple passing a relaxing sunny morning, the man gardening in the front yard, the woman on the porch strumming a banjo. 

Also happening when I took this shot was a flow of cyclists so numerous, the hundreds of them took several minutes to pass.

However, I will not be moving to Austin because I am armed with the knowledge of summer in Texas--and also, I can't bear the thought of being away from the Northeast, family and friends any longer. So I'll have to settle for resolving to return to SX whenever possible. For the second year, it served as the injection of vitality I needed, this year as the last boost to tide me through these final (TWO!) months in the South.

* Last year I had a Music wristband, which lets you into certain shows but at the more popular performances the wristband gets trumped by the more powerful music badges and you're shut out. This year, as a speaker for the Interactive branch of the conference, I had a badge for Film and Interactive and I purchased a Music wristband. I was still not all-powerful, but I had access to a lot more areas than last year.

Oklahoma...Okay

The hubbs and I rang in the New Year like this, which pretty much beats most other new year celebrations around the planet.

This is Halloween

Here is me as Meg Fright of the imaginary rock and roll zombie combo (zombo) the Fright Stripes, based of course on the real life rock and roll combo the White Stripes. The hubbs doesn't like to be pictured on this blog, but he was Jack Fright. (I don't think Meg Fright's drum technique would be much different from Meg White's, by the way.)

 

So of course we went to New Orleans, which is one of the best places on Earth to celebrate Halloween. I want to say it's The best, but more on that in a moment.

The Youngs and the Olds

Early on Saturday, I departed with friends Kevin and Alicia to observe some Cajuns in their natural habitat. First we went to the Zydeco brunch in Breaux Bridge, which was amazing. Not the brunch so much, because due to a crazy mix-up we never had any food: it was the dancing. It was more than the dancing, really.

While the three of us agreed the band wasn't music we would listen to on purpose at home, they were part of something larger here, and I couldn't think of a more rocking show I'd been to all year. The dance floor was packed with revelers, the floor pulsed with their steps in time, and it wasn't yet noon. Here's the thing: collectively it seemed there was something more in the room than just sounds and people moving in time. Like, isn't this the transcendent feeling you want from a musical performance or any kind of mass gathering, really that hardly ever happens? Yes.

 I hope I'm not overstating the Zydeco brunch, but I wouldn't want to understate it either.

Road Trip to Birmingham

The news that Sonic Youth was performing July 12 at Sloss Furnaces, a rusty old haunted industrial site, quickly became a must-see event, even though it was two states away. Both the hubbs and I have lost count of the number of times we've seen SY, but both regret missing the time they played inside the footing of the Brooklyn Bridge. Finally we had a comparably dramatic setting to see them.

Kevin, the hubbs and I embarked on the scenic route to Birmingham on Saturday, via Highway 61.

Jazz / Food Fest Sunday

The main attraction of Sunday at Jazz Fest was food.

Yeah, some old fart named Neil Young played, as did many other lesser-known old farts.

Actually Neil came out rocking (in the free world) and pretty much consistently rocked throughout his set except for the 10-minute plus version of "Down By the River." By the way, my iPod is haunted by that song. If you put it on shuffle it won't be long before that one comes up.

But anyway, food, glorious food. (Yes, that is an alligator in a po'boy bun.)

Jazz Fest, Saturday: Such Great Heights

The fiance, Kara and I went down to New Orleans for Jazz Fest this weekend, thanks (in f's and my case) to a sponsor who may or may not want to identify himself as the giver of this special wedding gift.

Jazz Fest is like Lollapalooza for grownups who still like to hang. There are younger folks there, and little kids, but the crowd does skew a bit older, and that's okay. This year it became an event I want to make the trip for when we no longer live in Louisiana.

I got into the spirit with my specially improvised hat, announcing to the world that it was HAMMER TIME.

We weren't in the festival a few minutes when a guy tried hitting on Kara despite having lost his voice. Since words and syllables were of the essence in his vocally challenged state, he called her a P.Y.T. She complimented him on this line, first popularized by Michael Jackson in 1983 on his Thriller album, which might well have been the year this young man was born.

There was plenty more to goof on from there, and lots of food to shove in our moufs. Also, there was some music.

The end.

(Just kidding. But I really wish I were done posting because I'm still tired from the weekend.)

Chelseas Lately

 
The much-dreaded summer is descending upon Louisiana like a wet air blanket, as marked by Cooper's retreat yesterday to the cool ceramic tiles of the foyer, his summertime cave.

In this town, we're told by two trusted locals, you should come to expect lame things to happen. When someone cool moves to town (like our friend Jonathan), don't be surprised when they leave (like Jonathan did as soon as he was laid off). Here's the latest that would fall under that category.

Freaky Friday

I wanted to listen to this song, but then was fully distracted by the droves of Disney characters taking over the stage and threatening to carry Dolly Parton away. She looked good here, though, and goes well alongside cartoon characters. Maybe Doc of the Seven Dwarfs is the one who performed Dolly's most recent and bizarre facial augmentation.

Also, won't you please enjoy this gallery I made of Ludicrous Romance Novel Covers?

Found in Austin: SXSW Part 2

I started out the week in Austin feeling like I needed to catch up to my former lifestyle of having a busy social and cultural calendar. 

After getting lost, getting together with fellow Scanner bloggers, and taking in a couple of good shows Wednesday, I felt back up to speed...almost. I was still way too impressed with everything, compared to the more jaded version of me at the end of my time in New York. But that was OK.

Thursday dawned clear and mild, and I was sore from all the hours of standing but walked it off. I blogged in the shade outside in earshot of some sort of fracas involving police and riot gear with bullhorns in front of Emo's. Maybe it was free entry for beardys that day. In the background (above) is a distinctive Austin building of which I know not the name. But I always think it looks like a desert flower.