I recently went out with a dude with a beard (It’s a sensible, trimmed, full-beard/moustache combo.  A good accessory for one of those corduroy jackets with elbow patches).    I met him on the internet and based on the photos, I had a 50/50 chance of facial hair.  For those of you who know me, this is a rarity.  I’ve lucked out and for the most part I have dealt with minimal face fuzz (sideburns, goatee, 5 o’clock shadow).  Would I stop going out with a guy because of facial hair decisions alone?  Probably not.  But if he were to go crazy and shave his beard into the porn stache, or trim the sensible beard into a chin beard… he may have to go.

In the meantime, I have a friend who’s woman WANTS him to grow some facial hair.  I have no clue why.  He is totally opposed to the idea.  I think he has grown a ridiculous soul patch to appease her.

For those of you on the hunt for dudes with ’staches, Misprint magazine is hosting their 4th Annual Beard and Moustache Contest on February 19th at the Mohawk

I was inspired to harness the power of social networking after M forwarded a tweet from a guy who was looking for a date.

Alright, twitter friends, I need a date. With a girl. Just dinner and such. PS-I have a job and a car. RT! RT!

Simple and to the point. Apparently this guy decided it was worth a try to use twitter to get a date before the end of the year vs. paying for internet dating sites.   I am curious to see how that goes.

M and my sis made an attempt to find me a date on Twitter last February.  I think the failure was that the “ad” took 3 to 4 tweets.  This time I went with something simple.

In my head this was safer than posting or trolling on CL to keep myself entertained this winter while M is on vacay.

I should have posted this BEFORE heading out to the Mo Stash Bash last night.

So in honor of men’s health awareness,  I left the house to go check out the mustachioed dudes of Austin.  For the low price of $10, I got the Burt Reynold’s pass which included 2 raffle tickets, a collectors mug and FREE BEVERAGES (Maker’s was a sponsor).

The evening wasn’t as entertaining as I expected. Where were all of the mustachioed dudes of Hipstertown (probably at home because this event started at 7)?  This event was a month in the making.  A whole month of not shaving.  That should be plenty of time to groom that chia pet on your face.   I was hoping to find all the staches listed on the website but fell short.   I had packed a camera and intended to do some interviews on the month long facial fuzz experiment but I was uninspired.   The best stache was a fake one rocked by a chick dressed as Yosemite Sam.

The highlight of my evening was when two boys (probably in elementary school) on drum and guitar rocked out to Rush’s Tom Sawyer.

I will probably hit Man Fest at Bird’s this weekend.  If you are lucky, you will get a full stache report.

So this year I was supposed to be enjoying men like a good meal.  Enjoy it while it lasts, and when it’s gone, it’s gone.

So maybe this wasn’t the best plan for keeping things simple.

M and I are into food.  Sure we may be finished with something but we often want to know more about the meal.  What herbs and spices were used, was that a hint of carrot, etc… Sometimes we make an attempt to recreate something we had out.  Or use elements of a good meal in some other dish.

So, my last “dining” experience was awesome.  I tried to put it behind me, but two weeks later I find myself analyzing it and trying to find out why it was so good in the hopes of recreating it.  Or thinking somewhere back in my head that maybe I could go back for more.

BAD!

I need to convince myself that this place serves local/seasonal and I can’t go back and get the same thing.  The service may start to suck.  Something!

Yes, Jane Goodall.  Anthropologist.  Gorillas in the Mist…

The last few times I have gone downtown to hang out, I have felt completely out of place.

And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful
Wife And you may ask yourself-well…how did I get here?

Rather than infiltrate there social group I feel the need to study it.  This is how I entertained myself during my last two visits to Shangri la (that at the $2.75 vodka tonics).  Not only was I completely amused/confused my the hipster summer wear and handle bar mustaches  but, there was something else that I couldn’t put my finger on. Who are these people?  Where did they come from?  Have they been here all along? How can they afford to drink so much?  Do they build their own bikes?

So last night wasn’t much different. (more…)

So my super genius plan to get myself a date for the 4th was a big FAIL!

After a flood of emails from scary dudes I managed to get it down to 3 dudes who may or may not be weird/creepy (BTW, I also moved my ad from M4W to the strictly platonic area).  I picked the guy that seemed most like my posse and arranged to meet up in Mexico before biking down to the show.

Now here is where it gets interesting. 1) The chosen one broken his phone and the only way to reach him was via email.  2) He had a ticket so I gave mine to a friend. 3)  The day of  (30 minutes before I was supposed to meet him) the concert I received the following email:

hey — change of plans..

i biked way too hard today.. started at 11am, just ended. i’m crazy
sunburned and i need a nap before the show bigtime. massive amounts
of pain. maybe i’ll catch you and the posse at the show?

The only reason I opened my email was (more…)

So this weekend I was out  observing life.  Once again the imaginary bar was raised.  I was staying with married friends of mine.  [BTW. I am fortunate that my friend married someone awesome (it really sucks when your friend marries someone you don't like to hang out with).]

We met in college.  We went to different schools.  We hung out periodically.  He treated me better than anyone I have ever dated.  Yet for some reason we never went there.  He and one other have set the standard.  I see how they are with their wives.  The every day.  Through sickness (there has been lots of sickness) and health.  Through bedhead and morning breath.  Then they kick it up a notch by doing something spectacular (like restoring a broken childhood toy or a kidnapping/surprise vacation). Both of them are the reason that I can’t accept something less.

So after my weekend observing life I decided to delete my online profile.  Sorry Mr. Rudder, it’s not going to work out.  I don’t think I can find what I am looking for on your site.  What I am looking for is not so easily found.

It was Day 7 of SXSW.  M and I were at the one scheduled show for Matt and Kim.  Are we fans or stalkers at this point?  Maybe a little of both?  Anyways, I got to the show early to insure that we were  close enough to eat their faces.   I waited for M by the right speaker (I usually grab a spot by the speaker.  We always pack earplugs and the speakers on the sides of the stage are a good reference point if someone is looking for us).

Post SXSW I was reading Pitchfork and noticed this in their write up of the show…

Matt: “I want to thank the people sitting outside who couldn’t get in, you guys rule.” Then Kim: “I want to thank all the people up front, you guys are incredible.” Everyone was thanked. But there was an ever-so-brief interruption to happy-time– apparently there was something wrong with Matt’s monitors. “I hate to do this during a show but…” he said, requesting a quick adjustment. Monitor problems are common, but Matt knows how it looks when people on stage bitch about their sound. So he offered a snippet of the opening “Sweet Child O’ Mine” lick while the monitors were spruced up. No down time, ever.

Pitchfork missed something in their write up.  I recall Kim saying that there was a certain someone who had the best seat in the house and they didn’t even pay.  Who could that be?

Dumpster Boy by Limorama

While M and I were stuck in the mosh pit, 10HDG was on top of a dumpster (full of cardboard).  He had the best seat in the house.

More later on the Matt and Kim show.  For now you can check out their video of Daylight.  I bet they were wishing the dumpster they climbed into was full of cardboard and not trash.

In my stalking of JGL yesterday I discovered another hidden gem on the interwebs (or tubes as we call them).  hitRECord.org is a little project that JGL has been working on for a few years.  Here’s the description of what can be done on the site

What does it mean, hit record?
Different things… It can be an object, a musical recording that sold a lot of copies. But it can also be an action, to hit record, to start recording, to make a record, be it musical, visual, textual, or anything else. That moment when you hit the REC button, when the tape starts rolling, or the camera clicks, or even when somebody writes something down, it always makes my heart beat a bit harder.

Hit record. A complete sentence in the imperative tense, it’s something I’ve been telling myself a lot lately. When I was younger, my life’s work was to be recorded, but not to hit record. That’s changing.

What do you suppose could change if we all started to hit RECord?

In other words it is a place for collaborations (or mashups, if you prefer).  Everything that the MAN doesn’t want us to do.  But, if enough of us out there are regenerating content, and hopefully breathing new life and perspectives into it on the way,  maybe we can defeat the man one day.

If you haven’t already checked it out, take a peek at the site for RIP: A Remix Manifesto (a documentary created to expose the MANs efforts at stifling the creatives, and perhaps to flip him off.).  The film is undergoing a series of remixes as we speak.  Since day one the filmmaker, Brett Gaylor, has shared his raw footage at opensourcecinema.org, for anyone to remix.

As always, little readers, stay tuned for a full review of the movie.  Until then I give you the definition of hitRECord. If you’ve got time, go make a little something that will move us a step closer to defeating the MAN.

M and I heart the Pixies.  I am still torn on my favorite Pixies album.  Doolittle or Surfer Rosa?

I was listening to the Pixies at work today and I was reminded that I forgot to post one of my favorite 500 Days of Summer moments. (I know, I promised a full review but I don’t want to write all those spoiler alert disclaimers). Joseph Gordon-Levitt singing “Here comes your man” at a Karaoke bar (My other favorite moment was the dance number.).  He’s so dreamy (He is also 5′10″ and Jewish). If that clip were available I would play it as much as I play On a Boat.

Since there aren’t clips available of JGL, I give you  the Pixies…