“You can’t carry it with you if you want to survive. ” Florence and the Machine

This year, was definitely a year. Yenta said it would be my best year,  definitely a transitional one.  Moments were good, moments were bad, and some moments were down right craptastical.  Other than my family and friends, my only other survival tactic was too keep moving and not look back.  I probably lost some stuff along the way.  There were probably a few people that I didn’t keep in touch with.  I was probably less thoughtful than usual.

Last night I sat in bed thinking about what I was going to write as a recap of my year.  I had to mentally recap the stuff that I have chosen not to discuss on the interwebs.  That’s when the tears started.  I am not sure I am ready to write about the dog days of summer (some good, some really bad, all of it extremely emotional).

For those of you who have been reading along, you know I had a plan:

1) Sell my house before the end of summer. 2) Live irresponsibly in someone else’s property (aka apartment) somewhere in the numbered streets. 3) Leave the country.

Well, that didn’t quite happen as I planned. This is what happened as I flew by the seat of my pants.  1)There are people living in my house but I didn’t sell it.  2)I moved (twice).  I live near some numbered streets in the ’04. 3) My friends’ took me to Mexico for their wedding.

Ok, that’s as far as I am going to go now.  Here’s my year in lists.

This year in live music: SXSW 2010 ( City Riots, Best Coast, the DJs from the Hood Internet, Le Loup,  Typefighter, Sondre Lerche, Vivian Girls, Death Set,  :papercutz,  Oh Snap!, Rogue Wave, Miike Snow, Fucked Up, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings,  Hole,  Frightened Rabbit, Minor Mishap Marching Band , Mayer Hawthorn & the Country, Passion Pit (DJ set) , The Pains of Being Pure at Heart,  Broken Bells, Ezra Furman and the Harpoons ,Everybody was in the French Resistance…Now!, and  Diplo.) Miike Snow, Middle East, Mumford and Sons, Passion Pit, Tokyo Police Club, Hood Internet, Flosstradamus, Pixies, Ratatat, Amanda Blank, Sleigh Bells, Interpol, Fun^3 Fest 2010 (Royal Forest (Formerly Loxsly), League of Extraordinary Gz, Butcher Bear and Charlie, Invincible, Devin the Dude, Slick Rick, Dominique Young Unique, Big Freedia, Man Man, Dirty Projectors, RJD2, Magic Kids, Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos, Black Nasty, Toro Y Moi, Nortec Collective Presents: Bostich and Fussible,Jean Grae, Pharoahe Monch, P.O.S., Washed Out, Deerhunter, The Hold Steady, and The Descendants)

This year in non-live music: Here’s to this year’s new albums: Forgiveness Rock Record-Broken Social Scene Miike Snow-Miike Snow, Broken Bells, Wake Up!-John Legend and the Roots, The Suburbs-Arcade Fire, Sidewalks-Matt and Kim, All Day-Girl Talk, Halcyon Digest-Deerhunter, Rubber Factory-Black Keys, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Entanglements-Parenthetical Girls, Mixtape vol 4 and Anatomy Magazine x The Hood Internet- Hood Internet, LP4-Ratatat, Treats-Sleigh Bells, xx-The xx, The Satanic Satanist [Deluxe Edition]-Portugal the Man, The Mountain-Heartless Bastards, Together-New Pornographers.

This year in Sewing: Treasure City Thrift Fashion Show

This year on the interwebs: I got a smart phone.  Here’s to more Twitter updates and Gowalla check-ins.

This year in Movies: This year I watched a lot on Hulu and other peoples Netflix.  I meant to go out but that requires $$. (theater) SXSW (The Runaways, Tiny Furniture, Canal Street Madam, Barry Munday, the Freebie, Kick Ass) the Social Network, Exit Through the Gift Shop.

This year in Books: Sadly not much time for reading this year… Goodreads Tropic of Capricorn, The Tipping Point, Middlesex, Kafka on the Shore.

This year in kicking ass- (New category because I realized I rocked it out this year): SXSW Crew Chief, Volunteer Coordinator for BluesShout!, Natural Disaster Planner, Refashionista, Fun^3 Fest Blogger, and Wedding Stylist.

Plans for 2011 (in no particular order):

1. Leave the continent
2. Quit my job (10 years of state employment is more than a person should endure)
3. Take on a massive design project
4. Read more
5. Spend less money/time on home repair
6. Master Indian Cuisine

Here’s to 2011 and the hopes that the Dog Days really in fact are over.

I am still coughing up dust and remembering all the cool stuff that happened this weekend (and trying to purge some disturbing festival happenings from my memory). This marks my third (and hopefully not final) Fun^3 Fest.  Each year it gets bigger and better (But please don’t make it as big as ACL.  I am in favor of the 2.5 day, four stage festival.).

I’d like to give a quick shout out to the organizers at Transmission Entertainment for the following:

• Media Credentials (M and 2.0 were able to shoot the fest officially with their BACs and M got some interviews). Additional thanks to Austinist for making that happen.
• Amazing Bands. Ironically many of them are on the last two Hood Internet Mixtapes I downloaded.
• The witty festival guide by Misprint Magazine
• The grid schedule inside the festival guide
• The port-o-potty Labyrinth placed far AWAY from the stages (My nose had enough problems with the dust).
• All the amenities…Many of which I didn’t check out because I was glued to the Blue stage for two days. Next year I WILL RIDE THE MECHANICAL BULL.

Random Weekend Observations:

• One hipster cop short of spotting the entire hipster Village People
• Security breach near the “Green Room” by the Blue Stage on Saturday.
  
• Extra Security in the Blue Stage “Green Room” on Sunday
• Dam Funk rocking a keytar before RJD2 hit the stage.
• Hipster bandits
• A ton of Hipsterween Costumes.  What do the organizers think about that?
• Hipster Santa (reading poetry)
• Gumby Damnit!( Who was that person?)

And now for the extended recap of all the bands I saw this weekend (I apologize for not getting pictures of everyone.  Between the sun and the dust the little camera did all it could). (more…)

For me one of the stand out sets for me was The Antlers.  I won’t lie, I had heard of them but didn’t really listen to them before the fest.  Wow! I was way impressed.  I thought they put on a great show.  Here’s some pics I shot below, the rest can be found on my flickr.

(more…)

Sunday I had the pleasure of being back stage as well.  And again I’d like to thank the Austinist for our media passes, without them we wouldn’t have been able to bring you this coverage.

Once I sort of figured things out on Saturday, Sunday I hit the ground running.  I’m sure I shot more pics on Sunday.  The music all weekend was amazing.  This year I didn’t do as much research on the bands before I went as years past, but was just as happy.  I’m actually glad that I was so surprised.  I sort of knew what to expect, i.e. an awesome show, but nothing specific.  I kinda wanted to go on the crowd buzz to see what everyone was into seeing.

Sunday I saw a lot! I saw:

• Toro y Moi
• Delorean
• Kaki King
• Jean Grae
• Cults
• Best Coast
• Polvo
• Snapcase
• Washed Out
• The Hold Steady
• The Decendants

The two standout sets for me were The Hold Steady, and Cults.  I also really enjoyed Best Coast.  Here’s a few teaser shots till I can get everything else edited.

Yeah! What a blast, we had so much fun this year.  Well I know I did.  (Thanks to the Austinist for Media Passes) Here’s some teasers of the pics I took, more to come in following posts.

Some of my highlights from Saturday were:

• The Antlers
• Wavves
• Os Mutantes
• The Casualties
• Bad Religion

On Saturday, unfortunately I spent more time backstage getting interviews (which you can see in the next few posts) than I did really getting to see some of the bands.  Also this year being our first with an actual media pass, I needed to “get my legs” backstage a bit.

I got the opportunity to speak with both Darby and Michael from The Antlers.  It was a bit too loud to tape an interview with Michael, but I did take notes during the interview.

Also I got to interview Cody from Royal Forest.  He’s a friend of ours, and was it was lovely to speak with him.

Stay tuned kids, more Fun Fun Fun posts coming up!

Pharoahe says...

So day 2 started with an extra government issued hour of sleep.  Thanks.  My lungs were filled with dust and it took 2 cups of coffee to make myself functional.

I made it to the park in time to catch Magic Kids.  I’ve been meaning to check them out on several occasions.  [Thank you parking gods for making this possible.] My main reason for getting to the park early (besides the good parking space) was to check out Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s.  I hadn’t seen them in a few years and I was curious (more on that later).  Then it was off to my home stage (blue) for Black Nasty. The song on the Fun^3 website peaked my curiosity.

I dashed back to the orange stage for Toro y Moi only to find out it was his birthday (and the sound guy hated him).  I also found out that day 2 of Hipsterween was in full effect [Why did I not get the memo about the cat ears?].  I swear, I was one hipster short of finding all the Village People.  Gumby was having a good time but I was not.  I headed back to the Blue stage and caught the last part of Nortec Collective [Totally unexpected, Tejano Dance Music  and 2 iPads].

I decided to hang around the blue stage for most of the evening.  Jean Grae and Pharoahe Monch tore it up.  I saw Gumby crowdsurf (stay tuned for video) during P.O.S’s set [I also fell in love with another head-bobbing dj.  Until he lit a cigarette.  Now I hate him.]  By the time Washed Out hit the stage I was a little scared.  It was REALLY crowded and I was wedged between the crowd and the railing.  It was time to go.  I managed to catch the end of Deerhunter’s set and I wished I made it there sooner [I decided to hit the port-o-potties sooner vs. later.]

I wrapped up my evening with the Hold Steady [and 3 songs from the Descendants].  I probably should have left after Deerhunter but I felt that I needed to stick around.  M and 2.0 were somewhere in the photo pit.

So that is my quick recap of the fest.  In the next few days you will see a lot more.  Interviews, photos, video, full write ups on some of the bands we caught, etc….  Why?  Because we love you [and we had media credentials].

Little Stolen Moments with Butcher Bear and Charlie

I survived day one.  I was on a mission.  A mission that involved gluing myself to the front railing of the blue stage for most of the day.  There were no bathroom or water breaks until AFTER Big Freedia hit the stage.  I would not be stopped by the ironically costumed (what’s with all the bear suits) hipsters.  I would not be sick. I wanted to be front and center for the trainwreck.  1) The amazing Freedia herself and 2) the response from the predominately hipster crowd (How does one dance in pants so tight you can’t really walk?).

I will give you the details later.  For those of you who know me, you probably got more than your fair share of tweets and fb updates.  I hope you enjoyed them.

Here’s is a snapshot of what I saw yesterday. Hi-res photos will be available later:

• Royal Forest
• DJ Nick Nack
• The League of Extraordinary GZ
• Butcher Bear and Charlie (with guests Little Stolen Moments)
• Invincible
• Devin the Dude
• Slick Rick
• Dominique Young Unique
• Big Freedia
• Man Man
• Dirty Projectors
• RJD2

Stay tuned for tales of the fest from M, 2.0, and the Jew.

Why yes Virgina, there was a Santa, and he brought us Sleigh Bells.

…Ok,it wasn’t Santa.  It was Learning Secrets and Guerilla Suit.

M and I have wanted to see Sleigh Bells for a while and were hoping that some concert promoter was going to bring them to us .  Maybe a certain bachelor, or maybe Knucklerumbler.  We didn’t care who was responsible, as long as we could get reasonably priced tickets.

We stalked the promoters on the Twitter after getting a message on FB.  We bought the VIP tickets that guaranteed entry (and a free beer).  We trekked down to Beauty Bar  with the Jew all excited like kids on Xmas morning.   Sadly, we were greeted by the Fail Whale.  For starters, 3G was taking a nap and we were stuck with the Edge network (how are we supposed to Tweet about this stuff).  Then we were surrounded by pint-sized hipsters who were smoking and making me ill.  Then some super genius spilled beer on the mixer and the show was delayed for a half hour or so.  SUCK!

Once the show finally started the sound was still crap.  You couldn’t hear Alexis’ vocals.  Excuse me?  Sound guy?  What’s up with that?  Unfortunately, the hipsters kept dancing and didn’t protest. They were ok having paid that much to listen to the karaoke version of the album minus half the vocals.

I was annoyed and left the show disappointed.  I am not sure what footage M was able to capture.  Some chick in the front refused to give her space to shoot.  It seemed like everytime M had a good vantage point the chick would purposely bump into her (I bet M uttered one of her favorite words at that chick and thought about punching her in the face).

Here’s montage of photos from the evening. Note that the sad faces of M, Jen, and the Jew are not there.

Guerilla Suit and Learning Secrets present SLEIGH BELLS from Guerilla Suit on Vimeo.

Key to M's House

As some of you know, I spent about six months living in a store display.  My house was on the market and it had to look “lived in” but not cluttered or have any personal items.  In other words I was living in a house, not a home.

Living in a house void of personal items was stressful.  I keep a clean house but I am a bit like Monk.  I am OCD about my things.  I don’t like sharing and I don’t like knowing that random strangers have been in the house possibly touching my things.

After six months and two realtors (I will spare you the details of that experience),   I was homeless, both literally and figuratively.  Did I sell my house? Nope.  It has however become a home once again.  It has a family now (more details I will spare you of since I am not ready to write about that experience).

So where was I living?  For the last two months I have been living in “my” room at M’s house. Drunk housing became my home and the majority of my belongings were in storage.  I wasn’t sure how that was going to play out.  But I was truly grateful that I had a place to call home.

It has been years since I had a roommate.  Sure, M and I live together for a week or so during SXSW, but that is different.  That is vacation (…and we are a lot like the Odd Couple.  She’s Oscar and I am Felix).  This was full-time job/commuting Jen. Jen who deals with stupid people all day and spends much of her weeknights hermitting in her workspace.  Now it was Jen, sans workspace, living with 3 roommates.  I did get a few sanity breaks here and there.  There was house-sitting for Yenta and some cat-sitting with streaming Netflix.

After a long search and a pause to round up enough money to pay rent and a deposit, I found a new place.  It’s not quite home yet.  I am still rounding up my belongings around town and there is some decorating to be done.

After a two month stint in cohabitation, I realize that it’s not the life for me.  I like knowing that the crumbs on the counter were left by me and I am the one who left one square of toilet paper on the roll.  I think adjoining houses is as close as we will get.

M this one is for you.

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros “Home” from Edward Sharpe on Vimeo.

Garth Algar: Uhm, Wayne? What do you do if every time you see this one incredible woman, you think you’re gonna hurl?
Wayne Campbell : I say hurl. If you blow chunks and she comes back, she’s yours. But if you spew and she bolts, then it was never meant to be.

And so it began.  M and I decided that it was a good night for drinking and walking down to Scoot Inn.  I was feeling a little icky that afternoon (allergies) but I felt a little better after dinner.  We had a drink before we left the house (M had 2).  We had Sweet Leaf Tea and bourbon (very strong) on our walk.  After an attempt to walk slowly but we ended up at Scoot in record time.  What to do?  Leave the beverages outside the gate?  Keep drinking?  Umm, keep drinking…actually, let’s just chug these.

We were drunk at this point in time. We went inside and the evening gets a little fuzzy.  I recall running into a friend and having a drunk conversation with her (we may have actually run into her twice).  Then I remember M and I going to the restroom.  Then I remember M getting a drink and me getting water.  At some point in time 2.0 showed up (his plans were canceled).

The show was great.  I took some drunk photos (I will post them soon). M went up to the front and shot for a bit.  Then things got fuzzier. I don’t think I missed anything.  Amanda only has the one album out so the show went pretty fast.

After the show ended I needed to lean against the wall.  Unfortunately there was an overhang and pretty soon I was trapped in a pocket of cigarette smoke.  Not good.  I felt like I was going to hurl.  Then I did.  Just a little, in my mouth.  I fled the venue and found a trash can.  Then I felt better, then much worse.  I went back inside and hurled in the bathroom.  Was it the right restroom?  Not sure, I think it was.

At this point in time I needed to sit down.  I remember finding M and getting more water.  Then I sat shivering at the picnic table.  Somewhere M had procured some sunglasses (apparently there were giveaways) and a signed poster which ended up in my bag).

When we got up to leave I got about 6 steps away from Scoot and started spewing again.  Not good.  M stood there and let me wipe my face with her scarf.  That is a real friend.    We stumbled home arm in arm.  Rarely do I need M’s help,  things usually go the other way around with me looking after her.  But it’s really nice to know that she is always going to be there for me.