the usual

so its that time of year again. this year will be a camping trip to big
bend. check back next week for some pictures and tales of
adventure. 

so work and the transition back to cube design are quite difficult after a weekend of festivaling. first of all, as with all great festivals; the experience is a mix of internal gratification found in many ways.

there is the lone wandering amongst throngs of people and the exploration of unknown music; sampling lyrical art and performances with an open unbiased outlook. there's slinking through the crowd to get close enough to a stage to dance as the music makes you feel; without regard to anyone else.

also, there is the social experience: meeting up with various friends; joining other small or large groups of friends at their makeshift camps. and then there's the strangers; thousands and thousands of happy (mostly at least, there are types that can never be that way; there are the 'kids' whose interactions are great to watch, and there are the adults) people who are open and extremely friendly. I believe that is one of my favorite aspects of this ACL festival: the feeling and mood of the crowd. it doesn't have the youthful and awkward rebelliousness of the northern stadium tours or the over-hippiness of the folk / jam band tours. it seems to be a perfect mix; although I think that represents austin more than anything; and there are large representation of every demographic, but I always walk away feeling like I have somehow shared my home with many many strangers.

and that is why returning to work depresses. well, that and the fact that I have deadlines on multiple jobs; I need to find a job where I can actually use my grad degree (I mean, what use is 3 years of nights and weekends anyway?); they need to hire more people here and define rolls better; etc. It just seems like after a great cultural weekend where I was able to join in with complete strangers and appreciate music from the UK, Zimbabwe, Canada, Austin, and all over the US, I have to return to work with people, most of which, have no desire to experience or reach out beyond anything that is normal or comfortable.

plus I continue to finish reading motivating biographies of great men and realize that I have no great goals or motivators. I am extremely qualified to do many things I don't have a passion to do; and after spending a weekend watching people pour their souls into their craft, it feels if there is something lacking.

well, that seems to be the way of the world. I just need to strive for something.

Damian Marley: clean reggae / rap with notable lyrics. able to mix in bob marley songs as backbeats and use without going the 'straight cover' route. the only song he covered was war; which is actually a political speech by emperor Haile Selassie. His brothers ziggy and julian joined in at the end of the set and mixed in some old bob songs.

overall damian puts on a very active live show that merges hip hop and reggae. plus, you have to love the flag waver, who was able to whip around a flag for the full hour-long set.

Matisyahu: biblical rhythm reggae with sublime like speed. great percussion and flow.

New Pornographers: mix harmony lyrical rock. enough additions and oddities to create decent stage energy.

Ben Harper: started the show channeling jimi hendrix doing voodoo child on the slide guitar. still able to do the powerful and political lyrics and use his very skilled band. his new song black rain rates very high. he's incorporated some 'rage' and off-key yells into his songs, which is a good mix with the usual measured tones. damian, ziggy, and julian joined him and closed out with stand up.

Muse: heavy rock with steady rhythm and beat. lyrically sound with a tight set. good show for a band i've heard about but hadn't ever seen.

Petty: the usual. it’s always tough to close out a festival with 60,000+ fans; but even more so when a thunderstorm whips in about six songs into your set.

as always, another rockstar weekend of music, vodka and sweet leaf tea, lounging in the sun with various groups of friends, and running into various people in a sea of strangers. this year was volumes better than last; with the weather cooperating and CSC adding some very appreciated additions: more shade, misters, free water, the beach area, larger gospel tent, and most importantly - an actual irrigation system to combat the dust bowl while creating a soft park of long grass.

Friday:
David Ford: one guy out of england/scotland. great songs, arangement; can carry a crowd. great live.
Ghandaia: local austin - great live in the spirit of Grupo Fantasma with more african and carribean influence.
Stars: good canadian big group band. was torn between them and Wolf Parade.

Gnarls Barkley: damn good live show. anyone who can carry a 4:30 acl set in the heat. second time to see them this week. wednesday = karate theme. friday = science theme. one of the more crowded shows.

Thievery Corp: one of the best shows of the festival. didn't think their music would translate from recorded to live; but like only the very good bands, they pulled it off. live show is more high energy and vocal.

Oliver Mtukudzi & Black Spirits: zimbabwe group - Tuku. great high energy african beat. high energy set.

Van Morrison: a legend. amazing how many and how good his songs are. carries the stage like a vegas lounge singer mixed with the a great wedding or party host.

Saturday:
Pierre Guimard: french trio - thick layered pop/rock. very well balanced backbeat and lyrics. not over the top like the genarae can be.

Murder by Death: local austin. a orchestral base layer with stand up bass and keyboard. intricate drums and rythmn guitar. west texas lyrics (jonny cash like); all mixed with a heavy metal inensity and energy.

Phoenix: large french group - good guitar mix and transitioning energy set. great show considering it was the hottest of the weekend so far.

The Blue Van: danish rock influenced by old english blues and rock. seen from shade on the beach a fair distance away. good energy and sound.

TV on the Radio: local austin / Brooklyn. mix of live rock with DJ beats and mixes. transitioned well to live.

What Made Milwaukee Famous: local austin. good sound, energy, and set. need to work on working the crowd in between sets and build the energy over the show.

Brazilian Girls: packed tent. couldn't get too close but the sound was good. trance layered with indie pop. high energy beat.

The Shins: can't believe they've gotten this big. but they are putting a new album out. great feel good music made famous by zack braff (SP?) and natalie portman. new songs are quite good: similar back guitar beat along with some new percussion and other adds.

Massive Attack: ok with psycadelics or other influences. way too trance. good light show but no vocals or other video incorporated. sort of what i was afraid of from theivery corp; pretty much the opposite energy of what should be tried from a headlining band.

Sunday:
to see - Damian Marley, Matisyahu, New Pornoghapers, Muse. more of a relaxing day.

so -

i feel like yelling "come on hard 8" and ordering drinks from co-workers; but alas, i think they just wouldn't comply.

five days in vegas reaches the limits of fun. one can only deprive oneself of sleep; drink so much; and test the odds with games of chance so frequently.

i am glad to be back in the real world; although there are things i'll miss about make-believe land. the few things i won't miss is outdoor sporting activities and the lack of the vegas smell.

the limited pics there are should be interesting.

so its summer. usual work - extreme texas heat.

outdoor activities; sweating in the sun.

enjoying cold drinks and even colder springs and pools.

bike riding at night home from downtown; enjoying the full moon.

relaxing with a book and a drink by the pool on a hot afternoon.

looking for a new job to start in the fall; treating fall and winter like a new beginning.

life is good.

well, i guess i don't have any free-time do i?

way too busy studying for my PE exam - scheduled for 21 april: nothing more fun than 8 hours of testing on a friday.

oddly enough i thought i'd enjoy studying more for this after i finished up my grad degree last summer. figured i'd miss studying and would embrace this as my return to intelectualness. well, engineering problems can only be so much fun to study; no matter what kind of motivations you create. ah well, soon enough i'll be free of all this; and the constraints of my career.

and for the pictures - lets just say i have numerous photos that need to be imported - located offsite now; will update when available.  

time for a road trip to colorado; via west texas and new mexico.

interesting pictures to folllow - most definitly.

 

 

ok - now that i'm working and back at it again; here's a quick summation of the vacation.

wednesday:
airport, fly, land, car rental, hotel on beach, walk to cool bar/shop area (brrr - cold outside), good pizza street food, good drinks, entertaining stereo-typical californians, back to hotel, sleep.

thursday:
early wake up, beach walk with valerie (forgot camera and not able to go around beach construction area), smoothy & coffee at corner cuban cafe, shower, breakfast, ocean drive, getti art gallery (amazing), drive to paramount studios & studio tour, dinner at pink's hot dogs (yum!), drive to and visit la brea tar pit museum and LA County art museum (thursday's after 5 is free), drive to comedy show (like 2nd city) - buy tickets, walk to bar for drinks to kill time ($10 tequila shot - crazy LA prices!!), go back and see improv show = excellent, drive to hollywood blvd. have late dinner of oyster stew (tasty) at oldest restaurant (one in family guy episode), walk down hollywood blvd looking at stars and see mahn's chinese theater. go back and sleep.

friday:
early wake, jog by self on beach, pictures, sit on rock outcropping / seawall and look over pacific, wade into ocean, get a smoothy, drive and get sandwiches in san pedro before getting tickets to ferry to island. sit around, get on ferry & eat sandwiches - plus tasty bloody mary - get used to sea legs, get to island, check into hotel, find friend(damon=groom), have rum drinks, go to wedding coctail hour before dinner, dinner, drinking back at damon condo. drunk. strangers. sleep.

saturday:
wake semi-early, omlet breakfast, puppy observation, yellow submarine tour, tandem bike rental and avalon tour - ride up to botanical garden and back down (ride up = very hard, down = much more fun), dress for wedding, wedding, to restaurant for drinks, then dinner, dessert, back to condo with side trip to arcade for some ski ball and bingo games (won tickets for plastic sword gift and slippery snake gift), drink at condo, later, tired, sleep.

sunday:
wake semi-early, pack, check-out, to condo to catch up, to pancake house for accidental chorizo breakfast (ordered a side and got the whole meal). boat ride back to mainland. tour of long beach (valerie used to live), lunch at rosco's chicken and waffles, drive to race track (free entry and parking), bet on race, watch race, win $, drive to pasadena, check into hotel, relax, go downtown, visit brewery, go to bars, back to hotel, sleep.

monday:
wake semi-early, shower turns, check out. breakfast at roadside taco stand - excellent chorizo plate. drive to where valerie went to college. tour. drive up mountain with snow, see LA folk stopping and having snowball fights, preparing to sled, etc. traffic, turn around, head to thai restaurant. too much good food, some to go (later airplane food). drive to airport, check in, wait, fly to austin.

all good.

check the photo section for pictures and commentary. i'll update as i bring the photos in.

so its three weeks until my LA trip. always nice when friends get married in good locations; much better than small windblown towns on the edge of nowhere.

so it'll be my first time there; gonna get some beach time, geti time, food & drink time, and general wandering time in.

any recomendations for local don't miss activities?

i got a non-stop flight out of here (austin); so there'll be plenty of wandering time to be had.

so it’s the time where i figure out that the holiday is coming way too fast and there's no free time left. pretty much every weekend is taken up with some sort of christmas event. some better than others; and some better remembered than others. inevitably i forget some event i've said i'd attend usually catching the ire of friends.

so its time to try and find unique gifts worth giving; practice holiday recopies on unsuspecting friends; and do as much work as possible to keep somewhat productive.

so far so good. got to attend the big 12 championship game in houston this past weekend in style. there's nothing quite as grand as free skybox tickets until you realize you have to pay skybox prices for food and drinks. and while good, $20 six packs aren't that great. but you really can't complain. stop by some IKEA on the way back to austin to remind me how my heritage has mastered home retail and then a weekend of relaxing. got to see some of my hometown bear's game versus green bay and began to feel a bit more wintery.

only two and a half weeks to go before my chicago sojourn and then it'll officially be winter and christmas. until then: work, shop, dine, and enjoy austin as much as possible.