So let's start with the picture above. It was the premiere of a movie I acted in last year sometime. I had almost forgotten I was in it until I started getting etraffic from the producers about it's acceptance into South By South West, which happens to coincide perfectly with the arrival of my good friend Chris Tilly, imported fresh from London, England. Chris has found himself attracted to this city and especially the magic of SXSW. He has come here four times in three years; every year for SXSW and once for ACL.
There's Chris and I at Pangea, one of the more douchey clubs in town. He had managed to meet one of the owners who had us over for table service. Yeah, that's right, I said it, table service, ...in Austin, TX. Douchey.
Anyway, we watched many good movies together and I have to say I enjoyed the film festival way more than the music festival this year. There were highlights for the music fest, no doubt:
MetallicaBUT, there were just so many great movies to see. Case in point, this man right here
That's Sam Raimi and I. Me and Sam. He doesn't know it, but I'm thinking to myself in this picture that this man is partially responsible for my foray into film school. He was very humble, and nervous, and real, and short. His movie, "Drag Me To Hell," is amazing. It would be his first horror film in 20 years. Mr. Spiderman himself has returned to his roots. If you get a chance to see this movie, please do. I'm not really in to scary movies at all. I close my eyes when the music swells. I prepare myself mentally for the scary parts. I really had to let go and give myself to this film and as a result, I screamed out loud and grabbed Chris Tilly, so hard, in fact, that he screamed too. Fortunately for us, the other 300 people at the paramount that night were screaming as well. Great night.
The weather has been really amazing here.
For the most part we're still in a drought and when it rains I love it. There have a been a few instances where the days have ended so beautifully, that I've been forced to pull over with my camera and take some photos down at Auditorium shores and other relaxing spots.There's always people out after work doing very relaxing things around Town Lake, or as it's now called, Lady Bird Lake.
I suppose the weather is primarily responsible for setting Austin up so well for SXSW. I mean, every day was gorgeous. If you happened to be stuck at work during the day, like yours truly, than all you could think about was getting free. It was a little more difficult breaking free of the store where I work, simply because now that I'm General Manager, they expect me to be there 24/7. In fact, when I negotiated my salary back in March of last year to be Bar Manager, the owner explicitly said, I would have to forgo South By South West. The request actually made me hesitate, as if that was a gigantic piece of my lively hood. I had literally been attending the festival in some capacity since 1998. So this year was tough, but not because I didn't have access. Chris Tilly sorted me out when arrived from London with extra press credentials from the news organization he's affiliated with. No, the tough part was finding the energy that had come so effortlessly in my 20s. Finding it was hard, rationing it, ...even harder. I spent most of the week following St Patty's Day (Busiest day of the year at my work) exhausted. If there was one thing I had come to realize about SXSW, it was that there was just sooooooo much to do. From the moment you woke up to the moment you, well, actually, you didn't even have to go to sleep if you didn't want to. And the reach of the day shows has made some hefty strides into East Austin as well. So many new shops have opened up over there smack dab in the middle of gentrification central. Bird's Barbershop, a hair salon that has become locally trendy and fairly successful have opened up two new shops. One in East Austin and another to be opening soon right next to Magnolia Cafe on South Congress. My buddy Mike cuts hair there and knew where all the free beer was hidden, after the other free beer had run out. Here's Mike really drunk
Did I mention the free booze?? Everywhere??Here's one of the boys outside. It got up to about 87 degrees that day. Travis and Mike still sport the cancer stick accessories.
Speaking of Travis, he's still on the runway of trying to get certified by the state to teach youngsters here in Austin or in surrounding cities. Meanwhile, he's met a lovely lady named Leann, well, her real name is Adriene, but we call her Leann, and they have spent tons of time together of late.
Of course Travis is looking to get off the runway in that department as well. I think he may have found the right one for him, ...again.I've made some changes to my diet. It has recently, like a slap in the face with an iron fist, come to my attention that I can no longer eat whatever I please. Unfortunately, everything I eat at my restaurant has found a way to come back out the way in which it came in and so last week I decided that I would no longer eat anything we sell. I also realized that I would have to start cooking for myself so I leaned on Gwenyth Paltrow and her bad ass web site Goop.com for a couple pointers and simple recipes that I could make here at home. Wednesday night comes along. I have a LOST viewing party where I invite two couples over (everybody seems to have a significant other except me these days) and I cook Sea Bass, make my own pesto and have an amazing dinner where everyone is pleased. This is something I have never done before. Unfortunately it all got eclipsed by LOST, but that's okay, I knew it would be good. What I didn't know, was that I could cook. That impressed me.
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