sxsw sneak peek

from the bands I know, here are some of my sxsw picks for 2010:

sleepy sun
frightened rabbit
major lazer
jukebox the ghost
dawes
anya marina





catch their shows at these parties:
http://www.pastemagazine.com/sxsw10

http://www.lustrepearlaustin.com/

http://www.banyanbranch.com/sxsw/

http://filtermagazine.com/index.php/rsvp/sxsw/

http://thebayareatakeover.com/wp/

http://consequenceofsound.net/2010/03/12/update-cos-sled-island-sxsw-venue-change-set-times-announced/

http://sxsw.com/music/shows/auditorium_shores

ps - port o'brien is not actually playing sxsw this year...but they were a favorite of mine from last year, so I included them on the mix anyway. :)

road revelations...

On my solitary road treks to and from Austin, I seem to have several [minor] epiphanies that would not take place otherwise...most of them are inspired by my playlist [simply that hearing something leads me down a rabbit hole of thoughts]. My mental notes from this trip were as follows:

1. My mixed cd's should come with an 'explicit content' warning [or at least a heads up of 'don't listen to this in the presence your parents and/or children']. I could arbitrarily blame this on my love for rap, but I think that would be a lie [ie. track 5]. It also made me think about my workout mix, which features a certain Buckcherry song that is completely inappropriate...YET my favorite song to get me through a workout...and still I blush at the mere thought that anyone might possibly overhear this particular song blaring loudly out my iPod [considering that I do crank it up quite a bit as I pump through my time on the elliptical]. I guess sketchy music is my vice.

2. I've finally made peace with Regina Spektor. For the past several years I've avoided her music, because it brought up bad memories and just made me angry in general [especially when I started thinking about how an artist I liked got hijacked by circumstances]. I included one song of hers on this mix to specifically test if I could make it through without angry feelings brewing...and I found that it didn't make me want to break things...which I count as a success.

3. Watching the video for 'Kids' by MGMT may have permanently scarred me....enough to where I almost shouldn't listen to the song [which would be tragic since I really like the song...which is why I emphasized almost]. I even had strange dreams that I feel were inspired by the video. In one trippy dream, I was living with two other girls and a guy...but the guy was some sort of a mutant, because he could transform into a snake. Once I found this out, I no longer wanted to live with the guy [which I thought was justified...considering he = epitome of my worst nightmare]...but one of the girls insisted that we would be okay. She explained that when she was younger, she knew a boy who could change into an alligator [cut to grainy footage of kids in playpen, little boy pops out then jumps back in the pen as an alligator...catches little girl in a headlock using his massive jaw]. Creeeeeeeepy.

4. Maybe I misjudged Patty Griffin's 'Flaming Red' album. I used to think she tried to change her sound/image too much with this cd in particular...but I'm slowly coming around to various tracks...especially "One Big Love"...

5. I recently saw "Whip It"...which influenced me in my Tilly and the Wall selection. LOVED that movie...not surprising since it was filmed in Austin, features the sarcasm of Ellen Page and has a great soundtrack. Definitely made me want to be a roller-derby girl...for like a day [because, let's face it, one day would be enough to hospitalize me]. But seriously, it hits a nerve with another wish of mine...I reaaaaaallly wish I could tackle someone [like football-style tackle, not jokey-fun tackle]. BUT not with the force of my tiny-little-lady self...but with the power of someone like Ndamukong Suh [with the appearance of my little-lady self]. I think it would be awesome to do that just once!.....or twice....

6. Dang Miley Cyrus song...makes me all teary-eyed every time! [I directly associate it with the movie preview for "The Last Song"...and since I read the book already, it makes me get all emotional].

7. With the combination of realizations #1, #2, #3 and #5, you might think that I'm a slightly disturbed person....but I promise I'm not! Jamie Foxx may blame it on the [ah-ah ah-ah ah] alcohol, but I blame it on my song selections.

'ghost of good' mix:
1. Imma Be - Black Eyed Peas
2. One Big Love - Patty Griffin
3. On Top - The Killers
4. Graces Amazing Hands - Dave Barnes
5. Keep Yourself Warm - Frightened Rabbit
6. Pot Kettle Black - Tilly and the Wall
7. Blame It (feat. T-Pain) - Jamie Foxx
8. When I Look At You - Miley Cyrus
9. Just One Look - Doris Troy
10. Love Me Through - Port O'Brien
11. That Time - Regina Spektor
12. Kids - MGMT
13. Today Was a Fairytale - Taylor Swift
14. Got 2 Have U - Color Me Badd
15. Tightrope (feat. Big Boi) - Janelle Monáe
16. WTF? - OK Go
17. On to the Next One (feat. Swizz Beatz) - Jay-Z
18. Wish You Were Here - Incubus
19. Roll Over Beethoven - The Beatles

As for right now, 'i guess i'm taking my chances...'

my love/hate relationship with the open road

I'm either extremely lucky on the roads...or very unlucky...depending on how you chose to view it (I choose lucky). My road encounters are notorious...but by the grace of God alone, I've been very fortunate to avoid any major catastrophe. A few examples...

Case #1:

I'm driving from Austin to Buna on a narrow back-woods road [lined by a wall of pine trees on each side] in torrential rain/wind, trapped behind a truck carrying chickens while desperately trying to avoid a tornado that was in the area. Thought I was going to die in a swirl of feathers and pine needles, yet somehow I escaped the wrath of the tornado [but not the feather/pine needle mix].

Case #2:

As I'm driving from Austin to Dallas [a drive that has caused me much torment over the years], a piece of sheet metal blew out of a guy's truck, flew underneath my car and sliced a tire open. Seriously thankful that the sheet metal went under my car and not through the windshield instead.

Numerous other incidents could be listed including the time I lost power steering [in a van on I-35....not good], or the time I lost the ability to accelerate [on I-10 in Houston...also not good], or the time a muffler fell off the car in front of me and hit my car, etc...but you get the point.

My most recent 'incident' occurred during my drive home for this weekend...which I personally think takes the cake...

I literally drove through hell*...not the fire-and-brimstone type, but the icy-pellet-downpour-that-might-break-your-windshield version...AND [as if the fear of having my windshield broken by these large, angry ice marbles wasn't enough] I'm 99.3% sure that I [ie. my car] got struck by lightening!

Just as I was beginning to see relief from the damaging hail, I heard a loud pop on the roof of my car quickly followed by an extremely bright flash of light in the rear section of my car [I also noted that most cars chose to put fair amount of distance between themselves and me after the fact...I can't blame them, I would be wary of any driver that got zapped as well]. I think that my immediate thought was something along the lines of "Ok God, [you've got my attention] I'm listening." My dad claims that he even found a mark on the top of my car to substantiate my claims....but my brother remains slightly skeptical. I seriously wish I had eye-witness accounts, because I would love to know what the people in the cars around me saw.

I could easily see these circumstance as a "target on my back" issue...but instead I think that I've got an awesome shield around me. Kinda makes me feel stealth. :)

*hail

say anything

here are some quotable gems I've been saving up:
[af = anonymous friend]


af #1: "you know that song....something about lucy..."
me: " you mean...'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'...?"

(context: trying to casually to break the ice with a group of guys to pass off a phone number on a dare)

af #2: "hey...are you guys from Michigan?" (note: when she asked this, the anticipated response was 'no'....so she could quickly brush off the ice-breaker and pass off the number.)
boy group: Yeah! We're actually all from Ann Arbor!

af #2: "Girls....they really ARE from Michigan!?" (said with a "you've got to be kidding!" look)

af #1: "I like that Dave Barnes song, and surprisingly I don't really have diminishing returns for it"
me: "did you actually just say that you don't have diminishing returns for a song you like?"
af #1: "are you gonna put this on your blog?"
me: "yes...I think I just might"

af #3: "you kill it, you keep it!"
(an interesting dating perspective)

af #4: "patty griffin is good" (said with raised eyebrows)
me: "you're being sarcastic"
af #4: "I didn't say it sarcastically"
me: "no, but your eyebrows were sarcastic"
af #4: "alright, how about this...patty griffin is good" (said with a slow head nod)
me: "ok, your eyebrows weren't sarcastic...but your head nod was"

weather explanation

A recent email from a family member...

As everybody knows, if the Saints ever won the Super Bowl, Hell would freeze over.

Washington DC is under two feet of snow from last week, and they are getting more.

Geaux Saints!