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This past Saturday, the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown held a double feature of Napoleon Dynamite and Joysticks. What's so special about these two movies? They both feature Jon Gries, most recently well known as Uncle Rico. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for Joysticks which I've never seen and apparently need to. It was all damn good fun and great to meet Jon.

Hangin' with Uncle Rico

I'll eat whatever I want. Gosh!

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The Austin City Limits Music Festival 2008 official lineup is here. So much far a Stone Temple Pilots coup d'etat. The boys are back together again. That being said, this year's ACL will once again rock Zilker Park. There's so many different sounds of music under one sky, your not gonna know what to do with yourself. Taking a quick look at the lineup, I've drawn up an initial list of "must see" acts for me.

Additions and changes are bound to happen.

• Foo Fighters (me and friend of mine tried a couple time to see them earlier this year... the time is now)
  
• Beck (saw him live a couple years ago, really dug the show and his music)
  
• David Byrne (the living legend, never had the chance to hear him play during South by Southwest)
  
• The Raconteurs (I see them next month and I gonna see them again!)
  
• The Mars Volta (they just played in Austin and I missed my chance, here we go again)
  
• Gnarls Barkley (how can you not like this duo)
  
• Tegan & Sara (my favorite Canadian twins, saw them last year, they had to cancel their ACL'05 appearance)
  
• Band Of Horses (again, another band I missed out on earlier this year)
  
• The Swell Season (hell yes!, it's Glen Hansard (The Frames) and Markéta Irglová from the indie film Once, I got the see them live this past November, just love them)
  
• Gogol Bordello (another band I missed which recently played in Austin, I could've, I will now)
  
• Okkervil River (local Austin group, be the first time catching them live, let alone really getting a chance to listen to them)
  
• Hot Chip (digg their sound, another first time for me)
  
• Vampire Weekend (I've been so damn lazy about buying their album, I make it right)
  
• CSS (so much damn fun they should be outlawed, saw them when they opened for Ladytron, that whole night was insanely great)
  
• Jamie Lidell (saw him when he opened for Beck, unlike some other people, his music works for me)
  
• The Octopus Project (about damn time I get to see them this year, truly one of my favorite local Austin bands)
  
• White Denim (local Austin band which is taking indie rock and slapping it up side its head)
  
• Mates Of State (Kori and James are back in Austin again, last saw them during Fun Fun Fun Fest '07)

The Austin City Limits Music Festival 2007 official lineup is online. Once again, as always, the diversity of the musical lineup is impressive. This is what makes ACL Fest so special compared to the other major music festivals in America. I already purchased my three day pass a month ago. Here's an initial list of "must see" acts for me.

Additions and changes are bound to happen.

• Bob Dylan (I don't hate, not really a fan, but I might as well since he is the headliner)
• The White Stripes (finally get to see them)
  
• The Killers (didn't get around to seeing them this past April)
• Arcade Fire (into the third song, I'll try to not almost have a heat stroke, again...no really (ACL Fest '05))
• Muse (yes, I just saw them last month, they're that damn good)
• Queen Of The Stone Age (first time seeing them)
• Bloc Party (love this band, I'm a whore for their live bootlegs)
• Arctic Monkeys (still need to listen to the new album, shame on me)
• Lucinda Williams (couldn't schedule correctly to see here during all of the SXSW craziness)
• Spoon (current favorite Austin, TX band?!!!)
• Blue October (at the last minute, missed their concert this past November)
• Regina Spektor (great music from a gorgeous woman)
  
• Kaiser Chiefs (haven't seen them since ACL Fest '05)
• LCD Soundsystem (first time seeing him)
• Devotchka (love them on Little Miss Sunshine soundtack)
• *Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (actually holding off on them for now, just saw them couple weeks)
• Ghostland Observatory (best discovery @ ACL Fest '06, their energy during live shows is insane)
• Yo La Tengo (unfortunately missed their show last month, fuck you rain!)
• Young Love (dug his sound & album as soon as I heard it, this will be his fourth time playing in Austin this year)
• Blonde Redhead (glad I didn't buy tickets to their show last week, it was canceled, another rain out, WTF!)
• Sound Team (I'm not completely sold on them, yet)
  

Here we are in April. I can hardly wait for the Austin City Limits Music Festival. This year's ACL Fest will take place September 26-28, 2008. My three day pass was purchased months ago. Awesome! But who the hell is playing? One of my favorite music blogs (Gorilla vs Bear) is already on the case. Have a look, or better yet, have a listen.

Yes, I still need to write about SXSW 2008. Yes, I'm still tired. That being said;

2009 Panel Ideas: Submission Process Begins on June 2

Did the 2008 SXSW Interactive Festival inspire you to submit a panel idea for next year’s event? Excellent – most of the best programming at SXSW comes directly from the online community. So here is how this process wiil work for 2009. We will begin accepting ideas for next spring from Tuesday, June 2 through Friday, July 11. Complete details on what kind of information we will need for the 2009 Panel Picker will be posted on the SXSW website in mid-May. Please check back then – or subscribe to the monthly listserve. Please feel free to e-mail us if you are confused about how this process works. Also, if you are wondering about dates for SXSW Interactive for 2009, they are Friday, March 13 through Tuesday, March 17.

Posted 03/20/08

Went to the Million Musician March again this year.  This time I didn't feel like marching so I just shadowed it on my bike and took pictures.  It was a spectacularly beautiful day and everyone was in high spirits.  I estimate full attendance at something like 1000, same as last year, although there seemed to be more people playing instruments.  Someday maybe some of those SXSW slackers will get off their hungover asses and join in.  Until then, there certainly seem to be no shortage of folks in Austin who think this is a fun time.

Waiting for the March to spill out from the Capitol grounds

That guy with the Fuck Bush sign came out again.  Some old man tottered down the sidewalk, groped in the return-coin slot of a nearby pay phone, then turned to me and asked, "Did they say that about Truman?  Or Johnson?" and tottered off.  It wasn't until later I realized he was talking about the sign (which, I might add, had an advertisement for Coke - "2 liters $.99!" - on the back) or I would have told him, Why yes.  Yes they did say that about Johnson, and a lot of other things besides.  Just not out on the sidewalk at 11th and Congress.

And here they come

And come

Hey, wow!  Jackson Browne found a time machine and went back!

Surely must be a million by now

A good angle can always make it seem like more people than there are.

Gotta be hot under there

I don't care whatever message these guys were trying to send, or how legitimate it was.  They still gave me the creeps.  (As I guess they were supposed to.)

Hitting Sixth Street during SXSW

By now the leading band was well into "When the Saints Come Marching In."  You can only play "Down By The Riverside" so many times, evidently.

Doubt he's feeling very hot

Of course there's always got to be a bagpiper.

We loved the bubble machine

This float was right ahead of the Molly Ivins Pots and Pans Brigade.  May their ranks swell with the years.

Just so you don't forget this is serious business

The badass rearguard APD escort.  There was no reason to keep that visor down except to be a badass.

Code Pink makes the scene

As always - smashing!  That's my friend Deb in front of the banner, for once not dressed in pink.

Portable PA in a shopping cart

Bringing up the rear.  These guys were wailing on "Fortunate Son," forever and always.  Still I suppose it's an improvement on "Kumbaya."

Yesterday’s Million Musician March went off with nary a hitch and a good time was had by all.  OK, maybe only a thousand showed up, but who wants to try calling it The One-Tenth Of A Percent March?

At the Capitol: getting ready to hit the streets

The route started at the Capitol and went down Congress, detouring over to Red River on 7th and back on Sixth and finally fetching up at City Hall.  The detour produced a lot of dazed WTF looks from the South By attendees, or maybe they were more of the “dude why do you want to make that much noise this early in the day” head-holding looks.  Either way, for all the invites issued to join in there weren’t a lot of takers.

7th St.

No serious counter-demonstrators were visible, because who can really take issue with a marching band?  Some guy in the background was yelling "Giuliani!  Giuliani!" and some aging rocker dude who thought he was Penn Jillette with a bleached ponytail started bellowing “Bush rocks!  Go President Bush!” at 7th and Neches.  If he was trying for a confrontation it was negated when the 12-year-old next to him slugged him and said, “Daddy, you’re such a butthead.”

Code Pink - smashing!

In fact everybody all around was trying to keep it mellow, except for maybe the marcher with the big Fuck Bush sign.  While he would have fit in fine at any of the earlier protests I’ve been to, he didn’t here where it was too festive for that sort of agitation.  It’s just like that old Top 40 song goes: you can’t dance and stay uptight.

Bringing up the rear at City Hall

It's been a busy past week, especially these past two days. I had some much needed car maintenance performed. The Mustang is running smooth again.

This Friday, March 7th is Day 1 of South by Southwest. I am already low on sleep. Tomorrow morning when I get off of work I'll be racing home for a quick shower and power nap. Then head up to Austin to stand in line for three hours to pick up my SXSW Gold Badge. Unlike last year, this time around I'm only attend the Interactive and Film conference. There are a few free music day shows I want to hit. They are mainly local Austin artists.

Taking photos during SXSW is easy. Writing blog entries, well... last year I did try while SXSW was taking place.

South by Southwest 2007

• My SXSW 2007 photos
• My write ups and break downs

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock – and given this year’s political climate, you might be smart to – you know that for the first time in a long time a vote in the Texas primary actually counts for something.  (For those registered Democrat, anyway.)  Likewise you’ll know that last night was the much-anticipated primary. 

Big excitement in Austin.  Glad to have it over.

Early voting numbers for once seem to have been staggeringly huge, but I wasn’t among those industrious people in spite of numerous opportunities offered and so it was that I found myself waiting outside Ridgetop Elementary on Caswell in the gathering dusk.  And waiting.  And waiting.  The woman in front of me talked pretty much the whole time on her cell phone, to the same person.  Her conversation sounded fairly interesting, what I could piece together from just her end.  She was worried about being late to band practice but not too much, calling herself the “least essential person there.”

Well good.  It always sucks when creativity interferes with the process of democracy.

Almost to the safety of the 100-ft boundary

Actually the wait wasn’t that bad – 45 minutes start to finish.  The line began well in back of the 100-ft. boundary, by the big Obama banner, and inched slowly forward and mysteriously never got significantly longer.

While waiting in line, when I wasn’t eavesdropping I amused myself wondering how much the church across the street paid for that banner with the prominent misspelling.  Or speculating whether “chruch” means anything in Korean.

Big fnudraising event

Didn’t stick around for the party caucus afterwards and given Heather’s account I’m damn glad.  As it turns out my candidate didn’t need the extra effort on my part, not this time around anyway.