Hello, Again

I realize I've been threatening to start posting things again for what seems like years. To me anyway. I also realize that I've been threatening to write anything for what seems like years, and haven't really got around to doing that either. I have been reading quite a bit, which I think I'm probably using as a bit of a crutch so I don't have to write.

Whether it be laziness, or writers-block, or creative stagnation, or the looming hatred towards a computer screen, I'm tired of being too tired to write. And I'm tired of this stupid imaginary blockade that wont let anything come out that isn't well-versed and brilliant. (You can see why I haven't written anything at all in a while.) Baby steps. I've just decided to start writing very boring and mundane things until I finally work my way up to well-versed and brilliant. It's a personal goal of mine, brilliance. 

But until the brilliance ensues, I'm sticking to boring and mundane voiced in a style that is probably akin to what you would find in a 16-year-old girl's diary. Again, baby steps. Here goes:

The recent big changes in my life can probably be summed up in the two dreams that I've had in the past 48 hours. 

The first was a scene where I was stuck in a high school guidance office, trying to book a flight to my next class. This was all done by machines, and the counter was too high for me to see what was being printed on the ticket. Unfortunately, my flight to class was booked to where I was going to be late to work on the first day of my new job. While trying to change it, suddenly  it became 10:00 in the morning, and two significant people from both my previous and future places of employment showed up at my high school to ask me why I wasn't there. Oh, and did I mention I couldn't speak?

I start a new job on Wednesday. After taking a 3 1/2 year hiatus, I'm returning to Tequila Mockingbird as the interim Executive Producer. It's a 6-month maternity leave take-over, and although I am going to miss Shiny immensely, I'm really excited about this. It's a great opportunity, and it also opens a lot of doors for the future. I can't wait to see where things end up next year. That being said, I'm still going to miss the hell out of the Shiny family. It was a fun run. 

Here's hoping there's no show-up-to-work-late-and-naked dreams tonight.

The following night I had a dream about men. I hadn't had a dream about this particular man in over a year, and I'm not sure why last night was different, except for maybe that today was today. Regardless of the reason, it offered more closure than I had ever expected a dream to give. A sort of farewell, good luck, well wishes to/from the 18-year-old version of my ex-boyfriend. 

It's funny what your subconscious will do when it wants to tell you something. I think mine was trying to let me know that in finding something that makes me genuinely happy, there's no real reason to hold grudges or be angry anymore. That book has closed, I can put it on a shelf and leave it alone. 

And begin a brand new one. I'm pretty excited about that.

As insanely bizarre as my dreams are on a regular basis, sometimes the brain-vomit hones in on something insightful from time to time. Thanks, subconscious, for making me realize that it's time to let go of 6 years of baggage and finally be happy. And thanks, Elijah, for being that something.

So there you go. A bit of a self-involved entry, but it's writing nonetheless. Please stay tuned for literary brilliance, and everything else that gets jotted down along the way.

There's something about a place

...that makes you feel the way human beings should feel. Without cell phones and televisions and computers. The way you feel when your GPS stops working because you've entered a place that doesn't exist on a map. The way you feel when directions stop referring road signs and start with "about 50 yards past that one church, turn left on an unmarked dirt road." The way you feel when you realize that the necessary components of a 21st century lifestyle are completely and totally futile. 

About 2 weeks after I got back from Big Bend, a friend of mine asked me if I could put into words what the connection was there. After 30 minutes of giddy reminiscing, he was determined to load up his newborn in a car and take him camping in the desert for a week. 

And truth be told, I can't. The only thing I can say is that you need to stop on the border highway halfway between Presidio and Terlingua in the Chinati mountains, overlook the Rio Grande, and take a deep breath. 

There's something soul-cleansing about the desert that I've never experienced in the mountains or on a beach. The sporadic signs of life littered amongst complete and total drought and famine. Those little signs of life. Signs of survival.

It's the vast open spaces that completely rip you out of a compressed daily lifestyle and remind you of how small you are. How tiny we all are. And that this world is so much more than anyone has ever seen. 

It's all of that. But way more eloquent and beautiful than I could ever put into words. However, I did try pretty hard to put it on film:

Bigger Bend

Mexico was Great vol. 2

Lollapalooza Lineup Video 2009

Check out our latest, greatest video piece for C3 Presents. Shooting was a blast, I'll have behind the scenes photos up soon. Enjoy!

Lollapalooza Lineup 2009 from C3 Presents Video on Vimeo.

Back Issue #1: SXSW09

Argh! Okay okay okay. Here we go with back issues of blogs. Starting with postworthy item A: SXSW.

This year was relatively mellow in comparison to years past. With the combination of us (Shiny) not having a short film in the Interactive Fest for the first year, and my having some minor surgery that week, I ended up getting a lot more sleep and spending far less money this time around. It was so nice that I'm mildly contemplating getting out of town for next year's fest. We'll see how well that goes.

It started out with the R7 boys coming in town and us all having a nice dinner before they ran off and rocked the faces off Austin. Families were in attendance, I was hopped up on Vicodin, it was a pleasant night all around. 

And then commenced the rocking. The Stubbs show was phenomenal. It was so incredible to see what started out in a small club in LA a few months ago turn into such a huge success. Not that I thought for a second that it wouldn't, but it's exciting nonetheless. They just played with the living half of The Beatles in NYC last week. Hot damn. The album comes out May 5th. Get up on that.

The next day was Relentless7's Direct TV taping, which was equally awesome, though shorter and much more strict on camera usage. I was almost bitched-slapped before being told to put my camera away, so the following photos are bitterly stolen from Getty.

Post-taping, Elijah and I wandered across the 1st street bridge and watched the sunset whilst running through the list of places we want to live and things we could throw on paddle-boat passers-by. We opted to leave them be and go watch the Arc Angels instead. 

Monsey has been added to the Arc Angels lineup, which much to his disappointment in having to stand up for over an hour, I thoroughly enjoy. There's a head bob and a shoulder thrust that adds a certain suave grooviness to the whole experience. Yeah Mons.

They're putting out a new album and hitting the road again starting this month. There are a couple Continental Club dates next week, but apart from that, they'll be overseas and far away for some time. Catch them in Austin while you can. (Or to my friends in London, they'll have a residency for most of May. Go do that. This means you, Rhod.)

Jonny had a show at Threadgills shortly following the Arc Angels, so there was more street wandering in between those. The Trishas came up to sing background vocals. I snapped a lot of photos and then was taught the Corby dance. Jonny, no longer one-half of The Dedringers, has been playing solo shows around Texas, and writing some really fantastic songs along the way. He plays a semi-regular show at the Saxon, so swing on by.

Then it was back to the Big House for fun times all around. That house could probably be the death of us all, but it might just be worth it. More on that later.

And last, but certainly not least was the Shiny Object/Butler Bros annual SXSW BYOC party. This was my second year as a party thrower and not just an attendee, so let it be my completely unbiased opinion that in it's 4th year of existence, this has become one of the best day parties throughout the whole festival. 

This year we had a record amount of people, and the best lineup yet. Ron, our Creative Director, scours the SXSW band list for months, looking for what amazing acts that you probably haven't seen are going to be in town. This year we had The Sheeps (a roots band from NY via Austin), The Emeralds (the most incredible Japanese punk band you will ever see ever. Ever), Roy Head and Barbara Lynn (old Ponderosa Stomp players that have played with pretty much every legendary blues player imaginable), The Bo-Keys (rad Memphis blues), Hollerado (Great Canadian rock, and sweet dudes as well), The Peekers (the best I can describe this as is happy-psychedelic, Mamas&Papas meet Pink Floyd? A ton of fun though), and The Diagonals who I slept through so I can't give you an accurate description. Sorry. I was tired, and still on the aforementioned Vicodin.

The best of the day was The Emeralds, hands down. They all showed up in leather suits. It was 90 degrees outside. The sound check was an actual song, in which the lyrics of the song consisted of, "I NEED MORE OF HIM IN MY MONITOR! YEAH YEAH ROCK N ROLL!"

And then, of course, the great, "HEY AUSTIN, DO YOU LIKE MY SHIRT?!" battle cry unto the masses. It was incredible. We did, in fact, like his shirt.

My dad ran sound, as per usual BYOC procedure. It's always fun to have him around during work functions. And in case anyone ever doubted that I'm my father's child, see the "I'm annoyed with you" face in both photos below:

And that my friends, was the end of the week for me. I passed out under the sound booth and went home by 8pm. All in all, it was a great festival, and though not near as eventful as last year, I think it's better that way. Congrats to Relentless7, who are currently tearing through London with rock and roll and stuff of that nature. 

#1 lesson learned: if you get surgery the week of SXSW, don't expect to do as much rocking as normal. Be prepared for a lot of this:

The End.

Props Gone Wild

What happens when bean bags meet construction paper and a little bit of imagination.