Monday, March 22, 2010

SXLB

Day: 219
High Temp: 74F

My experiences at SXSW were a mere sliver of all the excitement that this year's festival had to offer, but as many of you have asked, I figured I would provide you with the rundown of what was SXLB.

And by the way, I was so right to be intimidated! But we had a lot of fun. And I am glad that I now have a full year to recover...

Wednesday- Day one of SXSW music. Tom and I bike downtown and catch a portion of a Scottish band playing in a hotel lobby. We stroll about the 6th street/Red River area checking out the pandemonium. Tom says, "It's like a music amusement park."  He is so right. On every corner there is a rag-tag band competing with the live music pouring from every storefront, bar, balcony and open window.  We enjoy the musical stylings of local string metal group Judgement Day, who rock our socks off. We then have the unfortunate luck to happen upon (and quickly escape) a corner where an ex-boyfriend of mine happens to be playing with his band. It is beyond surreal, and this puts the nail in my coffin for Wednesday.

Thursday- We stay home. Screw you SXSW, we need to rest up for...

Friday- We first head up to our local pizza joint, Home Slice, to grab some food, and catch a few acts featured at their Music By The Slice party (MXTS). Among them, we enjoy Miles Kurosky (fmrly of Beulah) and Tom says, "I think I have reached my fill of guitar rock." Then we enjoy the Movits! (swedish swing-rap anyone? Yes they wear tuxes when performing). We bike over to the east side, pleasantly surprised to find no line at the Mess With Texas (MWTX) party. We catch the last few songs of Billy Bragg's set, watch Frightened Rabbit (more Scots!) and enjoy free Sweet Leaf Tea, and lots of swag (posters, CDs, temp tattoos, handkerchiefs, pins, etc). Then we head over to the south stage, and are temporarily confused by what we thought was supposed to be Man or Astroman?. We quickly learn they are 50 minutes behind schedule, and so steak out a great seat, sit through Black Angels (not my cup of tea) and then rock out to Man or Astroman? Tom and I have been waiting for this show for months (years!). The show does not disappoint, and we are thrilled by the kitschy stage props. One of the Astromen says, "It's been forty years since we have played a show... forty space years!" Then we bike over to St. David's church only to decide that $20/person is too much to pay, even if it does mean you get to see Jacob Dylan and Neko Case play a show in a historic church sanctuary. Possibly something we will regret down the road... Grab free water and bike home, exhausted.

Saturday- Holy hell Austin! It's cold down here. Although many a band will cancel their unofficial sets to stay out of the cold, Tom and I bike back over the lake, so punishing, to stand in a teeny tiny line and see what feels like a private show by Visqueen. Seriously, there were only like 50 people there! They are excellent, and to read what Tom and Kevin have to say about there most recent release click here.  Still ready for more rock, we walk over to the Mohawk, only to stand in line for the entirety of the Free Energy show we were hoping to catch. Now that our hands are totally freezing, we decide to bike back home to warm up.  I am brought to a complete standstill biking west on 4th street, as a bitter wind kicks up. I take a hot shower when I get home, and a nap! Tom and I bid adieu to SXSW 2010 in a laid back manner, as we take in a Vadoinmessico show at the Hilton Second Stage. We nab seats, grab a few drinks, and are home in time for dinner.

EVERYTHING we did was free (except the few drinks we bought at the various venues). SXSW is the best deal in live music, if you are willing to hustle a bit for it.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Intimidated by a Festival

Day: 209

High Temp: 70F

As the birds begin chirping and the bluebonnets begin to bloom, the minds of all Austinite's turn to one thing... no, not spring. South by Southwest! Abbreviated SXSW to those of us in ATX, SXSW is one of the premiere arts/tech festivals in the nation. And it is not just for music lovers, despite what you may think you know. SXSW has a large film festival and also features Interactive, a most intriguing festival component featuring presentations by top leaders across a multitude of industries. Beginning today, tastemakers from around the world will descend on my fair city to see, hear, tweet, blog and generally experience the best of what's new in music, video games, film, technology, etc. etc.

It is exciting. It's also intimidating. Not even taking into account the "official" festival activities, there are literally HUNDREDS of presentations/screenings/chats/shows/events taking place every day. They take place in pizza joints, churches, retail stores, bars and of course some of the best professional music venues in the nation. Much of it is free, and some of the neatest stuff isn't even announced anywhere. You just have to know someone, or be in the right place at the right time.

If you think I am overstating, I want you to do two things for me. First, check out the official SXSW schedule. That is crazy enough, but now head on over to look at this schedule. Notice the bright sea-foam "unofficial" denotation. With well over 50 unofficial parties happening each day of the music fest, just how would you would decide how to answer the question "What are you doing Friday?" It's impossible to decide!

PS- Schubas, the legendary Chicago music venue, is hosting a party during SXSW, as many of town clubs and radio stations will do. I think it is indicative of just how ever-present this festival is to note that the well respected Schubas will be presenting their show at Yard Dog the awesome and seriously teeny-tiny art gallery about 2 blocks from my apartment. It's all around you, you cannot escape!

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Happy Independence Day!

Day: 199

High Temp: 59F

Texas Independence day, that is. I have never lived anywhere that celebrated an independence other than July 4th, and to be honest, the fanfare is rather lacking.

That said, I would like to direct your attention to a website kept by a man who truly understands the important place that UT and Texas as a whole have in this world. Jim Nicar is an employee over at Texas Exes- the university alumni association, and is sort of the unofficial historian of UT. He always has some pretty awesome and entertaining stories to tell, including this one sent in a campus-wide email this morning, detailing the Independence Day celebrations of 1996 and 1997. Enjoy!

For the proudest of Texans, it’s the most important day of the year. It’s a holiday that no other state can claim. March 2 is Texas Independence Day, and it’s observance on the University of Texas campus began with a missed class, a visit to Scholz’ Beer Garden, and a spiked cannon.

In the spring of 1896, the fledgling University was confined to a forty-acre campus, with a white-washed wooden fence around the perimeter to keep out the town cows. A Victorian-Gothic Main Building, only two-thirds complete, commanded the hill in the center. It was flanked by the Chemistry Lab Building to the northwest, and B. Hall, a men’s dorm, down the hill to the east.

The University’s 482 students were divided into two departments: Academic and Law. The Academic Department encompassed studies comparable to today’s Colleges of Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, and the “Academs” pursued their classes for the usual four years, leading to a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Law students, though, needed only two years to complete an LL.B. - a Bachelor of Laws and Letters - and a previous undergraduate degree was not required for admission. Junior Laws were first-year law students, while Senior Laws were completing their final year.

On the cloudy, warm and humid morning of March 2, 1896, the Junior Laws were waiting for their next lecture in criminal law, taught by Judge Robert Batts, when one student bemoaned the fact that the day was Texas Independence Day, a legal holiday for Texans, except, apparently, for UT students.

For years, students had regularly petitioned the faculty for a break on March 2nd, but had always been refused. “Our faculty is afraid to grant us holiday, even on such occasions,“ complained the Alcalde, a weekly student newspaper that pre-dated The Daily Texan (and not to be confused with the present alumni magazine). “They fear that some 2 x 4 politician, or still smaller newspaper, will accuse them of not earning their money. That is the real cause of their reluctance to grant a cessation of routine grinds, to allow our Texan bosoms an inflation of truly patriotic atmosphere.”

After serious discussion, the Junior Laws decided they would honor such an auspicious day by avoiding class altogether, and invited Judge Batts to join them. The diplomatic Batts responded with an eloquent speech, espousing all of the dire things that might happen to Junior Laws who skipped lectures. The students listened, cheered, and promptly ignored Batts’ pleas, choosing instead to spend the day at Scholz’ Beer Garden just south of the campus, where they were reportedly “very gemuethlick.”

One year later, in 1897, the now senior law class was determined to include the entire campus community in a celebration of “the natal day of Texas Independence,” and again petitioned the faculty for a holiday. But the Board of Regents had recently appointed George T. Winston (photo at left) as the new University President. A native of North Carolina and an alumnus of both the Naval Academy and Cornell, Winston neither understood nor shared the affinity Texans had for March 2nd. Winston recognized only one Independence Day, and that was on July 4th.

Undaunted, the Senior Laws pressed ahead with their plans, hoping to impress upon President Winston the importance of the second day of March. Working with the Texas Attorney General, four of the students signed a bond in order to borrow one of the two brass cannons that stood guard in front of the State Capitol. It took most of the afternoon of March 1st to roll the cannon to the Forty Acres, where the Laws planned to use it for a 21-gun salute to Texas at dawn following day.

Just before sunrise on March 2, 1897, the Senior Laws arrived for their celebration, only to find the cannon had been spiked. A large nail had been driven in to the ignition hole, and it took some time, persistence and the employment of several pocket knives to remove the offending item. By then, President Winston had arrived on the scene, and was rather unhappily resigned to the fact that the students were going to celebrate, whether or not the faculty approved. Hoping to minimize the damage to the class day, Winston asked the Laws to move the cannon away from the Main Building, down the hill to the University’s athletic field (where Taylor Hall and the ACES Building now stand). Or, they could wait until after noon to have their fun. As it turned out, the students did both.

Boom! Starting at 9:30am, an otherwise peaceful March morning was harshly interrupted by a series of cannon blasts from the athletic field. The entire Law Department attended, including Professors Robert Batts and John Townes, and following the cannon fire, each person present gave a short but sincere patriotic speech. The talks by Batts and Townes were greeted with particularly loud cheers from the students.

Meanwhile, a distracted Academic Department continued to hold classes as best as it could, some of the faculty hoping the Laws would tire of their efforts, while other professors were no doubt wishing they could join in the fun. The Laws, though, weren’t going to allow Texas Independence Day to pass without including the rest of the University.

At 1pm, a fresh supply of gun powder was secured, and the cannon was dragged up the hill and positioned directly in front of the Main Building, facing the Capitol. The first blast “threatened to break every window in the building.” In a flurry, the Academs vacated their classrooms and joined the Laws outside, and the scene of the morning was repeated, with more speeches from students and professors.

Midway through the afternoon, it was discovered that President Winston had quietly made his escape home just north of the campus, to which a large and boisterous committee of students promptly followed. Refusing to take no for an answer, Winston was persuaded to return and make a speech of his own. He opened with the remark:
“I was born in the land of liberty, rocked in the cradle of liberty, nursed on the bottle of liberty, and I’ve had liberty preached to me all my life, but Texas University students take more liberty than anyone I’ve ever come in contact with.”
The students responded with their loudest cheers of the day, and gave President Winston a rousing rendition of the University of Texas yell:


Hullabaloo! Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!
Hullabaloo! Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!
Hoo-ray! Hoo-ray!
Varsity! Varsity! U. T. A.!

Since then, UT students and Texas Exes have recognized March 2nd as a time to celebrate both the Lone Star State and the University of Texas. In 1900, the Ex-Students Association adopted a resolution which states: “Whenever two Texas Exes shall meet on March 2, they all shall sit and break bread and pay tribute to the institution that made their education possible.”