Ordinary Strangeness

A year ago, when my impending move to the lone star state was just a mere conversation amongst friends in sofla, one of the recurring pro’s was the close proximity I would be to austin. this past weekend, I was finally able to check that off of my ever-growing ‘to do’ list. People are not making blind overstatements when they say that austin does not belong in texas. it’s gorgeous..rolling hills, hot springs, nature preserves, water conservation systems, and, my favorite-  bleeding heart hipsters and hippies. the fact that my first time in austin  coincided with the biggest art convention in the world did not suck.

sxsw was a trip. rolling up late friday afternoon, i was promptly faced with Hare Krishnas dancing up and down 6th street…didn’t realize they were still around.. i have early memories in the 80′s of those crazies running around penn station …. just thought such culty groups would have evolved a bit more since then. fun hippie twirler nonsense nonetheless…

I was on full sensory overload for the next 48hrs. kinda hard not to be…the city itself is worth going to on a quiet weekend…but the scene at sxsw was just out of hand. if you go next year, be sure not to go with a strict schedule in place (and do not attempt this festy w/ more than 1-2 people in your ‘group’)….and most likely, trust that you’re not going to see every friend that is in attendance as well.. it’s simply not possible when you’re being pulled in a thousand different directions from the moment you hit the pavement…bands from all over the world are literally spilling out onto every corner….I started my trip with some nice dude sneaking me through the back door of this restaurant/venue (Lustre Pearl – lustrepearlaustin.com) and caught Rogue Wave’s set..

after my first 2 hours in austin, I came to the realization that the chances of me seeing everyone on my little list was becoming a bit of a fools errand..so I threw out said list and vowed to go with every whim that struck my fancy for the next 48 hours (carpe diem’d that shit) …turns out, this was a good decision..ended up seeing some favorite acts (i.e., Chuck Prophet @ yard dog) to  many solid, new, emerging artists on the scene…there were a few parties I regret not making an appearance at..but you simply have to succumb to the realization that you cannot hit them all. every minute was well spent and i’m already making a list on how to do it even better next year.