Museum Day [Things to do in Austin]

Sunday marks the 14th annual Austin Museum Day event, in which every museum in Austin has FREE admission. There are 29 institutions participating.

In addition to the lack of entry fee, several museums are hosting special events to draw in even more visitors.

According to the Austin Museum Partnership, "Special activities planned include sculpting demonstrations at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum; a "dino dig" at the Texas Memorial Museum; a chance to search for treasures in Elisabet Ney's castle; an opportunity to go "behind the plexiglass" at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum; and really cool bugs at the Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve."

I for one have always wanted to visit the Elisabet Ney Museum, the castle-like home museum with hidden passages and chambers.

Participating institutions include everything from the Bob Bullock, to outdoor favorites like the wildflower center, botanical gardens, and nature center.

For a complete list of Participants, visit the Austin Museum Partnership's website.

This event sounds like the perfect time to save some green & get in some culture!

Hush Hush [Shop Austin]

For any girl who hasn't had the pleasure of shopping at Strut, or its clearance center, Hush Hush, there is no time like the present. The Austin chain has several Strut locations in town, but Hush Hush is the place to get a bargain.


Hush Hush is located on S Lamar, next to one of the Strut locations. The stylist yet affordable boutique carries designers like Lucca Couture, and Flying Tomato, and has a large shoe and accessory collection as well.

Known for their sales, at least one day a month everything in the store is marked down to $10. Many of these items were originally $30-60 at Strut stores. You have to a little digging, and check to make sure all of the embellishments are still intact, but if you find a good item you'll be in for the deal of the century.

Sales usually coincide with first Thursday and certain weekends during the year. One Strut/ Hush Hush staple is the "secret sale" in which only shoppers on the newsletter are alerted to a discount in stores, you have to mention this secret sale to get the big discount.

To be alerted about sales, visit the Strut website and sign up on the mailing list.

Sept 11 in the news

This morning I awoke to shocking images of burning buildings and mass chaos on my television screen.

My TV, was left on MSNBC from the night before. With sleep still in my eyes, and the word "LIVE" in huge letters on the screen's corner, it took a while for me to process that the screen's events were not, in fact, occurring live.

MSNBC broadcast the real time coverage of the September 11 attacks this morning, so that viewers could relive the unfolding of events. Once I snapped out of my state of dillusion, it was tragic and fascinating to watch that day's events unfold unedited before my eyes.

The towers fell, the pentagon was evacuated, and a plane crashed in Pennsylvania with the words LIVE appearing in the corner. The strange occurrence nearly prompted me to yell directions to the people on the screen. It was truly bizarre to watch that same startling sequence of events we witnessed 7 years ago, only knowing the outcome that has followed.

They say hindsight is 20/20 but nothing on that screen was clear.

Fun Fun Fun Fest [Festival News]

Austin's annual mid-size music festival, Fun Fun Fun Fest, will be back this November. This year, the festival will be teaming up with Transmission Entertainment for a show that's bigger than ever.

In addition to their standard 3 stage setup (punk, indie, and D.J/House) this year the festival will be adding comedy acts as well.

This years lineup brings just as many big names as years past, especially on the punk stage where legends like All, Bad Brains, CroMags, The Adolescents, The Dead Milkmen, and DOA will be playing.

Fun x 3 Fest is a two-day festival, and is much more affordable than ACL or SXSW. This year they are even offering a student discount. Student tickets are $51 for a two-day pass, a steal compared to other music festivals.

The festival takes place in Waterloo Park Nov 8-9. The park is transformed into a fully staged festival with food and shopping vendors to boot.

To see the complete lineup, visit the website, here.

Tour Austin Wierd [Things to do in Austin]

Whether you're a new resident, or you have visitors in town, being informed about a city is always respected. With a whole host of tour companies operating out of the capitol city, why not go out on a limb and jump on one.

While there are countless walking tours of downtown landmarks, try trading in those walking shoes for a more unique experience. Below, are a couple of the more interesting options:


SegCity:

You've probably seen the flock of SegCity riders stretching through the sidewalks of downtown. Lose your inhibitions and jump on one of these machines and it'll be a thrilling experience. The SegCity tour explores Sixth street, the capitol grounds and various other landmarks in downtown Austin.


The Lonestar Riverboat Bat Cruise:



On this tour you can combine Austin history and bat trivia. Sail down Town Lake on one of the Lonestar Riverboat's cruise decks and get a stunning view of downtown and a front row seat at one of Austin's greatest natural attractions, the take-off of our Mexican Freetail bat population. This sunset cruise is only $8 for an adult ticket.



Austin Ghost Tours

Halloween is right around the corner and Austin is known for its spooky sites. Austin Ghost tours offers several different tours, including a Sixth Street tour/ pub crawl and the "Ghosts of the Warehouse District Tour." Tours run Fridays and Saturdays.

Zack and Miri make a controversial poster

Last week, I reported that Kevin Smith's Zack and Miri Make a Porno has had multiple run-ins with the MPAA regrading the movie's rating and a "controversial" movie poster. I was able to locate a copy of the poster, posted below.

What do you think, too vulgar for American eyes?

The Tyra Show [Season Premiere]

Today on the season four premiere of the Tyra Show, Host Tyra Banks was extremely brave in doing something few talk show hosts would dare to do--she went on stage without makeup.

Banks hosted the entire show in a baggy hoodie and jeans, hair in a ponytail, and without a stitch of makeup on her face.Obviously, Banks is a beautiful woman so it was not a horrific sight by any stretch of the imagination. However, she looked very different from her "Top Model" image.

Though completely gimmicky, Tyra's fearlessness was incredibly refreshing.

Every image we see of celebrities has been completely altered and retouched to present an unobtainable image of beauty, and every celebrity has been covered in makeup to hide their flaws.

Kudos for Banks for presenting a positive and realistic image of beauty.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss [Movie Review]

Director Alex Holdridge's In Search of a Midnight Kiss is being heralded by many critics as "the best independent film this year." With award season in sight, I won''t be so bold yet. But I am certainly not surprised that it has garnered such astounding reviews.

Shot in black and white, the film focuses on two lonely people searching for love on New Year's Eve in Los Angeles. Brought together by a desperate ad on Craig's list, nice-guy Wilson (Scoot McNairy) and crass Vivian (Sara Simmonds) meet for a roller coaster of a first date.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss manages to be simultaneously thoughtful, romantic, witty, and tragic. All of the characters have baggage, and all of the relationships seem to be somewhat mismatched.

Above all, its an incredibly beautiful, realistic film that captures the complexities of human relationships.

It is almost surreal to watch a film seamlessly integrate web culture references like "The Lost Shoe Project" and more obvious things like Facebook, Myspace, and Craigslist. Often times, movies come off as too gimmicky when they include these things. Sometimes it feels like the screenwriter is desperately trying to be "current." However, because the acting is so natural in this film, you feel like the characters could be your friends discussing their trivial interests and technological dependencies.

In Search of a Midnight Kiss is a testament to the fact that independent cinema in America may still be alive, well, and thought-provoking.


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