TBA

Apologies for the lack of posting for the latter half of the week. It's been non-stop Austin Film Festival. I will be posting a sizable amount of material in the morning including insights on the films Ive seen: Slumdog Millionaire, Adam Resurrected, Visioneers etc. Conference wisdom from some film and TV heavyweights, and star sightings/ meetings.

Bachman McCarthyism--The Red Scare Returns

Fall Fashions.

With fall in swing, what fashions are hitting the shelves?

Slouchy sweaters, patterned tights, little loafers, and bold peacoats are all great looks for fall.

For accessories: try jeweled clutches, feather hair clips, headbands and hooded scarves.

My favorite look is patterned tights with boots, and a bold leg warmer or knee sock poking out in
between.

Free People is really picking up on this trend.

Austin Film Festival Volunteer Diary #1

I spent my first day as a volunteer for the Austin Film Festival prepping for it's arrival. Along with tasks like filing, sorting, and unloading various materials, I braved the drizzly weather for some miscellaneous tasks at various festival locales.

The coolest job was one that was sprung on me, the task of picking up gift baskets and bottles of wine from Central Market, and delivering them to various downtown hotels to be left in the suites of some festival VIPs.

From tooling up in the valet lane, handing off my heavily-adorned key chain, to attempting to disguise my childish handwriting while crafting notes to accompany the filmmakers' baskets, it was a colorful experience, definitely an atypical day at the office.

Going to desperate lengths for Dexter

In an earlier post, I blogged about the struggle of finding episodes of my favorite TV show, Dexter, online.

Last week, disgusted by the time delays on iTunes, I took my search to Google and finally found a low quality version on a random blog--worth the search. I'll take what I can get.

Yesterday I went out on a virtual quest for episode three, resulting in a forty five minute search before I finally nabbed a half-decent copy. Mind you, half-decent was a 3 second delay between the video and the sound.

The journey to find this copy was the most disgusting aspect of the whole ordeal. I patiently navigated the seedy underbelly of the Internet, sifting through Winrar suggestions, false links leading to pornographic websites, mandatory surveys, pop-up ads that defied my filter, and Asian uploads featuring comically large subtitles.

If I was surfing from a PC, it would be at tech repair right now.

Margot and the Nuclear So & So's Concert

Last night's show at Mohawk was a charming one indeed.

Casually seated on the balcony with my feet stretched out on the railing, I watched as the musicians made beautiful music on the outdoor stage below.

The experience presented itself as a refreshing break from the sweaty, cramped moshpits that surround the stage at most shows. And affinity for that atmosphere aside, this claustrophobia-free thing at Mohawk has merits of its own.


The first band to hit the stage was Judgment Day, a three-piece classical-instrumental-metal outfit from San Fransisco.

I have to admit, I am not exactly a fan of any of these musical styles. But Judgment Day was in a new league.
Drums.
Violin.
Cello.
No pesky guitars or vocals to ruin the mood.

I was amazed by how rich strings can sound with metal when they aren't blanketed by guttural screaming.

Next up, David Vandervelde.

The group gave a strong rock n' roll performance, hindered by the fact that the vocals were buried for half of the set. However, after a request for the mic to be turned up, their music really came to life.


Headliners Margot and the Nuclear So & So's performed to a crowd that had quadrupled in size. Cramming ten people onto the stage, the band took on the the sound of everyone from Liam Finn to Tilly and the Wall to the Austin Symphony, depending on which instruments were being employed. The layering of sounds produced by the mini-indie-symphony provided the audience with a pleasant heaping of auditory stimulation.


Maybe it was the first feelings of cool autumn breeze circulating throughout the venue, or the sensation of looking down on the bands, or the lush upperwalls of Mohawk that evoke the image of a zoo habitat, or maybe it was just the beautiful music dancing through the air that made this a night to remember.

Tonight's Entertainment...

The Margot and The Nuclear So & So's, Judgment Day, & David Vandervelde show at Mohawk.

Luckily the fall weather is gearing up just in time for this outdoors show, it promises to be a magical, musical evening.




A review to come tomorrow..