Category Archives: SXSW

Thu, 18 Mar 2010

I Love Austin

By somegosoftly

So super happy to be back for another week of music, fun, sun, and friends! We’ve already seen some great music this week. Every time I come back I feel full and blessed – I have great friends! I have an awesome husband that sends me out here, and I have a little bit of good luck to find a great place to be and great opportunities to see shows.

Austin is such a beautiful and amazing city. The weather is great. Downtown is something else with so many people, and SXSW seems to have really expanded and managed that expansion well.

LC is keeping a journal for us this year, and JC’s pictures are coming out so much better than mine that I’m going to hold out on telling you all about my days until I can cheat and steal their info and pictures.

3 comments | posted in Austin, Texas, SXSW

Tue, 16 Mar 2010

Becoming Utahn: Story Two

By somegosoftly

Utah is a funny place, make no doubt about it. After living in Seattle, San Diego, and Austin, well, Park City is special. I love my home town, it’s the cool hip island in an ocean of MORMON JELLO– seriously, they are serious about their Jello. I think we used to call it Ambrosia as a kid – the weird concoction of fruit and cream and vomit-inducing Jello. And yes, I’ve been to a party that featured some…

What I will share with you this week (while I’m on vacation!!!!) are some things I’ve noticed about ME here. Your location undoubtedly changes you, I’m proof.

How I Know I’m Becoming A Utahn

  • I love Musak.

I mentioned in my last story that I ran in to the mall the other day.  I was wandering through racks of SHOULDER COVERING shirts when I wondered why I was so at peace. I haven’t been to the mall in Utah since the last time we lived here and I was also shopping desperately for SXSW.

I love music. My droning on and on about SXSW every year should tell you that. Well, in Park City I get npr, and three Clear Channel radio stations. In Salt Lake you get that plus one more Clear Channel station that is usually playing the same song as one of the other three Clear Channel stations. If you’re not aware, that means there are 10 songs that make my ears bleed in rotation. HOLY MORMONS the radio SUCKS.

Our car is too old to have an AUX IN. We have a 6 CD changer in the trunk. I don’t even know what happened to the 1000+ CDs I used to own. MK says he has them but can’t get them for me. He must have lost them, if I was him and was getting this much grief, I’d find the CDs. I bitch every time we get in the car. Especially when in the off chance a good song is on, and we lose reception halfway from our house to the ski hill. UGH.

So in the mall, breathing slowly and feeling so abnormally good I take note of it – I try to figure out why I’m happy. Why? BECAUSE I’M HEARING A SONG I HAVEN’T HEARD BEFORE. Don’t get me wrong, I was at Macy’s. It wasn’t a good song. But it didn’t have the words “carry out” of “tick tock” or “call me Mr. Flinstone” in it. It was sheer pleasure. Living in Utah will make this year’s SXSW even better than ever- you might be able to force me to listen to anything and I’ll find the good in it!

2 comments | posted in Park City, Utah, SXSW

Fri, 5 Mar 2010

SXSW 2010 – Packing Early

By somegosoftly

Still over a week until I get on a plane:

fives.jpg#140

Five Things I’ve Already Packed:

  1. Sparks koozie.
  2. Swag fillable purse, with sunglasses and earplugs already inside.
  3. Summer clothes! Sundresses.
  4. Electronic everything chargers. 
  5. Emergen-C. My hangover cure. 

7 comments | posted in Austin, Texas, Friday Fives, SXSW

Thu, 18 Feb 2010

SXSW Problem Solved: Time For An Upgrade

By somegosoftly

Just last week I was in a panic, I told you about it here.

So what do KD, JC, LC, and JA decide to do? We are going to kick it up a notch.

We got wristbands.

That’s right. KD called and made it happen! I’m so excited that hopefully the wristband, which is a step under a badge, will help us increase our chances to see some new music and try some new venues. No matter what, we’ll have a few more options to make this experience the best yet.

It’s so fun for me to look back over the posts I’ve written you about our time each year. It’s always a hectic time and my writing is weak, but especially for me it serves as a reminder why I think I have the greatest friends. It’s not easy to run around for a week straight! And the best husband, he’s awful lonely without me for a week each year but always lets me go. Going this year will be fun since both JC and LC have moved away from Austin and are visiting non locals like me this time around – good since they won’t be working, so hopefully we’ll get to see a lot!

6 comments | posted in SXSW

Wed, 10 Feb 2010

SXSW 2010 Over Interactive

By somegosoftly

Dude, I love my blog. I can share my life, thoughts, typos and photos with ease in one place. I love my Twitter account. I am mainlining everything there is on the internet about the Olympics. I’m learning things about technology for free. I follow npr and cnn news to feel smarter. I love mental floss.  I love knowing what my friends in San Diego and Austin are up to.

As I prepare for another annual trip to Austin for my favorite week of the year, I am getting a little nervous about SXSW. When I first went with KD and LC, I thought I was getting in a secret club. The emails that went around had a small number of names at the top. You didn’t forward to someone who wasn’t deserving. I had to pass a test (kidding). There were free parties for people who loved music and SXSW but were in the cool kids club that weren’t going to pay for it.

Today, as I look through the 20 people I’m following on Twitter that have tags like ‘freesxswparties’ and ‘sxswforfree’ I’m seeing they have thousands of followers. There aren’t that many parties. Or venues that fit that many people. At least not that I know of. Last year there were parties we couldn’t get into, we’d just sigh and move on. We’d show up earlier and earlier to ensure we got in to see who we wanted. And there weren’t that many Twitter/facebook invites.

This year everything is on facebook. There are a dozen blogs and sites with links to the rsvps we used to have to hunt down. Anyone can see it. Should I be nervous? I am. I haven’t even booked my flight because I’m thinking about going early for the interactive parties I usually miss just to make sure that I can get in and around.

1 comment | posted in Austin, Texas, Music, SXSW

Thu, 26 Mar 2009

SXSW 2009 – Saturday

By somegosoftly

We got off to a little bit of a late start Saturday. By the time we got downtown, LC had let us know not to bother with the 5 block long line at the Rachel Ray show. We took our time and enjoyed a lunch at the Brick Oven and headed over to the Mohawk Hot Freaks Showcase.

Boy were we glad we did. KD, SB, RB, and I picked the right place at the right time (again!). I got frisky with the door guy and finagled a crazy extra amount of extra free drink tickets. Yum. JC showed up and met us, and some of KD’s friends. We saw the Vivian Girls, Viva Voce, Camera Obscura, and Peelander-Z. Peelander-Zis the band you see three hundred pictures of. Maybe it was the 50 PBR’s, but their show was pretty hilarious.

JP and JC suggested that we go see the Gay Blades, a band that had played the Midgetmenshowcase Wednesday that I sadly missed. So we headed over to the Jackalope after joining up with DW. It was there I met my sister in law for the first time. Super exciting! We got along so well we didn’t even notice some band had canceled and there was no music. Oh well! The afternoon was a blast - my favorite kind of let’s all just go with the flow day. The Gay Blades music and showmanship was great and I was excited to be running around town in the great weather.

Click here for the ton of Saturday day show photos.

Everyone went their separate ways for the night and KD and I decided some home cooked food and a break sounded good. We headed to her place and not only caught the end of a close UT game, but saw the fireworks over Auditorium Shores for a show there right from her place. It was pretty amazing. A short snooze later we decided to check out the iheartcomix party, with a lineup that included Popo, Jaimie Fanatic, Maluca, and Diplo. We tried our best to ignore the strange surroundings, the weird crowd, and the warm beer, but couldn’t handle the awful sounding music and the wait in between sets. We made it to until about 2 and called it a night, sorry Diplo. That’s two years in a row I couldn’t hold out for you…We were glad to have made it out, but there are no photos, as there was not much to photograph. As far as I’m concerned, it’s best that we made it back out even if it was a bust, or we would have always wondered…

peelander-Z

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Leave a comment | posted in Austin, Texas, Music, Photos, SXSW

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