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March 28, 2008
Due to complaints that Lev has signed his name with "Esq" This week, it is: "Tales Of Mere Existence" By Levni R. Yilmaz NIB, CNN, IUD, CBS, RIP, JPG, LSD, AFC, IOI, SFO, DDT. Buy a Comic/DVD set from Lev! http://www.ingredientx.com/buy/main.htm For more comics, animations and correspondence, kindly visit http://www.ingredientx.com If you gravitate towards isolated, obsessive nerd habits like I do, also consider a visit to: http://www.myspace.com/tales_of_mere_existence...
Continue Reading "TOMEX "A Pre-Teen guide to talking Badass""
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Photo by Erik Charlton on flickrNCAA Tournament South Regional Semifinal #2 seed Texas (30-6) vs. #3 seed Stanford (28-7) 6:27 p.m. Central, Reliant Stadium · Houston, Texas TV/Radio: CBS / KVET (98.1 FM/1300 AM) After cruising through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the second-seeded Texas Longhorns earned the chance to play the rest of their games in the cozy confines of their home state. The Longhorns face the Stanford Cardinal at 6:27...
Continue Reading "Longhorns Face Tall Order in Sweet 16"March 27, 2008
Just as I was once an amazing pet sitter who nevertheless had a hard time keeping my own animals alive (back off—they were guinea pigs), I am now the wedding officiant who cannot manage to stay married for more than ten months. I tried twice, each time marrying a different facet of my father (round one: the bully, round two: the narcissist) but when husband two walked out, that cured me of any “need” I felt to be hitched. Interestingly, it was during the very month I filed for divorce (he left the dirty work to me), I had to perform eight weddings. It’s true, people, I’m not just popular, I’m a minister. Actually, you can be a minister, too. It takes about two minutes at the Universal Life Church web site. And the cool thing is, once you’re ordained, you are legally qualified to join people in matrimony. Back in 2004, I was up in Jersey, visiting my bio family, and a few days before they chased me down the beach yelling about Jesus, prompting an earlier than planned departure, I was reading the New York Times and I saw an article about a growing need for wedding officiants by non-denominational and mixed-denominational and secular couples. The gig involved writing, public speaking, being useful, making people happy and cold hard cash and so the article caught my attention since these things are all very important to me....
Continue Reading "I Am So Popular: Three Weddings and a Funeral"March 25, 2008
Sleeve tattoos and neck specks (smallish tattoos on the neck, usually a spider web, Mickey Mouse, or a cursive name) are just as popular there as they are here. As are chest tats for dudes in v-necks. Bikes, bikes, bikes. Everyone’s on bikes. Bikes are chained up all over the downtown area. Just about any open post or chainlink fence is coated in cycles like the front of a middle school. It’s quite beautiful, really. ...
Continue Reading "Truesday: Engine And Caboose"March 21, 2008
We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Austinist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on Austinist or any other site in our network, check out our online mediakit....
Continue Reading "Thanks to This Week's Advertisers"Advertisement: Austinist Continues Below!
March 21, 2008
Both the Texas men's and women's teams are set to begin play in basketball's big dance: the NCAA tournament. The Longhorn men are the No. 2 seed in the South Region, and they take the floor against Austin Peay at 2 pm today at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Texas' women's team is the No. 8 seed in the Greensboro Regional and opens against Minnesota at 8:30 pm Sunday at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn. ...
Continue Reading "Longhorns Step Onto the Dance Floor"
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE) "Tales Of Mere Existence" By Levni R. Yilmaz Esq Buy a Comic/DVD set from Lev! http://www.ingredientx.com/buy/main.htm For more comics, animations and correspondence, kindly visit http://www.ingredientx.com If you gravitate towards isolated, obsessive nerd habits like I do, also consider a visit to: http://www.myspace.com/tales_of_mere_existence...
Continue Reading "Tales Of Mere Existence "FIRST INDICATION...""March 20, 2008
Everyone’s favorite Austinist writer and indie-devotee, Adi Anand, has just broken into Break Thru Radio with a new show he’s dubbed River Runs Red. Okay, this is not his first run with Break Thru (that was last month, which is still a brilliant lineup – Tacks the Boy Disaster, Horse + Donkey, Blackholicus, Belaire), but come on. He’s got The Boxing Lesson, The Midgetmen, Golden Bear, Zykos, The Quitters, Crawling With Kings… screw it, we’ll just list them all since we started listing some. ...
Continue Reading "Austinist's Own Hits the Internet Airwaves"
The first time I ate dinner with REM’s Michael Stipe—okay so it was also the last time I ate dinner with him—was September 28, 1984. The boys were in Tampa to play at the University of South Florida (my alma mater, a place of such prestige that the dorms had pools behind them and no one took classes during prime tanning hours). Stipe didn’t invite me, I invited myself. I’d lucked into a phone interview with Pete Buck and Mike Mills a few days prior and I was still high from this unbelievable score—me a twenty year-old fledgling music writer getting to talk to them, some of my biggest musical heroes. They weren’t superstars yet, but they were heading in that direction. It was an outdoor gig and when they pulled up, I watched from a little ways away as Pete and Mike scrutinized my words in The Oracle, our college daily. Stipe was a vegetarian—probably still is—and vegetarian wasn’t something the caterer had provided, so it fell to my friend Ed, to ferry the singer to a place where he could find something that suited his palate. I like to think Ed invited me along. Or maybe I just shoved my way into his sports car. Either way, there we sat, gathered around healthy food before healthy food was a trend, at the NK Café. ...
Continue Reading "I Am So Popular: Michael Stipe and Me"March 18, 2008
*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors There’s this guy, not sure if you’ve seen him around town, but he’s one of the wandering of the downtown area. I can’t say he’s homeless, because I don’t know that; I’ve never witnessed his lack of a home. What I do know is that he’s black, looks to be mid/late thirties,...
Continue Reading "Truesday: Taken To Task"March 14, 2008
We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Austinist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Return of the Stardust Cowgirl, available now in paperback. Elsewares, where you can get a 10% off your order with the discount code "ist". Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on Austinist or any other site in our network,...
Continue Reading "Thanks to This Week's Advertisers"
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE) "Tales Of Mere Existence" By Levni R. Yilmaz Esq Buy a Comic/DVD set from Lev! http://www.ingredientx.com/buy/main.htm For more comics, animations and correspondence, kindly visit http://www.ingredientx.com If you gravitate towards isolated, obsessive nerd habits like I do, also consider a visit to: http://www.myspace.com/tales_of_mere_existence...
Continue Reading "Tales Of Mere Existence "I WAS SO DUMB...""March 13, 2008
Pictures from this year's Gonna Gonna Get Down party at Mohawk. Photos courtesy of Chad Wadsworth, Eric Uhlir and Nash Cook. If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump....
Continue Reading "Snapshots: Gonna Gonna Get Down 5"
I know, I know, apparently it is illegal to use the letters “s,” “x,” “s” (again), or “w” in any combination this week unless you are officially sanctioned by the folks at SXSW. And so here I sit, risking some Midnight Express fate (did you see how I worked not one but two “s’s” and an x into Express) because I am going now wax poetic on zen and the art of SXSW. First, a brief history of Spike and The Festival. I got to Austin late ’91. My first SXSW was spring ’92. I was a waiter at the Magnolia and so my baptism was by fire as the place was slammed with all those badge wearing assholes. I became a badge wearing asshole a year or two into my Austin tenure because, as I like to remind y’all, I am so popular. Sometimes I got a badge for performing (back when they still had a poetry venue for SXSW) and sometimes for being a reporter. And suddenly, I understood that sense of entitlement I once loathed back when I was pre-badge. I pitied the fools who had to wait in long lines when I could simply sashay to the front of any line, Japan night being a favorite....
Continue Reading "I Am So Popular: Zen and the Art of SXSW"Pictures from this year's SXSW Interactive Conference which came to a close earlier this week. Photos courtesy of Kristin B. If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump....
Continue Reading "Snapshots: SXSW Interactive"Advertisement: Austinist Continues Below!
March 11, 2008
To quote the poetry oft-spewed by Tim's Molson Gold-swilling step-dad, we were "Young, dumb, and full of come."...
Continue Reading "The Accidental Gentrifist: Profiles in... well, Profiles"
Mr.Enjoy/FlickrLast night, we published a piece by columnist Ben Reed, entitled "Louis Black, We Hardly Knew Ye." After discussions with our publisher, we've decided to remove the post from the site. We believe that you, our readers, are better served if we keep our focus on the aspects of SXSW that make it such an enjoyable experience—the showcases, day parties, afterparties, and everything else involving free beer—rather than rehash the negatives that were already discussed...
Continue Reading "A Note From the Editor"March 9, 2008
PureVolume, the folks who helped us host last night's killer Local Music is Sexy 5 afterparty—featuring Brazos, White Denim, Pink Nasty, and Zykos—have a full week's worth of awesome parties left. If you'd like to learn what takes to throw large-scale events like this, here's your perfect chance: PureVolume is looking for help throughout the week. PureVolume.com is looking for help at The PureVolume Ranch during SXSW We are looking for interns to help...
Continue Reading "Volunteer Call: PureVolume Ranch During SXSW"March 7, 2008
We would like to take a moment to thank this week's advertisers on Austinist. The 2009 Toyota Corolla, which encourages you to "Live the Dream for Less Coin." Return of the Stardust Cowgirl, available now in paperback. Joe Jackson's Rain, available now on Amazon.com. Elsewares, where you can get a 10% off your order with the discount code "ist". Busted Tees, which introduces three new designs a week. If you're interested in advertising on Austinist...
Continue Reading "Thanks to This Week's Advertisers"
(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE) "Tales Of Mere Existence" By Levni R. Yilmaz Esq Buy a Comic/DVD set from Lev! http://www.ingredientx.com/buy/main.htm For more comics, animations and correspondence, kindly visit http://www.ingredientx.com If you gravitate towards isolated, obsessive nerd habits like I do, also consider a visit to: http://www.myspace.com/tales_of_mere_existence...
Continue Reading "Tales Of Mere Existence "STEP ON A CRACK""
Tired of the same old gay bar scene in Austin? Want to bust the mold a bit and cut loose on the dance floor without getting sandwiched by two sweaty, shirtless, writhing circuit boys? Go Dance Studios on Anderson Lane is launching a new program for same-sex partners called Out Dancing....
Continue Reading "Project Transitions Invites You To Dance Your Same-Sex Hearts Out Sunday!"When I first started thinking about what I wanted to say, I figured out that I really shouldn't be thinking in the first place; that just makes things complicated. I could start by simply complaining about the people who complain about SXSW or better yet I could start railing on the organizers of after parties and how they should really figure out what their legal obligations are before calling shenanigans on SXSW management. Maybe I could talk about how $140 is way too much to charge for access to 1500+ bands, but that would just be asinine and ridiculous. Maybe, just maybe, I could bring myself to try and help some people out on how to deal with SXSW. That my friends, (read as people who have too much time on their hands so they are actually reading this garbage) is what I will attempt to do....
Continue Reading "Box and Horn: Grape Ape"March 6, 2008
So, I produce and co-star a little show called The Dick Monologues. We have four shows this month—three more than usual. Two are in Dallas this weekend at the Water Tower Theatre as part of the Out of the Loop Festival. Two are here in town—one at the Victory Grill on March 21st and the other at Hyde Park Theatre on March 30th. Please tell your Dallas friends to come to the show up there. And if you want to attend an Austin show, please email me at spike@spikeg.com for info. This week, I present a piece I wrote that sometimes appears in the show. Big Dick on Buddha Mountain To meditate with the enlightened Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, is akin to playing guitar with Pete Townsend, making cookies with Martha Stewart, or tying your shoes with Mister Rogers. And so, despite my tight budget, when I heard that Thay, as he is known, was leading a retreat in California, I did what any overzealous aspiring Buddhist would do: I mailed off a hot check to procure my place at the monastery. ...
Continue Reading "I Am So Popular: Big Dick on Buddha Mountain"March 4, 2008
or most of us who simply go to work, ruthlessly stab our livers, mow our lawns, and try to find enough time to fight off sleep deprivation, voting is the most impact you will likely have on the world you live in. SO GO. Vote your brain. Vote your heart. Vote your history. Vote your soul. I don’t care, just go vote for something. STAY FOR THE CAUCUS!!!...
Continue Reading "Truesday: Six, One Half-Dozen, or Go Vote"