You’ve heard the one about how a picture says a thousand words? This week’s $1 billion acquisition of the mobile phone picture-sharing service Instagram by social media giant Facebook says even more. It tells me that what’s left of civilized public behavior is in desperate danger of being destroyed. Since the Bruce Springsteen show at… [Read more…]
One of my earliest childhood memories is of hanging out laundry with my grandmother. Early on humid Houston mornings, my East Texas-born grandmother would haul a load of wet wash down her back steps and out to her laundry line. There, she would methodically hang it on a double clothesline that was far too high… [Read more…]
Just before I was sucked into the movie madness of Fantastic Fest, I called my mother to let her know I wouldn’t be answering my phone much the next week. When I explained I’d be at a film festival the last week of September, her first question was, “Are there going to be any movie… [Read more…]
On the Friday afternoon of the Austin City Limits Music Festival, I met Marina, 19, a sophomore political science student at Texas A&M International University in Laredo. The day before, she had taken an eight-hour bus ride to get to Austin. It was her first visit to the city. Dressed in a purple shirt, she… [Read more…]
When I was in junior high school, I could have told you anything about the band Duran Duran. With crucial information gleaned from Tiger Beat and Rolling Stone, I could have explained how the band was formed, when their next record was coming out, and which song of theirs I’d been dancing to that morning.… [Read more…]
I spent a few days loitering on the fringes of the South By Southwest Interactive festival this past week. Every year the festival blows into town, bringing a cornucopia of digital goodies that promise to change your life for the better. It also brings the whiz-bang advertising budget of companies fiercely competing for the eyeballs… [Read more…]
. .. . . . . . .. . If you haven’t seen the story about the two dudes arrested in downtown Austin for a DWI — on a horse and a mule — it has to be seen to be believed. The State Theatre will soon be more than a vacant husk on Congress… [Read more…]
We can’t do better than the original title to this blog post: How to Have a Hipster Thanksgiving. The Houston Press wants your Thanksgiving to be full of “creamy white deliciousness.†Don’t miss the flow chart, and the directions to “beat the crap out of the egg white.†As you start your holiday shopping…you might… [Read more…]
I spend many October evenings as a guide at the charity haunted house “Scare For a Cure.” In what may be the only acting/hiking gig in the world, I’m responsible for safely leading groups of up to six guests through our extremely gory location-based theatrical event, which actually takes place on Richard Garriott’s private property.… [Read more…]
I had an unexpected realization during the Flaming Lips set at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Watching the Oklahoma-based band closing their show with “Do You Realize??” I discovered tears steaming down my face. I was so embarrassed that I quickly donned my sunglasses, hoping no one noticed. The song includes the following lyrics… [Read more…]
April 14, 2012