• Blazing Austin Saddles

  

  Day 155

  A little recap: I said I’d fill you in about Austin, so even though we’re in Nashville, I’m going to pretend we’re not. I’ve glossed over lots of little booger towns; little holes in the wall not worth mentioning. Folks, Austin is most definitely NOT one of these places. You know how every province or state has a place that changes your opinion of the greater whole? Well, that’s what Austin did for us. Trav has been here three times already. He bragged about the city, and to be honest, after driving through the rest of Texas —see El Paso (shit town), Stockton (we will not talk about it), San Antonio (meh, it was alright), and Houston (Houston can f#ck a duck), I thought he was a big fat liar. Turns out, he wasn’t lying after all.

  Austin has a vibe that sort of catches you off guard. It’s green, lush, and full of rivers, dog parks, independent food stands, and charming southern accents. We spent about ten days in Austin during this year’s South By Southwest and the dudes overran the place. Yet the dudes did not detract from the actual aura of the city.

  At every turn, locals spread this funky vibe while playing Frisbee & soccer, drinking on the patio, and sweating through bootcamp. We happened to be there for the Kite Festival, and although some dumb kids were flying them onto power lines, it looked like jazzy crayon doodles in the sky. Dogs even seem chummier here.

  Now the food: it will melt you to a puddle of satisfied goop. There are no chain restaurants here. There are no disgusting tacos, no disgruntled grey hot dogs, no deep fried catfish. What you’ll find in the heart of this delicious little city of 1.7 million is simply face melting food. Iron Cactus (fantastic Mexican), Frank (glorious hot dogs), Uchi (absolutely orgasmic sushi), Halcyon (smoothies, cocktails, paninis) to name a few.

  Then there’s the beer: Ginger Man (wall to wall taps), Buffalo Billiards (for the ambiance & cheap beer), Cedar Door (margaritas). I could go on, but really you just have to suck it up, buy a plane ticket and go to here.

  This place is, in fact, so awesome that I have been devising ways to transplant the entire city right on top of Calgary (my home town). I would, of course, give locals time to escape before plopping down the better architecture, actual design and music culture, and ‘gasp’ friendly service. But I would do it quick enough to tamp out the rude girl at the shoe store in Marlborough mall last year who actually asked me if I would be ‘buying the shoes’ because they were ‘behind some boxes’ and she ‘really didn’t feel like getting them out unless I was serious.’ Die, little teenage slum queen.

  Anyway, you should definitely be attentively and passionately committed to everything I just told you. I never lie. Except when you’re really boring and I pretend I’m actually having a good time. Which never happened at SXSW. Well, maybe once, but you’ll never know.

  Tagged: Austin South by Southwest SXSW 2010 Food city

  Posted on March 24, 2010

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• SXSWalter

  

  Today we arrive in Austin, TX for one of the single most anticipated events of this entire trip. South By Southwest (SXSW). SXSW is a music, film, and interactive festival held every March in Austin. Geeks, musicians, and film nerds flock from afar to learn, converse, and drink their faces off for ten days in balmy Texas.

  This is the first year I am attending without an actual conference pass and the first time Rachel is attending at all. Despite missing out on the interactive panels, we should have a great time crashing parties, meeting up with friends old and new, and reuniting with a plane load of Cowtownians flying down to attend.

  The real beauty of SXSW isn’t what happens inside the disorienting walls of the Convention Center, it’s everything that surrounds this magical week. Here are some of the things I plan to accomplish this year.

  1. Give away all 20 of our fancy new t-shirts printed specially for this event.
     We’re not giving these away without a little work. I’ll post the details on how you can get one on the home page of The Stray Muse on Thursday. For the rest of you, we have the store!
  2. Get into at least one Badge-only parties this week.
     I don’t care which one, but I’m going to try and get our sneaky asses into a couple. Worst case scenario, we fail and start our own party a block away at any of the other 50 gazillion pubs in the area. This is to prove (mostly to myself), that SXSW is possible without a badge.
  3. Prove to Rachel that geeks are actually pretty fun to hang around with.
     Don’t let me down people. Even if its all a big lie, let’s talk about something other than our iPhones for five minutes.
  4. Get up early. At least one day.
     I’ve made one commitment this SXSW, and that’s the photo walk put on by Grant, Scott, and Luke. Some of my favorite internet people are organizing and attending this thing, so I better not let them down (plus it should be a blast).
  5. Refrain from drunk tweeting.
     At least make an effort to make any drunk tweets not sound like drunk tweets.
  6. See at least three shows.
     As usual, there is an incredible lineup of bands this year. We have the luxury of staying a couple extra days into the music portion of the festival. So let’s rock it.
  7. Get a sunburn.
     Okay, this has been a goal I’ve had since the beginning of this damn trip. I’ve sort of achieved it once, but I’m still pale as a ghost. This MUST change.
  8. Meet more people.
     Okay, this is really a stupid goal. This is kind of the point of the conference… at least it is for me. In fact, if it weren’t for the first two SXSW’s, we probably wouldn’t have anyone to visit on this trip, and wouldn’t have anyone to talk to on these interwebs from day to day.

  Nothing like setting lofty goals right?

  Joking aside, this geek summer camp has always been a source for good friends, great conversation, and awesome ideas. I look forward to it more than Glorbis.

  Tagged: Travis sxsw austin tx texas geeks

  Posted on March 10, 2010

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