My First Movie Review

This is my first written movie review. Just saw Super 8 and I left with such a good feeling that I felt it needed a review. So here goes:

Super 8 - 1. I loved this movie! 2. I hate movies with a "message" ( and by message I mean a moral) 3. Why do they only put these in kids movies? When I saw Bridesmaids the only thing I got out of it was to never eat bad Mexican before trying on your wedding dress.

That said, Super 8 was still a great movie. The adults acting was ok but the acting by the kids in the film was just amazing. The story is kind of a combination of Goonies,  E.T. and Signs. Like Goonies & E.T. you have a group of oddball kids - with the obligatory 1 cool girl - go on an adventure - in this case they are making a zombie movie, find a monster, understand the monster ( unlike in E.T though they don't make friends with it) and save the town ( well not really in this case). Themes like first love and the importance of family also come up.

It is similar to Signs because they are both monster/alien movies, and in both you are on the edge of your seat with your hands over your eyes until they make the mistake of SHOWING you the monster. Trust me , the monsters in your head are always more scary than what they come up with and better.

The first half ( maybe 2/3) of the movie gets an A. But then it hits a small glitch  - at least in my book . As I mentioned, they make the mistake of showing you the monster but then they go and get preachy - it's a small piece of the movie and I think they could have left it out. Spoiler Alert - I am going to give you the "monster" background here -  "he only wanted to get home, all we had to do was help him, but no, they experimented on him, taught him to hate us, now all he wants to do is destroy us" ( and by he they mean the alien). See! Did we really need to hear this? I don't need to know where the monster came from or why it's there. I am here to be entertained for pete's sake. It was a great, exciting, on the edge of your seat family/monster movie and they had to ruin it with a MORAL!! This seems to be a predominant theme is most kids shows these days - especially if you are a big Disney fan - and while I feel they are important lessons for kids to learn, they are not ones that need to show up in every kids show out there. Isn't that what we have Sesame Street for?  Ok I'll get off my soapbox now.

Much like E.T and Goonies, it's a film I would watch over again. I am a sucker for coming of age, adventure/dramas The special effects were pretty cool and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the kids were nominated for their acting. Joel Courtney and Elle Fanning were the lead kids and were especially good. Watch for Ryan Lee as Cary, the kid who likes to blow stuff up and David Gallagher ( of 7th Heaven fame) as a stoned film developer, as great comedic relief. The movie will be a big hit for those who grew up in the 70's also. And I don't care what anyone says My Sharona and Don't Bring Me Down are freaking classics!

 Oh yeah..one last important thing..if you go stay through the credits!!

Quid Pro Quo ( or The Art of Volunteering)

I am a big proponent of volunteering - the world would run so much smoother if more people got off their butts and did just one thing for someone else. That said, I am not a very good volunteer. I have friends who are - they build houses for Habitat for Humanity or spend hours at Austin Pet's Alive. I have just never been able to commit that much time to one organization ( this could also explain why I am still single).

Now don't get me wrong - I do volunteer. Quite a bit actually. I am the Philanthropy Director for the Central Texas Parrot Head Club ( yes we do more than drink and party). I like to call Parrot Heads "philanthropists with a party problem". We do one activity a month, currently we help at Hope Alliance, Capital Area Food Bank and the Keep Austin Beautiful (KAB) street clean up.

On my own I am not quite so altruistic. When I volunteer I am usually getting something out of it for myself. Because of my current non employment status I can't afford to do most the things I used to. Then I discovered that if you volunteer at these events you get in for FREE! Not only that, they often FEED you. Yup. 90% of the time the volunteer gigs are pretty sweet. I've done a marathon, a 10K , festivals and home tours ( I LOVE LOVE home tours). The home tour events are some of the best - 4 hrs of your time and you not only get to do the tour free but there is usually a cocktail thank you reception for the volunteers ( yeah you heard right - booze & food!) When I volunteered at the Cool Home Tour they bought us all dinner at Shady Grove. I especially love volunteering at Independence Brewery 1st Saturdays - can you say free beer! Oh and the folks there are real nice too.

 I've only had one bad experience so far. I was doing one of the home tours ( I won't name which one) - I thought, like other tours I'd volunteered at, they'd sit me in the shade/porch of one of the homes and probably with a co-volunteer . Nope. Wrong. I was at the end of the driveway, by myself in the sun ( and damn it was hot!) and no shade! About an hour and a half later one of the realtors finally drove down a golf cart so I'd have something to cover me. And to top it off I was unable to do the tour and there was no thank you happy hour - I got bupkus, zilch, nada! I'll be thinking twice before I volunteer for them again.

My recommendations for volunteering are: 1. Pick an event you would actually want to attend 2. Or an organization you believe in 3. Work hard and smile - Yes volunteering usually means you are going to have to work (regardless of the freebies). If it's not for you don't go back, but for heavens sake don't whine or complain while you're there

I am currently checking my Austin Events Calendar to see if there are any cool events coming up. Do you need packets stuffed, a greeter or someone to check people in? For a beer and cocktail weenies I'm your girl!

How The Post Office Found My Phone (or the Most Embarrassing Moment in My Life)

A little pre-story first: I only have one phone -  my cell - which I rarely lose. On 2 occasions I have had to post on Facebook asking friends to call my phone - once it was in the bathroom, the other on my balcony. But that's it. Considering it's small size, 99% of the time I never even have to look for it because it's always on the coffee table ( or being charged).

So that's why when I couldn't find my phone this afternoon I was a bit perplexed. I had had it in the car on the way home - I had called a friend  - so I checked there thinking it fell out of my purse, or I had left in on the seat. No phone - anywhere. I actually checked twice because I could come up with no other rational place it could be.

It must be at the Post Office, I thought. It was the only place I had stopped at on the way home. Maybe it fell out when I pulled out my wallet or while I was addressing an envelope at my car outside. But I didn't hear it fall??? Never mind - there is NO other place it can be!! I must go the the Post Office.

I checked out the parking lot, no phone. I am a bit desperate now. As this is my only phone I am a bit screwed if I lose it. So I wait in line, which is fortunately short. I ask Post Office Guy ( now to be known as Really Great Post Office Guy Who Went Above and Beyond His Duties to Help Me) if anyone turned in a phone:

Me: Did anyone turn in a small phone?
POG: No sorry. The only thing that has been turned in was a pair of sunglasses.
Have you tried calling it?
Me: No, I don't have another phone
POG: (handing me HIS phone) Here try calling it. Maybe someone found it.

and that folks is when it happened - my PURSE RANG!
Seriously - my purse starts ringing! I swear I had emptied the damn thing out looking for my phone - NOTHING! Why is my purse ringing?
Because there is a small pocket on the side - that, of course, I had checked, but didn't notice there was a phone in it!

I can feel my face turning red - I really wanted to thank POG for being so nice to let me use his phone to find mine that was of course in my purse the whole time - so naturally I run, well flee actually,  out with a quick thank you said over my shoulder.

Now of course I'm gonna have to find a new post office

If you don't remember it - did you still have fun?.

I don't know why it is that I can remember stupid trivial pursuit type information and memorize a map after looking at it once, but I can never seem to remember what I did yesterday.

I call my parents every Sunday and they will inevitably ask what I did that week - at which point I grab my, now indispensable, calendar to see what it was I did. I can't read it usually. I have developed a habit of writing in every possible thing to do, then crossing out the ones I don't do and circling my choices - which I cross out when I have done them. It's scary looking - if you didn't know me you might suspect I had some type of OCD disorder, which is entirely possible.

My friends are also good at this. I will go off whining that I never do anything fun and they will gently remind me that yes I do, quite often, and they are jealous (well sort of)

The last month went something like this - at least according to my calendar:

3 free movies compliments of Alamo Drafthouse
 Joan Jett and Fitz & the Tantrums in Concert

Circle Brewing for more beer and bbq, ( see previous blog entry)
 HONK! bands. - and I thought only Austin was weird. Awesome!
A Do512 party at the Highball - where Dhani Jones tried world record bow tie tying, Romany Malco fish rapped, Zeale sang  w/ BLSH, wiggling boobs, people on bikes, odd world records being broken and crowd surfing Aussies.
Volunteering at Cap 10K and Art City Austin
Lots of free music
Art Yard and Chicken Coop Tours
A Crawfish boil

And that's just the best stuff. In between I try to manage my job search, network and....... well I know there's more I just can't remember it.

Badges? We Don't Need No Badges

SXSW ended a week ago and I think I may have finally recovered. I only really "participated" in the music portion but was out and about for most of the festival trying to see how much I could get free and without a badge.

When I started the draft for this entry, I listed 5 things I felt were important to get the most out of SXSW - you know the most bang for the best buck. But after my experiences the list changed a bit.
#5 Badge - unless you are doing the film or interactive portion - or you are in the industry - you really don't need a badge. Especially if you are only there for the music - which was everywhere and 98% free.
#4 Money - I got by on next to nothing - and there was soooooo much free stuff ( food, drinks, clothing) - but then of course I live here.
#3 Smart Phone - which I don't have - this should really be #1 - I could have scored so much more free if I had a decent phone ( May 1st pholks! and I may throw myself a party) and it's so much easier to keep to keep track of what's going on
#2 Friends - yeah it would have been a bit more fun with a group or people to hook up with
#1 Plan - maybe move this to #2 - but you need at least an idea - make a plan and be prepared to break it several times - always for the better

SXSW Interactive experience

I somewhat wish I had umm... balls - been a bit more daring and actually tried to get into some of the talks that were going on. Maybe next year.

Free on Saturday - Gourdoughs - technically I needed a badge to get these, but the donut gods were smiling on me - 25 cent chilantro tacos, coolhaus ice cream sandwich - blood orange sorbet and salted choc cookies. If I had a smart phone I could have scored sooo much more (as stated above) - t-shirts, boombox from Loopt and free drinks from atzip.

IgniteAustin Event - robots, steampunk, learned how to pick locks, 3D printing, missed the free ice cream though. Space Squid , a giant brain, music, 16 speakers and a nacho bar, egg drop competition,
Free entry to after party and 2 drink tickets. Dogwood ( ok) Molotov ( will go back)

I discovered a week after the event that I had at one point been standing next to Michael Dell and didn't realize it.  - I have a photo as proof ( I don't know who took the photo - it was tweeted from Ignite a few days ago - so props to the photographer)

SXSW Music

Ice Cream Man party at Club Deville. Several good bands including one man lynrd skynrd - 2 free ben & jerry's - Free Blackberry Spark -  ( the nehi of malt beverages) and an accidental free beer - always helps to say " the guy at the other bar said the beers were free"  - left early to hear Quiet Company - but as I am low tech I did not get cancellation tweet they were kind enough to send - damn! listened to some mellow musicians and left

Wed-Sat. So I had originally planned to list the all the bands and everything else day by day, but then the blog would pretty much have been one  giant list. So I will summarize:
4 Days
7 Different venues
67 (give or take) different bands
60 (give or take) total hours
Free -  4 CD's., breakfast tacos,  several beers and half a pizza.

I will say the highlights included: Fitz & the Tantrums ( freaking awesome!), Meat Puppets, Wanda Jackson ( covering Amy Winehouse!) and Emmy Lou Harris ( legend!).

Since I am a morning person, I started each day at KGSR's live morning  broadcast at the Four Seasons. Up at 3 at the hotel and in line at 4. Saturday's didn't start til 8 so I actually got to sleep in til 5 - woot! Then I was off and running to the next venue. It was amazing.

I volunteered at Home Slice Pizza Thursday and Friday for a few hours - free pizza ( the best!) and beer folks - and of course good music. Cops getting more thorough on checking permits and we were "shut down" before we started. Well not really - most of the bands played acoustic, and we plugged 'em in around 4.  Heard they will be even tougher next year

 I have no regrets about the amount of sleep lost ( not that much really) or the 4 days spend chasing bands - when perhaps I should have been job hunting. Of course there is always the after the fact find outs - but there is no way to see or do it all and I am pretty happy with all I did - and of course there's always next year.

 I am already counting down to ACL later this year.

In Cervesio Felicitas

My friends are predominantly winos - you know, wine drinkers. I still haven't acquired a taste for those sour grapes and prefer a good hefeweizen instead. So after several trips out 290 West on many an unsuccessful winery tour ( at least for me) I was excited to learn that Austin had several local breweries that not only gave tours but also samples. There are three in South Austin (512, Independence, Live Oak), One in North Austin ( Circle Brewing) one out near Blanco (Real Ale) and a new one that just opened in Dripping Springs ( Jester King). You can never have too many beer joints and it is my new mission to visit each one.

My first visit was to Independence Brewery. A bit hard to find ,especially since I left the directions at home, it is located in a group of warehouses off 71 East. I couldn't miss the long line of people with folding chairs as I drove past though. Parking is a bit tricky, there really isn't much available - don't park in the adjacent 'bays" where neighboring business delivery trucks are still using. Many of the nearby business seemed to be closed so most parked in their spots. They let you in at 1 but I recommend getting there by 12:30 - I arrived at 1 and had about a half hour wait in line. The tour and beer is free but you need to bring your own glass or you can purchase one of theirs for $6.  Since I was unaware of this policy, it is not on their website, I purchased a glass. These are not small glasses by the way but 16oz pint glasses - and you get 3 samples! Makes the itty bitty samples you get at Shiner kinda pitiful. You get a wristband while waiting in line and they check you off each time you get a refill. No wristband no beer!

They had four choices of beer to sample. Austin Amber, Bootlegger Brown, Stash IPA and Convict Hill. I tried the Stash first. I am more partial to the lighter style beers, so while Stash was a good beer I found it a bit on the bitter side ( too hoppy for me - I learned this term during the "tour"). My second sample was the Austin Amber. More to my taste, it's a bit lighter and not quite as hoppy. Since I have a low tolerance and I was driving, I only had half a glass of the Amber - the "bartender" thanked me for being responsible.

They have tours at 1:30 and 2:30. There is only one large room with all the brewing equipment but they do give a very informational talk about the brewing process and the company and take visitor questions.

What really struck me when I got there were the amount of people that had beat me there, hanging out in their lawn  chairs in the parking lot. It was like the Draught House Pub but much larger. There was a band playing and dogs running around and an almost festival atmosphere - a thoroughly Austin experience! Everyone there, visitor and staff , was super friendly and ready to give advice on beer selections. There was a BBQ truck selling food but many brought a packed lunch with them. I hung out chatting with my fellow "beer-ists"  and listening to the band - a threesome of CSN looking guys singing some country and seventies soft rock style covers -  for about 2 hours. While the line had been pretty long when I got there by 2:15 there wasn't one and the crowd began to thin a bit. Since the last tour is at 2:30 , I got the feeling things pretty much shut down around 3.

Unfortunately ( well for me at least) the tours only run the first Saturday of each month, but that I think is what makes it a slightly special event. It's a great way to spend an afternoon with your friends and I have already marked next months on my calendar!

You can find them at  http://www.independencebrewing.com/

Up Up & Away

It is impossible to be bored in Austin. On any given weekend there is either a festival, an athletic event, a movie or music in one of the various parks or all of the above.

This weekend was the Kite Festival - one of the longest continuosly running kite festivals in the US it turns out. 9 years in Austin and for some reason I hadn't been, but it was a gorgeous weekend and I was free, so was the event ( a big plus since I am unemployed) , so off I went.

I decided against taking the shuttle service because I wanted to go up South Congress after the festival and parked in my "super secret spot" aka the road next to Run Tex by the South First bridge - it's really no secret since anyone going to Auditorium Shores parks there, but it's super because I can always find a spot, it's free and it's a great location that doesn't require a long hike to get where you are going.

The news reported that it didn't really fill up til noon but when I arrived a bit before 11 there were at least a thousand gathered, by my estimation, already there. Families with kites, without kites, with dogs, with picnic baskets - everywhere. And there were kites of all shapes and sizes. An enormous blue teddy bear and giant panda, dragons, sponge bobs, with tails, with spinners, red ones, blues ones, fish ones. Kites flown by kids, adults, teams and several professionals.

And there was food - of course. What I love about Austin are the food trailers. You get the typical festival food - corn dogs, funnel cakes, cotton candy and bbq - but then you get the distinctly Austin food stuffs. Peached Tortilla's fusion tacos, Kebabalicious Turkish wraps - for which I waited in line 45 minutes for my lamb schwarma with tzatziki - and cupcakes by Hey Cupcake.

I picked my spot near the roped off judging area, though I was still too far off to hear or see most of the competition, I still had a great view of most of the kites. Blanket laid out, food in hand, and a book , I enjoyed 4 hours of a gorgeous, tech free afternoon.

And the people kept coming. My area started to thin out around 2ish but as I walked out of the park there were still crowds making their way in. It never felt over crowded ,however, and no one ( to the best of my knowledge) got in a fight or was injured. Both kids and dogs pretty much roamed free and I didn't get stepped on once. Though a kite did make a free fall on my butt. 

I left with a slight sunburn, a sunny disposition and a bag filled my blanket and booty - yup booty. There always seem to be organizations handing out free stuff at these events. I scored free yogurt, a frisbee, bandaids in a mini dispenser, a small hand held fan, soy joy bars and a small handful of mini candy bars.

Good day, good haul - mission accomplished!