March 31, 2006

A few random questions...

Just a few questions that are running around in my head...

- Is it pronounced REsearch, reSEARCH, or raasearch?

- Those little clear single-serve orange juices... do any of them actually taste like orange juice?

- I had a root canal on Monday. The dentist said it's just a "little" root canal. Is there really such a thing as a "little" root canal?

- Why is it the people that make the most money are the ones that get the most free? I mean when rich people get stuff for free it's called a "fringe benefit." When poor people get stuff for free they're "sponging off the government" or stealing. What is worse? Getting a free chicken to feed your family or getting a free limo-ride to a show? Who's the real a-hole?

- Are Converse tennis shoes supposed to kill your feet after wearing them for more than a few hours or am I just not wearing them right? Do these things have an age limit on them? I think I'm over my "able to wear Converse" age limit.

- Why does Advil taste like candy?

- If a woodchuck can't "chuck" wood.. why is it called that?

March 28, 2006

Iungo Launch Party 3/31 (Friday)

More on Iungo....just in case you need graphics...

A new International Online Magazine called Iungo is coming. I am the Music Editor.

The music section of the premiere issue will offer features on Fall Out Boy, Nooner (Austin), Full Service (Austin), and an exclusive interview with OK Go conducted during SXSW-week.

A sample of other sections of Iungo include:
Visual Art
Interview with Ricky Armendariz (Blue Star Art Gallery)
Interview with Ben Mata (Mata Works)
 
Performance Art
RemiXX Retrospective (Steve Bailey, Jump-Start Theater)
Mardi Gras post Katrina (Jose Torres Tama, New Orleans)
Point of View on Art Consumption (Victoria Garcia de Marquez)
 
Literary Arts
Anthony Flores, poems from "Hold Your Tongue" Poet
Anel Flores - excerpts from AriaAsada, a novel
 
Music
Nooner - Interview (Sean Claes)
Full Service - Interview (Sean Claes)
Fall Out Boy - Interview (Briana Reinertsen)
OK Go - Video Interview Exclusive to Iungo
 
Film
Gustavo Stebbner - two short films (New York)
Dora Pena - The Business of Art (Natl Association of Latino Independent Producers)
 
Applied Arts
Jason Limon - Interview (Desiree Yanes)
Claire Rocher - Haute Couture report (Paris)
Art and Technology - Caroline Ha (London)
 
Culture
Community Efficacy through Progressive Theater (Joel Settles) 
Ron Garcia - Branding your Art (San Antonio)


Iungo will host a launch party this Friday at Ruta Maya in San Antonio. Austin band Full Service will be playing an all-acoustic set at the launch party. Anthony Flores will be performing some of his awesome poetry (emphasis on performing...he's great). There will be more entertainment and of course there will be viewing stations to witness first-hand the new Online Magazine.

Click graphic below to visit Iungo online or join Iungo on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/iungo

GoIungo

iungo
LIFE • ART

March 27, 2006

Iungo - goiungo - go go iungo!

In case you haven't heard, I'm taking part in a new venture (this is just an add on to what I'm already doing.. I'm not quitting anything).

I've agreed to be the music editor of an all new interactive online arts/life e-zine by the name of iungo.

The music section of the premiere issue, which will debut this Friday, includes stories on Nooner, Fall Out Boy, Full Service, and hopefully an exclusive interview with OK. Go.

Full Service will play the launch party this Friday at the Ruta Maya in San Antonio.

Below is the press release about the Launch Party.
------
iungo

Ron Garcia
C.E.O./President
iungo Online Magazine

1160 E. Commerce, Suite 100
San Antonio, Texas 78205
(210) 733-7465
FAX: (210) 212-6649

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release: March 15, 2006
Contact: Ron Garcia 733-7465/218-4986

New Arts Magazine Set to Launch in San Antonio
iungo Online Magazine

iungo Online Magazine (www.goiungo.com) will host a kick-off party
to celebrate its launch at Ruta Maya Coffee House, 107 East Martin
Street, on Friday, March 31st from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Guests can view the premiere issue, dialogue with staff and
contributors, and learn about this exciting new enterprise. Latin for
the act of creation or connection, iungo serves in this spirit to
connect artists from around the globe in creative dialogue, promote
new artistic works, and foster collaboration. Subscribers gain
unprecedented access through its online portal to contributors and
opportunities from San Antonio to New York, Chicago to London.

For additional information, please contact Ron Garcia at 733-7465 or
Marcos Marquez at 543-8941. You can also email them at
rongarcia@goiungo.com or mmarquez@goiungo.com .

March 21, 2006

The funny/odd things I saw/said/did/heard during SXSW

I had an e-mail from a friend of mine who misses the funny stuff I write on my Notes From The Cubicle… so I’m going to spout off a little list.. just for you.. Hoot.

The funny/odd things I saw/said/did/heard during SXSW

- While interviewing a band… the member going a long way to separate religion and spirituality... And doing so very well I may add… but dude…at the end of the day…the song IS about having sex with Jesus… right?

- After losing my spot to interview a band I was supposed to be booked for… I went to the artist area to collect a free beer and there was an interesting array of freebies on display… separately not so weird.. together… well… Fritos. Shiner Bock beer (keg), Red Bull, Rum, Water, Katsup, and Converse Tennis Shoes (2 cases of them). I have a new pair off Black Converse.. Yeah.

- After seeing a band, Goodwin, that I’d heard before but never saw, I went up to the lead singer and said, “Wow, I thought you were a fat white dude.” He is a thin Hispanic guy. He didn’t know how to respond… and I wasn’t sure where to go from there… luckily I was called away soon after.

- On Friday night I was walking to my truck when I came across a dude trying to wake his girlfriend up… she had passed out in the middle of the driveway of the parking garage I was parked in… she was dressed rather nicely too… probably about 22-24 in high heels.. made up nicely… except for the fact that she had lost all bladder control and there was a steady line of pee from her down the decline of the garage… she woke up enough to move to the side and I left…

- I fell for the “watch for slap” sign written on someone’s hand…. Twice.

- I think I caught a worker for SXSW smile.

- I think I caught a worker for Texas Rockfest smile once…Actually the dude in the drink tent at the outdoor stage on 6th and Trinity was one cool cat. We BSed between sets a few times.

- I was very impressed by the folks on the street.. the patrons of all the clubs. I weaved my way through a lot of crowds to get pictures and not one time did someone give me attitude.. and lots of times people actually moved back and made room for me. Rock on.

- The lady behind the counter at The Littlefield Center market (6th and Brazos) was a friggin riot. She had the right degree of attitude and humor. You never knew what she was going to say next… she tipped herself with one persons change… “Now, this, I’m keeping!”

- Free stuff abounded… I got 2 shirts, the converse I mentioned before, about 12 CDs, stickers, pins, posters (limited edition from Dirty Dog from Friday… anyone want one? Magic Numbers headlined), hats, koozies, beer, energy drinks, food… IT WAS AWESOME! I wish it was every week.

- Junkyard Mary’s spontaneous spouting of Janis Joplin’s “Mercedes Benz” was great when the sound guy was screwing them during their Treasure Island set.

- Cool t-shirts I saw
o Stop Staring At My Shirt
o I’m With The Band (lead singer of a band)
o SXSWSUCKS (worn by drummer of band playing an official SXSW showcase)
o The staff shirts of SXSW had a rooster with it’s head cut off… the Dizzy Rooster wasn’t an official venue for SXSW…they were always full and the place for the Austin Indie Alliance showcases. Coincidence? Speculate.

- Oh.. and there were a couple of bands wearing their own t-shirt. That’s a no-no…

- I saw a 3 or 4 year-old kid with large headphones on (for protection) jamming to Pong…from outside the club. Rock on.

- I was carded everywhere. I told one bouncer.. “man. I guess I shouldn’t have gotten a haircut before SXSW…” to which the person next to the boucer said, “Oh.. don’t worry, he cards 50 year-olds.” Thanks.

- I played "waiter" for a couple of bands... I brought Band Marino (who played Dizzy Rooster on 3/16) a glass of water and I served Rockstar Energy Drink to Ecchoset (at an outside stage at 6th and Trinity). Keeps me humble.

It was a good week... in fact the dude from Best Week Ever was there... I may be on TV in the background this Friday. If they air the street-scene on 6th street.. some freestyle rap contest... look for me.

March 20, 2006

360 Photos from over 60 bands... The Photo Dump...

The SeanClaesDOTcom photo dump
360 Good Photos From 61 (or more) Bands who played Austin Texas 3/15-3/18.


SXSW Showcases, Heart of Texas Quadruple ByPass Festival Shows, Austin Indie Alliance Showcases, and assorted other free shows from Austin, Texas. Click on the photo to go to my photo page... and get to the albums.

Wednesday 3/15/06: (58 Photos)
Full Service, Riverboat Gamblers

Full Service



Thursday 3/16/06: (46 Photos)
Bag 100, Opiate For The Masses, All Hail, By Any Means Necessary, Field Music and Super Heavy Goat Ass
OFM




Friday 3/17/06: (154 Photos)
Pong, Sons of Hercules, Squint (twice), Bright Shadow, Tokyo Electron, Seth Kauffman, David Mead, StarRoy, Interference, Blake Tynes Band, Best Week Ever taping, Crimson Envy, Murder My Sweet, Gravelwhip, The Zutons, The Loft, AutoVaughn, Tarantula A.D., King of 6th Street, Eliza Gilkyson, The Heights, Caliche Dust, Possessed by Paul James, Meyvn, The Addictions

The Zutons



Saturday 3/18/06: (102 Photos)
Archie Bronson Outfit, Witch, Teenage Harlets, Million Dollar Marxists, Meet Fist, The Arm, Human Eye, Poison The Well, Brothers and Sisters, Exilia, Storage 24, Junkyard Mary, American Graveyard, Rocko Dorsey, Weather The Storm, Seis Pistols, Goodwin, The Nematoads, San Saba County, Echoset, Full Stride, Jo Hell and the Red Rooster, Grady, Evl_E, Nooner, Terri Hendrix, Corb Lund, Refugee All Stars


Seis Pistos



March 16, 2006

More Photos... Riverboat Gamblers

I had opportunity to get out and shoot a little more yesterday evening. I highly recommend seeing Austin's Riverboat Gamblers. They played a free show at The Jackalope yesterday... I was on hand and took a few photos. Click on the photo to get my photo page and a link to the album.

Riverboat Gamblers


They play an official SXSW show next at Emo's on March 18 at 11:00p.m.

March 15, 2006

A First Look..Music

It's the first day of the onslaught of music in Austin known the world over. I bring you the first images of the event (or at least close to them).

Click the photo to get to a photo album of the band Full Service (who are a featured band in the all-Austin-based music listings I put together for INsite Magazine ). They are actually still playing (until 3:00pm) at the Dizzy Rooster on 6th Street as part of the all Free (no jewlery required) Austin Indie Alliance Spring Break Showcase.


Rock on with your bad selves.

FullService

March 14, 2006

One Week Out Of 52

Welcome to the first day of.. "Spring Break" in Austin Texas...

Here's a little something I've spent a lot of time on...

One Week Out of 52 - The Local List

Nooner


An ALL LOCAL BAND LISTING for March 13-19, 2006



You can see this list in print (along with an interview with Full Service and Shandon Sahm) in the March 2006 issue of INsite Magazine.

Have fun out there!

March 10, 2006

Watch Your Phrasing....

There are a few phrases out there that just annoy me. They’ve annoyed me to the point that I’m going to write about them and share why they annoy me and hopefully you’ll be annoyed too... I’m not trying to stop the usage of the phrases (although it would be fantastic) just spread the annoyance of it. Enjoy.

“The First Annual…”: There is no such thing as “First Annual.” There’s a “First Ever” but until there’s a second one it can’t be considered an annual event. If you’d like it to become annual you can state that, but there simply isn’t anything that is annual on the first time out. I don’t know why this one grates on me so much, but it does.

“My First... (Book)…”: Once we had a daughter, we discovered (through gifts) this line of books for kids. It includes names like “My First Bible.” “My First Alphabet Book,” “My First Outdoors Book,” “My First Quantum Physics Problem Solving Book.” What an ego this book has to be able to claim it’s the first one my child has ever had. On particular “My First” book, we got three of them. Should I scribble “first” out on the other two? If I buy one of these for a baby, do I need to call ahead to make sure it’s going to be the first one he/she has gotten? Too much pressure… Just buy the folks diapers and be done with it.

“The Best Kept Secret”: When people are trying to get you to go to a new business, or trying to let you know about something that you may not be aware of, sometimes they refer to it as “The best kept secret ion Town!” This tells me two things. 1. You’re not good at keeping secrets. 2. The place won’t be around too long if their trying to make money and they keep the fact that they have a business a secret.

I know, it’s a marketing ploy to make you think you’ve discovered something that not many other people have… but it’s dumb. It’s marketing to the lowest common denominator client…and if that’s who you are, well… Send me a check. Invest in the best kept secret on the internet.

“Home Cooking”: There are a lot of restaurants out there that tout the fact that they serve “home cooking.” The reason I’m going out to eat is because I want to eat something I don’t get at home. No discredit to the wonderful meals that are created at my house at all. My wife is an awesome cook and I’m no slouch around the breakfast stove, but when I go out to eat, it’s to get something different. I don’t want home cooking. I want restaurant cooking. If you wan’t to get the same idea across…call it “comfort food” not “home cooking.”

“All You Can Eat”: I talked about this one before. This one is hard for me. I love buffets (just ask my ever expanding belly) and I like eating a good amount of food… but I know, in my heart, I can eat more. If I’m at an “all you can eat” I feel obligated to eat all I can. Not just all I care to eat… all I can. THIS IS WHY AMERICANS ARE FAT. Wording needs to change.. not diets.

“To Die For”: I’ve never met a pastry that I would end my life after eating. When you tell me that doughnut is to die for… That’s what I picture. I certainly wouldn’t want to recommend something like that to someone. “Hey Cisco, you’ll want to fricking die a slow painful death after eating this slice of pizza! It’s freaking AWESOME!”

“Basically”: I use this word sometimes, but it’s a word with no actual use. Think about it. Everytime it’s used either as a word filler “what I’m basically getting at is…” or as an undefinate answer that means “yes.” It can be stricken from the English language and we’d never miss it.

Until Next time… please think before you use phrases.

March 7, 2006

Vending Machine Update... and more.

The Biggest Vending Machine Loser Update: The last Reece's Peanut Butter Cup was bought yesterday. It took almost a week for 5 of them to be bought (See my 3/1/06 blog if you have no clue what I'm talking about). I suspect the same person bought them all, one at a time. Now the vending macching company is the biggest loser because they've got an empty machine.

My photos at Seattle's Best on Congress @ Frost Bank Building: They still hang... I heard a few of the folks in the photos came in a little disturbed thinking I'm trying to make a profit of them. For the record, I'm not selling the photos (See my 2/24/06 blog if you have no clue what I'm talking about). It's just one way I'm trying to put a spotlight on Austin music during the month of March...espicially with that HUGE event happening... I mean Spring Break takes a big focus off Austin music.

I can't believe I'm asking Texas NOT to vote: Today.. do your state a favor and don't vote in the primary. I never thought I'd encourage people NOT to vote... but... it's the only way to get Kinky Friedman on the ballot... so... go see a movie today (an independent release maybe?) or go listen to a new album (How about someone from the Austin Indie Alliance) or anything but vote in the primary... and if you're on MySpace.com...

Befriend Kinky

March issue of INsite out: I'm pretty proud off the March issue of INsite. We've got Fall Out Boy on the cover and we've got a lot within the pages. You'd best pick up a copy in print all over Austin and/or download it at http://www.insiteaustin.com. My big project for March was an ALL AUSTIN-BASED BAND LISTING for the week of March 13-19, 2006. I did a mini-interview with Shandon Sahm and another with Full Service.

Confidential to the woman driving the Jeep Grand Cherokee on IH-35 North close to the Cesar Chavez exit at about 7:00a.m. this morning: Your hair is fine, you can stop brushing it.. it looked fine when you began brushing it around the Slaughter Exit... your driving skills though... those can see some improvement. I'm not sure if having great hair will matter to the family of three that you force off the road because you're driving like a fool in and out of the middle lane. Thanks and have a nice day.

For the lady above and everyone else... it's time for you to revisit an old column of mine from last year - How You Can Improve My Commute.

Happy Tuesday.

March 5, 2006

Best Graffiti in Car Dirt EVER!

I was driving south on IH-35 today on the way back from picking up the March issue of INsite Magazine (I got mine at Waterloo Records) and I saw the best graffiti in a dirty car ever... actually it was on a truck. It said...

"I wish your mom was as dirty as your truck."

Some kids dads are just cruel.

March 1, 2006

The Vending Machine LOSER

So, my office has cancelled the vending machine service that we've had for the last few years. I guess the company who owns the machine has decided it's easier to leave the machine alone until it's empty (or is just too lazy to come out and get the thing)... so I bring you the saddest thing I've ever seen in vending machine history.

THE BIGGEST VENDING MACHINE LOSER

Winner is:
Reece's Peanut Butter Cups

Vending Machine


Runner up was 3 Musketeers... but Reece's won this honor by a landslide, there's like 5 of them left.

How do you eat your Reece's? Last.