So, the day that I got back from Austin, I was feeling really run down. I figured... hey what do you expect after 5 days straight of getting back to the hotel at 4am. The first day back, I took it easy -took Christopher into school and then drove into work. By about 4pm at work, people were asking me what the hell was wrong with me. I was spacey, my eyes were bloodshot. I set off for home.

That night I woke up in the middle of the night with an insane earache that went on from 1am to 4am. Nothing I did could alleviate it, so I went to the emergency room. There they gave me some Vicadin and a Z-pack.

Stayed home from work the next day, but now my ears started draining weird fluids... Back to the doctor on Wednesday for 2 kinds of eardrops - one for anitbiotics and one to numb the ear... great stuff.

The next day, I had to be in San Diego for work. No problems on the drive, but I started to tire as the day went on. Could have been the meetings, but I think it was the fact that my eye was now beginning to ooze forth mucous... By 9:30, I could barely open my eye... so I just crashed out early.

Friday started ok, but began to crash again at 4:30. I was supposed to go see the Stars concert courtesy of B-Marsh, but there was no way in hell I could nut up for that. I was in bed by 9:30pm.

Saturday, marginally better - except for taking vicidan in the middle of the night to offset the headache.

Today... thought I was getting better, but I'm starting to tire again... oh well, we'll see how it turns out tomorrow.

The moral of the story. Never go to Texas. They raise deadly varmits in that neck of the country.

Here's a picture of Christopher and Emily checking out the Easter eggs.

On the night before Easter, Christopher and I colored eggs with Grandma and Aunt Burlene. The eggs turned out pretty good and this was the first year that Christopher was able to use the little rod to lower and raise the eggs in and out of the dye.

Writing this entry from my seat on the airplane from DFW to SNA. Wow. What a great trip that was. Lots of good food. Lots of good basketball. Amazing bands. Most important, great, great people. We’re really lucky to have so many different and amazing people on our team. Everybody is a lot of fun in different ways, it’s really refreshing.

Anyway, on to the write up of the last night. So here is what was on tap:

Winter Pageant: A mopey band that spiced it up as the set when on. They had this strange snow visual effect playing in the background. We thought they were trying to catch the basketball game, but the satellite was down. Not sure here.

Stars: Wow. These guys were amazing. For another potential mope band, they sure did rock the place. Easily the best show of the night, if not the trip. Though I think Z-Trip and Bus Driver may have been better. And then there was Mr. Idol…

The Golden Republic: Pleasantly surprising. Played really well live and had a lot of energy.

Phoenix: These guys were also a pleasant surprise. Went in there with not a lot of expectations and was pretty happy with the result.

Here are some picts of the Stars show, none of the other picts from the night turned out:

By the third day, I was starting to drag. Someone left me a wake up call at 7am. I have a short list of suspects. The hotel phones are all unplugged now.

hung out with ference (HAPPY BDAY OLD MAN) all afternoon watching the ncaa's at buffalo billards! cuse and kansas out in the first round? who knew? took me about 6 hours to get motivated to move out of my chair, but we headed to stubbs for some bday bbq for ference.

tonights show:

Aqualung: They sound just like Coldplay (hey, who doesn't?)

The Shout Out Louds: "Like the Cure, but more upbeat" - not bad!

Radio Four: Easily the surprise of the night. This New York band was sweet. Sounded like Duran Duran meets the Clash. Good stuff. This guy had his 5 year old kid on his shoulders. The kid was totally rocking out. love it. start em young and they'll turn out strong

Robyn Hitchcock: The master. Trotted out the lead singer from Harvey Danger. Got in some political jabs. Too short of set though. Alas.

John Cale: I admit I sat through this one with Collier and Raymond. Too much like Kenny Wayne Shepherd or something. It was totally KFOG.

Spoon: When in Austin, see an Austin band live, especially if they showcase an event.

lead singer from spoon in buffalo billiards


this 5 year old kid on his dad's shoulders. rock on, little man, rock on


robyn hitchcock and the leader singer from harvey danger. who's afraid of barry manilow now?


spoon rocking la zona rosa

The second night was a little more mixed up. Definitely a great show. I busted all over that town to string it together:

Electrocute: Ok, this band was weird. Two German chicks completely deutsched out. So odd, it made Shamal leave early.

Z-Trip: On Ian Rogers' tip. This guy was off the hook. Smashed up michael jackson and rage against the machine. he easily blew this place up and had some guy, bus driver, who rapped a mile a minute and brought the house down. awesome.

Ratatat: Another IRo call. Pretty incredible for a guitar, a bass, a drum machine, and no vocals.

Devotchka: Ran off by myself to see this soulful, mournful band and I wasn't disappointed. They are truly something out of a david lynch movie. The most romantic, emotional roller coaster of the night. One of my current favs.

Hot Hot Heat: So I busted tail to get over to La Zona Rosa, only to find a massive line. I used the Howard move and explain that Y! Music was shooting the band and I needed to get in. No problems. Sweet. Too bad the set was so predictable. Played their set and got off the stage.

The Doves: Yawn...

After the shows, I cabbed over to the Yahoo! showcase, where I attended to some of my fallen comrades. Took about 3 hours to get a cab home, despite DamianA's best new york cab calling techniques. Got home at 4am. Oy!

Pictures from the shows:

z-trip smashing it up...



devotchka playing their mournful sound

So for some reason yahoo decided to send me to the south by southwest festival. not that i'm complaining. it's important to remember why we work in this industry.

the lineup for the first night was:

The Donnas: played their set, got off the stage. As Howard said, "Sleater Kinney is really pissed at these guys"

Billy Idol: ROCKED! Unbelievable. He even played 'eyes without a face' I'm not even a fan, but there is something to be said about a rock star. he owned the place. all the austin teeny boppers were rocking to mony mony!

Here's Billy, playing his set: