Note: I’m sorry for the lack of blog posts. I’ve been fighting an eye infection and that, combined with the insanity of the festival, has made it difficult to post my blog entries. But I will be making this up to you over the next couple days. Promise.
Yesterday was the second full day of the music festival and St. Patrick’s day. The film festival is still going, but the volume of filmgoers has dwindled so it’s easy to get into almost any movie (save for the indie darling The Dish & The Spoon yesterday). Instead of going to movies or interactive panels, the crowds are hitting the bars on 6th street or seeing a show at one of the many official or unofficial venues.
• Pedicab equals rejection. •
On Tuesday night I saw my friend’s The Wrong Words play at the Burger Records show. The venue was a record store a bit off the main drag, and during the 14 hours of music (I stayed for about 2 hours as in 10 p.m. to midnight), the liquor store across the street literally ran out of beer and change. The mayhem that was Tuesday night was nothing compared to last night. I had an idea that things were going to get crazy when I drove by the line for the Strokes free outdoor show at 11 a.m. and it was already snaking down the street. Really, the Strokes? I cannot understand why people would wait all day to see them, even if it was free. Due to the rabid Strokes fans, by 7 p.m. you could literally not make it across the river to see a movie in less than an hour, approximately 50 minutes longer than the drive had taken all week. After being unable to secure a seat in a movie shuttle and being rejected by a number of pedicabs who didn’t want to go that far, I gave up and saw a movie downtown instead. At some point I saw a horse drawn carriage and tried to get a ride, but alas it was full.
• Yes, you can take a horse drawn carriage around Austin. •
In my effort to avoid 6th street and the hordes of music fans drunkenly making their way down the street while blowing cigarette smoke in my face, I have found some awesome food trucks. Food trucks are very popular in many urban areas, but Austin has an insane number of food trucks serving a diverse selection of food. Almost every open lot or undeveloped space has at least one food truck parked there. And they are all tasty, or at least the 10 or so that I’ve tried. After leaving a movie at around midnight last night I was feeling very tired and overwhelmed…then I met up some friends and walked over to an enclave of about 5 food trucks. Two catfish tacos later I was rejuvenated!
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