I (Barely) Survived SXSW 2009

Hello darlings! It's been an insanely busy end of week/weekend, plus I'm getting ready to fly to Hawaii tomorrow, so today's post is more picture diary than cutting commentary. Hope that flips your bic because, phew! -- I am TIRED. So, if you don't already know, Austin is host to the annual SXSW music festival. For a couple of weeks the entire city revolves around films, free music, free parties, and lots and lots and lots of free alcohol -- unless you happen to be six months pregnant like moi, in which case you skip the drinking binges. Dammit. I only made it out two days this year -- and even that almost killed me -- but I'm glad I went. The unborn fetus and I saw some great music, and we even have a few pictures to prove it.

Day 1 was dominated by the Bird's Barbershop party, which was new and improved over last year's rockin' party due to an explanded venue and extra special marketing efforts by Miss Karly herself.

Poor Karly had to squat down 500 feet to match my diminutive height, and sadly this is the only SXSW picture I have of us together, so enjoy!

King Khan and the Shrines are like some kind of a bizarre, transatlantic James Brown.

N.A.S.A. rocked the house with extra help from a martian cheerleader.

My pal Diana was assaulted by an extraterrestrial creature.

Later that night we went to see Tricky at the Levi's Fader Fort and I happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Day 2 was all about eating burgers at P. Terry's, and then heading back to the Fader Fort.

After jamming to a set by Bun B, Karly, Hunny Bunny and I, did a loooooot of people watching while waiting for rumored special guest Kanye West to show up.

He finally did. Karly braved the crowds to get pretty close to Mr. West, but I stayed back for fear of having the baby squeezed out of me by frat tools. This was the best shot I could get out of my point and shoot, but you can still see his cutoff jean vest/jacket thing that Karly found most perplexing.

We skipped out after about an hour and apparently missed Erykah Badu and Common. Bummer. But we did have a lovely late night dinner at the Magnolia. Mmmmm... pancakes!

So, that's it for my SXSW coverage. Karly's got more for you on Tuesday, but I'd like to leave you with some shots of Kanye West's house, featured in Interior Design.

Not bad. It's pretty much a masculine mod shrine to Takashi Murakami and Andy Warhol, and I would totally live there. Except for this:

Or maybe I would live there because of this? All the music and ambient pot smoke must have befuddled me, because I'm really not sure.

Well, blog buddies, I'm going to be on vacation for almost two weeks. I'm sorry that I haven't had time to catch up on a lot of your awesome blogs lately, but hopefully when I return from relaxing on the beach I will be totally rested and raring to go.

While I'm gone, Captain Karlypants will be steering the ship with help from first mate guest bloggers Hello Gorgeous, Eye Spy, The Homebound, and Even Cleveland. Please be sure to tune in to check out their fantastico posts. Thanks for supporting our blog, and I'll see you when I get back!

Ok, You Got Me, It's Officially Spring

Welcome to the first day of Spring, everyone.  I know I was Debbie Downer mid week with all my talk of snow fall and icy slopes.  But I got my fix and I'm ready to admit what the calendar tells me is true:  it is officially spring.  The Southern California-esque weather here in Austin is absolute perfection and I'm not so mad to see my plants coming back to life.  Of course, I would be really, really not mad if my yard looked a thing like I want it to.  While I am blessed with a lush layer of deeply saturated green grass, and have a few trees to hold up my hammock, my yard is light years away from the landscaped wonder of my dreams. While I have confidence in my interior design choices, landscaping is an entirely different story:  plants and yard layouts are magical beasts that I can't quite figure out how to tame.  Whenever I talk with one of my plant-friendly pals I simply say "I want my yard to look like the Hotel San Jose"

The San Jose is an adorable hotel made up of several bungalows here in Austin.  The cocktail patio outback is open to all, not just hotel guests and is one of my favorite spots to get a drink (psst, try the champassion, it will rock your face off).  Cool cocktails on hot summer nights are just a front:  I really go to this place to admire the landscaping.

None of these photos do the space the justice it deserves, but trust me when I say:  it is freekin awesome.  Until now, I did not know who the genius was behind the landscaping, I didn't even think to look it up.  I suppose I assumed that grounds so lovely just magically appeared after the Gods waved their hands over the land or something.  I guess I was wrong.  There is a designer, and he has a name:

Meet Mark Word.  While I had never heard of him before today, almost every outdoor space in Austin that I adore can be traced back to him.  His mix of wild grasses, over sized agave, and invasive (but stunning!!) ivy have me week at the knees.  

Uhhhh!!! My dream front yard.  My house is on a small hill, so this vision isn't totally unreasonable.  Well, unless you factor in the whole Karly doesn't understand how to layout plants thing.  I think it's a fair guess to assume that Mark's services are out of my price range, but what if I were to ply him with vodka? 

I tore this image out of a magazine ages ago, not realizing that it was even in Austin, much less the work of my new yard hero.  I would love to have a little cubby bench surrounding loose gravel behind my house.

Or, maybe a little grassy platform is right for me?  I love how he mixes structured spaces with wild growth.

While several of you may be able to attest to my dislike for water features, especially when they involve fish or loud motors, but I find his custom metal pieces quite charming.  Ok, I'm starting to see a formula surface:  rusted industrial + minimal structure + some wild native Texas crap= Karly's heart literally bleeds.  Maybe I can try to pull this off on my own?

Ok, maybe I can't do this myself.  This is another picture I tore out ages ago, from a different magazine than the last one I pointed out.  Seriously, how did I not figure out who this guy was?  Oh, and just incase you're wondering, here's what the front of the house pictured above looks like:

Funny story:  I actually made the final decision to buy the house I live in now because my entry walkway is not unlike the one pictured above.  Just a thousand times less cool.

This seems a bit more attainable, but still light years beyond my landscaping ability.  So if any of you readers out there happen to know Mr. Word, and, if, by chance he owes you a favor, how about you go ahead and hook a sister up?

When Pigs Fly

Are you pissed these days? Well, I'm totally teed off. Who do those AIG mofos think they are, spending all my (our) money money on fancy getaways and million dollar bonuses? Hell to the no. I really think The Beatles said it best:

Have you seen the little piggies Crawling in the dirt And for all the little piggies Life is getting worse Always having dirt to play around in.

Have you seen the bigger piggies In their starched white shirts You will find the bigger piggies Stirring up the dirt Always have clean shirts to play around in.

In their sties with all their backing They don't care what goes on around In their eyes there's something lacking What they need's a damn good whacking.

Everywhere there's lots of piggies Living piggy lives You can see them out for dinner With their piggy wives Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon.

In the interest of keeping this post design related, I'd like to point out a new trend, possibly influenced by the overwhelming greed exhibited by jerks like these: Pigs.

I think Hannes Grebin is on to something here with his piggy bank, Fat Rosie. She does look a lot like former AIG exec Martin Sullivan, pictured right above her.

Tim Flach Photography

But really, I hate for all pigs to get a bad rap just because some A-holes are methodically destroying our entire economy for their own self interests.

It's ok to like this adorable silver pig clutch by Etsy seller, Tsurubride. It's cute. Perhaps some of that bailout money should go towards purchasing it for me... Would that make me a piggy, too?

And then there's my favorite Piggy Bank -- cast from a real pig that died a natural death -- by Harry Allen, available at Design Public. Oh, I just want to hug him, and squeeze him, and name him Martin. Or Hank. Or Edward. Really any of the AIG guys will do as a namesake.

Send a clear message that gluttony and greed are in fashion with this Oink Pillow from Etsy seller, Bumblejellydesigns.

Or you could really get into the piggish mindset with this Hair Hat from dearly departed designer, Nagi Noda.

While some little piggies may have gone to market, this little piggy stayed home. The Hey-Sign Felt Rug is available in a few different shapes, but I am digging Le Cochon the best.

Perhaps it would be nice to make the piggies fetch and carry for a change. The Pig Table by Front Designs would be happy to hold your watered down well cocktail or light as a feather wallet for you.

Catherine Ledner's idea of barnyard fun is pink and frilly with flowers on top. Who says that pigs is dirty animals?

Meanwhile, Belgian artist Wim Delvoye has some decidedly less orthodox ideas about how to treat pigskin. Harbinger of things to come for scam artist cum jailbirds like Bernie Madoff? Let's hope the AIG swine head in the same direction.

Thanks for letting me vent, friendsies. I'm going to leave you with one tiny parting shot, courtesy of Pan-Dan. It's so good that I'm just going to post the link right here.