My Muppet "what Not"

When we were in New York (seems so long ago now! *sob*) Id, Hugh and I decided that we were getting Muppets made at FAO Schwartz at their Whatnot Workshop. We were pretty (very) drunk when we discussed it, so I was shocked to wake up and follow through on plans the following morning.

Until FAO let us down.. they had sold out of blonde hair, brown hair, and thick black rimmed glasses.

Each of us was missing our essential definining physical characteristic! So I put the idea on the backburner.

Since I've been home, we've decided to buy Lp's cousin one for his 30th. This is a very strange 30th gift... but i think it's damn AWESOME!

I've been sidetracked making my own, and am very tempted to buy one, for a silly fun (useless:) ornament. Here are my current looks..

Love the Burberry-esque trench- adorable!

Self Portrtait

I am determined to start drawing again. My high school visual diaries are a hundred times better than anything i could do now, so I'm subscribing to the notion that Practice makes perfect.

So to commence "Project draw draw draw" I attempted a self portrait late last night. So far, so good- then I draw my nose, that was suggestive of a pigs'! Very Tubs from League of Gentlemen!

Self Portrait - fail!

BBQ.. Texas style!

As I write this I actually feel quite ill. Not sure what it is, but today at work my tummy just started clenching up with cramps. Even now i have this woozey weird queasy feeling, so perhaps now is not the best time for this post.. but I'm strong, I'll persevere!

Let me introduce a Texan Specialty. Let me also forewarn that Texas is definitely not for Vegetarians, no matter how many skinny hipster bands are in town!

In Texas BBQ is the go. It's not your average Aussie BBQ - it's way WAY more intense. Only meat lovers need apply! Meat's cooked in Brick pits.. and I think it stays in there for 24 or 48 hours!

I absolutely had to try the BBQ.. and managed to fill myself to the brim and damage my perspective on food a couple of times. It's basically like you sit down, and casually eat a whole animal. ie, a total onslaught of the fattiest variety!

Well, You get the idea....

Irene and I visited Rudy's BBQ - highly reccommended by all Texans/ very busy! It was on a street called Guadalupe near a daytime gig we did at a bikeshop...

The strange, unnerving guy sitting next to us struck up a conversation with us.. upon realising i not only worked in TV, but I worked on a Food Show, attempted to set me up with his management, and see the 'real bbq' behind the scenes. They were so busy that it was an awkward interraction, and they declined! I wonder what goes on in that BBQ pit.

Here we go...

(I can already see the BBQ chub appearing on my cheeks!)

I think Irene's hesitation says it all....

and this is what she ordered!

They were the size of my forearm!

Here we are on our way to BBQ in the centre of town the next day.. optimistic, clearly having forgotten the previous experience... just need to find it first! After waiting around an hour for a table with the post SXSW crowds, we felt that "All you can eat" serve was in order.

And so we ate... and ate... and ate

and ate, and ate...

The damaging effects were almost immediate... here is Hugh's realisation setting in that he had just consumed an entire pig, and probably an entire cow.

Id, somewhat accomplished, but also a moment away from potential vomit disaster...

In Texas, All You can Eat also means All you can Eat leftovers!?

They brought us a whole fresh round, before we screamed "no more!" and they packed it all up to go? I see a potential two dinner scam for clever diners!

A few moments after this photo was taken, Hugh rushed off (at haste) to the toilet.

Good times.

Around town. ..

I'm not exaggerating when I say I loved everything there was to love about Austin, TX!

Everywhere I looked, the scenery and streetscapes were candy for my Americana loving eyes! It was like the quintessential Texan town I always dreamed I'd visit, however it was overrun with coolness and such vibrant personality.

I don't think this city ever loses it's cool... in fact, the city's motto (as our Texan friend, William, told us many years ago) "Keep Austin Weird" .. that it was! Hopefully my happy snaps can do it some justice.

We decided to see a band called Histoic Vein. They were a Japanese rock band we'd seen in the street the day before. They were so overtly stylised, that we were intrigued enough to head to their show the following day.

it was slightly out of town which was lovely, we got to sightsee! The downside- I had developed the most ludicrous blister the day prior (damn you Wholefoods!) and could literally not walk in shoes. I did not want to waste a second in this amazing city, but I could not wear shoes. What does one do?

Wear their only black socks and hope they camouflage as boots.

Seriously.
(Im wearing my new Marc Jacobs dress- one positive)

In the afternoon we headed to So Co (south Congress) where I bought the ugliest pair of sandals (which avoided the blister) that anyone has EVER seen. I brought them home to humour myself, just looking at them evokes misery! Damn you ugly shoes!!!

So Co is south of this-

Congress!

The much famed Austin Motel, I would LOVE to stay here!!
It has plastic flamingos around the pool.

Please note, this is a smoking taxi..

Heading to the famous Allen's Boots where Id bought her adorable Red Fryes. This was the beginning of the Cowboy Boot obsession- when in Texas!

Welcome to Texas - Pt 1

I MADE IT TO TEXAS!!!!! WOOOWEEE!!!

So today I was thinking, and realised.. I was in Texas a month ago! Where did the last four weeks go, and why havn't I posted anything about the whole point I went to the States.

That point was an invitation to the amazing South by Southwest (SXSW) music festival in Austin, TX!

I ummed and ahhed about this for months. In the end I realised it was the coolest thing in the world that we were be invited, and something I will most likely never ever do again. It was on, band set, we booked our tickets and went through the gruelling and expensive P1 visa process!

Despite the ups and downs of the previous couple of weeks, arriving in Austin was one of the most exciting things ever! The vibe on the streets is like nothing I have ever seen before.. it was a buzz with live music coming from every venue, cafe, restaurant, shop, house, carpark!! Anything and everything becomes a venue.

Accomodation is very expensive during SXSW, as one might imagine, so I was delighted to be offered my American friend, William's, house in the Austin Hills. William is a man who wants for nothing.. he's currently living in Mexico, so this house goes un-lived in. It's smack bang in the Beverly Hills of Austin, surrounded by Celebrities (Sandra Bullock) and dot com millionaires.

It's a technicolour adventure walking in! He's emassed an impressive collection of super bright, Mexican art. I noticed a minimum of ten new pieces a day.


My room:

The day after we arrived we played our first show. It was at a venue called Emos, at a Showcase run by Ioda. There was a tent set up, and I was immediately nervous. So- I hit the booze!

We played our show, and it was a bit of a blur. I was quite nervous, and my kick pedal seemed to be disconnecting from the kit. The pace was such that I didn't have much time for adjustment, so I lumped it.

Straight after the show I did three radio tags, then Little Scott, Id and I did an interview for Limewire! (although watching it back was rather embarrassing! I said "So exciting!" A LOT!)

Here I am doing some LimeWire Product placement

Get used to Port a Pottys kids cause that's all we're getting for the next week! I have a newfound respect for the use of Hand Sanitiser!
We ended up having a really fun day. Full of drinks and High Fives, and relief we'd made it all the way to Texas. For the first time on the tour a proper sense of commeraderie was back, for a boozey afternoon at least! Sorry for the cheese.

Little Scott's hat... how is his head bigger than mine!?

Backstage, at this point Hugh is dying of a bronchial infection!

Oh wristband, you make life (at SXSW) so easy, and so free!

We ended up going to the Canadian Showcase.. the bands were terrible! (sorry Canada). it was here, but we hung out at the back, enjoying the sunshine.

So drunk @ Canadian Showcase.

We decided to embark on a "20 minute" mission to Wholefoods. Nobody mentioned that Wholefoods was A LONG LONG LONG way away... 20 minutes in a car maybe! We walked and walked, and perhaps my boozey wooziness is getting in the way here of reality!?

Anyways i didn't notice that my feet were starting to BLISTER... blister like total F@ckers! When I got home and took off my shoes.. my right pinkie toe was a catastrophe! Throbbing, blistery and infected! OUUUCHHHIEEEES!!!

What better way to cheer up than with an evening of NEXT TOP MODEL!!

nigh nigh!