As we get closer to our one year anniversary, we thought we’d share with you a few snippets of our wedding video. After all, not everyone is going to make it by Austin anytime soon, so why not use the web to share it?!?
We’ll post ‘em on Our Wedding page. Stay tuned for a handful more between now and June 17th.
Tile, granite, appliances, chimney, wood floors, carpet… Wow! A lot has happened in the last month!
We uploaded more photos of the house to Flickr.
Well, it’s been over a month since we’ve posted a photo of the front of the house. Things are moving along — as you probably *cannot* tell from the photo above, the builder is working with the mason to replace the stones that don’t work with some that do. I took this photo yesterday morning, and it was a bit cloudy, so the light isn’t that good; however, I can tell you that a significant improvement has been made over where we were a month ago. There’s still a lot of work to do and we’re moving at a snail’s pace, but I’m confident that we’ll get there. We may not start on the landscaping until a week before closing, but we’ll get there. By the way, closing has been scheduled for Saturday, May 19th, so we should be moving in on the 20th!
Inside the house, we have a lot slated to happen in the next three weeks. From the fireplace stone to the wood flooring and carpet. The place is covered in dust right now, but the cleaning crew should be sent in real soon and you’re guaranteed to see some more photos when that happens!
Kristin worked late last night, so I made dinner and cleaned the kitchen. She unwound by perusing sexy swimsuit photos of her favorite movie star while sipping on a cocktail and burping the alphabet. Then she got settled in for some college hoops while I watched Pride & Prejudice.
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Scott Leger of Wideawake submitted his song Maybe Tonight, Maybe Tomorrow to the International Songwriting Competition and won grand prize! You can download the song for free, or support the fight against cancer by purchasing it for $1 from iTunes. 100% of the proceeds go to LiveStrong, the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
Upon learning of a friend’s cancer diagnosis, Scott wrote this song both as a personal coping mechanism and as a way to honor cancer survivors across the world. According to Leger, the song is dedicated not only to his friend but also to the millions of people affected by cancer. His hope is that the song will encourage people everywhere to live life to its fullest, whether they are dealing with cancer or any other challenge. The song was debuted at the Lance Armstrong Foundation Gala in front of a room full of VIP’s including former President Bill Clinton. In addition to its lyrical content, the song’s memorable chorus and strong pop sensibility resonated with the ISC judges, culminating in it being awarded this year’s Grand Prize.
Congratulations to Scott for this amazing accomplishment! Some of you may recall that Scott and Eddie from Wideawake played at our wedding. I’d like to say “Thank You!” again for a performance Kristin and I will never forget!!
Kristin and I went to the sold out Blue October concert at Stubb’s this weekend. We’ve been looking forward to this show since we last saw them in the Fall of 2005. As it turns out, they were recording a live CD, which made for a great — if controlled — performance, but we left a dash unfulfilled. Stubb’s is a 2200-capacity outdoor amphitheater with great ambiance, but we weren’t in the mood to fight the crowds. Instead, we moved around a lot trying to find a place where people weren’t talking. It seemed like we were the biggest fans there, cuz we just wanted to listen to the music and watch Justin sing, but everyone else was more interested in their own endless small talk and tomfoolery. No matter where we stood (and, at one point, we were pretty close to the stage), it was like we were in a bar and listening to a jukebox or something. Come on, people.
Consequently, it was tough to really get into it. I kept wishing they would put together more intimate concerts from time to time, where we could really get up close and personal. It’s not the band’s fault. I mean, Stubb’s is an intimate venue, right? Well, maybe not. I must be getting older, cuz I’m looking for a place to sit down and sip on a bottle of red wine while listening to the band and nothing but the band. No joke telling or half nelsons allowed. Yeh, I’m getting older. It’s official.
You know, it seems like bands could take steps to recognize that not all of their fans are the same. I mean, there were the five-year-olds propped on their fathers’ shoulders blocking our view. (Yes, it was an all ages show. Perhaps part of the problem?) Then, of course, the college kids who were punching each other in the arm and hitting on one another’s girlfriends… Tickling and tackling. I wonder if these people would be willing to pay more than $30 to see Blue October live? I’m thinking of an auction process where the bidding starts at $100. Or maybe $150? The higher your bid, the more likely you’ll be sitting up front. Yes, sitting. Think MTV Unplugged. Capacity 200. Followed by a full concert the next night, of course. Concerts 2.0. It’s like the “Demand” feature of Sonic Living meets eBay.
When we were hanging out by the merchandise booth, we noticed a shirt that had “5591″ on the front. This intrigued me, of course, and a little searching helped me discover that Justin sometimes does some low-key acoustic shows highlighting various selections from the 500+ songs he has written. Now, THAT sounds perfect! Here’s a sample from a show he did over a year ago. I can’t seem to find any evidence of more recent or upcoming 5591 shows. From what I gather, these shows are mostly word-of-mouth and sell out quickly. No sign of any distribution or announcement list to join, and he’s not listed on JamBase, so that seems to confirm it. Hmm. Concerts 2.0. Perhaps I’m on to something.
A quick shout out and HELLO to a beautiful new person in our world today. Lillian Elizabeth Kost!
Welcome! And congratulations to our good friends, Mike & Jen!
6th St, originally uploaded by dreadfuldan.
South by Southwest 2007 is in full swing! At this point I’m feeling like a total schmuck. From Film to Music to Technology, SXSW has it. I love all three of these things and have gone to, count em, zero events. Well, next year, right!?
I took this photo on highway 360 several months ago on my way home from work. I love this photo. It may be hard to decipher, but it’s a film crew with police escort. The trailer appears to be equipped to capture a scene from within or around a car. You might be able to make out the front end of a yellow car on the back of the trailer. The two white vans behind the trailer may or may not have Quentin Terentino inside! He was reportedly in town when I took the photo. Have I mentioned that I love Austin?
So why am I posting this photo now, you ask? Well, I’ve been saving it in my phone, cuz I didn’t want to delete it but wasn’t sure what to do with it. Well, now I’ve figured out how to email photos from my phone to my blog. This could be dangerous. Now you never know what you’re gonna find here!
What a crazy day! First, we met some of our new Austin friends for lunch at Sampaio’s, a Brazilian restaurant, to celebrate my birthday. My birthday, of course, was over a month ago, but this seems to be the way this group of friends does things. “Tradition,” they say.
Well, afterwards, we went to the second annual Austin Chocolate Festival out in the Texas hill country where we filled our bellies with chocolately goodness until our bells dinged. The crowd there was not what you’d expect. I guess it’s the whole Keep Austin Weird thing, but we were surrounded by tattoos and peircings and female armpit hair — you know the type. At first we were a bit put out cuz we were all about enjoying our chocolate the way chocolate was meant to be enjoyed, with jazz and coffee. But, these guys kinda rubbed off on us and next thing you know Kristin’s slammin a 40 and I’m hootin’ and hollerin’.
Well, come to find out, this crazy couple is getting married down the hill at the Dulcinea Chapel. Beautiful place. They invited us to join them for their three minute ceremony and fifty-seven minute reception immediately following. I guess they only had the place rented for an hour, so they wanted to get in, get married and get hammered. What a great time! Here’s a photo of the bride and groom posing with one of their good friends. The guy in the middle looks like a total loser, but he was so smart — he could spell your name in hexadecimal. Backwards.
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