"Dancing Choose" by TV on the Radio

First version: TV on the Radio's latest video "Dancing Choose" engages the viewer with an artistic vision of man trying to find his way through a cosmopolitan comic book landscape of disorienting angles that leader singer Tunde Adebimpe tries to sort out with an emphatic wave of his hands to a beat that is as rapid fire as the lyrics he spits of urban American confusion.

Second version: TV on the Radio's latest video "Dancing Choose" continues their trend of artsy music videos with the vision of a man stumbling through a cosmopolitan comic book landscape of disorienting angles and textures. Leader singer Tunde Adebimpe tries to make sense of the urban chaos with an emphatic wave and clap of his hands as he spits the tale of American angst to a beat that will have you tapping your dancing shoe.

One sentence excercise= very hard and surprisingly verbose.
Two sentences=seemingly better?

The Great Outdoors coffeehouse

Besides a backyard of gigantic peat-moss elephants and a thriving community of potted plants for sale, The Great Outdoors coffeehouse offers Austinites a colorful array of hot and iced caffeinated beverages, vegetarian/vegan conscious snacks and sandwiches, and the kindness of the counter girl who will give you a bag of ice for your twisted ankle.

Anti-ACL--an explanation

If ACL's in town and you were either too cheap to buy a ticket or there's nothing you dislike more being one with a sweaty mass of people, standing on your tippy toes the whole day to steal a glance of your favorite band then you might fit in with the anti-ACL-ers because let's face it: there's them and then there's us.

And what did we do this weekend?
+Got the hell out of town!
+Slept in, and watched YouTube videos of our favorite acts' live performances in bed.
+Pretended we went, happened to miss all the text messages to meet up, but the Octopus Project put on an awesome show, didn't they?
+In protest, listened to Mozart the whole weekend claiming rather fastidiously that the brilliance and angst-ridden intricacies of Wolfgang's symphonies are unmatchable--period.

Either way, the one belief we anti-ACL'ers operate under is that we didn't miss anything... (though I know some of us secretly have our doubts) and at least we still have those $200 still in our pockets (or elsewhere anyway), and we have standards for our live shows (for whatever good that will do). Personally, I'm holding out for funfunfun fest which hopefully will give us music lovers the a chance to see good bands sans heat stroke and exhaustion.

Burn After Reading

The Coen brothers have won four Academy awards with their ability to concoct plots that blur genres while captivating movie goers with twists and a knack for suspense and drama. The fact that they cast Oscar caliber actors doesn't hurt either.

Their new film Burn After reading follows the desires of a middle aged woman, Linda Litske (Frances McDormand), who believes that plastic surgery will save her from a solitary life of working full time at a gym. After finding a an abandoned CD in the locker room, she and her airhead co-worker Chad interpret the memoirs of a recently fired and embittered CIA analyst Osbourne Cox, as super confidential intelligence that leads them to embark on a scheme to blackmail the money out of the unsuspecting Cox with the end goal of getting enough money to pay for Linda's cosmetic operations. What starts out as the simple hope of receiving a reward for the information turns into an all out war between the wonderfully explosive alcoholic John Malkovich, as Osbourne Cox and a fearless Frances McDormand as the no longer pathtic, self-important Linda Litske. The plan runs amuck as it ropes in the people around them, including Osbourne's unfaithful wife and her lover (as well as Linda's lover) , the lady hungry chain wearing Harry Pfarrer, played uncannily well by George Clooney. The characters' wants and actions clash to weave a web so complex even the CIA can't seem to untangle exactly what is going on.

This ninety-six minute comedy had me laughing from the very beginning and left me wide-eyed in disbelief at the absurdity of the end. A fun, bumpy ride and another win for the Coen brothers.

When there is nothing good on the tube... there's ME TV Channel 15

It's crazy. There are some weeks where I'm begging to be bored. All I need is just an hour to myself, oh and to veg out in front of the television. Ah the TV. A luxury (a vacuum of potential, of productivity) when you've been going one hundred miles an hour with just enough time to get seven hours of sleep the TV offers an outlet to just zone out. But I'm picky to what I like to veg to.

I tell you, I don't watch TV that often but when I do, there are a couple of channels that I rely on to make me feel good about my boobtube experience. Besides Maury on KXAN Channel 12 (I just love the drama even though I know it turns my brain into garbage), one of those channels is ME TV, Music and Entertainment Television, a local channel whose station is located on South Congress in what I heard was once a studio for porno films. I smile every time I see the message in the marquee "ME TV TURN ME ON."

I like this channel for several reasons.

1) Music videos! Woohoo! With the true spirit of MTV long forgotten, ME TV brings back an authentic interest into what musicians are doing--making albums, playing shows, and making music videos.

2)The variety of videos is impressive too. I find myself always tuning in to the popular rap/hip-hop which, depending on my mood, I get or don't get. ME TV has a bunch of programs such as Airwaves which plays the more popular videos along with new indie videos and Tex-Mix which exclusively features Texan artists. Lately, what I've been catching are in-studio/live performances from bands I've never heard of or seen. There's nothing more stimulating than seeing new music and the musicians who craft it. And finally

3)When they say Music and Entertainment, they actually mean what they say. During SXSW and other Austin music festivals, their VJ's work around the clock catching interviews with any artist/filmmaker that has something to say. More importantly, if you like going to shows, ME has something as indispensable as the Austin Chronicle and that is its show ticker which scrolls across the bottom of the screen listing the day's shows at each venue. Yup, it's pretty freaking sweet.

Although I know fashion addictions have people watching reruns of Project Runway, jonesing for more, I write to offer another option. ME TV. If you're going to be watching something just for the sake of watching something, watch this. And check out the website too-- points of interest: interviews with Sharon Jones, Erykah Badu, and Will Ferrell ME Television

Local Businesses--the Flavor of Austin

So what is it about Austin that gives this place more character than, say, a suburb around Dallas? Many people fail to realize that at the heart Austin's culture, the source of Austin's eclectic appearance, the places that color the popular arteries of this city such as South Congress and Guadalupe St. are the local, independently owned businesses.

I've always had an aversion to chain restaurants but never thought about it critically. An ad on 91.7FM, probably KOOP Radio, got me thinking about it. They had me curious. So I checked out the website for the Austin Independent Business Alliance, www.ibuyaustin.com, and here's what I found out. According to the AIBA, shopping locally is outstanding for Austin's economy. When you make a purchase from a locally owned business, the amount of money that makes a local economic impact is three times more than if you were to do your shopping at a national chain. Even though I understand the importance of all this, the main thing to me is the diversity of places, services, and goods Austin has to offer its residents. There is nothing uglier to me than the face of development. When access roads become pimpled with Targets, Office Depot's, Chili's, and other chains, all within the span of a month or so (ever had one of those moments driving down the highway and thinking to yourself 'Where in the hell did that come from!?'), there is really nothing going on other than a perfect picture of America's consumerism.

No, I like to support places that have real faces, real people, real owners taking risks. It's these places that give Austin its character and charm.

Mr. Natural--A Review

I am not a stranger nor a hater to vegetarian cooking. As an ecstatic lover of vegetables I was enthused about trying Mr. Natural, a restaurant/bakery located on S. Lamar that I had heard good things about. I had envisioned an array of steaming hot, colorful vegetarian dishes, each one looking better than the last. What I failed to realize was that the cafeteria set up of the restaurant put a huge damper on my fantasy of this vegetarian cookery.

The cold, fluorescent interior is a bit deterring. In the left corner sits the food line and the menu. It was Mexican food day and the main course was a choice between  cheese enchiladas or picking from a tray of burrito halves, with the option of two sides. The laidback appearance afforded by a cafeteria environment is understandable, but the appearance of the food was not enticing. It seemed everything had been hurriedly prepared and chunked into a plastic tray to be put in a cooler, where countering my fantasy, nothing was steaming. The pintos looked like a brown, dour tasteless soup at the end of the line, the enchiladas sat squished together in a pale sauce without garnish. I supposed that to Mr. Natural, vegetarian cooking can not be decorated or pleasing to the eye. It says something that I opted to try one of the less expensive menu items--the veggie burger made with soy protein. My friend chose the BBQ burger.

It took a little too long to get our burgers to us, considering the place was more than half empty. They were finally brought out to us with a small side of tortilla chips and tiny cup of watery salsa. The burgers were sandwiched between toasted crusty pieces of wheat bread rather than the traditional buns and they seemed to be overflowing with sprouts, a favorite veggie of mine. The soy patty itself was seasoned well but it had been cooked too long; the edges were too crunchy and the patty seemed shrunken. Surprisingly, my friend's BBQ sandwich looked tasty, the big pieces of gloppy barbecued fake meat pouring out the sides. I liked the chewiness of the filling and its nondescript, sweet barbecue-y taste.

Maybe we went on an off day. Maybe I should have filled my plate with something off of the lunch line. Maybe I should give this place another shot because I know people who swear by Mr. Natural. Although, without a doubt, I'm sure I can make prettier and better tasting veggie dishes/salads/sandwiches sans the $7 price tag. Mr. Natural is probably a reliable place to go to for fast, healthy food on a lunch break. But if you are looking to be impressed by vegetarian cooking, it may be a better idea to find a vegetarian recipe and do it yourself.