A couple of things.

First - the ATX Magazine Party - from their website...

ATX MAGAZINE'S AFTER HOURS SOIREE
MARCH 15th - 11PM
STRICTLY 21+

5th & IH 35
Austin, TX

FIRST 100 TO SIGN UP FOR ATX MAGAZINE'S NEWSLETTER RECEIVE V.I.P. ADMISSION!
FIRST 700 AT THE GATE ENTER IN A CHANCE TO WIN A VIDEO IPOD!

11:10PM Loxsly - Austin, Texas
11:30PM For Those Who Know - Austin, Texas
11:50AM Brothers and Sisters - Austin, Texas
12:10AM Modena Vox - Columbus, Ohio
12:40AM Lomita - San Marcos, Texas
1:10AM SPECIAL GUEST - Sheffield, United Kingdom
1:40AM SPECIAL GUEST - London, United Kingdom
2:10AM SPECIAL GUEST - London, United Kingdom
2:50AM SPECIAL GUEST - Montreal, Quebec
3:20AM SPECIAL GUEST - United Kingdom
3:50AM SPECIAL GUEST - Austin, Texas
*lineup subject to change

SXSW Badge and Wristband Holders
FREE

General Admission
minimum donation

Join us for a celebration of international collaboration at ATX Magazine's After Hours Soiree, where Austin's finest bands will share a dual festival stage with acts from around the nation and elsewhere.

- Complimentary beer provided to all attendees.
- Bring your own wine and liquor.
- Food and more will be available.

Come early and stay late. You can rest after SXSW, it's only once a year after all.

(((***NOTE*** I updated the lineup as it changed FYI)))

Second - sxswbaby.com has their guesses on who the atx magazine "special guests" are.

Lastly - Our "official" showcase for sxsw is finally set up. The previous details have changed. Here's the new stuff...

Thursday March 16

Emo's IV (601 Red River St) (All Ages)
Belaire 7:30 p.m. Austin TX
Brothers and Sisters 8:30 p.m. Austin TX
Duchess Says 9:30 p.m. Montreal QC
Vietnam 10:30 p.m. Brooklyn NY
We Are Wolves 11:30 p.m. Montreal QC
Islands 12:30 a.m. Montreal QC

I had a very relaxing weekend which was just what I needed. I sat around. Read. Watched NCAA basketball. Friday night I attempted to walk 30 blocks home from a party at 2am in a cold drizzle. Luckily I got about 5 blocks before I realized I was right by Will and Lily's house and Lily was kind enough to get out of bed and drive me the rest of the way.

Hurry up, Passport! I need to get visa to go to Moscow!

Remember! Don't vote in the primaries! Save your vote so you can sign the petition to get Kinky on the ballot for governor! As I understand it, to get on the ballot he'll need 45,000 signatures from registered voters who didn't vote in either primary. I'm not sure exactly when the window for getting signatures is - it starts after the primaries are over and I don't know when it ends.

Hitch!

"...Nobody in authority can be found to state the obvious and the necessary — that we stand with the Danes against this defamation and blackmail and sabotage. Instead, all compassion and concern is apparently to be expended upon those who lit the powder trail, and who yell and scream for joy as the embassies of democracies are put to the torch in the capital cities of miserable, fly-blown dictatorships."

OK, now that it's semi-official (meaning I finally read it on the interweb somewhere besides our own site), Brothers and Sisters managed to get a sweet showcase during SXSW. We're playing one of the Kork Agency showcases and here's the details...

3/17/06 - Friday @ Caribbean Nights
Duchess Says 8:15
Brothers and Sisters 9:15
Vietnam 10:15
We Are Wolves 11:15
Islands 12:15 (ex-Unicorns)

In addition to the official showcase, we're also playing a few parties and dayshows...

wed march 15 @ end of an ear - instore @ 5pm
wed march 15 - atx magazine party (late night after austin music awards) - somewhere east off 5th & I-35
sat march 18 @ flamingo cantina - misprnt magazine party (sometime during the day)
sat march 18 @ longbranch inn - Beatbop! and Call the Doctor party (evening)

I'll fill in the details as I get them. It's entirely possible that we might play more parties and/or shows besides this if something comes up.

In an effort to lose a bit of weight, I have decided to not drink any beer for a week. My friend Anna hasn't had any in two weeks and lost 8 lbs. I know it doesn't sound like much but have you ever tried to go out to a show/bar and not drink beer? I will allow myself a mixed drink or two but no beer. In the past six months I gained almost ten pounds. Not good. So I'll try this and see how it goes then go from there. Last year I went a whole week without drinking anything but for half of it I was in bed with a 102 degree fever so that doesn't really count.

Laundro-Blogging! It's the new hit!

I've washed something like five loads of dirty clothes today. You know that big ass pile that was in the corner of my room for the past six months? Gone. Now I'm waiting on the last load to get done in the washer before loading up and heading out to dry them at a laundromat (now dryer at home). I feel like I've accomplished a great feat of endurance today and I'm only half done. Who wants to come help me fold?

Oh, and I'm off work today. This is how I'm spending it.

brothers and sisters w/crackpipes and faceless werewolves @ longbranch inn on saturday night. woot!

Hi. While driving through Utah, Amanda and I became very enamored of the beehives on their highway signs. Highway 191 was the one we took into Moab where we had dinner and drank beer at a nice micro brewery. It was also the way into Arches National Park. Now she (being the sweetest heart there ever was) has made me a nice hanky with the 191 beehive on it.

Someone finally did it. A pictorial Office Space tour of Austin. I always knew it was shot north or northwest but never knew exactly where. Here's the original post on metro-blogging Austin.

We got a practice space. It's about 10 minutes from my house going out east towards Manor on 290. It is starting to turn into a clubhouse already. We kept trying to find a place somewhere closer in town but had no luck. The place we ended up with is rather large (for a cheap, cheap price) but is in a storage building. It kinda weird being there at night. Completely empty with rows and rows of sliding metal garage doors. Carpet over corrugated metal walls. Cement floor. Fluorescent lights. We're slowly getting around to sprucing it up. Lamps. Throw rugs. We've already been working on several new songs out there. I think this will work out ok.

A few things...

1) Joe brought home a promo of the album by the Sword and it freakin' rules. It's weird because I know the songs from seeing them so many times but everything is so clear.

2) AEgypt by John Crowley also rules. It's like a not-as-dense Baroque Cycle book except that it was written 15 years earlier when Neal Stephenson was still writing about cyberpunk pizza delivery guys. AEgypt is the first part in a four part series but sadly only the third one is still in print (the fourth is yet to be written). The second book, Love and Sleep, is going for $20-$30 used on amazon. I may have to bite the bullet and pay some real money for a book (as soon as I get an actual paycheck).

3) My mom found this blog. (Hi, Mom!) I really had hoped this would never happen. I don't know how this will affect what's on here except that I'll probably ease up on the profanity.

I'm pretty much tired of being awake.

Thursday Feb 9 - Benefit for Jack Control with Signal Lost, Camp X-Ray, Army of Jesus, Iron Age, Modern Needs at Emo's (late show, inside stage)

Money from this show is going to help Jack Control defray medical costs after his near fatal stabbing at the "goodbye ben snakepit" show at sound on sound a couple of weeks back.

I'm moving to the country. or the suburbs. This city is freaking me out.

Friday night Brothers and Sisters had our big cd release show @ beerland and it was nuts. Hit capacity at, like, 11 or 11:30. People lined-up to get in and shit. Weird. Fun. Strange. Sorry to all the friendly-types who couldn't get in. I wouldn't have waited in line, either. Also, that night I (a) found out that I died and (b) was mildly electrocuted.

Being in a band that is actually doing well freaks me out a little bit. I'm thrilled and giddy that things are going well but I'm kinda waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Saturday I stayed in and was in bed by 12. I think I was only awake for maybe 8 hours this day. By far the highlight was smothered chicken for lunch at Gene's. I'm so in love with this place.

Sunday we had an afternoon show in Houston. Played @ 3:30. Got real drunk and watched the superbowl then drove home late last night (got home sometime after 1am). I messed up the kickoff time because I all could find was that it was at 6:18 eastern and in my head that meant 7:18 central. Apparently I was all messed up because the game started at 5:18 central and instead of hauling ass back to Austin to watch it we stayed in Houston.

Now at work.

Nothing much to say. At work. Gracie left to move to London an hour or two ago. Bye, Gracie. It was fun. and weird.

God I love myspace. I get get porn messages on there all the time. Here's the latest with my response (before I blocked her profile).

From: Elissa
Hi Sweetie!!! I was browsing through Myspace and you caught my eye!!! I was wondering if you could help me out. I am a new aspiring young model for http://genericwebcamwebsite.com/ and I would love for you to check out my website

my reply:
OMG! R U like a strpper or something? CRZ. I love boobs!

I finally saw Walk the Line last night. I totally enjoyed it in a movie-of-the-week type way. Great art? Probably not. Really good performances, though. I, for one, dig the casting choices unlike many people.

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Brothers and Sisters CD release show!
Friday Feb 3 @ Beerland!
w/ Quien es, BOOM!, Lomita, and David Longoria (of the Black)!

PS! the austin chronicle says nice things about the show!

"The spirit of feel-good Seventies radio is alive and the signal is coming from Austin’s Brothers and Sisters. On their self-titled debut, the handsome sevenpiece tears a page from the alt.country twang of Gram Parsons and the Band, all while radiating sunshine pop and L.A. hooks. The feel-good local album of the new year. Locals Lomita farm out big guitar sounds, Quien es Boom! picks choice jangle, and the Black’s David Longoria cooks up hot licks."