hangingfire at tumblr

Mar 15

I can’t wait until the oak count hits “high”, given how well I’m doing at “medium”.

Dec 14

immlass:

(via Doonesbury Comic Strip, December 14, 2012 on GoComics.com)

Pretty sure I haven’t laughed this hard at a Doonesbury strip in years.

(By the way, Earl, that’s Westlake you’re thinking of in panel 3.)

(via immlass)

Nov 1

Make It So: The Star Trek: The Next Generation 25th Anniversary Reunion at Austin Comic-Con

The latest thing I wrote for Tor and boy did it ever run long. I also didn’t get to use some really great bits or else it would have been twice as long. But hopefully it gets across just how fun that panel actually was.

Aug 31

I decided to go to the archery range on my lunch break today, since I skipped practice last weekend and probably won’t be able to go tomorrow. And mostly the skip week really, really showed. Mostly I sucked like a giant sucking thing.

But then there was this. I swear I shot this for real; there were WITNESSES. And so of course I took a picture because god knows when this will happen again.

Also: there was a guy there who had the Dukes of Hazzard theme as ringtone. And I overheard this great bit of snark:

First Guy: (harassing Second Guy about his bow, which is wrapped from top to bottom in camouflage tape)
Second Guy: It’s killed elk.
First Guy: Sure, I guess if you throw it out the window of your truck going seventy miles per hour, that counts.

Aug 27

From a photo album of the Sept. 3 episode of No Reservations, shot in Austin during SXSW:

Tony with Alan Palomo from the band Neon Indian at Lala’s, a Christmas-themed bar.

Bastard was (well) within a half-mile radius of my house and I didn’t know about it until about two days afterward.

Jul 27

Seen out last night and presented without comment.

Jun 8

“Judgemental Austin Map” by Albert Bui.

I live somewhere between “actual weirdos” and “lesbian furniture”, apparently, but not as far south as the rich hippies (an area I like to call “NIMBYland”).

May 25

And here we thought last summer was bad.

Mar 20

Sixth Street, Austin, TX, during SXSW. Photo from the Guardian.

When we were out there, we basically did everything we could to avoid being in the middle of that particular clusterfuck.

Mar 18

List of bands seen at SXSW 2012

Noteworthy (to me) acts starred.

Led Er Est
Amen Dunes
Zola Jesus*
Mahogany
Bonaparte*
Christeene*
La Vida Boheme
Sugar Tongue Slim*
Poliça
Lower Dens
The Magnetic Fields*
Charli XCX*
Purity Ring*
Grimes*
Nicolas Jaar*
Zambri*
Thomas Dolby*
Peter Gregson*
Owen Weaver
Spoek Mathambo*
Line By Line Percussion*
Micah P. Hinson*
The Jameses
Dive*
Blouse
Soft Metals
Widowspeak
Craft Spells*
Beach Fossils*

I think the days of 40-50 bands in four days (achieved by taking Wed-Fri off work and hitting day shows every single day) are behind me now, but at least I don’t feel completely steamrollered today. Overall it was a good year; we didn’t get shut out of anything we wanted to see (we didn’t see Fiona Apple at the Central Presbyterian Church, but since we were only there to see Charli XCX and the others, that really didn’t matter). We got to see an annoying sponsored party bus get pulled over by the cops, and also a Bactrian camel being transported in a livestock trailer; for what purpose I have no idea. The most notable moment of fail was the act that started at least an hour late due to extremely dilatory setup of the drum kit (we actually had to leave to get to another show before they even started).

Thomas Dolby is a pro; I hope he makes it back to Austin for a not-festival gig. The lead singer of Beach Fossils looks like a baby Michael Penn; all that band and Craft Spells need to take the indie world by storm and become the new Vampire Weekend is a good stylist. Much praise to Sugar Tongue Slim and Spoek Mathambo for bringing their A-games to rooms full of NPR- and Sub Pop-listening white hipsters, all too many of whom still seem somewhat confused by hip-hop. Also, a tip: make a point of checking out the classical showcases at SXSW, even if you don’t think you like classical music. You may be pleasantly surprised at how great they are.