Guy Fawkes

who is he? check him out on wikipedia

A Revolution Without Dancing Is A Revolution Not Worth Having

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V.

Sometimes A Pony Gets Depressed

i hit send/receive and received the sxsw daily chord today, as i do most days. it lands in my inbox, and i usually mock the headlines with DJ Vivek - both of us expressing wonder at why we bother to subscribe. The news from Daily Chord is almost certain to be a regurgitated version of recycled stories most of us already know. The Daily Chord is the last to report on everything. I mean really, daily chord, we all knew about Nikki Sudden (RIP) by 10am yesterday morning. Every day is a slow news day for the daily chord. but it's not just because their version of news is really a lesson in stating the obvious.

letter to the daily chord from a pissed off chick

Dear Daily Chord Editorial staff - if there is one,

Stop linking to articles from papers which require online subscriptions. Those days are over, and while we, the people of the digital & independent music industry, realize that the newspaper companies have yet to demonstrate any comprehension of RSS, it's really fucking annoying to click on a link which takes me to a registration page. Punish these papers, even if they are major papers, for their ignorance. Pull the article straight from the AP from whence it came. Create your own daily chord or just stop boasting any leads in music industry news. Billboard is dead for a reason. Demonstrate that you have learned at least a little something from the interactive part of sxsw. Tell me something I don't already know, throw me a bone. How about leaking a track or two? With great power comes great responsibility. This doesn't stop at spiderman. Interactive media doesn't have any obligation to submit to a 9th grade reading level. Leave that to traditional press, they've gotten so good at it. Take my advice, daily chord, i'm trying to help you live through this transitory time in digital media. don't bury yourself where pollstar went to die. I'd hate to see it happen when you've come so far. Challenge yourself, daily chord, to tell me something i don't know, and give it to me in a logical form. Graduate to web 2.0 before 8.0 creeps up on you like so much weed in the valley.

love,
Miss Wanda

Will The South Really Rise Again?

you tell me.

South By Stowaway

Woman Accused Of Being Plane Stowaway
Authorities: Woman Was Trying To Go To Festival
3:05 pm CST March 23, 2006

AUSTIN, Tx. -- A Chicago woman accused of stowing away on a plane to attend the South by Southwest Festival faces a federal charge.

Catherine "Cat" Chow, a 33-year-old artist, was on the standby list for a flight from St. Louis to Austin, booked through American Airlines. When she found out the flight was full, Chow snuck past gate agents, boarded the plane and hid in the bathroom, authorities said.

When a passenger knocked on the bathroom door, Chow took the man's seat. When his wife made her move, she took another seat.

After she was forced to move again, a flight attendant discovered her, court documents said.

An agent with the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force was called to the airport. Airport police also were waiting for Chow when the plane landed.

Chow told authorities she "knew what she did was wrong, but wanted to meet with her friends in Austin . . . to participate in the South by Southwest activities," documents said.

Airport police said they found marijuana and six antidepressant tablets without a prescription label.

Chow was charged with boarding an airplane without permission, a federal crime, and two state misdemeanors, possession of marijuana and possession of a dangerous drug.

Chow was being held in the Travis County jail on a $3,000 bail.

Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Another SxSW Blog

it's time to review sxsw and report on music, as well as the self inflating conversations overheard amongst overpaid publishers and pony tailed wannabes. But before i can even get that far, and list out the bands who blew me away, thanking the good friends i saw and the new ones i made, there's a bit of a personal tale to tell. After ten days of 8am - 3+ am conferencing, socializing, business-doing over beats and hopping skipping jumping across the only city in texas I ever hope to visit once a year, I literally....collapsed. I was so close to getting home. Really, i was. In fact, the big beautiful probably-gay-metrosexual- black man in sunglasses (at the crack of dawn), wearing his united airline wings and flexed arms, had just handed me my boarding pass. When next i knew, i was on the pavement. at curbside. I was the curbside check in, and i was checked out. Passed out.

from what i'm told, there was loose banter from me, begging the ems crew to wheel me to the gate, to get me home. And they say i kept trying to get up and walk, collapsing each time. I guess my legs just couldn't go. I also remember my fingers tingling, and of course i banged my left knee when i fell (that's for another blog.) The story goes that my eyes rolled back, i collapsed on the ground and once i "came to" (and i saw a sea of strangers looking at me from above) i tried to crawl away. it was instinct. to get the eff away and to keep moving. I guess i'm glad that's my instinct. hell of way to find it out, though.

ever had a bag of fluids pumping into your veins somewhere in bush's flat ass state? i found myself dehydrated, recovering from a fainting spell and very very confused in texas the day after sxsw reached it's conclusion.

I had a life changing experience, and after spending an extra night (after that whole conference!) in texas (somewhere outside of austin) because my body decided it was time to stop - i learned a few things. I learned i have wonderful friends. I learned that it's scary to be alone but i can still get by. and i learned that even when i'm glad to walk away relatively unscathed from any situation, i'm missing some key elements in my life. I spend most days going between my apartment, the gym, and my office. I've only actually toured San Francisco twice since i moved here. All i do is work, and i don't do it well enough by my own standards. Work becomes more important than food, drink, relationships - it's my life and it's the life i've chosen. but maybe, just maybe it's time for a vacation.

I flew to denver today first, then to SF. The flight from denver was absolutely horrid. the screaming child behind me was propped up in a car seat by his mother, who had rigged it just enough so my seat could not recline. there was a snowstorm in denver, so we were delayed, and had one of the bumpiest ascents i've ever experienced. and when i thought we were going down, i scared even myself. I unhooked my seatbelt. never hooked it back, not even before landing. I mean, i had just collapsed the night before in the middle of texas. I was feeling a little invincible, kind of angry about that damn child car seat, and a little bit special. when some might wonder why they ought to tempt fate, i wondered why not.

and then, when i realized that my unlatched seatbelt was doing nothing other than....being unlatched...there was a conference on which to reflect.

I learned more at sxsw than could ever be relayed in a blog. and yes, when i woke up in the hospital my 3rd thought was "fuck i hope nobody got a picture of that and flickr'd it" - but ultimately the information i walked away with is almost too large. which is really the point, isn't it? With all these ideas, we are only limited by the platforms and products by which we convey them. And the space is multi tiered. Best interactive panel? "online places in offline spaces" - there wasn't even room to sit on the floor.

And i learned more about the number of people out there who want to harvest ideas off of others. they are everywhere. the harvesters. there are doers, there are the assholes, the assholes with money, there are the assholes with money who pretend they're from the ghetto, and then there is the music business. I take pride in sticking with the good guys, who rely on the culmination of ideas. And it was good to engage in higher learning with cohorts for whom i have great love and respect.

by the end of the week, the omni cleaning staff was sticking notes under our doors, begging us to let them clean the room. and yes, someone (not one of us) pulled a fire alarm at the omni. bright and early at 11am. which was good, because we forgot to set our alarm.

Put it this way, if you missed sxsw this year - you missed one of the most unique South By Southwests to date. There is a grand disconnect in the conference - it was odd to see so many leave after interactive who should have been sitting on music panels, and vice versa. the convergence is here, and this is the first time i've observed it as so blatantly obvious.

what a sight it was, with bloggers in the street, sitting on sidewalks, logging rock star sightings. It was a highly interactive SxSW music festival, just a few days too late for the interactive gang to be there. Next year should prove even more productive, as the two conferences have finally unified.

The theme this year (during music) was the female. Yes, it's true. it started with Sleater-Kinney who closed the film festival, and went on - there were female drummers with power arms and voluptuous swings all over. Some say it's the year of the rat, i offer this, the year of the hot female musician.

some highlights off the top of my head:
- the black angels
- deadboy & the elephantmen
- the slip
- sleater-kinney
- flaming lips
- flaming lips w/ peaches
- beastie boys
- gris gris
- oranger
- the new pornographers
- starlight mints
- film school
- eagles of death metal
- eagles of death metal w/ josh homme
- dr. dog
- National Eye
- Phosphorescent
- the brunettes
- silversun pickups
- tina dico


and the overhyped award goes to:
- wolfmother (ok so they are good, but not *that* good - yet...please please, interscope, stop making those zep refs...)

Best Press Conference:
- Verizon

worst/ annoying British accent when you aren't from england award goes to:
- secret machines

best japanese riot grrl award goes to:
- gito gito hustler

Most deceiving item in the sxsw (music) swag bag:
- NAIL distribution condom
(aren't condoms designed to stop distro?)

and the best stream of consciousness sxsw blog entry award goes to:
let's just say it's me.

Gas Emitting Megaphone

Gas Emitting Megaphone
Originally uploaded by ldandersen.

surprise flaming lips show...peaches joined for the encore - to sing "war pigs" - and the new FLips songs sound stunning live. other shows to kick my ass after a long day of the most crowded day party in austin (!!! the ioda party!!!) were: the gris gris, the black angels, and the new pornographers (who have gotten tighter since their european tour). there's a lot more blogging to be done but for now it's all about quick missives, flickr photos, showering and off to the next event with a stack of business cards and a PDA. Sleep is not really an option. Another long day and night and morning ahead, with plans to see eagles of death metal, burning brides, rogue wave, masonic, kid millionaire, dr. dog, deadboy & the elephantmen, the apes, the twilight singers, peaches dj set, vhs or beta, spoon, the capes, dressy bessy, spinto band, film school, oranger, voxtrot, mixmaster mike, goldfrapp, secret machines, did i mention ad-roc and the boys are here and i'll see them after hours? all this taking place while business gets done, and thensome. If you've never been to sxsw, for business or pleasure, it's meaningful to note that all these shows take place at parties and showcases sponsored by entities such as high times, levi's, emusic, filter, tagworld, vice, fader, iheartcomix...and....i love what i do for a living. and quite frankly, the lips rendition of yoshimi was one of the best i've heard in a while, maybe it was the sound - or the intimate setting. i love what i do for a living....it may look easy, but this week was earned by many and it's all business as much as it is heavenly. do you love what you do? more reports from sxsw to come. more than likely after the fact.

Jewish Girls Gone Wild

i was all set to blog about sxsw...about the fact that i sat in the 13th row on the plane (seat C!) and am now on the 13th floor of the omni, albeit the club level, with his and her robes in the closet, high ceilings & mints on my pillow - i was going to blog about skipping out on the blogher party because i really need just one night without parties, (the next 9 nights are stacked) - but then this video came my way. the pic of me and my ibook was going to go up here as my first sxsw hotel room shot - but since i'm felling like a jewish girl gone wild, i decided to link it with this video, which i keep watching over and over..laughing each time.....i like when she scrubs the carpet.

Bogus Picture Rules at SxSW and the Yari Wristband Overhaul

it was a game, but now it's personal. either the rules have changed or eyes are not mandatory. when i went to re-upload my original mug, i received a note that said the uploading process has ended "we have plenty of cameras at badge pick up."

there's also a curious issue for wristband people. For the first year, wristbands "sold out." But a drunk monkey with a marketing job at a box company could figure this one out:

people who didn't purchase their wristbands and just found out they are sold out have an option. kind of. They have to use the sxsw sms system (sponsored by yari) to get wristbands. First, a person has to sign up, enter their number, receive a confirmation code, and then they will receive a text message - on tuesday - stating where and when the wristbands go on sale. Til then, nobody knows how many of the wristbands will be for sale, where they are sold, or what time on tuesday. Nice job, yari. But it's easy to say that having a badge (pic or no pic) - if i was bankin on a wristband i might have a different opinion of yari and the sxsw wristband overhaul. It's creative, but demand for wristbands is not lacking. While it's neat, it's pointless. It's hard enough for people to get into shows, now it's a pain for them to get wristbands? come on sxsw.

IODA @ sxsw - Party! & digital media "junket"

IODA @ sxsw - Party! & digital media "junket"
Originally uploaded by crazywanda.

Food, Booze, Music, Interview Lounge for bloggers/ podcasters and vloggers. did i mention booze & food....i picked out the menu all by myself, veggie options available, food thanks to Curra's Grill in Austin.

I'll be at the entire conference - drop me a note, i'll pencil you in.

It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp

definitely the best thank you speech of the night, the most memorable part being the shout out to Select-O-Hits, their distributor.

A Challenge

Now it's a game.


[Wanda],
The photograph you uploaded to the SXSW Online Registrant Directory was unnacceptable for the following reason:

I love my iPod and iTrip, too, but...
Your SXSW badge photo is used for identification. Therefore it must be a clear, unobstructed full-frontal photograph of your entire face, like the photo on a passport.

Please feel free to visit https://regdir.sxsw.com/ to upload a photograph that meets the stated requirements.

sxsw rejects my photo, requests full frontal

tales from an inbox:
The photograph you uploaded to the SXSW Online Registrant Directory was unnacceptable for the following reason:

Your SXSW badge photo is used for identification. Therefore it must be a clear, unobstructed full-frontal photograph of your face, like the photo on a passport.

We need to see eyes.

Please feel free to visit https://regdir.sxsw.com/ to upload a photograph that meets the stated requirements.