Diatribes by Joah

Party & Fashion Show in Austin Tonite!

More deets: A friend of mine is hosting a party Tonight at The Vintage Lounge to find Austin's Hottest Longhorn. There will be three phases of the competition: 1) Walk the runway a couple of times and strike a few poses. 2) Tell us why you are UT's hottest Longhorn. 3) Dance off for the final three.

If you want to compete, send pics and emails to James De Los Santos @ surrealjames@yahoo.com. If you want to see the show and party, your $5 cover includes your first well drink.

At home sick? Immerse yourself in social media

(Cross-posted at Points of View: http://pulsepointgroup.com/pov/)

This swine flu stuff is seriously getting out of control. Yes, it’s gone viral. On Twitter and Google that is. Everywhere you look online, there’s something about the swine flu. And every American with any semblance of a cold is now at home worried about having something far worse, spending all their time online…

Which leads me to today’s big Texas story. University Interscholastic League, UIL, which governs high school sports in the state, has officially postponed baseball, softball, track and other spring sports events until May 11. And here are some of the top search terms on Google Trends:

#2 – swine flu maine

#10 – texas uil

#24 – university interscholastic league

#39 – maine cdc

#49 – swine flu san jose

And some of Twitter’s top trends: Swine Flu, #swineflu, and Mexico.

One thing these trends aren’t telling me is whether or not all of this social media activity and online traffic is doing more to spread panic about a potential pandemic than it is doing to disseminate relevant information about the swine flu itself.

What I do know is this: this swine flu is proving that it’s important to understand digital and social media for your personal health (unless you want to be put on hold with your doctor’s receptionist) and your company or organization.

One of the things PulsePoint offers clients is something called an Immersion where we help a company or organization’s employees better understand the online channel from a holistic point of view.  We won’t teach you how to become the top blogger overnight nor will we get you 2,000 Twitter followers in one week, but we are positioned to help clients and employees better interpret online content and conversations and train them on important skills in the online channel.

For example, right now the UIL is experiencing rapidly increased search resonation and Web traffic, not to mention the hundreds if not more phone calls and emails their staff is almost certainly getting from concerned athletes, coaches and parents.

An Immersion for their staff would provide the necessary skills and processes to use the Web (and social media) to do some of the things they probably rely on traditional media to do, i.e. informing coaches, parents and student-athletes, putting out an official statement and answering questions.

Regardless of how much the swine flu truly impacts the high school sports seasons here in Texas, UIL is one of many organizations that should look to immerse itself in social media. One place to start would be an Immersion, although they shouldn’t wait that long to get on Twitter.

By the looks of it, this thing may not go away anytime soon (see below).

Classic Clip: Kindergarten Cop

How to break down the ACL Lineup

Yes, yes, yes, I've seen the ACL Lineup. Duh. Don't you realize my life revolves around days like today :-)



I'm going to walk you through who I plan to see, depending on set times of course. First there are the headliners who will play mostly evening sets.



Pearl Jam has been impressive each of the five times I've seen them. So I'll go back for another serving.

I've seen DMB six times and half of the shows were memorable, and the other half were disappointing. Here's hoping my first DMB sighting since the loss of Leroi Moore is a great one.

And how could I not see Beastie Boys!

And John Legend and Lily Allen at ACL...nice R&B flair there. Not to mention Mos Def, an MC who knows how to put on a good show.

I've seen the Toadies, Citizen Cope, Arctic Monkeys and Thievery Corp, so I may skip out on them if push comes to shove in terms of scheduling, but I'll certainly make an effort to see Ben Harper because his last ACL gig was one of my favorite performances.

I'm hoping GIrl Talk isn't playing when the sun is still up, but I'm assuming most of the acts below will play late afternoon to early evening sets.



If you're not planning to see Girl Talk, you might as well not go to ACL because you're going to miss a great one. Same with Bon Iver, Here We Go Magic and Dr. Dog. I think they all know what they're doing up on stage. After Coachella, I'd put Michael Franti and K'Naan in the neighborhood as well. After that, it's pretty much a free for all...Grizzly Bear, Clutch and The Walkmen will be on my list somewhere I can imagine.



And for those of you not in Austin, you probably don't have a clue who Black Joe Lewis is. So make sure to check out his set at ACL, because you'll end up loving him, even if he uses the "B" word.

Brett Dennen at ACL seems like a perfect daytime show. He was great indoors, but the fun-loving nature of his tunes would be perfect for the outdoors. I'm also very excited to see Federico Aubele.

Beyond that, I'm going to have an open mind from noon to 5 p.m. during the three days.

What's the meaning of it all?

I have a question for anyone willing to share an answer, if there is one. Is it just me or is 98% of being single completely inconsequential?

Here’s why I ask…

I’m the kind of person who regularly meets people and is always making new friends. Why? Because whenever I meet someone, I contemplate the potential significance of that very encounter. Is this a future lover? Friend? Business contact? Acquaintance? This is pretty much why I have such a wide variety of friends and colleagues, of all ages and races, all over the country. I’ve made friends on planes, at concerts, in stores and everywhere in between because once I meet someone, I’m typically willing to explore that relationship or friendship to its fullest extent.

So convincing me to think my encounter with someone is of no consequence whatsoever is painstaking. Which leads me to being single.

Think about this scenario:

Guy goes into bar, meets girl, gets phone number, calls, leaves message, never gets a call back. Two reasons: 1) given wrong number or 2) she’s not interested. Result: inconsequential encounter.

Now, let’s say there is some initial interest and here’s what you get.

Guy goes into bar, meets girl, gets phone number, calls, gets call back, makes date plans, has date, girl looks forward to second date, guy considers calling, but never follows through. Two reasons: 1) guy isn’t that into her or 2) guy doesn’t think she’s that into him. Result: inconsequential encounter.

Or maybe there is some genuine connection and you get into some semblance of a dating pattern.

Guy goes into bar, meets girl, gets phone number, calls, gets call back, makes date plans, has date, has connection, goes on several dates, some signals are crossed and they never really make plans for another date just before they get to the point of building something meaningful. Two reasons: 1) they aren’t meant for each other or 2) they aren’t ready for a relationship. Result: inconsequential encounter.

Some people may think I’m being a bit too outrageous with this talk of inconsequentialness, but I tend to believe the worst element of being single is this idea that you’re supposed to just pretend this stuff doesn’t matter. Like these people that you’ve met and maybe had some interest in, at varying levels, are of no consequence once you stop seeing them.

I’ve been guilty of advocating this type of long-term focus/short-term memory approach to some of my female friends. In some instances, the ability to forget a lame guy or girl is very helpful so it wasn’t all for naught.

But for all intents and purposes, pretending that someone you met, had interest in and possibly dated is of absolute no consequence is extremely difficult for me. No matter how much better life would be if we could do such a thing after the scenarios mentioned above take place.

So in going back to my initial question, maybe what I’m asking is not so much whether or not the majority of being single is inconsequential as much as it is me asking how are we supposed to learn from those seemingly insignificant moments and encounters in order to enhance the frequency of meaningful interactions?

Bueller, anyone?

Albums I'm Listening To Right Now...

I'll be turning much of my attention to urban policy next month in leadup to my trip to DC for the Next American Vanguard, but here's some music to hold you over...

This week's hot release: Rick Ross' Deeper than Rap.

And this month's best release: Bat For Lashes' Two Suns.

And my DJ idol...Girl Talk' Feed the Animals. Still reeling from the Coachella performance...

And a good rec from my brother over at Corrosive Material: Late of the Pier's Black Fantasy Channel.

And my latest musical crush: Eleisha Eagle's Neither Here Nor There.

And a great album for people with short attention spans and/or people who spend a lot of time in the car: Prefuse 73's Everything She Touches Turns Ampexian

And the latest effort from one of Austin's best bands: The Soldier Thread's Shapes.

And something for the fans of '80s music: Yeah Yeah Yeahs' It's Blitz.

Coachella - The Pros and Cons

Many of you have followed my last week or so of posts about Coachella and how much fun I had there, but I'll get straight to it and share the real pros and cons to why YOU should consider going (or not going).

Bad news first...

CONS:

1. No food or alcoholic beverage selection.
Unlike Austin City Limits Festival here or Lollapalooza in Chicago, Coachella is a good two hours outside of a major city (L.A.) so I imagine it's difficult to get the top restaurants to provide food at the festival. That said, the vendors that provided the hot dogs, brats and pizza were less than satisfying. I know food isn't cheap at events like this, but if I have to pay $8 for a slice of pizza I would at least like it to be some of the best pizza in Southern California.

And the alcohol selection consisted of Heineken beer (the sponsor) and Red Bull (another sponsor), which pretty much made it difficult to get drunk or anything close-to because a) I don't think the majority of people would pick Heineken over a good number of other equally-priced beers and b) Red Bull and second hand marijuana smoke don't exactly go together. Coachella probably made $40 bucks off me from beer sales over the three-day festival, but had they had better beers, I would have easily spent at least that much every single day. This one pretty much leads to con #2...

2. No alcohol in the camping area.
This is just dumb. I get the no glass policy. I really do. I know I wouldn't want to wake up and roll out of my tent and step on a broken Budweiser, I mean Heineken, bottle. But what about alcohol. You mean to tell me I can't fill my Nalgene bottle up with Grey Goose and bring it in? That's BS. I'm over 21 and if you need to give me a wristband to confirm as much, I  understand. And guess what? No matter how hard you try, underage people will always always be able to get what they need whether that's a beer or a bong hit. That's probably why we have con #3...

3. No re-entry.
I think this is a system that they think minimizes security issues, but I'm not entirely sure. I'm pretty sure ACL allows re-entry and I haven't heard of any bad security problems. And here's the thing, if you allow re-entry, you can even limit it to campers only. I mean it pretty much sucks to sit in 105 degree weather from noon to 5pm and want to take a nap for an hour before the night starts but not be able to. It'd be like your mother telling you to make your bed in the morning then not return to your room until nighttime. Why? Because I said so, now don't question your mother...

But then there are a zillion things that far outweigh those cons. I'll call them PROS for this exercise:

1. It's a Destination
Unlike ACL and Lollapalooza, which are in the middle of cities that offer great nightlife, all the Coachella nightlife is at the festival itself. The music doesn't end at 11 p.m. More like 6 a.m. Similarly, with the opportunity to camp on-site, you end up creating a 72-hour experience for the festival goers as opposed to a 36-hour experience mixed into a three-day weekend in a cool city. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that I can eat brunch at Kerbey Lane then go to ACL then go out at night in Downtown Austin, but I do think it enhances the festival experience to offer camping and put it in a place where you don't have to turn the music off by 11 p.m. because you may wake the neighbors. That's why #2 makes so much sense...

2. The DJs
DJs don't want to play afternoon shows. It's God's honest truth. I don't care who it is and how much money you pay them, Daft Punk, etc...they want to play late. The life of a DJ is like the life of a vampire. They're used to doing sets at 1, 2 and 3 in the morning. They can put a sick light show on and spin records to horny and high/buzzed 20-somethings and teens seven days a week, but tell them to play a festival set at 3 p.m. in 100-degree heat with a crowd that just saw an indie rock band and will see another indie band right after and they're pretty much ready to put on that final record once they start. That said, Coachella did it right by having Girl Talk, TRV$DJ-AM, The Chemical Brothers, Roni Size, and the other DJs featured toward and during the late hours when people were ready to have sex with their clothes on, which some of us liken to dancing.

3. Time of year
April is my favorite month of the year and not just because it's my birthday. Throughout my life, April was a month that included a lot of excitement. In middle and high school, all the major track meets were in April. In college, classes were just about finishing up in April and I didn't have to study for finals yet really. Post-college, April has typically meant the beginning of the summer mindset...those months from April to September, when beautiful women become more beautiful, when happy hours are happier and running in the early mornings is more manageable. If April were a day of the week, it'd be Thursday. You have to work a full day, but you know you have plans after work. That's pretty much why Coachella being in April, at the beginning of most of the artists'/bands' tour schedules is perfect. It's before the summer movie blockbuster schedule, before it's June-August hot and before the NBA Playoffs, the heart of the baseball season and long before football season. Usually when ACL rolls around, it's a music-filled weekend mixed with a lot of UT football talk. None of that at Coachella. Unless you were talking about the Masters golf tournament.

There are a ton of other reasons to like Coachella and fewer reasons to dislike it, but the long and short of it is that it's the best music festival I've ever been to because they didn't need the backdrop of a great city - New York, Chicago, Austin, San Fran, Seattle, not even L.A. - to blow me away.

Cool pic I took in LA