Diatribes by Joah

Do you live in Austin? Are you a fan of Rock & Roll? If so...

You may want to RSVP to me at Joah @ SneakAttackAustin.com and get one of the 25 slots open for a private preview (25 minutes-ish) screening of this awesome upcoming documentary, 40 Nights of Rock & Roll, at the Gibson Guitar Showroom in Austin on October 19! To learn more about the film visit the film's site here. For extra incentive, the event is sponsored by Tito's Vodka and Sweet Leaf Tea.

 

 

Friday Jam: Mic Geronimo

You can see a young Irv Gotti in this one.

Two shows I'm happy to affiliate Sneak Attack with

That's right! You'll see Sneak Attack's pop-up in action at both of these shows this October!

What I learned from Austin's food trailer scene

It's officially Austin Restaurant Week, which makes this a perfect time to tell you how much i love Austin's food scene. We have some truly impressive seafood and sushi restaurants for this non-coastal city led by young chefs like Uchi and Perla's, and some Texas classics like Guero's and Salt Lick not to mention the new startups like Woodland, Mulberry (my personal fav) and Apothecary Cafe & Wine Bar and my personal favorites (Hoover's and Eddy V's).

But what makes Austin's food landscape so awesome is the vibrant food trailer scene. There's Mighty Cone and Hey Cupcake on South Congress, Kebabalicious downtown and Franklin BBQ off I-35. While the food varies from barbecue to cupcakes to kebabs to deep-sauteed shrimp & avocados, the thing that links them all is a rather simple concept: serving great food out of an airstream trailer.

The funny thing is, this concept only sounds simple now...after it's been proven successful. If you told some potential investor or customer that you'd be serving food out of a trailer several years ago, they would look at you like you're kidding. Or crazy.

What about permitting? Will you have a restroom? Where will people sit? What happens if it rains? Will you have waiters? Doesn't it get 100 degrees in Austin? How are you going to make good food in a mini-kitchen? What happens if...

I could go on and on and on with questions that a skeptic would have asked. This is pretty much how I feel when I explain Sneak Attack's pop-up business. I feel like I'm in on some hot new secret that it'll be years before other people figure out and fall in love with.

This is the exciting part about creating something out of thin air, building it from scratch and following a dream...it's not about guarantees and profit, it's about educated guesses and purpose.

My guess is that I don't need to confine myself to a 2,000-square foot location with a dressing room and regular hours in order to spread my sneaker and style love with Austin's residents and visitors.

What do you think?

Friday Jam: Theophilus London

My Thoughts on Esquire Magazine's Survey of American Men - Part 1 of 2

My favorite issues of Esquire are their surveys so I figured I'd share some thoughts while I read through the current survey on American Men comparing the answers of 20-year-olds vs. 50-year-olds. I suggest you cop the issue yourself and read along.

1. Duh, 20-year-olds are generally happier (61% vs. 49%). The fact that African-American 50-year-olds are the happiest bunch (68%) and Asian-American 50-year-olds are the least happy (33% unhappy) doesn't surprise me either. I'm going to make some assumptions and generalizations (like surveys do) in saying that I think the challenges faced by Black men are greater between the ages of 15 and 30 years old so by the time they hit 50 there's no reason to be upset about what you've done for yourself whereas Asian-Americans have more pressure to excel in America because they have higher graduation rates from high school to college and are more likely to compare themselves with white Americans professionally than African-Americans.

2. So 41% of young men and 32% of older men say Barack Obama is the best role model for young men in America today. Funny thing is, at this point into George Bush's first term, I think the numbers would've been the same if being compared to the likes of Tom Brady, Bono and Steve Jobs. I'm most surprised that Jay-Z - with his millions and fame and wife - gets only 10% of the 20-year-olds and Rev. Billy Graham gets 22% of the 50-year-olds. Something tells me they should've put Bill Clinton in the choices.

3. How Jay-Z wasn't a choice in the "coolest man in America" question is beyond me. Jack White is cool, but not that cool. Clint Eastwood on the other hand, is really cool. I personally would've said Samuel L. Jackson.

4. Glenn Beck gets the least votes from 20-year-olds when it comes to trustworthy new sources, but he's not behind Jon Stewart, Brian Williams and Anderson Cooper by much. Older men don't seem to trust Jon Stewart...too much realism I guess. Crazy stat of the entire survey: 29% of 20-year-old African Americans find Beck to be the most trustworthy...looks like the Democratic Party is about one or two elections away from paying the price for taking Black voters for granted.

5. 57% of 20-year-olds played a video game today and 40% of 50-year-olds haven't played one for more than a month. I've never felt older.

6. We all seem to agree - 61% of younger guys and 60% of older guys - that $500-$1,000 is the sweet spot to pay for a suit.

7. While young and old agree that being an A-list movie star is the best job in America (and the easiest) it seems the older guys have lived long enough to shy away from stressful, high-pressure jobs; 9%, 6% and 5% fewer 50-year-olds think being the President of the US, Manager of the Yankees or CEO of Goldman Sachs is the best job than their younger counterparts do.

8. We all get half of our news from TV and about 30% from the Internet. It'll swing another 10 points in the next five years.

9. Old guys are far less likely to get in a fight than younger ones. I'm glad I'm past that age too.

10. Every guy will say he has better style than his father. I bet every woman would say she's more stylish than her mother too.

11. Young guys, who are more likely to fight, are also more likely to watch UFC (26% vs. 7%) and those eyeballs are coming out of the NFL's pockets (33% vs. 57% 50-year-olds).

12. Discounting 20-year-olds who claimed to have never had more than 5 drinks in one sitting, most guys drink that amount at about the same pace whether they're 20 or 50.

13. While the decades are different, all men think the best music happened during their teens. Everyone loves the '80s.

14. Half of all men can't live without their computer but older men love their TVs more than younger guys nearly 4 to 1.

15. Young guys care more about exercise because they haven't had a wife and kids yet...they're still on the prowl.

16. Most of us believe in God, but young guys think about it less.

17. This is sad, but a young guy is four times more likely to text or Facebook some big news to friends than an older guy and 30% less likely to meet in person or pick up the phone.

18. Young guys are more than twice as likely to cheat on a significant other which sounds about right.

19. Happy to report that about half of these guys have dated outside their race: 54% of 20s and 46% of 50s.

20. Another no-brainer, 20-year-olds are nearly three times as likely to steal music.

21. Young guys want Megan Fox and old guys want Halle Berry or Demi Moore. Shit, I'll settle either way.

22. 50-year-olds have learned the errors of previous generations and believe a wife should do whatever she wants whether it's being home with kids or working, and 20-year-olds agree.

23. We generally agree that being happy is most important then making other people's lives better. They, hopefully, aren't mutually-exclusive.

24. Pretty similar interest in breasts (25% 20s vs. 30% 50s) and ass (19% vs. 22%)...the face is only slightly more important to young guys.

25. Divorce is always a last resort unless you're too naive to think it's not an option at all, as 20% of 20-year-olds say.