ACL 2009

Ok, a coupla tidbits to get everyone caught up:

• New York was a blast. I may be back there in January.
• Jeff and Austin, my roommates, finally made it back to Austin from Massachusetts.
• I have a punishing schedule this semester and am graduating in December, crazy!

Ok, now you're caught up, ha.

AUSTIN CITY LIMITS!

I went to ACL this weekend and had an incredible time. I saw The Walkmen, Bon Iver, Ghostland Observatory, Passion Pit, Mos Def, Dirty Projectors, Girl Talk, Phoenix and a few others.

I was quite excited to see Passion Pit and wasn't too impressed with their performance. I'm not sure if it was the acoustics or the pitch of Michael Angelakos voice, but something just didn't sound right. So, Caitlin and I went over and saw Dirty Projectors instead.

Girl Talk and Ghostland Observatory were, by far, the most fun. Also, the UT marching band came went onstage and played during Ghostland's last song. That was pretty cool.

Here's a clip from Girl Talk:


Back in January '09, the City of Austin spent $2 million to lay down new grass that could survive heavy foot traffic from 60,000 people over the course of three days. The grass looked like this at end of the weekend.

I took a few pictures to document the mud fest.





I wish I had gone to more of these while I was in Austin. I hope to go next year, too.

dw

Good Times

Andrew, Claire, Tyler, Me, Zach, Abby and Matt

My internship ended on Friday and I headed to Quogue as soon as I said my goodbyes. I met up with Andrew, Claire and Abby for a ridiculous weekend which will be remembered for a long time to come.

Claire and Helen at Mustachio Pistachio

Friday night is a bit of a blur but I remember going to the dock and and ate pizza before going to one of the annual summer parties, Mustachio Pistaschio. Basically, everyone drew mustaches on their faces and played beer pong. Afterward the party we went to Casey's, a bar in Westhampton. We got home around 3 a.m. after begrudgingly paying the cab driver $8 per person for driving less than 3 miles.

The next morning we woke up and watched Andrew and Matt play in the tennis tournament against these two young guys, one of whom had an awesome backhand. They won their game and we sang their praises as we headed off to the beach.


I'm glad I was able to get back to the beach before I head back to Texas this week.

dw

TV on the Radio

I saw TV on the Radio in Brooklyn the other night. They put on a good show. They played all of my favorites except:

• "I was a Lover"
  
• "Stork & Owl"
  
• "Playhouses"

I'll post a video of "Staring at the Sun" when I get back to Texas.

dw

Fun in the Sun

I went to the beach this weekend and spent time with Andrew and his family. It was nice to have a few home cooked meals and escape the hustle and bustle of the city. I'm going back next weekend, too. Can't wait.


Also, I moved out of my dorm and am staying with a friend in Midtown while I finish up my internship. I'll be back in Austin around August 21.

dw

Weekend Wandering

I spent Saturday hanging out with Emily and Lauren. The three of us when to high school together and haven't been able to meet as often as we would have liked this summer. We had lunch at Cozy Soup n Burger and got ice cream from a Mister Softee truck across the street.

After eating we walked...everywhere. We walked around in Chelsea, West Village and the Financial District. Some of the places we visited along the way:

In Chelsea -
The High Line: A railroad track which has been converted into a park.
Chelsea Market: A wide assortment of imported and gourmet food may be found here.

In West Village -
Magnolia Bakery: Awesome cupcakes.

In the Financial District -
Battery Park: Great place to watch the sunset.

Here's a picture of Lauren enjoying her cupcake:




Oh, I almost forgot. We after visiting the market, we found a park nearby and sat down to relax. Emily had an interesting encounter with a bird:

In the Heights

Image Credit

I went to my first Broadway production today with Taylor and her friend from school. We saw In the Heights and I was blow away, really. It won 4 Tony Awards last year: Best Musical, Best Score, Best Choreography and Best Orchestration.

I'm definitely going to try and see another show before I leave.

dw

Coney Island

Alex came came back to the city last weekend. On Sunday, we had breakfast at Delicatessen as we tried to think of something we could do to fill our day. We thought about going to MoMA, but we decided to do something outside since the weather was nice. After much deliberation, I suggested that we go to Coney Island since neither one of us had been.

We hopped on the subway and were at Coney Island about 45 minutes later. Once we made it to our destination, I paused for a moment to take in my new environment. I was greeted by a case of sensory overload that you wouldn't believe - people, music, food and laughter all around me. We walked up and down the pier and watched the little kids run around in their swim suits and chase bubbles. Coney Island is a great place to people watch. The crowd was diverse: black, white, young, old, fat, skinny. Some people had on too much clothing, some didn't have enough. But everyone was having a good time.

We walked over to Nathan's and waited in line for about 20 minutes for hot dogs. The hot dogs didn't look like much, but they were surprisingly delicious to say it was just a weenie on a bun. As we walked down the pier in the other direction, we found an ice cream stand and heard people cheering and laughing in a large semicircle. We joined the crowd and watched as the dj played music and people danced until they were drenched in sweat.
Maybe I'll jump in next time?

dw