US Highway 31 in northeast Central Texas

You don't have to go far outside Austin before you start to see the "real" Texas depicted in popular culture. Here are some images from a drive on US Highway 31 in northeast Central Texas.

Our hood

Downtown East 6th Street in Austin is nationally famous for its bars and live music, but head just a few blocks east of the Interstate, and you'll find a "neighborhood in transition". It's a great part of town to live.   Sometimes this place is a hustling and a bustling with a mix of hipsters, sketchy dudes, and homeless people.  But on this Sunday afternoon, it was eerily quiet.

Spotted at CVS

BluBlocker Viper Wide-Angle Sunglasses "Complete surround vision"

Bumpits Hair Volumizing Leave-In Inserts

Snuggie for Kids

Revolutionary Self-Cooling Towels

Phoenix in Austin

Here are some pics from Thursday night's show. Phoenix performed excellently, but as you might expect with a band that has reached new heights of popularity, the crowd was kind of lame.  La Zona Rosa is a really weird venue too. Oddly laid out. You have to walk through a crowded bar to get to the entrance of the actual performance hall, which was a little confusing at first.  Inside the hall, lines for the bar became ridiculously long. And there was no merch table! WTF! Still, Phoenix killed it.



Here's a very shaky video of one chorus from Armistice.

Here's the YouTube version.

Bus ride through Shanghai

My good friend and fellow Canadian ex-pat over at chungkingmansions.com posted iPhone video of his bus commute to work. It's a very interesting experience and just the kind of transportation video we love here at distracteddispatches.com. I urge you to take ten minutes and watch the videos maximized on your screen. You can totally imagine as if you are taking the 109 through Shanghai!

"Some highlights:

- PLA marching band! (1:58 mark in first video)
- Fire off of Shunchang Road (1:30 mark in third video)"

Phoenix tonight!!!

Phoenix sold out La Zona Rosa tonight but we got the tix!

"Toys for big boys"

This video has been making the rounds on the internets. Air is decent band, but I'm not a die hard fan. I just love the hardware! All that hard-to-find expensive vintage gear just sitting there in the studio. Their job is just to sit around it until they "feel inspired". Bastards! I doubt they would miss it if I stole their MS-20!

You can also watch the video on the Guardian's website.

The Sad Bike is still there

I first noticed this bike almost two months ago locked to a parking meter on Guadalupe Street.  I'm sure a City of Austin parking attendant walks past this thing everyday and sees it locked to municipal property, but I guess removing it is just not a priority.  Too bad, because it's depressing.

Spotted at Wal-Mart Supercenter

Miniature Christmas saloon

Choco Taco

Betty Crocker Easy Flow sprayable frosting

One gallon of mayonaise

Ten pounds of pork chitterlings

Crazy looking car with spraypaint and foam tubes

We saw this car cruising down 6th Street yesterday.  How many people buy a Mercedes and think, "What can I do to spiff this thing up? I know, pool noodles!" Chalk it up to another person just trying to Keep Austin Weird, dude.

Montreal snow

While I was complaining about rain and temperatures in the 40s °F / 5 °C, Montreal was being blasted with snow.   Using Flickr's advanced search tool, I found pictures of Montreal's snow taken over the past week and put 18 of them in this gallery. Take a look!  I still reserve my right to complain about the mild winter weather in Austin, because it is usually more pleasant, and the summer was painfully hot.

Chrome for Mac released, but not for losers like me.

Two days ago, I posted about a TechCrunch report saying a Chrome for Mac release was imminent.  And wouldn't ya know it?  Today, they announced a beta of the super fast web browser is available for download.  Cause for celebration, right?

Wrong.

Chrome only works on Mac OS X 10.5 or higher.  Losers like me who are still running 10.4 can either go through the painful and long process of an upgrade, or just say fuck it. For now, I'm saying fuck it.

One weird thing is that even I though I signed up to be notified about Chrome's release by email, I never received the notification!  But S. did receive the email.  In fact, she was the one who informed me about it!  Google, if you're going to run the internet, you really need to improve your email notification system!

Chrome for Mac release "imminent"

It's not exactly breaking news, but TechCrunch reported last week that the lighting fast web browser Chrome is finally coming to Mac OS X soon....like, any day now.   This is a development I have been anxiously anticipating, as FireFox has been getting increasingly bloated and annoying.  If you want, you can sign up to be notified by Google when Chrome for Mac is released.

Collective beat making

Last night, we went to a party sponsored by a large vodka company at Pine Street Studios (1101 E. 5th St in Austin, Texas). The venue was known as Fader Fort during SXSW 2009. The event ended early, like 10 p.m., but drinks were free and so was the entertainment. Peanut Butter Wolf was there to do his DJ/VJ thing, where he mixes music videos together on two big screens. (It reminded me of a much better version of the Much Music video dance parties we used to have in junior high.)

One room had this cool installation that involved a bunch of light sensitive sound making circuit boards mounted on a table. People were invited to manipulate the sounds. It was hard to tell exactly how you were affecting the music, but it was still fun!



Youtube version is here.

Snow far, snow good

Houston might think it's the Snowpocolypse, but so far central Austin has received only a smattering of flakes. If you click on this picture and zoom in, you can almost see a few snow crystals gently fluttering to the ground.
Being Canadian, I felt compelled to walk out in the street and take pictures of people needlessly bundled up so that we might have a healthy chuckle at their misery.

Click here to read more! >>

Construction Zone Came and Went

Blogger offers two options for running your site. Classic and Layouts mode. With Classic, you can publish via FTP to your own server, but you surrender the ability to use tons of cool, easy-to-use features offered in Layouts mode.

Update on Friday, December 4, 2009 at 9:48 PM: The transition is pretty much done now. The lamest thing was that when I switched back, it didn't copy any of the photos I uploaded in the past year, so I had to reup them.

Austin's winter, usually awesome, currently sucking

WTF Austin? I sweated through a hellish summer and I was supposed to get the pay off now. It's cold and miserable and I'm no longer adapted to this kind of weather. At least we didn't get a "snowstorm" like they did in El Paso. Here are some pictures I took of today's shit weather.



SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1130 AM CST TUE DEC 1 2009

..COLD RAINS ARE EXPECTED TODAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF A RAIN...SLEET OR SNOW MIX OVER THE HILL COUNTRY TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING...

COOLING TEMPERATURES TONIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO SUPPORT A MIX OF RAIN...LIGHT SNOW AND POSSIBLE SLEET OVER THE SOUTHERN EDWARDS PLATEAU AND HILL COUNTRY. A LIGHT DUSTING OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE ACROSS EXPOSED SURFACES...HOWEVER...ANY ACCUMULATIONS WOULD BE VERY SHORT-LIVED DUE TO WARM SURFACE CONDITIONS.

WITH CLEARING SKIES FRIDAY NIGHT...FREEZING OVERNIGHT LOWS ARE EXPECTED...WITH LOWS IN THE 20S ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY TO THE MID 20S TO NEAR 30 ACROSS ADJACENT PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

Update on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 at 4:27 PM: In response to my frost bitten fellow Canadians calling me out for whining about rain in December, you didn't suffer through Austin's hottest summer on record this year! Not only has my maple syrup blood thinned to the consistency of tequila, but I also entered into a tacit deal with nature that I would tolerate its sun lashing in exchange for being able to wear t-shirts year round. I've said it before and I'll say it again: Never trust nature.

Unintentionally funny advertisement

Found this on the Stateman's website two minutes ago. Does it not look like that guy with a beard has a woman's midriff? Hilarious!

Matrix controllers everywhere!

First there was the Tenori-On.

Then there was the Monome.

Then the Block

Then the APC40

Then the Launchpad. (And probably some other stuff in between)

I picked up one of these. It's awesome! Expect a review in the future.

Now there's the (significantly cheaper) Bliptronic 5000 LED. Obviously it's a toy but it's only $50!


I'm liking this trend!

$1 Big Texas Cheeseburger is taunting me

Fuck you Jack in the Box! Fuck you for enticing me with this image every morning on my walk to work. I know it's a lie. There's no way you are offering a Big Texas Cheeseburger for only $1. It doesn't look like that picture. But every damn morning I have to walk past this delicious looking 6-foot tall lie and be tempted to break my boycott of you.

(I suffered the worst food poisoning of my life in early 2008 and it occurred after eating a questionable chicken sandwich from this very Jack in the Box. Haven't been back since.)
The sketchy looking Jack in the Box mascot whispers into my mind's ear, "It's only a dollar! What are the odds of lightning striking twice? You're not going to get sick again! Stop being paranoid."
I won't do it Jack in the Box! I've never before purposefully boycotted a restaurant for this long, let alone one so close to my work.

You will not break me with your false imagery, even if it would make an excellent contribution to my ongoing investigative series debunking food advertising. All I have to do is remember how miserable I was with food poisoning. It was so bad that a nurse had to inject an anti-nausea medication into my buttocks to make the throw up stop.

I just hope this "Limited Time Only" come to an end soon, so this Jack in the Box can go back to advertising its Denver Breakfast Bowls or something else lame.

Food Ads Exposed: Smart Ones Chicken Oriental

Besides having a mildly racist name, Smart Ones Chicken Oriental offers "juicy white meat chicken in a savory Oriental sauce with vegetables and rice." I bought this frozen meal because it cost only $1.80, but it tastes just as cheap. The flavor is kind of a one note, and the chicken tastes like, well, chicken that has been frozen, cooked, frozen again, then microwaved.

But it's low in calories (230) and contains enough sodium (640 mg) to keep you powering through the eating process. I spent less than two dollars on this meal and I won't have have to eat for at least three hours. Sounds like a win win to me!

I also think Smart Ones' motto could use some work, "Taste so good, you want to be good." What?

Pride crushed: Labatt Blue is not exclusive to Canada!

Growing up in Canada, I was always led to believe that Labatt Blue was a product unavailable outside our home and native land. The main reason for this belief was a Labatt Blue commercial that aired when I was a teenager. I couldn't find it on YouTube, but here's the gist of it:

It's a blazing hot summer day at the Canada-US border. Cars are slowly creeping south through US customs. A 20-something slacker dude is sitting in his front lawn, which somehow happens to be right in front of this huge line of cars. People are sweating their asses off, and he reaches into an ice chest and pulls out a Labatt Blue, glistening with moisture droplets. He cracks it open and takes a huge swig. Ahhh... You can almost taste how refreshing it is through the TV set. He looks smugly at the jealous fat Americans heading back to the United States. Then a voiceover comes in and says, "Labatt Blue, only available in Canada," or something like that.

It was wish-fulfillment for Canadians. They are bombarded with American culture day and night. But most often, they can only witness it. They don't "own" the culture or participate in it in. This commercial was a big Fuck You to America. And it must have worked, because Molson adopted a similar, but more annoying, I Am Canadian commercial a few years later. Those ads turned a generic looking guy named Joe Canadian into a minor celebrity, and earned an even greater place in the Canadian psyche. But I still remember that damn Labatt Blue commercial. Finally, we had this awesome beer to be proud of that they couldn't get their hands on unless they came north of the 49th.

Turns out, it is all a crock of shit.


In the above picture, you can see the bottle, purchased at an American liquor store in Austin, Texas was clearly imported. I've got to give them credit for actually brewing it in Canada, even if it was at some factory in Toronto. The label could very well have read, "Brewed in Milwaukee, WI."

But really, how "Canadian" is Labatt? It was bought by Belgian brewer Interbrew in 1995, and the company is now called Anheuser-Busch InBev.

Who cares. Labatt's cultural value remains in tact. When I'm down here in Texas and I crack open a long necked cold one with the proud Blue label, I feel like I could be in any of the Canadian locations depicted in these hilarious Labatt commercials from 1987. Cheers!

Google FINALLY releases street view for Canada

I can't tell you how long I've been waiting for this. It's so nice to be able to visit my old neighborhoods when I get home sick or nostalgic. Unfortunately, Montreal was photographed in the winter when the trees are not lush and amazing. Alas. It's still better than nothing. Here are some of my old apartments.

Van Horne Ave in Montreal
Hutchison Street in Montreal
St-Viateur St in Montreal
Somerset Drive in Ottawa

And here are a few other interesting sights.

Convenience store on Baseline Rd. in Ottawa (used to be Beckers, is now a Mac's)
One of my favorite parks on Commercial Drive in Vancouver
Canadian Parliament in Ottawa
Controversial block of Hastings Street in Vancouver
Best damn bagels in Montreal
Old jam space in Montreal (rented music rehearsal rooms by the hour)
Holy crap, this was an empty lot last time I was at this intersection in Montreal

Okay, I better stop now because nostalgia is starting to sweep over me. Why can't I be everywhere at once?!

I now issue the following request to my Canadian friends: Please post your favorite and/or memorable locations in the comments! I'd love to see them!

Sad bike

Also, who knew Panasonic made bicycles?

Drooling over analog gear of Holy Ghost!

We are planning to see Holy Ghost! this Friday in Austin. This 13 minute VBS interview shows what cool analog gear geeks they are. On the one hand, it makes me jealous that they have all that expensive gear and can still somehow afford to live in Williamsburg. On the other hand, I do not envy having to mess with that modular synth and spend hours tweaking and documenting every new sound.

To hear the gear in action, check out this awesome music video.

As a side note, that video is a tribute/rip-off of New Order's video for Confusion.

Can't wait to see all that modular synth crap on the stage. Good luck switching patches between songs, guys!

UPDATE at 3:25 PM on Sunday, October 18, 2009:

In my enthusiasm to see Holy Ghost!, I missed the small print on the poster that it was only a DJ set! It was still a great dance time, especially when they played their own song.

Not all Chicago pizza is deep dish

I won't pretend to understand the subtle differences between the north and south sides of Chicago. But one thing I do know is this. In the working class, blue collar south side suburb of my grandfather, they don't eat that deep dish crap. They eat insanely delicious thin crust pizza, and they almost always get it the same way: sausage and cheese, sliced into squares.

We asked for half pepperoni on the pizza pictured above and they actually put the meat underneath the cheese! I have only ever seen that done in Quebec. So do yourself a favor and just stick to the sausage and cheese. Oh yeah, and put on some sleeves already!

Snuggie for Dogs is Surreal

S. found this product at Bed Bath & Beyond (a great store for odd consumer goods). First impression: WTF?!

Then I flipped over the back and saw dogs playing backgammon. I considered whether I was dreaming. Everyone knows dogs can only play poker!


Here's the commercial. Just too strange for words, really.

Tequilla + citrus = refreshment!

Good Wednesday morning! Here's a reason to look forward to the weekend.

- Pour 2 oz tequila in short glass over ice.
- Pour approximately equal parts grapefruit juice and soda water. (Add the juice first.)
- Top with the juice of half a lime and a pinch of salt.
- Garnish with circular lime wedge.

I'm sure it's not the first time someone has made this drink, but I'll take credit for it anyway. It's basically a Paloma with simulated grapefruit soda.

Food Ads Exposed: Lean Cuisine Roasted Turkey Breast

Because I can't get enough of this, here's my lunch:



Not the worst transgressor I've ever seen, but still quite a disparity between the promise made and the promise kept.

Knockoff cereals at Dollarama

While at Dollarama in Vancouver, we came across these hilarious Egyptian imitations of popular American cereals. It's almost a mix-and-match of mascots and products. The toucan is with the frosted corn flakes instead of with the fruit loops. The feline (I think it's a feline), who should be with the frosted flakes, is with the puffed corn balls. And the puffed corn balls should be with the Trix rabbit, but his doppleganger is paired up with the puffed rice cereal. I have no idea where that sad looking "dinosaur" came from.

High in Vancouver

Vancouver is such a beautiful city, and on a trip this weekend for my late dad's "Celebration of Life" (which went wonderfully, by the way), S. and I had a kick ass time taking it all in. The weather was perfect for our stay: clear blue skies and pleasantly mild temperatures.

The city is aesthetically pleasing up close, but it's also a delight to see from high above. Here are two videos I took that offer elevated views of Vancouver.

This is the view out the window when coming in for a landing at YVR. You can see the Vancouver neighborhoods of Burnaby, New Westminster, and Richmond. Unfortunately, downtown is just out of view. It's still a nice view!


Here's a look at downtown from the 23rd floor of the Sandman Suites on Davie. It's a centrally located hotel right in the Gay Village/West Van that offers relatively affordable suites. The hotel is not perfect but it puts you right in the middle of a bustling commercial district and a few blocks from the beach. The room is equipped with a kitchenette, hardwood floors, and stunning views.


I can't wait to visit again!

Triangles make you dance!

I'm probably the last person to notice this, but lately it seems many electronic dance music artists making great use of triangles and/or pyramids in their graphic design. I want to believe that it's in no small part due to the cultural ripples from Daft Punk's pyramid stage.

But I think it probably has more to do with 80's retroism. Here's a great example in this cool video from Phonat.



There are countless other examples:

Miami Horror

Visitor

VEGA

Even music blogs are getting in on the action.

And on and on and on....

Speaking of Daft Punk's pyramid stage, if you haven't seen it yet, you must check out this "behind the scenes" look at the French duo's gear that Mixmag published a while ago. Warning: you are pulling back the curtain on the mystery! (Click for the full sized image.)

Sixxth Street Dos Equis Advertisement

I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of civic pride when one of my favorite brands of beer chooses the street on which I live as the basis a delivery truck ad. Yet another advantage of living just a few blocks from the heart of Austin's entertainment district!

Just how pedestrian/cycle friendly is Vancouver?

I swear this would happen to me all the time. Press the button and BOOM, the light changes.



Okay, so it's not Germany or the Netherlands, but for North America, it's pretty damn good!

Food Ads Exposed: Banquet Homestyle Grilled Meat Patty Meal

I bought this meal because it was only 88 cents and the idea of a "Grilled Meat Patty Meal" made me laugh. Check out what it really looks like inside.
When I showed this picture to S. she laughed and said, "That looks like shit next to vomit." And then I laughed out loud.

The patty kind of has the consistency of shit and the noodles are mushy like they were half-digested, but really the whole thing just tastes like a very salty simulated gravy.

Riding the Vancouver Skytrain

Vancouver's Skytrain is my favorite public transit vehicle. It has all the speed and efficiency of a subway, but is mostly above ground so you can see where you're going.

Strangely, the Skytrain fares are based on an "honor system". There are no turnstiles, you just walk right on the train. Inspectors are rarely seen, but if they catch you without a ticket you'll have to pay a fine. When I was a teenager, my friends and I used to ride the Skytrain for free all the time, until one day we were busted. But for those instances when you need go one stop and your transfer just expired, it can be nice not to have to pay the $2.50.

Here's some video of the ride between Main and Broadway stations. It's not the most scenic stretch of the Skytrain line, but it gives you a feel for what it's like to ride.



Buying a ticket at the Skytrain station with Andrew.

Party all the Time!

Here's a rad 80s song to get the weekend going! Eddie Murphy's 1985 hit single Party all the Time is less about actually partying all the time than it is about his wayward girlfriend. Rick James somehow makes Eddie Murphy sound awesome, something not even Michael Jackson could pull off.

The Bacon Genie

Here we go again!

(Another opportunity to use my favorite animated gif!)

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
FRI JUL 3 2009
..HOT AFTERNOONS EXPECTED THROUGH THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND...

AFTERNOON HIGHS ARE EXPECTED TO BE AROUND 100 TO 103 ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TODAY THROUGH SUNDAY. HEAT INDEX READINGS DURING THE AFTERNOONS WILL BE NEAR 100 TO 108.

TRY TO AVOID OUTDOOR ACTIVITY AT THE HOTTEST TIME OF THE DAY. IF YOU MUST BE OUTSIDE...WEAR LIGHT WEIGHT AND LIGHT COLORED CLOTHES. BE SURE TO DRINK MORE WATER THAN YOU THINK YOU NEED TO STAY WELL HYDRATED. ALSO CHECK ON THE ELDERLY AND MAKE SURE OUTDOOR PETS HAVE SHADE AND PLENTY OF WATER.