SXSW & Friends in Town

For those of you who haven't heard of South by Southwest (SXSW) it is a big film, music and interactive festival that takes place in Austin every year. A lot of what goes on is for people in the industries- premieres, panel discussions, record deals, artist showcases, etc.- but there are some things open to the general public so we took advantage of many of the free events. Along with SXSW came some out of town visitors, so we've had some company at the house over the past week and a half.

First, Dan came to town for the film portion of the festival. Dan writes for an awesome website called Pajiba so he was at SXSW with press credentials and got to see and do some pretty awesome things. Most notibly, he got to meet and interview Seth Rogen who, strangely enough, is his doppleganger (or Dan is his).


They first came face to face on the red carpet at the premiere of "Observe and Report," Rogen's new film that is about to come out. You can read about it here.

Later he got a one on one interview and took a real picture together. I'm still trying to get over my jealousy. And here is a shot of Dan with someone slightly less famous, who apparently likes to make weird faces.







And since we were out on St. Patty's day, I felt compelled to take a picture of the green lights strung across the streets of downtown.


This past Thurdsay evening, we headed downtown to Auditorium Shores, a big park in Austin where there was a free concert series going on for 3 nights as a part of SXSW. We saw Cold War Kids play and a little bit of M. Ward's show. Here are a few shots from that.


Friday night we went to see The Rockeyboys play a free show at a Wine Bar on S. Congress. One of our friends, Mitch Holt, is in the band and we try to see them play as often as we can. We had a great time hanging out with Mitch and his girlfriend Lindy before the show, and then the four of us went to dinner at Guero's after the show, since it was right next door. I've been trying to eat at Guero's since we moved to Austin a year and a half ago, but have always been thwarted somehow. It was a great meal and I definitely would like to go back. The highlight of the night for Andrew by far, was that this trendy, upscale wine bar also served Schlitz in a fancy glass. What more could you ask for?



Saturday night's activity was- wait, you guessed it- another free concert. Explosions in the Sky played at Auditorium Shores, the very last act of the SXSW festival. Aubrey, who is also a bridesmaid in Lindsey's upcoming wedding, arrived in Austin just in time to enjoy the show. Aubrey, Lindsey, Marika and I hung out downtown and had a fun little girls evening. At the end of the show there was an awesome fireworks display (get it, explosions in the sky...) that lasterd forever. It was longer and more elaborate than any Fourth of July display that I had ever seen. Also, I had some old, old family friends come to town so their kids could go to the Explosions in the Sky concert so we had a house full of Cukrowskis and friends. Ken and Karen Cukrowski have known me since I was three, and I have known their girls since they were born, so it is crazy to see them as sophomores and juniors in high school with boyfriends. Ken didn't come for the whirlwind trip from Abilene, but Karen came with Katie and Krista and both their boyfriends. It was fun to hang out with all of them even though the trip was short. I was dumb and didn't snap and pictures while they were here :( I guess there are plenty of other pictures for you to look at :)