We had a drizzly, misty rain/fog most of the day that kept the temps on the cool side but all cleared out and this morning is bright, sunny and crisp! Bout time! Cathy & Colleen arrived safely and after a nickel tour of the area they were on their way to register for the conference.
I had to make a quick trip home to change out of my work duds (jeans & Entwistle T-Shirt) and into something a little less fashion disasterous (lest I should run into Rachel and be forever labeled a wardrobe catastrophe). Rach, dear... I've done my homework and have watched your Fashion Tips video! See, I'm a good blogger! Armed with knowledge, I selected "the little black dress" and began looking for just the right "fitted jacket" to create the illusion of a waist. (actually, I've already created that illusion -- I went looking for my waist and found three of 'em). Alas, the best pic of jackets was a bright yellow one -- so I called Tana and told her I'd be easy to spot: "Look for the fat bumble bee." Must have worked! We met up at the Hilton and took off to prowl the Keynote Address!
Alas, no Platinum badges or wristbands for this event. I'm "bisessive" -- I have a NASCAR jones to satisfy as well as a 35+ year Who habit to feed, so my dinero went long ago for good tickets to Texas Motor Speedway in April and The Who in San Antonio next week! $600 for those badges is a tad steep when you' re only interested in seeing a choice few at the Festival. BTW, folks – I can’t begin to yell ya how much fun racing is when you’re a Who-o-phile! And vice versa. I’ll “compare and contrast” at some point in the future. Suffice to say I think we can ace the “World Domination” thing – we’ll just call in all my crazy NASCAR girlfriends and Presto!
The Keynote was in the Grand Ballroom at the Hilton and kindly volunteers must have taken pity on the two middle-aged gals oooo-ing and ah-ing whenever the doors opened to let us have a peek. We got peach spots and a friendly volunteer to prop open the door so we were able to catch chunks of the interview. Whatever did we do before Jumbotrons!? Oh, yeah….. I didn’t need glasses then! DOH!
Talk about senior moments! As we were heading out, we spotted a VERY familiar face! “Isn’t that…..?” Suddenly it dawned on me! NICK LOWE! Thank God we avoided a total faux-pas and checked with one of the journalists standing nearby – because is was Robyn Hitchcock! Oops. See what age and failing eyesight will do to ya? (OK, they do look VERY similar!) Anyway, we worked up the nerve to get a pic with Robyn-who-isn’t-Nick! Nice guy!
Then off to the Convention Center for the Austin Music Awards! The wrong end of the Convention Center! We wound up walking for blocks past the Interactive folks (gaming geeks), the Tradeshow (sales geeks), the Flatstock show (poster geeks), before finally arriving at the music awards (music peeps)! Chatted a bit with Henry Gonzalez & Jim Franklin, Austin Poster Artists extrordinaire, before catching up with Cathy & Colleen. After watching a few awards and a few numbers by Michelle Shocked and the Unstrung Heroes of Texana we took a break to go outside and puff, deciding to make our re-entry on the RIGHT side of the stage where the crowds were much thinner. As we staked our claim, we got a text message from Lynne that the “rumor” was confirmed! Pete would play! (can I get a YEE HAW?)
My wonderful hubby gifted me with a video camera for Christmas. I am a techno-doofus and the worlds’ WORST photographer! Now I can take horrible MOVING photographs of barely discernable folks in bad lighting – all while recording he sound of my own voice chattering away and drowning out whatever I’m aiming at! (I forget the damn thing has SOUND). Don’t worry, my NASCAR photography ain’t much better – I have oodles of pics of the last 3” of a LOT of famous cars! Anyhow – I’ll post a linky to the video tonight so you can laugh at my “shaky hands.”
Pete was GR-REAT!! Hand seemed to be pretty much healed, although he “strummed” more than he picked. Not much jumping (even with new shoes), but he rocked nonetheless! Our great position paid off, as we were both able to make our way to the front for the 2nd song! My racing buds would call this “GREAT track position!” I agree!
Today we’re off to Roky Erickson’s Psychedelic Ice Cream Social! I’m in my sensible shoes, obligatory Jagmo Roky T-Shirt and comfy beat-up jeans! A fashion disaster of the first order, Rach! If you run into me today – take Tana’s word for it – I make a pretty good bumble bee!
Stay tuned!
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