SOME UPDATES ARE HAPPENING HERE ON SITE, WHILE WE PLUG AWAY ON ISSUE.

EVERYONE IS BLOGGING AWAY AND OUR TEAM IS BEGINNING TO UPLOAD FRESH pictUREs cheCK OUT THE NEW CAUGHT WITH THE DAZE SHOTS HERE

Awkward Threesome

Everyone’s favorite seven-time Tour de France winner, (You see… You see how I did that. He is the ONLY seven-time Tour de France winner, so therefore he MUST be your favorite) has a new lady love. Lance has recently been spotted out and about with Goldie Hawn replica, Kate Hudson. The two have been taking their relationship to the streets of Austin (spotted at Sushi Restaurant Uchi), and New York, whilst simultaneously denying it on talk shows. I don’t understand why it is so hard to confirm and move on. As we all know, Kate has famously dated actor Owen Wilson, who famously is friends with Lance. I would give my third arm to be there when they all happen to bump into one another. Awkward!

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Tom Waits makes me want to do bad things…But I’m innocent when I dream.

The Pied Piper of broken hearts, unthinkable misdeeds, and everything in between, leading us to the edge of the cliff, letting us decide for ourselves whether or not we wish to jump. Tom Waits, the poet. Tom Waits, the mad man. Tom Waits, the prickly devil perched on my left shoulder singing through a megaphone into my ear. That voice. That Goddamn voice.

Theatrical. Magical. Menacing.

Tom Waits makes me want to do bad things. But I’m innocent when I dream.

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Hot, would be the word for Antone’s Tuesday night as Austin’s own Reckless Kelly took the stage to support their new release, “Bullet Proof”. The AC couldn’t even come close to keeping up. A packed house of beautiful ladies drinking Reckless Razzes and few Lone Star country boys all were alive and well. Reckless Kelly put on a great show filled with a good mix of material including, to my surprise, the Beatles “Helter Skelter”. I had come into the show expecting a country rock show, but Reckless Kelly falls more on the side of rock with a country influence complete with fiddle and slide guitar. Glad i got a chance to see them before they hit the road. Next time their back in town check them out.

One Less Bush in the World

Jenna Bush ditched her presidential last name and got married to Henry Hager over the weekend in Crawford, Texas. Hager comes from a rich GOP backing family and is a former Karl Rove aide. Sister Barbara stood up as the maid of honor. The white house released eleven staged photos of the joyous occasion; suspiciously missing are any sign of delicious margaritas. I suppose that’s a cheap shot and we should let Jenna move on from her UT reputation and Chuy’s debacle. Up next for Jenna is promoting her new book, and deciding whether or not she should shame her entire family by voting for a democrat.

Are you the Crabman?

I had my own brush with fame yesterday. I ran into Eddie Steeples who stars in My Name is Earl at a bar on 5^th street. Just to be certainly clear that it was him, I inquired “Are you Crabman”? I’m sure he gets that ALL the time. I wonder which he prefers; Crabman or Rubberband Man (a shout out to his Office Max commercials). We chatted briefly about life on set with the Earl cast. I was curious to find out who was the coolest cast member to hang out with after the camera stopped rolling. I assumed he was going to go for Jason Lee, aka “Earl”, who just seems like he oozes coolness, but he said without a doubt Jaime Pressly (“Joy”) and Nadine Valazquez (“Catalina”) are cool chicks . Eddie is in town promoting his new film When is Tomorrow which was filmed in Austin and is currently in theatres. Kevin Ford and Eddie wear numerous hats in this movie, not only as leads, but also serving as writers and producers. I wouldn’t be surprised if during the end credits their names are listed as gaffers, boom operators and costume designers.

There Ain’t no Party like a D-List Party…

..Because a D-list party don’t stop. Well, this one did, sometime around midnight. This past weekend I attended the Austin Star Map launch party where D-listers mingled with us common folk. The stars were out in full force with fan favorites such as; nervous accountant guy, token straight guy, pot girl, and zombie #2. In all honesty everyone was extremely friendly and had lots to say on their previous work, and their upcoming projects. Sadly I didn’t get a chance to talk to that many people because quite frankly the (free) Leblon cocktails weren’t going to drink themselves. I got a chance to sit down with D-listers Joe Azzato, Dean Reading, Jeff Runnels, Michael Barnes, Ruby Rocket and Christopher Mendoza (who had his own personal assistant filming him at the party. That should move him up to at least the C-list). To check out a gallery of pictures taken throughout the night head on over to Austin Star Map.

Review by: OSO

Attempting to describe the adventurous spirit of the Golden Arm Trio has always been an interesting game of adjective hunting. The group that takes its name from the 1955 Frank Sinatra flick (where ol’ blue eyes portrayed a junkie) never loses its sense of adventure and willingness to experiment. The word ‘group’ is also used quite loosely as in actuality the Golden Arm Trio is the brain child of Austin based musician/composer Graham Reynolds, with a revolving door of musicians. The word “Trio” is not to be taken literally either while thinking about seeing a performance, as was evident yet again at Emo’s this month.

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We caught up with Steve Conrad to talk about his directorial debut, The Promotion in theaters now.

AUSTIN DAZE: Where did the idea for this film come from?

STEVE CONRAD: About six years ago I was just writing a lot about men and work and the different dramas and conflicts that happen in the work place. I felt like I had a few more things to say about work but I wanted to write from the perspective of a younger person who had reached a phase of life where they realize there are demands on them to provide for their loved ones. I wanted the character to be in his early 30s and not be exceptional; to not be able to play the violin or be a physician. He was one of those kids that didn’t buckle down in school. I wanted a C student to wake up one day and realize he is in a race to carve out some space in the world. Anyway I watched some weird stuff happen in my neighborhood grocery store with this assistant manager. My neighborhood is strange and tense–it’s a mix of professionals and street gangs. There was this grocery store employee who is like 30 and he was on the far side of the parking lot, the other side of which was occupied by this gang. The gang was messing around and just slinging curses at the customers and I thought: Wow, this kid is going to have to walk over there and ask these guys politely to leave. And I thought: They aren’t going to listen to him. This is going to be good. He walks over and they completely ripped him to pieces. He was demeaned and humiliated. The only thing he had to represent his authority was this little yellow vest that said “Courtesy Patrol” on it. And on the back it said, “Have a nice day.” Part of me thought it was the funniest thing but I was also moved to admire him greatly because he went back to work. He didn’t go jump in front of a bus or take off his uniform and walk home naked. He didn’t quit. I found that, after having laughed at it, I was overcome with total admiration for the strength of will for this kid to just go back to work—because you know tomorrow it’s going to be the exact same. And I thought I could make a movie that demonstrates that you win when you don’t quit like that. I also realized the landscape was great because you can make a smaller movie if you have the grocery store but get a bigger picture because you have the battleground for this. So started messing around with grocery store comedy. That was a really long winded answer to your question.

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I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THE HULK SMASH STUFF FOR SOME TIME. AND IF THAT WAS ALL THERE WAS TO THIS MOVIE, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN PASSABLE. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE IS DRAMA AND UNBELIEVABLE CHARACTERS AND MOTIVATIONS THAT SEEMED COMICAL. WAIT, THIS IS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE. MAYBE THAT IS WHAT THEY WERE AFTER.

MAYBE I’M JUST TOO OLD TO GET IT. THAT WOULD BE SAD. I WOULD PICK IRON MAN OVER THIS. IN THAT THE CHARACTERS WERE FLESHED OUT AND YOU CARED FOR THEM. IN THIS HULK ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS FAST FORWARD THROUGH THE CHEESY PLOT TO GET TO THE SMASH. THE HOLY SMASH. THERE ARE COOL THINGS AT WORK HERE. TONY STARK HAD A CAMEO. THIS MEANS THAT FUTURE CROSS-OVERS IN MARVEL FILMS ARE IMMINENT. I REALLY WANT TO SEE ANG LEE’S VERSION, I CAN’T REMEMBER IT. SO, I THOUGHT I DIDN’T LIKE IT BUT I NOW SEE IT AS A COMIC BROUGHT TO THE SCREEN. I LIKE A LITTLE MORE OUT OF FILM VERSIONS OF COMICS. I DON’T THINK I’D SEE IT AGAIN THOUGH. THESE ARE MY TWO CENTS.

WHAT IS THE STRIP CULT AND HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED?
-The Strip Cult is a rock theater show that starts with sleazy 1960’s go go dancing and turns into an acid trip with Charlie Manson. I wrote the music and script, and we have performed at the Hideout Theater and the Parish. Now the new version of the show will premiere at Ruta Maya on Thursday June 19th.

Where did idea come from and how did you do research?
I have been studying Charles Manson for years, and have listened closely to all of the unedited jailhouse interviews. Manson remains a deeply important revolutionary and philosopher, with a strong message for America in these End Times. There was a point back in the late Sixties
when people clearly saw where we were headed if we didn’t change our ways. Now that we are well into the collapse of the American Empire it is interesting to take another look at those prophets of doom.

What can we expect on thurs? I don’t think I have ever seen these descriptions together- sex starved love kittens & rivers of gore. My interest is solid.
On Thursday night the audience will see beautiful young girls grinding it out to stripper blues. They will see psychotropic visions created by the best lightshow artists in Austin. And they will be introduced to an uncanny recreation of the real spirit of Charles Manson. Plus two other great psychedelic bands (The Strange Attractors and The Daze).

And it’s only 8 bucks.
THURSDAY RUTA MAYA 930 PM BABY

YES IT IS SUMMER MOVIE TIME.

SO FOR THE NEXT FEW MONTHS I WILL JOIN THE MOVIEGOERS AND PAY TO SEE A MOVIE EVERY MONDAY EVENING AT THE ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE SOUTH AND THEN REVIEW IT. NO PRESS SCREENINGS OF THESE FLICKS, JUST PURE MOVIE-GOING EXCITEMENT.THERE IS AN ADDED LEVEL OF EXPECTATION WHEN A FILM IS ON YOUR OWN DIME. ON THE OTHER HAND IT IS ALSO A FREER EXPERIENCE, I CAN BE LESS CRITICAL AND TAKE THE RIDE WHERE IT TAKES ME. FOR SOME REASON THAT MAKES SENSE TO ME.  I AM SURE MEMBERS OF THE STAFF WILL JOIN ME. THE CELLULOID AWAITS……
R

The smiles that were plastered to our faces tell a different story. A story of dance and grooves. A story of soul unbound and electric beats. This is the Godmother of soul. Sharon Jones owns the audience well before she hits the stage thanks to her Dap Kings. Now this is a funk party. God damn everyone was shaking to the rythms. The heavy breeze set in to make the crowd light as if dancing on a cloud. And stubs became a funky soulful cloud this evening. Thank you Gabriel for setting us up. This is an album to get and a show to see. Substitutes are good but this is the real deal. But I still tell her it was the worst show ever. Why? Because she missed it. Pics up. Sleep Tight……….

Friday night: Elysium for the Drag King’s Birthday Party. From what I understand The Drag Kings are a collective of troupes who perform “gender-related subjects in the spirit of non-conformity” (stolen from the Kings and Things website). If I’m wrong, please someone correct me. I came with my dear friend and neighbor in search of “ta-tas.” After a long and emotional day she was in desperate need of a “pick-me-up.” I was happy to go along for the ride. Elysium is a sweaty, smoky club populated on this particular night by an eclectic mix. At least it seems that way until your eyes adjust in the darkness. Read the rest of this entry »