i skipped class…

so i could go to the balloon fiesta!

robot balloon

luke, i’m your father

check out all my photos here: flickr photo set

big blue sky

for memorial day weekend, we decided to take a drive up to durango, co to see shawn mullins play at the iron horse bicycle classic. if i were a cyclist, i might have partaken in this cool event that has been going for 35 years, but let’s be realistic – a 48 mile bike ride through the snow-capped mountains of colorado sounds awesome, but i think a 5700 ft vertical climb would kill me. literally.

instead, we loaded the munchkins in the car with bags full of snacks and set off through northern nm. i loaded the cd changer with a bunch of shawn mullins cds to warm up for the show. i tried to take pictures from the moving car, but there’s only so much you can do through a bug-splattered windshield. at one point, the opening track on “big blue sky” came on and it was like serendipity.

“on a mantle made of oak wood,
there’s a photograph from my childhood
it was taken in the desert early light…
there are canyons there are caverns
there are border roadside taverns
and i am held captive by the big blue sky above me…”

it’s like these songs were made for this roadtrip.

“two lanes of highway stretched in front of me as far as i can see
the grass here’s greener than most grass i’ve seen
the sky’s a big gray hazy canopy up over me
nothing much here to do just keep my hands on the wheel and my mind on you…”

we pulled into town with time to spare and had dinner at the old tymer’s cafe. all you can eat ribs? yes, please. durango has changed a lot since the last time i was there over 15 years ago. the main street is lined with locally owned shops filled with hip artwork and hippie shoes. sierra found a purple 1/2 size taylor guitar at a music shop, but i can’t see spending $300 on a guitar for a 6 year old. maybe when she’s older. we were lucky enough to see the durango & silverton narrow gauge railroad train coming back from silverton. it has been in continuous operation for 126 years. i couldn’t pull my camera out fast enough to snap a picture, but it was something to see a genuine steam locomotive pulling up with the mountains in the background. i guess someone else’s photo will have to do.

the stage for the concert was set up in the middle of main street and some people (ourselves included) were wise enough to bring lawn chairs to watch the show. everyone sat listening to the music for the first few songs, but once shawn started in on “beautiful wreck”, people gathered at the front of the stage and started dancing with each other. it was beautiful and surreal.

we couldn’t pull the girls away from the stage from the rest of the show. they had found a group of about a dozen kids and they were all swinging each other around and dancing. if durango is this cool all the time, i might need to visit more often.

dirt under my nails

i have a fear of seeming one dimensional always talking about music. so, as proof that i do more than listen to music and hog the internet, i invite you to my garden.

have a great weekend everyone…

SXSW photos and such

i'm a lousy blogger. maybe if i had a computer in front of me for the whole trip, i could blah blah blah about all the silly nuances of each day… but i didn't. and it's good that i didn't because i would have lived less and blogged more. i like the alternative.

anyways, here's pics from some of my favorite shows of the week, and other random austin photos.

you should all know me well enough at this point that when i heard glen phillips was playing sx that it was the icing on top of my cake. glen played wednesday under a tent at opal divine's freehouse. we randomly brought along the promoter of dingwalls in london whom we shared a cab with. he hadn't heard glen before but was impressed.

even beatle bob showed up to watch glen. 

when walking around that night, we found this random car. they say “keep austin wierd.” this car is working hard to that goal. if you look close, there's planets and astronauts on top, birds and land creatures around the windows, and sea creatures over the remainder of the car.

one night a large crowd congregated outside a full club to listen to the twilight singers play. people would stop and say “who is this playing???”  

saw tres chicas
and garrison starr
at one show.
caught nickel creek at stubbs
after seeing sean & sara play with glen at his showcase at tambaleo.

at the paste magazine party got to see josh ritter
and over the rhine .
big surprise of the day was jamie cullum.
the kid is certifiable, but fun to watch.

got to see rhett at a signing that day. (what is up w/those silver teeth?) and all sweaty at a show that night.
.
he sang 'fireflies' with susan tedeschi.

and jamie cullum became my concert buddy for the rest of rhett's set, then went down to do a set of his own. went over to stubb's for snow patrol after with my new friend richie.

highlights from saturday are seeing patty hurst shifter at the dog & duck pub.

and the rajiworld party at big red sun. got to meet up with sean carey and see steve poltz play. he pulled aj croce and billy harvey up to play with him. poltz is wacky.

austin was lovely. we could see the town lake fireworks from our hotel. and apparently the driskill is haunted.

if you have a flickr account (or a yahoo account) you can see more photos here.

Currently listening: Unlucky 7 by Glen Phillips