Texas heaven

Better take time to document the best party I have been to in recent years and I'm talking about Live Fire which took place Thursday night at the Salt Lick Pavillion. With about 15 food vendors and 15 booze vendors, you can imagine the insanity of endless delicious bites and refreshing libations.

My favorite drink (ok, so I'm not a big drinker) was the skinny margaritas by Dulce Vida Tequila. The plate above was my first taste of Franklin BBQ, which I feel obligated to comment on but honestly no dish can live up to that much hype. My favorite bite (no, didn't try all of them) was by Josh Watkins of the Carillon whose offerings included a breaded, fried beef cheek bite and also, a beef rib served with white bean puree and pickled vegetables. The beef rib was insanely flavorful and I immediately texted my vote and was glad he won best dish for the night.

But, aside from that, the overall event itself was flawless. Pretty rare can I leave my front door and say such a thing. There were almost no lines (except Franklin's of course), good parking, bathrooms, plenty of seating, great music, fireflies, good flow of tents and set up, fire-dancers (!!!!), seemingly endless food and drink -- and wow what more could you ask for.
What a stunning night....

Little

These are just some things. At the top is a glitter project in the works. It's a frame, I think. I don't know how this one will turn out. It's for fun. In the middle, little cactus surprises coming. And, lastly, more diorama dreams.

3D

Excited to share with you my latest project - Going 3D with some shadow box dioramas! It's my paintings come to life in the third dimension. A new way of thinking and yet not, at the same time.

These are still works in progress as I haven't yet decided what the the border treatment and the background texture will be.

The central house element is made from balsa wood and the rest is paperclay. The color will stay varying shade of white, which is yet to come.

With great anticipation, I eagerly await seeing them finished up and hanging on the wall.

IN!

Permission to enter Moss Temple granted! I am going to see the garden. All is well.

Pretty

Nice spring clumpy display at the Free People store this season. Liking it quite a bit.

SXSW Interactive 2012: Part II

 Fun with DIY LED lights at FROG party.

 Agile design panel put on by Thoughtworks. Project: Build a zoo.

After consulting my fastidious notes... more links and broken thoughts from SXSW Interactive:

First, these awesome links from a panel: The Frontline Report of Japanese Interactive Arts

• http://www.eyewriter.org/
• Museum of me by Intel (you need facebook to enter)
• Nike Music Shoe
• YesYes No - interactive arts collective
• 4nchor5
• nuuo

More...

• Tidystreet.org - community visualization project about utility usage
• bloom.io

 That's really it this time.

SXSW Interactive 2012

 

Boy, isn't that the truth.  MEEPS, app for meeting people with shared interests.




Super big digital display downtown by Nike.

SXSW Interactive is five days of fun, learning and people watching in downtown Austin, Texas. I hadn't been in ages (like since interactive was first invented and the halls were empty) and it was a thrill to be there again and marvel of the vastness of it all. 

Here goes my links and highlights in no particular order:

• Turf n Surf Po Boy - that trailer on Congress that's been there forever. 2 lunches of heavenly blackened tuna tacos.
• 3D printing by Makerbot - all the blue Totoros you want for $2,000
• Holy Grounds coffee shop at St. Davids - Dang it why didn't I know about this place when I worked downtown? So adorable.
• Japanese Interactive Art scene: Tiny Riot (iPhone app) [WARNING: SOUND]. Will have to dig deeper for some more links..
• European Tech Art scene: Panel overview with video samples. Also, Dutch Electronic Arts Festival
• Jen Simmons, The Web Ahead - New podcast to check out
• The Secret Lives of the Brain - great panel, check out his book
• The New Aesthetic: Seeing like digital devices - most intellectual, heady, best panel. With Russell Davies, James Bridle, Ben, and Aaron.
• Jess3, data visualization company
• Visual.ly, more data visualization

 As a public service announcement, I feel I should mention the 1 hour and 40 minute line I stood in Friday to get my badge. Also the droid app didn't work at all, forcing me to inefficiently flip through their big catalog. I guess next year I'll bring a 3 ring binder, highlighter and tab dividers to sort through the multitude of panels.

Still, you should go to a conference for whatever field you work in. Money spent on time with your peers and opening your mind, is money well spent.