Tag Archive | Austin

StereoTerra and Memories

I just couldn’t help myself this week. Sometimes there are things that just can’t help but remind you of better times; indeed, some of the best times of your life. That is precisely what happened this week. It all started a couple of weeks ago when a promoter for StereoTerra asked me if he could put up a poster promoting the new music festival in the store (for those not in the know, in my off-line life I manage a convenience store open 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week, 365, and yes, we happen to sell gas). I directed him to the adhoc bulletin board back by the bathrooms only to later realize he plastered several posters in strategic places around the store, which I had to promptly take down (unfortunately). Despite this simple act of deception, I was intrigued. He obviously believed in what he was promoting. He even gave me and members of my crew free passes for the entire four day music festival.

For the record, StereoTerra is at this very moment being held in the aptly named Edenville, Michigan, a very small town set among several manmade lakes along the Tittabawassee River in mid-Michigan. It is close enough that I’ve watched in amusement all week as 20-something wannabe hippies, eclectic band members, all manner of kids gearing up for a very long weekend of debauchery came parading through the store, huge Chevy vans and canoes in tow. I loved every minute of it, and so did my crew. And so the rumors flew.

Supposedly the good residents of Edenville did not want this four day music festival to happen. It might have something to do with the hours. StereoTerra’s eclectic line-up, which includes indie rock, folk, country, alternative, and just about everything in between, is set to run Thursday August 16th – Sunday August 19^th 10 AM – 2 AM. Well, as Edenville supposedly fought the festival, Midland County stepped in to help ensure the festival would happen. Supposedly promoters spent tens of thousands of dollars clearing land for camping and venues for the music festival. It became a simple matter of economics. Midland County wanted the money, despite the threat of noise. Heaven forbid anything takes place after 9 PM!

More than anything, I hope the festival is successful. If all goes well, it is to become an annual event. Michigan needs events like these, especially rural Michigan. I have to say, even though I didn’t make use of my free pass, just the fact that StereoTerra is taking place so close to home, at this very moment, brings back so many wonderful memories.

Ten long years ago I was in the exact right place at the exact right time with the exact right people. I was living in Austin, Texas at the time and had the inside scoop for the first annual Austin City Limits Festival, held in Zilker Park, August 2002. Ten years later, the festival is still going strong, despite rumors of it becoming much more commercial. The funny thing is that I didn’t recognize many acts at the first ACL Fest, with the exception of Shawn Colvin (which is another story all together). Today, what I wouldn’t give to see the lineup they have for ACL Fest 2012! Jack White, of the White Stripes, Weezer, and most impressive of all, The Red Hot Chili Peppers are all in the lineup. I honestly don’t know how I would’ve handled that lineup back then. At the time, they happened to be three of my favorite bands.

So why do I have such fond memories of ACL Fest? Several reasons. First off, I hit the festival with two of my best friends in Austin, Andy and Cheryl. Andy had a radio show on KOOP at the time, and Cheryl happened to be his manager. We weren’t just your run of the mill kids who happened to be fans. All three of us took music pretty seriously, but certainly not seriously enough not to have an amazing time. On the first day Cheryl happened to lose her cell phone in the crowd. As Andy, Cheryl, and I scoured the ground for her phone, Cheryl lost track of me. After she found me, she told me a story that still lives on in legend. Supposedly she saw a women, a women who happened to look JUST like me, jump on stage during Bob Schneider’s set. This woman supposedly flashed him. Somehow, under the influence of the strong Texas summer sun, Cheryl and I decided it would be fun to let Andy believe I flashed Bob Schneider. At the time, Bob Schneider fronted several successful bands in Austin, including The Scabs and the Ugly Americans. As you can see here, he is extremely good looking and still going strong. Oh, and he’s talented too. So yes, when we finally found Andy, Cheryl told him I’d flashed Bob Schneider. I wish.

After one long day in the sun, goofing off, and listening to great music with friends, Andy and I went back for round two. In the middle of the day we happened to be waiting for Shawn Colvin’s set when Andy did what he always did best. Talk. After he and I set out my quilt on the grass near the stage, he struck up a conversation with a group of very young soldiers from Fort Hood. They were just a couple of years younger than me, probably ages 18-20 at the time. More than anything they were incredibly angry they could be sent to Iraq at any time, and yet they couldn’t buy a beer on an insanely hot August day in Texas. I think of those young men often and wonder how many of them served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Were some them still stationed at Fort Hood when terrorism hit Kileen? I will never know.

As the sun went down, Andy and I decided to move on. We followed the throngs of people leaving Zilker Park and ended up hanging out at Shady Grove on Barton Springs. The funny thing is that Shady Grove was packed. Somehow they were letting people order takeout and set up on the lawn. That is exactly what Andy and I did, throwing back Bohemia, the best Mexican beer I’ve ever had, and eating takeout. That unique dining experience topped off an amazing weekend. You just can’t beat an August music festival.

Volume at music festival to drop after complaints (sfgate.com)
Mid- Michigan music festival prompts residents to complain about noise level (clickondetroit.com)
Austin extends ACL Music Festival by a weekend (chron.com)
Council OKs extra ACL fest weekend (statesman.com)
ACL Fest will be TWO weekends in 2013; this year is sold out (brooklynvegan.com)

On The Air

Feb7

I’ve long loved radio and decided to put all my favorites in one place. I’m not sure when I first loved listening to the radio, but as a child, I remember listening with headphones late into the night, long after I was supposed to be asleep. I also made plenty of mix tapes. That doesn’t even mention one of my favorite childhood pastimes, creating radio stations, original jingles included, using a Fischer Price tape recorder. Today, I can’t stand to be in a car without the radio on. Enjoy.

Michigan State University Student Radio

Impact 89FM
The Fix

My senior year at MSU I decided to get involved with the major student radio station on campus. It is something I did purely for my personal enjoyment. I love music, and playing music, that much. Everyone involved with Impact 89FM starts out on their online training station The Fix. After learning the basics, you are left alone to spin music for a few hours by yourself. You can’t imagine how much fun I had in the studio! My only regret is that I didn’t get involved as a freshman.

Mid-Michigan Favorites

WHNN-FM
94.5 The Moose
98 KCQ
102.5 WIOG

WSGW – NEWSRADIO 790
FM TALK 100.5 AND SPORTS!

WCMU / CMU Public Radio

The radio stations I always associate with my childhood are WHNN-FM and 102.5 WIOG. Throughout my later elementary school years, I rode to school with my Mom, who taught 6^th grade at the time. She listed to WHNN-FM every morning to catch Johnny Burke’s morning show. Thanks to that station, I know the music of the 50s, 60s, and 70s pretty well – and appreciate it. I still listen to Johnny Burke every morning on my way to work. WHNN-FM covers a huge chunk of Michigan.

While WHNN-FM catered to my parents’ generation, 102.5 WIOG is still home to current pop. It was the radio station as a teenager. Like WHNN-FM, 102.5 WIOG has a huge reach. Unless you liked country as a teenager, you listened to 102.5 WIOG. Back in the 90s, mainstream alternative and SKA ruled the air waves.

94.5 The Moose and 98 KCQ are the two big country stations in Mid-Michigan. Growing up, I hated country music. Now, there is a lot of it I love. In my opinion, pop isn’t nearly as relevant as it once was. Country is now the genre featuring the best artists and innovation. I grew up a fan of Michael Jackson, Madonna, Motown, and the Beatles. Today I love Toby Keith, Blake Sheldon, Miranda Lambert, and even the Dixie Chicks. Go figure.

News, Talk, The Tigers

Fox News Radio

WSGW – NEWSRADIO 790
FM TALK 100.5 AND SPORTS!

Driving anywhere with my Grandma during the summer months meant the Detroit Tigers on WSGW – NEWSRADIO 790 and Ernie Harwell. Any radio broadcast of the Tigers will remind me always and forever of my Grandma.

Back in the day FM TALK 100.5 AND SPORTS! actually turned into a pirate radio station for a while. I love the concept of anything to do with pirates. Before that, it happened to be an alternative to 102.5 WIOG.

Austin, Texas

KOOP :: Community Radio for Austin, TX – KOOP Hornsby-Austin

Where do I even begin with KOOP? It is the reason why I love Austin so much to this day. Somehow I consented to go on a blind date with a man who happened to be very involved with KOOP. At the time, he hosted the show ATX Live. He is still involved with KOOP after serving as president of the co-op for several years. Today he serves as the Tech Team Area Coordinator for KOOP.

At the time, his involvement with KOOP led to us spending plenty of time together checking out local bands, artists, and even festivals. Andy even introduced me to one of my best friends in Austin, his former manager Cheryl. Of course, they originally meet through KOOP. I can’t begin to imagine Austin without the music.

It was directly as a result of Andy’s involvement in KOOP that I decided to go back to MSU and get involved with the Impact 89FM, even if only for one semester.

You can read more about my experiences in Austin below:

Ten Long Years … | Ramblings of a Misguided Blonde

NPR

WCMU / CMU Public Radio
NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR
Fresh Air from WHYY : NPR
Arts & Life : NPR

Below is an article discussing a recent interview on NPR. It is the perfect example of why I tune in.

Meryl Streep: The Fresh Air Interview : NPR

Internet

Pandora Radio – Listen to Free Internet Radio, Find New Music
The Beatles

Undoubtedly the internet is saving the radio from obscurity. I love the fact that in many cases fans can now go to the website of their favorite band and/or artist and listen in. In particular, I love The Beatles website for this. Not only do they play everything in the Beatles’ catalog, they play John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s solo work as well. What is there not to like?

Ten Long Years …

Jan7

Image by StuSeeger via Flickr

Ten years ago began one of the best, if not the most inspiring, years of my life thus far. 2002 still conjures up such a mess of emotions and memory, almost all wonderful. It began interestingly enough. A few days into the new year I flew to Cáceres, Spain to begin a semester long study abroad program at la Universidad de Extremadura. I will always have endless memories of Spain, but things did not start out as planned.

As with any year, I began 2002 cleaning up the mistakes, missteps, and crises of 2001. At 21, it all involved the men in my life at the time. It also involved my semester long study abroad program in Quito, Ecuador and the aftermath of September 11, 2001. What’s important to note here is not the assortment of men in my life or specific details of what happened in my life as a result of 9/11 but the simple fact that I was emotionally drained from another banner year in my life: 2001.

Throughout my first few weeks in Spain, I really didn’t know what to do with myself. I just needed space to figure out what I wanted out of life. Ten years later and I am still trying to figure out the details. Fortunately it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Spain and my classes, especially my class in art history. I spent every long weekend of the program traveling to new destinations in Spain and eventually Portugal. I visited Madrid, Sevilla, Málaga and la Costa del Sol, Toledo, Salamanca, Ronda, Granada, Barcelona, and Lisboa. I’m grateful for the foresight of the professors of the program. If it hadn’t been for the long weekends, I would not have had the opportunity to truly explore Spain. It inspired me in countless ways to visit every week the very works we studied in class. Somewhere along the way I began to truly enjoy myself and flourished. Little did I know then that the best was yet to come.

One of my last days in Cáceres a package arrived at my front door holding the key to yet more adventure. It contained the agreement for my position as a co-op with Applied Materials in Austin, Texas. I had planned the entire experience nearly two years before as an undergraduate business student at Michigan State. At that time I was determined to land an internship at the end of my sophomore year. I did. In fact, I ended up landing an internship with IBM throughout the summer of 2001. Applied Materials also wanted me as a co-op that year. By that time I knew that I wanted to spend an entire year abroad. I simply asked the hiring manager at Applied Materials if I could work as a co-op the following year. He said yes. After spending a summer in Rochester, Minnesota working for IBM, completing a semester long study abroad program in Quito, Ecuador, completing another semester in Cáceres, Spain, I was about to spend six months living and working in Austin, Texas.

In fact, I only had a month to prepare for my new job in Austin after arriving home from Spain. I arrived in Michigan the first week in May and my first day of work in Austin was slated for mid-June. I couldn’t wait. As eager as I was to get back to MSU to complete my degree, I knew that working for Applied Materials was an experience I couldn’t pass up. I’d finally get a true taste of life after college; it would not be just another summer job. I wouldn’t return to Michigan State until January 2003 after traveling the globe for 18 months.

How do I even begin to describe my six months in Austin, Texas? I truly fell in love. I fell in love with the city itself and Texas as a whole. In fact, I fell in love with the very idea of Texas. Texas truly is like a whole other country. In fact, I later drove across a good share of it on my way home from Austin, heartbroken.

The strange thing is that the entire experience didn’t start out well at all. I loved working for Applied, but wasn’t happy with the apartment I sublet. After only being in Austin for a month and a half, I found myself in a bad car accident on my way to work, my car totaled and my big toe broken. At 21, I was lucky to be alive. As I adjusted to the leg splint and put things back together, something amazing happened.

When I first arrived in Austin I befriended a new coworker who happened to be going through the two week orientation training session with me. She and I became fast friends. She became bound and determined to fix me up with one of her old coworkers at Motorola. Andy. Over those first weeks in Austin, my friend told me a lot about him, but he never seemed to be home. In fact, I wouldn’t get to meet him for nearly a month due to his trip to Perú. I almost forgot about him by the time a blind date was arranged.

Looking back, what a strange set of circumstances under which I met Andy. We met just as I was literally getting back on my feet after the accident. Instead of a leg splint that took up half of my leg, I finally had a walking cast. Andy suggested that we go to Flipnotics to check out a local act. Here’s the thing about Flipnotics: it is a two-story building with a trendy shop taking up the entire first floor with a bar taking up the second. In order for us to check out the band and hang out at the bar, I had to walk up a large flight of stairs in a walking cast. Andy appeared mortified. I didn’t care; I was embarrassed myself. There was no way I was going to let a silly situation ruin my night.

We spent the night drinking beer, talking about all we had in common, which was a lot, and enjoying the act Andy hoped to book on his radio show, ATX Live. To this day Andy is one of the most interesting men I’ve ever met. By day an engineer, by night a DJ at a co-op radio station. At the time he still hosted ATX live; he later became president of the co-op radio station. It was through him that I began to enjoy myself in Austin.

We never had a romantic relationship, but we did become very good friends. He soon introduced me to his manager and friend Cheryl. She became one of the best friends I’ve ever had. If I saw her today I have no doubt we could just start up again right where we left off. Not many men can introduce you to a new good friend; Andy did. That’s the thing about Andy and Cheryl: they got me. We spent hours checking out new bands, solo artists, etc. We attended the very first Austin City Limits festival together. Cheryl and I were there when Andy’s RK surgery to correct his vision went terribly wrong. After he recovered his sight, we threw him a “dressed to be seen”/Halloween/late birthday party at his house that became legendary among us. After all of my years of not fitting in high school and being mostly a loner in a college, I finally had a great group of friends that I truly loved.

After the accident I had to move almost immediately. It turned out that my sublet was only through the summer. I panicked. Fortunately, through Applied Materials internal classifieds system, I found a great place to live. Karen became another great friend in Austin. She had just built her home before the stock market plummeted and wanted to test out the idea of a renter. We became fast friends, bonding over Beatles music. I loved living in her house. It felt as though I was living with one of my favorite aunts for three months, and I enjoyed every minute of it. As my return to Michigan loomed, we hosted a combination goodbye/birthday/Christmas party for me. I did not want to go home.

I’ll never forget leaving Austin on that foggy morning in mid-December. I cried. I had never felt my life come so completely together as it did in Austin. I wanted to stay, but I felt that I had to go back to MSU to complete my degree. I always planned to return. I still miss the people, the music, and the fun. It didn’t quite work out that way I planned. Despite my best intention and efforts, I never did get a job in Austin after graduation.

I’m not sure why I am looking back to 2002 now other than to say that it is time to move on. I loved my life in Austin. For whatever reason, I haven’t been able to recreate that deep sense of happiness in Bay City. I need to figure out what I need to be truly happy and go after it. Life is too damn short to be miserable. There will always be a part of me that will treasure all of those experiences I had in 2001 and 2002. There are days when I just look in the mirror and wonder what happened to the girl who risked everything for adventure.

Blake Shelton – Austin

Songwriters: David Kent, Kirsti Manna

She left without leavin’ a number
Said she needed to clear her mind
He figured she’d gone back to Austin
‘Cause she talked about it all the time
It was almost a year before she called him up
Three rings and an answering machine is what she got

If you’re callin’ ’bout the car I sold it
If this is Tuesday night, I’m bowling
If you’ve got somethin’ to sell
You’re wastin’ your time, I’m not buyin’
If it’s anybody else, wait for the tone, you know what to do
And P.S. if this is Austin, I still love you

The telephone fell to the counter
She heard but she couldn’t believe
What kind of man would hang on that long
What kind of love that must be
She waited three days and then she tried again
She didn’t know what she’d say but she heard three rings and then

If it’s Friday night I’m at the ballgame
And first thing Saturday, if it don’t rain
I’m headed out to the lake
And I’ll be gone all weekend long
But I’ll call you back when I get home on Sunday afternoon
And P.S. if this is Austin, I still love you

Well, this time she left her number
But not another word
Then she waited by the phone on Sunday evenin’
And this is what he heard

If you’re callin’ ’bout my heart
It’s still yours
I should’ve listened to it a little more
Then it wouldn’t have taken me so long to know where I belong
And by the way, boy, this is no machine you’re talkin’ to
Can’t you tell, this is Austin and I still love you

I still love you.

Family Vacation Inspiration

Jul21

Image via Wikipedia

Family’s Meaningful Vacations Make An Impact

Why does the argument made in this article seem so obvious to me? Some of the best educational experiences I’ve had in my life resulted from travel, with or without family. I’m not sure why or how this could be considered a trend. As far as I’m concerned, stretching outside of personal comfort zones (i.e. routine) is one of the primary reasons to take a vacation.

I loved my childhood travel experiences so much that I sought every opportunity for study travel while at Michigan State University. When I use the term study travel, I’m not talking exclusively about formal study abroad opportunities, wonderful as they are. In my personal experience, I also include alternative spring break opportunities, as well as formal internships and co-ops.

I am particularly glad that the article included a discussion of opportunities to volunteer during a family vacation. I find it analogous to my alternative spring break experiences at Michigan State. Quite simply, they were wonderful. As a group, we worked hard during the day volunteering at various locations, including schools, orphanages, etc. During the evening we experienced the best that our locations, Merida and Puebla, Mexico in my case, had to offer. The volunteer work fostered a bond that simple spring break partying could never match. I treasure those memories and would recommend the programs to anyone. The family vacations I loved as a child gave me the courage to seek out new travel opportunities as an adult.

Ultimately it made it easier for me to seek paying internship and co-op opportunities far from home. I spent a summer interning at IBM in Rochester, Minnesota right after the technology bubble burst, and I was fortunate to live and work in Austin, Texas for six months through a co-op with Applied Materials. Given my background, I doubt I would have taken advantage of those opportunities without those earlier experiences of family vacations.

I grew up in Michigan’s smallest city, Omer, Michigan. Most of my family lived and continues to live in Michigan. I attended the same schools my entire childhood, all in the same school district, of course. I even lived in the same house for most of my childhood. I needed change and new opportunities. I am so glad that my parents realized that. Their foresight opened my eyes to the opportunities open to me later in life. For that I am truly grateful!