Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2008 > October > 22
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Carla McDonald in Town & Country
Is Carla McDonald flawless or what? The astonishingly busy wife, mother and businesswoman is everywhere. She’s a regular on the Fortunate 500 All-Stars list. She just made the first-ever Glossy 8 list of Austin’s best dressed — after appearing in Brilliant, Tribeza and just about every other local publication.
Now she’s featured in Town & Country’s pages posing for Becca and John Thrash’s American Friends of the Louvre gala. (That’s her bottom right.) Note that she’s wearing an Oscar de la Renta from the Fall 2008 collection. The woman I sometimes call “Marla” is “It.”
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Your A-List, Best Karaoke
The Asian-inspired custom of singing popular songs to recorded instrumental tracks has not abated in this city. It’s everywhere. Still. And the rave fave spot for karaoke is Common Interest, by a yodeling 43 percent of the A-List vote.
DK Sushi came in a distant second with 17 percent, while Austin Karaoke nabbed third with 11 percent. The other hot spots — which must include generous portions of alcohol I presume — are La Palapa (7 percent), the Water Tank (7 percent), Baby A’s (5 percent), Beerland (5 percent), new Seoul Karaoke Studio (3 percent), Rain (3 percent) and Karaoke Apocalypse (1 percent).
Why does the one with the best name get the least votes?
Write-in: Too Much Music
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Your A-List, Best Place to Go When You’re Broke
But the clever bums among us can figure out how to get by on charm or good looks (the former for me, the latter for you). The No. 1 and No. 2 winning ideas in the A-List poll for Best Place to Go When You’re Broke are sample grazing at Whole Foods (25 percent) and Central Market (23 percent). Have to admit we’ve done it.
In-store concerts at Waterloo Records are also popular (11 percent), while the Austin Public Library tied with the Alamo Drafthouse for their Music Mondays, Weird Wednesday and Terror Thursday (8 percent apiece).
Opening receptions at area art galleries won the acceptance on just 4 percent. Making 3 percent or less in the poll were the LBJ Library and Museum, readings at BookPeople, In-stores at Cheapo, yoga and fitness classes at Ruta Maya, Blanton Museum of Art on Thursdays, Continental Gallery, Tuesday improv jams at the Hideout and $1 Tuesdays at the Austin Museum of Art.
Pretty cultured, these Austin bums.
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Weekend Out: Up Until Then
Bummer: We’re gonna miss the Texas Book Festival next week. Also Zach’s 75th Anniversary Concert, Downtown Impact Awards and the Austin Children’s Shelter Season of Harvest.
That’s because I’ll check into St. David’s next Thursday for my third heart procedure. Luckily, my doctor Andrea Natale, is, no lie, the best in the world at ablations for arrhythmia.
Wednesday: Cookie Lounge Preview in the Quarters, 2222 Rio Grande St.; Fuse Box Festival Preview Happy Hour at Steven Tomlinson residence; “Downtown” Emmy Party for Downtown Austin Alliance at AMLI on 2cd; Toast of the Town 25th Anniversary Appreciation Party for St. David’s Community Health Foundation at the Long Center Terrace
Thursday: Ballet Austin Fete with Inaugural Season Opener at the Long Center; premiere of “Sno-Cone” at Alamo South followed by after party at the Belmont; Diamonds & Denim for Family Eldercare with Rona Barrett and Judy Maggio at the Caswell House; Austin Children’s Museum Donor Appreciation Party at Six Lounge; Poppies Jewelry Show at Soigne Boutique & Slate Men’s Apparel; Kimber Modern Happy HourFriday: “Nothing Happens for a Reason” CD release from Pompeii at La Zona Rosa; Opening of “Hansel and Gretel” at Butler Opera Center; KLRU Block Party with Brad Paisley at the Austin Music Hall; Shiki 10-Year Anniversary Party on Second Street; Rock y Roll Dia Pre-Party Happy Hour at Do512 Lounge
Saturday: “The Unforgotten Greg Miller” Opening at Spazio; Boots & Lace Ball for YWCA at One World Theatre; Lotus Night for the Mona Foundation with Rainn Wilson at St. Edward’s University; Lauren Conrad with LC3 national fashion tour to launch TheQuad.Com at Pangaea; Driver F, Alpha Rev, Oliver Future, Del Castillo, High on Hot Dogs, Joker and DrumJam at The Backyard; Masque of the Red Death at the Matt and Karen Hudgins residence; Windsor Road Neighborhood Party
Sunday: Dedication of the new Concordia University Texas campus; B. Iden Payne Awards at the Long Center; Mysterious Ways Taping at Maggie Mae’s; Luna Prototype Modular House Opening at 1411 Luna St.; “Amazing Race” Viewing with Austin’s Kelly Crabb and Christy Cook at Molotov
Tuesday: Paul van Dyk at Sky Lounge; VIP Cocktail Party at El Rey
Wednesday: Maceo Parker at Antone’s; Bacardi Flavor Exchange at Union Park; Anthony Nak Collection Preview at W3LL
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House of Torment 2: Claire Cella
“Oh, we’ve got a quiet one here, don’t we?” he hissed, snaking disconcertingly along beside me down the narrow hallway.
Anything.
You just have to say it. Say it.
Come on, what do you want?
Just say it.
Anything.
Anything you want.”
With a weakened limp, he hopped about slowly, treading on the tattered ends of his dusty pants. He remained entranced by my indifference, persistent in his goal to extract a hint of fear and or a glimmer of heightened apprehension at the very least. Centimeters from my cheek, his face hovered at a distance that was impossible to shrug off. Rolling in short, ragged gasps down my neck, his breath was hot, sticky and rotten. I could just imagine it curling like smoke from his rancid lung cavities, creeping up past his vile tongue and blackened gnarled teeth. His decaying breath matched the slow decomposition of his face. His thick skin was peeling off in unsightly patches on blood-caked cheeks, wounds left open to reveal crimson holes of nothing. His eyes, although I tried to avoid them, shone white in the hazy darkness. I recoiled from his torments and continued down the hall, leaving his pleas to rest in the heavy air, unanswered.
He slinked away to find more vulnerable prey.
(Post by St. Edward’s University student Claire Cella. For more of Claire’s entertainment journalism reporting, go to her blog, That’s Entertainment. The House of Torment continues nightly through Nov. 2)
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Karen Kuykendall: Has it been a year?
An angel woke me this morning: The voice of the late Karen Kuykendall.
It was during one of those floating anxiety dreams. A large, slightly formal, over-lighted dinner party. Conversation bubbled.
Apparently she was calling me to attention. I was to give a speech or an award.
And she wanted me to get on with it. Just like Karen. (A variation on the “actor’s nightmare,” subset: the “speaker’s nightmare.”)
The most glorious diva this city has ever produced — Karen — left this world a year or so ago. I learned more about socializing, theater and Austin from her than from the next 100 natives. I miss her fiercely.
Perhaps it’s because I’m having my third heart procedure next week, and mortality tugs at my sleeve.
Perhaps it’s because huge construction equipment has rumbled outside our window for weeks, like squawking, tussling dinosaurs at 7 a.m.
Whatever the reason, I definitely heard Karen. Smiled. And wept.
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House of Torment 1: Celeste Diaz
If you’re going to Austin’s House of Torment anytime soon, don’t rely on iPhone, Google Maps, or any other search engine for directions, because you will end up right where my classmates and I did: LOST.
If you want to get there more quickly, follow these directions:
Arrive in the vicinity of Highland Mall (north of U.S. 290 and west of Interstate 35, if you want to get technical).
When you are unsure of yourself, take a few rights and too many lefts.
Look up. You will find that you are, in fact, on Highland Mall Boulevard.
Stay confident; you are almost there.
Pull into Sugar’s Uptown Cabaret and take note of their daily lunch specials.
Walk up to the front desk and ask for Kate (she will guide you in the right direction).
Kate will tell you House of Torment is right across the street: “See where it says ‘Haunted House’?”
Don’t be alarmed when the other desk attendant insists you “might as well stay for (breasts) and (bottoms)” and then proceed to House of Torment.
(Posted by St. Edward’s University student Celeste Diaz. To read more of Celeste’s entertainment journalism reporting, visit her blog, Valletta. The House of Torment continues nightly through Nov. 2)
