Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > September > 03
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Out & About iCal Sept. 3-7
6 p.m. Dress Shop Opening at 315 Congress Ave.
7 p.m. Nerdnite at Buffalo Billiards Upstairs
9 p.m. Texas Club Coffee at 2600 Rio Grande St.
FRIDAY, SEPT. 4
11 a.m. Interview Rue McClanahan
6:30 p.m. Marques Happy Birthday Hour at III Forks
7:30 p.m. B Scene at the Blanton Museum of Art
10:30 pm. Licksamba Music at Lanai
SATURDAY, SEPT. 5
2 p.m. Longhorns vs. Warhawks pre-game at Bikinis Sports Bar on Sixth Street, then the game at various sports bars along Sixth
SUNDAY, SEPT. 6
8 p.m. Club Soda Club Crawl (Last Splash Edition) on foot, and in this order: Saba, Qua, Chain Drive, CP, Rusty Spurs, Other Side, Charlie’s, Rainbow Cattle Co., Rain, Oilcan Harry’s, Kiss & Fly
MONDAY, SEPT 7
5 p.m. Double bill of “Up” and “Public Enemies” at Metropolitan Theater
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Avant Le Weekend Live Chat with Paul Oveisi
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Guest Blogger: Sara Ortiz
“It’s sad, really,” I was telling Chris, a friend who lives in Dubai, “I’m studying English at school, and essentially, I’m studying it to be a writer. But everything is online now. I have a feeling my resume will include works published online, rather than offline (books, magazines, journals, etc.). And it makes my soon-to-be profession feel … cheap, disregarded even.”
“Making decisions in this communication brownout, though without complete information, we go to war hastily, go to meetings unprepared, and build relationships on the slippery gravel of false impressions.”
As a writer, I feel this speaks to me on a deeper level: As in, my career. There is something great about admiring, holding, smelling, and caressing a book or magazine or newspaper with one’s own text printed on it. Personally, the romance behind it is greater in comparison to seeing text on a monitor. But more importantly, literacy standards continue to fall. Everything else seems to be improving but … our literacy skills? Freeman illustrates the following:
“It [the Industrial Age] has made it more difficult to read slowly and enjoy it, hastening the already declining rates of literacy. It has made it harder to listen and mean it, to be idle and not fidget.”
This manifesto runs parallel to the ongoing multi-tasking and the frying attention-span debates. In the blink of an eye we can read headlines without being fully informed. In the next blink we can be briefed about the latest celebrity gossip. Next we are glancing through our e-mail, then we are skimming through a Google Book just to make it quickly to the next eye’s blink. Are any of these things ever done carefully? Or effectively? Or with our full attention? Is it fair to the authors who have worked on what you’re reading? Another question: Did I lose you?
My stance is not to be confused with a stance against fast communication, rather to know when to opt for slow communication. Like Freeman states in his manifesto,
“We need to uncouple our idea of progress from speed, separate the idea of speed from efficiency, pause and step back enough to realize that efficiency may be good for business and governments but does not always lead to mindfulness and sustainable, rewarding relationships.”
Well said! Now, if I could only get this in print…
For more from St. Ed’s entertainment journalist Sara Ortiz, visit “A Little Bite of This, A Little Bit of That.”
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Guest Blogger: Proctor Anderson
Things are expensive. I know, pretty obvious statement. But true. I do my best not to buy expensive things. Most of the time that means I just don’t buy anything. Yet other times it means I find ways to spend less on normally expensive things. Today I offer two examples of buying under sticker price.
Second: “Guitar Hero World Tour Bundle” for Playstation 3. For the past 3 years, I have avoided buying plastic video game instruments. “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” games have always seemed fun, but I could never get over the price points. The “Guitar Hero World Tour” bundle costs around a hundred dollars no matter where you look. On Sunday I was at Target and I checked out the electronics section out of habit. There weren’t any good markdowns in the game section and nothing good in DVDs so I started to walk to the register. Then tucked away in an end-cap where two copies of the game and one guitar for only $22. So I snatched one up and took it to the register. On my way home I stopped by a Hollywood Video and — lucky me — they had “Guitar Hero” drums on sale for only $10. So I got the whole bundle for a third of the list price. I’m pretty excited about it.
Feels good buying $180 worth of stuff for $70.
Read more of St. Ed’s Proctor Anderson entertainment journalism at Things that Entertain Proctor.
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Charity Bartending at Ruth’s Chris
Neat idea that should be copied: celebrity charity bartending …
Donaji Lira behind the counter
On Wednesday, it was apparel buyer Donaji Lira’s turn to take orders at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse …
Brenda Thompson and Ron Ramelli
A shiny crowd gathered among the overstuffed chairs and wood accents to machine-gun the orders at the former El Rey rep …
Robin Campbell and Joanie Reed
She earned $1,200 for the Texas Heritage Songwriters Association through the cash tips …
Mary Herr Tally and Linda Parker Traylor
I spent most of my time with clear-eyed publicist Brenda Thompson, whose reflections on life are even more acute than her observations on the Austin social scene.
Margie Hook and Mike Carr
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Unmarketing
By using social media — like the sample you are reading — Stoddard’s group hopes to use “the Web to build influence, improve reputation and earn trust.” That’s the subtitle, by the way, of “Trust Agents” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Brogan will speak at the unsummit later today. I like his blog and his plain, jargon-free, practical advise.
Why am I using terms like “unsummit” on “unmarketing”? Because it seems the rise of social media and the decline of traditional advertising has left marketers without their tried-and-true means of communicating with the public. They have to “undo” what they’ve done before. Kind of like journalists, huh?
I checked in with the unsummit this morning and picked up a copy of “Trust Agents.” Will report what Stoddard stirs up later. Also, I understand there may be some social news out of the all-day event.
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