Waterloo Records – The Pleasurecraft

SAT., OCT. 11, 2003

Even with the exodus of thousands of Longhorn fans, it looks to be a busy weekend here in Weirdville. Those who resist the pull of the orange and red yin-yang of the Cotton Bowl will be amply rewarded with a host of interesting festivals, events, and other recreational oddities. Thursday night the Austin Film Festival “kicks off” the Texas/OU weekend with a night of stars at the Paramount. Specifically, Gina Gershon will be pimping her new film, Prey for Rock and Roll and Eric Stoltz will be on hand for Happy Hour (that being the film he’s screening – although you might find him at the Four Season’s bar around beer-thirty). You can also catch Gina jamming that night at Antone’s with Girls Against Boys. Friday during happy hour, Waterloo Records hosts an in-store with venerated songwriter John Hiatt, who appears the following night at Stubb’s with neo-bluesman Robert Cray. Saturday, if you’re not out at the Barktoberfest in Cedar Park, you can check out the eats at the Mediterranean Festival at St. Elias Church (on 11th Street between the Capitol and Symphony Square) or head on over to Rosewood Park for the 2nd annual Soul Fest which features music by Crunk Texas Click, Silhouette, and Arnie Sykes among others. Later, if you’re brave enough, you can drive down to South Austin Karate on Old Manchaca Road for the International Knife Thrower’s Hall of Fame induction ceremony, the kickoff event for the Central U.S. Knife Throwing Championships, featuring 40 knife throwers from all over the world (and very likely Christopher Guest with a notepad). If a bunch of knife throwers in South Austin isn’t weird enough for you then you’ll surely want to hike over to the Convention Center for the Austin Green Festival, a two day organized gathering of tree-huggin’, otter scrubbin’, Earth lovin’ businesses, organizations, and people like yourself dedicated to ecological balance, social justice, and a sustainable economy. Think of it as the Organic Cotton Bowl. Come early, be green, and wear hemp. More than 100 exhibitors will be on hand to hawk green products like organic beeswax, grass-fed beef, and aromatic native plant soaps as well as green services like socially responsible investing and greenbuilding. Attend seminars with intriguing titles like: “Organic Farming: Real Homeland Security,” “Building Community Through Dance,” “The Power of Conversation to Change the World,” and “The Art of Being Present.” After all, being present is 90% of the grade anyway, isn’t it?

FRI. JUNE 18, 2002

The corner of Sixth and Lamar has become something of a nexus of contemporary Chronicle culture. Some of the shaggy haunts of the early days are now in the midst of a slightly dressier, more refined middle age, much like their patrons. Waterloo Records made the move up the hill some time ago and has since been joined by heavyweights Whole Foods and Book People across the street. Each manages to attract a steady stream of Central Austinites and suburban interlopers in search not only of provisions, but a sense of cultural identity as well. On any given night, the corner is likely to host an in-store music performance, a cooking class, or a book signing. Such is the case Tuesday at Bookpeople, when journalist-turned-author Kyle Spencer blows into town to promote SHE’S GONE COUNTRY: Dispatches from a Lost Soul in the Heart of Dixie (Vintage, $13). The book is a memoir of sorts about Kyle’s move from the Big Apple to work at a newspaper in the relative Southern backwater of Raleigh-Durham. Once there, she encounters all manner of interesting freaks and customs that a quick trip to a Tarheels football game would have easily evinced, but Kyle, a writer to the core, discovers them the hard way: by dating. Tuesday night at 7pm she’ll host Girls Night Out: Heartbreak Southern Style where she’ll be reading some choice comedic passages and swapping worst breakup stories with the locals. Make sure and bring a pen because the best story will earn a “Heartbreak Recovery Package” containing bubble bath, chocolate, some tissues, and maybe even one of Kyle’s books.