Jamie’s Brain

If you like wrestling or hockey and tough chicks then you’ll love rollerderby. Last night my firend Jodi and I went to watch 2 LoneStar Rollergirls‘ teams, the Holy Rollers and the Rhinestone Cowgirls, duke it out. It was awesome. For $10 we got to see some serious action. It took a while to catch on to the rules, but during half time we read in the pamphlet and were totally educated by the second half. There was live music before and after. The whole thing is being filmed for a reality series coming on A&E.

The girls each perform under wonderfully polished characters. The most intense that I saw last night was Mz. Behavin’. She is the most petite of them all but she puts on a game face like no other. You really just have to go to understand the whole little subculture surrounding girls rollerderby.

I’m hooked. I bought my tank top, and I’m going back for more.

oh the coolness of your water at it’s 68 degrees
and the beautiful sloping hill to lay on and catch a breeze
the chill takes away the heat of the texas sun
everyone’s there for some relaxing and some fun
only 3 bucks for an afternoon of play
when you are closed on thrusdays it causes me much dismay
the hippies and the people doing capoeira on the hill
the occasional topless chicks and guitar players at will
its refreshing to go there on a lazy afternoon
oh barton springs i hope i see you again soon

I’ve seen a new phenomenon lately at some of the shows I’ve been to - the homemade concert t shirt. They’ve been just white t-shirts with black marker writing on them. At NIN I saw some people who had written all of the halo albums in a row on the back. Some chick had lyrics from different songs all over her shirt. Then at Bright Eyes this dude had the lyrics to ‘When the President Talks to God’ on the back of his shirt. Nice to see the creativity out there.

So the last couple of times I’ve been to shows at Stubb’s, there have been massive lines to wait and get in that have lasted a good while. It baffles me that no one has seized this opportunity to use this captive audience as a promotional tool. Here are some of my ideas:

1. sell the concert merchandise while people are waiting in line. i bet the main reason people don’t buy concert t’s (besides a sometimes ridiculous price) is having to carry them the whole show. this way one person could run the stuff back to the car while their friends wait in line.

2. it’s hot here. sell us some drinks or ice cream or snow cones or something.

3. you’ve got a bunch of music lovas standing around. radio stations can set up their remotes and play us some music and have some sort of contest or something. give away some swag.

just my two cents!

With most of my shows in reruns through the summer, I’ve decided to watch the reruns of 2 shows that got a lot of critical acclaim over last season that I ahd missed - Lost and Desperate Housewives. DH hasn’t been on much due to basketball, but Lost has me hooked. It is so different from any show that I have ever seen. It plays out much more like a movie. The writers knack for creating suspense is unreal. Every week I get more and more wound up about their situation. It is really amazing. The cast’s diversity is another strong point of the show - there are so many characters and they are all given depth. ABC is back as a network, for sure.

so i started a new class at the atomic dance factory entitled cardio striptease. and let me tell ya, it was very interesting. it was fun and something different, but of the low impact variety. the class begins by the instructor telling you that it is ok to touch yourself - everybody puts their hands out in front of them, then touches their boobs. it’s liberating. there’s lots of thrusting and gyrating andf genuine stripper moves. the music is raunchy. the lights are off and club lights are on. there’s a weight component which is the hardest part of the class. but it’s the last ten minutes that is the funniest. we are instructed to get across the floor to a chair set up on the other side of the room, without walking. then you do a lapdance. i got rugburns on my knees. it was a little strange doing a lapdance for a complete stranger chick, all sweaty and wearing sneakers. but i have much more respect for strippers now.

check out a really funny clip from the daily show about a similar class here. It’s towards the end of the segment.

Factory People is one of the best places to get clothes to make you hot in Austin. What makes this store really great is that they are constantly putting on cool events. Last night Donnie and I went to their Father’s Day event, where they had music by DJ Black Madonna, go go dancers Boom Chica Boom, and free drinks from Red Stripe and Tito’s. It’s great to chill out on their upstairs patio, people watching Austin’s fashionable boys and girls. We even had a chance to win a gift certificate - but unfortunately our number was 1 off! Donnie got himself a shirt, and we had a fun time running into some of our friends there. Then we were off to see Batman Begins at the Alamo.

Last night Donnie and I went to one of our most favorite Austin spots, The Alamo Drafthouse, to see Red Light Burlesque. It was very entertaining. The live music was fun and appropriate for the show - Chili Cold Blood. We watched footage of old burlesque while we waited for the show to begin. We imagined what these women were doing now - they’re probably grandmas or great grandmas. What if that was your grandma up there? They all looked like they were very drunk or drugged out. How times have changed from that to present day strip clubs. Back to the show - it was tasteful and fun, definitely a good date.

I great movie that I watched recently is The Station Agent. It won an audience award in the dramatic category at Sundance in 2003. It’s got several actors in it that you’ve seen other places you just don’t know their names. One of the main guys is on Six Feet Under - he plays one of Michael’s bodyguard friends; you know, the one that propositions him. Anyways, it’s a great movie with unique characters. A good cameraderie film.

So with my free time that I have a lot of lately, I’ve been getting really into cooking. I dished out some money for some better kitchen gadgets, like knives that really cut, and have found it to be the best money spending decision I’ve made in a while. So I watch The Food Network and have fallen in love with Rachael Ray’s cooking show 30 Minute Meals. I can watch it and then go print the recipe from the website. It’s fast and easy stuff to make that is so good. I’ve been impressing people right and left, which makes me feel good. And Donnie is definitley happy with my experimentation. I like her show particularly because she combines all different kinds of ethnic foods in a friendly way. She gives tips on how to cook stuff that I would otherwise have never known - and it wouldn’t tell you those types of things in the recipe. For instance, don’t add the salt to boiling water for pasta until it starts boiling or it can stain the bottom of the pot. It took me a couple of episodes to see that EVOO = extra virgin olive oil. But I like it. I also like that the show is not freakishly Martha Stewart polished. Sometimes she spills or miscuts things, or stumbles her words. It more realistic and thus makes me feel more like “I can do that!”.