Browsing Tag

East Austin

Austin, Music, Pop Culture

Nothing Says Halloween Like a Karate Rock Band Wearing Prosthetic Limbs

My boyfriend has a band.

They’re called The Karate Kids.

They sing about the Karate Kid movies including the ill-advised remake starring Will Smith’s son.

They wear prosthetic limbs and perform each of their songs in the kicking crane position.

If this doesn’t sell you on them already, check out some of their songs. Side note- my boyfriend can’t sing. I will never tell him this and I hope you don’t either. It is a fact that he already knows and he doesn’t care. This is what I love about him: the determination to never give up and keep creating. Since he can’t sing, he ends up sounding like a cool higher-pitched Lou Reed/Leonard Cohen-hybrid.

Nicole Atkins (see below) played in the band for a few shows. Sissy Spacek likes them, and Bill Murray told them that he would go to one of their shows, but in truth, HE LIED and didn’t show up.

The Karate Kids are playing Halloween Night 9:15PM at East Austin’s non-douchey, two-steppin’ hipster hangout, The White Horse.

Details are here.

Hope (more…)

October 30, 2012 by
Austin, Fashion/Design, Pop Culture

Adorable Hipster Animal Drawings Illustrate the Hipness of East Austin

Two days ago I was stuffing my pie hole at Another Broken Egg Cafe (if you haven’t been to this one-part indulgent, one-part healthy Southern comfort food spot, it’s worth checking out!) when I noticed a bunch of animals dressed as hipsters on the wall. Of course this would catch my attention. Of course.

How can a bunch of cutesy hipster animals not catch your attention? Huh? HUH?! If they don’t catch your eye, then a piece of you has died!

The collection, done in scratchboard style by a local artist named Janis, is called “Eastside Zoo” in honor of the hipster animals of East Austin. At the Eastside Zoo, we have cats with Texas tattoos, frogs drinking Lone Star and armadillos DJing.

I’d like to think of myself as the raccoon with a flannel.

Reprints of Janis’ work are for sale for $20 on her Etsy page Creative Scratchings.

They’re kind of awesome.

 

October 9, 2012 by
Austin, Fashion/Design, Hipstercrite Life, Travel

East Austin Named One of America’s Hippest Neighborhoods (pics)

Forbes’ named East Austin the  no. 7 hippest hipster neighborhood in America, beating out other popular spots  such as New Orlean’s Warehouse District and Downtown Portland.

Though there is nothing remotely groundbreaking about this honor, it’s always fun to see our little neighborhood mentioned in the press.

The Armageddon-like proportions of Austin’s allergies are making it difficult for me to walk, let alone think right now, so in lieu of a waxed poem about my beloved neighborhood, I’m going to share with you some of my favorite East Austin photos I’ve taken over the years.

Though I’ve had my ups and downs with the neighborhood, there is no place else I’d rather live in Austin (except for maybe Hyde Park).

 

Selfie at Longbranch Inn on 11th Street

Geoff at Thunderbird Coffee on Manor Road

An adorable (and tasty!) Iced Latte with homemade vanilla syrup from Vintage Heart Coffee on E. 7th Street

Delicious homemade bread bowl soup from Gourmands on Webberville (more…)

September 24, 2012 by
20-Something, Austin, Music, Pop Culture

JD Samson Shows Her Support For Austin Music Venue Cheer Up Charlie’s

One of my absolutely favorite owners of the lady mustache, JD Samson, will be DJing at one of my absolutely favorite hangouts spots, Cheer Up Charlie’s, tomorrow starting 3PM-10PM.

Dream combo!

Samson will be there to support Cheer Up as they grapple with the city’s noise ordinance to shut down music before 10PM on weekends and 8PM Sunday through Thursday.

To learn more about the Cheer Up Charlie’s vs. The City & One Cranky Neighbor story, go here.

Details about the event can be found here. Starts at 3PM, $5 at the door, free beer, 1104 E. 6th St.

A Note from Cheer Up Charlie’s about the event (this event is too cool to even have a flyer):

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR CHEER UP CHARLIE’S AND ALL MUSIC ON EAST SIXTH!

The government is telling the kids to turn the music off at 10:00 PM.

You know what? That’s fine. The night salts out game anyways. We are going to turn it up so loud during the daytime for the neighbors, the government, and God herself to better see us.

August 31, 2012 by
Austin

You’re My Butter Half

New post later today.

In the meantime, check out this adorable street art I stumbled upon in East Austin.

*Tip to business owners: Put some sort of love-related graffiti/wall art on the outside of your building and you are as good as gold. You will get more indirect press that you could ever imagine.

 

June 4, 2012 by
Austin

Goddamn, East Austin!

OK, gang.

The new blog is up and running.

The final verdict was “Goddamn, East Austin”.

I’m still test-driving the title. Most people and my raunchy self seem to like it, but the lady in me is saying, “What the fuck, Lauren? Do you seriously have to swear all the mother-fucking time?”

My first post is a review of the FAN-FUCKING-TASTIC! Salty Sow on Manor Road. Whooooweeee this place is good!

You can follow Goddamn East Austin’s Facebook page here.

And Twitter here.

In the meantime, enjoy this photo of Salty Sow’s Bananas Foster Beignets with nutmeg ice cream.

 

May 23, 2012 by
Austin

Help Me Pick Out A Title For My New Blog!

Hipstercrite isn’t going anywhere. I will be chained to this mo-fo for the rest of my f’ing life.

I decided to start a new blog though. One that I felt didn’t fit the confines of Hipstercrite.

It is a neighborhood blog about East Austin. Sort of in the same vein as Fucked in Park Slope. Except amongst the humor, there will be the occasional crime alert because I believe that stuff is important (i.e. I’m a paranoid crazy).

The blog will have new store/restaurant openings, events, stories, interviews, crime alerts, photos, news roundups and ramblings.

I have the blog all ready to go but I’m not sold on the title. This is where I want you to help me!

Currently the blog is titled “East of Austin”. It’s simple, to the point and references literature (I soundz smart!). However, I’m not sure if it’s too simple? I’d like something a little more unique, but without having a title that a “teenage girl would come up with”, says a friend (i.e. No “Dreaming in East Austin”).

This (more…)

May 21, 2012 by
Austin, Pop Culture

Are You a Bobo?

In this week’s CultureMap article, “More than Trader Joe’s in store: Seaholm development targets ‘urban bohemians,'” managing partner of Seaholm LLC, John Rosato, used the titular term when describing the sort of clientele they want their future tenants to cater to. A lot of you thought the phrase “urban bohemian” sounded like the verbal equivalent of dragging your nails across a chalkboard, but I have news for you, it ain’t nothing new.

Try on this word for size: Bobo. Bourgeois bohemian. Does that make you want to throw up a little in your mouth, too?

“Bobo” was coined by David Brooks in his 2000 social commentary, Bobos in Paradise: The New Upper Class and How They Got There. The book describes the rise of upper middle class and their penchant for spending big bucks on organic food, brand new electric cars and all-American clothing.

They are a hybrid of the “liberal idealism of the 1960s and the self-interest of the 1980s” a.k.a. hipsters with money. Bobos are essentially (more…)

May 5, 2012 by
Fashion/Design, Hipstercrite Life

How To Plant a Garden and Become One With the Earth

I’m building a garden because 1.) I spend way too much time on the internet and want to “Get my hands in the dirt and become one with the Earth” 2.) Want to feel the pride and sweat of eating homegrown vegetables 3.) I’m bored and it’s better than drinking red wine and watching Youtube videos of tigers eating pizza boxes 4.) There was a giant hole in the yard, some cinder blocks and some bags of dirt that needed a home rather than being strewn across the yard.

I made a garden once when I was in college in Upstate New York. Much like this time around, I didn’t read a gosh damn single book, article or sentence about how to grow stuff, so I mainly ended up with rabbit-gorged lettuce, some bland corn, tomatoes (which I don’t like) and one eggplant. This time I’m growing lettuce (I think all the rabbits in Texas have gone extinct), basil, fennel (I think it’s too late in the planting season for fennel), chives (think it’s too late for that too) and I don’t remember what else.

So far everything (more…)

March 29, 2012 by
Hipstercrite Life

Creative Block or Fodder? When Life’s Challenges Affect Your Writing

Ah, writer’s block.

You never know when it’s going to hit.

The current writer’s block that reared its ugly head last week after a homeless man tried getting into my house while I was taking a shower, was actually a long time coming.

I wish I could pin it entirely on the homeless man, but in reality, he’s maybe only 50% of the blockage traveling through my creative vein right now.

The homeless man has preoccupied my thoughts.

Though he is not a danger, at least I keep telling myself, his presence has recharged any already existing fear I’ve had living on the eastside. With my fear comes the frustration that I should not live in fear in this neighborhood I love so dearly. I try to remind myself that living in a big city comes with its “character”, but within the past year, I’ve seen more sketchy shit than I have in my entire life. When I lived in Los Angeles I was shielded from the grit and grime because I lived in an apartment. In Austin, I live in a house and I’ve never (more…)

February 21, 2012 by