Yep that’s a lot of dough… enough dough in fact that had this money not been spent/allocated for banks,insurers,auto makers etc… each American tax payer could have been cut a tax rebate check for > $90k. Wonder if that would have helped stimulate the economy? Just Sayin’
Source: Financial Rescue Approaches $12.8 Trillion: Bloomberg.com
So Friendly Fires came through last Wed. to play the Church along with White Lies. Unfortunately I arrived w/ my posse in the middle of ‘Skeleton Boy’ which threw me for a loop because there is no way in hell Friendly Fires should have even been on stage at that point. Come to find out that White Lies were the headliner… WTF??? Band gets a little SXSW hype and they swap them on the bill? Needless to say I was pissed but that didn’t stop me from getting down. I had anticipated a lot more dancing from the crowd, which didn’t really get into it until the last song ‘on board‘.
Up next came White Lies who sound a lot like The Killers in my humble opinion. Turns out a majority of the people were actually there to see them, which would explain the lack of dancing during Friendly Fires and the uptight 30 y.o. frat alumni in the crowd with 30 packs of miller light. One of them tried to start a fight with my friend Marvinh who was trying to move in closer. He punctuated his point by saying he had like “30 boys outside” ready to rumble. We laughed this off and enjoyed the rest of the show before heading back to my place for a drink.
On our way out to the bars we see the two Eds from Friendly Fires on the corner so we yell out of the car window our praises. To which they signal for us to stop; we did and they hopped in ordered us to take them to the Pope in South Philly. We complied with their demands; and then we got them drunk! The lead singer Ed then tells me about gay parlors in Germany where people “skat” on each other. Ed swears he’s only ‘heard’ of such places and does not speak from experience. Sure 
Thankfully Marvinh brought his camera.
more pictures after the jump.
So I should finish this whole SXSW thing up as the lack of closure has prevented me from posting anything else. I’m not going to do a wrap because between previous posts and my twits i feel like it’d be a bit redundant. Instead I’ll leave you with Winners & Losers, a top 10 list and some videos. Ok? Good!
Winners
Beauty Bar, Fader Fort, Twitter, Weather, Fools Gold, iheartcomix, Mad Decent, Chilito,
Losers
AT&T, Purevolume, Austin ATMs
Top 10 things to remember for next year.
10. The more people in your group the harder it is… mobilization and decision making are crucial for a stress free satisfying experience; the more people the harder both of these become.
9. Once you settle on something stick with it otherwise you’ll spend all your time chasing after the next.
8. See Bands! Save the DJs for the after parties.
7. Twitter is great for SXSW… follow people in the “know” and you’ll know where all the good parties are. That said, Twitter prob sux for people not attending sxsw during that week.
6. Badge/wristband are not necessary, but be sure to rsvp and register for any and every thing possible.
5. Know what’s going on but don’t make plans… because shit happens. Its very frustrating when things don’t go according to plan, and a sure fire way to ruin the experience. Spontaneity is always fun, play your day by ear and go with the flow.
4. Get into town earlier so that you can take time to experience Austin aside from SXSW. e.g. Salt Lick, Barton Springs, hiking, etc.
3. Keep your phone charger on your person at all times! i repeat… Keep your phone charger on your person at all times!
2. Get up early enough to catch the free food!
1. Don’t count on technology! Always have a backup.
Videos after the jump.
Amazing Baby…. NOT Amazing
It’s that time again… SXSW is upon us and for the 3rd consecutive year I’ll be in attendance. The show and party schedule i’m attempting to undertake is completely absurd and I’m not sure how I’ll survive (see here). Fortunately I have a few friends who’ll server as accomplices should the going get rough.
This time around I’m going to try and live blog the festivities, so check back frequently for updates. If you find that I’m slacking in my duties please send me a direct message on my twitter @diligent.
