Articles by Janet Jay
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The Sounds of SXSW
Even though it’s now passed the quarter-century mark, this year’s 25th annual South by Southwest festival managed to retain the youthful exuberance at its heart, maintaining its reputation as one of the largest and most influential music festivals ... -
Take it To Go
The trailer food movement is gaining speed throughout the nation (in some cases literally). There are more than 103 trailers serving food throughout the Austin area, and more pop up every day. Why are chefs happy to leave restaurant jobs for the privilege of ... -
Inside the Cathedral of Junk
The Cathedral of Junk is what you get when you combine bicycles, street signs in three languages, weathervanes, televisions, carabiners, Christmas lights, shopping carts, minikegs, and 60 tons of everything under the sun. It’s the kind of place that a ... -
Kung Fu Fun
Austin’s Kung Fu Saloon is founded on an excellent idea: it’s fun to combine beer with the video and arcade games that people in their 20s and 30s grew up playing. The recently-opened Saloon is a cavernous space with cement floors and a full bar (34 ... -
A Virgin in Black Rock City
On the sides of our RV, green masking tape spelled “Yay!” and “Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” while two Burning Man symbols graced the front grill as well as the roof inside. I was headed to my first Burning Man, and I had no idea what I was getting ... -
Bumbling Around the Bay
Everybody was waiting for me. It was time for me to leave for my first windsurfing trip to Corpus Christi, and by the time I’d shaken off my deadline, the whole car was packed and ready to go, with the boards atop the Volvo hatchback and booms and sails ... -
The Tiniest Bar in Texas
The Tiniest Bar in Texas is – guess what! – the tiniest bar in Texas. Technically this is true: the “bar” itself is inside a small building with a few tables and big-screen TVs. Customers queue single-file at a small window to get ... -
Refreshing Down Home Awesomeness
Although the outside of the Poodle Dog Lounge is anonymous gray cinder block with a French poodle hand-painted on a lilac background, it may as well have a flashing neon sign that says “Awesome. Dive. Bar. Inside.” You enter and see a long bar, hundreds ... -
Tubing the Guadalupe
Ever since we moved to Austin, my boyfriend and I have been told over and over about tubing (sometimes called “toobing”) the river. Friend after friend told us that grabbing tubes and alcohol and floating leisurely down the Guadalupe River during the hot ... -
Lone Star State of Mind
There are many reasons that Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon is one of the most iconic dive bars in Austin. Why? Well, one thing is the chicken shit bingo. And that’s just what it sounds like – they place a bingo board on the single pool table, ... -
Approach the End in Style
No matter who has died, funerals don’t differ much from one to the next: there’s a black hearse, a slow funeral procession, mourners filled with grief. Garland Crabb, a Bryan, TX resident who has been riding motorcycles since age 15, had a better ... -
Life After SXSW
South by Southwest Film is all about the indie. Last year, one such indie, That Evening Sun, premiered at the Austin megafest and won both the Audience Award for Narrative Feature and a special Jury Prize for Ensemble Cast. It then went on to tour the ... -
A Little Slice of SXSW
When it's time for South by Southwest, the city of Austin grinds to a glorious halt. Sick days are faked, classes are skipped, and the influx of national and international guests means that every couch in the city has someone sleeping on it. Austin is ... -
Movies About Music, SX Style
This year's South by Southwest film festival might have well be named "Films About Music: 2010." Almost two dozen movies that premiered or screened to festival-goers were directly about music or featured it as a major part of the film. They ran the gamut ... -
SXSW's Most Buzzed About Films
The South By Southwest Film Festival is unique: nine days, seven theaters, over 100 movies, innumerable panels, a trade show, and even an acting workshop led by Arrested Development's Jeffery Tambor. Trying to decide where to go and when is a little ... -
SXSW for Beginners
Attending South by Southwest is an experience like no other. The three fests under the SXSW umbrella – Interactive, Film and Music – each hold conferences, panels, and networking opportunities between March 12-21. Theaters all over Austin screen festival ... -
See You at the Highball
Wanna play some fun and games? Get yourself to the Highball, a grown-up's playground that also looks like a swanky retro hotel. The Highball is that rarest of birds – a bar that presents itself as vintage that makes the effort to actually be ... -
How About Some Dinner with Your Movie?
Dinner and a movie? Please. How passé. Dinner during a movie? Definitely cooler. Dinner during a movie where you can consume plentiful amounts of your favorite alcoholic beverage while watching both first-run movies and cult classics? Score one for ... -
Strike a Pose for Annie Ray
If you live in Austin, you’ve probably seen Annie Ray, even if you don’t know her name. She’s that girl manning the photo booth at the cool concerts, the hip clubs, and wherever it is that you should have been on Friday night. Somehow, with bright ... -
The Royal Bangs Return Home
The Royal Bangs make high-energy pop that melds together the best of 80s hooks with the frenetic fuzz of garage rock. Formed in 2005, the quintet was preparing to disband when the drummer of the Black Keys, Patrick Carney, heard them on MySpace, fell in love ...
