Where Has The Time Gone?

I know, I know.....so many great Austin events have come and gone....and I missed them all!

But I'm back...and this week, I am going to see Austin like a tourist! A friend of mine from Spain is coming to visit...and I am going to show him around!

I'll be writing about some of the things that we do...from a tourist perspective!

Check back!

Austin Reggae Music Festival

That is what is on the agenda for today....

Same park as the Urban Music Festival....and it is supposed to be warmer today. Maybe I better wear a T-shirt today.

New Austin Blog

Check it out!

www.austingossip.com

it's Koooooooooooooooooooooool!

WCIT 2006

Tonight I went to a Volunteer Meeting for the World Congress of Information Technology, to be held in Austin during the first week of May.

I heard about it through austinbloggers, and i thought, hmmm...why not check it out.

I had no idea that Austin ever hosted events of this magnitude! The next conference is going to be in Malaysia! High ranking government officials from foreign countries are coming to this event.

And security is going to be TIGHT! As a volunteer, we aren't allowed to stay in the Convention Center, unless we are actually volunteering.

Needless to say, this should be a very interesting experience.....

Urban Music Festival, part 2

It was a great day! Too bad the one person that I wanted to hear, Alexander O'Neal, didn't make it to Austin, though.

It was great to see Ray Parker Jr., and Cherelle was great--even if she only got to sing 2 songs. Calloway was awesome...and well, Chaka Khan was definitely the highlight.

And it truly was a family event...no one was getting drunk, children were running around playing...and some of the food vendors were incredible. I had gumbo from Gene's, and I can't say that I have ever had gumbo that tasted so good. I will be going to their restaurant to see what other great things they have to offer.

There was a vendor named, Beautiful Love, there...their kitchen was brightly painted and they were selling fried chicken wings. Now, this is gonna sound totally crazy...but people did stand in line for 2 hours for an order of chicken wings. And yes, that includes me. I did get out of line once and went to get a turkey leg, and was told that they would be ready in one hour....so I went and got my place back in line.

I think the vendors didn't expect the numbers of people---maybe nobody expected the festival to be so successful.

As Joe Torry said,"Nobody can say that it can't be done, now."

Amen! and congratulations to everyone that had a hand in putting the Urban Music Festival together!

Today, I am off to Unity Church of the Hills to see "Celestine Prophecy"

Urban Musicfest

The first Urbanfest is going to be this weekend, in conjunction with the Texas Relays!

I AM so excited about this. I have loved Alexander O'Neal forever....and that I get to see him live and in concert here in Austin.....wooooooohoooooooooooooo!

I just hope the weather is nice this weekend!

www.urbanmusicfest.com

austin urban music festival

austin events

Spamarama

Who knew that a festival built around Spam could be so entertaining! Or that so many people would show up for it? Or that people could be so creative with Spam?

Thank goodness I was fasting! I wasn't tempted to taste anything! The display tables were unique and quite inventive! One table with chocolate dipped spam had a sign saying franchises were available. Another table had a sign spoofing Brokeback Mountain as Porkback Mountain. Another table had a "save a quail, shoot a Cheney" display. And the most elaborate display was making fun of Fema, and they handed out miniature play $5 bills with FEMA written across them.

It's kinda cool that Waterloo Park is the site of so many of Austin's festivals. Makes it easy to find and everytime you go there, you remember all the festivals attended.

A group of women named the "Sowpremes" performed...and some of the songs that they spoofed were hilarious.

I didn't get to see much of the Spam Olympics---the breaks between events were a little too long.

I'm very glad that I attended...apparently, it was the 28th Spamarama. I'll have to look later and see if anyone put any photos on Flikr.

austin