Traveling for the Young, Fabulous and Broke - Getting Started

So as much as you love Thursday $1 drink night, you find yourself wanting to get out and explore the world. How do you turn that day dream in statistics class, into a reality that puts you on the beaches of Greece reenacting your favorite scenes from Moma Mia? Whether you're planning on going for a week or planning on going for a year, with intentions of meeting that sexy Spanish Bull fighter and never returning. The key word is PLAN. The plan is an absolute must. The easiest way to begin, is to ask yourself the following questions and tackle them one step at a time.

The Where - Where do you want to go?
The Who -Who do you want to go with?
The When - When do you want to go?
The Why - Why do you want to go?
The What - What do you want to accomplish from this trip?
The How - How are you going to make this happen?

THE WHERE?
Most people already have an idea of where they want to go, but if you don't -- have no fear! It's nothing a basic google search can't solve and pretty soon you're discovering exactly what that destination just might be! Once you have an idea of where you want to go, you may want to go to the bookstore and check out some of the guidebooks that are specifically written about what part of the world you wanting to travel. However, I wouldn't buy anything just yet, you can gain plenty of knowledge from just skimming. Plus, unless you're loaded, these guidebooks can add up quickly (the average guide book costs about $25). If you just absolutly can't leave the bookstore empty-handed, I have found the Eyewitness Books excellent and the best place to start for a number of reasons:

1) there are lots pictures, so you can actually see where you want to go.
2) they brake it down for you as to what is a "must see."
3) In about 15 minutes, you can already start speaking intelligently about where you want to go;
4) You can instantly start impressing people with your knowledge of that part of the world -- whether it's convincing the parents to hand over cash to fund your adventure or convincing the lovely lady at the end of the bar to go home with you and your "free spirit."
5) the book also looks pretty awesome on your coffee table or in your bathroom library and is always a good conversation starter, both before and after you return from your trip. Unless you run away with that bullfighter, and at that point, selling the book online, is always a viable option.

SXSW Highlights

Got this list from my friends Holly and Deb and then added to it, feel free to add to it by commenting below:
Highlights old and new.. In no particular order:

King Khan & The Shrines (Canada/Berlin) http://www.myspace.com/thekingkhanbbqshow

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (New York, USA) http://www.myspace.com/thepainsofbeingpureatheart

Janelle Monae (Atlanta, USA) http://www.myspace.com/janellemonae

Snake & Jet's Amazing Bullit Band (Denmark) http://www.myspace.com/snakeandjet

Micachu (London, UK) http://www.myspace.com/micayomusic

Chairlift (New York, USA) http://www.myspace.com/chairlift

The Bird and the Bee (LA, USA) http://www.myspace.com/thebirdandthebee

Post War Years (London, UK) http://www.myspace.com/thempostwaryears

Rye Rye (Baltimore, USA) http://www.myspace.com/tharealryerye

Drink Up Buttercup (Philadelphia, USA) http://www.myspace.com/drinkupbuttercupband

Beach House (Baltimore, USA) http://www.myspace.com/beachhousemusic

Casiokids (Norway) http://www.myspace.com/casiokids

Hockey (Portland, USA) http://www.myspace.com/hockey

Yelle (France) http://www.myspace.com/iloveyelle

Easy All Stars (New York, USA) http://www.myspace.com/easystar

N.A.S.A (California, USA) http://www.myspace.com/nasa

Natalie Portman's Shaved Head (Seattle, USA) http://www.myspace.com/natalieportmansshavedhead

Black Lips (Atlanta, USA) http://www.myspace.com/theblacklips

Max Tundra (London, UK) http://www.myspace.com/maxtundra

Late of the Pier (Nottingham, UK) http://www.myspace.com/lateofthepier

Box Elders (Nebraska, USA) http://www.myspace.com/boxelders

The Strange Boys (Austin USA) http://www.myspace.com/thestrangeboys

Blitzen Trapper (Portland, USA) http://www.myspace.com/blitzentrapper

Bishop Allen (New York, USA) http://www.myspace.com/bishopallen

Au Revoir Simone (New York, USA) http://www.myspace.com/aurevoirsimone

The Asteroids Galaxy Tour (Denmark) http://www.myspace.com/theasteroidsgalaxytour

Flosstradamus (Chicago, USA) http://www.myspace.com/flosstradamus

PRIMAL SCREAM
ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN
Gomez
The Proclaimers
M. Ward
Razorlight
Aqualung
Nacional
Maserati
Explosions in the Sky

Pictures From Lofty Dog Fashound Show

http://saketini.blogspot.com/2009/03/pictures-from-lofty-dog-fashound-show.html

Stuff White People Like #123

Television is one of the keys to a white person’s heart. A proper reference to Arrested Development or the lending of a Wire Season on DVD are considered two of the easiest and most cost effective ways of getting a white person to like you. But with both of those shows off the air, their utility is being quickly depleted. Thankfully, there is Mad Men.

Mad Men is a TV show on cable with low ratings, multiple awards, critical praise, and full seasons available on DVD. It’s no surprise white people love it. And while you could apply the previously mentioned techniques to gain white friendship, Mad Men has an entirely new world of possibilities.

The show is set in 1960 and features meticulous art direction that strives to make the show as historically accurate as possible. This veracity makes the show especially vulnerable to one of white people’s favorite activities on earth: finding mistakes. And as is always the case with white people, the harder someone strives for accuracy, the happier a white person is to prove them wrong.

“Oh yeah, it’s a great show don’t get me wrong. But you think at least one person would have know than those IBM Selectric type writers didn’t come out until 1961. I mean, it’s so obvious.”

But it is not recommended that you start searching for mistakes on the show. Doing so would require a massive amount of time spent on the internet. Also, if you point out errors that other white people missed they might be intimidated by you.

Instead, the best way to use Mad Men is to suggest or host a themed party.

When you say the words “we should have a Mad Men party,” white people will immediately latch onto the idea and begin planning. By the end of the day, they will have picked proper attire and emailed you a drink and hors d’oeuvre menu. In the days and weeks leading up to the party white people will be thinking of clever ways to make it more authentic.

Remember parties are fun, historically accurate themed parties are legendary.

During the actual event you should constantly mention how much people used to smoke and drink back then. A few white people will lament the days when they could smoke anywhere, then another white person will say something about cancer and it will get awkward. At this point you should try to steer the conversation back to cocktails and how good everyone looks.

The party should essentially run itself, however, you can severely curtail the amount of fun by saying: “I’m glad this isn’t really 1960 or else I’d be serving all of you.”

White people often find truth to be very depressing at theme parties.

Back on the Radar

I fell off the Radar for the last month, because of two things:
Brasil trip for three weeks followed by 10 days during SXSW, for whatever reason, Ping.fm no longer can remotely post my updates to blogger or myspace so I have to manually come into blogger and post. But I am back now, and will probably post some links to my photos so you can at least see what I've been up to. In the meantime, look forward to seeing more "@ work" entries as well as events here in Austin. Although honestly, today is only day two of a week long SXSW recovery, so just remember patience is a virtue.