With the SXSW Music Festival just days away and the madness of the Texas Two-Step winding down, I find myself feeling introspective and relaxed. It feels good to embrace these aspects of my environment. I'm all for building a sense of community. To me, that's the selling appeal of political involvement. I'm aware that whomever comes out on top is unlikely to solve all our problems or create a platform for world peace, but to generate excitement and ideas within communities renews that basic necessity of bringing people out of their houses and into discussions. It frightens me that people are often complacent with politics based on the common perception of a flawed system. What hope is there for progress without passion and participation. A spark is capable of the strongest fire. Ignite some inspiration.

Speaking of inspiration, I was fortunate to host my friend Christin over the weekend while she stopped in Austin during her four month American journey. Having her here renewed my confidence in my personal, anti-midlife crisis, lifestyle decisions. While I have admittedly thrown in the towel on irrational relocations for the time being, it's comforting and reassuring to converse with another wanderlust about their experiences and the insight they've gained. Furthermore, I was proud to tour her around my new stopping grounds and confident that her time in Austin was well received. Also, her timing was perfect, as I was able to give her my leftover camping equipment/freeze dried foods to help prepare her for any spontaneous camping. I'm always happy to dodge the bullet with the internal battle between my clutter-phobia and wastefulness.

I'm pretty sure this self proclaimed inability to deal with clutter keeps me at a constant, but low level of OCD, especially with event organization. With next week's SXSW festival quickly approaching, I'm a little overwhelmed about my lack of agenda, considering the stark contrast to my planning compulsion last year. I guess I'll be taking the low anxiety approach. I've taken the time to RSVP to everything under the sun, now it's a matter of throwing it on the wall to see what sticks. And I am super excited to be hosting today's USA Today's Pop Candy's coolest girl in Brooklyn's first Austin experience. I'll try to update daily, and I may even pull my shit together to post my tentative/ideal itinerary.

Last night's Daily Show had me crying I laughed so hard. In case you missed it, here's Demetri Martin's hilarious segment on youth voting:



Enjoy!

For more of last night's episode go to TheDailyShow.com. Jon's interview with Brian Williams is also pretty wonderful.

With tonight's Democratic Debate at Cleveland State University, those of us residing in Texas and Ohio are likely feeling the importance of participating in the primary next Tuesday, March 4. I, for one, am trying to make my final decision, as I am still undecided between the two, and as a new resident, I'm making sure I understand the unique process of the dual primary/caucus system here in Texas.

This Travis County website provides a comprehensive, user friendly way to verify whether you are registered to vote and gives you all the necessary details to get you to your polling location by 7 pm on March 4. BUT that's not all, after the polls close, Democratic voters need to return to their poll locations for the caucus at 7:15 pm! I know that sounds like a whole lot of running around, but I'm confident that this will all demonstrate great historical significance.

As I prepare for a weekend camping excursion to the Guadalupe Mountains in west Texas, it seems only natural that I would find myself spinning a constant rotation of gritty stripped-down Americana music, namely that of the Felice Brothers. Something about their humble, introspective, turbulent tales, and the landlocked adventures depicted in their lyrical focus provides a basic and instinctual companion. They offer a Dylan-esque honesty which just about anyone with a pulse and a conscience can relate to. WDST Radio Woodstock describes them as,

A bunch of slouching Hudson River pirates, the Felice Brothers are. They're natives of the same wooded portion of Upstate New York that was the sometimes physical and always mythical home of The Band.

I think the geographical influence (as it applies to The Band, Dylan and the Felice Brothers, collectively) is truly fascinating, primarily because I grew up in the same region. It's not hard to picture the boys jamming out on a front porch at a Sunday barbecue. Their authentic, down-home music feels like an organic extension of their environmental influence. To me, it's just as beautiful and refreshing as the Catskills.



The band consists of three brothers (Ian, Simone and James) and their best friend Christmas, who is rumored to have been a traveling dice player. True to form, The Felice Brothers tour in a 1987 short-bus and paid their dues performing in New York City Subways. They were "discovered" at a farm market in Brooklyn by a free-lanced music writer, and have since toured with Bright Eyes and The Drive-By Truckers. Conor Oberst's label, Team Love Records, will be producing their American-debut, The Adventures of The Felice Brothers, Vol. I, which is set for release March 4th [pre-order here]. The double-vinyl version drops in April.