Feeding Flying Monkeys in a Wind Tunnel: March 2006

It was a busy weekend for the Leuba Jones family. As a musical family, South by Southwest is a pretty big deal for us. Sure, how we spend the week has changed since the two kids came along, but we still try to get out and hear some music. Only now, instead of going from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., we go from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. And we spend a lot less money doing it.

For us, the week started on Thursday, with Brit's Austin American Statesman show at Bourbon Rocks. It was a good show, although the venue wasn't the best. #1 - the stage was made of tile. Who's idea was that? Nate's drums were sliding all over the place. #2 - the sound in this place was terrible. It was really muddy and tinny at the same time, and that's quite an accomplishment. But the mighty Stickpony sounded great. This was their first show with Mike Stickpony, the new guitar player. Good show. This was also the first time Emily has seen Stickpony play in many, many, many months. Thank you to Gan and Gigi for staying home with Lydia and Guthrie. Brit's dad was at the show too! He had a good time, although he agreed the sound sucked.
Where do you go after an afternoon Stickpony show?

The Hole in the Wall, of course. Here, Baby Grant Johnson (from the New Vintage) plays with Rich Mullins (from Ol' Yeller). Very, very good. Grant is an old friend, and we love him. Rich is a new friend, and we love him too. These guys sounded great.
And where do you go after an afternoon show at the Hole in the Wall?

The Showdown, of course. Gan, Grumps and Gigi had to get back to Katy, so Emily went home, fed the fam, and packed the kids up for some back-porch action at the Showdown. (Settle down Mom - were were only there for an hour.)

Brit, Mo and Kirke - hanging on the porch with Lydia and Guthrie. (You can kinda' tell, from the picture, that Brit and Mo did NOT take a break and head home to hang with the kiddos, like Emily did. But that's okay. These things happen during SXSW).

Pete and Al, "The Godfather's", take a moment together, to bask in the collective glory of their wisdom and guidance.

From there, Emily and the monkeys headed home, and Brit wasn't far behind. (He had some rock stars to hob nob with first, of course.)

Friday morning found Emily at work, bright and early, but not for long. By 2:30, Emily was on her way home, with a quick stop at El Chilitos for tacos and the base ingredient for a couple of Moiras. What, you ask, is a Moira? At El Chilito you can get a delicious Mexican hot chocolate with a shot of espresso in it. Pretty good stuff in and of itself. Add a shot of Irish Whiskey, and half a shot of Kahlua and Irish Cream, and you have a Moira, named after one of our favotire women, an FW who happens to be half Mexican, half Irish and all Beautiful. And just what Brit needed before hitting the SXSW trail again. (The beverage, not the lady.)
Our first stop on Friday? The Bloodshot party at Yard Dog. This is Lydia's annual opportunity to see her godfather Pete's band, The Meat Purveyors, a great live act, and a hillarious take on the punk rock blue grass hybrid. Great show. Uncle Pete is definitely one of the very best mandolin players there is. Lydia and Emily had to struggle to find a place where we could see Pete, but it was worth it. Miss Lydia was rocking out the whole time.

We saw a lot of friends at Yard Dog, too. Francis and Mike McCoy were here from Lawrence, KS. Frances helped Brit amuse Guthrie while Emily

and Lydia were wathcing the Meat Purveyors.

Baby Grant Johnson was making the scene, too.

Darcy Fromholz was there too. She played "would you rather" with Lydia, Emily and Guthrie while we waited for Pete and Brit to finish watching the Waco Bros. Darcie is really good at "would you rather". She would rather eat a food she's never tried before than lick a tire. Me too.

After Yard Dog, we went to Pete, Kim and Loretta's house for dinner and some good old fashioned hanging out. Have you been wondering what Guthrie would look like in Loretta's Bumbo? (http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/7651/1424/1600/bumbo%20finger1.jpg)
Here you go!

If you're wondering if it's just the camera angle that makes Guthrie's leg look so chubby, the simple answer is no. It's the super-chubbiness of his leg that makes his leg look so chubby.

Take a deep breath, maybe get yourself a glass of water. Only one more day to go!

Saturday, March 18th. The Pop Culture Press party at Dog and Duck.

This is a favorite of ours. Uncle Bubba's band, The Golden Apples, play every year. And we always see lots and lots of friends, of all ages, at the show. The Golden Apples sounded absolutely great, as always. I was hanging in the back, though, with a sleeping baby, so I didn't get any pictures. Lydia was with Aunt Mandy, rocking.

Here is Guthrie, in his Stickpony shirt that our dear friend Sharon Calcote made for him. It's important to wear your best rock and roll clothes at the Pop Culture Press party. You never know who you'll see.

Over the course of the day, we saw Matthew Sweet, Susanna Hoffs, Translator, Golden Apples, the Wannabes, Steve Wynn (from The Dream Syndicate) and many, many friends.

Trip, Roxy and Lydia take a break from playing to have their picture taken.

This is Harriet. Her parents are Missy and Claude Bernard. She looks just like her dad. I used to tell people her dad was my little brother, and they believed me.

The evening (and our SXSW for this year) ended with Brit and Lydia enjoying the Wannabes together. Here they are from the back. You can see the band, and Uncle Al, too.

This is them from the front. They loooooove hanging out together.

Where are all the picture of Guthrie? Mostly, he slept in his stroller with his ear plugs in, although he also spent every waking moment in Aunt Mandy's arms, being promenaded around.

And now it is Sunday, March 19th. It's nearly 3:30 in the afternoon. We've had a big, fancy formal breakfast of gingered banana blueberry pancakes (served on a cake pedastal) with fresh fruit and orange juice served in our wedding crystal. This is the after picture. Lydia is now watching cartoons, and Guthrie and Brit are in the guest room/office with me, reading and gurgling, respectively. And, we're all still in our pajamas. It's a good thing SXSW only happens once a year.