Personal Day in Austin

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I decided to use my Personal Day to go to Austin. Some people I know complain about the ‘Californication’ of the city but I don’t care.

I didn’t go to Austin proper right away, though. I first went to Cedar Park, one of the city’s suburbs. I ate some Indian food for lunch and visited the Half-Price Books (one of seven if you count the ones in the suburbs along with Austin’s). I found a copy of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult’s first album and an X-Treme X-Men graphic novel that’s rare but had a much better aftermarket price than what both Amazon and eBay typically offer for it.

Before truly heading in to Austin, I stopped at the Lakeline Mall to see how it’s been since the last time I was there. The Gift World store has a lot of anime merch and I actually had a conversation with someone there before I had to really make it to Austin. It was also a breath of fresh air to see some young kids interested in the medium.

Finally, I made it to Austin and carried out my plan to see the Melvins for the 4th time. I was able to make it to The Mohawk without being stalked by a stranger and warmed up (It’s cold down here now) by the fire in the club’s bar area. I had a short conversation with one of the female bartenders before the venue was truly open. I had a conversation with a nerdy/geeky woman while the opening act (Toshi Kasai) performed an interesting electronic composition. Red Kross performed next; they were good but I am not really familiar with their music. Their bassist, Steve McDonald, is in the Melvins as well and Melvins drummer Dale Crover was doing double duty along with Steve. They returned with King Buzzo and the Melvins finally played. They performed an even mix of their older and newer works and I got to spend the moment with the geeky woman again. She did have a man around her and behaved very close to him but she didn’t mind having me around. The other guys in Red Kross joined the Melvins at the end of their set and had a loud final jam.

Sounds like a nice time you had.

Good to know you're doing well!

Exactly how cold is it in there now?

Sounds like an awesome day marknis, good for you! What Indian food did you eat, I love Indian food.

Chicken curry with some rice and naan bread. If I wasn’t hurting for cash, I would’ve gotten a full tikka masala meal.



It’s sunny now but the wind is cool which is actually nice after going through the summer inferno. It was in the 30’s in Austin.

I'm kinda jealous! I was a punk many years (decades!) ago here in the UK, but I was always really more into the US punk bands (Black Flag, Big Black, Minutemen, Dead Kennedys, etc. of the 80's), and their many influences on subsequent bands and genres. I would have loved to see the Melvins, but I never caught them on any of their rare visits to the UK. It's great to hear that they're still a creative band putting out new material and not just recycling the old hits as so many of the UK punk bands seem to be doing lately.

Glad to hear that you found a "breath of fresh air" - I should probably do that a bit more often myself.

It's going to be 80 in Austin in about three days.

Sounds nice! My sister lives in Austin, so I've been there once and it seemed like a really cool city.

Whoa, Half Price Books! YES!
I bought WWI propaganda recordings on the original 78s for 50 cents apiece there!

Sounds like you had a nerdy good time. Those are the best!