New Trends / The dust art of Scott Wade

October 12, 2009 | New Trends | by The Uncool Hunter |

Through watching cowboy movies, among other things, we’ve learned that Texas is full of dust. Fortunately, there are people such as Scott Wade who knows how to embellish something that is disgusting. Wade started to produce simple hearts or phrases such as ‘Wash me, you dirty fellow’ on the windshields and windows of cars. Later on, he improved his skills and now he can make a Mona Lisa or a Rembrandt by using the ‘dust extraction’ technique. He does not own a gallery because it should be really expensive but he has a huge permanent exhibition touring the city. The art of Wade reached the advertising world and brands such as Mitsubishi have used it in their graphic campaigns. Read more

Cool Websites / Yacht’s Secret Playlist

August 5, 2009 | Cool Websites | by Zolton |

YACHT founding members Jona Bechtolt and Claire L. Evans live in Portland, Oregon and Marfa, Texas, and consider themselves ‘generalists’ in the fields of music, art, writing, and everything in between. Their new album, See Mystery Lights, has just been released, along with companion materials ranging from book and mixtapes to a limited-edition playable copper record of mantras. We checked in with Jona to get his thoughts on the music that inspired their own album and he started with the Radha Krishna Temple song, Hare Krishna Mantra: ‘A not-so-secret-thing about YACHT is that when we see Hare Krishna monks dancing down the street in their orange robes and shaved heads, it takes a great deal of self-control for us not to run after them. This is not to say that we want to stop them or join them. We just want to see what happens at the end of the chase’. Read the rest of Yacht’s Secret Playlist.

New & Cool Architecture / The Kimber Modern Hotel, Austin, Texas

July 29, 2009 | New & Cool Architecture | by Zolton |

Whilst in Austin the other weekend, I spent a couple of nights at a beautifully designed hotel called the Kimber Modern, which is located in the happening SOCO area, just a short hop, skip and sideways roll to the bustling hive of restaurants and cafes along South Congress. The Kimber Modern is a hotel with a twist. First up, the architecture is stunning, this elegant and contemporary building with subtle splashes of color to break up the overall white-walled minimalism. And then there are the clever design touches, such as communal hammocks made from car belts, and a giant tank churning liters of water in a calming, almost Zen-like manner. [photos by Alison Zavos] Read more

Cool Travel / Austin Motel’s phallic signange?

July 27, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Zolton |

I was in Austin last week and spent a night at the Austin Motel, where the rooms are all themed and the signage is a little … err … suggestive. As far as I can tell, it’s either telling me to bugger off or to come prepared. I mentioned it to the receptionist as I was checking out, asking her about the story behind its rather provocative nature, but she clearly didn’t find any humor in it and dryly responded that it was erected in 1938. Erected? Hmmm.

Cool Travel / Chicken Poop Bingo at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon

July 14, 2009 | Cool Travel | by Zolton |

From deep within the WTF files, comes this out of Austin, Texas: a dive bar at which a rather unique form of bingo is played. Yes, every Sunday at Ginny’s Little Longhorn Saloon, a dive bar near the main college campus, the locals play Chicken Poop bingo, which involves a poor fowl wandering aimlessly about a cage full of feed dropping its bundles on random numbers. When these ‘bundles’ find the right hole, ‘the patron with the corresponding ticket number wins cash’. Ah, huh. OK, bingo! Yippee. [photo by Connie Tsang]

New Music / Golden Bear’s new EP, Everest

February 4, 2009 | New Music | by Zolton |

Having played South By South West over the past couple of years, Golden Bear have just released a souped up new EP, Everest, which sees the Texan rock band playing together like they would at a rehearsal or a show. Says frontman Chris Gregory: ‘I was a little anxious about being able to approximate the sound of our live show in the first place, but I figured to hell with it-let’s give it a shot. And I’m glad we did. There were no endless nights of playing the same song 150 times, no overscrutinaztion, and in all honesty, no hitches in the plan whatsoever. It was loose, rowdy, and rewarding, just like our shows’. You can download the Golden Bear track, All The Stars [listen below], for free via the Music Download section in the third column of the Lost At E Minor site.

New Photography / Look what the cat dragged in

June 21, 2008 | New Photography | by Zolton |

Says Austin photographer Rachel Marton about her series on dead rodents: ‘There was a small ring of death around my house. consisting of a mouse, not even fully grown, and a chick, just lying on the sidewalk’. Read more

New Photography / Brittanie Pendleton

June 7, 2008 | New Photography | by Zolton |

Working out of Texas, photographer Brittanie Pendleton captures slithers of untouched serenity. Her photographed world is slightly unsettling for its moodiness and ambiguity, but its grittiness and muted colors are beautiful and engaging. Read more

New Art / Janet Karam goes Funkytown

April 24, 2008 | New Art | by Zolton |

I like the offbeat quirkiness of Janet Karem’s artwork. She is an expressive painter whose main area of interest is in ‘playful abstract cityscapes’. Read more

New Events / SXSW 2008

March 8, 2008 | New Events | by Zolton |

With that annual music-thon, SXSW, kicking off next week, we thought it would be a good time to put together a playlist of some of our favorite acts who’ll be performing there, including Tigercity and British Sea Power [pictured above]. So we did.