So, I am now booking at three locations: Austin Moose Lodge, Club 1808, and Cherrywood Coffeehouse.  All three vary in size, shape, and crowd. 

Austin Moose Lodge is a private club, and also a non-profit organization.  All the profits go to various charities.  You need to be a member to get in, unless you are the guest of a member.  Rules apply.  The Lodge is open from Monday to Saturday, and sometimes on Sunday.  I book shows there primarily Thursdays, with other days of the week open depending on availability/size of show.  For example, Saturdays are a possibility if the expected turn out is over 200.  On Thursdays compensation is based on donations.  What I book there is all over the map, from indie to jazz to punk to whatever.

Club 1808 is a full bar with an outdoor stage, but most shows are indoor.  They have shows there mostly from Tuesday to Saturday nights.  The cover is usually $5 which we get a percentage of.  I prefer to book indie/punk or dance stuff there. 

Cherrywood Coffeehouse is a cafe located where Pato's Tacos and Quacks Maplewood used to be.  It's got beer and wine, and is open until 10pm every day of the week.  Shows are early, and for tips only, with the exception once in awhile of charging a cover.  The stage is outside, and is in a very residential area, so we need to be mindful of the neighbors, and the shows that get booked are more quiet or mellow.  I book jazz on Wednesdays, and would prefer to book mellow experimental or laid back DJs the rest of the week.

All three places have a PA on hand for use, but its not very big or complex, nor are there sound engineers. 

If you have any questions or would like to check on some dates, I prefer email: sporkbooking@gmail.com.   When emailing please send me your myspace or epk links, any open dates you prefer, and for which location.  

Thanks! 

P-nut.

the decision to blog about something usually happens at work for me.  i stand there, slinging coffee and chatting with a regular, when either an idea hits me over the head, knocking me unconcious for a few hours, or the conversation is soooooooooooo memorable i actually can retype it in a drunken stupor later in the evening...about an hour after i get off work.  usually, its about something silly.  like the other day...i made the decision that blogging about how people sometimes accidentally spitting on me would be fun. 

so in 33 years of life, i have finally realized i hate pants.  pants suck.  all they do is take up limited space and time in our lives.  i mean, skirts are much more comfortable, fashionable, did i mention comfortable?  also...pants are just lame.  you can have over a gazillion styles.  you really only have one or seven different types of skirts, which simplifies your life.  really...come on!!! whos going to vote for pants when skirts are readily available!  dudes certainly like skirts much more than the average human, and most lesbians like girls in skirts too.  i mean its a win win situation!  the ONLY person that prefers pants over skirts is wal-mart.  but then, they are the devil, so who cares! 

it had finally come to my attention that skirts rule ballsacks over pants recently when i have become obsessed with black slips.  my desire to wear skirts constantly, yet unable to due to the coldness, or bike riding, or general uneasiness when dealing with seasonal changes, has led me to wear a wide array of nice, slinky black slips and skirts over everything i wear normally.  i have also become obsessed slightly with fruits (see wikipidea for details on the 90s street fashion)  i have considered these slips security blankets (which they are, dont let me try to tell you other wise) but really i have just been in denial of wearing skirts at all times no matter what time of year it is. 

that and i have also been struggling with the idea that oatmeal should win over croissants, and that capers and olives are in fact the same things....zomg! i blame the government. weeeee!

So I don't know where this comes from.  Every storybook-unicorn-loving little girl romance entails a knight in shining armor whisking a lovely future princess away on his majestic, galloping horse.  I have come to the realization that, after the past-what-15 or so years of having romantic relations with other members of this human race, that my ideals are not quite the same.  I would much rather prefer, lets say, a burly, hairy, simple caveman, with a large heavy club, to knock me over the head and drag me, by my long unkempt hair, back to his sparse cave.  Thereupon, when I come to, I notice him trying to hand me some kind of raw meat, and claiming "ugg ugg, you my girl now, eat!" 

Lately it has felt all backward.  It feels like I have more of the caveman perspective in this situation, and well, either my club isnt heavy enough, their hair isnt long enough, the chemistry isnt there, or we cannot beam our contact information to each others smartphones because they arent compatible.   Now granted, I bet it took our ancestors a long time to find a suitable mate - first you have to escape the clutches of saber toothed tigers and possible lizard like monsters.  Then, if you arent disctracted by hunger and mere survival to chase the woman down, there is this matter of picking up the scent of a female who isn't faster than caveman and not hiding from the clutches of saber toothed tigers and lizard monsters. 

So this brings me to the point of stale coffee.  Did cavemen and women have coffee to drink?  Did they have the New York Times to read online while they waited for the bus to take them to work in their business suit? NO. It wasnt easy - dont poison yourself, or get eaten by another animal, or disease...but it was simple.  SURVIVE.  I am sitting here, eyeballing a cup of coffee from yesterday because I am lazy and broke.   Is this what modern survival has come to?  I think I am going upgrade my club to version 2.1.2 today...

i stayed home this year. home to me is austin. i have felt this way since i went to my parents home in pennsylvania last year for two weeks. when i went to PA, it was weird. i did get to hang out with Neth, Karl, and that was the highlight of the stay, but noone i knew was around, or even bothered to try to hang out very hard. i thought i would have lots of friends around to hang out with and have family time with. it had its moments, but alas it wasnt quite the same either. maybe because it was the first year ive ever done this, and had no real plans about it. moreso, i think its the fact that, as you defined, i really dont have that many friends. it seems in most recent years, i have been more and more detatched from people i have normally been very close to, and even more detatched from most of the world. i am not alone. i am around people all the time. i like, dare i say, love people. but today i dont feel any sort of closeness, or bond, to any of them. it always seems to feel that way at first, then we wander off in different directions, appearing to eye each other suspiciously as we walk away. it feels that way. i could blame many factors in this: my job, my home life, it all happened when i was 16...but in all essence its mostly me. i think my desire to be truely close to someone gets twisted this heavy burden or unecessary weight instead. brain, thats not fair, because its okay to desire to be close to someone. i should not be afraid, or handle it like a disease.

some of this really might have to do with the fact that my cell phone has been missing for over a week, and so i really have been fairly cut off from the world. although, i am easy to get a hold of online, it is easy to look over compared to a quick phone call.

so yeah, happy new year. its gonna be good, because in contrast to the beginning of last year, this one is already looking great. i just wonder how separated i will be from all of it, emotionally...man i just hope im tired and being mopey.

its cosmic, isnt it?

So I have just finished baking 86 cookies, preparing 1 gallon of hummus and 1 gallon of chutney. oh yeah, and eggnog. well i didnt make it, but i got a helluva lot of that too.

bring your food, and your appetites, and your cardigans!

I will be there at 5pm, bands start at 7pm.

weeeee!

weeee! beep.

Year of the Moose

The best new music venue in town isn't on Red River or South Congress. Like the Bad Livers' Mark Rubin, who curates monthly programs at the Odd Fellows Hall, the Austin Moose Lodge No. 1735 (2103 E.M. Franklin) has been regularly hosting shows for the past three months to attract new members. The fraternal organization, which opened its doors locally in 1966, features two assembly rooms, with capacities of 55 and 320, respectively, and because all events are private (a member must sign you in as a guest), it's technically legal to light up inside. "There's a good support system here," says local booker and member Polly Smith. "Everyone here has your back, and the fact that it's a nonprofit means the money goes to good causes, too." The Loyal Order of the Moose presents the Persimmons on Saturday, followed by Lonesome Dave Fisher this Tuesday and School Police on Thursday, along with the Plutonium Farmers' experimental, No Wave vibrations every Monday night.

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid:726682

So I am now booking for the Moose Lodge, and I am working with AMODA as their social events planner. 

check these guys out!  http://www.amoda.org

The realization that this has become more than a hobby and I have reached beyond my original potential was when the one thing i have been searching for months for - a counter to determine how many people actually come to my events instead of estimating - was given to me as a gift from a very respected and important person in my life.

Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up, and I have ABSOLUTELY no plans.  Well, I do have lots of shows planned and work but I am not traveling "home" (my parents live in PA) for any of the holidays due to work.   With that said I am all gung ho for anyone who would love to join me for some non-traditional holiday celebrations.  Let me know.

I am also looking for punk/garage/post punk bands as well as any digital artists (electronic bands?) who are looking for shows.

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 

Like my mom said: one door closes, three doors open. :)

 

and i dont really have anything to say except choose your own adventure.  that and scratchy voices might have a voice of reason.  and...i might have some source of power regarding old school thoughts and ideals.  cause, well, you know, these kids, they know, cause i know. cause we know....

sometimes, you just gotta believe

even if that means in some weird esoteric chemical god that only represents itself lyrically....you know. like, jazz. or maybe, soft rock....

Clementine got blogged about our music!   This is one of the reasons I like to do what I do. :)

http://katierobinson.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/raised-by-pandas-and-the-rage-against-the-napkin/

Thanks Katie!

Sorry its been so long since ive posted.  Been doing a lot of soulsearching and hibernating.  Got a bike!  Going to ride it! That will definately start up some pistions on this old ride...