21...again.

Ok, I know I already wrote about the film "21" that is coming out this Friday, March 28th, but I figured that one more post really wouldn't hurt.

I have the book "Bringing Down the House" sitting next to me at my desk, and an extended trailer that shows inside looks at the movie and the five main players. Why am I so excited about this movie? Because I am a card counter at heart.

Note - I didn't say I can do it very well, and I wouldn't ever admit that I was...but still, it is everyone's dream to go to Vegas and beat the system. Especially if you are doing it with style while getting incredible comps from casinos while cleaning them out in the process.

This will be the last time I write about this movie (I hope), and no worries, I have at least seven posts in draft form that I can post...I just wanted everyone to have one last chance to change their minds if they weren't already going to see this movie this weekend.

If you are going to see this movie: Enjoy this clip and get that much more excited about it!

SXSW 2008 wrap-up

Holy shit. Let me just say how amazing SXSW was. Yes, this year the bands were not as good as the last few, but the free drinks and food were flowing like water.

Not only that, but just the possibility to hear 1,700 bands (about 1680 that you have never heard before) and to experience their music for FREE is amazing. Capitalist America has definitely not figured out about SXSW in Austin, TX and let's hope it stays that way forever.

Here is a list of bands that I saw in the two days I had off work to catch shows:
Santogold
The Cribs
Cut/Copy
Simian Mobile Disco
Lightspeed Champion
The Black Keys
Fuck Buttons
The Stills
Lucero
Black Mountain

Here are some bands that showed up for secret/not scheduled performances that I really wish I had heard about in advance:

Ludacris (seriously - who would have thought Luda would show up in the middle of a park for a free day show?!)
Moby
Paramore
Tom Morello
Ben Harper
Serj Tankian
Perry Farrell

Shows that I missed that I am still crying about*:
REM
Lou Reed
The Black Angels
Vampire Weekend
Tokyo Police Club
British Sea Power
The Vines
Back Door Slam
Pharrell Williams & N.E.R.D.
Ice Cube
Talib Kweli
She and Him
DeVotchka

The best part was when my RSVP +6 ended up getting used twice to get around 12 people in to Rachael Ray's party with free food and a completely open bar for 5 hours! My friends and I drank until we couldn't dance anymore. Also, the DJ for the party was the guy that played "Pedro" in Napoleon Dynamite - and he was pretty damn good.

*Most of these shows were either on days I was at work or were at 1am and required a wristband, a badge, and/or money to get in. My goal was to see shows/drink/eat all for FREE. Starting to drink at 11am usually means you are dead around 11pm....if you don't believe me, you try it!

SXSW pre-game

I will be doing a LOT of drinking in the next few days for both SXSW and the celebration of one of my favorite holidays - St. Patty's day!

You really can't go wrong with either of these events, because most of the alcohol will be free (if you have never been to SXSW free day parties you are missing out on all the free BBQ and beer you can get your hands on).....Plus, who doesn't want free booze on St. Patty's day!?! BUT, just to be safe, I figured I would add this little chart to help everyone troubleshoot any symptoms that might occur during their binge drinking.

*Actually, I just found this randomly in my photobucket account and instead of deleting it I posted in a blog. Crafty or just a cheap way to get a blog in before I head out to SXSW?

SXSW 2008: Movies

SXSW has two main parts: Movies and Music. Movies go from Friday the 7th until Tuesday the 11th (today), then music from the 12th until Saturday the 15th (also celebrating St. Patty's day).

Since I have to work during the entire movie portion of SXSW, I thought I would just show some of the people I have missed seeing.

The first is probably from the only movie I actually am upset about missing; 21. This is based on the true story of MIT students in the 90's that used their math skills to turn Vegas upside down by sounting cards as a team to win millions and millions of dollars. I have the book "Bringing Down the House" that this movie is based on and I absolutely love this story. To make it better, they have Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) playing the lead. Well, unknown to me, he was in Austin this past weekend promoting the movie. Apparently he also went to a bar I usually frequent and grabbed a mic to sing a cover of the Beatles song "Girl" and rocked it.



The other group of people I missed are in a movie I really don't care much about, because it sounds ridiculous...the firt one was amazing though. These three are John Cho, Kal Penn, and Neil Patrick Harris. Even though meeting Kal and John would have been hilarious (and probably some great stories would have followed) - nothing would have been better than meeting Neil Patrick Harris! His character on How I Met Your Mother is absolutely amazing and makes the show great. My friends Adam and Wil even suited up on the off-chance they would see him downtown..which they didn't.

Our other friend apparently hung out with him all day after running into him at a local restaurant, and even got to post party with him late into the night. Ugh...why doesn't anything like that ever happen to me?



I also missed Helen Hunt, but strangely enough I don't really care enough to load a picture of her from yesterday in Austin.

Hopefully when I get to venture out of the workplace and into the SXSW music scene I will have bigger and better pictures of celebs/bands that I can say I actually saw for myself.

*Update at 5:30pm.

I apparently also missed two HUGE stars that I would LOVE to meet: Kristen Bell and Jason Segel. Jason is absolutely hilarious in How I Met Your Mother and in his other movies, and Kristen Bell is just plain hot. Who wouldn't want to meet them?

Well, apparently they were in town also promoting their upcoming movie Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Who knew I would miss out on so many celebrities that I find hilarious...

Well...There goes my gambling problem.

Starting two days ago on March 4th, a new law was enacted so that every person who wins more than $5,000 in a poker tournament must report their earnings to the IRS and pay a 25 percent tax on these winnings!

What. The. Hell!?!

I love gambling. Love it. I also love playing in poker tournaments, and even though I have never won close to $5,000 - this still blows. The entire point in gambling is to make money and have fun...this doesn't sound like the IRS knows what the definition of "fun" is.

First they made it illegal to be playing (and paying) for off-shore online poker sites. Now, they are trying to hit us at home in Vegas - one of my favorite places in this nation. I think I am going to be sick...

Here is the article.