Day 4 represented my exposure to a broad cross-section of all that hipster culture in Austin has to offer. First, Jenny, Dew, and I visited Mojo's, where we had the opportunity to drink a little coffee, and swap dog stories with dreads-wearin', tat-sportin' hipster gal who watered the outside ferns before she drove off in her VW van. I kid you not.
But that was only a prelude to the day's central event and ultimate highlight, a trip to see Lost Boys through the eyes and quips of Mr. Sinus Theater at the Alamo Drafthouse. I was an on-and-off fan of MST3K (not having addicted myself to digital cable until I came to Syracuse), but I must say that (a) it's even funnier live, and (b) it's a blast to see/hear the process applied to the 80s teen movies that I took far more seriously when I was a kid. Oh my god, but this was hilarious. It was me, Jenny, Kyle, Diane, Michelle, and Mark (who gets a link here only as an attempt to shame him into putting at least as much effort into his UT site as he did on his Penn State incarnation).
And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my brush with man-krush fame, a chance to swap remarks with John Erler. John is slightly shorter than the lead singer from the old Australian band Midnight Oil, but you're pretty much on the right track if you start there. Said John to me, "Any friend of Jenny's is an enemy of mine." And I like to think that his jokes about Plato's cave, Noam Chomsky, and Howard Zinn were just for me...sigh...
Afterwards, we stopped at Cuba Libre, a bar next door to the Alamo. Unfortunately, the Ricky Martin and Penelope Cruz look-alikes featured on their website weren't in attendance that evening. There were, however, dozens of yuppie hipsters who undoubtedly each drove their SUVs to be there and to look good. Wow. From the description on the website:
As darkness falls, "CUBA LIBRE" will slowly transform into a stunning, upscale lounge. Until the Cuban embargo is lifted, this is the closest you'll get to Cuba without leaving the mainland and harrowing shark-infested waters.
Don't ask me why they needed to capitalize their title and put it in quotes. They do it with all sorts of terms on the site. One can almost imagine them getting the copy from their web designers...
As darkness falls, "INSERT CLUB NAME HERE" will slowly transform into a stunning, upscale lounge....
Their speciality drink was a concoction of rum, lime, and mint, and was quite tasty, but the tables were soldered to the floor, and all the chairs/benches faced in one direction. With six people, it wasn't exactly conducive to conversation. And let me just say, if a room full of sharp-dressed, yuppie hipsters is as "close to Cuba" as I can get, then Cuba's even farther away than I thought. And don't even get me going on the guy who was wearing a black trenchcoat with chains hanging from it and sporting the Billy Idol 'do. He was a mullet short of passing for Kiefer Sutherland from Lost Boys, and may have in fact dressed up for the show. I can only guess...
ps. And while we were there, the Marlins won. Stat of the night: since the Marlins were created, they've won no division titles and two World Series. By comparison, the Atlanta Braves have just the one World Series trophy. Kind of bizarre, if you think about it. For my purposes, the sight of the Marlins celebrating in Yankee Stadium makes their mound party at Wrigley a lot easier to take...and you can't help but feel good for Ivan Rodriguez, who labored with crap pitchers for years and years in Texas and had to sign a 1-year deal, only to lead that team to the Series. Good for him. Pudge is this year's Gracie...
Leave a comment