John McCain's daughter is into The Dead Milkmen

There was an article in the Austin Statesman on March 20 entitled "John McCain’s daughter loves indie rock". If the title of the article isn't good enough, the entirety of the article is "Attention Transmission promoter Graham Williams: She is a huge Dead Milkmen fan.". I find this awesome, because the Dead Milkmen were a great band. The lone commenter points out that Sid McCain has worked for a few major record labels.

Article ranting about people talking during shows

There was an article in the Austin Statesman on March 22nd entitled "Shhhhh! Music being played" The journalist rants about how people are too loud during gigs in Austin. 9 commenters agree with him. Only one disagrees. I've only played a few shows in Austin, and they were all at Trophys, which is a pretty rowdy bar. They weren't the kind of shows where anyone would want to keep it down. I understand that it's annoying if people are talking too loudly through a soft performance (one of the commenters sites people talking through a Johnny Cash solo set that he video taped), but most groups are loud enough to rise above the conversation. Certainly all high energy bands are looking to spur vocalization from the crowd. I'd just be surprised to hear that it's actually gotten that bad. Since when can you not just turn to someone being too loud and tell them to keep it down.

Fake Austin City Limits Fest Poster

There was an article in the Austin Statesmen yesterday entitled "Exclusive!!! ACL Fest poster!!! (It’s a fake)". Someone made a fake poster with a fake lineup for the Austin City Limits Fest, which won't be announcing it's line up until April 15th. Whomever made it, emailed it to a lot of interested parties, and many people were tricked. Three people commented on this. One of the comments struck me as random. He said "the fact that paul westerberg is listed was an immediate indication that it was a fake.". I can't figure out why he thinks that? Paul Westerberg was the singer of The Replacements, a great band, and still tours playing his solo material and material he wrote for The Replacements. It wouldn't surprise me to see him at this type of event. Maybe the commenter was reffering to the fact that he's not quite as famous as most of the names on the poster, but I don't know. He has to be more famous than Explosions In The Sky or Band Of Horses, who are listed in the same section as him, let alone the half dozen bands on there that I haven't heard of.

Moody Blues

A review appeared in the Austin Statesman yesterday entitled "Review: Moody Blues at Austin Music Hall". The reviewer bashed the Austin Music Hall, for having horrible sound, even though it has just been renovated. Most of the five commenters agreed with the reviewer, accusing the owners of renovating the hall so it could fit more people, but not paying any attention to the sound.

Austin Statesman has an article that actually asks people to comment

An article appeared in the Austin Statesman today entitled "Too young for cell phones at school?". The last line of the article is "Tell us, what do you think of this policy?". The publication is looking for comments. They've only gotten four comments of yet, but it just came out today. The comments are on both sides of the issue, and there's already someone claiming that anyone who disagrees with him is an idiot.

BATPAC endorses Meeker, Morrison article

There was an article on March 18th in the Austin Statesmen entitled "BATPAC endorses Meeker, Morrison". The article is about a city council election, and me, not really knowing the candidates, didn't find it too enticing. 28 people commented though. Most of the comments are suggesting that there's some sort of foul play involved. I can't be sure of what's true, but I found one comment particularly amusing stating "Has Meeker already received more than $300.00 from the BATPAC? Fans of open government want to know". Are people mad about $300? That can't really be the case. As if $300 would give an unfare advantage in an election.

"Noriega, citing U.S. deaths in Iraq, stills Web site" article

There was an article in the Austin Statesmen yesterday entitled "Noriega, citing U.S. deaths in Iraq, stills Web site". Rick Noriega (I appologize for not mentioning this in my last post) is Texas' Democratic senate nominee. The article is about how he's using his website to bring awareness to the deaths of US soldiers in Iraq and his opposition to the war. It spurred two comments, both critisizing Noriega. The main comment was from a veteran who has returned from Iraq. He's accusing Noriega of exploiting the deaths for his own political gain. Maybe the commenter is right, but my first reaction is actually the opposite. I feel Noriega is probably using his public notice as a candidate to speak about an issue that's important to him. First, Noriega served in Afganistan. Second, I'm not certain, but I don't think opposing the Iraq war is something that will get you a lot of votes in Texas. A lot of Noriega's campaign focuses on how he's a good old boy from Texas, even though he's a Democrat. I'm not sold that he's exploiting the soldier's deaths, when he's calling out to end the war and spare those who have not yet died.