First of all, a word of advice to anyone who wants to go to SXSW. Plan ahead, mother fruckers. Plan faaaaaar ahead.
Now, Edward's done an awful lot in his long life but, let me tell you, he sure was excited to go to Austin, Texas for the SXSW festival. I mean, he is SUCH a big music fan (as we all know)!!! I think maybe Edward was looking for some new genre of music (I guess ALL music gets old after awhile, right?).
Anyhoo, because I'm cheaper than a baby chick (get it? Get it?!) I was going on a flight that left Philly at the ass crack of dawn. Edward didn't care too much but I have to admit, I was kind cranky about it.
If you squint really hard there's a plane in the background. It's REALLY dark at 3 am!! I was hoping to get some fun shots of Edward looking uncomfortable jammed into a 747 with everyone and their mother but the harried looking flight attendant informed me that you're not allowed to use a cell phone while the plane is in flight (oddly enough, she seemed totally nonplussed about the fact that I was clutching an action figure in my paws). Um, if using a cell phone might somehow muck up the flight and cause us to all meet our demise (except Edward, natch) in a fiery crash to the ground then I think I might need to rethink my whole 'oh-don't-worry-planes-are-totally-safe' attitude. Just sayin'.
But I digress. Like Edward, I was pretty excited about SXSW. There were something like 1900 hundred acts playing down there, and holy-fecking-shit were there a lot of people!! It's a good thing Edward really gorged himself before we went down there or things could have ended up being a real bloody mess, especially if the Volturi decided to 'clean up'.
The first thing we did was pick up our rental car. While we were there, Edward noticed a car that Alice would totally dig and he got all excited and wanted to
borrow rent it.
Unfortunately, it wasn't really in our budget so we got a Kia Rio instead. Edward mumbled something really fast, you know how he does that sometimes, and I couldn't quite make it out but I'm pretty sure he said something about 'being totally fucking uncool.' Whatevs.
Since we had taken a ridiculously early flight we had the whole day to party on in Austin! Naturally, we hit the town as soon as I freshened up (Edward always looks fabulous, the bastard). We hit the bar that ML was playing and I was tickled pink to find that they had free Red Stripes. Now, normally I'm not really much of a beer drinker, but in this fiscally unstable economy I figured I should take one for the team and suck it up. The beer, that is.
I would have taken more pictures of Edward at this bar but, for some reason, some twatwaffle went apeshit crazy and started shoving the beer bottles away. Apparently she was jealous that Edward was getting more attention than her.
Now, here's the thing about this little 'incident'. People really should be careful about who they decide to screw around with. I have no idea what made her angry but if I were her, I would have thought twice about screwing around with some chick who was taking pictures of a gawd damn doll in a bar. I think that makes it pretty obvious that I'm lacking certain social filters, ya know?
Anyway, we wandered around for a bit, checking out the local scenery and what not and then Edward made a pit stop at the ATM.
From there on out we pretty much raced around Austin, trying to catch as many bands as possible. Some of the lines were insanely long but Edward is a bit more patient than I am so it didn't bother him too much. I guess that whole immortal-never-sleeping thing makes a guy pretty zen about a line that stretches around the block, ya know?
Dude! Edward even got a little raucous and went crowd surfing!! Rock it old school, Edward!
But the best part of SXSW was by far being lucky enough to see
Peelander Z. Those guys are totally off the fazook. Edward kind of scoffed at their theatrics but, after the show, he reluctantly admitted they were pretty kick ass, for humans.
Edward joining in the festivities Even Edward thought this was kick ass. I mean, the dude is hanging upside down from the freaking scaffolding by his ankles. Playing guitar. I can't even play guitar sitting in a chair.
Afterward, we hit another bar that ML was playing and Edward insisted on getting this photo to send back to Emmett. He loves to razz Emmett about getting clobbered by that grizzly but Edward's secretly glad because he thinks Emmett's a pretty cool vampire dude.
And then, it was time to go. :( Edward was a doll (excuse the pun) and helped me pack my things.
Our flight left super-duper early again and I barely stumbled my way to the airport. Edward, on the other hand, was bright eyed and bushy tailed, as always. I sometimes resent him for that. And then we were on our way home.
SXSW was definitely a great time and I can't wait to go again next year. It was certainly a very overwhelming trip but I'm glad me and Edward got the opportunity to do it!
Edward had one more reason to love SXSW - he was pretty popular with ladies (minus that one crazy chicky) and even some of the guys! More on that later...