Tinker Tailor
Friday night Lauren and I went to the movies to see the new spy drama Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Lauren had been dying to see this for months and she ended up liking it quite a bit. For me, though, it was too confusing and it was too late (9:40 showing) to fully concentrate. I knew going in it was going to be a lot to follow, and I typically really struggle watching these types of movies, so I actually read the entire synopsis on Wikipedia three times in a row beforehand–even the ending… and I still couldn’t follow. There were so many characters introduced. It didn’t help that I fell asleep for at least 30 minutes of the movie. It reminds me a lot of the times I tried to watch Michael Clayton and The Departed and The Matrix in the theater and fell asleep multiple times.

Live Music
Saturday night, a bunch of us got together for an evening downtown. Our new friends (also newcomers from Minneapolis) Chad and Jamie organized an outing to go out to dinner and then see a band as it was a special citywide “free band week.” All told there were ten of us for the evening. Before the show, we gathered at a bar downtown called Six Lounge and were literally the only ones there. We had the entire lower level to ourselves, complete with free shuffleboard and darts and comfy couches and the NFL playoffs on TV. After a while we made our way over to Antone’s for the band, where we were standing shoulder-to-shoulder amongst 700 other people in a sweaty, loud nook in the far back of the room by the soundboard. After two songs seven of us left and went back to the quiet Six Lounge.

I am quite the downer when it comes to seeing live bands, especially considering we now live in the Live Music Capital of the World. I really only enjoy seeing certain genres (country, blues, jazz) or bands that I have heard of, or know members of. But Austin is just brimming with thousands of undiscovered up-and-comers. I wish I could get into that scene more but I can’t. The shows are always late at night and at bars where I end up spending too much money and can’t converse with friends. I’ll pretty much take the quiet Six Lounge atmosphere over a band any day.

Other

  • It sounds like plans are in full swing for a visit from the Glanzers in February!
  • To make room for the parents on their visit, Lauren and I are moving our bed to the guest room and going bed shopping for ourselves. I know a guy in the biz from Simmons, and he’s scoring us a great deal on a new Beautyrest mattress!
  • Saturday morning we took Baxter to the Beagle Brigade Howl-iday Party (the previous attempt was rained out in December.) Baxter ran and ran his little heart out amongst the 20+ beagles in attendance. We were the bad parents who didn’t bring a gift for him to exchange and he must have felt left out.
  • Later Saturday we went for a long walk through the woods, then popped out the other side and walked back through residential streets. Baxter, for the first time I can remember, was lagging behind and not leading the charge. We successfully tired the little bastard out!
  • Plans are in the works to get together with old Willow Lake teachers Mr. and Mrs. Meyer, who are staying just outside Austin for the winter.
  • I’ll be in Chicago next week Tuesday through Thursday for work.
  • Look for a new surprise interview on the blog soon from an old familiar name!