SXSW 2009 ended a week ago and I still miss it. For the unfamiliar, SXSW = South by Southwest, a 10 day festival of music, film, and interactive shows and conferences. Interactive = social networking, blogging, etc. I'd say the music part is the biggest with a line up of bands so long it quickly becomes overwhelming. I missed out on a few acts I wanted to catch like Lady Sovereign, Vivian Girls, Amanda Palmer, and a handful of others, but that's just how it goes. Here's who I did get to see:

Von Bondies - solid

Maki Rinka - unexpected but good

Hesta Prynn in Civil Shepard - saw twice!

We Were Promised Jetpacks - bad pic but great band

Dananananakroyd - very screamy

Camera Obscura - finally got to see live

The Proclaimers - remember them? I would walk 500 miles?

Glasvegas - good performance despite audio issues

Bomani Armah - awesome, favorite show of SXSW '09

Magneta Lane - singer has an awesome voice.

Marcy Playground - no pics, so here are some of the lovely people who I got to listen to music with. lazyJ, VA, and Amanda.

I'm too lazy to myspace link all the bands but check them out if you're looking for new stuff to listen to. We Were Promised Jetpacks are my new fave. More 2009 SXSW pictures here

Based on a recent UK Study there's an online calculator to check your chances of getting type 2 diabetes. A simplistic explanation of type 2 diabetes is wearing out your pancreas by an overconsumption of carbohydrates. I have a family history of it, so it was nice to check my risk.

Online Type 2 Diabetes Calculator

You can use google to convert imperial measurements to metric. (ie google "5ft 10in in cm" or "150lb in kg" and it'll give you the conversion)

Interesting (to me) side note, all countries official use the metric system except for four: United States, the United Kingdom, Burma and Liberia

I haven't been snowboarding in years and I sort of forgot how much fun it is. We went to Crystal Mountain and conditions were amazing. I thank the fresh powder for the minimal bruises, AND I got some good boarding advice that really helped me up how EXTREME I am on my snowboard. I was shredding it hard I tell you, and I didn't even give myself a concussion this time! I totally need to go more often.

I now have three items on my list of things wrong with Austin TX
1) Lack of good seafood
2) No nearby snowboarding
3) Not all my favorite people live there. But they should.

Cool short film. Give it a look-see if you have about 8 minutes.

Sorry for the lack of posting, been busy. I'm half way to seattle right now to see this guy and do some snowboarding:

Next week is the music part of SXSW which will be awesome.