Famous

“Gee shucks, there sure is a lot of fam-ous people here in Austin for south by southwest!!!”

I know, I know, if you are reading this and you live in certain parts of the US (i.e. New York and Los Angeles) you’re probably thinking “yeah, yeah, yeah…” but when you live out in the cuts in a glorified truck stop / state school, you don’t often get to see in person the people you see on television, in movies or on album covers. For us yokels it’s usually kind of a thrill. A cheap thrill, but a thrill nonetheless.

But certainly there exists a healthy contingent of people who are decidedly not impressed, and seeing celebrities up and close is no big deal. I feel kinda caught in the middle. Most famous people, I’ve found, are very nice and appreciative of your attention (as long as you don’t push it and remain kinda mellow. No kissing Mike Patton on the hand or anything…), but there’s always the chance that someone you admire is in a bad mood and is being a total dick to you, Mr. Lou “jerkfacepoopyhead” Reed. And that can honestly ruin your love of their art a little.

But still, for the people who look down on the starstruck and make fun of gawkers, they can right fuck off. There is nothing wrong with showing gratitude to someone for them making art that you have enjoyed, or has influenced and inpired your life. That’s called respect. For some of them, that’s what keeps them going.

For me, I still get a little bit excited when I run into someone I know, famous or not. But honestly, it’s better running into someone you do know, especially when it’s unexpected. Like when I ran into Seattle’s Iceage Cobra on the street corner. On Friday, following my Joseph Arthur interview, I stopped for one second to get my bearings and remember where I was supposed to be going, and whamo! I run into two totally rad dudes, who lead me to another rad dude. I’d rather run into a bunch of excellent friends than Elijah Wood, Michael Stipe (who is apparently gay SURPRISE SURPRISE WOW I NEVER SAW THAT COMING…fucking christ, duh…) or Lou Reed any day of the week. Cheers! Oi! Oi!

Not that I care or anything, but the Four Seasons lobby is like the lion’s den of celebrity-dom. Roll call thus far:

Billy Gibbons

Billy Bob Thornton

Lyle Lovett

Lou Reed

And just added to the list as of 2:00 AM this morning, ICE CUBE.

People who stay at the Omni or Embassy are BLOWING IT.

End Transmission…

Occasionally, somebody in the music industry messes up while sending an email. Sometimes you end up with this:

My inbox looks totally rad today, and since I’ve been ordered to “blog at least twice a day, more if you can” by the man who signs my checks, I’ve decided to share this with you, dear readers.

Luckily, most of the resulting e-mail discourse was a love fest full of how’s-it-goings and random comments on Lou Reed. To everyone on this list who was kind enough to respond to this clarion call and include their address in their signature, please expect unsolicited material from my band Bear Hunter in the next two weeks. We have a new album out, you know…

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