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SOURCE: The best cars, trucks, SUVs, and more for 2015: Editors’ Choice Awards - caranddriver.com - October 2014. *EPA-estimated highway MPG on select engine/transmission combinations. Actual results will vary. 1Based on the EPA’s annual Fuel Economy Trends report released in October 2014. Mazda vehicles averaged the highest fuel economy and lowest greenhouse gas emissions in the 2013 model year. 2When equipped with available Smart City Brake Support. Built after October 2013. Smart City Brake Support operates under certain low-speed conditions. It is not a substitute for safe and attentive driving. Factors including movement and shape of the object in front of the vehicle, weather and road conditions can all impact automatic stopping. 32014 model-year vehicle’s projected cost to own for the initial five-year ownership period is based on the average Kelley Blue Book 5-Year Cost to Own data which considers depreciation and costs such as fuel and insurance. For more information, visit www.kbb.com.
42
On the Cover: Tim League
50
Feature: Austin’s Best Bartenders
Photo by Annie Ray.
spring | contents
In the Know
legal
atx man ➜
28 24
34
the buzz
style
14 The Buzz Roundup 16 The One: SXSW Must-Haves 18 Ask the Expert: Hugh Forrest 20 Y ou Should Know: Spring Music
57 Fashion: After Hours
Spotlight 22 Young Men to Watch: Hip-Hop’s Hot Shot
the good life
68
70
24 Good Eats: JW Marriott 28 Good Ride: MotoGP 32 Good Deeds: Roatan 34 Travel: Omni La Costa Resort & Spa 39 Gear: Get Outdoors
in the know 64 Relationships: Spice Up Your Love Life
66 Health: News You Can Use 68 Fitness: Trey Hardee 70 P retty Woman Speaks Her Mind: Sarah Lipstate 72 The Last Word: Spring Forward
Cover photo by Annie Ray, annieray.net. Styled by Ashley Hargrove, dtkstyling.net. Previous page: Billy Reid Pensacola henley shirt, $125; John Varvatos lead cable-knit sweater, $298, available at Neiman Marcus, 3400 Palm Way, 512.719.1200, neimanmarcus.com.
6 ATX MAN spring 2015
24. Photo by Dustin Meyer. 34. Photo courtesy of Omni La Costa Resort & Spa. 68. Photo by Dustin Meyer. 70. Photo by Alexis Fleisig.
Photo courtesy of Circuit of the Americas.
spring | contents
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Daniel Azneer, Jamie Balli, Stephanie Bennett, Carrie Gavit, Rachel Phua, Audrey Sandberg, Scarlett R. Smith, Alison Stoos, Natalie Wetjen ATX Man is a free quarterly publication of AW Media Inc., and is available at more than 850 locations throughout Austin and in Lakeway, Cedar Park, Round Rock and Pflugerville. All rights reserved. For submission requirements, visit awmediainc.com/contribute. No part of the magazine may be reprinted or duplicated without permission. Visit us online at atxman.com. 512.328.2421 • 3921 Steck Ave., Suite A111, Austin, TX 78759
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From the Editor
A
s I write this letter, the annual Academy Awards are just days away. This year, there is much anticipation to see how one of our hometown heroes, Richard Linklater, and his crew will fare with Boyhood. Here’s hoping that this remarkable film will get the recognition and respect it richly deserves. Anyone who knows me well knows that one of the great loves of my life and one of my fondest guilty pleasures is watching films. I love them. Good, bad, long, short, documentaries, dramas, comedies, chick flicks, indies, blockbusters—I love them all. Every year, I look forward to a vacation with film-loving friends in Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival, and I thank my lucky stars when South By Southwest Film and the Austin Film Festival roll around. It should come as no surprise that I am thrilled to have Tim League on our cover for this issue. Confession: I am a Tim League fan. I love his creative entrepreneurial spirit and vision for the Alamo Drafthouse franchise. I love how his programming mirrors the spirit and soul of Austin. I love that he loves Austin. I love that he shares my love of film. I love the way he has his priorities straight (see family photos and daughters). Not only is he an innovative, creative type, but he is also a savvy and visionary businessman. Read his story and I am sure you will agree.
As spring comes to ATX, so come festivals: Moontower Comedy, Austin Food + Wine Festival and the granddaddy of them all, South By Southwest. ATX Man reached out for an overview from our 2014 spring cover man and SXSW Interactive Director Hugh Forrest. We included the pretty women of SXSW, our sirens and musician Sarah Lipstate, four bands to take in, a profile of Sascha Guttfreund and lots of info in The Buzz section and online to get you through those jam-packed 10 days in March. If SXSW isn’t your thing, Steve Habel dishes up the perfectly tranquil Southern California escape: the famed La Costa Resort & Spa. The Legislature will be in full swing as we go into March, April and May. Lots of deal making and deal breaking goes on after hours, and ATX Man found the perfect location in Malverde to show off those looks. Matt McGinnis explores Austin’s cocktail scene and reveals Austin’s best bartenders. If you find yourself downtown, drop into the new JW Marriott and check out three new restaurants with menus concepted by Chef Juan Martinez. Spring is also the best time to get outside in Austin, so we took a look at gear and gadgets to get you out on the water and hitting the trails. If it’s excitement you are looking for, look no further than the COTA MotoGP in April. We’ve got the scoop on who and what to look out for. In the words of our Last Word columnist, Roy Spence, spring is the season for liberation, and as I look through this issue and the men and stories featured in it, I realize one thing they have in common is that they have thrown off the bowlines to explore, dream and discover. Austin is the perfect place to do just that. Let us know what you learn or discover as you go forth this spring. We love to hear from you!
deborah hamilton-lynne Editor-in-Chief
Tim League and I had the chance to discuss our thoughts on the films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and joked about the differences in our choices. While we agreed on Best of Enemies, I thought The Wolfpack left many unanswered questions and was disturbing. That is the great thing about film: There is something for every interest, every taste and every personality. See you at the movies.
Tim’s Sundance Must-See Films:
Deb’s Sundance Must-See Films:
Cop Car (thriller) Two kids find an abandoned cop car out in the boonies and decide to go for a joyride. That ends up being a bad idea. This is a taut, tense thriller with great performances by Kevin Bacon, Kevin Bacon’s mustache and two very natural child actors.
I’ll See You In My Dreams (dramatic feature) This is one of the funniest chick flicks I have ever seen. Our entire group laughed from beginning to end, and there are the most hilarious medical-marijuana scenes in the history of filmmaking. The film stars Blythe Danner, Sam Elliott and Rhea Perlman, among others, and Director Brett Haley has concocted a charming look at relationships as characters grow older.
The Wolfpack (documentary) Seven Peruvian siblings live in a squalid Lower Eastside Manhattan tenement. They are cut off from the world by overprotective parents but are not cut off from the world of movies. They spend their sheltered days filming low-fi versions of their favorite Hollywood movies. The Witch (horror) This was the first movie I saw at Sundance and it remained at the top of the list for the whole week. It’s creepy, atmospheric and genuinely disturbing. This was a great year for child performances too. The performances by all the children in The Witch are amazing. Call Me Lucky (documentary) I had never heard of Barry Crimmins before wandering into this film. I now know him to be one of the most important voices in modern comedy. He’s a trailblazer himself but also gave a start to a huge number of today’s big comedy stars. What starts out as a light-hearted comedy biopic, however, takes an unexpected dramatic turn about halfway through the film.
10 ATX MAN spring 2015
Racing Extinction (documentary) This film will change your life. Academy Award winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) hits another home run with a look at mass extinction and what loss of those endangered species will mean. I made a pledge to severely cut back on my consumption of meat as a result of seeing this film. Shocking and disturbing undercover footage educated me and changed the way I want to live. This film was funded in part by Austin’s own John Paul DeJoria and his PLH Foundation. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (dramatic feature) Touching and tender, this film was so moving that one in our group saw it twice. It is a coming-of-age film brilliantly executed. It left me contemplating the meaning of life and true friendship. Brooklyn (dramatic feature) I’m a sucker for anything Irish, and this romantic film set in the 1950s did not disappoint. It’s all about the choices we make when we are torn between duty and desire, and those choices are an ocean apart.
Photo by Destry Jaimes.
Best of Enemies (documentary) The new doc by Morgan Neville, who took home the Oscar last year for Twenty Feet From Stardom, pits Gore Vidal against William F. Buckley in a series of fateful debates about the presidential conventions in 1968. This battle of diametrically opposed but equally skilled mental titans forever changed the face of TV news.
contributors Andy East is a freelance journalist and graduate student at the University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism. His work has appeared in ATX Man, Austin Woman, Dallas Morning News, Austin AmericanStatesman, San Marcos Mercury, Reporting Texas and The Daily Texan. “One of the things that has stuck with me after talking with Tim League is don’t let unsuccessful experiences deter you from chasing your dreams. If you have the work ethic, determination and passion, anything is possible. Without League’s perseverance, we may have never had the Alamo Drafthouse.” Since 2005, Annie Ray has focused on bringing out the “real stuff” in every photo she shoots. You could be a cupcake from the up-and-coming local bakery or a celebrity moonwalking up Madison Avenue. Her relationship with every subject will make 1,000 words say so much more. This month, Annie shot the cover and cover story photos, as well as the men’s fashion feature. Jonathan Rienstra is a Dallas native who recently moved back to Texas after a run at small-town Colorado life. A graduate of the University of Texas with a journalism degree, he has written for D Magazine, CultureMap and The Alcalde. He currently resides in Dripping Springs and, in his spare time, travels throughout Texas drinking beer and hanging out with his dog, Willie. Dustin Meyer is an internationally recognized wedding, portrait and commercial photographer based in Austin with more than 10 years of experience in the photography industry. His work has been displayed by Kodak in Times Square, featured in USA Today and on CBS. Dustin has been published in numerous magazines, including Southern Weddings, Style Me Pretty, The Knot, Rangefinder Magazine and more.
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Must-See Documentary Going Clear premieres March 16 at 8 p.m. on HBO We have the lowdown from jammed-packed screenings at Sundance. And the word’s out that you won’t want to miss this documentary directed by Oscar winner Alex Gibney and based on Austinite and Pulitzer Prize winner Lawrence Wright’s book. The powerful film profiles eight former members of Scientology, exploring the psychological impact of blind faith and shining a light on how the controversial church attracts true believers.
Win This! Jersey Boys Tickets: Oh, what a night! Running March 24 to 29 at Bass Concert Hall, the Tony, Grammy and Olivier Award-winning musical takes us down memory lane with the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. In order to win, make sure to like the ATX Man Facebook page and keep an eye out for a Jersey Boys-related post.
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MORE EVENTS Untapped Music & Beer Festival: Don’t miss this fantastic lineup of musicians and beers. In the spirit of the first-ever Untapped Austin, each headlining artist is paired with the perfect brew. SXSW on a Budget: We’ve compiled a plethora of free and low-cost music, film and interactive events for those of us without a badge. The Return of Draw Egan: Check out our preview of Chad Nichols’ and Elizabeth Jackson’s reimagining of this classic Western with an original and boisterous live score, March 1 and March 8 at North Door.
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MotoGP: Meet us at the track as we cover the 2015 MotoGP at Circuit of the Americas, April 10 through 12. SouthBites: Our food and drink writer, Matt McGinnis, serves up the scoop on the second edition of SouthBites and his experience sitting on the panel You Can’t Sit With Us: Craft Beer Subculture.
NEWSMAKERS Who and what from Austin have been making headlines? From KUT’s new program Texas Standard and UT President Bill Powers’ last day, to who picked up Grammy and Academy Awards, and The Long Center’s Star of the Year Award, we’ve got all the latest newsworthy details. Follow us @austintxman
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the buzz
Music
Concerts:
❱❱ Black Joe Lewis
April 18, Carson Creek Ranch, untapped-festival.com Just when we thought we couldn’t squeeze any more festivals into this city—BAM!— we get hit again. The Untapped Festival organizers have decided to bring the eighth edition of this event to Austin, having previously hosted it in Dallas, Houston and Fort Worth. For one day, and one day only, the 20-acre Carson Creek Ranch transforms into a beer-lover’s paradise, with 65-plus participating breweries and more than 200 different types of brew available. But did we mention the music? The lineup includes Manchester Orchestra, Phosphorescent, Black Joe Lewis, Jean Grae, Bear Hands, In the Valley Below, Bop English and Calliope Musicals. It’s a hell of a deal too, with presale pricing starting at $25. Prepare to rock out with your hops out.
Just Opened: Stay Gold, 1910 E. Cesar Chavez St. staygoldaustin.com
❱❱ Phosphorescent
Festivals: ❱❱ manchester orchestra
Austin’s newest music venue is a much-needed addition to the Eastside, with a comfy lounge, full bar, patio and food from Toaster, a trailer from the former pastry chef of Perla’s, Jeffrey’s and Clark’s Oyster Bar. Performances will feature local jazz, funk, soul and Afrobeat artists.
Comedy
Fitness
Moontower Comedy & Oddity Festival
Spartan Race Spartan Super and Spartan Sprint
April 22 – 25, various locations, moontowercomedyfestival.com
Back for its fourth year, Moontower Comedy Fest brings together some of the top comedic talent, from the internationally acclaimed, to up-and-coming locals. Headliners this year include Patton Oswalt, Tim Minchin, Wanda Sykes and Marc Maron, along with John Mulaney, Maria Bamford and T.J. Miller, to name a few. You won’t want to miss this oneof-a-kind festival that houses stand-up, sketch, improv and musical comedy under one roof. Badges start at $129 and go up in price from there. Get toasted at Moontower’s official kick-off party with Ron White, who’s topped the New York Times bestseller list and been a Grammy nominee. White’s Texas Toasted event celebrates Austin’s place in the comedy world (where White got his start), with special guest appearances and a performance from singer Margo Rey. 3/7: Chris Tucker, Bass Concert Hall 3/11: Kevin James, Bass Concert Hall 4/17: Nick Offerman with Megan Mullally, Summer of 69: No Apostrophe, Paramount Theatre 5/31: Jay Leno, The Long Center
14 ATX MAN spring 2015
3/5: Journey and Steve Miller Band, Austin360 Amphitheater 3/7: Cold War Kids, Stubb’s 3/8: John Mellencamp, Bass Concert Hall 3/27: Bob Schneider, Nutty Brown Cafe 3/28: Jerry Jeff Walker’s Texas Bash, Paramount Theatre 4/2 & 4/5: Sturgill Simpson, Stubb’s 4/4: Stevie Wonder, Frank Erwin Center 4/5: Bad Religion, Emo’s 4/8: Smokey Robinson, Paramount Theatre 4/10: Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys, ACL Live 4/10: The Marshall Tucker Band, One World Theatre 4/15: Polica, The Parish 4/19: Neil Diamond, Frank Erwin Center 4/21: Hozier, Austin Music Hall 4/23: Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga, ACL Live 4/26: Lee Fields & The Expressions, The Parish 5/1: The Mowgli’s with Fences and Hippo Campus, The Parish 5/9: Centennial Anniversary Gala with Lyle Lovett, Paramount Theatre 5/9: Gregg Allman, ACL Live 5/13: Dave Matthews Band, Austin360 Amphitheater 5/16: John Prine, Bass Concert Hall 5/31: Tech N9ne, Emo’s 3/27 & 3/28: Austin Urban Music Festival, Auditorium Shores 4/16 – 4/19: Old Settler’s Music Festival, Salt Lick Pavilion & Camp Ben McCulloch 4/17 – 4/19: Austin Reggae Fest, Auditorium Shores 5/2: iHeart Radio Country Festival, Frank Erwin Center 5/8 – 5/10: Austin Psych Fest, Carson Creek Ranch 5/10: Pachanga Latino Music Festival, Fiesta Gardens 5/21 – 6/7: Kerrville Folk Festival, Quiet Valley Ranch 5/24: Austin Jazz Festival, The Backyard at Bee Cave
May 9, 10, 16 and 17, Reveille Peak Ranch, spartan.com For two weekends in a row, Spartan Race will be in Austin, where fearless participants will have the chance to complete two legs of the Spartan trifecta: the Spartan Super and Spartan Sprint. The course features 20 to 23 obstacles covering a distance of 3 to 5 miles snaking through the rugged Texas terrain of hills, trails, crags and several waterfronts for a physically challenging warrior adventure. 3/28: 3/29: 3/29: 3/29: 4/11: 4/25: 4/26: 5/25:
RAAM Challenge Series Race #1 (200-mile, 400-mile bike ride), Johnson Park, Marble Falls, raamchallenge.com Austin 10/20 (10-mile run/walk), The Domain, austin1020.com Rogue Trail Series – The Maze (30K, 10K trail run), Walnut Creek Park, roguetrailseries.com/maze Saint Pat’s Half-Marathon, Lake Pflugerville North Park, saintpatshalf.com Longhorn Run (10K, 2-mile run), The University of Texas at Austin, utlonghornrun.com Shiner GASP (100-mile bike ride), Met Center 10, shiner.com/shinergasp Rogue Trail Series – The Tangle (30K trail run), Flat Creek Ranch, roguetrailseries.com/tangle Life Time CapTex Triathlon, Lady Bird Lake, captextri.com
Black Joe Lewis and Phosphorescent photos courtesy of Untapped. Manchester Orchestra photo by Andrew Thomas. Fitness photo courtesy of Spartan. Austin Food + Wine Festival photo by Nick Simonite. Spring Lineup photo courtesy of Rodeo Austin.
Untapped Austin
Spring Lineup Spring is one of the busiest times of the year for Austinites. So rest up, take your vitamins, eat your Wheaties and mark those calendars for the following happenings. We’ve packed in even more coverage of the season’s illustrious events on Pages 16 through 23, 28 and 70.
All the Way
April 8 – May 10, Topfer Theatre, zachtheatre.org Perfectly suited for Texas audiences, All the Way is based on Lyndon Baines Johnson’s first year as president. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan, All the Way won the 2014 Tony Award for Best Play. A cast of 20 actors depicts famous leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr., J. Edgar Hoover, George Wallace, Hubert Humphrey and Robert J. McNamara.
Fusebox Festival
April 1 – 12, various locations, fuseboxfestival.com The 11th edition of the Fusebox Festival will feature adventurous works of art from throughout the world, highlighting theater, dance, film, music, literature, visual and culinary arts.
Lonestar Round Up
April 17 and 18, Travis County Expo Center, lonestarroundup.com Hotrods, custom cars and Texas pride. The Lonestar Round Up celebrates the people who build and drive hotrods and custom cars and love the music, history and creativity inspired by these unique rides. With live music, art exhibits and an impressive spread of cars, the Round Up is also known for its barbecues, parties and cruise nights.
Cine Las Americas International Film Festival April 22 – 26, various locations, cinelasamericas.org Bringing together the Austin and international film community, Cine Las Americas offers narrative, documentary feature and short films, along with experimental and animation films in competitive and non-competitive categories. In its 18th year, the festival showcases contemporary films from the U.S., Canada, Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula.
Eeyore’s Annual Birthday Party
Rodeo Austin
March 14 – 18, Travis County Expo Center, rodeoaustin.com Round up the kids or your lady friend and head out to Rodeo Austin to remind yourself just how great it is to live in Texas. With traditional rodeo events, a stellar music lineup, carnival and fair, there’s a little something for everyone.
April 25, Pease District Park, eeyores.org Cheer up everybody’s favorite donkey for his birthday. This event is free and features live music. Costumes are strongly encouraged, with an opportunity to compete. It’s a great time for musicians (amateur and professional), as people are welcome to bring an instrument to play. Jam sessions, drum circles, face painting, eating, drinking and dancing: What more could your inner hippie ask for?
Food and Drink
Austin Food + Wine Festival April 24 – 26, Auditorium Shores, austinfoodandwinefestival.com
Tim Love’s grilling demo, during which attendees get real personal with a Weber and might even get to enjoy a tequila shot or two. The talent this year also incudes Andrew Zimmern, Hugh Acheson, Richard Blais, Graham Elliot, Tyson Cole, Mark Oldman, Paul Qui, David Alan and many more. The festivalgoer favorite event, Rock Your Taco, is held Saturday night at Republic Square Park, and 16 top chefs will compete for best taco. The night finishes with music from the ever-so-soulful Lee Fields & The Expressions.
Just Opened: Apis Restaurant and Apiary, 23526 Hwy. 71 West, 512.436.8918, apisrestaurant.com. Sitting on six acres overlooking the Pedernales River, this seasonally sourced restaurant also has a 20-hive apiary in the garden that’s used for the house honey. Fixe, 500 W. Fifth St., 512.888.9133, austinfixe.com. The excellent service and top-notch Southern-comfort cuisine, perfectly balanced between textures and flavors, keeps this new dining experience bustling every night of the week. If you’ve ever attended the Austin Food + Wine Festival, then you’re more than familiar with the intense mouthwatering sensation brought on whenever it’s near. Just thinking about this event makes most salivate. The festival, in true Austin form, is laid-back, social and informative, with foodies gaining first-hand knowledge from seasoned chefs, sommeliers and mixologists during the sessions. There’s also an enormous Grand Tasting tent with more than 70 food and drink vendors. Favorite sessions include
Burger Bar, Corner and Osteria Pronto at JW Marriott Austin, 110 E. Second St., 512.474.4777, jwmarriottaustin.com. Now the largest hotel in the city, JW Marriott has three restaurant concepts: upscale Italian Osteria Pronto, Texas-inspired Corner and the classic American Burger Bar. Lucky’s Puccias, 1611 W. Fifth St., 512.291.3531, luckyspuccias.com. Lucky’s brick-and-mortar location serves the best sandwiches in town with dough made from scratch. Try the wood-fired baked pizzas while you’re in.
Baby’s Badass Burgers, badassburgers.com. It seems dreams really do come true. Usually parked at the Good Life Food Park, this trailer chain from LA is a must-visit, with women serving burgers in booty shorts, tank tops and high heels. Chi’Lantro, 1509 S. Lamar Blvd., 512.428.5269, chilantrobbq. com. Although there’s a newly expanded menu, there are really only two words for this Korean fusion restaurant: kimchi fries.
Coming Soon:
World of Beer, 3109 S. Lamar Blvd. With 500 different types of bottled brews and 50 rotating taps, as well as comfort bar food, World of Beer is scheduled to open this spring. Sala and Betty, 5201 Airport Blvd. This spot is opening in stages, so expect a drive-thru window for takeout, followed by family-friendly, locally sourced lunch and dinner offerings. Counter 3. Five. VII, 315 Congress Ave. Check out the three-, five- and seven-course tasting menus at this location below Swift’s Attic. Small Victory, 108 E. Seventh St. Cocktails will be the focus of this downtown bar. VOX Table, Lamar Union. Small plates with Spanish and French influences will be served at one of the first restaurants to open in the Lamar Union complex. Al Fico, 1700 E. Second St. From the owner of Vino Vino, this restaurant will serve wood-fired pizza and Italian wines. Italic, Sixth and Colorado streets. From the ELM Group, the Italian restaurant will serve pizza, pasta and wine. Prelog’s, 360 Nueces St. From Austrian chef Florian Prelog, this European concept takes over the old Garrido’s location.
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the buzz THE ONE
Must-Haves From South By Southwest Our favorite books, albums and tech from the upcoming 2015 festival. By Rachel Phua
Book: This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship Between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture, MIT Press
Music: Arum Rae
Austin-raised, Brooklyn-based electro-rock artist Arum Rae returns to her hometown to perform at South By Southwest. Schooled at the Berklee College of Music, the artist, previously known as White Dress, released her latest EP, Waving Wild, on arumrae.bandcamp.com last November. Jam to the grunge and deep bass beats before heading out to her gig this March.
GADGET: EDGEhome
Game: Shovel Knight
If you haven’t started on this 8-bit of nostalgia, it’s time to get it. Shovel Knight is the only indie game under South By Southwest’s Video Game of the Year category. Its creator, Yacht Club Games, funded the successful campaign through Kickstarter. You play as a valiant knight on a quest to kill the Enchantress and to save his princess. The gameplay will surely remind you of your old Mario-wielding days. What Old School goodness! yachtclubgames.com/shovel-knight
PROGRAM: Disconnect
A finalist in South By Southwest’s Interactive Innovation Awards’ Privacy and Security category, Disconnect is a new practical, user-friendly and powerful open-source tool that works to protect online users from hackers and trackers that haunt web pages. The program allows users to discover these invisible trackers, encrypt their Internet use so that personal information and the IP address is protected, access blocked sites through their VPN servers and make anonymous searches. For a safer and freer Internet, Disconnect is the way to go. disconnect.me
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EDGEhome, another finalist in this year’s Innovation Awards, is a sustainable home technology that has long been needed. Using built-in wireless devices installed into electrical outlets during home construction or renovations, EDGEhome allows users to control and keep track of the power usage through their smartphone or tablet. So in case you forgot to switch off the lights or air conditioner, you can easily fix that worry in your office or while on the go. edgehome.com
Mark Your Calendar Catch all of our top picks at the 2015 South By Southwest conference and festival. ❱ This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things book reading March 16, 4:30 p.m., Austin Convention Center, Ballroom G ❱ SXSW Gaming Awards March 14, 7 p.m., ACL Live at the Moody Theater ❱ SXSW Interactive Innovation Awards March 17, 6 p.m., Hilton Austin Hotel, sixth floor ❱ Arum Rae TBA, sxsw.com
Photos courtesy of MIT Press, Arum Rae, Yacht Club Games, EDGEhome and Disconect.
Written by communications lecturer and Digital Ecologies Research Partnership fellow Whitney Phillips, This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things is an intriguing and in-depth look at the Internettrolls phenomenon that has been dismissed as an unnecessary annoyance. Phillips argues that this childlike behavior is relevant to our current social media use, users and the business-marketing climate. Whether you are a web junkie or are unfamiliar with Internet trolling and its effect on contemporary media, Phillips’ book will provide you a critical take on seemingly frivolous online conduct. mitpress.mit.edu/books/why-we-cant-have-nice-things
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the buzz Ask the Expert
What to Expect at SXSW Interactive 2015 ATX Man gets the scoop from our 2014 spring cover man, Hugh Forrest, director of the SXSW Interactive Conference. 2015 looks to be another big year for the South By Southwest Interactive Festival. We are very excited about a strong lineup of panels and solo presentations, with featured speakers ranging from Eric Schmidt of Google, to digital anthropologist Genevieve Bell, to best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell. The five keynote speakers for 2015 provide a particular point of view. Three of these keynotes are women (Paola Antonelli, Princess Reema Bint Bandar Al-Saud and Martine Rothblatt), and this year marks our first-ever keynote speaker from the Middle East (Princess Reema). Perhaps the biggest single change for this year’s event is the addition of the new JW Marriott Hotel at Fourth Street and Congress Avenue. With four floors of meeting space, this venue will host the highest number of sessions for 2015. Beyond all the panels and solo presentations, the JW Marriott will serve as home for the SXSW Job Market on March 12 and 13. (The SXSW Job Market is free to attend; no badge is ❱❱ 2014 Startup Spotlight In Startup Village
18 ATX MAN spring 2015
required.) The JW Marriott will also be the site of the new SX Health and MedTech Expo on March 16 and 17. The addition of this exhibition to the SXSW lineup plays well with the Dell Medical School and the city’s fast-growing biotech ecosystem. The presence of the JW Marriott also allows us to double the size of Startup Village at the Hilton Austin Hotel. For 2015, Startup Village will occupy both the fourth and sixth floors of this venue, and this increase in size reflects the continued strength of the global startup community. Yes, we said global. Much of the increase in startup-related programming for 2015 is a result of the significant increase in international participation at SXSW. More and more people from throughout the world want to be part of what makes Austin awesome in the spring. And the new direct flight from Heathrow to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport makes this international participation easier than ever before. Other new elements for the 2015 event include food-focused programming at the Driskill Hotel ❱❱ 2014 SXSW Gaming
(appropriately named SouthBites), as well as more fashion-oriented sessions at the JW Marriott under the SXstyle moniker. SXsports enters year two, but will move to a new venue, the Four Seasons. This year, extended, in-depth workshop programming (re-locating to the JW Marriott) becomes easier than ever to access. We are also very happy that the diversity-related sessions that focus on the black and Latino experience in technology will now be housed at the Austin Convention Center. Confused and overwhelmed by all the new elements at this year’s event? Don’t be. At its core, SXSW Interactive hasn’t changed since it launched way back in the dark ages of 1994. Forget the new names, the new venues and the new gadgets; the focus on very creative people making important one-on-one, career-enhancing connections with other very creative people hasn’t changed much during the last 20-plus years. Match that goal with the abundance of year-round creativity in Austin, and you have the formula for another magical March.
Hugh Forrest photo by Andrew Chan. SXSWi photos by Vanessa Velazquez and Rich Denis.
By Hugh Forrest
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the buzz
Spring Music Spotlight Austin artists to check out this SXSW. By Daniel Azneer
T Bird & the Breaks
T Bird & the Breaks is an Austin-based band to keep an eye on. The band, comprised of front man Tim “T Bird” Crane and his 10-person ensemble of saxophone, trombone, guitar, drums, keyboard and a funky rhythm section, draws from 1950s and 1960s legendary funk bands. T Bird & the Breaks’ loud, gravely and vivacious sound can be heard on their recently released single, Justine, which embodies their unique blend of funk, soul and hip-hop. Don’t be surprised to find yourself clapping and dancing while listening to this lively band belt out their soulful tunes. T Bird & the Breaks’ new album, Harmonizm, was released this January. music.tbirdandthebreaks.com
Parker McCollum
Sometimes compared with John Mayer, Parker McCollum delivers a heavy hand of Americana on his upcoming album. The Limestone Kid has a down-home feel with thoughtful and meaningful lyrics on what it means to be born and raised in the Texas Hill Country. True to his folk roots, McCollum has created a masterpiece of an album. The Limestone Kid is worth an afternoon listen. parkermccollum.com
Date, time and location details for each of these official SXSW showcase artists available at sxsw.com.
Sertified Quiet Company
Quiet Company released their fourth full-length album, Transgressor, on Feb. 24. The new album features the guitar-driven and epic sound the band is known for. Often thought of as a mix of Death Cab for Cutie, Weezer and Arcade Fire, Quiet Company has created their most mature album to date. Transgressor covers thoughtful topics like love, marriage, pain and despair, all while delivering an explosive alt rock album. quietcompanymusic.com
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Recognized as Austin’s very own #filthyfcknghuman, Sertfied totes heavy beats and a largerthan-life personality. Sertified’s lyrics focus on life in Austin’s Southside, a part of Austin many people don’t regularly see. Beyond his countryrap-bass-bouncing sound, Sertified explores topics like love, addiction and having fun. He’s expected to release a new album during this year’s South By Southwest festival. You can hear Sertified’s message on his album Filthy Fcking Humans. sertified.bandcamp.com
T Bird & the Breaks photo courtesy of Autonomic Music. Parker McCollom photo by Christopher Durst. Quiet Company photo by Leah Muse. Sertified photo by John Castruita.
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the buzz young men to watch
Hip-Hop’s Hot Shot Sascha Guttfreund of ScoreMore Shows is a new kind of promoter, poised to take the lead in the rap game. By Alison Stoos, photo by Hilary Pearson
Twenty-five-year-old Sascha Guttfreund has always been a go-getter. “I worked at a car wash when I was 10, then I said, ‘F*** you guys. I’m going to start a car wash!’—at 11,” he remembers. “I only had three clients: my grandmother, my mom [and] my dad. … I was was never really worried about failing.” It’s that same confidence that led him to contact hip-hop artist Afroman while he was a student at the University of Texas at Austin and waiting tables at Texas Land & Cattle. “I got [his] number on MySpace,” Guttfreund laughs. “It was sick.” At the time, Guttfreund says he could relate to the Because I Got High lifestyle, and figured the rest of the student population at UT could too. When he realized he had a marketing opportunity with the students and hip-hop, Guttfreund’s success with the Afroman show led him to a job at Aces Lounge as a talent “Who would have buyer, a job he says he didn’t thought that El Paso, fully understand at the time. Texas, would be the “I didn’t know what [the job] meant, but the owner of the club home of a 30,000-person told me to book more shows festival? We did that.” like that one, so we did,” he says. “We used the ScoreMore [Shows] mentality of utilizing a team of college students, not only to market the shows, but to dictate what shows we booked in the first place.” With a model that made sense to him, Guttfreund knew his love of music had to resonate with his peers at UT. “I listen to music all day long,” he adds. “With college students, it just made sense.”
It’s one of the most talked about unofficial South By Southwest shows every year, and it never has a set lineup. Thrown by ScoreMore Shows, The ILLMORE has attracted the likes of Macklemore, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne and Wiz Khalifa by word-of-mouth alone. The ILLMORE’s reputation precedes itself, with artists in the know already aware of the week’s most hyped house party. Typically running from Wednesday to Saturday, the music goes from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., depending on the night’s attendees and spur-of-the-moment performers, with various artists popping in and hopping onstage. Like any good house party, the atmosphere is intimate, eclectic and wild, coupling big-name hip-hop stars with eager fans, all in a tiny space. The ILLMORE is controlled chaos and a uniquely SXSW experience—one that promises to deliver once again.
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❱❱ kendrick Lamar (center) at ILLMORE 2014
Photo courtesy of ScoreMore Shows.
The ILLMORE
Five years later, armed with a promotional video showing hip-hop heavy hitters like Kendrick Lamar, Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller all singing ScoreMore Shows’ praises, Guttfreund seems to be making all the right moves. And yet, this wasn’t always the case. UT continually earns high marks on its educational achievements, along with enviable (to some) spots on national rankings of the best party schools in America, an influence Guttfreund says he wasn’t immune to. The college lifestyle, coupled with the perks of being a hip-hop promoter, led him into what he now describes as “a lot of trouble.” A particular runin with the university’s police department and a night spent downtown finally gave him the incentive to clean up his act. “I just felt like there would be a certain amount of drinks and I’d be convinced I was Jay Z,” he says. “So I would do things that, in my mind, I should do, but they were really only things that Jay Z should do.” Five years clean from all substances, including alcohol, Guttfreund has no regrets. Expressing gratitude for “a really amazing learning experience,” he now has his eyes set to the future of ScoreMore and maintaining the company’s core values. Tried and true, the thing that set them apart in the beginning is still what makes ScoreMore “your favorite rapper’s favorite promoters,” the company slogan. A genuine admiration of every artist they promote, paired with some Southern hospitality, helped Guttfreund’s company charm its way to the top. For the Afroman show, ScoreMore utilized the power of slow-roasted meat. “We had a huge barbecue get-together with 20 of our friends before the show and cooked a bunch of delicious food, and [Afroman] came through and was so excited. He said no promoter had ever brought [him] a welcome barbecue,” Guttfreund recalls. Even after ScoreMore’s success, Guttfreund remembers how it all started. “We’re still super grassroots,” he insists. “Mac Miller came into town and it was his security guard’s birthday, so we threw him a birthday party. … We’re just going to do us, and that’s OK.” And when asked about the future of ScoreMore, Guttfreund has an answer at the ready. Along with taking ScoreMore’s “taste-making abilities,” as described by the Dallas Observer in 2012, to the management world, Guttfreund sees the company continuing to expand into the tertiary music-festival market, following the hit success of Neon Desert in El Paso. “LA, New York, Austin [and] Chicago have all these festivals, but there are so many amazing cities in this country that don’t have talent like that,” he says. “Who would have thought that El Paso, Texas, would be the home of a 30,000-person festival? We did that.” Above all, Guttfreund wants to remain true to himself and his company. “We pride ourselves in only doing shows for artists that A.) we feel like we understand, and B.) that we can support whether they’re hot or not,” he says. Although he never sees himself attempting to bring a festival to Austin (“It’s like bringing sand to the beach.”), he still has big plans. “Hopefully, in five years from now, you’ll look up and [see] ScoreMore has 10 festival properties, and hopefully, we sell one day to one of these industry giants.” He pauses a moment, humble yet eager. “Maybe not five years. I’m only 25,” he says. Even though it’s said as a cautious deferential from arrogance, coming from Guttfreund, it sounds all the more like a challenge, fixed with a promise.
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good life
GOOD EATS
Craveable Flavor in Three New Restaurants Executive Chef Juan Martinez brings a world of experience to the JW Marriott, just in time for SXSW 2015. By Veronica Meewes, photos by Dustin Meyer
❱❱ If Chef Juan Martinez’s early childhood memories are any indication, his culinary career was written in the stars. “My favorite area to play when I was growing up in Puerto Rico was on the vines of the passion fruit,” Martinez remembers. “They grow in a vine and it becomes almost like a little cave. And I used to bring little packets of sugar with me in my pocket as a kid. Break them by hand, put a little sugar on, eat them right there and then dump them back!” With yucca and mango available for picking right in his backyard, Martinez developed an early appreciation for fresh, seasonal and hyper-local produce. ❱❱ guava-glazed Duroc baby back ribs, CORNER
24 ATX MAN spring 2015
As he began college, his father, a structural engineer, urged him to become an architect, with the hope that they’d open a business together. But Martinez knew that path wasn’t meant for him. “My mother was very smart,” he recalls. “I always cooked a lot as a kid and she said, ‘You know, maybe you should follow what you love, which is cooking. You always cook with your grandmother. You always cook at the house. So why don’t you try it?’ ” He enrolled in Florida’s Southeastern Academy of Culinary Arts, earning his certification with straight As, and began cooking at a French restaurant called La Grill.
years in what became one of his favorite jobs to date, “I fell in love with the food and the fine-dining working under Executive Chef Mark Beaupre. aspect of cooking,” describes Martinez, his passion “It was a very high-end luxury hotel,” Martinez apparent in his intonation. says. “We partnered with the Ritz Carlton because it He decided to enroll in a rigorous program at Johnson was all connected and we did very beautiful food, from & Wales University in Miami, earning his associate dethe restaurants to the catering.” gree in just 11 months before eagerly embarking on what From there, he accepted a position at the Doral Golf was to become quite an action-packed culinary career. Resort & Spa in Miami as executive sous chef, learning His first role out of school in 1999 was as a manager much about European cuisine while in training at the Marriott The $300 million hotel, which is the working under French chef Jeanon Canal Street in New Claude Lanchais. After about two biggest JW Marriott in the country Orleans. Later, he opened years, he decided to take a plunge and the second biggest in the entire the Baltimore Waterfront and accept an interview in China, Marriott as an assistant world, had more than 500,000 room where he was promptly hired as the sous chef. After a year nights contracted through 2021 before executive sous chef at the JW Marriand a half, he opened the it even opened in mid-February. ott at Tomorrow Square in Shanghai. Woodlands Waterway “I fell in love with the city,” he Marriott and Convention Center as a senior banquet says with a grin. “It was right in the middle of everychef. There, he learned much about Texas barbecue, as thing...and I was able to learn the culture, learn the well as the logistics of catering large-scale events. business, which is completely different than the States, The following year, he opened the JW Marriott and learn the Chinese cuisine, which is very different Orlando Grande Lakes as a senior sous chef in charge from what most people think here.” of three restaurants. He stayed in that role for two ❱❱ bIG BITE BURGER, burger bar
During his time spent in Shanghai, he took the opportunity to travel and eat his way through China, as well as Japan, Thailand and Indonesia. He executed the largest outdoor plated dinner in Shanghai, where more than 3,000 guests were served, and he took on his first role as an executive chef at Shanghai’s brand new Renaissance Hotel. “That was very critical for me because it was my first hotel as a chef and my first hotel abroad,” he says. “So I learned a lot, and made a lot of mistakes, as well, but it was really a beautiful experience for me.” When he returned to the States, he decided to take a chef de cuisine position at Primo in the JW Marriott Orlando, cooking under two-time James Beard Awardwinning chef Melissa Kelly (Best Chef, Northeast in 1999 and 2013). “It allowed me to unwind out of the business and really cook, get back to the basics again and get into organic food and preparing the food from scratch all the way until the finished project,” Martinez says. “It really helped me get back into my routine, which is passion for food.”
❱❱ chef juan martinez
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He did eventually take on another executive chef role at Florida’s Marco Island Marriott Beach Resort, Golf Club & Spa, where he oversaw culinary operations at the 12 restaurants on the property. After three years there, he was met with an irresistible opportunity to open the new JW Marriott in downtown Austin. The $300 million hotel, which is the biggest JW Marriott in the country and the second biggest in the entire world, had more than 500,000 room nights contracted through 2021 before it even opened in mid-February. Martinez signed on to oversee operations at the hotel’s three restaurants, as well as the banquet and catering. “This is a very unique situation because, normally, the chain of command in a hotel is executive chef and executive sous, then sous chef and then chef de partie,” he explains. “Here, they decided to go a little bit different. They want to showcase these restaurants almost as standalone restaurants rather than hotel restaurants. So they allow me to have a better budget. I was able to get three executive chefs [for each restaurant] plus myself on the top, managing them.” When hiring, Martinez brought on some trusted chefs he’s worked with through the years. “Most of them are either good friends, or friends of mine are sending them to me,” he explains. One is Chef Gilberto Ramirez, who leads the kitchen at Osteria Pronto, the hotel’s upscale Italian eatery. “He’s been with me for a few years, and I know his capabilities. Amazing, amazing chef.” He also brought on some highly talented fresh faces, such as Chef Jennifer Etzkin, who will lead the team at Corner. She graduated with honors from the Institute of Culinary Education of New York City, and has worked at such prestigious restaurants ❱❱ yellowfin tuna, Osteria Pronto
as Eleven Madison Park and Atlantic Grill. When Martinez relocated to Austin with his wife and two children at the end of the summer, he and the JW Marriott team immediately set to work, getting their bearings as chefs do, through their taste buds. “We wanted to get the demographic of Austin, so we went to 20 restaurants in two days,” he says. “We wanted to see what Austinites eat and what they love. And there were so many different flavors and concepts, we decided that we wanted to make sure our food was, above all else, craveable.” One certainly craveable feature of the luxury hotel is Burger Bar, a fast-casual concept that serves burgers via a window opening onto Congress Avenue. The milkshakes are made extra creamy with a high-milk-fat soft serve in flavors like strawberry shortcake and peanut butter pretzel. And while humble 4-ounce burgers are also available, even the biggest appetite will be satisfied with the Big Bite, which features a double patty, two slices of cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, candied jalapeños, togarashi-seasoned blistered shishito peppers, Burger Bar sauce and jalapeño jam. On the opposite end of the culinary spectrum, Osteria Pronto specializes in regional Italian cuisine with a delicate, farm-fresh twist. “Gil [Ramirez] is very refined, and you’ll see it in his food. It’s Italian food but with a lot of sophistication,” Martinez describes. That sense of creativity and commitment to local produce can be seen in dishes like Ramirez’s take on carpaccio: Sushi-grade yellowfin tuna is pounded into a thin circle, drizzled with a trio of citrus juices, then sprinkled with chives, dehydrated olives and
heirloom tomatoes. Cucumber blossoms and tatsoi provide colorfully delicious finishing touches. The open kitchen at Osteria Pronto looks onto an expansive white marble bar and features state-of-the-art equipment, like Rondel induction stovetops for the hotel’s luxe breakfast bar, as well as a customized pizza oven and a case for the house-made gelato. Corner, which features a large, lively bar area and outdoor seating on Congress Avenue, will showcase regional cuisine, featuring locally sourced meats and produce. “Jennifer [Etzkin] is very passionate about Mexican flavors and Central American flavors, Texas and Louisiana flavors, spices and chilies, very passionate and you’ll see it,” Martinez says. Etzkin’s penchant for bold flavors can be seen in her signature guava-glazed Duroc baby back ribs, which are smoked then steamed with apple cider, chicken stock and local beer before they are roasted in the oven and finished with a guava glaze, garlic chips, Maldon sea salt and guajillo chilies. The ribs pair perfectly with bright Corner slaw (watermelon radish, jicama, red cabbage, pickled red onion and cilantro) and her playful take on mac and cheese, made using Goldfish crackers, smoked Gouda and a little gastromolecular flair to simulate the ultracreamy texture. While the kitchen team at Osteria Pronto wears chef jackets, black pinstripe aprons and black military caps, the team visible in Corner’s open-air kitchen is wearing more casual butcher shirts, denim pinstriped aprons and navy bandanas tied around their heads. Look a little closer and you’ll count more than a couple visible tattoos too. “Everything here is a little more fun,” says Martinez with a smile. He may be talking about Corner, but the same can be said for Austin, especially now that this chef is in town.
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GOOD RIDE
Two-wheeled Blurrrrrrr
❱❱ Marc Márquez
MotoGP showcases the world’s top motorcycle racers and a whole lot of speed and corners. By Steve Habel
❱❱ The margin of error between victory and calamity for those at the top of the pack in the world’s fastest motorcycle racing series is millimeters, at speeds that often exceed 200 miles per hour and in turns where knees often scrape the track. If that kind of action doesn’t grab your attention, then it might be time to check your pulse to see if you have a heartbeat.
The Circuit of the Americas (COTA) track is 3.43 miles in circumference and has a capacity for 120,000 fans on race day. One of the circuit’s more distinctive features is its nearly 130-foot elevation change, with an impressive incline at the end of the home straight, followed by a sharp left. The track is one of the most varied on the GP circuit, with a mix of fast straights and tight hairpins, with most sections mirroring at least some part of a famous track. The driving direction is counterclockwise and the track has a total of 20 corners with nine right and 11 left turns. Perhaps the most striking feature of MotoGP is how much the riders lean into turns. During a turn, the riders are on the edge of their tires, with their knees and elbows nearly touching the track surface, and usually in extremely tight quarters. Spain’s Marc Márquez, the two-time defending
Photos courtesy of Circuit of the Americas.
MotoGP is the premier motorcycle racing championship in the world, essentially the Formula 1 of motorcycle racing. One of the series’ top events, the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, returns to Austin April 10 through 12 at the Circuit of the Americas. Twenty-five full-time riders from 11 countries, including Spain, Italy, Germany, Venezuela, Great Britain, Australia and the United States, line a grid armed with cutting-edge, two-wheeled technology and prototype machinery fielded by three motorcycle manufacturers: Ducati, Yamaha and Honda. MotoGP events are conducted in 14 countries and on four continents with pan-global television coverage. Fans from throughout the world will converge
in Central Texas for the three-day party of speed and merriment. The sport features purpose-built, purebred racing motorcycles that are not street legal. They have a straight-line speed of more than 210 miles per hour. Like Formula 1, the series races solely on road courses and generally doesn’t stop because of rain. Races last about 20 laps, or about an hour. Austin is the series’ second race of the 2015 racing season (after the Grand Prix of Qatar March 27 through 29) and is one of 18 races on the schedule. The only other in the United States is at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August. “In just three years, the MotoGP Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas has become a favorite among riders, teams and fans,” says Dominic Iacono, the Circuit of the Americas’ chief marketing officer.
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champion of MotoGP and the winner of the Austin race in 2014, says the COTA circuit layout is clearly divided into two sections. “The first part, where the chicanes are, is where the biggest difference can be made,” Márquez says. “Physically, this half of the track wears you out because you’re constantly exerting yourself. It’s a track where there are a lot of spots for overtaking, which is great for the spectators. The final sector is fairly tricky too, above all, the three consecutive righthanded turns in turns 16, 17 and 18. There’s a lot of time to be won or lost there too.” On a Grand Prix weekend, there is a race in each of MotoGP’s three categories: Moto3 (for 4-stroke, 250cc, single-cylinder-engine motorcycles), Moto2 (with bikes with 600cc, 4-stroke engines producing about 140 horsepower) and, ultimately, MotoGP, a test for the finest talents in motorcycle racing, in which the maximum engine capacity is the 1,000cc. A Grand Prix event takes place during three days, with the first two of those for practice and qualification for each class, and the third solely for racing.
MÁrquez is a Dominating Champion
The 21-year-old Márquez dominated the sport last year, winning a premier-class record 13 races during the 2014 season, including the first 10. He won a
second successive MotoGP championship, finishing 67 points clear of his nearest rival, Valentino Rossi of Italy. Márquez currently rides for the Repsol Honda team, and Honda is the series’ reigning construction champion.
Fun Off the Track
MotoGP has raced at the Circuit of the Americas every year since 2013. The crowds are generally motorcycle racing fans or motorcycle enthusiasts, but there are also many families and curious spectators. If you put the whole experience into just one word, that word would have to be “fun.” New at the 2015 race, fans will be able to look over a comprehensive collection of memorabilia from stunt motorcycle legend Evel Knievel. The collection, which had been scattered throughout the world for years, will include Knievel’s motorcycles, helmets and riding leathers, never-before-seen photographs and even X-rays of Knievel’s broken and pinned bones. It’s the only collection of its kind, cobbled together by Lathan McKay, an Austin native who scoured the world to find the objects and then restored them to their original glory. There will also be a post-race concert at the facility’s Austin360 Amphitheater on April 12 from rockers Cheap Trick.
Other riders to watch include: Nicky Hayden. From Kentucky, Hayden is the only American competing in the top class. He won the series championship in 2006 and currently rides for the Drive M7 Aspar team. Dani Pedrosa. Also from Spain, Pedrosa has been overshadowed by his Repsol Honda teammate Márquez, but won a race last season and finished fourth in the series. Valentino Rossi. Also known as “the doctor,” Rossi has won nine championships in his career, six in MotoGP and three others in Moto3 and Moto2. He rides for the Movistar Yamaha team, and is a fan favorite. Jorge Lorenzo. Rossi’s Movistar Yamaha teammate, the Spaniard has won four world championships, including two in MotoGP, and won two races in 2014.
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GOOD RIDE
❱❱ Hold On Tight. Really Tight.
5.
Once you watch the action at the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, you’ll likely be thinking about how cool it would be to be a driver on the circuit and be able to drive a motorcycle at upwards of 200 miles per hour. You don’t have to be one of the select few that are allowed to tackle the 20-turn track at the Circuit of the Americas to ride a motorcycle really, really fast. You just have to have a little nerve, a wad of money in your pocket and a lot of luck to avoid the law.
❱❱ TheSE top five fastest street-legal
motorcycles will take your breath away.
5. BMW S1000 RR (190–203 mph) At 398 pounds, this BMW superbike is capable of extraordinary acceleration, feeding off its 998cc engine. Maximum output is 193 horsepower and 93 pound-feet of torque, affording the S 1000 RR a controlled top speed of 190 mph. A lightly modified version of the bike hit 203 mph recently in Maxton, N.C., which was the second time the S 1000 RR broke the 200 mph mark.
4.
4. Suzuki Hayabusa (194 mph) Packing a 1340cc inline four capable of 197 horsepower, the Hayabusa has more heft to carry, with 586 pounds of curb weight. That dilemma is fully covered by the max 114 poundfeet of torque available to riders. Since its turn-of-the-century models hit 194 mph, production bikes have struggled to keep up with this falcon’s speed.
3. D ucati Panigale 1199 R (200 mph)
3.
Here, Ducati delivers a superbike with a ferocious 1199cc engine capable of 195 horsepower and 98 pound-feet of torque. The pricey beast ($30,995) has the traditional top speed of 186 after cranking zero to 60 in 2.8 seconds, or so Ducati says. Upgrade to a track-only exhaust and the Panigale can hit 200 mph.
2. Lightning LS-218 (218 mph)
2.
1.
There were plenty of headlines when Lightning debuted an electric production bike that had already hit 218 mph at Bonneville in 2011. Both the fastest electric bike and the fastest road bike in steady production, it features 200 horsepower and 168 pound-feet of torque and can go zero to 60 in about two seconds.
1. MTT Turbine Y2K Superbike (227 mph) It’s clear why Marine Turbine photographs and tests its bikes on airplane runways. For starters, these motorcycles run on jet turbine engines. With the option to upgrade to a monster engine capable of 420 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque, you can forget about zero to 60 quotes. MTT says this bike can go zero to 200 in 5.4 seconds. It’s the fastest road bike in the world.
30 ATX MAN spring 2015
atxman.com 31
good life
good deeds
Austin’s Roatan Connection Philanthropic outreach from The Nobelity Project and the Abundant Life Foundation touches the lives of many. land Honduras that many people have never heard of, the Austin philanthropic connection to Roatan makes a large impact, especially for children.
The Nobelity Project and the Sandcastle Bookmobile ATX Man’s spring 2012 cover man, Turk Pipkin, is dedicated to improving the lives of Roatan’s children by providing access to books. He shares with ATX Man the story of his involvement with and connection to the tiny island. “I was first invited to Roatan to consider ways to help out with the terrible education system there. I’d helped found a golf tourney in Cabo San Lucas, which was very successful for an orphanage there, so I started with the idea of music and golf. School visits with the founders of Pristine Bay and with Sandcastle Library Founder Cam O’Brien revealed pretty much no books, a situation Cam hoped to remedy with a bookmobile. “It was our standard partnership operation. Cam found and bought an old Blue Bird school bus on the mainland of Honduras and brought it out by ferry. The Nobelity Project put up initial funding to rip out the seats, build bookshelves, etc., and we ran an online art competition to design the bus. First prize was a trip to Roatan and the honor of painting a huge bus in hot weather. Austin artist Baylor Estes [had] our winning design, and Baylor and Katie Rose Pipkin did most of the painting, with some assistance from [my wife,] Christy, and me, Marc and Suzanne Winkelman,
❱❱ B aylor Estes, Katie Rose Pipkin, Turk Pipkin, Rick and Karen Hawkins, Marc and Suzanne Winkelman, Christy Pipkin
32 ATX MAN spring 2015
and Rick and Karen Hawkins. (Both couples were our first big funders for the bus.) “We also did a book drive in Austin, our usual request for favorite books, with a personal note, ‘No junk.’ We shipped two pallets of really great books we collected, and are always looking for more Spanish-language books, which are in great need and hard to find. “Cam and many others on the island tell me often that the bookmobile has changed the face of education, provided a visible face for education on the island. When kids and parents see that colorful bus rolling down the highway, they take pride in their schools and in the opportunity to have great books to read. “We hope to launch a second bookmobile someday, possibly a smaller one that can reach more isolated schools, but are focusing now on keeping this one funded, particularly the salaries for the quality teachers who ride on the bus and are visiting instructors in the classrooms while other kids are selecting books to check out on the bus.”
Want to make the Roatan connection? The Nobelity Project has partnered with the Pristine Bay Resort to host The Pirate’s Cup at Roatan Island. Play three rounds at the exclusive Pete Dye-designed Black Pearl Golf Course in this international tournament happening April 30 through May 3. Funds raised from the event will support the Sandcastle Bookmobile. For more information, email info@nobelity.org, or visit pristinebayresort.com.
Baylor Estes, Katie Rose Pipkin, Turk Pipkin, Rick and Karen Hawkins, Marc and Suzanne Winkelman, Christy Pipkin.
Photos courtesy of Turk Pipkin.
❱❱ Although Roatan may be a small island located just off the coast of main-
Abundant Life Foundation and St. Helene
What was meant to be a family vacation almost nine years ago turned into a long-lasting connection with and commitment to Roatan and St. Helene when Brenda and David Dachner fell in love with an island and its people. ATX Man asked them to share their journey. “Our remarkable journey began in 2006 with a simple family vacation that has resulted in the building of two elementary schools, a microbusiness for an entire community and a unique twist on an affordable housing project. Along the way on our third-world adventure, we have met and worked with a variety of wonderful people from all walks of life, including two Honduran presidents and a first lady. “The Abundant Life Foundation (ALF) is a 501(c)3 organization with a mission to empower individuals, families and communities to believe in themselves by providing resources that help them help themselves. We fund programs that encourage independence, build self-worth, promote empowerment, teach responsibility, advance human achievement and reduce poverty. However people, whether individuals or groups, must have some financial, material or labor contribution in order for ALF to provide support. We strongly adhere to the policy that unconditional charity is no solution to poverty. Our intent is to empower those in need and help them believe in their natural ability and gifts. “Our primary initiatives in Roatan are to help with education, develop micro-businesses and build sustainable communities through joint collaboration projects. “After four years of work in education, a children’s home and building a strong foundation in relationships, in 2009, we were asked to
build a school on the remote island of St. Helene, east of Roatan, to replace the one they were using made of bamboo and a dirt floor. With a commitment from the islanders to keep their community clean as their contribution, we built a school. This month, they began their fifth year of classes in the new three-room, cement-block schoolhouse, with roughly 60 students in grades kindergarten through 6th. “In getting to know the community more intimately, we saw the need for jobs, particularly for the women. In 2012, we showed the women how to crochet items out of plastic grocery bags, and since that time, have sold over $12,000 worth of crocheted plastic purses with 100 percent of that money going back to them: 90 percent to the person who made the bag and 10 percent into a treasury for them to do with as they collectively see fit for their community. It’s been amazing to see these women grow in confidence and grace as they’ve found a way to help provide for their families! “Our biggest current endeavor is our affordable housing project, called Los Sueños. Together with the Grand Roatan Resort, we have committed to building affordable—not free—homes for deserving families on the island. In the center of this 100-home planned community, we built our second three-room schoolhouse, which opened this month, with 60 students. Next year, three more rooms will be added, making this a kindergarten through 12 school. “At ALF, our goal is not to change the world but to help others change their own world. Come join our efforts by contacting us at abundantlifefoundation. org, or follow our efforts at facebook.com/alfroatan, or stay with us at grandroatanresort.com.”
ATX Man SPONSORED EVENTS I Live Here, I Give Here: Amplify Austin March 5 and 6, 6 p.m. to 6 p.m. (24-hour online giving event) amplifyatx.org
Austin Classical Guitar: Beijing Guitar Duo March 7, 8 p.m., GT Austin, 2700 Northland Drive austinclassicalguitar.org
ATX Man Golf Classic: 18 Holes for
18 Charities
March 27, River Place Country Club, 4207 River Place Blvd. atxman.com/golf
Center for Child Protection: Ride.Drive.Give March 30, Circuit of the Americas, 9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd. centerforchildprotection.org
Mack, Jack & McConaughey (MJ&M) April 16 and 17, various locations mackjackmcconaughey.org
Austin Classical Guitar and Conspirare: How Little You Are April 18, 8 p.m., Bass Concert Hall, 2350 Robert Dedman Drive texasperformingarts.org
Center for Child Protection: NFL Alumni Golf Classic April 30, The Hills of Lakeway Signature Course, 26 Club Estates Parkway centerforchildprotection.org
Photo by Justin Netti.
American Heart Association: Austin Heart Ball May 9, 6 p.m., JW Marriott, 110 E. Second St. austinheartball.ahaevents.org
Leukemia and Lymphoma Society: Man and Woman of the Year ❱❱ 14-year-old philanthropist Kasey Irwin with the children of St. Helene
Date, time and location TBD mwoy.org atxman.com 33
good life
travel
California Cool Renewed Enjoy a sportsmen’s paradise in the heart of Southern California at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
Photos courtesy of Omni La Costa Resort & Spa.
By Steve Habel
❱❱ With its gleaming white stucco buildings, swaying palms, famous sprawling pools and the plaza of shops in its main court, the ohso-chic Omni La Costa Resort & Spa quickly announces that you’ve stepped into the hub of California cool in the heart of the hills of Carlsbad, just a short hop north of downtown San Diego and miles away from the cares of the outside world.
34 ATX MAN spring 2015
Since its opening in 1965, La Costa has been the place to be and be seen and a haven for beautiful people and tourists from throughout the world who want to experience the best of Southern California. Just the mention of La Costa brings back memories of swashbuckling golfers sashaying across its fairways and greens, and tennis professionals in all-white togs whipping crosscourt backhands and crisp volleys as the well-heeled and suntanned fans cheer and just soak it all in. At the end of its main court, past the shops and restaurants and blooming flowers, sits a studio where world-renowned holistic physicians Deepak Chopra and David Simon have taught thousands of people the timeless tools of meditation, yoga and Ayurveda. For the past 40 years, the resort has continued to grow and attract guests seeking wellness, relaxation and fun. A recently completed $50 million investment modernized the resort, heightened the air of luxury and improved the existing services. Whether looking for a luxurious getaway that overlooks the verdant hills surrounding the resort, or a spacious villa suite that easily accommodates the entire family, travelers will find the accommodations at the Omni La Costa Resort that are right for them. Each room, suite and villa sports unmatched amenities and in-room comforts designed to heighten the guest experience.
Golf Times Two Given all La Costa offers and its stunning setting, there has never been a question that the resort’s duo of golf courses has always been and remains its No. 1 calling card. La Costa’s original two Dick Wilson-designed golf courses have been renovated during the past four years by the dynamic design trio of Damian Pascuzzo, Steve Pate and Jeffrey Brauer. The refresh has returned the tracks to national prominence and must-play status, and recreated their fun factor, always an important aspect with resort courses. The North Course renovation was completed in 2011, and the course is now called the Champions Course. Pascuzzo, Pate and Brauer updated the design (originally a Wilson collaboration with Joe Lee), but also added length and playability elements, as well as better drainage, irrigation and a change in turf and conditioning. The South Course work was finished in November 2013, and included complete reconstruction and redesign of all 18 greens, as well as a thorough resurfacing of tees, all-new bunkering and the planting of paspalum turf on the fairways. It has been rebranded as the Legends Course. “The Legends Course gives golfers a completely different type of golf course to play at La Costa,” Pascuzzo says. “It’s fun and interesting, with different visuals and some subtle nuances, especially around the greens. Golfers are really challenged to use their imaginations.”
Getting Fit to Give Your Best on the Links La Costa also offers golfers the opportunity to get in the best shape of their lives while learning or improving their skills via its comprehensive Golf & Fitness Program, which is available exclusively at the resort. The program combines expert golf instruction with the fitness and wellness expertise of the award-winning Premier Fitness Camp (PFC). From start to finish, the name of the game is improvement, as La Costa’s certified instructors take students’ golf game to the next level. PFC’s wideranging and life-changing exercise, nutrition and wellness program helps players meet their weight-loss and fitness goals. The personalized
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good life
travel
instruction is combined with state-of-the-art technology to help every golfer identify his or her strengths and improvement areas, learn ball-flight laws, correct mechanics and ensure proper club fitting. This place is so good at honing your game and fitness that one guest stayed at the resort for a whole month, eventually returning home as a lean, mean, greens-hitting machine with her local club championship dead in her sights.
More, More, More The Omni La Costa Resort & Spa also offers eight distinctive pool areas, including kid-specific spots with waterslides and an adults-only pool for rest and relaxation. Omni La Costa caters to family vacations as well, with programs and events for all ages, from the youngest guests to teens looking for a good time. Many of the programs are complimentary, and the activities schedule refreshes monthly and includes seasonal highlights. Spa Magazine named the resort’s Southern California Spa the top wellness spa in the country. Whether you’re looking for a spa getaway or wanting extra radiance for a wedding, you can choose from any number of services that make you feel as good as they look. In addition to massages, facials, pedicures, manicures, therapies and more, you can also find peace of mind and tranquility at the Chopra Center, where professional healers help guests gain emotional, spiritual and physical balance.
36 ATX MAN spring 2015
The Chopra Center for Wellbeing brings visitors to an idyllic retreat that blends the healing tradition of the Far East with Western medicinal techniques. If tennis is your game, you can serve and volley at one of the region’s top destinations. The Omni La Costa Resort & Spa has been host to professional tournaments, including the Acura Classic and the Southern California Open. With 17 clay and hard courts, including seven lighted courts for evening play, stadium seating for 1,000 people and a seasoned staff of USPTA-certified professionals, the resort allows you plenty of opportunities to refine your game with a tennis partner or through personal instruction or clinics. When hunger calls (and it’s going to because it’s hard work having so much fun), check out the property’s three restaurants: the upscale and iconic Bluefire Grill for the finest in authentic California cuisine; the Diversions Sports Lounge for watching all the games and tournaments; and Bistro 65, a lively and contemporary eatery with food made with local, sustainable ingredients and seasoned from the restaurant’s own herb garden wall. The bistro offers outdoor dining with magnificent views of the resort’s two golf courses and the surrounding rolling hills. The Omni La Costa Resort offers a little bit of everything anyone would want in a destination location. And if your personal batteries need a little recharging, there’s certainly nothing wrong with just taking some time to relax, sit by the pool and soak in the sun and the resort’s amazing atmosphere. For reservations and more information, visit lacosta.com.
good life
GEAR
Gear Up for Spring Get outdoors with these seasonal must-haves. Compiled by Natalie Wetjen
Schiller X1 floating bike, $9,450, available at schillerbikes.com
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good life
GEAR
Jabra SPORT wireless earphones, $99, available at jabra.com
Zeal Eldorado sunglasses, $169, available at zealoptics.com
NRS freestyle water shoes, $49.95, available at rei.com
Vivitar DVR 787HD waterproof action camera, $99, available at amazon.com
Atlas Wristband fitness tracker, $249, available at atlaswearables.com
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Oru Kayak, $1,195, available at orukayak.com
T-fal stainless steel OptiGrill, $179.99, available at bedbathandbeyond.com
IceMule Pro Cooler, $99.95, available at icemulecooler.com
Manduka PRO Squared yoga mat, $360, available at manduka.com
Limited edition stand-up paddleboard $6,500, available at anthropologie.com
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John Varvatos navy blue blazer, $398; Vince shortsleeve striped shirt, $95, available at Neiman Marcus, 3400 Palm Way, 512.719.1200, neimanmarcus.com.
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A
League o f
H i s
O w n
Tim League, CEO and founder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, reveals how he turned a failed business and a downtown Austin parking garage into one of the most successful independent movie theater chains in the U.S. STORY BY Andy East | photos by Annie Ray | styled by ashley hargrove
atxman.com 4 3
Escape From Bakersfield The story of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema starts in an abandoned movie theater in Bakersfield, Calif. The year was 1994. Forrest Gump was topping the box office and Tim League was in the oil industry, hating every moment of it. After graduating from Rice University with a degree in engineering, League accepted a position at Shell Oil in Bakersfield. “I should have been thinking more when I was in high school about what I really wanted to do in life because it sure wasn’t engineering,” League says. “During that whole time [at Shell Oil], I was thinking about possible exit strategies.” Then destiny struck. “On my way to work, there was an abandoned movie theater that one day had a ‘for lease’ sign on it,” says League, who was 23 years old at the time. “That was the light bulb. I hadn’t thought that this obsessive love of movies I’d had since I was 13 or 14 years old [could] ever be a career.” He wasted no time. A week later, League signed the lease. The Tejon Theater was his. Founded in 1947, the Tejon Theater has led many lives. When it opened, it showed family movies. It the 1980s, it screened Spanish-language films. By the time League took over, the Tejon was a relic of the golden age of cinema. League began screening the art-house films and cult classics that would become a hallmark of the Alamo Drafthouse. League’s theater also hosted concerts, attracting acts such as the
Ramones, War and Korn. But despite his efforts, the theater struggled. “It was a bad location,” League says. “Bakersfield wasn’t an amazing arts mecca. We were trying to do some pretty progressive things there. During that period, we were thinking about how we could correct our mistakes, mainly, get the hell out of Bakersfield.” But not everything was in his control. As League plotted his escape, a tragedy would force his hand. During a performance by Montell Jordan, an R&B singer best known for the hit song This Is How We Do It, a man was shot in the head. The victim’s car crashed into the Tejon’s ticket booth. The photo on the front page of the local paper the next morning showed the murder scene, with the Tejon’s marquee in the background. The business was doomed. “That was a sad night,” League says. “It was the night, however, that we decided to move from Bakersfield and come to Austin to start over. Those were tough times, but ultimately, the move to Austin ended up being great for us in all possible ways. It was unfortunately born out of tragedy.” Despite the tragedy, League did not give up. He loaded the Tejon’s screen, projector and 200 seats into a truck and made the 1,400-mile journey to Austin. The Live Music Capital of the World would prove to be the perfect match for League’s style.
From Parking Garage to National Prominence Austin had it all. League had family in the area. He liked the film scene and he identified with the city’s quirky nature. “I really love things that are outside the norm, both in my movie taste and in the ideas in which we celebrate movies,” League says. “We fit right into that sort of weirdness of Austin.” Although he had found his city, he had not found a location for his theater. It was harder than he thought, but he eventually landed a place: the second floor of a parking garage at 409 Colorado St. “It was our fourth or fifth choice of locations,” League says. “We would get down the road with somebody, and it just never worked out. They wanted somebody with a good credit history, not just 25-year-olds with a failed business as their only business experience. “The 409 Colorado location was secondfloor space, so it was virtually unusable by any
44 ATX MAN spring 2015
other tenants,” League continues. “So they didn’t really care. They said, ‘Yes, fine. You can take this.’ ” The location did not have plumbing, a kitchen or the electrical circuits needed to support a movie theater. League and his wife, Kerrie, would build it from scratch. “We tore out the ramp,” League recalls. “There was a ramp that would get you to the second floor, and the floor still had parking stripes on it. There are probably still a couple there. There were a couple that we didn’t remove to show evidence of what it once was.” After months of labor, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema opened on May 27, 1997. League collaborated with the Dudley & Bob Show on KLBJ-FM to kick things off. The show selected its favorite films, resulting in a double feature of Raising Arizona and This Is Spinal Tap. “We were happy and it was a fun opening,”
“On my way to work, there was an abandoned movie theater that one day had a ‘for lease’ sign on it. That was the light bulb.”
Jack Spade chambray work shirt, $168, available at Nordstrom, 2901 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., 512.691.3500, nordstrom.com; Hudson Byron straight-leg gray jeans, $165; Converse John Varvatos multi-lace sneakers, $125, available at Neiman Marcus, 3400 Palm Way, 512.719.1200, neimanmarcus.com.
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46 46 ATX MAN spring 2015
Favorite films
Tim League talks about his go-to movies.
League says. “But the next day, we showed the Clint Eastwood movie Absolute Power, which is not a very good movie. There were like two people who came. It was like, ‘Oh God, we’ve done it again. We’ve created another Bakersfield.’ ” Things would turn around within a month. League credits Austin Powers and positive reviews by the Austin American-Statesman and Austin-based critic Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News with the boost in attendance. As the Alamo Drafthouse grew in popularity, League began to catch the attention of major players in the film industry. In 1998, the Austin Film Society introduced him to Quentin Tarantino, the director of Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained. The Drafthouse would later hold several Quentin Tarantino Fests, which included films curated from the director’s personal collection. The famed director would even collaborate with League on confronting a noisy patron. “We’re known for having a zero-tolerance policy for people talking or texting during the movie,” League says. “I used to be the enforcer and I get kind of upset. I basically went up to this guy during a movie and told him to shut up. If he didn’t, we were going to kick him out. After the movie, he got really aggressive with me. He was pushing me and wanted to start a fight. It was during one of the times when Quentin was in town. He grabbed the guy on the shoulder and was like, ‘Hey man, you’re totally in the wrong.’ He couldn’t process that it was actually Quentin Tarantino telling him to stop. He sort of slunked away and left. He had my back once.” League’s penchant for innovative programming started hitting its stride. The Drafthouse expanded its programming to movie premieres and festivals, and landed several celebrity appearances. One of the first celebrities to appear at the Drafthouse was actor Vin Diesel. In 1999, he attended the premiere of sci-fi flick Pitch Black at the inaugural ButtNumb-A-Thon, a 24-hour film marathon celebrating Knowles’ birthday. “Vin Diesel has some really nerdy tendencies,” League says. “He’s a board gamer. He plays Dungeons & Dragons. It was before he had built up this kind of Fast & Furious tough-guy persona. He was there just hanging out with nerds. He was strangely nervous. He basically said, ‘I can’t wait to tell my mom
about this.’ It’s not something you would think of with Vin Diesel.” Other stars who have appeared at the Drafthouse include Mel Gibson, Peter Jackson, Seth Rogan and Guillermo del Toro. Until the turn of the century, the Alamo Drafthouse was a single-screen mom-andpop movie theater. But League’s wife would receive a phone call that changed the direction of the theater. “She got a call from the property manager of the Village,” League says. “They were going to lease the Village space out to somebody who does what we do. The manager said, ‘Hey, I like you guys. I’ve been to your theater. However, I’ve written this lease. It’s more or less executed. If you want it, it’s yours, but we’re not going to change a word of the lease and you have to let us know by Friday.” It was Tuesday. League was in New Orleans, but spent a bus ride to Austin mulling over the offer with his wife, Kerrie. By the time he arrived, they had decided. The Village would be theirs. “That was the move that changed us from a single-screen mom-and-pop to having two locations. I think it spurred a lot of the growth,” League says. “Once we had two, we had to hire managers, and we couldn’t be in the venue every single day. I think the growth just started happening organically after that.” After a decade, League decided to close the Colorado Street location and relocate to The Ritz on Sixth Street. Tarantino programmed the last night at the original location and the first night at The Ritz. The grand opening included screenings of Matango: Attack of the Mushroom People, No Country for Old Men and The War of the Gargantuas. Soon after the opening of The Ritz, new locations popped up throughout Austin. By 2010, League had set his eyes on building a national brand. “About five years ago, the idea of becoming a national company became really interesting to me,” League says. “That’s when we started thinking about a distribution company and what this company could become if we became a national player.” The Alamo Drafthouse now has 20 locations in six states and continues to grow. New locations are set to open in downtown Los Angeles, San Francisco and Brooklyn later this year. Visit drafthouse.com for more information.
“I think my taste has really evolved over the years,” League says. “When you look at the things we distribute, there’s a certain chunk of those that are cause-driven documentaries, which I really like now. I like the power of movies to change perspectives. I like it on both sides. I like just pure, escapist entertainment, relaxing, having a beer and having a good time and forgetting about the cares of the world. On the other side of things, I like movies that are powerful, that can change people’s perspectives. “We put together this list last year called the Alamo 100. All the programmers and myself put together the 100 top movies—‘desert-island movies.’ If you’re on a desert island and you could have no others, what are the ones you would bring with you?”
The General Set during the American Civil War, the 1926 classic stars Buster Keaton as a locomotive engineer who hunts down Union spies who steal his train. Besides being on the Alamo 100 list, the American Film Society named the film one of the 100 best American movies of all time in 2007.
City Lights In this 1931 romantic comedy, Charlie Chaplin’s character falls in love with a blind woman and tries to help her medical condition with the aid of an alcoholic millionaire.
The Big Lebowski Although not on the Alamo 100, League says this is one of his all-time favorites. Written and directed by the Coen brothers, Jeff Bridges, John Goodman and Steve Buscemi star in this cult classic of mistaken identity. Visit alamo100.drafthouse.com for more of League’s favorite films.
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“I should have been thinking more when I was in high school about what I really wanted to do in life because it sure wasn’t engineering.”
48 48 ATX MAN spring 2015
Tim League’s Indie Empire A serial entrepreneur, Tim League has founded many more companies than Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. His companies range from film distribution and festivals to art, and are leaving their mark on the film industry.
Mondo
Drafthouse Films
Mondo was founded in 2004 as a T-shirt shop, but the products have evolved into screen-printed movie posters, vinyl movie soundtracks and much more. Mondo’s gallery is located at 4115 Guadalupe St.
Founded in 2010, Drafthouse Films has distributed more than 30 films, two of which have been nominated for Oscars. Here are a few: Four Lions The first film distributed by Drafthouse Films is a critically acclaimed jihadi comedy. Time magazine named it one of the 10 best films of 2010.
Visit mondotees.com for more information.
Bullhead The Belgian crime drama was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 84th annual Academy Awards.
Mondo poster courtesy of Mondo/Tyler Stout. Fantastic Fest photo by Jack Plunkett.
The Act of Killing The 2012 documentary from Executive Producer Errol Morris, director of The Fog of War and The Thin Blue Line, tells the story of mass killings in Indonesia. The film was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the 86th annual Academy Awards.
Fantastic Fest Founded in 2005 by Tim League and Austin-based film critic Harry Knowles of Ain’t It Cool News, Fantastic Fest is the largest genre-specific film festival in the world, specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi and action films. Throughout the years, the festival has hosted a wide range of premieres and special screenings. This year’s festival will be held Sept. 24 to Oct. 1.
“We’re releasing a new film for Drafthouse Films at the end of March or early April called The Connection, which is a French film,” League says. “We’re working with Odell Brewery to make a beer to celebrate this movie, and we’re going to release it when the movie comes out.” Visit drafthousefilms.com for more information.
Tim League, Kevin Smith and Justin Long
Visit fantasticfest.com for more information.
Advice for Entrepreneurs Tim League, CEO and founder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Drafthouse Films, Mondo and co-founder of Fantastic Fest, offers tips on how to grow a successful business. “Be really comfortable with worst-case scenarios,” League says. “Assume that everything is going to be a disaster and you’re going to lose all of your money, you’re going to declare bankruptcy, you’re going to lose all of your possessions, with the exception of your house. Are you OK with that? If the answer is yes and you can live with worst-case scenarios, then do it. If not, then don’t. “I sure as hell wish I knew a lot more about accounting than I did when I got in. It was very much an oversight. Kerrie really saved the day and taught herself during those early years to handle the finances of the business.”
"I saw The Shining when I was really young and it scared the hell out of me. I experienced it on a very basic level, mainly sheer terror. Over the years and after many, many repeat viewings, I've grown to love every nuance of the film: the meticulous design, the slow-burn dread, the incredible performances, even the web of conspiracy theories surrounding it. The Shining is the king of all horror movies. All others bow down before it." — Tim League atxman.com 4 9
Bbartenders EST Austin’s
Three bartenders who are shaking up the Austin scene. STORY AND PHOTOS By Matt McGinnis
Cocktails have been around since the early 1800s,
but it wasn’t until the past handful of years that bars in Austin started making pre-Prohibitionstyle cocktails in earnest. In the early 2000s, the craft-cocktail movement swept from the barstools of places like Milk & Honey and Employees Only in New York to the West Coast and then to Austin. Now Austin has dozens of places scattered throughout the city that serve classic and unique drinks immaculately prepared with small-batch spirits and locally sourced ingredients. The rise of craft cocktails in Austin mirrors the impressive ascension of the culinary crusade, with similarly steep expectations for top-notch ingredients and service. Through participation in organizations like the United States Bartenders’ Guild, as well as competitions and events like the San Antonio Cocktail Conference and Tales of the Cocktail in New Orleans, Austin bartenders have honed their skills and are being recognized nationally. The Austin craft-cocktail
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world has been shaped by talented people like David Alan of Tipsy Texan, Bill Norris of Alamo Drafthouse and Josh Loving of Small Victory, as well as the next wave of cocktail mavens like Jessica Sanders of drink.well., Chris Bostick of Half Step, Larry Miller of Peché and Cesar Aguilar of Whisler’s. What makes a great bartender? Mark Shilling, founder of Austin-based Revolution Spirits, has visited his fair share of bars and believes there is more to the job than just making excellent drinks. “Being a great bartender takes knowledge, creativity and excellent service,” Shilling says. “Bartenders need to know the craft enough to be able to serve a customer what they are looking for. Doing the job well requires that a bartender break rules to come up with new drinks. Above all, bartending is as much about personality and relationship management as anything. At the end of the night, it’s not just about the drink; it’s about the experience.”
Here are three outstanding bartenders from the city’s hottest restaurants who are at the forefront of the craft-cocktail movement
Jason Stevens, Bar Congress
Drink of the Moment
Jason Stevens is more than a bartender. As the director of bars and beverage for La Corsha Hospitality Group, he presides over the drinks at Bar Congress, Second Bar + Kitchen and its second location in The Domain, as well as the soon-to-open Boiler Nine Bar + Grill in Seaholm and a new project brewing in Marfa, Texas. Each bar has a common thread, but each has its own identity hinged on different drinks, styles and an ethos all its own. Each menu has to fit the clientele. At Bar Congress, that means the menu has a variety of drinks, from light and refreshing to really boozy, to satisfy a diverse range of palates.
ATX Man: What got you into bartending?
Jason Stevens: Bartending was a happy accident for me. I stumbled on cocktails when I attended Tipsy Tech, a course taught by Lara Nixon and David Alan. I learned about this whole world of tastes and flavors I never had before. That really got me going, so I started reading books and devouring the subject. I was enamored when I realized cocktails are a beautiful balance between culinary art, science and hospitality.
AM: What is your favorite part of the job?
The Bar Congress cocktail menu is a compilation of classic recipes from famous hotel bars. One of Stevens’ favorites is the Queen’s Park Swizzle, an early Tiki-style rum drink developed at the Queen’s Park Hotel in Trinidad in the mid-1930s.
JS: The people: the team I work with and the customers who come in. We have formed a team that has agreed to a contract to do exactly what we need to do to make sure the guests have incredible experiences. There is a lot of camaraderie in that. And not just with co-workers, but with guests too. They put faith in us to give them an exceptional evening. There is a kinship built by going through a great night together.
AM: What does it take to be a standout bartender in Austin?
JS: Some people say it’s winning competitions or getting in magazines. I think it’s about quality and execution. It’s about focusing on getting the drink the guests love and sometimes delivering a few surprises. It takes an understanding of the word “hospitality.” To paraphrase the Esquire Drink Book from 1956, hospitality is 10 percent presence and being nice to people, and 90 percent preparation. That’s what it’s all about.
Queen’s Park Swizzle 1 1/2 ounces aged El Dorado 12 Demerara rum 3/4 ounce Smith & Cross Jamaican rum 1/2 ounce Piloncillo sugar simple syrup 3/4 ounce fresh lime juice Fresh mint House-made Seven League bitters
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Justin Elliott, Qui
Drink of the Moment
Presiding over the bar at Qui on East Sixth Street, Justin Elliott creates drinks that reflect the principles of the kitchen rather than those that might compete with the food. Instead of making fussy cocktails, he shoots for craveable flavors and drinks made with local ingredients that are seasonally appropriate and served in an elegant way. Two drinks on the current menu that sum up Elliott’s guiding principle for cocktails are the Shore Leave pumpkin seed horchata and the Tepache Collins. Both are delicious twists on traditional drinks that don’t challenge the notion of what can be in a cocktail, but are still unexpected.
ATX Man: What got you into bartending?
Justin Elliott: I’ve been in the business for 14 years. I paid for my final year of college by working nights at The Tavern. I’ve always gravitated toward neighborhood bars, but when I came back to Austin, I started to push deeper into the “fancy-mustache” cocktail world. In part, that stems from hanging out with my friend Tom Chadwick, who owns the Brooklyn cocktail bar Dram, back when he was working happy hours at a dive bar and he was just getting started doing cocktails. I took to the confluence of culture, commerce and art, and dove in headfirst.
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AM: What is your favorite part of the job?
Elliott’s Tepache Collins, which was named the Official Drink of Austin in 2014 in a competition hosted by the Austin Food & Wine Alliance and the Tipsy Texan, is an interesting variation of the traditional Mexican street drink made with barely fermented pineapple agua fresca.
JE: I love making drinks on a Friday night. I get to hang out with super cool people who are here to have a great time. We serve them excellent food and drinks, and they leave riding that wave of feeling good. I want our guests to feel like I want to feel when I go out. I constantly challenge myself to develop new and interesting cocktails that make people happy. That’s rewarding.
AM: What does it take to be a standout bartender in Austin?
JE: I follow my instincts and put myself in my guests’ place. I surround myself with the kind of staff I want to visit, make the kind of drinks I want to drink and create the kind of environment I want to be in. I want people to walk into our bar, see a cocktail and say, “Yeah, that speaks to me.” It’s important to spend time trying to grow creatively and learning something new. I work with the Rémy Cointreau bartender outreach program to throw little parties [and make] famous old cocktails. Things have changed a lot in 150 years, but it’s still just as important to learn the classics.
Tepache Collins, aka Official Drink of Austin 2014 2 to 3 large leaves of Thai basil, spanked 1/2 ounce lemon juice 1/2 ounce honey syrup 1 ounce Balcones Rumble 1 1/2 ounces house-made Tepache Combine all above ingredients in a Collins glass, give it a quick tap-tap muddle, then add Tepache. Fill the glass with crushed ice, and garnish with a straw, mint sprig and Thai basil leaf.
I love making drinks on a Friday night. I get to hang out with super cool people who are here to have a great time. –JUSTIN EllioTt
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Once I knew I enjoyed it, I wanted to get really damn good at it. –Casey Petty
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Casey Petty, laV
Drink of the Moment
Casey Petty cut his teeth in the restaurant business at a small restaurant, attended culinary school and worked his way through multiple positions, from dishwasher to manager. He brings that deep well of experience and a competitive intensity that he honed playing football, lacrosse, soccer and basketball to his position of bar supervisor at laV.
Capturing the spirit of experimenting with classics is Petty’s take on the Cibola. Instead of using the traditional whiskey base, he gives it a contemporary twist, using smoky mezcal.
The swank setting of the Eastside’s newest darling restaurant may seem like a far cry from the sports battlefield, but it too requires a commitment to digging deep to achieve the best results. Petty brings creative treatment to classic cocktails that play well with the rest of the laV team—the city’s largest wine list.
everything from Amaro Nonino to Amaro dell’Erborista. I love learning and bringing new and exciting drinks to satisfy diverse tastes at our bar. We get everything from people in the rock ’n’ roll industry coming in as regulars, to people coming in to order a $500 bottle of Burgundy on any given night.
ATX Man: What got you into bartending?
AM: What does it take to be a standout bartender in Austin?
Casey Petty: I love to cook and to create things, and serve delicious drinks to people to make them happy. I like the opportunity to serve something new and have people like it. I’ve learned the basics of making great cocktails from colleagues on the job over the years. Once I knew I enjoyed it, I wanted to get really damn good at it. Now I want people to remember that I’m a part of a restaurant and bar that matters.
AM: What is your favorite part of the job?
CP: I love any opportunity I can take to help a guest discover something new, like an exotic liquor, such as Liquore Strega or amaro, the Italian herbal digestif. In fact, laV is striving to have the largest selection of amaros in town. We have a huge spectrum to explore, with
CP: To stand out, you have to really understand what people like and know how to work with it. In addition, it’s important to be hospitable and humble. I’m not a vodka drinker, but that has no impact on my passion to make a vodka cocktail for people who like them. Constantly trying new things is essential to the job. I like to make up cocktails like our new Age of EnFranklinment, which is a take off of the Jester King Figlet smoked sour ale. I make ours with aromatic bitters smoked in a pit with fig compote, Rebecca Creek whiskey, Maraschino liqueur, yellow Chartreuse and lemon juice. I also make our own house-made amer picon, a French version of amaro, which hasn’t been available in the U.S. since the 1960s.
Cibola 3/4 ounce Vida Mezcal 3/4 ounce yellow Chartreuse 3/4 ounce Cointreau 3/4 ounce lemon juice Heavy rinse of the glass with absinthe
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spr i n g
Style
After Hours
Transition easily between the office and cocktails. Photos by Annie Ray Styled by Graham Cumberbatch Models: Ga’valon Springfield and David Pierringer, Wilhelmina Brown, wilhelminabrown.com. Shot on location at Malverde, 400 W. Second St., 512.499.0300, lacondesa.com/malverde
Prive suit, $595, available at Capra & Cavelli, 509 E. Fifth St., 512.477.2020, capracavelli.com; RVCA T-shirt, $36; New Balance sneakers, $75; Tsovet watch, $225, available at St. Bernard Sports, 401 W. Third St., 512.320.1999, stbernardsports.com.
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Style
Baroni jacket, $645; Ferrell Reed pocket square, $50, available at Capra & Cavelli, 509 E. Fifth St., 512.477.2020, capracavelli.com; Ted Baker shirt, $165; SeaVees shoes, $158, available at St. Bernard Sports, 401 W. Third St., 512.320.1999,stbernardsports.com; Naked & Famous jeans, $165; Naked & Famous belt, $58, available at Service Menswear, 1400 S. Congress Ave., 512.447.7600, servicemenswear.com.
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spr i n g
Style Jack Spade jacket, $398; Tsovet watch, $225, available at St. Bernard Sports, 401 W. Third St., 512.320.1999, stbernardsports.com; Oxford Lads shirt, $108; Globe pants, $68, available at Service Menswear, 1400 S. Congress Ave., 512.447.7600, servicemenswear.com.
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spr i n g
Style
Orlebar Brown shirt, $275; Tsovet watch, $225, available at St. Bernard Sports, 401 W. Third St., 512.320.1999, stbernardsports.com; Hartford sweater, $185; Globe pants, $68; Vans sneakers, $68, available at Service Menswear, 1400 S. Congress Ave., 512.447.7600, servicemenswear.com.
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spr i n g
Style
Robert Barakett shirt, $120, available at Capra & Cavelli, 509 E. Fifth St., 512.477.2020, capracavelli.com; Daniel Wellington watch, $199, available at St. Bernard Sports, 401 W. Third St., 512.320.1999, stbernardsports.com; Naked & Famous jeans, $165, available at Service Menswear, 1400 S. Congress Ave., 512.447.7600, servicemenswear.com; shoes, stylist’s own.
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Style
Gant T-shirt, $58; Shades of Grey pants, $125; available at Service Menswear, 1400 S. Congress Ave., 512.447.7600, servicemenswear.com; Jack Spade shirt, $148; Levi’s jacket, $70, available at St. Bernard Sports, 401 W. Third St., 512.320.1999, stbernardsports.com.
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relationships
Spice Up Your Love Life Why traveling as a couple is good for your soul and your relationship. By Eric Leech
If you like good sex and great relationships, surveys claim that traveling with your partner is one of the easiest ways to package these two benefits into one nice little bouquet of success. Daily life can create a wedge between you and your lover. You’ve both got work, chores, appointments, deadlines, expectations and business travel, leaving you with minimal time to make the magic happen. Every couple needs to practice team building, and that is exactly what traveling as a couple can do for you. The guys and gals in lab coats have looked at the effects of travel, and what they’ve found is that we are closest to our partners when we are headed in the same direction, and they mean this quite literally. They’re referring to taking regular walks (side by side), taking vacations and adventures together and even traveling to and from work together, or at least driving in the same general direction. What this accomplishes is creating a visual representation of having a better connection, more common goals and shared ambition. And there’s more. Your happiest memories come from experiences, and a good portion of those are derived from travel. If you build up enough of these memories with your partner, when times get tough, it is these intimate connections that will offer more incentive to work things out. And for you guys in a relatively new relationship, a planned trip can reveal compatibility quicker than any Zodiac chart. There is no better way to get to know someone, considering that travel includes
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many of the essential relationship functions, such as budgeting, trust, romance, time management, problem solving and compromise. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, but traveling together is the stuff that happily ever after is made of. And while it would be fantastic if buying the tickets were the most difficult part of the process, as it turns out, it also helps when couples are aware of these five important tips:
1. Plan Together
Some couples are laid-back and enjoy living the unplanned life. However, when you’re on vacation, time is essential. To prevent any hard feelings, leave with a plan and budget that has already been compromised and unanimously agreed upon. The same goes for wanting to surprise your partner with a pre-planned vacation. You’re going to need some feedback to make sure she has a good time.
2. You/Her Time
Not everybody is capable of spending an entire week without at least some time to themselves. Give yourself and your partner space during an extended trip. This can be as simple as taking a shower, heading out for a walk or even just putting on some headphones or picking up a good magazine and turning the other cheek.
3. Four’s a Crowd
Research suggests that hanging out with friends can improve your relationship, but when it comes to your vacations, the surveys say differently. Keeping a vacation between just the two of you has the effect of improving your level of romance and communication. You become a team of sorts (Team Us), and the
best part is that it has the tendency to stay that way once you get back home. Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make friends while you’re away; just reconsider bringing them along.
4. Be Interested
One red flag for anyone on a firsttime trip with a lover is finding your lover has a lack of interest in your own interests and vice versa. You love your hobbies, and you probably enjoy some of them more when you have someone to share them with. The same goes for your partner. Show genuine interest in her activities during the trip, and you will not only learn something new and fascinating, but also gain huge points in your favor.
5. Team Attitude
Sometimes your team is winning, and occasionally it is losing. The important thing is that you continue to communicate and focus your frustrations in the right direction. It is easy to take your anger out on your partner, but it is more practical to channel that energy into figuring out how to solve problems together. Look at things on the bright side. Many of the world’s greatest travel stories have begun out of complete disaster. It’s not the destination, but the process in getting there that matters. Make your relationship memorable and worthwhile by choosing to make every adventure a reservation for two.
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In the Know
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health
Health News You Can Use The latest studies that impact your health. By Jill Case
Using Your E-Reader in the Hours Before Bedtime Can Adversely Impact Your Health
Researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital conducted a study comparing the biological effects of reading a printed book versus a light-emitting e-reader (LE-eBook). The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, showed reading e-readers in the hours before you go to sleep can adversely affect your overall health, as well as your alertness. It also affects your circadian clock, the mechanism in your body that synchronizes the daily rhythm of your sleep to external environmental time cues. “We found the body’s natural circadian rhythms were interrupted by the shortwavelength-enriched light, otherwise known as blue light, from these electronic devices,” says Anne-Marie Chang, an associate neuroscientist in Brigham and Women’s Hospital’s Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders, and corresponding author. “Participants reading an LE-eBook took longer to fall asleep and had reduced evening sleepiness, reduced melatonin secretion, later timing of their circadian clock and reduced next-morning alertness than when reading a printed book.” The researchers say these findings are important because the light from the devices has a very powerful effect on the body’s sleeping and waking patterns. Therefore, it may play a part in causing sleep deficiency. “In the past 50 years, there has been a decline in average sleep duration and quality,” says Dr. Charles Czeisler, chief of the BWH Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders. “Since more people are choosing electronic devices for reading, communication and entertainment, particularly children and adolescents who already experience significant sleep loss, epidemiological research evaluating the long-term consequences of these devices on health and safety are urgently needed.” Source: Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “Lightemitting e-readers before bedtime can adversely impact sleep.” ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141222131348.htm, accessed Jan. 22, 2015.
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Working More Than 48 Hours a Week Makes People More Likely to Engage in Risky Alcohol Consumption
A new study published in the British Medical Journal states employees who work more than 48 hours per week are more likely to participate in risky alcohol use than people who work a standard 35- to 40-hour week. Consuming more than 14 drinks per week for women and 21 drinks per week for men is considered to be risky. Drinking this much alcohol has been linked to increased risk for cancer, stroke, coronary heart disease, liver diseases and mental disorders. This extensive study involved a cross section of 333,693 people from 14 countries, and the findings showed longer working hours increased the likelihood of higher alcohol use by 11 percent. There were no differences noted between men and women, or in people of different ages or socioeconomic status. The European Union Working Time Directive (EUWT) is trying to protect the workforce’s health and safety by ensuring that workers in EU countries have the right to work no more than 48 hours a week, including overtime. The study’s findings seem to provide support for this idea. Source: British Medical Journal. “Long working hours linked to increased risky alcohol use.” ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150113204339.htm, accessed Jan. 22, 2015.
Withdrawing From Your Partner During Conflicts Could Be Hurting Your Relationship
A study in Psychological Assessment, the journal of the American Psychological Association, found withdrawing when you have a conflict with your partner can be harmful to your relationship. Keith Sanford, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at Baylor University, says withdrawal is “a defensive tactic that people use when they feel they are being attacked, and there’s a direct association between withdrawal and lower satisfaction overall with the relationship.” He also says withdrawing when your partner criticizes you or complains is “more characteristic of unhappiness. Just about everyone does that from time to time, but you see more of that in distressed relationships.” In addition, Sanford notes the research found that people were more likely to say they withdrawal if they are bored, disinterested or apathetic. “There’s a desire to maintain autonomy, control and distance,” he says, adding that the research does not offer a solution. “It’s an issue both of being aware of when these behaviors are occurring and of finding an alternative, a more constructive, polite approach to resolve conflict. And at times, that’s easier said than done.” Source: Baylor University. “Couples’ conflicts: Withdrawal or expecting your romantic partner to mind-read hurts relationships, but in different ways.” ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150107131342.htm, accessed Jan. 23, 2015.
Step on the Scale Once a Week to Avoid Weight Gain
There are many different opinions about how often you should weigh yourself, but a new study in PLOS ONE found what may be the best answer. The research found that the more dieters weighed in, the more weight they lost. Research also showed participants in the study who went more than one week without weighing in gained weight. “The more often you weigh yourself, the more weight you lose,” says lead author Elina Helander from Tampere University of Technology in Finland. While the study was observational and can’t prove causation, researchers found the average time their participants could go between weigh-ins without gaining weight was 5.8 days. In a previous study, the same research team found people’s weight naturally fluctuates throughout the week, and that most people weigh the least on Wednesday, so that might be the best day for a weekly weigh-in. “The bottom line is: If you want to lose weight, it’s best to weigh yourself every day. But if you weigh yourself only once a week, do it on Wednesday because that will give you the most accurate reading,” says Brian Wansink, director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab and author of Slim by Design: Mind Eating Solutions for Everyday Life.
Source: Cornell Food and Brand Lab. “Weigh-in once a week or you’ll gain weight.” ScienceDaily, sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/12/141217171430.htm, accessed Jan. 23, 2015.
Even if You Exercise, Sitting for Long Periods Increases Your Risk of Disease and Death Sitting for long periods of time is bad for your health. A new review study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found the amount of time you sit each day is associated with a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease, cancer and even death, even if you get regular exercise. “More than one half of an average person’s day is spent being sedentary—sitting, watching television or working at a computer,” says Dr. David Alter, senior scientist at Toronto Rehab, University Health Network and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences. “Our study finds that despite the health-enhancing benefits of physical activity, this alone may not be enough to reduce the risk of heart disease.” The study did find that the risks are more pronounced for people who do little or no exercise than for those who participate in higher amounts of exercise. “The findings suggest that the health risk of sitting too much is less pronounced when physical activity is increased,” says Avi Biswas, lead author of
the study. “We need further research to better understand how much physical activity is needed to offset the health risks associated with long sedentary time and optimize our health.” Alter wants people to understand that it’s important to get exercise and avoid being sedentary, but simply exercising for 30 minutes a day is not enough if the remaining 23 and a half hours are sedentary. He suggests people try to decrease the amount of time they spend being sedentary by two to three hours in a 12hour day. “The first step is to monitor sitting times. Once we start counting, we’re more likely to change our behavior,” Alter says. “Next is setting achievable goals and finding opportunities to incorporate greater physical activity—and less time sitting—into your daily life. For example, at work, stand up or move for one to three minutes every half hour, and when watching television, stand or exercise during commercials.” Source: University Health Network and newswise.com.
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In the Know
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fitness
Striving for Greatness
World champion decathlete Trey Hardee on getting fit and giving back to the community he calls home. By Ryan Nail, photos by Dustin Meyer
❱❱ Trey Hardee is a lot of things to a lot of people here in Austin. He is a husband, a good friend to those around him and a dog owner, but to the world, Trey Hardee is known as one of the best athletes on the planet. Hardee first made the U.S. Olympic team in 2008, for the Beijing Olympics. In 2009, Hardee qualified for the World Championships in Berlin. At the World Championships, in 2009, he took home the gold medal and title of world champion. In 2010, Hardee took the silver medal in the heptathlon at the World Indoor Championships in Doha, Qatar. He has successfully defended his world championship title, making him the third decathlete to ever win back-to-back World Championships. At the 2011 World Championships in Athletics, Hardee retained the world decathlon title with a final point tally of 8,607, defeating his compatriot, Ashton Eaton. At the 2012 Olympics in London, Hardee won the silver medal, finishing runner-up to U.S. teammate Eaton. Hardee attended the University of Texas and continues to be an Austinite. If you follow Hardee on Facebook or Instagram, you can plainly see how involved he is with the Austin fitness scene. You can find him training at different gym locations, from the Onnit Academy in the downtown area, to the Crossfit Jaakarhu on South Congress Avenue, to the UT track and field facility. Hardee says those in Austin’s fitness scene naturally encourage one another for the betterment of every individual, which creates a greater community. Fitness is much more personable here in Austin. Austin’s fitness community focuses on family and takes pride in keeping things local. One of the ways Hardee gives back to our community is through The Flatwater Foundation. The Flatwater Foundation is
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dedicated to providing those diagnosed with cancer, their families and loved ones access to mental-health therapy and family support. This includes access to both traditional and non-traditional methods of psychological counseling. One partner helping Hardee’s cause is Dynamax, the largest medicine ball company in the world. Dynamax has partnered with Hardee to come out with his very own Dynamax Limited Edition Trey Hardee USA Ball, with proceeds from any balls purchased going directly to The Flatwater Foundation. Hardee believes he is fortunate to be where he is at this point in his career and life, and that it’s an honor to be able to have his own medicine ball, with proceeds going to help people. “If this partnership can mitigate or help someone or ease those pains left behind from cancer, that’s what it’s about for me. It’s a really cool partnership and cause, so if you are in the market for a medicine ball, no other supports a cause like the Dynamax Limited Edition Trey Hardee USA Ball. “When training for my decathlons, I use the Dynamax medicine balls to develop quick-twitch muscles for explosiveness when I am competing, so the partnership with Dynamax was a natural one,” says Hardee. I asked Hardee what he was most excited about as he trains to compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. “I’m blessed to be in the position that I am in,” he says. “I am enjoying every second of the journey to make my third Olympic team, with the hopes of ending up on the podium again.” For more information on The Flatwater Foundation, visit flatwaterfoundation.org. For those looking to support Trey Hardee’s cause through buying the Dynamax Limited Edition Trey Hardee USA Ball, visit medicineballs.com/trey.
TRAIN LIKE AN OLYMPIAN ❱❱ In the straight-legs lift, hang from the Olympic rings or a pull-up bar with your hands shoulder-width apart and your leg gripping a medicine ball. Keeping your legs and back straight and using a slow, controlled motion, raise your legs until they’re parallel to the floor. Slowly lower your legs. That’s one rep. Do four to six. A progression would be to try to raise your feet above 90 degrees. Keep perfect form as you raise your legs; don’t swing them or let momentum do the work. Concentrate on keeping your butt down, as if you’re sitting on a chair.
RYAN NAIL is the owner of CoreFit Training. For more information, visit traincorefit.com.
❱❱ The overhead forward exercise is great for hip mobility, core work and developing power for the entire body.
❱❱ When working for explosiveness and core work, the hip toss-catch is a great exercise, which serves as both a central nervous system primer and is a good full-body power developer.
Medicine-ball training increases power and stability of your core. “Between the legs forward” increases power and stability of your core while giving you the explosive power you need to perform. ❱❱
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Photo by Alexis Fleisig.
In the Know
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Digital Wild photo by Jason Greigo. Jess Williamson photo by Katy Shayne. Emily Wolfe photo by Steven Alcala. GalPals photo by Beth Borwell. Ume photo by Jody Domingue.
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Sarah Lipstate The brain and beauty behind the solo music project Noveller. By Jonathan Rienstra
Sarah Lipstate is nervous about the snow. The Lafayette, La.-born musician who plays under the name Noveller has just released her latest album, Fantastic Planet, a nine-song journey through layered soundscapes of distorted guitars and synthesizers, and is busy with press. She spoke with the New York Times earlier in the day, but her biggest concern is the amount of snow piling up outside her Brooklyn apartment a week after the atmospheric fake-out that prompted New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to warn New Yorkers to “prepare for something worse than we have ever seen before.” “I don’t think it’s supposed to be as bad, but it’s snowing pretty hard,” she says. “It’s making me nervous. They make all these predictions: Maybe it won’t be as bad, or maybe we’ll get snowed in.” Her nervousness stems from her knowledge that she has a show in two days that is being put on by Pitchfork Editor Brandon Stosuy that she describes as “pretty big.” That could also describe Noveller’s sound. But the real problem with pinning down Noveller’s sound is that it refuses to stay still long enough. Her vocal-free compositions shift from expansive, world-building moments of mountainous riffs to plucky, hopeful joyrides in and out and in again until whole emotions and ideas are born. There’s a tangible quality to Fantastic Planet’s tracks, as flickers of visible landscapes sprout out of each note on top of each other. Lipstate, who moved to Brooklyn after graduating from the University of Texas in 2006, recorded Fantastic Planet in Austin and is playing South By Southwest for the first time as Noveller, after previously performing with now-defunct noise-rock band Parts & Labor. “The last time I was at the festival was 2009,”
pretty woman speaks her mind
she says. “It’s been awhile. I always follow the coverage, and so I kind of know what to expect with the corporate presence, but it’ll be interesting to see it for myself and compare it.” When Lipstate isn’t performing and recording as Noveller, she’s spending time scoring films. She got into it when her friend, Nathan Larson, asked her if she would be interested working on some film projects. “There was definitely a learning curve,” she says. “But luckily, I had him as a guide to learn how it works, and it was really amazing to have that experience.” On Working as a Solo Act “My anxiety usually strikes when my mind has the freedom to start wandering. ‘What if something goes horribly wrong during this show?’ or ‘What if something breaks?’ When I’m onstage by myself for Noveller, I have to be so focused on what I’m doing, between what pedal to turn on or settings or all the different parts that my brain doesn’t have the chance to spiral into anxiety and ‘What if?’ ” On Film Composing Versus Song Composing “When you’re writing music for a film, you’re creating for the director and getting notes from the director, and scores getting flat-out rejected. It’s not about you. It’s just learning to deal with rejection. When I’m making it for Noveller, it’s all about me, and if I don’t like it, it doesn’t hurt. It’s about getting over that pride.” On Recording Fantastic Planet in Austin “I felt like I had more time and I was more comfortable with working. It just felt like a luxury compared to in my apartment in New York. I felt really happy and inspired while I was working on it. That change in location added a little bit and a mood to the album. I was just feeling connected to my surroundings.” On Austin’s Rapid Growth During the Last Decade “It’s very obvious the ways it’s grown, but the creative pulse of the city is still there, and if anything, it means that there’s a bigger audience involved in those events for the creative community. Geographically, things have changed quite a bit, but at the heart, people are still plugging away.” Fantastic Planet (Fire Records) is currently available on iTunes. Check out Noveller at SXSW this March.
SIREN SONGS Check out these up-and-coming local sirens during SXSW Music. Times and location TBD. Digital Wild: This Austin band packs a punch with their debut album, Into, fusing hiphop, indie rock and electronica for a funky sound that’ll have you moving with the infectious beats on tracks like Riskin’ and Around.Lead singer Chantell Moody’s seductive and sultry voice hooks you in. thedigitalwild.org Jess Williamson: Jess Williamson’s stripped-down sound burns slow with haunting and poetic songs off her latest album, Native State. Her emotionally charged voice and banjo picking channel Appalachian folk for deeply personal and introspective storytelling. jesswilliamson.com Emily Wolfe: Don’t pigeonhole Emily Wolfe into one style of music. From low-key songwriter tunes to swirling guitars and heavy riffs, Wolfe’s music shows her proficiency in a variety of genres, which all comes together for an auditory melting pot. emilywolfemusic.com GAL PALS: Lauren Marie Mikus and Jillian Talley are a guitar-and-drum duo that creates frenetic pop rock made for dancing. Think The White Stripes’ Fell In Love With A Girl, without Jack White’s contempt for everything. galpals.bandcamp.com Ume: Front woman Lauren Larson rocks hard with Ume, blending everything together for a soaring sound that’s a little bit shoegaze, a little bit metal, a little bit garage rock, a little bit indie pop and a whole lot of fun. monuments.umemusic.
atxman.com 7 1
The Last Word
Spring Forward The season of liberation. “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” — Mark Twain OK, people. It’s springtime in Austin and Central Texas. It’s the beginning of the rainy season—please, please rain—and thanks to Lady Bird Johnson, the heart of the wildflower season. It’s the time for planting flowers, prepping and planting your vegetable garden and it’s time for that ol’ spring-cleaning too. Well, Austin men, I am adding one more thing to the list. But this one should not be a have to but rather a want to. I have a great and longtime friend named Jim Collins, who is the author of the best-selling books Built to Last and Good to Great. He is a serial rock climber, speaker, lecturer, teacher. You get the picture. He is a man for all seasons when it comes to living large in the world of throwing off the bowlines, sailing
72 ATX MAN spring 2015
away from the safe harbor, catching the trade winds, exploring, dreaming and discovering. He once told me in a conversation about what’s next, “You know, Roy, you are only as young as the new stuff you do. When you are a kid, teenager, young adult and even a family man with kids, doing new stuff is not an act of will, but rather an act of the natural course of growing up. Exploring, dreaming and discovering is nature’s path of surviving, hopefully thriving and literally creating and raising the next generation. But as one gets older, nature says, ‘I’ve done my job. Now it is up to you to explore. Dream. Discover.’ ” Indeed it is. It seems that New Year’s Day in cold January is perfect for new resolutions in an effort to promise oneself that this is the year you will never again overeat, overspend, under-exercise. And the guilt-driven list goes on. I always thought of springtime as the liberating
season, the precise season of life’s cycle to explore. Dream. Discover. In short, the season of want to rather than have to. The time to begin writing the book you have always wanted to write. To start the mobile-vending diner you have always wanted to build. Start the actual mapping out of the route you will take cycling across America, which you have always wanted to do. Go into the studio and record the songs you have written and always wanted to record. Enroll back in college and finish what you started and always wanted to finish. This is radically different than a bucket list. This is amping up life’s miraculous journey and doing new stuff you have always wanted to do, all for the purpose of staying curious and young at heart. So spring forward and sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. Love and hugs to all.
“I always thought of springtime as the liberating season, the precise season of life’s cycle to explore.”
Photo courtesy of Roy Spence.
By Roy Spence
Austin man Magazine Tim League / Austin’s Best Bartenders / MotoGP
spring 2015