the stuff dreams are made of

Far from the days of hoola-hoops, Popples and ballet skirts, my favorite things–in the tangible sense of want and love–are no longer things. I’m certain it has always been happiness that I wish for, but after several years of birthday candles and letters to Santa, the things I long for and truly cherish won’t be found in a dusty box beneath trapper keepers and cassette tapes.

Finding solace from the hustle and bustle of the bar scenes and city streets in the corner of your favorite funky coffee shop … Time spent with the ones you love, your closest friends, your family and all the people who know your dreams and make life real … The coolness factor of being privy to a small, personal performance by one of those somehow still undiscovered musicians that, in any given number of months, you will boast to your friends standing shoulder to shoulder in the back of an overcrowded venue, “Yeah, but I saw them when…” … A room full of contemporary, colorful artwork for you to study, enjoy and admire for hours, never once thinking that you’ve seen this before, or wishing for it to be any different.



All those things, those favorites, are what remind you how big even the smallest moments can be and how hungry your soul is. They make you think that maybe David really did defeat Goliath, and maybe love could make the world go ‘round…



This is the stuff that dreams are made of, and for one night, for one great night, with all of my favorites in one place at one time, we celebrated these things of our dreams.

July 12 was the opening reception of Dreams Are Made of These, a month-long display of work by Austin-artist, Mason McFee. Wine, friends, food and live music were all on the menu at The Hideout, an inconspicuous coffee house/theatre turned gallery hidden among stores, restaurants and hotels that line Congress Avenue in the heart of downtown Austin.





Old friends and many new faces escaped reality for one evening to take a glimpse into Maseman’s dreamland. A ghost? An alien? A Russian nun? Maseman is the brainchild of this contemporary artist–a character of life and imagination.



On the corner of imagination and invention, you will find a character known as Maseman. In an effort to elude reality, he lives in a world of his own, finding his way through endless cosmos and environments. Simple thoughts and ideas, conveyed through ink and paint, provide the viewer with a world in which to contemplate the intricacies of life.



In Dreams Are Made of These, Maseman and his fateful friends beckon to us by appealing to our emotional familiarity. Each character in Maseman’s dreamland is a reminder of the vague nature of reality and the power of perception. Through this whimsical journey, he encounters a menagerie of inked identities and friends, who seemingly overcome obstacles with a shield of simple, humble satisfaction in mere existence.





If groovy and funky had a beautifully complex, dance-crazed lovechild, it would be divine justice, and it was.This music is the kind of stuff that … say you’re sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic in the desolate aftermath of an ice storm, and the entire world is frozen solid. If God played these tracks from his heavenly iPod, every creature on earth would break into dance. Hey all you beat boys and beat girls! You want to have a real party? Rock these jams at your next sock hop.



Dreams are Made of These will be showing through the month of July.
Check out more Maseman here.
Like what you see? Send him a message on myspace.

A Tale of Two Cinemas

Mixed Media collaboration
Designed by Maseman, Lindsay, and myself

I have a confession for you, my little green comrades. I know that this admission of weakness may shock you to your core, but it’s time to come clean. I have a personal problem – a dilemma really: Decision-making. It’s not my strong suit. Some situations prove less a challenge than others. Por ejemplo, movie selection is one particular area of verdict distress. To go, or not to go? Will it disappoint? Is the sadness that my pick is sure to evoke worth the insight it may provide?

When it comes to foodie follies, there are certain key ‘order me!’ signs of selection that are sure to satisfy – artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, tequila-lime sauce, tequila in general. Similarly, the ‘see me’ triggers for decisions of cinematic nature are ‘indie’ ‘foreign’ and ‘controversial.’ Usually, unfortunately, this translates to ‘depressed’ ‘emotionally exhausting’ and a prelude to the sheer embarrassment of ducking out of a theater sobbing and sinking into a general hopelessness about our lives, futures and decisions. I credit my mother's lack of interest in initiating our once-beloved ‘movie dates’ with my faulty history of picture selection.

I’ve been seeking shelter from the bustle of life’s traumas in The Alamo Drafthouse – an Austin gem. This local cinematic haven provides Austin’s drifters with an array of indie films and a constant calendar of unique attractions, such as ‘Mike's Sick & Twisted Animation' series and a plethora of docu- and mock-u-mentaries from the recent and distant past. The psychedelic previewing sessions and extensive menu of booze and gourmet grub offer moviegoers a unique treat.


Pan's Labyrinth

I was coerced into seeing this film by misleading reviews which compared the it to a childhood tale of mishaps and discovery, likening Pan’s looking-glass view to Alice’s adventures in Wonderland. To my dismay, I found Pan’s Labyrinth to be a gruesome tale of devotion-gone-wrong. The ‘labyrinth’ in this fear-flick resembles those creepy maze gardens like the one in The Shining more so than that of The Secret Garden, and there was no tea-party. The proverbial ‘rabbit hole’ is a treacherous trail in Ofelia’s quest for the Underworld. The fact that critics referred to this film as ‘an adult fairy-tale’ frightened me. In fact, the film itself frightened me, and if you have not been to hell’s purgatory or lived under the brutal wrath of Franco’s regime, it will frighten you too.

A film I will recommend, however, is Babel. An intriguing tri-hybrid of Syriana, Lost In Translation, and Crash, this film is a heart-wrenching depiction of the vast differences in today’s cultural mores, values, fears, expectations and stereotypes. These are characters with whom every breathing soul can find a level of relation, creating emotionally overwhelming scenes and story lines. The self-destruction of these characters is brought on by their own [our own] ignorance. It is both honest and heartbreaking.



The always sexy Gael Garcia Bernal (Amores Perros, Science of Sleep, Bad Education) plays Santiago – a party-crazed free-spirited, troublemaker who breeds the connection between upper class white society and that of the immigrant Mexican, between which we see an unfortunate lack of compassion and understanding.

Director Alejandro González Iñárritu does an exceptional job of illustrating the destructive political views of immigration and the heartbreak these ensue. His previous flicks have carried strong familial themes, particularly that of a father and son, and his third feature flick is no different. The age-old biblical tale in the book of Genesis foretells a story of man’s self-fulfilling efforts destructed by cultural and linguistic rifts. Iñárritu brings viewers this tale of similar concepts with an eerie reality of our times.

Here, my friends, I present the official SXSW 2007 line-up. If you haven’t already been exposed to this information, you must have been hanging out with the sun-scared grub worms under the rocks in our yard.

Get with the program, and get ready for some good times to come.