The Guide To Making SXSW Fun (For Everybody)

The last thing anyone would say about South By Southwest is that it's an avenue for self-improvement. The annual mega gathering, which began last week for film and interactive-technology mavens and turns into a music conference and festival tomorrow, fulfills many needs for the culture nerd.
Communal bonding? Yes somewhere around 100,000 people will wander the Austin streets looking to high-five each other during this time. Fun? For sure. This is the entertainment industry's spring break, with much better music that what you'd hear at the Flora-Bama border, and mercifully fewer bros in board shorts. Excess? That's a given, whether your pleasure comes in a plastic cup, folded into a tortilla or pouring out of a nightclub's speakers. But soul edification? Inner peace? It's about as likely to hit you at SXSW as it is during a game of Temple Run.
 Yet after twenty-plus years of on-and-off attendance, I've discovered that there is a key to discovering the Hidden Wisdom of South By Southwest. This kind of self-help goes beyond what any herbal remedy, extra phone battery or pair of sensible shoes offers. Those practical survival tools are givens. So is some modicum of misery, born of overabundance. That's the paradox of choice. But the too-muchness of SXSW can become a route to knowing yourself better, as a music lover, a listener, and a cultural explorer.
 Here are some things you can do to make your South By Southwest experience not just a gauntlet to survive, but also a source of renewal. Making these choices can benefit anyone who comes to Austin, badge on lanyard newcomers and veterans alike and even those following along remotely, from the comfort of a Wi-Fi enabled home. It turns out that what makes South By Southwest more than bearable is exactly what makes loving music so important.
To quote my favorite actual self-help book, it's all about embracing the full catastrophe.

New Source: www.gpb.org

Jhumpa Lahiri's 'Lowland' in top UK prize longlist

New Delhi, Mar 7: Works by Pulitzer Prize-winning Indian American novelist Jhumpa Lahiri and Pakistani author Fatima Bhutto figure in the 20-book longlist for this year's Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. Earlier known as the Orange Prize, the UK's most prestigious annual book award is given for the best novel of the year written by a woman of any nationality in the English language. While Lahiri has been chosen for her Man Booker shortlisted novel "The Lowland", Bhutto has been included for her work "The Shadow of the Crescent Moon". The list also includes "The Luminaries" by last year's Man Booker winner Eleanor Catton of New Zealand, US writer Rachel Kushner's "The Flamethrowers" and Aussie writer Evie Wyld's "All the Birds, Singing"

News source : www.news.oneindia.in

'American Idol' Top 12 Performances: Emily Piriz Does Jennifer Lopez

The 12 finalists of "American Idol" season 13 sang songs that reminded them of their hometowns in the

Wednesday, March 5 episode. Jena Irene was the first performer of the night, singing "Suddenly I See" by KT Tunstall which reminded her of road trips with her mom and brother. Keith Urban liked her "stage presence," while Jennifer Lopez said her "unique voice makes it your own." Harry Connick Jr. liked that she made "different choices in the melody," but still "wanted more." Up next was Alex Preston who went with Gavin DeGraw's "I Don't Want to Be". J.Lo thought it wasn't his best performance and "the arrangement overtook your vocal performance." Keith complained that the performance was unstable and "the song was kind of around you, instead of you centering and being in the song." Harry, however, praised Alex for stepping out of his comfort zone. Jessica Meuse sang "White Flag" by Dido which reminded her of being a teenager and learning to be herself. Harry got booed when calling the performance unfocused and sharp, but Harry thought "if you really really mean it then no one is going to care about your pitch." J.Lo concluded it, "I feel like you feel like you're comfortable, but it doesn't come off that way." Jessica said she would watch her performance back and believed the judges when they said she was sharp. Dexter Roberts slowed down "Lucky Man" by Montgomery Gentry. Keith said it was a perfect song choice which matched his voice. J.Lo suggested him to surprise the judges on every performance night, while Harry called it "the best performance of the night" by far. Emily Piriz made a brave choice by singing J.Lo's song "Let's Get Loud". "I have to say I loved it, I'm bias," J.Lo commented. Harry thought "the song and the production was too big for you tonight," but Keith believed the performance just secured her a spot in the Top 11.

News source : www.aceshowbiz.com