Travel Guide: Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Harry Potter is big for my mom for a lot of sentimental reasons. Harry Potter movies play in the background as we laze around the house on holidays, or on weeknights in, etc.  I try to take my mom on a little trip once per year, and when I suggested The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, she was THRILLED. Like, emailing me Harry Potter gifs until it was time to go-thrilled :)

We went down to Orlando on a Wednesday afternoon, did the park on Thursday, and came back on Friday morning. Everyone we chatted with down there said October-December the parks are less busy (except when kids are out of school). Wednesday we took a short Uber ride to Disney Springs to walk around grab some dinner, and browse stores like Anthropologie and Zara. Touristy, sure, but we were tourists, and it was walkable and mom-friendly.

Weekend Adventures: Super H Mart and The Optimist

This is my roommate / life wife Rachel. We have a birthday tradition of treating each other to a special meal. This past Sunday, we hit the road to Atlanta for a day of eating culminating in dinner at The Optimist. 

First stop on our trip was Canton House on Buford Highway for a dim sum lunch we've been meaning to have for ages: tiny steam trays of delicious dim sum bites under larger than life crystal chandeliers. When we hesitated for too long to make up our minds, or couldn't quite understand the woman pushing the dim sum cart around the dining room, she loaded our table up with more dim sum. Now that's some good up-selling.

After some Buford Highway Goodwill crawling, we took an adventure to Super H Mart: a magical sprawling international grocery heavy on Asian specialties. 

Guest Post: Way Out West Music Festival

This past month, I (Natasha) had the distinct pleasure of traveling to the beautiful city of Gothenborg, Sweden for Way Out West, an annual three day music festival held in Slottsskogen.

Guest post by Natasha (far right) of Nicely Built

Beautiful park, beautiful festival

The lineup was a good mix of artists I've listened to for years (The Knife, Athens-bred Phosphorescent, Neil Young) and newcomers that I've quickly added to my personal soundscape (Grimes, HAIM, Local Natives). In addition to all these wonderful acts, a couple of good friends expatriated to the city about a year ago, so deciding to take the trip was a no brainer.

I'm so glad I decided to go! With the exception of Neil Young's cancellation (a member of Crazy Horse broke their arm), the festival was a steady procession of great live performances, excellent festival food (more on this later), and spectacular people watching (the fashion was fierce y'all).

By far my favorite act was Saturday's The Knife headliner set. The band's energy and choreography made remember why I love electronic music so much in the first place. Second place goes to Phosphorescent. The performance was early in the day yet well attended. Matthew's performance felt very intimate despite his full backing band. Seeing the city's most well known performer, Håkan Hellström, play was very much a memorable experience. People were seriously weeping, dancing in a traditional circle style, and generally just freaking out a la a Beatlemania. It was awesome!

The Knife

Grimes

Way Out West was like no other music festival I've been to in regard to organization. The WOW folks planned the logistics to be environmentally sustainable in a grand fashion. All of the festival food was vegetarian (and delicious). I've been obsessed with grilled haloumi burgers ever since. Recycling receptacles were everywhere and the grounds remained clean the entire time due to the ever busy cleanup crew of volunteers. I should note, this commitment to environmental sustainability was evidenced throughout the entire city of Gothenborg -- a fact that really made me smile.

Food! Glorious food!

And the fashion you guys - it was so good. No predictable gauzy, flowy looks found here. Attendees traversed the festival grounds in everything from industrial platform boots to custom Nike Air Max sneakers. There were also heavily penciled eyebrows, more than a few long shoreman getups, and an impressive range of a rain gear. Quite a few interesting hairstyles, including what my crew dubbed, "hat head," in which a lady with long hair cut the top part into a bowl cut leaving the back long similar to a mullet.

So, yeah! Way Out West was fun and I would definitely go again!

See you next year :-)

All pictures by Gianna Keiko Rankart

PS: You didn't think Natasha would go to Sweden without having some authentic Swedish fish, did you? 

Pitchfork Fest: Day 3

 

Looks like I'm finally finishing my Pitchfork Fest posts just as the next big weekend for me rolls around: the 15th anniversary of the publicity firm I work with Bear In Heaven, Olivia Tremor Control, Akron/Family, and more. Out of the frying pan and into the fire, except that both the frying pan and fire are too busy but stressful things that involved hugging lots of your favorite people.

So many great things at the poster fair, but I was good and only left with a few buttons to mail friends.

Thee Oh Sees

Look who it is! Patrick from the late great Jookabox!

Nick Butcher and I sending a big hello back home to the Hometapes family. 

Do you have the proper press credentials to be in the VIP area with that bubble camera, ma'am? 

 Chavez, and a specially delivery for my co-worker, Shil.

 

The Olivia Tremor Control night-time club show was close to Chinatown, so we got to take a dinner break and eat a real sit-down meal in air conditioning. 

 

My sweet pals Page and Dan made it into town for the Olivia Tremor Control club show Sunday night. They perform as Dreamboat, and have a beautiful record out this fall on Cloud Recordings.

Love me some good bathroom graffiti.

Pitchfork Fest: Day 2

Friday's rain made my leather purse bleed leather dye onto my skin and clothes like a bad self-tanner job. Luckily, we stayed downtown, so I had a chance to pick up an umbrella and a new bag for Saturday morning. Unfortunately, Goth Target, pictured above, was not yet open for business. 

My friend Nevona is my favorite American Girl doll. Free People snapped her photo right after this, but I can't seem to find it online!

 

Dodged the rain under the record fair tent and said hi to my pals Graveface Records and Sub-Pop.

  

Olivia Tremor Control had one interview that wasn't on our schedule: Bradford Cox! 

 Finished the night off with tacos and the Liturgy after-show with the Thrill Jockey crew.

Pitchfork Fest 2012: Day 1

 

When you're on the way to Pitchfork Fest in Chicago to be on-site with Olivia Tremor Control for publicity, is there a more fitting gate to fly out of than E6?

 

A package from Hometapes was waiting for me at the hotel. I've never actually had a package waiting for me at a hotel, so as someone who loves mail, I got a kick out of it.

 

Mmmm tacos from Big Star. My potato taco was so spicy I had to chug a Mexican Coca-Cola, flip over the picnic table, smash the bottle, and roar victoriously. The only part of that which really happened was the chugging of the Coke.

 

Loaded up on brunch before the festival at Lula Cafe. Writer pal Matt and rad fellow publicist pal Joan are psyching out the pastries. 

 

Went on a little adventure after brunch to visit my friends at Thrill Jockey Records. Their office is in a Latino neighborhood with the most beautiful artwork everywhere. Even the metro station had very few surfaces unpainted. Wish I could have spent a few more hours trying some of the restaurants.

  

Thrill Jockey office

 

This was outside of Ojala Spiritual Gallery. Wish I'd had time to go inside.

 

 

Crowd was packed for Olivia Tremor Control despite the on and off rain. Awesome feeling seeing friends/clients on a jumbotron.

 

Dirty Projectors

 

Long overdue to see these ladies: Nevona (Partisan Records, Young One Records) and Jackie (ICM.)

 

 It was great to see my pal Dean from Spacebomb. As Sibel pointed out, no, I am not wearing a choker. That's just my hair. 

  

Purity Ring

Heading out in a few to get back at it again for another day of music and thunderstorms!