It's the little things in life that make our hearts go buh-boom. A baby's first slobbery smile, a perfect harmony, the smell of a campfire. Oh, and also: Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles! We don't know when it started, or whose idea it was, but the bubbles outside of Spiros - flirting with the breeze, catching the light, soaring toward freedom - make us darned giddy. Sure it's a tad silly, but we like silly. Heck, we live for it. Now fly, little soap bubble, fly far, far from here!

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Don't misunderstand us. For years, eons even, we've adored the special collage magic of her gig posters (Ed Hall, Joan Jett, her own Sincola and Lord Douglas Phillips), been in awe of her CD covers and illustrations (Handful, Sincola, The Austin, ahem, Chronicle), and in general worshipped at the altar of her various geniuses. But when Renaissance lady Terri Lord took to creating monthly calendars for Manor Road coffeehouse/community center/girl bar Gaby & Mo's a while back, it was an aesthetic alignment of the planets: a confluence of artistic brilliance, identity politics, and pop cultural master's thesis. As a bent cosmos of voodoo princesses and cowgirls, poodles and junior high cheerleaders, Campfire Girls, a mixmaster Buddha ("Two Turntables and Yoga Pose"), and Blair and Jo from Facts of Life in love ("Hope") slowly revealed itself, technical and aesthetic mastery added to the dead-on subject matter: With the devotion of Saint Therese and the eye of John Waters, Lord creates masterworks of gorgeously saturated color and perverse juxtaposition, realized in careful, subtle detail. Early this year she downshifted to focusing her zeitgeist-capturing powers on special event fliers for the club - lilting and hilarious odes to Monica Lewinsky, the Teletubbies, and genderfuck. See them soon, hopefully always, at a coffeehouse/community center/girl bar near you.

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"Johnny Thunders? Patti Smith? Richard Hell? Mick Jagger? Who the hell is that?" The Parlor – a loud, dark beer joint on North Loop, populated with tattooed, pierced beefcakes of all ages and genders – has the city's most kickass jukebox, scorching live blues on Monday nights, a pool table that is often open and ready for lousy pool players to practice the craft, and some enormous, really confusing rock-star portraits painted on the walls. Music trivia buffs, musicians, and rock critics alike can entertain themselves for hours, slamming extremely affordable beers between examining the mysterious murals and going over their inner catalog of junkie images from the punk rock era, which is exactly what a night out in this cozy, darkened den of pleasures is all about.

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As video gives way to DV and becomes an art form, we identify with the shock on our grandparents' faces when the same thing happened as Super-8 gave way to Beta and VHS. The co-op is an invaluable resource for filmmakers wanting the physicality and quality of projecting real film (either Super-8 or 16mm). Even without a camera or a projector of one's own, aspiring filmmakers can rent from Cinemaker to shoot that three-minute epic. Processing labs, rental equipment, and even a venue to screen films are also available. Cinemaker offers quarterly contests with challenging themes like "Make a Film in 24 hours" or more recently "Make an Erotic Film," where the best of Austin's best shine in local, lo-fi stardom.

Cinemaker Co-op
1705 Guadalupe #201
512/236-8877
www.cinemaker.org

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It's time to practice Madonna as you writhe around in your boudoir, or hone your Bob Seger skills in your underwear ... You know what we're talking about: Every other Tuesday night at Club DeVille, between May and October, patrons can take to the outdoor stage and attempt to impress the crowd of tipsy twentysomethings sprawled across the comfortable, weathered lawn furniture. Effervescent hostess Emily Fawcett commands the proceedings and eggs participants into putting on a show. So pick a song, find a mirror and hairbrush, and bone up on those licks, baby. Your 15 minutes await.

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Short film usually receives recognition only in music videos, but has found a new place of appreciation within the Cinematexas Short Film + Video Festival. Every year, Cinematexas draws new short filmmakers into Austin. While those who are just starting out make up most of the year's program, a showcase of better-known artists is also included to shock and delight. Some programs that come to mind: last year's presentation of Kirostami shorts and this year's gothic Svankmajer shorts. Extending their ken beyond film, Cinematexas also showcases unique performances, such as Miranda July and Michael Snow. In this town of year-round film festivals, Cinematexas is the only one specifically dedicated to short film, and we are glad it's here.

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They all laughed when you said you were going to make a three-minute Super-8 film in a weekend, but not when you invited them to the public screening. The Cinemaker Co-op, that wonderful enabler of all things movie-making, sponsors this terrific once-a-year Make a Film in a Weekend. Once you've shot your 180-second opus and put your film and soundtrack together, you and the viewing public can watch it for the first time on the big screen.

Cinemaker Co-op
1705 Guadalupe #201
512/236-8877
www.cinemaker.org

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