Whhhooooooo Hoooooooooooooo! It’s time to get naked and… oops…
sorry! That was last year. Heh-heh. No, the theme for this year is
moderation… and sensible celebration. Yeah, right. As we have said many times
in this column: If you’re going to get stinky, get stinky for a good cause.
Look right over there to your right, to the Benefits column, for two of
the New Year’s best bets benefiting Christopher House and KOOP
Radio. Then get a Safe Ride Home, should the need arise!
434-7788.
Ethereal Arti$t$
The debate over who owns what in the art realm has been raging since the firstsabre-toothed human chiseled the first � next to his or her name. So, why
should our latest evolutionary step be any different? The Internet is the new
playground for artists known and unknown and artist wannabes flexing their
mouses for the whole wide world to see. And usually for free. Who determines
when and how artists, writers, musicians, etc., are compensated for their work
on the Web? Artists` Legal & Accounting Assistance of Austin (ALAA) is hosting a free seminar, Art in Cyberspace, Sat, Jan 18, 1-4pm at the
UT Law School Auditorium. The afternoon program will explore the ramifications
of all sides of the intellectual property debate; the Internet as a source of
income; technical aspects of doing business on the Net; and the pitfalls of
cyberspace as art forum. The half-day seminar will feature artists, legal
eagles, and Internet pros dealing with these issues. 476-4458.
Our Fair Planet
Trade shows are trade shows, right? You go, you pick up a few pens embossedwith some company’s logo, some handy standard & metric rulers
imprinted with some company’s logo, and one or two of those fuzzy troll things
to stick on your computer, prominently displaying… you guessed it, some
company’s logo. Some guy with a belly peeking over his Sans-a-belt approaches
and patiently you sit through the sales pitch nodding sincerely and doing your
damnedest to look like you give a goddamn about his latest widget, all the
while distractedly sizing up his swag situation. Finding that belly guy has no
trolls, no pens, no funny wooden nickels with his company logo, dejectedly you
head for the next trick, the next vendor in hopes they might offer some free
Hershey’s Huggsreg.. It’s an exhausting process, but for some
reason, you keep going. Maybe it’s that satisfaction of dumping out your goody
bag afterward like some greedy kid with rotting teeth on Halloween. Or maybe
you really like widgets.
Now, we’re not saying that this particular trade show is going to be any
different. No, despite the fact that the Eco-Fair Texas has been an
Austin fixture for six years, we have never gone. No, we haven’t. And we
love trade shows. We are planning on going this year. The fair
encourages ecologically as well as economically sound farming, ranching,
landscaping, and gardening practices, such as sustainable agriculture, organic
farming and holistic livestock management, composting, native plants, and
recycling. We bet Suzy Banks goes to this fair. We are really going to go this
year. This year, the fair is Fri-Sat, Jan 24-25, 9am-6pm at the Palmer
Auditorium, our favorite place for trade shows! 418-8708.
Thumbing Through
Every month, we receive newsletters from local public-service organizations.Most memberships to these groups come with subscriptions to their newsletters.
Here are a few of our favorites which have crossed the desk in the last month
or so….
Vaccine Reaction is the bi-monthly publication of the
National Vaccine Information Center. Sound stuffy and scientific? Well,
it carries news of interest to folks who think that mandatory vaccination is a
crock of shots. Write to: NVIC, 512 W. Maple Ave., #206, Vienna, VA 22180.
703/938-0342 or http://www.909shot.com
Austin Latino/a Lesbian & Gay Organization (ALLGO) offers
�ALLGO Pasa!, chock full of news of note for local joto/as. Our
fave is a feature called “Chisme y Mas,” a dishy little rundown which…
well, let’s let it speak for itself:
“What local Director crashed the bath house open house to scope out the new
digs… aren’t you ever off the clock?… What local bar fly continues to
insist that the hickey on his neck was from the Chupacabra
itself??????…”.
The happiest of Happy New Years to you and yours from your pals at “Public
Notice.”
This article appears in January 3 • 1997 and January 3 • 1997 (Cover).