Lite + Brite: 30 Sunny Austin Events 8/23
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
Did you know that UT’s fall semester starts this week? That’s right: Even though it’s so hot that people are measuring the temperature by trying to cook eggs on the sidewalk and Austin’s best meteorologist is offering up his dog in exchange for a cold front, somehow “summer” is “over” just because school is back. Sure. Now not only are we all slowly melting and trying to keep our power on, but also thousands of students are arriving, and you can bet they’ll want power, too. What can you do? We have thoughts.
Find a body of water. The cooler, wetter version of you in this hypothetical future can get into some water aerobics, 90s queer country DJs, ACL Radio DJs, the kickoff to a community arts fest, fire performers, drag performers, or classic films. Are you allergic to water? We come prepared for this. There’s other stuff you can do without getting pruney fingers. Play 1980s computer games while you watch a movie about 1980s console games. Dance freely. Find your inner choo-choo conductor checking out tiny locomotives. Watch a play set in a planet-sized landfill. See site-specific art. Or why not drown your existential dread in puppets? Whether you choose a future that is wet or dry, full of dread or full of puppets, we hope that you will choose to get out of the house, or at least choose to keep opening these newsletters.
If you’re not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you want to be, click here. We do one newsletter a week, usually on Fridays, plus a bonus edition around the start of each month. If you enjoy this newsletter, please support us by contributing to our Patreon and by forwarding this email to your friends who enjoy things like listening to music and leaving the house sometimes.
Let’s do fun stuff!
—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com
OUR STUFF
If you’ve spent much time in the teen section of the Austin Central Library, you may have noticed that it is home to the most comfortable chairs in the world. Leila has developed an unhealthy fixation with these chairs, which manifested itself this week in her writing an essay for Apartment Therapy about her as-yes-unsuccessful quest to pilfer a chair from the Austin Public Library.
On the homefront, Brian was practicing some software sorcery on his radio show, No Humans Allowed. Picture some warbly synth wizards weaving magical krautrock, synthpop, italo + downtempo. Listen to Software Sorcerers in the Kpiss archives + scroll down for the tracklist.
We’re taking a break from No Lights No Lycra while we find a new venue. If you have a suggestion we’d love to hear it. Reply to this email or hit us up on our Discord. Any space needs to be able to get very dark, and also to not serve alcohol. We’ll bring sound.
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Friday 8/23
- Martian Arts Collective Launch Party at Irregardless 13
“Art Installations / Performance Dancers” w/DJs + visuals - Homocoming at Cheer Up Charlie’s
DJs + drag performers “queer up country” w/homecoming twists - Love Is Love at Rivian
Pride-themed vendor market w/DJ + live music - My Eyes Are Starving for Beauty at Big Medium
“Site-specific installation + performance” about beauty, fantasy, + “queer self-empowerment” - Games Y’all at the Howson Branch Library
Pride-themed edition of the meetup for indie game devs + fans - Trash Planet at Crashbox
A trashy Scifi play set on a planet-sized landfill - PRISM 37 at various Austin cinemas
Fest devoted to films about + relevant to the LGTBQ community - Sunny Days at the Vortex
Play using puppets on heavy topics like climate change + human rights
Saturday 8/24
- Flaming Tides at Ladybird Lake
DJs, mermaids + fire performers, accessible only by watercraft - Local Queer Pride Boat Party at Highland Lakes Marina
Nautical drag performers get their sea legs on a boat - L’Inferno at Alamo Mueller
Watch a silent film-era horror film w/a live musical score - Close Encounters at MASS Gallery
Art opening for collaboration between performance + fabric art - Opening Hours at the Sherwood Forest Zine Library
Read from Sherwood Forest’s extensive library of zines - Le Garage Sale at the Palmer Events Center
Fashion shopping bonanza with an eye for gallic naming - Austin Train Show at the Palmer Events Center
Get on the train train w/trains of all sizes, raffle, + kiddie express - Trash Planet at Crashbox
A trashy Scifi play set on a planet-sized landfill - PRISM 37 at various Austin cinemas
Fest devoted to films about + relevant to the LGTBQ community - Sunny Days at the Vortex
Play using puppets on heavy topics like climate change + human rights
Sunday 8/25
- Free Day of Dance at Ballet Austin
Engage in dances from across the world w/varying energy levels - International Horror Movie Night at Mohawk
Dutch slasher films, pizza, + disco unite for the first time ever - Yeehawties at the Austin Motel
Austin’s favorite queer 90s country DJs hit the pool - ATX Short Films Best of the Year Film Festival at the Ballroom
Like Mad Max’s Thunderdome but for TX-made short films - Lesbionage at We Luv Video
“So badly done it’s fun to watch” film about lesbian spies - ACL Radio Pool Party at Hotel Van Zandt
Listen to ACL Radio DJs poolside w/drinks + bites - Le Garage Sale at the Palmer Events Center
Fashion shopping bonanza with an eye for gallic naming - Austin Train Show at the Palmer Events Center
Get on the train train w/trains of all sizes, raffle, + kiddie express - Trash Planet at Crashbox
A trashy Scifi play set on a planet-sized landfill - PRISM 37 at various Austin cinemas
Fest devoted to films about + relevant to the LGTBQ community - Sunny Days at the Vortex
Play using puppets on heavy topics like climate change + human rights - (weekly thru 9/8) Splashdance at the Austin Motel
Poolside aerobics with Austin’s most creative aerobics instructor
Tuesday 8/27
- Greetings from Queer Mountain at Cheer Up Charlie’s
“Free LGBTQ Storytelling Showcase” w/ASL interpreter - Odd World at We Luv Video
Play a naughty 80s PC game + watch 80s film about NES games - Your Local Book Swap at Vuka North Loop
Talk books, see live art, + trade old books for new (to you)
Thursday 8/29
- Thee Gay Agenda: Best in Show at Crashbox
Pet show-themed drag, DJs, + other performers - Movies on the Lake: Footloose at Mozart’s
See classic film about The Man trying to take dancing away (on boats!) - Nerd Nite at Barrel O’ Fun
Hear high-caliber talks on nerdy disastrous topics - Queer Film Theory 101 at the Highball
“Basically, we ruin films for straight people + yell about the characters that made us feel gay” - The Front Festival at the Line Hotel
Pool party, DJ, tacos + art by Texas women + LGBTQ+ folks - Sunny Days at the Vortex
Play using puppets on heavy topics like climate change + human rights
No Humans Allowed 204
Software Sorcerers
We communed on the radio with some software sorcerers this week on No Humans Allowed + cast some musical spells. Prepare your reagents, practice your mystic chanting, make sure you have enough MP + press play.
Tracklist
The Art of Noise – Moments in Love
Section 25 – Inspiration
Between – Devotion (Joystick Jay Edit)
Komeda – A Simple Formality
Thomas Dolby – Therapy-Growth
Steve Moore – Saturnalia
CFCF – It Was Never Meant to Be This Way (Games Remix)
Den Harrow – Future Brain
Black Spuma – Decathlon
Daedalus – Sundown
Fennesz – Transit ft. David Sylvian
Harald Grosskopf – Emphasis
No Humans Allowed is Brian Blackout’s award-winning, dodgy European news coverage receiving, weekly robots-themed radio show on internet station KPISS.fm. Machine vibes 4 machines. Songs for robots, androids, mandroids, cyborgs, AIs, cylons, skinjobs, roombas, wifi routers, smart devices, anything colored Bondi blue, and virtual assistants. Humans not required. Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 6pm CT on kpiss.fm, with nearly 200 episodes now streamable in the archives on topics like and Beach Simulations, Roomba dance parties, undersea adventures + Cyber Texas.
PATREON THANKS
A huge thank-you to our Patreon subscribers Bones Malones, Amy Hayes, Katie Green, Christina Jue, Colleen MB, Lilly Ettinger, Lena Long, Amalia Litsa, Alexander Freed, Spencer, Kristen Backor, Timon A., Kate Murray, and Amy Wilde. We’re deeply grateful for your support, which allows us to do things like “pay our Mailchimp fee” and “spend hours researching Austin events when technically we should be working.”
If you’d like to support us on Patreon and get access to exclusive member-only benefits, you may do so here.
SOCIALS
Recent weeks found us watching brass bands at HONK!TX, watching the eclipse at Bobo’s Snack Bar, and watching dancing forklifts at The Way of Water at Onion Creek. Follow Lite + Brite on Instagram to keep up with our adventures. And come chat with us and the rest of the L+B community on our Discord server!
ABOUT US
How do we choose which events to feature?
Honestly, it’s pretty random. We might include anything in Austin that we, personally, would conceivably want to go to, generally excluding normal concerts, comedy shows, and movie showtimes because there are many other good resources for finding those. (We especially recommend Showlist for live music, The Darker Side of Austin for goth and metal stuff, and the 60+ Weirdest Things in Austin for exactly what it sounds like). This list is by no means exhaustive; it’s just stuff that caught our eye this week. If you have an event that you want us to consider including, send it over.
Who are we?
We are Leila + Brian. We make this newsletter. We do our own events, most often No Lights No Lycra (which is on hiatus but will resume), + also BYOT, a party where we share very good YouTubes (here’s a playlist from the last one). We go very hard seeing bands at SxSW (here are playlists of our favorites from 2024). We once got called “local Austin couple” by KXAN. We do some other stuff here and there. We love going out to creative events in Austin, and we want you to join us. Visit us at liteandbriteatx.com, and support us on Patreon if you like what we do.