If you don’t like spoilers, look away now!

On the surface, Bridesmaids is a silly, chick-dominated comedy centered around an impending wedding. While that’s true, the story isn’t about the bride, Lillian (“SNL” alum Maya Rudolph), but her maid of honor, Annie (“SNL” comedienne Kristen Wiig).

Annie (Kristen Wiig) plays a hopeless bridesmaid who learns to take control.

Annie’s life is in a downward spiral. When the movie begins, she’s already in financial straits, since her cake shop has already gone bankrupt. After several disasters with the bridesmaids, Lillian revokes Annie’s maid of honor position and uninvites her from the wedding. As a result, their friendship is in a bind. As though things couldn’t get any worse, Annie is fired from her jewelry sales job, kicked out of her apartment, emotionally hurts a love interest, and wrecks her car.

A lot of these events could have been prevented had Annie not taken out her frustration the way she did on her friends, their friends, her lovers, her customers and her roommates. After all, it’s easy to lash out at others. She knows that she can only blame herself, yet she struggles to emerge from her funk. Even though she’s a talented pastry chef, her recent business failure prevents her from doing what she is good at and what she loves.

With a friend’s help, Annie realizes that all is not lost and that she can turn her life around. She realizes that pushing away the people who care for her does nothing for her, and nothing should hold her back from her passion and from having a happy life.

The life lesson here is very basic. It’s in that famous psalm: having the courage to change the things we can. A few recent events in my life make this a timely lesson that struck a chord with me. It’s nothing new, but having it demonstrated in a comedy was unexpected. Although my situation is not nearly as dire as Annie’s, I’m glad I’ve already taken steps to get me out of my funk.

What about you?

Then a tornado hit. I’m taking that as a sign to continue chronicling my travels on my sorely neglected blog, so I can write about events that are more… current.

So back to where we left off: the film and music portions of South by Southwest in Austin, TX.

SXSW Film: March 12-20

I didn’t get the opportunity to catch very many films, but I made it a point to see several documentaries, one of which was Under Great White Northern Lights, a film about The White Stripes and their Canadian tour that I previously blogged about. You can read about my takeaways from that film there.

The Radiant Child, about artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, was a film my late friend Justin was also interested in seeing. The Sunday before he passed, Justin reminded me to tell him my thoughts on this film after seeing it. Well Justin… it was fascinating to see rare footage of Basquiat in action, and tragic to see and hear about his life spiral downwards to his eventual passing. And I loved the film’s opening credits… interview outtakes and manic footage of Basquiat paired with “Salt Peanuts” as the soundtrack.

The screening was on the last Saturday of the festival, and I’m so glad I fought off festival fatigue to see it. Director Tamra Davis, an old friend of Basquiat’s (and yeah, Mike D’s wifey) was on hand for a Q&A session, too.

I also attended a live interview with Michel Gondry, the man behind films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (one of my favorites) and music videos from Björk, Beastie Boys, The White Stripes, and Foo Fighters. The following night, I saw his film The Thorn in the Heart, which chronicles the life of his aunt Suzette in the French countryside. Though the subject matter was nonfiction, some of his whimsical filmmaking found its way onto the screen.

SXSW Music: March 17 (more from Music to come)

SXSW Music kicked off on St. Patrick’s Day, which is brilliant timing—as though SXSW wasn’t occasion enough for revelers to hit up Austin’s pubs. That day, I caught word through Twitter that Broken Bells was doing a free, open-to-the-public, AOL-sponsored gig at the parking garage across from Stubb’s BBQ. Not knowing where else to go with my SXSW pass-less friend Stefanie, we made our way over there. We had just eaten gyro sandwiches for lunch, but as we stood in line in the afternoon sun, an Ice Cream Man truck pulled to the curb. What perfect timing!

The funny part was after the gig, it hit me that Broken Bells was on the National Public Radio showcase lineup, which I was attending, so I ended up seeing them twice the same day. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. They had a few good songs, but they’re not a band I was extremely enthusiastic about seeing twice.

Obviously, the highlight for me that night at the NPR showcase wasn’t Broken Bells. Neither were Visqueen or The Walkmen, who are fine bands. And though I (and many other people there, I assume) was there for headliners and Austin locals Spoon, the performance that really got us pumped was Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. Da-yum. Her moves. Her energy. Her voice. Their music. So much power. You had to have been there to feel the reciprocated energy from the crowd that night. We loved her.

I’m so glad I got this moment on camera. That fan was standing a few people behind me and so enthusiastic, no wonder Sharon brought him onstage! I hope he finds this video!

Broken Bells’ set list of songs was in the exact order they appear on their one and only album, so as we were waiting for Spoon to come on, the guy next to me on the barrier, a big Spoon fan, sarcastically said that Spoon better play the entire Kill the Moonlight record in order or he’ll leave.

Spoon came onstage about a quarter after midnight. I didn’t care if my feet hurt from standing all night. We were seeing, swaying, and singing along with Spoon in the flesh.

A comment from SXSW that will always bug me
A few days later on the shuttle to the convention center, this guy told me how he loved Broken Bells but thought Spoon was trying too hard to sound like Radiohead. Really? Did you just namedrop Radiohead just to make yourself sound smart? Because I don’t know about you, but either he had his bands confused, or was just straight-up confused. Because Spoon sounds nothing like Radiohead. They sound like… Spoon. Quality poppy-funky-indie-rock goodness.

More, ahem, “musings” from SXSW Music to come…

Related photos:

My first big takeaway from my South by Southwest experience so far has literally just dawned on me, though it’s actually more of an affirmation of existing thoughts than a completely new takeaway. With challenges and limitations, come creativity and innovation.

Last night, I saw Under Great White Northern Lights, a concert tour documentary of The White Stripes. One of my favorite moments in the film was when Jack White talked about the different things he does onstage to make things more difficult for himself. Unlike many other guitarists, he inconveniently keeps his guitar picks on top of amps behind him, not taped on his mic stand. He plays the same guitars he used ten years ago when the band first started, even though they can be tough to keep in tune. And there is never a setlist.

From those challenges, spontaneity takes predictability’s place. Though these steps may make the band more vulnerable to mistakes, it makes them more human. The audience gets a performance that is always fresh and raw, not something you’d get from what Jack White calls “boring arena shows.” Convenience, the fanciest equipment, a formula, and a big budget don’t guarantee a winning result. They can result in something that might be pretty to look at, but ultimately lack the satisfying “meat” that audiences crave. This applies to anyone involved in anything creative—not just musicians. As Kristina Halvorson, champion of content strategy, said at her session today, “Content is king.”

Jack White said something else on creativity that that may sound heartbreaking to some people, but these words are the truth: you’re not always going to feel “inspired” to be creative. Most of the time, you just have to force yourself to create and hope something good will come out of it. I’ve heard these words before, and I’m sure anyone who is in a creative industry can relate. I sure as hell can.

The documentary No Impact Man got me thinking about how so many of the things we take for granted every day have some sort of impact on our environment, and thus, each other. As the film’s subject, Colin Beavan, says in the film, we live in a throw-away world: shaving razors, diapers, plastic bags, napkins, toilet paper, Starbucks paper cups—we’re all guilty of mindlessly consuming and rapidly disposing.

No Impact Man follows Colin’s project of curiosity, as he sets out to discover what it’d be like to live as sustainably as possible for a year—taking his shopping/reality TV/caffeine-addicted wife and their toddler daughter along for the ride. Along the way, quite a few laughs are shared; I mean, come on, just imagine what kinds of clashes ensue between the Beavan couple! But it’s also helped me think a bit more about what my family already does and what I could do to live a lifestyle that’s a little more sustainable.

Some of the things Colin and his family do are pretty extreme—no toilet paper?!—but others are things my family has done forever. Hand washing clothes, for instance. As the audience in the theater laughed at Colin, his wife Michelle, and their daughter Isabella stepping on their clothes in the bathtub, I thought, “Hey, this is something I saw all the time as a kid, and something my family continues to do to this very day!” As a child of first- and second-generation Filipino immigrants, this was just one of the things I’m glad my parents continue to practice in America. Even though we have a washing machine, a lot of the time, we actually prefer hand washing our clothes. I guess old habits die hard. Good thing it’s an eco-friendly habit.

But why is decreasing our impact on the environment important? Well, we need to remember that “the environment” isn’t just about beautifying our flora and fauna—it involves the impact on people, too. Without the indoor comforts of electricity and television, the family spends more time outside their New York City apartment. Colin and Michelle spend some time at the beach, take their daughter to the farm where the veggies they buy are grown, and splash in the local fountain. While volunteering, Colin learns about how a garbage dump in the South Bronx is taking its toll on the quality of life of its residents, with more children developing respiratory problems and the disturbance of hundreds of trucks passing through the neighborhood every day. The family also develops relationships with vendors at the local farmers market, and a neighbor at a community garden, who shows them the ropes in raising their own vegetables. Simply put, they are forging connections with each other and within the community. And the more connections are forged, the more accountable we feel about how our actions affect the people we care about.

I’ve already taken some steps before even seeing this film in reducing waste. I have a reusable drinking water bottle I’ve been refilling, I carry several reusable tote bags when I go shopping, and I’ve been helping clear trash every month with some friends in Ke‘ehi Lagoon. I’ve taken note of a few more things from the film that I’d like to do: make more trips to the nearby farmers market, spend more time outdoors, and help my parents grow a few more veggies in our own farm.

At the same time, I admit, there are a few behaviors I can say I won’t fully abandon: I love my computer and am way too used to using toilet paper. So I’m not saying completely and drastically change your lifestyle, because that’s unrealistic and very difficult to do. But I’ll continue to do what I can, a little at a time. I hope you can do the same.

Some links to check out:
No Impact Project
Inspired by No Impact Man, an undertaking to promote behavioral change to live more sustainably.

Story of Stuff
A comprehensive look at the production/consumption cycle and how it impacts us.

Kanu Hawaii
A local website where we can put in pledges and share ideas on what we can do to do our part to preserve our island environment and communities.

MA‘O Farms
A local social enterprise growing organic food and providing opportunities for Wai‘anae youth.

Bela‘Aina
A burgeoning project to preserve our island’s watersheds.