The selfie stick is having a bad year
Also, Austin’s brightest music stars have more listeners worldwide than here at home.
Big Tex welcomes you to the State Fair of Texas. But don’t even think about bringing your selfie stick.
According to the Dallas Morning News, officials announced last week that the vanity-aiding accessory will not be permitted inside the fairgrounds this year. Banning the photographic nuisance is somewhat of a trendy move for amusement-based organizations; Six Flags and Disney theme parks have already given selfie sticks the heave-ho.
In banning the sticks, fair organizers pointed to rising safety issues on park rides across the country, including a hours-long roller coaster stall at Disney California Adventure in June, the Morning News reports.
The Dallas paper quoted fair spokesperson Karissa Condoianis as saying, “Once we caught wind of other incidents happening on rides — people pulling them out on rides to take pictures and causing injuries — we decided on the ban.”
When Texas Longhorns fans descend on Fair Park for the Red River Rivalry this year, taking a selfie with their chosen fried affront to culinary decency (Chicken Fried Lobster, perhaps, or maybe the Smoky Bacon Margarita, one of the 2015 Big Texas Choice Awards winners) will be that much more difficult. Better ask a Sooner to hold your camera for you.
Actually ... maybe don’t do that.
It was a particularly bad week for the selfie. On Tuesday, Mashable reported that there have been more selfie-related deaths this year than shark-related fatalities: 12 and eight, respectively.
Fanned out
Here in the Live Music Capital of the World, we support our own — right? Or do Austin musicians receive more love in other places?
Using Spotify’s “Where People Listen” feature, the Statesman Web team did a quick check to see if Austin-based musicians can actually claim Austin as their base when it comes to listeners. Some findings:
Willie Nelson, considered by many to be one of the city’s greatest treasure, has more listeners in London, Oslo and Stockholm than Austin.
Gary Clark Jr.? New Yorkers and Londoners are all over him on Spotify and in greater quantities than Austinites.
Shakey Graves, who was recently named Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2015 Americana Honors & Awards show, claims almost 15,000 listeners in both Madrid and Mexico City.
Of course, what hasn’t been mentioned is that while the aforementioned names are considered Austin musicians, they claim a national — if not global — reputation, and cities bigger than Austin will inevitably have larger numbers of Spotify users.
But how do you explain why more people are listening to Austin-based band A Giant Dog on Spotify in Portland, Oregon, than in Austin? Or that bluegrass outfit Wood & Wire has twice as many listeners in Denver on Spotify than in Austin?
In addition, four of the five cities that listen the most to Mother Falcon, Austin’s 15-plus person, indie-pop-classical ensemble, are outside of the U.S.: Stockholm, Milan, London and Singapore. And singer-songwriter Dana Falconberry’s top three fan cities are in Germany, according to Spotify.
Here are some more findings about where Austin bands are most popular on Spotify, based on a semi-random selection of Austin musical acts (as well as some of this writer’s favorite bands):
■ Most popular in Austin: Magna Carda, Mike Flanigin, Phranchyze, Sweet Spirit, Octopus Project, Riders Against the Storm, Gina Chavez, Holiday Mountain, the Whiskey Sisters, Quiet Company, Sphynx, White Ghost Shivers, Cilantro Boombox
■ Most popular elsewhere: Ringo Deathstarr, Shinyribs, Bright Light Social Hour, Whiskey Shivers, Wild Child, Max Frost, Wheeler Brothers, Riverboat Gamblers, Explosions in the Sky, Balmorhea, Zeale, Dale Watson, Bob Schneider
Do you think that Austinites might be listening to hometown favorites in other ways? Are they — dare we say it in the digital streaming age — buying their music?
Something to think about. — HANNAH THORNBY, AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Stargazing
“Teen Mom” personality and porn star Farrah Abraham, who some obsessive gossip chroniclers might remember joined Austin’s celebrity constellation when she began working at a strip club here last year, put her house in Austin on the market several months ago. But according to the San Antonio ExpressNews, she’s having a little trouble moving the property and has since slashed the original asking price of $750,000 by 16 percent.
Spotted in a new commercial cheering for their fans instead getting cheered for: former Longhorn Kevin
Durant and Houston Texans player J.J. Watt. The inspirational spot, advertising American Family Insurance, aired last Monday, according to USA Today.
Bookmarks
More news from the Web during the week that was: Pizza rat ... just pizza rat. We also learned why the University of Texas’ burnt orange jersey was “as classic as it gets.” Meanwhile, UT got a shoutout from Playboy magazine on their list of top party schools. Kinky Friedman weighed in on Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump and Texas itself. Twitter unveiled special emojis for Pope Francis’ visit. Willie Nelson’s weed brand secured funding from a New Yorkbased firm. A Dallas drill team dance-off turned into a viral brawl. We prepared for George Strait’s newly announced Las Vegas shows with a lovingly curated playlist. Read more with this column at austin360.com/webbreport.