Today I thought I’d start by presenting some absolutely scientific, totally mathematically sound South By Southwest statistics. First, the ratio of electronic and mobile devices to people in the Austin Convention Center at any given moment? 4 to 1. The number of designer taco trucks within walking distance of the convention center, compared to number of hungry bellies, starved from intense days of interactive lecturing and learning? 2 to 1. And the number of WG News + Arts bloggers wondering how to eat two people’s worth of tacos while simultaneously tweeting from her android, taking notes on her laptop, and lusting over the iPad during panels on how to maximize productivity? Just one — that’s me!

Yesterday was an absolute whirlwind, as expected. You can take two approaches to tackling this behemoth of a festival – you can plan obsessively and literally sprint from venue to venue trying to catch a taste of it all; or you can catch a breeze and follow an agenda based on someone else’s hard-earned research and planning. After an early morning flight and the first flood of convention culture shock, I decided to go with Plan B, riding the organizational coattails of a few friends.

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Alma on Dobbin / WG Gallery present an evening with the renowned Hungarian composer Tibor Szemzö, who will discuss his current musical composition,”Kafka” with clips of past films and musical works.

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Hungarian composer TIBOR SZEMZO was born in Budapest in 1955, beginning his musical studies at the Kodály method school at the age of six, graduated at the Hungarian Academy of Music. Szemzö formed his own trio (later a quartet), and in 1979 he founded the minimalist ensemble Group 180. It was a profoundly influential ensemble, renowned for its performances of Hungarian minimalism; it also performed works by John Cage and Steve Reich.

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Williamsburg has given us a reason to loosen the grip of our madlove embrace from around our A/Cs, and to venture out into bake-oven temperatures of the waterfront. While Sundays are mostly reserved for the day to recoup after a messy weekend, so as to start the week afresh, the Pool Parties can be the place to listen to live music, drink beer and mostly just hang out, none discouraged by the sweat dripping from our brows. Many people like myself, I suspect, do not know the music they are about to listen to but simply go, just for the fun of it.

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Lady Gaga is one of those ground-breaking new artists who comes around only once in a blue moon. On Friday, The Gaga played a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, where thousands of young Lady Gaga-esque creatures, whom, she herself calls “her little monsters,” showed up decked out like their idol in all manner of outfits, including latex cat suits, coke cans as hair accessories and of course, giant eyewear.

I am sure that you have heard her music, but just in case you have been living in a cave for the past two years The Gaga has set new rules for the electro-pop genre; instead of being the product, she’s in control, controlling everything from dances, lyrics, costumes, sets and even production herself. Which sometimes leaves her with very little money. She has taken what was out there, spun it on its head and lit it on fire with hairspray (much like her early performance acts in downtown New York). She is an inspiration to my generation.

Coming from the Upper West Side, she is a true New Yorker ,but always felt as if she didn’t belong; she was considered (and considers herself still) a freak when she was in high school. Obsessed with the likes of David Bowie and things over-glam that drove her to her crazy coke infested days of being a performance artist. Since then she has gone on to write songs for The Pussy Cat Dolls and Britney, but it was Just Dance that put her on her galactic path, releasing The Fame, The Fame Monster, and now set to release her third album in December – as well as touring straight through ’til next year. It is safe to say this girl doesn’t stop.

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Wednesday night at Bar Matchless on Manhattan Ave, the garage-turned-performance-space spotlighted the band Jackpot, Tiger, featuring the musical styling’s of Eryck Tait, Colby Cecca, Claire McGinley, and Kevin McGinley (who introduces drums into the mix, and is also Claire’s younger brother). They have been making music together for nearly a year, and they can put a damn good show on.

There’s a bounce-ability to their music. Mixes of cheerful songs with cleverly arranged compositions make you realise you are staring at four very talented musicians. All from separate cities, it’s amazing to me, that they were able to find each other and collaborate; that’s New York for you. “We have fun together,” says Claire, “we all love music, so it’s great!” They do not take themselves too seriously but that is not to say that what they do is not impressive, it’s obvious they are committed to and believe in their sound. Their song Bicycle is my favourite and shows off their skills. “I wrote the song a while ago and brought it to the table,” explains Colby. “One of us will write a song about a certain feeling, how they felt that day, and then we will all add layers to it.” They use melodic keys, intricate guitar, powerful drums and harmonising voices.

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