It seems like we have something to entertain you with every weekend, doesn’t it? Well, here’s this weekend’s fare: The Woods Collective performs at Caroline!

This Friday (April 1) at 8 PM, some of the local youth are going to rock out in the coworking space. The line-up, as it stands, looks like this:

Me With the Gameboy

Ben + Ciaran

Bandaids

Surgery

The show is free of charge, but t-shirts, CDs, stickers, and etc. will be available for purchase. You can find out more about this event and the bands involved on the Facebook event and the Do713 page. Fun times and lots of dancing is guaranteed.

“As for me, all I know is that I know nothing.” – Socrates

The book Socrates Cafe by Christopher Phillips describes the author’s experience facilitating philosophical discussion in public places. The book inspired many to start their own Socrates Cafes: informal groups that meet regularly to talk about the questions that keep them up at night.

The Houston Socrates Cafe, which was founded a few years back, is moving to Caroline Collective. You don’t have to have a degree in philosophy to attend – or any degree, for that matter. This is a group for the interested layman to delve into some of the big questions in life. Bring an open mind and a few questions to ask.

Contact socratescafehouston@yahoo.com with questions.

Hope you all can come check it out!

It’s unusual to have any open offices here at Caroline Collective, but at the moment we have two to choose from!

This is a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to grab up an office. Suite 101 is 140 sf, has a built-in shelving unit, a large window looking out into the courtyard, and is able to accommodate at least two desks.  Suite 106 is approximately 100 sf and is a great place to rid yourself of distractions.

Office memberships come with keyed 24-hour access to the facilities, use of the kitchen and printers, the ability to use the conference rooms as often as you need (with respect to other members), and the ability to reserve our event space at no extra charge. The real value of Caroline membership is the active and eclectic community of members.

If you’d like to find out more about our lovely offices, don’t hesitate to contact us at carolinecollecive@gmail.com, 832.429.6867, or come by the facilities during normal business hours to speak with a real-live person (complete with pulse and empathy!).

Be sure to strike while the iron is hot! These offices don’t stay available for very long.

Chances are, if you’re a sentient being in Texas with an Internet connection, you’re aware of the annual SXSW festival. Every spring in Austin, TX, people from all over the spectrum of the entertainment industry, bigshots and start-ups alike, gather together to schmooze, listen to music, watch films, and promote their product. While the ticket price is daunting to most, the event typically pays off for those who go prepared to put their business’ best foot forward.

At yesterday’s HoustonTXSW “Get **it Together!” Pre(p) SXSW Workshop, C2 Creative helped SXSW-ers to do just that. Now, Houston musicians, filmmakers, artists, and all sorts of other media people are getting ready for the real deal. If you’re one of those hard-working  people – best of luck to you at the festival! If you’re staying at home like the rest of us – check out all the fun leftovers from SXSW that are coming to visit Houston!

• RocketJet & Supreme1 Entertainment Present: Spring Forward 2011 – Dozens of Houston and Austin bands will descend upon Groundhall on March 12th for a full day of rocking out.
• Toro Y Moi, Cloud Nothings, Reading Rainbow – Toro Y Moi add a pleasantly danceable touch to the current trend of soft-as-kittens indie rock. Free for 21+, March 14th @ Fitzgerald’s.
• Menomena – Experimental rock group Menomena are on tour for their most recent album, Mines. March 16th @ Warehouse Live.
• Lunaface And 29-95 Present: Das Racist – Das Racist collaborated with Houston’s own Fat Tony on “Shut Up Dude” last year. March 22nd @ Fitzgerald’s.

You don’t have to go to Austin to see good music anymore, guys. You can hunker down and get your tickets for Houston’s plethora of entertainment for the week.

To those of you who’ve been following the Caroline Sessions for a while, the name Melissa Savcic is a familiar one. She played at Caroline Collective a few months ago to very positive feedback – so much so that Caroline Sessions is having her back this Sunday, March 6!

Melissa will be playing with another Caroline Collective favorite – File Under Jeff (a.k.a. Jeff Reichman) – at Spacetaker. Music starts at 2 PM, and there will plenty of schmoozing and drinking and good times. You won’t want to miss this one!

In addition to the regular Livestock Show, this year’s Rodeo concert lineup is packed with lots of big names: KISS, Kid Rock, Clay Walker, Janet Jackson, and Rascal Flatts, to name a few. If pyrotechnics and Jumbotrons aren’t your scene, though, there are also some more low key (and low budget) acts you can see at the Hideout.

Festivities start off this weekend with the World’s Champion Bar-B-Que Contest – three days of heat, meat, and music on the blacktop outside Reliant Arena.

Make time for the Rodeo Parade this Friday, which typically involves lots of mariachi bands and children dressed as cowboys.

If you’re of a hardy stock, you can take part in the ConocoPhillips Rodeo Run on Saturday morning. That way, you can justify all the bar-b-que you scarf down later in the day.

Then, you can hit up the main event next week, starting March 1. Be sure to check out my personal favorite, the Calf Scramble. Because there is very little more entertaining than kids chasing cows.

This Wednesday, we’ve got a very different little shindig happening here at Caroline Collective.

Somewhere between a poetry slam and campfire stories, our night of Moth Storytelling is inspired by the NYC-based organization Moth, which has worked to revive the lost art of storytelling. Our chosen theme is “Late Night/After Hours”. Come with a story to tell and open ears. Each story should be about 10-15 minutes long.

You can find out more about this event here, and you can read more about the Moth Organization here.

OK guys, time for an intervention. Let’s stop this problem before it gets out of hand. Nip it in the bud, as they say.

This is the third day this week we’ve had donuts at the front desk. And today it’s not just one dozen, but two. We’ve got the jelly-filled, the chocolate-covered, the maple-glazed, (for the Canadians) and what have you. I believe use of the word plethora is justified.

While I appreciate the team-player-ness of bringing yummy snacks for your co-workers, this is not a good habit for us to get into. I mean, if you really cared for your co-workers, you’d bring us some bran muffins and wheatgrass shots.

So next week let’s start a new trend. Healthy snacks, everybody! Bring some quinoa, acai, and/or spirulina. As a basic rule of thumb: the less pronounceable it is, the healthier it is. The person who brings the healthiest snack will win the knowledge that all your co-workers will live just a little bit longer.

Kris Becker and Chris Becker

If you’ve attended at least one of the Caroline Sessions put on by our own Paynter Media, then you know just how much fun they are. Good music, free barbecue and beer, and a friendly environment in which to schmooze are all trademarks of these events. Up until now, all the Caroline Sessions have taken place here, either in the back parking lot or the coworking space. This weekend, though, the Sessions are trying something new on for size.

The friendly people of Culturemap (including the lovely and talented Nancy Wozny) will be the hosts of this week’s Caroline Session, which features the music of Kris Becker (of The Literary Greats) and Chris Becker (of Musiqa). Sponsered by TenderBranch, Do713, and (of course) Caroline Collective, it’s fully expected to be a sock-rocking shindig. Missing it would be quite  a shame.