For these featured items, we are allowing pre-bidding to occur prior to the event. That means that you may email your maximum bid to
OctoTea08Auction@octopusclub.org
with the name of the item that you are bidding on, your name, phone number and the bid amount. If your bid is the highest bid when the auction closes then your bid will win.
Placing prebids will close on Friday, Sept 19 @ 5pm. The highest bid from the prebid time will be taken to the party and placed as the current bid. Bids from both prebid and at the actual party on Sep 21 are considered.
Bids placed via this process are legal contracts.
OctoTea Experiences
For the first time, the Octopus Club of Austin has dipped into the community to offer, at its upcoming OctoTea silent auction, unique experiences provided by local celebrities, experts and brilliant upstarts. From the cultured or curious, there will be art instruction and musical guidance. The fashion-challenged or amateur might been seen on the town, touting his or her new found look. Or, find a venue to vent your voice. Even those with a quieter disposition might learn to knit, to listen or to observe. OctoTea will be the place to explore you latent dreams or even impress your friends.
1. Chronicle the Fast Lane with Stephen Moser
2. A Lyrical Night with Countertenor Mark Thatcher
3. Knitting with the Fabulous MEM of the Little Yarn Shoppe of Horrors
4. The Art of the Draw with Graydon Parrish
5. Cast your Voice with Heath Riddles
6. Face Off (and relax) with Tony Cruz
7. Divine Justice, At Last!
1. Chronicle the Fast Lane with Stephen Moser
Join Stephen MacMillan Moser for a night on the town in Austin. Moser, the city’s most fashionable and forward thinking columnist, tuned into all thing glamorous, decadent and certainly worth writing about, has donated a night on the town. Begin with a delightful dinner and at Austin’s famous Roaring Fork on Congress Avenue. Afterwards, you will go arm and arm with Stephan to a glittering Austin event to be determined. The topic of conversation will be up to the bidder, and go as far as the ear will allow. But it is guaranteed to be a night to remember and to retell.
Stephen MacMillan Moser has been a professional designer for thirty years. His dresses have appeared in W magazine and on the graceful backs of Ivana Trump and Angelica Huston. For locals, he writes a highly informative and often controversial column, After A Fashion for the Austin Chronicle, and is often photographed at parties donning signature black glasses and bedazzled with rings. Stephen is also involved in local charities and is a great supporter of the arts in Austin.
The Roaring Fork is one of three restaurants under the Eddie V. banner. Located in the historic Stephen F. Austin hotel, the Roaring Fork specialized in American cuisine, both hearty and elegant, from grilled meats to fresh fish. The restaurant is a short distance from Austin’s nightlife, museums and theatres.
2. A Lyrical Night with Countertenor Mark Thatcher
If you don’t know a lot about opera, let Mark Thatcher teach you. After a delicious dinner at Parkside, where your head will be filled with pointers on the history of song, accompany Mark to a performance of Cinderella by Gioachino Rossini at the Long Center. Mark will teach you what to listen for and explain the synopsis. He will place Rossini in the history of music and relate him to other composers, from Mozart to Wagner. Finally, he will discuss Cinderella in context to other works by Rossini. Over cocktail or latté, your new opera knowledge will surely impress.
Mark Thatcher is a countertenor who specializes in Baroque and contemporary opera. He has performed the role of Oberon in Dell-Arte Opera Ensemble’s production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Other credits include the title role in Gluck’s Orfeo and Euridice and the alto solos in Bach’s B Minor Mass and St. John Passion. A graduate of Swarthmore College, Mark has recently moved to Austin to explore the city’s national music reputation.
The Austin Lyric Opera presents a wide range of operas from tragic to contemporary, both rare and well-known. Its mission is to enrich, entertain and educate the community through dynamic productions, season after season, and through its affiliated Armstrong Community Music School.
http://www.austinlyricopera.org/2007-08/index.htm
Parkside is located at 301 E. 6th Street and specialized in an eclectic yet distinctly American menu including steaks, fresh seafood and an extensive raw bar.
3. Knitting with the Fabulous MEM of the Little Yarn Shoppe of Horrors
Get entwined with one of America’s favorite old new pastimes: knitting. The novice or beginner can join master knitter Mary Morrison, founder of the web blog the Little Yarn Shoppe of Horrors, for several lessons in knitting and pearling. You will be supplied with most of the gadgets you need as well as rare yarns from the outreaches of the planet, including the coveted Shetland Island wool. In addition, Mary will guide you through a couple of local yarn shops, share a friendly lunch at 34th Street Cafe, and end up at “Knit Buzz†the knitting nexus behind Hill Country Weavers. In the end, you can pass those chilly winter nights with something to do besides watching TV. Knitting is fun for men as well, FYI.
Mary Morrison, known in cyberspace as the fabulous MEM, has been knitting for over forty years. She blogs about her passion for knitting, the new patterns she discovers and shares her advice to both novices and beginners.
http://morcatknits.typepad.com/knitblog/
The 34th Street Café is located at 1005 West 34th Street and is described by its owner as a “café plain and simple—a café that puts out a good mean.†Its lunch menu offers a large variety of salads, soups, savory pizzas and gourmet sandwiches.
http://www.34thstreetcafe.com/
4. The Art of the Draw with Graydon Parrish
If you have ever wanted to paint or draw like the old masters, or just to understand what you are looking at in the museum, this is your experience. Graydon Parish will begin by polishing up your drawing skills with the famous Bargue-Gérôme Cours de Dessin, a drawing manual used by Van Gogh in the nineteenth century. He will then discuss other aspects of painting from stretching a canvas to advanced color theory and old master painting methods. The student can also tailor the lessons to suit her own desires.
In addition and if applicable, there will be a tour of the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin or a museum of your choice to see how artists in the past made their masterpieces.
Graydon Parrish is a internationally noted realist painter who exhibits in both Paris and New York. His recent Tribute to 9-11 the Cycle of Terror and Tragedy: Spetember 11, 2001 hangs in the New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain Ct, Parrish is also in the collections of Diane Sawyer, Christopher Forbes and Michael Huffington as well as smaller museums and collections worldwide. He also revised and annotated, along with veteran art historian Gerald Ackerman, the famous Bargue-Gérôme Cours de Dessin. Parrish moved to Austin in May of this year and is active in the local arts community. He is represented by Hirschl and Adler Galleries in New York and Galerie Ablert Benamou in Paris.
A signed copy of the Bargue-Gérôme course along with ten private lessons will be included in this experience package.
5. Cast your Voice with Heath Riddles
Have you ever wanted to be heard? Express yourself on the radio? Heath Riddles, local celebrity and advocate, has just made you co-host on Outcast his weekly radio show discussing the hot topics of the Austin LGBT community. What is going to be talked about is up to Heath, but rest assured you will have more than enough time to express your concerns. Topics have included anything from bucking broncos and the men who ride them to dazzling drag kings to more erudite opinions from newsmakers to politicians. Afterwards, recap the evening at for a delicious dinner and drinks at the swanky Belmont, like a Hollywood radio star of old.
Outcast is hosted by Heath Riddles and co-host J.J. Lara and airs every Sunday, from 6-6:30 on KOOP 97.1. The program seeks to increase artistic and cultural discourse, establish diversity, facilitate understanding and enhance relationships within the LGBT community.
Heath Riddles moved to Ausin in 1995 to produce the 10 o'clock news at Austin's FOX affiliate. Heath left the TV news business in 1997 to work in development at AIDS Services of Austin. He has also worked as Deputy Director at the Lesbian Gay Rights Lobby of Texas (currently Equality Texas) and was appointed by Mayor Will Wynn to serve on the Austin Area Comprehensive HIV Planning Council. Currently, Heath serves as Deputy Executive Director for Texas Advocacy Project and is a new member of the Board of Directors of the Austin Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival.
The Belmont recreates the atmosphere of Las Vegas and Palm Springs in the early 1960s. It specialized in American cuisine and is know for its Cedar Plank Salmon, signature Belmont Chopped Salad and Grilled Prime NY Strip.
http://www.thebelmontaustin.com/
6. Face Off (and relax) with Tony Cruz
Many spend more time on their cars and lawns than their faces and bodies. Let this experience by the beginning of a new friendship with yours. Master of beauty Tony Cruz invited you to learn the ins and outs of make-up. Start with a one hour massage at Milk + Honey spa; then join Tony nearby at Carmelos Restaurant on 6th to discuss your beauty goals over lunch. Afterwards, Tony will take you back to his salon where the make over will begin. Surely, this will make you a new man, woman or whatever you feel like at the time.
Carmelo’s, located in its Austin location on East 5th Street, serves a variety of well-known, elegant Italian dishes, sophisticated salads and fresh seafood. Carmelos has wined and dined Austinites for over 20 years.
7. Divine Justice, At Last!
Its unlikely that you can keep up with her, but if you can you will have one divine experience. Jennifer Justice, peregrine socialite and star of www.gayborhood.tv, has agreed to go out with some lucky and fun-loving bidder. For those who don’t know, Jennifer Justice has lead a life most would envy. She has checked the barometer of the gay community, city after city, and knows more than even your fag hag would dare to mention. Above all, she has told all in front of the camera. Your evening will begin quite sanely, with cocktails at the Belmont, where you can notice Jennifer’s great elan. Then follow her to Uchi, Austin’s place to be hip, where the sushi will be flowing. Sip on saki and, by this time, you will likely have the courage to ask her a question. Go for it and revel. Finally, end the night at Rain on 4th where you will be treated with VIP standing. Above all, this isn’t your grandmother’s night on the town, but somehow, I think she’d approve.
Jennifer Justice has been at the vanguard of the LBGT for years. She is an advocate for the transsexual community and majored, as she puts it, in “get the hell out of here.†This brashness and candor allows her to host Safari, on www.gayborhood.tv, a renegade online webcast that fills in where the media at large ends on gay, lesbian and transgender issues. She spends here time with an open eye and mind between Austin and Los Angeles.
Uchi pushes the boundaries of Japanese cuisine by offering a mixture of seafood and protean flavorings. Flown in from the Tsukijj market in Tokyo, the daily catch is prepared with local farm-fresh ingredients. The food, combined with Uchi’s innovative outlook, will promise a unique dining experience.
http://www.uchiaustin.com/index.html
Rain on 4th is a both a meeting place for Austin LGBT events and a fantastic dance bar. Friendly bar tenders serve up old standards and fashionable cocktails with a smile. Attend weekly karaoke performances or watch some brave friend remove most of his close to onlookers. The weekends are packed with a diverse community dancing to the latest songs. Rain is open 7 days a week.
Each of these experiences have been donated by the people involved and the restaurant or venue of interest. Be sure and thank these people and support these organizations.