Texodus

Brrrr!

2010-01-10T08:46:00.004-06:00

Clearly, I am not a cold person.

This has got to be a record Winter for Austin. An arctic front from Canada (damn you Cannucks!) has moved down through Texas and brought with it amazingly cold temperatures. The thermometer on my deck in Lakeway says its 22 degrees. This is actually warmer than it has been. Wen I got home the other night it was 12. TWELVE!!

All the plants outside, with the exception of the spinach and garlic are frozen solid. I dont think my lemon tree is going to survive, but I can hope. A trick I learned would be to wrap the tree in christmas lights and cover it with a blanket. Of course, I didnt do that and now all the leaves have fallen off the damn thing. (sigh) hope it makes it. A gardening expert I talked to said the best way to garden in this kind of weather is to "drink lots of beer and wait for Spring." Sage advice.

This is not normally the case for Austin in Winter. Usually there is one or two days a year where the temperature drops below freezing, but so far there's been 5 days in a row of temps in the teens and twenties. Thankfully, the air has been dry so its just brutally cold and everything is not encased in ice.

Hard to believe that six months ago we were in the middle of another record: the most number of consecutive days above 100 degrees. Now that would be a welcomed respite from this Winter.

Yay us...AGAIN!

2009-11-13T00:48:00.001-06:00

The Austin-Round Rock area was named the best performing city on the 2009 Milken Institute/Greenstreet Real Estate Partners Best Performing Cities Index.

East Austin Studio Tour

2009-11-12T09:54:00.006-06:00

The East Austin Studio Tour is this weekend and runs through the 22nd. This is a great way to show off individual artists, studios and galleries that make up the heart and soul of Austin. This year, the tour features "20 Exhibition Spaces, 49 Happenings, and 30 Programs" and admission is free. (however we recommend actually buying and supporting the local artists, versus just walking around)

Wear a good pair of shoes as the locations for the tour are dotted all over the East side.

Below is a story I produced on the Pump Project Art Complex - just one of the many different galleries/ work spaces in the city that will be featuring local artists:

ArcAttack to Play at UT

2009-11-10T22:53:00.004-06:00

ArcAttack is an Austin Based performance art group that uses two specially tuned "singing" Tesla Coils as their main musical instrument. Output from the coils is somewhere around half a million volts, sending large purple bolts of lightning as far as 12 feet - all while playing a melody accompanied by two live musicians, a robotic drum set and a guy in a chain mail suit connecting the arcs.

They've been invited by the University of Texas Physics department to show off the coils for whoever is in earshot. The performance takes place Wed Nov 18th at 7:30 on the UT campus Student Mall (also known as the killing zone for you Whitman fans).

If you haven't heard these guys before, you should really check them out. The video below doesn't really do them justice.

Does TV Show Mock Texas History?

2009-10-24T19:15:00.008-05:00

As the slogan goes, Dont mess with Texas.

A new show on Austin PBS station KLRU shows off a part of Texas' history that has left some locals a little hot under the collar.

"The Austin Daytripper" is a new show on KLRU that focuses on the not-so-well-known areas of the Texas hill country that would make for good day trips from Austin.

On the next episode scheduled to air this Thursday, host Chet Garner visits the small town of Gonzales and explains "The battle of Gonzales" that took place there. But how the show explains this battle has made some native Texans upset:

"This is sacrilege!" said one person who had seen the episode early. "They are making a joke out of a very important part of our history. That's not right."

For those not familiar: The battle of Gonzales centered around a small cannon that had been given to the town by Mexico to protect the citizens from indian raids. It really wasnt much of a cannon - downright comical, really. It fired a six pound shot and has been discribed as "good for little more than starting horse races." But it was a cannon and it was at least something.

Four years later, with Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's rule growing more dictatorial and federalist protests growing in strength and popularity, Santa Anna realized that perhaps leaving a weapon with the town might not be a good idea and sent in soldiers to retrieve the cannon. The citizens, however, had other plans, and threw the soldiers out of the town.

"The cannon became a point of honor and an unlikely rallying symbol," said historian Stephen Hardin, "Gonzales citizens had no intention of handing over the weapon at a time of growing tension."

The battle was not particularly noteworthy as far as battles go. The cannon was only fired once, but this single act of defiance against the Mexican government became the catalyst that started Texas' pursuit of independance from Mexico. Newspapers at the time refered to the event as "The Lexington of Texas."

For The Austin Daytripper, producer/host Garner explains the story of the battle of Gonzales using a comical silent movie style to portray Santa Anna as a raving madman, slamming his fists and angirly flailing his arms around like a frightened chicken.

"Santa Anna was elected President of Mexico seven times. He was not crazy." said one local Texan. "These guys spend more time showing off the Shiner brewery than explaining a very important part of our history."

I don't know how much controversy all of this really has, but at the very least it's amusing to see native Texans getting so bent-out-of-shape over the telling of the state's history.

"The Austin Daytripper" airs Thursday nights at 9:30 on KLRU-TV. Tune in and judge for yourself.

Here's their promo:

Horray for Austin!

2009-10-06T13:08:00.004-05:00

The Daily Beast have listed Austin as the 12th smartest city in the US.

They had developed a detailed plan to measure a city's brain power based on education level, the number of nonfiction books sold, number of institutions of higher learning and how politically engaged a city's citizens were.

The top five were:

Raleigh-Durham
San Francisco
Boston
Minneapolis
Denver

Austin ranked ahead of New York (#13), Atlanta (#23) and Los Angeles, (#27). The rest of Texas...well, they didn't fare quite so well. But we kinda figured that.

Here's what they had to say about Austin:

Austin is both Texas’ capital and academic hub—a formula, as we’ve seen, for intellectual success. By far the smartest city in Texas, by our measure, it only fell short in one ironic area: political engagement.

Last on the list was Fresno.

Horray for not living in Fresno. I'll drink to that!

Im fine, thanks. Now go away

2009-09-30T10:28:00.003-05:00

Chronic bi-polar freak turned local icon Daniel Johnston has his own iPhone app called "Hi, How are you?" named after the "art" piece he painted on a wall near UT.

Austin seems to love this guy. Personally I think his eccentricities are something that should be addressed, rather than applauded, but what the hell do I know?

Here's a preview of the app:

Thanks NYT

2009-09-30T10:17:00.004-05:00

The New York Times did a really nice article on Austin, how its grown up, and how it works to keep its old-school street cred.

It's a good read.

Of course, propaganda like that is only going to attract the wrong kind of people. The type of person that reads the New York Times may not be the type of person we (OK, I) want living here.

I say we target more people that read Fark.com or Make magazine.

Learning Your Texas Traditions

2009-08-29T18:10:00.004-05:00

Jeff Beckham from the website Austinist has a run-down of Texas traditions for incoming freshmen to UT. Among them is the ubiquitous "hook em horns" hand sign that people throw around in much the same way that the nice fellows in Compton use hand signs:

The hand sign that's now synonymous with UT is relatively new, as far as traditions go. Cheerleader Harley Clark introduced it in 1955. A fellow student, Henry Pitts, had shown Clark the pinky-and-index-finger extended sign to approximate a Longhorn during what university historian Jim Nicar called "an inspired game of shadow casting".

You have to assume that neither Pitts nor Clark knew that the "sign of the horns" was a signal of infidelity in Italy, nor that they could anticipate its popularity among heavy-metal fans.

Wikipedia has a detailed description, along with the various other definitions for the hand sign.

Back to School time for UT

2009-08-23T14:14:00.000-05:00

August is an interesting time of year for Austin.

Classes for the University of Texas start next Wednesday, which means that right now the campus and surrounding areas are alive with activity. You can't throw a rock without hitting some doe-eyed, incoming freshman, carrying the conspicuously new backpack and trying to figure out how to read the campus map. Meanwhile, they are usually towing along two parents with that tell-tale look of trying to figure out how they are going to pay for all this for the next four years.

It also means that parking has started to suck again around campus. Lots of people who dont know how to parallel park and lots of "creative" parking ideas that the Austin Police Dept simply love. And to make matters worse, the city has decided to start installing electronic parking meters around campus. So instead of feeding loose change into the meeter in front of your car, you have to walk to the payment station where you can add bills, coins or charge your parking space on your credit card. I wonder when the news will start reporting how the city is losing money on these things. For more information on how to use the new machines, the city has included a video explaining everything. Click on the picture at right to see the video.

Kudos to ACL

2009-08-19T11:49:00.003-05:00

"Austin City Limits" the longest running music series in the history of television, (and a show I'm proud to say I occasionally push a button or two for) was honored as an official historic site by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland.

Terry Stewart, president and CEO of the hall of fame was quoted as saying that the archive of talent that the show has compiled over the years is remarkable.

The show will be moving its operation into a larger, purpose built studio downtown in 2011. Word is that arently, the hall of fame will place a historic marker at both the new studio and the original location on Guadelupe st.

The current studio holds less than 300 people, so getting in to a taping of ACL is a challenge. Tours of the studio are offered free on Fridays for those interested.

Here's a peek behind the scenes of an ACL taping, courtesy of the recently canceled show show "Docubloggers" on KLRU:

The Fashion Machine Needs Fodder

2009-08-19T10:55:00.006-05:00

I spotted this ad over on Austinist while looking at photos of the recent Testosterone Festival (naturally) and decided to modify the original design of the ad to make it a bit more honest.

Looks like American Apparel is needing to replace its underpaid seasonal wage slaves with underpaid non-seasonal wage slaves. And since UT goes back to school next Monday, the wellspring of mindless retail lemmings needed to fold shirts and sell overpriced, poorly-made crap to mall sloths is drying up.

If you have experience dealing with retail nonsense, you may want to head over to the AA in Round Rock.

And since American Apparel likes to brag that it uses its employees for the advertising photos, telling them you are a model may improve your chances of being hired.

As long as you dont mind a portfolio shot that looks like some boyfriend's private fap collection.

Wicked In Austin

2009-08-18T18:45:00.002-05:00

The Austinist has a review of the Broadway show "Wicked" which is performing right now at the Bass Concert Hall.

Water, Water, Nevermore: Stage 2 Restrictions in effect

2009-08-16T15:21:00.011-05:00

Looks like Austin is getting serious about water restrictions.

Lakes Travis and Buchannen - the two main lakes that provide water to over 1.6 million residents - have gone down significantly. Both lakes were full in the fall of 2007. But with two years of drought, today, the lakes are at less than half capacity. Just this past Thursday, the last of 12 public boat ramps on lake Travis had to be closed due to low water levels.

There are nine counties in the Central and South Texas area that are experiencing the worst drought they've ever recroded. Almost half the state is experiencing drought conditions. Statewide crop and livestock losses are estimated at almost $4 billion.

And if drastic measures are not enacted fast, authorities say that Austin's favorite swimming hole Barton Springs might stop flowing altogether.

The city has enacted water restrictions for the past two Summers. Most of the restrictions so far have been fairly simple measures like limiting watering your lawn to twice a week. But as the drought has continued the city has had to enact tougher measures.

And they mean business.

In response to that huge sucking sound coming from the lakes, Austin's City Manager Rudy Garza has enacted "Stage 2 Water Restrictions" for the city.

In Stage 2, the following additional restrictions apply to the use of potable water:

Outdoor irrigation is prohibited except on assigned days at designated times

Golf fairway irrigation is limited to assigned days before 10 a.m. and after 7 p.m.

Golf tee and green irrigation is limited to every other day

Vehicle washing is limited to designated days and times, with a hand-held bucket or a positive shut-off nozzle on a hose

A person may not conduct or participate in a charity car wash

The use of outdoor ornamental fountains is prohibited except to provide aeration for aquatic life

A person may not fill, refill, or add water to an indoor fountain

No automatic fill valves are allowed for pools or ponds

Washing of sidewalks, driveways, parking areas, patios or other paved surfaces is prohibited

A restaurant may not serve water to a customer unless requested by the customer

Exceptions are made for washing necessary to protect public health, safety or welfare.

And violating these restrictions can cost you plenty. The city is hiring 10- 15 new employees just to help enforce the water restrictions. First time violations start at $400. If they determine that you were wasting water with "Criminal Negligence" you could see a fine of $2,000. And you can forget about getting a slap on the wrist or a warning: they aren't giving any:

"The city took an education approach prior to now with few tickets," Said city manager Garza "but with the seriousness of this situation we believe the right thing to do for the entire community is to begin issuing citations.

But hey, there may be a positive side to all of this.

The Dallas Morning News reported recently that the drought could actually help improve fishing areas around the lakes. Its hoped that the fish can survive long enough to lay their eggs in the fall when the rains (hopefully) come.

For more information about the city's new water restrictions, go here.

Dry boat dock Photo by Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman

Batfest Infests Congress Ave Bridge

2009-08-15T14:11:00.004-05:00

It is nice that Austin has decided to embrace the over 1.5 million Mexican freetailed bats that roost in the upper rafters of the Congress Ave bridge, rather than seeing them as flying rodents and trying to get rid of them.

Of course, Austin also realized that if they cant kill em, they could instead make money off of them.

Enter "Batfest." a collection of vendors, artists, musicians and assorted fried things on a stick that hang out on the bridge on a Saturday afternoon.

I dont understand why they decided to hold this event in the middle of Austin's sack-sticking, flop-sweating Summer instead of a nice cool weekend in October, but I guess someone thinks this makes more sense.

For $7 you get to walk over the bridge and admire the various local merchants trying to sell their stuff, the carnival-like food stands, the two loud bandstages, the array of inflated bouncy things, pony rides and other crap for the kiddies and the small and understaffed booth of folks from Bat Conservation International. Were it not for these guys, you'd be hard pressed to see anything about this street festival that has any connection with the winged mammals trying to sleep under the bridge.

Still, its pretty fun to check out the artists and the bands that play are always good. This year's headliners are the Wailers (from the Bob Marley days), the Gourds and Bob Schneider.

Over 40,000 people are expected to attend, and the event goes from 12 noon to 1am on Saturday August 22.

The irony about the festival is that it makes so much noise on the bridge that the stars of the show rarely make an appearance. If you want to see the bats emerge, any time around sunset in the Summer will give you the best chances

All Hail Dionysus!

2009-08-08T12:15:00.002-05:00

Got a chance to go to the 64th meeting of the Dionysium last Wednesday.

To put it simply, the Dionysium is a chance to drink a toast to the god of wine, hear some lofty debate, maybe sing a song, maybe watch a cartoon and overall enjoy an evening of highbrow entertainment done with the tongue firmly in-cheek.

Here's a story I did on them for KLRU:

Weekend Getaway: Fredericksburg

2009-07-26T15:20:00.017-05:00

One of the things that makes Austin so nice is its proximity to cool little nearby locations that are perfect for a weekend getaway. One great getaway location is the little town of Fredericksburg, located about 70 miles West of Austin.
Founded in 1846, by the "Society for the Protection of German Immigrants in Texas" or "Adelsverein." The society's goal was to establish a German colony within Texas borders. In the 163 ensuing years, Fredericksburg has never forgotten its German heritage.

Fredericksburg is a fun little town that has figured out how to use its old-world buildings and history to cater to the weekender crowd. Lots of little cutesy shops and restaurant line main street, but just about everything closes at 6pm, so don't expect much in the way of night life.

Of course, you are visiting a small hundred year old town, you probably shouldnt be looking for night life in the first place. Make your own damn night life.

According to Wikipedia, The town is also notable as the home of the"Texas German" dialect, apparently its a dialect spoken by the first generations of settlers who initially refused to learn English.

The town is also the birthplace of Admiral Chester Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the US Pacific Fleet in WWII. His birthhome is on Main Street (and what used to be the stable house is now a really good coffee shop that serves the best french toast I've ever had.) The hotel that his father owned has been turned into the National Museum of the Pacific War and includes a variety of artifacts and information on WWII. We didnt visit it this trip, but its definitely on the list for the next time.

As for accomodations, you could do the corporate-run hotel route, but why not blend in a little more and do something more romantic. There are lots of bed and breakfasts in Fredericksburg and a simple search will call up a good list. The one we stayed in was nice, included a whirlpool tub in the bathroom and a private jacuzzi in the back yard. Simple, cozy and quiet. And not too expensive, either.

There's also a great brewery in town that serves traditional German food and brews up award winning beer. You know the award that guy in the Samual Adams commercials always brags about? These guys beat Sam Adams every year. Absolutely fantastic brews. Oh, and come hungry. Their Schnitzel is the shiznit.

Another nice feature of Fredericksburg is that its near a good number of wineries. Little did I know, Texas is the 2nd biggest wine destination in the US.

We decided during our trip that the best way to check out the local wineries would be to take a guided wine tour. A big stretch limo pulled up to our B&B and we met Randy Booher, the owner of Fredericksburg Limo & Wine Tours. There was another couple that was supposed to be going with us on the trip, but they backed out at the last minute, which meant we had the limo to ourselves the entire time.

I gotta tell ya, it felt a little weird riding in the back of a limo. Heads turned as we made our way around the streets of the little town. Everyone trying to get a glimpse of who might be inside. Honestly, I would have rather ridden in a jeep, but somehow I endured the anguish of riding in the lap of luxury acting like a couple of celebutards touring the hill country. By the end of the trip, I felt positively snobbish and loved every minute of it.

Randy is a great guy: A true Texan. And not just because he drives a limo in a cowboy hat and boots. An instant friend with a quick wit, Randy sells farm equipment during the day and does the wine tours for fun on the weekends. He knows everyone, knows the area, and took us to a great place for lunch. He even stopped at the birth place of Lyndon B. Johnson just because we mentioned it was in the area. Randy is the epitome of Texas hospitality and I can't recommend him enough.

We checked out five different wineries, talked with the owners and managers of the places and brought home some really good wine. I would definitely recommend going mid-week if you can to avoid the tourist crowd. (Small towns always look better when they are not being overrun with khaki-wearing, picture-taking lookie-loos.)

If you have a chance, check out Fredericksburg. Its a nice change of pace.

7 Ways to Cool Off in Austin in the Summer

2009-06-28T13:30:00.013-05:00

Coming from California, I had no idea just what humidity was like until I spent my first Summer in Austin. Then again, to the people coming from places like Georgia or Florida, Austin seems blissfully dry. It's all a matter of perspective, I guess. If you have the day off and are looking to enjoy the city but dont want to turn into a baked brisket to do it, there are thankfully several ways to keep cool.

Here are seven ideas on how to beat the heat of the Summer in the capitol city:

1. Get botanical - The Zilker Botanical Garden is over 20 acres of themed gardens including rose, herb and a Japanese garden with coy ponds, babbling brooks and lots of flowers to enjoy. And its free! But you may want to get there first thing in the morning, because even with all the foliage, that Austin heat is gonna get ya.

2. Have a shaved ice - Its not much more than a bunch of man-made snow with flavored sugar syrup poured over it, but damn if it isn't satisfying anyway. And the fact that it doesn't leave you with that thirst for water when you are done like ice cream does is really nice. There are snow cone vendors almost everywhere in Austin and each one tries to make it a different way. Do you like your snow-cones crunchy and chunky or soft and flakey? I'm a bit of an afficianado when it comes to snow cones, getting my doctorate in snow-cone-ology from the grand master, Mamoru Matsumoto on the North shore of Hawaii. Unfortunately, you are not going to find anyone that can match the level of shave ice decadance on par with Matsumoto-san, but when the temperature reaches triple digits, it doesnt really matter too much anyway.

3. Barton Springs - this is (as their website says) the crown jewel of Austin. Three acres of crystal clear, spring fed, ICE COLD water. The water emerges from underground springs at a chilly 68 degrees so be prepared for a shock when you jump in. A few million years ago, it was the fourth largest freshwater pool in the state. Native Americans called them "the Sacred Springs" and would come to the waters to heal their wounds. Nowadays, its a well-known (read: sometimes crowded) pool in the middle of the city. Its a great way to cool off FAST.

4. Go to the Movies - the old stand-by for ducking out of the heat has been to go to the local movie house and suck in as much of the over-fed air conditioning as possible. Thankfully you don't have to resort to actually stepping foot in one of those old sticky-floor bijouxs because instead there is the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas. As I've previously extolled the virtues of this fantastic place, I won't waste more time here. Just have a seat, order a Guiness milkshake and watch whatever Hollywood spoon feeds you. Bring a sweatshirt. It can get a little chilly.

5. Head to Hamilton Pool - A collapsed grotto formed by a couple thousand years of water erosion, this is your textbook old-school Texas swimmin hole. When there's enough water, the springs drop over the limestone cliff to form a 50 foot waterfall that you can walk behind (in case you've never seen the backside of water). Needless to say the mist that comes off a 50 foot waterfall is delightful. However with Texas in the middle of a drought, there is a good chance that the waterfall might only be a trickle. But the pool is still available and the water is nice and cold. Its occasionally closed due to flooding or hazerdous trail conditions and the Travis County parks and recreation folks will close it off when the parking lot is full. It's a 1/4 mile walk from the trail head to the water, through sometimes thick brush and big rocks, so bring your hicking shoes and then chuck them when you get to the water.

6. Go Jump in the Lake - Austin is a lake town and Lake Travis is the king. Built in the 40's for flood control, the lake is over 63 miles long and when its full it has over 380 billion gallons of water, supplying irrigation, power and drinking water for Austin. There are several places where you can rent everything from personal watercraft to a huge party barge that can accomodate up to 150 people. Grab a hat and your beverage of choice, slather on the sunblock and have a ball. Be warned though: If you are drinking, make sure you have a designated driver for the boat. The Austin Police Dept routinely patrols the water and they love to fine drunk boaters.

7. Check out the Bats - If for some strange reason you've been following every step in this article, its a safe bet that you are now probably tired, sunburned and thirsty. If you are looking for one more thing to do before the night creeps in and things kick into a different gear, go check out the bats - one of the cooler expressions of Austin's attempt at environmental correctness and general weirdness. Located under the Congress avenue bridge that spans Ladybird Lake is the home of the largest urban bat colony in the United States - over 1.5 million Mexican free-tailed bats take up residence under the gaps in the concrete bridge. Instead of freaking out that flying rodents were invading the city, the city adopted them and it's since become a big tourist attraction.

Here's what you do: Head over to TGI Fridays at the Radison hotel before sunset and ask the host for a good view of the bats. They will take you out to the patio where you can sip overpriced drinks and eat corporate food. But at sunset between March and November the bats start emerging for their nightly feeding to consume between 10,000 and 30,000 pounds of insects every night. The emergence last for about a half hour and in the dim light of twilight, all you can really see is a long serpentine-like trail of blurry dots moving into the darker part of the sky, but its still a cool, uniquely Austin thing to check out.

Naturally, there is a lot more to experience in the city in the summer and I will add more things to this as I find them. But this should be enough to get you started.

Happy sweating!

Traffic

2009-06-28T09:58:00.001-05:00

Austinites love to complain about the traffic. But as any Southern Californian knows, nothing...absolutely NOTHING compares to the soul-sucking, ass-numbing, bladder-straining, brain-dulling traffic that one experiences on the 405 at just about any time of day or night.

As a general rule, most of the major highways in the Capitol City are going to be congested at the most obvious times of the day. Austin still has a rush hour. Its more than a few hours, but not nearly as bad as Southern Cali. The traffic reports on the radio here run about 20 seconds and are usually the same spots reported every day.

So if you are one of the lucky ones that have to be on the roads between 7 - 9am and 3- 6pm, just accept the fact that you will be surrounded by your peers in every direction.

Complaining about how fast the city is growing is the current fashion in Austin. Its easy to point fingers and place blame with all the new people moving here. But the reality is that without the influx of new money pouring into the city in the form of people moving here from places like Los Angeles, Austin wouldn't be nearly as nice.

But Austin is starting to show signs of growing pains. The city has expanded greatly and with the increase of residents, comes the increase on the city's infrastructure.

"But a train is coming!" says the city. "That should solve everything, right?" Sadly, I wouldn't bet on it. Austin is getting firmly ingrained in the lane-clogging habit of "one person per car." And once that happens, its tough to break the habit.

It starts with you. Start a rideshare. Start a carpool. Think about taking the bus or (if you are lucky enough) a bike to work. Anything you can do will help everyone out in the long run, but only if EVERYONE contributes in some way.

You should also know that native Texans have a certain level of disdain for people that have moved to Austin over the past few years - and even more so for those people that have moved here from California. As a result, its best not to giggle when someone complains about the traffic. Just nod your head, mumble something about "those fucking Californians" and disengage yourself from the conversation.

For a look at real-time traffic conditions in Austin, click here.

Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner in ATX

2009-06-20T15:22:00.009-05:00

Though certainly not the only places in town to grab a bite to eat, here are a few locations to choose from when you are running around town and want to get your grub on and all three are on the cheap side of things as well:

Breakfast at Magnolia Cafe - You gotta love a place that has a big neon sign that says "Sorry, we're open" - they serve up good old breakfast food, and plenty of it. Their Migas are top notch, and if you're in to the griddle, their gingerbread pancakes are amazing. On the weekends Magnolia's two locations in the city are hopping and waiting outside under the big shady oak tree, sipping the complimentary coffee and trying to make sense of the night before is the trend thing to do for most Austin night owls. Come hungry. Their portions are big, even for my tastes.

2304 Lake Austin Blvd. and 1920 S. Congress Ave.

Lunch at Rudy's - normally, I would suggest The Salt Lick for the best barbecue in town (even if its not in town or traditionally Texan) but if you dont have the time or the serious gastrointestional comittment to the slow-cooked nirvana that emenates from their smoky pits, a good alternative can be had at Rudy's. Its a franchise, but each store cooks up the meat the same way - low and slow is the name of the game with BBQ and Rudy's takes about 12 hours for their brisket in a long oak-fed smoke trench. If you're eating there, the staff will slice it up and serve it to you on wax paper served on plastic soda pallets. My personal preference is the "extra moist," which really means "Extra fat" but its the fat that marinates the meat and keeps it from drying out. Very good stuff. Their sauce is a little peppery (allegedly coming from a recipe from Doc Holiday) but its worth it. And their creamed corn is so addictive, it may as well be called "Creamed Crack." Be sure to let them know you are new to Rudy's - they love virgins.

Dinner - Dinner in Austin is a toss up. There are so many good places to eat that the decisions can be tricky. If you are looking for burgers and fries with a view, check out Johnny Fins. Both Johnny's is a floating restaurant that sits in Lake Travis. Feed the ducks, have a margarita, check out the sunset, listen to some live music and prepare for the night.

Dessert -For a quick, simple treat that wont break the bank, try "Hey Cupcake!" The bright silver Airstream trailers are parked at various locations around the city and they are easy to spot. Just look for the line of people and the big pink revolving cupcake on the roof. They serve cupcakes. Thats it. And milk. And it is to die for. And that's all you need to know.

Cowboy Hats

2009-06-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

When someone thinks of Texas, they will inevitably think of the cowboy hat. Designed as a way to shade ranch workers from the harsh sun, the cowboy hat has become an iconic symbol of the American West.

Cowboy hats are sold almost everywhere around Austin, yet it seems like the only people that wear them tend to be the tourists and the college girls trying to look just a little bit country. You'll see them on the river and in the hills, but very rarely will you see someone walking down the street wearing one. (unless you are Robert Rodriguez, in which case its possible that the hat has been surgically implanted into his skull to perhaps cover up a receding hairline.)

Thankfully, in burner culture, one is free to wear whatever the hell one wants, so when I moved here, I went down to 6th street and picked up some obligatory crappy straw number that did the trick. A good felt hat - made with usually beaver fur can last decades. I wouldn't expect a straw hat to last much more than a few years, depending on the amount of use.

A cowboy hat tends to become an extension of the wearer's personality. It says something about the person without having to explain or justify itself. Is it bent and looks like its seen some heavy abuse? Is it crisp, perfect and without a single blemish? Is it cheesy, silly or just plain weird? A cowboy hat can be a look into a person's soul, or just be a thing they wear because they want to.

If you are serious about cowboy hats, there are several stores that specialize in the genuine article, both straw and felt. Prices run the gamut from $20 to $200, so if you really feel the need to don the chapeau of the frontiersman, you can find a wide selection here.

Austin Food

2009-05-17T12:13:00.000-05:00

While California may have In-n-out and Trader Joes, there are two food items out here that most Californians might not be aware of. And once they are, they will never be the same.

The first are breakfast tacos. Yes, breakfast tacos exist in places other than Austin, but not to the extent that they seem to thrive around here. Austin runs on breakfast tacos. It seems you can't drive more than three blocks without passing another gas station, convenience store or roadside trailer selling breakfast tacos. They're fast, made fresh, usually cheap (around $1.50 or less usually) and fill you up. Breakfast tacos are to Austin, what bagels are to New York.

The second item are Migas - also a breakfast item, but not always, Its scrambled eggs, onions, tomatoes, cheese and tortilla strips all mixed together. Depending on the place, its served with tortillas or just wrapped up like a breakfast taco. For flavor that doesnt blow your head off with spice, migas are absolute Mexican breakfast heaven. Or you could add jalapenos and salsa to turn up the heat. They are the perfect breakfast item after a night of painting the town red.

I will post more information on food in Austin, but these two items deserved honorable mention.

Long Live the Alamo

2009-05-08T09:34:00.003-05:00

One of the nice benefits of living in Austin has got to be the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. Its the only privately owned and operated movie theater in the city and they pride themselves at being truly out of the ordinary.

Sure, on the surface, the Alamo looks like any typical cineplex, with the possible exception that there's a higher tattoo-to-piercing ratio among the staff than at most theaters.

But once you walk inside, you soon realize that the Alamo is not your average movie house.

How many movie theaters do you know that have their own executive chef?

In addition to comfortable seats and a good sound system, the Alamo prides on providing a high level of service and food. And we're not talking about overpriced popcorn and stale goobers. We're talking about a full menu of dinners including burgers, pizza, salads, hand made milkshakes, and beer.

Yes, beer delivered right to your seat while watching a film. What a novel idea! It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder why in the world no one else is doing this.

The Alamo also doesn't take themselves too seriously, either. For example, last October, they had a screening of Hitchock's "The Birds" while serving an "Avian feast" that included a revamping of the famous "turducken" they called "Emuquaipartsantgoo." This was emu andouille, quail, partridge, pheasant and goose; each stuffed inside the other with a cranberry and port wine reduction.

One of the things that has become a staple of the insanity of the Drafthouse is the events and competitions that they throw. They have had everything from 80's music video sing-alongs, to air guitar chapmionships, to something called Foleyvision, where they replace the dialog of a popular movie with their own dialog and sound effects, making oftentimes a more entertaining film in the process.

And let's not forget the Dionysium - a monthly meeting of geek philosophical discussion, spirited debate and plenty of drinking and dedication to the Greek god of wine and debauchery.

They also do a traveling roadshow that is unlike anything else. They showed "Close Encounters" at the base of Devil's Tower, Wyoming. They showed "Goonies" in a cave. They showed "Jaws" on a lake. You get the idea.

The Alamo has become the place to see a movie and grab a bite to eat at the same time. They are our kind of people and I'm always happy to drop my cold hard cash on a "Royale with Cheese" burger, a Guinness milkshake and a crappy movie.

Let me tell you about Texas radio and the big beat.

2009-05-03T06:50:00.000-05:00

"I wanna tell you 'bout Texas Radio and the Big Beat
Comes out of the Virginia swamps
Cool and slow with plenty of precision
With a back beat narrow and hard to master..."

I dont know what 'ol Jim was on when he wrote that, but Texas radio has apparently changed quite a lot since the 60's.

Nowadays, Texas radio sounds pretty much like all the other commercial radio stations you've probably listened to - which is no coincidence, since a handful of billion dollar mega-corporations own the majority of radio stations across the country.

There are several stations on the dail around in Austin, but most of them are close to un-listenable. My advice: make sure your car stereo can work with a portable MP3 player. If you're a rich fuck, you could probably just use your satellite radio and not notice a thing.

But for the rest of us working stiffs, here's four of the notable stations on the dial:

For classic and modern rock, 93.7 KLBJ is the station. Their morning zoo show is just like any other morning zoo show, except the main host is more self-deprecating and willing to share every detail of his personal life over the air. Music wise, the station is your typical mix of ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and the same old tired Ozzy and Rolling Stones tunes you're heard a trillion times before.

101X is the more modern version of KLBJ. I like the fact that their slogan is "Indipendent. Local. Alternative." but they play nothing but corporate, big-label mainstream stuff. Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, The Offspring, Green Day and all all of the other bands you would expect to hear at a typical top 40 rock station.

The NPR station KUT at 90.5 FM is one of the only saving graces for radio around here. Not as well organized (or funded) as KCRW, they have a wide variety of music genres, as well as the hourly NPR breaks during the week. There's a blues show on Monday nights. The weekday morning show "Eclecticos" is fantastic and reminds me a lot of "Morning Becomes Ecclectic" on KCRW, and on the weekends, they do "Prairie Home Companion" (what seems) all day long.

KVRX is the college radio station and they fit the mold of a typical college radio station: lots of dead air followed by several minutes of screeching in some amazingly annoying song that no one likes, by a band that no one has ever heard of. They are probably the closest thing you will hear to Radio Free Burning Man. At least in that "WTF was that?" kind of way.

If you dont like the weather, wait five minutes

2009-05-02T05:48:00.000-05:00

Coming from LA, I never really paid that much attention to the weather. I mean, I've always been a fan of meteorology in general, but southern Cali doesn't vary too much in its palate of blue sky and sunshine.

The weather out here in Austin, however is definitely different. Ive driven through some hellacious downpours that felt like someone pointed a fire hose at the truck. And then a couple minutes later everything was bone dry.

I love the rain. I love hearing it fall on the leaves outside. But out here, the rain can be crazy. I've never seen hail as large as what's fallen in the past few months. Baseball sized hail is not something you want to get stuck walking in. Its like something out of a Jerry Bruckheimer movie. Huge chunks of ice were falling from the sky, crashing onto the cars, breaking windsheilds, denting roofs, exploding onto the pavement like glass...

and then five minutes later, it was gone.

The rule around here is be prepared for anything. Hail from Hell can ruin your day.

As for the big weather issues, Austin is too far North for most hurricanes and too far South for most Tornados, so thankfully that's not too much of a problem.

Middle Class Being Pushed Away

2009-04-30T10:21:00.002-05:00

It's been said several times before that Austin is now the way Los Angeles was about 15 - 20 years ago. And unfortunately Austin hasn't learned from any of LA's mistakes.

Affordable housing for its citizens is definitely one of the problems.

The Austin Chronicle reported that a recent housing market study delivered to the City Council in March stated that affordable housing to the middle class - those living on 51 - 81% of median family income has steadily declined over the past ten years.

Its not that big of a surprise, when you look at the development of Downtown over the years. The city is desperate to keep fueling the coffers with greenbacks from affluent Austinites and wants to make sure they are densely packed together and on top of each other in the center of the city like a Texas version of Manhattan.

Which makes most of us commuting in and out of the city the Austin equivalent of the bridge and tunnel crowd.

The problem with this is that the people that work in the businesses that serve the well-to-do in places like the warehouse district can no longer afford to live where they work. As a result, there has been a steady migration of regular folks moving farther and farther from the social center of the city.

Not entirely blind to the concerns of the middle class, the City has been working hard to establish a transportation system. A metro-rail-like train is the in the works, however it so far has not yet come online due to working out some safety kinks.

Even when the train is up and running, the location of where it stops and where it runs to has all been politically motivated. If you live in Round Rock and you commute to work on Congress, this train might work for you. But anyone living East or West of the city is just out of luck. The city's plan for public transportation has a long way to go to compete with what is in place in San Francisco.

This same growing pain is also evident with the artists that make the city so unique.

Artists traditionally inhabit those places that most people dot want to inhabit. But with the growth of the city still booming, a property owner doesn't need a PHD to realize that they can make a lot more money tearing down that warehouse and building a condo. As a result, the artists end up having to move further away from the cultural center of the city. And when society pushes the art away, ugly commercial gentrification ends up filling the void.

Urban sprawl occurs when a city grows faster than it can think. It happened in San Francisco with the artists during the .com boom. It happened in LA, pushing the middle class to the outskirts, and its happening here in Austin as well.

Welcome

2009-04-25T06:39:00.001-05:00

"You may all go to Hell and I will go to Texas."
-David Crockett

Exodus \Ex"o*dus\, n. 1. A going out; particularly (the Exodus), the going out or journey of the Israelites from Egypt under the conduct of Moses; and hence, any large migration from a place.

Texas \Tex'as\ the second largest state; located in southwestern United States on the Gulf of Mexico, still reluctantly part of the United States despite what some Texans feel.

Texodus \Tex"o*dus\ the mass migration of free-thinking, do-ocracy-minded kindred spirits known as "fuckos" out of the bondage of California to Texas, specifically Austin.

This is a guide for fuckos. If you dont know what a fucko is, this site is probably not for you.

It seems like all the old-school Gig-folk - being the doocratic trail blazers that they are, have settled in Austin. If there is such a thing, the "burner" mentality is strong here. It makes sense, since Austin was the location of the first regional burn in the history of "that thing in the desert" (TTITD).

"The only problem with Austin is it's surrounded by Texas."

This blog is designed to educate the wanderlusting burner on the ways and means of Austin.