Posted October 1, 2006 1:23pm
I love this town!
Visiting Taoist Monks from China bless Barton Springs. Thank you! (see link at right)
Barton Springs divers
Zilker Park and Gardens
You're in Austin. Go hear some live music!
In Austin, music is like a basic food group; we need those food groups.
In Austin, music is like a basic food group; we need those food groups.
Aahhh! Threadgill's!
The Broken Spoke!
And for BBQ, go eat at Ruby's (with a "B", on 29th just off the drag) 
Yeah, Austin's got the music, the art, the hills, lakes, and springs, great food, wonderful people.
But being the Capitol of Texas, we've also got politicians out the wazoo...
....and some are obviously not too swift...
...but then the dumb ones weren't Austinites!
Some politicians who are (or were) Austinites include some AWESOME people!
There will never be another Barbara Jordan. 
She was AMAZING!
"Ann the Great" (The Honorable Ann Richards)
(I still can't believe she's gone.)
The Fearless Congressman Lloyd Doggett, one of the only legislators who didn't wimp out after 9/11.
The Republican-controlled state legislators tried repeatedly to gerrymander him out of his district (and out of politics), wasting much valuable time and money, but Congressman Doggett's sterling reputation and his eloquent clarity triumphed over their pathetic attempts to stack the deck in their own favor. The voters knew Congressman Lloyd Doggett as a true statesman, whose boots those opportunistic, ethically-challenged clowns in the Lege couldn't reach if they stood on tiptoe.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, to Congressman Doggett and all the people who voted for him.
And where there are politicians, God Bless America, there is political activism!
Anti-War Protestors March up Congress Avenue.
Students, many risking arrest for missing school, demonstrate for Immigrants' Rights, marching up Congress Avenue.
(Eventually everybody in Austin marches up Congress Avenue for something! I stopped counting the number of times I marched it; for peace (Vietnam war), for Ann Richards inauguration, for peace (Gulf War), for legalization of marijuana, for peace (Iraq war), for civil rights, for peace (still the Iraq war), etc.)
I said it before and I'll say it again; I love Austin. I guess we all love Austin or we wouldn't put up with the high cost of living and the crazy freaking traffic. But it's so worth it for the beauty, the music, the people, the vibe.
I remember in July of '03 when Ram Dass was visiting. 
He was trying to describe his feelings about Austin, but his halting speech (due to a stroke) led to a long, delicious pause as he said, "Austin is......................an oasis. " How perfect was that!
He was trying to describe his feelings about Austin, but his halting speech (due to a stroke) led to a long, delicious pause as he said, "Austin is......................an oasis. " How perfect was that!So do us all a favor and make a point of helping Austin keep it's wonderful weirdness, before it morphs into New South Arlington. Explore and support locally-owned businesses whenever you can. Eat at locally-owned restaurants, even buy locally-grown produce. Support that which makes Austin cool, what makes Austin, Austin.
(Unless of course you actually prefer uber-generic places like Arlington to Austin's original Weirdness, in which case I think you know what we'd suggest....*)
Anyway, the holidays are coming up, so keep it weird by starting your gift shopping at locally-owned places, like Waterloo Records, BookPeople, ToyJoy, Celebration, Terra Toys, The Natural Gardener, The Whole Earth Provision Company, it goes on and on.... 
The Armadillo Christmas Bazaar, an Austin-tatious tradition since 1970, isn't strictly all local, but most of the artists are from the Austin area, and it's wonderfully weird. The last two weeks before Christmas, the Austin Music Hall hosts over 100 truly gifted artists and craftspeople from all over the place, displaying and selling their original creations, to the sounds of kickass live music. This year, 2006, the Bazaar runs from December 9-24, from 11AM-11PM. The admission (hey, they gotta eat) is $3.00 weekdays all day long and $5.00 evenings after 7pm and weekends.
Oh, and speaking of WEIRD, definitely take your camera on down to SoCo for the Austin Art Car Parade on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006. It starts at 11:30 am at 300 Congress and heads south to the weird and wonderful shopping area of SoCo.
The Armadillo Christmas Bazaar, an Austin-tatious tradition since 1970, isn't strictly all local, but most of the artists are from the Austin area, and it's wonderfully weird. The last two weeks before Christmas, the Austin Music Hall hosts over 100 truly gifted artists and craftspeople from all over the place, displaying and selling their original creations, to the sounds of kickass live music. This year, 2006, the Bazaar runs from December 9-24, from 11AM-11PM. The admission (hey, they gotta eat) is $3.00 weekdays all day long and $5.00 evenings after 7pm and weekends. Oh, and speaking of WEIRD, definitely take your camera on down to SoCo for the Austin Art Car Parade on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2006. It starts at 11:30 am at 300 Congress and heads south to the weird and wonderful shopping area of SoCo.
Eeyore's Birthday Party Every Spring at Pease Park
I Love this town!
* Do you even know what WalMart does with a sizeable chunk of it's profits? Well, one perfect example was when Wal-Mart made a $5,000 contribution to support Tom Delay’s corruption 2 days after his indictment. Check this link for a political viewpoint on the ethically-challenged Big Box Giant: http://wakeupwalmart.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment