Mom Will Let You Get One

Tattooing is an art and lots of people in Austin are displaying it. Recently FFP asked to photograph someone's tats and she said that her tattoo artist didn't want them on the Internet for fear they'd be copied. And just a couple of days ago I saw a guy with guns tattooed over his biceps (which are called guns in slang I understand). Mom's on South Lamar can help you with your body art, I suppose, but these places are always so attractively decorated with tattoo patterns that they make good pictures for us. We don't have any tattoos ourselves and I think it's too late...they'd compete with the age spots.

Live Music...Robert Plant

No...we didn't go see the Robert Plant and Patty Griffin show at Stubb's. But our friend Jackie was there in the VIP perch and got this great shot.

Let's Just Say. Big. Fat.

We all know that there is a weight problem in this country and everyone likes to blame fast food chains. But how about a trailer serving 'Big. Fat. Donuts?' I have heard great things about this place and some of their offerings include bacon (yeah!) but Saturday when we walked up South Lamar to their location we didn't try anything...just took this picture. We have found that our walking has helped us level off our weight since we do our share of the eating and drinking. And next time I walk to this trailer I may have a donut with Canadian Bacon, Cream Cheese and Jalapeno Jelly!

Yucca Pups

Linda and I were on our way home during our Saturday morning walk and passed by this amazing yucca plant. Linda says that all the buds on this stalk are baby plants. From the looks of the mother plant, she had a tough time birthing all those little guys.

Albert and Gage at Donn's

Linda and I went to an old favorite bar to hear two of our favorite musicians the other night. Chris Gage and Christine Albert were playing at Donn's Depot. This place is a reliable standby--always good music, friendly folks and a well-used dance floor. Also, it's close enough for us to walk there! We talked to Chris and Christine between sets and reminisced about how they played for Linda's birthday party 12 years ago. Lots of good memories. (Shot with my iPhone, so not the best resolution, but it captures the moment.)

Boating on Lady Bird Lake

Linda and I went for a walk Saturday morning and we saw these two boats being rowed west on the lake. I whipped out my trusty iPhone and took this photo.

City Hall Would Like to Point Out

Everyone in the neighborhood is eager for the W Hotel and Condos and ACL Studio to be finished. City Hall's seems to be pointing across Second Street at it. My friend Jackie took this picture. She calls the point on City Hall the armadillo tail. Hmmm. I never thought of that. You can get a better idea of the Second Street side of City Hall in this picture, taken when there was nothing but a sales office and a cleared lot where the W is today.

Note: Jackie, our faithful contributor, says she saw the point called the armadillo tail here. So there is a little more info on the City Hall building at that link.

Peace and Love, Y'all

Another piece of Austin history here. I took this shot at a "Love-In" in Wooldridge Park (our central downtown park) back in 1968. When Linda and I were cleaning out our big house to move downtown, I found the rolled-up old negative strip with this shot and many others on it. This is the best composed of the photos. I think that this event happened in March of 1968. The band playing here is Shiva's Headband. Funny, but I was in the Longhorn Band from 1964-67 with the drummer you see here. He was a brilliant player. The electric fiddle player you see here is Spencer Perskin, an iconic Austin musician who is still around town. They hit the road to San Francisco for a while, but returned to Austin. What a great time that was to be alive. I could go on, but it would be boring.

The W Has a Pool!

Our friend Jackie shot these pictures from her perch near the W Hotel and Condo construction as a swimming pool got installed. This is, Jackie believes, the hotel pool and there will be another pool on the east for the condo owners. Jackie on the construction: "They were sculpting the pool from gunite. According to the Internet, the term “gunite” is like “Kleenex” – 'originally a proprietary form of pneumatically projected (sprayed) concrete, it is now used generically. Useful for forming vertical and near-vertical surfaces and free form concrete structures without form-work. Allows concrete to be carved while wet.' It was amazing to see the pool taking shape."

Thanks as always to Jackie. It's great to have contributors with different perspectives!

A Blast from the Past

I did a story on Bond's TV here in Austin for West Austin News. Bond's has a whole set of shelves holding fantastic antique TV sets. Like this little number which dates back to 1949! They also had one that used to be in the LBJ Library. Entering this store is like taking a step back into time. Fact is though, they can do entire home theater systems and even retrofit them to existing homes with historical interiors.

Seeing Stars

I like these star decorations on a parking garage at Austin Community College on Twelfth Street. The garage covered this old mural.

Let's Ride Over for Some Fast Food

On our walk on Sunday, we encountered this beast, parked at Whataburger. Guessing the owner was getting some fast food before continuing a fast ride!

What Will Grow?

Yesterday, walking in the Bouldin Creek area we came on a planted bicycle. Don't know what to say about it, but there it is.

Texas Tea

No, no, not oil. (BP thinks they've stanched the British Tea in the gulf but that's another story.) This is a shop window (Wiggy's on W. Sixth) showing some Texas liquors including one called Graham's Texas Tea, a tea vodka. Besides the Texas-shaped bottle we also see locally familiar names: Balcones and Dripping Springs. The Orange Liqueur is Paula's Texas Orange which is made by, yes, our friend Paula. It's been around quite a while and it is used in place of Grand Marnier or Triple Sec in Margaritas and in other mixed drinks that need an orange liqueur. So, yeah, you can drink local around here and not just beer.

A Quiet Breakfast

Linda and I had breakfast at Trio, the restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel on my birthday last Monday. While I was eating, I noticed this well-mannered young lady who came in, sat down, unfolded her napkin with all the grace of a society matron, placed it on her lap and pleasantly asked for a glass of orange juice. She then pulled out a pink PDA and started checking her messages. I snagged this photo with my iPhone. Love that chartreuse do-rag!

A Crowd

This is a zoom in on the view from yesterday of the W Hotel and skyline on the Fourth of July. The crowd had really gathered for the fireworks. When night fell and the bridge was closed, it was covered with people, too. We laughed the next evening when we were strolling around downtown and it was almost deserted.

Transparent Building

I took this at dusk from the Headliners Club in the Chase Building before the Fourth of July fireworks. The tall building just right of center is the W Hotel and Condos which has almost all its windows and skin but is unoccupied and has few interior walls so far. Note the horizon effect on the building.

Pianorama

Five keyboards and a drum set. That was the kit for Marcia Ball's Pianorama on Sunday at Antone's. There were more piano players than keyboards and some trading around ensued. Riley Obsborne, far right, and Marcia and another player sitting in are providing rhythm and bass here while Floyd Domino solos.

Cooling Off

We found ourselves in an eighth floor corner suite at the Four Seasons Saturday and I snapped this picture with my zoom of people cooling off in the pool. I think they'd arranged themselves most artistically.

New Street

No one has to change their stationery...the PO and everyone else will still recognize 2nd Street but the street is now honorarily Willie Nelson Blvd. (It sounded better as Boulevard, I guess, but it is not a boulevard in the true sense unless you count the trees in the sidewalk planted as part of the Great Streets program.) Since the Austin City Limits studio will be on Second now (in the W Hotel complex we've been seeing pictures of recently) this street was chosen to honor Willie.

Window Installation

Our friend Jackie shot this of window installation on the west side of the W Hotel. It is one of a series of shots that made me wonder if the guy on the left has a safety harness. Jackie says this completes the windows on this side of the street.

The W's Skin

We've been tracking the progress of the nearby W Hotel, Condos and the Austin City Limits studio since it was a hole in the ground. Our friend Jackie lives even closer and she contributes this photo of the guys hard at work getting the 'skin' on the outside.

Iconic Restaurant

Things rarely stay as they are, but sometimes a bit remains. Once there were several Night Hawk restaurants, a sort of local chain. They had steaks and big meals but the 'chain' had a little brother featuring breakfasts and burgers called the Frisco Shop. I think pies tall with meringue were always part of the deal, too. At last there was only the Frisco Shop to represent the memory. (Old sign on Burnet shown here.) Then a Walgreen's pushed it out of its location, but they took up residence further north in the space abandoned by a series of other restaurants. My friend Jackie shot this picture of the giant metal chicken (rooster?) adorning their new location.

Outdoors on the Fourth of July

This was the scene just outside my friend Allan's condo window on the Fourth of July. He lives near this hill.

Hawk

My friend Jackie captured this hawk at Lou Neff Point on her walk around Lady Bird Lake. It is a red-tailed hawk according to Jackie and my amateur bird sleuthing on the Internet.

Dancing On Air

We attended the issue release party for L Style/G Style magazine Saturday night at Bass Concert Hall. This performance by the Blue Lapis Light dance company was a highlight of the evening. Their dancers dangled above the crowd and performed remarkable maneuvers while in the air. I took this shot with my iPhone.

Yes, We Had Fireworks

It was the Fourth of July after all. Thousands of people flocked downtown to watch the display. We watched from the 21st Floor of the Chase building. We were happy that the W Hotel does not block the club's view of the fireworks. It remains to be seen what future projects will do. But we enjoyed the show from air-conditioned comfort with some fun friends.

Proper Peacock Signage

We've mentioned the peacocks who live in Mayfield Park and roam at the end of 35th Street by our club. They've finally given them some warning signs. (I have put up a blowup in the inset.)

Shop Window Refleciton

Some of my favorite shop window scenes are those of Uncommon Objects in SoCo. Fun place to shop, too.

Hill Country and Lake Austin

I think this photo (thanks to my friend Jackie for it) epitomizes the landscape of the Hill Country with the Little Colorado River (we just call it the Colorado here) meandering through the hills of scrubby vegetation with various dams controlling its flood fury and providing lakes for recreation.

Reflecting

Today is a City Daily Photo theme day. The theme is reflections. I make a lot of reflection work on another blog but for this I decided to show our home, the 360 Condominiums, reflected in Shoal Creek.Other blogs around the world participate in this theme day. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.