SoCo Homes

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When we're in Austin for our winter escapes we stay at a Vacation Cake property on S 2nd near Oltorf. It's a great spot in a neighbourhood where you can walk or cycle to interesting places in the SoCo (South Congress) area -- Guero's, The Continental Club, etc. This album is a collection of photos of homes we see as we bike around what we've come to think of as "our" neighbourhood.

The area was, and in part remains, working class with modest cottages often built by the original owner. But it's a transitional neighbourhood. These modest homes on what now counts as big lots are being snapped up, torn down and replaced by landscaped brutalism architected homes which occupy the entire lot.

At one time this was an area where we thought about buying a winter retreat -- these days where a lot value property is half a million or more it's well beyond our reach.

Nevertheless, while we can, we return each winter to a place we love where live music can be heard every night at many interesting places,

Street Art, Austin

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2015-02 - Street Art, Austin: 

Here's some street art found in Austin TX on a recent visit. I may not know art, but I know what I like.... ;-)

Austin Markets and Museums

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2015-02 - Markets & Museums: This photo album documents some of our favorite markets and a couple of museum visits we made during our winter stay in Austin.

While we usually shop at the local HEB supermarket we occasionally find our way to one of the Fiesta supermarkets where there's a real Spanish feel. Tortilla's by the truck load, lots of interesting peppers, Spanish papers and magazines, cheap wine, huge tomatillos and even fresh cactus. I've tried fried cactus with some freshly squeezed lime juice. It tastes fine but the worry about cactus prickles make it less than fun.

We found some Robert Earl Keen Honey Pils at our local CVS store. Everyone in Texas is a fan of REK -- here's another good reason.

We have a nice gift shop we frequent, the Austin Gift Company, near Lamar and Ben White. It sells lots of locally crafted things and is a better bet than the stuff along 6th downtown. There's a "Day of the Dead" lunch box in this collection.

There's a couple of photos of the HEB and Whole Foods. We used to be really keen about Whole Foods (it started in Austin) but are now pretty devoted to our local HEB. HEB also has a couple of upmarket stores that compete against Whole Foods -- they're called the "Central Markets". We go there sometimes. Sometimes we're there to see music as they have a dining area with live music (it's Austin after all). We saw Rosie & the Ramblers at Central Markets on North Lamar. She's very accomplished, really enjoyed her music. We saw a blue grass group Silas Lowe at Central Markets, Westgate in South Austin. One oddity at these dining areas attached to the Central Market -- you can order food and wine from the servers there but some people just opened food and wine they bought at the store! A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and some music.

There's also a couple of pictures of farmer's markets. We usually catch the Saturday Downtown market and the BlueBonnet market on Sunday. There are some vendors that we buy from regularly.

Finally there's some gallery pictures from the Blanton Museum of Art (just north of the capitol) and from the Mexic-Arte Musem on Congress just south of the capitol. In another album I have pictures from the San Antonio Art Museum.

Esther's Follies

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2015-03-05 - Esther's Follies:

Esther's Follies is a comedy cabaret on 6th at Red River in Austin. We've been to the show several times over the years and always have a good laugh.This year we went when Cindy was visiting and had a dinner at El Sol y La Luna across the street. We arrived early and got good seats right at the front of the stage.... this made us a target for the performance and Cindy was dragged onto the stage. I had to endure the long stare — who will blink first me or the magician!

As always we thoroughly enjoyed the show and would recommend it to all.

Robbin' Graves & the Lost Fear

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This was a gig by Perry Puckett and friends (can't recall the name they went under [it was Robbin' Graves & the Lost Fear]) at the Cedar Lounge in London sometime in 1982 or so. I don't know the name of the band, or band members or how they evolved in the London scene -— any help would be appreciated.

 
Brian Lambert has shared a b/w version of Perry, I thought I'd share my album. The band was all geared in up bright colours so these original scans from my slides do them better justice.

Here's the photo album.

Texas Chili Parlor Bar

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The Texas Chili Parlor Bar on Lavaca near the capitol in Austin, Texas is a simple rough hewn place serving simple Tex/Mex food -- their signature dish is a “bowl of red“. It's famously mentioned in the Guy Clark song “Dublin Blues” where he writes “I wished I was in Austin, in the Chili Parlor Bar drinking mad dog margaritas and not caring where you are“.

We've been aware of the place for years but had never stopped in. This year it became one of our “go to” places for lunch or a dinner on our way to the UT campus. Kate, as a vegetarian, was a bit leary but was pleasantly surprised by their vegetarian Chili. I mostly stuck to a spicy “Bowl of Red” 'cause as Tom Russell wrote “You don't put beans in chili, you don't water good whiskey down”.

We liked the place so much that we took both of our visitors. A bowl of red laced with raw onions, jalapenos and cheese with a mad dog margarita to wash it down. Yum.... Although it was hard to get a margarita without the salt.

I found their rules to live by interesting:

No Lone Star
No Checks
No Fries
No FooFoo drinks
No talking to imaginary people

I wonder what would happen if you broke the rules? I mean, after all, Lone Star beer is again made in Texas. No need to get ornery about that.

Zellots

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The Zellots were one of our favorite London Ontario bands of the early 1980's. These photos are from the Cedar Lounge, Mingles and Fryfogles. Clubs and buildings which are long gone. It was the best of times...