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April 2009
‘Celebrities’ are just like us … scared of swine flu
The World Health Organization has elevated its pandemic threat level to five. Hundreds of people are getting sick. Some have died. What seems likely to have started at a factory farm in Mexico now has much of the country up in arms.
With so much drama in the LBC, it seems like a good time for a laugh. Enter MTV-created ‘celebrities’ Spencer Pratt & Heidi Montag. From the photo below, it seems the couple is vacationing in Mexico, and quite scared of The Other White Meat killer cold.
According to MTV, the couple is in Cabo, where Heidi Montag is shooting a video for hew new single “Blackout.” Um …single? As in music? Maybe we should raise the terror threat level, as well.
MTV reports that Montag called into Ryan Seacrest’s radio show yesterday and said, “We’re not playing. I’m not trying to get pig flu! We’re in isolation. We’re in, like, full hiding.”
Now if they could just stay hidden.
Photos from Pacific Coast News
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Your A-List: Best Hotel Bar
Two of Austin’s oldest and swankiest downtown hotel bars did battle this week, with the Intercontinental Stephen F. Austin beating out The Driskill for honor of Best Hotel Bar.
The bar at the Stephen F. is classy, and as one would expect, is highlighted with some serious Texas touches (see: mounted longhorn over the hand-tooled leather bar and cowhide barstools). With a feel that is part cigar bar and part men’s grill at a prestigious country club, the bar offers plush seating in small clusters and a magnificent bar at which to sip your single malt scotch, Basil Hayden’s or one of any number of specialty martinis.
But arguably the greatest attraction of the Stephen F. Austin’s bar is the terrace that wraps around the hotel, offering views of the Texas Capitol, Congress Avenue and Seventh Street. When the weather is nice, it’s hard to find a better spot in town to have a drink.
Others receiving votes
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Austin Kleon: One Sharpie dude
We’ve all seen the myriad (mostly excellent) photos that come out of live shows in Austin. While they often capture the beauty, danger, charm, grace, wit, etc. of the moment, sometimes a change of pace is nice … a different perspective via a different medium. Enter writer/artist Austin Kleon, whose Web site I was sent today. Kleon attends shows and does Sharpie drawings of musicians on index cards. Last night, he was at the Spoon show at Scoot Inn.
The “writer who draws,” as he calls himself, has done work for SXSW and ACL, and uses his site to “post (his) creative work and explore the art of communicating with pictures and words, together.”
His ongoing project, Newspaper Blackout Poems, will be released as a book by HarperCollins in 2010.
Check out a few of his drawings from his site:
Spoon at Scoot Inn
Neko Case at Stubb’s
Shearwater at Stubb’s
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Your A-List: Best New Addition to Austin’s Retail Scene
Despite the lagging national economy, Austin still seems to be going pretty strong (right?). How else can you explain the wealth of new options for shopping that sprang up over the past year?
Newflower Farmers Market, winner with 25 percent of the vote, probably realized that they had a pretty good bet, opening an organic grocery in a town that falls over itself (commendably) for trying to promote a greener lifestyle. I haven’t made my way down south (strategic location, out of the shadow of Whole Foods and just far enough away from Central Market) to the location that opened in February of this year, so I will leave the details to our Addie Broyles, who wrote about Newflower in Food Matters.
[From Food Matters, 02/11/09]
Move over Whole Foods, Central Market, Sun Harvest and Wheatsville. There’s a new organic grocer in town.Newflower Farmers Market at William Cannon Drive and Manchaca Road in South Austin opens today. Newflower CEO Mike Gilliland, who in 2002 founded the Boulder, Colo.-based chain known as Sunflower Farmers Markets in five other Southwestern states, knows he’s entering a tough market where several other retailers already compete for green grocery dollars. Newflower takes an approach similar to Trader Joe’s, the discount natural grocer that has yet to put a store in Central Texas: “Our goal was to take elements of Trader Joe’s — low prices and unusual products — and expand it,” says Gilliland, who is in Austin this week to open the store (the first Texas one opened in Plano in November).
Produce takes up a third of the store, he said during a sneak preview on Monday. Despite the name, the store isn’t selling much produce from local farmers — yet. Look for in-season produce from local sources later in the year, Gilliland says, because “local is the new organic.”
The store, set up with lower shelves that make the space seem larger than its 26,000 square feet, touts everyday specials such as 3 for $10 wines and low prices on 750 products carrying Newflower’s house-brand label of “Serious Food…Silly Prices.” It will offer sushi and pre-made deli items to-go, an olive bar, potted herbs, freshly baked goods and organic and natural meat, including Harris Ranch beef. Newflower’s simplicity is refreshing, but don’t expect a real farmers’ market. 6920 Manchaca Road, 687-2204. Open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
Others receiving votes
- Mellow Johnny’s, 20 percent
- Patagonia, 15 percent
- Breakaway Records, 10 percent
- Lululemon, 6 percent
- Teuscher Chocolates of Switzerland, 5 percent
- Cornucopia, 5 percent
- Domy Books, 4 percent
- Beyond Tradition, 3 percent
- Mode, 2 percent
- Kirk, 2 percent
- Minx, 2 percent
- Bo Concept, 1 percent
- Ligne Roset Boutique, 1 percent
- Millipede, < 1 percent
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Your A-List: Best Place to Feel Like a Kid
In a town with an adult populous that prides itself on feeling/staying young, it is no surprise that there were quite a few places receiving loads of votes this week. But in the end, there can only be one winner, and Austin’s beloved Barton Springs takes the honor, narrowly edging out Peter Pan Putt Putt, chain Dave and Buster’s and the eclectic Toy Joy.
Barton Springs, which received 18 percent of the votes in the poll, is almost always named by Austinites as a place out-of-towners should visit. In the era of high-rise condos and urban development, it is an oasis in the heart of the city that represents and transports us to a more quaint time, when the city felt a little more rural and a little less urban. For only $3 a day, you can go relax in the sun (or shade), chat with friends, practice yoga, read a book, listen to locals play music or watch them practice capoeira to your heart’s content. I do take a slight exception with the high price of the summer pass ($180 for 105 days) and the fact that the “south” gate is not open more hours during the weekdays, but I came here to praise Barton Springs, not to nitpick it.
And, since the City of Austin can promote their beloved crown jewel better than I, here is what it has to say on the city’s Web site:
Within Zilker Park’s 358 acres, lies one of the crown jewels of Austin, Barton Springs Pool. Three acres in size, the pool is fed from under ground springs and is on average 68 degrees year round. Over the years, Barton Springs Pool has drawn people from all walks of life, from legislators who have concocted state laws there to free-spirited topless sunbathers who turned heads in the seventies. Even Robert Redford learned to swim at the pool when he was five years old while visiting his mother’s relative in Austin. Today, Barton Springs still attracts a diverse crowd of people.Millions of years ago Barton Springs, the fourth largest natural springs in the state, was created as a result of a landshift that created the Balcones Fault.
Named in honor of Andrew Jackson Zilker. “Colonel Andy”, as friends called him, donated the land now known as Zilker Park. In 1884, at age 18, Zilker, who had left his native Indiana to seek his fortune, came to Austin with only 50 cents in his pocket and got a job at an ice plant, which he eventually bought. He then became the first Coca-Cola Bottler in Austin. Shortly after Zilker bought the land in 1901, he built a small concrete pool and amphitheater for members of his Elks Club organization, at the site of one of the three springs, where people had gathered for centuries.Native Americans called them the Sacred Springs and came there to heal their wounds. Spanish friars believed to be the first European settlers in the Austin area set up three temporary missions at the springs in 1730-31 before they moved to San Antonio. In 1837, William “Uncle Billy” Barton, built his rustic cabin on a tract of land which included the springs. Since he owned several adjoining tracts, the area came to be known as the “Bartons”. He named the three springs after his daughters Parthenia, Eliza and Zenobia. The largest spring became known as the main spring at Barton Springs Pool. Another spring feeds the Elks Amphitheater pool that Zilker built near the present day Barton Springs Pool. A third spring bubbles up from the Sunken Garden on the east side of the park.
Between 1917 and 1934, A.J. Zilker donated his land along the south bank of the Colorado in stages, to the Public Free Schools of Austin on the condition that the city of Austin buy the tract from the public schools for inflated prices. School officials placed money from the sale in a trust fund for manual training for what is known today as the school-to-work-program.
Barton Springs Pool has been a popular swimming hole for decades, but even more people showed up once it became part of a city park in 1917. In 1929, workers enlarged the irregular-shaped pool to 1,000 feet long by building a concrete lower dam and sidewalks on both banks. In 1932, the city added an upper dam. Over the years the springs has been the site of a flour mill, a source of drinking water for many citizens and a popular location for baptisms, family picnics, social gatherings, musical performances, fishing and swimming.
Many approach a dip in Barton Springs Pool’s chilly 68 degrees water with a religious zeal. Devotees relish swimming in the roomy expanse of spring water, framed by century-old pecan trees. Those who plunge down under the diving board to look at the main spring, which pumps an average of 27 million gallons of water a day, say that the pulsating action reminds them of a steady heartbeat.
In 1943, Jean Parker was the first women lifeguard at Barton Springs. Members of the Texas Pool and Beach Association decided at the conclusion of their annual conference of park and recreation authorities to allow women to lifeguard, because most eligible men had entered the armed forces. This was the beginning of the change from the traditional “big husky lifeguards watching over the flocks to beautiful girls gracing the lifeguard towers over the nations pools.”
Beverly Sheffield, who served as director of the Austin Parks and Recreation Department from 1946-1973, swam at Barton Springs for 73 years, longer than any of today’s regular swimmers. He began when he was 10 years old and on into his 80s, Sheffield continued to go the pool three days a week, weather permitting until his death.
In 1992, 2 University of Texas scientists, filed an emergency petition seeking federal protection of the Barton Springs salamander. Zoologist, Mark Kirkpatrick and his geologist wife, Barbara Mahler, prepared the petition under auspices of the Save Barton Creek Association and The Hill Country Foundation. This petition was filed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, which has authority to list wildlife under the federal Endangered Species Act. In 1998, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service named the Barton Springs salamander as an Endangered Species.
The only known surface habitats of the Barton Springs salamander (Eurycea sosorum) are located in Barton Springs pool, Eliza Springs, Old Mill Springs (Sunken Garden) and Upper Barton Springs. The salamander is lungless and relies on a pair of conspicuous red gills located behind the head for effiecient gas exchange. Currently the City of Austin and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are working together to support operation of the pool while protecting this species.
Others receiving votes
- Peter Pan Putt Putt, 17 percent
- Dave and Buster’s, 16 percent
- Toy Joy, 16 percent
- Terra Toys, 7 percent
- Main Event, 6 percent
- Austin’s Park and Pizza, 6 percent
- Lake Travis, 5 percent
- Blazer Tag, 4 percent
- Skateland, 3 percent
- GattiTown, 2 percent
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An educated guess at the ACL lineup (some wishing included)
(Updated with some previously overlooked bands.)
Not that anybody asked, but I figured I would take a crack at guessing who the top 50 or so acts will be at the Austin City Limits Festival this year. (I would not be surprised if at least 10 of these bands don’t make the bill.)
I didn’t scour the Internet looking at MySpace pages or burn up the phone lines calling publicists or “people who know things.” I simply checked out the other major fests’ lineups to see who was doing the circuit, culled those who seemed ACL-friendly and made an educated guess, with a few wish-list types (Femi Kuti, Wilco, Q-Tip) thrown in for good measure. Of course, we “know” (or thought we did) Pearl Jam will be there, so at least the top of the bill is easy to figure.
(For ACL coverage on the Austin Music Source, click here.)
Pearl Jam
Beastie Boys
Dave Matthews Band
Sonic Youth
Ghostland Observatory
Kings of Leon
Wilco
B-52s
Levon Helm
Ben Harper
Animal Collective
Femi Kuti
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band
TV on the Radio
M.I.A.
Andrew Bird
Neko Case
Band of Horses
Mos Def
Of Montreal
Okkervil River
Fleet Foxes
The Decemberists
Q-Tip
Bon Iver
Cold War Kids
Deerhunter
Dr. Dog
The Raveonettes
Raphael Saadiq
The Greencards
Dengue Fever
Akron/Family
White Denim
Thievery Corporation
Los Campesinos
Passion Pit
Allen Toussaint
Black Joe Lewis
Betty Lavette
Elvis Perkins in Dearland
Heartless Bastards
Robert Earl Keen
AA Bondy
Ray Lamontagne
Paolo Nutini
Leatherbag
Bassnectar
What Made Miwaukee Famous
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Playboy: UT is No. 2 party school
2. Sex: Not sure how they figured this out.
3. Campus life: I imagine this has to do with parties
4. Sports: Self explanatory
5. Brains: This must have something to do with dumb ol’ classes and such
Playboy explains UT’s ranking thusly:
“Everything is actually bigger in Texas: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, parties, cup sizes, etc. Before metal bands threw up the “rock-on” hand gesture, Texas students were signaling their undying love for the Longhorns. The same gesture could now symbolize “Number two on the Playboy Party Schools List!” The city of Austin has become a mecca for forward-thinking people, as well as a hot music scene, thanks to the South by Southwest festival. The students also like to party, whether on Sixth Street of at an off-campus apartment. Sam, a physics major, has a hazy memory of one bacchanal at West Campus: ‘Twenty kegs and 13 jugs of trash- can punch … what was a bikini party morphed into women dancing half naked. Didn’t end till four in the morning.’ Austin, we raise a Texas toast to you. Steers and cheers.”I am sure the administration and parents of orange-blooded students are simply thrilled. The University of Miami topped Playboy’s list, with the rest of the honor roll as follows: San Diego State University, University of Florida, University of Arizona, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Georgia, Louisiana State University, University of Iowa and West Virginia University. (For the complete list, click here. Of course, it goes to a Playboy.com link, so paranoid workers and the prudish, beware.) From perusing the top 10, it is obvious that warm weather schools in the south and west fare best, with a few cold weather schools thrown in, as their students likely spend 75 percent of the school year snowed-in playing drinking games. The list reminds me of ESPN.com’s Bill Simmons’ rationale for how high school students should select their colleges. [Taken from Simmons’ Dec. 28, 2008 reader Mailbag]
And while we’re here, with the college application season wrapping up, allow me to make my annual case for everyone to apply to warm-weather schools. Don’t spend four years in cold weather. There’s no reason. Go south, go west, but go.And if they have a good sports team, even better. I know people who attended the following schools: Pepperdine, the University of California at Santa Barbara, USC, UCLA, Rollins, North Carolina, Arizona, Arizona State and the University of Texas. Here’s how many of them regretted their choices: Zero. Meanwhile, the majority of my friends attended cold-weather schools … and only a handful of them would travel down that same road again. Again, why spend four years of your life in cold weather when you don’t have to do it? And why pick a college with crummy sports when you don’t have to do it? Beyond everything else, remember this above all: It doesn’t matter where you went to college as much as what you did when you got there. I have successful friends who went to every type of school; I even have successful friends who never graduated from college. So don’t stress out about it, expand your horizons, don’t be afraid to take a chance and please know that I’m telling you this only because I wish somebody had told me. One last thing: Don’t go to Princeton. I’m still waiting to meet my first Princeton grad that I might like. I am like 0-for-79. Princeton grads carry themselves like bad guys in a sports movie. Remember the scene in “Pretty In Pink” when James Spader ordered his two henchmen to beat up Andrew McCarthy because he didn’t approve of McCarthy’s poor girlfriend? There’s no question that Spader’s character went on to Princeton, just like there’s no doubt Johnny Lawrence went to Duke.(For the record, the May edition of Playboy, with covergirl Lisa Rinna, also features an interview with author Chuck Palahniuk, for all of you who love the soft-core mag for its writing.) Photos: Playboy’s Rock the Rabbit party with Jane’s Addiciton | Famous famous from Playboy Photo by Larry Kolvoord AMERICAN-STATESMAN
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A wolf in hipster’s clothing
The New York Observer has an amazing/ridiculous story today about a young woman from Salt Lake City who used her feminine wiles, hipster appearance and a barrage of lies, while relying on the kindness, naivete and desperation of friends/strangers, to steal cash from people and gain social currency. It’s like “The Talented Mr. Ripley” meets a 2 a.m. bad decision at Beauty Bar.
Kari Ferrell dropped out of high school in Utah and subsequently went on to rip off boyfriends in Salt Lake City and New York City to the tune of thousands of dollars, as she created an alternate persona built on lies about her failing health, cool jobs and alleged stalkers. The jig was finally up when a co-worker at Vice, a company that apparently hired Ferrell without the tedium of a background check, decided to Google his new Lolita-esque hipster co-worker. His discovery of her outstanding warrants in Utah pulled the first thread that would unravel Ferrell’s felonious world of free drinks, cars and fake check accounts.
After finishing the story, the lede of which reads like it was pulled directly from The Onion, I am amazed not only at Ferrell’s unconscionable guile but also the lack of investigation done by the (mostly) men she duped.
[From The New York Observer]
It’s likely that when Kari Ferrell walked into the Vice magazine offices in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, last month to interview for an administrative assistant job, they thought they’d hit the jackpot. Ms. Ferrell—petite, 22 years old, of Korean heritage—had a huge tattoo of a dragon across her chest and a cute pixie haircut. She was talkative, funny, charming, adorable. She had a tattoo on her back that read “I Love Beards.” She told them she’d been working for the New York office of the concert promotion company GoldenVoice, which puts on huge rock festivals like Coachella near Palm Springs, Calif., and that she’d moved to New York from Utah just a few months earlier. They hired her on the spot.
A few days later, one of Ms. Ferrell’s new colleagues came by her desk. “I said, ‘Excuse me, miss, is [her boss] downstairs?’” the 29-year-old told The Observer. “She thought that was very polite that I said, ‘Excuse me, miss,’ and after that she started talking to me, instant-messaging me. She asked if I was from the South. I told her no. It escalated from there.”
Within the space of a half-hour, Ms. Ferrell was peppering him with questions about his sexual histor— how many women he’d slept with and so on. “She was coming on to me, and I was super into it for the first part of it,” he said. “I realized I could have fun after work—but then I was like, ‘Let me check this girl out.’” He Googled her. Up popped a photo of his flirtatious new co-worker on the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Most Wanted list, wanted on five different warrants, including passing $60,000 in bad checks, forgery and retail theft.
Read the full story here. A note: there is some colorful language used in the Observer story.
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Your A-List: Best Place to Buy Beauty Products
Once you get your hair did, you have to maintain, people (not that I would know much about that). And when it comes to beauty products, especially those for the head, it seems The Beauty Store is your preferred destination location.
The winner, with 38 percent of the vote, of this week’s poll opened in 1988 and has since expanded to four locations, with the newest store opening at Braker Lane and US 183 in the summer of 2008. While the stores do carry cosmetic lines by Glo Mineral and Jane Iredale, their real bread and butter is the bevy of hair care products they carry. And for those looking to save a buck in these tough economic times, twice a year the stores offer free liter day, in which you get a free 32 oz. bottle of shampoo with the purchase of a 32 oz. bottle of conditioner.
Others receiving votes
- Sephora, 28 percent
- Ulta, 17 percent
- Nordstrom, 7 percent
- Lux Apothetique, 4 percent
- Bath and Body Works, 2 percent
- Emerald’s, < 1 percent
- Body Shop, < 1 percent
- Myka, < 1percent
- Sabia, < 1 percent
- Black Butterfly, < 1 percent
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Your A-List: Best Tattoo Parlor
Among the dozens of tattoo shops in Austin, Chris Trevino’s Perfection Tattoo garnered the most votes in this week’s Your A-List poll, taking home 20 percent of the vote.
As a high school kid in San Antonio, proprietor Trevino used to see kids in the punk scene with tattoos he admired, so he sought out the man responsible for the work, Perfection owner Bob Moreau. Conveniently, Moreau’s tattoo parlor was located in Trevino’s neighborhood, so when he was old enough, Trevino went to work as an apprentice in 1988.
In 1992, Trevino moved to Austin and took over ownership of the Austin location of Perfection, which had opened in 1978.
The 40 year-old Trevino has spent parts of the past decade traveling to Japan and training in the traditional art of irezumi, and solely dedicates his practice now to said artistry. However, with four employees (including Moreau) on hand at the shop, all with different specialties, Trevino assures me that his crew can handle just about any design you can come up with.
Others receiving votes
- Steadfast Tattoo, 13 percent
- Atomic, 10 percent
- Southside, 9 percent
- True Blue, 6 percent
- Diablo Rojo, 5 percent
- Rock of Ages, 5 percent
- Gully Cat, 4 percent
- River City, 4 percent
- Platinum Ink, 3 percent
- Resurrection, 3 percent
- Black Cat, 3 percent
- Triple Crown, 3 percent
- Ancient Ink, 3 percent
- Body Adorned, 2 percent
- Republic of Texas, 2 percent
- Eternally Bound, < 1 percent
- Golden Apple, < 1 percent
- Skingraver, < 1 percent
- Mad Dog, < 1 percent
- Amillion, < 1 percent
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First look at Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’
If you saw “American Idol” last night, you may have seen “Idol” mentor-of-the-night and superfan Quentin Tarantino offer a sneak peek of never-seen-before footage from his upcoming movie “Inglourious Basterds,” starring Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson and Mike Myers (once again, Tarantino revives the career of an aging star). The movie will be out later this summer.
Today, Miramax released that clip in its entirety. Apparently it was “too hot” for prime time TV. As part of the clip’s intro, Tarantino orders another take shot of a scene in the movie because, as he has his crew chant along, “We love making movies.” He certainly does.
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Irie comedy
Reggae Fest — a time for college kids, stoners and a smattering of actual reggae fans to gather at Auditorium Shores for some sunshine and music. While much of the music (including the Skatalites) should be legit, there will undoubtedly be a few heads whose adoration of Haile Selassie and praise of Jah will be questionable at best, despite their Alpaca Peruvian ponchos and patchouli aromas.
With that said, I offer you Rast Trent (a stereotype with whom we are all likely somewhat familiar), who has been “trodding on the winepress much too long.” Big ups, Trent, for refusing to be what they want you to be.
As for the actual Austin Reggae Fest, you can get all the needed information by checking out the official site.
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Rainn Wilson and Rivers Cuomo wonder what if God was one of us
You know how sometimes you can hear a cover of a song you really don’t like, maybe one you never liked, maybe even loathed, and it sounds a thousand times better? Maybe it’s just an aversion to the original recording artist or a preference for the covering artist, but whatever the case may be, what is often revealed is the quality of the actual original songwriting. (Or does it actually still suck? I can’t decide. Ambivalent Friday.)
Such is the case for me (I think) with this video of Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo and actor Rainn Wilson performing a cover of Joan Osborne’s rather schlocky “One of Us.” The song will appear on Sirius Satellite Radio’s Alt Nation, as Cuomo and actor/musician Jason Schwartzman (“Rushmore,” “The Darjeeling Limited”) take over tonight at 7 p.m. for a countdown show that will feature premieres of new music by both men, including the Osborne cover by Cuomo and Wilson. I think I like it. Maybe I am just too worried about being cool. Or too busy being a hater. Always so hard to tell. Right, Marita?
From Sirius: “Weezer front man and solo artist, Rivers Cuomo along with actor/musician Jason Schwartzman of Coconut Records take over the Alt-Nation playlist, perform acoustically and interview each other in this exclusive Alt-Nation special! Rivers will talk about his work with Weezer as well as his second solo release Alone II: The Home Recordings Of Rivers Cuomo. Jason Schwartzman will talk about his solo project Coconut Records and how Rivers’ music has influenced him over the years. Rivers will also perform songs acoustically with various friends including actor Rainn Wilson of The Office on bongos!”
The rocker and actor riff comically for a bit before getting the music started. Skip to about the 4:20 mark for the music and Wilson’s dry John Bohnam reference.
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Jason Whitlock and David Simon on the newspaper industry
For those of you interested in the troubling state of affairs in the newspaper industry — how we got here, what can be done to right the ship, etc. — you may want to tune into the Jim Rome Show this afternoon at 12:06 p.m. on Austin’s 1300 AM The Zone (or online). Wonderful Kansas City Star sports columnist Jason Whitlock is subbing for Rome, and will apparently use the second two hours of the show to give his take on the newspaper/media business. He teased it with the fact that he intends to pull no punches.
And for fans of “The Wire,” you will be especially interested because Whitlock will have the brilliant David Simon, creator of HBO’s beloved cop/news drama, on as a guest to give his opinions. Simon wrote a fantastic article in the Jan. 28 edition of The Washington Post entitled “Does the News Matter to Anyone Anymore”, in which he sounded the alarm by bringing attention to the fact that newspapers losing reporters and resources is leading to a precipitous decline in public affairs and police reporting that leaves citizens vulnerable to an unquestioned bureaucracy and government.
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Your A-List: Best Place that Delivers
Just like renting a cheesy movie, sometimes indulging in the guilty pleasure of snacking is best done in the comfort of your own home. That’s where Pluckers comes in very handy. Austin’s homegrown wings palace took home 26 percent of the vote and the crown of Best Place that Delivers in this week’s Your A-List poll.
While Pluckers has built a solid reputation as a great place to watch a game (or 10 at once) and guzzle enormous mugs of cold beer, the luxury of double-dipping fried pickles in ranch dressing in between devouring dozens of spicy wings is made all the more pleasurable when you eat them on your couch, because you can’t exactly take a nap at the table when you’re in one of their actual restaurants.
Others receiving votes
- The Soup Peddler, 15 percent
- East Side Pies, 11 percent
- Hog Island Deli, 9 percent
- Texican Cafe, 8 percent
- Hao-Hao, 6 percent
- Craig O’s, 4 percent
- Southside Flying Pies, 4 percent
- Hil-Bert’s, 4 percent
- Rockin’ Tomato, 3 percent
- Rounders, 3 percent
- First Wok, 2 percent
- Bamboo Garden, 2 percent
- Pao’s, 1 percent
- Super China, < 1 percent
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Your A-List: Best Chefs
Tyson Cole has become one of the biggest celebrity chefs in Austin, and with good reason. Uchi, his sushi restaurant on South Lamar Bouelvard, has become one of the busiest and most popular fine dining options in the city. It is no wonder then that Cole and his staff received 26 percent of the vote to win this week’s Your A-List poll.
The temple of sushi won the honor after beating out the delicious game-loving restaurant Hudson’s on the Bend and the decadent and sublime Wink. The precious yet modern Austin bungalow restaurant, designed by architects Michael Hsu and Joel Mozersky, came to life in 2003 and, at the time, was a welcome two-star addition to the growing sushi scene. In the past six years, Cole’s creation has become a paragon of creativity and quality in the Austin restaurant scene, drawing rave reviews from critics and diners alike.
The jewel on South Lamar prides itself not only on the freshest of ingredients but also on top-notch service, a forward-thinking approach to flavor components and decadent presentation. Needlefish displayed as a sort of flying dragon complemented with a citrus vinaigrette presented in an oyster shell on a bed of salt in a wooden bowl is just one example of the fanciful culinary delights you may find at Uchi. In addition to classic fish preparation and flavors, Cole and his crackerjack staff, who have a say in initial menu suggestions, also like to throw in a taste of the local, as evidenced in Uchi’s madai sashimi of black snapper with ruby red grapefruit.
Others receiving votes
- Hudson’s on the Bend, 19 percent
- Wink, 10 percent
- Vespaio, 9 percent
- Driskill Grill, 7 percent
- Roaring Fork, 5 percent
- Aquarelle, 4 percent
- Fonda San Miguel, 4 percent
- Imperia, 3 percent
- Bess, 3 percent
- Jezebel, 2 percent
- Jasper’s, 2 percent
- Siena, 2 percent
- Cibo, 2 percent
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Popped perfection at Cornucopia
1914 Guadalupe St. Suite B [map]
477.2676
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“Adventureland” offers unexpected ride
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And now for something completely different/wrong
Much of America came to know former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee during last year’s presidential campaign. A few personal facts: he is a minister, lost a bunch of weight at some point and plays the bass.
Possibly wanting to steal some hip, younger viewers from MSNBC or CNN, Fox News decided it would be a good idea to show the fun and creative side of Huckabee on his Fox talk show recently. Either that, or they wanted to see if they could destroy people’s hearing and possibly melt televisions across the country. At the end of a recent show, Huckabee was joined by The FBN band — composed of his stage manager, some audio techs and a few other Fox flacks — to perform a cover of the Foo Fighter’s “Learn to Fly.” What resulted was one of the biggest TV train wrecks since the last time Glenn Beck was on air. Somewhere Dave Grohl is throwing up in his mouth. Or filing a lawsuit of some sort.
After crawling back from under my desk, I got to thinking … Statesman band? Michael Barnes on bass, Joe Gross on lead guitar, Chris Garcia on drums, Mike Sutter on keys, Chad Swiatceki on keytar and Michael Corcoran as manager? Excuse me while I call my agent.
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Your A-List: Best Bartenders
Some people go to clubs for music, some for atmosphere, some for the drink menu, but almost anybody will tell you that a bad experience with a bar staff will keep them away from a place. The Red Fez on Fifth Street definitely has the first three bases covered, and from the votes in this week’s poll, they also have the last one covered, as well, as it received 38 percent of the vote in the best bartenders poll.
The small bar that bumps has an Arabian nights feel, and in addition to hookahs, the bartenders, who keep up with the often frantic pace of the booze-fueled crowd, also serve up tasty drinks such as habanero martinis and caipirinhas. Not quite Middle Eastern cocktails, but they do the trick.
Others receiving votes
- Oilcan Harry’s, 24 percent
- Rain, 24 percent
- Trudy’s, 3 percent
- Lucky Lounge, 2 percent
- Gingerman, 2 percent
- Club de Ville, 1 percent
- Casino El Camino, 1 percent
- Dog and Duck, < 1 percent
- Fado, < 1 percent
- Draught House, < 1 percent
- The Mohawk, < 1 percent
- Mother Egan’s, < 1 percent
- Saba, < 1 percent
- Prague, < 1 percent
- La Zona Rosa, < 1 percent
- Zax, < 1 percent
- Backstage Bar, < 1 percent
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Your A-List: Best Place to Hear Local Bands
As the Live Music Capital of the World, Austin obviously has no shortage of venues for local and touring musicians. But one of the clubs closest to the hearts of all Austinites and out-of-town music lovers is Antone’s, winner of this week’s Your A-List poll with 22 percent of the vote.
Blues lover Clifford Antone opened his little blues club that could in 1973 near Sixth and Brazos before bouncing it up north, and then to The Drag before eventually returning the club to its rightful place downtown, where it has been doing business on Fifth Street since 1997.
Although it began as a home to local and out-of-town blues players, the club has morphed over the years and now features acts of all musical stripes, but the blues will always be in its blood. For a good retrospective on the club from its 30th anniversary, check out Joe Gross’s piece from 2006.
Others receiving votes
- Continental Club, 20 percent
- Saxon Pub, 15percent
- The Mohawk, 9 percent
- The Parish, 8 percent
- Emo’s, 7 percent
- Momo’s, 6 percent
- Elephant Room, 4 percent
- Hole in the Wall, 4 percent
- Red Eyed Fly, 2 percent
- Beerland, 2 percent
- Headhunters, 1 percent
- Ego’s, 1 percent
- Room 710, < 1 percent
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