Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2007 > December
December 2007
How to Throw a Holiday Party, Part 2
If the Trevino/Henry holiday party embodied the familiar East Austin bohemian shindig, the glitzier affair thrown by Tony Johnson and Dave Steakley at the their split-level Tarrytown house the following night took guests from Bo to BoBo without losing an atom of soul.
Judy Arnold and Larry Connelly
Consider the digs: Museum-quality world art mixed with campy detritus of pop culture, placed hip to hip with a curator’s eye. One table and one counter trembled with scintillating eats, while the rented margarita fount awaited those fatigued by mere wine or cocktails. Three Christmas trees like beauty queen gowns made for a “Dreamgirls” triptych in the downstairs window; a more traditional conifer blinked from upstairs.
Alex Schroeder, Ernest Rosas and Marc Pouhe.
The guests, costumed in velvet coats, spiky shoes and electric scarves, could be divided, like Gaul, into three parts:
Group 1: Philanthropists, such as everywhere-this-year James Armstrong (who told fabulous stories about escorting Beverly Sills around Houston and Chicago) and partner Larry Connelly, and also brainy organizers such as Mark Erwin, who throws the Octopus Club parties that raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for AIDS Services of Austin.
Mark Erwin and Marc Harmon
Guest Group No. 2 included show people — as in “no people like…” — including twinkling stars rarely seen out at nightspots these days, such as divas Judy Arnold and Andra Mitrovich; also Tim and Jill Blackwood, who coyly revealed that a second offspring was on its way.
Lyn Koenning, Tim Blackwood and Jill Blackwood
A third group could by called FODATs, Friends of Dave and Tony, going back to Steakley’s days as a dorm monitor at the University of Texas, where he drafted colleagues such as Donna Roberts and Howard Owens for early entertainments.
Howard Owens and Donna Roberts
Conversation ran the gamut from East Texas and the Gulf Coast to Los Angeles and New York City. Around 1 a.m., it was time to face the frosty night and look back, fondly, on two holiday parties done right.
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How to Throw a Holiday Party, Part 1
The slack period between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve is ideal for throwing an intimate holiday party.
The increasingly rare Christmas office parties are over and done. Families have been fed and gifted Christmas Eve and Day. The only possible conflicts are college bowl games, and so many pock the holiday calendar, only the most rabid sports fan would object to ditching a few. (I would have been remiss, however, missing the Longhorns’ thrashing of the Sun Devils. Finally, order has been restored.)
Whimsical duo Carlos Trevino and Kyle Henry (right) made only modest holiday alterations to their 1920s bungalow in the Huston-Tillotson neighborhood east of Chicon Street. They cleared out the front room for mixing and dancing, opened up the private rooms for conversation niches and lit the required chiminea out back. The kitchen filled up quickly with guests testing the wassail — the mulled punch of song — and, later, a snack table was crowned with figgy pudding (fruitcake-like and very figgy, fitting another holiday song).
The crowd of 100 or so included filmmakers, academics and artists, some scruffy and capped, as if to intensify their street cred. Hawk-eyed movie editor Jake Vaughan explained his latest project, “Buried Alive,” a series of two-minute horror dramas created by Sony for Fearnet.com.
Chris Doubek and Jake Vaughan
Tree-scaled archivist Christian Kelleher revealed some of the national treasures buried in the Benson Latin American Collection at UT, while open-hearted PJ Abrams sang the praises of creative writer and journalist Shilanda Woolridge, a contender for fellowships at Berkeley and UT.
Theresa Clarke, PJ Abrams and Christian Kelleher
Voluptuary opera singer Kristine Olson looked as if she had stepped out of a “What Becomes a Legend Most?” ad while chatting up the director Katie Pearl, a dead ringer for a chic party-goer on “The Dick van Dyke Show.”
Katie Pearl and Kristine Olson
‘Round midnight, a laptop spilled rhythmic tunes, and dance arrived — spontaneously, freely, gracefully. (If music is god, dance is prayer.) As for the quieter sectors of the house, they were ideal for milder pleasantries, including, as one attending star of stage and screen puts it: “Drinking and flirting with young men.”
Jenny Larson, Cyndi Williams and Travis Hale
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Joe Rogan, philosopher comic
“Does anyone know anything about Joe Rogan’s personal life?”
I begged the American-Statesman features desk to help me out, moments before interviewing by phone the durable, stubble-faced comic, who headlines at Cap City Comedy Club on Sunday and Monday. Sure, I recalled his workmanlike performances on “Talk Radio” and, out of curiosity, had checked out “Fear Factor” and “Ultimate Fighting Championship,” which Rogan brightens with his undisguised enthusiasm, despite the grit and gore.
But what did I know about Rogan, the man? Turns out, little.
His youth spanned time in New Jersey, Boston, San Francisco and Florida; he’s lived in New York City and Los Angeles, and travels internationally, as an adult. “When you grow up in one place,” he says, “it’s difficult to take in the perspectives of a world filled with different people.”
Whoa. That thoughtful answer was my first clue that Rogan, a fast-talking Everyman with a populist persona, might mask some substance behind his party-boy posturing. “Americans are so aggressive about getting things done,” he says about his recent tour of the United Kingdom and Ireland. “The people I met over there love to have fun. Sure, they drink a lot, but at least it’s for fun.”
So — sorry, standard question — what does Rogan do for fun while on tour?
“It varies,” he says. “Some towns I know people and I hang out with. Me and Ari (fellow comic Shaffir, who shares the Cap City bill with Rogan) find a great pool hall, like Amsterdam Billiards in New York City, or Hard Times in California. If you are a pool player, there’s always somewhere. It keeps you from spending every night drinking.”
In Austin, he’s found some good gyms. “The Yellow Rose is fun, too,” he said, stoking his bad-boy image. “We had a good time there. In Austin, there’s no one good place, but rather a bunch of cool places.”
He likes Austin’s size, but for an unexpected reason.
“The larger population, the stronger the pull to dismiss responsibility,” he says. “In gigantic cities, you don’t feel you are responsible for anybody. You just keep moving. But in Austin, the vibe is more relaxed. That’s healthier. You see someone that needs help, you help them.”
OK, so Rogan is keen on social responsibility. This conversation is taking an interesting, but darker turn.
“You know, I hope we don’t blow up the world,” he says. “It’s a dangerous time for human beings. The human race is in a very confusing position. We’re more aware of the way the world works, but life is just as (expletive) up as when we were back in the dark times of the 1970s.”
Examples?
“People are still arrested for pot, they are protesting the war, worrying about freedom.” he says. “We’re in weird quagmires in other countries. The difference is we getting all this information in real time: The CIA erasing video footage; at Guantanamo, a dude tried to cut his neck with his thumbnail. How bad does your life have to be?”
Rogan, the pessimist: “We are more aware how (expletive) up we are. And we are admitting it. (The politicians get) low approval ratings, but we still allow it to go on. We don’t know what to do with it.”
Rogan, the semi-optimist: “I’m a happy person. I love performing comedy, going out on the road, bringing the party to the people. But you have to be honest about the collective state of the whole race. It’s pretty shocking. How much humor is there in the world? Comedy is a tough sell. I find myself writing sillier and sillier comedy the more things get (expletive) up.”
Rogan, the subtle rhetorician: “People are so overwhelmed. Comedy is an unusual way of introducing ideas to people. If I’m in the audience, I don’t want to hear an argument. But if someone can use an opinion to make you laugh, it introduces ideas to your head you might not be willing to accept otherwise.”
Where does all this come from? “The way I get most of my material is when I write my blog entries. I just write about something in life. Something I’ve talked to someone about. Something in the news. I just write. It’s doesn’t have to be funny, or a certain length. Jokes just sort of come out it.”
Blogging has freed Rogan from the task of creating comedy from whole cloth. “But stand-up is the perfect job for me,” he says. “I’ve never been in the middle of doing comedy and thought I wish I’d be doing something else. You are changing the way people feel. You’re making them happier.
“And you figure out a way to translate ideas into people’s heads. It’s almost like a hypnosis thing. When I’m at my best, I’m just as much a passenger on that ride as that audience member, and I’m barely cognizant of how I pull it off. The better I get at it, the more humble it get. I’m just like an antennae, it’s not even me.”
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Evidence of killer lofts
With a glint in his eye, John Kelso accepted my bet on killer lofts. In last week’s Out & About, I challenged the veteran columnist to name just one Austin icon flattened to erect those high-ceilinged urban residences he regularly mocks, with the promise of a bottle from Qua or Pangaea — two of his favored la-de-da targets — if he succeeded.
After consulting some old-timers, Kelso nominated the Littlefield Quarters, recently purchased by Tom Stacy’s company, which rose almost 30 years ago on the original site of Antone’s at East Sixth and Brazos streets. “They are standard lofts,” says Bryan Pope, who manages the 24-unit renovated rentals, which — hint, hint — reserve some vacancies on the noisy intersection. “There’s no other way to describe them.”
Kelso quips: “That should be good enough for a six-pack.”
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Your A-List: Best Hangover Breakfast
What makes an effective hangover breakfast in Austin? Clearly carbohydrates like tortillas, toast, brown rice or hash browns help absorb the toxins. Proteins and fats such as eggs, bacon or sausage combine to provide renewed energy. For some reason, capsicums, like witchdoctors, appear to force out the bad feelings, which may explain why eateries that serve tongue-searing migas ranked high your list off Best Hangover Breakfasts.
Kerbey Lane Cafe, with its multiple, youth-friendly locations, was a good bet for No. 1, and paid off by cooking up 21 percent of the tally, while the similarly funky Magnolia Cafe kept in close contention with 19 percent. No. 3, East Austin fave Juan in a Million, took 17 percent, and campy South Side regular, Maria’s Taco Xpress, gobbled up 14 percent.
Soon-to-move Congress Avenue crowd pleaser Las Manitas snuck in with 7 percent. The Omelettry, which preserves a hippie feel on Burnet Road, reserved 5 percent. Pulling in 5 percent or less were the budget-minded Arrandas, rock chic Star Seeds, South Congress soul-saver El Sol y La Luna, reliable Tamale House and Manor Road spin-off El Chilito.
Plenty of write-ins for this category: Dan’s, Dart Bowl, Enchiladas y Mas, Flores Mexican Restaurant, Guero’s, Joe’s Bakery, La Fuentes and Trudy’s.
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Your A-List: Best Place to Take a Tourist
Austinites like to show off au natural. The top entries in your Best Place to Take a Tourist contest lay bare natural beauties: The Oasis, the terraced restaurant with killer views of spectacular sunsets over Lake Travis, and Barton Springs Pool/Zilker Park, considered by many the soul of physical Austin, ended in a virtual tie with 15 percent of the vote (although the Oasis edged the Springs).
Next came a true numerical tie at 13 percent: Mt. Bonnell, which spreads out views of the city to east and the Hill Country to the west and South Congress Avenue, which combines shopping with eating, drinking and people watching. No 5 at 12 percent, was Sixth Street, which is a lot more than Austin’s Bourbon Street, but who needs more?
The Texas State Capitol, usually listed by travel experts as our traditional No. 1 attraction, pulled in 7 percent, while the uniquely social Lady Bird Lake Hike and Bike Trail picked up 6 percent. The family-friendly Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum nudged close to that mark at just under 6 percent.
Taking 4 percent or less: Whole Foods Market, the Greenbelt (a vague term which includes hundreds of miles of trails), the UT Tower, Stevie Ray Vaughn statue along Auditorium Shores, Blanton Museum of Art, Laguna Gloria and LBJ Library (usually a big draw for tourists who lived through that presidential administration.
The single write-in candidate is an excellent one: The Broken Spoke, the veteran dance hall that will soon welcome new neighbors along rapidly improving South Lamar Boulevard.
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The remaining charms of Christmas
Since the maturing nieces and nephews no longer fuel my Christmas spirit (see this morning’s blog), what makes the season bright for this Austinite?
1. Good will. Believe it or not, people appear kinder, more generous during the period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Like the driver who cut me off the pedestrian crosswalk at Cesar Chavez Street and Congress Avenue with her right on red, then waved in apology. Or the people racing to be home on Christmas Eve who, for once, drove in the correct lanes on Texas 71 and Interstate 10 to Houston, meaning slow in the right lane, fast in the left. (So simple, but so hard most of the year.)
2. The weather. This one’s easy: December’s not hot in Texas. Except when it is. I always try to take a break in some Winter Wonderland, this year in Colorado, for just a taste of real cold. Otherwise, I soak up the crisp mornings and sunny, mild afternoons. The dogs are frisky and it’s ideal spa weather, and everyone gets to wear sweaters and coats. For most of us, that’s a flattering option.
3. The tunes. Never grow tired of them. Until Jan. 1. Medieval carols. Phil Spector dance crazes. Jazzy little instrumental riffs and choral monsters. Novelty songs, like those collected by John Waters. A couple of fantastic regional albums put together by Marc Katz years ago, including “I’ll Be Home for Kwanzaa.” Only a few are horrid. I especially hate the blandishments of “It’s Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”
4. The cheer. Most people in Austin don’t need an excuse to play. But the holiday party tour seems more relaxed, less purpose-driven than the fall and spring charity circuits, or the warm-weather drive to include outdoor dining, water sports and stiff cardio in any social entertainment.
5. The decor. Normally, red and green don’t complement each other. Silver and gold all too easily turn blindingly crass. And twinkling lights don’t turn every available shape into magic. Yet somehow the first scent of conifer, the subtle glow of gilding, the icy wink of little lights make me smile. I agree wholeheartedly, however, with Stephen Moser’s annual rant about Austin’s downtown holiday decorations. Give them away! I’d publicize any even that promises to raise money for their replacements.
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Their last Christmas as kids
HOUSTON — They’ve all grown up. The 12 nieces and nephews of the Barnes brood have passed the prime age for Christmas commotion.
One has graduated from college (Jason, UT). Four currently are enrolled college (William, Lauren, Jenna, Mary; two of them at UT). the remaining seven attend middle or high schools in the Houston area (Steven, Brandon, Christopher, Jenny, Tom, Collin and Kate).
That made this Christmas Day a bit melancholy, since seeing the holiday “through a child’s eyes” remained one of its prime attractions. Instead of the usual book or useful item, we gave the Daring Dozen grab-bags of novelties from Monkey See, Monkey Do and rare candies from Big Top (pictured), both South Congress Avenue shops. The geek glasses were the biggest hit. They’ll probably figure out that the candies are unusual sometime this week.
Kip’s nine nieces and nephews are, for the most part, still toy-and-gift happy. They celebrate in Fort Worth. How lucky are we that our siblings settled in Texas, close but not too close to our Austin roost.
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Austin’s 2007 gift to Austin: The Long Center
A personal photo blog of the Long Center for the Performing Arts, less than 100 days to opening.
Long Center exterior with plaza, including recycled rim and facade materials from Palmer Auditorium
Partial view of skyline from the Long Center plaza
The astonishing intimate auditorium of Dell Hall (the larger of the two venues).
Stage view from upper balcony.
Long Center director Cliff Redd at stage’s edge
Balconies taken from the crucial boxes
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Glen Powell Jr. picks up debate tips from Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington thought he looked too smart. So Austin’s Glen Powell Jr., who auditioned for the role as an Oklahoma student in “The Great Debaters,” came away with a higher profile slot as a Harvard University orator who faces down the upstart team from all-black Wiley College.
At 19 and a University of Texas freshman, Powell has already built an impressive list of film credits, starting with “Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over” in 2003 and including “The Hottest State,” “Fast Food Nation” and “Jumping from Bridges.” Wearing scuffed boots that unintentionally match his status as a fraternity brother and an impossibly winning smile, Powell sat in the shade at Jo’s Hot Coffee with his mother and manager, Cyndy Powell, who has helped keep her son on an even career keel.
For instance, the Austin native balanced his early acting stints at Austin Musical Theatre with sports (football and lacrosse) and Westwood High School’s business club. And he’s majoring in economics at UT. “You need a backup plan,” he said. “If the acting thing doesn’t work, I may go into entertainment finance.”
Powell studied debate at Westood under winning coach Alex Pritchard, and after nabbing the movie role, Powell was whisked off to Texas Southern University to bone up on the less policy-oriented 1930s debating style, research he took quite seriously. During the shoot, Washington encouraged Powell to play his debater as a “blue blood who never loses” and coached him to pause, button his tuxedo and stare at his listeners before starting his key speech.
“He gives you a lot of freedom,” Powell said. “But he knows what he wants and he likes to see others succeed.”
Next up? Powell plays a pot head in “40 Love,” which films in the Austin area this winter, and which he describes as “Caddy Shack” for the tennis set.
Lucky much?
“Yeah, my life’s like ‘High School Musical’ without all the singing,” Powell said. When kidded about being such a responsible, well-rounded gentleman, he admitted to “starting a small coup in a South American country.”
A sense of humor to boot. Handy skill in Powell’s enviable position.
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How to give a cocktail party
The cocktail party is back. Dinner jackets and smart dresses. Dense, intense appetizers. Clever drinks served in sleek glasses. Chatter that dances over the serious while savoring the latest tidbit.
There was nothing ironic or campy about the mad holiday cocktail party thrown Saturday by Austin Chronicle arts editor Robert Faires and his wife, Zachary Scott Theatre Center luminary Barbara Chisholm. One could order an “Out & About” (as served at Katz’s: Bombay Sapphire gin, straight, up, olives), or experiment with a cranberry Mexican martini, or a little thingie with prickly pear juice that glowed like a orchid.
The host and hostess set up a cocktail table at the rear of the house, and, for once, the crowd didn’t merge in the kitchen or around the copiously laden dining table. Instead, they clung close to those martinis in the making.
Among the guests: Real estate rising star Sarita Kuykendall, Zach Scott helmer Dave Steakley and his real-life leading man, Tony Johnson, publisher and environmental advocate Ted Siff and his wife, top shelf actor Janelle Buchanan, songbird (and, this evening, sharpest of wits) Meredith McCall, playwright and consummate gentleman Steve Moore, innovative director (and, this evening, clotheshorse) Katie Pearl, Winedale magus James Loehlin and his scarlet-draped wife, Laurel, Texas Book Festival brain and brawn Clay Smith, playwright and wag Colin Swanson, AC’s Nick Barbaro and his wife, Susan Moffat, publicist flying solo like myself, Brenda Thompson, Zach Scott board member and real estate insider Theran Greer, all-around-theater-man Lowell Bartholomee and — who else? — Turk and Christy Pipkin.
It could have gone on all night. And maybe it did. I had just enough conversation and those prickly pear thingies before strolling the two blocks back home.
How to give a dinner party
A smashing dinner party starts, of course, with exceptional food and drink. A warm, welcoming home also encourages diners to feel comfortable and sociable, even if they are, at evening’s start, strangers.
Public relations specialist and sometime journalist Karen Frost understands all this. Her creekside house off Hancock Drive fairly rustled with seasonal decorations last week and offered plenty of niches for uncorking, nibbling and conversing. At the evening climax, she served a chicken curry taken from Helen Corbitt’s 1957 cookbook, a family holiday tradition.
Yet what made this dinner party memorable was the ingredient that too many hosts ignore or slight: the carefully calibrated mix of guests. Frost blended arts and journalism with international relations by inviting the Chisholm Trail Communities Foundation’s Tamara Hudgins and her husband, Texas Film Commission top man Bob Hudgins, National Public Radio reporter John Burnett, entertainer and tireless global do-gooder Turk Pipkin and his wife, Christy Pipkin, who produced Turk’s master project, “Nobelity.”
This cozy group discussed the situations in India, Nepal, Uganda and Central America; the movie industry in Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico; holiday traditions in various cultures (the next night, the Pipkins were to hold their annual Christmas drop-by, including bonfire); changing American taste in food; long-distance air travel for tall folk (several of the guests rise significantly over 6 feet) and its best antidote (Ambien received several votes); the state of daily newspapers; the year’s best movies; underground politics in Williamson County; and, well, that’s just a beginning.
Put interesting people with diverse interests in the same place, feed and water them well and just allow the conversation to flow. Sounds easy, but few do it as well as Frost. As she says, “This term only applies to dinner parties: Smaller is better.”
“Friday Night Lights” swings for celebrity golf
More evidence that “Friday Night Lights” is here to stay, no matter the lucrative incentives offered by New Mexico or Louisiana: The cast plans to host a celebrity golf tournament during South by Southwest. Kyle Chandler and Brad Leland will headline what many hope will be a star-studded course at the Wolfdancer Golf Club at the Hyatt Lost Pines Resort and Spa on March 7. Appropriately, the event benefits the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis/The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and Gridiron Heroes. Celebrities in town for the SXSW Film Festival, the Texas Film Hall of Fame ceremony and the opening of the Long Center for the Performing Arts are expected to join the fun.
In other Austin celebrity news, Sandra Bullock dropped by the Belmont while celebrating the holidays with the staff of her own eatery, Bess … Lance Armstrong was spotted at Pangaea before he headed to Iraq and Afghanistan to entertain the troops … Andy Roddick, still headstrong from his Davis Cup win, agreed to lend his name to an international tennis training center at a Marble Falls development.
Hey, Kelso: Take my bet on killer lofts
John Kelso makes me chortle almost every day, either in print, or in person, crooking his thumbs behind his suspenders to slyly inquire: “What’s happening?”
It’s a good way for a columnist to harvest stories and jokes. Nowadays, John pokes regular fun at lofts, those high-ceilinged condos and apartments that mimic the urban arrangements of bigger cities where old warehouses were converted into residences. He has a point: Lofts are inherently wasteful, unless you are as tall as Longhorns center Connor Atchley, and they’re often pricey to boot.
Yet the maligned loft is not the real enemy of authentic Austin, lurking around every corner, cocked to gun down innocently iconic buildings. In fact, John, if you can name a single important landmark flattened to make way for lofts, I’ll pick up the tab for a (reasonably priced) bottle of your choice at Qua or Pangaea.
Don’t nominate the Armadillo World Headquarters or Liberty Lunch. They were felled for office buildings, and were iconic only to those who took drugs in them. (Don’t presume I’m casting aspersions.)
Pokey Joe’s and at least part of the Mean-Eyed Cat will make way for residences on West Fifth Street, but both were young businesses, not landmarks, and their rustic looks were recently invented. The Gingerman and the Fox & the Hound could become apartments soon and, although they hold pleasant memories of thick brew, they are hardly distinguished architecturally.
The Brown Building is historic. Yet its transformation into residences has been felicitous from most points of view. The Reddy Ice plant hulked on Red River Street for a long time, but was an abandoned industrial husk when the current apartment project began. The Bridges on the Park wiped out a squat fast food spot at Lamar Boulevard and Riverside Drive, and it also overshadows the Paggi House, but that gem, among the oldest buildings in Austin, will return in tip-top shape, I predict.
One could argue that the Shady Grove Trailer Park is iconic, but the orchard was reaching the end of its natural growth cycle before residences were planned there. The old Pit barbecue on Fifth Street is gone, making way for a hotel, but the Maria’s Taco Xpress was saved, or rather happily replaced, by the intrusive drug store. Les Amis was obliterated, but, like so many casual Austin businesses, it petered out long before developers refashioned that West Campus corner.
The Broken Spoke? No going away. Just welcoming new neighbors.
Preserve the best. Improve the rest. And hit me up for that bottle, John, when you find those legendary killer lofts.
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Why people hate Austin
Top reasons people say Austin is going straight to perdition:
1. Too big. If you grew up when Austin matched Abilene’s population, then the city seems now vastly overgrown. Size, however, is a matter of scale. If, like myself, you were raised in a place with four times Austin’s population (Houston), and once lived in a metropolis with 12 times that same mark (New York), our town still feels pretty chummy and manageable.
2. Too arrogant. The city that Texans regularly count as their their favorite, the one constantly lauded for its creativity, youth and innovation in national polls, also regularly gets a big head. Yet isn’t that preferable to those insecure places, commissioning blue-ribbon panels to determine their identities (Houston), or wasting time measuring up to cultural capitals they will never truly rival (Dallas)?
3. Too pliant. We are throwing away our patrimony, the grumps say. It’s all going down the drain, trading our singular culture for upscale living and its modern trappings. This would make sense if we were actually destroying our social and cultural essentials, but seen from another angle, we are simply adding to the city’s complexity and richness.
4. Too tolerant. After giving a small-town visitor a tour, she let slip: “That’s all well and good, but back in Mexia, we think of Austin as Sodom and Gomorrah.” If you believe the biblical passage condemns sexual minorities, then, yes, proudly, we can be called Sodom on the Colorado. If, on the other hand, you think the sin was inhospitality, our town will not spontaneously combust any time soon.
5. Too dense / Not dense enough. Curious that we hear both arguments: High rise residences will cause traffic snarls. Suburban sprawl will cause, uh, traffic snarls. Can’t win, can we? You add people, you add traffic. But only where it’s at. (Not trying to get Zen on you here.) I encounter troublesome traffic once or twice a month. But, then again, we were blessed with finding a home close to where we work, shop and play. I wish that timeless blessing on every reader in the coming years.
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Your A-List, Best Sports Team: Texas State Football
You will break out in an indulgent smile for this Your A-List result: In a city overwhelmingly dominated by Longhorn mania, and particularly orange-tinged fervor for the University of Texas football team that won the national championship two seasons ago, you voted instead for the Texas State University-San Marcos pigskin parade as the Best Sports Team.
The Bobcats went 4-7 in the Southland Conference, and still their fans, or those pretending to be, gave them a whopping 51 percent of the vote. You read it right: San Marcos football trumps all other Central Texas sports teams put together.
UT football? Only 30 percent. Perhaps followers are punishing the players and coaches for a lackluster season. Despite losing only three times (Kansas State, Oklahoma and Texas A&M), the Longhorns are expected to compete for the championship ring every year. What they got: a return trip to the Holiday Bowl, granted against a surging opponent, Arizona State.
UT men’s undefeated basketball team, despite its No. 4 ranking in national polls, received only 6 percent of the vote. You can’t win for winning, I guess.
Receiving less than 5 percent were the Round Rock Express, UT baseball, UT women’s basketball, Austin Toros, Austin Ice Bats, UT softball and Austin Wranglers.
The only write-in: The (Expletive) del Fuego, one of Austin’s roller derby teams.
And people are afraid that Austin will forfeit its weirdness.
Photo: Texas State quarterback Bradley George by Ricardo B. Brazziell.
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Your A-List, Best Christmas Decorations: 37th Street
The two top places in the Your A-List Best Christmas Decorations contest went to studies in contrasts. One is a humble grassroots effort at collective cheer confined to a single block, the other a sprawling holiday tradition that engulfs the city’s highest profile park.
The 37th Street twinklers, which won 50 percent of the vote, hold a special place in Austin’s collective heart, even if some of the serious decorators have moved from the block just east of Guadalupe Street. The Zilker Trail of Lights, and its incumbent spiraling tree, halt traffic for miles around, and attracted 40 percent of your vote.
The remaining 10 percent was divided among Sixth Street, Second Street, Marble Falls Walkway of Lights, the Domain, Downtown Round Rock and the Christmas Parade of Lights on Lake Travis.
Two sites, one a major thoroughfare, the other a private residence, nabbed write-in votes: Congress Avenue and “the house on the corner of Barton Hills and Robert E. Lee.”
Photo by Kelly West.
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An early Christmas gift to Austin
An early Christmas gift: Evidence that Austin has not lost its eternal soul, gathered on a holiday walk from South Congress Avenue to the University of Texas campus and back:
The sophisticated yet comforting Farm to Market Grocery and the Woodland restaurant next door …
The blend of reverence and irony for tonsorial tradition at the Avenue Barber Shop …
The blowout of color and frivolity at the Big Top candy store …
The evolving landscapes at Hotel San Jose and the O4 mixed-used complex nearby, a bit southwestern, a bit tropical, spiny, yet softly vegetative …
The undulating wall along the Texas School for the Deaf, perhaps the most undervalued urban improvement of late …
A full mile of South Congress shops, eateries and services, and only three of them national chain stores …
Fair-trade coffee and massive burritos in the same center: Austin-based Dominican Joe and College Station-anchored Freebirds …
The improved pedestrian crosswalks at Congress and Riverside, wide, clear, tripped out with alertly timed signals …
The watercolor light like petals drifting on Lady Bird Lake …
The breathless rise of the nearly completed 360 tower, less so the crowning wings on the Monarch …
The smiling man staring distractedly at the sun sinking behind a roofline from a mid-block bench, soaking up Christmas week temperatures in the 70s, while the bells of the Buford Fire Tower play wintery music …
The joggers who lope through downtown streets like impalas, cheetahs …
The youthful siblings, so comfortable downtown, they race from shop to shop, playing a nameless game …
A sharp break in the general good will: A curse hurled at a cyclist who, truth be told, wove through traffic to baldly run a red light …
The mothers and daughters dressed in long ribbons and holiday trinkets, carrying delicate gifts, like precious ores, to the theater for “The Nutcracker” …
The two bus stop kisses, one under mistletoe …
The riparian grace of Waterloo Park, soon to emerge from its relative neglect when residences snuggle nearby and the long-promised tunnel protects down-streamers from floods …
The crowd heading for the men’s basketball game at the Erwin Center, as tots kick their shoulder-pony dads, students drape their burnt orange T-shirts like weathered flags, and older fans squeeze into matching apparel as if into sausage casing …
The kind fans giving away tickets, refusing ready dollars …
The “Texas Longhorn Fight Song” careening through the half-empty sports arena, before the game fires up, still raising bumps, still puffing chests, complemented by the white state map painted on the court, recognizable from any direction …
The ecstatic way straight people still perform “YMCA” during sporting events; may they never learn the Village People’s lyrical subtext …
The devout fans hunkered down in the Erwin Center’s highest seats who respond to every move of their Horns, despite a halftime tie with an inferior visiting team …
The turkey slices from Pokey Joe’s in the lobby. Divinity on a bun …
Back home: The brutal shapes of the state government complex softened after the early-game dusk; the domed Capitol rising from the bare limbs, pale, pink, our democratic palace, our secular cathedral …
The stretches of pulsating restaurants mocked by stretches of boarded facades along upper Congress Avenue …
The quickened paces in the chilled dark, night workers huddled in doorways, deftly declining the entreaties of mendicants …
The human toggle between Sixth and Fifth streets, as revelers migrate from the younger, rowdier nightclub from the East to the older, classier West …
The downtown towers, their lake reflections burning like upended candles …
The egalitarian chic of shops like Hovercraft and Blackmail, with prices pegged well below haute couture …
The doggie culture at Jo’s Hot Coffee, leashed or unleashed, but always alert to their human observers …
The miraculously preserved mature oaks that embrace to form Güero’s beer garden …
The giggle of shoppers between Elizabeth and Annie streets, knowing that they have selected something that cannot easily be found anywhere else on Earth …
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Preview review of ‘Sweeney Todd’
It’s only the paramount Broadway musical from our paramount Broadway artist.
So initial concerns from purists about Tim Burton’s storybook adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd” skittered from mildly charmed to wildly alarmed.
The faithful can now rest easy. Burton’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” is a work of art. Radically different from the stage show that steam-rolled critics and audiences in 1979, it will be remembered for its macabre cinematic vision and the way it nevertheless retains the original’s musical charge.
The material was born of a urban rumor, then grew as a stage melodrama about a London barber who murders customers, high and low, avenging his abducted wife and daughter, while his accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, bakes the victims into meat pies. For the musical, Sondheim, along with librettist Hugh Wheeler and stage director Harold Prince, magnified the native gruesomeness of the story, while adding a gritty, alienating view of dog-eat-dog Victorian London parallel to Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s “Threepenny Opera.”
Subsequent stage productions stripped “Sweeney Todd” of its spectacle (“Teeny Todds,” they were called) or subdued Jonathan Tunick’s churning, pounding orchestrations (in the recent Broadway revival, the actors also played the instruments; effective but deliberately underwhelming). Still, the musical has almost always triumphed on stage, even when produced by opera companies with oversized voices or community theaters with undersized acting talents.
Altering the pacing at every step, Burton slices off some verses and replaces the choral passages with animated credits and other filmic devices. He elevates, however, Tunick’s crucial orchestrations to dominant status, almost as if to make up for the smaller, lighter voices of his stars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham-Carter.
Depp is in his element. Todd is the older, madder version of his Edward Scissorhands, whose haggard, dour expression can be played for melodrama, or, in the case of the brilliantly pastel “By the Sea,” for laughs. His voice never boils with volcanic anguish or vengeance, but it trips lightly, roughly, expertly over Sondheim’s clever lyrics. Bonham-Carter, despite scare make-up, is probably the loveliest Mrs. Lovett ever, yet she manages creepiness and warmth at the same time.
Alan Rickman recycles his jerky villain from the “Harry Potter” series and other movies as Todd’s arch-adversary, Judge Turpin, and Sacha Baron Cohen makes Todd’s temporary professional rival — and first victim — silly and accessible.
The real headliner, however, is the art direction by Dante Ferretti, Oscar winner for “The Aviator,” and a quirky seer with exactly the right sensibility for Sondheim’s operatic tendencies and Burton’s fascination with Edward Gorey-esque animation.
Black-bricked, gray-shrouded London never looked more menacing, while buckets of scarlet blood burst from Ferretti’s limited palette, finally giving the musical its missing link to Grand Guignol, the 19th-century stage equivalent of today’s slasher movies.
Quibblers will find fault, haters of musicals will not be converted, but Burton’s “Sweeney Todd” will linger in the shadowy dreams of many a unsuspecting viewer.
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Metropolitan Opera HD broadcasts improve
The Metropolitan Opera’s live high-definition broadcasts could transform cultural tastes in the hinterlands just as the company’s full-scale tours did before they were curtailed three decades ago. Those tours encouraged the founding of regional companies such as the Austin Lyric Opera and the construction of auditoriums such as Bass Concert Hall, which was built by Frank Erwin, who liked operatic spectacle as well as the sporting kinds, to accommodate Met-scale productions.
The live HD broadcasts started with a blast last season in select movie theaters and picked up again Saturday after expanding the Met’s geographic reach. (I caught “Romeo et Juliette” in Colorado Springs, for instance.) Bellini’s “I Puritani,” which is almost never done outside a small coterie of opera houses, made an ideal trial balloon last season, but several elements annoyed me: extreme, unflattering close-ups, awkward camera angles from backstage and frequent, talky interruptions.
Well, the Gounod “R&J” certainly can’t hold a candle to the Bellini, musically, but it never has been staged in Austin, and only rarely in the region, so why not test it out, too? The production — predicated on the phrase “star-crossed lovers” — looked sumptuous in HD. The sound, however, was not well calibrated at Colorado Spring’s Tinseltown theater.
The main improvement was a reduction in the trick shots, although the Busby Berkeley overheaders were downright silly. There are still too many close-ups that smash the aesthetic distance needed for this kind of opera. Roberto Alagna fared well, although we witnessed too much sweat. Anna Netrebko is glossy and gorgeous and possesses a potent voice, but by her own admission, her look and sound are too dark and weighty for Juliette. (Now give her Tosca, and stand back!)
Anyway, looking forward to “Tristan und Isolde” and other treasures in this Met HD season at the Metropolitan, Cinemark Southpark Meadows or Tinseltown Pflugerville, while hoping that La Scala’s broadcasts migrate from Houston and Dallas to Austin as well.
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Early peek at my Top 10 movies of 2007
After watching some of the selections again, I have come up with a list that I predict will hold until Dec. 28, when we publish the critics picks in the American Statesman. You may notice that the list has shifted in the past week or so. That’s because, on multiple viewings, some movies such as “Gone Baby Gone,” rose in my estimation. It happens. Let us know your Top 10, and your runners-up, too.
“No Country for Old Men”
“Atonement”
“Gone Baby Gone”
“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”
“There Will Be Blood”
“Knocked Up”
“Michael Clayton”
“The Savages”
“Sweeney Todd”
“The Nines”
Lots of runners-up this year: “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” “Juno,” “Into the Wild,” “Eastern Promises,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “The Kite Runner,” “Transformers,” “The Darjeeling Limited,” “Chalk,” “Manufacturing Dissent,” “Crazy Love,” “The Lookout,” “Away from Her,” “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “Lars and the Real Girl” and “The Kite Runner.” In fact, the crazy thing is: I saw more than 100 movies this year, and not one was a outright dog. Parts of “Death Proof” bored, while “Love in the Time of Cholera” and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” disappointed. Otherwise…
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Colorado Springs-Austin axis
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — This city is a smaller doppleganger of Austin. It’s young, growing, smart and tech-savvy, like our town. A spectacular physical setting is complemented by an outdoorsy, fit, environmentally sensitive population that is also obsessed with collegiate and minor league sports. Besides the U.S. Olympic Training Center, figure skating museum and rodeo headquarters; the Air Force Academy, the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and Colorado College teams are closely followed by the city as a whole, not just by enthusiasts. CC leads its division currently in hockey — and they play a tough game.
There the similarities trail way. While Austin tinctures blue in a sea of political red, the Springs beams bright scarlet in an increasingly azure state. Austin’s economy has not slowed significantly; here the home building sector teeters on panic, while a statewide taxpayers bill of rights, approved by initiative, ties the hands of local governments trying to fix the problems on the ground.
Famously, the Springs is fervently, forthrightly religious. Focus on the Family is a cultural force, and the news recently has been dominated by two dark passages at the New Life megachurch, the sex scandal involving former pastor Ted Haggard and last week’s fatal shootings. Observers across the cultural spectrum agree that Haggard’s replacement, low-key Brady Boyd, performed admirably in the hours following the incident, canceling the church’s lucrative Christmas celebrations and handling the media deftly. (The shooting encouraged discussion of new gun laws, but not what you might expect: Backers are now pushing semiautomatic weapons into the hands of private security guards at churches.)
Social life at the base of snow-mantled Pike’s Peak is not easy to penetrate. Cultural spectator sports are few and mostly confined to all-ages events. Despite the presence of several universities, a resort economy and remnants of a Rocky Mountain High hippie contingent, the city pretty much closes down after 9 p.m. A few clubs rattle late into night, but one must search hard for the action. (Inevitably, a Springs booster will write in to say I was just too dumb to find the nightlife, but this is my fourth visit in as many years. It’s not for lack of trying.)
The Springs can offer superb dining — Craftwood Inn, Blue Vervain, Blue Star, Briarhurst, Margarita at Pine Creek — as well as a surprising array of excellent ethnic food and a bustling Whole Foods Market. But the city lacks sustained culinary ambition, and the strings of chain eateries are thrown into focus by the few oases of fine dining.
When asked to identify local celebrities, few come to the minds of Springs residents, with the exception of preachers and politicians. Lon Chaney is probably the most famous export to Hollywood, but that was back in the silent era. An Internet search for Colorado Springs celebrities produces mostly services for celebrity impersonators.
The Olympic athletes do not stray far from their extensive training facilities, which are fascinating, but only partially open to the public. The Air Force Academy has only recently reopened its visitors center, and other potential social gathering sites are shuttered during the dazzling wonderland of a winter. (Low of 2 last night and downy white everywhere. Satisfying but difficult hiking.)
Ever your faithful columnist, I tried to track down some social leaders while on my annual visit to Rob Kendrick, a Colorado College professor of comparative literature and former Austinite. Not much luck so far. Maybe next time.
Finally figured out why I like the holidays, though. It’s winter. The season is so short in our part of the country. Yet so satisfying. And it helps to take a short trip to Colorado to put you in the cold weather mood.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Travel
Your A-List: Best Place to Be Surrounded by Pretty People
We are smitten with beauty, whether embodied in nature, art or humanity. So when not home with handsome husband Kip Keller, we can often be seen frequenting the following establishments, which won Your A-List votes for Best Place to Be Surrounded by Pretty People.
Qua, a new, dressy lounge for the over-25 set, best known for its shark tank and aquatic theme, came in No. 1 with 33 percent of the vote. The Belmont, a year old but still classy as a restaurant, lounge and music venue, came in a distant No. 2 with 14 percent.
The Domain, the upscale faux urban village and shopping center, took No. 3 with 8 percent. The Second Street District, which grows by the month, placed at No. 4 with 7 percent. The tiny, cool Beauty Bar glided into No. 5 with 5 percent and the posh Four Seasons Hotel rested at No. 6 with just under 5 percent.
Part lounge, part traditional bar, Union Park, with its superb rooftop view, came in at No. 7 with almost 5 percent and Pangaea, the much-bruited ultra-lounge from Michael Ault, was right behind with 4 percent.
Taking less than 4 percent were grown-up Brown Bar, Lance Armstrong-backed Six, gay favorite Rain, the historic Driskill, the instantly popular J. Black’s, dark, dreamy Red Fez and East Austin hang-out Peacock.
Write-ins: Canvas Bar and Gallery.
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Your A-List: Best Place to Sip Wine
Wine should be sipped, not chugged. And one tends to imbibe slowly when confronted with a richly textured product of the grape in the appropriate surroundings.
Which is one reason you chose Dallas-based Cru, which has won the devotion of Second Streeters, as the Best Place to Sip Wine with a commanding 31 percent of the Your A-List vote. The tasting capacities of Congress Avenue’s Cork & Co. claimed 20 percent of the tally, while the landscaped lushness of the Hotel San Jose attracted 14 percent.
Still relatively new Hyde Park wine pushers Vino Vino brought in 10 percent, while Fourth Street longtimer Malaga pulled in 8 percent. The exquisite bar and its attached restaurant at Wink got 4 percent, and Malaga’s matching neighbor, Saba drew just under 4 percent.
Enoteca, the casual side to Vespaio, won 4 percent. Coming in under 3 percent were historic Green Pastures, reliable Italian eatery La Traviata and upscale Zoot.
Write-ins: FION’s, Hyde Park Bar and Grill, Sicola’s, Vin Bistro and Vino100.
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The gang’s all there at Oilcan Harry’s
The aha! moment came on the drippy patio of Oilcan Harry’s.
There, Shout Magazine’s Rob Faubion, Austin Chronicle’s Stephen Moser and your faithful Out & About columnist realized that we could cover the social scene much more efficiently if we shared data on upcoming parties, especially those not published on the high society calendar (i.e. in Glossy). After all, we were toasting the season at a bustling gay bar that stages dozens of events each year — and how many do we know about well in advance, or at least in time to drop by?
Oilcan Harry’s Jeff Davis and Shout Magazine’s Rob Faubion
Oilcan’s holiday party rang with the silver sounds of Jacinta, the Madonna of Australia, now happily based in Austin and blessed with global appeal for her dance hits. Her short set was complemented by Mimi Rossi, who possesses an equally commanding voice. Why don’t local music critics pay more attention to the dance scene?
CW’s Craig Reis and Esther’s Follies’ Espie Randolph
Among the mesmeric attendees were Rain manager Dave Pantano, Oilcan’s leading man Jeff Davis, actor about town Brandon Nagle, CW’s TV texter Craig Ries (who deserves a higher-profile gig), Esther’s Follies funnyman Espie Randolph, and electronic violinist Omar Lopez, looking fabulous these days.
According to my notes, Francis Preve and Barnsey
Rumor on the run: During South by Southwest, Planet Out hopes to present the Indigo Girls and Pet Shop Boys. What a match!
Sure, I run a lot of pics of Stephen Moser, but he’s just so darned photogenic, as is the unidentified hunk behind him
Catching up with Owen Wilson and other Hollywood Austin Boys
We’re calling them the Hollywood Austin Boys. Texas sometimers Owen Wilson, Woody Harrelson, Matthew McConaughey and Dennis Quaid don’t all hang together consistently, but there’s something about their eternal youthfulness that makes them a good match with our city.
Add Ethan Hawke, Luke Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Quentin Tarantino, Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Ryan Phillipe and other Austin sometimers, and one starts to draw a profile of the kind of movie actor drawn to our town. The female stars must wait for another story …
So what’s the latest? Owen and Woody tried to get away from it all in Peru, but the paps followed them deep into the jungle and all the way back to Miami. Matthew and Brazilian squeeze Camila Alves continue to send out wedding vibes. Dennis and his Austin-bred bride, Kimberly Buffington, are suing the pharmaceutical company that allegedly endangered their twin infants.
Ethan, terrific in “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” is said to be dating his child’s former nanny. Quentin, last in town, as far as we know, for the opening of the Alamo at the Ritz, is watching his “Death Proof” turn from flop on the big screen to a hit on the small one (a predictable development).
Ryan 1, edged out as People’s sexiest man, should be riding pretty high, given the praise for “The Nines” and his thing with Scarlett Johansson (imagine their children!), although we’ve heard tell of temper tantrums — like ripping out a hotel phone line — during his last visit to Austin. (Photo courtesy of Eric Marttinen.)
Nobody should be flying higher than Brolin, whose trifecta with “No Country for Old Men,” “American Gangster” and “In the Valley of Elah” is only topped this year by Philip Seymour Hoffman’s hat trick with “The Savages,” “Charlie Wilson’s War” and “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.”
Ryan 2? Who cares? He stepped out on Reese Witherspoon while on location in Austin. Now she’s moved up the actor food chain to Jake Gyllenhaal, a former contender for the Hollywood Austin Boys club, mostly through his association with Lance Armstrong, an honorary member, since he’s the only non-actor in the group.
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Still looks like “No Country for Old Men” as Best Picture
One week until the Austin Film Critics Association votes on the best movies and performances of the year. That means cramming at least nine movies into the next seven days. Still left to go: “Charlie Wilson’s War,” “I Am Legend,” “Sweeney Todd” and “Margot at the Wedding,” all to be screened Monday and Tuesday. Then five on DVD: “This Is England,” “Starting Out in the Evening,” “Away from Her,” “Ratatouille” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.”
High on my list for favorite movies before this final slog: “No Country for Old Men,” “Atonement,” “Gone Baby Gone,” “The Nines,” “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead,” “The Savages,” “Juno,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Into the Wild,” “Michael Clayton,” “Eastern Promises,” “Knocked Up,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “The Kite Runner,” “Transformers,” “The Darjeeling Limited,” “Chalk,” “Manufacturing Dissent,” “Crazy Love” and “Superbad.”
“No Country” continues to rake in the awards from reviewers, including the National Board of Review and the New York Film Critics.
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San Saba River Tracing photo blog
Just a few more photos from the weekend’s San Saba River Tracing with Joe Starr. For the story, see previous blog.
A spring on the grounds of Fort McKavett, one of the sources for the San Saba
The San Saba at the first low-water crossing, already a rushing stream
Below Menard, as the San Saba Valley broadens
Just outside the town of San Saba, a rickety bridge
Very near the mouth of the San Saba, where it enters the Colorado River below the town by the same name
Not on the river itself, but a dammed spring that makes up the Mill Pond in the town
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In Tommy Lee Jones country
SAN SABA — This is Tommy Lee Jones country. It’s also, in a sense, “No Country for Old Men” country.
Not that the desolation of Cormac McCarthy’s West Texas border novel echoes the soft, well-watered hills and vales of San Saba County. But Llewellyn Moss, played with unnerving reserve by Josh Brolin in the award-winning movie by the Coen Brothers, is from San Saba. And Jones, who grew up in this comparatively isolated country 90 miles northwest of Austin, constantly reminded Brolin that he is from San Saba, almost as a challenge to the younger actor’s authenticity.
Jones’ ranch is just five miles east of town. Strangers are not welcome, and he’s one actor I’d not want to irritate. A sign on the ranch gate barks “Go Away,” but one can spot Jones’ famed polo grounds across a gentle, red-grassy rise. Funny thing, all his biographies say the ranch is “outside San Antonio.” In fact, it’s two hours from Austin; three from San Antonio.
People in San Saba respect Jones’ fierce sense of privacy, and say so. The whole town — plus folks from Lameta, Brady, Goldthwaite and other nearby spots — turned out for Christmas in the Square on Saturday. In fact, the bleachers were full two hours before the 15-minute parade through the courthouse square commenced.
While Santa and Mrs. Claus greeted hordes of children, performers in a living nativity scene sang carols. (There appeared to be no creche crisis on this county property.) Across the street, solo singers braved karaoke carols, including a Spanish-language version of “Jingle Bell Rock” (21 percent of the county’s 6,000 residents are Hispanic.)
San Saba is the “Pecan Capital of the World,” as almost everyone, including Harold Yates from the Chamber of Commerce, reminded me. “Not because we grow the most pecans, but because the mother tree for commercial orchards is here.” Nolan Ryan owns an orchard in the county.
“Sure it’s the pecan capital,” said a visitor from Lometa who declined to be identified. “It’s also the meth capital of the world.”
Yates, who is thinking of running for sheriff, agreed there was a meth problem, but that most of it was imported, not labbed in the county, the last in Texas to pave its roads (a situation that led to the the rise of the San Saba Mob, which ran the county until Texas Rangers were able to oust them). Yates took my request to fix a speeding ticket with good cheer.
We resisted the temptation to buy Jacalyn Morley-Webb’s tassled purses from her business, “Itz a Girlz ThAng,” but couldn’t turn down Mary Huron’s Hot Sauce, which sat alongside jars of Huron’s Mild Sauce. (Sad mild world.)
We also scored some samples of Bill’s Season All, a marinade that Edward Ragsdale said would “make your steak so tender you can cut it with a fork.” The late Bill Eden used to cook up in a small pan the seasoning in the back of the G&R Grocery store on the courthouse square “until he needed a really big pan,” the stuff got so popular. Ragsdale smiled devilishly when he said: “Bill’d be turning over in his grave if he knew how much we sold these days.”
Every other business in San Saba has to do with pecans. Tourism has not risen to the Fredericksburg level, but there’s a capacious, terraced Mill Pond Park, a preserved swivel bridge and “the oldest working jail in Texas.” Down the way is Colorado Bend State Park and, up the San Saba River, Fort McKavett State Park, a miraculously preserved compound from the late 19th-century Indian Wars, and the purported ruins of the San Saba Presidio, which look to be mostly 20th-century rather than 18th-century construction (including — ick — Portland cement, see photo).
The San Saba valley is pretty, clement and blessed with fluent springs. The river, which rises at Fort McKavett, quickly takes on a good surge, and one can see why the Spanish missionaries chose it for a mission, since the land quickly turns less hospitable to the west and south. (Did you ever wonder why San Antonio is where it is?) Unfortunately for the Franciscans and the Spanish soldiers, it was too deep into Lipan Apache and Comanche country, and the place was abandoned well before 1800.
A note about the trip up: We tarried at the Hill Country Wildlife Museum in Llano, a display of more than 700 trophies from Houston hunter Charles K. Campbell. It’s a shocking place, full of walrus, bear, Cape buffalo, etc.
The kind but weary docent said the nonprofit that runs the place, so situated on Llano’s square to attract the annual migration of deer hunters, is hanging on by thread. If you are at all interested in novelty tourist destinations, plunk down the $3.
For more photos from the San Saba River Tracing, shared with college bud Joe Starr, look for the Monday morning blog.
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Robert Nash’s bounteous holiday cheer
Robert Nash’s holiday parties have attained fabled status. First, there’s the house, a mid-20th-century landmark of reduction and soundness wedged into the Westlake highlands. To the untrained eye, it would appear to be just another modernist ranch house, albeit with a panoramic view of the Austin skyline. Yet the proportions and details are so exacting that it could be considered a minor masterpiece and one in mint condition.
(One knowledgeable party guest, builder Jason Miars, observed that Austin midcentury moderns, especially those in Barton Hills, were usually built on hills, while bungalows almost always look out on a front-yard tree of some size.)
Besides the digs, Nash and his housemates (David Price and Paul Simmons) also lay out a mean spread, invite caroling around a baby grand piano, and keep the conversations flowing like Tito’s vodka from 6 p.m. to midnight. Among the guests from the real estate, politics, arts and public relations spheres were former City Council candidate Waller Burns, proud of his deep family roots in Central Texas, along with advocacy marketer Sherry Matthews and architect Dick Clark, who were celebrating 25 years of dating.
Nash himself is a bottomless source of Austin social history. He not only knows where the bodies are buried, he can tell you who owned the land during the 1970s and what the owners traded for it.
Former City Council candidate Waller T. Burns and Josh Allen
Jason Miars and Dee Dee Uribe, he originally from Austin, she from Corpus Christi
Trae Gilbert and Charles Webre
Sherry Matthews and Dick Clark (“People are going to say ‘She never looks at him that way,’ ” Clark said of her Nancy Reagan impersonation.)
David Price , one of Nash’s housemates, and actor Brandon Nagle
Chet Johnson broncs into Vegas
The party is already under way in Las Vegas. As Chet Johnson, a member of the RodeoAustin Team, strained to update the Wrangler National Rodeo Finals over his cell phone, the whoops and hollers from his fellow contestants rocked his vehicle. “One of the veterans had a bit of fun at the practice,” he explained indulgently.
Johnson, a saddle bronc rider from Gillette, Wyo., is ranked 13th in the world for his event, which is scored on a 100-point scale for an 8-second ride. His 2007 average: 92. He’ll perform 10 times during the Vegas finals, and the rider with the highest average will win $15,000.
Although he doesn’t live in Central Texas, RodeoAustin helps support Johnson financially as part of its three-person pro team, and he, in turn, promotes the Austin event at the 70 professional events on the rodeo circuit.
“There used to be 125,” Johnson said. “But that was too much driving. So they decided to ease up on travel and other expenses.”
Although he flies sometimes, 80 percent of the year, it’s on the road again for Johnson. “We’re all all good friends,” he said of his fellow sportsmen. “We get to spend a lot of time with buddies.”
You can follow Johnson’s progress at prorodeo.com. We know we will be checking, too.
Betty Sue Flowers, director of the LBJ Library and Museum, would like to clarify the marital time lines for she and her good friend, former Sen. Bill Bradley. This from the library’s publicist:
Bradley was divorced in September 2007, after a long separation.
Flowers was divorced in April 2005.
Flowers’ ex-husband, John, re-married in April 2006.
Our truncated version was derived from published reports in the American-Statesman and the New York Post.
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Your A-List: Most Annoying Pseudo-Celeb
The unofficial mayor and the official mayor of Austin tied for a dubious honor: most Annoying Pseudo-Celeb in the Your A-List poll.
Leslie, the buttock-baring pseudo-homeless guy (he lives in a storage shed now), has been annoying civic leaders for a while, having racked up real votes against former Mayor Kirk Watson years ago (the state senator didn’t make the current list). Luckily, Will Wynn, who tied with Leslie in our fake poll, and Watson come with healthy senses of humor, and poke fun at themselves as much as anyone else.
The American-Statesman’s John Kelso and I shared a blast of laughter when our names appeared. Hey, it’s great to be noticed. And I’m sure the Austin Chronicle’s Stephen Moser, despite his discouraging health problems, will brighten on seeing that he made the roster.
Ex-KVET DJ Sammy Allred, who teed off a lot of people, was a natural for annoying status, while otherwise heroic Lance Armstrong might just be overexposed. Radio jocks ranked high in the vote: KISS-FM DJ Bobby Bones, KVET DJ Bob Cole, Mix 94.7’s J.B. and Sandy and KLBJ-AM’s Sgt. Sam Cox followed in Allred’s footsteps. (Did I miss an on-air anti-campaign?)
Otherwise uncontroversial philanthropist Susan Dell and bike promoter Jennifer Gale got votes, as did non-Austin gossip monger Perez Hilton. Public access host Alex Jones is surely proud to make the grade, as is Marc Katz, who turned an annoying marketing phrase (“I gotta tell ya”) into a deli empire.
What the heck is quarterback Peyton Manning doing here? And please, please leave KXAN’s Michelle Valles alone. She’s been through enough recently — and apologized for it.
Which I doubt any of our voters will do.
Photos by Ralph Barrera and Robert Godwin
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Your A-List: Chinese Restaurant
Familiarity breeds delight for Austin lovers of Chinese food. Winning the top three slots on the Your A-List poll for Best Chinese Restaurant were long-timers Suzi’s (32 percent), Chinatown (22 percent) and T & S Seafood (14 percent).
Wan Fu, probably the ones on Oltorf Street and Airport Boulevard, not the doomed Too on Barton Springs Road, came in No. 4 with 8 percent. Hunan Lion roared into the No. 5 spot with 7 percent. Pao’s took No. 6 with 6 percent. Ending with 5 percent or less were Mama Fu’s, China Cafe, Twin Lions and Hong Kong.
Plenty of write-ins for this category: Asia Cafe, Bamboo Garden, China Dragon, China Dynasty, China Wall, Din-Ho, Dragon Gate, Fire Bowl, First Chinese Barbecue, Great Wall, Hao Hao, Hunan, Imperia, Nanking, P.F. Chang’s, Peony, Shanghai, Snow Pea, Super China, Taiwan, Tien Hong and Wok on Fire.
A personal note: I could barely qualify to vote in this category. I have egregiously ignored Chinese food in this city and am still looking for a classic cookbook to learn this ancient cuisine — or rather, cuisines — at home. The experiences go hand in hand. This list will help me start. A good project for 2008.
Photo by Ha Lam
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Dame Edna mocks my tattoo
Just rung off with Dame Edna Everage. Yes, that Dame Edna, aka Barry Humphries. She’s in Switzerland, “visiting my money in a vault in Zurich,” she said. “I left it blinking like a possum or a mole.”
The first lady of Australian comedy is prepping for another American tour, this time with a Jan. 18-20 stop at the Paramount Theatre, a vaudeville house not unlike the ones where she’s performed on Broadway. “Some people say I’m a vaudeville person,” she said. “I see myself more as a therapist, a healer of the pain and hurt in America today.”
Frankly, she had me giggling and gasping for air during the entire conversation, which was more of a sustained monologue on her part. The Dame teased me about my recent tattoo: “What does Kip think about it?” I assured her that Kip had a matching one, which tickled her. (The performer’s team researches interviewers in advance.)
I reminded her that she once heckled me in a Broadway theater: “Left your same-sex partner behind, did we?” Now how did Edna know that? No amount of research…
She insists that, after 50 years on stage, she doesn’t need the profits from another tour: “I am not coming to Austin to rape the pocketbooks of the Austinians.” When not at the Paramount or her hotel, she says: “I’ll be in the malls and the shops and on campus and on that bridge watching the bats.”
I didn’t have the heart to tell her that the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge Mexican free-tailed bat colony will be vacationing in Mexico when she arrives.
Permalink | | Categories: Fame
David Letterman, Paul Shaffer do more of Austin, Antone’s
It looks like David Letterman can’t help doing good. Each year, he contributes his labors, anonymously, to Habitat for Humanity. Last week, he chose an Austin Habitat project and picked up the tab for his crew — as well as dinners at III Forks and The Salt Lick — who would be out of work otherwise because of the writers’ strike.
Why Austin? “I think it’s because they know all these musicians from Austin,” said Ray Benson, who organized a concert with Letterman sidekick Paul Shaffer at Antone’s on Saturday. “He once told Sandra Bullock that all he knew about Austin was ‘Austin City Limits.’ Dave’s a music fan.”
To help stoke the fires, Connie Britten from “Friday Night Lights” recently sang the praises of Austin on Letterman’s show, singling out Leslie as the unofficial mayor of Austin.
The Antone’s event included performances by Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Carolyn Wonderland, Bobbie Nelson and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top.
“It was such a cool night,” said Susan Antone, who was especially impressed that Shaffer tipped his hat to her brother, the late Clifford Antone, as well as Texas music legends Freddy Fender, Doug Sahm and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
“We brought them all downtown and had a big party,” Benson said. “Paul called me up and said, ‘Hey, let’s put together a little party; book yourself in a club.’ They made a little roped-off area for Letterman. What’s cool about Austin: Nobody bugged him.”
Photo of Paul Shaffer and Ray Benson by Lisa Pollard.
Best Picture? You decide.
The hunt is on for the best movies of the year. In just two weeks, the Austin Film Critics Association votes on the top pictures and performances of the season. Over the weekend, I added three contenders to the list, all seen in preview or on review screeners: A novel adaptation smothered in anxiety (“Atonement”), another sweet comedy about a beyond-her-years wise kid (“Juno”), and an acting tour de force about a family dealing with an aged father (“The Savages”). The last could easily score Oscar nominations for Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Philip Bosco.
Trying to squeeze into the last days of the season: “The Golden Compass,” “Lars and the Real Girl,” “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” “Enchanted,” “Ratatouille,” “The Kite Runner,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Margot at the Wedding,” “There Will Be Blood,” “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “Charlie Wilson’s War.”
But seriously, if you think I’ve missed something …
Permalink | | Categories: Movies
Steve Nagle birthday bash + Ken Webster
Everyone who turns 60 should throw a party like Steve Nagle, the Austin trial lawyer who shares a California-style house teetering on a hill near the Carillon with Fete catering major general Quincy Adams Erickson. Most guests headed straight for the incredible spread, then tried mightily to avoid falling in the pool (inviting on a muggy Saturday in December).
Mark “Crash” Cohen, college roomie decades ago with birthday boy, Steve Nagle
Quincy Adams Erickson shocked the guests by wearing this elegant scarlet gown instead of one of her signature black minis. She poses here with celebrity designer Linda Asaf, who wears a gorgeous scarf.
Deepened a budding acquaintance with Steve and John Wright, the couple who won the house in Circle C as part of an ABC reality show, canceled due to multiple controversies. Steve and John keep up with some of their former neighbors and contestants, though they’ve since moved to Clarksville, then Holly. John teachers math and coaches football (winning his first season!) at O. Henry Middle School, while Steve deals real estate and builds houses. They raise two rambunctious sons, who keep the party-going to a minimum.
Exhausted but proud papas John and Steve Wright
Talked at length with Rep. Elliott Naishtat. When asked the biggest issue of the coming session, he joked, but seriously: “Craddick.” Finally caught up with Rebecca Robinson, who could relax after her smashing Wine & Food Foundation of Texas party earlier in the week, and with her handsome beau, Chris Sykes, who, incidently was a student of mine at St. Ed’s.
Chris Sykes, Rebecca Robinson and Rep. Elliott Naishtat
All sorts of sharp people attended, including Texas Monthly food editor Patrica Sharpe, and a contingent from the Texas Culinary Institute.
Future Top Chefs Scott Aldredge and Teddy Mower
Last theatrical season, Ken Webster clasped a handful of awards for his performance in “Thom Paine (Based on Nothing),” playing a hyper-conscious man engaging the audience in a mostly one-way discussion of consciousness. Webster has revived the solo show at Hyde Park Theatre, delighting those who zoned out during the first run, and his performance certainly deserves the chatter of the critics and masses. Funny thing, though, the show depends on an alert and vocal response, which came through only intermittently on Friday.
