Austin360 blogs > Out & About > Archives > 2009 > April > 13
Monday, April 13, 2009
Celebrity pots coming to Umlauf Garden Party
Last year, I longed to linger at the Umlauf Garden Party, but previous commitments forced me to abandon the fundraiser too early in the evening.
On April 23, I hope to tarry in the leafy nook above Barton Springs where Charles Umlauf sculptures punctuate the landscape. (No, I won’t examine them closely for Farrah Fawcett resemblances, despite ongoing claims she served as a major muse.)
One thing that distinguishes this garden party is the display of celebrity pots and seeds, sold to benefit the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum.
Among the donors who have decorated garden containers, then filled them with goodies or plants, are some likely types: eclectic KUT personality John Aielli, maternal singer Sara Hickman and Anita Perry spokeswoman and former American-Statesman style writer Melanie Spencer — as well as first lady Perry herself.
Other announced pot-planners might raise eyebrows: Longhorns football coach Mack Brown, Texas Monthly political writer Paul Burka and beverage king and kingmaker Lowell Lebermann, for instance.
But there I go again, stereotyping. Perhaps these guy-guys are the tenderest of gardeners.
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Andy Roddick wedding this week in Austin?
Yet we can discover virtually nil about Andy Roddick and Brooklyn Decker’s wedding, which most sources say will take place at his Austin home this week.
Roddick is definitely skipping the Monte Carlo tournament, so this would be the ideal time. If they are planning an outdoor ceremony, one hopes the weather remains clement. Rain threatens over the weekend, but hey, that could be any spring weekend. The couple has shown tremendous resources in avoiding the paparazzi so far, so that may explain why this local reporter has not been given any details.
We can guess from past connections that Elton John will appear.
I know some of you must be invited, so do a guy a favor …
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Slogans aside, Austin retains its loving ways
Last week in this space, I nominated “Open City” as Austin’s new slogan.
My suggestion coincided with the partial shut-down of Highland Mall and Flamingo Cantina for the Texas Relays, suggesting that Austin deserved the less-congratulatory nickname “Closed City.”
Barbara Provine, born here in 1938, remembers from her youth, the catchphrase “Austin, The Friendly City.” That anticipated my nomination by decades, except that, like “River City,” it was shared with thousands of other municipalities. Also, an aggressive use of the term “friendly” can, in some parts of the country, translate as: “Welcome! Have a great time while you’re here. Don’t overstay. But if you do, don’t expect to change anything. We like it the way it is.”
Tim McClure, co-founder of ad agency GSD&M and the “M” of the abbreviation, reminded me that billboards a few years back did not read “Idea City,” but rather “City of Ideas.” McClure had coined that slogan, which then-Mayor Kirk Watson admired, but tabled rather than adopting it. The original idea man applied for a trademark and has retained the “City of Ideas” URL.
“Several cities and several companies have attempted to buy or license both over the years,” McClure says, “but I remain confident that Austin will ultimately, well, get the idea!”
I actually prefer “Idea City,” which became the name of the advertising company’s West Sixth Street headquarters. Shorter and spikier.
Amateur etymologist Barry Popik corrected our playful suggestion that a French traveler once suggested that Austin be called “City of 12,000 Mounds.” He dug up the original reference, which had eluded me for years.
He writes: “In 1843, William Bollaert (an English traveler) wrote that just as Rome has her ‘seven hills,’ Austin may boast of her ‘thousand mounds.’ ” Excellent literary spelunking and more reasonable arithmetic.
Popik is under the false impression, however, that: “… it’s illegal to get anything I say published in the Statesman.” So we are even.
An unidentified caller remarked on my skeptical reference to O. Henry’s atmospheric observation about “The City of the Violet Crown.”
“You see it every time you drive into the city,” the caller insisted.
“Really?” I responded.
“Yes, every single time, when you’re just a few miles out from Austin,” he confirmed.
Nelda J. Lyons, another Austin native, wrote a long, thoughtful note that stroked her youthful associations.
“Austin isn’t a slogan,” Lyons writes. “The attraction to Austin has more to do with its ‘violet crown’ landscape which, before the buildings grew, was visible from my hilltop house off Woodland Avenue at dusk. It has to do with the touch of Hill Country and winding waterways of lakes, rivers and streams and trees that line our highways and roadways. Austin was always the freedom-loving, jovial and welcoming city but since it has seen a volcanic growth, it only seems to have abandoned its former loving ways.”
As I’ve written before, I cherish equally Old and New Austin. And, despite the Texas Relays mess, Nelda, I don’t think we’ve lost our loving ways.
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Tender morsels at Blu, Zocalo and El Sol y La Luna
We munched on flat, prociutto-laden pizza and warm, tangy bruschetta, all post-social Saturday evening. I’m not a pino grigio fan, but the Santa Margherita split delivered more character than most PG. The shiny white disco feel of the cafe would be at home in Buenos Aires, Ibiza or Prague.
Tarried with music entrepreneur Greg Vendetti (pictured) — he’s got a million ideas to promote musical community — at the new location for El Sol y La Luna in the Emos complex at East Sixth and Red River streets.
Less funky, more urbane, this spacious, blue and gold room is particularly welcoming for lunch. With a well-drilled staff, El Sol is more grown up — and my grilled catfish enchiladas were ambrosial.
Zocalo has taken over the light-washed space on West Lynn that most recently hosted an ill-fated vegetarian Indian outlet. The counter-service Mexican food is a smart match to the location, as I learned meeting L Style G Style business guru Oliver Everette for lunchables.
My crisp jicama salad whetted my appetite for the tiny, crisp mahi mahi tacos. I drizzled them with the beatific herb sauce. And I smiled.
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