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January 31, 2012
Very Smart Gals at Four Seasons Residences
“Very Smart Gals” is a very smart blog from SueAnn Wade-Crouse. It covers books, artists, charities and music, along with family reflections from Wade-Crouse’s intentional life. Like the best blogs, it blends its author’s personality with potentially useful information.
Lily Ta and Dean Lofton
It was an honor to be among the very few male guests at the Very Smart Gals party at the Four Seasons Residences on Sunday. Among the the dozens of women were influencers like Lulu Flores, Deborah Tucker, Sarah Bird, Susan Longley, Lynn Meredith and Dean Lofton. Others were drawn from the communities of law, charity, education, arts, media, business, movies and music.
Lynn Meredith, Christy Pipkin and SueAnn Wade-Crouse
The centerpiece of the evening was a presentation by Christy Pipkin, who, with husband Turk Pipkin, has turned out three breakthrough documentaries — “Nobelity,” “One Peace at a Time” and “Building Hope.” She explained crisply and pointedly the couple’s collaborative work in Kenya, now expanding beyond the Mahiga Hope High School to other secondary schools.
Betsy Gerdeman and Yolette Garces
Over sumptuous desserts, I made mental notes of five or six possible column subjects. Maybe smartness is catching.
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January 15, 2012
Marathon Kids, AMOA-Arthouse, Marc Winkelman, George T. Elliman
The theme for this weekend’s parties: Photographs.
Kay Morris and Joy Authur
It began at the VIP Pre-Party for Marathon Kids at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel. After snagging likenessess of party chairwomen Mary Herr Tally and Maria Groten, as well as Marathon Kids founder Kay Morris and the group’s national development director, Joy Authur, I tried a third duo, only to find that this handsome pair looked somewhat askew as captured by my little Canon PowerShot lens.
Mary Herr Tally and Maria Groten
Obvious resolution: I didn’t publish them. The next challenge was to catch the stars of the subsequent concert at the Paramount Theatre: Lyle Lovett and Shawn Colvin. Love ‘em both. I stationed myself near the door of the Stephen F.’s ballroom while Authur fed me updates as to their progress toward the crowd.
Shawn Colvin and Lyle Lovett
Celebrity shots on the run are tough to make. Colvin looked dismayed when I asked for a picture to put in the newspaper, but after brushing aside some stray locks, she braved the camera. Lovett couldn’t help teasing me that I was shooting for the Statesman with such a tiny camera. “Such is the state of journalism,” I shot back in good humor.
Leslie Wingo and Darrell Windham
My next stop: the Jones Center, downtown home for the newly merged and temporarily named AMOA-Arthouse. (Branding to come, everyone assured me.) The place looked spectacular, and the staff wisely kept the food and drink away from the marquee exhibitions. The first of the expected hundreds of art lovers filtered in.
Facundo Argañaraz and Nicole Crescenzi
The art proved a bit thin and the wall texts a bit thick, so after a quick tour of the upstairs and downstairs galleries, I concentrated on the people. Folks were quick to pick up conversations, but I found the blinding white of the galleries tough on the happy snaps (with the simple Canon, dark backgrounds usually work best).
Julia Clark and Tatiana Artis
Along the way, I met a convivial couple from San Francisco, Facundo Argañaraz and Nicole Crescenzi, who kindly tapped the spellings of their names into my iPhone. Turns out Argañaraz is Basque, and he produced some of the most intriguing work on the walls.
Everyone seemed to agree that the merger of Arthouse and Austin Museum of Art is a good idea, for now, but what will come of it? Reports from the Jones Center and Laguna Gloria sound promising, at least in terms of audience interest.
Alex and Eli Winkelman
From there, I headed to the Highball, where publisher and philanthropist Marc Winkelman celebrated his 55th birthday, while colleague Paul Hoffman marked his 45th. (See: A neat 100 between them.)
Marty Hancock, Khotso Khabele and Kari Arfstrom
Besides the fabulous Winkelman family, the place was packed with Austin biggies, including every elected Democrat from San Antonio to Waco. Backers of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barak Obama, the Winkelmans’ political and social reach is broad and deep. (Didn’t get a chance to find out what they think of the trial ballon of a Clinton vice-presidential bid.)
Bill Spelman and Rick Cofer
Off in one banquette, overseen by Jeanne and Mickey Klein, were a quiet yet familiar couple. Turns out it was Rep. Gabby Giffords and astronaut husband Mark Kelly. Kelly gently turned down my request for a photo and almost immediately, Giffords reached out and took my hand, not to shake it, but to make contact. I was touched.
Policy, of course, came up in several conversations, including one with prosecutor Rick Cofer and Austin City Council Member Bill Spelman. I always appreciate what smart people say away from the microphone and, no, I won’t put any of it on the record.
Daniel Mahoney and Bennett Ford
The next night, we celebrated the 50th birthday of Tribeza publisher George T. Elliman. The party was the first non-fundraiser I’d attended at the prismatic home of Dr. John Hogg and David Garza. The West Lake Hills modern with the complementary baroque art and Tiffany views looks better every time I visit.
Betsy Clemons and Chris Knapp
A feast was laid out by 34th Street Cafe and Catering’s owner Eddie Bernal. He talked to me on the side about the process of changing La Sombra, one of his eateries, into an Italian restaurant. “People have been asking me to do Italian for years,” Bernal says. “I finally put the right team together.”
Lisa Jasper and Lauren Smith Ford
Top socials and representatives from media, fashion and the arts toasted Elliman, who grew up in the River Oaks area of Houston, then attended school in the Northeast. I spoke with his mother and with some childhood friends, which turned up stories that, while perfectly chaste, will remain unpublished.
Back to photographs. I took a few, but I was there to have fun at this private party. As the casual affair — some were dressed to the 1962 nines — lasted longer and got louder (in some corners) Mary Pat Mueller took photographs, candid and posed, that she posted later that night on Facebook.
Kindly, she published ones of your columnist that were fairly flattering. (I’m better behind the camera.) Still, it’s a healthy reminder to always do the same for my Canon subjects.
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January 11, 2012
GivingCity Issue Launch at PeopleFund
When Monica Maldonado Williams needed a designer for GivingCity Austin, she thought of DJ Stout. Williams had admired his work at Texas Monthly and had heard great things about Pentagram, his current outfit. She called Stout, hoping he might spare an intern to help turn the digital magazine from the Austin Community Foundation about local giving into tight little magazine.
Jennifer Wijangco and Monica Maldonado Williams
Stout said: “Sure, I’ll do it.” After hanging up the phone, Williams fell out of her seat. She didn’t expect Stout himself to volunteer. Tuesday, the trim, modern mag was launched in the Whole Planet Foundation shared offices at the PeopleFund building in East Austin. It contains stories on the Bastrop wildfire aftermath, helping returning soldiers and a short profile of super-volunteer Mary Margaret Farabee, among other topics.
Laura Gonzalez, Ashlyn Zamora and Alicia Rascon
True to the nature of the giving business, the launch benefited yet another charity, this time Latinitas, a group dedicated to empowering young Latinas through media and technology. I talked at some length with founders Laura Donnelly Gonzalez and Alicia Rascon, as well as their young protégé, Ashlyn Zamora, who aims for a career in entertainment and media. What a great group!
Don Vanderslice and Allen Rogers
GivingCity underestimated the popularity of the event, which packed the offices on the second floor of the new PeopleFund building. I met several dozen smart, committed folks before heading out for some chilly air.
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December 21, 2011
Profile: Publisher Clint Greenleaf
When Clint Greenleaf was a sophomore in high school, he looked in the mirror. He didn’t like what he saw.
“I had been short, fat and lazy,” the founder and CEO of Austin’s Greenleaf Book Group recalls. “This is not who I wanted to be. I realized I had to make some wholesale changes really fast. I started applying myself at school, working out more and actually becoming who I wanted to be.”
Specializing in business and self-help books, but also offering biographies, novels and cookbooks, the Book Group made Inc. 500’s list of the country’s fastest growing companies.
Austin is packed with skyrocketing entrepreneurs, but the story of how Greenleaf, 36, stumbled on the publishing business comes with some peculiar twists and turns.
The son of an investment advisor and a volunteer leader, Greenleaf inherited his father’s weakness for bad jokes and his mother’s gregariousness. He graduated from a small prep school before I attending College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass.
It was the early ‘90s and patriotism was in the air. Coming from a military family, he joined the Marine Corps option in the Navy ROTC.
“If you are going to go, go big,” Greenleaf says with an open-eyed look that lands somewhere between goofy comic Adam Sandler and intense actor Barry Pepper. He trained for three years while studying accounting, but didn’t serve in the Marines because of a ripped shoulder.
“I feel like I was shortchanged,” he says. “It’s kind of like going to college without finishing.”
He did graduate Holy Cross with a lackluster 3.0 grade point average in economics/accounting. It looked like Greenleaf would not be heading to one of those cushy internships — wining, dining, golf, big-league sports tickets — with (what were then) the Big 6 accounting firms.
Yet, to the astonishment of his teachers and friends, he received offers from all six. Greenleaf was as flummoxed as his higher-achieving competiators. Then he noticed that the students with 4.0s were interviewing for jobs in flannel shirts and jeans, then not getting jobs.
“I had shined my shoes, chosen the correct tie, the suit fit well, and I said ‘yes sir, no sir.’” Greenleaf realized. “I was well put together.”
In 1997, he put together a tongue-in-cheek booklet about how to prepare for a job interview: “Attention to Detail: A Gentleman’s Guide to Professional Appearance and Conduct.” He lifted most of the ideas from military training and photocopied it on eight sheets of Xerox paper, folded down the middle and stapled. He priced it at $5.95, but let the booklet go for $5 plus free shipping. He put out the word.
“I figured I might sell 20 of these things,” he says. “That would cover the cost of the printing. First day, I went to the P.O. Box and pulled out two orders. I thought: ‘Wow, that’s kinda cool.’ So I set up a bank account. Found out I had seven orders on Day 2. The next day, 13. Then it accelerated to 50-100 a day. That lasted for several months.”
Pretty soon, he was being called a “business etiquette expert” by the Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, he was working 12-13 hours a day at the Deloitte accounting firm.
“All the fun was gone (was it ever there?),” Greenleaf says. “Reality hit. I didn’t enjoy the work. I lost interest in accounting (was it ever there?).”
So he “retired” at age 22 — Deloitte called it a leave of absence — to work on the book thing. Living in his parents’ garage, he read up on self-publishing, but found little that was helpful.
The light-bulb moment came when an aspiring author asked him to explain publishing. Greenleaf couldn’t do it, so he just published “501 Excuses for a Bad Golf Shot” himself.
“The business was born at that point,” Greenleaf says. At first, he didn’t discriminate about the titles he published. “Content wasn’t a driver. Generally speaking, I was wide open.”
This was essentially a vanity press. For every “A World of Hurt: Between Innocence and Arrogance in Vietnam,” the vivid story of a military nurse, there were hundreds of titles that nobody else really wanted, even as he wooed book wholesalers like Ingram Book Company and Amazon, as well and printers and vendors.
By 2001, the business was going gangbusters, but Greenleaf was fed up with the dating game. As soon as he decided dating was a waste of his time, he met his future wife, Kate Laughlin, now a lawyer and mother of their three young children who live in the West Lake area.
Greenleaf opened an Austin office in 2003 and finally settled on headquarters at Ben White Boulevard and Bannister Lane. In 2005, with 650 titles on his list, Greenleaf hit a wall.
“Barnes & Noble said ‘Don’t bother sending us anything because you just publish everything,’” he recalls. “Their advice: ‘Get rid of all the crap you publish.’”
The book world is relatively chummy, so Greenleaf couldn’t just drop hundreds of authors. He made them an offer: “They had to sell 500 of their own books by the end of the year. Of the 500 or so people we asked, five made the cut. Maybe 10 tried really hard. We kept 15.”
It was almost like starting from scratch. But playing hard-to-get worked. “Turning away business grew our business,” he says. “Now we put out a very, very tight list and accept 3 percent of what comes in.”
Greenleaf Book Group provides editing and ghostwriting in-house; it also brokers the printing and handles the warehousing and distributing. They don’t do publicity. By being highly selective, they now compete with the big boys.
“Self publishing used to be the refuge of terrible writers,” he says. “Now, those we don’t publish are going to Random House, Simon and Schuster, Penguin. And we are stealing from them.”
Digital publishing is part of the process — sometimes 50 percent of sales — but Greenleaf is betting that paper and ink will stick around, too. “Physical books are not dead yet,” he says. “I don’t think they’ll die.”
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Business, Media
December 13, 2011
Out & About before Out & About
The proper term was “about-town columnist.”
Not “society editor” or “gossip reporter.” Those titles belonged to other journalists.
Midcentury, every serious newspaper and many magazines also employed an about-town columnist to penetrate beyond high society to cafe society, private parties, nightclubs, sporting events and trends on the streets.
Readers who never left their armchairs learned about the personalities beyond their walls, as well as the ebb and flow of socializing in their own cities by reading these columnists six times a week.
(A daily blog is the current analog.)
Like Samuel Pepys in 17th-century London, French recorded the Great Lakes city’s nightlife and daylife, from its boom days during Prohibition to its decline into a Rust Belt shell of its former self in the late century.
He’s the subject of an entertaining new book, “Out & About with Winsor French” by James M. Wood, himself a former about-town columnist for Cleveland Magazine.
Wood recalls — perhaps in too much detail — the adventures of this gay columnist, fairly open for his time, who fought racism and homophobia while befriending the likes of Cole Porter, Somerset Maugham, Cary Grant, Noël Coward and Marlene Dietrich.
The dark prince of this type of columnizing was Walter Winchell, who dispensed malicious gossip from his New York perch, and whose work was syndicated in more than 2,000 American newspapers.
The poetic paragon was Herb Caen, who covered the streets, bars and hot spots of San Francisco for more than 50 years.
With clarity and little moralizing, French described African American entertainers, gay retreats and novel parties from Hollywood to Broadway, Europe to the South Seas. He also reviewed movies and plays. His reports, quoted liberally by Wood, tell us a lot about how Americans lived before the advent of television and the Internet.
And anyone who thinks their grandparents or great-grandparents wouldn’t have tripped down to the Cleveland equivalent of the Warehouse District or Sixth Street in their youth — or at least wanted to — are distorting social history.
Witty and a bit too cynical, French’s prose foreshadows the breezy currency of Austin Eavesdropper’s Tolly Moseley, the on- and off-page extravagance of the Austin Chronicle’s Stephen Moser and the insider social connections of Society Diaries’ Lance Avery Morgan.
To produce his self-professed “new kind of reporting” from inside the world of the socially connected, rather than merely through formal interviews, the unmonied French depended on the kindness of friends and family, especially Ohio fortune heir Leonard Hanna, stepfather Joseph Eaton and the trusting celebrities themselves, who put the columnist up in their guest houses, or added him to their flocks of virtual retainers.
Thus, his willing editors traded credibility for incalculable access.
In Wood’s pages, French doesn’t come off as a saint: His boozy debauches, thorny feuds, chummy self-editing and constant cadging for cash are turnoffs.
The admiring Wood emphasizes, instead, French’s courage covering multiple levels of his city’s and his country’s social strata with a cold eye and an even hand.
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November 29, 2011
Rebecca Butler on Josh Soskin
As the Entertainment Journalism class I teach at St. Edward’s University wraps up for the semester, I’ll republish some of the best features, reviews, interviews and breaking new stories from the nine students.
This one is from Rebecca Butler, who also fronts Rebecca Butler and the Richards. Her blog for the class is Rebecca Redd. Check it out.
‘Josh Soskin of Houseblend Media’
Josh Soskin and Houseblend Media‘s ad ‘Detention,’ grand-prize winner in the Microsoft ad competition in Tribeca, is anything but your average advertisement.
The scene opens with a Ferris-Bueller-esque teacher (Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?) and students in a stuffy classroom for detention.
As soon as the teacher leaves the room for a minute students begin to yawn and tap their feet out of boredom.
The constant tapping, yawning, finger-drumming, and bubble-popping makes one student whip out his Windows laptop and begin recording each individual noise.
He adds a beat and drum fills using his laptop — we watch him change levels, add loops, mix an entire song, and update his social networking status all using Windows programs. Soon the entire class is on their feet dancing.
The teacher walks back in the room and stops the music, and there is a nervous pause with nothing but the sound of papers floating to the floor. He looks around at the students and then hits the play button.
The scene ends peering through the window on the classroom door — we get a glimpse of the teacher sitting with his feet on his desk, bobbing his head to the music while detention turns into a dance party.
The classic Windows logo concludes the ad.
‘Detention’ sold viewers this product without ever saying a word about it.
Soskin says, “Personally, I enjoy the narrative stuff, i.e. short films, music videos, anything with a creative slant;” however, he clearly can make almost anything overflow with creativity (not to mention this could double as a music video).
Soskin and his girlfriend, Grace Jackson, started Houseblend Media just four years ago; “we quit our jobs, moved to Spain and decided to start our own production company.”
Although he studied English at UCLA instead of film, Soskin knew from a young age that he wanted to be involved in films one way or another, whether it be through acting, writing, or production.
Soskin grew up in Carmel, a small town in central coast California. Like many California boys, he had an affinity for surfing. Still, he didn’t let it affect his studies.
“I was a 4.3 GPA, obsessive kind of student in high school,” Soskin admits. However, those obsessive tendencies didn’t quite carry into college, “In college, I focused more on partying but still managed A’s and B’s.”
Nowadays his focus has shifted in attempts to achieve “the perfect balance between making money and following your heart and creative goals.”
While it’s not the easiest task, Soskin has to remind himself when he and his girlfriend find themselves in Indonesia, Costa Rica, Argentina, or Thailand shooting commercials for Starbucks and Pepsi. It still surprises Soskin, he says: “we’re being PAID for this? Holy shit!”
All photos courtesy of Josh Soskin.
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November 28, 2011
Andrew Weber on Jim Lehrer
As the Entertainment Journalism class I teach at St. Edward’s University wraps up for the semester, I’ll republish some of the best features, reviews, interviews and breaking new stories from the nine students.
This one is from Andrew Weber, who also interns at the Austin American-Statesman. His blog for the class is SocoDifferent. Check it out.
‘Jim Lehrer on News, Interviews and Why Oliver Stone’s a Jerk’
By Andrew Weber
Jim Lehrer’s an icon. His program ‘PBS Newshour,’ has run for nearly 40 years. He hosted it nightly until last May, but still joins the program on Fridays. He’s moderated 11 presidential debates.
Lehrer spoke to a roomful of Austin American-Statesman reporters, speaking candidly, a far cry from his starched, professional TV persona. I was one of said reporters, and it was awesome.
He didn’t pull any punches. He started the Q&A by sharing stories from his days in Dallas as a city editor, his coverage of the JFK assassination, and his transition from print to television journalism. He moved on to the issue at hand, especially for print-based outfits like the Statesman — the revolution of online journalism.
Lehrer stated bluntly that he’s an optimist, that he’s the only one in the business that you’ll find, that this unintended digital coup is here to stay, and that newspapers must act accordingly. But Lehrer said something’s never change, namely the role of the journalist.
“You report the news, just the facts,” Lehrer said. “That’s it.”
But Lehrer said with a smile, there’s a lot more resources for the “12 year-old twitterers,” of today.
“The bright side of the revolution is that everything’s available every shred of information that you could ever want but you have to curate it,” Lehrer said. “
So the information’s there, it’s just multi-modal. And Lehrer doesn’t care how you get it whether on your phone or “on a pink iPod with your name engraved on it,” you’re going to read it.
When prompted about the focus of online writers to keep a relatable, engaging style, he spoke bluntly, saying that people need news, whether they know it or not.
“If you want to be entertained, go to the goddamn circus,” Lehrer said.
But, Lehrer admits, there are people doing it well. Recently, Lehrer said, he was ranked the most trustworthy reporter in a poll, but had to share the honor — with Jon Stewart. While programs like ‘The Colbert Report’ and ‘The Daily Show’ may entertain, news writers provide the fodder. But Lehrer’s had his own foray into less newsy writing since he was a reporter in Dallas.
Lehrer came from the Hemingway school of thought — you write for newspapers to support your fiction. As he put it, it’s the only job where you can meet people to inspire stories, and get paid while doing it. And Lehrer’s maintained the balance for his entire career.
His first novel Viva Max! scored him four years pay after it was translated into film in 1970, allowing him to retire from the Dallas Times Herald. After that, he worked for KERA in Dallas, a PBS station, and began his career as one of the most trustworthy newscasters in all the land.
But his big break, came with the assassination of JFK in November 1963. Lehrer covered the story, as all reporters did, thoroughly. He investigated every angle, every conspiracy theory, and believes Oswald did it. When asked about the film ‘JFK,’ Lehrer responded curtly.
“That Oliver Stone’s a real jerk,” he said, adding that he manipulated and misinterpreted facts under the guide of “poetic license.”
For Lehrer, it’s all about representing the facts — honest, fair reporting — and the homework you do, and that chaos is a part of everyone’s life, especially a journalist, even the “12 year-old twitterers,” like me.
“It’s not about the questions, it’s about the homework,” Lehrer said. “You have to be comfortable in any situation, and never be afraid to ask ‘dumb questions.’”
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November 22, 2011
Library Foundation Dinner at Hilton Austin
Austin has earned a new set of awards. And they make sense. The Austin Public Library Friends Foundation — aka the Library Foundation — rolled out the Illumine Awards last week. They shed light on five extraordinary Austinites.
Mary Allen and Meg Kuehn
Poet Carrie Fountain justly won an honor as Emerging Artist, whatever that is (emerging from what? to what?). You’ve heard me rave about her collection, “Burn Lake.” Well, it is the volume of poetry to purchase this year. Fountain gracefully accepted the award while the Hilton Austin staff gracelessly clattered the lids of their entree plates loudly.
Glenn Glover and Maria Reyna
Fountain and her impish husband, playwright Kirk Lynn, sat to my right. To my left was always inventive Dagoberto Gilb, who took the Fiction award. I’ve long admired Gilb, as has musician Davíd Garza, who introduced Gilb modestly and humorously. (To respond to one thing Gilb said from the dais: The Austin American-Statesman does employ a staff book reviewer (Joe Gross) and book editor (Charles Ealy).
Melissa A. Carpio and Rudy Colmenero
The wonderful Marc Winkelman, supported by his remarkable family, received the Luminary Award. Introducer Joseph Skibell told an amusing story about Winkelman at a literary dinner, seated next to Booker Prize winner Salman Rushdie. All eyes and ears were on the expansive Rushdie, until somebody asked what the quiet Winkelman did. “Well, my business partner and I just purchased Kirkus Book Reviews.” Suddenly, all energy flowed his way.
Gregory Curtis, one of the city’s many Texas Monthly starstars, followed suit with a modest acceptance speech for Nonfiction, as did the resilient Jimmie Dale Gilmore for Songwriting. Gilmore spoke of skipping school in Lubbock to hide out at the library. Gilb talked of his conversion to the world of the word in a library.
All in all, libraries came out sounding pretty fine at the first Illumine Awards.
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November 15, 2011
Wittliff Collections 25th Anniversary Gala at Four Seasons Hotel
Crossing the chain diner’s lawn above the river, I heard warm laughter. Louder, an ’80s rock anthem played. “What were they laughing about?” I wondered. Were they even aware of the song that set the exact tone for the cookie-cutter canteen, more suited to a suburban shopping mall than the green verge of downtown?
Earlier in the evening at a nearby spot, author and actor Sam Shepard had read aloud his story, “Berlin Wall Piece,” about a man who can’t remember any of the music, fashion or news of the 1980s. Instead, he recalls only the reality around him: Meeting his wife; the birth of his children. The man’s son, working on a school report, is incredulous.
Sandra and Cecil Mayo
Such is the power of certain writers: They make you more conscious of everything around you. Writers like that were thick on the ground during the 25th Anniversary Gala for the Wittliff Collections at the Four Seasons Hotel. The archive of words and images from Texas and the Southwest has grown enormously in size and stature since I first researched material on Texas theater there some 20 years ago.
Jake Silverstein and Tobin Levy
Another speaker at the dinner, author, editor and screenwriter William Broyles Jr., told of a creative writing class led by Larry McMurtry at Rice University. At one point, McMurtry simply read selections from “The Last Picture Show” to his students. It struck Broyles then and there that literature could come from right here, not Russia or England or the East Coast.
That’s the constant argument of the collections, boldly supported by Bill and Sally Wittliff. I recently toured the expanded galleries and reading room at Texas State University in San Marcos and it feels like a shrine to storytelling in all forms.
Lloyd and Libby Doggett
At the dinner, I sat between a sterling couple — Nancy Scanlan (photographer, philanthropist) and John Watson (architect). She and I talked about the cultural differences between St. Stephen’s Episcopal School (her alma mater) and St. Andrew’s Episcopal School (I recently had interviewed retiring head Lucy Nazro).
On the other side, Watson chatted about old and even older Austin. His ancestors settled on a Spanish land grant between Bastrop and Austin; his father claimed “farmer” as his profession. But he also was a World War I hero who later worked for Gen. George Marshall during the World War II. His stories about Austin in the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s conjured a quiet place where everyone was acquainted with everyone else. Never can hear too much about that.
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October 22, 2011
First Edition Literary Gala at Four Seasons Hotel
So much good-natured intelligence packed into one room must ignite at some point. And it did frequently during the First Edition Literary Gala at the Four Seasons Hotel this week. The rousing dinner, benefiting the Texas Book Festival, and, ultimately, Texas libraries, is always a priceless opportunity to mingle with the brains who sustain our brains.
Patrick Sullivan and Libby Morris
Sitting next to me at Dallas businessman John Amend’s table was British novelist Philippa Gregory, who regaled me with stories of racing from her BBC job in Edinburgh to her doctoral stories in English literature, as well as her first journalistic assignment: Covering a dressage competition opposite an imposing and aged social columnist in a hat.
To my left were the always delightful landscape designer Jeff Neal and new bride and nonprofit consultant Victoria Neal. I’m hoping to lure them into a repeat of our famous New Year’s Eve gambol in Marfa.
Teresa and John Amend
Earlier on the Four Seasons terrace, I got to know Wonkette’s Ana Marie Cox, who has been living in Austin quietly for a couple of months (she’s moving to St. Paul, Minn. soon), and rip-roaring children’s author Jon Scieszka (later in the evening, the ceremonial emcee) and his companion Jeri Hansen, brilliantly dressed in turquoise and red. We shared Michigan stories and I introduced them to Brant Pope, the still-new chairman of the University of Texas theater and dance department.
Ana Marie Cox and Julia Null Smith
On the dais, Scieszka read a portion of his latest book written in Hamster language. Or it may have been taken from an alien disguised as a hamster. From the dais, The New Yorker’s Susan Orlean talked about the incredible history of American icon Rin Tin Tin and rounded out her treatise with the touching story of carrying a tiny descendant of the famous German shepherd with her from Houston to Boston — for someone else to adopt.
Self-deprecating PBS news anchor Jim Lehrer told immensely amusing anecdotes about the the presidential debates he has moderated, and the origin of his recent book’s title, “Tension City,” taken from an interview with former President George H.W. Bush, who despised debates.
Jon Scieszka and Jeri Hansen
Finally, “Saturday Night Live” alum Molly Shannon cracked up the semi-formal crowd with stories of her trickster youth spent with a widower dad who encouraged every kind of adventure. When she was 12, she and a friend dressed in ballerina costumes and calmly talked their way onto a flight from Cleveland to New York City, then wandered the city until her father — who had kiddingly endorsed the prank — paid for their return flight. (A lot more of that kind of thing in her author presentation.)
Just from the early evidence of the film and book festival galas, I can tell it’s going to be a wild weekend for authors, filmmakers, food trailer gypsies and all the others heading downtown, or taking advantaged of our short, mild autumn.
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October 12, 2011
Writers League of Texas Benefit at Scholz Garten
The venerable Writers League of Texas has endured hard times recently. They’ve cut back on some of their Austin-based activities that variously help writers of all stripes. Yet they were able to put together a small fundraiser at Scholz Garten this week.
Laura Castro and Diane Hernandez
Big literary names like Stephen Harrigan (“The Gates of the Alamo”) and Lawrence Wright (“The Looming Tower”) were on hand to lend support. So was advocacy marketer and fresh author Sherry Matthews (“We Were Not Orphans”), as well as St. Edwards University humanities dean Lou Brusatti and tireless promoter of good causes, Laura Castro.
Brenda Wendler and David Hernandez
I’m not sure where the League took a wrong financial turn — and the fundraiser didn’t seem to be a good time to quiz the board of directors, of which Brusatti is president. (He’s also my boss at St. Ed’s, where I teach one class in entertainment journalism.) But I’m eager to find out, and then spread the word on efforts to rebuild. Groups like the League help keep Austin the creative haven it has become.
Permalink | | Categories: Charity, Media
October 9, 2011
CultureMap Austin Official Launch Party at Pine Street Station
It was a hit with the hipsters. At least 1,000 urban bohemians streamed into Pine Street Station on East Fifth Street on Thursday to attend the official launch party for CultureMap Austin. Some may have been attracted to the publication’s second launch party by the free-flowing refreshments, others by the games and activities, which including a small petting zoo.
Rikki Hardy and Jake Rabin
Still others go wherever the hipster vibe leads them. I reckon the event emptied all the newish hipster hangouts along nearby (East) East Sixth Street that evening. The activity pushed the warehouse’s power supply, dimming the lights, if not the social energy, in the long, articulated yard by the railroad tracks.
Arianna McKinney and Heather Salter
Pine Street Station, by the way, was used for a similar but extended parties during South by Southwest. It’s been fascinating to watch, over the decades, the symbiotic expansion of SXSW and the districts that, at first, attracted only its peripheral attention, from Red River Street to South Congress Avenue and East Austin. No telling what will eventually land at this prime location on East Fifth — residences? retail? mixed use? — but Austin loves an improvised venue, so the big party will keep moving on to the next empty warehouse.
Like its Houston sibling, CultureMap Austin shows a lot of dash and reach. It has not settled on a particular character or tone, but its employees are certainly deployed around the social scene with admirable thoroughness. Congratulations to the publication’s Veronica Castelo for staging a spectacle that was as welcoming as it was mellow.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Media, Nightlife
September 29, 2011
It's here! 2011 Out & About 500: Media
The 2011 Out & About 500 will be rolled out today through Friday, one category at a time. Buy Sunday’s American-Statesman for the complete list of Austin’s most social citizens.
Send updates and nominations for 2012 to mbarnes@statesman.com
MEDIA
Media Star: Dave Shaw. Congress, Second Bar + Kitchen, Greenlights for Nonprofit Success, University of Texas, Texas Exes, Cultural Fund, Arsenal Advertising + PR, Anti-Defamation League, The Texas Lyceum
Sarah Bird and George Jones. Texas Water Development Board, Knopf, Texas Monthly, Austin Coalition for Environmental Sustainability
Julie Blakeslee and John Spong. Texas Monthly, Big Red Sun
Bobby Bones. KISS-FM, Andy Roddick Foundation
Christopher Carbone. L Style G Style
Crestina Chavez and Chris Hardie. YNN, Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas
Linda and Bob Cole. KVET, Boy Scouts, Dell Children’s Medical Center, Frisco Shop, the Tavern, Hill’s Café
Victor Diaz. YNN
Mary Anne Connolly. AW Media, Reel Women, Conspirare
George Elliman. Tribeza
Lauren Smith Ford and Bennett Ford. Tribeza, Meridian Solar
Karen Frost and Charles Levy. Frost Media Relations, I Live Here I Give here, Whole Foods Market, Leadership Austin, Impact Austin
Elaine and Rich Garza. Giant Noise, Pachanga Festival, Austin Music Foundation
Nancy and Jerry Giordano. TEDxAustin
Erin and J.B. Hager. Mix 94.7, Austin Monthly, Bikes for Kids
Kathy and Robert Hadlock. KXAN, CASA, Easter Seals
Kim Iverson. Mix 94.7 FM, Austin Fashion Awards
Deborah Hamilton Lynn. ATX Man, Austin Woman
Elizabeth Hufnagel. KXAN
Jill McGuckin. McGuckin Entertainment PR
Tricia and Sandy McIlree. Bikes for Kids, Mix 94.7 FM
Judy Maggio and Thad Rosenfeld. KEYE, Dell Children Medical Center
Sherry Matthews. Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing, “We Were Not Orphans”
Christine and Terrence Moline. University of Texas, Jane Doe Ink, Creative Industries Advisory Group, Women & Their Work, Leadership Ausitn
Cile Montgomery. Giant Media
Fred Myers. Austin City Living
Ron Oliveira. KEYE, Leadership Austin, Any Baby Can
Kristy Ozmun. Ozmun PR, Longhorn Network
Jean and Dan Rather. “Dan Rather Reports,” Austin Museum of Art, News and Guts Media
Stephen Rice and Mark Erwin. KOOP Radio, Travis County Courts System, Advance Discovery
Rich Segal. YNN, University of Texas, AIDS Services of Austin
Jake Silverstein. Texas Monthly
Kevin Smothers and Michael Pungello. Austin Social Planner, Austin Museum of Art, Overhead Music Supervision, Leadership Austin, Rude Mechs
Jim Spencer. KXAN, Crystal Ball, Petcasso
Susan and Bill Stotesbery. KLRU, Hart InterCivic
Kerry Tate. Texas Mamma Jamma Ride, Hahn, Texas, Civic Interest, Leadership Austin, Moore Tate
Brenda Thompson and Pat Henneberry. Brenda Thompson Communications, Ann Richards, Zach Theatre, Leadership Austin
Yvonne Tocquigny. Tocquigny, Ransom Center, University of Texas
Laura Villagran and Chris Johnson. Austin Social Planner, Good Eggs & HAAM, KLRU, Leadership Austin
Permalink | | Categories: Media, The 500
September 3, 2011
Interview: Garrison Keillor
Weirdly, Garrison Keillor waited for me around every corner. Perhaps because the prolific writer and entertainer has given so many interviews, or maybe because my questions were just plain obvious, but Keillor, who brings his touring circus to ACL Live on Wednesday, anticipated each topic. I wanted to talk about Molly Ivins; he brings up Ivins. I planned to him quiz him on particular Texas musicians; he beats me to the punch, thoughtfully and elegantly.
You’re about to get on another plane. Does all this travel weary you?
I don’t think so. I feel a little guilty about it because I have a 13-year-old girl at home. But she seems well provided for. She starts school tomorrow. I’m sorry I won’t be there to have breakfast with her and see her off.
Being on the road is a secret pleasure for me and I think most performers. We don’t want our loved ones to know how fun it is. We pretend to be tired of it. We feign. But it’s actually a beautiful world out there.
The daily world, the difficult one to live with, disappears. You live a simple, tribal life with your tribe of performers. You stay in hotels — we don’t stay in particularly fancy ones — that are comforting. Holiday Inn is really a comfortable sort of dormitory.
You don’t need to pick up after yourself or cook. Even though you carry a cellphone, your friends don’t call you. Dentists, urologists, the IRS, they just disappear. You do not get any older. Time does not exist. You forget what day it is. It’s lovely.
Your sense of place is exceedingly precise. What are your thoughts on Austin’s sense of place?
I don’t have that much experience with Austin. People keep telling me that Austin is proud of weirdness. I don’t notice weirdness. That’s mythology. I remember coming down to do the TV show.
Loved doing “Austin City Limits.” It’s the easiest show in the world to do. I associate TV with highly neurotic people who have a certain arrogance and whose exact function you can’t figure out. But I was down there with Chet Atkins and Charlie Gimble and the Hopeful Gospel Quartet.
Another time, I attended an amazing event, a wake for Molly Ivins at which she was present. It was in a big ballroom. You could see the Capitol from there. It was packed with Texas Democrats, also Republicans, legislators of all stripes, musicians and writers. It was the most comfortable group of people I’ve been with in a long time. It was just so warm, as if they were all Jewish and related to each other. Everybody ignored that she was nearing the end of her life.
I remember seeing Dan Rather alone at a table. One of the most famous Texans ever. Nobody made a big fuss over him. I sang a duet with Joe Ely. That kind of made my evening. I can’t imagine that sort of party taking place anywhere else. I can’t imagine Molly being from anywhere else but Texas. …
Once she drove me in a pickup truck to party at a house. Not a big house, not a party for big donors. A party for people who knew other people. You hung around kitchen and got beer out the fridge. You made yourself a burrito out of a burrito tray. It was hot. Dogs were wandering around. I had a great time. I’ve never had a bad time in Austin.
Why do you think there are so few authentic originals like Ivins out there?
She sort of created herself. I can’t attribute it to place. One creates a persona. The rest of the world looks on it as an act of deception. I suppose it is. It’s necessary for a writer. It makes everything easier. I think Molly was born to high society, as I understand it. So then she could have gone off in another direction. She looked down that road and didn’t see anything she wanted.
She created this hard-edged satirist with a heart of gold and a Texas accent. She could have become a Californian or a New Yorker or a Minnesotan. Instead she was this Texan.
She was able to say some pretty sharp things under that big hat. She gave encouragement to a lot of fainting liberals during Bush years. That’s a worthy thing. I’m sure she regrets not being around for Perry’s presidential campaign. An opportunity of a lifetime to go after Gov. Goodhair.
Your connection to Texas music is deep and abiding. What sets the state’s artists apart?
I don’t know anything other than what I’ve heard. The Mexican aspect to it is mysterious and sets it apart. With the songwriters that I love, like Joe Ely — I think he is a giant — and Lyle Lovett and Guy Clark, there’s a freewheeling aspect that you don’t find elsewhere, especially in country music.
It might not be true of Van Cliburn. Willie Nelson is a case apart. There’s only one. But in Waylon Jennings and Buddy Holly there’s an adventurousness, a joy in the music.
I think about northern songwriters, who are dark, conflicted, troubled, for whom this song is an anguished confession. I don’t there’s that much anguish in the songwriters I mentioned.
I think they go right at it to attract women or to hold onto the ones they have. Might be the best way to write poems. That’s probably why Shakespeare wrote poems. I’ve always thought there was more than just one “dark lady.” You write to earn money and impress women.
After so many years of regular and microscopic attention, how do you keep the Lake Wobegon news so fresh?
I have to keep tugging at it. I don’t hesitate to make dramatic changes. I got rid of Pastor Ingqvist. He hadn’t developed. He had a pale and troubled consciousness.
His wife was more interesting. But there was not much I could do with her. So I brought in Pastor Liz and gave her certain qualities. (Here, Keillor falls into the closely cropped rhythms of his Wobegon reports.)
She had felt a mystical call, so she hitchhiked to town with a backpack on her back. She took off her clothes and bathed in the lake. One of the members of church board was fishing and saw a naked figure. He didn’t row toward her, but he drifted. The wind pushed him. He didn’t know what to do. So he lay down in the bottom of the boat. She took hold of its edge. She tapped him on shoulder said: “Are you alright?”
She’s a little different from the usual Lutheran pastor. It’s difficult to pin her down politically — liberal or conservative. I like that.
When you retire from American Public Media in 2013, as you have announced, will you continue to write?
Oh sure, as long as I can. As long as anybody wants to read it. I would still write if I didn’t have readers, though. I think I’m done writing fiction. I don’t read fiction anymore. It just ended for me, oddly. I maybe read two or three novels a year that I don’t necessarily enjoy. Used to read The New Yorker short stories, but I stopped. The people I was interested in died.
I’m very interested in the long essay form. Essayists like Edward Hoagland. It’s a good form for an older man. And I would very much would like wrote a play. I’ve tried to write plays, and I’d like to write movies, of course.
I think writing changes as you get older. If you are not locked into one form or genre, you’re lucky. There are young people who want to be poets and they only want to be poets — or poets only — this strikes me as utterly insane.
Why would you only write poetry and not write silly things? I don’t get that. But they are very serious about it. I guess they figure if they are going to be considered serious, they should write seriously. I wish I could tell them otherwise.
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August 13, 2011
V Me Launch Party at KLRU Studios
Respect. That’s what hundreds of Hispanics said they wanted, when asked by researchers whether a Spanish-language public television station would interest them. Nobody had ever bothered to ask before.
Michael Candelas and Bill Stotesbery
V Me now delivers news, documentaries, dramas and educational programs to 80 percent of American Hispanic households. Since June, it has done so in the Austin area through KLRU’s digital 18.4.
Julie Freedman and Rama Tiru
The local public television outlet unveiled the network to its backers during a launch party on the old “Austin City Limits” stage. Latin rockers Del Castillo played several enormously appealing sets. University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa, one of the hosts, gave an encouraging speech, ending with an endorsement of the multilingual life: “You can’t understand a culture if you can’t understand its language.”
Carlos Ortiz and Annabelle Arteaga
Carmen DiRienzo, president and CEO of V Me, showed some clips and explained the evolution of the network. One potential hurdle in developing the concept was convincing an Hispanic industry honcho in Los Angeles. According to her account, after DiRienzo’s pitch, he paused, then said: “Currently, Spanish-language TV in this country keeps one leg in the places where the viewers came from. Yours meets them where they are and where they are going.” (I paraphrase.)
Among those who mingled before and after the speeches and concert were Seton Healthcare Family’s Geronimo Rodriguez, active philanthropists Marc and Suzanne Winkelman, the always magnetic Perla Cavazos, photographer Rama Tiru and tocayo Michael Candelas, board member for the Hispanic Healthcare Forum and Mexic-Arte Museum.
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August 11, 2011
Austin Monthly Bachelor Issue Reception at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum
Credit where credit is due: Austin Monthly sure knows how to pick ‘em. Every year, the magazine’s editors profile 10 bachelors who are not only striking, but also smart, fun and open to socializing. Never fails.
Carl Carlino, Ashley Anthony and Tobin Lim
Last year, they introduced the gentlemen in a hot, crowded apartment clubroom. Not the friendliest how-do-you-do. Recognizing the popularity of the event, AM turned to the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum on Tuesday for a cool, uncluttered reception.
Kristi Pulliam, Alex Torres and Jenn Fieldman
Of the chosen ones, I know prosecutor Rick Cofer best. Tall, solid, funny and always socially alert, Cofer chaired the Bag the Bags in Austin coalition, placing the aspiring officeholder at the forefront of the anti-plastic brigade. He’s also something of a clotheshorse. Quote from the mag about dressing up at work: “You can’t be too stylish, but you don’t want to be too boring, so you try to hit that sweet spot.”
Cory Rivademar and Rick Cofer
I think I’ve met all the other bachelors: Gym owner Dane Krager, educator Alex Torres, musician Nano Whitman, restauranteur Davis Tucker, coach Nate Fox, hospitalist Tobin Lim, author David Hilton and nonprofit founder Brock Sampson.
Cheers, men.
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July 15, 2011
Augie Garrido Book-Signing at Four Seasons Residences
The top floor of a downtown tower seemed the right place for such a pilgrimage.
David Garrido and Augie Garrido
Coach Augie Garrido is rightly known as a philosopher, as well as a teacher and a coach. Players and fans revere him. Even those sports lovers who see just a few UT Longhorn baseball games per season look to him for wisdom and guidance.
Mark Kiester and Melanie Barnes
An ascending line of admirers stood in the library atop the Four Seasons Residences, waiting for Garrido to sign their copies of “Life Is Yours to Win.” Graced with an introduction by actor Kevin Costner, this book reminds one of the Harvey Pennick’s slim volumes penned with Bud Shrake, at least in the sense that an obsession with a particular sport is not required to gain insight.
Thomas and Charissa Aguilar
The crowd fairly overflowed with big wheels: Melanie and Ben Barnes, Kim Heilbrun and UT President William Powers Jr., Lynn and Tom Meredith, Ruth Pennebaker and others. Amusingly enough, co-host Ben Barnes offered to retrieve a drink for me. Imagine: One of the country’s most powerful men fetching a refreshment. (I said “yes” before I realized how unseemly it was.)
Elise Harriger, Tim Riley, and Elaine Hyer
At my bidding, chef David Garrido posed with Coach Augie Garrido. The former told me a sharp tale: When Augie was still coaching in California, he dropped by Jeffrey’s, where David served as chef. When one of his staff said, “Hey, there’s a guy out here with your name,” he came out of the kitchen and told Augie about a plate he owned emblazoned with the Garrido coat of arms.
Augie expressed interest, so David retrieved it and offered it to the coach, who happily accepted it.
Here David was thinking he’d never see the guy again, when Augie returns to Austin to lead the Horns, dropping by Jeffrey’s to announce: “I display that plate in a place of honor!” Those Garridos stick together.
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July 14, 2011
Influential Pre-Launch Party at the Four Seasons Lounge
William Jackson manages entertainment. And entertainers. And the social act of entertaining.
William Jackson and Jennifer Ransom Rice
His company, William Jackson and Associates, threw a part at the Four Seasons Lounge. Of course, this meant running into other social connectors — such as Bobbi Topfer and Amy Barbee, at separate tables — before the party even started.
Allen Beuershausen and Sandra Rascon
The delicious Courtney Sanchez sang for the party. (Note to self: Spend a few evenings just listening to Sanchez.) Many of the guests were familiar to me, and yet way-social Allen Beuershausen spent the first 20 minutes or so prompting each other on their names. Such is Austin social life.
TJ Shelton and James Nelson
Jackson’s team is working on a digital magazine called Influential. Several of the guests contributed to the first issue, due out soon. Add another feather to the ever-present cap of this budding entertainment mogul.
Susan Hale and Marjorue Burciaga
Permalink | | Categories: Media
July 12, 2011
Profile: Dr. Monica Anderson
Even a seasoned social columnist yawps at the mental picture of Dr. Monica Anderson’s schedule.
Dentist by day. Romance novelist by night. And so much more in between, including mother of two grown sons, motivational speaker, serial volunteer and founder of Austin’s Black Newcomers Association.
“It is difficult,” says Anderson, who goes by “Dr. Moe” and whose first name is pronounced Mo-NEE-ka. “I have learned to greatly limit my aspirations and match my ambition to my age and aches. I’ve learned that I need peace and time and quiet.”
“Public health fits in with my core passions,” she says.
Born in Houston, Anderson grew up in the Fort Worth area, daughter of a retired principal, Arcolia Jenkins, and a retired educator and coach, Jimmy Jenkins.
As might be expected in such a household, she proved a diligent student, but also, showing early pluck, she was voted “Most Witty” by her senior class. She dutifully attended Baylor University, followed by dental school at the University of Minnesota.
“My best friend and I decided in the 10th grade that we’d be dentists,” she smiles indulgently. “Well, he decided for us. He’s now a salesman at Neiman Marcus and I’m the dentist. Actually, we weren’t exposed to many professions on career day and dentistry combined my two great interests of art and science.”
Marriage — she is divorced — produced two sons Alfred Anderson Jr., 24, and Adrian Anderson, 22, who appear on the cover of her romantic suspense novel, “I Stand Accused.”
Her first book, however, explored Black English Venacular phonetics, right before the 1996 uproar in Oakland over adding Ebonics to school curricula.
“Quite frankly I don’t care to talk about Ebonics ever again,” she says. “Leave it to the professors.”
Six years later came a collection of her family-humor newspaper columns in the tradition of Erma Bombeck and Bill Cosby. The anthology gathered together reader favorites from 500 columns written over the course of eight years.
Next came fiction. “I had always had it in my mind to write a novel and had been working on one for 10 years,” she says. “When writing a book, the work is stop and start, stop and start. People’s eye colors kept changing — and their heights. So I took time off to write, speak and travel.”
The result was “When a Sistah’s Fed Up.” The protagonist is African American mayor of a Dallas/Fort Worth suburb. A male assistant has always been in love with her. She’s been a devoted wife and mother, but discontented with life, she’s torn between values and emotions.
Does it end happily like most romance novels?
“That’s the formula,” she says. “Mine ends realistically. Bittersweet. We don’t always get what we want, or what we think we want.”
“Sinphony” is set in Austin, where a third-grade school teacher whose school is underperforming wants to become vice-principal. She’s a single mom competing with her romantic interest for that job.
Anderson’s novels, which combine vernacular with standardized diction, have appeared on several best-seller lists, driven in part by e-book purchases, which make up from 40 to 50 percent of her sales.
Were dentistry and writing not enough, Anderson, a third generation member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority, volunteers, socializes or serves in leadership positions for groups such as the National Council of Negro Women, GivingCity Austin, LifeWorks, Baylor University Alumni Association, American Dental Association and Greater Mt. Zion Baptist Church.
One of her proudest creations, however, is the Austin’s Black Newcomers Association. When she moved here three years ago, Anderson spent a lot of time Googling historically black social groups.
“After living here several months and getting settled, I felt very isolated and lonely,” says the South Austin empty-nester. “I’m a pretty good networker. I can imagine what other newcomers feel.’”
She thought: What if all the information were found in one place?
“I saw the creation of this organization as a sort of missing link or niche I could fill and help other new residents quickly learn about African American media, professional associations, annual events and organizations,” she says.
When she is not touring — or, these days, using Skype — to promote her books, she speaks publically on the medical benefits of humor, communication skills, start-up businesses, publishing and self-employment.
During her spare moments, you might find Anderson hang-gliding, jumping off bridges or sky diving.
“I really indulge both sides of my brain,” she says. “When I play, I play hard. I take calculated risks. When I’m doing dentistry, because it’s so detailed and analytic, I take it seriously.”
Lately, she’s learned to set aside personal time in a disciplined way.
“If it’s important, I schedule it,” she says. “Everything else is in my smart phone: I should be too.”
Photo Credit: D. Brown
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July 9, 2011
South Congress Books with Sheri Tornatore and Luke Bilberry
To the point: Why open a traditional bookstore when doomsayers have proclaimed the end of the book as part of a digital age?
“We are bucking a trend,” says co-owner Luke Bilberry of South Congress Books. “Any small business is risky. We feel good about this one. The truth is we are filling a need and a desire.”
Despite the intrinsic allure of sleek, wireless reading devices, some still yearn for bound paper and ink.
“We are not against the Kindle,” says co-owner Sheri Tornatore. “There’s room for both. I think people are still interested in ‘the book’ as an objet d’art.”
“That’s something people are looking to buy in book form,” Tornatore says. “There’s no answer to that in the Kindle.”
Although this used-book shop just opened in June, Bilberry and Tornatore are familiar figures to Austin bibliophiles. In the past, they have collaborated on purchases of large collections, which they split up to sell through their previous — or ongoing — Internet and bricks-and-mortar operations.
Burnet native Bilberry, 50, grew up in Austin. Gentle and soft-featured, the man with novelistic surname studied history at the University of Texas and University of St. Thomas before working at Houston’s late, lamented Detering Book Gallery.
He moved back to Austin in 1994 during the Internet boom, then, with business partner Mike Hale, opened the still-thriving 12th Street Books.
Slender, pensive Tornatore, 51, is a child of Upstate New York. She earned a degree in sociology (“the study of the obvious,” she repeats) from Lousiana State University and briefly organized for ACORN before becoming a baker, a mixed-media artist and a seller of used books.
Readers might recognize Tornatore from her 14-year stint at Half Price Books, or, more recently, her Tornbooks.com business.
What brought these bookworms under the same roof was what they considered the ideal room on the ideal street with a ideal landlady. Patti Howell, former owner of Tin Horn Traders and an original partner in Uncommon Objects, had, for the past few years, rented the space at 1608 South Congress to her nephew, Aaron Gross, who made and sold artisan glass on the spot.
(Gross has since moved to Vermont, a cooler place to blow glass.)
Howell felt the avenue needed an independent bookstore, making way for Tornatore and Bilberry.
“We see ourselves serving several different functions,” Tornatore says. “We are a neighborhood bookstore. We also want to reach the pedestrian (shopper) who could find something to pick up from $10 to $500. We’d like to get serious collectors in here in well.”
Disciplined collectors will find a tempting selection of first-edition, rare or out-of-print gems. Tornatore and Bilberry just purchased, for instance, 700 books from former Austin Museum of Art director Dana Friis-Hansen. (Another part of his library was donated to the Asia Society in New York.)
“We focus on art, literature and the humanities,” Bilberry says. “We’re too small to do everything well. So we offer hard-to-find, interesting books for discriminating readers and collectors.”
One conscious strategy is to keep the shelves less cluttered than in the fusty used-books shops one can still find in major metropolitan areas. While the store could hold perhaps 10,000 books, the owners currently display fewer than 7,000.
“A regular bookstore — the way Half Price does or Powell’s (in Portland, Ore.) does — we wouldn’t do that,” Tornatore says. “Ours is a cross between a bookstore and book show. That fits the character of the neighborhood.”
Eye-catching curiosities beckon from the storefront window. Along the way, the booksellers listen to customers about what kinds of books they seek.
“We want to be street friendly,” Tornatore says. “Right now, we need to beef up on children’s, cookbooks and gardening books.” Unlike most used-book dealers, South Congress does not regularly stock super-specific sets of books.
“A guy came in looking for all our books on enzymes,” Bilberry says. “We told him: ‘We have a science section, but …’”
While the pair have not yet faced the SoCo pedestrian frenzies associated with South by Southwest, Austin City Limits Festival or Longhorn football weekends, drop-bys have been constant. After all, every day on South Congress is more and more like a First Thursday.
“It’s families,” Tornatore says. “People come in and pick up on the nice vibe. The majority of people are reponding in a respectful and appreciative way.”
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July 6, 2011
CultureMap Austin Launch Party at Max's Underground
It appears we add new media in Austin each week. Among the most recent: Texas Tribune, ATX Man, Origin, Influential, Society Diplomat and Austin Social Planner. We welcome them all.
Shelby Hodge and Nicholas Phillips
We mourn the partial or complete loss of Rare, Brilliant and others. Still thriving: L Style G Style, Austin Woman, Edible Austin, Austin Lifestyle, Inside Austin, Tribeza, Austin Chronicle, Austin Fit, Austin Monthly, digital stand-outs like Austinist, DO512, Launch787 and Republic of Austin, more than a dozen community weeklies and the grandaddy of them all, Texas Monthly.
Olga Campos, Christina Pesoli and Lydia Saldana
Arriving with more juice than most is CultureMap Austin. This digital lifestyle magazine was capitalized through its progenitor, CultureMap Houston, and includes among its leadership, super-social Kevin Benz, formerly of News 8 Austin (now called YNN).
Barbara Kelso and Sloan Foster
Last week, just about everyone who circulates regularly around the Austin scene showed up for a launch party at Max’s Underground, the vast chambers below Max’s Wine Dive, another Houston import.
Ben Haight and Kelly Mullen
Benz and crew, including president and founder Nicholas Phillips, have cherry-picked some top reporting talent, just as Phillips did in Houston. His highest-profile nab there: prominent social columnist Shelby Hodge.
Even underground, however, the rooms grew hot, partly due to the crowds. We spoke to dozens and dozens, congratulating the newcomers and catching up with the oldtimers. Some things don’t change: The most frequent conversation-starter: Where are you going this summer to get out of the heat?
Correction: In an earlier version of this post, Nicholas Phillips’ and Christina Pesoli’s names were misspelled in captions.
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June 27, 2011
Austin African American Book Festival Opening Party at Carver Center
You never know who will turn up at a book festival. An artistically gifted granddaughter of a prominent businesswoman. A dentist who moonlights as a romance novelist. A teacher who witnessed an unusual chapter in the desegregation of California schools.
Al and Toni Bingham
These and many more turned up at the opening night party for the Austin African American Book Festival at the Carver Museum and Cultural Center on Friday. The affair, once again, was sponsored by Links Town Lake Chapter, which includes some major players like Machree Gibson, Mary Lou Adams, Andrea Bryant, Toya Haley, Geraldine Tucker and Revlynn Lawson.
Dr. Monica Anderson and Inonge Khabele-Stevens
Folks mingled in the Carver’s spacious rotunda while books and lives were discussed left and right. If I can talk them into it, I’d like to profile that dentist (Dr. Monica Anderson); that teacher (Shirley Sprinkles); and that businesswoman (Bertha Means, whose granddaughter, Inonge Khabele-Stevens I met for the first time.)
Shirley Sprinkles and Evelyn Palfrey
I promised not to reveal the identity of the distinguished woman behind the pen name Evelyn Palfrey. No, I promised. (Smile.)
Victor Obaseki, Revlynn Lawson and A.J. Bingham
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June 10, 2011
Molly Prize Dinner at the Four Seasons Hotel
Real political drama nearly stole the show. Usually, the Molly National Journalism Prize ceremony is a raucous, loving tribute to its namesake, late Austin writer Molly Ivins. The highlights of the evening at the Four Seasons Hotel are the Ivins memories, jokes, tales and quips, then a serious recitation of the winners from the investigative journalism contest.
Gail Collins and Annie Boehnke
Yet with the lege in special session, a room full of noisy progressives were not going to ignore the spectacle going on a mile away at the State Capitol. As emcee, State Sen. Wendy Davis of Forth Worth said she was filling in for State Rep. Donna Howard of Austin. Davis had filibustered during the regular session, forcing this special session. As she spoke, Howard was adding an amendment to a bill to free up more money for public education, just the sort of thing Davis aimed to achieve.
Joene Grissom and Austin Community College President Stephen Kinslow
Meanwhile, in the room sat major Democrats, such as Congressman Lloyd Doggett, once again redistricted out of a natural home base by the state legislature. He received a huge ovation, as did former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, who shared some wicked political poetry.
Nancy Scanlan and Laura Scanlan Cho
Eventually, however, attention turned to the journalistic guests of the Texas Observer and its publisher, the Texas Democracy Foundation. Columnist Gail Collins spoke on the joys of covering politics at the state level, although she cut her teeth following the comparatively tepid legislative show in Connecticut. She told an amusing story about attempts to achieve potty parity at that state’s capitol building.
Former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and Barbara Chisholm, who will reprise her role as Molly Ivins at Zach Theatre later this year
Another New York Times columnist, Maureen Dowd, won an honorable mention for her personal writings on the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. She was not present at the dinner. The other honorable mention went to Joshua Kors, whose shocking piece in The Nation detailed the shameful money-saving dismissal of injured U.S. troops under the pretense of pre-existing personality disorders. He introduced a Killeen vet who was tortured by the military as part of this campaign, which elicited gasps and groans from the crowd.
The big prize went to Jeff Sharlet, whose book excerpt in Harper’s Magazine recounted the exportation of right-wing bigotry to Uganda, which was considering a law that included the death penalty for homosexuality and three years in prison just for failing to turn in a gay person. Echoing Ivins’ style, Sharlet mixed his acceptance speech with winning references — “so sad it’s funny; so funny it’s sad” — including the accusation by an Ugandan that he and MSNBC Rachel Maddow were a “gay couple.”
Austin liberals can’t claim much to celebrate these days, but they took heart from the evening’s humor and the heartbreak.
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June 2, 2011
ATX Man Launch Party at Land Rover Austin
I go to Austin parties to meet Austinites. Some of those Austinites become the subjects of columns. And certain parties are loaded with column candidates.
Such was the case with the ATX Man Launch Party at Land Rover Austin on Wednesday. That was not unexpected, since the sibling magazine to Austin Woman is all about interesting people.
Stephen Perl and Stephanie Ignacio
On the cover is Roy Spence of GSD&M. He arrived at the party like a rock star, spoke briefly and met everyone in sight. Making the rounds were ATX Man executive editor Deborah Hamilton-Lynne and Austin Woman editor Mary Ann Connolly.
Katie Little and Ryan Theuer
Publishing husband-and-wife team Melinda and Christopher Garvey must be proud of the new addition to the family. It looks like Esquire and but feels all Austin.
Allison Shafir and Jonathan Gascoyne
Catering the party were Austin wine, spirits and food outlets. They can sense an opening in the field! The crowd was generally young, dressed casually but crisply, and they mingled like nobody’s business.
I won’t reveal the potential subjects of future Out & About columns, but I identified at least four. And no, Deborah, I won’t be competing for their favors. There are enough interesting Austinites to go around!
Correction: In an earlier version of this post, Stephanie Ignacio was misidentified.
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May 22, 2011
Origin Launch Party at W Austin Residences
It was one of those parties. Few of the guests appeared to know exactly why they were there. It’s a cinch that each one knew hosts Maranda Pleasant or Allen Beuershausen, or both.
But the subject of the party seemed to be in question (a dozen or so guests assumed I’d know).
Allen Beuershausen and Maranda Pleasant
Was it a launch party for the pair’s slick Origin magazine, which profiles artists, yoga masters and other cultural types from Texas and beyond? Stacks of the handsome publication filled the borders of the condominium on the 30th floor of the W Austin Hotel & Residences.
Jeremy Thompson and Kathryn Paige
Was it a showing of Pleasant’s glossy, abstract paintings, which were hung around the condo? They certainly competed with the striking views. (Each downtown tower comes with its own views and the W’s are particularly telling about South Austin. Several guests remarked on the poor shape of the lawn at Auditorium Shores and wondered what they could do to help.)
Was it a showcase for the W Residences? “Model units are always decked out,” surmised one guest. “This is almost empty.” Anyway, it was a lovely place.
Clearly either Pleasant or Beuershuasen knows how to draw people out on an extremely muggy Friday evening, even if they are unclear of the reason. Beuershuasen later texted me that the party turned into quite the romp. Keep an eye out for Origin.
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May 20, 2011
Badgerdog Literary Salon at Austin Country Club
Few Austinites deserve such recognition. But retired ad man and current writer Forrest Preece does. He and his wife of 35 years, Linda Ball, embody civic spirit in this town. And they do so as ideal urbanites, soaking up jazz, cabaret, food, wine, ballet and everything else near their downtown residence.
Carla McDonald and Forrest Preece
Tuesday, Badgerdog Literary Publishing conferred its first Forrest Preece Literary Light Award. They gave it to Forrest Preece. First, the man who witnessed the University of Texas Tower shooting close up was roasted, sweetly by colleagues Tim McClure and Dan Bullock, then his wife, Linda. Then we heard selections from upcoming novels by Sarah Bird and Dominic Smith.
Yet the centerpiece of Badgerdog’s program is to match top writing instructors with schoolkids and seniors. From the podium, Preece read aloud some published selections from Austin-area students. Their poetry and prose was startlingly vivid and to the point.
Stephen Moser and Jackie Oh
One of Preece’s contributions to Badgerdog is a higher profile for the still-young group. You can hardly improve on the social celebrities — some having made art books for the silent auction — in the audience: Carla and Jack McDonald, Stephen Moser and Jackie Oh, Sarah and Ernest Butler, Mary Ann and Andrew Heller, Becky Beaver and John Duncan, George Jones, Dr. John Hogg, Joanna Linden, Graydon Parrish, Gary Cooper, Cookie Ruiz, James Armstrong and Larry Connelly, Dan Bullock and Annette Carlozzi.
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April 30, 2011
Profile: Lobbyist A.J. Bingham
Encountering a state legislator, Republican or Democrat, at a social function this month, do not ask the conventional question: “How’s your session going?”
“Horrible!”
“Worst ever!”
“I’d rather eat nails!”
Ask a lobbyist the same question and the answer will likely be more nuanced. After all, lobbyists often serve many clients with different interests in the legislative outcome.
Bingham, 27, sometimes raises eyebrows at a West Sixth Street lounge or an East Austin party announcing he’s a registered lobbyist.
“The first thing friends ask: ‘What do you do when it’s something you don’t believe in?’” says the Tucson, Ariz., native who grew up in Austin and Germany. “I say we offer a service, our job is to communicate and advocate, ethically, but as strongly as possible, the goals of our clients.”
When the legislature is not in session, the nattily dressed Bingham, who has considered a sideline in modeling, can be found at selective receptions, parties and happy hours.
But nowadays, his schedule is not so forgiving. Bingham rises at 5 a.m. and often doesn’t return home from work until after 10 p.m. After a workout and breakfast, he reads newspapers and reports in the McWilliams offices at 13th and Colorado streets. At 8 a.m. he heads to hearings, where he watches, takes notes and writes up summaries of the proceedings for clients.
His duties also include an avalanche of quick conversations, e-mails and phone calls. He helps write or amend bills, files support or opposition on “witness affirmation forms.”
“Everyday is something new,” he says. “I’m kept on my toes and the iPhone is always with me. This job is also very writing-intensive. Brevity is key.”
Some of Bingham’s social and professional fluidity comes from a youth spent on or near military bases. His father, Al Bingham, is a retired Air Force captain who now serves as human resources director for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
His mother, Toni Bingham, owns and runs a home child development center in the Circle C neighborhood. Both parents grew up in Greensboro, N.C., where most of the family’s relatives remain.
“Being on a base around all sorts of people from all sorts of backgrounds, I can now enter any situation and any group and be at ease,” he says of the military connection. “That was reinforced going away to college and law school in different states.”
Bingham grew up in the Whispering Oaks neighborhood off Manchaca Road, taking the bus to the LBJ Science Academy in northeast Austin, where he met teens from all over the city.
“Everyone there was a nerd, more or less,” he laughs. “But I was pretty active, socially and organizationally. I ran a little track, wrestled, participated in student government, amongst other clubs.”
Launching a social life in an assiduously social city, Bingham hung out at house parties, the University of Texas Student Union and the campus-area Spider House Cafe. When time came for college, he looked at the University of North Carolina and Duke University, but chose instead Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.
“It’s a ‘brochure campus,’” Binghams says of the suburban school with fewer than 7,000 students. “I’ve been told it was like going to West Lake High School, but college.”
Bingham, always interested in current events and politics, majored in political science. He stayed active in the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
“It forced me to be more social in situations where you had to be ‘on,’ engage with personalities you might not even like,” he says. “I learned brotherhood and loyalty.”
His only brother, Austin Bingham, 19, is also a Sig Ep at the University of Texas San Antonio.
In 2008, the future lobbyist graduated from the Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kan., then he returned home to Austin. He happened to meet a few lobbyist attorneys through friends and friends of friends, then sought employment in this unusual field at the intersection of his interests.
And he started networking. His first job came with the Senate Research Center, where he covered hearings, wrote summaries and hundreds of bill analyses.
“I was in the process,” Bingham says. “And around the dome.”
After a stint on the House State Affairs Committee staff, he moved over to McWilliams, “a full service government affairs shop” run by power couple Andrea and Dean McWilliams, themselves masters of Austin networking and socializing.
Since he grew up primarily in Austin, Bingham has seen the social scene develop, become more international, more polished, open to dressing up.
He makes acute fashion distinctions among “Congress West” and “Congress East,” as well as the music clubs on Red River Street and mixed vibe in East Austin, where he lives.
He wears conservative but snappy suits to work, adding a touch of flash through ties, tie-clips and cuff links. He takes off the coat and tie for West Sixth Street or Warehouse District, changes into jeans and sneakers for East Sixth or Red River. East of Interstate 35: “You don’t have to dress up at all,” he says.
So how does Bingham, single, navigate his way around Austin’s nightlife?
“I do what interests me,” he ways. “I don’t want to be a scenester-type person. And I try to switch it up. Sometimes it’s the people I’m with. At other times, it’s just based on what I think is interesting and novel.”
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March 22, 2011
No, Bachelor Brad Womack wasn't taken to ER
Who do you believe?
The magazine next to it at the Hancock H-E-B says his fiancee Emily Maynard has “cold feet.”
Well, somebody is cold.
Then the normally meticulous TMZ reports that Womack had been transported to the ER by Austin-Travis County EMS.
Not exactly. In fact, not at all.
“Brad called 911 for a guy who was having a panic attack in the park near him,” an ABC spokesman clarified. “The incident has nothing to do directly with Brad. He just made the call.”
Seems that twin Chad Womack stayed with the stricken man while Brad called it in. (From the look of the TMZ photo, it must have been Republic Square Park.)
TMZ retracted the original report.
Move along folks. No story here.
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March 5, 2011
Tribeza 10th Anniversary Party at former Loft space
Has it really been 10 years? Well, it’s been a Tribeza 10 years. Now in its third ownership configuration, the Austin lifestyle magazine seems to have found some lasting balance and poise, especially given the disappearance of its independent print rivals, Rare and Brilliant.
Erin Miles and Alex Newman
Tribeza pioneered social publication. Every issue was linked to a tantalizing social opportunity. This practice put Austinites from various tribes — style, food, arts, business, etc. — in the same place at the same time, enjoying each other’s company, as well as dollops of fashion and refreshments. This may seem like a small thing, but it created a community that did not exist before. It remains a community among the most vibrant in New Austin.
Sid Jawahar and Ailie Chang
Tribeza’s 10th anniversary party on Friday occupied a suitably mod space downtown — the former home of the Loft furnishing store. The hard surfaces and extremely tall ceiling meant the DJ’s stylings drowned out most attempts at conversation. But the food, drink and eye candy were enough to keep folks circulating around the impossibly big space for more than two hours.
Sofia Avila, Carla McDonald and Victoria Avila
A few of the comparatively older guests joked that we were invited to broaden the age demographic. Indeed, twenty- and thirty-somethings held sway. Luckily in Austin, the age barriers are socially porous. I rarely if ever feel uncomfortable among friends, acquaintances and strangers from ages 18 to 88. You shouldn’t either.
Loren Hall and Devin Ellis
Some social vets like Ed and Susan Auler, Patty and Corey Hoffpauir, Andrea and Dean McWilliams, Ed Bailey, Carla and Jack McDonald, Joanie Bentzin, Will Wynn, Anne Elizabeth Wynn, Armando Zambrano, Sara Fox, and Dick Clark stopped by.
Dean and Andrea McWilliams
Among the up-and-comers were Deborah Main, Alfred Bingham Jr., Jennifer Wijangco, Fred Meyers, Cameron Lockley, David Modigliani, Victoria Avila, Sofia Avila, Annie Ray, Larry McGuire, Laura Villagran Johnson, Robyn Grona, Camille Styles-Moore, Anthony Martinez, Jetté Momant, Andy Brown, Kevin Smothers, Michael Pungello, Chris Johnson, David Alan, Stephanie Coultress, Todd O’Neil, Cory and DJ Stout.
Holding court, however, were Tribeza publisher George Elliman and editor Lauren Smith Ford. Also present were founders Zarghun and Eddy Dean. They all deserve heaps of praise for their work and for this stylish party.
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February 9, 2011
Robert Schenkkan dies
Robert Schenkkan, instrumental to the founding of KLRU and KUT-FM, died quietly Wednesday afternoon.
Schenkkan was father to Pulizer Prize-winning playwright Robert Schenkkan Jr. and grandfather to Hollywood actor Ben McKenzie. He taught screenwriting and station management in the radio-TV-film program at the University of Texas.
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Cliff Redd returns to Austin; Oliver Everette departs L Style G Style
Cliff Redd, who helped attract more than $80 million to build and operate the Long Center for the Performing Arts, has taken a job with Mary Ann Rankin, who has brought in more than $700 million as dean of the University of Texas College of Natural Sciences.
Redd, who has lived since his retirement in July at the lovely Galveston house he shares with partner Rick Johnson, will start March 31 as executive director of development for the college. This will please the plethora of friends and fans made during his tenure with the Long Center. Redd has maintained deep ties to the philanthropic communities in Houston, Dallas, Galveston and Houston.
He leaves L Style March 5.
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February 8, 2011
Remembering Tracy Curtis
Last week, our community mourned the loss of Tracy Curtis. The interior designer, book promoter, cooking school instructor, mother and wife to former Texas Monthly editor Greg Curtis died Jan. 28 at age 67.
“It did feel like the end of an era,” one attendee said. “It was lovely and devastating.”
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to any of the following institutions: Christopher House, Ransom Center, Michener Center for Writers, Norman Mailer Writers Colony or Cocker Spaniel Rescue of Austin/San Antonio.
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February 7, 2011
A Schenkkan family affair
When screenwriter, playwright and actor Robert Schenkkan Jr. accepted his honor at the Writers Guild Awards ceremony on Saturday, he saluted his father, Austinite Robert Schenkkan.
“His ‘I love you, Dad,’ brought a few tears here!” says the elder’s wife, Phyllis Schenkkan. “Bob spent much of World War II on a Pacific island, waiting for the Japanese invasion.”
The senior Schenkkan was instrumental in launching KLRU and KUT. Junior won the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for “The Kentucky Cycle.”
One more Schenkkan family twist: They are grandfather and uncle, respectively, to Austin-raised actor Ben McKenzie, who stars on the TNT police drama “Southland.”
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January 27, 2011
Friends of Molly Ivins gather at Zach Theatre
Four years after her death, Molly Ivins is still making friends. They showed up to a party and preview performance of “Red Hot Patriot,” a solo show about her life at Zach Theatre on Wednesday. Everybody came with a Molly story, usually to do with her brash personality, piercing wit and lifelong pursuit of justice.
Del Garcia and Ellen Sweets
This particular event benefited the Molly National Journalism Prize, which friends endowed to reward the best in investigative journalism around the country. Some pretty amazing reporters have won the award. And some pretty amazing people packed Zach’s Nowlin Rehearsal Studio — one couldn’t swing an appetizer without hitting a FOM.
Saralee Tiede and David Ochsner
I couldn’t stay for the subsequent performance, but I’ll return to Zach soon. Wouldn’t miss dear friend Barbara Chisholm as Molly: Among Austin’s most beloved actresses playing among Austin’s most beloved writers. (Unless you happened to have been on the receiving end of her pointed pen, which could be pretty poisonous, if almost always funny.)
Julia Cuba and Mike Nellis
Strikes me that two contemporaneous Austin women — Barbara Jordan and Ann Richards — attracted solo-show stage treatments. Holland Taylor’s take on Richards is set to reach the Paramount Theatre in May.
Texas leaders just tend to be theatrical.
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January 24, 2011
Chad Womack speaks out about Brad's criminal record
Austin club owner Chad Womack, brother and business partner of “Bachelor” reality star Brad Womack, has broken his silence about reports that his twin bears a criminal record and has changed his name.
Yet through Facebook direct messages, he wanted clear up any lingering questions generated by the originating Star magazine report about Womack’s changed last name (from the slightly ludicrous ‘Pickelsimer’), the source of the drab photograph shown in widely distributed reports and the ongoing legitimacy of their business.
“Our birth name is Womack,” Chad said. “My mom’s second husband adopted us at the age of four and gave us his last name which was ‘Pickelsimer.’ They divorced 10 years later and all three of us — Brad, Wes and I, changed our name back to our birth name as soon as we legally could. We’ve all been Womacks again for years and are very proud of that name — once again our birth name.”
As for the mug-shot-like photo: “The picture of Brad that is being used for this story is a picture taken at the Department of Public Safety for a Small Business Administration loan,” Chad said.
Chad adds that similar photographs of himself and Wes were taken the same day for that loan.
As for the weight of the decades-old charges against Brad, his brother said the family has undergone rigorous background checks and earned eight liquor licenses from the exacting Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission over the past 10 years.
Chad is not unaware that his brother’s high profile means the past is not always considered the past.
He said: “We all understand that when you’re in the public eye there are both good and bad issues that you have to deal with.”
CLARIFICATION
Tela Mange, spokeswoman for the Texas Department for Public Safety, today said Brad Womack’s photograph, taken as part of the fingerprinting process for a background investigation, was not from his arrest.
It then became part of his criminal record.
“The photo is attached to the person, not to an event,” Mange says.
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January 23, 2011
Trivia in the Library of the Mind
As a child, I imagined the mind as a library.
All my knowledge, memories and experiences could be found there, on the pages of glowing books, organized in a dream version of a Dewey Decimal System. Often restless, I could fall asleep paging through those memory books.
I’ve always been attracted to games of specialized knowledge. I was not blessed, however, with instant “point to point” memory, matching fact to fact like some lighting round of “Jeopardy.” Rather, I tend to retrieve memory bits through “topographical” or “associative” connections.
Like searching a library by classification.
And just as a librarian takes time to fetch a reference book — if you are old enough to remember such a person — it takes me a while to make the connections.
Memory is improved through trivia games, and recently I’ve become addicted to two online: QRank, which is social on a digital level, and Sporcle, which is so only if you play with someone beside you in front of the screen.
QRank is mobile. Sporcle, which sometime turns into a typing contest, is nearly impossible to play on a smart phone.
QRank encourages live, random play, pitting known opponents against each other, and rewards consumers of news, since the questions are often topical and timely.
Sporcle is something I play late at night, or in between writing assignments, or during the boring parts of a sports broadcast.
It encourages, instead, a rigorous refinement of basic knowledge — with few exceptions, for instance, I can now locate and spell the 195 countries of the world — but also attracts cultists. Huge swaths of the Literature category, for instance, are devoted to Harry Potter fans.
Why bring this up now? Because I’m working on a fairly big writing project and my mind has been trained to work in hour-long spurts. So a break for QRank or Sporcle is about as social as your social columnist can be just now.
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December 13, 2010
Grand Opening Soiree for McGarrah Jessee
It operates as an office for an advertising agency. Yet it doubles as a vividly chic social space. And the sleek, high International Style main room was “Mad Men” before the fictional ad men in “Mad Men” came along.
The digs for McGarrah Jessee — launched with a party on Friday — are in the old Starr Building. You know, the mid-century gem that served as broken-down offices for the Texas Comptroller’s office, then sat empty for years at 121 W. Sixth St.
Kristin Freeman and Jeremy Adam
Oh yes, Heather McKinney’s firm did a superb job opening up the space a bit, reviving the escalator, marble and exquisite abstract Seymour Fogel mural, also creating unique pieces from recycled building materials. (Only the mahogany panels seemed unfinished.) This is the way to treat Austin’s modern past. Original architect and National Medal of the Arts winner Florence Knoll would be proud.
Melinda Perez, John Price and Jessica Price
Back to the party … creative types swarmed the central space, with substantial bites provided personally by chef Lou Lambert. There was much discussion of the grand offices that takes up two floors that formerly served as a bank.
Meg Moody and Derek Bishop
Once retail goes into the ground floor, the McGarrah Jessee spot will provide a crucial social link between East and West Sixth Street.
So much happening at once downtown: Austonian, Four Seasons Residences, W Austin Hotel & Residences, Hangar club. Who said these were bad times?
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December 6, 2010
Headliners revealed for Austin City Limits' studio gala
The top tickets for the seated dinner on the studio floor are already sold out. Still for sale are dinner-by-the-bite-plus-performance tickets at $500, and performance-only tickets in the balcony at $150. Following the performance, the entire theater will open up for a reception with snacks and a chance to tour every seat in the surprisingly intimate house. Get more information at KLRU.org.
The hotel itself opens to the public on Thursday.
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December 3, 2010
Tribeza Issue Launch at Mexic-Arte Museum
Allow me this once to quote my own Gowalla posting for the first party of Thursday night: “Oh, the great shipwreck of beauty that has washed ashore here … at Mexic-Arte Museum.”
Sean Lopano, Jennifer Yu and Michael Yates
From the museum itself came rows of moderately priced art ready for purchase, not unlike Women & Their Work’s Red Dot Sale or Arthouse’s 5x7 extravaganza. Artists and other guests discussed the relative merit of each canvas, some adorned with multiple materials. This is an excellent way to raise money and awareness of each place’s constituent artists.
Fred Meyers, Michelle Golden and Stefan Whitwell
From Tribeza — whose December issue was launched at the museum this evening — came the beauty of “The 10 of 2010,” which included cover boy Andy Roddick, arts backer Julie Thornton, movie producer Elizabeth Avellán, Texas Monthly reporter Pamela Colloff, producer and restauranteur Daniel Northcutt, sustainability expert Lucia Athens, LBJ Library & Museum head Mark Updegrove, HAAM’s Carolyn Schwartz and state Rep. Mark Strama, as well as author of the moment S.C. Gwynne (“Empire of the Summer Moon,” which several dear ones will receive as Christmas gifts.) Included among the “10 to Watch” was American-Statesman food writer Addie Broyles.
May Suite and Ajay Kinger
A third source of beauty were the guests. The fashion, interactive, law, arts, charity, food, media and business communities were suitably represented. Why complain?
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November 15, 2010
Brad Womack Says He's 'Absolutely, 100 Percent Positive' He's Ready for Love
ABC has released snippets of an interview with Austin nightclub owner Brad Womack about his return to “The Bachelor,” recorded while the upcoming season, due to premiere Jan. 3, was taped.
Womack noted that he had been a “lot more closed off than I have ever been in my life,” during his previous tenure as the nation’s most watched mate-seeker, a reign that famously ended without a proposal.
“I’m so happy to say that, by coming into this a different person, it’s working,” he said of the reality contest that sends at least one young woman home each week, usually in tears.
“Absolutely, 100 percent positive I’m ready to find love,” he said. “I want to share my life with somebody. I’m not cut out to be a single guy.”
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July 28, 2010
Austin Monthly Bachelor Issue Party at Gables Park Plaza
It’s a towering group. Six of the nine bachelors on Austin Monthly’s latest Most Eligible Men list are significantly taller than me (6 feet, 1 inch). I learned this socializing inside a model apartment at the Gables Park Plaza complex. The occasion was a pre-party before the magazine’s issue launch bash on Tuesday.
Clayton Christopher and Cindy Young
While women crushed into the lobby of the swank building on Sandra Muraida Way, the media were given a preview of the single men, most of whom had already bonded over a happy hour hosted by Austin City Living’s Fred Meyers (a listee) earlier in the week. Other stags included firefighter John Marney, business founder Clayton Christopher, personal trainer Edwardo Williams, Föda Studio founder and owner Jett Butler, festival coordinator and eatery manager Brendan Hannah, internet security company president Joe Ross, company founder Clay Colwell, Adlucent CEO Jon Armstrong and software consultant Keith Otero.
Jett Butler and, please help me ID here, I experienced an iPhone notebook crash
Some of the bachelors proved quite thoughtful on the subject of modern socializing. “I really believe we are moving closer to an age where social and professional networking regularly intertwine,” says Colwell of Blue Wheel Design and Vuse Media, his latest startup. “Identifying the right people to work with is critical, but I’m also concerned with pursuing meaningful work that is fun. From a social standpoint, I simply enjoy meeting new people, and certainly welcome the opportunity to meet some nice girls along the way.”
Fred Meyers and Edwardo Williams
Will Most Eligible status change the lives of our assembled men? “I have no idea,” says Meyers, who, at age 55, calls himself the “elder statesman” of the group. “For me, this whole thing came from left field and I decided I might as well have fun with it. Who knows I may even get a stalker or two.”
Christopher, formerly of Sweet Leaf Tea, now with Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka, joked: “I’m changing my cell phone number right now.”
UPDATE: In an earlier version of this post, Jett Butler’s name was misspelled. Also, his Föda Studio was added later.
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July 4, 2010
The Age of Tweets
Summer 2003, I posted my first blog entry.
It was during our road trip to salute the 200th anniversary of Lewis and Clark’s expedition. On vacation, we followed the explorers’ trail from St. Louis to the Oregon coast, then came back along the Oregon Trail, posting at every turn. It turned into the three-week North American road trip of a lifetime for us.
Back then, it was all hard-coding and endless uploading of images. Most motels and outdoor spots in Montana and elsewhere offered dial-up at best. Poor phone service at worst.
(Previous summer retreats for this small group in cool, rural locations: Upstate New York, Northern California, Glacier National Park, Burgundy, France and Durango, Colo.)
This will be the first time in years I have not blogged a vacation in this space. The Superior National Forest is just too remote. And the effort is just not worth it.
So I’ll tweet and update our activities on my Facebook page. If you follow Out & About primarily in this space, just scroll down to the Twitter box for a few weeks.
If not, follow me at @outandabout on Twitter or head to the new Out & About fan page on Facebook. I promise to maintain the storyline. And I’ll be back July 22.
Photo: Our “cabin” rented through Austin’s HomeAway.
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June 27, 2010
2010 Out & About 500: Media
2010 OUT & ABOUT 500: MEDIA
Media Stars: Sarah Bird and George Jones
John Aielli. KUT
Bobby Bones. KISS-FM
Linda and Bob Cole. KVET, Boy Scouts, Dell Children’s Medical Center, Frisco Shop, the Tavern, Hill’s Cafe
Mary Anne Connolly. Austin Woman, Reel Women, Conspirare
Dale Dudley. KLBJ
Oliver Everette. L Style G Style.
Elaine and Rich Garza. Giant Noise, Pachanga Festival, Austin Music Foundation
Raul Garza. TKO Advertising
Erin and J.B. Hager. Mix 94.7, Austin Monthly, Bikes for Kids
Kathy and Robert Hadlock. KXAN, CASA, Easter Seals
Jim Hightower. Texas Observer, Austin Chronicle
Elizabeth Hufnagel. KXAN
Jill McGuckin. McGuckin Entertainment PR
Tricia and Sandy McIlree. Bikes for Kids, Mix 94.7
Cile Montgomery. Giant Media
Jean and Dan Rather. ‘Dan Rather Reports,’ Austin Museum of Art, News and Guts Media
Heath Riddles. KOOP, Hirschl and Adler, Out Youth
Steve Savage. KAZI
Emily and Dave Shaw. Russell-Shaw, I&O Communications, Art Alliance of Austin, Leadership Austin, Greenlights for Nonprofit Success, Catalyst 8
Kevin Smothers and Michael Pungello. Pulse, Overhead Music Supervision, Catalyst 8, Leadership Austin, Oyster Club
Jim Spencer. KXAN, Crystal Ball
Susan and Bill Stotesbery. KLRU, Hart InterCivic
Kerry Tate. Mamma Jamma Ride Against Breast Cancer, Civic Interest, Leadership Austin
Brenda Thompson. Brenda Thompson Communications, Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Zach Theatre, Leadership Austin
Helen Thompson. Austin Monthly Homes
Stewart and Stephanie Vanderwilt. KUT
Alisa Weldon and Lynn Yeldell. L Style G Style, Well+Done Design, UBS Wealth Management, Human Rights Campaign
UPDATES
ADDITIONAL READER NOMINATIONS FOR 2011 OUT & ABOUT 500: MEDIA
Kim Iverson. Mix 94.7
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June 18, 2010
Andersson-Wise Signing at Laguna Gloria
Architecture = Beauty + Intelligence. That’s what I took away from the Andersson-Wise signing at Laguna Gloria on Thursday. The party celebrated the release of “Natural Houses” from Princeton Architectural Press, a handsome book detailing the ambitious residential work of the Austin firm.
Eden Box, Hal Box and Arthur Andersson
The first surprise was to see architectural lion Hal Box and his wife Eden Box, in town from San Miguel de Allende. We chatted about Mexico, Box’s Austin residential designs and how they can be distorted by new owners. Then I landed with Joe and Tana Christie, whose Lake Austin house was started by Charles Moore and finished by Andersson. We talked about Texas rivers, state politics, French adventures and more.
George Elliman, Tana Christie and Joe Christie
Andersson himself was entirely gracious. He and Chris Wise are on a roll, having designed the W Hotel and Residences, expected to open in December. Other conversations were shared with Blackmail’s Gail Chovan, Peggy Houser and her “Master of Plaster” husband, Sloan Montgomery Houser, and former Statesman columnist Jane Greig’s son, Travis Greig, project manager for Andersson-Wise.
Catherine Craig and Michael Lloyd
Much of the idle chatter had to do with the place that surrounded us. The Clara Driscoll villa that’s so charming for parties and festivals, but a dubious spot for Austin Museum of Art’s exhibitions. So what to do? The general consensus: Sell AMOA’s downtown lot and come up with an innovative use for the Laguna Gloria site, perhaps putting a modern building where the school now stands.
Brett Koenig and Andrew Logan
Lots of thinking ahead for Austin’s leaders of arts, style, charity, business and law.
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June 12, 2010
Molly Prize Dinner at the Four Seasons
“Well, I give up. Sy Hersh is a real reporter. I’m a fake.” I’m sure plenty of journalists were thinking that during Hersh’s keynote address at the Molly National Journalism Prize dinner on Friday.
Nancy Scanlan and Becky Beaver
Hersh, now of The New Yorker, who won a Pulitzer Prize for his freelance reporting on the My Lai massacre, is ferociously intelligent and articulate. He’s also fearlessly opinionated and he interrupted his speech repeatedly to bash President Barack Obama’s record in Afganistan and elsewhere. (He’s furious that Obama for continuing and expanding the Bush war strategies.)
Alec Rhodes and Jane Hilfer
Feelings of inadequacy aside, it was gala evening supporting the resurgence of the Texas Observer. The honors, named for the late Molly Ivins, attracted big guns like former Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby, former gubernatorial candidate Sissy Farenthold, former state Sen. Babe Schwartz and Waco benefactor Bernard Rappaport.
Barbara Morgan and Paul Stekler
Scads of other politicians and local celebrities crowded into the Four Seasons banquet room. Braving such a full, noisy house was state Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth, who defeated an incumbent Republican in a red district. Her poise and deftness convinced me she could run for statewide office some day.
Mary Margaret Farabee and H.W. Brands
I sat next to the delightfully dry Kaye Northcott, an Ivins buddy who recently retired as editor from Texas Coop Power and plans to spend more time with her Kindle and some deliberative writing. I didn’t get to spend as much time with my other tablemates, such as party co-chairwoman Mary Margaret Farabee and distinguished historian H.W. Brands as well as Jane Hilfer, Barbara Morgan, Paul Stekler and former state Rep. Alec Rhodes.
Stimulating evening from beginning to end: The winners from an increasingly nonprofit-driven field: A.C. Thompson of The Nation; Petra Bartosiewicz of Harper’s Magazine and Chris Vogel of Houston Press. Thompson’s investigative work on vigilantism in post-Katrina New Orleans will blow your mind.
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June 9, 2010
Milton Torres of Popular Hispanics
Allusive names and phrases have trailed Milton Torres through life.
He grew up in Canandaigua, N.Y., which means “the chosen spot” in the Seneca tongue. His other hometowns — Ponce, P.R.; Buffalo, N.Y., Annapolis, Md., East Harlem, N.Y. — draw a map of enriched cultures, but also fragmentation, split personality.
Later in life, the Round Rock businessman, CEO of Miltway International, a marketing and consulting firm, spun out a phrase, “your average Juan,” to define his portion of the American Hispanic demographic range.
“You market to the average person,” says Torres, 51. “That’s me. Every Hispanic family has a Juan.”
Four years ago, he hit on two words — “Popular Hispanics” — which led to his next career, as a publisher and editor.
His deft twist on the title of the 108-year-old Popular Mechanics service magazine evolved into a classy online publication in English. As soon as the words had popped into his head, he secured the domain name. Launched in December 2009, the digital magazine profiles Hispanic celebrities in the fields of entertainment, fashion, culture, food, business and related fields.
“We don’t do religion or politics,” he says. “I’m interested in uniting people.” For Torres, life began in Ponce — “La Perla del Sur (The Pearl of the South)” — in southern Puerto Rico. His mother’s family once owned coffee plantations, but “none of that trickled down to me,” Torres notes.
His father, Jose, was a nurse; his mother, Gladys, did odd jobs. They moved to New York City when he was 2, then divorced when he was 5.
Although he spent some time with his father in East Harlem, he most identifies with Canandaigua in the Finger Lakes district, where his mother settled after the divorce.
“I loved the greenery and surroundings of upstate New York,” he says. “I was very fortunate to grow up there. Puerto Rico is beautiful, too, but they lock everything down there.”
Torres — who looks a bit like Robert Redford, crossed with Tim Allen and Al Pacino, depending on the light — wrestled competitively in high school. That skill served him well when he attended college at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Ponce Puerto Rico. As a student, he also worked as the wrestling team’s coach. He traded lessons and advice with the university’s martial arts instructors.
Like many students in the 1970s, he drifted from interest to interest.
“I was always a free spirit,” he says. “If somebody gave me an opportunity, I went for it.” He finished college at the University of Buffalo, the first in his family to do so. There, he served as director of public relations for the student association, a job that put him in the proximity of movers and shakers.
Former United Nations Secretary-General and Austrian President Kurt Waldheim told him: “Never give up. If you do, it’s the beginning of the end.” Despite later revelations about Waldheim’s Nazi past, Torres stayed in touch with him. “He did a lot of good for the world,” he says.
He hung out with former Yippie Abbie Hoffman. “He was wild,” Torres laughs. “He wanted me to go to South America to see a revolution.”
A motorcycle accident ended Torres’ wrestling career, but not his growing interest in the world around him. He traveled. And drifted.
“I basically did what I wanted,” he said. “If I could have experience rather than money, I would choose experience.”
In 1986, that preference landed him in Austin, joining old friends in a house on Rabb Street, on the cusp between the Zilker and Barton Hills neighborhoods. Like so many others, he fell in love with the place. But Torres had to eat, as well. He took catering jobs. During the Dell Inc. boom of the 1990s, he joined the company as a temporary worker and ended up selling computers to the Army.
“I was never a technical person,” he admits. But he turned into a snappy salesman, wearing impeccable if relaxed business wear. Stock options and splits left Torres in a financially advantageous position. After Dell, he resold computers, worked with a Colorado condominium development and pursued marketing dreams.
And he became a family man. He married his wife, Susan, a pricing analyst for Level 3 Communications, in 1999. He has a daughter, Loren, from a previous marriage. She recently graduated from Stony Point High School. His children with Susan, Jon, 8, and Lily, 6, occupy a big part of his day, since he and his wife work from home, him upstairs, her downstairs.
Researching the potential for his new publication, Torres found that, though Spanish remains a touchstone, many American Hispanics like to read in English. So far, Popular Hispanics has focused on such figures as New York hair stylist Johnny Lavoy, Miami beauty queen Stephie Torres and soccer player Carlos Bocanegra. It provides advice and tips on travel, fitness, music, eating out, gossip and other usual lifestyle topics.
Torres doesn’t sweat the fact that, so far, Popular Hispanics clocks its monthly hits in the low thousands and its profit strategy is still ambiguous.
“The Hispanic market in the U.S. is estimated to have reached a trillion dollars a year in purchasing power,” he says. “Branding comes now. Advertising comes later.”
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May 27, 2010
Austin Monthly Issue Launch at Urbanspace
May I admit that I attended for Colt McCoy? Yes, I was curious about the other articles in the current issues of Austin Monthly and Austin Monthly Home. And I had already congratulated editor Helen Thompson on the innovative color scheme in the Home edition.
Candace Carlisle and Amanda Garcia
But I attended the AM issue launch at Urbanspace on West Fifth Street to pop a social columnist’s question to a famous quarterback. The usual cocktail-hour crowd showed up. Also American-Statesman humor columnist John Kelso, which made the event doubly interesting. (Which angle would he take, I wondered, if he wrote about this modish tribe?)
Bo Harvel and Soumya Ramakrishnan
The grub supply was generous, and the party, which spilled into the Threshold interior furnishing showroom, grew steadily as the first hour of the party progressed. Then I found out: McCoy, who flashes his baby blues on the cover of the June issue, would not be attending. Nor fiancee Rachel Glandorf.
Sandy Weatherford and Monica Brown
Darn. I was going to ask whether they planned to keep a place in Austin, like other former Longhorns. Well, best of luck to him in Cleveland. We’ll miss his steady leadership of the football team. And congratulations on the July 17 wedding, both of you.
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May 23, 2010
Another ABC Bachelor from Austin: Tyler Morrow
Yet the Austin resident, who seeks the hand of Ali Fedotowsky, is not as well known, locally, as previous contenders on the the twinned shows. Club owner Brad Womack and country singer Wes Hayden eventually became so notorious, their names evolved into active verbs, such as “to Wes Hayden,” meaning “to pretend romance as a thinly disguised promotion of one’s stage career.”
Although reality contestants slip into silent mode after the taping, this much we know: Morrow is the catering manager at the northwest Austin outlet of the Houston-based Berryhill Baja Grill & Cantina.
The online ExploreTalent site lists his age, 25, and height, 6 feet, 2 inches, on his acting/modeling profile. His biographical sketch on the site says Morrow is: “Very outgoing, love being in front of the camera, from Montana, love the outdoors, athletic, love to make people laugh! always willing to put on a little act.”
For the sake of Fedotowsky’s heart, let’s hope it’s not all an act this summer
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'Law & Order' rewrote the script of TV history
During the course of 20 years, familiarity might have lulled the casual viewer into forgetting that “Law & Order,” which ends its marathon run Monday, May 24, broke ground on several television fronts.
Prosecutors as heroes: Stretching as far back as “Perry Mason,” TV’s fictional lawyers usually argued for the defense. “Law & Order” was born during a conservative era, and even borrowed its title from a familiar Republican campaign theme. It could be argued that the show neutralized criminal prosecution as a political billy club by showing that Manhattan-based liberals could fight crime just as honorably and enthusiastically as conservatives. The show also reminded us that prosecutors represented “the people” — that’s the rest of us, folks.
Rapid episodic narrative: Procedurals from the 1980s — “Hill Street Blues,” “Cagney & Lacey” and “Miami Vice,” — often interrupted storytelling with car-chase action, charismatic scenery or painfully slow character development. “Law & Order” moves at such a rapid, clipped rate, one can’t leave the room without missing a key clue. Some scenes last mere seconds. Taut, restrained writing, acting and directing: Playwrights penned many episodes of “Law & Order.” They knew how to write with economy and density. Similarly, the show’s producers and directors utilized the finest New York stage actors, who adapted quickly to the series’ disciplined style. (A peek at any printed Broadway program during the past two decades revealed dozens of “L&O” credits.)
New York as location: Gritty and glamorous, the Big Apple was never so thoroughly explored as on this series. The viewer witnessed all of it, uptown and downtown, high and low, and in every season of the year. It changed the way we perceive the city: On his first outing to New York, my eldest nephew refused to visit Central Park. “Haven’t you seen ‘Law & Order’? he said. “That’s where all the bodies show up!”
Women and minorities in authority: For 17 of its 20 years, S. Epatha Merkerson played Lt. Anita Van Buren on “Law & Order” after guesting as a grief-stricken mother in the first season. (The franchise recycled actors frequently.) She, along with other women and minorities, didn’t play saints, but their quiet, rarely questioned authority made an impression on a generation of viewers. Of course, some of the female assistant district attorneys were cast from a shallower modeling pool, but …
Legal education: Never take the stand in your own defense. Always demand a lawyer right away. Question all sentencing deals, especially if given an artificial deadline. Remember, judges, prosecutors and defense lawyers are people, too. They are subject to the same foibles as the rest of humanity. Beware.
Salon magazine recently published a humorous take on the “Law & Order” clichés, reminding us of workaholics too busy to focus on murder investigations; marquee stars who made obvious prime suspects; the guessing game about which real crimes inspired the writers; the audio logo (“chung chung”); and the ghoulish wisecracks that only the late Jerry Orbach delivered effectively.
Loyal fans cherished those clichés. Yet even those who fell from fealty should remember that “Law & Order” rewrote television history along the way.
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May 22, 2010
How Do I Know You, Jackson Hurst?
How do you I know you?
That message blinks across my mental screen hundreds of times each week.
Sometimes, the answer is obvious. Too often, it is not.
Did I meet you at a party or club? Did I take your picture? Did we chat, promising to catch up later?
Worst-case scenario: Did we share personal history?
Hurst’s character, lawyer Grayson Kent, loses his aspiring-model fiancee in a car accident. Her soul comes back in the body of brilliant, overweight attorney who works at his firm. The women’s personalities blend together convincingly in the person of actress Brooke Elliott. The tone remains mostly comic, although dramatic touches can tug at the heartstrings.
During every episode of the first season, my memory alarms went off. How the heck did I know Hurst? It bothered me.
Google, Internet Movie Database, Facebook all offered tantalizing clues: Not long ago, Hurst, 33, had worked out of Austin on movies, including Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” and Robert Rodriguez’s “Shorts.” He ran triathlons here and - wait a minute! - changed his name.
Jackson Hurst was, at one time, Ryan Hurst. Born and raised in the Houston area. Attended Baylor University. Played volleyball, soccer, with some basketball and baseball on the side. Held down day or late night jobs in Austin while navigating movie gigs in the New Mexico and Louisiana.
Two weeks ago, out of the blue, a Lifetime publicist offered me an interview with Hurst. While this assignment would normally go through the entertainment editor or the television reporter, with their permission, I took the bait.
Last week, in between scenes, Hurst spoke to me by phone from Atlanta. Hold on there, you say: “Diva” is set pretty convincingly in Los Angeles.
“Yeah, the landscape and helicopter shots are done in Los Angeles, but we shoot our scenes in Georgia,” he says. “They built 10 whole, ridiculous stages. When you’re watching, you’ll see a detail and say: ‘Oh my God, that’s not L.A.!’ You can make it into a drinking game.”
Already, I like him. So unruffled and unstuffy for a newly anointed star of a hit TV series that premieres its second season June 6.
“It feels pretty damn good,” Hurst says. “You never know when you start out. I mean, I knew it had a lot of potential: A special chemistry among the cast mixed with the quality of the scripts. And we are given a lot of latitude as actors to create our own worlds, to let us grow our characters.”
Hurst works closely with the creators to coordinate his role’s development.
“What we talk is the trajectory,” he says. “Where are they taking Grayson? Where am I taking him? Last season, it was very much about dealing with grief. But he also has to live a normal life. Now he’s got the mindset of a fighter. He fights for the less privileged. He’s emboldened, impassioned, sometimes too aggressive. You’re going see him fighting.”
Hurst landed the job while working on “Living Proof,” the TV movie with Harry Connick Jr., in New Orleans. Its producers were developing “Diva” simultaneously and expressed interest, so Hurst put together an audition.
“I performed in a small room for 20 executives,” he says. “It was like my own one-man show.”
Indeed, Hurst had acted on the stage at St. Pious X High School in Houston and at Baylor in Waco. He actually majored, though, in international economics and management information systems (yawn), with a minor in Spanish. He took off a year to work for a transport company in Mexico City.
“I couldn’t shake the need to act, though,” he says. “I promised I wouldn’t put on another business suit. Here I am playing a lawyer. Can’t escape the suits.”
So why the name change? As anyone in the entertainment industry will tell you, only one person per moniker. Otherwise, mass confusion. And the “Sons of Anarchy” star whose career dates back to 1993 already had dibs on Ryan Hurst. “I was working on a movie about Jack Kerouac when I made the change,” he says. “Jackson is a tribute.”
Yes, but how did I know him? This has been bugging me for more than a year. Without getting stalkerish, I had to know.
We made a checklist of Hurst’s activities during his time in Austin. “Well, I was the VIP manager at Qua,” he laughs. Bingo! Together, we recall the early days of the controversial ultra-lounge on West Fourth Street — yeah, the one with the shark tank — smack in the middle of the Warehouse District.
“I had a lot of fun in Austin,” he says. “You might have seen me at another party. Or at a few. Like I said, I had a good time.”
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May 20, 2010
Badgerdog Literary Publishing Party at the MACC
My ties to Badgerdog Literary Publishing were weak. The name resonated. The nonprofit publishes the literary magazine American Short Fiction, I knew that. Social all-stars Linda Ball and Forrest Preece support it vigorously. That was about the extent of my knowledge.
Kelty Christman and Nik Bhattacharya
Until Wednesday night. An intriguing mix of folks gathered at the Mexican American Cultural Center to lionize the group. An Evening in Andalusia was the theme. Some powerhouses spoke: Tom Staley, the outgoing director of the Ransom Center; Sarah Bird, Austin’s pride among novelists. Other social connectors, such as Mary Margaret and Ray Farabee, attended, as did major donors like Bill Dickson and Jeff and Gail Kodosky.
Jill Myers and Melanie Moore
I learned that Badgerdog conducts creative writing camps for young people, and we heard some of their creations Wednesday. The centerpiece of the evening, however, was a reading from Bird’s “The Flamenco Academy,” staged with flamenco artists of rare gifts. The performance recalled those sweaty, glorious evenings at Capitol City Playhouse during the 1990s, when Jose Greco’s and, later, Jose Greco II’s companies settled in for summer residencies.
Sarah Bird and Tiffany Yates
The social discovery of the party, however, was Tiffany Yates. A former reporter and critic from Florida, she’s a literary copy editor who moved to Austin two years ago. What a delight! We’re going to the Ransom Center very soon, so she can experience this Austin treasure first-hand.
Update: An earlier version of this post incorrectly named the Badgerdog periodical Short American Fiction.
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April 28, 2010
Your A List: Best TV Weathercaster
Winner of the A List readers poll for Best Weathercaster, Jim Spencer, has prognosticated for KXAN for decades. He triumphed with 37 percent of the vote.
KVUE’s Mark Murray (36 percent) and KEYE’s Troy Kimmel (12 percent) have also predicted Central Texas sun, wind and rain for years upon years.
TV’s relative newcomers include News 8 Austin’s Burton Fizsimmons (7 percent), KTBC’s Scott Fisher (6 percent) and KAKW’s Blanca Gaytan (3 percent).
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Your A List: Best Place to Write
Clearly Austinites are inspired by the out of doors. Why else would three of the Best Places to Write in the A List readers poll require arranging words au naturale. (By that I don’t mean writing in the nude. Just in nature.)
Zilker Park is a muse to the most voting writers, taking a 36 percent share. Barton Springs (9 percent) and Mount Bonnell (8 percent) also pleased the nature-loving authors.
All the other scribbling spots are coffee shops, although most of these also offer an outdoor alternative: Mozart’s (19 percent), Spider House (12 percent), Flipnotics (6 percent), Ruta Maya (3 percent), Epoch (3 percent), Dominican Joe (2 percent) and Genuine Joe’s (2 percent).
I’m intrigued. I don’t think I’ve ever written at length in a park, a pool or atop a mountain.
[Note: Photo is not from Zilker. It’s from Flickr.]
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April 20, 2010
Stories flow from journalist and teacher
Raising a penciled eyebrow, Anita Brewer Howard pointed to the yellowed newspaper clipping on her dining room table.
Headline: “Dying newspapers don’t go out alone.”
She wrote that commentary about the daily Houston Press’s closing March 20, 1966.
“The death of a newspaper to newspaper people is like a death in the family,” she had written. “Maybe it was a distant cousin who died, a newspaper we didn’t know very well, but yet we feel a sense of loss.”
Under the name Anita Brewer, she served as staff features and education reporter for the Austin American-Statesman from 1954 to 1966. Her first break came during World War II. A student at the University of Texas, she was hired to type the society column for Molly Connor Cook, whose handwritten copy the “back shop” refused to typeset.
On a recent rainy Austin afternoon, Howard was wearing a goldenrod jacket of geometric patterns, accented by coral earrings and necklace. Papers, magazines and books rose in neat stacks throughout her corner house in Wilshire Woods, a mid-century neighborhood just east of Interstate 35.
At the end of the spring semester, Howard will retire from her teaching job at Austin Community College. She joined the college staff in 1973 as public affairs officer and became a full-time journalism teacher in 1984. She partially retired in 1993. Retirement will mean more time for regular poker games with friends, including Emma Long, who became Austin’s first female city council member in 1948. Also for family.
The daughter of rural Lampasas, she bore six children; four of whom survived. She buried three husbands.
She volunteers memories of childhood in the Great Depression. As a school principal, her grandfather was comparatively well-off, so she always carried an apple or orange in her lunch bucket. Other children would beg for the apple core or orange peel.
“People have no idea how bad it was,” she says. “We had the lowest birth rate in the country. I interviewed 1,200 women — a lot of them Catholics — about how and why they didn’t have children. They just didn’t have sex. They were afraid they couldn’t feed their babies!”
Along with raising children in the postwar period, she found time to serve as legislative aide to Rep. Bill Patman (his widow Carrin is still her best friend). She’s always kept busy.
“I never intended to get old,” she says. “That bugs me a lot.”
But this afternoon was for newspaper memories.
“A man came in with a walking dog,” she says. “The reporters in the main section sent him back to us, in the women’s section. The dog actually walked on its hind legs. When he left, one of us said: ‘Why do all the crazies in the world come to the newspaper?’ Another answered: ‘Water seeks its own level.’”
She started on the night shift, writing headlines and filing police reports. “$18 a week,” she remembers. “Six days a week. 3 p.m. to 1 a.m. Those were long days.”
Journalists today imagine postwar newspapers as peopled with hard-drinking, hard-talking men — almost always men — cut from “The Front Page” pattern. Yet Howard says everyone treated her well.
“I felt like everybody’s little sister,” she said. Not that she abstained from fun. Once, as she drank, she told all the men at a party she loved them. A friend offered her a cup of hot coffee. “I don’t want that now,” she said. “Maybe later.” She poured the coffee into her purse. Along with the play came serious reporting. Although she also wrote Sunday features and columns, education was her primary beat. She covered the slow, painful integration of Austin schools.
“Austin was fairly liberal even then,” she says. “The major players, newspapers and TV stations agreed to keep the controversy out of integration reporting.”
She interviewed literary giants Katherine Anne Porter and T.S. Eliot. She couldn’t hide her enthusiasm for poet Eliot, so an editor teased: “I’m a poet, too. T.S./B.S.”
Her biggest scoop was an exclusive interview of Judge Sarah Hughes who administered the oath of office to Lyndon Baines Johnson after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The assignment made her nervous. “How was I supposed to find her?” she says. “I just looked her up in the phone book. She said: ‘Come on over.’ I was the only one there!”
She won numerous prizes, including two for a deadline report on the suicide of her uncle and role model, Stanley Walker, former city editor of the New York Herald Tribune.
Her lead: “Stanley Walker, who loved life on his own terms, ended his life Sunday at his ranch home near Lampasas, just over the hill and across the creek from the place where he was born 64 years ago.”
“When I saw her bylines, I immediately read her stories, trying to pick up pointers,” says Forrest Preece, a retired adman who continues to write articles. “I often wondered what it would be like to observe life, write about what you saw, and get paid for it.”
Another reporter who grew up reading Howard’s stories said she had “wicked wit.”
“No,” Howard demures. “I’m a smart ass, if that’s what they mean.”
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April 16, 2010
The Mill Party at Star Bar
More than 10 years ago, Richard Florida identified the creative class. In his demographic theory, it consists of a super-creative core (researchers, artists) and creative professionals (knowledge-based workers). He predicted that post-industrial cities — like Austin — that nurture openness and creativity would prosper through this class. He has been proven right, for the most part.
Melissa Glynn and Tyler Schmitt
The Mill Party at Star Bar on Thursday convened a tiny fraction of Austin’s creative class. The ostensible reason: To celebrate the union of photographers Tyler Schmitt and Melissa Glynn under the rubric of The Mill Photography Studio. (Mergers make powerful sense in this economy.)
Christen Ales and Kristin Tan
Naturally, writers, event planners, makeup artists, interior designers, lighting experts and allied creatives gathered in the sleek bar, redefined as the anchor for the West Sixth Street district. Lots of talk about architectural photography, business networking and parties — past, present and future. Which reminded me, I was committed to two events at the Texas Hill Country Food and Wine Festival that evening, so …
Jeni Hoover and Martin Pederson
All the best to Tyler, Melissa and crew. Stay creative.
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April 13, 2010
The Rolodex Syndrome
Retiring any address book is a somber affair.
Especially if it contains decades worth of personal contact information, triggering a flood of memories.
I’m slowly vaporizing my data into Apple’s MobileMe cloud. That means relinquishing hundreds, if not thousands of yellowing Rolodex cards collected from my various reporting and editing assignments at the American-Statesman since 1989.
Some belonged to Austin arts groups that didn’t survive the subsequent booms and busts, or transmogrified into something else, or just dropped off my personal radar: Austin Musical Theatre, Frontera @ Hyde Park, New Texas Music Works, AuxTix, Public Domain, Artists Gallery and Studio on Sixth, Johnson/Long Dance Company, Norwood Gallery, Artists Legal and Accounting Assistance, F8 Fine Art Gallery, Admur Gallery, Flamenco Austin, Downstage Players, Austin Arts Consortium, Latino Arts Consortium and Austin Dance Ensemble.
Others were decorated with fanciful, inextinguishable names: Children of Light Players, Dancing with the Sun Gallery, Colonial Shakespeare Company, Play Ground Zero, Pro-Jex Gallery, Subterranean Theatre Company, Moving Stories, Violet Crown Players, Hand to Mouth Puppet Theatre, Lupe Arte, Lyons-Matrix Gallery, Critical Mass Productions, Paradox Players, Galeria Sin Fronteras and a Leap of Art.
Remember this? — Greater Austin Performing Arts Center, or “GAPAC.” Sounds like someone gasping for air. It became the Long Center. Few recall that what is now Texas Performing Arts was known as “COFAPAC,” for College of Fine Arts Performing Arts Center at the University of Texas. That abbreviation suggests instead a corporate-generated breakfast cereal.
Some cards recall writers or editors with whom I once exchanged messages on a daily basis, and now hear from almost never: “A Girl Walks into a Bar” columnist Moira Muldoon, all-star editor Yvette Walker, classical writers Jerry Young, Michael Huebner and Karl Miller, stylish editor Leslie Yazel, classical editor Ann Pyle, dance critic Beth Kerr, prolific arts reporter Rebecca Cohen, artist Christopher Schade, dance writer Marene Gustin, promising editor Alex Hannaford, comedian Laura House.
Others contacts left town, but remain connected through Facebook, etc.: Rae and Sean O’Malley (Hawaii); Bud Coleman (Boulder, Co.); Nancy Schaffer (New York); Richard Runkel (Milwaukee); Dan Fallon (Pittsburgh); Jeff McCrary (Los Angeles); Tommy O’Malley (Boston); Sean Massey (Binghamton, N.Y.); Larry Faulkner (Houston); Brian Lieske (San Francisco); John Walch (New York); Harley Erdman (Northhampton, Mass.), Adrienne Martini (Oneonta, N.Y.) Kate Breakey (Tucson, Ariz.); Michael Guarino (San Antonio); Joe McClain (San Miguel de Allende).
A few cards traced the outlines of major stories I covered.
For a 1990s series on the future of the arts in Austin, I kept track of leaders in Seattle, Nashville, Raleigh-Durham N.C., Portland, Ore., Minneapolis, Minn., Charleston, S.C., Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and elsewhere.
For a gigantic package on the Ransom Center, notations remain for New York, London, Washington D.C. experts.
For articles on the creative class and local gay culture in the 2000s, contacts fan out from Pittsburgh and San Francisco to Los Angeles, Atlanta, Chicago and elsewhere.
The saddest pile of all records the names, addresses, phone numbers, personal Web sites, e-mail addresses and — talk about ancient tools! — fax numbers for the permanently departed.
Just typing the list brings pause: Entertainer and hostess Karen Kuykendall, playwright Horton Foote, Gov. Ann Richards, businessman and power broker Lowell Lebermann, jazz leader Tina Marsh, theater founder Ed Mangum, journalist Molly Ivins, philanthropist Angela Topfer, arts leader Boyd Vance, director Bil Pfuderer, actor Joe York, critic John Bustin, playwright David Mark Cohen, opera singer Gina Ducloux, theater backer W.H. “Deacon” Crain, author Edwin “Bud” Shrake, writer and activist Liz Carpenter.
I puzzled over one such card. How long had it been since I’d talked to dancer, dreamer and cultural enthusiast Gina Lalli? .
The very next morning I spotted her scuttling along the sidewalk outside the Blanton Museum of Art.
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April 9, 2010
Tribeza at By George
When I say it was a good party, you can bet it was a good party.
Todd O’Neill and Malavika Vinta
Tribeza pioneered the media happy hour. These parties launch each of the lifestyle magazine’s issues. They also publicize their advertisers.
Rusty Irons and Lorley Musiol
To traditional journalists, that seemed, early on, a bit like kissing your sister. Now, everybody does it. Only not always as well as Tribeza did at By George on Thursday.
Joe Ross and Kristin Armstrong
Start with the setting: The North Lamar edition of By George is set up for a cocktail party. Islands of clothing and accessories provide traffic medians for mingling guests. And the fashion on the racks amplified the fashion on the revelers.
Camille Styles and Kimberly Chassay
Then there’s Tribeza’s core following: The stylish sets from arts, letters, style, design and nightlife. They were there in force. Some of the top connectors there to toast Carla McDonald’s new arts column. Even former mayor Will Wynn was there, and he’s been out of the limelight for a while now. (Good to have him back!)
Lauren Petrowski and Justin Poses
Once there, however, the guests were enlivened by fare from La Condesa, the still-smoking restaurant in the Second Street District, and offerings from Grey Goose Vodka and King Liquors. (Some may have indulged in a bit too much of the Goose.)
Abraham Padilla and Kim Ngo
But give credit where credit is due: Everybody loves Tribeza editor Lauren Smith Ford. (A subset of us line up to converse with hubbie Bennett Ford.) On first glance, this issue seems a bit thin in terms of substantive articles, but hey, we’re all doing what we can in this uncertain publishing environment.
Jake Holt, Tolly Moseley and Cory Ryan
Meanwhile, Tribeza gave the best happy hour of its life.
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March 17, 2010
SXSW 24: A List: Best Blogger
I swear I didn’t vote in this category. And I didn’t encourage any of my readers to do so. Still, I’m tickled to be included in the company of the obsessive writers in the Best Blogger category.
Our own little Out & About made it into a race with 22 percent of the tally.
Here’s an odd statistic: The next four bloggers tied exactly at just over 8 percent — In the Pink, Ain’t It Cool, Austin Tidbits and Grits for Breakfast.
MeanRachel.com, who does me the honor of commenting on my tweets periodically, linked to 6 percent. Pink Dome, Community Matters and Austinist’s Allen Y. Chen rounded out the list with 3 percent or less.
Permalink | | Categories: Media, SXSW, Your A-List
March 15, 2010
SXSW 12: Texas Social Media Awards at Cedar Door
The Austin American-Statesman is rightly proud of its pioneering efforts online. It operates among the first newsrooms nationally to erase the distance between its print and online efforts — everything is geared for online first. It also created the first newspaper social media editor, filled immediately by Rob Quigley.
Amy Grace Tharp, Doug Ulman, Lauren Willis and Katherine McLane
Rob dreamed up the Texas Social Media Awards. In keeping with the Statesman’s trailblazing efforts, it was, last year, the first of its kind in the state. In the second year, 25 winners from around Texas were recognized, and Gowalla Inc.’s Josh Williams won the overall honor. (His company is already among the buzziest at SXSW.)
Alan and Tricia Graham
As someone who has helped produce an awards ceremony for 20 years, I was impressed, first by the attendance of the winners, gathered from as far away as El Paso. Also, the ease with which the event slipped into the Cedar Door. Those most interested in the awards mingled on the patio, others ducked inside for some (spare) eats.
Ixchel Granada del Rayo and Monica Williams
I talked with some personal heroes, such as “Austin City Limits” producer Terry Lickona, Livestrong’s Doug Ulman and Mobile Loaves and Fishes’ Alan Graham. Others, such as Katherine McLane, (pregnant) Ixchel Granada del Rayo and Monica Williams were darling enough to spend considerable time with me.
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March 10, 2010
Not SXSW: Your A List: Best Statesman Columnist
I suppose I could have abstained from reporting the results of this week’s A List readers poll for Best Statesman Columnist. Conflict of interest, and all.
(What many people don’t know, he’s one of the kindest, most thoughtful reporters in the newsroom, too. Funny in person.)
The newspaper’s first certified digital star, Addie Broyles, who leads Austin’s food-blogging mob into the future, pulled in 13 percent.
Longtime sports columnist Kirk Bohls came in third with 12 percent. (I once said, almost 20 years ago, I wanted to grow up to be the Kirk Bohls of the arts.)
Marques Harper and I virtually tied at 8 percent, which is fitting, since we’re often at the same social events and we started our current columns around the same time.
Chris Garcia’s film column, Cedric Golden’s sports column, Ben Wear’s transportation column, Andrea Ball’s charity column and Jason Embry’s newly minted political column followed in descending order.
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March 6, 2010
Tribeza Issue Launch at the Gibson
On Thursday, the new Tribeza hit the stands. Yes, despite the public and acrimonious split among the owners, the pioneering Austin lifestyle magazine launched its 103rd issue. Please don’t ask us to take sides. We like all the principals.
Graydon Parrish, Eddie Safady and Skeeter Miller
The launch party was held at Gibson Bar, the buzzy new bar across South Lamar Boulevard from Alamo Drafthouse and Highball. Master designer Joel Mozersky’s inspiration was the movie “There Will Be Blood,” and there’s a dark, leathery, California mining country feel to the unobtrusive space.
Joel Mozersky and Ben Brown
Making the rounds, I’m afraid I failed to express my condolences to Skeeter Miller about the accidental death of his County Line Barbecue business partner Randy “Rib King” Goss in February. Still, I did congratulate him on critic Mike Sutter’s glowing — and glowingly written — Restaurant Week review in 360.
Bennett and Lauren Ford
SoLa is throbbing with energy and new businesses like Gibson Bar are taking advantage of it. The only missing element: Pedestrian improvements. It would make sense, for instance, to meet for a cocktail at Gibson before dashing to a movie at Alamo. Don’t try it on foot. South Lamar is a traffic monster.
A final note on the name: Prior to attending the Tribeza event, I assumed the name Gibson came from “Gibson Girl” or the like. No, the bar sits on the corner of Lamar and Gibson Street, which stops and starts all through the Bouldin neighborhood.
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March 3, 2010
Your A-List: Best Comic Book Store
Who would have predicted that, in 2010, comic books, aka graphic novels, would be bigger than ever, far exceeding their reach to primarily preteen boys 50 or 60 years ago? Now they are an enduring, influential and even cutting-edge part of global culture. (Quick, list the number of movies and TV shows either based on or inspired by comics.)
Iconic Dragon’s Lair fired up 25 percent. Capstone Comics smacked down 12 percent. Half-Price Books — which carries everything printed — 10 percent.
Comics and More flipped 8 percent. Four percent or less went to Bee Cave Comics and Games and First Federal.
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February 18, 2010
Winter Reading Week 2010, Post No. 4
The books of the 2010 Winter Reading Week, a partial list.
“The Man Who Ate Everything” by Jeffrey Steingarten
“A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle
“Soul Mountain” by Gao Xingjian
“The Children’s Book” by AS Byatt
“A Viagem do Elefante” by Jose Saramagao
“A Cook’s Memoir” by Jacques Pepin
“Close to the Knives” by David Wojnarowicz
“My Life in France” by Julia Child
“Moo” by Jane Smiley
“The Devil in the Hills” by Cesare Pavese
“Ana em Veneza” by Joao Silvero Trevisan
“A Spinoza Reader” ed. by Edwin Curley
“History of the Balkan Peninsula” by Ferdinand Schevill
“When You are Engulfed in Flames” by David Sedaris
“The Eye of Jade” by Diane Wei Liang
“The Memoirs of a Beautiful Boy” by Robert Leleax
“Sugarless” by James Magruder
“Horton Foote: America’s Storyteller” by Wilborn Hampton
“Blood and Money” by Thomas Thompson
“A Wanderer in the Perfect City” by Lawrence Weschler
“The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch
“Uncharitable” by Dan Pallotta
“Cosmic Trigger” by David Anton Wilson
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by Stieg Lars
“Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man” by Steve Harvey
“Life in a Medieval Castle” by Joseph and Frances Gies
“A Man in Full” by Tom Wolfe
“Cultural Amnesia” by Clive James
“The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke”
“A Wedding in December” by Anita Shreve
Note: Iris Murdoch always comes first, since her “The Book and the Brotherhood” inspired the original Reading Weekend, which became the Reading Week.
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February 17, 2010
Winter Reading Week 2010, Post No. 3
The magazines of the 2010 Winter Reading Week, a partial list, and a peek into our collective interests.
The Economist
The Atlantic
Harper’s
The New Republic
New York
Texas Monthly
Esquire
People
Travel + Leisure
Harper’s Bazaar
Car & Driver
Automobile
News China
The American Scholar
The Globe
National Enquirer
Art Lies
Art + Auction
Metropolitan Home
Dwell
Out
The Advocate
Details
The New York Review of Books
Miller-McCune
Wallpaper
Town & Country
Brilliant
LifeExtension Magazine
Note: Be sure to read the rave review of the Blanton Museum of Art in the Feb. 18 issue of The New Republic. Jed Perl brackets it with the Kimbell and the Menil. That’s the highest praise I could ever summon.
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February 10, 2010
Your A List: Best Newscast
What constitutes an ideal local newscast? I’m not sure I can enumerate the elements. At the very least, I want to be engaged. I’d also like to be informed. I’d rather not be irritated. Ideally, I suppose, I’d like to be compelled by the newscast to watch and listen.
Fox 7 followed not so far behind with 27 percent. KXAN (NBC) didn’t do too shabbily with 10 percent. KEYE (CBS) managed more than half that with 11 percent.
Finishing with 5 percent or less were News 8 Austin (Time Warner Cable); Telemundo Austin (2 percent) and KAKW (Univision) at less than 1 percent.
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February 9, 2010
Anika Kunik Reading & Reception at Ranch 616
Originally from Belgium, Anika Kunik is an actress, author, producer, activist and mother. Her comic, semi-fictional memoir/novel, “Forty-five-1/2 Lovers: The Tragic Sex Chronicles of Amanda Buffington,” is the talk of certain social circles.
Pam Blanton and Anika Kunik
“I know at least three of the lovers,” said one guest at the Kunik reading and reception at Ranch 616 on Monday. Another interjected: “I don’t know him, but I’d sure like to meet the personal trainer.”
Mary Elizabeth Parr and Elizabeth Parr
The slim book is brisk, light and funny, condensed into romantic — or not so romantic — episodes. Reading through it, I thought something was missing. That something turns out to be Kunik. Her reading from the Ranch 616 bar was just the sort of dramatic interpretation one would expect from an accomplished actress.
Anika Kunik, Turk Pipkin and Christy Pipkin
Turk Pipkin, one of my tablemates, suggested she contract a screenwriter for an adaptation. My other table conspirators, fueled by signature drinks inspired by the characters, threw out names of stars who could play Amanda/Anika — Meg Ryan, Jennifer Aniston, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Cameron Diaz.
Charla wood and Jane Wu
I met the thoroughly fascinating Elizabeth Parr, mother of event planner and public relations ace Pam Blanton, and also of sweet Mary Elizabeth Parr. Yes, they are related to the famous Parrs of South Texas, but I’m not sure about connections to the Blantons of Houston.
Judy Marquez and Cathy Waks
Others at my table included Cash Edwards (furious about the Cactus Cafe crisis); Sara Fox (a blessing whenever I see her across a crowded room); Christy Pipkin (forever under-credited in her endeavors with husband Turk); as well as Judy Marquez and Cathy Waks. On my way out, greeting my Marfa playmate Gail Papermaster, she introduced my to Jane Sibley’s son and his Alpine wife. Must get to know them better!
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February 8, 2010
HomeAway Super Bowl Party at Molotov
While 200 or so guests pushed into the Molotov club on West Sixth Street for HomeAway’s Super Bowl Party, 25 employees held down the office fort. That’s because a commercial during the third quarter — HomeAway’s first of a kind — could have jammed their Web site if not carefully monitored.
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Steve Moreno and Jaime Dito
At Molotov, the mood was exultant. Guests dressed in costumes from the “National Lampoon’s Vacation” series. You see, the HomeAway ad was filmed like a trailer for a Vacation iteration — with Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo — sending TV watchers to the vacation rental listing’s site for a more complete mini-movie.
Emma, Brian and Chloe Sharples
I was forced to make a terrible confession: I’d never seen a “Vacation” comedy. Not one. I’m pretty sure I know the basic set-up. But even liking Chase and D’Angelo a lot, I never bothered. (I think I was deep into graduate studies back then.) So, a cultural Achilles Heel.
Toni Houghton and Amber Cope
That didn’t ruin the fun at Molotov. “It’s been stressful,” said HomeAway CEO Brian Sharples, cutting cake with his family. “But the media buzz alone is worth it.”
Stephanie Gutierrez and Patricia de la Garza
I’d guess the HomeAway crowd went 90 percent for the Saints. But they also were behind the ad and waited with just as much anticipation for the short commercial. Even though they grew comparatively hushed during the rip on bad hotel experiences, I couldn’t hear the dialog. So I’ll look it up online.
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February 3, 2010
Winston Bode 1925-2010
Winston Bode, Austin journalist, broadcaster and biographer, died of in a nursing home on Monday. He was 84.
Born on April 29, 1925 in Kerrville, Bode was best known for “Capital Eye,” an interview program featuring political reporters that aired on various local channels for 17 years from 1969 to 1986.
“In that day and time, it was significant,” said journalist Ernie Stromberger of Bode’s show, comparing it to “Meet the Press.”
Bode, who also appeared on radio and wrote newspaper stories, interviewed Nelson Rockefeller, Marilyn Monroe, Katherine Anne Porter and Elvis Presley during his long career after graduating from the University of Texas with a degree in English.
He also published a biography of legendary Texas folklorist and teacher J. Frank Dobie entitled “A Portrait of Pancho.” The two, who shared a background in Texas ranching culture, remained friends for years.
“He was a pioneer,” said public relations expert Eric Webber. “As a journalist, he had more of a literary style.”
“He was a guy who loved every kind of journalism,” said his son, Todd Bode. “His favorites were the personal-interest stories.”
Bode was married to Mary Jane Bode, a reporter who later served as state representative from Austin from 1977 to 1980. They had divorced in 1968; she died from cancer in 1998.
In later years, Bode put out a political newsletter, contributed freelance columns to various media - using his trusted manual typewriter - and delivered commentaries on News8Austin.
“Actually, he was a wonderful man with a lot of knowledge of people,” said Charmaine Bode, his daughter-in-law.
Besides Todd and Charmaine, Bode is survived by daughter Georgianne Bode Harms of Barrington, Ill., five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
A family memorial service is planned.
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February 2, 2010
Building an Austin Social Library (2)
This entry adapts — and builds upon — material from an earlier post.
Like many people, my curiosity about books spans a world of interests. Yet a subset of my reading list specifically informs my reporting on Austin’s social scene. The following titles, read in the past few months, feed that function.
Roy Bedichek’s precise observations on natural life in “Adventures with a Texas Naturalist” remind us that today’s debates about the environment started well before any of us were born. Walter Prescott Webb’s prose is as flat, arid and challenging as the High Plains, but his library-bound research can’t be beat. Like virtually all general histories of the region, “The Great Plains” generously credits Native American, Mexican and Tejano contributions. J. Frank Dobie’s intellectual journey was recently chronicled in Steven Davis’ “J Frank Dobie: A Liberated Mind.” The folklorist’s style might seem a bit stilted, boyish by today’s standards, but his once popular subject matter can be easily sampled in the anthology “I’ll Tell You a Tale.”
Texas and beyond — Although Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth, San Antonio and the Valley have cultivated social scenes distinct from Austin’s, many if not most locals came from somewhere else in Texas. So it never hurts to read about the families and stories that helped shape those regions.
On the surface, Robert Rivard’s “Trail of Feathers” is a spellbinding story about the San Antonio editor’s search for his missing reporter, Philip True, and his fight for justice in the labyrinth of Mexico’s legal system. But it also reveals minute ruptures in the social strata of Texas, the Border, Guadalajara and Mexico City, as well as along the Huichol sierra. Thomas Thompson’s “Blood and Money” is an older true-crime story worthy of a second read, stripping away the blinders from Houston’s River Oaks society in the 1970s. Bryan Burrough’s “The Big Rich,” which follows the families who made the first fortunes in the Texas oilfields, then turned them into political power, deserves whatever sustained attention it can receive. I spread copies of it around my Houston family as holiday conversation fodder.
Pure Austin, yesterday and today — Billy Lee Brammers “The Gay Place” is often cited as the Austin novel. It is novelistic. And it gets political Austin in the late 1950s dead to rights. One must swim through a lot of existential partying to get there. But that’s Austin, too. Sarah Bird’s “How Perfect Is That” uses a lighter touch to contrast Bush-era Pemberton with everlasting, funky co-op lifestyle in West Campus (returning to land of “Alamo House”). Bird’s picaresque grasp of comic characters and plot is up there with Armistead Maupin and John Kennedy Toole’s. (Why wasn’t this serialized? Or was it?) The title is silly, but Joe B. Frantz’s “The Forty Acre Follies” is the most complete, entertaining — and satisfying — history of the University of Texas. The fact that UT boss Frank Erwin’s allies tried to suppress it, only makes the volume more valuable.
Ending this short list with David Humphrey’s “Austin: An Illustrated History” seems like a cop-out. Still, this picture book that I formerly used only as a reference work hangs together pretty well as history.
Recently, Danny Camacho, who hails from a distinguished Austin family and has been named an outstanding volunteer at the Austin History Center, suggested that the city name its own official historian. I’d say the first person to best Humphrey’s honorable, but incomplete work — in book form — deserves a nomination.
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January 27, 2010
Your A-List: Best Radio Station-Sponsored Event
When the results of Your A List’s Best Radio Station-Sponsored Event contest popped onto my screen, I breathed a sigh of relief. The winners are indeed popular Austin social intersections, most often combined with live music. (What if they were unknown, rogue events? What would I do?)
KVET’s casual series of free concerts behind Hill’s on South Congress Avenue strummed up 11 percent. (Check on parking in advance.)
Scampy Bobby Bones headlines two events: Second-Chance Prom (7 percent) and Anniversary Bash (5 percent). 101X also landed two events among the finalists: Homegrown Live (5 percent) and X-Mas Party (3 percent).
That leaves JB and Sandy’s Beach Party (6 percent), Mix 94.7’s Pink Slip Party (5 percent) and Bobaritaville (2 percent).
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January 23, 2010
Brilliant Social at the Phoenix
This is what Brilliant does. The statewide luxury magazine brings together the acknowledged wealthy and powerful with the permanent party pack and the buy-curious circus (those shopping for a social set). All tribes were present at the Brilliant social on Thursday at the always evolving Phoenix club.
Justin Kirk and Former Texas Secretary of State Geoff Connor
Brilliant publisher Lance Avery Morgan is capable of crossing so many social boundaries, the admixture doesn’t implode. Let’s examine Group 1 (Triple A), rarely seen in a dance club, but having a swell time: Jo Anne Christian (!), Bobbi and Mort Topfer, Patty and James Huffines, Mary and Rusty Tally, Maria and Eric Groten, Andrea and Dean McWilliams, Geoff Connor, Linda Ball and Forrest Preece, Larry Connelly and Sara Fox. (And those are just the ones that come to mind 36 hours later.)
Zach Biderman and Andrea Rado
Then there’s the social migrants (straight and gay, and some on official observer status): Rich Bailey (flourishing since he left the mayor’s office), Chris Cantoya, Laura Aidan, Christopher Carbone, Marques Harper, Holly Jackson, Kevin Smothers, Michael Pungello, Jen Shoemaker and more.
Bradley Bechtol and Laura Bechtol
I’ve never quite sure to make of the “buy-curious” crowd, who arrive alert to an event’s potential, but don’t really mingle with the others. They often make up a third or more of population of these parties, but I just haven’t met them yet. Time will come.
Patty and James Huffines
Among the attractions were the celebrity DJs, who really cut loose in the booth. It got a little loud and raucous in the there. More than one socialite was seen dancing on pedestals. We like that.
Asa Fitzsimons and Sara Fox
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January 13, 2010
Your A-List: Best Sportscaster
Come on! Mike Barnes, what happened? Sharing a name with the newspaper’s social columnist was not enough? I can’t believe you didn’t win. Punishment laps for you, sport.
KVUE’s Mr. Barnes did very well, placing second in the A List reader poll for Best Sportscaster, racking up 32 percent of the vote.
But the winner is KXAN’s Roger Wallace, pictured, who stretched for 37 percent.
FOX 7’s Dave Cody and KEYE’s Bob Ballou were neck and neck for third place, taking 14 percent and 12 percent respectively.
News 8’s Jeff Power rounded out the list with 5 percent.
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January 10, 2010
L Style G Style Issue Launch at Four Hands
Among Austin’s slicks — magazines printed on high-quality paper — Tribeza, Rare and L Style G Style seem to be in the same stylistic league. Tribeza, under new ownership, is serious about fashion and design in all their manifestations. Rare seems to be about youth, and that rarefied experience of living in Austin at this very moment, which is one reason why they stage such spectacular parties (oh my!).
Nick Lopez and Lauren St. Pierre
L Style G Style, despite its name, is more about community. Pick up the current January/February issue. The cover photographs and design presenting Armando Zambrano and Valerie Espinosa are the essence of taste, but they are more than that. They highlight two crucial members of your community, both in the health care industry.
Dianna Alonzo and Brittany Padilla
Now I adore all three magazines. Let’s get that straight. But there’s something about L Style’s long-range plans that make me glow with pride. And I felt that when some 400 or so people showed up at Four Hands furniture showroom for the issue launch.
Lily Gomez and Lloyd Heckman
For one thing — and this is no small matter — the men and women from the gay community were pretty evenly matched, and they blended with straight allies. Also, they were gathered at a place known for its fair trade practices with the developing world and its creative marketing strategies.
Stephen Morse and Chantal Rice
Let’s not forget the Bollywood theme, as dancers not only performed in the basic, modernized Indian style, but they invited guests up on the stage with them. A delight!
Steve Olivares and Josh Allen
So many of the people we lingered with — Bettie Naylor, Stephen Moser, Alisa Weldon, Seabrook Jones, Libby Sykora, Kevin Smothers, Lynn Yeldell, Stephen Rice, Michael Pungello, Scott Dinger, Oliver Everette, Lonny Stern — have been friends for a long time. Yet I also introduced myself to dozens of strangers, something shy people like myself don’t always do.
Jacob Wilson and Dustin Wills
It felt fine. If they are at an L Style event, they are good people. That’s my take. And don’t try to start an argument over it!
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January 8, 2010
The ebb and flow of real life for 'Friday Night Lights'
“Friday Night Lights” has run long enough to record a string of beginnings and endings.
Newborn Luca Verde was selected appear in the series’ season finale when it was filmed back in November. Son of Austin’s Kevin Verde, chief technical officer for the Jason’s Deli chain, and his wife, Jen, Luca was chosen from images casting directors found at Pinkle Toes Photography.
“We watch little TV and actually never saw ‘Friday Night Lights’ before,” said dad Kevin Verde. “This just sounded like an experience that would be cool for his baby album.”
In sadder FNL news, a fire destroyed the Dallas apartment of Liz Mikel, who plays Smash’s mother on the series. Mikel told NBC’s Dallas/Fort Worth news affiliate that she had lost everything.
“Memories from ‘Friday Night Lights,’ signatures, scripts that I had saved — all of that, gone,” she said. “But I am grateful to be here. I could be gone.”
Mikel escaped harm with her daughter, Lindsay, and Lindsay’s 1-year-old son.
Photo: © Cheryl Muhr Photography
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January 4, 2010
My New Year's Word
We don’t make new year’s resolutions. Too easy to break.
Instead, for almost 20 years, we’ve chosen new year’s words. These syllables color the next 12 months, without forcing particular, easy-to-avoid actions.
My word for 2010: SLOW.
Rough estimates for 2009: Attended more than 1,000 organized social events. (25 one weekend alone!) Perhaps another 500 informal ones.
Saw two dozen movies, two dozen sporting events, three dozen arts events, four dozen musical acts.
Read more than 300 magazines, but only 20 or so books.
Number of Austin restaurants, bars, clubs and coffee shops patronized: More than 300.
Walked 1,500 miles, mostly in Central Austin. Drove more than 4,000 highway miles, mostly in Texas, staying in dozens of small towns.
Posted more than almost 1,000 updates on Out & About; many more on Facebook and Twitter. Published more than 150 print columns.
Number of party pictures published with Thursday’s columns: More than 600. Published online with blog: More than 2,000.
Number of Facebook friends: More than 3,300. Number of Twitter followers: More than 2,400.
And my editors say I’m obsessed with numbers! Sadly, they are right.
In fact, every six months for the past 20 years, my supervisors have staged mild interventions, urging me to listen to that word that — with any luck — will enrich my 2010: SLOW.
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December 30, 2009
Your A-List: Best Local Web Site
We blush at the results.
Thanks folks.
Also, it’s not beyond reason that the same readers might apply 13 percent of their vote to austin360.com’s sister site, statesman.com.
Tying for third place in the A List competition were social media activists Austinist.com and Do512.com, each rallying 11 percent.
Two print publications with online presences — TexasMonthly.com and AustinChron.com — followed with 10 percent and 7 percent.
Not far behind: News8Austin.com, BurntOrangeReport.com, LonghornNation.com and DailyTexanOnline.com.
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December 28, 2009
Building a Texas Social Library
The eternal question: What came before?
Reporting on Austin’s social scene, one wants to know about people, places and parties in ancestral, modern and contemporary Texas society.
Thus, my once and future reading list, posted below. Additions welcome.
“The Gay Place” by Billy Lee Brammer (Texas Monthly Press). The most praised novel set in Austin. Brammer certainly mastered a novelist’s style and the people and places are easily identified. (LBJ characterized as Arthur Fenstemaker is masterly.) Boozy.
“Adventures with a Texas Naturalist” by Roy Bedichek (University of Texas Press) Required reading for anyone interested in the natural settings of Texas. Can’t believe I waited until age 55 to read it. Philosophical in just the right measures. He doesn’t always come to the conclusions one might expect.
“The Big Rich” by Bryan Burrough (Penguin Press) Ever wonder where all that Texas wealth came from? And where it went? Burrough constructs a terrific, interconnected history around Hunt, Cullen, Richardson, Bass, McCarthy and others who were just names to most of us. Don’t think their oil antics didn’t affect Austin. The political and social residue remains in our mouths nationally and internationally.
On the bedside table:
“How Perfect is That” by Sarah Bird (Pocket). A novel about Austin society? By one of Austin’s favorite authors? How could we pass it by?
“Blood and Money” by Thomas Thompson (Doubleday). A crackling good true-crime tale about wealth and murder in River Oaks. Loved it 30 years ago, and the TV movie with Farrah Fawcett and Sam Elliott. Time to read again.
“The Great Plains” By Walter Prescott Webb (University of Nebraska) and “Tell Me a Tale” by J. Frank Dobie (Little, Brown). More historical background from Bedichek’s UT buddies.
“Blessed McGill” by Edwin “Bud” Shrake (Southwestern Writers Collection). Ran into Bud all the time before his death. Never read his novels. Shame on me.
Also, the Dalleck and Caro books on LBJ, eventually.
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December 11, 2009
Gilt Groupe Reception for Bridie Clark
‘Wyatt, sweetie, please! I can’t breath if you are mad at me!” Wyatt Hayes IV lit his Dunhill, struggling to keep the expression on his face placid. The girl in front of him — stunning, lithe as an island cat, eight years his junior — looked to be in almost as much discomfort as she deserved. And true enough, as the party music throbbed and the extravagant crowd milled around them, she did appear to be moments away from hyperventilation.”
Bridie Clark and Lettie Hale
Thus opens Bridie Clark’s “The Overnight Socialite,” a novel published by Weinstein Books. A Harvard University graduate who has written for The New York Times, Vanity Fair and New York magazine, Clark has already tucked one book, “Because She Can,” under her designer belt. Her second novel is retelling of the Pygmalion tale among the East Coast upper crust.
Christine Perrault Moline and Elizabeth Serrato
I can’t claim to have read it yet. Clark was the guest, however, of the local chapter of the Gilt Groupe, a club that discounts luxury brands. I’ve arrived at Malverde, the “in” lounge above La Condesa, at the invitation of local luminaries Andrea McWilliams and Anne Elizabeth Wynn.
Kelly Jackson and Sally Jackson
I ran into the Midlife Gals, Kelly Jackson and Sally Jackson, whose multi-platform sister act keeps Austin awesome. Sally shared her good news about a promising audition for the Coen brothers’ “True Grit,” which will shoot in the Austin area. (Texas seems their second home, ever since “Blood Simple,” their first feature.)
Alexandra Saenz, Malavika Vinta and Jennifer Marsh
Spent the shortest time with Christine Perrault Moline, Elizabeth Serrato and Elizabeth Hufnagel — if you can find a prettier three in town, tell me. Yet the most promising conversation was engaged with Kristin McCullar and her friend Darlene Fiske.
Kimberly Strenk, Kristin McCullar and Darlene Fiske
McCuller won my heart when she noted how the catered cupcakes were either untouched or nibbled. “In Steiner, the cupcakes are the first to go,” he quipped. She proceeded to fill me in on the social scene out at Steiner Ranch, including an informal cougar night at a suburban eatery. Must investigate. (Future column alert.)
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December 2, 2009
Your A-List: Best Magazine
The granddaddy of regional magazines, Texas Monthly, is always the favorite to win any Best Magazine contest in this part of the world. It took a full 32 percent of the vote in our recent A-List poll.
Austin Monthly, for instance, pulled 25 percent of the tally, while the Austin American-Statesman’s own Glossy brought in 17 percent.
(A reminder that the author of Out & About, which often appears in Glossy, does not vote in the A-List polls.)
Other contestants — Austin Music + Entertainment, Misprint, Tribeza, Brilliant, Rare, Austin Fit and L Style G Style — made 8 percent or less.
Believe me, your Out & About columnists reads them all — also Austin Monthly Home and Austin Woman — and they are the key decor on my newsroom desk.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Media, Your A-List
November 25, 2009
Your A-List: Best Radio Station
KLBJ-FM was once owned by a president’s family. It’s now run by Indianapolis, Ind.-based media conglomerate Emmis Communications. The classic rock broadcaster won the A-List readers poll for best radio station with 24 percent of the vote.
KGSR, which just lost its longtime leader, Jody Denberg, and moved its position on the dial, registered a strong second with 19 percent. Competing for third place were KUT, 101X and Newsradio 590.
The next step down belonged to KVET, BOB-FM, 96.7 KISS-FM and Mix 94.7. Filling out the bottom of the chart were KASE 101, KOOP and KTSW.
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November 24, 2009
People, Parties, Places, Part 2
For Part 1 of “People, Parties, Places,” scroll down to the previous post, or go here.
Oh, right. Just like Out & About.
Babe Paley leads off the chapter titled “The Women.” Capote’s Black and White Ball is chronicled in “The Parties.” Charlotte Rampling poses nude atop a table in “The Actresses.” Mick Jagger and Texan Jerry Hall’s Japanese-inspired house on the Caribbean Island of Mustique lands in “The Places.” Kicky Shalom Harlow and Amber Valletta pop off the pages of “Muses and Models.”
OK, so, in Austin, I know some attractive, celebrated people. I’ve attended some swell parties. I’ve hung out in some pretty cool places.
But nothing on this Vogue scale, please believe me. Perhaps some readers imagine my life unfolds like the pages of “The World.” It does not.
I’m just as likely to inhabit a dive on Red River Street as a hipster joint on South Congress Avenue. I’m as satisfied eating tacos from a trailer on Riverside Drive as dining on duck at Hudson’s on the Bend out Lakeway way. Costumed revelries at spectacular Old Enfield homes only break up a succession of bungalow mixers, backyard barbecues, kitchen coffee klatches, condo cocktail parties, and beers on the patio or porch.
Out & About is about Austin and thus reflects that reality. Not Vogue’s. I calculate I’ve met some 20,000 people in the past two years. No dukes or earls. No New York super-models or Hollywood super-royalty. And that suits me just fine.
With luck, I’ll get around to the other 1,580,000 of you in the coming Out & About years.
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People, Parties, Places, Part 1
“I’ve been following your social column forever!”
I field that tender compliment more often than you’d think. Trouble is, Out & About is only two years old, at least in print. Maybe it just feels like forever.
During the 15 months that I’ve devoted to Out & About full-time, the blog and column have evolved, too, spinning off regular features: Austin celebrity roundups, weekend rewind galleries, live chats, club crawls, neighborhood walks, guest blogs and permutations on the Fortunate 500.
Settling into the beat, I decided that the three weekly print columns needed informal themes. Defining Austin by its social connections requires a certain organizational effort, after all.
So, Tuesdays, it’s usually about people. Thursdays, parties. Sundays, places. A nice rhythm there: People, parties, places.
Almost as soon as that idea lodged in my brain, a heavy package arrived from the Knopf publishing house: “The World in Vogue: People, Parties, Places.”
There really is nothing new under the sun, I suppose.
True to the titular fashion magazine, which Condé Nast acquired 100 years ago, “The World” is mostly pictures. Handsome, historical, evocative pictures of — don’t be too surprised! — people, parties and places.
More to come …
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November 22, 2009
Winkelmans, Bohls, Byrne-Reed & Blade
Just re-read that subject line. Sounds like a law firm.
Meet the Winkelmans: Family infuses philanthropy, business savvy into endeavors
Everett Bohls, lover of the land, honored by family with wildflower donation
The Manor Reborn: Restoring the Byrne-Reed House
The shrinking gay media — and what that means
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November 21, 2009
Q Avenue Party at Sister's Edge 2
Q Avenue is not “Avenue Q.”
I figured that out on my own. (Not bad, huh?)
This also gave us a third chance to check out Our Town’s newest — and only — lesbian bar. Although this time, early on a Friday evening, it was 90-percent populated with men.
Dominic Miller and Alan McLaughlin (pictured) are the men behind Austin’s Q Avenue Productions. It’s a Web site development and design company. The business also deals in marketing, logos, images, event planning and everything domain related.
“We’re not Muppets,” McLaughlin says. “We predate the musical. But when it became a hit, our hits went through the roof. We don’t mind.”
“And they don’t mind us,” Miller says. “They even gave us free tickets to raffle. We didn’t win. We’ve never seen the show!”
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November 18, 2009
Your A-List: Best Bookstore
In a city that worships local businesses, you could pretty much bet your life that BookPeople would win the A-List reader poll for Best Bookstore. The Austin institution shelved a full 47 percent of the vote.
Mega-chains Barnes & Noble and Borders landed respectably at 10 and 6 percent. All the rest — 12th Street Books, Moneywrench, Austin Books and Comics, Brave New Books, Resistencia and Domy — achieved 2 percent or less.
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The shrinking gay media -- and what that means
Newspapers convey a concrete sense of time and place.
So the American gay community lost some of its orientation this week when its oldest and most comprehensive newspaper, the Washington Blade, closed its doors.
The Houston Voice had already closed. The Dallas Voice appears healthy.
Now, Austin lost its serious-minded Texas Triangle years ago. Yet the national failures — Washington Blade employees plan a replacement newspaper — affect the GLBT community here as well.
Respected Austin syndicated gay-press writer Ann Rostow wrote an impassioned piece on the shrinking opportunities for gay reporters and editors, while over at KOOP Radio, OutCast hosts Heath Riddles, Kate Messer and Stephen Rice discussed the wider implications on the air Tuesday. (I was a guest.)
It would be easy enough to blame the shrinking print industry, or the decline of advertising in general. Sharp questions should be asked about Window Media’s business model and the viability of niche publications, especially when the mainstream media shoulders more and more of the reporting on GLBT issues.
One issue won’t go away: The inevitable evolution of gay culture as the community becomes more assimilated. Austin could be a test case for this phenomenon. Because of the city’s open nature, the gay community here never developed a ghetto mentality, with strictly separate neighborhoods, businesses and organizations.
Austin’s gay culture is so deeply entwined with Austin culture, it’s hard to unravel the strands.
Here’s what I hear gay people say they want: Equal protection under the law, first, but also the freedom to associate with their straight counterparts in the city they love, while preserving some semblance of a distinct gay culture.
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November 7, 2009
L Style G Style 2nd Anniversary Party at Mercury Hall
In Houston during the 1970s, one could break down the gay social scene into the Powerful, the Fashionable, the Purposeful and the Individuals.
Oliver Everette and Alisa Weldon
In Austin during the 2000s, one could discern all those attributes in a gay crowd at Mercury Hall. Here, however, everyone shares them.
Mary Coronado and Donna Miller
The occasion was the 2nd anniversary of L Style, G Style, the upscale lifestyle magazine that chronicles the lesbian and gay community.
Hedda Layne and Troy Warden
The theme was “black and white” — thanks to a pre-party note from Brenda Thompson, I was appropriately attired — and the powerful, fashionable, purposeful individuals looked impeccable.
Will Lucas and Carlos Platero
I talked to newcomers, short-timers and veterans of the social scene, as the Tipsy Texans served Boy George cocktails …
James and Miryam Arosemena
A veil of enchantment fell on the graceful Mercury Hall grounds.
Brandon Lewis, Dr. John Hogg and Chey Hollowell
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November 4, 2009
Texas Tribune Launch at the Belmont
Now that was a mob …
John Thornton and Evan Smith
Delegates from Law, Media and Business thronged to the Belmont on Tuesday to smash a figurative champagne bottle over the Texas Tribune’s bow …
Dean and Andrea McWilliams
A nonprofit, online newspaper that covers public policy has been a years-long daydream for Austin Ventures partner John Thornton …
Kate Hersch and Richard Saja
With corporate and private donations — prompted by Thornton’s own $1 million+ ante — the Tribune is off and running …
Cynthia Baker and Whurley
As usual for major meet-ups at the Belmont, the front courtyard was shoulder-to-shoulder, but the upper decks and inside spaces promised room to breathe, nibble and sip …
Matt Waite (Hot Type Consulting), Kerri Taylor and Brandon Taylor (Tribune developer)
I talked to journalists, some formerly of the Statesman, others cherry-picked by Tribune captain Evan Smith for the new project …
Priya Nihalani and Ken Miller
Also present were publicists, lobbyists, politicians and, especially, a lot of techies …
Mark Oberholzer and Leigh Hopper
As a digital-only newspaper, the Tribune has attracted the attention and help of open-source, design and development wizards (like Mr. Whurley, already moving into alternate reality field) …
Thom Singer, Susanna Hamner and Lance Avery Morgan
News and social junkies like your columnist will keep an eye on the Tribune as it sails out into the wide, wide world of journalistic discovery.
Laura Scanlan Cho and Kenneth Cho
Ben Hine and Ximena Estrada
Steve Moakley and Natalie Bell
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October 31, 2009
First Edition Literary Gala at the Four Seasons
Each Austin scene ripens in its own time …
Heidie Marquez Smith and Clay Smith
Law and Education in the Ancestral Era. … Business and Sports in the Modern Era. … Music, Movies, Arts and Food early in the Contemporary Era. … Style, Charity, Nightlife and Media in the late Contemporary Era …
Jordan Sinclair and Brian Ferguson (who knew whom to know at the gala)
Almost simultaneously, the digital and literary subsets of the Media scene have emerged from their dormant state during the last 10 years, as chronicled by outgoing American-Statesman books reporter/editor Jeff Salamon …
Leslie Callahan and Deborah Treece (Representing Ancestral Austin!)
Salamon absolutely defined the phenomenon in today’s newspaper. He tied the fresh literary scene — building on mounds of tradition — to the Texas Book Festival, Michener Center for Writers, Ransom Center, Southwestern Writers Collection, Texas Monthly and Texas Writers League …
Janie McGarr and Nancy Halbreich (daughters of former Dallas Mayor Annette Strauss)
All this coalesces as we embark on another book festival over a glorious Halloween weekend …
Dave Hamrick (UT Press) and Tim Staley (Austin Public Library Foundation)
The First Edition Literary Gala at the Four Seasons Hotel brought many local and national celebrities of the word together …
Natalie, Greg and Mari Marchbanks (who took me to my first Texas Book Festival gala ages ago)
Mort Meyerson introduced Bob Schieffer who introduced Richard Russo (“That Old Cape Magic”), Bryan Burroughs (“The Big Rich”) and Jon Scieszka (“The Stinky Cheese Man”), each funnier and more timely than the last …
Lois Chiles (Houston actress and former Bond Girl) and Vance Muse (public face of the Menil Collection)
I sat next to the scion of the Ancestral Austin Callahan clan …
Lois Qualben and Mary Louise McCarty (best glittering hat of the gala)
As well as to Mark Seal (“Wildflower: An Extraordinary Life and Untimely Death in Africa”), whom, to my chagrin, I didn’t identify right away as a contributing editor to Vanity Fair, or a former contributor to Texas Monthly, among many other publications, who now lives in Aspen, Colo. …
U.S. Rep. Lloyd and Libby Doggett
After we exchanged cards, Seal said he’d read my column. I begged him not to …
Pamela Weiss and Mort Meyerson (big names from other cities)
Mine is not the literary mode. I’m a crook-fingered blogger and columnist whose micro-insights into Austin are best left unexamined beyond the moment of their recording.
Jeanne Klein and Jon Scieszka (leading art collector, profiled in Sunday’s newspaper, and outrageous children’s book writer)
But I do love a literary festival. Especially this one …
Bart and Barbara Knaggs (Capitol Sports and Entertainment, Lance Armstrong’s managers)
Jayne Barrett and Sarah Bird (my neighbor and my role model)
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October 29, 2009
Austin's Michael May wins Third Coast Award
Austin radio producer Michael May’s documentary, “My Way or the FBI Way” digs into the story of Brandon Darby (pictured), the radical activist turned FBI informant.
Darby testified against David McKay and Bradley Crowder, fellow activists protesting the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis last year. Darby said they were prepared to use Molotov cocktails against the police.
Radio stories from Russia, Australia, Canada and elsewhere in the U.S. were selected from a pool of 240 entries for the 2009 Third Coast Awards.
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The Big Wig Horror Show Awards for Austin Ad Fed at Mercury Hall
Place blame on the Oscars …
Judy Schulz (OK Paper) and Laurie Christensen (Xtreme Xhibits)
Awards shows have seeped into our collective DNA. And who are we to resist? …
Katie Laird and Shawn Parsons
Especially when the honors recognize general good citizenship, such as the Big Wig Horror Show Awards, given by the Austin Advertising Federation to their collaborators in the field …
Kristina Truong, Dylan McBurnett and Laci Mosier
To announce the 2009 awards, the Ad Fed threw a party, emceed by morning talk’s JB and Sandy, at Mercury Hall …
Brandon Jansa and Sherry Kong
As you might have guessed, costumes were encouraged.
Danielle Dellinger and Natalie Villanueva
Top honors went to Sherry Matthews, of Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing, winner of the Silver Service Award; and Jocelyn Lai, 2008-9 UT TAGlines Director, crowned Ad Person of the Year. Go here for a full list of awards.
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October 21, 2009
A columnist, not a critic
Yesterday, I resigned from the Austin Film Critics Association.
Only problem, I’m now a full-time columnist — blogger when online — no longer a critic in the formal sense.
In the past few years, I’ve dropped my memberships in the Dance Critics Association, Music Critics Association of North America and International Art Critics Association.
I’ve retained my connections to the Austin Critics Table and the American Theatre Critics Association for service purposes. I co-founded the Table 20 almost years ago; I served three terms as chairman of ATCA early in this century. So I feel some responsibility to contribute to their legacies.
To be clear, criticism will continue to creep into my columns, just as it did for Liz Smith, Ed Sullivan, Herb Caen and Frank Rich when they wrote as generalists.
And, very occasionally, I’ll take a review assignment from one of our entertainment editors. (As a former editor, my rule is to accept all appropriate assignments without question. I remember being on the other side of that equation.)
My subject is the city. Part of what defines Austin is its music, movies, books, food, design, arts and other creative industries. So you’ll still read my opinions. Just as a columnist, not a critic.
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October 19, 2009
Austin's Wes Hayden finally wins one
“It’s hard to swallow,” said Hayden, who blames his bad “Bachelorette” reputation on nefarious editing.
Last week, TVGuide.com reported that Hayden was in talks for his own show, perhaps with NBC. The musician seems to know how to build a career without resorting to weather balloons.
“Dancing with the Stars” won Best Competition Show, while “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” triumphed in the Best Docu-Series category.
Seriously messed up “Jon & Kate Plus 8” was booed throughout the ceremony.
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October 9, 2009
Celebrate Sarah Bird at the University of Texas
Among Austin authors, Sarah Bird belongs to a rare species …
Lee Kelly and Sarah Bird
She’s serious and comic, public and private …
Linda and Jeff Salamon (mother & son!)
In a city of writers, Bird is among the only consensus heroes …
Heather Bishop and Mike Smith
So when UT celebrated Bird on campus last night, several dozen literati gathered for readings from her works in progress …
Jerry Wagley and Izzy Rose
Also to share refreshments and banter that kept the likes of Stephen Harrigan, Gary Cartwright, Catherine Robb, Lee Kelly, Spike Gillespie, Brenda Bell, Elizabeth Avellan and Jeff Salamon engaged well into the night.
My neighbors, companions to the best-behaved Lab in the world
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September 24, 2009
Is Bravo eyeing Austin for show? More signs point to yes
A camera crew roamed the Tribeza Style Week fashion show on Tuesday at the Long Center. Various sources name Estilo boutique’s Stephanie Coultress and real-estate agent Tosca Gruber as test-stars.
Following well-established reality TV custom, the named subjects would not comment on the record about the taping, but a Bravo spokesman said: “We are not casting a ‘Real Housewives of Austin.’”
A new version of the series is already on its way from Washington, D.C., after successful dips into Orange County, Calif., New York, New Jersey and Atlanta.
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September 17, 2009
A curtain call for a class act
Worth reading: Evan Smith’s farewell column in Texas Monthly. For those outside the media world, the editor/publisher is moving over to John Thornton’s nonprofit Texas Tribune.
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September 16, 2009
Your A-List: Best WiFi Hot Spot
Remember when all of downtown Austin was supposed to go wireless? For free? I don’t recall if the plan hit technical problems, or, more likely, it was just too expensive to create and operate. But we WiFi addicts kissed that dream goodbye.
Jo’s, always busy indoors and outdoors, generated 17 percent. The Austin Public Library took in 15 percent, the same amount as Freebirds, the burrito shop. Bookpeople attracted 10 percent.
Pulling 5 percent or less were Flipnotics, Round Rock Public Library, Austin Convention Center, Capital Metro buses/park-and-rides and Woolridge Square.
There are many more. Yet you’d think, if any city could have made free public WiFi work, it would have been Austin.
Permalink | | Categories: Media, Your A-List
Your A-List: Best Radio Morning Show
Funny that this category would come up this week. Recently, I appeared on J.B. and Sandy’s show. This morning on the KGSR Late Show with Andy Langer and Bryan Beck. And I hear Bob Fonseca was ticked at me on the air because he didn’t make the Fortunate 500 list. (He really shouldmake it. Hope to see him Out & About more this year.)
Coming in second was Hot 93.3’s D-Train with 23 percent of the votes. Third went to KLBJ’s Dudley and Bob Morning Show with 9 percent. KVET’s Bucky and Bob and Mix 94.7’s J.B. and Sandy were not far behind with approximately 7 percent.
Taking less than 5 percent were 101X’s The Morning X, Kiss-FM’s Bobby Bones Show, KUT’s Morning Edition, KGSR in the Morning, NewsRadio 590’s Austin’s Morning News, BOB-FM, 1530 ESPN Austin’s The Morning Rush, River 102.3’s Family Friendly Mornings, Majic 95.5’s Majic in the Morning with Kim and Alex, Jammin’ 105.9’s Kidd Kraddick in the Morning, La Ley’s El Chulo y La Bola, The Zone’s Wake-Up Call, KAZI, KMFA and La Que Buena’s El Piolin.
Hard to keep up, isn’t it?
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KGSR at 9:15 a.m.
Scheduled to appear on KGSR with Andy Langer at 9:15 a.m. this morning to chat about the Fortunate 500 list.
Update: Had a great time. Andy Langer and Bryan Beck are such pros on “The KGSR Late Show.” They shared some timely insights about the Fortunate 500 and the city in general. I especially liked Andy’s concept of the Armadillos vs. the Condos. I think we agree that’s often a false dichotomy. KLBJ sports jock Ed Clements dropped by to say “Hi.” Always great to see him. Sweet guy who does a lot of good in the community.
Will let you know if there’s a podcast version of the interview.
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September 12, 2009
2009 Fortunate 500: Media
2009 FORTUNATE 500
MEDIA
For previously posted micro-profile of Elaine and Rich Garza, go here.
John Aielli. KUT
Lani Anglin-Rosales and Connie Reese. New Media Labs, Connect Every Dot, AgentGenius.com
Sarah Bird. Texas Monthly, ‘How Perfect Is That’
Bobby Bones. KISS-FM
Olga Campos and Kevin Benz. KVUE, News 8 Austin, CASA, Con Mi Madre, Lutheran Social Services, Make a Difference Banquet, Greenlights for Nonprofit Success, Carole Kneeland Project for Excellence in Journalism
Mike Chapman. Austin Social Media Club
Mary Anne Connolly. Austin Woman, Reel Women, Conspirare
Jody Denberg. KGSR
Dale Dudley. KLBJ
J.B. Hager. Mix 94.7, Austin Monthly, Bikes for Kids
Kathy and Robert Hadlock. KXAN, CASA, Easter Seals
Jim Hightower. Texas Observer, Austin Chronicle
Kelly and Sally Jackson. Midlife Gals
Jill McGuckin. McGuckin Entertainment PR
Sandy McIlree. Bikes for Kids, Mix 94.7
John Erik Metcalf. John Erik Metcalf
Cile Montgomery. Giant Media
Tolly Moseley. Austin Eavesdropper
Kevin Newsum. Yelp Austin
Patricia Paredes. First Night Austin, Texas Campus Compact, Leadership Austin
Taylor Perkins. Rare
Jean and Dan Rather. ‘Dan Rather Reports,’ Austin Museum of Art, News and Guts Media
Heath Riddles and Graydon Parrish. KOOP, Hirschl & Adler
Alisha Ring. Texas Tribune
Paul Saucido. Saucido Slant, Mercury Mambo, Sonido Boombox
Steve Savage. KAZI
Emily and Dave Shaw. Russell-Shaw, I&O Communications, Art Alliance of Austin, Leadership Austin, Greenlights for Nonprofit Success, Catalyst 8
Rusty Shelton. Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicity, Texas Book Festival
Clay Smith. Texas Book Festival
Heidi Marquez Smith. Texas Book Festival
Kevin Smothers and Michael Pungello. Pulse, DMX, Catalyst 8, Leadership Austin
Susan and Bill Stotesbery. KLRU, Hart InterCivic
Kerry Tate and Susan Rieff. TateAustinHahn, Civic Interest, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
Helen Thompson. Austin Monthly Homes
Alisa Weldon and Lynn Yeldell. L Style G Style, Well+Done Design, UBS Financial Services Inc.
Michelle Castillo-West and Phil West. Luminaria Media & Public Relations
For images of the 2009 Fortunate 500 Media listees, go here.
COMPLETE 2009 FORTUNATE 500 LISTS:
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September 10, 2009
Guest Blogger: Carly Hallman
The word “journalist” conjures up images of literary greatness — unshaven, unshowered men in cargo pants, furiously scribbling notes as bombs detonate around them … fat paychecks from the New York Times … an enviable intellect … respect.
In the collective American mind, entertainment journalism has become synonymous with celebrity journalism, and even — ahem — sensationalism. And, really, with all of the Anna Nicole Smith hype and the Britney Spears hype and the Michael Jackson hype and the hype-hype-hype hype, is it any real surprise?
But, I think it’s time to reconsider.
Story: Once upon a time, entertainment lived in its own room. It was rare and special occasion for the average Joe to open entertainment’s door and attend a play or to get his hands on a new book. People were busy — working, caring for families, farming, sleeping, cooking, eating, doing it all again. Entertainment was a luxury.
And people are still busy, but entertainment no longer lives alone, behind a tightly closed door. It lives with us — not just those of us wealthy enough or successful enough or just plain lucky enough to have time and money to spare — but with all of us.
We brought TV into our homes. We installed radios in our cars. We spent our paychecks on records, eight-tracks, tapes, CDs, MP3s; video cassettes, DVDs. Women went to work so that the average family can now afford to regularly attend movies, to subscribe to magazines, to dine out approximately four times per week. With the Internet, we connected ourselves to the world via wires, and now waves.
Now, sometimes I write and I read fluffy stuff. Sometimes I watch “TMZ.” Sometimes I flip through tabloids while I’m standing in line at Wal-Mart.
But, honestly, I don’t care what flavor of Frappucino Mary-Kate Olsen orders from Starbucks. I don’t care about Sienna Miller’s jeans. I don’t care about how fat Kirstie Alley is this week.
I do care about my life.
I care about books and travel and music. I care about the Internet and how I can use the Internet to form connections with other human beings. I care about how and where I choose to spend my money- which restaurant, which nightclub, which comedy club, which art gallery. I care about my life, so I care about entertainment.
In this shaky political age, entertainment is our strongest democracy — and as a thinking, breathing, living human being, this is how I choose to participate.
For more of Carly Hallman’s entertainment journalism, visit Chairman Wow!
Permalink | Comments (1) | Categories: Education, Media
September 9, 2009
Your A-List: Best Evening Newscast
The A-List voters gave their overwhelming endorsement for Best Evening Newscast to KVUE’s fresh-faced Terri Gruca and Tyler Sieswerda (virtually an old-timer, since he’s been with the station since 2005).
The duo out-read the competition — some trailing decades of local exposure — with 28 percent of the tally.
Veterans Judy Maggio and Ron Oliveira over at KEYE cruised into a distant second with 21 percent.
KTBC’s Loriana Hernandez and Mike Warren earned a respectable 12 percent rating.
Crestina Chavez (New 8 Austin) and Gustavo Monsante (KAKW) wrapped with 8 and 2 percent respectively.
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September 6, 2009
Fortunate 500 Top Picks: Media
The Top Picks for the 2009 Fortunate 500 list of socially active area citizens were published in Glossy on Friday. In Out & About, we’ll mete out those Top Picks over the next few days. Then, beginning Tuesday, we’ll release the full lists and galleries.
Top Picks: Elaine and Rich Garza.
Who does not adore Elaine Garza? And, when he’s out in the public eye, her husband Rich? She’s the University of Texas graduate and bigwig behind Giant Noise, the national and local media firm she started in New York City with two partners. He’s the Austin native who founded the Pachanga Festival and launched GiantCookman with Latin music veteran Thomas Cookman. The couple met on a beautiful summer’s day in New York in 1997 and are raising two children. You can find investing time and treasure in the Austin Music Foundation, Austin Music Commission, Latino Music Month, ALMA, Futuro Fund and Austin Children’s Museum Open Access Fund. Also at parties. If you see them, make a beeline. It will be the most entertaining conversation of the evening.
For more 2009 Fortunate 500 updates, follow the category link below.
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Guest Blogger: Kaitlyn Meilert
Today I finally gave in and bought a new DVD player after the one I’ve had for three or four years decided to believe that no DVDs exist. (It’s actually been acting up for about half a year now —sometimes it thinks there’s no disc, sometimes it thinks it’s open and stops in the middle of a movie — but I will keep anything for as long as I can until there’s absolutely no way I can use it.) And I got it just in time for Netflix day.
Some people may think “The Gilmore Girls?” Really?
You mean, that WB chick thing that aired with all the other primetime teen soap operas?” Call it what you will, but how many CW shows do you see today that are about a successful single mother — who owns and runs an inn despite having been pregnant and on her own at 16 — and her above 4.0 average daughter — who would rather read than get wasted, ended up at Yale and, eventually, writing for some newspaper that I won’t remember the name of until I watch that last disc.
Unlike today’s other “teen” shows, which focus on rich kids’ social and sex lives, “Girls” is brilliantly witty, smart, and as much for adults as it is for teens.
The show follows the lives of sarcastic, “cool” mom Lorelai Gilmore and her daughter, sweet, booksmart, big-blue-eyed, Rory (short for Lorelai) in their adorable small town of Stars Hollow, Conn. Lorelai goes from running an inn to buying her own while trying to find “the one,” while Rory goes from small-town public school to expensive and competitive private school (paid for by Lorelai’s estranged parents who force themselves back into her life by making her return the favor with “friday night dinners”) to Yale.
The show is full of “coffee coffee coffee” (as Lorelai would say) and a plethora of pop culture references. (My favorite: “Hey, did anyone ever think that maybe Sylvia Plath wasn’t crazy, she was just cold?” as said by Lorelai while she and Rory are huddled by their open stove for warmth while waiting for Luke — of Luke’s Diner, and secretly in love with Lorelai — to fix their broken window.)
So, say what you want about “Girls,” but having been a bookworm-alcohol free-almost straight-A teenager, it was nice watching a show with a character my age that I could actually relate to. And now it’s both fitting and interesting (and scary, at times) to have gotten to the final season during my “Gilmore Girls through Netflix” phase as Rory prepares for and freaks out about the real world as she finishes up her last year of college — just like me!
For more of Kaitlyn Meilert’s entertainment journalism, go to Kaitlyn’s Entertainment Blog.
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September 3, 2009
Guest Blogger: Sara Ortiz
“It’s sad, really,” I was telling Chris, a friend who lives in Dubai, “I’m studying English at school, and essentially, I’m studying it to be a writer. But everything is online now. I have a feeling my resume will include works published online, rather than offline (books, magazines, journals, etc.). And it makes my soon-to-be profession feel … cheap, disregarded even.”
“Making decisions in this communication brownout, though without complete inforÂmation, we go to war hastily, go to meetings unprepared, and build relationships on the slippery gravel of false impressions.”
As a writer, I feel this speaks to me on a deeper level: As in, my career. There is something great about admiring, holding, smelling, and caressing a book or magazine or newspaper with one’s own text printed on it. Personally, the romance behind it is greater in comparison to seeing text on a monitor. But more importantly, literacy standards continue to fall. Everything else seems to be improving but … our literacy skills? Freeman illustrates the following:
“It [the Industrial Age] has made it more difficult to read slowly and enjoy it, hastening the already declining rates of literacy. It has made it harder to listen and mean it, to be idle and not fidget.”
This manifesto runs parallel to the ongoing multi-tasking and the frying attention-span debates. In the blink of an eye we can read headlines without being fully informed. In the next blink we can be briefed about the latest celebrity gossip. Next we are glancing through our e-mail, then we are skimming through a Google Book just to make it quickly to the next eye’s blink. Are any of these things ever done carefully? Or effectively? Or with our full attention? Is it fair to the authors who have worked on what you’re reading? Another question: Did I lose you?
My stance is not to be confused with a stance against fast communication, rather to know when to opt for slow communication. Like Freeman states in his manifesto,
“We need to uncouple our idea of progress from speed, separate the idea of speed from efficiency, pause and step back enough to realize that efficiency may be good for business and governments but does not always lead to mindfulness and sustainable, rewarding relationships.”
Well said! Now, if I could only get this in print…
For more from St. Ed’s entertainment journalist Sara Ortiz, visit “A Little Bite of This, A Little Bit of That.”
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Guest Blogger: Proctor Anderson
Things are expensive. I know, pretty obvious statement. But true. I do my best not to buy expensive things. Most of the time that means I just don’t buy anything. Yet other times it means I find ways to spend less on normally expensive things. Today I offer two examples of buying under sticker price.
Second: “Guitar Hero World Tour Bundle” for Playstation 3. For the past 3 years, I have avoided buying plastic video game instruments. “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero” games have always seemed fun, but I could never get over the price points. The “Guitar Hero World Tour” bundle costs around a hundred dollars no matter where you look. On Sunday I was at Target and I checked out the electronics section out of habit. There weren’t any good markdowns in the game section and nothing good in DVDs so I started to walk to the register. Then tucked away in an end-cap where two copies of the game and one guitar for only $22. So I snatched one up and took it to the register. On my way home I stopped by a Hollywood Video and — lucky me — they had “Guitar Hero” drums on sale for only $10. So I got the whole bundle for a third of the list price. I’m pretty excited about it.
Feels good buying $180 worth of stuff for $70.
Read more of St. Ed’s Proctor Anderson entertainment journalism at Things that Entertain Proctor.
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September 2, 2009
KEYE-TV to cancel morning news, air radio's "JB & Sandy in the Morning"
Giving up on conventional morning news from 6 a.m. to 7 a..m, CBS affiliate KEYE-TV will broadcast the “JB & Sandy in the Morning” radio program already carried by Entercom Communications Corp.’s KAMX-FM Mix 94.7. Beginning Oct. 5, television cameras will join the regulars — JB Hager, Sandy McIlree, producer Alex Franco (“Digitz”) and others — from the 13-year-old show.
“As most of our viewers are aware, Austin has four great television news morning shows that are all essentially the same,” said Amy Villarreal, President and General Manager of KEYE. “Through KEYE’s unique partnership with Entercom, KAMX, and the JB and Sandy radio morning show, we will offer our early morning Central Texas viewers and advertisers an innovative, entertaining approach to morning television.”
Twitter reports confirm that morning anchor Fred Cantu will continue in some capacity at KEYE-TV. Michelle Valles had previously announced via Twitter that she’ll be hosting an entertainment news show.
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August 28, 2009
Fairy Godmother Academy Launch at Hotel St. Cecilia
You read about it here first: “The Fairy Godmother Academy” is going to be big …
Singer Gabby Gillespie and author Jan Bozarth
OK, maybe not Harry Potter big, but so promising that Disney, Random House and other media powerhouses are deeply involved …
Andrea Humphrey and Keegan Myers
The Academy is a concept from Jan Bozarth, formerly of Houston, now of Marfa, whose artistic team is mostly based in Austin…
Brandon Cooper and Kate Hose, Matt Naylor
The concept includes seven books, video games, Web site, songs, CDs and planned Fairy Godmother parties for girls …
Dan Markim and Mario Champion
During a launch party at Hotel St. Cecilia on Thursday, I mingled with concept investors from Hong Kong and Los Angeles, literary agents, lawyers, game developers, kids and, of course, Bozarth …
Jan Wieringa, Kes Trester
Already, 500 Fairy Godmother parties have sold out around the country. I think we’re all going to hear a lot about this Austin-centric project.
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August 27, 2009
Austin's Mehcad Brooks is Essence Eye Candy
Son of American-Statesman editorial writer Alberta Brooks, he has appeared in such TV shows as “Desperate Housewives,” “The Game” and, currently, on Season 2 of “True Blood.”
He also earned a substantial role the movie “Glory Road.” Look for him on the the big screen in the upcoming “Fence Walker” and “Just Wright,” which stars Queen Latifah.
The gallery includes Brooks trivia and quotes from the actor, such as “I want to be the first American to be Bond. Not just the first black American.”
Essence points out that Mehcad’s mother derived his name from the ancient Ethiopian word meaning “prophet” or “wise one.” He says: “Little did she know that I’d make a profit off being a wise ass.”
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August 21, 2009
Media: Which RSS Feed You? Part 5
For more “Which RSS Feed You,” — what I read daily — scroll down to previous post, or link here for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. Feel free to suggest others.
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Media: Which RSS Feed You? Part 4
For more “Which RSS Feed You,” — my daily reads — scroll down to previous posts, or link here for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3. Feel free to suggest others.
More to come, alphabetically …
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Media: Which RSS Feed You? Part 3
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Media: Which RSS Feed You? Part 2
For Part 1 of “Which RSS Feed You,” scroll down to previous post, or link here. Feel free to suggest others.
More to come, alphabetically …
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Media: Which RSS Feed You? Part 1
These are my current feeds on Google Reader. Feel free to suggest others.
More to come, alphabetically …
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August 19, 2009
Yelp Elite Event at Stubb's
To some extent, these are my people.
Katie Hlavinka, Matt Meisner and Christina Vara
The Yelpers do what I do.
Dana and Jim Bone
They go out. They sample Austin. They write about it at Yelp.com.
Laura Furr and Chris Linick
So I always feel comfortable at Yelp events, like the Elite gathering at Stubb’s on Tuesday.
Laura, Jim and Beckett Curry
Yelpers come in all shapes and forms.
Mike Larkin and Anna Giuluani
I probably met 30 people at the party last night and shared substantive conversations with a half dozen of them. Mission accomplished.
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Belinda Acosta Book Signing at Cuba Libre
Belinda Acosta would never contemplate anything so ordinary as a solemn book signing.
Belinda Acosta and Rachael Torres
So to launch her book, “Damas, Dramas, and Ana Ruiz,” Cuba Libre was decked out like a Quinceañera, tissue flowers, crowns, ball gowns, pastel cupcakes and all.
Kristi Minjares, Cristina Lizardo and Clarisa Minjares
I haven’t yet read the book, but Acosta fans gleamed with pleasure at the opportunity of having it signed by the merry Austin Chronicle columnist (formerly an American-Statesman contributor, if readers can remember back that far into our shared past).
Michael Ramos and Travis County District Clerk Amalia Rodriguez-Mendoza
To give you a sense of the festivity factor at this signing, it was scheduled to last four hours, from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Vanessa Lively and Paul Saucido
Now that’s a serious party in the literary world. I had to leave early, but I’m sure it was still throbbing hours later.
Tim Staley and Patricia Fraga
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August 17, 2009
AdFed 'Mad Men' Party at Alamo Ritz
Never enough “Mad Men.”
Elise and Pansy Flick
The second of two Sunday themed parties was thrown, aptly, by the Austin Advertising Federation.
Ken and Cindy Cobb
Fewer costumes than at the Belmont party.
Liz Bell and Joel Cavness
Yet fans lined up down the block for the showing, preceded by period ads, snips from Jon Hamm “Saturday Night Live” sketches and an abbreviated costume contest. (The apparel wasn’t abbreviated. The contest was.)
Paul Susuico and Aaron Yeats
The first episode of the third season was a jaw-dropper, as expected, including the show’s first gay kiss.
Leigh Gatling and Aaron Dixon
Imagine that televised in 1963!
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American-Statesman 'Mad Men' Party at the Belmont
Sixties styles.
Jesse Wolter and Jana Frohnapfel
Martinis.
Samantha Brown, Kate Cotnam, Everlee Cotnam, Samantha Furry
Shades.
Dale Roe and Brian Jepson
Cigarettes.
Nathan Damweber and Lindsey Stuart
And one of the best shows on television.
Jesse Falk, Paul Stinson and Beth Stinson
And so goes the first of two “Mad Men” parties — this one hosted by the American-Statesman TV critic Dale Roe at the Belmont — toasting the launch of the third season.
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August 13, 2009
Out & About on the radio
Listen into the “JB & Sandy” show on 94.7 around 8:20 a.m. Expect discussions of celebrities and Facebook with Out & About.
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August 11, 2009
Austinite John Pipkin's 'Woods Burner' magnificent
“Woods Burner” gathered dust on my bedside table for far too long.
Austinite John Pipkin’s novel had beckoned from the bottom of the book pile since last fall. Yet his putative subject daunted, dismayed.
I should not have worried. Pipkin adroitly tells the story of the historical fire through the senses and sensibilities of a half dozen distinct major characters. The book’s larger subject is world around Concord, Mass. in the 1840s. That encompasses the pantheists attached to Ralph Waldo Emerson; the dark side of Second Great Awakening religious revival; the spread of bookstores, coffeehouses, theatrical spectacles and pornography; New England insularity and entrepreneurism; and the peculiar tensions endemic on a retreating frontier.
Each sentence paints a dab of poetry. Yet Pipkin never lets the action — interior or exterior — flag. He’s kind to his flawed characters, which makes the end satisfying.
Can’t wait to meet him on the local literary circuit.
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July 30, 2009
Austin Monthly Bachelor Party at Rio Grande
Would it be an eye-scratching Cougar Central? Or would hordes of giggling girls flock to Rio Grande Mexican restaurant?
Volma Robert (Bobby) Overton III, Ericka Holmes
Those were two cynical ways of anticipating the Austin Monthly Bachelor Party on Wednesday.
Pat McGaughran, Anne Burgot
Neither was the case, early on, as the incredibly gentlemanly 2009 bachelors greeted the press and various feminine admirers, who fit into no easy social category.
Tony Manuel, Marc English
Austin Monthly has turned its bachelor issue into an annual affair, which is not easy to do. Congrats.
Steven Derek Johnson, Joe Dowdle
Rio Grande — in the former “The Real World: Austin” crib — has slimmed and reconfigured around its bar section. Still radiates a fun vibe, as it is joined by neighbors like Max’s and new sushi bar (not yet open) on San Jacinto Street. Just waiting for those residential and hotel towers to fill …
Brooke Grisebaum, Yazmin Herrera, Theresa Hunt
A last note on the building’s former tenant: Did you know MTV now produces 52 reality shows? No wonder we can’t keep up, even with “The Soup.”
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Bleet-Up at Trio
A Bleet-Up is a Tweet-Up for bloggers.
Jason Silverberg, Tolly Moseley, Tyler Groover
Meaning, it’s a chance for digital socializers to socialize in person.
Laura Dobberstein, Rose Reyes, Amanda Garcia
Tolly Moseley, the effervescent spirit behind Austin Eavesdropper, organized the Bleet-Up at Trio, fast becoming the Happy Hour Capital of the Capitol City.
Rusty Phenix, Kelly Stonebock
At a Bleet-Up, the most common phrase overheard tends to be: “I read you!”
Hans Rosemond, Tasha Duckering
Bloggers seem surprised that their longtime colleagues come in corporeal form. (Mosely plans a public-meets-blogger event at Mohawk for the fall.)
Marissa Alemany, Diana Flynn
For a glimpse of the partial guest list, check out the Statesman’s helpful Austin blog link page.
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July 27, 2009
Paul Ray, Dale Dudley & Bob Fonseca to enter Texas Radio Hall of Fame
Also to mount the Hall of Fame dais will be Dale Dudley and Bob Fonseca of “The Dudley and Bob Show” on KLBJ-FM. Dudley says the honor “includes everyone who has worked on the show including the current lineup with Bob and I and Charlie (Hodge) and Angela.”
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July 21, 2009
Walter Cronkite Austin Memories 2
For Part 1 of Walter Cronkite Austin Memories, see post below …
Nonprofit manager Pamela Clark Mayo: “In 1983 I was the new executive director of the Arthritis Foundation’s local branch, looking for the best possible guest of honor for our first gala. Cronkite had just retired. A pre-gala cocktail party in a private home allowed the top tier of donors a chance to visit with Walter and his wife, Betsy. Cronkite was then presented with a gift, a windbreaker with the Texas flag on the back. Cronkite tried on the jacket and the band immediately played ‘The Stripper.’ America’s avuncular newsman immediate complied with the music. He turned his back to the audience and let one shoulder of the jacket slip off while he looked back at the audience and winked. The crowd clapped and egged him on. He did the same thing with the other shoulder. The crowd roared. For that group of philanthropists, Cronkite became the most trusted man to make a party fun.”
Stage manager Bob Tolaro: “I had the privilege four years ago of stage managing the Texas Medal of the Arts at the Paramount where Walter was given a lifetime achievement award. Well, to show what a sense of humor he had, even at 87, while Bob Schieffer was introducing him Walter snuck right by me before he was supposed to go out. He stood behind Schieffer and every time Schieffer gave him an accolade, Walter shook his head ‘no’ as if Schieffer was lying. The audience just roared until Schieffer finally realized what was going on. Just a warm funny moment from an icon.”
News 8 Austin’s Rachel Elsberry: My favorite memory of Cronkite happens at every UT game, since he is the voice of the ‘We’re Texas: What Happens Here Changes the World’ ads. It makes me proud that his authoritative, deep, seasoned voice represents UT to people across the country. Cronkite will always be the voice of the University of Texas at Austin and the contributions its graduates have made to the world. We’re Texas and so is Walter Cronkite.”
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Walter Cronkite Austin Memories 1
Throughout the weekend, Walter Cronkite remained a warm topic of conversation, via the Internet and at Austin parties.
Public relations leader Elizabeth Christian: “In the ’70s, the annual Gridiron Show — featuring a huge majority of the area’s print, radio and TV journalists spoofing politics and politicians —was a very big deal, a sell-out show at the Paramount Theatre every year. It was a labor of love and a showcase of reporters’ “talents.” … One year I was both in the chorus and the stage designer. Somebody managed to talk Cronkite into making a cameo, and were we all a-flutter. Luck of the draw: Mr. Cronkite was to say a few words and then introduce the next act — of which I was a part! He read the four or five people’s names in the skit with me and then, and THEN, it was MY turn to hear my name read by the great Cronkite! But alas, someone, who will go unnamed, had changed Mr. Cronkite’s script to read “Lizzo Christian,” my most-hated nickname. That beautiful baritone will forever be in my memory for so many reasons, not the least of which was hearing it intone the dreaded “Lizzo” and still having to go on with the show with a smile on my face.”
Former television anchorman Neal Spelce: “At age 80, he underwent bypass surgery in April 1997. My quintuple bypass followed in June 1997. Checking with him later that summer, I called him to ask how he was recovering. Typically Walter, he said he was leaving in a few minutes to ‘test my new arteries on the tennis court.’”
More to come …
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July 20, 2009
Grand Opening of Laura Bush Community Library
It sits proud atop a high hill …
Pick out Laura Bush from the crowd on the dais
The style, regional modern: Limestone, overhangs, water catchments, indigenous plantings on Bee Cave Road …
Ruby and Shannon McMahon at Laura Bush Community Library Opening
The Laura Bush Community Library is the second in the Westbank system, which already boasts 500,000 borrowings a year …
Jeanette and Richard Sodinowski at Laura Bush Community Library Opening
Former first lady Laura Bush was there for the opening, crisp, alert, yet relaxed in the shade …
Maryanne Moore and Patti Iles at Laura Bush Community Library Opening
Along with politicians such as Texas Rep. Donna Howard, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul and Mayor Lee Leffingwell …
Edie and John Musgrove at Laura Bush Community Library Opening
More than 100 people — half in the full Sunday sun — surged forward to hear Bush speak and eventually to enter the cool spaces of the newest monument to literacy stamped with Laura’s imprimatur …
Roger Dean and Damon Lopez at Laura Bush Community Library Opening
Many took pictures of kids climbing over the statue of Bush reading to a child …
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July 18, 2009
Memories of Walter Cronkite in Austin
Send to mbarnes@statesman.com.
My Tuesday column will include short anecdotes from those whose lives here he touched. Thanks.
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July 15, 2009
Your A-List: Best Addition to Local Media Scene
Media shifts quickly. Local newsrooms are shedding staff. Yet newcomers are still welcome.
KVUE’s Terri Gruca gave Stolp a run for her money, rating 20 percent of the tally. News McNabb blog and KUT’s Matt Reilly occupied the mid-range with 12 and 11 percent, respectively.
Reporting 4 percent or less were Austin Post, KXAN’s Natalie Stoll, New 8 Austin’s Adam Krueger, Mix 94.7’s Nikki Nite, Cedar Park Citizen, Launch 787 and Leander Ledger.
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July 7, 2009
Clay Smith at Annies
You know, I’d rather linger over appetizers and drinks with Clay Smith than attend almost any competing party. The Texas Book Festival literary director is so adroit and yet unassuming. This Texan knows everybody in the publishing biz and he has helped tack Austin on the literary map during his five-year tenure.
He burst with news — public and private — during our little catch-up session at Annies. Literary biographies are big this year. Clay says the overall quality of the presented books is unusually high. Also worth noting: Bryan Burroughs will speak at the gala, plugging his essential “The Big Rich,” also one of his backlisters, the suddenly timely “Public Enemies.”
Right next to us at Annies were two dozen of the city’s top bartenders, prepping for the Tales of the Cocktail conference in New Orleans later this week. Lively crew. I didn’t taste the specialty drinks of the evening, but adored one of Annies’ signature cocktails called a Diablo. (Behind us were Luci Johnson and Ian Turpin, taking in the jazz and cuisine at a cozy booth.)
Suddenly, this city is brimming with sophisticated drinks!
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Austin's Wes Hayden gets the boot
Upholding his inky, black-hat image, Austin’s Wes Hayden behaved badly last night on “The Bachelorette.” And he deservedly got the boot from slow-to-learn Jillian Harris.
Hard to justify that, Wes, even for a columnist trying to give a local the benefit of the doubt. Whatever one thinks of any woman who would put herself through “The Bachelorette” wringer, outright exploitation is hard to justify.
Anyone else getting an inverted Matthew McConaughey vibe from Wes? His fellow Austinite also likes to play the ordinary, laid-back dude with a streak of misadventure, using a twinkle-eyed charm to get him out of trouble. Didn’t work for Wes this time.
Oh, if you think I’m being tough on Wes, check the commentary box.
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July 4, 2009
L Style G Style Issue Launch at Central Market
L Style G Style has conquered Austin …
Jett Winders, Justin Barker, Douglas Kennedy
Expanding in size and scope while other magazines have retreated …
Ellen Gambrell, Sean Peletier, Kim Shumski
Alisa Weldon, Oliver Everette and team have done so well …
Vanessa Ramos, Elvia Mendoza, Valerie Espinosa, Joakuin Espinosa
They are exporting the concept to Dallas …
Robert Grunnah, Ed Ishmael
Then Seattle …
Jonathon Todd, Kirsten Walles
Then Raleigh-Durham …
Caret Beyer, Cody Kinsfather
Ultimately, building LGBT communities nationwide …
Anna Nguyen, Beth Barlow
Befittingly, LSGS launched its July/August issue at Center Market …
Kirk Berlin, Matthew Mielcarek
The original location that Weldon did so much to inaugurate as a graphic designer more than a decade ago …
Lance Blakley, Sarah Sutton
Cooks rustled up vivid treats, and the overflow crowd streamed from the kitchens to the atrium and the balcony …
Michael Salinas, Madison Stowers
I talked to dozens of people, but none more engaging than psychotherapist Rhea Pledger. We agreed group therapy can be profoundly helpful for certain personalities and situations …
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Roy Bedichek's 'Adventures with a Texas Naturalist'
My return to far-flung walking coincides with my first sustained acquaintance with Roy Bedichek’s 1947 classic “Adventures with a Texas Naturalist.”
Bedichek deplored overgrazing, overhunting, overfencing and mechanized agriculture. (He foreshadowed the current documentary “Food, Inc.” by nearly more than 60 years.) Yet his conclusions arose from observation and contemplation, not ideology or commerce.
Some of his thoughts might surprise contemporary nature lovers: He believed the Texas highway system’s right of ways, for instance, had preserved biodiversity endangered by organized farming and ranching. He was baffled why the railroads were not as careful stewards of the land.
Beyond the roadsides, Bedichek spent disciplined time noting the changes in his Austin neighborhood and the Bear Creek ranch were he finished the almost lyrical manuscript for “Texas Naturalist.”
In the 19th-century tradition, Bedichek was as much inspired by his love of beauty as by his dedication to science. His prose is peppered with references to Romantic poetry and ancient literature. Along with historian Walter Prescott Webb and folklorist J. Frank Dobie, he is immortalized as part of the Philosophers’ Rock sculpture at Barton Springs.
Although considerably less prolific than his friends, Bedichek will likely be read longer and more closely.
Also makes me want to see Steve Moore’s “Nightswim” about the the trio again.
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July 2, 2009
Clarke Straughan at Fair Bean
The minute we exchanged pleasantries, I knew Clarke Straughan was a story. We met at an international dinner last year at the Bullock Texas History Museum. Then we followed up with coffee at Fair Bean on South First Street this week.
Later, he ignored warnings from British officials — and his empty wallet — finding his way to Hong Kong to work for what was to become the colony’s biggest, best hotel. Among his first diplomatic assignments: Take care of the Beatles during their Hong Kong stay.
Straughan spent his youth wandering the world, when he wasn’t taking care of dignitaries in Japan, Hawaii and elsewhere. He just self-published his memoirs: “Romancing the Impossible: Traveling the World without Money” (Travel Treasure Publishing).
Among his final jobs before retiring: Director of International Protocol for the Texas governor’s office and — a nice fit for a former colonel — head of a veteran’s affairs office. He attended kings and queens, plutocrats and vagabonds.
Today he’s Texas friendly, unpretentious, yet dignified, with looks like a U.S. senator and a conversational style that’s respectful yet animated. He’s quite a guy.
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July 1, 2009
Web Site Story
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June 30, 2009
Austin's Wes Hayden in 'Bachelorette' tizzy
On last night’s episode, Jillian visited Wes’ hometown — ours — and heard his self-named country band play at Hill’s Cafe. Then a booted contestant from Dallas, Jake, interrupts Wes and Jillian’s date at the Hyatt Regency, saying Wes already has a girlfriend named Laurel. Wes denies it. Laurel’s an ex, he says.
Got that?
Jillian, sharp as always, still graced Wes with a bloom. He’s in the Final Four. Now, we haven’t followed a single episode — all this was gleaned from seriese followers — but if Wes makes it to the last gasp, we’ll report in print.
Anyone know a Laurel? (See comment box for reader leads.)
Permalink | Comments (30) | Categories: Media
June 19, 2009
Tweetup at Opal Divine's West Sixth
Whenever an observer predicts that human interaction has turned too digital, I giggle.
Juana Summers, Chelsea Duttweiler
Humans are mammals. They demand physical interaction.
Maura Thomas, Isadora Vail
Or, at least, interaction within actual physical proximity of one another.
Brandon Sockwell, Karl Krumm
The American-Statesman’s newly named social media editor, Rob Quigley, has been tweeting, updating and blogging for as long as any other newspaper journalist in the country. In fact, it’s hard to find a newspaper doing more in that sector, though it’s not much appreciated by our old-fashioned, local media critics.
Katie Kuntz, Mandi Foltz
His up-close-and-personal social hours, known as Tweetups, remain popular. I attended my first at Opal Divine’s on West Sixth Street.
Mike Kerr, Mark Iwans
One of the insights I gained: That my intuition about social media — readers need more than blasts and pictures; they need context, interpretation, evaluation — is richly understood by the folks who spend all their time on the subject. Blessed news for the Out & About franchise!
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January 22, 2009
Socializing with the social columnists
There was no telling what would happen. Would Austin’s social columnists, gathering for the first time, actually fire up new connections? Would all that potential sociability, confined to one space, just ignite and blow the place apart?
Representatives of digital and print media mustered at El Rey, the traditional men’s club and spa that now offers services — barbering, massages, aesthetics, etc. — a la carte El Rey has opened its supremely comfortable lounge to non-members of both genders. We sat around a heavy, oval table in oversized chairs, tentatively at first, but soon gabbing away about social life in Austin.
Robert Godwin, who started photographing local celebrities in 1976, counts as the elder statesman of the group. His stories, culled from three decades watching Austinites socialize, are pithy and kind. Others gathered around the table included Deborah Hamilton-Lynne of Your Austin Lifestyle; Alisa Weldon and Oliver Everette of L Style G Style; Lance Avery Morgan of Brilliant; Jimmy Stewart and Kristin Owen of Do512; Kevin Newsum of Yelp Austin; Holly Jackson of the Westlake Picayune and Lauren Ford of Tribeza.
Shop talk dominated, of course, but the good kind. Anecdotes that won’t be forgotten — or published. We missed our invited friends from Austinist, Austin Monthly and Rare, but this won’t be the last time we’ll meet this way.
More on El Rey later.
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January 3, 2009
Required reading on newspaper economy
Austin’s John Thornton regularly writes some of the most probing analysis of the newspaper industry in his blog, Insomniactive. The Austin Ventures partner has examined the media — and other industries — inside out. Gotta track his (sometimes scary) insight.
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October 25, 2008
'Downtown' Season Preview at AMLI on 2nd
You can bet that if a social event is planned for Amli on 2nd’s pool deck, the affair will head in a sybaritic direction. So when the invitation arrives, respond “yes.” The Downtown Austin Alliance chose this high platform for a dusk preview of its regional Emmy Award-winning series “Downtown.”
Linda Asaf, Alex Griffin
Folks dressed in the invitation-requested gold scattered around the apartment tower’s pools (none of them really for lane swimming, despite the black lines). They relaxed as slices from various upcoming episodes were shown against the backdrop of the building. I talked at length to social connector Karen Frost and Josh Allen, former mayoral speechwriter now working for the group that promotes Sixth Street. (Later, he showed me around his cool 360 Tower condo.)
Karen Skloss, Jay Tonne By the end of the evening, the Alliance’s Molly Alexander was barefoot with joy. She later shared this story: “The funniest part of the evening happened when my boyfriend Gary Luedecke, who always goes the extra mile to be a part of my life, went yesterday afternoon looking for something gold to wear. He ends up at Lucy in Disguise and buys a gaudy gold shirt and wears it to the party. Totally wonderful and tacky at the same time. About 15 minutes after Gary shows up, Dave Sullivan shows up in the exact same shirt!”
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October 13, 2008
Jimmy Kimmel, Sarah Silverman among stars at Iron Works wedding reception
Jimmy Kimmel and Sarah Silverman, their romance on the mend according to Los Angeles entertainment media, were spotted together at an Iron Works Barbecue wedding reception in Austin late last week. Also attending the low-key affair that joined Kimmel’s ABC producer Daniel Kellison (“The Man Show,” “Crank Yankers”) with Houston native Dyan Conner (“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” “Miss Congeniality”) were “Friday Night Lights” leading light Peter Berg and NBC talk show host Carson Daly.
September 23, 2008
Ben McKenzie, Rowan Joseph at Jo's, Part 1
Benjamin McKenzie, like his primary medium, is cool.
Rowan Joseph, like his, is warm. Very warm.
Seated side by side at Jo’s Hot Coffee promoting their movie, “Johnny Got His Gun,” the television actor and the theater director present a study in extreme contrasts.
His forehead tilts forward, not as a weapon in a charm offensive, but almost to hood his responses. McKenzie keeps something in reserve, an essential on the screen. (A budding Robert Redford then?)
He speaks in short, declarative sentences, factual without elaboration, while avoiding the impression of obfuscation. (“I live a quiet life in the hills above L.A. Way up. Above the perpetual chaos of Hollywood and West Hollywood. A little yard. A dog. I hang out at my house.”)
Pennsylvania-born Joseph is a rumpled eruption of emotions. Always in movement, always in thought, he’s making intellectual connections — theater, books, movies, actors, lighting — faster than anyone could absorb them.
If McKenzie recedes into reflection, Joseph can’t wait to rhapsodize about his first movie project, how he envisioned McKenzie as Dalton Trumbo’s injured World War I soldier after seeing his “Junebug” and a picture on the Internet; how the movie was made on an $83,000 budget with just a bench and a chair, how he relied on his theatrical background to simulate water with $53 worth of dry ice.
Most miraculous of all: How the 77-minute movie with a single actor was picked up for distribution on the first inquiry to Mark Cuban’s Truly Indie company.
More to come …
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August 24, 2008
Anthony Lane -- Best Onsite Writing about the Olympics
Ahead of other onsite Olympics reporters by a mile was Anthony Lane of The New Yorker. For the Aug. 25 issue, the magazine’s wit-stained film critic dove deep into the Beijing scene, using his falcon eye to discern connections few other journalists would even notice.
On the mass spectacle of the ceremony: “Cometh the hour, cometh the glowing red drumsticks, the heaving sea of blocks, the Brobdingnagian scroll unspooling before our eyes, and other miracles of visual manipulation. … China supports a population of 1.3 billion, the knowledge of that resource was never far away; indeed, the whole evening became an exercise in number-crunching, as mass art was constructed from a mass of humanity.”
On Sebastian Coe, who heads London’s Olympic efforts: “He may have been hiding in the men’s room, calling home to order more light bulbs. ‘They had 2,008 drummers, all lit up. Yes, 2,008. And what have we got so far? Elton John on a trampoline.’”
On meeting rabid volleyball fans from Amsterdam: “How did they rate the Dutch chances this year? ‘We have no volleyball team,’ Mr. Goss said with infinite gloom. The Netherlands hadn’t qualified. The Gosses would have to make do with the beach equivalent, which is to proper volleyball what Elvis’s movies were to Elvis’s music.”
The New Yorker illustration by Robert Risko.
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July 16, 2008
Your A-List: Best Media Newcomer
Formerly of San Antonio, Ballou replaced former sports anchor Skip Baldwin. From what we hear, Ballou is pretty civic-minded, which might have helped attract the heavy voting patterns. For its part, Artstrada just held its launch party at the Mohawk. Sorry we missed it.
Everybody else took a disappointing 1 percent or less: “Bucky & Bob: The Talk of Austin” on 98.1 KVET and 1300 The Zone; KVUE meteorologist Meghan Danahey; “Big Boy’s Neighborhood’ on Beat 104.9”; Austin Chronicle’s Off the Record with Austin Powell; “Your Time with Kim Iverson” on Mix 94.7; Paul Saucido’s “Rock y Roll Radio”; L Style G Style magazine; La Que Buena 104.3 F; and Odic Force magazine.
Write-ins: Dan Cofer of “Punk Melody” on KOOP radio, David Herrera of KAKW Univision 62, Charlie Hodge’s halftime show on KLBJ-FM, Leslie Montoya of KAKW Univision 62.Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Media, Your A-List
July 8, 2008
Barbara Walters' revealing 'Audition'
But I read the book mostly for Walters’ insider tips on landing “gets” with the celebrated and powerful, and her extraordinarily effective interview techniques. Basically, she softens up subjects with credible flattery, even flirting, then offers them an opportunity to “set the record straight” about whatever they feel is misunderstood about them. But she also researches the heck out of these subjects and possesses an uncanny knack for getting the high and mighty to spill the beans.
I won’t go into detail here. For a fuller account read Caitlin Flanagan’s review in The Atlantic, which led me to the book.
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June 25, 2008
The Air Force Academy Cadet Dance recalled
Watching the straight guys dance, often alone, often frenetically, on the floor of Sky to DJs Jesse Brede and Chris Fortier last week reminded me of perhaps my favorite YouTube post of all times.
Virtually all of you have seen it, but it’s worth watching again: The Air Force Acadamy Cadet Dance. I know, there are a lot of other YouTube dance clips, but this really speaks to the absolute joy of dancing, even far away from a dance floor. Enjoy.
In the category of What I Couldn’t Believe the Most, after watching it dozens of times: 1) The subject doesn’t remove his uniform jacket. 2) He glances furtively to see if his roommate has returned. 3) He can’t help moving to the house, even when he’s done. 4) He’s such a good sport when he discovers the secret taping.
I understand the two cadets were honored for raising morale in the Air Force Academy, which needs it right now.
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June 24, 2008
New York Times tuts at Lance Armstrong
I tend to agree, however, with his former coach, Chris Carmichael, who was quoted as saying: “His foundation, the fight against cancer and his kids: I see those as the most important three things in his life. I mean he has girlfriends and things like that — why not?”
After all, when you are single, you date, right? Discuss.
Photo: INFphoto.com/Newscom
Footnote on the photo: Despite countless paparazzi surrounding the couple during their NYC stay, mainstream media stayed away. Which meant there was no AP photo, no wire photo, no publishable photo of the duo, despite being among the top celebrity topics of the week.
So what’s Out & About to do? We certainly don’t want to encourage the paparazzi phenomenon, but there were those readers who doubted Armstrong-Hudson connection without photographic evidence.
Well, we weren’t going to pop the video of them kissing on the austin360.com screen, but we needed something classy to go with the Tuesday print column and this follow-up. So we shopped around the weird world of celebrity photo dealers and found one that was not too usurious or sleazy, and so purchased it from INFphoto.com/Newscom. It makes them look a little harried, but still glowing. Aw.
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June 12, 2008
Dan Rather booms at Molly Ivins namesake awards
Texas liberals, Democrats and journalists banged pots and pans in approval of the Molly National Journalism Prize winner and the concept of an independent press at the Four Seasons Hotel on Thursday. The rarified crowd, which included philanthropists Bernard and Audrey Rappaport, former U.S. Sen. Bob and Kathleen Krueger, Texas Monthly editor Evan Smith, historic gubernatorial candidate Sissy Farenthold, Rep. Elliott Naishtat, Rep. Mark Strama, Houston City Council Member Melissa Noriega, the Houston Endowment’s Melissa Jones and former State Sen. Ray Farabee, applauded as newsman Dan Rather railed against corporate news poisoned by a climate of fear and rooted for journalism in the public trust.
Jean Rather, Dan Rather
Sissy Farenthold, Cecile Keeper
“A fiercely independent press is a patriotic press,” Rather said as keynote speaker for the event which raised more than $100,000 for the Texas Observer. He quoted former Press Secretary and “What Happened” author Scott McClellan as saying that news gatherers in the run-up to the Iraq War were “complicit enablers” and “overly deferential.” “He’s right and we didn’t need Scott McClellan to tell us that,” Rather boomed.
Rep. Elliott Naishtat, Sandie McClellan, Karen Lundquist
Stewart Vanderwilt, Becky Beaver
After Rather spoke, the top prize for investigative journalism, named for the late Molly Ivins, went to Diane Suchetka for her series “Bernard’s Story,” which ran in the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Honorable mentions went to Jennifer Gonnerman for “School of Shock,” published in Mother Jones, and Ellen Schultz for “The Debt Collector vs. The Widow” from the Wall Street Journal.
Valerie Phillips, Kathleen Krueger, former Sen. Bob Krueger
Terri Burke (former American-Statesman managing editor, now executive director of the ACLU in Texas), Ellen Sweets
Much discussion of Barack Obama at our table, headed by Marc and Suzanne Winkelman, including $2 million being raised by Alexa Wesner for the Turn Texas Blue campaign and intense lobbying to get the presidential candidate to Texas, in part to boost Rick Noriega’s senatorial chances (his wife Melissa is a Houston City Council Member.)
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June 4, 2008
Andy Roddick makes cover of Outside
The same month his hero, Lance Armstrong, makes the cover of two local magazines simultaneously — Austin Monthly and Tribeza — Andy Roddick relaxes on the front of the nationally distributed Outside magazine. The cover story chronicles the tennis ace’s return to form and includes one reason why he retreats to his Austin home: “I have to have windows every couple of months where I can put my body back together.” Roddick explained his sometimes volatile behavior on the court: “”I don’t ever think I am going to be one of those guys who can just mute it.”
June 3, 2008
Weekend: More parties, no 'Sex'
Even attending 18 events over a long, hot weekend, I missed a few giant social affairs, such as the Pachanga Festival (cool in the Waterloo Park shade?) and the Cattle Baron’s Ball for the American Cancer Society (we dawdled during a Pedernales River day trip).
Two publications threw lavish issue parties: Brilliant at Pangaea and Rare at the Monarch. The first included a birthday salute to publisher Lance Avery Morgan featuring a cavalcade of cupcakes. Cover lady Diana Ross was not in attendance, but the magazine landed a juicy interview with the superstar.
Pangaea owner Michael Ault and baby-bump wife, model Sabrina Randall
Suzie Wright, Suzanna Albright at Pangaea
Ben Ross, Ana Knevevic, Jake Roeschley at Pangaea
Greg Boyd, Susan Platt, Parker Elliott at Pangaea
The Rare party shook the top of the Monarch’s garage. As the sun set behind the wing-topped apartment tower, guests streamed between the ready-to-rent lower floors and the parking structure. Alpha Rev, a band helping to redefine the New Austin sound, headlined, competing with jugglers, belly dancers, personal beautifiers and purveyors of food and drink. Felice Partita, Amy Bonneau, Linda Matthews, Kristin Larsen, Rachel Mann, Linda Husjord from Frenchy’s salon on Mary Street Rochelle Miller, Christopher Anderson at the Monarch
We took a tour of Paul Oveisi’s corner unit. The Momo’s owner, who is now managing Dan Dyer’s post-Breedlove act, reserved early, copping splendid views of lower downtown and the Shoal Creek greenery. Paul Oveisi, Jessie Corrine at the Monarch
Oveisi’s pad at the Monarch, looking northeast Mayor Will Wynn, looking tan and fit in season-appropriate shorts, joked that he was just checking if anyone could peek into his window across the way at the Austin Lofts. Rare’s Matt Swinney, Carrie Crowe at the Monarch
Recent UT grads Cliff Waters, Liz Richmond at the Monarch
Tammy Harding, Mindy Cordell at the Monarch
Earlier, we stopped by Breakaway Records, nestled next to Cafe Mundi on East Fifth Street. Serious DJs flipped through LPs and 45s while blissed-out music lovers sipped beer from cans and listened to Monty McCarter’s reggae rippling through the un-air-conditioned shop. Nadia Shea, Tim Murphy at Breakaway Records
John Hall, Scott Landfried at Breakaway Records
OwnersGabe Vaughn, Mike Hooker with Chelsea Wine at Breakaway Records
Later, at Antone’s, we checked in with another band forging that New Austin sound, Pompeii, which has not played in a while (working on a new album). Then bopped back and forth between there and Red Fez, where nimble DJ Kurupt was celebrating his Sunday successes with friends and a blindingly attractive crowd. Erik Johnson, Julie Booker, Rob Davidson at Antone’s Connor Kiel, Glory Ancheta at Antone’s Michael Swimelar, Thao Doan at Antone’s DD, CK at the Red Fez. (Sometime we’ll have that talk about why some people are shy about giving their name to journalists Andre Breton, Shy Salinas, Jamaal Skeete, Cornelius Sirls at the Red Fez Monday brought the Austin Critics Table Awards at Cap City Comedy Club. Always an irreverent event, with artists, patrons and journalists trading sweetened jabs. But way too long: Revelers staked out tables at 6:30 p.m. and some didn’t leave until 10:30 p.m. The informal critics group — I’m still a member — is already discussing a tighter program for next year. Buzz Moran, winner for Sound Design, and the funniest speaker of the evening And they say performance art is dead. Instead, it’s moved back to the clubs where it was spawned, leaving behind warehouse theaters and inhabiting instead online and up-close-and-live spaces at the same time. The Lipstick Pages party at the effortlessly ironic Beauty Bar on Friday linked outrageous fashions with novelty video and outer-space-ready performances. The online magazine has been touting “creative feminism” — love the term — since 2003. Webzines continue to redefine journalism, and this one lives mostly on MySpace and Facebook. We adored everyone we met at this shakin’ shindig. Heather Coffey, Carmen Knight
Lisa Killbuck, Anson L.
Melanie Moore, Jennifer Harrison Friend Joe Starr is visiting Central Texas from Houston today. He accompanied me to six social events last night and is scheduled for three tonight; five more on Sunday if he sticks around. In between, we’ll be tracing the Pedernales River as part of our ongoing Texas adventure. (Gas prices be cursed! Must have weekend!)
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We’re sending thin, positive thoughts to Internet movies poobah Harry Knowles, who is undergoing lap-band surgery today, according to a notice at Ain’t It Cool.
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The ironies deepen. Once again, there was Stephen MacMillan Moser at the pinnacle of his Austin celebrity, toasted by socialites, fans, musicians, artists, designers, retailers and just plain readers of his Austin Chronicle column, “After a Fashion.” Moser frolicked on the stage, blessed the musicians, hugged and kissed almost every guest at the “Stephen Is One in a Million” benefit at Antone’s on Wednesday. As one old friend put it: “This is where Stephen always wanted to be,” meaning, of course, at peak of his game, a streaking comet of glamour. And yet, just as at this 50th birthday party last October, an inevitable gloom crept in. Seabrook Jones’ life-documenting slide show and animations made me bite my lip with sadness, even as Moser himself towered right in front of me, as full of lust and life as ever. It’s inconceivable that this blinding personality will be snuffed sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, many thousands of dollars were raised by Stephen’s Angels, the group captained by his sister Margaret, for a family trust to care for Moser as cancer encroaches. The family and close friends put up a brave front, but nerves frayed and at times the bright expressions dropped from their faces. After four hours, I departed into the night to walk off my mixed feelings. Habit kept me snapping shots of guests at the benefit. Chris Ronemous, Awilda Ronemous Edward G. Vormann, Vickmay Quinn, Eric Groten, Maria Groten Phil Daily, Shirley Watson (with Flowers by Design) Lisa Trahan, Jamie Broadhurst, Jennifer Carnes, Lauren Gremillion And the band played on …
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The Austin American-Statesman again tops the Your A-List poll for Best Newspaper, grabbing 39 percent of the vote. The community-minded Westlake Picayune was second with 31 percent, followed by alt-weekly Austin Chronicle in third with 12 percent. Rounding out the list: Austin Business Journal, 9 percent; The Onion, 4 percent; Ahora Si, 3 percent; Lake Travis View, 1 percent; Hill Country News, 1 percent; Round Rock Leader, < 1 percent; San Marcos Daily Record, < 1 percent; and Bastrop Advertiser, < 1 percent. And, indeed, the Austin American-Statesman, parent of this entertainment Web site and our employer, won with 49 percent of the vote. In its favor, the Statesman is the city’s only comprehensive daily newspaper and, despite periodic criticism from all directions, ranks high among publications its size for journalistic quality and business soundness. Backers of The Austin Chronicle, which came in second with 28 percent, will probably say, “well, the vote took place on a Statesman-owned site,” and they’d have a point, but the city’s venerable weekly publication is no stranger to the vagaries of reader-driven polls. Since the early 1980s, the Chronicle has remained one of the strongest independent weeklies in the country and is generally unswerving in its point of view. The Onion, a newcomer to the local scene, although familiar through its Madison, Wis.-based national spoof, came in third with 12 percent. The recent observation that audiences wouldn’t laugh at “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” if they didn’t already get the news also applies to The Onion. You almost have to be a newsy hound to get its satirical jibes. The addition of local entertainment coverage just enriches an already crowded field. The local edition of a national chain, the Austin Business Journal earned 3 percent; the Round Rock Leader came close behind, while taking 2 percent or less were Ahora Si, Westlake Picayune, San Marcos Daily Record, Lake Travis View and Bastrop Advertiser. Write-in: Hill Country News (In the interest of full disclosure, we should note that Cox Newspapers, the Statesman’s parent company, also owns the Leader, Ahora Si, the Picayune, the View and the Advertiser.)
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In the dream, I hear the distant trumpet of cranes. I look up at a Titian sky to see the V-pattern of migrating birds, reminding me of the time a few years back when thousands of sandhill cranes droned over Austin, clearly lost in the low cloud cover. Then the cranes mysteriously turn into military aircraft, like Joni Mitchell’s “six jet planes leaving six white vapor trails across the bleak terrain.” Suddenly, the jets turn on one another, exploding in identical clouds that resemble the animation of a video game. On cue, a logo appears in the sky: It’s advertising. And why not? At what point will we allow the very heavens above us to be cluttered with projections selling us the latest consumer products? This is not a political stance, not a lefty thing or a righty thing. It’s a statement about the health of our community and our visual environment. Once again, property rights can only go so far in the public arena. Compromises much be reached to free us of this curse. As such, I plan to document each of the more than 500 billboards in the Austin area. Feel free to send in images and addresses of the most egregious offenders to mbarnes@statesman.com.
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Saturday afternoon, by tradition, the Austin arts critics assembled at our Bouldin home. (I call it Wren House because of the Bewick’s wrens that nest in our shrubbery, but Kip hasn’t adopted that term. Yet.) The group included the first-line arts writers for the American-Statesman and Austin Chronicle, Jeanne Claire van Ryzin and Robert Faires, who report across genres, as well as freelance specialists — Clare Croft (dance), Rachel Koper (art), David Mead (classical), Randy Harriman (classical), Joey Seiler (theater), Elizabeth Cobbe (theater) and Avimaan Syam (theater). An Austin vibe rules. (Yes, the story is true: The normally dignified Pineo once showed up at a Top of the Marc awards ceremony sporting shorty shorts. Back then, when the invitation said “casual dress,” Austinites took you at your word.) At the Austin Star Map party the other night, I ran into a fellow from Portland, Ore., who was amazed that the daily newspaper in Austin had run a full, laudatory review of an alternative theater project like Physical Plant’s “The Kindermann Depiction.” I referred him to the culture of the local arts community, where traditional hierarchies and genre distinctions don’t apply. And, though the Austin Chronicle sometimes publishes bewilderingly inaccurate guesses at the inner workings of the Statesman newsroom, the reporters tend to understand: Austin is bigger than our natural and healthy journalistic competition.
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It will come as no shock to the editors of L Style G Style magazine that they are putting out a culturally transformational publication. They probably envisioned that goal all along. But the conclusion snuck up on me, as it probably has for those readers distracted at first by the Austin periodical’s glossy presentation, thematic structure and novelty page arrangement. Karen Hudgins, Chantal Outon Yet here comes Volume 2, Issue 3, and the list of Austin GLBT leaders and their allies profiled in the magazine has accumulated to the point that L Style G Style is defining a sort of community, which may finally answer the question: Why do gay people flock to Austin? David Urrate, Nathan Wylie, Eric Hopper (This issue alone: Enviromedia’s Valerie Davis, Eastside Cafe’s Elaine Martin and Dorsey Barger, Zen Buddhist priest Flint Sparks, Heritage Boot’s Jerry Ryan, OutYouth’s Matt Smith, chef and cowboy heartthrob Lou Lambert.) Elvia Mendoza, Valerie Espinosa Add to each issue unique launch parties, including the one Saturday at Roger Beasley Audi on Pond Springs Road. Publisher Alisa Weldon and editor Chantal Outon led a passel of people bootscooting across the dealership’s reflective floor. Hogging the attention at the buffet were little chocolate killers from Cissy’s. Randi Shade made an effective speech about the possibility of becoming Austin’s first out GLBT city council member and avoided discussing directly her opponent’s transparent dirty tricks.
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The Austin Star Map is a harmless bit of fan fun. Created by self-confessed gawker Ame Shillington, the snappy guide identifies more than 50 locations for famous movie scenes (“Slacker,” “Spy Kids,” etc.) as well as the homes, former homes, businesses and favorite night spots of the famous, mostly from the movie industry (Sandra Bullock, Dennis Quaid, etc.). A walking tour takes one through downtown sites, while another list points out prime stake-outs for celebrity spotting (Alamo Drafthouse, Uchi, etc.)
Meriah Garrett, Nick Wellinghoff Some may find the whole idea invasive, but so far, almost nobody has complained, says Shillington. And Saturday, backers of the tourist map threw a launch party at the Great Hills Apartments Clubhouse (a clear indication of the map’s charmingly unpretentious origins).
Hannah Kimbro, Ian Mouton Self-proclaimed D-Listers mixed with, well, whoever didn’t even make that low cut. We talked with musicians, models, technicians, early-career film actors, bloggers, radio personalities, all sorts of folks with whom we felt supremely comfortable. At the party, Stephen Felix slipped me some MP3s of his orchestral band, Noise Revival, which is best described as soundtrack music, textured, imaginative, indicative of more creativity to come. Stephen Felix, James Sommers, Nathan Felix Which brings us around to artists sticking to their strengths. In three recent CDs, beloved belter Shirley Bassey smacked the wall with an ill-considered dance album (her voice is too round, dramatic, delineated for the collection entitled “Get the Party Started”); Maureen McGovern, whose cursive voice I also adore, unwisely strayed into wispy, melancholy Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel and Judy Collins territory with “A Long and Winding Road”; but Natalie Dessay proved she’s the next soprano to beat with “Italian Opera Arias.” She knew exactly where to stick and where to stray.
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Write-ins: Troy Kimmel and Laura Skirde
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What happens when the Material Girl makes an uncharacteristic career misstep? She goes back to her roots: Clubs, dance music and the gay community. And, in this case, an Austin gay bar, where Madonna is rumored to make an appearance May 1. “That’s where she started: In small clubs,” said Kevin Smothers, a publicist with Austin-based Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations. “I’d be absolutely surprised if she actually showed up, since she hasn’t even played Texas since the Blonde Ambition tour in 1990. She pretty much avoids the South.” Oilcan Harry’s owners could not be reached for comment, but a source close to the club say Madonna herself will make an appearance at a private function during the release party. Stars of similar magnitudes — Prince, Elton John — have played for private events in Austin during the past few years. Why club in Texas when she can still fill arenas worldwide? The star, whose staying power is legendary, stumbled after an appearance at the Live Earth concert last July when she sang a heartfelt call to end global warming. Fox News revealed that her foundation was invested in Earth-unfriendly companies, and the BBC further bloodied her reputation by pointing out that, with multiple cars, homes and a touring retinue of almost 100 people, her carbon footprint was far from delicate. Bloggers descended, ripping into her reputation in a manner reminiscent of the media frenzy following Madonna’s infamous foul-mouthed, cigar-chomping interview on “The David Letterman Show” in 1994. “I think because it’s so unusual and unexpected, she’ll get a lot of media buzz,” said Elaine Garza, owner of Giant Noise PR, which maintains offices in Austin and New York. “Everyone here will go crazy. If you go to a smaller market, the media is going blow it out even bigger. The LA media and New York media will go ‘oh my god, she performed in a small club in Austin.’ But after all, it is a music town.” Photo: AP Update 7 a.m. 4/24/08: Although the rumor had been circulating — fanned by Oilcan insiders — for days, nobody at the club would deny that Madonna would make an appearance there. Until now. Rob Faubion, editor of the trusted Shout magazine and recognized philanthropist, sent me this message after midnight: “Madonna is NOT coming to Oilcan Harry’s: I’m hosting the CD release party on May 1st - with copies of her new CD, but NOT Madonna herself. Yes - Elton John, Pet Shop Boys, Prince, etc. - have ‘dropped in’ to Oilcan’s during the past year. But Madonna will not be at the bar on on May 1st.” OK, so we can all breathe. Except for a couple of nagging things: I still haven’t heard back from the owners of Oilcan’s, and my main source for the rumor — also very trusted, having tipped me about other celebrity appearances — said “we’ll find out tonight.” I would not be at all surprised if she was there then! Well, it’s been fun, right?
Update 3 p.m. 4/24/08: OCH co-owner Larry Davis called us from outside Victoria to say of the Madonna rumor — “I’d love nothing more, but I know nothing about her coming to Austin,” he said. “I find it pretty much impossible to believe.” Despite this, we were still hearing a dull roar from Austin cogniscenti about Madonna’s people gathering in town tonight, or designers meeting with Madonna while she’s in town. Can’t stop a good rumor.
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One reader, correcting a state official’s title, addressed me as a despised species of animal, one with the same number of letters as “jackdaw,” although corvus monedulais is a shiny, rather handsome member of the crow family, so I wouldn’t have minded that comparison so much. Another reader slathered on the sarcasm — glancingly funny — repairing a pair of foreign-language typos. So why express a contempt bordering on hostility for a human error, especially one committed without a whiff of malice? Did the correspondents feel slighted during a recent social report? (If so, why are they still reading Out & About?) Are they nursing wounds from some long-ago criticism or philosophical position? (I probably made more enemies than friends during 15 years of arts reporting for this publication.) Or has Id-evoking hostility persisted beyond the Internet’s infant years, epecially given pseudonymous postings and false return addresses? The most discreet way to help badly informed or hastily prepared online journalists is to e-mail them directly. You know, that link right next to the public commentary box, obviously more tempting for those turned on by humiliation. Here’s our dirty secret: We ache to know the mistakes. We actually want to fix them. Ask Carla McDonald, twice bitten in my columns by an egregious, never-to-be-forgiven error. I called the stylish philanthropist behind YouthWorks, Ballet Austin, Austin Film Society, Stephen’s Angels and countless other groups by the wrong name: “Marla.” That hurts. So McDonald merrily e-mails me about my preferring Marla to her given name, and something about her husband, Jack, dating Marla Maples on the side, heaven forfend. McDonald, who has been known to send out an early draft before regularizing it, knows that, despite all our efforts to get it right, some little kinks in our brains are always going to spoil perfection. Here’s to the Carlas of the world, and to a robust sense of humor without the punishing sting.
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Media
The long, gentle goodbye to American-Statesman editor Rich Oppel, retiring in June, has begun. Thursday, a small, tony crowd gathered at the Japanese-informed Tarrytown home of Catherine and Bill Miller for a reception, co-hosted by Roberta and Larry Wright. Guests migrated from the ideally proportioned, art-enlivened public rooms to the turquoise pool lined with Japanese maples and large (non-invasive) bamboo.
Cindy Hayes, Terri Balderach, Carol Oppel, Rich Oppel, LaVada Steed, Lynne Tredennick, Janna Paulson The house formerly belonged to Wick Fowler, the Dallas Morning News war correspondent and inventor of 2-and-3-Alarm Chili. He also fathered former wild man and painter Gordon Fowler, now married to songstress Marcia Ball. Richard Oppel Jr., Larry Wright Many of the gathered were nearby Tarrytown residents, or neighbors of Oppel and his wife, Carol. In attendance: their quiet, thoughtful son, Richard Jr., The New York Times correspondent on break from reporting in Iraq; tall, gracious and loquacious Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst; tightly wound Speaker of the Texas House Tom Craddick and his wife, Nadine; towering, almost regal Texas Comptroller Susan Combs and her husband, Joe. Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Catherine Miller, Bill Miller I spoke at length with the Millers’ next-door neighbors, Betty Osborne, a close friend of Nancy Scanlan, and of the arts as well (greeted Betty and husband Duncan the next night at Jessie Otto Hite’s celebration at the Blanton Museum of Art), and with Larry Wright, one of the brainiest guys around and Pulitzer Prize winner for “The Looming Tower.” I’d love to see his library someday.
Steve Paulson, Comptroller Susan Combs Also turns out that Catherine Miller grew up down the street from me in Houston. Well, she spent her youth on the high end of Kirby Drive, in River Oaks, while I sprouted from the shabbier West University sector (before it gentrified beyond recognition). Duncan Osborne, Betty Osborne
June 1, 2008
Weekend: Lipstick Pages Party at Beauty Bar
May 31, 2008
Frank Rich: Still America's best theater critic?
May 20, 2008
Harry Knowles to slim today
May 15, 2008
Stephen Moser benefit at Antone's
May 14, 2008
Your A-List: Best Newspaper
2009:
2008:
May 6, 2008
A dream of skies without billboards
Hosting the Austin arts critics
L Style G Style at Roger Beasley Audi
May 5, 2008
Austin Star Map party in Great Hills
May 4, 2008
More on Stephen Moser
April 30, 2008
Your A-List: Best TV Weatherman
April 23, 2008
Madonna at Oilcan Harry's May 1 -- not at all likely
April 16, 2008
Protocol for blog typos
April 11, 2008
Deep in the wilds of Tarrytown
Fat and sassy: Tribeza, Brilliant
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Arts, Media, Music
April 10, 2008
'Battlestar Galactica' and critical origins
As true fans know, ‘Battlestar Galactica’ is back for its final season. Promised developments about the colonists’ journey to Earth, sleeper Cylons and a monotheistic cult in their midst, and the polytheistic religion’s ultimate oracles are unspooling at a pretty slow pace, and the acting has deepened, not always for the best pacing results. But I wouldn’t miss a second of the best science fiction series ever.
And when Statesman editorial writer Bruce Hight asked me to speak to his opinion writing class at St. Edward’s University about entertainment criticism, my mind wandered to ‘Battlestar Galactica’ and its fabled two-part title credits. Using the credits (projected from DVD) as dense, micro-works of art, Hight’s heedful class of 11 worked out the basic skills of criticism.
When asked, as part of a prefatory exercise, which roles they would play as critics, most answered that they would choose to be artists’ advocates, cultural analysts, or audience educators, although a minority said they’d prefer to be consumers’ advocates or moral judges. Then we watched the credits over and over, which choked me up every time.
Skill No. 1 Observation: Students noticed spaceships, explosions, movement, fast, shifting changes, intense, pounding music with loud drum beats. A few quickly read into these words interpretations about lust, anger, anxiety, suspense, increased heart rates, panic, melancholy and danger.
Skill No. 2 Description: Turning observations into simple descriptive sentences proved harder. Among the best: “Explosions, flying spaceships and danger fill the sky, creating a blur of light and dark.”
Skill No. 3 Analysis: Asking the students to break their experience into little packets elicited some exciting responses, though most counted the number of explosions, which, to be fair, dominate: “Six or seven bird’s eye views of (a planet),” “Twice they showed an actual city or firm settlement (the rest was of movement or migration),” “In all but about three frames, they used group shots.” “Times things flew by fast: 13.” These led to perky discussions of the “Battlestar” narrative (Exodus) and its contemporary aesthetic (post-video-game).
Skill No. 4: Interpretation By this time, they had warmed up to the level of analogy: “We’re not watching a group on a battleship; they’re on a lifeboat.” (Wipe a little tear from my teacher eye.) Others sensed “horrible societal breakdown,” “the tranquility of the music combined with the frequent explosions portrays unease and peril,” “time is limited” (wipe another wet eye).
Skill No. 5 Evaluation: Shockingly, nobody in the class claimed to have seen the show, which premiered in 2004. From their responses, I bet some of them pick it up soon. Watching it marathon-style on DVD from Season 1 is the best approach.
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March 17, 2008
Sched.org biggest SXSW breakout
The biggest find of this year’s South by Southwest was not a band, nor a film, nor a party, but a Web site: sched.org.
Chirag Mehta and Taylor McKnight put together this organizational and social networking tool as a SXSW calendar — by hand — just hours before the conference and festival. Using convenient color-coded bars, drop-down information boxes, personalized and shared calendars, and, especially, iPhone syncs, sched.org opened up the sheer spectacle of, by its own count, 640 films, 2,014 official shows, 1,318 unofficial shows, 434 panels and 128 parties.
That’s more than 4,000 events over the course of nine official SXSW days. Even Out & About was impressed by these Florida twentysomethings who constructed sched.org in their spare time. Wire magazine’s Underwire called it “this year’s Twitter,” although I’d say it’s a lot more useful than that microscopic social site.
Sched.org instantly informed users of the most popular events and linked them to artists’ sites. It allowed for group planning and information about friends’ choices. When I finally synced it up with my iPhone, my days and nights were as clear as the pane of glass on that device’s face.
Next year, with the help of sched.org, I could attend 100 events instead of 50.
March 15, 2008
SXSW trade show closes down
With only an hour left to shop for services, equipment and information, we fanned out over the SXSW music trade show at the Austin Convention Center. High-tech trumps low-tech these days, as many booths are decked out with multiple flat-panel screens and interactive stations.
ArtistXsite from Halifax, N.S. — boosted by Matt Charlton and Jason Macisaac — offers an improved tool for hearing and purchasing music written about on the Web. The twist: Not only do the artist and label earn a cut, so does the online publication. Hmmm.
Many booths hawked regional music. Japanese acts — here represented by Yoshiko Goto and Tonia Gerald have long made splashes in the U.S. But did you know the Canadian territory of Yukon rented a booth? Fewer than 32,000 people live in the giant territory. That’s like Cedar Park size. Way spread out.
Darcie Fromholz and Ihor Gowda, of course, are well-known locals with well-known connections. She was pushing preservation of New Orleans music; he’s manager of Austin singer Suzanna Choffel
We had to stop Lucy Matulich and Dan Sparks for a chat, since they looked 10 times healthier than the usual SXSW participants. She’s a tech recruiter; he’s an engineer. You can bet they hydrate during SXSW.
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March 13, 2008
Thanks for Your A-List Best Columnist votes
You guys! So nice. I completely forgot that last week was the window for voting on Your A-List fave for Best Statesman Columnist.
I assure you I didn’t vote or campaign. I’m glad you find Out & About appealing and I thank able colleague Matthew Odam for the kind words.
Now this is not campaigning, but the vote for Best Blogger is going on right now. Reminder: You can only vote once an hour.
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March 12, 2008
SXSW 'All for Nots' party at Club De Ville
The disjunction hung in the late afternoon warmth. There was Michael Eisner, former Disney head, representative of Old Hollywood, with a car and driver in full ready nearby, lounging, however, at Club De Ville, the funky chic Austin bar, pushing “The All for Nots,” a Web-only series about an aspiring rock band. Web only.
A couple of things fit the old paradigm: Eisner wanted control of the event. A VIP room with nobody inside. (Now that’s exclusivity.) No posed photos of him, except by the company’s paid photographer. This candid, however, seems to tell the visual story just as well.
The New York-based band, including Austinite Michael Moravek, looked fresh and sweet. Later, I swooped by to hear their pleasingly rich, varied sound. It’s Thom Woodley, Moravek, Erica Harsch, Brian Cheng, Vanessa Reseland, Kevin Johnston
The party was open to Film and Interactive partisans, so the mix turned lively as the party progressed. Adam Schiff, Jane Hu (with Eisner’s office), Jared Klett, Justin Day (both of blip.tv)
Ran into adorable Judy Maggio and her daughter, Carly Brown, both primed to enjoy the music part of the fest.
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March 11, 2008
SXSW LimeWire party at Club DeVille
Late afternoon and early evening SXSW sometimes gets off to a slow start. Some guests are dragging in from a day of panels, speeches or workshops. Others are just beginning their SXSW days after other responsibilities (like editing entertainment copy in the newsroom).
Cameron Cooper, Kristen Ross
LimeWire is a digital music store, and its counterpart, LimeSpot, is a social networking tool that connects musicians to their fans. Naturally, the cool company’s three parties (Tuesday at Club DeVille, Thursday and Friday at the Dirty Dog) were geared to interactive and music crowds combined.
Jessica Shahan, Walter Driver
The Low Lows kicked off the evening with a strange blend of electronica and country vocals. We talked with Sara Goldstein from Sydney, Australia, who runs The Bargain Queens, a shopping site, Kristen Ross, a designer for Tribeza, David Yeu, a Web developer for New York-based Lime Wire, Walter Driver of LoveTube and others, mostly about the organic way that blogs, Web sites and other online material develop, leaving traditional marketing out to dry.
Sara Goldstein, David Yeu
Turns out, early evening is a great time to talk to folks from SXSW Interactive.
Click here for A-List photos from the Limewire party.
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March 10, 2008
SXSW ON Networks Party at Six
For the first time, SXSW Film and the ON Networks are giving out the Greenlight Awards for digital TV series. Several Austinites are finalists. The party at tri-level Six on Sunday remained lively (little, delicious Cuban sandwiches helped). We promise to update you when the winners are announced.
Chris Demarais, Joe Ruzicka, Aaron Marquis, nominated for “The Wingmen,” which grew out of their improvisational troupe at UT.
Kelly Jackson, Sally Jackson, who write the wild Midlife Gals blog.
Alex Petitt of www.mainstreamgreen.tv, a green building guide, and Rob Ray, who directed “Hell on Wheels,” the roller derby doc that’s doing well in special presentations across the country.
March 9, 2008
SXSW AMODA party at Club DeVille
My ongoing cultural education: Just about everyone I approached at three SXSW Interactive parties on Saturday were suspicious about how I would use the photographs I took of them. Would I manipulate the images? Add snarky comments in the margins? Hey, I’m the guy with MSM. We are so old school, we don’t even correct the red eye in photos because that would be “manipulation.” The AMODA events at the Mohawk and Club DeVille were mobbed. We skipped the laptop competition and hung out with stragglers inside and at the just-discovered south patio bar.
Dave Sugerman (a card if I ever met one — and I have — many), Bridgett Raymond
Robin Bennefield, Miles DeFeyter, Noelle Murata and Thomas (who preferred a one name identification after a lot of confused improvising with pseudonyms)
Betty Chu, Celeste Mitchell, Robin Bennefield
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SXSW Game Tap party at Parkside
This party upset my unacknowledged prejudices about the SXSW Interactive crowd. Outgoing, polished, stylish, these people knew how to engage each other and a good time during the Game Tap event at Parkside. Organizers had decked out the place with organically shaped digital game tables, which almost wished were there all the time. The guests oozed up and down the stairs and out on the terrace, snatching niblets from waiters, toasting each other’s fortunes and even break dancing. (OK, we could have done without that.) Great gossip in the gay subsection, but we’ll save that for another day…
Stephanie Cohen of VOX Entertainment, Kalia Bonner of Game Tap and Tracy Gray of Collaborative Equity Partners
John Teinert, Chris Pelligrino, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, Lisa Layer, Jeff Fisher
Joe Loiacono, Jeff Fisher, Laurel Redford, Scott Thomas
Jay Srinivasan, Ellen Simonetti, Prabhakar Gopalan
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SXSW Frog Design party at the MACC
The setting was spectacular: The recently opened Mexican American Cultural Center, lit up like giant, modernist building blocks. Fluid projects and a fire juggler entertained the masses at the Frog Design event, traditionally the most anticipated of the parties associated with SXSW Interactive, oddly, the least publicly social third of the sprawling conference and festival. We finally met social connector Bijoy Goswami, interviewed in our publication by Jenny Miller, and he reminds me of a budding Eugene Sepulveda, with 6,000 names in his Blackberry. Also, lots of folks from San Francisco and New York, jarred a bit by the bold wind that swept through the MACC and down to the river below.
Click here to view A-List photos from the event.
Phillip Kerman (Portland), Brandie Heinel (SF), Geoff Stearns (SF)
Ariel Aberg-Riger (NYC), Scott DiPerna (NYC), Farah Miller (NYC), Richard Huffaker (SF)
Bijoy Goswami, Marcy Hoen, Marcus Mateus, part of the totally cool Bootstrap Network
February 5, 2008
Ben Sargent lances Bush in March Mad-ness
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November 7, 2007
Debating celebrity journalism at the Dionysium
The Dionysium is a civic treasure. The monthly conclave that includes music, lectures, performances and debates clocked its 42nd incarnation Tuesday with the announcement that it will transfer from Alamo South Lamar to the newly renovated Alamo at the Ritz. (“The hippest Alamo since the original Alamo,” said emcee and president L.B. Deyo.) Tuesday’s event, organized by Sarah Rigdon, included an introduction by curator Kelly Baum to two exhibitions of contemporary works at the Blanton Museum of Art.
The main event, moderated with sere, nimble wit by Ben Anderson, pitted St. Edward’s University journalism faculty member and former American-Statesman columnist Michele Kay (pictured) against your humble correspondent. The resolution: “Celebrity journalism is inherently irresponsible.” Taking the affirmative position, Kay argued that reporting on the famous eats up valuable newspaper space, encourages bad behavior and borders on voyeurism. The negative responded that celebrity journalism is natural, universal and valuable (providing necessary narratives for a chaotic existence). It can also be executed responsibly, following the 3 Ps: No paparazzi, no potshots, no puncturing the veil of privacy. Also, space is available online and role models can also teach us what not to do.
After vigorous questioning from the audience, and much agreement between the debaters on what constitutes newsworthiness, the discussion was closed. The final argument from Out & About: respect. Give celebrities, local or national, the same respect we give people involved in natural disasters, accidents and crimes. Report and evaluate their public actions and speech, but delve no further. Much to my surprise, the negative narrowly won the audience vote.
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October 23, 2007
Out & About errs
One benefit of Internet reporting is that you can correct errors right away. Some mistakes make it into hard-copy print, however, which is much more difficult to erase.
Take the following excruciating examples from the past couple of weeks:
The Austin club magnate spells his name Matt Luckie, not Lucky.
The Foundation closed months ago, despite its ghost appearances on VH1’s “The Pickup Artist.”
The swank lounge on Fourth Street is called 219 West. The equally swank, but long-gone restaurant on West Sixth was called 612 West.
Andy Brown (right) is running for Travis County Democratic Party Chairman, not National Democratic Party Chairman.
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October 16, 2007
Everybody loves Herb Caen. Me? Comme ci, comme sa.
My column last week about San Francisco chronicler Herb Caen sparked some warm memories — and, inevitably, other responses — from readers. Believe it or not, we edited them down a bit.
“Thank you so much for today’s column on San Francisco!! It was the picture of Herb that caught my eye. He was the epitome of San Francisco even though he was a ‘Sacamena kid’; as he was fond of saying. As a San Francisco native, I read his column, every day from 1965 until the day he died and miss him terribly… there will never be another Herb. Everyone recognized that he couldn’t be replaced. I live in the Austin area now, and would love it if there were a daily column as rich in Austin lore as Herb’s was in San Francisco. Are you up for the challenge? If today’s column is a typical example of your writing skills, you can do it!” — Sharon Rinaldi
“Thank you for the article on San Francisco and Herb Caen. I was born and raised in San Francisco. In my home, we first perused the front page of the Chronicle and then turned to the second section to read the left hand column. When he went on vacation he was sorely missed. I hope you will be able to find more of his books. They are the true story of how San Fran used to be. Thank you again. — Mary Anne Campbell
“Thank you for your wonderful article in today’s paper. Being from the CA Bay area, it brought back so many wonderful experiences we too, have enjoyed; Herb Caen’s column, being one of them. I get so tired of reading the Kelso, knock the Californians for coming to Texas jibberish. If Texans were half as accepting of people’s differences as most Californians, I would be happier living here. I will miss your column and your open mindedness, as we will be going home soon.” — Carol Grace
“This is a fan letter and, ironically, the only other one I have ever written was to none other than Herb Caen. I’ve been reading your columns and thoroughly enjoying them. I am fortunate enough to have lived in San Francisco from 1969-1993. I’ve now been in Austin for eight years and have always compared the two cities because of their beauty, water access, fabulous food and a very eclectic populace. I lived downtown at the Golden Gateway Center and watched the Bank of America being completed; the foundation pour of the Transamerica Pyramid and the building of Embarcadero Center, among other things. I haven’t had abalone in about a million years and my mouth watered for it. Such an incredible delicacy… I won’t bore you with a lot of my memories, but Herb Caen was the most important person in San Francisco and I read his column each morning. When I wrote my fan letter to him, it was basically to tell him that I wished he wouldn’t take his much-needed vacation each year as we citizens were all left without our daily dose of his incredible humor. I look forward to reading your columns for years to come!” — Donise L. Hardy
“Your recent excellent column featuring San Francisco columnist Herb Caen triggered memories of a long-ago incident. While stationed by the Navy in San Francisco in the early 60s, we all read Herb Caen, and discussion of his eclectic column was a daily event. I continued to follow Herb in the Honolulu newspaper after transfer to Hawaii in 1963. In about 1965, while waiting In the Disneyland Hotel for the shuttle to L.A. International and back to Hawaii, I slipped into the bar and ordered a beer with tomato juice. A woman nearby asked what was that I was drinking. I said, ‘Beer and tomato juice.’ ‘What do you call it?” Having never thought about it having a name, nevertheless I responded with a superior air, ‘Beer and tomato juice.’ The next day an item in Herb’s column in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin announced that down in Orange County (maybe it said Disneyland) a new bar drink was being featured—the ingredients, beer and tomato juice and called, ‘Beer And Tomato Juice.’” — Bill Groce
“I grew up in the Bay Area, 58 years worth, and spent my whole life reading Herb Caen — the SF institution — leaving to move to Austin the year before he died. Buddy, you are so far off emulating Caen, it’s laughable! There is absolutely no resemblance to the Herb Caen I knew and loved and your attempt at simulation of him. You’ll never make it, dude! And using Livermore, for God’s sake, as the northern California Plano, is the most absurd thing I think I have ever read! Get real! I bet you get all kinds of mail on that stupid statement. Livermore? That is such a joke! So they have a winery there — so what? That doesn’t make it a Plano or anything else like that! Get real!” — Bobbie Mabry
“I lived in the Bay Area for awhile and always read Herb Caen, so thanks for your tribute to him in today’s paper. Enjoyed reading it!” — Sheila Scarborough
“As a native Californian and Bay Area resident until our move to Austin 10 years ago, I really, really enjoyed your column today. I especially loved reading about Herb Caen as he was such a favorite of mine. His witty and easy-going three dot journalism had an influence on my own writing at the time … maybe I should just say I tried to emulate his style and I’m afraid the three dot part has stuck with me all these years. I’m also proud to say that a tidbit I sent him about something I spotted during my morning commute into the city appeared in his column in 1983, my name and all. Then, he actually sent me a note typed on the trusty Royal … on his letterhead and signed Herb, thanking me for sending him the item and hoping that I saw it. That note is a real treasure of mine. He was known for personally thanking every item contributor. Now, those were the good ol’ days. When he retired from the column because of his illness in 1996, I sent him a letter thanking him for all he’d done for us in the Bay Area and for being the terrific guy he was.” — Michelle Grant
“I loved your article about San Francisco and Herb Caen. Thanks!” — Matt Dow
“I really enjoyed the column about your Northern California trip. I lived there for 10 years before moving to Austin and return frequently. (I moved here in 1989 so please don’t blame me for the influx although I realize I may have started a trend). I have been a fan of Nancy Oakes since some friends met us for dinner at her L’Avenue, way out on Clement St, before she opened Boulevard. When I couldn’t decide on an entree, my friend said, ‘I just order whatever comes with the porcini mashed poatoes.’ They were so good I’ve been trying to recreate them ever since ( I can get pretty close). I try to eat a Boulevard at least once whenever I’m back. These same friends have a house outside of Healdsburg and one summer we stopped at Seghesio vineyards on our way back from the grocery to try their Zinfandel. We took a couple bottles home, they were about $12.00 at the time, and we pretty much went through Seghesio like water for the rest of the week. I could find it a couple of places when I got back to Austin but, unfortunately, I think we single-handedly drove up the price and now I can only afford it on a semi-splurge basis!” — Fritz Wiedemann
“I have been reading your columns for your entire writing career for the Austin American Statesman and really like your writing style. I know from today’s column that you have a new Out and About column to write and I want to share my thoughts and feelings with you. The last two columns —or maybe they were your first two — left me feeling rather negative. The column about the new club coming to Austin was too pretentious and too condescending to the owner — I was not impressed with his heritage, money or killing of animals on safari. The nature/mood of the club sounds way too New York or too L.A. — both places that we Austinites would rather not emulate. Today’s column praising San Francisco sounded like a travel brochure written by the San Franciso Chamber of Commerce. I have never been to SF and am definitely planning a trip there one day so I couldn’t relate to the article at all. I did not see the analogy between SF and Austin. Why make the comparison anyway? I was born and raised here in Austin and love our city. I don’t want us to become just another high dollar yuppie mecca that looks with nostalga at the Austin that “was.” For example, South Congress used to be so wonderful, unique and eclectic — now it is becoming another strip of expensive boutiques and restaurants and losing its charm. Austin is a charming city and we have charming people. I want the people that move here to become charming also not make us snooty. I don’t feel that you have found your stride yet and writing from your heart. Maybe you could make that column whatever your passion is and what reflects your style. You are a great writer and, in my humble opinion, have the ability to make this a great column.” — Bonnie Carothers
“I enjoyed your column today, especially all the SF references and your mention of Sonoma County and Boulevard. Now that enough time has passed, I have this to say: for all the hype of Boulevard:, I can have three wonderful meals at Castle Hill for what I paid at Boulevard. Austin eateries are just as cutting edge and creative and your dining dollars go a helluva lot further here than there, although I too enjoyed the Zin there. Better more interesting meals were had at Visit Thai on Lower Haight (which is one of the most interesting neighborhoods in SF) and in little joints on Valencia. I did Napa in 1975 and while I’m amazed how the No Cal wine country has matured; the Hill Country today reminds me a lot of Napa then and makes me hopeful, especially with the funky (Driftwood Winery) butting up against the fab (Mandiola’s) just down the road. As for records in SF, Amoeba Records has volume but not necessarily the cool of real indie record shops. It’s so big that it has put a lot of indies out of business there. Next time, check out Jack’s which is mentioned in my blog, and 101 Records in North Beach. They don’t have Amoeba’s volume, but pack plenty of atmosphere and guarantee plenty of discoveries.” — Joe Nick Patoski
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October 9, 2007
Carl Besetzny is Austin's Cosmo Bachelor
While viewers follow the travails of Brad Womack, the Austin bartender who must choose a babe-mate on ABC’s “The Bachelor,” another strapping local has been chosen for the Cosmopolitan Magazine Bachelor Contest.
Construction and design consultant Carl Besetzny, 24, builds restaurants and retail stores. He’s lived in Austin for about a year and represents Texas in the pageant, I mean contest. Besetzny’s sister Amanda entered his name and photo, but that information went in one ear and out the other.
“Then about a month later I received a call from someone claiming to be with Cosmo from a distant area code,” he says. “What I thought was a prank turned into me flying out to L.A. and doing a photo shoot at a ranch up in Los Olivos.”
He took his sister along to Los Angeles for the shoot and stayed out all night as her designated driver — another Texas gentleman! — for her 21st birthday celebrations.
Contest collaborator “Entertainment Tonight” is scheduled to run a “Cosmo Bachelor 2007” segment tonight, then the “Today” show will follow with a flesh parade Oct. 18. You may vote at Cosmo’s Web site through Oct. 11.
If you want to contact him directly, ladies, Besetzny has provided an e-mail address: carl@6dgr.com. What turns him on? “I love a woman in white pants,” he says on the Cosmo site. “They always grab my attention.”
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September 20, 2007
A batch of new Austin entertainment bloggers
This year’s entertainment journalism class that I teach at St. Ed’s is already bloggin’ away. Check out their daily posts at the following links.
Alexander Daniel, Christina Dobin, Heather Ebert, Haydee Escalante, Stephen Fish, Damon Garcia, Travis Gibson, Ariel Greco, Kerry Guerrero, Mary Hennessy, Noelle Kurtz, Sekara Ortega, Joelle Pearson, Beth Peterman, Karina Reyes, Christine Rossi, Stefanie Torres, Dasha Tukanova, Becca Tullar
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September 11, 2007
Blech! Not tabloid journalism again!
Readers of the online edition of Out & About are already familiar with this debate, but I thought I’d share a portion of today’s print edition.
“Ew. Mug-shot journalism.”
“This seems a bit below you.”
“Intelligence is a terrible thing to waste.”
Some readers are concerned about the creeping “tabloid-ization” of Out & About. They winced when we reported Owen Wilson’s attempted suicide, Austin actor Austin Nichols’ Michigan DUI arrest and the selection of local bartender Brad Womack as the next hunk-a-licious on TV’s “The Bachelor.”
My case, in brief:
Blame Darwin. Mammals, and particularly primates, are hard-wired for gathering and sharing social news. “It’s increasingly apparent that social skills are of great importance in the evolution of primates,” said Mark L. Weiss, a program director at the National Science Foundation. Weiss was commenting on a recent study’s conclusion that not only do primates like ourselves live longer if they socialize well, their children do, too. Makes you think.
News that’s fit to print. Dating back to The Spectator and The Tatler in the 18th century, newspapers have traded in personality journalism. The American golden age was the pre-broadcast days of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the print media related every detail of celebrity lifestyles to a ravenous population. Not to lean on the “everybody’s-doing-it” defense, but august publications such as The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and Reuters news service reported the above stories when we did, using the same sources.
Mean girls? Readers expect outright snarkiness in social reports, detecting meanness even where it wasn’t intended. We avoid it, or try. Other publications used the same news that we reported neutrally as excuses to puncture Nichols’ acting ability, accuse Wilson of using drugs or dismiss Womack as “another L.A. porn type.” We did not.
You like that, don’t you? Yes, you do. Page views of Out & About on Austin360.com more than tripled this August compared with August 2006, after the transformation into its present format. And that in a very slow social month. Those links don’t activate themselves.
In other news, we’ve spread the word about piano rolls owned by Ken Caswell, former manager of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, for years. In fact, we can remember when the scion of old Austin was reluctant to talk to the press about his treasure trove, which includes recordings of composer Claude Debussy performing his own work. A July 24 article by Bernard Holland in The New York Times, however, has accelerated sales of CDs from the Pierian Recording Society drawn from these rolls. Good for everyone.
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September 6, 2007
Fave launch party at Nest
This was a publishing niche just aching to be filled: a high-end slick magazine for the Austin gay community. Backers launched Fave, which looks a bit like Tribeza with fashion, home, travel and profile sections, Wednesday night in the sleek surroundings of Nest, the modern furniture store on West Sixth Street. Lots of fastidiously dressed fashion, media, business and arts types, male and female, sipping Stockholm Krystal, scanning the masses and rifling through the unusually useful gift bags (which including undergear from n2nbodywear.com). Before heading out for Adrian and the Sickness at the CP, we visited with a few knowledgeable nodes of guests.
Fashion writer Carla Ferguson and practiced party model Desiree Guiterrez (love that name!)
Riss Estes (ClearCommerce.com) and fashion designer par excellence Linda Asaf
Art collector Charles Peveto and idea man Robert Nash
Maris Stella Osterwich (Sage Salon) and Carlo Cruz
Fave creative director Phillip Hudson and publisher Keith Collins
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