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Your A-List: Best Place to Get Married
No. 1 on the A-List ballot for best place to get married: Laguna Gloria, the cove on Lake Austin once owned by Stephen F. Austin, then later Clara Driscoll, the Alamo savior and founder of seed organizations for Austin Museum of Art and Arthouse. AMOA still operates her modest villa on the sumptuous lakeside grounds, site for concerts, sculpture exhibits and fairs, as well as weddings. It took 20 percent of the vote.
Green Pastures, the historic restaurant and former farm on Live Oak Street in South Austin, came in No. 2 with 20 percent (one vote less than Laguna Gloria), while the Zilker Botanical Gardens on Barton Springs Road placed third with 12 percent. Barton Creek Resort in Southwest Austin got 8 percent, while the near-campus Mansion on Judges’ Hill earned 7 percent.
Taking 5 percent or less were Vintage Villas, Mount Bonnell, One World Theatre, Umlauf Sculpture Garden, Plantation House, Caswell House, French Legation and (sweetly) City Hall.
Photo: Brian K. Diggs
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Your A-List: Best Newspaper
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.
(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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The ‘Kitten with a Whip’ philosophy
Years ago, University of Texas undergraduates, as students do, attempted to improve their scores for the Introduction to the Theater class by employing an inventive range of arguments. As the teaching assistant and therefore keeper of the grades for hundreds of theatrical novices, I responded with observations about the quality of analysis, interpretation or evaluation in their essays.
I have no idea how many students were scarred by that experience.
These days, I field standard questions about Out & About with a similar blend of patience and puckishness. When asked, “How do you choose which revelers to photograph for the column?” I may reply: “I select the people with least symmetrical features.” Or perhaps: “I start due north and shoot only those who hover at cardinal points of the compass.” Which criteria do I really use? Bottom line: They must make me — and hopefully our readers — curious.
Now, that could be related to their celebrity status, and there’s an inherent hierarchy of curiosity about the famous. Despite overexposure, Matthew McConaughey’s six-pack is more interesting than an Average Joe’s lack of one, for instance.
Novelty helps. Ricki Vincent, the gentle giant who runs Geppetto Dreams Puppet Theatre, looks like an exhaust-breathing biker. Yet a short conversation leads to a much more intriguing personal story about long-distance love, tattoos and the appeal of felt. Variety is an alluring spice. Luckily, most Austin socializing is far from monochromatic. So everywhere I turn, there’s somebody not like the other.
(One exception: A loosely associated group of women, ages 18 to 48, who all plainly patronize the same salons, spas, boutiques and, especially, hair colorists. Help! I can’t tell them apart!)
Otherwise, if you want to see your face in Out & About, make sure you’re: “All out for kicks … and every inch spells excitement!”
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Weekend heat wave at Hilton Austin
Did the short, brutal weekend heat wave alter Austin socializing? Not at the Hope Ball at the Hilton Austin on Saturday. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation packed the ballroom with at least 700 nattily attired gala-goers, netting more than half a million dollars. The tall, crisp rooms were well stocked with beverages, including $50 martinis, which copped the buyer a raffle ticket as well as refreshment.
Again, my iPhone keyboard was on the fritz, so help with IDs is much appreciated…
Heather Parsons, Pat Stewart
Tina Fernandez, Frank Fernandez, Gina Shishiria
Beth Unite, Sel Unite
Jennifer Ransom Rice, Don Rudy, Sarah Bagwell
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Weekend heat wave at Mellow Johnny’s
Did the short, brutal weekend heat wave alter Austin socializing? Not at Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop on Saturday. Lance Armstrong’s gigantic retail outlet on Nueces Street behind La Zona Rosa doubles as a party palace, and the patio out back — broken in after the cool front passed through — is likely to host a number of events like this VIP opening. Most Austin parties are decorated with pretty, pretty people, but this exquisitely healthy crowd simply radiated good looks.
Charlie Tames, Greg Euckert, Salma Manzur, John Fantauzzi
Mike Hall, Amy Creed, Chris Adels
Help
Help
Help
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Weekend heat wave at Victory Grill
Did the short, brutal weekend heat wave affect Austin socializing? Not at the Stax Night at the Victory Grill on Friday. Although the venerable venue’s air-conditioning system could barely keep up with the capacity crowd, everyone remained in high party mode for T-Bird and the Breaks, which played to benefit the Stax Music Academy in Memphis. Couldn’t stay for the band, but cheered the fringe-skirted Funk Peepshow dancers, who shimmied to the DJ’s tunes.
Funk Peepshow Dancers: Aryn Sullivan, Kim Domanet, Christina Mason, Gloria Fuentes
Ben Frederick, Theresa Herbst
My iPhone keyboard died at this point. I got their names on a cocktail napkin, which has disappeared. He’s definitely a doctor.
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Stephen Moser Live
We are waiting for the arrival of the Grand Style Avatar. Excitement in the newsroom fairly bubbles. (OK, at my desk anyway, for this first live interview, with your participation.)
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Weekend heat wave at Geppetto Dreams
Did the short, brutal weekend heat wave affect Austin socializing. Not at the Geppetto Dreams studio on Friday. Granted, it wasn’t easy finding the puppet troupe’s open house on Pedernales Street, because the studio is tucked behind the Peacock Lounge. There, master puppeteer Ricki Vincent, who looks like a fierce biker with piercings and ink, gently brought his creations to life, while his chief backer, Steve Spencer of Seguin, checked the progress of the troupe, recently transferred from Fort Worth.
Ricki Vincent
Squeak, Mimi, Steve Spencer, Camille DePrang
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Weekend heat wave at Tierra del Fuego
Did the short, brutal weekend heat wave affect Austin socializing? Not at Tierra del Fuego on Friday. Opened with a hush a month ago by the owners of Sampaio, this urbane refuge on Second Street could become a regular haunt for downtowners heading to other events. Tapas and wines from Bethany Shelton and Bob Brown (an urban planner by day) kept the idling customers satisfied in South American fashion.
Marcus Sanchez, Deanna Pepka
Edgar Figueroa, Paula Tait
Bethany Shelton, Bob Brown
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Weekend heat wave at Imperia
Did the short, brutal weekend heat wave hurt Austin socializing? Not at Imperia on Thursday. Glazed with cool in any weather, the Asian restaurant on Colorado Street is especially inviting for event impresario Tre Dotson’s Sanctuary parties. Not many customers lingered in the main dining areas, but the bar area popped with bottomless edamame and chilly cocktails while managing partner C.K. Chin described the new sushi bar planned for the restaurant’s north wing.
Tara Kohler, Sia Jahadi
Lupe Valdez, Kristal Stine
Patrick McDonald, Rob Ducroz, Gabe Perez
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Weekend heat wave at Buzios Room
Did the weekend’s short, brutal heat wave hurt Austin socializing? Not at the Buzios Room on Thursday. The spanking new ultra-lounge above the Copa on Congress Avenue immediately relaxes the weather-weary with dark, low furniture and sea-themed sculptures (it’s named after a Rio de Janeiro beach). Manager Silvio Ramos promises a thoroughly grown-up experience for tourists at the planned hotel that will embrace the cozy 19th-century building, as well as residents from the Austonian, rising high across the street.
Kristin Reno, Jackie Lapid, Rachel Paguio
Alan Gabriel, Ashley Sauft, Amy Bauer, Gus Gabriel
Patrick Byrd, Ashley Johnson
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Weekend heat wave at the Congress Avenue Bridge
Did the short, brutal weekend heat wave affect Austin socializing. Not at the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, where batwatchers massed on the greens at either terminus, or bunched, dangerously on the walkway. (Must a child die before the city builds the long-shelved pedestrian amenities for the bridge?)
Aiding the batwatchers with crucial information is Jeff Zick, owner of Zickster.com and purveyor of T-shirts, stickers and other batty accessories at a booth outside the Radisson Hotel’s walls.
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Austin’s Pat McCann solos at Bush-Hager rehearsal dinner
We heard from a peerless source that Austin guitarist Pat McCann played the rehearsal dinner for the Bush-Hager party Friday in Salado. We don’t know much about McCann, who appears to play ambient and jazz music. He may be the only Austin musician without a prominent MySpace page. And we can’t confirm a reliable image for him. But we’ll keep trying.
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Weekend heat wave at United States Art Authority
Ninety-seven degrees. Near 100 percent humidity. It affects socializing, but not always in the way one might expect.
Over the weekend, the lava-like conditions punished partygoers, then turned it a little heavenly by Sunday, with cooler winds offering respite from a dreaded early summer.
Mike Wiebe, Meagan Smith, Megan Baird
The former weather painted sweat on participants at almost every event and made progress on foot almost impossible. The latter encouraged flocking to festivals, restaurant patios and athletic events.
Jessica Fox, Lain Penny, Minty Phresh
Our weekend began and almost ended at the United States Art Authority, the still-new campus-area hangout on 29th Street, next door to Spiderhouse Cafe.
Matt Shepherd. Dylan Rieck
The weekday crowd is quietly hip, convivial, while Saturday’s special event attracted a raucous set for Jackie Beat, the Los Angeles-based drag performer who sings like a canary in naughty spoofs of pop songs.
The USAA’s cabaret stage proved just right for this sort of event. The dark expanses of this red-and-black space also draw the visitor deep into the cool escape from the May heat.
Chuck Redwire, Gigi Soto
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Save the date: Stephen Moser live interview
Did the article in last Sunday’s American-Statesman about Stephen Moser make you hungry to know more about Austin’s Style Avatar? You’re in luck: Moser has agreed to participate in the first Out & About live blog interview, which will operate something like a chat room at noon Tuesday, May 13. So return to this space at that time, and ask him any question about his full-lived life, as well as the fashion industry, media and social circuit. Don’t forget the benefit for Moser’s medical trust at Antone’s on Wednesday, May 14.
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Old Antone’s on Guadalupe to become blues club
We were chatting with Bejarano (pictured) at the USAA, which opened for regular business (6 nights a week) recently. The combination bar, performance space and art gallery, formerly a plasma collection center — has worked well for special events, but now is destined to become an campus-area hang-out. (Seriously, there are so few. And with the Showdown heading out the door…)
We’ll profile USAA for Out & About: Cafe Society, the periodic XL feature that premiered this week with a look at Kick Butt Coffee. Other fresh spots on our list to dig into include Buzios Room, a neat, laid-back ultra-lounge managed by Silvio Ramos that just opened above the Copa, and Orchid, which takes the place of the Black and Tan on Seventh Street. Last night, while snacking at Imperia with managing partner C.K. Chin, we heard of two more new clubs, one on West Sixth Street and another on San Jacinto Boulevard. Looks like Cafe Society will be busy through June on new social gathering places.
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Tina Marsh, Austin Arts Hall of Fame inductee
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Video: Weekend Out
Thanks to good sport Thomas Gohring for helping to create our first Weekend Out video. We know, we know, the open mike sound is messy, but it was a first try…
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Don Howell, Austin Arts Hall of Fame inductee
For most readers, the least familiar name on the class list for the 2008 Austin Arts Hall of Fame, to be inducted at Cap City Comedy Club on June 2, will be Don Howell. Yet an Austin theatergoer could not pick up a printed program during the 1990s without spotting Howell’s name among the patrons gratefully acknowledged. That’s because the retired high school drama teacher from Alice made it his mission to encourage the youthful theater companies that had sprung up like wildflowers in Austin during that period.
A producer and dramaturg as well, Howell volunteered regularly for Austin Circle of Theaters, transformed during the early 1990s under Ann Ciccolella into an essential arts advocacy organization. In association with Dance Umbrella and Zach Theatre, he presented Dallas-based performer/magi Fred Churchak’s Shakespeare-inspired solo work.
Before teaching in Alice, he worked for the pioneering director Margo Jones at her Dallas theater. He studied with Sanford Meisner at New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse and later worked alongside Nina Vance at Houston’s Alley Theatre. At the Dallas Theater Center, he studied, toured and directed three years with founder Paul Baker.
As such, Howell was an active witness to three profound transformations of Texas and American theater: The regional theater movement of the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s; the near-universal postwar proliferation of high school drama through the University Interscholastic League; and the rise of the warehouse theater movement in Austin during the 1990s and early 21st century.
Photo by Ann Ciccolella.
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Madonna chooses Houston
Now that the hubbub about a possible Madonna drive-by has settled down, we’ve got the official word: The Indefatigable One is finally returning to Texas after a 15-year absence. She’s set to play Houston’s Minute Maid Park Nov. 16. Tix for Sticky & Sweet go on sale May 31. She’ll also play Mexico, although cities have not been named, and that might be even more interesting.
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Your A-List: Best Punk Group
Write-ins: Manikin, Sex Advice
Photo by Jay Janner.
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Latest comments
Oh my god this event was the bomb! I cant wait until this group does another event-It was just to fun. How cool was it to see mostly white folk pay homage to such incredible black talents in the music industry. It makes my heart feel good
... read the full comment by Kass Mason | Comment on Weekend heat wave at Victory Grill Read Weekend heat wave at Victory Grill
I have known Pat McCann for years and he is a wonderful guitar player and human being. In fact, he was just at my place of business telling me about the rehearsal dinner. When I see him next time, I will ask him to contact you, so you can have some particulars
... read the full comment by Angela May | Comment on Austin's Pat McCann solos at Bush-Hager rehearsal dinner Read Austin's Pat McCann solos at Bush-Hager rehearsal dinner
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