Adios Austin

I can't really remember what I did the day after bingo and roller derby, hung out at Jo's for a long time probably, but I do remember my birthday. It started off kinda crappy with an average breakfast and a $15 parking ticket. Had a bit of sulk and thought about going to Fredricksburg but decided I'd rather go canoeing at Barton Springs Creek. So that's what I did, and it was fantastic! Picked up this guy's football from the middle of the creek and was rewarded with a Coor's Light. That's one of his buddys out kayaking...

There were turtles, lots of turtles, and you could paddle all the way out and along Town Lake...

After 2 hours of that I felt I deserved a birthday cupcake from Hey Cupcake...

Then it was on to Waterloo Records for Hayes Carll's instore performance to promote his new album released the same day. It was cool and he signed my CD. Later I went up to Stubb's BBQ for his free show. Ran into Matthew the mayor of Brewarrina and had some brisket and a few margaritas. Because it was a free show it was packed with UT students so after a couple of songs we headed off to a place called Momo's to see a guy called Mark Jungers who Matthew said was really good and he was. Spent many hours drinking margaritas and talking to Mark and his people and some Canadian musicians who were touring and staying at Mark's house in San Marcos. So it turned out to be a pretty good day in the end.

Random pictures taken between bars...

There's Matthew at Momo's. And some margaritas...

And that's Mark Jungers and his band...

Was very tired my last day but met up with Lori who I'd met the other night. We went around a few thrift stores and vintage stores, as well as stores that sold new things. We had tacos, very unlike the ones you get at home, from a roadside stall. They were cheap and good. 

That's about it :-( . Killing time at LAX now. See ya'll real soon.

Bingo and Derby

Sunday morning started off as usual with a trip to Jo's but this time while standing in line I got approached by a camera crew who asked if they could interview me. I said ok. They were from the Travel Channel. They liked the New Zealander in Austin thing. Too bad I couldn't think of anything interesting to say. Much easier writing about it than talking about it with a camera right up in your face. Kinky Friedman was lurking about too, I assume for the purposes of their Austin story but I'm not entirely sure. There's the woman who interviewed me, in the boots, talking to him.

I wondered if the Travel Channel were following me because they turned up at Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon too. Guess I must be going to all the right places :-) . I read about this place on the blog of Canadian singer/songwriter Kathleen Edwards (who by the way is awesome, you should buy her new record). They have this thing called Chicken Sh*t Bingo. They put a board with numbers on it over a pool table and cover it in chicken feed. Then they put a chicken on it and put a cage over it. You buy tickets and the winner takes all. No chicken is harmed in the process... There was also a band playing. As usual everyone was very friendly.

After Ginny's I drove further north to the Playland Skate Center for the Texas Rollergirls Rock-n-Rollerderby where I saw the Honky Tonk Heartbreakers take on the Tornado Alley Roller Girls (from Oklahoma) and the Hotrod Honeys take on the Hustlers. They started the whole event off with the national anthem, then it got really serious. I tried to upload some video of this because my pictures aren't the best but it didn't work. It was fun to watch but I bet it's more fun to be involved.

Hook 'em Horns

Above is Bevo, the mascot for the University of Texas' sports teams. He's a longhorn steer. The hand gesture people use to show their support or celebration is called 'throwing the horns'. It's exactly the same as the gesture heavy metallers use, index and little finger raised, and in some cultures has Satanic connotations. All of the street signs surrounding the UT campus are in the UT colours of burnt orange and white and have the image of the Longhorn on them, as below.

I was up by the campus again, this time doing some shopping at the University Co-Op. Longhorns merchandise is big business. The shopping made me hungry so I went to Hut's for a burger. They're some of the best burger's in Austin. I had one called a Richie Valens. Afterwards, since it was such a beautiful day, I headed to Barton Springs Creek which is delightful as you can see below. You can hire canoes and kayaks and swim in the pool further up stream. The pool, which you have to pay to get into, is actually to the right of where people are wading. The top pic shows where the creek meets what is called Town Lake. This is actually the Colorado River. 

This weekend is the 7th annual Lone Star Rod & Kustom Round Up and it is insane around here. It's like Grease Lightning! I must be the only person at the motel who isn't here for it. There are some damn ugly hot rods around but also some pretty nice 'kustoms'. Here's one I was behind driving down South Congress Ave at 10 miles an hour (20km).

Jo's Coffee

It's Only Rock n Roll

yesterday morning i fought the urge to sleep in and went back up to the UT campus for a once a week tour of the Austin City Limits studio. ACL is a TV series of live concerts done for PBS and is nearly as old as i am. Coldplay, Norah Jones, The White Stripes, Franz Ferdinand, KT Tunstall, The Pixies, Leonard Cohen, James Blunt and Crowded House are just some of the artists who have played ACL. i know of it because New West records has started to release some of the shows on DVD. the tour was pretty much just a look at the stage, which is tiny. it doesn't look that way on TV especially when there's a large band up there. the background is a depiction of Austin's skyline at night. it's a little old so doesn't look exactly like the skyline does now. it does make it seem like the concerts are staged outdoors. as well as getting our pics taken on stage we got to ride in the 'talent elevator' and look at some of the official photographer's photos. because I am a Ryan Adams fan the tour guide told me about his appearance. she said he must've been going through a bad period because between songs he was having real issues with his tuning and then at the end of the show he smashed his guitar up on stage. she said it was pretty scary. they edited all those bits out.

that night I went to see Man Carter, consisting of Andrew (from the motel) Gary (from Heybale) and Spyder (the drummer). they played a bar called Black & Tan. it was a bit of an odd venue for their kind of music but Spyder's day job involves work there so he got them the gig. they played 6 songs, with Andrew standing out front for about half of them due to feedback problems. they were pretty good though. i spent ages talking to Spyder's girlfriend Lori who is also a big Alejandro fan. Man Carter were followed by a band called Sicks Pack who played everything from ragtime to blues to funk to metal and at times sounded very much like Tom Waits. 

Killin' Time in Texas

last night i went up to the Cactus Cafe which is part of the University of Texas Union so it's on campus. it's been around since the 70s and the likes of Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan have played there. some names you might actually recognise! it has a capacity of around 150 so it's an intimate venue. last night there were about 50 people there to see old longhairs Gurf Morlix and Sam Baker. I'm not all that familiar with Sam but I have one of Gurf's CDs. he's a producer as well as musician and has produced records for loads of musicians that i like including Lucinda Williams who he played with for 11 years. he toured with her to Auckland about 15 years ago where they played the Gluepot. i think he fell out with her but i didn't broach the subject when i spoke to him. he and Sam were great together. Sam's a little mischievous whereas Gurf's songs are quite dark, but they do have some humor. like the one about murdered atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair who was responsible for ending daily prayer in US schools, called Madalyn's Bones. a little way through the first set they mentioned that bloody Australian guy with the heavily autographed stetson. he was there too! during the break I got talking to a woman who was also there by herself. i think her name was Jenny. she's from Austin originally but now lives halfway between it and Houston, a 90 minute drive she said. she stays at home with 2 boys so i guess she had the night off. she got my email as she might be coming out to New Zealand as a friend of hers is married to a New Zealander. anyway, i also spoke to Sam and Gurf during the break and then they mentioned me too during the second set. after the show i met Matthew the Australian who is mayor of some small (pop. 1200) western NSW town, the name of which i can't remember. he's pretty much doing the same thing as me here. he took the pics of me and Gurf and Sam below. and the one of me outside the nearby Texas Chili Parlor. fans of Quentin Tarantino may like to know that he filmed some of 'Grindhouse' there.

Highway 12

So as I was saying, yesterday I drove to Wimberley, Texas. Why Wimberley? Well I woke up late, like 11.30, but I wanted to go somewhere in the Hill Country, somewhere not too far away and somewhere small. Wimberley fit the bill. Also the guidebook says it's home to many artists, authors and musicians so I figured it must be pretty interesting. Getting out of Austin city limits was the scariest part but I did it. Once you're on the highway it's pretty easy, if a little dull. Wimberley is a quirky little town with loads of antique, craft and vintage stores. I spent my time poking around in them and chatting with the friendly store keepers. In one I heard the Dixie Chicks playing on the radio so I guess the stations must be over the Bush comment. I spent the longest time in Jacque's Wall Street Western store and came away with my 3rd, and by far coolest, pair of boots. I would've liked to have had more time to explore beyond the Square but I wanted to get back to Austin before dark so that was pretty much it.

The next day I received a reply to an email I sent to Alejandro's fan relations guy. Turns out Alejandro lives in Wimberley.