A Different Perspective

Usually we are shooting out our tenth floor, east-facing window on the west side of downtown. This picture of the almost topped Austonian was taken from the 800 block of Congress from a balcony of a private home nestled among the store fronts. That's One American Center on the right and you can see the sign for the old State theater (an old movie theater that was operating as a playhouse until it was flooded). The State is next door to the Paramount.

New Face of Parking

All around downtown, these machines are showing up to print parking receipts that you put in your car for the meter men and meter maids to see. They take coins and credit cards. Machines like these have been used for decades in other cities (especially in Europe?) but this is new in Austin. I haven't actually used one yet since I have my parking spot downtown and I haven't helped anyone else use one.

Blast From the Past Sunrise

This picture was taken almost exactly a year ago. See here for a shot that included the Austonian when it was barely visible.

Old and New

A fun cruise boat on Lady Bird Lake with our burgeoning West Side residential skyline taken by my friend Jackie.

Home with the Armadillos

We were out of town for a week and yesterday and today I've relied on the snaps from my friend Jackie. This is a detail of the armadillos decorating Threadgill's on Riverside near the site of the old Armadillo World Headquarters (where FFP and I had our first date). Back in the seventies, the armadillo became a surreal symbol for music posters and ads because of the art of Jim Franklin. I showed you a collage from this restaurant here.

Personally I'll never forget the posters with giant armadillos and Lone Star Beer bottles in a scrubby Hill Country or West Texas landscape.

Just as a reminder, in case you didn't follow the link, Threadgill's two locations are great places for comfort food, 365 days a year. Which means we like to eat Christmas or Thanksgiving dinners there sometimes.

Esther into the Pool

This is a nice shot our friend Jackie shot of Esther entering the pool over at Esther's Follies. We've run at least one picture of their decoration before here.

Skyline Changes, Stevie Ray Endures

We showed you Stevie with our house in the background recently but thought we should show you his statue with the finished Ashton and almost finished Austonian in the background.

A Small City Close to Downtown Austin

It's easy to forget that the small city that is The University of Texas is not many blocks from downtown. I snapped this out the window of a bar at Headliners Club in the Chase Building at Sixth and Colorado. The iconic tower and Dobie Mall seem pretty close.

The 360 Pops Up Everywhere

The gazebo and fountains on Auditorium Shores with our building in the background.

Feed Store Still

I wonder how many people getting a taco or enchilada fix at Guero's on South Congress notice the old signs showing that it was once a feed store for poultry, horses, cows and pigs! Some of the vintage signs and look remain.

Retired engines

This lawnmower in a yard near Rainey Street seems retired along with the other engines. Or maybe they will become parts for the Austin Bike Zoo which seems to be housed nearby.

Invasion of the Grasshopper

This giant grasshopper bike was resting at the home of Austin Bike Zoo not long ago.

Explain This

Along with the reasonable convenience store tile murals shown here and here there is this one. Best explanation wins a free year of Austin, Texas Daily Photo. (Oh, yeah. It's already free!)

Detail of the Zilker Garden Gate

As promised yesterday, a detail of a bird on the Zilker Garden Gate against the sky.

Zilker Garden Gate

My friend Jackie walked over to Zilker on her Sunday morning walk yesterday. She shot a nice detail of this gate at Zilker Gardens which we will show tomorrow, but wanted to give you the big picture today. This gate was a massive iron and stone work project. I found a web site that chronicles the work and a lot of the people responsible.

Austin Bike Zoo Home

One day the Austin Bike Zoo was assembled in Republic Park and we showed you a picture. Not long ago we found where the animals in the zoo stay when they aren't out and about. This bat was stopped over near Rainey street near an old house and shop.

Convenient Cheese and Wine

The convenience store on Westlynn we walked by the other day has three murals. One shown ealier has local landmarks. This one has wine, fruit and cheese. There is a third one which has a less cogent explanation for a convenience store. We'll show it another day.

Bucolic Downtown

For those of you that think we live in a concrete jungle, another view of the greater downtown outdoors. My friend Jackie shot a picture of these guys fishing along Barton Creek in a Texas River School canoe. Walking on the Hike and Bike trail, you can forget you are living in the city until the skyline appears.

Working at Dawn

Under bright lights work is being done on the W Hotel and Austonian before the sun is up. There has been a lot of press about financing for the W having to be reacquired since they were using a troubled bank. Meanwhile, however, work goes on every day and sometimes at night. This mornings sunrise was a nice pink, too. Thanks FFP for getting up and taking this shot this morning.

Coffee and a View

Sunday we were out in our car doing an errand so we decided to go to Mozart's Coffee Roasters on Lake Austin (on the boulevard and on the lake). It was hot out but a lot of people chose to sit outside and enjoy the view of the lake. Mozart's is next door to Abel's.

Early Morning Reverie

My friend Jackie provided this picture. She snapped this fellow's picture with his permission as he regarded Lady Bird Lake early one morning. According to her, he is one of our outdoor downtown denizens. Here's a link for another friend's outreach program for those between homes.

W Rising

Credit our friend Jackie for this nice angle of the W hotel, condo and Austin City Limits theater complex construction. Enlarge it and try to find a bit of our building and note the metal studs going up in parts of the building. The gray building with the W is the condo sales center.

Peaceful Lake in the City

My friend Jackie took this from the Mopac Pedestrian bridge over Lady Bird Lake, capturing the skyline behind the still and peaceful water. Those guys paddling appear to have the lake to themselves. I looked through most of the pictures I've shown you and I couldn't find any from this perspective. Although I have walked over that bridge the light has always been harsh looking east. (Guess I should get up earlier!) Thanks Jackie for adding new perspectives to Austin, Texas Daily Photo.

Night Heron

My friend Jackie who contributed the stunning night and moon construction photo took this on a cloudy day along Barton Creek.

Jeff Lofton at the Elephant Room

We've shown Jeff Lofton's group in this space in other venues. But we loved the vibrancy of this shot captured in the Elephant Room with the neon martini glass behind him.

Mosaic School Bus

This sweet little mosaic, executed by the school kids??, is at Mathews School on Westlynn.

Hot as....

Austin weather has been hot. July was the hottest since 1860. August soldiers on with over 100 degrees day after day. Into the fray comes Hatch chile season. This is the display at Whole Foods. Some restaurants (like Chuy's) feature special Hatch recipes.

Convenience Store Art

This is one of several mosiacs on the outside of a refurbished convenience store on Westlynn.

Capitol Cones

Took a walk yesterday and on the little section of Pressler between Fifth and Sixth we saw this truck advertising an ice cream festival. We found the giant melting cone and the Capitol-shaped scoops extremely amusing even though there is almost no interest in our family in ice cream. If you blow it up you'll see lots of details and that the fest is Saturday, August 15 in Waterloo Park. The truck was parked next to an ad agency so I suspect they are involved in the promotion.

Moonlight and Construction

My friends who live at the AMLI on Second took this on the Fourth of July. They are so close to the W construction that the crane looked like it was in their face. (The cranes have been raised and moved around some now.) They caught the big old moon just a little later than I did here. Should have had this one for yesterday's theme day. Lots of stuff visible here. City Hall, Austonian, Ashton, Legacy and the colored lights on the side of the Radisson.

Night Lights

Turn out the lights in our apartment and the Frost Bank and the green light on the AMLI building provide beckons for us, adding their glows to our various night lights. There are even a few lights in the Austonian which will one day be ablaze with lights from residents; apartments at night although from our low altitude we think the W hotel will block our view of some of it.

Today is City Daily Photo Theme Day and 'night is the theme. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.