Mac and Cheese-- kids love it!

So do adults who can eat heavy dairy-laden food like this! OK, yet another shot from our Farmers Market. This delicious-looking Mac and Cheese Pizza was for sale yesterday morning. In my younger days, I could have plowed through food like this. No more.

Boas, not constrictors

One more shot from the Viva Las Vegas party for AIDS Services of Austin the other night. She said I could take her photo if we bought a raffle ticket.

Change in View

We were at the Headliners Club in the Chase Building for a speech about the almost two-year-old Long Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday. Between a light sleet storm and a heavy snow there was a cloudy lull. I shot this to show that it is now harder to see the subject of the speech with the W Hotel so near its full height. Here's a shot showing the Long Center before the W rose up from a window of this same building. It's sort of fun to follow along on these projects in the making with Austin Daily Photo. W Hotel/Condos/ACL Studio and the The Long Center will be part of our downtown for a long time.

One hot party!

Last Saturday, Linda and I went to the Viva Las Vegas party for AIDS Services of Austin, a non-profit we have supported for many years. We had taken our seats, getting set to see the fashion show and I noticed how the shadows from the crowd were making interesting patterns on the floor in the red light.

Snow!

This is just a dull picture of the AMLI on Second and the W Hotel and Condos (under construction) except...yes the white stuff is snow. The wonderful thing about snow and Austin is that we get very little of it and so we get very excited about it. None of it caused street problems downtown and while many weathermen and residents intent on a late start to school or a day off work were hyperventilating, not much harm came from this little storm especially down here near our home. But actual snow flurries reached the heart of Texas. And I'm thankful that's newsworthy. Today dawns sunny and just above freezing and promises to be lovely. So forgive me for presenting what looks like a dull photo today!

Giant Discovery

Last Tuesday it was sunny and cool and beautiful in Austin (not 36 degrees and raining as it is at this minute). We had a little time to kill before taking friends to the airport so we stopped at our club which is across from Austin Museum of Art's Laguna Gloria on grounds by the lake. We walked a trail around the museum grounds and came upon a rather large sculpture we didn't know was there. That's us squinting into the sun.

Recyled Bags

These colorful and interesting bags are made from recycled plastic in Vietnam. On sale at Tesoros Trading on SoCo. Shot with iPhone.

Beach Fashion

Part of a benefit for AIDS Services Austin last night was a Monte Carlo themed fashion show with lots of beachwear as well as formal wear. I was on the second row about thirty feet from the end of the runway and I was testing my new point and shoot Nikon Coolpix S630. It has a 7X zoom and I was assisted by the show lighting so I could use normal auto settings. I was suprised at the clarity and composition of this one. No cropping was done. I really like fashion shows which surprises everyone because I'm not that interested in wearing fashion. Hopefully lots of money was raised with ticket sales, silent auction items, a raffle, etc. for the people living with HIV/AIDS in Austin.

Winter carrots and onions

Green onions and carrots were out in profusion at the Farmer's Market last Saturday. Maybe Linda and I will walk over and see what's being offered this morning if it's not too cold. I'm glad someone went to the trouble to create this market for us to enjoy.

The Top of Frost Bank

At dusk yesterday I was trying out a new camera, a Nikon Coolpix P90, and I shot this picture from our balcony. We've shown the Frost Bank Tower many times, mostly from our balcony as here and here and here. We've also gotten closer in other buildings and shot its iconic top as here and here. What's special to me about this one is that it is an uncropped shot using the new camera, its maximum 24X zoom and a simple 'dawn/dusk' scene setting. I braced against the balcony but didn't use a tripod. I feel, even after our building and others like the Austonian and Spring have been added to our skyline that this tower remains iconic for Austinites. Hopefully our new camera will give clearer views of things without seeking vantage points beyond our apartment balcony. Of course, when we are out and about, the shots are just as likely to be made with an iPhone or small 'point and shoot.'

Sunny Saturday, cute dogs

Last Saturday morning turned out be to be sunny enough for us to wander over to the Farmers' Market a block away in just light jackets. We ran into a good friend who had his two cute little Corgi dogs with him. They seem to be wondering where the next set of treats are coming from.

I've Lost My Head!

While entertaining some friends with the delights of eating and shopping in SoCo I snapped this shop in an always entertaining shop called Uncommon Objects. Shot with iPhone.

Who Knew Oscar Was a Fan?

Spied the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile behind the Holiday Inn Town Lake yesterday. Thought this shot of the rear end was cool especially since it seems to have acquired a Longhorn decal.

Throw Them a Bone

Lots of people bring their dogs to the outdoor farmer's market in Republic Square near our house. The wares we found in one booth were baked goods especially for the furry friends including a bone-shaped cake.

Orchids for Valentine's

We went to the Farmers Market a block from our home downtown yesterday. This vendor had a dazzling array of orchids for sale. They provided a nice splash of color on a winter's day.

Hannibal Lokumbe Instore at Waterloo

Apologies for the poor quality of this photo, but I wanted you to see the storied trumpet player, Hannibal Lokumbe, performing at an in-store at Waterloo Records. That's Dr. James Polk on the keys behind him. Hannibal's oratorio, "Dear Mrs. Parks," will be performed tonight at the Bob Bullock Museum. [Photo is iPhone, cropped and manipulated a bit.]

Ann Richards Headstone

You may recall that I visited the Texas State Cemetery on a walk in January. I showed you the headstone for football coach Tom Landry. But there are really state officials buried there and I was particularly struck by this striking memorial for Texas Governor Ann Richards. As you may remember the Congress Avenue bridge is now called the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge although I don't hear many people call it that.

Lucky Venue

I confess. I'd never darkened the door of the Lucky Lounge on Fifth Street. I'd wondered at the strange lighting in the window (turns out it looks very cool from inside!) but that's it. But last night on a cold and blustery evening of a day that saw what passes for winter here most of the time (melting sleet) they had a jazz happy hour. I took this picture of their nifty little stage while the group was on a break. It's a neat bar, with comfy seating and a great sound. The Jeff Lofton (warning music on link) Quartet played. we're big fans and he's been featured here before. The sound in this venue is wonderful. This is going to be a Wednesday night gig (5:30-8PM) for a while. Last night Kellye Gray stopped by and grabbed a mike for a couple of tunes. Fantastic.

Downtown Delivery Available

Lofty Dog, our downtown pet supply store, delivers. Like some other merchants downtown (Whole Foods, Royal Blue) they can deliver in this three-wheeler if you need a giant bag of food for your urban pooch. Note the clever bumper strip.

Gadjo Disco

Linda and I were walking home from a party Saturday night and saw this line of youngsters dressed up in a variety of costumes at La Zona Rosa, the club across from the north side of our building. They were waiting to get into a concert which required dressing up. Here is a comment from a young friend who went: "It was for the last Gadjo Disco (eastern European themed dance party). All were encouraged to dress to transgress! I was tasteful in a leopard print lace number topped off with a teased monstrosity on my head."

I shot this with my iPhone.

360 Framed

The porch-like part of the southwest side of the W Hotel frames our building as we walk on Second Street.

Olympic bling

Last night we went to a charity event/party we enjoy every year called "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner." You go to a cool dinner at a private home or a restaurant and then gather at Nest, a fine furniture store downtown for dessert. We were able to walk to both places and then walk home. Here are two gentlemen who went to a Winter Olympics dinner where everyone was supposed to dress up like a competition skater. They did a fine job of it! What a fun time!

Art on Great Streets

Austin's Great Streets project expands sidewalks, includes seating, trees with lights, room for outdoor cafe tables, etc. And in the last couple of weeks this interesting fountain (and a bench in a similar style) has been installed on Second Street. It will probably grow on us. When I went over to take a picture, a fellow was lounging on the bench and he said "It's here to stay now." We wondered if he was the artist.

The Top?

We've been watching the construction of the W Hotel for a year and a half. It was a hole in the ground. Our friend Jackie caught the crane poking ominously toward her AMLI apartment. She also took a very amusing picture of construction workers beating the heat there, too, and also one revealing the work of pouring columns. At one time it took fog to block our view of the top of the Austonian, but now the shorter but closer W does the job. We think all the extra steel you see now means the building is at or near the top floor. Hopefully this building will open at some point in 2010 or early 2011 and create new sparks on Second Street.

Bright Colors

Did we mention it's been gray for a couple of days? And raining and making being outside an unpleasant, dash for cover affair? Well the owners of this house did their paint and trim to brighten up just such a situation.

Natural light

It's been cold and rainy here and we haven't been able to get many new shots. But here is a photo I took for the Arthouse blog on Tuesday. (My part is called "The Renovation According To Forrest Preece.") The holes in the wall you see here have been carefully cut and will soon hold lighted green glass blocks which will form the signature visual statement of the building on the outside wall. Shot from inside with the construction going on, they yield a ghostly effect.

Matching up

Here is a shot of a painting I did a few years ago and some flowers we bought the other day for a dinner party. They are in the dining room of our condo now. When we brought the flowers home, I was thinking that they would make a good match for the painting. The photo is a bit blurry, since I had to turn the flash off to avoid making a light flare on the painting.

Wood Always Has Its Place

Sometimes it seems that construction is all concrete, glass and steel. But wood always finds its place in projects. The wood here is the framing around the holes in the south wall of the Arthouse which will soon hold lighted green glass inserts. All told there will be over 170 of these inserts on both the south wall as shown here and the part of the north wall that protrudes above the adjoining building. Forrest is doing a blog about this construction project just as he did the Ballet Austin Butler Dance Education Center.

Today is a theme day for City Daily Photo. The theme is wood as you might have guessed. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.