Who Remembers the Hudson Hornet

A detail from a car show at Westwood Country Club last Saturday. There might have been Hudsons on the road when I was a kid but I never remember anyone I knew having one.

Obligatory Dog Shot

We were walking towards the finish line of the Capitol 10,000 when we spied this cutey in her master's lap. She was only too glad for us to take this photo of her canine pal.

Who Else Ran the Cap 10K?

A group of Gumbys (but no Pokeys). The costumes are a big part of the fun. Gumby was the original claymation character.

Some Dashing Runners

This colorful bunch of runners were part of the annual Capitol 10,000 race in downtown yesterday. It's the biggest annual run in town. Linda and I went to a spot on Congress Avenue to snap some shots of the runners. All told, there were over 22,000 people participating.

Carousolar

This merry-go-round was party of a promo for a GE product called Carousolar during SXSW. The company reserved an entire parking lot in the heart of it all, a few blocks from our home, for this carnival ride.

Bicycle Racks Needed

Bicycle riders are not always my friends (the ones on the sidewalk and running stop signs and lights when I'm in the crosswalk, for example) but I recognize it as a eco-friendly and efficient way to get around if done properly. Therefore I appeal to the city, property owners, etc. for more bike racks. This mash up was during SXSW and bike parking seemed to be at a premium like everything else. I spend most of my time defending pedestrians as walking is my passion and frequent mode of transportation, but the bike riders need to speak out about parking.

Friday Night Lights Stars

Here is another shot from the Texas Film Hall of Fame Party the other night. I took this from our table. Some of you will recognize the people in this photo as cast members from "Friday Night Lights," the popular TV show about Texas high school football and all the social interaction that goes on around it in a small town. The man at the microphone is the show's producer Jason Katims.

Pizza To Go

A couple of weeks ago the pizza guys at the Saturday Farmer's Market had their pizza oven on a trailer. That's really pizza to go.

South By Fireworks

I stood on our balcony and took this photo of the fireworks that ended South by Southwest on Saturday. The "fireworks setting" on our camera yields some interesting shots.

Iris In February

Spring is in full swing now, but this picture was taken on Cesar Chavez when the first irises were open and others in bud. The backdrop is decorative metal art work surrounding a utility box.

Aftermath of Strokes

We were walking across the First Street bridge after the SXSW Strokes concert at Auditorium Shores. This was the trash sorting area.

Lots of Stars in Town

I'm not the greatest celebrity spotter, but I was so glad when this sweetheart agreed to a photo. She must be somebody.

Concert Crowds on the South Shore

Linda shot this photo from our balcony yesterday afternoon. This was the crowd which had gathered to hear a band called The Strokes at Auditorium Shores, south across the lake from our place. We heard that this was a free concert but that they had to limit the size of the crowd for safety reasons. While we were standing in line at our movie Thursday night, we heard that there were some "crowd control issues."

Movies Come Alive

We went to see a documentary yesterday, "Live at Preservation Hall: Louisiana Fairytale." While we waited in line at the Paramount Theater to get in the Preservation Hall Marching Band came down Eighth to Congress Avenue playing, continued to entertain in front of the theater and did some woeful bluesy numbers inside until the movie started. The movie included a collaboration with the band My Morning Jacket which we found puzzling. (I think we are a little too old!) But the band? We were transported to NOLA for a while.

Yarn Art

These trees on the UT campus got 'tagged' with yarn during the UT open house. If you are at SXSW, you may have seen a 'bumper' (intro film clip) about the knittas who do this work.

Stonehoney

On Sunday morning, we attended a "Hair of the Dog" party at Star Bar, a neighborhood favorite. It was an event for South by Southwest invitees put on by Austin Film Festival. Here you see a photo I shot of the band that entertained-- Stonehoney. They played some terrific original tunes and they also did an old favorite or two. Great tamales, pastries and other noshes, plus free Bloody Marys. Hey, what's not to like?

Honkfest

This band had come to Austin all the way from Providence, RI to participate in Honkfest. It's a gathering of cool and crazy bands that coincides with SXSW. This group stopped for a quick concert before moving to the Dell Children's Museum to play with similar musical groups. We met a local lady who said that she was putting the whole band up at her home. Right here, they were playing "Sing, Sing, Sing."

Another View of Our Town

While walking back from the Kite Fest, I saw this Chamber of Commerce view of downtown and snapped a shot.

Kites, kites and more kites

Here is another photo from last Sunday's Kite Festival. Linda got this nice shot of kite flyers with the Austin skyline in the background. The second tall building from the left is our home, by the way.

Mardi Gras Spoils

Here you see the statue of Stevie Ray Vaughan, noted blues playing legend. He adorns the Hike and Bike Trail on the south shore of the lake. I took this shot on the last day of Mardi Gras-- as you can see, someone thought that he deserved some beads, too.

Ted Nugent Plays the Banner

I took this shot of Ted Nugent playing the Star Spangled Banner to open the 2011 Texas Film Hall of Fame Awards last night. He did quite a rocking job of it. The event presented awards to Rip Torn, Renee Zellweger, John Hawkes, the Friday Light Lights cast, and Spoon. We had terrific seats up front so I was able to snap some decent photos. This party is the unoffcial kickoff for South by Southwest each year. We will be posting shots from "South By" over the next week or so.

Felling the Mighty Oak

Laguna Gloria, the Austin Museum of Art project on Lake Austin, lost a gigantic, two-hundred-year-old oak to disease. Apparently it was dangerous. This brave fellow is roping and sawing as they bring it down to size.

Bear in the Air

The kite festival at Zilker Park on Sunday had lots of interesting entries. This big blue bear was one of the most colorful and certainly the biggest!

Hang on Tight!

As part of the fun at the Kite Festival on Sunday, there was a climbing area where, as you can see, children were allowed to show their prowess at getting up the side of some artificial trees. These four seemed to be having a lot of fun as their parents cheered them on.

Up up and away

The annual kite festival here in town happened yesterday at Zilker Park, our expansive green space on the south side of the lake. Here you see a lot of kites getting off the ground when a friendly gust of wind came along to help. For Linda and me, it was a great day to just relax, wander around and get our mental batteries recharged. It was especially nice for us, since we were able to walk over and avoid the insane traffic hassles almost everyone else had to endure. We do love living downtown. (By the way, if you look hard, you'll see Linda's camera in the lower right of this shot.)

It's Spring

First you see some bulbs pop up. But the next harbinger of spring around here are the Red Bud trees. They have come into bloom in the last week or two and now everything is following in bud and bloom. These trees are on the UT Campus.

Koolhaas Houselife

Recently, Linda and I attended a screening of "Koolhaas Houselife," a film about "the daily intimacy of an architectural icon." The film was shot from the perspective (mostly) of Guadalupe, the woman you see on the screen, who has to deal with maintaining a home in Bordeaux. This home is known as an architectural icon and it presents some very challenging situations for the people who keep it up on a regular basis. Very engaging and it drew a large crowd. The film was shown at the new rooftop venue at The Arthouse in downtown Austin.

Four Seasons Fare

Recently, we attended a party at The Four Seasons Hotel to say goodbye to the general manager who received a promotion to the Chicago property and to welcome the new executive in that position. The food being served was magnificent as usual. Here is a shot of a serving station that I caught while Linda and I were networking the room.

Patio Days

We've had several of those days when eating and drinking on patios called out to the populace. This one with the blue-striped umbrellas is Perla's on South Congress. Great oyster selection. Next week SXSW activities begin. Let's hope some of this cool but sunny weather graces the participants.

Row, row, row

Linda and I were walking across the Drake Bridge over Lady Bird Lake one recent morning and saw these rowers. This shot had decent composition, but the shade/sun light was problematical. It's so much fun living downtown where you can walk a few blocks and see views like this.

Favorite Part of Town

It is the first of the month and, therefore, theme day for the City Daily Photo community. The theme is "your favourite part of town." (We have an English influence in our founding fathers at CDP!) Fortunately my favorite part of town is where I live...and everything you see in this collage is in or on our building or a stone's throw away. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants and their interpretation of today's theme.