Practice Smiling

This old car, encountered on our downtown walks, did make me smile as its bumper strip encourages. Also note that in spite of the distressed body the tail pipes look brand new.

Quick Way to Brighten Up a House

Let's face it...lots of homes in our car culture are 'garage forward' with mostly disastrous results for aesthetics. The owners of this house in North Central decided to feature the door as a canvas for a modern art painting. Or maybe they were just trying out new colors for the house!

Public Art

This mural is on the side of Frank facing Fourth Street. Explanations welcome.

Easy Tiger Bread

A new place has opened on E. Sixth by Waller Creek called Easy Tiger. The name confuses me because the place is a bakery with croissants and fresh pretzels and loaves and there is a beer garden downstairs serving sausage and giant pretzels with scores of draft beer (although none or not many German). But it is good and the place is bustling after only a few days open. It is brought to us by the same folks who do 24 Diner. This place isn't open 24 hours, though, only from 7AM for pastries and from 11AM-2AM for the beer garden.

Guarding Snacks

We went to the Symphony Pops concert over the holidays and these troopers were out to here the music featured: that of John Williams! I'm not much of a Stars Wars fan but these visitors were causing quite a stir.

Go - gorillas - go!

These two simians paused in their "run" over the Drake Bridge to pose for the cameras last Saturday. I love how having a costume on seems to free people from their inhibitions.

Two Heads are Better?

This statue of a two-headed Longhorn is at County Line on the Hill a fabulous barbecue joint out on Bee Cave Road. We don't have an explanation, dear readers, do you?

Luminarium

Jackie shot a picture of what looks like a group of kids' bouncy castles but was really an installation that visitors walked through to see the play of natural light coming through various colored panels. None of your reporters saw it. There were long lines (see picture) and it sold out every day it visited the lawn at the Long Center. The group is called "Architects of Air." Reader Billy P. posted some inside shots on facebook.

Ladysmith Black Mambazo at ACL Live

Saturday Jackie saw the Ladysmith Black Mambazo performance at ACL Live and reports:

We had seen the male chorus from South Africa before, back in the ‘80s, when Paul Simon’s Graceland brought them global popularity. Their close harmony is magical and they spice it up with Zulu dancing. The group has been singing for 52 years; the founder, Joseph Shaalala is now 70. Last night he introduced his youngest son, Thamsanga, who will take over when Joseph has to retire. (But Joseph seemed quite capable.) They “travel the world spreading the message of peace, love and harmony.” They also sang an exhortation for “rain, rain. rain,” which the local crowd really appreciated.

Mama and baby get warm and fuzzy

Austin's insatiable appetite for runs/walks/trots on weekend mornings must be satisfied! This Saturday we had a Gorilla Run for the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund. Here is a mama simian with her offspring.

Cypress Tree

This cypress tree on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake is gigantic. Right now, with leaves off other trees, it's very dynamic.

Not Your Grandmother's Chicken

I think I read somewhere that the owner of this chicken place on South Congress named it after his grandmother. Surely not or, if so, she didn't model for this neon! It's a great sign but we haven't tried the food yet.

Old Bird

Spotted this vintage car just off South Lamar the other day. Enjoyed the juxtaposition with the wall of that business with the black checkerboard and red door.

B.B. King

Back in October, I think, Jackie caught B.B. King at the ACL Moody Theater. I saw B.B. King live long ago at Antone's (when it was on Sixth Street) and at Armadillo World Headquarters. A venerable guy, but sitting down these days!

Architectural Style

I'm not sure how to classify the style of this house just off South Lamar. Note particularly the checkerboard roof.

Row, row, row

I was walking over the ped bridge on Lady Bird Lake Saturday morning and took this photo with my iPhone. It was balmy and bright. Bodes badly for the summer which may be more of a scorcher than last year, some are saying.

Mental rhythms

We attended a gallery opening last night at Women & Their Work for our friend Laurie Frick's work. Her art reflects the patterns of everyday existence. These two ladies are taking a look at one of her intricate pieces.

Bottle Tree

Detail of yard art in North Central Austin.

Cormorants Enjoying Their Winter Home

Jackie shot this last Sunday. The cormorants winter home may be a little chillier this weekend as we had a cold front arrive last night.

Skyline?

Jackie captured the Austin City Limits backdrop while waiting for a lecture in the ACL Moody Theater. We've shown lots of real skyline pictures here but the perspective of this one would be impossible to achieve. Pretty, though, isn't it?

Formula One At the Movies

This Formula One car was at the Violet Crown Theater when the documentary "Senna" was showing. How'd it get up there on the balcony? Shot by Jackie. There will be a Formula One event in the area in November although the preparations have been a bit up and down.

A woman and her work

Here you see our friend Laurie Frick and one of her magnificent pieces of artwork. I shot this in her studio not long ago while interviewing her for my newspaper column. She'll be starting a show at Women & Their Work this Saturday.

Great Blue Heron

Jackie caught this wonderful shot on her perambulation around the lake yesterday. She believes it is the Great Blue Heron. She says that

he was fishing near the trail. I tried to snap him flipping a small fish into his mouth, but didn’t get a good shot. The field guide says this species is the largest heron normally found in Texas at 4’ tall.

Zip up Your Curb Appeal

Just when you think you've seen every way to make your little cottage look a little different someone comes up with a way to use two colors in a new way. Kudos. This home is in a rather obscure little area near the Triangle in North Central.

Bowling?

We stopped into Dart Bowl on a winter afternoon. There were some people bowling but I liked this photo where the lanes were clear.

I Lost My Head

Look up when visiting Uncommon Objects on SoCo and you might find some taxidermy you can get without killing anything.

After the Celebration

On our New Year's Day walk we saw this abandoned fancy shoe near Sixth and Lamar. I'm fascinated by the shoes (and, this time of year, gloves) that end up abandoned.

Facing the New Year

Your main correspondents (FFP and LB) cast long shadows on the latest graffiti on the Lamar underpass. Words to live by.

Minor Mishaps Celebrate the New Year

We took a walk on New Year's Day. We were thinking of going to Book People but it's less than a mile away so we went across the lake to Auditorium Shores and back across the Pfluger bridge to stretch our legs. Back on the north shore we encountered the Minor Mishaps Marching Band out to help people celebrate 2012. New Year has been without mishap so far for us. If we (or you) encounter mishaps this year I hope they are minor.

Young Bluesmen

Jackie submitted this photo from her night out New Year's Eve with this note:

We spent the early part of our New Years Eve at Maria Maria where the Peterson Brothers Band from Bastrop was playing. We made a special point of checking them out and weren’t disappointed. Glenn, the guitar phenom, is 15 years old; his 12-year-old brother, Alex, plays bass (and also played the violin on one number, while Glenn backed him up on bass). So many of the old blues musicians died in 2011, including Pinetop Perkins and Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, who had planned to record with the Peterson Brothers in 2012. But listening to these talented young men gives us hope that the blues tradition will carry on.

Here’s to a upbeat 2012….

Jackie

Maria Maria is a club and restaurant on Colorado where good music and Mexican food are inspired by Carlos Santana. They have several locations in California as well.

Picture of the Year

It's theme day at City Daily Photo. We reviewed the year's pictures in a rather casual way and considered a few others but this one just called out to us. Here's the original post.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.