Boo!!

It's Halloween. I'll let these Tesoros Trading Company Day of the Dead Skeletons give you your fright with a 'ghost' of one of your scribes embedded in it. Tesoros Trading on South Congress is a great place to buy imports from around the world.

Follow Shot

One day last week we were surprised to see a major movie being filmed on the top of the parking garage across the street.  It's Terrence Malick's latest effort (as we understand it, the movie is unnamed at this point) -- which includes cast members Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Holly Hunter and Natalie Portman. Here you see a man and woman being filmed as they walk towards the gray-green vehicle at the top left. Living downtown is fun.

Tied for Third Place

For a couple of years we've been invited to a pumpkin carving contest. There is a category where 'anything goes' meaning props, not-strictly pumpkin gourds and veggies, paint. FFP fashioned this guy to resemble a Formula One car. Formula One arrives in Austin in mid-November. A lot of the entries were topical (there's an election after all) but we were surprised that we were the only ones who did F1. Perhaps that's why we captured a bottle of Chardonnay for tying for third in anything goes.

Seasonal Tattoos

In case you wanted some special imagery to honor that loved one, this tattoo parlor on East Sixth is ready to accommodate. Love the neon skull.

What is Weird?

Much ink and many pixels are spilled agonizing over whether Austin is 'staying weird' and how to keep it that way. (I even saw a bumper strip the other day that said 'Make Austin Weirder.')  I'm sure that means something different to everyone. This is the only business I remember seeing that adopted 'weird' as part of its name and not just a slogan. It is downtown and it serves as an apartment locator. I'm not sure weird is what I'm after in housing! And a couple of the buildings in their logo are office spaces. Nevertheless I like the logo (on their office space in the Brazos Lofts on Fifth) with a reflection of some downtown buildings.

Honor the Dead

Yes Halloween approaches but also All Saint's Day and All Soul's Day and Mexican culture embraces honoring and celebrating those who have died. El Interior on West Lynn has this timely display of these colorful dresses on skeleton mannequins.

Vaquero

This Luis Jiménez piece at the Blanton dominates a room. It is called "Progress II." This artist made the blue Mustang you may have seen at the Denver International Airport.

The Art of Clarinet

Nathan Williams, who is on the faculty of the Butler School of Music at The University of Texas plays clarinet at the SoundSpace event at the Blanton Museum of Art last Sunday.

What Would Eighty Trombones Sound Like?

Blanton Museum on the University of Texas campus has a wonderful program where musical programs are presented in the museum among the art works and with a wandering audience. The audience, the musicians and music and the art blend throughout the galleries to form a single amazing experience. It's called SoundSpace. We visited last Sunday for a program that included a piece for eighty trombones and an organ and singer. This picture shows some of the trombones on a balcony overlooking the atrium. The conductor mounted the stairs halfway up, surrounded by patrons. More trombones and the organ and singer were downstairs. What fun!

Rodriguez

Some real stories are so much like fairy tales that they seem like fiction. In the SXSW film festival in March we saw "Searching for Sugar Man" and walked out of the film (1) charmed by the early seventies recordings of Rodriquez we'd never heard before; and (2) amazed and almost disbelieving of the story in the documentary (which is, however, pretty darn accurate as far as I can tell). You can catch up on the story here or check out the movie site here. But last night we caught up by attending a Waterloo Records in store and then a sold out packed concert at Antone's. All I can say is that I wish I'd had his records when I was buying Dylan and Janis because they feel like a piece of that era that was always missing.

It's Scary Kids...

Halloween isn't far away and this house in East Austin is ready to frighten the Trick or Treaters. On Lydia Street I believe.

Cheerleader?

When we first saw this (in a gift shop in Fredricksburg) we were a little taken aback. Was it supposed to be a UT witch cheerleader? Finally realized it's a garden gnome with UT attire and the gnome hat and UT's colors gave it a Halloween appearance. Puzzled as to who might buy such a thing...I then saw a similar item in our favorite bar.

Just Walk a Mile!

Austin City Limits Festival was last weekend in Zilker Park. This closed street and long line of constantly running belching buses? It was taking people who parked or otherwise arrived in our neighborhood a little over a mile away to Zilker Park. It should be an easy walk for anyone who can stand or sit outside all day listening to music. I will never understand running buses from here. I guess they figure they would never get people to stay out of the traffic jam on the other side of the river and park here.

Halloween Looms

Decorations are popping up all over for that all important holiday: Halloween. These are in the deco windows of the Avenue Lofts on East Fifth Street.

Maybe a Dance Class?

Some of Austin's finest in the mounted division were going by Ballet Austin the other day and I shot their picture. They might have been patrolling the trail a block away but I like to think they just came from Ballet Austin!

Welcome to Sixth Street

I don't know how many people arrive on Sixth Street from the IH35 frontage road but if you do the building on the south side has this welcome sign. We had taken on a walk to the east...otherwise we'd rarely be in this spot.

Shopping for Breakfast

On a morning walk a few days ago we saw this fellow near the Congress Bridge on Lady Bird Lake. He was waiting patiently, I think, for a likely breakfast to appear.

Ghost Bike

Unfortunately there was a fatal bicycle accident on the Congress Avenue Bridge recently and so there is a new ghost bike memorial. Be careful out there, folks.

Tattoo at the Royal Blue

FFP shot this of the full arm tattoo of one of the Royal Blue Grocery cashiers. (The Royal Blue is the grocery/deli in our building. They have a wonderful group of employees.)

Down Pillow

We were walking by the rowing club on the trail the other day and saw a couple of swans, both apparently napping with their heads nestled on their back feathers. You have to have a long neck to do this.

The Rig

This shot shows the old Santa Rita rig with the 'donkey head' beam made from wood. In oil country (there isn't much close to Austin) you often see the modern version of this all in metal. When oil prices surged a few years ago you would see old, rusted metal rigs cranked up and running again.

School Funding

On the UT campus is a structure of wood and metal that was the first successful well on land owned by the University of Texas out in the Permian Basin near Big Lake, Texas. In 1923 this well came in and for 67 years oil flowed and money poured into the UT coffers. The structure was moved to the south side of the campus many years ago to commemorate this source of riches for the UT system.

Lamar for Cars

One day we were walking on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge (which takes peds off this dangerous traffic bridge, the Lamar Bridge connecting North and South Lamar) and I noticed how crisp and beautiful the reflection looked in Lady Bird Lake. It was early morning and the light was just perfect and the lake very still and the reflection looked almost sharper than the actual bridge. Sometimes you see the same things over and over and then one day the light is different.

Our Statue of Liberty

On the North Lawn (the back yard if you will) of the Capitol there is a small copy of the Statue of Liberty. The statue was presented by The Boy Scouts of America in 1951 as part of the 'Crusade to Strengthen Liberty.' It's tucked away where you might not see it unless you use the Capitol grounds as a walking path. We were on our way to Blanton museum when I shot this.

Lightning Tattoo

A waitress at Easy Tiger said she got this tattoo when she was living somewhere in Hawaii where there were no thunderstorms and missed them.

Outdoor Study

This house in Clarksville has some colorful porch furniture including a desk. Now that the weather isn't so blazing hot, it might be nice to sit outside and do homework or write a letter.

Take Your Picture Here

The Bel Geddes exhibit had this photo cut-out outside the Harry Ransom Center. Naturally I had to get FFP to pose in it. It's a rule, is it not, that you shouldn't bypass a photo cut-out without a picture?

What Does the Future Look Like?

There is a great exhibit right now at Harry Ransom Center on the University of Texas campus. It traces the complete career of Norman Bel Geddes who envisioned things like stream-lined cars and freeways and many of the design elements we associate with the machine age. This car design (which looks exactly like what it is...a futuristic vision from many decades ago) isn't the most interesting object or design in the exhibit by a long shot but it makes a nice poster. The information about the design and construction of the famous Futurama exhibit for the 1939-1940 World's Fair is astounding. FFP and I walked up to the campus to see this exhibit on Tuesday. (One great thing about downtown is the proximity of the campus makes that possible.)

Paint it Tan, But Add a Little Something

When you paint a house, it's sometimes hard to choose between something calm and a little pizzazz. These folks decided to add an amped up accent on their garage door. Taken in Old West Austin.

Proudly Serving

FFP and I noticed this in the window of a garage apartment in Clarksville. Apparently the blue stars represent a loved one serving in the military.

Silhouette

Today is theme day in the Daily Photo family and the theme is 'silhouette.' There is a building on West Sixth that has art works that are giant flat sculptures with suspended frames. The tiny almost silhouette reflection at the bottom is your principal Austin Daily Photo photographer. Click here to find links on this theme from other cities around the world.