Too Red, Bevo

This gigantic sculpture appears in the UT West Campus area, but it seems far too red for the burnt orange school color. But I'm sure it attracts people to this real estate office.

Up, Up and Away

This contraption is part of the Austin BMX and Skate Park near House Park. This replaced some rotting buildings and tennis courts that were an eyesore for years. The kids make good use of it.

Pucker up!

Cauliflower, okra, squash and carrots were pickled and available at the Farmers Market last Saturday morning.

Rainbow Produce

FFP shot this picture of these wonderful rainbow carrots at Saturday's market.

I'll have another round!

The Farmers Market a block from our condo tower was in full swing Saturday morning.  This creative vendor had four types of Kombucha on tap.

Update Your Inspiration

The Yoga Shop on W. Sixth has updated its inspirational sayings. Guidance for inspiration!

A beautiful morning downtown

Sometimes a sunrise is just too striking to ignore.  Here is what we saw from our balcony on Thursday.  Hope it's pretty in your part of the world today.

Cheapo Discs Interior

Here's another shot from inside Cheapo Discs which is now out of business. Like this mural the Texas imagery may be history.

Sometimes We Play to the Stereotypes

Visitors often arrive in Austin expecting to see cowboy boots and hats and all things Texan. Inside the Four Seasons a display of boots with logos of Texas College teams gives visitors an appropriate image.

Get That Creature While You Can

This was taken at Turquoise Door on South Congress. Purveyors of many imported art like the Oaxacan figure here, they are going out of business soon.

A Hat for Every Head

Another shop window from the haberdashery visit. A Hat for Every Head. Great marketing slogan. Well, for the early twentieth century perhaps.

A New Hatter in Town

We stopped by this Goorin Brothers hat maker shop on South Congress last month. It is new to us, but is apparently a very old haberdashery  in other parts of the country. FFP got one of those driving caps (or golf caps). With the snap bill. He also got another hat but hasn't worn it yet.

Winter Bloom

I know the bulbs are the first things to bloom, but this iris was showing on January 12, one week ago. On Cesar Chavez. Seems awfully early!

Running Man

Don't know how long this has been there but just noticed it on the walk along Cesar Chavez between Colorado and Congress.

Style Changes

This traditional old house has been expanded in the back of the lot with a more modern facade. The roof line of the original home has changed to create what looks like a light-filled room.

Modern Old West Austin

Old West Austin, home to bungalows and stately Victorians also has the occasional very modern infill.

Vacation Postcards Go Here

This mailbox in Old West Austin invites thoughts of travel with various states' license plates and some souvenirs from Hawaii.

ABCs to a Well-Lived Life

In Old West Austin, there is advice about living a good life, offered up to passersby.

Decorate the House

People never cease to amaze me with their cleverness in decorating their homes. This plain gray and white paint job on the garage apartment is enlivened (and perhaps anthropomorphized) by what appear to be gloves or gloved hands.

Fantasy Steps

In South Austin there is a house deemed by its owners Casa Neverlandia. The fantasy that awaits is hinted at by these steps. And the tree with a face at the top of them! It is quite amazing and I'm surprised I couldn't find any other pictures of the place on this blog. Here is artist James Talbot's site who is one of the owners. This made me wonder if City Daily Photo has ever done a 'steps' or 'stairway' theme. Probably.

Good Morning

We stumbled up early enough to enjoy and take a picture of the sunrise. Worth getting out of bed. Like every moment in life, these moments of morning colors are fleeting.

New Shop Takes Shape

Next to the high-end ladies' clothing place Julian Gold on West Sixth, where ArtWorks used to be, a new Julian Gold bridal shop is taking shape. Right now there are just pieces of mannequins. ArtWorks has taken up residence toward the back of this center. I usually reserve the reflection pictures for my other, neglected blog but I'm being lazy today. The old ArtWorks location was subjected to many reflection pictures like this one on Visible Woman.

French Panel Truck

Saw this Citroen panel truck parked on the street of Old West Austin. Recently imported from what I can tell still with European plates.

Old Flame

On Blanco Street in Old West Austin there is a section of sidewalk that at some point was re-poured and received this graffiti. The other day I shot a picture for the record. I like to imagine the person who scratched this in the wet concrete, thinking of nineteenth century poets and their storm-crossed love. I think this has been there a long time, but there was a movie in 1995. I read Rimbaud in one of my advanced French classes over four decades ago, but I don't think I ever read a bio of these poets and maybe not a line of Verlaine. Stuff likes this gives you hope that living in a town with 50K college students can bring some intellectual riffs now and then.

Yard Decoration

This is a detail from a yard on 12th Street in Clarksville showing some of their outdoor decoration. There is a nice spirit in this area's private homes.

Lone Star for Your House

There's a house on South First that has its own giant 'Lone Star.' Texas is, after all, The Lone Star State and our flag has the single star on the blue field. This was the flag of the nation from 1836-1845 and was preserved after statehood.

Once Upon a Steak

There used to be a couple of locally-owned restaurants around Austin that were destinations in the sixties and seventies.The original Night Hawk stood at Riverside and Congress. In Threadgill's downtown some vintage Night Hawk neon flashes hawk wings in the bar. The Frisco Shop by Night Hawk at Burnet and Koenig survived the demise of the little empire and then was razed to build a chain drugstore. It re-emerged in a location further north on Burnet serving the same hamburgers with history.

RIP, Houston McCoy

Houston McCoy, the man who ended the University of Texas Tower Sniper's killing spree with two shotgun rounds on August 1, 1966, was honored today in the San Saba Presidio, just outside his hometown of Menard, Texas.

Here you see the APD honor guard carrying his casket. (This was a ceremonial "burial" at the Presidio. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered along the San Saba.) Many honors were given to Houston -- APD Chief Art Acevedo gave a magnificent eulogy at the First Baptist Church in Menard as did his fellow officers Phillip Conner and Milton Shoquist (who were also on top of the Tower that day). His valiant daughter Monika McCoy who has fought for years to give her pop the honor he deserved, also spoke as did Beverly Jean Speed, whose APD officer husband Billy Paul Speed was killed that fateful day.

At the Presidio, there was a "missing man formation" flyover, a riderless horse from APD, the APD bagpipes corps with a lone piper walking off at the end playing "Amazing Grace," rifle volleys and "Taps" played by two trumpets in harmony. At the end of the ceremonies, about twenty balloons were set free to symbolize Houston's love of flying. It was moving to see those balloons soaring up in the gray west Texas sky as the bagpipers played. His ashes will be scattered on the banks of the San Saba River near the area where he grew up. At least forty APD officers, including many retirees, attended.

Detail Battle Hall

Walking on campus the other day, my attention was drawn to Battle Hall, the historic library, because it had a banner on it proclaiming its centennial. The banner said '1911-2011' but as 2012 waned it was still there. The building has some interesting details like this crab. Representing a branch of learning perhaps.

Resolution: Look Up

Here's a New Year's Resolution for the ADP: Look up and observe to find new things to show. Shot this before Christmas on Congress Avenue. One of the old buildings across from the Frost Bank monolith has the crumbling moniker: SOUTHWESTERN TELEGRAPH and TELEPHONE. I guess telegraph was more important. Blow it up and you can see more detail.

Back Room Politics

In honor of Washington's fumbling and posturing that was going on yesterday (and will continue to do so) I present a detail (actually most of the painting) from a painting by Rosemary Mahoney called "Texas Two Step" at the Driskill Hotel. A plaque says:

It is said that although Texas laws were passed at the State Capitol a few blocks to the north, the real wheeling and dealing in Texas politics took place in the lobbies and back rooms of The Driskill Hotel. 

Home to LBJ's White House press corps, and the scene of campaign events and election night vigils, The Driskill Hotel has earned the reputation of being the political capital of Texas. 

Some might disagree and say more happens at the Austin Club these days or even the Cloak Room (is that dive bar still open?) but I still think about a lot of oblivious men of a certain type making the rules in some back room.