The blade is back

The historic Paramount blade is back up for the first time since 1963. It looks very imposing on Congress Avenue. .

A Downtown Landmark in Austin

The Paramount Theatre on Congress Avenue, our main downtown street, has been the site of so much fun and entertainment in Austin for almost 100 years. From movies to live acts, its stage and screen has been a workhorse. It's a great subject for landmarks in our town. And that's the theme in our blog family for this month. Other City Daily Photo blogs that interpreted this theme are found here.

Fly into Fantasy

The lobby of the new Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and South Lamar has some vintage vehicles to imagine flying away hanging from the ceiling.

Welcome Violet Crown Cinema to the 'Hood

Two blocks away from us a bar and grill with small comfy cinemas showing art films has opened. We've only been once but I suspect this will become a regular hangout for us.

Dobie Theater is Gone

In this building (a UT high rise dorm) there is a multi-level retail area that used to contain a theater with several small venues. Neither the most comfortable or convenient it rode the wave of film fests, weird events and art movies for a long time. Closed now, this message was on the marquee yesterday.

Film Festival Winding Down

We haven't gotten to participate in Austin Film Festival as much as we'd like. But we saw "Black Swan" at the Paramount tonight and shot this picture after. The film that was second on the bill is about women who grasped for equality in the auto industry. Bravo Eloise for your support. We would have watched it, but we can only do one movie a day just now.

Tee Shopping

We went to see "Milk" last night. (I highly recommend it, but I'm a little late with a movie review for that one.) That is relevant to this picture because this is the the T-Shirt store inside Alamo Ritz. (Downtown on Sixth.) If you are in town and want a really unusual Tee, stop in the movie lobby and shop. You can get a T-Shirt of something we shot for ADP even.

High Rise Living at UT

This high rise is not downtown but on the University of Texas campus. It's a high rise dorm called the Dobie with a few floors of mall on the bottom including the Dobie Theater.

Let them eat pie!

Last Sunday, we went to the "Mildred Pierce Pie Social" -- a "No Place But Austin" kind of event held at Alamo Draft House on South Lamar.

Lots of our friends were involved. Virginia Wood, the food editor of the Austin Chronicle, put together a benefit for the continuing medical care needed by Stephen Moser, the Chron's Fashion Editor (above left).

The benefit cost a mere $30 and you got all the pie you could eat, chosen from an array prepared by some of the finest bakers in town-- including a scrumptious Jalapeño Apple--my fave, Cherry, Country Blueberry, Strawberry/Rhubarb, Lemon Meringue and on and on. If you were really brave and off your diet, you could get scoops of Amy's ice cream on top.

And while you were eating your six-slice selection of pies, (there were over twenty) you got to see a screening of the classic film "Mildred Pierce." Of course, it starred Austin's own Zachary Scott and the inimitable Joan Crawford. The Veda character (Mildred's eldest daughter) is an iconic depiction of the ungrateful child.

How can you not love lines like:

Veda: With this money I can get away from you. From you and your chickens and your pies and your kitchens and everything that smells of grease. I can get away from this shack with its cheap furniture. And this town and its dollar days, and its women that wear uniforms and its men that wear overalls.

or

Monte: Oh, I wish I could get that interested in work.
Ida: You were probably frightened by a callus at an early age!

or

Ida: Personally, Veda's convinced me that alligators have the right idea. They eat their young.

Oh-- the person to the right? That's local entertainer Saffire Trinity as Joan Crawford!

If any of you in Austin are reading this, there will be another fantastic benefit party for Stephen next Wednesday at Antone's--www.antones.net.

Recycling

The folks who own the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas like to do film decoration and use recycled stuff they find. Here, in the lobby of the south location at this center, they used part of an old carnival ride to hang in front of the "When Aliens Remember the Alamo" mural. Inside the theaters you see light sconces made from old film reels. I haven't seen the new Alamo Ritz downtown but I hope to soon. It should be an iconic Austin location before you know it. It is hard for the Austin Daily Photo team to get around to all the iconic locations with our cameras. But we try!

Local Retail

If you want to fight back against the big chains, you really need look no further than South Austin. This center on South Lamar is 'anchored' by a guitar store with a grand sign. You can shop for vintage clothes and 'stuff' and the closest thing to a chain is the Salvation Army. The drugstore has a '60's time warp decor and looks like a friendly place. The sub shop is Thundercloud and while this a chain (there are numerous ones) it is our Austin chain. The orange building has a Mexican restaurant in it. There are scores of one off or local 'chain' Mexican restaurants on South Lamar, South First, South Congress. Think globally (buy an electric scooter at Alien!) but shop locally. The movie house, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, is another local phenomena that has expanded outside Austin. Every seat has a counter in front of it and waiters will bring you a beer and pizza or other food and drink.

By the way, we were at the center on Saturday to see a premiere of a Mockumentary short by Paul Michael Bloodgood (a principal dancer at Ballet Austin) called Ballet Divas Self-Proclaimed. It was hilarious and should amuse anyone who has ever seen the super chestnut of Ballet, "The Nutcracker."