Bevo Visits Second Street

There was a fund raiser for the Darryl Royal Alzheimer's Research Fund Wednesday. Next to Willie's statue Bevo greeted people along with his handler. Willie sang at the event inside the Moody Theater.

Grand Opening at Zach Scott Theatre

As part of Zach Scott Theatre grand opening last night of its new Topfer Theatre there was a gala that included a concert by Bernadette Peters and a thirty piece orchestra. Backstage afterwards D.K. and Mike Reynolds had a moment with the gracious star. (That's Austin's Gary Cooper in the background.) Mike is part of the Kleberg family for whom a stage at Zach's complex is named.

Willie

Second Street has another 'honorary name' and that honoree is Willie Nelson. Here he is speaking on April 20th at the dedication of a statue of him near the Austin City Limits Theater. Thanks to Jackie for a series of pictures we'll be showing for a few days.

Easter Pet Parade: Leader

Here is Liz Lambert: the leader of the Easter Pet Parade, the brains and brawn behind Jo's, San Jose Motel, Saint Cecilia and other projects. Austin treasure!

Leslie

There is a dance club lounge on East Seventh that has some murals outside. I'll show you the music ones tomorrow. But today? This one is a memorial to a homeless guy who used to appear in outrageous costumes on the street (think heels and thong). When he died, there were proper services, a paid obituary. He'd struggled in medical care and rehab after an apparent assault a couple of years ago. Everyone latched onto his iconic status but it is still sad that he remained homeless through some time either by choice or circumstance. You may remember that Leslie also appeared on a mural that we shot for you while he was alive.

Portrait of the Artist as Himself

Here you see Jim Franklin, a remarkable artist and an Austin legend. The whole concept of the armadillo as a cultural icon came from him. (As did "Long Live Longnecks." And see below for the official designation.) I interviewed him for my West Austin News column and visited in his studio recently. The painting in this photo is of himself -- he drew the original outline for it with his eyes closed. The resulting perspective-bending take is remarkable. I swear that Jim doesn't look like he's aged all that much in the last forty years. He still toils in relative obscurity in a small studio off a side street near a barbecue joint in downtown Austin.

Oh, by the way, here it is in official language --

RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas hereby designate the longhorn the official Large State Mammal of Texas and the armadillo the official Small State Mammal of Texas.

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.

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.

Thirty-Some Years Ago

Time flies when you are having fun. Clifford Antone opened the eponymous Antone's thirty-six years ago yesterday. They've been in several locations, Clifford has passed on but his sister and others keep the funky, blues-focused joint going in its current Fifth and Lavaca location. Last night we saw the first set at the anniversary show, the Marcia Ball band (above). In November it will be thirty-six years since FFP and I had our first date. It was at the Armadillo World Headquarters and guess who we heard? Yes: Marcia Ball! (No relation but now a friend of ours.)

Joan of Rock

We were attending a party a few days ago and ran into our friend Patrice Pike, a rock musician of enormous talent. I asked her to let me take a photo of her tattooed arm which depicts Joan of Arc, her favorite historical figure.

I'm Helping my Mom!

Local TV personality Michele Velles gives her companion Emmylou a drink at the Four Seasons yesterday where a luncheon was held to raise money for Emancipet, a local non-profit providing tens of thousands of free or affordable spays and neuters plus basic well care for area dogs and cats. Two dogs were guests...Emcee Michele's and Sophie, who belonged to the chair of the event. They were well-behaved except that Emmylou fell asleep.

Aging

We snapped this picture a week ago on my father-in-law's 100th birthday. That's his 90-year-old sister beside him. Today is City Daily Photo theme day. The theme is time and what better way to represent it than with someone 100 years old. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

Ready for the Parade

My friend Jackie caught these Austin Police bagpipers preparing for the Veteran's Day Parade yesterday. Handsome, talented and protecting our fair city!

Goodbye, Dad

My parents moved to Austin in 2000 to be close to us. Dad loved our city. He enjoyed the wildlife near his home in North Austin. My mother died in 2002. My dad celebrated his 94th birthday this month and died on Monday. This picture was taken in 2002 when he was 'only' 86. He made a good Austin resident with his own brand of weird.

Peace and Love, Y'all

Another piece of Austin history here. I took this shot at a "Love-In" in Wooldridge Park (our central downtown park) back in 1968. When Linda and I were cleaning out our big house to move downtown, I found the rolled-up old negative strip with this shot and many others on it. This is the best composed of the photos. I think that this event happened in March of 1968. The band playing here is Shiva's Headband. Funny, but I was in the Longhorn Band from 1964-67 with the drummer you see here. He was a brilliant player. The electric fiddle player you see here is Spencer Perskin, an iconic Austin musician who is still around town. They hit the road to San Francisco for a while, but returned to Austin. What a great time that was to be alive. I could go on, but it would be boring.

Photographer

This is Greg Sells. And, yes, that's an old school film camera around his neck. He is a fixture at Austin live music events, taking his photos. He especially follows female singer/songwriters. Local film maker Jenn Garrison made a short documentary about him.

Pride

It is Pride weekend in Austin. FFP and I stood on Cesar Chavez for the parade from Long Center to Fourth Street. We knew several of the Grand Marshalls and FFP got this picture of one of them, Libby Sikora, waving to the crowd. Libby is a tireless advocate of LGBT young people through Out Youth Austin where she is board chair. She is a delightful lady whose partner is Bettie Naylor, an icon in our community. The crowds yesterday were large for the parade and block party and there was a good crowd for my friend Allan Baker's short plays at the Rollins theater. Our police chief, Art Acevedo, led the parade, walking with a group of officers who wanted to show their support for and in our diverse community.

Dancin' In The Street

The Paramount closed two blocks of Congress in front of the theater last night and, after a packed house listened to Delbert McClinton and other entertainment, the hundreds of guests flowed into the huge air-conditioned tents for drinking, dancing, dinner and a silent auction. The Austin American-Statesman Out and About columnist is rocking out foreground with my friend Dean Lofton (that's the back of her head) as this great cover band Skyrocket grooved the scene. While dancing you occasionally realized that you were in the middle of Congress with clues like the yellow line and rough pavement.

Attention Please

Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen and Joe Ely are paying close attention to Ray Benson singing a song at Turk and Christy Pipkin's tribute to Willie Nelson to raise money for their work in Kenya. The young lady in the foreground, though, is paying close attention to someone else which makes this picture FFP took show how distracting the evening was. FFP and I enjoyed visiting with the author Sarah Bird at our table and with many other friends (celebrities in their own right) in attendance. Star-studded night. Some kids in Kenya will get to go to school beyond the eighth grade thanks to the Pipkins efforts (and their friends in high places).

Texas Film Hall of Fame

We went to the presentations for the Texas Film Hall of Fame last night, a fundraiser for Austin Film Society and it's work in Texas film making. There were opportunities for celebrity photos of folks like Quentin Tarantino (who was given the Tom Mix Honorary Texan award) and Lukas Haas (who was inducted into the Hall of Fame and who has Texas roots but wasn't born here). But, no, I'm showing you the photos of some extraordinary (ordinary=not well know to the masses; extra=but really fun) people who came to the event. Mandy Dealey and her son Christopher were dressed in vintage Western. His jacket was autographed inside by some of Texas' great musicians (like Augie Meyer of the Texas Tornados) and was the coolest vintage Western jacket I've seen in a while. Mandy had on a vintage blanket-style jacket with Western emblems sew in. Mandy is a force in politics and non-profits in Austin and Christopher is a young man who I just met last night but, according to FFP, he is somewhat of a serial entrepreneur. With those looks and that jacket, he could be a movie star, I think. So I humbly present him and his mother instead of Thomas Hayden Church or Woody Harrelson (confession: I didn't actually see him but he was announced from the stage).