Multi-Talented Muralist

I know a lot of talented people, but few with so many skills in so many areas as Emily, who you see here.

She has a degree in theater; works as a seamstress in the wardrobe department at Ballet Austin; teaches special needs kids, specializing in autism; and she's getting a good business going painting murals in children's bedrooms. Here you see some of her work -- as you can see, she can do a number of different styles.

I did one of my columns on her a few weeks ago and we used this photo in the article.

Ah, the adaptability and energy of the young!

Conversations in Film

Barbara Morgan, Executive Director of AFF, and Dan Petrie, Jr., Hollywood writer, director, producer.

The Austin Film Festival has been celebrating the writer's role in film for over a decade. In October, there is a huge film festival and conference. But there are some interesting events throughout the year, too. Yesterday, FFP and I heard Dan Petrie, Jr. talk about writing screenplays. Then we saw "Beverly Hills Cop" which he got writing credit for after the script had been through a Hollywood saga. He took some Q&A after that and put up with a reception where he was peppered with questions from would-be screenwriters. (Not us...we are dilettantes, quite happy to hear about the creative process and watch the results while writing other things. Well, FFP writes a column. I'll stick to my motto: "Pretending to write but only blogging.")

I left the AFF banner in here so you could observe the barbed wire logo. We have participants and films from all over the world. But the festival likes to play with its Texas roots with its logos and posters.

Fine Food and Clothes

We don't spend all our time on South Congress or somewhere else south of the river. (The river that is, really, a lake downtown. Town Lake. Soon to be Lady Bird Lake, I guess.) Indeed, we currently live in North Central Austin.

Last night we wanted some light fare and went to Fino which isn't far from home and is run by our friends Lisa and Emmett Fox. It seems that the cool thing for restaurants these days is to have four-letter names. In Austin we have Fino, Asti, Wink, Zoot and Cibo.

Fino is in a small center at 29th and San Gabriel near the northern reaches of the sprawling UT campus and Lamar Boulevard. The same center houses The Texas Clothier and you can see in this composition part of their sign and the big block letters on the stairs indicating Fino is up that way. I think the columns and brick and the shades Fino has up to block the brutal Texas setting sun make an interesting photo.

We had interesting dishes for our dinner: wild shrimp in garlic and olive oil, asparagus yogurt soup, scallop ceviche with homemade potato chips, a vegetable tagine, Greek condiments on pita. It's a nice place with lots of little plates and sharing.

SoCo Music

Since we seem to have been touring around South Congress of late, I thought I'd show you the sign for the Continental Club. This music venue (and its sign!) is fifty years old. As this stretch of street ebbed and flowed in cachet, there has always been the Continental Club. Places like this help Austin lay its somewhat suspect claim to "Live Music Capital of the World." Anyway, we do have lots of musicians and music. And Texans have never been given to understatement!

SoCo for Tourists

South Congress is a popular hangout for Austin natives, of course. With shops, restaurants and clubs it has a little something for everyone from live music to funky clothes to locally grown groceries to Mexican Food and ice cream. But two unique, refurbished motels make it a great base of operations for outlanders, too. The Austin Motel has preserved this sign which always makes me laugh. And not just for the slogan on the reader board at the bottom. It is a bit funky although I suspect a step or two up from the old motel it used to be. The close in the slogan refers to the short distance to downtown.

The other place to stay in this area is the uber-sophisticated San Jose Hotel which was turned into a modern minimalist place popular with singers and stars and creative people. We've seen some rooms there and they are nice. The place had turned into a weekly motel for people on the down and out (if not actual drug dealers and prostitutes) when an acquaintance of ours took it over and made it a showcase. She ran the place (with its residents) while she put the deal together and she made a little film about the place before the transformation and the people who lived there. You wouldn't recognize the place from the Zen getaway that is there now. We will post some pictures of the San Jose one day.

Remembering a Horrible Day

August 1, 1966 was one of the those Austin days when there isn't a cloud in the sky and the heat seizes your skin and blasts through to your bones. I was a 20-year-old junior at The University of Texas, taking two courses in summer school. At 11:55 a.m. I had just gotten through having lunch with two of my Longhorn Band pals at Renfro's Drug Store across from campus and we were paying for our burgers. The cashier warned us that "a guy is out there shooting a gun." We blew her off and went outside anyway.

We stood there for a minute or so, trying to figure out what was happening and then I decided to go on to class. As I turned to my right, it was like a giant invisible hand pushed me back and I stood rooted to the sidewalk, feeling strangely queasy for some reason. About ten seconds later, a rifle shot whizzed past my right ear and hit a man -- a 38-year-old with six kids to support -- standing four feet from me. He died two hours later at a local hospital.

That of course, was the opening phase of the Charles Whitman siege. (If you want to read more, go here.)

Forty-one years later, about forty people, myself included, gathered at the small memorial The University of Texas finally erected in 1999, just north of the Tower, to remember the 16 dead and 31 wounded from that day. (The lack of memorial recognition about the incident by UT until 33 years later is another story.)

This was the first time ALL the brave officers who participated in subduing Whitman that day have been recognized and several of them, including one widow, were there to talk, remember, befriend each other, and try to heal. (There are a lot of side stories here that go way beyond what I should put on this forum.)

This photo I happened to take is especially meaningful. The two pretty ladies in the foreground are the daughter and granddaughter of Austin Police Officer Billy Speed, the only law enforcement officer killed during the rampage. Becky, the daughter, was all of 18 months old that fateful day. She never got to know her dad. Billy had been talking that morning about wanting to get out of police work and how he'd like to start his own photography business.

The children swinging in the tree are grandkids of Houston McCoy, the man who actually shot and killed Whitman, but has never been given proper credit for it in the news media. (A very long story, not appropriate for this forum.)

Somehow, this photo said a lot to me-- about the living and the dead.

Wake Up and Smell the Migas

First you chop tomatoes and onions, then you start some eggs in butter. When eggs start to set, bring the tomatoes and onions to the party and scramble and stir everyone up. Crush in tortilla chips, cook and stir. When about done and eggs are cooked, add grated cheese and mix in until melt. Finally hit the plate with your share and bolster it with a little salsa. While this is a typical breakfast in Austin, it is not one you have every day. Not us anyway. Our usual is FFP cereal and yogurt and coffee and me black coffee. I captured FFP doing this one Sunday last month and made a collage for today's photo. Refried beans might be added in a restaurant version, but we just ate the eggs. Click on the collage for the bigger version. But grab a big cup of coffee before staring too long.

This month's Daily Photo Theme is Typical Breakfast. DP celebrates theme day on the first of each month.