What a weekend

New friends in town. More of me out on the town.

First, Friday night I went out to see Via Audio and Jukebox the Ghost. They were great! And, I got to see them at a new (well new to me) venue, the ND, down on Brushy and East 5th. So much fun. The venue was cool with a great balcony area overlooking the stage. The staff is awesome and the sound was great.

Of course any time I go near East Sixth I have to go to East Side King. I love that place. Beet French fries with Kewpie Mayo. Yum! Chicken Thigh, yum again. I think I might go there tonight. Eh, laziness will probably win out on that one.

Then on Saturday, I got the best treat. Months ago Dale Watson and the Lonestars mentioned they had a show at the old Lonestar Brewery in San Antonio. I pledged then to go, but thought nothing more of it. Well, I went down with some good friends of the band and they had VIP passes waiting for us. Free food, free beer and we got to hang out in the tent with other bands. The best part was listening to those guys rock out. We had a great time. But, we had to get back to Austin. I had another show to go to at the Mohawk. The band was Harlem. I have to admit that I am a little fuzzy on whether or not I really liked them. I think I liked them, I mostly danced around. So that must be a good sign right. I think I am getting to old to go to rock concerts without ear plugs. It is hard to enjoy the show with all that noise distracting me.

Well, Sunday afternoon was spent lounging by Barton Springs pool. It was awesome. Love that place and the water and the weather were so nice.

I am heading back to work this week. Wish me luck!

Fire on the Mountain

A western town is once again on fire. This time it is Boulder, I cannot help but invoke the lyrics from Emmylou Harris's "Boulder to Birmingham."

The last time I felt like this, I was in the wilderness and the canyon was on fire. And I stood on the mountain, in the night and I watched it burn, I watched it burn, I watched it burn.

And really, when it comes to wildfires, that is all most of us can do when they unleash like hell-furry on our mountain and valley homes. My first years in Jackson were some of the worst fire-wise. The Green Knoll fire, right in town. The Jackson Lake fire. And there were so many more. And they let the fires burn out there to a certain extent because it is healthy for the the forests.

Two instances stand out in my mind. The first is when I was working a course behind the ranch. There had been no fires too close to the ranch itself (it was located in Hoback Canyon), so it was decided that the trip could proceed without any danger to staff or student. But, on the second day of the course smoke started pouring into the mountainous terrain we were moving through. It was so thick we worried that the fire was just around the corner, or that it would overcome us quickly. We tried using the emergency cell phone to contact the ranch with no luck. We decided that since we were on one of the main routes, either the forest service would come out (our trip was registered with them), or our own ranch would send horses to help us evacuate. As it turned out, the fire we were concerned about was still no closer. However, fires hundreds of miles away had shifting winds that was blowing the smoke from Montana down to Wyoming.

The second instance. I was sitting on the north eastern edge of Leigh Lake, one of the most amazing places on earth. The day was grey. It was a summer of all threat no rain, it thundered, it lightening, but it never rained. The moisture content of many of the trees was lower than that of cut lumber. On this day, we watched as the lightening struck the mountain, Moran Mountain to be specific, dozens of times. About an hour later, we saw what looked like the smoke from a small campfire rising out of the woods on the western side of the lake. At first, we thought it was irresponsible campers not respecting the fire ban that had been in effect all summer. But, at the day wore on, it was clear that this was not a campfire. It quickly spread, in a matter of hours, from a small campfire looking thing to a massive, raging fire. By night fall, the fire lit up the entire night sky. We wondered weather we should think about canoeing out, or even hiking out. However, the fire was resolutely moving across the base of Moran over to Jackson Lake. I sat up that night watching the red sky, and the helicopters come flying by, flying by, flying by to dip in the lake and carry the water over to the mountain.

It was just one of the many ways that Wyoming, and western wilderness in general, can bring you to your knees, humble you in an instant when it shows you how insignificant you are.

Mixed Media

Greetings faithful reader(s)(?). This past week was pretty cool. On Monday, I auditioned for a friend's play. It had been a couple of years since I have done any acting. It was so fun to (try and) get into a character's brain and see how and why she works the way she does. It was harder than I remember. It is (as may people before have suggested) like being naked because you have to completely open yourself. As you all know I now regularly get on stage and sing for people, that is a very different experience for me for some reason.

Ultimately I was not invited back for another audition, but it was great fun and a very wonderful experience for me. I met a gal at the auditions who was also trying to make her acting dreams come true. I have adjusted to meeting talented musicians at every corner, but it was slightly surprising to meet this gal, and see so many other actors and actresses also trying to launch their career from Austin. Since the audition on Monday, I have been thinking about Austin differently. All around me now I see dreamers, and it is a beautiful thing. Whether it is new businesses, or business ideas, Austin overflows with creative stores, restaurants, and other places where people have set down their dreams to grow. The actors, and singers, and dancers, are just one portion of the dreamers living in Austin, it is a truly unique place. New York is bigger and flasher, but the people are harder and more concerned about self. Austin, is not so big that people will not come up and say hello to you and make you feel welcome. LA, is where big music and acting dreams come true, but there is a pervasive shallowness to the people and the dreams, and it just leaves you feeling hollow. Again, Austin has heart, and that heart inspires loyalty and creativity.

On Thursday, I went to see another friend perform in I, Witness. It was inspiring dance. The dancers, and of course my friend was amazing, were so full of life and energy. The Blue Theater, is a cool space where the audience surrounds three sides of the stage. I had such a wonderful time and it was great to see and support a friend.

What a great week artistically!!!!!

The Future of Rock and Roll . . . it might get loud.

Well it has been a good long while since I have been to a proper rock concert. However, tonight I accompanied a new friend to the Mohawk for the "Red River on the Rocks" concert. It was a day of local and regional bands tearing it up on the main outdoor stage of the Mohawk and the inside stage. Here were my favorites (admittedly, I did not get there until 7pm).

Frank Smith

FUTUREBIRDS

Ume

I need to provide more info for these bands, but they were really awesome and were up on stage giving it their all. I loved it. More later on these great artists!!!!

Swimming Holes

Well, I must say this about the Hill Country around Austin, there are a lot of great places to cool off during the summer months.

I have been trying to explore the more wild side of Austin. While I am far from the Mountains, I don't think I need to completely abandon outdoor recreation. And, while it is a million degrees, I cannot wait out the heat like I did in Jackson and Boulder. Moreover, the Austin area has magical cold springs and rivers. Not a little cold, really really cold. Barton Springs, a place I have mentioned before on these pages, boasts water temperatures around 68 degrees year-round. Other rivers and springs around here have similar temperatures. A friend introduced me to Deep Eddy pool. While one side of the pool smelled like feet, no joke, the other side was chlorinated and was awesome!!!

Venturing further out into the Hill Country, I found Pedernales State Park. It is an amazingly beautiful place. The river is meandering and rather shallow this year. If you are not careful you will end up in the shallows and the shallows get entirely too warm on Austin's 100+ degree days. However, the deep water is slowing moving and cold and provides the right amount of relief.

General does not like the swimming. Yes, he can swim just fine thank you, but he prefers not to. Anytime you release him into the water, he immediately starts swimming back to shore where he sits and looks angrily in your direction from the shore.

Hamilton Pool (thanks for the suggestion John H.), does not allow pets, it is a wild life preserve. Travis County has taken great steps to ensure that there are great trails, good guard rails to keep people on the paths, and great streams, plants and flowers to admire. As my friend and I walked down the quarter mile into the canyon holding the pool, we enjoyed the canopy of trees shielding us from the unforgiving sun. Under this canopy are every manner of Texas shrubbery and trees. Once we reached the bottom of the canyon, there was a beautiful stream full of fish, lined with lush green moss. There were tall trees with roots that looked like craggy fingers digging down into the stream. It was also incredibly peaceful. Then we were upon the massive cave-like hole that is a all natural pool.

It was great way to pass the afternoon, and a nice way to take my mind off the job search, the job not finding. Another friend of mine recently sent me an email exclaiming his love of wilderness and how he believed that god was in nature and all you had to do was go out in nature to find god, or the divine.

I would have to agree. While floating under the tree pictured in the center of the photograph, I could look up and see rays of sunlight just peaking through the leaves of the tree. The water in my ears quieted the chatter of those around me (though everyone was very chill), and I just felt at peace. I was glad I took the adventure out 71, and I will definitely be out there again.

Moving on up . . . to the East side?

Well, now I know where all the hipsters are. But, knocking on hipsters is really no fun. Though I wonder what this group would have been before there was such a thing as hipster? Perhaps they were always that way, and now we are all being trendy by naming them thusly?

I took myself down to east 6th to experience a little more of Austin.

I don't know, but there were a lot of mustaches, side burns, and corduroy shorts. It was really fun! Emily and crew were my guides. We started off at Shangri-la, it is a cool bar that hosts sock hops on Sundays. The jukebox was awesome, as per usual. The bartenders were very nice and the martinis were very dirty. Some crazy Rob Zombie movie was playing on the television, but I had to give up. Too creepy.

Then it was off to Liberty, and Liberty is great because it has this awesome Thai food stand outback. I am told it is now very famous because Anthony Bourdain visited the place when he was in Austin. Good for him. The food is unbelievable! So yummy. Sticky buns with fried chicken thigh and a spicy mayo sauce with cilantro and mint. Damn, now I am hungry again. The bar itself was so so, but they have a massive back patio area with amazing fans and cold beer, in Austin that is sufficient to make a place great.

Oh, and while on the way to Liberty we came across a 30-piece band playing gypsy music and marching down the street. The name of the band was . . . I forgot, shoot. But they play around Austin a lot and it was really cool to see them just wandering down East 6th. I have a video and will post it soon.

After Liberty we started to wear down because we are old and it is hot. We ended the night at Brixton in Austin, this bar will forever be in my heart because they serve Quilmes beer. It is this lovely brew from Argentina that Holly, Matt and I were very fond of. I am sure I can find the picture of a liter-sized bottle sitting on a counter in our hotel room with a random picture of Holly tearing it up on the slopes. It was a great "worlds collide" moment.

It was also a great night out with friends!

Shine a Light

Man, this economy is killing me. Straight up killing me. My soul is super low about everything. Hey employers, I know this is your market, but you could show people a human decency. How about a reply email? How about some acknowledgement that I just spent 15 minutes on your company?

Fine.

Anyway, I went out tonight and played an open mic. Admittedly, the guitar players, the singers, are all much better than me down here. But, they are kind and I am pleased to be here. The only thing that is going right for me lately is music. And, by going right, I mean that people actually want to interact with me.

Stephanya says, "Think on something and it grows." Well, aside from a job, I have been thinking on someone liking my music and me getting some regular paying shows here in Austin.

Hard times, hard times. For everyone out there looking for a job, best of luck to you, and, you are not alone. Meanwhile, I will be playing music and learnin' some fiddle.

"Come on, come on down you got it in you, got to scrape that shit right off your shoes." - The Rolling Stones