Austin Texas RFI

This winter has been so awful in Chicago. I am thinking of taking a schoolbus to Austin and spending a few days writing in my journal at a table outside the Taco Cabana on south Lamar, surrounded by grackles.

doooo it

TACO CABANA? you're better off at Hoos's hotel's hot breakfast buffet.

So, the gf and I find ourselves in Austin until Sunday. In addition to the fine suggestions found upthread, anything particularly unmissable going on this week Austin ilxors would suggest?

i hear good things about the doubletree hotel

^ lyar

nothin real big happening that i'm up on, just regular stuff. good jazz @ the elephant room. whereabouts you at?

I don't know of anything super-special happening this week either. I can't even say offhand if the bats are back from Mexico or if Barton Springs is open.

If you have the time on Sunday afternoon you should def. visit Ginny's Little Longhorn for honky-tonk music and Chicken Shit Bingo.

We're at the Crowne Plaza on I-35, thanks to hotwire and very last minute planning.

We ate at Polvo's last night. I dug it, the better half not so much.

Oh, and wtf is with your buses being so cheap? Paying fifty cents feels like I'm in a magical time warp. Or Pleasantville.

Yeah it's a beautiful thing dude. A buck and you ride all day!

drove into SW Austin looking for a guitar store (and/or because I was bored)

The 71/290/1/360 highway cluster is a fucking disaster.

yessir

i once spent an hour trying to get from one corner to another

How do you feel about the 183/360/1 interchange in North Austin?

so both NPR stations (89.x, 90.5) are mostly music? Do you get Fresh Air or the Diane Rehm Show at all?

http://kut.org

http://koop.org

schedules on sites

koop does Fresh Air - I forget when

I mean, kut has Fresh Air. Sorry.

afternoons booooo

Yeah Fresh Air 3-4pm. I don't hear Diane Rehm at all?

They ran Radio Lab during Terry's vacay last week and I think I have a new favorite show.

Dude the worst thing about leaving DFW is leaving KERA. (Well KTCK too). But you can listen on the www

No www in my truck/on the job, unfortunately. And even if I get Sirius for NPR, they have Rehm and Fresh Air on at weird times.

KERA has ruined me for all other NPR stations.

Is there a good bar in Austin where you can actually talk, no loud music?

The Grand!

Oily got me going there now.

Yeah, I like that joint. Crawling distance from home, too.

Wound up at Spider House which did the trick volume-wise (and there was an adorable cat monitoring the order pick-up window). But good to know about The Grand - I'm constantly searching for relatively quiet places to talk.

Check out the bar at the Driskill Hotel. Sometimes there's a piano player, it's always quiet... eternally anti-scene. De rigeur attire: starched white oxford shirt, new jeans, cowboy boots.

Anybody been to The Nomad bar yet?

Nope. But I'm a homebody.

it's too fucking hot to do anything. at all.

Me too, Hoos, and ryan otm.

There's a birthday/karaoke thing there soon for a friend I hardly get to see, and it's within reasonable staggering distance home. I should probably go.

I like Nomad! They've got a nice patio. Plus they're open until 2am now. Pints are a bit pricier than average, but being able to walk or bike there makes up for that easily.

I just went to Nomad for happy hour! I am drunk.

awez

being able to walk or bike there makes up for that easily.

This is an important trait, absolutely. But the last time I walked home from Carousel there was a car accident that looked like it was going to escalate into a murder as I was crossing 35 on 51st.

Continuing this weekend's drunkfest, tonight I went to the Poodle Dog Lounge! They were so friendly! It was so empty! Yet smoky. I drank a lot, but that's OK... I wasn't driving.

I did go to Nomad last night. Wow, hipster! Gang of Four and Pixies on karaoke, big tupperware boxes of cupcakes on the tables. Still, a pretty good time, except I'm still hungover.

i'm moving to austin next week. thanks for the recommendations. any other bars i should look into?

Gang of Four and Pixies on karaoke

loll

what part of town you moving to art hums?

austin is well known for comedy?

Gang of Four and Pixies on karaoke, big tupperware boxes of cupcakes on the tables.

Case closed.

i'm going to be sharing a house with two friends in hyde park. well, i'm not sure if that part of town is still hyde park or north austin. the house is around 51st and airport. i wasn't there for the house search, so i still haven't seen it (only in pictures), but my friends have told me it's a nice location. where in austin are you?

I wouldn't call that Hyde Park, but it's pretty close to me. And The Nomad. And The Grand. And The Carousel. And not too far from La-La's and Poodle Dog. There's a lot of places to drink in this burg.

WE'RE NUMBER ONE!!!!!!!!!!!

I am going next week for an astronomy conference! And I'm going to see UT Austin vs Stetson basketball on the Friday. Who are Stetson?

They are the reason Stagger Lee went flipping guano loco.

How exciting.

I almost never visit bars in my current incarnation of Austin-resident. There are some nice ones though if that's your thing.

i need to find a good one to watch rockets games because the local cable here only shows the damn spurs...

As a Mavs fan, I feel you.

I got League Pass last season but I don't know if I want to spend the money this time.

Ooh, thanks!

I heard a big explosion about 50 minutes ago, reports that it was heard and felt for many miles around, looks like a house about a mile from me exploded, NW Austin near 183 and Spicewood Springs

yep, I heard it too!

https://www.chron.com/culture/celebrities/article/joe-rogan-friends-austin-texas-20790258.php

Another Rogan associate was more direct with his criticism of Texas.

"Texas f--king blows," comedian Shane Gillis said in a June episode of the Andrew Schulz podcast, recalling a storm that left his Austin home without power for three days. "It's hot as f--k. The second we ran out of power, the house was 90 degrees and bugs came in immediately."

...

But besides learning all about Texas' bizarre love affair with electrical independence, Gillis has complained about Austin's homeless population (whom he's called "screaming runners") and the number of emergency alerts the state of Texas sends out.

"Texas goes wild with Amber Alerts," he said on a 2024 episode of The Joe Rogan Experience. "It's a really depressing way to start your day."

https://a.pinatafarm.com/320x196/bbcd9d3933/skinner-pathetic.jpg

First visit to Austin this week, I have some free time, what should I do? (Including local parks and nature stuff as well as food/drink/arts/culture)

(I am scrolling back thru the thread for recommendations too)

I can recommend many food/drink places, depending on what you're looking for and where you'll be staying. Would also be happy to grab a drink if you have the time.

This doesn't help, but I wanted to mention I screened Songwriter (the Willie/Kristofferson film) last night, which was shot in Austin in '83 or so, and it has a ton of lovely shots of the old downtown and other since-retooled landmarks, like the Austin Opry House (currently Arlyn Studios and office spaces) and the Palmer Auditorium.

Used to be a Scientology center right off campus if you want to pop in for a reading.

I love Songwriter, I’ll have to watch it again after the visit.

Moodles, would love to grab a drink! I’ll message you on FB. I’m staying in the Zilker area, fwiw.

Are you going to the ACL festival?

I’m actually not, weirdly enough, just Monday-Friday. This just worked out as the best week to go for me.

Prepare for it to be a challenge to get around on Friday!