Gone are the days when long lunches were not infrequent, when thoughts turned to Lockhart and everybody took off in the same direction. Those now earning a living wage no longer enjoy the freedom allowed when Austin was a part-time, minimum-wage place for nearly everyone. This month’s Gourmet magazine isn’t giving it away for free, but the Sterns of Roodfood fame mark out the quandrangle formed by the smoky shrines of Lockhart, Taylor, Luling, and Elgin, not necessarily in that order. They’re paying particular attention to sausage. My personal favorite is hometown Smokey Denmark, but we’re all entitled to our opinions. Cough up the bucks for the mag, check out pages 28 through 30 of the June issue, on the stands now, take it to work, and start an argument at lunchtime tomorrow.

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I ran down the trail the other day, along the north side to the Mopac bridge, while taking a brief rest before setting off back on the south side, I saw something that reminded me what a great free resource the trail is and started me thinking about other cool free exercise related things here in Austin. These are mine, got any others ? Post a comment.

1. RunTex Water Barrels. This was got me thinking. While sat there getting my breath back, a woman in a skirt sports running skirt and yellow v-neck cotton top, ran in, stopped, took a drink from the RunTex supplied and supported water barrels. Next up she refilled the small paper cup, pulled her top forward and pured the water down. How great is RunTex for providing, stocking and filling the water butts at both end of the trail!

2. Austin Tri Cyclist Saturday rides. No mater how fast I think I’m cycling, showing up for the ride on Saturday morning shows me I’m not. Bang on 8.30am out comes owner Don, gets on his bike waits for a clearing in the traffic and the ride starts, often some 30-riders, sometimes less, sometimes more. I rarely survive with the main pack onto South West Parkway and even when I do I get dropped before Highway 71. Whats the point ? Well if you don’t try, you’ll never improve. The ride is about 32-miles, goes to the corner of 71 and Bee Caves, back along the winding hills of Bee Caves Rd, onto 360 and back through Zilker to the shop, where Don provides Tacos and Coffee. If you get dropped before Bee Caves, don’t give up, a small group often meet up at the cleaners on the corner to finish the ride together.

3. Early Morning Barton Springs Swim. Arrive by 6:45am and you can get a full hour swim for free, any day. I don’t get the wetsuits, I’m sure the triathletes will reason that they need them for race prep, or other excuse, but you really can’t beat the feel of the cool water sliding across your back as you glide through the water. The Life Guards clear the pool at 8am and you need to pay the $3 fee if you want to stay!

4. Blanton 3rd Thursday Yoga. On the 3rd Thursday of the month you can go visit the Blanton, it’s free. Take your Yoga gear and you can go do an hour of Yoga in the main gallery, stay on for the book club, or just walk around the galleries.

5. Full moon Yoga. If you are inspired and reading today Monday 19th, tonight is the next of Charles MacInerney Full Moon Yoga sessions. Show up tonight by 7.30pm with a mat or a blanket and stretch through Charles relaxed and somewhat informal Yoga instruction, when the class is over, sit and watch as the Sun goes down and the Moon comes up. I’d recommend taking a top to keep warm afterwards as well.

So, those are my current top-5, got any to add, am I missing something important?

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We used to buy samosa in fairly large quantities, ones made by Kala’s Kuisine and almost always available at MGM Indian Foods, among other places. Then this tasty item was not to be found; the word was that Kala had stopped bringing this vegetarian treat around and we couldn’t find it anywhere, but we missed it and always kept hoping to find it again.

It must have been a matter of looking in the wrong places or of giving up too soon. We’ve just found Kala’s samosa again, at the Farm to Market Grocery on South Congress. Somebody reports that Kala’s Kuisine is at Wheatsville, too. These days, there’s a samosa trio packed in a clear case along with a tamarind sauce.

This food tastes just as good as it ever did: wonderful! I’m so glad to have noticed it there in the cold case. I find the included tamarind sauce (ingredients listed as tamarind, dates, pineapple, tomato paste, ginger, salt, and spices) a bit too sweet for me and so accompany the samosa treat with mint chutney, but others like the tamarind accompaniment almost better than the samosa itself! Potatoes don’t taste any better than this.

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So an Austin family plans to seek the simple life in Vermont (”Imagine No Possessions,” byline Ralph Blumenthal and Rachel Mosteller, NYT 5/17/08). Cage Free Family is the blog that documents the efforts to shed material possessions and lead a different life in the Green Mountain State, location to be determined. This is a bold attempt at taking a new direction. One can’t help but wonder, though: why Vermont? why not here in Austin? Doesn’t it seem as though the path envisioned may lead to a more complicated existence and not a simpler one? The blog is receiving a lot of comments, and I intend to follow it with interest to see just how this adventure proceeds.

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I’ve always been one of those standing outside the window at the Richard Jones Pit BBQ on Congress, just like these people today. Our intention had been to go to Matt’s to enjoy the people-watching on this UT graduation day. There was space in the parking lot, but the tables were full, the waiting area was full, and a line stretched outdoors. We were too late or too early. We thought we’d pick up some brisket for fine home dining, but the line at the Pit window inspired us to go inside and take a table for the very first time ever. Some diners were enjoying their breakfast; others thought that lunchtime had arrived.

We took a booth and there was food on the table within seconds. Service was friendly and efficient. All is spotless. Here’s some of what came to the table: brisket, potato salad, cole slaw, French fries, cornbread, sausage, beans, and a basket containing break, Saltines, and real butter. Remaining to be tried in the future are chopped steak, biscuits, the chili dog, and more.

There’s no sign of ketchup on the outside of the brisket. The rub and smoke reach beyond the surface. The side sauce is a sweet one, but there are jalapenos, Louisiana hot sauce, and Tabasco sauce available for asking so that those who need to may doctor any item to heat it up. I like my cornbread to be made from coarse meal, with no sugar added; those who prefer the opposite will find it here. The beans are particularly good. Lovers of chunky potato salad will find salad of a finer texture. Fried okra was in great demand, although not at our table. The indoors diners were a typical group of South Austinites, mixed with a few tourists. This was the first time indoors here for us, but it certainly won’t be the last.

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These are all to be found at the sign of the golden slipper. The babies, of course, are not available for purchase; they accompany their nearest and dearest to the store that provides for so many of their material needs. Sharp’s locksmith service and Golden Slipper shoe, boot, and leather repair have been there since forever. The Soup Peddler is not a newcomer. Austin Baby has moved south from its original location and, along with its Ethan Azarian art, has found a new home, and the other recent arrival is Mercury Fashion House for men. Golden Slipper is open from 10 am to 2 pm on Saturdays. I left an item for repair at 10:30 this morning; it was promised to be ready at 12:30 this afternoon and was there for me fifteen minutes early. I love Golden Slipper. This was where magic was worked to successfully restore footgear made unwearable by mold and mildew. No promises were made, but the treatment, whatever it was, worked and the shoes were like new and have been worn ever since. Today’s repair was just as good. I love places that help us to keep our cherished favorites in use so that we don’t have to go out and shop for new items when we’d much rather not. In the picture is part of the handsome example of the sign-painter’s art that embellishes the window of Sharp’s, favorite locksmith of South Austin for many, many years.

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Maybe this entry should be called “blocked at every turn” instead of “let there be light.” Perma-temp construction and event-related street-closings stymied every kind of traffic, whether four-wheeled, two-wheeled, bus, or two-footed. Persistence got us to the library, to the downtown farmers’ market, and to the wondrous Tipler’s Lamp Shop, where repairs to an old cast-iron bridge lamp were completed in minutes and we bought a better lamp shade. Tipler’s will make practically any object into a lamp and can repair any problem that any type of lighting fixture might suffer. Tipler’s carries glass shades for various types of fixtures from the first half of the Twentieth Century and before that and also has glass chimneys for kerosene lamps. Here can be found the best advice and service that anyone could ever want. It’s much larger inside than it appears to be from the street and is truly one of the great unsung resources of Austin. Now a favorite reader’s nook is bright again.

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When I last passed by Barton Springs Pool, I also checked out Eliza Springs, the cool amphitheater-type pool next to the playscape, to see if there were any alligators in it.  I don’t know if I really ever saw an alligator living there or if it’s just one of those thing I remember because I was told as a kid and believed it… but the sign at Eliza says that no alligators live there.  Much to my surprise, there was a lot of activity in the pool.  People were acting as much like alligators as they could, except instead of trying to eat the salamanders that live there, which are protected species, they were simply “researching” them. 

As you hopefully know, the water at Barton Springs and the adjacent springs comes from the highly porous Edwards Aquifer.  Anything that gets dumped over the ground - motor oil, fertilizer for grass, diazonon to kill ants - eventually makes its way into the aquifer and then to the Springs and some people’s drinking water.

You may have read my post earlier this week about Oak Hill’s neighborhood plan.  Well, what happens in Oak Hill and Southwest Austin affects the treasure that is the aquifer and Barton Springs.  And now, dear citizens, you have an opportunity to comment on the plans for that area, without leaving the comfort of your desk.  Nope, no all-night council meeting required (yet).  Just go to the city’s survey about the Oak Hill plan and fill it out. You know the friends of developers will.

Then, to reward yourself for your participation, go on down to Barton Springs this Saturday for Free Swim Day (according to an email newsletter from the Save Our Springs Alliance, whose web site seems to be hosed at the moment)!

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This morning on KVET, Troy Kimmel said that the storm came “in the midnight hour,” which was just about right: 12:05 am was how we called it. Before we closed the windows, we thought we could feel a pressure-drop. There was hail briefly, some of it between the size of a baseball and that of a grapefruit. It sounded as though boulders were being dropped on the roof. Mercifully, that stage was brief, and subsequent downpours melted the accumulation. This morning there were power outages within sight of us, but we had lights and a dial-tone.

At suppertime, we had enjoyed the beans from the third picking of plants grown from a packet like this. The air was so sultry that we’d been tempted just to forget about it. These beans have been perfect, the best ones we’ve had in years, and the plants have been so productive. This morning, though, we found them pounded into the ground and lacerated into ribbons. So it’s a good thing that we havested last night. Tomato plants were beaten up and wind-whipped, but will probably recover.

I’ve tried to form a complete collection of Lonestar Seed packets. I used to buy them at the feed and seed on South Congress that has since become the second home for Guero’s. We used to buy dog food and bulk seeds there, too, and there were those who came away with chicks to raise. Some old Lonestar varieties have dropped out of the catalogue. Over the years, letterpress packets from old chromolithograph plates became produced by the photo-offset process, but often still using the old images. The year packed was added and so was bar-coding. According to the Lonestar site, the price for a packet of beans this year was $1.55; this packet was bought at Buck Moore’s for a mere $1.05. We used old packets this spring and didn’t buy any new ones. Lonestar is a San Antonio company, and I’ve always loved it that the vegetable and flower packets show the Spanish names and offer cultivation instructions, usually more complete and precise, in Spanish, also.

Farewell for the season to Top Crop, Tender Crop, Tendergreen, and Contender. You were very good to us during this long spring. We’re happy that we planted you and that we didn’t waste any of your production by not picking what you gave us, although last night it was a near thing.

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Andy Langer of KGSR, Esquire and formerly of 101X’s Next Big Thing,  joins Jason and Deb on Thursday mornings to talk about upcoming shows and music. There were two very interesting revelations this morning:

1. Langer claims that he interviewed Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top on Tuesday as a promo for their gig tonight at The Backyard. During that discussion, Gibbons revealed that he would be playing at the American Idol finale next week and also specified that he’d be playing with finalist David Cook. Langer seemed to imply that this meant that the winner of American Idol had already been decided as of Tuesday night when there were still 3 contestants remaining. Not sure if he misinterpreted it or if they’re just hedging their bets. I wouldn’t be surprised if the show is fixed, but it seems odd that he could be so blatant about revealing it.
2. He also revealed that the Foxboro Hot Tubs, Green Day’s side project, will be playing Emo’s next Thursday, something Jason just heard last night and was apparently debating about revealing. I guess this isn’t a particularly large scoop since their site and MySpace page list tour dates and include the Emo’s date. They only sell tickets to these shows the day of the event at the venue and it’s a limit of two per person at $20 each. The Emo’s calendar says doors are at 8pm, so I’m guessing that’s the earliest that you can buy tickets. If you’ve ever wanted to see the guys from Green Day playing in a small venue and missed your chance back in the early 90s, you’ve got another chance a week from today. Granted, they’re playing Foxboro Hot Tubs songs, but it doesn’t sound all that different from Green Day, so it’s pretty much the same thing, isn’t it?

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We heard the wind around midnight. No hail for us. A large cottonwood branch nearly took out the minivan, but only chipped a bit of paint on a side view mirror; its smaller brethren littered the yard and the tops of both cars. The loudest thing before that was the storm warning that blared out over the TV as we watched My Name is Earl on the DVR. I think Time Warner can tone down that notice a bit.

As of my commute time about an hour ago, the light at Barton Springs and Robert E Lee was completely out with no traffic cop in sight. Cars on Robert E Lee were backed up for quite a distance. Once I got to the intersection, I found an accident with an ambulance and fire engine, but no police car? Very odd. A downed tree took out a section of the fence at Umlauf. It looks like they’ll be doing a lot of cleanup today. Power is out for at least part of the Zilker neighborhood. Leaves and small branches littered most of the streets that I drove.

It was hard to tell, but it looks like there might have been a fire somewhere between Far West and 183 west of Mopac? I haven’t seen any news to corroborate that, but there appeared to be smoke mixed in with the clouds.

Update: Reports from C., the Statesman and Austinist as well.

Update 2 (2008.05.15 17:18 CDT): Some people may be without power until sometime Saturday. Ouch.

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“I owe the city birthday cake, and thank you cards are due”(1)

It’s been nearly 18-months since I moved to Austin, and many things are making it seem like home, places, faces, events and more. Some events are more memorable than others, good and bad.

One of the surprise things I did last year, and will be repeating this year, is bike to work day. Last year I headed from South Austin up north to work. I do this often, but only in the quickest, shortest, most direct route, it’s an 25-mile round-trip and not particularly memorable if you discount racing the buses, and sometime breakdowns, getting caught in a true Texas downpour,and the occasional car drivers’ abusive hand signals. Mostly though, I’d say the car drivers here are better than most other cities I’ve cycled in!

Bike to work day last year was much more fun than the normal ride to work! I rode the shoulder on 360, up Great Hills Trail to Jollyville Rd and finally coming to rest at Bucks Bikes. Donuts and a quick chat with some other bike to workers including one of Austins tireless(no pun intended) Volunteers @anetmarie, and I was off to work.

This year there is an even longer list of places providing a “free” breakfast for cyclists and the weather is looking good. I’m going to venture a bit further, in fact all the way up to Music City Cycles on W Parmer, where this year @anetmarie is a co-host.

In fact, checking the current list of breakfast stops, if I plan my route carefully, I could end up in a calorie surplus, there goes the waist line!

Bike to work day is part of Bike Month, the Austin Cycling Association usually have a calendar online, but as of writing it’s gone AWOL. Hopefully it will be back in shape soon. In the meantime, the current list of breakfast stations includes the following and official hours are 7-9am:

•Whole Foods, Sixth & Lamar
•City Hall Plaza, 301 W. Second (sponsored by city of Austin employees)
•Texas One Center, 505 Barton Springs Rd. (also sponsored by city of Austin employees)
•Texas Bicycle Coalition, 1902 E. Sixth
•Mellow Johnny’s, Fourth & Nueces
•Wheatsville Co-op, 3101 Guadalupe
•Bicycle Sport Shop, 517 S. Lamar
•Shoal Creek Boulevard at the Far West Bridge
•Music City Cycles, 6301 W. Parmer #504
•Jo’s Coffee, 1300 S. Congress
•Freewheeling Bicycles, 24th & San Gabriel

If you see a big guy cycling on 360 on Friday with a bag over-flowing with donuts, that will be me, make a wide pass please!

(1) Lyrics (c) Steven O’Reilly, Tammany Hall NYC, Ceilings in the sky.

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So if you bother to move to the outskirts of Austin, you must be doing so to get a big house on a big lot on a quiet street, close to “good” schools, for much cheaper than Central Austin. If you do so, you have no right to complain that you can’t walk to the store.

Well, people in Oak Hill and Southwest Austin apparently want their cake and to eat it too. As much as I am an avid proponent of denser development and public transit, I find it disingenuous of the community leaders in that area to now start blaming the Save Our Springs ordinance for the fact that their neighborhoods aren’t (and may never be) more pedestrian friendly and dense.

Tomorrow night, the city’s planning staff will present the tentative Future Land Use Map (FLUM) and plan documents to stakeholders for one last discussion before the planning commission and city council vote on it. David Richardson, who lead the effort at the neighborhood level, complains to Community Impact that the SOS ordinance blocks any and every kind of good development because

landowners cannot develop or put impervious cover, which is anything from rooftops to parking lots, over more than 25 percent of an individual landowner’s property, in the area called the contributing zone.

Mr. Richardson complains that you can’t put in denser muliple-use development that would make walking and biking more appealing because of the “roadblocks” like this.

The SOS ordinance *should* be a roadblock. Its intent is to discourage development, which causes water pollution in the sensitive contributing zone and the more sensitive recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer. If you want to live in a densely developed area, move to Central Austin!

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The entire known world had gone accordionistic. People were actually dancing in the aisles. The event at the MACC turned out to be indoors. The room has a good little stage, and the acoustics are excellent, surprisingly. According to a placard, the capacity allowed by the fire marshal for this hall is 210. All the seats were filled, and additional happy peoople sat on the floor or stood against the walls or took a spin on the impromptu dance floor. The young contestants were enjoyable to hear and Viva Seguin, as always, was a crowd-pleaser. Los Texmaniacs and those sitting in with them were very generous with their time and delighted all, from tiny babies to near-centenarians. Afterward, many followed them over to Guero’s on South Congress, where they held forth outdoors in the garden. This was a day of happy people, happy music, and happy feet, all gratis and here in Austin.

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