At Jovita’s the event is Las Chicas del Barrio, a showcase for women in Latin music sponsored by the Austin Latino Music Association. The music starts at 2 or thereabouts and continues until it’s over. On the bill are Girl in a Coma, Bocastria, Frenetica, Cerronato, the Texana Dames (6:00), Eva Yabarra y Su Conjunto (7:30), Melinda Hernandez y Sister Sister, and the Gina Chavez Band, not necessarily in that order (call Jovita’s at 447-7825). Cover will be a mere $10, which will probably amount to about a dollar an hour for this great program.

Sunday at the MACC is brought to us gratis by Texas Folklife. We’ll hear great personal favorite Cerronato backing four future stars of the accordion who are semifinalists in the Big Squeeze, followed by another great personal favorite, Los Texmaniacs.

Why should those of us who seldom or never consume over 500 kilowatt-hours of electricity pay for the ever-growing consumption caused by those evidently compelled to build in a cornfield, tear down a perfectly good structure and construct a monster in its place, or “remodel” by expanding an existing house by four or five times? Only this morning, we learned that additional tree limbs will be sacrificed in our vicinity to add a transformer “required” because voltage is now “insufficient.” Somebody’s recently installed multi-kitchens and other upgrades and proliferations of electricity-operated conveniences in a bloated edifice demand this service upgrade; not only that, another outfit of the same sort will soon be completed and is likely to “require” the same sort of service upgrade, with accompanying destruction.

So much for affordable housing. So much for preserving Austin’s shade canopy.

Today’s analysis goes quite a way toward remedying the oversight. The on-line version lacks some of the accompanying sidebar material that enriches the print feature: “Police Department defends helicopter program as audit suggests cost-cutting measures: Some say Air 1 too costly to stay airborne” is the on-line title; the print version headings are different and include this language: “Helicopter unit is under scrutiny” and “Department, auditor disagree over cost-effectiveness.”

There’s a big opportunity cost involved. How many staffed patrol cars would be available on the ground for the amount invested in this aviation unit? Without the night-time disruption caused by noise 500 feet above and the lurid beam of the searchlight sweeping yards and rooms, how much better would we all sleep? My disposition would certainly improve. The reporter does not mention or analyze the factor of rising fuel costs. I wish that somebody would.

We didn’t find signs of anything doing at Fiesta Gardens this afternoon, but tomorrow evening starting at 4 pm (Monday, May 5, itself) there will be a small program, including a conjunto fest with lots of returning favorites. Known to be on the program are Johnny Degollado, Los Fantasmas del Valle, and Dueto Carta Blanca (Jorge y Mague). According to the schedule, this year’s dance contest with Johnny Degollado will be after the mariachi (6:30 to 7) and Los T-Birds (7 to 7:45) and before Carta Blanca (8:30 to 9:30) and Los Fantasmas (9:30 to 10:30). Adult admission for all that music is just five dollars. The bandstand and the dance floor, along with the seating area, are under a roof that protects from whatever the weather brings.

There’s a big free do out at the Expo Center today, with big-time music (Diana Reyes and also Banda el Recodo!) on the program from across la frontera, but the MACC and Fiesta Gardens events are traditional family-centered local attractions right here in the heart of town.

There are those who still believe in self-improvement as a personal conscious endeavor and, if the account in the local daily (byline Sarah Coppola; see links under photograph for itemized lists) is to be believed, one of our council incumbents is among them. An opponent made a public information request and now has used the results in an amusing four-page full-color mailer that displays images of selected invoices discovered among materials elicited following the PIR. I don’t know how I’m going to vote yet, but I’m not overjoyed to know that taxpayer dollars went to buy 20 copies of “Now, Discover Your Strengths.” And fish food?

Thanks to a new initiative by the Despair people, while feigning to look deeply engaged in the proceedings of meetings that are boring in the extreme, you can occupy yourself by mentally designing your own demotivational poster (which image should be accompanied by which heading and which “inspirational” language?).

The Long Center doesn’t read well for those approaching for the first time, and on foot. It appears to be designed for entry from the parking garage, which we did not use. People are already wearing informal footpaths where walks should go, not where they really are. The batteries in my toy camera failed, so I have no image to show here, but the terrace facing the river and downtown offers one of the most spectacular night-time views to be seen anywhere, and I think certainly the most amazing skyline view in Austin.

I’d suspect that the peculiarities of parking at the Long Center accounted for the fact that nearly the entire audience was seated in the five or ten minutes after the scheduled 7:30 curtain time. On our level of the building, at least, men and women lined up side by side to go into the restrooms, offering scanty facilities for men and not much larger ones for women. The lighting is not flattering, to say the least. Exit signs in the large performance venue are well lit for the audience. I did not use any elevator in the building, but the stairways do not seem to be as commodious and well marked as they ought to be, should there ever be an emergency. The seats in the big hall offer much more leg room than those in Bass Hall. Row markers and seat numbers are not easily legible.

Restroom lines moved with reasonable dispatch, but not so quickly that it was possible to explore the various lobbies. I’ve written elsewhere about the acoustics, experienced so far at just one performance. I look forward to attendiing performances other than opera, in order to gain a different perspective on how well this building works.