I set off this morning to walk down S 1st to drop my weeks shirts at Capitol Cleaners on S 1st. There it was, it wasn’t there yesterday, a big board advertising the “Live at Elizabeth” development, 24 luxury condos and commercial space, on the east side of south 1st on 3-floors, right opposite Bouldin Creek Coffee shop, official address 1407 South 1st.

It’s described as a “mixed use” development, and is being done by architect Michael Hsu and local developer Scott Trainer. Jon Hill at Travis Real Estate confirmed by phone it is being done as a Mixed Use development, so no affordable housing, but it does mean they’ve had to include the required number of parking spaces, some 40-odd.

There they are, page after page of band and live music listings. Almost without exception I’ve never heard of any of them. As I’m not in my teens I don’t have the time or energy to do night after night of music venues to find out what I like, and since I’m new’ish in town I don’t have the circle of friends with like-minded tastes. Oh, what is a boy to do?

Well for this week I’m all set, its going to be a very busy w/e. Tonight is First Thursday down on South Congress, always good for a late dinner and bar hoping between Gueros outdoors, Bottecelli’s back yard and the Continental club. Friday is B Scene at First Friday at the Blanton Museum, followed by a curry.

So, whats the home and away reference? Well Friday evening see Maneja Beto do their CD Release gig at the Mohawk at 10pm. I’ve seen the local Austin band twice and had a great time. Given my earlier post on VMU, to use the analogy, Maneja Beto are like a VMU band. They are an overlay on existing styles of dance music, indie, with more than a hint of electronic and south west thrown in for good measure. So thats the home band.

For an away band, Peggggy has been bugging me too see Four Way Free, who’ve been gigging and blogging their way across the country from LA. They are on Saturday at the Dirty Dog. Much easier to classify, and probably more mainstream but just as interesting to listen to. I only hope I can make it from the ride and the beer at Shiner…

Events start out on Friday with the Civic Bicycle Cruise/Political Pedal. Meet up at Meet at City Hall Plaza, 4.45pm. for the 5pm to 6pm ride, this isn’t just for just dedicated road bikers, anyone with two or even three wheels, fat tire, mountain bike, or a commuter bike should come along. It’s a chance to join your elected officials and community leaders in this convergence of politics and the joy of cycling!

Plan on staying downtown after the ride for the Bicyclists’ Happy Hour - from 6:00pm – 7:30pm at The Rio Grande Restaurant, 301 San Jacinto Blvd. (on the Lance Armstrong Bikeway no less). Snacks, drinks and meeting of minds! I’m told there will be valet bike parking available, something I for one have never seen before and live Austin music by Jim Keaveny and Shand Walton. The Happy hour is put together by the Austin Cycling Association, the Rio Grande Mexican Restaurant and the Rio Grande cycling team along with sponsors Bicycle Sport Shop, the Austin Yellow Bike Project, the Texas Bicycle Coalition, the League of Bicycling Voters and REI.

For some of us, Friday is a warm-up for Saturdays Austin to Shiner GASP ride. The 2008 edition celebrates the Spoetzl Brewery’s 99th anniversary and for those volunteering or riding the 90-miles from Austin to Shiner, there will be a party with BQ dinner with brisket, sausage, vegetarian options, Live Texas Country Music as well as Miles From Nowhere, Eric Middleton, as well other bands. One of the big attractions is the FREE Shiner Beer. Makes cycling sound fun doesn’t it ;-)

I’ve no idea what effect Shiner beer is going to have on me after cycling 90-miles, but either way I guess I’ll end up “legless”. Fortunately @cruisergirl has agreed to give me and my trusty aluminum steed a ride back to Austin. If you are riding, do yourself a favor and do packet picket either Thursday or Friday at Jack and Adams on Barton Springs, then Saturday morning you’ll be ready to ride. If you want to ride and raise money for the Lance Armstrong Foundation, registration is still open, you can even register on the morning of the ride. You’ll need to figure out how to get back though.

For other Bike Month activities, the Austin Cycling Association has an excellent online calendar. If you spot someone walking around like John Wayne, that will be me, not that I becoming localized, but 6-hours on a bike saddle… as John Wayne famously said “It’s such an adrenaline rush. It’s America’s most extreme sport.”

I’d seen a trailer for the film at a previous visit to the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, I hadn’t actually got around to going to see it, you know, busy life and all that!

Lauratex said “it should be required viewing in Austin”. I say, if you moved to Austin after 1995, or were not old enough to remember the Circle C/Barton Springs fight, maybe like me you thought George Bush only started to mess up when he got to the White House, this is the best use of 90-minutes of your time this week!

I know I don’t really know much about Austin, I know “keep Austin weird” isn’t just a bumper sticker but really I had no idea.

While I can see that there are many people who wouldn’t agree with the main message and direction the film takes, as someone that swims a Barton Springs two or three times a week, I found this film really profound and found myself weeping twice during the film. I won’t pretend to do a balanced review of the film, I don’t think I could.

The main thrust of the film is about the development of the Circle-C ranch, apparently a sub-division(another good reasons why I couldn’t turn in a balanced view of the film, I don’t understand much of the terminology used) and the impact it could have on Barton Springs. While the film could have demonised developers, it didn’t for me. It did fairly show that the balance is out of kilter when it comes to developing new, green field sites.

The film is a thought provoking cross over between documentary, story telling and historical record. I suspect that editorial changes made some of the things the people interviewed seem even more prophetic, the small boy who liked living in the new house but was concerned they’d finish the rest of the houses, as he’d have no space to play; the couple who were complaining about their inability to water their new lawn, but “people come first”; the old farmer who seemed wise well beyond his education, if not beyond his years.

The best speaker for me wasn’t Robert Redford, erudite though he was, journalist and author William Greider summed it up best for me, “Growth itself is not the enemy, it is the nature of that growth—the quality within.”

the Unforseen is still showing at the Alamo Drafthouse South, although screenings are getting fewer and fewer as the weeks go by. The current screening list is here. Yes, and that means you ttrentham.

And so it was the other day, on one of what must have been hundreds of times I’ve run up and down South 1st to get to the trail, I noticed that the lot, or at least part of it, on which Torchies Tacos sits, is up for sale or lease. On the way back up South 1st, I looked and sure enough there were a bunch of other properties up for sale.

The houses at 1906, 1708, 1609 and 1502 are all up for sale. They are all traditional single story houses. The there is the Big G Tire lot on the corner of W. Mary and the seemingly unused building on the north-east corner of Elizabeth and South 1st opposite Bouldin Creek Coffee shop.

On the other side of the road from Bouldin Creek Coffee Shop is 1502 South 1st. It has a board outside showing what the developer is planning, and although it’s only 2-stories, it has VMU style setbacks. It displays other modern design and VMU characteristics. Close to the road, street furniture, trees and replacing a single story building with a multi-story that covers most of the lot and so it’s also classic eclectic Austin vs the new.

As part of the Bouldin Creek Neighborhood Planning team that handled the VMU opt-in/opt out, it was with some surprise to me that we eventually declined to opt any properties. Certainly that was an interesting choice and not my preference since the properties on South 1st opposite the Texas school for the deaf, and the whole of the west side of South Congress from Oltorf to the Congress bridge were included, and opted-in by default.

I’m not a great candidate to discuss old vs new, I only moved to Austin in November 2006, and I bought a new house that replaced and older, single story one. However, in what ever shape VMU takes on South 1st it will be interesting to watch it unfold, trust that it won’t just be the long time Austin residents that will be concerned once VMUification starts!

The city hopes that the problem will ease with the opening of the trail again between Shoal Creek and Congress on the north side. However, my bet is the problem will continue. The problem is many people like the shorts loops between South 1st and Lamar footbridge, it’s a social distance for a walk, and it’s a good fast-run distance for beginners and there’s no access to the trail from the north east side. Either way what that means is there is no way to do loops without crossing the street, unless you step-it-up and go Lamar to Mopac.

While the works continue, I’ve seen some folks doing incredibly stupid things. Thursday last week I saw a guy running in the traffic lane on the west side of the bridge around 6.45pm, that was mad enough, but he was wearing a headset - No idea if cars were coming right behind him, and angering drivers who had to pull out. Then there are the bemused ones, having found themselves on the road at the north west corner of the bridge, then can’t work out what to do next. Like a Dear caught in headlights they make a last minute decision and run for it.

I spoke to the city project major Rick Colbrunn, he says it will be another 4-6 weeks before the new ramp with access to the trail is ready. Be careful out there…