Impolite Company

Thai Cooking Class

Austin's Thai Fresh is offering a cooking class this Thursday night at 6:30.  I have other commitments that will not suffer being snubbed but I thought I'd pass the word, Learn About Thai Cooking and Tipsy Cocktails:

Jam Sanitchat, owner of Thai Fresh on West Mary and blogger behind Thai Cooking with Jam, has teamed up with David Alan and Joe Eifler, aka The Tipsy Texans, for a Thai food and cocktail class at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.

Brewster McCracken Bows Out

Good for Brewster--by dropping out of the runoff (he was 20-points behind in the general election), McCracken has saved the city a bunch of money and allowed us to get ready to move on into the new administration sooner rather than dragging things out (Here that, Norm Coleman???).  Lee Leffingwell will be the new mayor of Austin and will be sworn in on June 22nd.

Sunshine Community Gardens MiniDoc

KLRU's Docubloggesr show has apparently been canceled but there are still some little documentaries in the pipeline that look like they'll be coming out.  I caught one this morning about Sunshine Community Gardens, a community garden up in north central Austin on property owned by the School for the Blind.  I remember when I first moved here we drove past the gardens and I thought it was a cool idea to have community gardens but didn't totally get it at the time.  Now I know people who have plots there and I think it's one of those great Austin institutions--it's been around for 30 years and has around 150 garden plots.

This doc is mostly about some of the people who garden there and I think it's pretty interesting, though maybe not great film-making (nearly nine minutes):

An Overwhelming Sense of Deja Vu

Thursday night dominoes featured a little more 5-0 excitement last week (Speaking of Dominoes--5-0, 5-0!).  I'm not sure how well I've described the venue in the past, but we play in the back office room of a small warehouse in South Austin--the warehouse is long and pretty narrow with a small office and bathroom at the back of the space.  When we're lucky, we have a couple of tables of play going (on unlucky nights we're reduced to one table of 42 and one of Moon or cribbage or just sitting and watching the other game)--Thursday night was a Moon night.  The way we were seated, I was the only one who had a good view of the covered up and dusty window that gives a shadowy view of the warehouse and so I was the one who noticed the play of flashlights on the window. 

Flashlights...

Flashlights?

"I think the cops might be here again," I said.

And it was true.  Apparently, new police chief Acevedo is keeping a pretty close eye on domino players this year, though fortunately this time around they didn't have their guns drawn when they came in and we didn't all have to trudge out there and blink at them--they readily accepted that the warehouse wasn't being robbed.  But twice in three months is a bit much, chief.  We're hatching conspiracy theories to cover the scenario as quickly as possible.

Austin City Elections

The mayoral race is headed for a run-off between Lee Leffingwell and Brewster McCracken--Leffingwell smoked everyone else with 47% of the vote (McBrewster polled 27%) but because of the crowded field wasn't able to win outright.  As to the other races, there weren't really any surprises, unless maybe the size of Riley's victory over Cavazos (66-34%)--I wound up voting for Perla but I'm not really disappointed that Riley won--like I said before, they're both good candidates and I'm sure that Austin will benefit from Riley's perspective on the council.

Pea Gravel Results

I figure since I've been using the front yard projects as an excuse for not posting more regularly you deserve a peak at the results (so far--I have a feeling I'll never truly be finished).  I took some pictures earlier so I could update the 'rents as to my goings on in the world of gardening so I'll just use some of those shots:

If you look over in front of the garage you can see what I mean--there is more work to be done!  I'm putting in one more bed roughly in front of the main window there behind the bed on the left.

By the end of the summer, these sunflowers will hopefully be around 8-10 feet tall.  And in case your curious, the toilet paper rolls at the bottom of a couple of the plants were used to support the plants early on, when they were terribly wiggly and the stalks were very crooked.  It didn't look like they'd be able to support their own weight without a little bit of help and direction and the rolls were the perfect size.

Place 1: Cavazos or Riley?

The Statesman has an article on the City Council Place 1 candidates today, Place 1 Candidates Differ in Focus:

Perla Cavazos wants to make Austin City Hall more attentive to the needs of all residents along the economic spectrum. Chris Riley wants to help Austin evolve from a sprawl-oriented city into a more eco-friendly place with better transit options.

The two are vying for Place 1 on the City Council, the seat occupied by Lee Leffingwell, who's running for mayor. Election day is May 9.

Riley, an attorney, and Cavazos, a public policy analyst, don't differ much policywise. Both say they'll fight for basics, such as good social services and affordable housing. They've split endorsements pretty evenly. And both served on the Planning Commission, a group that helps shape city policy about land use.

But they have different backgrounds and interests.

Burnt Orange Report Endorses Riley:

The values expressed in that statement strongly guide our choice of Chris Riley over Perla Cavazos in this election. Our staff has met with and talked directly with the candidates on multiple occasions. We see how the candidates have reacted to questions in multiple forums. Those interactions and experiences lead us to the following conclusions.

Chris Riley wants, needs, and deserves to be on the city council. His passion for good city government is obvious. His vision for a model next-generation city that respects our environment is clear. His values are rooted in the Austin of old, the one he was born in raised in, while his education and lengthy public service give him the credibility to plan for the Austin of tomorrow. Chris Riley brings more than a new vote to the council, he brings a new perspective. He lives what he advocates.

The Chronicle also endorses Riley, Chronicle Endorsements:  May 9 Municipal Election:

Perla Cavazos has also been a breath of fresh air on the campaign trail, and she has legislative experience as well as serving a term on the city Planning Commission. Her personal background enables her to see city life from a perspective uncommon on the dais. When she discusses mass transit and "affordable housing," Cavazos speaks for families who measure transportation and housing affordability from paycheck to paycheck, not in the euphemistic terms of "median family income." Moreover, as a Hispanic woman, she ably represents a demographic segment of the city finally coming into its own for leadership and power. All this acknowledged, we believe her experience does not yet match in breadth or depth that of her opponent. We expect she will continue contributing to the city and broadening her experience, and we encourage her to return to the council contests before too long.

So does the Statesman in their endorsement article:

While little separates Cavazos and Riley in their campaigns, Riley has more experience and we believe is ready for the City Council. Cavazos has a good career ahead of her and with a bit more seasoning will be an even better candidate.

I don't see anything in any of these endorsements that would dissuade me from voting for Cavazos because it truly sounds like a situation where we have to choose between two good candidates.  And that's a nice problem to have.

Austin Parks & Rec Should Support Community Gardens!

I just got an email from the Sustainable Food Center requesting our support in letting the Austin Parks and Recreation Department know that we support community gardens and we think they should continue their efforts to encourage more of them in Austin.  As it's in the form of a press release, I'm just going to copy it into the blog, including the links to the city and let you have at it:

Community gardens are an essential part of a vibrant, livable, and sustainable city. They offer space for residents who live in apartments or have a shady yard to grow fresh, healthy food.  Community gardens help unite neighborhoods, contribute to neighborhood beautification, and connect urban dwellers with nature. They facilitate communication, foster intergenerational and cross-cultural connections, encourage physical activity and provide therapeutic benefits. The impact of these spaces is immeasurable and invaluable.   The number of community gardens in Austin is small compared to other cities of similar size and development pressures are putting community gardens in Austin in jeopardy.  An opportunity though to promote community gardens in Austin is here.  The Austin Parks and Recreation Department is seeking input about its Long Range Plan for Land, Facilities and Programs, 2010-2015.  Let Austin PARD know that you want it to support community gardens by sending your comments to [email protected].  Use the sample message below or write your own.  Be sure to submit your comments by April 30, 2009.   I would like to commend the Austin Parks and Recreation Department on its recognition of community gardens as a growing trend in Austin (PARD Long Range Plan, p. 176).  PARD has shown great initiative in devising guidelines for community gardens in parks.  I urge the PARD to continue this momentum by keeping the recommendation to provide additional land for community gardens and farmers' markets (Ch. 10) and by including a recommendation to adopt the draft Austin Parks and Recreation Community Garden Information Packet (Appendix Ch. 6 Supporting Documents Public Meetings) in the Long Range Plan for Land, Facilities and Programs, 2010-2015.  I also request that PARD incorporate community gardens as an activity or special use in Ch. 2 PARD Definitions and Standards; include Deep Eddy Community Garden when discussing existing facilities in Planning Area 2 in Ch. 3 Existing Facilities; continue to consider community gardens in planning for park and trail development; and work with other city departments to increase their support of community gardens as well.   Thank you for your support of community gardens in Austin!         Sincerely,   To read the Austin Parks and Recreation Department Long Range Plan for Land, Facilities, and Programs, visit: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/longrangeplan.htm.  To comment, send an email to [email protected] before April 30, 2009.

About Sustainable Food Center With roots dating back more than 30 years, SFC is involved in every step of the local food system from seed to table.  Our mission is to cultivate a healthy community by strengthening the local food system and improving access to nutritious, affordable food.

Austin Early Voting Locations

All of the Austin early voting locations are listed on the other side of the fold, complements of the Travis County Elections Division.  Early voting will be open until Tuesday, May 5 and the general election is on Saturday, May 9th.

New Healthcare Clinic in Austin

Just a quickie:  a new clinic is opening at 1221 W. Ben White Boulevard that will be focused on providing care to those who might not otherwise be able to afford it, as well as providing care for walk-ins.  According to their mission statement, Lone Star Circle of Care Clinics:

“...is committed to the energetic and steadfast pursuit of quality, accessible and sustainable primary healthcare for Central Texas residents, focusing on the uninsured and underserved.”

Simply Austin had this to say in a blog post on the opening:

Lone Star patients are charged on a sliding fee scale based on income, but “we don’t deny care to anyone based on the ability to pay,” Pope said. The clinic, which opened April 7 and has two family practice doctors and two nurse practitioners, also takes patients on Travis County’s Medical Assistance Program, Pope said.

Docubloggers: The Gay

(Editorial Note:  Yes, I tried, I really tried to type out "teh gay" in the headline but couldn't do it.  Somehow, I can do it mockingly in everyday emails and what-not but when I tried to do it in a HEADLINE, it proved impossible.)

Two videos from the good folks at Docubloggers today, once exploring the opinions of Texans on the subject of same-sex marriages (including Ron Paul) and the other is a discussion with Rep. Elliott Naishtat about  a bill before the house that would allow partner benefits for same-sex partners from the UT and A&M systems. 

The legislation is HB 861, a very simple bill that would authorize the university systems to define who can be the beneficiary of benefits earned by system employees and gives them the power to allow such benefits to go to same-sex partners.  This is both a moral issue, as currently we have a system that discriminates against gays and lesbians in the distribution of benefits and it's also a practical issue, as it makes the university systems less competitive in recruiting faculty.  The best universities in the nation offer such benefits and if the Texas systems wants to compete with them for the best professors and staff, they need to offer these benefits.  Sadly, this bill appears to be stuck in committee--it deserves a vote (give your reps a call!):

The opinions of Texans on gay-marriage video isn't that surprising, with most folks saying it should be a state issue or that same-sex marriage shouldn't be allowed.  It's on the flip side, if anyone's interested.

Chronicle Endorsements

Ever since I moved to Austin back in 2000, I've relied on the Austin Chronicle's endorsements of candidates as a very good starting place for looking at the line-up.  Their recommendations are out for the May 9th elections, so I guess that means it's almost time to start thinking about who to vote for.  My biggest question mark is in the Riley v. Cavazos battle for Place 1.  I like Riley's history on the environment and his support for more high density urban planning but I think that I may go for Cavazos and her attention to neighborhoods and East Austin.  I'm sure I'll write more on this in the near future but don't forget, Early Voting starts April 27th--click here to get to the Chronicle's endorsements!

Strange Idea

You can get someone to come to your house, install a raised bed, fill it with organic soil and vegetables and then, if you're really lame, you can pay them to service the thing for you--Resolution Gardens.  Admittedly, their sturdy little beds look a lot neater than my clunky cinder block constructions (term used lightly) but it all just seems so wrong.  I've been having a blast doing the gardening and the leg work myself over the past couple of months and have the next level of scheming set in my head once I procure 3/4 yard of pea gravel that a friend has promised--scored a truck last night to get the pile from point A to B.  But I guess if you don't have the time to do it yourself and you really want fresh veggies growing in your yard, this is better than paying someone to mow your yard once a week or whatever. 

I say all this now but maybe, in a month or two, when my tomatoes start dying off without having produced a single little fruit like last year, I may be giving the Resolution folks a call.

SafePlace Field Day and Festival

SafePlace, a pretty remarkable organization that provides a broad array of services for women caught in domestic violence.  As they put it, SafePlace exists to end sexual and domestic violence through safety, healing, prevention and social change.     They're good people.  And they're doing up a big festival, field day and fundraising event tomorrow down at Fiesta Gardens, Field Day 2009.  I'll most likely be there at the Sun Dragon table for the last hour or two, so check it out.:

Families, friends and co-workers will gather to participate in an afternoon of Team Competitions, Ridiculous Relays, Entertainment, Fabulous Food, Games, Activities for All, Bark’n Play, and Family Fun benefiting SafePlace in an enjoyable Festival atmosphere!

The SafePlace Field Day & Festival is an invitation to all to join us in working to end sexual and domestic violence. At SafePlace, we work toward this goal with programs that address safety, healing, prevention, and social change.

It takes a community to spread the word and stop the violence against women, children and men. By joining us to raise funds and spread the word through the SafePlace Field Day & Festival, you join us in moving toward promoting change around the issues of rape, sexual assault and domestic violence.

Ending sexual and domestic violence—it’s not a walk in the park.

Learn more about SafePlace and our mission here.

Teabaggery

The first two minutes of this report is laden with more innuendo you can shake a stick at--very funny stuff but with some good reportage mixed in.  I've got the full segment up as I think it goes from a very funny intro into a very serious look at the roots of this "movement".  He points out the irony that the original Boston Tea Party was a protest against taxation without representation and in our current fiscal situation we are fully represented*:

It should also be noted that HUNDREDS of Austinites are OUTRAGED and will be protesting at the state capitol and there will also be a couple of other tax day protests, Austinites Plan "Tea Parties" as Part of Nationwide Protests:

Americans for Prosperity's Texas branch has planned its own Austin tea party today at Austin City Hall, titled "Don't Mess with Texas," said Cindy Mallette, a local group director. Gov. Rick Perry will speak at the event, as will other local Republicans and Libertarians.

But in the days leading up to the rallies, some have begun to question the motives and timing of those involved.

Libertarians hold their own tax day protests outside Austin's downtown post office, said Wes Benedict, former executive director of the Libertarian Party of Texas. About 25 to 30 people usually attend, he said.

"I'm glad to see citizens show they're fed up with the high taxes, but I think a lot of these Republicans showing up are just hypocrites," he said. "The Republican machine is trying to get in front of a parade. They probably feel like they have to."

*Full representation does not apply for citizens of the District of Columbia.

Sun Dragon at Austinist!

Spike Gillespie has written a very nice article about Sun Dragon Martial Arts and Self Defense that she just posted today at Austinist.  She writes about her own experiences growing up and feeling awkward, the role that martial arts training played for her later in life and then describes Sun Dragon and its mission by comparing Senpai Leila's performance in last week's black belt test with where she was when she was fourteen years old.  It's always difficult to imagine the what-ifs in life--what if I didn't make that decision that brought me to Austin nine years ago and that type of thing.  Spike does a good job of asking what-ifs about her own life and the big one is what if she would have had the sort of martial arts experience as a young girl that Senpai Leila has had and what a huge difference that might have made in her life, Fight Like a Girl!

I wish you all could have been there with me, watching Leila. Long ago I wrote an essay, I think it was called something like Notes to My Thirteen Year Old Self. And in it, I wished I could go back and take the young me, whom thought I was so clumsy and stupid, and just reassure myself. I wish I could’ve circumvented at least some of the crushes and found some wormhole that would’ve taken me faster to a place of a bit more knowledge, self-confidence and enlightenment.

If you're ever looking for a truly worthy cause to donate some money to, please keep Sun Dragon in mind.  The money keeps the dojo going by subsidizing scholarships for folks who otherwise wouldn't be able to train and helps us reach out into the community with affordable self defense programs.  If you get the hankering you can donate via our website by clicking the "Donate" button underneath the navigation menu.

Austin's Comprehensive Planning Process

The Austin Chronicle had a good heads-up today on information available about the three consultants being considered for the position of consultant to the City of Austin on the Comprehensive Plan, Comprehensive Planners:  Secrets Revealed: 

In response to citizen requests, city council sent questions submitted by the community to the three finalists teams vying for the job of creating Austin’s new comprehensive plan.

If you're really into the nuts and bolts of city planning and what sort of direction Austin is heading in, check out all the information including questions from the public to the three candidates at City of Austin Comprehensive Plan.

Hamilton Pool Cleanup

Hamilton Pool
Originally uploaded by azurechaos

Hamilton Pool is one of those uniquely Austin places that everyone should see at least once. Which is exactly the number of times I've been out there and it was a lovely experience. The pool, as you can see from the picture, is a naturally formed swimming hole surrounded by limestone cliffs.  It's far enough out of town to make it a bit of an effort to get out there and they regulate the traffic, limiting parking on sight and carefully regulating when you can swim due to high bacteria counts.  But it's definitely worth it once you get out there and make the short hike from the parking area. 

Here's how the Hamilton Pool Natural Preserve website brief describes the situation:

Hamilton Pool Preserve is a historic swimming hole which was designated a preserve by the Travis County Commissioner's Court in 1990. Located 3/4 mile upstream from its confluence with the Pedernales River, Hamilton Creek spills out over limestone outcroppings to create a 50 foot waterfall as it plunges into the head of a steep box canyon. The waterfall never completely dries up, but in dry times it does slow to a trickle. However, the pool's water level stays pretty constant, even during periods of drought.

Now the bad news.  Back in 2007, sediment from an improperly mediated construction site mucked up the works and damaged the pool.  Travis County has just signed off on a $2.1 million settlement with the company to pay for clean-up of the pool and Hamilton Creek, so hopefully they'll be able to get things back to normal soon, Travis OK's Hamilton Pool Settlement:

In May 2007, officials noticed that a large amount of sediment had washed into the creek shortly after heavy rains that caused flooding through the Hill Country. Travis County officials blamed the Ranches at Hamilton Pool, a housing development along the Hays-Travis county line that included 29 homes on about 1,221 acres.

On Oct. 30, 2007, a lawsuit was filed in 98th District Court claiming that construction of the development "disturbed the land without effective pollution control measures" and caused the pollution of Hamilton Creek and damaged Hamilton Pool. The lawsuit alleged that the developers did not fix the problems and violated the Texas Water Code. The builders agreed in November 2007 to halt construction during the lawsuit.

Senator Kirk Watson's Speech Against Voter ID Law

Sadly, the last time I wrote about Sen. Kirk Watson it was in response to his abysmal performance on MSNBC back during the Obama v. Clinton portion of the election--he's a good man, a good legislator whom I've never thought of as being over-the-top political.  Chronic:  Habitually Updated Buzz has posted the full text of Watson's speech before the Texas Senate on the Voter ID Law that was about to be passed by the Senate.  It gets to the crux of the matter better than anything else I've seen so I'll reproduce some of it here and encourage you to go read it in its entirety if you want to know what our Senate hath wrought, Watson's 3/17 Speech Against Voter ID:

There remains only the flimsiest evidence that voter impersonation – the only type of fraud addressed by this bill – even exists. Not counting 60-year-old history and the unverified testimony of a controversial witness for a partisan elections administrator, nothing at all we’ve heard demonstrates that this is actually occurring any more than anecdotally in Texas.

And let’s be honest – if someone had the goods on a case that was going to settle this fight once and for all, they probably would have been testifying at some time other than 4 in the morning.

It’s also far from clear that Senate Bill 362 will stop whatever irregularities might conceivably be out there. We’ve heard of concerns about absentee ballots – this bill does nothing about them. We’ve heard about suspicious voter registrations – this bill leaves registration procedures entirely in place. We’ve been showered with hypotheticals about how much could possibly go wrong if some shadowy figure decided they’d rather steal a voter registration card than an election.

Yet we’ve heard of no instances in memory where our elections failed our democracy because people impersonated voters.

A Taste of SX

(I'm not sure if the title is an acceptable contraction or not.  In spoken terms, we refer to South by Southwest as "south by" and so it makes perfect sense to me to shorten it to SX.  Plus, it has the titillating advantage of being so visually close to "a taste of sex"!)

As noted previously in these parts, I don't really do SXSW.  I've gone to five or six film events but I can't remember any music events that I've gone to.  I don't say this as a point of pride, more of an explanation why the blog hasn't turned wall to wall music and film.  I don't really care for crowds, in fact I actively dislike them and so slogging from one crowd to another would be one version of my own personal hell.  Which is a shame, really, because some cool acts come through town and SX really does have a lot to offer on both the film and music side.

I just read a post by Spike Gillespie over on Austinist that really captures the why I stay away and the what I'm missing out on, I Am So Popular:  I Am A Strong Black Woman:

So Day One of SXSW was, for me, more shitty than not. I ventured out to catch some daytime music. There were a couple of bright spots, like watching my kid play on a big stage. But, as I detailed over at my blog, this being a town of minus six degrees of separation on a regular day, SXSW unfortunately boosts the typical glut of negative opportunities to run into known assholes better avoided.