Ok all you KUT listeners, am I the only one who can’t stand the Capra & Cavelli ads with those ridiculously pretentious taglines? Who the hell comes up with those anyway?
Aug 312005
Aug 312005
After work yesterday, the lads and I popped over to the relatively new Billy’s On Burnet for a couple of beers and a burger or two. The Chronicle reviewed the place about a month ago and was more or less on target. The one thing they didn’t mention was the lack of parking. Billy’s is located on the southwest corner of Burnet and Hancock and their parking lot can only accommodate roughly 10 cars. After that, you’re going to have to go hunting because the lots of other businesses around the restaurant apparently tow at all hours. I ended up on a residential street across Burnet and a little bit north of Hancock.
There’s a fair-sized deck with picnic tables on the east side of the buliding. More than half of the tables were full when I arrived at 6:30pm. The tables inside were also mostly full with families and guys just off work taking advantage of the $1.50 Lone Star pints, a Tuesday special. Domestic pints are $1.50 on Mondays and happy hour lasts from 2-7pm. Billy’s is smoke free and encourages a family atmosphere. I got the feeling that at least some of the patrons were from the surrounding neighborhood. There’s no shortage of televisions at Billy’s. One widescreen flat-panel dominates the main room and there were at least three other sets scattered throughout the rest of the bar.
The food was decent. I opted for the Shults burger, which features bacon and jack cheese. I’d place it somewhere in the middle of the burgers that I’ve had around Austin. One of my compatriots ordered the Frito Pie and seemed satisfied with his decision. The beer selection is moderate. In contrast with the Draught House which is roughly ten blocks away, Billy’s has a smaller selection of beer, but better food. The staff was friendly and the food was served in a reasonable amount of time. It wasn’t out immediately, but you won’t wait as long as you would at Casino El Camino. All in all, a welcome addition to the relatively barren reaches of north central Austin when it comes to finding a place to grab a beer and something to eat after work.
Aug 292005
I don’t know how to explain it. I’m generally on the somewhat leading/bleeding edge with technology. However, sometimes I’m really a luddite. I didn’t really go full-blown tech geek until 1996 or 1997, which means that I think I was a little old for the arrival of mp3s. I confess that there’s just something about holding a solid object when buying music that appeals to me. I own that disc. If it gets fucked up, it’s my fault, but I can predict the things that might fuck it up. Buying mp3s, on the other hand, is a little too ephemeral for me. So, yeah, I bought it, but what if my hard drive crashes? It’s gone, right? I can’t handle that.
That being said, I bought a Nomad Jukebox in 2001 in lieu of a band or a DJ for our wedding. My rationale was that I could program exactly what would be played and when and I’d have something to show for it after I shelled out the money for the player. If I shelled out money for a DJ or a band, they might suck or play crap I didn’t like and once I paid them, that money would be gone. It went pretty well actually. I had to pay a little more attention to what was happening at the wedding, but I think it worked. Those who attended can comment otherwise.
Anyway, I digress. I bought an iPod Shuffle at the beginning of the year ostensibly to use during workouts. That didn’t really happen. However, it did get me to finally open an iTunes account. I’d browsed once or twice, but never bought, mainly because of the reason I mentioned earlier. Well, today I needed a copy of the Dictators’ “Faster And Louder”, quick. My band has been wanting to cover it for a while and it was decided to work on it tonight. I’m not familiar with the song, so I needed to get a copy fast. Turns out iTunes had it, so I bought the sucker. Just like that, I popped my iTunes cherry. (Does that sound as vulgar as it does when I wrote it?)
It was too easy. It’s all downhill from here. Hide my credit cards.
Aug 262005
This article nails everything that is right and wrong with my summer TV guilty pleasure. I don’t know if Mr. Anderson is a parent, but the other reason for watching the show was to see the incredible incompetency of most of the parents. I’m always amazed that the parents in Brat Camp, Nanny 911 and that other nanny show that was just like Nanny 911 but on a different channel (I think) were actually willing to display what colossal parenting fuck-ups they were to the entire country in primetime television.
Aug 252005
This just in. People aren’t going to see movies in the theater because the majority of the movies that are being released suck ass.
Next up: Spending $1 trillion “to oust a contained, powerless, impotent two-bit dictator and help the remnants establish a pro-Iran Islamic Republic” (from dKos) may not have been such a good idea.
B-Side Open for Business: Help out Bitter End Staff
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Aug 252005
Charlie blogged last week about the Bitter End fire. My son goes to school with a child of one of the waitstaff there and he just posted this to our school message board:
I wait tables at the Bitter End, and I know some of you must have heard that the Bitter End was struck by fire last Sunday afternoon. No one was hurt, but the 3 alarm blaze destroyed the kitchen and shut down the brewery. The kitchen will be rebuilt from scratch, but that will take two months.
HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP: The B-Side lounge & taproom at the Bitter End is now open for business and what our employees (including myself) need is for everyone to come by and spend some money, drink some local beer, and help fill the tip jars. We will also have an “Employee Fire Relief Fund Jar” to fill that will be split amongst the staff that are not working that shift. Tell everyone you know that we are open and need their business!!!
Our management staff is shuffling schedules to give everyone a chance to make some money and get some financial relief. Benefits are around the corner and more info will be forthcoming. Our friends at Live Oak and other local breweries are supplementing our Bitter End beer supply (we saved about 75 kegs of BE beer).
I myself thought the whole place as shutdown because of the fire, but that’s apparently not the case. So, if you’re looking for a place for a few happy hour drinks this week, head to B-Side and help out the staff there as they try to get through the next couple of months. I’m always up for drinking for a good cause, especially when it involves Austin Pale Ale!
Biscuit update
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Aug 232005
I wrote last week about the passing of Randy “Biscuit” Turner. The Statesman had a follow-up article on Sunday. (Beware to anyone reading this more than a week after the article was published as the Statesman has the dumbass policy of only allowing free access to the past week’s articles. However, if you’re an Austin resident and have a library card, you can get access to much older stuff from the library site. If anyone wants more details, leave a comment and I’ll tell you how to get to the archives.)
I attended the impromptu wake at Pedazo Chunk Friday night. I’ve got a few photos that I still need post. I’ll link them tonight. I got there about an hour and a half after it started and didn’t stay long because my son got antsy. A lot of the details can be gotten from the Statesman article, but from what I could see, Chris Gates was the only Big Boys member in attendance.
The official memorial service for Biscuit will be held in his hometown of Gladewater, TX. this Saturday. The word is that an Austin celebration of Randy’s life is being organized for sometime in September. Stay tuned to the Chronicle website for more information as it becomes available.
Update: Jon links another Biscuit remembrance from Ed Ward.
Update 2: Outgoing Austin metblogger Wixlet remembers Biscuit as well.
Aug 192005
Wow. I’m in shock.
I was just reading Jon’s blog and saw the report that Randy “Biscuit” Turner, member of the legendary Big Boys and an Austin punk rock/art icon, was found dead yesterday in his home. Even more bizarre, there’s a cover story on him in this week’s Austin Chronicle which was released yesterday, apparently the day he died. The details are sketchy so far. He was in his late 40’s/early 50’s, which is pretty young to suddenly pass away.
I don’t know what else to say.
Update: Ray says that there’s supposedly a memorial planned for tonight at 8pm at Pedazo Chunk (S. 1st and Johanna).
New Austin Metblogger
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Aug 182005
It’s already pretty obvious, but I’d like to announce a new addition to the Austin Metblog family. Charlie just added his inaugural post.
I’m glad he’s here and you will be too.
Aug 182005
I ran across this yesterday on dKos and decided it needed replicating here. What follows are quotes from the time when Clinton committed troops to Bosnia.
“You can support the troops but not the president.”
–Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)“Well, I just think it’s a bad idea. What’s going to happen is they’re going to be over there for 10, 15, maybe 20 years.”
–Joe Scarborough (R-FL)“Explain to the mothers and fathers of American servicemen that may come home in body bags why their son or daughter have to give up their life?”
–Sean Hannity, Fox News, 4/6/99“[The] President . . . is once again releasing American military might on a foreign country with an ill-defined objective and no exit strategy. He has yet to tell the Congress how much this operation will cost. And he has not informed our nation’s armed forces about how long they will be away from home. These strikes do not make for a sound foreign policy.”
–Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA)“American foreign policy is now one huge big mystery. Simply put, the administration is trying to lead the world with a feel-good foreign policy.”
–Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)
“If we are going to commit American troops, we must be certain they have a clear mission, an achievable goal and an exit strategy.”
–Karen Hughes, speaking on behalf of George W Bush“I had doubts about the bombing campaign from the beginning . . I didn’t think we had done enough in the diplomatic area.”
–Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)“I cannot support a failed foreign policy. History teaches us that it is often easier to make war than peace. This administration is just learning that lesson right now. The President began this mission with very vague objectives and lots of unanswered questions. A month later, these questions are still unanswered. There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our over-extended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today”
–Rep Tom Delay (R-TX)“Victory means exit strategy, and it’s important for the President to explain to us what the exit strategy is.”
–Governor George W. Bush (R-TX)