ttrentham

SH 130: First Impressions

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Feb 112008
 

I rarely if ever travel north of Braker Ln, but this past weekend, I had to trek up to 1431 (no, it wasn’t to go to Ikea). I’d heard about the I-35 closing at Hester’s Crossing (which is happening again this coming weekend, btw), so I decided to avoid that and try out SH 130 for the first time.

SH 130 now extends from 71, just east of the airport all the way to Georgetown. I took it from 71 to 79, just north of 45, since the construction also involved detours at 45. There’s still a lot of construction going on at the 130 and 71 intersection. Many of the direct flyovers aren’t complete and, in fact, westbound traffic on 71 was backed up for as far as I could see due to a detour. Luckily, I just had to sit through a short light and a Travis County Sheriff directing traffic. The section between 290 and 71 is new enough that it doesn’t appear on Google Maps.
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 Posted by on February 11, 2008 at 2:44 pm

SXSW Music 2008: Band List Released

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Feb 072008
 

sxsw-music-08.jpgSXSW has released the band list for the music conference this year. It’s in today’s Austin Chronicle and you can also see the list on the SXSW site.

I’ll unabashedly point out that my band has made the list this year. We’re looking for a label for our second CD, so come check us out. I don’t know date, time or venue yet.

Let the countdown to SXSW mayhem begin.

 Posted by on February 7, 2008 at 11:58 am

Super Fat Tuesday

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Feb 052008
 

So, the biggest day for primaries coincides with Mardi Gras. I guess this has happened before, but I just like saying “Super Fat Tuesday”.

I’m obviously for Obama. I think he’ll do well enough to keep in the race today. I posted the letter from GYWO’s David Rees yesterday. I’ve got several video links today, so you don’t even have to do much reading.

The Will.i.am, celebrity-studded, Yes We Can video – this is adapted from Obama’s New Hampshire Primary speech

Lawrence Lessig’s 20 minutes on why he’s for Obama and not Clinton. Lessing is a Stanford law professor and is very tech savvy with an amazing record on copyright. He’s also got a personal story that I’ve always connected with, so I give his opinion a lot of weight. I think the first 3/4 is right on. I do think Lessig overstates the impact of Obama’s election on peace at the end of the video.

Here’s the Lorna Brett Howard video referred to by Lessig’s video on why she switched from Clinton to Obama.

And if you’re not reading Robert Reich’s blog, you should start.

Ok, one more that I forgot, Questlove from The Roots reminds us of some things that we shouldn’t forget.

[tags]obama, clinton, lessig, yeswecan, lornabretthoward, switch, videos, election, primaries, democrats, questlove[/tags]

 Posted by on February 5, 2008 at 10:30 am

Local News Loves Annual AISD Transfer Campout

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Feb 032008
 

fox7news.jpgThe first Saturday in February is typically the first day to submit transfer requests for the following fall in AISD. Local network news stations just love to cover the spectacle of parents camping out in the cold on Friday night at AISD headquarters. Every year, at least one local news station shows shots of tents and parents sitting in folding chairs, bundled up against the February cold.

I showed up at AISD headquarters around 10:30 yesterday morning to submit a priority transfer for my daughter in the fall. Fox7News grabbed me for an interview and added a portion of it to the end of their story on the transfer campout. AISDs transfer policy is pretty flexible and gives priority to transfers in a number of situations: majority to minority, sibling transfer, and tracking transfers. You can get more information on AISD’s transfer info page.

 Posted by on February 3, 2008 at 10:07 am

Weirdest SXSW 2008 News So Far

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Feb 012008
 

1866024059_313a43c93b_m.jpgRachel Ray, the Food Network star that chef and author Anthony Bourdain loves to slam, is apparently hosting a showcase at this year’s SXSW called Feedback – a feast of hot bands and tasty foods .

If that’s not weird enough, she asked Battles and Holy Fuck to play the party because she’s a big fan (here’s the evidence). Battles has declined since they’re not doing SXSW this year.

 Posted by on February 1, 2008 at 12:39 pm

Stop the Spying

 News  1 Response »
Jan 302008
 

Stop the Spying!

Let’s imagine a situation where I get to ask a town hall forum-type question of my two current senators, John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison. Two Republican senators who have pretty much rubber stamped everything their fellow Republican Texan President has done in the White House for the past 7 years. Two senators who are standing with the President on the current FISA bill and against the American people. I’d ask them,

“Senators, I’d just like to ask you if you’re going to treat the next President of the United States in the same way that you’ve treated the current one? Presumably, you’re ok with the next President and the one after asserting ‘unitary executive’, issuing dozens of signing statements in which he or she decides to selectively ignore sections of bills that have been passed by the legislature and signed into law? Presumably, you’re ok with getting rid of a system of checks and balances that has served us well over the past 232 years? You’d prefer to let a President and his administration run the country on their own without any input from the people or their elected representatives? Because that’s what you’ve done for the last 7 years and that’s what you’re doing right now.”

Men's Health Rates Austin 7th Drunkest City

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Jan 302008
 

48858803_5bbcd351f1_m.jpgMen’s Health has ranked Austin as the seventh drunkest city in America.

Seventh? Come on people, we need to drink more.

Here’s how they ranked the cities. We didn’t rank in the top ten on any of the criteria, so it must’ve been a cumulative effect. I suspect that having a large university and being in Texas helps us the most.

At least Texas has 3 cities in the top ten: Austin, San Antonio and Lubbock. San Antonio beat us out of sixth by only one point. Colorado scored two cities in the top three with Denver scoring first and Colorado Springs taking third, another city with a large university.

 Posted by on January 30, 2008 at 10:06 am
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