End of Silence

ACL Okkervil River Program

The past year for Okkervil River has been full of some pretty big milestones. They released their latest album The Stand Ins only a few weeks before playing the Austin City Limits Festival last September. They played The Late Show with David Letterman this past January and were at both the Coachella and Bonnaroo (where they apparently “killed”) festivals this summer. Their latest achievement is an Austin City Limits taping last night for Season 35 to air later this year.

I’ve heard a lot about the band (pronounced “awk”-ervil not “oak”-ervil as ACL producer Terry Lickona did introducing them last night) over the past few years both in the media and from friends. Their sound is somewhere between folk and pop and they’re often lumped in with bands like The Decemberists and Arcade Fire. It was a decidedly local crowd last night. We ended up sitting next to bassist Patrick Pestorious’s mother and father. Jonathan Meiberg, former Okkervil member who left to focus on his band Shearwater which started out as a side project for both he and Okkervil frontman Will Sheff, was on hand for “Lost Coastlines”, a songn they had to do twice for the taping due to some mistakes in the first attempt. They also added a horn section and a string section to the normal 6 member line-up. Okkervil River have backed Roky Erickson, another local performer and recent Austin City Limits artist, and are slated to go into the studio with him later this year. Continue reading »

Mighty Cone

Originally uploaded by ttrentham

We finally checked out Mighty Cone on Sunday. We were hungry and had to go grocery shopping at HEB Oltorf anyway. I’ve been passing the “food trailer park” that’s sprung up on South Congress for weeks and meaning to get over there. Hey Cupcake! started the invasion and now there’s a Roppolo’s Pizza, a popcorn trailer, a crepe trailer and an Armadillo coffee trailer in addition to Mighty Cone. The church that owns the lot has added electricity and port-a-potties to accommodate all of the businesses. A little bird tells me that the land has been sold and that there’s going to be a hotel on the lot. I’m not sure what this means for the vendors on the lot now or how soon that will take shape. I imagine they could just find another spot and move.

As for Mighty Cone, they’ve got a pretty nice setup. As you can see from the photo, the tables have been built with cone holders in the middle. They had a nicely shaded area with some hanging plants. I opted for the special of the day, The Purple Pig. Swine Flu be damned! I’m having revenge on Porky with their pulled pork and purple cabbage cone. It was good. The Wife went for the ACL tradition of the Chicken and Avocado cone. If you’re familiar with their ACL offerings, you can find them all here including Death By Chocolate. They’ve added shrimp to the choices along with a kid option which is served with plain chicken (no sauce or slaw) and french fries.

All in all, a pleasant Sunday afternoon lunch watching the people pass by up and down South Congress. I’m not sure how pleasant it’ll be in August, but it’s nice to have so many more local fast food options in that area.

Since we haven’t done one in a while and I hear that there’s some sort of festival thing going on this week, please come join us for a meetup of Metrobloggers both current and former from around the country (world?) this coming Monday, March 16th at 6:30pm at Jo’s Coffee on Second Street between Colorado and Lavaca (map).

I’ve posted about both of these in the past, but they’re worth mentioning again.

Tomorrow morning is the Cowboy Breakfast that kicks off Rodeo Austin. Even though I’m not a big fan of rodeos or country music, I’m a pretty big fan of free: free coffee, free donuts, free pancakes. I seem to remember some chainsaw wood carving and livestock as well. This annual event at Auditorium Shores is always packed. You can park at the Palmer Events Center garage, but you’ll want to get there early. It starts at 6am. The kids have enjoyed themselves every year.

Explore UT is this Saturday from 11am to 5pm. It’s billed as the “Biggest Open House In Texas”. Many of the departments at the University of Texas hold demonstrations or exhibits. It’s great for school aged kids.