End of Silence

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.

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.

I had my second trip to the new Tacodeli at Burnet and 183 Mopac this afternoon. It wasn’t too crowded a week or two ago, but it was packed today. I was alone this time, so I shared table space with the IBM’ers, St. Davidites, and Yoga Yoga moms. The new shopping center which houses the second Tacodeli location includes a Mangia, whose pizza for some reason always gives me the shits, Yoga Yoga and a Ben & Jerry’s, the second location for the interloping northern hippies. I’m still mad at them for discountinuing Cool Britannia. Long live Amy’s!

Anyway, I recommend the Blue Plate Special, which gets you rice, beans and two tacos of your choice. I’ve gone for one Al Pastor and one Adobado both times. I’m a sucker for Adobo sauce and they do it well. Their specialty is apparently the Fundido Taco. I’m not a big fan of the poblano, beef, onion, jack cheese combo, but it’s popular. Like any self-respecting taco place, they’ve got a salsa bar. There’s three options, a mild green, a medium red, and a hot green, called Dona. The Dona is just hot enough without being unbearable. Their menu claims there’s a habanero salsa as well, but I didn’t see it on my two visits. I’ll have to ask next time.

I’ve never been to the original location off of Spyglass, but the people who took me to this new location spoke of it in revered tones. It’s a welcome addition to the lunch rotation. Check it out.

So, I thought I’d try out a new game here on the Austin Metblog. It’s already being done on a somewhat regular basis in LA and Houston. The idea is that I post a photo of some location in Austin and you try and guess where it is. The first one to correctly identify the location in the comments wins a prize. I’m not sure what the prize is yet, but I’ll figure something out. I’ll let the contest go until Monday, at which point, hopefully I’ll have found something to give away. If nobody guesses it by Friday, I’ll add a hint. All you other Austin Metbloggers keep quiet. Let’s let our vast readership have a chance first.

Hint 1: It’s downtown (north of 1st, but south of 12th).

As seems to be their custom with major IMAX openings (we missed the one for Bugs!, dammit), the Bob Bullock museum is having an event this evening from 5-6pm for the opening of Pulse: A Stomp Odyssey, inspired by the long-running show of the same name. I remember it moving in to the Orpheum theater around the corner from where I was living in Manhattan in early 1994. I never did make it in to see the show. The touring version has been to the Paramount at least twice since I moved back to Austin.

Here’s the info from the source:

On opening night, from 5-6 pm, kids of all ages can take part in FREE activities, like playing percussion instruments and joining a drum circle led by Sherry Gingras of Drumz. Then stick around for Music under the Star, with a free concert by the Celtic group, Cluan, from 6-9 pm. Drumz returns for brief hands-on workshops during Cluan’s intermissions.