End of Silence

Ok, so I’m a little late on this one. I spent most of the day yesterday dealing with a birthday party outing for 5-7 year-olds, something that takes a lot of time and energy.

The blogosphere has been having a field day with this story, of course. There’s just so many angles. There’s the Quayle-Bush-Cheney angle, which I settled on for my title. Making a joke that maybe he’s practicing for the next time he sees “Scooter” Libby. I like that one. Austinist went for the Clinton/Lewinsky face shot angle. Scoop Jackson points out that Cheney has crappy hunting etiquette and refers to some of the history of his victim, Austin lawyer, Harry Whittington.

Whittington’s having a year of ups and downs already. He was shot in the face and neck this weekend. A little over a week ago (February 4th), one of his buildings burned down, destroying the club in his building, which, honestly, has housed crappy dance clubs for as long as I can remember, and spreading to the building that housed KOOP radio, Sweatbox Studios, a legendary local punk/garage rock recording studio, and rehearsal/studio space for several Austin artists. That’s the second fire on that block in less than two months.

Last month, Whittington got a favorable decision in his many year long battle with the city over eminent domain and a property that he owned downtown. Here’s a copy of the Third Court of Appeals ruling in his favor from last summer. The Statesman details more of Whittington’s history in the GOP and Texas politics. A quick check of the appraisal roll shows that Whittington owns a couple of places next to Mount Bonnell, a favorite tourist destination with an amazing view of the lake and hills west of Austin, and two to three properties other than the one destoyed by fire downtown.

Eminent domain took center stage last summer because of a Supreme Court ruling; the most amusing result of which is an attempt to have a property owned by Justice Souter seized and turned into a hotel.

Update: These are damn funny.

I just got back from lunch with some co-workers at Star of India on Anderson Lane. The only truly independent candidate for governor, Kinky Friedman, was there with a friend enjoying the lunch buffet. Mmmm..samosas.

We finished before he did or I would’ve had him pose for a camphone picture. I didn’t want to hassle him during lunch, so your loss.

Page 66 of this week’s Chronicle has wristband information. Apparently, the February 24th issue, which we all know is available on the 23rd, will announce the dates that wristbands will be available at Waterloo. There’s also an option to receive text message updates to your phone. I sent a message (sx add) to 56658 this morning and got a response notifying me that I’d been subscribed.

The band list is pretty much final at this point. Angry Robot has it parsed into more easily readable formats than the one on the SXSW site.

SXSWBaby and DoneWaiting are increasing their posting frequency as the festival draws closer. I’d start checking them regularly if I were you.

Rob Fergus aka Birdmeister has a few posts today about local bird life, focusing on owls, Monk Parakeets, and Hornsby Bend. He’s also got updates on the search for the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, a bird thought to be extinct (more here). He’s apparently returning next month for a workshop on Purple Martins.

I haven’t ever noticed the Monk Parakeets myself. I’ll be on the lookout for them from now on. It’s an interesting story. I’m always fascinated by transplanted species stories. It seems like you only ever hear about the ones that are causing trouble.
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