The folks who landscape the building in which the Editor does his day job thing planted some nice flowers just outside. Anybody out there who knows what they are? #brownthumb
In light of our widely-read observations regarding the renaming contest for Austin’s Robert E. Lee Elementary School here two long 24-hour news cycles ago, we think Fox News should tip its hat our way for this story. C’mon Fox News, show some love!
That is all.
If there is a “top 10” internet list that exemplifies Austin exceptionalism, at least within Texas, it might be this. Yes, this brisket-loving city is, according to the self-hating humans at PETA, one of the “top ten Vegan-friendly cities” of 2016.
We are not, it should be said, sympathetic to PETA in this respect. Sure, we rescue baby opossums and schlep them to the wildlife rescue folks, and give money to Austin Pets Alive! and so forth, but virtue-signalling stops where millions of years of primate evolution begins. Or, as the Editor’s brother has pointed out, if God didn’t want us to eat animals, He wouldn’t have made them out of meat.
Regardless, we note that PETA’s list, which ranks the supposedly vegan meccas of Detroit and Nashville ahead of Austin, includes no other Texan city. We warm our hands over small fires.
If you are a customer of Uber or Lyft, or work for Uber or Lyft, and want to keep doing either or both, consider voting for Proposition 1 (a complete argument will be forthcoming). This helpful map can tell you the times and places for early voting, which starts tomorrow morning, April 25.
It being a glorious day in Austin — a top ten day for the year almost certainly — I road my mountain bike west out of Clarksville to the trail along Mopac south of Enfield, and then across the pedestrian bridge and along the south side of the lake all the way to the bridge over the Longhorn Dam at Pleasant Valley Road. At which point I had earned a powerful thirst that mere water could not slake.
A year or so ago I had attended a corporate micro-doggle at the just-opened Zilker Brewing Company on east 6th, and had enjoyed a nice IPA. This I remembered as I walked my bike along the narrow path above the dam, so I rolled west on Holly and north on Chicon to 1701 E 6th. There I found the tap room of Zilker Brewing, which is, according to “Forrest,” one of the owners, thriving. That is good, because Zilker Brewing’s product is excellent. If you are in the area and are, as I am, a hop head, check out the special anniversary India Pale Ale, “Onezie IPA.” It is delicious, even if not as flamboyant as the bar tender.
One would have thought that our city fathers might have learned something from the Boaty McBoatface calamity, which has been a slow-motion beclowning of “democracy” unfolding on social media all spring. (If by some chance you missed it, the British government asked the public to “vote” online to pick the name of a new super cool government research vessel. The descendants of the world’s most consequential empire chose “Boaty McBoatface,” and now the few remaining dignified people in London are trying to figure out how to disrespect democracy in some politically correct way.)
Apparently not. In Austin, a similarly ill-advised invitation to rename Robert E. Lee Elementary School (because Confederacy) came up with, er, Robert E. Lee in second place, behind only — drumroll, please — Donald J. Trump.
Who no doubt finished first because the opposition to him was divided among so many alternatives.
Nobody ever said democracy was pretty, folks.
Addendum: Look here for the full list of nominees, including the demographic characteristics of each — Adolph Hitler is “German/White” according to the official compilation, to which I suppose Austrians might object, or not.
Seen from one of the little bridges at the lower end of the Johnson Creek Trail, under the various flyovers that tie together 6th Street and Mopac…
Dang, those social conservatives are everywhere. But you have to admire the professionalism in the large-scale lettering — that sucker is maybe 12 feet long.
I admit, I had no idea that the problem of sex under Mopac had reached the point of offending the spray paint dudes. I’m sure that the neighbors of the Hope Gallery on Baylor, who have seen a massive increase in vandalism, public urination, drugs, and crime in their neighborhood, would be delighted if spray painters in general were nearly so delicate.
…according to the Statesman. Actually, a pretty balanced, nay we say fair and balanced, explanatory video at the link, in case you were wondering what the “ridesharing” plebiscite on May 7 is all about.
We are staunchly voting “yes” for any number of reasons to be served up with great persuasive power in a subsequent post, not least among them the strong feelings of Hubbell, who signaled his support for the customers of Uber and Lyft on his walk earlier this morning:
Note well the opportunity for early voting, of which the Editor will avail himself in the first half of the new week.
The doggies took the Editor for a three-bag walk this morning, past some wonderful spring flowers. When we weren’t unfurling, gloving, knotting, or tossing poop sacks, we took in the glorious Clarksville flora. This house on Blanco has long been a favorite, and this morning it seemed to have reached its springtime apotheosis, a reminder that a rainy spring has its rewards.
Spotted this afternoon on the greenbelt trail around the Via Fortuna complex. Say no more.
