Downtown Austin seemed to experience a little burst of creativity over the recent holidays. This structure of recycled bottles was left at Auditorium Shores after the Austin’s New Year celebration on December 31. I haven’t been over that way during this cold, damp weather, but I suspect the display has been removed by now. Continue reading →

Austin Downtown Diary now has a new home: austindowntowndiary.com. Readers (including blog subscribers and RSS feeds) should now be automatically redirected from the old Blogger url to this new site. Continue reading →

Retiring space shuttle Endeavor flew over downtown Austin this morning. The shuttle spent last night in Houston and passed by Austin on its way to the Los Angeles Airport. Then in October, Endeavor will be transported along Los Angeles city streets to its final home at the California Science Center.

Several hundred gathered at the Texas State Capitol to watch the flyover, which was expected between 7:30 and 8:00 AM. Most of us waited on the south lawn down towards Congress Avenue. I saw some news crews over there and thought they probably knew this would be the best angle for photographs of the shuttle and the capitol dome. 

But it turns out that news crews don’t always know either. At 7:41 AM, we heard an engine roar behind us as Endeavor flew a few blocks south of the capitol grounds, almost above 10th Street. The flyover only last about 5 seconds but I did manage to get turned around and snap a picture. The crowd was impressed. It was pretty cool to see the shuttle flying over downtown.

 Dear USPS: 

I was heartbroken to receive your recent “Dear Postal Customer” letter. 

I had hoped that the rumors were untrue, but it looks like you really are selling the downtown post office. I realize that the postal business is not doing well these days and that this particular location sits on a full city block of prime downtown real estate. I guess charging for evening bar-hopper parking hasn’t helped to make ends meet?

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President Obama was back in Austin today for two fundraisers. Bill and I had experienced a presidential visit once before, when Obama visited Austin in May 2011. Today’s visit was just as exciting and caused just as many traffic jams.

Today’s preparations began bright and early…and I mean early. When we woke up at 6:30 AM, city crews were already busy power-washing the pedestrian walkways along Cesar Chavez. (I added “power wash sidewalks” to my Preparing for Presidential Visits list.)

Throughout the day I watched the preparations from our apartment window, including tent raising, roof searching, security checking, helicopter hovering and bus maneuvering. (I added “movable blockades” to my Uses for University of Texas Campus Buses list.) 

I headed over towards Austin Music Hall about 3:45 PM. Based on last year’s experience, I was pretty sure of the motorcade’s route. So I stood at the end of Second Street and, sure enough, the procession drove right by. Obama even waved to us! But in my excitement, I mis-timed my photo and ended up with a partial view of one of the two presidential limos. (I added “learn about burst mode” to my Photography for Dummies list.)

I walked back to our apartment and watched a live feed of Obama’s speech and viewed my limo photo with dismay. When the speech ended, I went back downstairs and positioned myself along Cesar Chavez to watch the motorcade make the short trip over to the dinner party. Once again I saw Obama in the back seat, but he was not looking out the window. This time I was determined to get a better photo of the presidential limos. (But I am still leaving “learn about burst mode” on my Photography for Dummies list.)

Roller derby is alive and well and flourishing in Austin, Texas.

We have not one but TWO roller derby leagues here. The flat-track league, Texas Rollergirls, has four teams which compete at the Austin Convention Center. The other league, Texas Roller Derby, has five teams playing on a banked-track at the Palmer Events Center. TXRD had their “season of fame” in 2006 when their all-star team, the Lonestar Rollergirls, was featured in the A&E reality TV series, Rollergirls.

Last weekend Bill and I watched a TXRD bout between the Rhinestone Cowgirls and the Cherry Bombs. The announcer explained the basic rules before the match began. Bouts are played in four eight-minute periods. Each team has five players on the track for a jam: four blockers and one jammer. After breaking past the initial pack of blockers, jammers earn points by passing opposing team players. Jams can last up to two minutes, although the lead jammer can end the jam earlier.

Neither of us had seen roller derby since watching it on TV many years ago. The action was less violent than we remembered, but perhaps we were naive back then or maybe the sport is purposely more family-friendly now. We saw pushing and shoving and elbowing of course, but nothing too wild, except for one wrestling match during a penalty and and one pile-up jam where three players were injured. Pushing skaters over the rails is no longer allowed.

Referees were stationed around the track to keep the action under control and assess penalties. When players were cited, the Penalty Mistress spun a wheel to determine the penalty game: Long Jump, Pillow Fight (the aforementioned wrestling match), Arm Wrestling, No Holds Barred, Two Lap Duel, Tug of War, Push Cart, or Relay Race. These games were fun to watch, but Bill noted that this was a big change from the old roller derby rules.

The skaters all have derby names. These two teams had such notables as Dusty Doublewide, Nicki Ticki Timebomb, Loretta Synn, Dawna Destruction and Kategory 5. Most skaters had little fan clubs seated near the track. I found myself rooting for a Cherry Bomb jammer, Rocky Casbah. She was tough, athletic and seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself.

I met a couple who described themselves as the league’s Psychedelic Mascots. The guy called himself Masterblader and I’ve since read that he is a former referee. These two also acted as human zambonis during halftime and swept off the track.

After halftime, we wondered why a bunch of people immediately jumped up onto the track. Well, it was time for the Birthday Spank! I was slightly appalled as the skaters went down the line and spanked everyone who (supposedly) had a July birthday, but you had the option to turn around and get high-fives instead.

With all the distractions, it wasn’t easy to keep track of the score, especially since the scoreboard was dimly projected on a corner screen. I didn’t even notice it until halftime. Last week the Rhinestone Cowgirls beat the Cherry Bombs. There are several more regular season bouts before the playoffs and then the Cavello Cup final (named for derby queen Ann Cavello) in early October.

A new riverboat, The Pride and Joy II, has arrived to replace the boat which caught fire on Christmas Day. Operated by Capital Cruises, this new boat offers lunch and dinner cruises on Lady Bird Lake. A separate company, Lone Star Riverboat Cruises, operates the other big riverboat, The Lone Star. Both companies also launch smaller boats for nightly bat-watching tours.

When I walked over to take some pictures of The Pride and Joy II last week, the crew invited me on board. They are generally pleased with the new vessel and especially like the larger windows which have real glass instead of plastic. The upper deck is bigger too. When the headlights are on at night, I think this new riverboat looks like a school bus floating downstream. 

The crew asked me to include this bit of pirate talk in my blog entry, so here you go guys…