Continental Trailways

One of my fondest childhood memories was riding on a Continental Trailways bus with my mom from Dallas to Victoria via Houston to visit my maternal grandparents. In the early 70s, Continental Trailways Golden Eagle buses still had on-board hostesses who would bring you soft drinks and light snacks. Bayou City History blogger J.R. Gonzales has unearthed a November 1968 Houston Chronicle profile of one such hostess accompanied by plenty of hairspray-infused photos. Although the photos are in black and white, I totally remember the fabric patterns on those seat cushions.

The hostesses disappeared from the buses sometime in the mid-70s, but we continued to ride. Once we moved to Houston and I got a little older, my parents even let me ride the bus to Victoria by myself. I'm pretty sure we won't be letting Alex ride the bus alone until he's 35.

Fave Five Food Deals - 7/28/10

This week's edition of Austin's best grocery deals boasts some of the lowest prices we've seen in months on chicken breasts and tomatoes. While we haven't yet checked out the quality of tomatoes at El Rancho Supermercado, we're pretty sure you won't find a better price without a time machine set for 1972.

1. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, $1.47/lb.* at Fiesta (through 8/3/10)

2. Broccoli crowns, .77/lb. at H-E-B (through 8/3/10)

3. Strawberries, .99/lb. at Sprouts (through 8/4/10)

4. Tomatoes, 4 lbs. for $1 at El Rancho Supermercado (through 8/3/10)

5. Bulk pinto beans, 4 lbs. for $1 at Fiesta (through 8/3/10)

Bonus buy: Peruvian Mahi Mahi filets, $2.99/lb. at Sprouts (through 8/4/10)

*Limit two with $10 or more additional purchase

Austin supermarket links (directs to weekly ads where available):
El Rancho Supermercado
Fiesta
H-E-B
Natural Grocers
Newflower Farmers Market
Randall's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sun Harvest
Wheatsville Food Co-Op
Whole Foods Market

Disco Demolition Night!

I meant to post this on July 12, which was the 31st anniversary of Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

By 1979, disco had become a musical trend pushed too far. Hell, even Ethel Merman had a disco album out by then. A nation of disaffected - and, it must be said, overwhelmingly white - rock and rollers took up the rallying cry, "DISCO SUCKS!" You saw it on T-shirts and bumper stickers everywhere. While much of the knee-jerk disdain for disco can legitimately be ascribed to barely latent racism and homophobia, the velvet-rope exclusivity famously epitomized by Studio 54 was fairly deserving of a massive backlash.

Disco Demolition Night was conceived by Chicago DJ Steve Dahl of album-rock station WLUP-FM (a.k.a., "Loop 98") as a promotion to get more fans to come cheer for the then-moribund Chicago White Sox as they took on the Detroit Tigers in a doubleheader. Everyone who brought a disco record to Comiskey Park would gain admission to Comiskey Park for just 98 cents. Between games, the records would be collected and ceremoniously blown up at midfield between games.

What could possibly go wrong with that? Watch this ESPN clip and find out...

Fave Five Food Deals - 7/21/10

This week's money-saving missive features the best Austin grocery deals of the year (so far) on corn, peaches and nectarines.

1. California sweet corn, 10 for $1 at Newflower (through 7/28/10)

2. Peaches or nectarines, .49/lb. at Sprouts (through 7/28/10)

3. Northwest blueberries (6 oz.) or cantaloupes, .88 at Sun Harvest (through 7/28/10)

4. Texas green beans, .97/lb. at H-E-B (through 7/27/10)

5. Lola Savannah Coffee (Breakfast Blend or Vanilla Cinnamon Pecan), $5.99/lb. at Central Market (through 7/27/10)

Austin supermarket links (directs to weekly ads where available):
El Rancho Supermercado
Fiesta
H-E-B
Natural Grocers
Newflower Farmers Market
Randall's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sun Harvest
Wheatsville Food Co-Op
Whole Foods Market

Talk Bossy to Me

There are a lot of things to question about the emerging hagiography of the late New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, but I think Matt Taibbi's obit raises a good point by using Steinbrenner's demise as an opportunity to question why Americans have such a soft spot in their hearts for egomaniacal aristocrats:

In no other country do people genuinely love their bosses the way Americans do. They'll go home after 12 hard hours of capricious superiors peeing in their faces, and the very first thing they'll do is call up some talk radio show and denounce the graduated income tax that gives them a break at their bosses' expense.

And once you've been trickled down upon by "wealth creators" for 12 hours, you probably wouldn't dare question the fact that because Steinbrenner had the good fortune to die in 2010, his heirs will pay no federal estate taxes on his estimated $1.1 billion estate, resulting in a potential tax savings of almost $500 million.

Alex: The First 5 Months (A Slideshow)

Alex is hitting the big 5-month mark on Monday. Like all parents, Kate and I can't believe how fast time flies. After successfully transitioning the boy to the crib a couple of weeks back, we wistfully folded up the trusty sidecar co-sleeper this weekend. Even though we're all sleeping better now, I miss having Alex right there next to us. And I absolutely don't want to forget anything about what he was like as a newborn.

Accordingly, I decided to compile a whole mess of Alex photos into a slideshow-style retrospective. I'm posting it here so all the people who've asked me for photos when I haven't had any on my person can have a look-see. The music is "Cool Strut" by Bernie Hayes from The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles, Vol. 2: 1968-1971. I like to think Alex would appreciate the funky soundtrack.

Fave Five Food Deals - 7/14/10

Even if you're not a cherry person, you'd be foolish not to test drive a few specimens from this year's extra-sweet Northwest cherry harvest. This week's edition of Austin's best grocery deals offers a nicely priced opportunity to do just that.

1. Northwest red cherries, $1.77/lb. @ Sun Harvest (through 7/21/10)

2. 6 oz. Northwest blueberries, .88 @ Newflower (through 7/21/10)

3. Sweet yellow corn on the cob, 5 for $1 at Fiesta (through 7/20/10)

4. Asparagus, $1.77/lb. @ Sun Harvest (through 7/21/10)

5. Strawberries, $1.47/lb. @ H-E-B (through 7/20/10)

Also, if you're the type whose idea of lunch consist of wolfing down a Lean Cuisine in the shadow of the EEOC poster hanging in your dreary workplace break room, H-E-B has a Full Meal Deal this week that's sure to zazz things up. Buy four Stouffer's Lean Cuisine entrees and get a box of Dreyer's Fruit Bars, a 4-pack of Juicy Juice Sparkling Juice, a pound of bananas and a 4-pack of Yoplait Fiber One Yogurt for free with in-store coupons.

Austin supermarket links (directs to weekly ads where available):
El Rancho Supermercado
Fiesta
H-E-B
Natural Grocers
Newflower Farmers Market
Randall's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sun Harvest
Wheatsville Food Co-Op
Whole Foods Market

Tales from the Parkside

I've had some really good meals at Parkside over the years, but having learned of chef/owner Shawn Cirkiel and his parents' attempt to strong-arm The Best Wurst out of their longtime spot at the corner of Sixth and San Jacinto, I'm done with them (at least for now).

The Best Wurst has been on the disputed corner since 1993. By all accounts, they had a good working relationship with Dan McKlusky's, the restaurant that occupied 301 E. Sixth St. prior to Parkside's arrival in 2007.

Now Parkside is building a balcony that will overlook Sixth St. A sidewalk cafe is planned next. Perhaps not so coincidentally, when The Best Wurst's operating permit came up for renewal earlier this year, Cirkiel asked the city to deny it. The mobile bratwurst cart is currently operating on a week-to-week permit until the issue is resolved. From The Best Wurst's press release:

Among the several allegations, Parkside asserts that Best Wurst creates a public safety hazard and has violated their license agreement with the City of Austin. They also assert Best Wurst blocks vehicular traffic and "impedes the flow of pedestrian traffic" and renders the sidewalk "impassable." "All these allegations are total nonsense," states (Best Wurst owner Jon) Notarthomas. "We have an outstanding record with the City as well as the health department." Amongst other claims, the Cirkiels state The Best Wurst blocks the view of the "Sixth Street experience" for its customers, promotes a "bad boy" image, and sells products that compete with the Parkside's French seafood menu.

I didn't want to post about this until Cirkiel had a chance to publicly respond. Thus far, his comments to the Statesman and on the Best Wurst's Facebook page have come across as more than a little disingenuous.

"Why is it wrong for me to not want my front window blocked with people eating, making a mess, and causing trouble?" Cirkiel asks in one post.

Dude, you run a restaurant and you're upset about people eating in front of it? If anything, you should be thanking The Best Wurst's customers for blocking your diners' picture-window view of "Sixth Street Experience" standards such as drunken revelers vomiting up their Jell-O shots. And I don't think anyone sober enough to stumble through Parkside's doors is going to mistake $30 Chilean sea bass for a $4.50 brat.

Perhaps Parkside thought no one would care if they tried to force a venerable local business off "their" public sidewalk. I think they're going to find out that Austin can be a hard place to do business in if you do something that is popularly perceived to be malevolent. Running a restaurant in the middle of a recession is hard enough without dealing with an image problem like this.

Accordingly, my unsolicited PR advice to Cirkiel would be to try and work something out with The Best Wurst. Figure out what you really need from Best Wurst and engineer a mutually beneficial compromise that allows both businesses to coexist. Bury the hatchet publicly and with good humor.

Until then, there are plenty of other nice restaurants in town.

Fave Five Food Deals - 7/7/10

Some insanely low prices on summer fruitstuffs lead the way in this week's round-up of Austin's best grocery deals.

1. Yellow peaches and nectarines, .47/lb. at Newflower (through 7/14/10)

2. Cantaloupes, .49/ea. at Sprouts (through 7/14/10)

3. Organic grape tomatoes, $1.50/pint at Sun Harvest (through 7/14/10)

4. Bing cherries, $1.77/lb. at Newflower (through 7/14/10)

5. Saltwater taffy, $1.99/lb. at Newflower (through 7/14/10)

Austin supermarket links (directs to weekly ads where available):
El Rancho Supermercado
Fiesta
H-E-B
Natural Grocers
Newflower Farmers Market
Randall's
Sprouts Farmers Market
Sun Harvest
Wheatsville Food Co-Op
Whole Foods Market

Farm Aid 2

On July 4, 1986, my high school pal Alex Botas and I trekked up Highway 290 from Houston to Austin for Farm Aid 2. Willie Nelson's benefit concert for America's family farmers was originally slated to take place at UT's Memorial Stadium. Then they announced it would be held at Southpark Meadows. Finally, the show landed at Manor Downs, a dilapidated horse racing track that offered little in the way of amenities.

At 17, I hadn't yet discovered that sitting in a shadeless, dusty field in 100-degree heat with 50,000 people is no way to enjoy music. I remember we had a cooler stocked with cans of root beer, but they wouldn't let us bring in cans, so we just poured the root beer into the cooler and ladled it out with paper cups. We didn't think to bring food, blankets or sunscreen. A nice lady in her thirties found us pitiable enough to donate a couple of sandwiches from her well-stocked cooler to our lost cause.

We got there in time to see Willie join War for a round of "Why Can't We Be Friends?" and stuck around through the fallow rock jam session led by Bon Jovi. I should've known it was going to be anti-climatic when Don Johnson was drafted to introduce everyone. Joe Walsh meandered through an unsteady "Rocky Mountain Way" before Motley Crue's first-string drunk driver Vince Neil showed up to sing "Smokin' in the Boys Room" while Willie and his longtime harmonica player Mickey Raphael played along just for fun.

If you think the TV clip below sounds bad, imagine how it sounded a quarter mile away from the stage.



After four or five hours, we gave up and drove into Austin to watch the rest of the show on TV in a cheap motel room.

Hats Off to "Louie"

I've never been a particularly fervent follower of Louis C.K., but after his bumbling portrayal of Leslie Knoupe's law enforcement love interest on Parks and Recreation, I made it a point to check out Louie, his new FX sitcom that premiered Tuesday.

While Louie borrows pages from Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm in that the endearingly cynical comedian is portraying "himself," neither Jerry Seinfeld nor Larry David ever held themselves out to be this awkward and hopeless. C.K. portrays a beaten down, sad sack of a man. Mirroring C.K.'s real-life status, "Louie" is divorced at 42 with shared custody of two daughters. TV Louie has few ideas and even fewer options for reinventing his life as a single man. He's acutely aware of his shortcomings and he doesn't have the energy to pretend otherwise. The ill-fated date he goes on in the pilot episode is both cringe-inducing and instantly recognizable to any male who doesn't fit the suit when it comes to conventional dating techniques.

In our next episode, Louie reconnects through Facebook with a formative middle school crush who once commanded him to "whip it out" between cigarette drags and shots of Peppermint Schnapps. While better-adjusted adults would've left such events behind long ago as harmless anecdotes, it's clear that Louie is still hanging on to the humiliation of not having complied with the troubled young deb's command as a defining life event.

Louie trades in the kind of humor that is likely to inflame partisanship. It is most definitely a male-centric show replete with graphic riffs on why it would be okay to have sex with animals if (and only if) the animals were capable of consenting. At the same time, a sticky poker table discourse on gay sex is allowed to evolve into an unexpectedly poignant sidebar about what it feels like for a gay teenager to be called "faggot." Even if Louie doesn't end its 22-minute treatises with standard gift-wrapped repentance, the show deserves plenty of credit for its contradictory-yet-astute contemplation of the modern male condition.