The Return of Bubble Puppy

I'm excited to hear that Bubble Puppy - 3/4 of the classic line-up, anyway - is reuniting at this year's Austin Music Awards. Although their legacy has long been in the shadows of fellow International Artists like the 13th Floor Elevators and the Red Krayola, "Hot Smoke and Sasafrass" was actually the Houston-based label's best-charting single, clocking in at #14 on the Billboard chart in 1969. Their sole album, A Gathering of Promises, is also worth seeking out.

Back in 2004, I interviewed Bubble Puppy guitarist Todd Potter and drummer David Fore on the occasion of Fuel 2000's rerelease of Promises. Their description of the band's up-and-down history was the stuff of movies. While writing the story, I actually drove over to Riverside Farms Road with Promises on the disc deck and tried to imagine what it was like in 1967, when the band lived and practiced in an old house on that street. To hear Potter and Fore describe it was positively idyllic.

One quick note about that story - the Municipal Auditorium where Bubble Puppy opened for the Who was in San Antonio, not Austin.

And finally, here is a very rare video of the band performing "Hot Smoke and Sasafrass" at an undated reunion show. I'm guessing it's from their mid-80s reunion, but it could be older.

Fave Five Food Deals - 1/26/10

While super-steals are in short supply in this week's round-up of Austin supermarket circulars, you can still keep a little change in your pocket with the following five sale items.

1. Asparagus, $1.49/lb. at Sun Harvest (through 2/2/11)

2. Organic Braeburn apples, .88/lb. at H-E-B (through 2/1/11)

3. Boneless pork loin roast, $1.97/lb. at Sprouts (through 2/2/11)

4. Wild caught mahi mahi, $2.97/lb. at Sunflower (through 2/2/11)

5. Sun Harvest veggie chips, 2 for $3 at Sun Harvest (through 2/2/11)

From Jan. 28 through 31, there are also some sweet deals to be had at Sun Harvest's 72-hour sale, including 6 oz. of blueberries for .97, Dirty Chips potato chips for .99 and half gallons of Blue Bell ice cream for $3.99.

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

Fave Five Food Deals - 1/19/11

Citrus takes center stage in this week's compendium of Austin's best supermarket deals.

1. Texas Rio Red grapefruit, .25/ea. or navel oranges, .25/lb. at Sun Harvest (through 1/26/11)

2. Strawberries, $1.88/lb. at H-E-B (through 1/25/11)

3. Boneless skinless chicken breasts, $1.77/lb. at Sun Harvest (through 1/26/11)

4. Natural Angus boneless beef shoulder roast, $2.98/lb. at H-E-B (through 1/25/11)

5. Alaskan haddock, $3.99/lb. at Sunflower (through 1/26/11)

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

Tight Trousers On a Wire Fence

Between proposed state austerity measures and the recent drying up of a steady freelance writing gig, my economic prospects for 2011 are increasingly bearish.

Maybe things have turned the corner, but the spoils of "recovery" will accrue largely to the investor class while people who work for a living will be asked to work harder for less.

Could things be worse? Absolutely. Will they get so bad that this looks good by comparison? I sure hope not.

Welcome to the Texas Century. Now step into those tight trousers and get up on that wire fence, boy.

Put This On: LBJ Buys Pants from Put This On on Vimeo.

Fave Five Food Deals - 1/12/11

The air is bone-chilling today, but we've got a swell set of Austin supermarket bargains to warm you right up.

1. Boneless beef top sirloin steaks, $1.97/lb. at H-E-B (through 1/18/11)

2. Red or green bell peppers, .49/ea. at Sprouts (through 1/19/11)

3. Asparagus, $1.77/lb. at Sunflower (through 1/19/11)

4. Gala apples, .67/lb. at H-E-B (through 1/18/11)

5. Organic Granny Smith or Fuji apples, .88/lb. at Sun Harvest (through 1/19/11)

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

Requiem for Unkgee

Gerry Rafferty, the Scottish-born singer/songwriter who gave us smash 70s hits like "Stuck in the Middle with You" and "Baker Street," died this week at age 63 from liver failure brought about by years of alcoholism.

While most will remember Rafferty for his music, I also remember him as the involuntary linchpin for a "Gerg and Zub's Fast Food Review" of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits published by the weekly broadsheet 15 Minutes back in 1997.

This occasionally factual review appears below in Rafferty's honor.

I'm Popeye the Chicken Man!
Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits, 1978 Baker Street

Zub and I met when our dads formed the nucleus of the rhythm section behind a pre-"Stuck in the Middle with You" Gerry Rafferty. Gerry was like an uncle to us, hence his nickname "Unkgee." During the summer, our pops would let us traverse the country with the band in a dilapidated custom Chevy van with pot seeds all over the carpet. Those early tours with Unkgee made us wise beyond our three years.

We were also hungry a lot of the time. Our dads' cut of the gig take was even more meager than their share of the cocaine, so we subsisted mostly on crackers and Fresca. This lifestyle never set well with our mothers (whoever they were), but no piss-ant child welfare law was gonna remove Zub and myself from that happy, bouncy van.

One particularly joyful reminiscence of those high times is from 1972 when Unkgee pulled the van into New Orleans for a Tulane University show opening for Johnny Winter. It was raining, and we were cold, but our hearts were quickly warmed by the capacious hospitality of the promoter, a rotund Bossier City-bred cracker by the name of Sergeant Roofus Boudreaux.

To this day, neither Zub nor myself have heard words so sweet as those Sgt. Boudreaux spoke as we struggled to bring my dad's orange bass cabinet in through the back door of the auditorium: "Boys, drop your load and have some chicken!"

The Sgt.'s fried feast was the best darn food we'd ever tasted. Unkgee ate seven pieces of the delicious chicken along with several large handfuls of mashed potatoes and Cajun gravy. In fact, Ol' Unk would have choked to an early death if not for the whack of Zub's dad's hi-hat stand on the back of his fat neck.

"Hey, Roofus," uttered a blue-hued Unkgee. "Where's this good meat come from?"

"Why, I got it over at the Popeye's on Dopholopous Boulevard," said the proud Sgt. "Them spices will grow hairs on places your lady won't like."

Unfortunately, this batter-coated bash was short-lived. During that night's show, Zub's inebriated father played an unscheduled drum solo that went on for about 17 minutes. Immediately after the show, Unkgee fired him from the band. My dad protested by spitting a mouthful of Jax beer in Unkgee's face and calling him an ungrateful bastard. For his insubordination, he too was given the proverbial big pink slip.

Suddenly, us and our pops were shivering out in the smelly New Orleans rain without a song. Somehow, we'd all have to get back home to Worcester. Zub's pop said we could afford to bus it as far as Kentucky, but then we'd have to hitch. Unkgee had sold us right down the line.

The grounds for revenge were obvious even to the young minds of Zub and myself, but our dads could not decide the means from within their collective stupor. At that precise moment, a lightbulb went off in my tiny crown, and I began to shout, "Steal his wheel, Daddy! Steal his wheel!"

Our drunken dads began cackling like sailors. Zub's pop produced some tools, and our two heroes quickly removed the steering wheel from Unkgee's van. The journey home was rough, but every time things looked down, we pulled out that wheel and had ourselves a chuckle.

Of course, it was Unkgee who had the last laugh when "Stuck in the Middle with You" skyrocketed into the Top 10 shortly after this incident. Rubbing salt into the wound was the name of Unkgee's band: Stealers Wheel.

Which brings us back to Popeye's, the place where New Orleans is only a taste away. Sort of.

Popeye's modern chicken variation will never live up to the spice of that faraway evening, but this fried fowl still beats the cluck out of KFC. All fried material at Popeye's (fish, shrimp, onion rings, dogears, fries, etc.) has the same subtle seasoning to it that sneaks up on you like a flashback. And those red beans & rice and whipped potatoes are abused with an adequately Cajun-style gravy that makes other fast food taste vanilla by comparison. As an added bone-us, there's always plenty of Cajun Sparkle on hand to give your grub a bit of zip.

Let's face facts: Popeye's has about the biggest can of culinary whup-ass in the fast food industry, and Zub and I both will spare no measure to open up the aforementioned can on Mr. Gerry Rafferty's weenie-butt if he ever tries to play Sneakers.

Whastsa matter, Unkgee? You chicken?

Wanna Scare Some Babies?

Despite a projected $20 to $28 billion state budget deficit, third-term Texas governor Rick Perry's penchant for cutting corporate welfare checks to his crony capitalist friends continues unabated. And check out the diabolical AP mugshot accompanying this story. Someone needs to put that on a T-shirt and sell it for Halloween.

I Got the Six

Today marks the sixth anniversary of Beetsolonely's mildly auspicious launch. Although the angel investors have long since fled, we're still here, putting it all together with chewing gum, string and stubborn conviction.

Fave Five Food Deals - 1/5/11

Welcome to 2011, where the Austin supermarket bargain bounty continues unabated.

1. Green and red leaf lettuce, .49/ea. at Sun Harvest (through 1/12/11)

2. Rio Star Texas grapefruit, .19/ea. at Sprouts (through 1/12/11)

3. Large seedless navel oranges, .37/lb. at H-E-B (through 1/11/11)

4. Blackberries, 5.6 oz., .77/ea. at H-E-B (through 1/11/11)

5. Crios Malbec 2009, 750 mL, $9.99/ea. at Central Market (through 1/11/11)

Also, effective Jan. 5, Newflower Farmers Markets in Texas will be known as Sunflower Farmers Markets just like all the others. The Colorado-based chain previously had to use the Newflower moniker because a competing supermarket chain held the rights to the Sunflower name in Texas.

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

The Hyde Park (Tire) Slasher

Hyde Park residents are getting serious about apprehending a cunningly elusive tire slasher who has dogged the area for more than a decade. The increasingly gentrified Central Austin neighborhood plans to spend $10,000 on high-definition video cameras to help APD put the dirty rubber stabber away once and for all.

Police believe the slasher is a homeless man who is not unfamiliar to them, but they’ve never managed to get enough evidence to pin him on tire slashing charges.

The Statesman says tire slashing has been rampant in Hyde Park for 15 years, but I can personally attest that it’s been going on for at least 18 years. Back in 1993, when I lived in a decrepit apartment at the corner of 39th and Speedway, it wasn’t uncommon to see two or more cars with two or more slashed tires in the streetside parking lot. He never got me, though.