Mas Tortas Para Los Trabajadores
JoeinAustin
- Location
- Austin, Travis, Rep. of Tex.
- Birthday
- March 05
- Bio
- Born in the oil and gas deposit-rich region of North Texas, on the fraying edge of the Permian Basin, my mother was a special ed teacher, my father, a “pumper,” a far more glamorous job among the petroletariat than the name would indicate. I managed to escape the small town that spawned me promptly after High School graduation, a modicum of sanity still intact to ride shotgun with my generous portions of anger and resentment. Some five years later, I copped a BS degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Said institution and I gladly parted ways. In the intervening 20-plus years, though my only ambition has been to have ambition, I have miraculously coughed-up a boatload of freelance articles, a couple of books of dubious merit, and a metric ton of songs of occasionally inspired quality, not to mention a paralegal certificate, 11 years of experience as a legal underling, and tens of thousands of bicycle commuter miles.
MY RECENT POSTS
- Fleeing the Harridan: a
meditation in four parts
March 21, 2012 11:38PM - When the Mind is a Bastard
Contrarian
March 12, 2012 10:07PM - Excuse My French: Voyage dans
la Librairie
January 30, 2012 12:37AM - Misanthropia: Grappling with
the Von Trier Virus
January 27, 2012 04:55AM - Texas Rangers Agonistes: A
Political Fable of Woe & Hope
October 31, 2011 12:46PM
MY RECENT COMMENTS
- “There once was a player
named Marcelo,
Whose
defense was never quite
mellow,
At
Fab…”
August 18, 2011 11:03AM - “You said it, Jeanette.
You said it. And England has
been
living in a state of
g…”
August 10, 2011 10:09AM - “Ah yes, Janie, the
proles have been stretched as
far as they
will go and are
now…”
August 10, 2011 09:44AM - “Thank you. I had no idea
about the "old code" option.
Thank
you, thank…”
August 09, 2011 11:38PM - “I remembered the
following verses from my
Sunday School days
while
reading about…”
August 08, 2011 04:18PM
JoeinAustin's Links
- List of Cool Stuff You Should Read
- Get a Job You Situationist!
- joemitchell.biz
- Fluoxetine Music
- Flower Called Nowhere
Wim Wenders' Masterpiece - Wings of Desire
Wings is simultaneously a work stuck in the late 80's and a timeless classic. Shot less than two years prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall, which is itself not just a prominent presence in the film, but practically a character, Wings watches two Angels, the most cheerful played by… Read full post »
The Texas-size disgrace that is Judge Sharon "Killer" Keller
Thanks to the New York Times editorial board, the callous
disregard for law and life of Judge Sharon
“Killer” Keller has been upgraded from Lone Star
broohaha to a national imbroglio. The story per most of the media
regarding the Keller incident has been this:
On Septemb… Read full post »
Come back to Austerdam, Michael Phelps! Michael Phelps!
Michael Phelps! Michael Phelps!
Why are they torturing you Michael Phelps?
So you smoked a little dope
in the time of hope
and the Olympic Committee
Bless its little heart
is acting all BLEEP!!!!!
So bleep 'em. You don't need'em.
Banned you for three months
because !
because !
because… Read full post »
Got'em - Moz on 4/12 in Austin!!!!!!!!!!
Yee ha!! Row V in Orchestra Section, Bass Concert Hall!!! The link turned hot right at noon!!!! $49.50 - see ya there!
Will I ever be sane again ? His pathetic majesty in Texas
38 minutes before noon. I've called the box office at UT Performing Arts Center to assure that the tickets will be available online precisely at noon central time. The nice man who answered the phone, sensing my overwhelming excitement, said that they will be. I have a feeling I am&… Read full post »
You'd Better Cry! Morrissey is Coming to Town
I got the call while sitting in my car in the lot at Barton Springs. It was around 7. The sun was down, but you could feel a tinge of sunlight in the air. The day had been prematurely spring-ish. Temps had exceeded 80F, but man it had been dry and … Read full post »
A Love Letter to Extroverts
Dear Extroverts:
I'd like to thank you for all you do.
Thank you for all of your unsolicited advice and
exaltations. I know my life would not be the
same without them. Thank you for sharing the music on your
car stereo with everyone within a six block radius, taking
special care to… Read full post »
Revolutionary Road- Our Mediocrity, Ourselves
Things rarely, if ever, go as planned, and often times things can get totally and wrenchingly screwed-up beyond the most absurd sort of comprehension. Yes- so beyond comprehension that a week later, as I discover the black and shiny golf ball size lump on the back of my head, I'm just… Read full post »
THIRD RECONSTRUCTION? No Thanks, We're Southern!
Being a child of the South, or, as I am more apt to say, a child of the great Southwest, Michael Lind's intelligent, yet charmingly misguided, recent Salon article on the economic differences between the north and south in this here country reminded me of just how differ… Read full post »
Scandirabia sucks! "Let the Right One In" & Islam in Sweden
The beauty of genre fiction is how easily it lends itself to allegorical interpretation of the cultural circumstances that birthed it. The hyper-literati of the print and celluloid geeker-domains are particularly prone to looking upon innocent horror, science fiction, and …
Post-ACL brain dump #1- Tegan & Sara frolic in Bretton Woods
The detritus is
internal.
I'm still feeling "it." "It"
is an intense bout of "PFPD," or, more formerly,
"Post-Festival Partum Depression."
The strain from which I am
suffering is especially severe. It is both physical and
psychological. Most cases of PFPD dissipate in less than a
we… Read full post »
Beck From Space
ACL FEST DAY TWO- Yes, Beck is down there somewhere
ACL Fest Day 3: Where the wild things are
Utterly, fracking exhausted! Ouch. The pain. All I can say at this point is that I rather enjoyed the assembly line production efficiency of the festival.
Nice to be inundated with good music, and actually have the occasional conundrum about who to see.
World's… Read full post »
ACL Fest Day 2: Memories of an Expensive Festival
Some Photos from Days 1 and 2- Austin City
Limits Festival, Zilker Park, Austin, Texas, EEU
Best use of a pecan tree other than growing pecans
Love the Sea of Bikes in the background
ACL FEST Day 1: Drunken Angelenos and other fun and frolic
ZILKER PARK, Austin, Texas; 9/26/08
“Dude! The women here are awesome,”
announced Angeleno 2. I shook my head wholeheartedly in the
affirmative with one particular such woman “from here”
in mind.
Angeleno 1 laughed out loud.
“Yeah, in LA they're uptight… Read full post »
Stereolab:Deneuve, DeBord, Dali, Skunk Weed and Laundry Bags
Stereolab; 9/24/08; La Zona
Rosa; Austin, Texas, Estados Unidos
Entering LZR
on the teetering precipice of ten pm, I found my
nostrils assaulted by the oppressive odor of skunk weed.
Luckily, said odor did not permeate the air, but merely rode
upon it in mercifully infreq… Read full post »
It's 5 am, and I'm so in touch with my inner rock critic
DREAM
I just awoke from a dream where I was hanging out with an old friend of mine, a musician who, unfortunately, I haven't seen in forever. In fact, I haven't seen him since he and his band rocked the… Read full post »
PDX
Airport burns bright. No Rain in sight.
Blue sky sunshine drench sidewalks
Feral children drink and fight.
Punk kids. White shaved heads, hip hop punks.
Underground stations for electric trains.
Forests
Parks
Mansions
Views
Douglas Fir.
Pioneer Square. Herds of Feral Children.
Gus … Read full post »
Thanks McCain! Now I Have to Hold My Nose and Vote for Obama
I wanted so badly to vote Republican this year. I don't know why, exactly. I have always voted for Democratic Presidential Candidates, though not always with the utmost aplomb, since voting in my first general election in 1984- yes, Mondale/Ferraro, what an auspicious pa… Read full post »
PET PEAVE TIME: IPODS ARE DANGEROUS ON THE TRAIL!!!
I get to work by bicycle every morning on the hike and bike trail along the north shore of Lady Bird Lake. I enter the trail by Holly Street Power Plant, then head west, hitting West Avenue via the Shoal Creek feeder when I get downtown, then eight blocks lat… Read full post »
Rekindling My Relationship with Music and a Live Music Mecca
I have lived in Austin for about 20 of the last 23 years. I love the city. Its smart, creative population, its networks of parks, trails, and greenbelts, its unique, comfortable restaurants, and its vibrant can-do spirit, among many other things, make it the jewel of the south… Read full post »
Robert Caro on Obama as LBJ Legacy in NY Times OP-ED
I saw this Caro OP-ED in the NY Times and had to link to it. I have been referring mercilessly to LBJ and Caro over the last few days. It is great to see Caro making the connection between Obama and LBJ. It is a great piece from a great historian.… Read full post »
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sandman
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speedstick
Salon.com