austin, day 2
God, I love getting a late start. This might be one of the easiest vacations we've ever been on, simply because every day (except for the impending doom of wedding preparations) is unstructured. We can do whatever the hell we like when we like. And that kicks ass.
Anyway, we spend over 2 hours at probably the nicest coffee shop in Austin -- Little City -- because I'm downloading XP digital camera drivers, obsessing over blog details, and generally geeking out writing day 1.
But there is BBQ to be had. In the appropriately-named town of Driftwood, TX.
The drive to the Salt Lick makes me appreciate rural Texas -- seriously. I'd always had an unfair mental image of it being simply flat plains. Empty fields and scrub brush. It actually compares favorably to the rolling hills outside Gilroy. Mer was even comparing it to New England. There's even a meditation temple out there (the "International Society of Love", I think) with its central spire rising incongruously out of the landscape, dominating the sullen Baptist church sitting near the rural highway with its corrugated plastic sign.
The trees and brush that cover the land give us irrational fantasies of buying ranch land out here, until we wake up to reality and realize that we'd probably kill each other after the first month if we didn't have some sort of social interaction. I'm just enough of a prick to want to piss off the Baptists some more, however, by building a big synagogue nearby. Maybe with a rotating neon Star of David. We'd even call our ranch "The Lazy Mezuzzah".
In which I start to get really excited
The smell of a BBQ pit is one of my favorite smells. Mmmmmm.
However, the food itself is a bit of a disappointment -- I can get better BBQ in Oakland at Chef Edwards' BBQ on San Pablo. Also disappointing is the atmosphere -- I'd expected a bunch of hungry Texans chatting it up on the picnic tables... a more festive atmosphere. This was like being in church. There were about two other couples there, and the loudest thing going on was a toddler that would occasionally squeal happily as his dad played with him.
The dessert (hot peach cobbler a la mode) was worth the half hour drive, even if the BBQ wasn't. (I still had to get a T-shirt and some sauce, however.)
Back to Austin city limits we go... to Toy Joy. Where we fart around for a while.
You cannot see me... but you can hear me! Where is the enchanting music coming from?! So stealthy!
In which we are sick ghoulish fucks, just like every other tourist coming to Austin
The campus is very nice -- reminds us of Cal -- but it makes us feel old because we can definitely no longer pass for students.
The girl selling me a jasmine bubble tea goes back to her Spanish homework.
Moments of reflection in the midst of educational chaos
View towards the statehouse in the rain
Let's just say that these people take their school sports very seriously. I always knew that was true -- school sports are a very Southern institution -- but I was unprepared for the visual and psychological onslaught. Granted, you'll find pretty much the same school spirit, say, in UCLA's student union, but the Longhorns go a shade more into the abyss:
The de rigeur souvenir item, worn by a suddenly-self-conscious yours truly
The second (of 3) student stores on the main drag. The unholy love child of an Express, Longhorns merchandising, and Clinique. Every women's clothing item is orange.
Since it's raining again, we decide to take in a flick at the Alamo Drafthouse.
Reasons why this thing is fucking cool:
1. Pre-movie entertainment consists of toy commercials from the 50s-70s and other film arcana. Also includes old Transformers cartoons in the original Japanese.
2. Menu with decent food, copious selection of wine and beer (they even have sangria), the best movie popcorn ever (even without butter), and desserts. All of which you order by writing down on a slip of paper. There are two calls for food during the movie.
3. Festivals organized by the theater. One representative example:
Under the Tuscan Sun
Frances Mayes' wonderful book about restoring a 400-year-old villa in Tuscany was the runaway foodie best-seller of 1996. We're offering you the opportunity to see this beautiful first-run film, starring Diane Lane, with an authentic Tuscan menu prepared by chefs Will Packwood and Sam Dickey of Osteria Amerigo and gelato from Babbo's.
I'll see any chick flick if it involves tagliatelle, roasted pork loin and gelato.
Anyway, our movie selection was far more violent: Once Upon a Time in Mexico. Kickass. Kick ass. This is what Underworld and Reloaded should have been: unpretentious action movies. I loved it, although Mer had some trouble with some of the more violent scenes, specifically the Oedipal torture of Johnny Depp (who stole another movie).
And, since we were quickly falling in love with this concept for a movie house, I decided to get an expensive Alamo Drafthouse shirt, and we also decided to see another movie at their other location in Austin: School of Rock.
Which is also hilariously funny. Jack Black -- another scene-stealer who carries the whole movie. Props to Linklater, who could've overloaded the whole thing with schmaltz. It sticks to a predictable formula (and you've also seen this movie before) but the movie's pretty good and very funny, especially if you're seeing it drinking sangria and eating Italian cream cake.
Seeing movies like this gave us the idea (well, actually, the husband-to-be gave us the idea) of either franchising this concept or just starting a business like this on our own, given our love of everything in movies and film. It sounds like one of those so-crazy-it-just-might-work ideas. Something we would work very hard at, something we would have to take out a small business loan for, but something we would pour or lives into because we'd be working for ourselves for once in our lives.
Definitely worth thinking about more. Both of the theaters here in Austin are successful -- you can't avoid dropping $40 for a night out at the movies in one of these places. And there's an old theater in well-heeled Menlo Park that needs fixing up.
Back to irrational fantasies...