Austin Sunshine Camps

[photo: me, in position to catch errant tennis balls]


Spring, in addition to being the season of crawfish boils, is also the season for the Austin YMBL fundraising campaign for the Austin Sunshine Camps. Even more than I'd like a pint of Fireman's 4 and a basket of boiled crawfish, I'd really like for you to donate to the Sunshine Camps. Do it through my page, and/or do it through the page of another YMBL member. It all goes to the same great place.

Here are the stats on the camps:

* Nearly 1,000 ethnically diverse youth ages 7-18 are served per year.
* 60% are from households with annual incomes of less than $21,000.
* 31% of those annual household incomes fall below $12,000.
* 100% qualify for summer food service which is administered through the camps.
* 71% of campers are from single-parent or foster homes.
* Nearly 50% come from homes with two or more siblings.
* We serve a near equal number of boys and girls.
* Camps are offered free of charge to disadvantaged youth and children from low-income homes.
* Zilker Park Camps are for ages 7-11.
* Lake Travis Camps are for ages 12-15.
* Programs are volunteer-driven—by Young Men’s Business League members and others from the community at-large.
* $400,000+ annual budget is comprised of contributions from private sources—individuals, foundations, and businesses.
* More than 97.5% of the budget is applied directly to the programs.
* Since 2001, all Leadership participants have earned a high school diploma.
* Since 2001, 95 percent of Leadership participants have attended either a 2-year technical college or a 4-year professional college.
* Presently, there are 16 Sunrise Leadership program graduates in college.

This will be my third summer volunteering at the Camps. I can personally attest that going to the camps is a great experience for these kids. Moreover, the campers in the Leadership program are good, hardworking kids who go to the Camps year round for tutoring, leadership, volunteering, and education programs. $330 will send one kid to camp this summer, but just $25-$50 will go a long way.

Food: Crawfish @ Mulberry

Spring: a magical time when flowers bloom, boats emerge from hibernation, and crawfish enter into season. Personally, I'm afraid of what a winter without fuel stabilizer has done to my boat. I'm not, however, afraid of baskets full of tasty clawed snacks. Neither is Mulberry, considering they were gracious enough to help these tasty crustaceans on their journey from a fetid swamp bottom to my plate... or at least they helped with the most important step of dumping them into a boiling mixture of pepper, corn, and potatoes.

The result: magically delicious (with the added benefit of being free)

Needless to say, the gf and I plus several amigos spent several hours enjoying crawfish and beverages in the rear booth at Mulberry. I'll be back soon, most likely for a plate of their Black Cod (and to maintain my mayor status on Foursquare.)

Art City Austin

Good times this past Saturday, when the gf and I drove a recycling cart as volunteers for the Art City Austin event. This year the event's sponsor, the Art Alliance Austin, made extra efforts to keep the event green. Refillable cups were encouraged, recycle stations were set up everywhere, and a team from the Homewood Heights Community Garden did an incredible job of sorting food waste for composting. The gf and I were one of several carts responsible for transporting these various categories of waste to their various dumpsters.

It was fun driving the cart, and it was good to see that a fairly large event can be pretty damn green. Also, I saw a lot of cool film photography for sale as well as some very cool B&W stuff.

Do You Know How I Know That ....

... climate change is serious?

A: because the insurance industry is taking it seriously, and actuaries aren't known for wasting their time advancing warm and fuzzy causes.

I'm bringing this up because I just read an article in Business Insurance about insurance gurus meeting in Bermuda (of course) to discuss the challenges and opportunities of climate change:

An executive panel moderated by AXIS Capital Holdings Ltd. Chairman Michael A. Butt discussed whether climate change represents a threat or an opportunity for the global insurance industry.
By itself, “climate change is a threat to our business; it's not something we can safely muddle through,” said Barney Schauble, a managing partner at Hamilton, Bermuda-based Nephila Capital Ltd., an investment management company that specializes in insurance and reinsurance. “If pricing of existing products can reflect the underlying risk, then climate change is an opportunity—if not, then it's a threat,” he said.

I like the positive attitude.  Rarely do people talk about the potential upside of climate change.  Not that I'm positive about it, but if it is inevitable (not just from human activity, but also as part of a long term climate cycle) then we should get to work on figuring out how to manage it.   Unfortunately, quantitative data to put into models is still "utterly difficult" to obtain. 

Also, I liked this quote from Rolf Tolle, formerly of Lloyds of London:

“Where we have failed is in working with society and politicians and making it clear what the consequences are,” he said. “We're still not all marching in the same direction. With one voice as an industry, we could be much more effective” in leading the discussion on climate change.

The above quote is indicative of a point most people only associate with heath insurance, as that is: property and casualty carriers exert an enormous influence over industry and society, both as institutional investors and as de facto regulators of behavior, product standards, technologies, etc.   Moreover, carriers will often push for safety laws which will help manage risk downstream.  GEICO even went as far as to help buy speed detectors for police departments back in the 80's and 90's (I'd cite this, but I'm going from my junior high memories of reading columns of an enraged Brock Yates in Car & Driver magazine).  Anyway, while insurance is often maligned, the industry can be a force for positive change.  In this case (as the article mentions), carriers can do more to push policy holders and regulators to adopt technologies which facilitate lower carbon emissions. 

I'm going to stop myself before I expand on my theory that modern society could not exist without property & casualty insurance products...

But, it is good to read about non-politicized, non-hysterical, pragmatic business discussions of climate change.  

HYP Happy Hour

Just a reminder: HYP's April Happy Hour is tomorrow night (4/21) at the Belmont.  Be there.  Click to RSVP here.


Also, HYP Gala is coming up in a month.  Buy your tickets today for $75/ea.

Good Move for Gowalla

I was literally about to write a post in which I said I preferred Gowalla to the geolocation based social networking service behemoth that is Foursquare, but for the fact that Foursquare lets you search for locations when your phone is confused and Gowalla doesn't.  That's what I was planning to write, but only after checking Twitter for something.  Fortunately, I saw this tweet from @Gowalla:

Gowalla: New in-app feature: Search for Spots! http://gowalla.com/blog/2010/04/what-youve-been-looking-for-search/

Thankfully, my major complaint about Gowalla has been rendered moot.   Gowalla now lets you search for your location when your phone (and my iPhone 3Gs does this a lot) get confused about your location.  E.g., if you are at The Tavern, but your phone thinks you are down by Whole Foods and thus Gowalla isn't even showing The Tavern as an option, you can now enter "The Tavern" into a search box and prompt Gowalla to reconsider its selection of check-in options. 

As for Foursquare, I do like the ability to become a "mayor" of a location.  However, I've found that Foursquare "badges" are either really easy to earn or otherwise very time/location/event specific.  Moreover, their recent announcement of a "celebrity mode" (so lame people can track celebrities with time delayed location report) has lessened my interest in the service.

Foursquare did hit a home run at SXSW interactive, which gave it a huge boost in users.  Moreover, they had already partnered up with BRAVO and some other media outlets (at the time, for event suggestions) plus "cool hunting" site Thrillist.com (which unlike Urbandaddy.com, has an Austin edition).   Thus, I'm sure these partnerships helped them gain popularity along with SXSW.

Gowalla, however, has a lot more potential for partnering with local businesses.   Gowalla features short themed  lists of bars or restaurants for users to visit.  Moreover, Gowalla also features local attractions and sometimes bundles lists of them into little themed tours.  Obviously, there is a huge potential for sponsorships and partnerships with everyday local businesses, city tourism offices, etc. (like a Tito's sponsored bar tour, coordinated and directed by Gowalla, with drink specials for participants when they check in and prizes for those who visit the most stops) as opposed to aiming for large but infrequent events with a high status cache (like getting a SXSW "panel nerd" badge on Foursqaure).   Businesses are already offering Gowalla and Foursquare users deals, specials, etc., but there is a lot of room in the Gowalla model for Gowalla itself to leverage this sort of interest.  [note: if they are doing this, I can't tell that's what they are doing]

And, of course... Gowalla is an Austin based company.  It's good to support our local entreprenuers, as this helps keep Austin dynamic as well as weird.


[Note: a lot of people tell me that they'd use Foursquare of Gowalla, but they don't have an iPhone.  Both of these services are now available for Android and Blackberry platforms.   Gowalla is also available for Palm, in case anyone out there still has a Palm device.]

Thanks! (to The Austin Young Chamber of Commerce)

I'd like to give many thanks here to the Austin Young Chamber of Commerce ("AYC"), which was once again very cool to Habitat Young Professionals ("HYP").   Specifically, we enjoyed the opportunity to have a booth at the AYC Charity Fair on Wednesday April 14th.   There were a lot of other interesting groups in the room, and we got quite a lot of visitors asking us about HYP, getting information on membership and volunteer opportunities, and getting directions to our upcoming (as in 4/21) happy hour at the Belmont.   And, of course, we got the word out about the HYP Gala. 

Furthermore, thanks to AYC for making Catalyst 8 the first arts group to be highlighted by AYC's new Imagine Austin arts committee.

AYC, the folks at HYP and Catalyst 8 truly appreciate your support!

Food: Frank

I'm not sure when or why I decided I really like Frank.  There are a lot of late night hot dog options downtown, but only Frank:


1. Proclaims itself: Proud Puryeor of Pork and its Tasty Friends


2. Serves bacon infused Makers Mark


3. Serves cookies containing candied bacon


4. Has a cool dachshund mural on the wall


5. Has nacho and frito pie themed dogs on the menu

These are all great reasons to love Frank, in addition to the fact that their Vienna Beef dogs are extremely tasty.  Now, add to the list the fact that Frank is one of the sponsors of this year's HYP Gala (coming up on May 21st).   So, in addition to providing good food, Frank is also helping to build an affordable house for a hardworking family in need.

Making Austin a little more delicious, and making Austin a better place to live.  That's a winning combo that deserves your patronage and support.  Stop by Frank next time you're in the vicinity of 4th and Colorado.

[Note: your pals at Makers Mark are also a sponsor of HYP Gala.  They continue to be super cool, as they were with their sponsorship of the Catalyst 8 Mad Hatter Tea Party back in February.]

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, 4/21

HYP Happy Hour @ the Belmont. 6p-9p. 1/2 Price Drinks. Be there to find out how to Have Fun, Build a House, and Change Lives.


Thursday, 4/29

YMBL Spring Fling @ The American Legion House. 6p-9p. I've always had a great time at the YMBL Fall and Spring Flings. There is a small price for this fundraiser, but de minimus for what you get in return. Proceeds will go toward the Austin Sunshine Camps.

Catalyst 8 Happy Hour @ El Sol y La Luna. 6p-8p. Come out and learn how to support the arts in Austin. Get details on the upcoming Summer of Catalyst 8.


These are all good events. Make plans to hit any and all which look appealing.

Happy Hour: Habitat Young Professionals

Austin Habitat Young Professionals ("HYP") has a happy hour coming up on April 21st at the Belmont. There will be drink specials, but more importantly, there will be information and opportunities regarding becoming more involved with Habitat. HYP is a lot of fun, and HYP does a lot of good. Moreover, I've been adding this line to many HYP annoucements:

Have Fun. Build a House. Change Lives.

There is a lot more to building the house than the actual build days. Houses require land, lumber, fixtures, and a host of other items in order to get built. These items aren't free, and thus the process of raising funds to support the volunteer build days is a vital part of "Build a House." Money comes from a variety of sources, with HYP membership dues and HYP Gala tickets being a large component. Thus, if you want to help a family obtain the dream of owning a home, signing up as a paying HYP member is a great way to get started.

See you at the Belmont on the 21st (or, if you can't come but want information, email: floydaustinblog@gmail.com).

Rugby is Awesome

Rugby is a lot of fun to watch. If you haven't seen a match before, I highly recommend it.

I took these today out at Burr Field. Teams are the Dallas Reds and the Austin Huns.

Car2Go

As you may know, I'm really looking forward to the launch of Car2go. Not that I plan to sell my own car, but I do plan to take advantage of the convenience of the Car2go model when going downtown. If you aren't familiar with the program, watch this: video segment on Car2go from the Texas Tribune

Flummoxed

There is a cluster of subjects about which I have yet to obtain any understanding. One of them if Farmville. I cannot see the appeal of this "game." Real farming is tedious, hard work. Unlike ranching (which is very hard work), farming lacks the awesome elements of cowboys and herds of dangerous yet tasty animals. Rodeos are exciting. Farmers' markets are not. [note: admittedly, a virtual law firm game some probably bore people into catatonia]

So, I am truly flummoxed as to why millions of people play Farmville on Facebook. And by millions, we're talking about 75M+. That is more than the entire populations of Texas, California, and Florida combined. Adding fuel to this inferno of banality, I have just learned that crops on Farmville may become branded and soon "credits" for Farmville may be purchased in cash at 7-11 (so kids without credit cards can participate).

I don't understand the appeal of tending virtual crops. At least real crops can be eaten or monetized. Then there are the sad lost cows and turtles. How do I know this? Because they show up in my Facebook news feed. I don't care about seeing this; after all, I sometimes bombard Facebook with my Foursquare check ins. I am concerned, though, when I see that instead of being occupied on Friday night (by movie time with spouse/kids, binge drinking, poker, visiting lesbian bondage clubs with RNC staffers, whatever), some people, somewhere are planting virtual crops and milking cartoon cows.

Now, while players of Farmville confuse me, I'm pretty damn impressed by Zynga (the game developer) and its ability to squeeze sizable amounts of cash out of a product I would have considered repellent. Then again, I would have rejected Snuggie if asked to fund it. I may just be out of touch with the pulse of society.

[note: some people don't understand Foursquare and/or GoWalla. They obviously don't know the thrill of getting positive reinforcement (or validation, as some might say) for one's frequent bar visits, or the titillation of finding a Wild GoWallaby.]

Public Transit

I'm happy to see that Austin's MetroRail is finally in service. It is certainly a step in the right direction. If I lived in Leander and worked downtown I'd probably ride it. However, since I don't and don't, there is not going to be much Red Line use in my near future.

Having used public transit on both coasts and in various states between, I can easily say that may favorite form of railed transportation is the St. Charles streetcar line in New Orleans. So, in case you are wondering:

-Is it modern?
A: No, absolutely not. Moreover, I don't even think it's air-conditioned. The cars have been in service almost continuously since 1923-24.

-Is it practical?
A: I have no idea. I rode it from Canal Street to Emeril's DelMonico, not exactly the most frequent or practical route for commuters.

-Is it just for tourists?
A: While there were a lot of tourists on it, I did see some very authentic looking people as well. But fear not, as I didn't see anyone I thought had the authentic desire to stab me and my friends. In fact, it was much safer than the bar our busboy at DelMonico recommended.

-What then places the streetcar at the top of my list?
A: The streetcars are so old school they seem surreal. Seriously, these things look awesomely retro as the cruise around NOLA amongst modern vehicles. They have this deco-modern look which was probably seen as high tech and futuristic back in the 20's. Unlike the trolleys of San Francisco, though, they don't seem cute (maybe it's the lack of an associated rice product and it's national advertising). And, like NOLA, a city which seems to age at its own slow pace, they look ancient compared to the people and the cars in the street, but kind of at home as they cruise past the old buildings and then the historic homes of the garden district. They've survived all sorts of disasters and still keep running. So, we'll give it the label of "character."


All of the above being said, I would prefer that Austin stick with climate controlled, laptop friendly railed transportation.

Fun: Freddie's Place

If you're looking for a lazy but entertaining way to spend a few hours this spring, I highly recommend a trip over to Freddie's Place on South 1st. Here you can buy cheap drinks, play washers, and eat an enormous burger served on Texas toast. You can also bring your dog, thus ensuring that he won't defile your home in anger for having left him inside on such a nice afternoon.

Freddie's is pretty cool about hot weather. Various specials kick in when the thermometer breaks 100 degrees, including the every popular 100 cent margarita.

[note: I took the about video on my iPhone while engaged in my first game of washers, ever. Shocking, I know, as I've enjoyed countless hours playing horseshoes and the unfortunately named (bean bag tossing game) cornhole]

Austin Pub Quiz

[video: Duffy, your trivia host]



I often refer to Austin Pub Quiz as "Tavern Trivia," but actually our fearless host Duffy does the trivia nights at the Mean Eyed Cat (every second Monday of the month). Also, Tavern Trivia is now The Tavern's Most Interesting Man Trivia Challenge.

Trivia is at The Tavern every Wednesday night, from 8p-whenever it ends. Be there.

Long Center Anniversary Party

video:Oates runs off stage after their second encore


I don't know where to get started when trying to discuss this event, so here's the summary: it was awesome. The Grand Opening on 2008 was awesome, but last Saturday was better. Was it an incredible performance by Hall & Oates? Maybe. Was is the laid back event which unfolded after H&O left the stage, or was it the swank but open environment? Probably. I can go on for a while about this, so I'll cut myself off now. Congrats to the Long Center and all of the folks who planned this event. And, you know, don't forget to revive that Frito Pie bar next year. It was magically delicious.

Back to Hall & Oates: they are unbelievably good live. I did not expect these guys, who are 63 and 60 respectively, to come out and blow away the versions of their songs which had been recorded back in the early 80's. You just don't expect older rock singers to come out and upstage their work from 30 years ago, but the progenitors of "Rock and Soul" did just that.