80's TV Homage: Knight Rider for 8 Cellos

I was recently playing team trivia (via Zoom) with some friends and after a TV theme song round the group's conversation turned to our favorites from the 80's.  I voted for the themes songs to Miami Vice (by Jan Hammer) and The Equalizer (by Stewart Copeland of The Police) as tied for my favorite (though I could give Magnum PI honorable mention among a few others).  The theme to Knight Rider, of course, came up during our group's discussion.  Thus, shortly thereafter I was delighted to run across a Mashable article about a cellist who covered the Knight Rider song by playing the eight cello parts herself.  After listening, I like the cello cover better than the original.

Here you go:

Sci-Fi: Star Wars Ships to Scale; 1980's Flash Gordon

I was on Facebook earlier, and I noticed a friend had posted that The Empire Strikes Back premiered 40 years ago today.  And damn, that is correct information.  I remember Empire well, as it's one of the first live-action movies I saw in a theater.  It was (to me, at that age) and unbelievably amazing spectacle (and to me at my current age, it remains my favorite of the Star Wars movies).  It also helpfully put into context all of the Star Wars toys we were playing with (having mostly learned about the plot of the original Star Wars from older kids).

With the above in mind, it seemed appropriate to share this video I ran across (via Nerdist) on Twitter:





The scale of the Star Wars franchise spacecraft is pretty impressive.  It was fun to see them next to various real-life objects for scaling purposes.

Thinking back to the days when I was a kid and we played with Star Wars toys a lot:  later on, after having seen Empire Strikes Back, I recall going to a Star Wars themed birthday party.  When it was over, the moms in charge piled us into station wagons and took us to see another sci-fi movie.  In this case, it was the 1980 cult classic Flash Gordon (the one with the excellent theme song and score by Queen).   If you haven't seen this movie, it is hard to emphasize how confusing Flash Gordon is for small children.  I know.  I was one of them.  We all walked out of the movie, highly confused, and promptly went back to Star Wars as our sci-fi outlet of choice (we certainly didn't appreciate the performance by Max von Sydow or the whip fight with future 007 Timothy Dalton).   I watched Flash Gordon again about 25 years later whereupon it (a) was immensely more enjoyable and (b) made a lot more sense.

If you are an adult, you halfway like the sci-fi genre, and you have a good sense of humor about campy things: then by all means have a couple of drinks and watch Flash Gordon.  It is awesomely and hilariously campy (or incredibly, delightfully weird... however you want to define it).  I started to describe it, but then deleted all of the sentences I wrote because I (a) did not want to set your expectations and (b) could not describe it in a way which does it justice.  Just see it for yourself and enjoy.

Also,  the original Flash Gordon comics, movie serials, and TV series were major influences on George Lucas as he came up with the initial concepts for Star Wars.  Lucas first wanted to revive the Flash Gordon character but Dino DeLaurentiis (producer of Dune, Three Days of the Condor, and Blue Velvet, among other movies) already had the rights.  Thus, Lucas decided to craft his own space opera.  The more I've learned about Star Wars over the years, the more interesting it is to look at the some of the material which inspired Lucas.  Furthermore, it's interesting to learn more about the role his wife (at the time) Maria had in shaping the original Star Wars movie.  

I'm cutting myself off before I go down any more sci-fi movie rabbit holes.  Now you have a few ideas for your next movie night.

Summertime Fun: Heat-Related Illnesses

While reading about a national park's plans to re-open, I found this handy chart from the CDC:

Spoiler Alert: All of these Heat-Related Illnesses Are Unpleasant

Summer is just around the corner, but it's already getting hot in Austin (it's 92°F as I type this post).  Some of you can handle the heat better than others.  I'm not here to judge, just to remind you that it is entirely possible to overexert yourself in the heat of the Texas summer.   I have never experienced heat stroke, but I have ventured into mild heat exhaustion territory and it is no fun.

For beating the heat, I try to wear fishing shirts or dry-fit shirts if I'm outside and active.  That along with hydration and staying in the shade seems to work for me.  Also, during the summer, I shift most of my bicycling activities to the night (or occasionally early in the morning) and move cardio into the gym (which presents a challenge this summer, thanks to COVID-19).   Kayaking also becomes an early morning or evening activity.

An extra note on sunburns:  if you are up in the cool, delightful mountain air remember that mountain air gets a lot thinner as you go up.   That means less shielding from UV rays, and thus the potential for some nasty sunburns.  Speaking of the mountains, I really want to get up into the mountains of New Mexico this summer.

An extra note on bicycling: check your helmet.  A little ventilation goes a long way.  I have two helmets, and my lighter (more ventilated) Specialized Echelon makes quite the difference when it's warm out.

April 2020 Austin and Austin-Round Rock MSA Real Estate Statistics

Visit ABoR.com/MarketStatistics for more information and a full press release from the Austin Board of Realtors.  The above statistics compare April 2019 to April 2020.

At our office we looked at the numbers and concluded that while COVID-19 is obviously affecting the local residential market, the numbers were not as bad as we expected and they indicate that there was still plenty of activity in the market.  Based on what I've seen on social media, observed in our office, and heard anecdotally (from Realtors and title professionals) there has been an uptick in activity for May.   I'm throwing a huge caveat on that last sentence as it is not based on objective or data-based reporting; however, what I've perceived is more action and optimism in the real estate community.  

We'll see if the optimism is correctly placed or grossly misguided as Texas continues to open back up from COVID-19 restrictions and as the local/state/national macroeconomic effects are more fully realized.  

Visit us at Floyd Real Estate, LLC, if you are thinking about buying or selling property (residential, commercial, or land) in the Central Texas area.  

Floyd Real Estate is a Texas real estate brokerage, TREC Lic. #9003790

COVID-19

The City of Austin has release a chart explaining Stages 1-5 in its COVID-19 Risk Based Guidelines:

Visit AustinTexas.gov/COVID19 for more information and to check on the city's stage status.

Also, the Texas A&M Real Estate Center has just release updated economic projections based on COVID-19.

If Rockets were Transparent

Flashback to New Mexico

On Top of Wheeler Peak, the Highest Point in NM

I'm currently sitting in my home office in Austin; however, Facebook has been gleefully reminding me that two years ago I was camping and hiking in the Taos area.   That trip was a lot of fun.  After a quick flight to Albuquerque, we drove up to Taos and made a campsite along the road to Taos Ski Valley.   It was a nice site right along the Rio Hondo (too bad I can't packed fly fishing gear).   Our group had a great time hiking on Wheeler Peak, hiking to hot springs in the Rio Grande Gorge, and eating in Taos.   If possible, I'm road tripping back to the Taos area in the summer (this time, with fly fishing gear and possibly my mountain bike).

A note on the gorge:  I don't know what COVID-19 has done to the river rafting industry in northern New Mexico.  However, when you can, you should try out rafting the Rio Grange through the gorge on what is called the "Taos Box" run.  I did this a while back and it was fantastic.  I'd like to do this again, along with a trip down the Arkansas through the Royal Gorge and (of course) the eventual Grand Canyon rafting trip.

Austin REALTORS: Guide for Showing Properties

Austin REALTORS, our friends at ABOR have published this infographic with advice on how to handle a showing during the COVID-19 crisis:

I'll reiterate the disclaimer:  agents, talk to your broker about these recommendations; brokers, talk to your attorneys about these recommendations; everyone, talk to your clients about what they are comfortable with.

Central Texas COVID-19 CRE Update

Our friends at Capstone Title put together this webinar with a speaker from CoStar who discussed the effects of COVID-19 on commercial real estate in Central Texas.  It's full of interesting information for commercial and residential real estate agents:



The Foskitt Law Office is a fee attorney for Capstone Title.   Contact us for your real estate closing needs in the Central Texas area. 

Watch Apollo 11's Moon Landing in Amazing Simulation

Keeping on with the moon theme, here's a video simulation of the Eagle from Apollo 11 landing on the moon:



To add to the excitement as you watch this: the Eagle's computer was overloaded and had the lander heading for touchdown in a boulder field.  As the computer was overloaded and trying to reset itself, using it to aid in the final approach to landing wasn't an option.  Neil Armstrong had to guide the lander in manually and fly it until he found a safe place to land.

(read about this and 49 other facts about the Apollo 11 mission)

What's inside of the Lunar Module?

You may be wondering why I'm posting a video about the lunar module from the Apollo program.  Well, I've been reading One Giant Leap: The Impossible Mission That Flew Us to the Moon (by Charles Fishman).  I'm enjoying the book, and on the side I've been looking up a lot of information about NASA programs from the 1960's.  Thus, the following video which you may enjoy:

Virtual Fusebox Festival: Texas Monthly's Review

Check out what Texas Monthly has to say about the 2020 Virtual Fusebox Festival.