Music: Nouvelle Vague

Last Saturday, I was wondering what would be more fun than spending the evening watching a couple of French ladies dance and sing lounge style covers of 80's New Wave hits. Answer: nothing. Thus, I was compelled to go down to The Mohawk with the gf and some amigos in order to see Nouvelle Vague in action. The show was a lot of fun. I was hooked at the opening number, wherein they covered Depeche Mode's "Master and Servant". My favorite, though, was their version of the Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere". The Talking Heads' is one of my favorite groups, but when you replace David Byrne with the two ladies in the above photo and their Snidely Whiplash mustache sporting guitarist... man, it is groovy stuff.

Scary French facial hair aside, Nouvelle Vague's music is quite good. The fact that their songs are interesting interpretations of familiar New Wave songs is an added bonus. Check them out on iTunes and download a few of their songs (starting with the two I mentioned above).

Retro: The McDLT

So, I was talking to the gf a couple of days ago and I made a reference to the McLean (as the linked ad explains: the 1980's McDonald's attempt at a healthy burger). While in this conversation, I mentioned the McDLT. I was horrified to find out that she didn't remember this amazing product. I then thought: what if in the way law school replaced my knowledge of Spanish with my less useful knowledge of torts and contracts, her law school experience replaced memories of a burger delivered in packaging designed to keep the hot side hot and the cool side cool with information about property and civil procedure? Aye Caramba! I knew it was time to remedy the situation, so I turned to the internet for help.

While searching for some links to the McDLT, I came across an ad for the burger which features Jason Alexander (aka George Castanza of Sienfeld dancing and singing a song about the McDLT. I lack the ability to appropriately describe this, so watch it for yourself: 1980's Jason Alexander McDLT ad

I'm glad that Mr. Alexender's success on Sienfeld means we will (probably) never again have to see him in a dance routine about McDonald's products.

Bonus: The McDLT didn't die because it wasn't delicious, but rather because McDonald's decided to discontinue Styrofoam packaging. Without the convenient Styrofoam packaging to fold over and thus easily form the burger with a piping hot patty and cool, crisp veggies, the McDLT was basically pointless.

Food: Taco Deli

Man, do I love TacoDeli. I been going there since 1999, right before I went to law school. I avoided it at first, mostly because every cafe/restaurant which had previously been in that location would crash and burn promptly after starting up. I didn't want to get hooked on a doomed taco. Fortunately I was wrong about the location, and once I visited I was instantly hooked. Moreover, thousands of other people are apparently hooked. TacoDeli has won six Austin Chronicle readers' choice awards. It's even quite popular on FourSquare (I'll have to check on GoWalla).

I'm most fond of the steak frontera funditos (pictured above). I also like the Mexico City and the al pastor tacos. Furthermore, the have excellent queso and they stock the fridge with delicious Mexican Coca-Cola (the kind with real cane sugar).

The gf and I ate lunch there today. I was initially concerned about the weather; however, the patio was quite comfortable in the sun and their were plenty of outdoor propane heaters on standby. The only unpleasant aspect to the entire meal was the loud woman who kept describing her last child birth experience in graphic detail (i.e., only an obstetrician would not mind hearing this while eating). It was freaking out me, the gf, and several other diners.

I plan to hit TacoDeli quite often once the weather warms up. Tacos are great before heading into Barton Creek for photos, biking, and other amusing activities.

Blown Out Boot

Yes, you apparently can blow out your cowboy boots while at The Tavern. I wear my Lucchese cowboy boots very often, and apparently I heap abuse upon them. I bought this pair last April, and I didn't expect to have severely damaged them within a year of purchase. Fortunately, for about $75, Austin Shoe Hospital can re-sole, re-heel, and re-condition these bad boys.

If you don't yet own a pair of cowboy boots, I highly recommend Lucchese. The first week is very uncomfortable, but once broken in you will find your Lucchese boots to be among the most comfortable shoes you own. And they look cool.

I'm not joking when I say I wear mine everywhere. I wore them last week, when I walked for three hours taking photos. I've worn them on multi-mile hikes around Vegas. I generally wear them whenever I go downtown. Moreover, I'm currently looking into buying a new pair to add into the boot rotation.

Austin Pub Quiz

[video: Duffy, your trivia host]


I had a good time at The Tavern last night, playing Austin Pub Quiz's 8 round trivia game. I excel at the grab bag and nerd rounds; however, I generally crash and burn at the movie quote, TV trivia, and TV theme song rounds. Fortunately, I know some ringers in various categories. I'll be playing in the finals next week, though I'll probably take some photos during the rounds in which I'm dead weight on the team.

Events: Plucker's Party With a Purpose to Benefit HYP

If you're looking for a good time on 2/18/10, look no further than Plucker's Party With a Purpose benefiting Habitat Young Professionals. Plucker's will donate 20% of non-booze sales to Austin Habitat Young Professionals... and there will be a beer pong tournament for which the winning will receive $1000 donated to the charity represented by said team. Plucker's is super cool for organizing and sponsoring this event. Come out to support HYP and Pluckers, as well as to engorge yourself on Jamaican Jerk flavored wings.

[note: I started eating at Plucker's when I discovered the Jerk flavored wings and because Plucker's will serve an order of only the little drums. Mmmmmmm.]

Groundhog Day < Armadillo Day

Armadillo Day at J. Black's

Apparently, Punxsutawney Phil has seen his shadow and thus we can expect six more weeks of winter. I'm nonplussed, as winter in Austin is a mild and sometimes delightful time of year. I was much more concerned during last August when Archie the Armadillo (the fat one on the left; pictured with his posse and their liquor) waddled in front of J. Black's Feel Good Lounge on West 6th whereupon he saw his shadow (thus predicting, accurately, several more weeks of hot weather). After months of triple digit temperatures, I was ready for things to cool off. Unlike the mild winter, I find late summer in Austin to often be brutal enough to send me indoors for extended periods of time. I'm hoping that this year's Armadillo Day will have a different outcome.

Speaking of armadillos: despite being considered pests and being seen most frequently as road kill, it is astonishingly hard to find a licensed armadillo handler to wrangle armadillos for an event.

Found: Sign

[photo: by WDFloyd's iPhone]


Niiiiice.

Found: Dr. Pepper with Real Sugar

I realize that this may not be Earth shattering news. After all, the famous Dublin Dr. Pepper has always been made with real cane sugar. However, Dublin Dr. Pepper is often sold at a premium and can be relatively inconvenient to obtain in Austin. The green bottles in the photo, however, were in the cooler at the 7-11 on 15th and San Antonio. No special effort necessary; they were on the shelf next to the Diet Dr. Pepper and priced exactly the same.

I'm not on the anti high fructose corn syrup bandwagon, nor am I convinced that it's Satan's own sweetener. I do, however, think that real sugar tastes MUCH better. Compare, for example, a Coke bottled in Texas (corn syrup) to one from Mexico (made with real sugar, and extremely delicious). Same thing with DP. I picked up one of the green bottled Dr. Peppers and drank it after my Leadership Austin meeting. It was very good, a definite cut above it's corn sweetened cousin.

Peeves: Twitter Applications

I've had nothing but trouble with these things. Yes, the idea of having the multiple columns of twitter feed categories and the URL shorteners built into the send bar is nice. But, stupid things keep happening with mine.

First, there was Tweetdeck. I really liked it, especially that submarine noise it makes when a new tweet comes in. But, my relationship with Tweetdeck began to go south with the iPhone app locked me out. This was less annoying than when the first version of ETrade Mobile for iPhone would shut the phone down, but nevertheless irksome. Then, after upgrading to Windows 7, Tweetdeck on my laptop decided to lock me out completely. I tried a couple of uninstall/reinstalls, but Tweetdeck will also say that my Twitter handle is taken and/or I don't have the right password. While the former is true, the latter is not as I know exactly what the password is. Thus thoroughly annoyed, I switched to Seesmic.

It wasn't the cute raccoon logo which sold me, but rather CNET's recommendation of this application. For the most part, it functions well. Sometimes it freezes up if I turn it on after my computer has been in sleep mode for a while. Also, sometimes the bit.ly URL function does weird things. These are minor problems. What's really annoying is that it is inserting feeds of people I'm not following. And, they seem to be porn links, or bad bands, ridiculous people, or possibly some combination of all of these things. Since there is a commonality, I'm assuming that someone has figured out how to trick Seesmic into inserting their non-sense into Seesmic organized feeds without the consent to the Seesmic user. It would be nice if Seesmic can figure out how to put the kybosh on this.

Events: HYP Build The Love

The HYP Build the Love fundraiser is around the corner. Here's the text from the Facebook event page:

Join us Wednesday February 3rd at Moonshine Grill for HYP Build The Love 2010 !!!!
Anyone who had the chance to come last time knows what a fun event event this is, and this year should be no exception. Come by any time between 6pm to 9pm for Wine Tasting, Delicious Food and Live Music! Tickets are only $25 for HYP Members & $35 and are available on the HYP blog, as well as at the door for the event itself.

Or, click here to get your Build the Love tickets.

Food

The gf and I finally made it to the 24 Diner on Saturday night. This place is quite good. Not only is the food delicious (what else would you except from a restaurant with the same owners of Paggi House), but moreover everything on the menu is locally grown and/or organic.

I ordered the patty melt and was quite pleased. The burger itself was made from organic ground brisket. Very good. By the time I was finished, there was no room for the peanut butter and chocolate milkshake I had initially considered. I thus put it on the list for the next visit, along with the pork chop.

Events

Planning continues for the Catalyst 8 Mad Hatter Tea Party, set for February 24th at the Allan House. This is going to be a good one. Maker's Mark and Tito's are the liquor sponsors. The Southern Sirens burlesque group will be performing, and we will have models dressed up as various characters from Alice in Wonderland. Need I say more? Ok, one more thing: Catalyst 8 runs the Boost Rental Subsidy Program, which helps emerging performing arts groups pay for use of the Rollins Theatre at the Long Center. We're funding over 100 nights of performances this year.

Also, Austin Habitat Young Professionals will have our annual Build the Love fundraiser on February 3rd. Like last year, our generous pals at Moonshine are giving us the venue. It will be a lot of fun as well. You can't go wrong with an evening of live music, wine tasting, and tasty food all for $25/$35 (member/non-member). And, of course, funds raised go to help build affordable housing in Austin.

Food

I may be addicted to hot dogs from Chris' Little Chicago. I've been there twice this week, and I could easily go back for more. I am restraining myself, though, by not ordering the deep fried dogs anymore. I don't think enough fish oil exists to counteract that.

Here's the deal with Chris':

-delicious Vienna Beef dogs
-tasty homemade chili
-Chicago style dressings, for those of you who like that sort of thing
-other Chicago products, like "Italian Beef" sandwiches

Events: Planning for Catalyst 8's 2010 Bash Is Already Underway

2009 Catalyst 8 Bash, seen from outside The Long Center

Plans are underway for the 2010 Catalyst 8 Bash, which is scheduled for August. This year's theme is going to be digital art. As a digital photography enthusiast, I'm looking forward to scouting for digital art to feature at the event.

Bash '09 was one of my favorite parties of the year. Our featured artist was Steve Dubov, and we had a private performance by The Black and White Years.  Also, Illios Lighting blew things up with an incredible LED wall synced to the DJ's music.

I'm expecting this year's Bash to exceed the already high bar set last year.

Interesting

The Hideout Theatre is running a project called Austin Secrets. Austinites are invited to anonymously send in personal secrets on postcards. Secrets will be incorporated into weekly shows (10pm, Saturdays now through the end of February). Here's what the Hideout has to say about the shows:

In every show we’ll use improvisation to explore secrets anonymously submitted by you and other Austinites. Serious secrets will be treated with proper respect, and more lighthearted secrets will be a chance to cut loose, so expect a mix of drama, comedy, and everything in between.

This looks very cool and I plan to attend one of the shows.

Fun in Austin

Tavern Trivia

If you haven't been yet, I highly recommend trivia night at The Tavern (Wednesdays at 7pm). Austin Pub Quiz runs the event and uses an 8 round format. I'm only good at the nerd rounds, but there is plenty of opportunity for those of you good at movie and TV quotes, name that tune, and movie and TV theme songs.

Sadly, during the last game, the only TV theme song I could identify was Airwolf.

Winners get to take home and decorate the trophy. Look closely for the Captain Kirk bobblehead and the Imperial Palace casino chip. Those were my additions.

Highball

If you've been in laid up in the hospital, or incarcerated in the third world and just cleared of your trumped up charges, then I understand how you can be in Austin but haven't yet been to The Highball. I'm not sure why it took the Austin Chronicle until January 8 to write a review. If you have been, then you know how much fun this place is. Needless to say, if you haven't been yet then get down to Highball to bowl on lanes imported from New Orleans (formerly of the famous Rock n' Bowl) and to hit one of the karaoke rooms. Also, order the fried shrimp plate. Trust me on this one. Furthermore, if Broken Lizard is there: even if their female friends offer you a cupcake, the guys probably do not actually want you to eat it.

Game Watching: 2009 BCS National Championship

For the only game that actually matters: the National Championship. Habitat Young Professionals, the Austin Young Chamber of Commerce, and Young Women's Alliance are hosting a game watching party at the Alamo Drafthouse. It will be a good time.

Events: Catalyst 8 Mad Hatter Party

Save the date for February 24th, 2010. Catalyst 8 will be kicking off it's 2010 calendar with its Mad Hatter Tea Party. This event promises to be edgy, fun, and.... I hear there will be models. Niiiiice.

I can't post too many details yet, but preliminary information indicates that this event is going to be awesome.

Event Follow-Up: Catalyst 8 Holiday Party

Good times at the Catalyst 8 holiday party last night. Although I forgot to bring my Festivus Pole, the generous sponsorship of J. Black's, Tito's Vodka and Maker's Mark more than made up for my decoration deprivation. The event was held in the always swank Kodosky Donor Lounge at The Long Center.

Cool Idea: Car2Go

I must admit, I was initially skeptical about the concept behind Car2Go; however, after seeing their presentation at the December Leadership Austin Essential class I warmed up to the idea. Then, after class, I was offered a ride in one of the Smart Cars from the Car2go fleet. It was pretty fun... and the more I think about the concept, the more I like it. Not that I'm going to sell my Passat, but as I plan to move closer in to downtown Austin I love the idea of being able to grab a car for an unplanned one way rental in order to easily get around the central part of the city. As my girlfriend will tell you, I'm eagerly anticipating weekends wherein I won't have to use my car at all.