Live Music

Zach and I went to a Jimmy LaFave+Betty Soo show last night at the Cactus Cafe. Jimmy was one of his dad's best friends so we got the "on the list" treatment that waived the $15 ticket cost. The Cactus Cafe is a premier folk venue in Austin and it lives ON the UT campus. It's kind of amazing. Folk artist royalty like Townes Van Zandt, Ani DiFranco, Guy Clark, Alison Krauss, and Robert Earl Keen have all played there many times throughout their career and in the intimate setting it's got to be amazing every time.
It was a really wonderful night. Jimmy played Bob's "Restless Spirits song" (which is rumored to be about Zach's mom). Nothing beats Bob's version (ask me and I'll email you the mp3) but you can watch a video of Jimmy doing the song in Kansas by following this link. Zach's dad was primarily a song writer and it's always worth it when you hear a Bob Childers song to really pay attention to the lyrics.
So now this blog has basically become about Bob instead of about the Cactus cafe and I want to post a video of the man himself:

Every show Zach goes to people are always walking up to him and telling him how important his dad was to them. Last night was no exception, a woman pulled Zach aside during the break to share a story. Ladies loved Bob. Jimmy shared a Bob-ism last night that I think is worth repeating (uncensored) here. Bob said, there are three types of songs: a toe-tapper, a tear-jerker, and the third (that was left out last night due to "mixed company") the clit-tickler.
I can't wait to see some more shows. The opener, Betty Soo, I liked so much that I bought her cd. It's not all folk music in Austin and I'm looking forward to seeing a dirty rock or hip hop show at Emo's next.

The Seven Letter Word

The economy. Unemployment rates are staggering. It's not the best time to move to a new city and find a new job, but here's how Texas stacks up in joblessness.

As of August 2008:

Missouri: 6.6%
Illinois: 7.3%
Texas: 5%

Highest?
Michigan: 8.9%

Lowest?
South Dakota: 3.3%

It's probably better that I'm not living in Missouri or Illinois anymore looking for a job. Texas (and Austin especially) is doing better than the country.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Austin Business Journal

Austin’s unemployment rate continued climbing in August as the area struggles with the softening economy.

Unemployment hit 4.5 percent in August, up from 4.4 percent in July, according to the latest figures from the Texas Workforce Commission. A year ago, the unemployment rate was 3.7 percent.

Despite the uptick, Austin is faring better than the rest of Texas and the country. The unemployment rate in Texas stood at 5.1 percent in August, while the U.S. rate hit 6.1 percent.

The number of jobs in the region stood at 776,900 in August, a 2.4 percent increase over August 2007. The government sector led the year-over-year increase with 7,800 positions, followed by leisure and hospitality with 3,100 new positions. The biggest decline was in the manufacturing sector, which lost 2,800 jobs in the last 12 months.

Total nonfarm employment in Texas grew by 6,700 positions in August to 10.6 million jobs.

It's still hard. I'm finding positions I'm interested in everyday, but I imagine myself and 4.5% of the population here all sitting in front of computers and applying for the exact same job and I start to think it's hopeless. I won't reveal too much about my search in case prospective employers are looking at my blog (Hi! I could be working this hard for you!).

Barton Springs!

I've been managing to get in an hour of exercise 5 days a week for a few weeks now. My apartment complex has a small exercise room and there's just enough equipment in there to keep me from getting burnt out on the routine. Today felt like a pool adventure day (I can't argue with an 86 degree, sunny September day). I went to Barton Springs!

It took about twenty minutes to become my new favorite place in Austin. It costs $3 to get in, but it was well worth it to me once I stepped in that freezing cold water. It literally (and I am using that correctly) took my breath away for a couple minutes. According to the site it is open year round and I promise that if it is warm and you visit we will go there. It's only a 15 minute drive from my apartment and it's very peaceful. If the weather continues I may make this a weekly adventure. There's plenty of room to swim and my exercise routine has quickly been paying off. I've lost 4 pounds in the past month.

Next up in Austin: Fantastic Fest! http://www.fantasticfest.com/ I'm not sure if we'll get to go, but check out this description from the website--

Fantastic Fest is a week-long festival featuring the best in new science-fiction, fantasy, horror, animation, crime, Asian, and all around badass cinema. The event was created to offer exposure to genre films which are often overlooked by the traditional festival circuit.
Fantastic Fest is held each year at one venue, the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on South Lamar in Austin, Texas. The Alamo Drafthouse was named the best cinema in America by Entertainment Weekly, and features food and drink served to your seat without any disruption of the movie experience.

One Month: Giddy Up

Well, I went to the Texas DMV today and should be expecting my TX driver's license to arrive in 2-3 weeks. I'm not sure that I'm a Texan yet, but I'm on my way. In one month I've been able to take in a lot of the finer aspects of the state with the simple motto of: "Friendship." Mostly these finer aspects (so far) involve eating establishments.


Amy's Ice Cream: http://www.amysicecreams.com/
The location on South Congress operates out of a walk-up window. I had the Dark Chocolate ice cream. It made my day...and then the leftover ice cream I froze in some Tupperware made the next day as well. Oh and they're open until midnight! How great is that?!


Curra's Grill: http://currasgrill.com/
This place is five minutes from our apartment. The parking lot is always packed, but we went for a late dinner and had no problem getting a table. The atmosphere doesn't compare to Guero's, but I actually thought the food was better. I've become a huge fan of Tacos Al Pastor (marinated pork with pineapple, cilantro, and onion) and the ones here were phenomenal.

There are a lot of actual attractions here that don't involve food that I have to check out ASAP. Number one on my list (while the 90 degree weather holds) is Barton Springs. It's a three-acre natural spring pool that's been dammed up so there's a rock/gravel bottom and the temp stays about 68 degrees year round.

Oh yeah, and no job yet. No matter, I'll just gather some strength and spirit from the state song:

"Texas, Our Texas"

Texas, Our Texas! all hail the mighty State!
Texas, Our Texas! so wonderful so great!
Boldest and grandest, withstanding ev'ry test
O Empire wide and glorious, you stand supremely blest.
(chorus)

Texas, O Texas! your freeborn single star,
Sends out its radiance to nations near and far,
Emblem of Freedom! it set our hearts aglow,
With thoughts of San Jacinto and glorious Alamo.
(chorus)

Texas, dear Texas! from tyrant grip now free,
Shines forth in splendor, your star of destiny!
Mother of heroes, we come your children true,
Proclaiming our allegiance, our faith, our love for you.

Chorus

God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.
God bless you Texas! And keep you brave and strong,
That you may grow in power and worth, throughout the ages long.

what you don't know

There are things that are impossible to know when you move to a city, things that travel guides and web research won't tell you. Here are a few I've discovered in Austin:

1) 10 cents in a parking meter will only get you 6 minutes of time.

2) Gas prices vary wildly from block to block. In the five miles from my apartment to the public library I saw prices ranging from $3.51/gallon to $3.65/gallon. Sometimes the prices even change within the same chain of gas station.

3) When you are trying to get on and off a highway you will notice that you are on a one-way access road for about half a mile before you actually connect with the highway. This is not so much a problem getting on, but if you exit after your actual destination there is no way to double back without driving several blocks out of your way and circling through neighborhoods or finding a bridge to get back to the previous exit.

4) If you need maintenance done on your apartment and you live in my apartment complex, you get a free fetish magazine with service. In my case, I was unable to get into our storage room because the key didn't work. The maintenance man came, fixed it, and when I opened it up I found a copy of "Leg World" on the floor. Either it was slipped under the door by a neighbor and the whole time I was standing there talking to him it was on the ground and I should be very embarrassed OR he provided me with the October 2008 issue free of charge.