#LBJ Fountain

[sildarmillion-grounds]

Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum

Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum

LBJ Library: LBJ Presidential Library

Located in the LBJ School of Public Affairs Campus. Visited 27 August 2018.

More pictures from the LBJ School of Public Affairs Campus, including the LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections. Visited January 9 2020.

[merelybehowclearly]

LBJ Presidential Library // Austin, TX

[arcticdementor]

The outdated definition of a liberal is that of a person who is tolerant of others, their thoughts, and their way of life. This traditional definition has been discarded in favour of an increasingly narrow one largely due to Karl Popper’s “Paradox of Tolerance” in which the intolerant cannot be tolerated as an ‘open society’ will eventually be seized by the intolerant. Therefore, Enlightened Despotism is the ‘proper’ way to govern a society.

It is human nature to challenge despotism and authoritarianism, especially as they fall into intellectual, spiritual, economic and personal corruption. So how are those who challenge such a system to be dealt with? Simply label them as ‘intolerant’, which makes them a de facto outlaw in society.

Christopher Rufo is one of these modern outlaws. Initally a documentary maker, his life recently has taken him down another, much more difficult route: challenging the intellectual basis of today’s American elites, that being Critical Race Theory. He has been credited with singlehandedly putting opposition to this trend on the political map by way of influencing President Trump to issue an Executive Order halting its instruction inside of federal agencies. With Biden’s reversal of Trump’s Executive Order, Rufo is now expanding the front far and wide, and winning key battles along the way.

…

All Italians are mafia so your family is definitely connected to at least one of the NYC Five Families, if not the Outfit in Chicago.  You grew up watching Goodfellas and then eventually moved on to The Sopranos.  You and your wop friends picked up the lingo, started talking like mafiosos, and came across as fucking idiots to everyone around you.  You tried to extort a guy down the block who had a pretty strong betting book but he told his mom and his mom told your mom and your dad got out his belt and told you that you're not allowed to be hardcore.  When was your first hit and why wasn't it Rod Dreher?

There is some truth to this. Like most authentic Italian-Americans, I have distant relatives in both countries who operate “family businesses.” Most of it is harmless: off-the-books car parts, bookmaking, loan collection. We had a relative in Philly who made a living hustling mobsters in golf—he would let them win just enough to keep them hooked, then empty their pockets every so often. The business had its ups and downs. Once, he was sitting with the family on a Sunday, watching the news, when his face suddenly went white. A local mob boss had been arrested. Turns out that our relative had made his living the previous few years hustling that mob boss on the golf course. “Goddammit, now I need to find a job!” he said when the news broke. Most of the time, I don’t ask questions.

…

It’s astonishing to me that as recently as the 1960s, interracial marriage was seen, correctly, as a moral cause and a sign of racial progress. Now, for some factions on the Left, interracial marriages, and mixed-race families in general, are seen as a form of oppression, domination, and false consciousness. They see interracial marriages as an expression of “white supremacy” or, for the minority spouse, as an “assimilation into whiteness.” Some lefties famously blasted Amy Coney Barrett as a “white colonizer” for adopting a Haitian orphan. We’ve gone from Loving v Virginia to Ibram X. Kendi in a single generation. And now we’re beginning to see the revival of informal social prohibitions against interracial marriage and actual racial segregation in schools, universities, and public institutions. I recently obtained photos from King County Library, which held a racially-segregated diversity training program, even hanging up signs outside the separated rooms labelled “People of Colour” and “People Who Are White.” It’s like water fountains in 1955, but in the service of 21st-century woke ideology. The new racial politics of the Left is almost parodically regressive.

…

Others have laid out different strategies in fighting CRT.  Some have suggested confronting Corporate HR Trainers either overtly or subtly so that fellow employees would 'see through' its illogic and inherent awfulness.  Why are these approaches either useless or even counterproductive?

You can’t persuade zealots with logic, facts, and clever argumentation; they only understand the language of power. That’s why the campaign to prove that you’re “the real liberal” or “more antiracist than the antiracists” is doomed to failure. Like it or not, Critical Race Theory is the driving force of the modern intellectual Left; they’re not going back to the philosophy of FDR, LBJ, or MLK. And they scrupulously follow the old dictum of “no enemies to the left”—they will dispatch the centrist liberals with even more vitriol and brutality than they dispatch the conservatives. This is also the core dilemma of the IDW crowd: many of them cannot imagine aligning with political conservatives; they operate under the delusion that they can “recapture the centre” and convince the planet of the virtue of Enlightenment values. That’s not how politics works. We live in a polarized political system—one winner, one loser. You’ll remember that the Girondins went to the guillotine. If, metaphorically speaking, the centrist liberals want to avoid the same fate, they will have to make an alliance with Trump-loving, truck-driving, gun-toting Middle Americans. That’s reality. We’ll see if they heed it.

…

Ibram X. Kendi is a human fortune cookie. His intellectual output is an endless buffet of word salad and phony wisdom: “Denial is the heartbeat of racism”; “In order to truly be anti-racist, you also have to truly be anti-capitalist”; “Whiteness is literally posing an existential threat to humanity.” In my investigative reporting, I’ve noticed something quite interesting: the core demographic of Kendi readers is liberal, white, middle-aged women who work in public institutions. On one hand, this is a surprise: Kendi embraces a radical vision of Black Power-style revolution. On the other hand, it makes perfect sense: Kendi’s politics provides a vicarious thrill, but is completely in line with conventional wisdom. It’s revolution without risk; it’s liberation without leaving the house. That’s really the best way to understand what he’s doing. He’s not a revolutionary; he’s a self-help guru for white liberals and a reputation-laundering mechanism for multinational corporations. He is an apostle of anti-whiteness, but a mouthpiece for elite white opinion. He preaches anti-capitalism, but accepts Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

…

The dirty secret about Critical Race Theory and, to a certain extent, the New York Times, is that they are both extensions of the state. Critical Race Theory was incubated in public and publicly-subsidized universities and then operationalized in public agencies and public school systems. In reality, Critical Race Theory has very little organic support—it’s an artificial ideology that has the illusion of support because it has commandeered the public bureaucracy and prestige media. But you’ll notice that the Critical Race Theorists are regularly ratioed on Twitter, juice their book sales with institutional purchases, and collect corporate handouts to do their work. The New York Times is similarly situated. It’s the mouthpiece of the permanent state no matter who is in office. Its purpose is to manufacture the narrative and enforce ideological discipline. But here, too, the New York Times is less powerful than it appears. Its authority rests on its historical reputation and prestige, which is rapidly being squandered with each bogus story, newsroom tantrum, and Taylor Lorenz article. I’ll admit: I was momentarily frightened when the Times was putting together a piece attacking my work on Critical Race Theory. But it turned out to be a great coup for me: the Times made a sloppy accusation, so I quickly owned them on Twitter and generated 100 times more social media engagement in my rebuttal than they did in their attack. To top it off, conservatives consider it a badge of honour to get that first NYT hit piece, so I enjoyed a round of attaboys, high-fives, and small donations from my tribe.

…

How much do you shudder when you hear Capicolo pronounced "GABBAGOOL"?

The last time I heard that pronunciation, I shuddered so hard I threw out my back. It’s more than hate speech—it’s actual violence.

[zafojones]

LBJ had a Fresca soda fountain installed in the White House. What kind of monster world have that removed? Reagan, probably.

THE WEST WING 2.07 – “The Portland Trip”

[keanuital]

‘Point Break’: Kathryn Bigelow’s Action Film Remains a Kick-Ass Masterpiece

14th September 2017 marked eight years since the untimely passing of Patrick Swayze, and what better way to remember him than by taking a look back at one of his greatest movies, the action masterpiece that is Point Break.

Released in 1991, Point Break was the fourth movie from Kathryn Bigelow, who already had cult vampire favourite Near Dark under her belt, and would go on to Oscar glory with The Hurt Locker. The furious direction and Swayze/Reeves axis ensured Point Break‘s place as one of the best in the genre. It represented Keanu Reeves’ first foray into action cinema, a genre where he would come to make himself at home with popular turns in Speed, The Matrix trilogy and John Wick. But, at the time, he was something of a wild card as an action star. Swayze already had form in the genre, forging an enjoyable post-Dirty Dancing action niche for himself by way of Roadhouse, Steel Dawn and Next of Kin.

Reeves’ magnificently named hero, Johnny Utah, begins his first day at the FBI with his new partner Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey). Together they are tasked with solving a series of bank robberies by a professional gang known as the Ex Presidents. They hit banks quickly, dressed as Reagan, Carter, LBJ and Nixon. Pappas has a theory that the bank robbers are surfers, chasing waves around the world. Utah goes undercover to surveil the beaches and infiltrate the gang. He meets local surfer Tyler (Lori Petty) and forms a fast friendship with surf legend Bodhi (Swayze). As the friendship grows, Utah learns Bodhi is responsible for the robberies.

Point Break hits a number of genre clichés and stereotypes head on – from the cop partnership with an old seen-it-all-before agent and a young, enthusiastic rookie, right through to the unnecessarily aggressive chief who doesn’t like the way the pair operate. But Point Break takes these action movie staples and perfects them. It arguably does them better than any movie has done before or since and never once feels predictable or tired. In fact, tiredness is not an option for any aspect of Point Break. It’s a celluloid representation of a pulsing adrenal gland. Don’t overthink it, just sit back and enjoy the kinetic orgy of stunts and action.

Although the action sequences are outstanding, if Point Break were juststunts it would never have achieved such longevity. The key to Point Break’s appeal is in both the acting and the characters; for an action movie, they are surprisingly complex. Bodhi and Utah are the same kind of person, only on different sides of the law, fostering a bizarrely competitive-yet-loving friendship that endures the pressures of their professional lives (FBI pursuit, enforced bank robbery, gunfights). Even when they are at fundamental odds with each other, they can’t hide their mutual respect.

Swayze is perfect as Bodhi, a bi-polar mixture of zen master and competitive asshole. He abhors violence, yet has no qualms wielding it or delegating it. His actions contradict the wisdom he expounds, particularly when it serves his own ends. But Swayze delivers his pseudo mysticism and impassioned philosophy against people driving to work “in their metal coffins” with such overwhelming charisma you almost want to quit your own job and go pick up a surfboard.

On the surface, Utah is your typical clean cut, athletic golden boy. But he too stops at nothing to achieve his ultimate goal. In order to catch the bad guys he has no hesitation in preying on Tyler’s weakness – and this is before he even has a proper suspect for the robberies. Utah turns to deception JUST TO GET SURFING LESSONS! Reeves, too, is perfect for the role. Despite Utah’s questionable thought process, he’s so earnest it’s impossible not to think he’s in this for the right reasons. Reeves approaches Utah like a sort of gritty version of Ted from Bill & Ted, and so every time he opens his mouth he is a fountain of quotable dialogue: “I.am.an.F.B.I.agent.”

Of the rest of the cast, Busey restrains himself as Pappas and is all the better for it. Although, considering he has about as much impulse control as Utah, one might be inclined to question the FBI’s mentor-matching process. John C. McGinley essays another memorable character in FBI Director Harp, the ultimate in uptight by-the-book police chiefs, with a nifty line in scene-stealing dialogue and abusive hollering. The only female character, Tyler (Lori Petty), is there to pour verbal cold water on Bodhi and Utah’s dick-swinging machismo, but all it ultimately seems to do is egg them on. And Red Hot Chili Peppers fans might also get a kick out of seeing Anthony Kiedis playing a Nazi Surf Gang member and getting a surfboard smacked upside his head by a rampaging Swayze.

Worthy of special mention is the robbery chase. It is a masterpiece. Beginning in the getaway car, shaky backseat camera views put you right in the mix, sitting alongside the Ex Presidents as the FBI give pursuit. It feels lightning fast as cars skid and drift all over the highway, ending at a gas station with a petrol flambé. Utah then goes after Bodhi in an exhilarating foot chase through cramped alleys and suburban back yards. The camera follows as if a participant, and the improvised, desperate nature of the chase makes it feel like a reality cop show. There is a reason Edgar Wright lovingly referenced this sequence in Hot Fuzz: it is THE. ABSOLUTE. BEST.

The logic pedants amongst you might point out that when we meet Director Harp he informs Utah that they catch criminals by number crunching and data analysis. This makes it all the more bizarre when the entire FBI bank robbery unit laughs at Pappas’ surfers theory, which he bases almost completely on number crunching and data analysis (robbery patterns and soil samples). But, Point Break doesn’t care about this stuff, and neither should you. If Point Break has any message to impart at all, then it’s clearly ‘act first, think later’. From Bodhi hitting a bank vault on a whim, to Utah and Pappas ruining an undercover operation because they failed to prepare, the characters are ruled by the id. They act on every impulse they have, and it’s finally epitomised in the boneheaded stupidity of skydiving without a parachute.

And while that all might well sound ridiculous on the page, when it’s up there on the screen it is dynamite. There is almost no accounting for how well everything in this movie comes together. Neither is there a plan for success, nor magical alchemy you can follow to replicate it. Put the same basic ingredients in a blender and what do you get? The Fast and the Furious, and nobody wants that. And talk about longevity, apart from influencing the likes of Edgar Wright and inspiring an unpopular 2015 remake, there was even a parody stage play, Point Break Live!

To be clear, the concept of ‘guilty pleasure’ does not remotely apply here, because there is nothing guilty about it at all. In some respects Point Breakis its own metaphor. It is the 50 year storm. It’s a plain and simple case of all the right elements converging together for a once in a lifetime tsunami of action movie perfection. If there’s a better legacy for Swayze to have left behind, or for anyone else involved in the movie for that matter, then it’s hard to imagine what that could be.

X

[sneepsnorpsmorgasbord]

This was in 1939.

And Hitler’s ideas about eugenics had American origins. It was American scientists that led the eugenics movement.

And he was also heavily inspired by Jim Crow

White Americans tend to insist on some magical time of racial innocence. That the policies came out of nowhere and they were intractable problems...until they weren’t. There were always people behind the policies, keeping them in place. These nazis, whose names are now mostly “lost to time” are amongst them. But they certainly weren’t the only ones.

We will reach this same point soon enough for our own generation. When people will look back at Black Lives Matter, and on the kids in cages separated from their families, and at Standing Rock, at the insane number of murdered transwomen, and everyone else that is being crushed right now and say that they can’t understand how it happened and how so much pain was inflicted for so long without it changing. The people behind the policies, the supporters leading their mundane lives after the polls close, the ones who looked away- they will all be pardoned and erased in one magnanimous protective act between those with privilege then and now.

“How could it have happened?”

“Why did it take so long for someone to say something?”

I remember looking at history books in high school that showed black and white pictures of black people being hosed and brutalized by police. I remember thinking in a fucking rage why they show us these photos. Of the protestors stoically taking it. And why they made it out to be the only correct response. I thought to myself, I would want to take these motherfuckers out. Fuck it if I died if it it would at least mean they would have some fear. How could MLK write these things about non-violence?

Because they never taught us what he actually said in totality. They cherry-picked. They never taught us about Fred Hampton either. Or about even Malcolm X. We were taught no history about any black, latino, or asian people in this country other than slavery and jim crow for black people and railroad work for asians. We were never taught about how we have always fought back. We were never taught about the Rainbow Coalition. I didn’t even know why “Chicano” was sometimes included in questions about whether you are latino. When I read about the Black Panthers, they were portrayed as villains and bombers and I honestly remember seeing that and still fucking thinking, ‘They were the only people making sense! They weren’t going to take being murdered without doing something back.’

And if you’re from the deep south, you could be taught far worse. I know someone who told me, in complete faith that it was accurate because it was taught to her in school, that slaves were happy in slavery and that it was really hard for them once they were freed because their lives were disrupted by the north butting in. She was taught that there were a lot of black people so happy being in slavery that they fought for the confederacy. That the way slaves were treated was no worse than how children and women were treated “back then”.

What white people were doing when the acts of violence occured in their names is always glossed over. It was just the system. It was how things were back then. You could have whole discussions about the horrors of slavery without ever discussing what the founding fathers thought about it and did. Or somehow just talk about jim crow segregation and manage to never bring up what was done to the Black Panthers AND MLK by the FBI, or why LBJ was elected (because they thought a southerner would make sure segregation continued). It was as if those black and white cops apparated out of nowhere just to subdue protestors. Otherwise, you would think it was just separate drinking fountains and separate places.

Don’t flinch away from our history.

If you are white, or hetero, or cis, or documented, someone in the future is fully ready to do you that sacred rite of the oppressors and will erase you and your responsibility from history.

Don’t fucking take it.

Do something. Anything. Whatever you can. But just because no one will remember if you did or didn’t contribute to the violence doesn’t mean you’re innocent.

[deplorablej59f]

The Lies The Left Have Told Us

The lies and hogwash of today’s Democratic Party are steeped in the fact that they really do want to re-write history to paint themselves in a better light. 

All of the hatred aimed at American Blacks was created by Leftist Democrats. Jim Crowe, the KKK, school segregation. 

What rational person wants that as the history of a political party in the 21st century. Who wants to admit that LBJ once said: “I’ll have them niggers voting Democrat for the next 250 years!” He said this when he was proposing welfare. Introducing welfare into the American way of life is just another way of keeping black Americans on the plantation. The system mimicked the way a plantation owner would provide for their slaves by providing free housing, food, clothing and protection. The biggest difference was the “freedom” given them after a Republican President set them free.

Once upon a time, blacks had to walk on the opposite side of the street as whites. They could not drink from a water fountain that was intended for whites. As Rosa Parks taught us, blacks were forced to ride in the back of the bus. Black children could not attend a “white” school.  And these were just the laws, not to mention the hatred spewed at them on a daily basis. All of this vitriol was propelled forward by the Democratic Party.

Whilst Republicans have always been the champions of Black Americans, Democrats have done their best to keep blacks below whites socially for fear they would show they were just as smart and capable as any white politician. 

Now they have convinced young black Americans that they want to have their own place to live carved out only for black students. They have now indoctrinated our youth to believe that everything the likes of Frederick Douglass and MLK was wrong. Peaceful demonstrations are a thing of the past. All of the ugly is being coaxed from society, bringing back into the mainstream that which so many fought so hard to achieve.

[die-rosse]

Austin 11/03/2019

Today I did a lot of walking. First I walked to the LBJ Library, which I didn’t enter because I didn’t want to pay.

Then I walked to the Bullock Texas State History Museum. Here, I learned a lot about the history of Texas, very interesting. You can easily spend over 2 hours at the museum if you like. They also had free wifi and a cafeteria, perfect for a small break after such a long tour.

I continued my walk towards Littlefield Fountain and the UT Tower (University of Texas).

By then it was late afternoon and my hunger was perfectly timed. I had linner (late lunch, early dinner) at Kerbey Lane Cafe, the students cafe close to campus that offers good food for a fair price.

An Uber took me to Mount Bonnell, a small mountain/ hill west of downtown. It gives a beautiful view over the river. Sports shoes are recommended but don’t expect a serious hike. It’s supposed to be a nice spot to watch the sun go down, unfortunately the weather was very grey and foggy so that didn’t work out. Next to the view over the river, the view of the riversides made me dream. Both sides were filled with big beautiful mansions with pools and their own personal piers and boats. If only I had been a nanny for one of those families...

Ah well, moving on. As I walk down the hill in order to make my Uber ride back to the motel cheaper, I pass by Mayfield - Gutsch House and Gardens. A pretty, small garden with some peacocks. By the time I found out there were small hiking tours next to the property, it was already getting dark so I called an Uber to get back to my motel.

In the evening I went to “the Vortex” down the street. It’s cose place that offers a garden/ terrace with an Italian foodtruck, a cafe, theatre and live performance. I had a drink, listened to some live jazz and got to pet one of the cats. It’s so strange, but whenever someone asks me if I am homesick, I have to admit I miss my cats most of all. Nothing beats hugging your pets..

[sildarmillion-grounds]

Random UT Austin Events

Longhorn City Limits at the LBJ Fountain. Sep 21, 2019.

Dia de la Muertos in front of Gregory Gym. Nov 1, 2019.

Dia de la Muertos at the UT West Mall. Nov 1, 2018.

UT Austin at the Trail of Lights at Zilker Park. Dec 23, 2018.

[yesborg9]

Austin, TX

The time had come once again for my wife to have a week off from work in February. We had some trouble deciding where we would go for this vacation; she wanted to go back to Europe or possibly Toronto while I wanted to go somewhere warmer. We ended up polling each other’s top 5 destinations, and only Austin was on both of our lists. She wanted to see the Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library while I had heard about the craft beer culture there.

The first thing I noticed there was that they take their craft beer very seriously. We arrived Tuesday night and went to a semi-famous burger bar chain called Hopdoddy. They have 9 locations in Texas, one in Denver, two in the Phoenix area, and four in California. I was surprised to only recognize one tap: Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale. The waiter told us that they only had Austin beers on tap, which is a little amazing, but I countered that Oskar Blues is in Colorado. He confirmed that was true, but they contracted out brewing of Dale’s Pale Ale in Austin. I had a Pecan Porter by (512) Brewing Company, a hefeweizen by Live Oak Brewing, a Devil’s Backbone tripel by Real Ale Brewing, and a Thirsty Goat Amber by Thirsty Planet Brewing. All of these choices were excellent, my favorite being the Pecan Porter. I had the local staple pilsner recommended by several people that night called Pearl-Snap at the hotel bar, but I didn’t really like it. I find it odd that often the most popular beer in many cities is overrated. I finished off the night with a London Homesick Ale by Oasis Texas Brewing, making it six different beers by six different Austin breweries.

It was slightly disappointing that we were missing the great weather back home in Wisconsin; Madison broke an all-time February record high. I say slightly because the weather for us in Austin could not have been better. We saw highs in the 80’s and not a cloud in the sky all week. We took advantage of the weather by dining and drinking outside every chance we got. Every venue we visited, including breweries, had an outdoor dining/beergarden area.

Wednesday we had lunch at Torchy’s Tacos, which seemed to be a very popular place at all times of the day. If there are two things I saw the most of in Austin, it was taco bars and food trucks. Another peculiar thing about Austin was the lack of national brand names. When it came to ordering beers or soda, it was rare to see Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Miller Lite, or Budweiser on the menu. At Hopdoddy, if you didn’t want an Austin-brewed tap beer, your only other options were Lone Star (brewed in Fort Worth by Miller), Shiner Bock (about a 90 min drive SE of Austin in Shiner, TX), and Dos Equis (imported from Mexico). At Torchy’s Tacos, the fountain sodas are all from Maine Root, a handcrafted beverage company in Portland, ME that was selected as an exclusive supplier at Austin’s City Limits Music Festival for the last 4 years. I had something called Doppelganger which tasted just like Dr. Pepper.

We took a tour of the state capitol as well as the LBJ Presidential Library. After that, the first brewery I decided to visit was Zilker Brewing Co. They had a lot of hoppy selections as well as two coffee stouts. They also had one very good sour called Rare Candy. We moved on to Lazarus Brewing, which was only two blocks away. There we had some more tacos (I had some hot sauce that was very spicy even for me) and I sampled all of their beers. They had a double IPA I thought was amazing; I’d compare it to Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute.

We ventured back up north of the capitol to the Scholz Garten, which was described as a “historic German biergarten.” We arrived to find it was closed to the public for a private party. We decided to just head back toward the hotel and ate at Home Slice Pizza which served New York style pizza. It didn’t compare to the pizza we had in Brooklyn last month but it wasn’t bad especially after the last barleywine I drank at Lazarus.

On Thursday the high reached the upper 80’s, but the humidity was low and it was breezy so it didn’t feel bad at all. We had lunch at Uncle Billy’s Brew & Que, a brewery that specializes in BBQ meats. I sampled all of their beers, and while I really wasn’t blown away by any of them, some were very interesting. Their Brew Oyster Cult is an oyster stout, which is exactly what it sounds like, but it didn’t taste fishy or anything. They have a Dark Chocolate Russian Imperial Stout that the wife liked, and a pale ale I liked called Clusterf*#%.

We went for a walk around the Umlauf Sculpture Garden. I’m not an artsy person, but I seemed to interpret the sculptures as representing Christianity, family, and sexuality. There were sculptures of angels, families, naked women, naked couples embracing, and Christ on a cross. We continued on our walk, crossing Barton Creek and into the Austin City Limits Music Festival grounds, which was just a large park with sunbathers, dog walkers, and kite-flyers.

That night we were heading to the Rainey Street Historic District for food & fun, when I twisted my ankle walking downtown. We were learning that Austin is not a very pedestrian-friendly city, as many sidewalks were uneven, in very rough shape, or end without warning or a safe place to cross. I was able to hobble along to our destination, Banger’s Sausage House & Beer Garden. Boasting itself as a German-style biergarten, aside from having sausage on the menu there was very little German fare there. They have over 100 taps(!) but only one German import. They also had live country music, which I actually didn’t mind after a few beers. I took advantage of one of the few authentic German items on the menu, Currywurst, and it was good. I sampled several hefeweizens and wits that were very pleasing including (512) Wit, Harpoon UFO Twist (Boston, MA), and Wasatch Apricot Hefeweizen (Park City, UT).

The next day for lunch, my ankle was feeling better so we walked a while to catch a bus to the Austin Beer Garden Brewing Co. I had a five-beer flight and we both had delicious turkey sandwiches. I skipped the hoppiest beers and just stuck with lighter stuff as it was another beautiful day to eat & drink outdoors. I tried two more pints there, then the wife wanted to stop back along South Congress near our hotel to buy a top. It was my intention to visit at least two more breweries our last full day in Austin, so she obliged.

Our next stop was Hops & Grain Brewing. They did not offer samples, so I purchased five half-pours. I tried a very good alt, porter, sour, and German-style lager, but I didn’t care for the hoppy Pale Dog. Several blocks away, we found Blue Owl Brewing, which was the crown jewel of my Austin beer sampling experience for two reasons: 1. They were having a fundraiser for a dog shelter and there were 10 (well behaved) dogs running around the beer garden, 2. All 8 beers they brew are sours. Sour pale ale, cherry stout, raspberry strong ale, imperial oatmeal stout, session wheat, flanders brown, wee heavy, and chocolate/raspberry ale. They’re all as amazing as they sound if you like sour beers.

The weekend crowd in the city started increasing so we decided to avoid it by getting some pizza to-go and just watched Netflix the rest of the night in the hotel (because we’re old) as I finished off my six-pack of Black Thunder schwarzbier by Austin Beerworks.

The last thing I noticed about the beer culture in Austin was the irony that none of the restaurants we visited had domestic beers like Miller or Bud, nor even Corona or Samuel Adams, beers that you would find in just about any restaurant in most of the country. But in the Austin airport the only beers I saw on tap were Miller Lite, Bud Light, Sam Adams, and Stella Artois. We then arrived at O’Hare to find airport bars with Goose Island and Revolution on tap.

My overall thoughts of Austin are mostly positive. The service was excellent every place we visited. Sure, there were a lot of hipsters with man-buns and I don’t think I saw a single tattooless woman, but everyone was very friendly and polite, even on the Metro buses. I felt like an old person at some places because most of the people we saw were millennials. I can only take so much hip & trendy before I just want to go home and watch Star Trek on the couch. We did have a fun time and might go back if only to visit more breweries as I only visited 6 of the more than 30 in the city, which is more than double what is was in 2010. And if you love tacos, you’ll love Austin. My only other negative about the city besides the terrible sidewalks is that the water tastes bad. We noticed this at every venue. I have to wonder how much better the beer would be if they had better water.

[inb4vaughn]

Saddle Up for Austin and Horseshoe Bay

From chords to courses, a fine Swing & Song golf travel tune emerges from the Hill Country of Central Texas. Before scoring some tranquil time at the renovated Horseshoe Bay Resort, just 50 miles northwest of the city proper, the sharp spur will saddle up for a few days in diverse Austin, where you’ll find a rep beyond just the state’s capital city.

Known as “The Live Music Capital of the World,” Austin proves an audial and outdoor nexus, with all manner of stimuli to sate and serve visitors, from waterfront activities to tunes playing, well, seemingly everywhere.

Home and host to the annual South by Southwest (March 13-22, 2020) and Austin City Limits (October 2-4 and 9-11, 2020) festivals, the city is one of the country’s most unique cultural canvasses. A blue stamp in a red state, Austin matches a boom of headquarted tech companies, paired with one of the nation’s annual top-10 college campus enrollments at UT-Austin.

And the town is proudly weird.

To borrow from the Bard, a night out in downtown Austin’s drink and dine-laden Sixth Street is a Moveable Beast. People are everywhere: from boozy co-eds to strolling music lovers to football fanatics to hipsters, hippies, vagrants, vacationers, cowboys and Moms and Pops just out for a good time. Known to some as “Dirty Sixth,” as the clock turns toward the a.m. hours, there’s no shortage of mayhem to be found there.

Slick Rock at Horseshoe Bay Resort

But, amid the din, newcomers need know it’s among the most unique, head-turning mayhems the country has to offer, and Austin’s sounds, strums and song around every turn need be experienced.

For those seeking a slightly more chill amble, the up-and-coming Rainey Street is within walking distance of Sixth or—as the visitor will fast note—easily-accessible by electric rental scooter, a fun, easy, and slightly maniacal mode of transport.

Sporting a pair of thorough food truck courts (with a third soon on the way), Rainey is also amply bar-lined, though with a fresher flair and character, as several of the establishments have been converted from former residential properties.

Now for the swing after the sing: A 45-minute drive through Texas hill country, gently winding through comely mesquite, rock outcroppings, bramble and tucked-away wine vineyards, the winding path to Horseshoe Bay aptly sets the senses for wind-down resort time.

Ram Rock at Horseshoe Bay

Recognized as a provenance for the region’s golf growth of the 1980s, Horseshoe’s 7,000-acre spread is home to four courses, with its most magnetic amenity being of the natural variety, as the property sits beside 21 miles of constant-level Lake LBJ.

Back in 2012, the debut of Horseshoe’s stellar, members-only Jack Nicklaus-designed Summit Rock Course raised the bar for property-wide enhancements. In late ’15, the resort set in motion a thorough renovation plan for upgrades to its trio of Robert Trent Jones, Sr. public plays.

Today, $95 million later, a full resort renovation has the property on the upswing, with all-new guest rooms, suites and superb lakeside Yacht Club serving a savory Texas Two-Step for the golfing Austin visitor.

Apple Rock at Horseshoe Bay

 “We see it a lot, with folks carving-out three or four days at Horseshoe; either capping the getaway off with a few nights in Austin, or hitting downtown on the front end of a trip,” says Anthony Holder, director of golf at Horseshoe Bay Resort. “And, up here, it’s a feeling of a slower, relaxed lifestyle; a place to enjoy time, but with all the modern comforts and amenities. With the renovation, just about every outlet, every area of the property has gotten some love and attention.”

From a play perspective, Horseshoe’s three publics received about $7.5 million of the renovation dollars, with improvements both aesthetic and tangible; most notably, segueing from the creation of Summit, all of the resort’s courses now roll with 007 bentgrass grass, a true rarity for the region.

“We certainly feel that it’s a nice marketing aspect for the property, in that you won’t find bentgrass with our main competition,” said Ken Gorzycki, director of agronomy at Horseshoe Bay. “Yeah, it’s a little more difficult and labor-intensive to maintain, but we think it’s all worth the effort for our guests and members.”

In concert with the greens, Horseshoe’s agronomy team—working with Robert Trent Jones, Jr.’s Austin-based senior project architect Mark Voss—conducted a host of enhancements, including new rock retaining walls, fresh fountains in ponds, leveled tees and upgraded irrigation systems.

The four-year project aimed to bring the plays close to the new Summit standard, while still keeping Jones, Sr.’s original design intents in-mind.

 “When they had Robert Trent Jones, Sr. come out to design the courses, they chose him, as I understand it, because his style was less disruptive to the landscape and more about encompassing natural features,” said Holder.

The property’s original course, Slick Rock, debuted in 1972, and proves the most benign—and popular—of the plays.

 “It’s the oldest of the courses, and the most traditional of the styles,” Holder says. “It’s a bit flatter, with large, protected greens. Still a challenge, with some fun holes. Slick gets the most play of any of our courses.”

Opened in 1981, Horseshoe’s Ram Rock Course proves headstrong, with elevated approach and continual, creek-lined holes.

“It’s what we call, ‘The Beast,’” laughs Holder. “Ram is considered one of the most difficult courses in the entire state; that’s the rep, even for pros. There’s some need to shape shots, and you need to be a long player to be able to take shortcuts. For the average-distance hitter, it will force you to position tee shots.”

More forgiveness is found on Apple Rock, which rounded-out the public tee sheet back in 1985.

“It’s a good combination of Slick and Ram,” Holder says of Apple. “It’s not as difficult as Ram, but it is our longest course, so if you tip-out at 7,000, it will give you a test. And, for the mid-handicapper, there are some great views to match with big greens and lots of bunkering.”

Travel tip: For the particularly driven player (say, the kind who may consider flying into Horseshoe’s own airport), it’s surely worth a word to try and get on Summit. Free of housing, sporting a gorgeous, natural flow and deserved of its lofty rankings by national and regions publications alike, the track is truly superior to its sister courses.

For those sated by the run of non-Summit plays (and, rest assured, they are quality), a Horseshoe visit in-full should pair golf days with some time on the water. Whether the trip style is of the Dudes, Couples or Family venture (the latter may be most recommended), the resort’s marina and Yacht Club scene match primo dining with a singular setting.

“With the sun going down over the lake, it’s as good as it gets,” says Holder. “It’s where I enjoy hanging out with my own family. It encapsulates that great view of the lake, with what we call ‘beach front’ properly, even though I guess it’s more lake front. We’ve got the pool with swim-up bar, and the huge hot tub.”

The on-site, 350-slip marina provides unique opportunity for golfers to couple the day’s turf time with water respite.

“We’re one of the only resorts that will let you bring your boat in when you’re staying with us,” says Zac Taylor, marina director. “It’s pretty common for a guest to come in, drop the truck and trailer with us, go check into the room, and we’ll load everything to the water for them.”

For family-style trips, Horseshoe makes it easy for Pop to go swing for a day while the youngsters enjoy some swim.

“We’ll have a lot of boat guest who go play golf,” adds Taylor, “and a lot of times, we’ll see golfers go head out and leave the kids here with us for tube rides.”

A full menu of lake experiences runs from pontoon rides to ski boats, wave runner rentals, sunset cruises, party yachts and fishing tours.

White bass and crappie prove the primary catch.

“Our fishing guide, his dad was our guide for a long time, so when you go out with our team, you’re pretty much guaranteed to come back with a whole sack of fish meat,” Taylor smiles.

From “weird” to wedge to water, this Texas tune is played in full with a two-step trip: going city mouse to country mouse flavors Austin in full, starting with the din of downtown singers and bookending the travel with Horseshoe’s ringer.

The post Saddle Up for Austin and Horseshoe Bay appeared first on Golf Tips Magazine.

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[ramrodd]

COMMENTARY:

It's too late, Orin, and far too little. You've lived, cheek to jowl, with these people your entire political career. It's how you got elected in the first place. Utah will benefit, spiritually, by replacing you with Mit Romney. Romney is from the Rockefeller Republican wing of the GOP, like Ray Price, Nixon's speech writer, and, as an Eisenhower Republican, grew up with Republicans like him and Dick Lugar and avoided the Hoosier white trash I associate with Dan Burton and Dan Coates, the moral losers Newt Gingrich recruited for his Contract With America agenda.  

You are, at best, spirituall soiled, but you are in the same punch bowl with turds like Rush Limpdick, Roger Stone, Fred Malek, Mick Mulvaney, and the House Freedom Caucus and it is far too late for the moral salvation of a resume on the crypto-Nazi side of far too many issues to be of any use. You need to appeal to a higher power. You sold your soul long ago and only Jesus can redeem it on Judgement Day.

The next president is going to be elected by the 17 children and heroes gunned down by the NRA's campaign contributions to you.

Being an old white guy, I have no way of not being connected with you and all white elected males with an (R) after their names. You remember Peter. Paul and Mary's cover of The Times Are A'changing? at Newport and the wind came up during, the Spirit of the Lord in her hair, occulding her face but, somehow, capturing perfect the spiritual fire burning inside of her. I agreed totally with her and I was planning to go to Vietnam for exactly that reason. You guys, you white collar criminals illustrating what Woody Guthrie meant when he said some men will rob you with a gun and some with a fountain pen, you fucked it up and are fucking it up.

Everything you people touch turns to shit and there is not way for the 17Party/NexGenAmerica rising to tell the difference between you and me. All cats are the same color in a coal mine.

And there is stuff they need to know about what got broke by Reaganomics since 1981 and how to restore it to a new, better version of the progressive federalism Reagan inherited from all the presidents before him, Like Trump with all things Obama, the crypto-Nazi operatives who came to town with Reagan have been ripping out all things FDR/JFK/LBJ/CARTER ever since, with Grover Norquist the High Priest of Reaganomics and Mick Mulvaney the Pope of the economics of the Anti-Christ.

Did you not see the sign of the beast on his forehead Ash Wednesday? Did you expect numbers? You're using some really bad theology.

[nervouswalking]

LBJ Fountain. (at LBJ Lawn)