Blog Profile / Metblog - Austin
| URL : | http://austin.metblogs.com/ | |
|---|---|---|
| Filed Under: | United States / Austin | |
| Posts on Regator: | 499 | |
| Posts / Week: | 1.8 | |
| Archived Since: | April 7, 2008 | |
Blog Post Archive
Princess Ida: Gilbert & Sullivan royalty
Don’t miss this musical and stage delight. Just five performances remain for the the Austin Gilbert & Sullivan Society production of Princess Ida: Thursday, 20 June, 7:30 pm; Friday, 21 June, 7:30 pm; Saturday, 22 June, 2 pm; Saturday 22 June, 7:30 pm; and Sunday, 23 June, 2 pm. All performances are supertitled. The venue [...]
Juneteenth parade 2013
It was a glorious day for Juneteenth festivities in Austin. A list of just some of the parade participants tells it all: city council membes minus one, Constable Danny Thomas, Margo Frasier, Kirk Watson, Andy Brown, fraternities, sororities, graduates of old Anderson High, Cheops Temple, church groups, more Austin bicycle police than anyone’s ever seen [...]
Ramon Ayala at the Capitol
In celebration of the fortieth anniversary of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, yesterday evening there was a free concert in the Capitol grounds by Ramon Ayala y sus Bravos del Norte. Fortified by delicious brisket from Live Oak Barbeque, we very much enjoyed seeing the crowd assemble. Many could not resist dancing on the Capitol [...]
Cinco de Mayo conjunto fest
The weather was perfect and the people were out to dance. Fiestas Patrias of Austin provided a full schedule of music and other activities on both days. We attended on day two, the conjunto festival managed by Johnny Degollado. We were sorry to arrive just too late to hear the University of Texas conjunto and [...]
Gounod’s Faust: the Devil’s in the details
The Austin Lyric Opera orchestra sounds better and better and the cast of singers is outstanding. We are privileged to enjoy a memorable production of Gounod’s Faust. All begins well. Faust has the opening of the opera to himself, and Jonathan Boyd sings beautifully and compels attention. The scene-stealer throughout is Mephistopheles, and Jamie Offenbach [...]
Circo Hermanos Vazquez: just two more shows
Learned pigs were new to us. All the acts were fast-paced and expert and some were quite novel. There were feats of strength and balance by two acrobats without props of any kind. A rapid roller-skating act within a very small circumference was astonishing, and so was a high trapeze act that was more about [...]
Zoppe Italian Family Circus
In one ring was an entire entertainment, as close as could be. The tent seating five hundred, in folding chairs and on bleachers, was set up on the grass just west of the Long Performing Arts Center, with handsome views in all directions, including downtown. A little pre-show entertainment offered a foretaste of the delights [...]
Honk!Tx parade 2013: a thrill for the third year
Thank you, Honk!TX for parading again this year. Portable music that lifts the spirits and does not require protection for the years. Even the many dogs along the route looked happy. Children appeared to be happier still. Every group in the parade was a delight, and there was some wonderful musicianship. Among the extensive list [...]
Texas Independence Day on the Avenue
Spirits were high, ‘though the day was chilly. Celebrate Texas organized a fine parade. There were veterans’ contingents, a Shiner Beer van distributing Shiner lapel buttons, Lone Star flags for the little children, two contingents of lions and dragons, and much, much more, including two wonderful bands from Austin high schools: the Eastside Memorial Panthers [...]
Riverside Dairy Queen: oasis of civilization
It’s really located at 1501 Town Creek Drive, between Riverside and the river (telephone 444-0024). This Dairy Queen, marked by the frozen-treat balloon on its roof, sits amidst acres and acres of cleared lots on which used to stand truly affordable housing and where day by day new construction is replacing what was demolished. This [...]
Chuy’s parade 2012: for a good cause
Chuy’s Children Giving to Children parade is one of the best shows in town every year, and the price of admission is low: a toy or other contribution to Blue Santa. If you missed the parade, you missed large balloons, costumed greyhounds, jugglers, unicyclists, Star Wars characters, Police Chief Acevedo, Fred Cantu, the Travis High [...]
Perla’s has a new relative: say howdy to Clark’s
Clark’s Oyster Bar offers the freshest of oysters, roe, and many other briny treats in a nautical-themed space in Pecan Square at 1200 West Sixth Street. The quarters are confined, but efficiently allocated. There seems to be nearly as much space under an awning outdoors as there is inside. Because of the hex-tiles, the acoustics [...]
Rudolph’s marks the beginning of the holiday season
Look for Rudolph’s Christmas tree lot at the corner of South Lamar and Bluebonnet; the big red-and-white striped tent protecting the Fraser firs and all the other trees catches the eye right away, even though the signs are still being put in place. This image shows new ornamentation for the sales booth. I don’t know [...]
Pagliacci
Pagliacci has come and gone now, but all lovers of music should mark their calendars for the next two Austin Lyric Opera productions: The Marriage of Figaro (January 31; February 2, 3, 2013) and Gounod’s Faust (April 25, 27, 28, 2013). These promise to be the giant crowd-pleasers that Pagliacci was. The orchestra just gets [...]
Veterans’ Day: patriotic concert
The jazz band performed first, and then the 36th Infantry Division concert band, which appeared to be the jazz band plus many additional musicians. Another configuration of the band marched in the Congress Avenue parade earlier in the day. These are musicians of the highest ability. There can be no finer setting for music than [...]
Veterans’ Day: parade with flying colors
On the eleventh day of the eleventh month, it was a glorious day for a parade to observe Veterans’ Day. As always the valiant Cardinal band from Del Valle marched and played, and all welcomed the returned 36th Infantry Division Band. The image here shows the flag flying from a crane near the start of [...]
Austin City Limits Taping – Jack White
Every year during the Austin City Limits Music Festival in Zilker Park, you can expect that at least a few artists will tape an episode of the Austin City Limits television show. This year, as the new season starts to air (Radiohead’s performance aired on 10/6 and Bon Iver aired this past Saturday), they’re continuing [...]
Welcome home!
Congress Avenue was made for parades; the Welcome Home, Iraq Veterans parade was made for Congress Avenue. On July 7, we marched up Congress Avenue to the Capitol grounds and then we returned on foot all the way back to the downtown side of the bridge. Many of us followed the wonderful band of the [...]
Juneteenth parade a spirited event
This year’s Juneteenth parade brought together the largest number of club riders on gaited horses that most of us have ever seen in one place at one time. Missing dignitaries were Austin mayor Leffingwell and council-members Riley and Cole. The elected officials drawing the greatest positive response at our viewing point across from the Fresh [...]
Gilbert & Sullivan’s Patience = happiness
Patience played to a full house, including all the children who arrived early for a special program and remained for the entire matinee performance yesterday, just as entranced as the rest of us. H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance, and The Mikado seem to be the most frequently performed masterpieces, but, thanks to our very [...]