Kings of Leon - Frank Erwin Center - Austin, TX - 4.12.11

"We love Austin, except during football season."...and as boos echoed through the Frank Erwin Center, it may have been the only moment of the night that the crowd of about 10,000 or so, were not loving everything Caleb Followill was doing. I had to agree though with his follow up statement: "At least I had the balls to say it." Yes it's true, the Kings of Leon are Oklahoma Sooner fans. Other than that, it seemed like the Tennessee quartet of brothers could do no wrong.The KOL show Tuesday night seemed to have the feel of a 70's arena rock show in the early days of the Erwin Center; affectionately known as The Drum. As I sat there and listened to music with influences of southern rock, blues and alternative it was easy to imagine what this arena looked and sounded like in the late 70's and early 80's when all the big names in rock played there. The Followill brothers played a blistering set after a a great opening set from Band of Horses. It was a pairing of bands that had most fans in their seats by 8 PM, in order to catch them both. Tearing through hits like Radioactive, Sex on Fire, and Use Somebody the KOL delivered what is not seen much theses days; a good arena rock concert. It was refreshing to see a band be able to do that even though critics like to claim that rock is dead. Clearly this is not the case.A great fireworks finale helped us all remember it wasn't 1977 but rather 2011 and that even though it seems like the music industry would rather throw their record deals at the glossy, manufactured pop acts that seemed to replicate overnight, good rock-n-roll still exists. I mean seriously, is there anything better than a great arena rock show? The Stones and Zep in the 70's. Petty and U2 in the 80's. Those were some great times for concert goers. Last night helped remind us of that!!!

What Have You Done For Me Lately?? Janet Jackson: Austin, Texas 4.3.11

Aaaah, a poignant question any concert-goer may ask upon entering a venue for a night of live music. Such was the case last night that many casual fans (myself included) may have asked before Janet Jackson's set at the brand new Moody Theatre in downtown Austin. What was made clear, really quickly, was that although this was not to be an evening of new material, it certainly would be a night for the hits...and for Janet to again show she had something to prove.I can't claim to be a Janet Jackson die-hard or even much of a fan, but I also can't say that I haven't seen her career unfold over the last few decades. Through secret marriages and wardrobe malfunctions to Poetic Justice, it is hard not to have noticed her through the years. If last night was anything, it was a victory lap of sorts for Jackson and the small, intimate Moody Theatre was the perfect place for me to see this pop icon.

A highly energetic and tightly choreographed show proved Janet still has what it takes to compete with the Beyonce's, Britney's and Rhianna's of the pop music world. Ripping through classics such as Control, Escapade, Nasty and a killer duet with brother; the late/great Michael Jackson (via video) on Scream which then led into Rhythm Nation. It's no surprise the crowd was at a fever pitch all night!!

I love the picture below! There were two guys sitting a few seats down from us and every time Janet came over to our side of the stage and looked up they went crazy and did everything they could to get her attention. This picture captures a special moment where she acknowledged their adoration for her. It's great seeing an artist still having love for her fans!!

Finally, even this casual fan could not help but get a bit misty-eyed when Jackson closed out the show with Together Again while images of Janet and her late brother Michael (pic. below) were flashed on the screen. Although to most everyone Michael was the King of Pop, but in this touching tribute we were reminded that he was also a brother. One that was adored and LOVED by his sister. A beautiful end to a very entertaining night!!

SXSW, St. Patty's Day and Spring Break

Last Thursday was one of those rare days when it seemed like the moon and the stars all aligned to form a cosmic rarity. Austin was instantly transformed into 'the-place-to-be' as the trifecta that was SXSW, St. Patrick's Day and Spring Break took over the city. Not to mention it was the first day of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Needless to say, the city was literally one huge-ass party!!Although Laura and I did not have a SXSW badge or wristband, I learned this year that you really don't need one to have loads of fun at the festival. Years ago when I lived here, I did not remember as much free stuff going on for those of us without badges. Now the festival serves as a major PR event for companies to throw elaborate parties with big-name acts performing, in order to get huge exposure for their products or services (see: Kanye, Jay-Z, John Legend and others at Seaholm). All the while, fans only needed to RSVP to get into these parties which makes for a perfect alternative for those not willing to shell out hundreds of dollars for official passes. An unbelievable amount of A-List stars visited our city over the last 10 days which made for some awesome story-lines all week.Since I did not realize how much free stuff was available to us and I was busy working most of the week, Laura and I had to wing it and see what fun we could find that day. We did manage to watch some Gators hoops action, see some live music over at the Ginger Man under the moon in the heart of downtown (pic. above) and finally had a nice late dinner at Bess Bistro. I was also lucky to have some of the stars at SX visit me over at Uchiko for dinner: Danny DeVito, Jodie Foster, Rosario Dawson and Aziz Ansari. All in all it was a great day of fun and has been a fabulous 10 days for SXSW and Austin. We will be better prepared for next year and will definitely take more advantage of all the free activities!!

Happy St. Patty's Day

Meanwhile, Down On The 40 Acres...

Last night the UT Tower was bathed in orange lights in honor of the McCombs School of Business students who won the GE Experienced Commercial Leadership Program Case Competition. The Tower is usually illuminated in all white lights , but on special occasions it will look like it does in these pictures. In 1947 Carl Eckhardt helped create guidelines for using the orange lights.

The full Tower glowing orange represents a victory over Texas A&M in football, Commencement, UT's birthday (9/15), Texas Independence Day (3/2), and other special occasions the university president deems appropriate.

I had been waiting for an occasion that the Tower would be lit this way so I could shoot a set of photos for my collection. I noticed that the campus had different buzz about it when the Tower looks this way. I saw many students out stopping just to gaze at the Tower, taking pictures with their phones and heard many just commenting on how beautiful it looked. Pretty neat!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Well as some of you may have heard, I recently landed a new job. After working in the Marketing/PR industry for the last 3 1/2 years, I decided that my heart was still in the restaurant industry, where I had previously worked for 14 years. In some ways being away from this type of work made me realize how much I missed it, as well as increase my desire to expand my knowledge of different cuisines and cooking techniques. After working for a little while at one of my old haunts, I finally landed a pretty high-profile gig at one of Austin's finest dining establishments. Uchiko is the second restaurant from highly-acclaimed chef and restaurateur Tyson Cole. A James Beard Semi-Finalist, Cole opened his first restaurant Uchi (Japanese for "house") in a small bungalow on S. Lamar in 2003. Since then, it has dominated the burgeoning Austin dining scene, receiving countless awards and recognition for it's non-traditional take on Japanese cuisine. This success led to the opening of Uchiko (Japanese for "child of Uchi") in July of 2010. In just seven months Uchiko has been just as successful as it's predecessor garnering such accolades as being named by GQ Magazine as one of the 10 best restaurants in the country and named by Texas Monthly as the best new restaurant in the state for 2010. These types of recognition have put more pressure on me to succeed at this new establishment. Having no training whatsoever in Japanese cuisine has made the learning process even more daunting. So now my off time will be filled with lots and lots and lots of studying. I have a feeling my photo taking will be drastically reduced. Sigh. But don't worry, I will still work in time to cook wonderful dinners for Laura and I (as you can see above). I am determined to master this new and exciting cuisine and can't wait to start guiding our guests through the wonderful world of Chef Tyson's and Chef Paul's culinary creations. I highly encourage everyone to get down to Austin, Texas as soon as possible and see what the Uchi family is preparing for you. Cheers!!

Sun Setting On Happy Hour

I am starting to think that with the right lighting, my iPhone can capture some great pics. I snapped this one yesterday while Laura and I were enjoying a nice warm afternoon on the patio at Cuatro's in Austin. An arctic blast of winter weather has arrived here today so we took full advantage of one more "spring-like" day outside. I had no idea we would be treated to this beautiful sky as well.

Austin Pennybacker Bridge

The Pennybacker Bridge in Austin, Texas bridges Lake Austin to connect north and south Loop 360 highway, also known as "Capital of Texas Highway". The road is widely considered one of the most scenic urban drives in central Texas, in large part due to the arched weathering steel bridge and rolling hills that flank the road. More commonly known as the "360 Bridge" it is named for Percy Pennybacker, who designed bridges for the Texas Highway Department and was a pioneer in the technology of welded structures.

Happy MLK Day

Scenes from the Austin Grand Prix

The Austin Grand Prix swimming competition was held this past weekend, Jan. 14-16, at the Jamail Texas Swimming Center at the University of Texas. It featured some of the top U.S. swimmers including 2008 Beijing Olympic medalists Michael Phelps, Jason Lezac, and Ryan Lochte. Nobody will ever forget Jason Lezak's 2008 Olympic performance when he made up what seemed an impossible deficit in the final leg of the 400-meter freestyle relay, stunning the favored French team and keeping Phelps' gold medal string alive. Lezak is pictured below in Lane #3. 14-time gold medalist Michael Phelps, returned to the pool where as a 15-year old he became the youngest man to set a swimming world record. The 1:54.92 Phelps clocked in the 200-meter butterfly in March 2001 lasted only a few months as a world record before he lowered it, but it still remains a pool record here in Austin. Below, Phelps competes in the 100-meter backstroke.
Six-time Olympic medalist and 2010 American and World Swimmer of the Year, Ryan Lochte won the 200-meter freestyle Friday night. A nice moment of Phelps with his mom after the competition.

The one thing I learned from photographing this event, is that shooting a swimming competition is hard!! Without access to the pool deck level and an amazing zoom lens, it is difficult to grab the images that we see in SI that look so stunning. All in all it was fun, and it was neat to see these icons of the sport that thrilled us so much in the summer of 2008.

Destination: Deathstar - 2.6.11

Today, the NFL Playoffs begin and all the teams have their eyes set on being at one place on February 6, 2011...here.

Good Luck!!

Year of the Quarterback - Tim Tebow: Everything In Between

I just finished watching ESPN's documentary about Tim Tebow's journey from his final days as a University of Florida quarterback to Denver Broncos rookie. As always it did not disappoint. It was really cool to see how he has used criticism as his fuel to succeed at the pro level. You know, he may not become the greatest QB of all time but I'll be damned if he doesn't die trying!!This documentary reminded me of the one time I crossed paths with Tebow. As mentioned in a previous post, I was staying at the Gators hotel in Ponte Vedra during the annual Florida v. Georgia game and happened to see the team arrive Friday night at the hotel. Looking at this picture, it is crazy to see how different he looks just two years later.

As Expected

Good "Luck" Stanford!!

Florida Gators

Well, I decided to save this one for the last post of the day. Today we saw Urban Meyer's six year career at the University of Florida come to an end. When AD Jeremy Foley hired Urban Meyer on December 4, 2004, the goal was to return Florida football to SEC and national prominence. Mission accomplished. In his six seasons in Gainesville, Meyer guided the Gators to a pair of National Championships, two SEC championships, three SEC Eastern Division crowns and six straight January bowl games, including three BCS bowl games. He became the first coach in the history of the Football Subdivision to post consecutive 13-win seasons and he is the only coach to post three 13-win seasons in a four-year span. I took the picture above while I was in Jacksonville for the annual Florida/Georgia game. I happened to stay at the same hotel/resort as the Gators and caught the team arriving. Little did I know that a few months later I would meet my wife; a Florida alum. I now have, by default, become a Gator fan. We were in Gainesville the weekend of Tim Tebow's final game at The Swamp and I got to see first hand the madness that is Gameday in Gainesville. I can tell you with certainty that the brightest chapter ever in Florida football history, came to an end today. For all he has done over the last six years, I join in with all of the Gator Nation in saying a big, heartfelt Thank You, Coach Meyer!!!

Ben Hill Griffin Stadium

Merry Christmas from Austin, Texas

Okay, I know it has been a week since Christmas Day. In my defense, though, I did not know I would receive a new lens from Santa. So last night I set out to grab some shots of the Zilker Park Tree. I know most folks are used to a more traditional Christmas Tree in their town, but here in Austin this is what we have - and what we love!! The Zilker Tree stands 155 ft. tall and is composed of 39 streamers, each holding 81 multi-colored, 25 watt bulbs, totaling 3,309 lights. At the top of the tree, a double star measures 10 ft. from point to point. The double star contains 150 frosted bulbs. The unique spiral pattern of lights was created by City of Austin electricians. At its circumference, the tree measures 380 ft. The diameter is 120 ft. The base of the tree is made up of 19 utility poles, each 14 ft. tall, arranged in a circle around the Moon Tower.

Origins:
The Zilker Park Tree was initiated in 1965 by Mrs. Alden (Mable) Davis, civic leader and chairperson for the City's Special Holiday Activities Committee. The tree was designed by City of Austin electricians Odie Bull, D.J. Kozlowski, Fred Scatlen, and Merle Wheeler. On December 10, 1967 the first tree was lighted by Mayor Pro Tem Mrs. Emma Long. In subsequent years this honor has been awarded to the young winner of a city-wide tree coloring contest. The winner of the yearly art contest gets the honor to throw the switch to illuminate the tree.

One favorite tradition of Austinites is to stand under the tree and twirl. Just stand right off the center, underneath the tree. Grab a friend, look upwards, and start spinning around and around.