Austin rocker on CBS’s ‘Rock Star’

Patrice Pike, a local Austin musician, has been selected as a contestant in the latest CBS reality show Rock Star Supernova. She and 14 other musicians are competing for the chance to join the group Supernova, that is being put together by heavy metal rockers Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe, Jason Newsted of Metallica and Gilby Clarke of Guns N’ Roses.

Patrice is touted as being "laid back, bohemian yet ultra committed [to] music" as well as "raw, down-to-earth" with "irrepressible talent". Billboard magazine said she was "one of the finest up and coming contemporary rock singers in America". Patrice has been a musician since she was young. She studied opera in Dallas, has recorded several albums, has toured through out the world and has been the member of various groups including Sister Seven and the Blackbox Rebellion. She also helps at risk kids in Austin.

“Rock Star: Supernova” begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 5, on CBS with the first elimination show on Thursday at 8 p.m. The following week, the show will begin airing on Tuesdays at 8 pm and Wednesdays at 7 p.m.

The Upper Crust Bakery

4508 Burnet Road
Austin, Texas 78756

I must mention this great locally owned bakery. It was voted best full service bakery in Austin by the Chronicle's Readers Poll. And they do have some wonderful desserts, pastries, and breads, but they also make great food like sandwiches, spring rolls and soups. They have some of the best gazpacho in town. My husband is very picky about his soups and he really likes their tortilla soup. I have never been in the Upper Crust when it wasn't full of people. So, if you get the chance to check it out, you really ought to stop in and try something. Warning: they have a very busy morning crowd for the coffee and pastries.

Phil's Ice House

5620 Burnet Rd.
Austin, Tx 78756
Phone: 524-1212


Finally got a chance to get over to Phil's Ice House the new hamburger joint on Burnet Road adjacent to a new Amy's Ice Cream. They have renovated an old gas station/garage into a very cute and kitchy place. It's got really good burgers but the price is kind of high ($6.50 to $7.50 for a burger without fries). I do recommend trying the sampler basket where you can at least try 3 different kinds of burgers and some fries for $7.50. The burgers are made out of real ground meat, freshly made. So give it a try. It is supporting a Locally Owned Business! And besides that, once you get through with your burger you can just walk through to the adjacent building to get a scoop of DEEElicious Amy's Ice Cream.

Howard Nursery Closed!

OH NO!! I really loved Howard Nursery! But everything changes in this city. Anyway the June 24th edition of the Austin American Statesman reported that Howard Nursery located on Keonig Road closed earlier this month without any fanfare. It had been a family owned and operated Austin business for the last 94 years. Here's a quote from the Statesman article:

Howard Nursery, one of Austin's last family-owned nurseries and one of the oldest nurseries in Texas, quietly closed its doors earlier this month. There may be no shortage of places to buy gardening supplies in Austin, but this place was different: an old-fashioned nursery with knowledgeable staff who would take time to research a question if they didn't know the answer. The Howards knew about half of their customers by name, and many had been coming for decades.

IKEA, It's Getting Closer!!

Good news for all of us in Central Texas who are looking forward to cruising the aisles of IKEA a little closer to home! In a national press release on June 9th, IKEA announced that it will be opening their Round Rock store sometime this fall instead of Spring 2007 as earlier predicted.

The store will be located at IH-35 and University Boulevard (formerly Chandler Road) in Round Rock. According to one article:

IKEA Round Rock will present 50 different room settings, three model homes, a supervised children’s play area, and a 250-seat restaurant serving Swedish specialties such as meatballs with lingonberries and salmon plates, as well as American dishes. Other family-friendly features will include a Children’s IKEA area in the showroom, baby care rooms, preferred parking and play areas throughout the store.

Austin: We have even more bragging rights!!

The June 12, 2006 edition of the Austin Business journal reported that according to a study by Bizjournals.com, Austin and San Francisco tied for second as the smartest big city in the U.S. Seattle was number one. The other top 10 cities were Colorado Springs, Minneapolis, Charlotte, San Diego, Washington, Portland, Ore., and Albuquerque.

Seattle, San Francisco and Austin rank first, second and third among large communities because they're the only ones where more than 40 percent of adults have bachelor's degrees.

In another article on MSN written by Liz Pulliam Weston, Austin was among the "8 cheap places you'd want to live" according to MSN's survey. The criteria was based on low housing costs, affordable cost of living, and a good local economy. They also noted that the location must be desireable and should include a college or university because "There's the vibrancy of the college scene, arts and lecture series, concerts (both touring and student-produced), guest professors, literary events, classes to audit, and not least, college sports, which some prefer to pro sports."

All of the selected cities had their down sides, but overall they were the best of the best. Here's "how Austin compares":

Population Austin 681,804
Median home price Austin $167,900 US Average $217,900
Median household income Austin $45,508 US Average $44,684
Cost-of-living index Austin 90.6 US Average 100
Unemployment Austin 4.30% US Average 5%
Future job growth Austin 24.15% US Average 9.06%

"Several years ago, a local resident told me that Austin had the largest population in the world of "Ph.D waiters," Ph.D waiters," which was his shorthand for highly-educated folks who opted to work menial jobs rather than leave their beloved city for better prospects elsewhere. A world-class music scene, great bars and the largest university in the U.S. are among Austin's attractions -- plus there's all the fun of watching the Texas legislature, given that this is also the state capital.

"These days, of course, the Ph.Ds don't have to leave Austin for better prospects. The city's shaken off much of the fallout from the dot.com blowout: Sperling describes Austin as a "rising star" economically.

"Watch out for: Allergy season can be long and brutal. And it's really, really hot in summer."

We Austinites are proud of our city and have been willing to share it's beauty and uniqueness with all who want to partake. We enjoy knowing we have low unemployment and highly educated residents. The city is big enough without being too big. It has charm as well as high tech. It has natural beauty as well as industry. So it's understandable that we should be highly rated. There is a lot to be said for a booming economy and a bustling tourist industry. However, we need to have some terrific planning going on to help with the population increases coming our way. Too many more highly paid people moving into town is bound to cause the cost of housing, as well as the cost of living, to sky rocket! Not that it hasn't already for most of us. And the roads in and out and around Austin can't get much more clogged than they are already. We have to start looking ahead more and making bigger plans. Austin needs to look out! While the economic BOOM isn't over yet, there might be a pretty big BANG coming later on down the road if we aren't careful!

"I know it's been awhile..."

I was just flipping through other blogs on Blogger to see what kind of stuff people are writing about and noticed a lot of blogs that started out with, "I know it's been awhile since I put anything in my blog...." or something similar to that. I guess a lot of people don't keep up with their blogs. That's good to know. But I think it might be the time of year too that has something to do with not blogging. People are too busy probably doing other things. School just let out a couple of weeks ago, summer started and vacations are in the works. The weather is better for doing things outside. So, thank God they aren't all indoors blogging. Good for them being out there living their lives. There's plenty of time later on to get back to their blogs and catch up on things.

"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
From the song "Beautiful Boy"
by John Lennon,
(1940 - 1980)

Another Austin "legend" has passed away. Jack Jackson was an artist, a historian, an illustrator....he chose the medium of comics to illustrate his works which doesn't seem very "serious" a medium. However, according to all accounts, he was very serious about what he did and was a very knowledgeable and smart man. Here is the link to the Austin American Statesman article about him. http://www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/other/06/18jackson.html

Life in the 'Burbs: Life is Cheaper There

I live in Central Austin. I have always lived inside Austin, in a fairly central location (except for the one time we lost our minds and moved south to Sunset Valley...but that was a temporary moment of insanity never to be repeated again). Most of the people we know live in Austin, except for family. ARGH. The inlaws all live in the 'burbs. I don't know that they are technically the 'burbs since they are so far out they have to be separate towns. But they are the surrounding areas where most people flee when they can't afford the big city, don't want to live in the older homes in town or just don't like Austin. Anyway, I don't see the allure. The homes all look the same. Each neighborhood is built by a single developer and they use the cookie cutter method of building homes. I am not sure how people can tell their home from the home next to them. Plus there are no trees to speak of. They have planted small trees but they are not big enough to provide any shade. They're more like shrubs.

Out in the 'burbs, there are no unique shops or restaurants. Everything is a chain. Walmart, Chilis, McDonalds...it's always the same. Unfortunately some of the bigger chains feel like they MUST build in the 'burbs only and don't have stores in central Austin, so if you HAVE to go to Walmart, you may have to travel some. In town we have unique shops and stores. Central Market is IN TOWN. Fresh Plus is IN TOWN. The best local restaurants are IN TOWN. The cultural centers like museums are IN TOWN. Why would any one want to live way out there and miss what the city has to offer. A cheaper house does not a HOME make.

Belief-O-Matic, a Question of Faith

I took this quiz about my faith or beliefs to see which "religion" I mostly closely align with. The name of the Quiz is Belief-O-Matic, yes, Belief-O-Matic!
Belief-O-Matic listed 27 faiths in order of how much they have in common with my professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on the list, the more closely it aligns with my thinking.

Here's how I came out:

1. Secular Humanism (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalists(93%)
3. Liberal Quakers (80%)
4. Nontheist (71%)
5. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (69%)
6. Neo-Paganism(67%)
7. Theravada Buddhists (67%)
8. New Age (52%)
9. Taoism (46%)
10. Orthodox Quaker (41%)
11. Reform Judaism (41%)
12. Mahayana Buddhism (40%)
13. Bahá'í Faith (38%)
14. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (29%)
15. New Thought (29%)
16. Scientology (29%)
17. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (28%)
18. Jainism (28%)
19. Sikhism (28%)
20. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (21%)
21. Jehovah's Witness (21%)
22. Seventh Day Adventist (19%)
23. Hinduism (17%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (14%)
25. Islam (14%)
26. Orthodox Judaism (14%)
27. Roman Catholic (14%)

Hotter'n Hell Here in Texas

I still, for the life of me, can not figure out why anyone who has lived in a cooler climate would want to voluntarily move to Texas. One summer here and surely they would get the message--IT'S HOT AS HELL HERE!! I don't mean slightly hot like it is right now. This is nothing but the pre-game show. When it gets really hot here you will KNOW it. Your tires stick to the newly paved roads cause the tar is melting. You can't go barefoot on the cement cause you will literally burn your feet. Jogging during the middle of the day is prohibited. Ok may not yet, but it SHOULD be!! They send out warnings for small children and the elderly to stay indoors cause it is too hot to be outside.

Now I know, people from up north will say that winter there is UNBEARABLE. Well at least when it's cold you can put on more clothes to get warmer. When it's hot like it gets here, there are only so many clothes you can take off before you're sh-- out of luck. Shade is at a premium. People parking their cars in big parking lots have been known to have fist fights over the shady spots. That's cause your car's interior heats up so much that it begins to melt by the end of the day. No KIDDING!! I had one of those airfreshener things in my car that is supposed to be like a stone or something. It's actually a plastic disc which melted in my glove compartment already this summer. And technically it's not summer yet!!


Speaking of which, summer here starts around the end of April or the beginning of May and lasts pretty much well into October, sometimes even November. That means we get hot weather approximately 9 months out of the year. I don't think there is a state in the union that gets freezing weather NINE months out of the year!!

You probably wonder why I still live here if I think it's so hot and that cold weather would be better. Well, it's like this, if you can live through the heat in Texas, Hell ain't gonna be nothing!

TV Could Wreck a Marriage

My husband, I love him dearly. He is a very sweet man (most of the time). I have to give him credit, he puts up with my mother while I travel. And he is patient with my moodiness (most of the time). He does have one quirk tho and I suspect this isn't something unique to my husband. No it's not abuse. God NO! He doesn't drink or stay out all night. No, nothing like THAT!! No, it's his choice of TV programs. He is obsessed with 2 types of television shows. Sports (preferrably University of Texas Sports) and Crime Shows.
Luckily for me he is kind of picky about the sports watches. He prefers UT baseball (both men and women's) and football. Whew, that gives me at least a week sports free all year round!!

The crime shows, however are never ending!! CSI, CSI Miami, CSI New York, NCSI!! Enough CSI shows to cover almost an entire week.
And then there are the REAL crime shows on Court TV and A&E. Cops is his all time favorite (I have tried banning it in our home, but I think he sneaks around and watches it when I'm out of town or late at night when I'm sleeping). He also likes Investigative Reports, American Justice, Psychic Dectectives and a slew of other shows. All about murder. (It would make a less secure wife a tad bit paranoid don't you think?)

But I love him. So thank God I travel 4 days a week and stay in hotel rooms, by myself, with my OWN remote control. That way I can watch any show on television that isn't related to Crime!!

I Am Allergic to the World

Oh My Gosh!! I am suffering badly from allergies today! Sneezing. Itchy, watery eyes. Stuffy nose. I feel like an allergy medication commercial! I had been feeling a bit "allergic" for the past month, but today is especially bad. I wonder if traveling has anything to do with it? I was in Dallas all week, until last night (which by the way is a whole 'nother story I might relate later) and this morning, back in Austin, is when things got really bad. Or is it my house? I do have two large dogs, one of which likes to curl up above my head at night. I don't know how he manages to fit up there since he's so big, but he does and then I end up breathing in pollen covered dog fur all night long. It's bad enough that I have with fur on everything I own, but I also travel with fur. It's on my suitcase, in my car, even on my chair at work, where my dog has NEVER been. And now it's all over my pillow. I know I should make him sleep somewhere else, but it's like the old joke, "Where does a 500 pound gorilla sleep? Anywhere he wants." That's my dog. Just try to move him. He will growl at you. And besides that, he is really sneaky for a big dog. He can manage to move his way up there without me even knowing. I just wake up in the morning and there is this dog breathing down on the top of my head.
So back to the allergy thing. According to the Weather Underground, it's the grass and oak pollen that is out right now, but it's in the high end of the low range, so it really isn't that active. Hmmm. That leads us back to the dog and his fur. I love my dog and my dog loves me. But will my dog still love me if I shave him? I don't think so.

Emporis Buildings Site

Emporis Buildings another great site about buildings. You can search by country, city or even by building.

Emporis Buildings is the world's largest publicly available database on architectural and building data. The site is maintained by Emporis, a multinational real estate research company, and is designed as an open platform.