Kristin Hillery

Slow Food Nation Victory Garden rendering 

Urban gardens are sprouting up (zing!) in many cities all over the world, since food prices are on the rise, and, well, it’s just a damn good idea.

Yesterday in San Francisco, Slow Food Nation began working on a large victory garden in front of City Hall. This garden is being planted on the same site as the post-World War II gardens 60 years ago, when the nation’s food supplies were low and the economy was in rough shape. At the time, victory gardens across the country — planted on both public and private land — supplied 40 percent of the food surplus. Food grown in the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden in San Francisco will be donated to food banks and people in need.

Featuring a wide variety of heritage organic vegetables suited to the Bay Area microclimate, the garden displays the diversity of urban food production practices. It is a garden of communities: all food grown in the garden will be harvested and donated to those with limited access to healthy organic produce through our partnership with local food banks and meals programs.

Urban gardening is a great idea — and a nice way to get people involved in doing something for their community. You can get involved in Slow Food Nation right here in Austin: Visit SlowFoodAustin.org. No word yet on whether they’re planning to dig up the Capitol grounds to plant a Victory Garden, but that would be sweet.

The Dark Knight 

UPDATE (7/1/08): The midnight show at the Drafthouse Ritz is now sold out.

The Dark Knight hits theaters on July 17, and showings around the country are already selling out. If you’re hoping to be one of the first to see the movie, the Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz has tickets on sale now for the 11:59pm show on Thursday, July 16 — get ’em while you can! The midnight shows at the Village and South Lamar locations are already sold out.

If that’s too late for you, Grandpa, they have plenty of other times over that weekend that aren’t sold out yet. Go here to get tickets.

Leaf

Girl to her friend Jamie Lynn Spears had her baby!

Her friend It seems like just yesterday she got knocked up.

Girl It does!

Hamilton Pool

Frat guy carrying a cardboard box full of meat “Uh… where are all the picnic tables?”

Frat guy carrying a cooler of booze “I guess we could just use, like, a rock or something. This sucks!”

photo / Kristin Hillery Hamilton Pool 

Kathi Herrin 

When local artist Kathi Herrin walked into the space at 2824 Real Street — what was once a retail space for the Lone Star School of Music — she knew instantly that it was the perfect place for her to open an art gallery. There was ample free parking, lots of space, a retail storefront, cozy seating areas, and best of all there was little work that needed to be done — she’d be able to open the gallery right away. And she did: On May 31, Kathi moved into Real Gallery. Twenty artists showed up to install their exhibits, and Real Gallery officially opened to the public on June 1. That Other Paper’s Kristin Hillery had a quick chat with Kathi Herrin about her new gallery, which features original works from both local and touring artists with pieces in 2D and 3D.

That Other Paper How did you decide on the location? Did you look at a ton of spaces and just sort of know when you walked in that it was “the one”?

Kathi Herrin I wasn’t very happy with the small spaces and large price tags that I was finding on Congress downtown and in SoCo. I looked in Oak Hill where I live but nothing was available that would work. I was looking for a gallery/office space. I found this space listed on Craigslist. The price was great in comparison to other properties that I had priced, so I contacted the landlord, drove by, and then took a tour. I consulted with my husband, Brad, and my very close artist friends for their opinion and advice. Their responses were extremely helpful in my decision to lease this space.

photo / Krodd Austin City Hall 

If you’re downtown today and looking for a way to combine lunch with live music, here’s an idea: The Live From the Plaza concert series at City Hall.

Every Friday at noon for the last few months, they’ve been putting on a free show. Today’s show features journalist and musician Bavu Blakes, who has performed with such artists as Snoop Dogg, Ludacris, The Black Eyed Peas, The Roots, and more. You can buy lunch there for $6 — Mama Fu’s will be offering spicy General Fu chicken or Thai cashew veggies with rice, a cookie, and a drink. Parking in City Hall’s garage during the concert is free (enter on Lavaca St).

This is the last show of the series until September 19, so check it out if you can.

Noon–1pm | FREE

The plaza at City Hall
301 W 2nd St • Austin, TX

The clip of President Bush in the Daily Show video below is from February 28, 2008.

Today, June 10, 2008, gas prices in Austin have hit $4 per gallon and are expected to go up another 10 cents over the next few days.

Ladies’ room at Qua

Woman washing her hands, to her friend “Well, I guess I’d better be nice to him. He is getting me two baby tigers for my birthday.”

Overheard by Samantha Jean

photo / Kristin Hillery The dance floor at Qua 

photo / That Other Paper  

The Austin Police Department has a short survey up on their website regarding everyone’s favorite topic: traffic. By taking the survey, you’ll help the APD “move forward with various driving issues.” I would have preferred to help them “get in gear with various driving issues,” but oh well. Go take the survey.

It’s not often that someone says, “Hey, something interesting happened at the Spelling Bee!” But something pretty funny did happen at this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee — to 13-year-old contestant Sameer Mishra…

Sameer should have just spelled BOO-YAH because he wound up winning the whole thing. Congrats, Numbnut King (what I would call him if I were still a middle school bully)!

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Josh Crapo

On Jollyville Road just a few blocks west of Duval, you’ll find a tiny trailer tucked in the corner of the Texaco station’s parking lot. It’s Papa’s Pot — local chef and Hurricane Katrina evacuee Josh Crapo’s food stand. Serving simple items like veggie wraps, breakfast tacos, and sandwiches, Papa’s Pot uses a lot of fresh, organic ingredients and is a convenient place to stop on the way to work or on your lunch break if you’re in the mood for something healthy and delicious.

That Other Paper How long has Papa’s Pot been open?

Josh Crapo I’ve been here for two months. Before I started this, I was working at The Steeping Room at the Domain. And I also worked at Mangia. I’ve worked in kitchens for 20 years or so.

photo / Marcin Wichary Yay! 

According to AustinGasPrices.com, it’s at Costco (Research Blvd and Great Hills Trl) and Sam’s Club (9700 N Capital of Texas Hwy), where regular gas is $3.69 per gallon today. If you don’t have a membership at those places, which is required if you want to fill up at their stations, your next best bet is the Exxon at Mopac and Duval where it’s $3.72 per gallon. And who has the most expensive gas? The Valero station at Barton Springs and Kinney Ave, where it’s $3.95 per gallon.

Finding cheap gas can of course wind up costing you more if you drive far to get it, but this site is worth bookmarking if you’d like to keep an eye on prices around town or have more ammo in your small-talk arsenal. You can look up prices for regular, mid-grade, premium, and even diesel — check it out.

And on a related note… Capital Metro’s website has a Trip Planner page where you can [hopefully] find a way to get to where you need to go without using a car.

photo / fakelvis If you go tonight, ask them to play “Basket Case” until they finally give in 

…But The Foxboro Hot Tubs are.

The Foxboro Hot Tubs are a garage rock band made up of Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Tre Cool, Jason White, Jason Freese, and Kevin Preston. You might recognize the first three of those dudes as members of Green Day. So are they just a six-member version of Green Day or what? Let’s ask Wikipedia!

Fans of Foxboro Hot Tubs have noted, on the band’s MySpace site, many musical similarities between the band and Green Day. Among the common traits listed are Billie Joe Armstrong’s “unmistakable” vocals and guitar playing, and a rhythm section which recalls the sound of Green Day’s own Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool.

You can listen to some of their songs on their MySpace page. If you want to see them tonight at Emo’s, the only way to do it is to bring $20 cash and wait in line — tickets can only be bought at the door. Doors open at 8pm.

Doors at 8pm | $20 (cash only) | Tickets at the door

Emo’s
603 Red River St • Austin, TX 78701

photo / Kristin Hillery FAIL 

We love The FAIL Blog and just might submit this photo, taken in downtown Austin, to them. Go check out hilarious photos of people and things failing here.

Hot tip: If you ever put money in an Austin meter and it flashes “FAIL,” just call the phone number on the meter and tell them what happened. They’ll most likely take down your info and tell you it’s okay to keep your car there — then you just call them back if you get a ticket, and they’ll take care of voiding it.

Target

Preteen girl pointing to clothes rack “Hannah Montaaaaana!”

Her mom “No. No. Absolutely not. Keep walking. I do not like her anymore. Do not even look at her.”

Church’s Chicken

Little girl, as her younger sister cries “I need a new dad!”

Dad (sneering) “Really? I’ll take you somewhere to get one.”

photo / Kristin Hillery Craig Gass (right) with Trey Galyon, who is featuring at the show this weekend 

If you’re a girl, you might know comedian Craig Gass as Miranda’s Weight Watchers boyfriend, Tom “Big Boned,” from Sex and the City. If you’re a guy, you might know him from the Howard Stern Show as himself — or Al Pacino, Tracy Morgan, Tom Arnold, Christopher Walken, or Mitch Hedberg. Currently on tour, this talented impressionist and standup comedian will be in Austin through Saturday night at Cap City Comedy Club. Craig sat down with That Other Paper Christine Acker and Kristin Hillery to discuss growing up in a deaf family, stalkers, and being all up in Cynthia Nixon’s shit. Oh yeah, and comedy.

That Other Paper What were you like as a kid?

Craig Gass: I got away with murder because my whole family’s deaf. True story — my mom, my dad, and my sister are all completely deaf. When my teachers or my principals had to meet with my mom, I had to go with my mom to interpret everything, so we’d literally be in front of my principals and teachers, and they’d look at me and go, “Okay, tell your mom that the reason you’re here is that you’re having some behavioral problems.” So I’d tell my mom, “They’re saying that although they think I’m a very good student, there are some small things we need to work on.” I was lying through my teeth right in front of my teachers and the principal. I got away with everything. Every time my mom got mad at me, whenever she left the room, I always had the last word as she was closing the door, and she never heard. I always got to crank up the stereo and the TV. I couldn’t learn how to talk from my own family so I learned how to talk by copying all the voices I heard on TV, mimicking voices. I entertained my family with my impressions, which didn’t involve any voices. They were impressions of body language.

photo / redjar  

Economic stimulus checks, what President Bush called a “booster shot” for the economy, have just started to be distributed to qualifying Americans. While many — if not most — people are expected to just save it or pay down debt, others are using the money for fun stuff. Like this guy:

I bought more toolsy outfielders and minor league pitchers for my Fantasy Baseball team!

See how Americans are spending their stimulus checks, and tell everyone how you’re spending it at howispentmystimulus.com.

Hot tip: To find out the status of your stimulus check, go to the IRS website.

In the last couple of weeks, a video of the guy who got trapped in the elevator at New York City’s McGraw-Hill building for 41 hours was passed around online — did you see it?

Well, comedian Max Silvestri recently fell victim to a malfunctioning elevator — and, like the other guy, his experience was caught on camera:

via CC Insider

Punchline 

Well, well, well. It seems to be Friday yet again. Wow! Time flies, it’s already May?, etc.

Looking for something cheap, easy, and fun to do tonight? A clever joke about someone’s slutty mom could be here, but instead I’ll just tell you to go to ColdTowne Theater tonight for Punchline — it’s a stand-up comedy show that we at TOP help put on every week. Tickets are just $5 at the door, and you can BYOB if you’re over 21. Tonight’s show will be hosted by Jonathan Pace. Comedians performing:

• Chris Trew
• Bob DiPasquale
• David Cole
• Jeremy Neal
• Nick Ramirez
• Alex Garza
• Todd Merriman
• Albert Im
• Lance Gilstrap
• James Donahue
• David James
• Seth Cockfield

10pm (arrive early) | $5 at the door

512-Go!» ColdTowne Theater | map
4803 Airport Blvd (same building as I Luv Video) • 524-2807