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Monday, January 19, 2009

2nd Full Day in Austin, Impressions

I'm in Austin today. Yesterday being my 2nd full day. It's a great town.

Austin is a dumpy crap hole with tons of personality that has undergone a decade or so of gentrification and now seems torn between its funky coolness and the new hip-swanky-yuppie element. It's a good mix and for the time being really awesome but I fear in 10 years it may swing too far the yuppie trash way. The one thing it seems to be avoiding is out and out rampant consumerism. I haven't seen the blocks and block of McDonald's, Ben and Jerry's, Chinos, Best Buys and Starbucks. It isn't completely immune, though. I do see lots of Beemers, black turtlenecks writing on apple branded laptops in swanky coffeshops and condo sky scrapers. It also appears that clubs are close to outnumbering bars which is never a good sign.

The food is really cosmopolitan. I have some very good Tia the first night. The taco stands have been great (the fresh authentic Mexican not the heavy beans and rice Chevy's tex-mex BS) and the ribs have been extraordinary.

It has a solid music scene, so I hear. (HAH! A pun). Though I haven't seen it. I'm one of the rare dweeb's who doesn't add “music” to my list of interests on my myspace page.

From what I've seen Austin is pretty cool. I could see it being on the short list of cities that I could live in. I think the key is the people. they are super-friendly and abnormally attractive.

Note to self: Recap that short list here at some point.

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# posted by Max : 1/19/2009 06:14:00 AM 2 comments

Monday, November 27, 2006

Thanksgiving in Review

I'm back from my sojourn to California. I had some thoughts of skipping it this year and pleading busy. But a promise is a promise, so off I went. In hindsight, I am glad I did.

I very much enjoyed my trip. I got to spend a lot of quality time with friends and family. Thank you to all of you who made the time. I don't think I've ever has so little time to kill on a trip back. I miss you all.

For those keeping score at home this is my sesquicentennial post.

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# posted by Max : 11/27/2006 11:57:00 PM 0 comments

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Philadelphia et al

I recently went East to visit Laura and see the sights. Good times. For those who haven't had a chance to visit her I'm happy to report that she has herself setup nicely. Her home is pretty big and remarkably private. (It's tastefully appointed as well.) Her little town of Phoenixville is very Butte-like. According to Laura it's a steel town gone bust (sound familiar?). It's got a cute downtown, and has that local character that is so rare in these days of national big box retail chains. Its located near Valley Forge National Park (which is quite spectacular by the way). I do hear that it's Strawberry Festival sucks, so you might want to skip that.

We had a good time checking out Philadelphia proper, Seeing the Liberty Bell, Exhibits on Ben Franklin and Independence Hall. If your a liberty nut like me its quite interesting. Excellent I highly recommend it. New to Philly is an old-time ice-cream parlor / soda-jerk. It was pretty cool. Its run by some collage kids, they make their own ice-cream, and have waxed facial hair. Delightful.


The "spider" that holds the Liberty Bell together.
Washington Monument from the WWII memorial.

Laura was sweet enough to take me to Washington DC. I had never been so it was a real treat. It was during the "Rolling Thunder" bike rally so the streets and parks were filled with bikers, vets, and Joan Jett impersonators. It was about 95 degrees and we ended up walking a pretty big circuit. We did the American History and Natural History Smithsonian, Washington Monument, Signers of the Declaration of Independence Memorial, The Vietnam Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial, The FDR Memorial, The Korean War Memorial, The WWII Memorial, and The Jefferson Memorial. Oh and we saw George's House.



My Favorite: The Korean War Memorial.

George, your lawn is getting a little brown. You should see to that. It kinda brings down the neighborhood.

DC, one more place Laura is gorgeous.

My last day of touring we hit Valley Forge. Which is quite cool. Washington seems like quite the dynamic cat. We took a trolley tour which the only run on special holidays, with a ranger that was quite knowledgeable. I recommend it as a stop.


Nutty recreationist or ghost of the Continental Army? Discuss!

Visiting Laura was a pleasure. Plus I fixed her porch light. She also has learned that I am a culinary genius and am not to be questioned. :)


Day 4: Laura Clearly has had an assfull of my shenanigans.

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# posted by Max : 6/08/2006 08:00:00 PM 0 comments

Montana Bloggers:

This great list was stolen from A History of Montana by Kodak.
Welcome to MikeAbleXray. You look like you could use a drink.