Flooded Lizard Kingdom

Austin's Goodwills and other thrift stores have an abundance of all of the following, and I'm sure it's also true of most other resale markets in cities across the country. Let's put it this way - either you can keep items out of the trash while saving money and supporting local charities, or you can reward companies for mass producing more stuff that will eventually end up in the garbage or at Goodwill (and quite possibly exploiting and/or poisoning their overseas labor to make it).

You don't even have to settle for "used" merchandise in many Goodwills around here. They also have lots of new goods that were donated for sale.

1. Vases
2. Baskets
3. Gift wrap
4. Gift bags
5. Holiday lights
6. Holiday cards
7. Holiday decorations, such as ornaments and figurines
8. Unopened gift sets of soap, perfume, etc. to give as gifts
9. Baby clothes with the tags still on (or not, but in mint condition)
10. Cleaning supplies in case you're hosting the family get-together

And by the way, please don't think of shopping at thrift stores as taking something away from low-income folks. Thrift stores that raise money for charities are set up to raise money for charities, not to provide shopping opportunities for low-income people. Even if they were, I assure you that there's more than enough merchandise to go around.

So this holiday season, while retailers are urging you to accumulate more and more new stuff, head to your local thrift store at least once before you reflexively head to Wal-Mart, Target, Ross, TJ Maxx, etc. Your community, the environment, and society will thank you for it!

If you're in Austin and you need some guidance on thrifting, check out the Thrift category archives on What If No One's Watching. Grace has reviewed a number of the thrift stores around town.

Mike Doughty's show at the Cactus Cafe here in Austin last night was part of his tour called The Question Jar. He invited the audience members to each put one question into a jar, then he answered a few in between almost every song. C-Man and I did our best to remember them without being obsessive or taking notes, here's what we got. His answers are in parentheses.

• Do you know the Muffin Man? (No.)
• How much bacon is too much? (Fifty cubits.)
• Will you play American Car? (No.)
• Do you like robots? (Yes. These are easy questions!)
• In the early/late 1990s, do you remember getting an email from a guy in Houston inviting you to a high school debate party? If so, why didn't you come? (I told you guys I was on drugs during the 90s.)
• Which is your favorite leg? (Left leg.)
• Which of your songs is your favorite? (Fuckin' shitfuck, I don't know. It changes. There's a pansy-ass answer.)
• With the advent of digital music distribution (mp3s), why are there no more supergroups (Foreigner, Rush, Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Poison)? (Summary: you've been getting screwed by record companies for a long time, I'm glad they're not making money anymore.)
• My lovely wife and I met at a Soul Coughing show in New Orleans. Will you play our fifth wedding anniversary? (Probably not, but congratulations.)
• Would we have fashionable babies? (Obviously we would.)
• Why did you go to northern Africa? (Summary: Listened to some 1970s records from Ethiopia.)
• Was there one event that made you realize you needed to get sober? (Summary: There were a couple, here is the funny one. He was in a hotel room in Cleveland, shitfaced at 10am, ordered room service, and when the server showed up he had his daughter with him because it was Take Your Daughter to Work Day. He felt terrible.)
• How is recovery? (Great!)
• What three things do you most often think about? (Food, girls, music.)
• Were you ever thrown out of a bar in Rochester, NY for looking at porn on a computer? (No.)
• How do you feel about Steely Dan? (I like Steely Dan. I'm not going to be one of those not liking Steely Dan guys.)
• Can you play Purple Rain? (We think so... and they did!)
• Did you give Sebastien a beat down for playing bass for Vanessa Carlton? (I didn't know he did, but hats off to him.)
• Do you still talk to the Cuban girl? (Yes. She's bummed about the song.)
• Since Soul Coughing, your songwriting has become more spiritual. Was there something in particular that caused that? (I used to be a junkie who listened to Sam Cooke records and decided to believe in Jesus. So it started a while ago.)
• Who was the favorite person you have worked with during your musical career, and do you have any more collaborations coming up? (Summary: The producer on the first couple of Soul Coughing albums, because he was a freak. He thought there were 6 singles on Ruby Vroom and that Circles was a crap song.)
• What do you get when you cross a tree and a metronome? (I don't know, what do you get?)
• How do you deal with writer's block now that you're sober? (Summary: drugs were more of a writer's block.)
• What's the inspiration for the chorus of True Dreams of Wichita? (Summary: his girlfriend dumped him for his drummer, they went on a roadtrip and kept calling him and leaving messages cause they assumed he was still their friend. One call was from Wichita.)
• What's your perfect day? (Eating good food . . . and DOIN' IT.)

Every Sunday in July, the Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas is holding an event where they take your blood and give you Amy's ice cream in return. They're calling it Sundaes on Sunday. C-Man and I went down to find out if this crazy barter arrangement is for real, and we can report that it is. I can't say I enjoy giving blood, but the people are nice and the cause is just.

Get on down there! I'm trying to go more regularly, even after the ice cream deal is over.

Dan Gillotte of Wheatsville Co-Op in Austin sent out this little note in the e-newsletter:

Our fiscal year ends this Wednesday May 31st. We are very close to hitting annual sales of $7,000,000. I think that we as a staff would be really excited to beat that number. But, the last week of May is notoriously slow around here and we may not do it. If we don't, we'll come dang close and that will be great, but if we could hit it we would be very happy! So, I'm not asking you to do anything about this, and you should feel no pressure whatsoever. But if you are inclined to help us push past $7,000,000 this year, the next 5 days are the time to do it. Do a little Co-op Advantage stock up, maybe? Come for lunch with a couple of friends? Buy that water filter you've been eyeing?

So if you're a Wheatsville shopper and you haven't been there in a few days, now would be a good time!

The second Sustainable Shoppers' Ball is happening this Saturday in Austin. I missed the first one, so I hope I make it to this one. It's held on Earth Day, what could be better?

Someone painted an Austin building like a Mondrian painting several months ago, and I've been meaning to post these pictures I took for my friend in Montana. She's making a small quilt in this style.

I needed to find a recycling outlet for some paperback journals and phone books I liberated from a friend. I thought Ecology Action at 9th and IH-35 would take them, but I wanted to double check. After all, if I'm fed up with my neighbors who have curbside trying to recycle plastic bags, cereal boxes, margarine tubs, and all kinds of other stuff the City of Austin doesn't take, I need to check on these things before I drop stuff off.

So here's the scoop on Ecology Action:

First of all, we take paper. And not just newspaper, any type of paper except waxed paper (such as paper orange juice cartons). This means phone books, books, heavy cardstock, and packing paper (please fold it if you can).

Cardboard is another big one. We would like you to flatten the boxes: that saves us a LOT of work.

We can recycle #1 and #2 plastic of any type, except for bags. That means that we can take bottles, jars, tubs (such as yogurt and margarine bins), trays, cups and more. As long as it has a #1 or #2 recycling symbol on it, and it’s not a bag, we can now accept it.

A message sent out by Austin Free-Net:

The City of Austin is about to open the Palmer Center and the Convention Center for Hurricane Katrina refugees. The Burger Center is already in use for this purpose as you probably know. The computer banks are now being installed in the Palmer and Convention Centers and the refugees will be arriving soon.

They need volunteers to help these folks put their information into a web site that is tracking the refugees so that their loved ones can find them and vice versa. Many of the refugees have no computer skills. If you can volunteer any of your time and skills to help out, please e-mail: eric.garnel@ci.austin.tx.us.

Eric will e-mail you back to let you know when you will be needed.

DJ #1: Here's a song by Toni Price that she learned off a Billie Holiday record, and I have to say, as good as Billie Holiday is, I like this version better.

DJ #2: I will stab you in the heart.

I KNEW that the year I moved back to Austin (2000) seemed really, really hot. I just attributed it to the fact that I spent a lot of time outside waiting for buses due to job interviews. But lo and behold, from the Statesman's front page this afternoon...

Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, the Paramount Film Series is showing the original version of the 1954 Godzilla.

I'm really excited! My mother, in addition to being a devout Methodist Sunday school teacher and gardener, is also a fan of monster movies. Mothra was a staple of my childhood television viewing. Godzilla came later, and now I am working my way through the Godzilla films to build a list of personal favorites. (So far, Godzilla v. Gigan and Destroy all Monsters join the Mothra films as my top picks.)

The New York Times had a good piece on how the restored film differs from the version that was originally made available to American audiences.

As the historian William Tsutsui reminded us in last year's cult classic, "Godzilla on My Mind," the 1954 movie was a dark, poetic production that dealt openly with Japanese misgivings about the nuclear menace, environmental degradation and the traumatic experience associated with World War II. [...]

The American company that bought the rights to distribute the film in this country cut a large chunk from Honda's original film and rearranged the plot. The biggest change involved splicing in Raymond Burr, who played an American reporter chronicling the devastation for the press. Dialogue that dealt heavily with human suffering, the morality of all-out war - and the temptation to play God with weapons of mass destruction - was left on the American cutting room floor.

I love watching Gojira stomp on tiny tanks, but I also like a little substance with my smashing. Thanks to the Paramount for such an opportunity!

In this episode of "Damn My Mailbox Is Full Of Junk And I Don't Want It!", The Princess is calling the Austin-American Statesman to opt-out of the Print Plus advertising junk. Their main switchboard number is 445-3500, and they have transferred me to circulation. Waiting...ooh, look, disconnected! Take two...hey, a person! She says it will take up to six weeks. And she volunteered quite cheerfully that I could also be on a "no knock" list and "no call" list for people trying to sell me the paper.

And check out https://www.optoutprescreen.com/ as an alternative to the opt-out phone number for credit-bureau-generated mailing lists, including credit card offers. You can do a 5-year or permanent opt-out.

Thanks, anonymous graffiti artist who decorated the bus stop corner at 21st and Rio Grande. :)

Went to the Flicker Austin Screening at the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown last night. It was all about humans making quirky and sometimes lovely things, then sharing them with others. The films were from 3 to 15 minutes long and almost all were worth watching. (But confidential to the zombie auteur: ick!) The next Flicker screening is September 9th, and you should go. Yes, you.

It reminded me of The Best Salvage Vanguard Holiday Ever, an annual event by Salvage Vanguard Theater where short holiday-themed plays by different authors are staged at Little City downtown. I went for the first time in December 2003. I recommend this event as well, and I can even tell you which are the best seats. I'll try to remind you later in the year so you don't forget.

Some of the pieces in each of these cultural collages were funny, some touching, some just strange. A few I didn't even understand, but they were heartwrenchingly beautiful nonetheless. The sum gave me that "humans are the coolest things going" glow. I love that feeling. It helps to counteract my despair that amoral ruthless corporations are ravaging our planet, our economy, and our souls.

On Saturday the Austin-American Statesman ran a story called "Downtown living isn't a new trend", with the subtitle "Despite appearances, people have been living in downtown Austin for decades."

Yes, they're called the homeless.

Oh wait, the story is actually about rich people. Rich people who want a Target downtown.

Although downtown has much to offer, living there isn't cheap, especially in the newer high-rises. The least expensive unit in the Austin City Lofts goes for about $330,000.

East of Congress Avenue, construction will start soon on the 250-unit Rainey Street Apartments. Rents for the penthouse units in the 13-story complex are expected to top $3,500 a month.

Later this month, the Five Fifty Five project -- 99 upscale condos in the 5-month-old Hilton Hotel downtown -- will go on the market. The smallest units, 800 square feet, will start in the mid-$200,000s, while the 4,000-square-foot penthouses will be $2 million and up.

Although downtown offers attractions such as galleries, shops, outdoor festivals and a farmer's market, residents say some gaps remain.

Speyer, who likes to walk to nearby galleries, the Capitol grounds and other downtown attractions, wants a discount movie theater. Others covet a first-run theater, a convenience store or neighborhood grocery, a hardware store and a big-box retailer such as Target.

In the late 1990s a group of Austin affordable housing folks were in the process of developing a project to convert the empty Reddy Ice factory on Red River into affordable housing with federal tax credits. Eligibility of a project for the best kind of tax credits is based on the socioeconomic characteristics of the census tract in which it is to be located.

During the planning process, the 2000 Census revealed that the mean income in the downtown census tract had risen sharply - due to the influx of people who can afford condos like the ones described above. Despite the fact that absolute need hadn't changed, the census tract was no longer eligible for the tax credits and the project couldn't go forward. The building was slated to be redeveloped into upscale apartments in 2002, but as of 2004 it's still empty.

No point, really. I'm just not all that moved by the plight of poor neglected downtown Austinites in $300,000 condos who covet a movie theater. ;)

The Austin-American Statesman, like most papers, benefits from using AP stories. Fair enough. Couldn't they at least check the headlines, though? Y'know, so they don't sound like idiots?

Three Killed Dead, I-35 closed after fiery wreck

This poem is by e.e. to the motherfuckin' c u m m i n g s. And if you've never heard of him, you need to check out the 800s, Dewey Decimal System land.

On the local forecast page, Weather.com has a link to "Austin ski resort snow conditions."

While I am sure that page is easy to maintain, I question its usefulness.

Scene: Bus, as noted above. Enter 23? year old guy, cute, very cheerful, vaguely alterna, carrying a bag with 2 or 3 bags of generic cereal.

Driver: What'd you get?
23: Cereal. But no lady.
Driver: What?
23: I went to the HEB, I hoped there would be a lady there for me, it being Valentine's Day and all.
Driver: Did you get milk?
23: I didn't need milk! I needed a lady! To go with the cereal.
Crazy Man: You should go to church.
Driver: He's on his way home.
23: Maybe that's it, maybe all the ladies went to my house and they'll be there when I get home!

Austin-American Statesman: "A bunch of dim bulbs and projection problems are muddying movies at some Austin cinemas"

Professional projectionists say screen size dictates proper bulb wattage, so the smaller the screen, the less bulb power is required to provide an adequately lit picture.

Problem is, most of the chain theaters -- those operated by Regal, Cinemark and AMC in Austin -- use extremely large screens in their multiplexes, possibly without proper bulb size or bulb output. Generally, larger multiplex screens demand at least a 3,000-watt bulb but should have a 4,000-watt bulb for an optimal picture.

Something I had never thought of complaining about - and how often does that happen?

So I was all set to condescend to someone who said they were coming up from Dallas to Austin, because Dallas is obviously north. But I thought I would protect myself by looking up the elevations of the two, and it turns out that Austin is officially 38 feet higher than Dallas. Serves me right.

You can look up elevations here, but it may be wrong if your city has risen or fallen since 1987. All you Houstonians are probably out of luck, since your city was built on a swamp.

On Route #3 Burnet/Manchaca, southbound, morning, re: admission to the University of Texas at Austin:

Girl: I just need to be a foreign student and then I'll get in. Don't we have a quota on foreign students or something?

Boy: Ummm....no, I don't think so.

Girl: Or people from Delaware or something?

When I was 18-ish I walked past the auto repair department of some department-type store in St. Paul - near the Midway Target on University - and a group of men hanging out there in the open bay doors catcalled and whistled at me several times. I regretted wearing a short skirt, I regretted being alone, and I have always regretted that I didn't call the store when I got home and complain.

Today I walked past the construction site between Congress and Brazos on 4th street in downtown Austin. For a block and a half several workers on scaffolding several floors up catcalled, whistled, screamed "I love you baby" and other tempting lines. And while I walk faster than most people, a block and a half is still a very, very, very long time when you're the only person on the block and you are powerless to offer so much as a comeback line or a dirty look. The regret for the short skirt and the aloneness competed with rage and humiliation.

So when I got back to the office I called Downtown Austin Alliance, who referred me to Cousins Properties, whose exceedingly nice receptionist referred me to Constructors and Associates. That exceedingly nice receptionist got me on the line with a supervisor, to whom I complained. He made all the right noises about how this was inappropriate and unacceptable in their company. He even gave me the address of the on-site construction office (I didn't think to look for it, I just wanted to get out of there) and said that if it happened again I should go right to the office and he would terminate someone from the site for that type of behavior.

But then this happened:

Him: "You must be a very attractive young lady."
Me: "That has nothing to do with it."
Him: "That does have something to do with it, 'cause some of these guys are boxed in there for 12 hours, which doesn't make it right, but I'm going to go up there right now and straighten this out..."

Now I don't know what to do. Aside from cry, which I did a little bit once I got off the phone, and the only result was to get sunscreen in my eye (not sure how that happened, but ouch). Is it enough that he went up there to take action on my behalf, or should the company be teaching its people not to say things that imply sexual harassment is about the attractiveness of the harassee?

*sigh*