I saw the sign

I gotta admit, Austin has among the coolest signs and logos for its shops, eateries, and events. It's amazing how powerful something as simple as a sign or logo can communicate about an entity. Everywhere I go interesting fonts, color combinations, and other unique design choices tantalize my eyes. Here are a few of my Austin favorites...

Signs:

P. Terry's. This is my favorite sign in Austin. The red and white on robin's egg blue (green) are a memorable color combination. I love the space age-y feel to it also.

EZ's. The glitz and faux glamour of this diner's sign introduces me to a place that knows better than to take itself too seriously.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. An Austin favorite, with a classic, vintage cinema sign.

Spider House. This place never misses an opportunity to showcase its lovely quirkiness. This sign is no different. It's even laden with Christmas lights, just like the coffee shop's patio.

Sandy's. This sign choice communicates good old fashioned burger joint to me, which is exactly what the place is.

Allen's Boots. I don't care how corny people think it is, I like when people make letters into artwork, or other art into letters (as long as it works). The boot L's work here.

Austin Java. Clearly these guys take their coffee seriously. But otherwise the sign communicates a fun, earthy, laid-back vibe.

Shady Grove. I just love the use of rope to spell "Shady" here. Always have (since the first time I saw this place).

(Did you also notice I'm a fan of neon lights? Especially ones that are also aesthetically pleasing by day.)

UT street sign. I love when colleges make everyday things their own, like this University of Texas street sign. Not only does the burnt orange hue greet the eye, but uses a starkly different font than all other street signs in the city.

Asti. This Italian dinner destination brings modernity to the forefront. Literally.


El Chilito. Just because the fare is overrated doesn't mean you won't be duped by the bright colors and intriguing packaging.


Vivo. I've never eaten here, but the sign hypnotizes me every time I drive by it.


Third Rail Creative. This downtown ad agency makes you forget for a few seconds that you're not only not in New York, but worlds away.

Tesoros. Not sure if I like the font for "Tesoros" or the heart in the logo better. I definitely recognize the Lithos Black in "Trading Company" though!

Logos:

Whataburger. When I read the word, I hear the voice of the commercials in my head, "Whatta-BURger." The logo has a stark resemblance to the Weezer logo of old, but I really like the repetition of the W's in the logo. It makes it memorable. As does the bright orange coloring and "packaging" of its franchises, with their white-and-orange striped roofs.


Torchy's Tacos. Did you really think I'd complete this post without a Torchy's reference? This logo insinuates that Torchy's is both completely badass and has a little bit of a playful side to it. Bingo.

Austin City Limits logo. The font calls to an earlier disco era. I really like the double outlines and smooth curves of the letters.

Taco Shack. Every location of this taco chain has this wooden plank lettering. It's unlike anything I've seen and really emphasizes the "shack" part of its name.

SXSW 2007 logo. Not sure what font SXSW is on this, but I sure do love it. I really like the simplicity of using thin lines to define what are otherwise bulky and lifeless letters.

Note: 90% of these graphics were found on Flickr (www.flickr.com).

Lights out on NBC in Austin

So at midnight last night (this morning?) KXAN, Austin's NBC affiliate turned off its airwaves to Time Warner cable subscribers. KXAN and Time Warner are in an apparent disagreement about subscribers fees, and were unable to reach an agreement before KXAN pulled the plug.

Who wins when this happens? Definitely not Time Warner cable subscribers. DirecTV certainly benefits from the situation. It's been putting out ads trying to get NBC fans of Heroes, The Office, and 30 Rock to switch to their service, which still carries the network.

If I weren't leaving Austin in three months I'd certainly consider the switch. As mentioned earlier, new Friday Night Lights episodes will only be available to DirecTV subscribers until February 2009.

If that weren't bad enough, the rumor has it that the CW Austin has been threatening to drop from Time Warner cable as well. Which would mean no Gossip Girl. What does that actually leave me with? Mad Men (AMC), no My Boys (TBS) since it's only a summer show, and ESPN and Food Network. Yeah, so basically my only show I'd have left is Mad Men. And How I Met Your Mother, which I keep stupidly forgetting to DVR.

I passionately hope that the CW split is just a rumor, though I'm 90% sure I saw a commercial the other day warning viewers that cable may longer carry the CW later in October. I'm not completely certain on that though. Let's hope I heard and remember wrong!

Fear not though about all the NBC shows besides Friday Night Lights... they're all available for free on Hulu. The newest Office episode's up already if you missed it last week. So glad it's back!

FNL 101

So earlier in the week I heard the most crushing news I've heard in quite some time...


Noooooooooooo!

That's right, Friday Night Lights, fondly/annoyingly known by me as FNL, will be unveiled on DirecTV a full four months before (finally) airing on NBC. Season 3 premieres on DirecTV on Oct. 1 and won't be available to the rest of us until February!

Talk about disappointing.

FNL is one of the most underappreciated shows I've ever seen. (It's awesome. Even Peyton Manning thinks so!) I've loved it from the beginning, but NBC has threatened to pull the plug on the show every year since its inception. The show has shuffled around from timeslot to timeslot, night to night, and eventually last year landed in a pretty self-explanatory timeslot... Friday night.

What does this mean for avid FNL fans like myself? I'll suffer through a disheartening one-third of a year or I'll somehow cave and buy DirecTV. Personally, I'm hoping for the episodes finding their way to Hulu.

Anyway, as a big fan of the entire FNL franchise (yes, there is a franchise in that there's more than one), I'm frequently asked what the differences are between Friday Night Lights the book, the movie, and the TV show. Here is today's lesson:

The whole thing started with H.G. Bissinger's book, Friday Night Lights: A Town, A Team, and a Dream, a non-fiction book about the 1988 Permian football team in the west Texas oil town of Odessa. Bissinger followed the Permian Panthers around for a year, went to the annual watermelon feed, attended practices and games, and even sat in on halftime and pre-game pep talks on the team's quest for the Texas State Championship. The dark and beautifully written book was published in 1990 and exposed the unglamorous underbelly of racism, economic despair, and a community too focused on sports and not enough on education. Unsurprisingly my sentiments on the quality of Bissinger's work is not shared by many Odessa residents.

Then in 2004, the book was made into a movie called -- you guessed it -- Friday Night Lights. For the most part the movie followed the book, obviously many details were left out for the sake of time. The characters were the same, had similar dilemmas and personalities, and again was set in Odessa. Billy Bob Thornton played the part of Coach Gary Gaines. Oddly enough, Connie Britton played his wife, Sharon Gaines. Britton plays "the coach's wife" in the TV series as well.

Then, flash forward to 2006. Friday Night Lights, the TV series, hit the airwaves. However, unlike the movie, this one was not based on the book, but inspired by it. Oddly enough, the show's executive producer is Peter Berg, first cousin of the book's writer.

The TV show is a pretty sizeable departure from the book and movie. There are a few similarities, like the tragedy, immense sadness, and tough lives of the characters, the town's obsession with high school football, the team's mascot (the Panthers), and the small town Texas setting. The TV show is filmed in Austin and nearby suburb Pflugerville (note what real Pflugerville's football jerseys look like, pretty much the same look as those on the show) but takes place in fictional Dillon, Texas. The Dillon Panthers have blue and yellow jerseys, unlike Permian's trademark black jerseys (see below). Apologies for waxing Uni Watch again.

Source: odessapermian.com

The TV show never really says where in Texas Dillon is. Sometimes you'll hear that it is a few hours from Austin, or a few from Dallas, but it never gives any real indication where in the state they're located. There are frequent references to Mack Brown and/or the Texas Longhorns. Honestly my analysis of the show could last for hours, but I'll curtail the details here. But like the book, the sadness and rawness of the emotions is what makes the TV show so beautiful.

If pressed for an opinion, I would say the book is the best, but it wins in a squeaker (over the TV show... the movie didn't bring much new to the table). Great writing (Bissinger formerly wrote for Sports Illustrated by the way) wins every time, but you have to keep in mind that the hugely successful movie and great TV show (bad ratings, but critically acclaimed) wouldn't exist without the book.

PS, one day I hope to attend a high school football game at Permian. I realize that likelihood hovers around nill, as it is a 6 hour drive, and um, 370 miles away. Couple that with gas for $3.70 a gallon, and yeah...

The end. Finally.

Tasty Trailer Treats

So one of my favorite things about Austin is the numerous delicious food-supplying trailers and carts.

This week I finally tried Flip Happy Crepes and Hey Cupcake!

Picture from http://stevieandkate.blogspot.com/2007/11/blog-post.html

While I enjoyed both of them, my favorite trailer foods still remain Torchy's (though I usually cheat and go to the Guadalupe location in the strip mall) and the snowcone stands Sno Beach and Molly's Sno Cups.

I enjoyed Flip Happy despite not being a bona fide "crepe fan." The lines are long, and I will definitely keep in mind to arrive there no later than 11 a.m. in the future. I tried an entree crepe filled with roasted chicken and goat cheese, and it was fabulous. I tried a dessert one draped with berry dressing as well, but I found the entree one to be the star of the show.

I thought Hey Cupcake! was a really cute place, but based on my limited sampling (Red Velvet and "The Standard," a vanilla cupcake with chocolate icing), I'd have to say it was a bit overrated. Plus $2.50 and $2 for cupcakes (respectively) was a bit much. But having had a rough week, I decided to treat myself. This will probably the most asinine food observation of all time, but I don't think I've ever had a cake (or cupcake) I've enjoyed more than one made from a Duncan Hines cake mix. I'm really not kidding. I'm all for making icings from scratch to add to these cakes, but the cakes themselves are so perfectly moist and tasty. This is probably why I have no future as a food critic.

Going back to Hey Cupcake!, what I found most disappointing about the cupcake was that the tops were especially hard and a little overcooked. Maybe I'm a picky cupcake-eater, but I like the cake portion to be reasonably consistent throughout, as in soft, but not falling apart.

I love all types of cupcakes... red velvet, chocolate, yellow, carrot cake, Funfetti, you name it. (By the way, I lump Pillsbury's Funfetti in that category of Duncan Hines-caliber amazing boxed cake mixes.) I have tried many far and wide, but I have yet to find one I thought tasted better than my Mom's Duncan Hines yellow cake with her own fudge icing. It's truly dynamite. If I'm feeling more charitable, I'll share the recipe at some point. Though I think she originally got the recipe from the cooking bible.

I'm looking to try some more tasty trailer and cart treats in the coming weeks as well. Right now I have my eye on Kebabalicious, Best Wurst (we'll save that one for a drunken night out though), and Rosita's al Pastor, should you feel compelled to join for sampling.

PS Thanks to my awesome friends. You've been fantastic, this week especially, but always!

Austin Outburst Addendum

Sporadic Austin thoughts/updates:

• Finally got a chance to check out Barton Springs this past weekend. Very cool, will definitely be going back. (Note to Gregory Gym Pool: don't worry, I still love you too!)
  
  
• The aforementioned snowcone shack I love on South Lamar is called Molly's Original Sno-Cups. You can't miss the gleaming silver trailer in the P. Terry's parking lot. While there this weekend for a post-Barton treat we stumbled upon P. Terry's 3rd anniversary party and got free t's and yummy burgers to accompany our 'cones.
  
  
• Tried breakfast tacos at Torchy's... indeed they're better than Taco Shack.
  
  
• I need to save up more of my pennies so that I can actually buy stuff at the stores on South Congress and Hey Cupcake!, speaking of silver trailers full of sweet treats.
  

I leave you with a picture of the taste oasis I'll be partaking in the rest of the summer. More reason for more Barton Springs and Peter Pan trips! I recommend the somewhat juvenile combination of cotton candy, bubble gum & blue raspberry.

Picture source: 100 Percent Cottam blog

Silly Quiz

When I met my boyfriend a little over a year ago one of the first things he ever told me was that I was "totally perfect for Austin." It could have been my weird personality, or my interest in music, and love of Tex-Mex or the outdoors, but I'm not sure exactly what sparked him to say that. Though I had only been to Austin briefly once, my limited experience led me to believe that he was precisely right.

Anyway, I took a "What US city are you?" quiz yesterday, and wouldn't you know, these were my results:

You are Austin

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll. You're totally weird and very proud of it. Artistic and freaky, you still seem to fit in... in your own strange way. Famous Austin residents: Lance Armstrong, Sandra Bullock, Andy Roddick

What American City Are You?

Shoulda taken the darn thing ages ago, yes?

Austin Lovin'

I'm head over heels... for Austin freakin', Texas!

I have lived here almost a year and I can't get over how much I LOVE this place! The weather, the food, the sports, the music, my school, my job, and again, my God, the foooooood. I have eaten Tex-Mex approximately 289 times since I moved here, and this is very likely not an exaggeration.

A short list of what I love about this town:

• Red River -- my favorite street in Austin. Home to lots of fun music venues like Stubb's and Emo's. And delicious food like Moonshine, Austin's best brunch, and Ironworks, probably the best BBQ in town.
• UT football games -- the roaring crowds, the occasional Matthew McConaughey sighting, a real band, sweating to death and screaming at the 'Horns... What could be a better way to spend a Saturday?
• Austin City Limits -- you already know this
• Zilker Park Botanical Garden
• Peter Pan -- BYOB mini golf
• road trips to close-by towns to sample Texas-style BBQ (beef brisket, etc.)
• that awesome snowcone place beside P. Terry's on Lamar, just north of intersection with Barton Springs
• UT's on-campus oasis, the Gregory Gym Aquatic Complex, for outdoor lap swimming when motivated, and lazy poolside relaxation
  
• kayaking on Town Lake
• movies at Alamo Drafthouse
• funky and fun coffeehouses like Spiderhouse, JP's Java, and Mozart's
  

And well I wouldn't even scratch the surface without a full list of my favorite Tex-Mex places thus far, I must stress. I'm always looking to add more to the repertoire:

• Chuy's -- great queso, delicious food
  
• Hula Hut... sister restaurant of Chuy's but with a patio overlooking Lake Austin. They mix Polynesian and Tex-Mex flavors. I'm partial to their BBQ chicken tacos.
  
• Guero's Taco Bar -- yummy South Congress place where you can eat chips and salsa and watch bands play while you wait for your table
• Torchy's Tacos -- might be my new favorite. Fresh and exciting ingredient combinations... I recommend the Brushfire taco, filled to the brim with Jamaican Jerk chicken, mango, sour cream and a spicy "Diablo" sauce.
• Freebirds -- the Texas chain beats Chipotle at its own burrito game. And the chicken is always wholly cooked! (Though kudos to Chipotle for having intoxicatingly delicious guacamole over and over again.)
• Taco Shack -- my weekend go-to breakfast taco staple... simple, no fuss
• Trudy's -- this college town favorite has legendarily strong Mexican Martinis and limits you to two per outing
• The Oasis -- panoramic views of Lake Travis and the self-claimed "Sunset Capital of Texas"
• Iguana Grill -- the lesser known Lake Travis treasure that I'd have to say beats The Oasis on the Tex-Mex food and live music, and certainly rivals its sunset allure
  

I know there are quite a few obvious "can't miss" places I didn't mention in Austin, but there are lots more places I need to see! Still haven't gone to Barton Springs or Greenbelt, but I'll be working on making it to both places in the coming weeks.

Happy 4th of July! Go out and enjoy the best of wherever you live has to offer!