It’s now playing in town at the Violet Crown Cinema and at the Arbor. On-line advance purchase appears to be requisite to see it at the Violet Crown; an attempt to purchase tickets at the door there was met with information that the next two shows were already sold out. So it was on to the Arbor, where the much larger house was nearly sold out.

This movie is laugh-out-loud fun. The audience even applauded spontaneously a few times. Look for familiar scenes from San Marcos, Bastrop, Smithville, Austin, and more. Quita Culpepper and Dale Dudley are on-screen presences.

Everyone loves different aspects of this movie. Here are some of my favorites: Jack Black’s singing, the singing and especially the choreography of the stage scene of “Seventy-Six Trombones” from The Music Man, the dialogue, the costumes, the humor generally, and the performances of everyone, in particular that of Richard Robichaux and, yes, those of Shirley MacLaine and, especially, Matthew McConaughey.

This would be a movie to see even if it weren’t set in Texas and weren’t filmed in part nearby. You won’t have a favorite scene to compare with the favorite scenes of others if you don’t go see it while it’s here.

It’s called “American Scenery: Different Views in Hudson River School Painting.” Views of the Susquehanna, Hudson, Saco, and other rivers and panoramas of Niagara, Lake George, Saranac astonish in their beauty. The 119 works of art are for the most part quite small, and the frames are as interesting as the art displayed within them. There’s always instructional material in addition to the labels mounted on the walls; look in the slots in the middle of the banks of benches in the exhibition halls.

The Blanton cafe and gift shop are worth visits for their own sake. There’s a gift in every price range for every age: books, toys, stationery, tabletop items, and much, much more.

The talented UT conjunto led off the program, followed by Los Pinkys, Los Texas Wranglers, Henry Zimmerle, Santiago Jimenez, Jr., and many, many more.

See toy-camera images and unedited videos, and make a place on your calendar for this event in 2013. You’ll be so glad you did!

Steam locomotive 844 was in Austin six years ago in May and was a majestic sight arriving and departing, but this newer locomotive is a handsome exemplar of industrial might, too.

A few more toy-camera images and some unedited videos of today’s arrival are available.

The current special train goes on to San Marcos, where the mayor will greet its arrival and a band will play. Thereafter, it will spend a few days in San Antonio for Fiesta, before moving on to Houston and, eventually, to New Orleans.

We kept to the east side of IH-35 again this year, where the streets are shadier and quieter and more peaceful, and we’re not sorry that we did. Two art bicycles turned out again. Music was accompanied by stilt walkers, twirlers of hula hoops, and figures on sticks (see picture).

Here’s a list of the bands participating; Austin’s own Minor Mishap Marching Band took the lead.

Here are some still images, and YouTube is a good place to search for unedited and edited videos. Anyone who missed this weekend festival lost out on a happy Austin time.

Next tine, we’ll take some sausage. Today was for feasting on the brisket, which had a deep smoke ring and not a hint of ketchup to be tasted in the rub. We enjoy it wiithout sauce, but did taste the JMueller house accompaniment, which was one-of-a-kind and quite mysterious, again without a hint of ketchup, and very tasty taken straight.

JMueller BBQ is to be found at 1502 South First. The schedule, according to the Web site, is from Wednesday through Sunday, and from 10:30 am to sell-out. Call 229-7366 with an order and pick it up in a speedy separate line.

This time, it was Radiohead who are playing tonight at the Erwin Center. I had tickets for that show as well in the upper deck. When I got the chance to attend the ACL taping, I sold the tickets to a friend. They’ll get a longer set at the Erwin Center, but it won’t be as intimate and the sound won’t be as good.

Terry Lickona introduced the band and also announced that the development on Block 21 that includes the Moody Theater where the show has been taping for a year has been awarded the LEED Silver Certification for Commitment to Sustainability, the first such award to a mixed use development of its size.

Comparing last night’s set list with the one from Houston, we didn’t get one of my favorites, “Everything In Its Right Place”. However, we did get three b-sides: “Daily Mail”, “The Amazing Sounds of Orgy” and “Staircase”. Thom Yorke introduced “Orgy” as a song he’d written 10 years ago that disappeared like a “wet fart in the wind”. It’s about the banking industry and how it appeared poised for a collapse. It seems that Mr. Yorke was a little early, but still correct. They also played a few new numbers including “Identikit” which has been played throughout the tour and a new one called “Skirting the Surface”.  Looking at the rest of the list, they played the first 5 tracks from The King of Limbs, three from Hail To The Thief, two from In Rainbows, one from Kid A, and one from OK Computer.

The sound, as always, was amazing, particularly during “Daily Mail” which starts with just Thom Yorke on piano. (I highly recommend picking up the Daily Mail / Staircase single). There was a lot of switching out of instruments between songs. The double drummer setup made for some interesting cross-rhythms throughout the show. Bass player, Colin Greenwood, stayed between the two drummers in the back for much of the set while Thom Yorke danced around like a crazed Leprechaun. They did two takes of “Reckoner”. Yorke wasn’t happy with the first take and had the band start over again.

The show will air sometime in October on KLRU (Channel 9) locally or your PBS affiliate.

Set list:

1. Bloom
2. Little by Little
3. Daily Mail
4. Myxomatosis
5. Morning Mr. Magpie
6. The Gloaming
7. The Amazing Sounds of Orgy
8. Staircase
9. Reckoner
10. Weird Fishes / Arpeggi
11. Identikit
12. Lotus Flower
13. There There
14. Feral
15. Idioteque
16. Skirting on the Surface (encore)
17. Paranoid Android (encore)

Spirits were high, even though turnout was low, perhaps because of the blustery weather. This longhorn was a great favorite of the crowd. We all loved the East Side Panther Band.

We’ve never seen so many replicas of the “Come and take it” Gonzalez flag in one place. See some and images of more parade participants here.

British film, Dreams of a Life is scheduled for four showings between the 10th and 17th of March, starting on the 10th at 4:45pm at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. The Director Carol Morely will be on hand on Saturday to answer questions about the film, the background to the film and, inevitably the real life of Joyce Vincent and implications for a society which increasingly is moving from real to virtual, and online “friendships”.

The film explores how a young, popular party girl could disappear effectively without anyone noticing, only to be found 3-years later in her own apartment, dead, in front of the TV which was still turned-on. It’s part dramatic recreation, part documentary, part forensic anthropology and forensic archaeology. Director Morely(1) handles the topic inquisitively and sensitively, walking a fine line between being sensationalist or depressing. I left thinking about “lost” friends and actually did get in touch with a number of people in my immediate past, but also reached out to a number from a more distant past and was delighted to learn that someone I’d “heard” was dead, was in fact alive and well touring with musicians.

Dreams of a Life will make you wonder, who you are, and what happened to that friend, you know, the one you have not heard from for a while, go ahead, get in touch now, don’t wait until you’ve seen the film.

(1) Carol Morley received the Best Documentary Award at Melbourne International Film Festival for “The Alcohol Years”. In 2001 she was nominated for a BAFTA and received a special Grierson Award. Her first feature film “Edge” has been officially selected for the BFI London and Shanghai International Film Festivals.

Everything we have come to love at Fresh Plus (once Kash-Karry) on West Lynn is now available at 2917 West Anderson Lane (telephone 419-7379).

There’s a butcher counter and an extensive produce department. The fish appeared to be in an excellent state of freshness. We found such local favorites as Buddy’s Natural Chicken, a complete range of soaps and other products from South Austin People (So.A.P.), and Margarita’s delicious tortillas in all varieties. The store is still being stocked, so let people there know what you’d like to see. There’s plenty of space. Parking is ample, the staff is friendly and helpful, and shopping is fast.

We love our family-owned local businesses!