Stolen from Jessamyn’s photostream.

SXSW passes have apparently been sold out for weeks now. So what’s Bob Garlitz, the MaisonBisson cultural affairs reporter, to do? Hunt for celebrities around Austin, of course.

Here’s how he describes his first hit:

I look at him intently, he’s about six inches in front of me. A long pause as I study his face and especially note the nose. He waits, expecting, knowing, what’s next. He’s shorter than me, in a white cap, white t-shirt and maybe white jeans. Little bit of blonde stubble here and there on his face the way those poor blonde guys who have no beards let happen in lieu of anything else. Maybe he’s a bit tired from last night? hard to tell, seems as relaxed as ever. I decide hell, yes, it is Owen and give a tiny decisive blink. He blinks back in acknowledgment. I give him a little punch on his shoulder and say Hey, how’re you doing? I’m doing real good, he says slowly.

Then Bob gets into an argument with the guy at the counter of the Whole Foods smoothie bar when the poor fellow admits to not knowing who Owen Wilson is, saying: “Well, if you don’t know I guess it makes no sense to tell you now does it?”

Anyway, if you’ve got a line on badges or parties for the guy, send me word.

austin, austin tx, bob garlitz, celebrity, celebrity citings, cultural reporting, owen wilson, robert garlitz, south by southwest, sxsw, sxsw2006, texas

You won’t get your salad dressing on the side in San Antonio. I don’t know what it says about a place, but in New England it’s so common I never learned to ask for it on the side, it just happens. Not so in San Antonio.

You’ll also have trouble finding a place to eat dinner away from the riverwalk, as all the neighborhood places I found are open only for breakfast and lunch. And I can’t say it with authority, but I don’t think there are any bookstores downtown either.

There’s no criticism in the above, just observations. Praise follows.

The city is clearly the most walkable I’ve ever seen. Cars move leisurely through most streets, allowing pedestrians to amble freely. And though there was little traffic noise, a descent to the riverwalk seemed to put one into a different city. Side note: much of the riverwalk has no guard rails to keep teetering tourists out of the drink; as with the salad dressing thing, I don’t know what this means, but I commend the civic leaders for it.

There’s probably a city ordinance that demands that everybody who visits the city is required to get their picture in front of the Alamo, and I complied, though only on the last day, despite being in a hotel abutting it. Indeed, my hotel, The Crocket, was a surprise pleasure. It wasn’t the free WiFi and continental breakfast, it was the Lady Bird Johnson fountain out front and nice architecture. The rooms were basic business class, but the economy price set my expectations too low and set me up for a nice surprise.

The high point of my stay in town? I had my first-ever old-style shave in the barbershop at the Gunter Hotel, which still has their old telephone switchboard from 1909. My feeling is that guys were plumb stupid to let barbers disappear from our lives.

The photo above actually comes from somewhere nearer Georgia than Texas, but I never did capture an iconic picture of San Antonio, so that’s all I’ve got.

ala, ala midwinter, san antonio, san antonio tx, texas, travel, riverwalk, tourist, leisure

I’m in San Antonio for ALA Midwinter and enjoying the benefits of wide-area mobile internet access via my Treo and and the power of local search. This is sort of a test for me and my Treo, as I passed on all the usual trip prep I do and entirely I’m depending on what I’ll find in situ or in my mobile web browser.

I wandered around a bit this afternoon to get a feel for the place, but as I got hungrier, I found myself stuck in the Riverwalk Mall, and without any local clues about where to look for better food (Steers & Beers, in the mall, might have been an option if it had more activity or if those few who were sitting at tables didn’t look so miserable). So I sat down and started searching with the accompaniment of a mariachi band. Google sent my to Yahoo!, which had restaurants by neighborhood. A couple clicks later I was looking at the map and figured out that I needed to get myself over to Commerce Street, where’d I’d find at least a couple places worth dining at.

Moments later I was at a patio table at the Lone Star Cafe, sipping a Shiner, and enjoying yet another mariachi band. Score one for local search and mobile access.

texas, san antonio, riverwalk, treo, treo 650, mobile internet, local search, mobile local search, mobile search

The text of what appears to be the press release (online at Alpine Avalanche):

The Fort Davis Merchants Association and the Jeff Davis County 4-H Club encourage everyone to come join the fun as they host the Second Annual West Texas Beautiful Burro and Mule Contest Saturday, Nov. 12.

The contest will be held on the west side of the Jeff Davis County Courthouse, and begins at 11 a.m. with a parade of contestants.

Proceeds will go to the 4-H Club to assist them with construction of their new livestock barn at the county park.

Trophies and prizes will be awarded to the most beautiful burro, most beautiful mule, best dressed burro and best dressed mule (costume contest), most congenial, loudest bray, longest ears, traveled the farthest distance, best trick and most obstinate.

A distinguished panel of judges, all of whom can be bribed, (all bribes go to 4-H), includes noted humorist Tumbleweed Smith.

The 4-H Club will have a food booth.

For entry forms, contact Donna Trammell at 432-426-2924, or e-mail rocklady2002@sbcglobal.net.

Not knowing much about Texas geography, I’ll have to assume this all happens in Fort Davis, and not knowing much about burros and mules, I’ll have to bemoan the fact that I can’t find any pictures of last year’s event online. For now, all I have is the announcement above and this NPR mention from earlier this morning.

tags: 4h clubs, beautiful burro and mule contest, beauty contest, burro, costume contest, jeff davis county, livestock, mule, second annual, texas, tumbleweed smith, west texas

The Beer Can House on the northwest side of town was built by John Milkovisch starting in 1968. Over the next 18 years he drank a six-pack per day to furnish and adorn the house with almost 40,000 cans.

Meanwhile, on the southeast side of town, Cleveland Turner looked to God to help get him off the sauce. As thanks for his salvation and sobriety, he gathered up all the trash in his neighborhood, painted it, and arranged it to look like flowers.

Both houses are magnificent monuments to the power of alcohol.

Of course I had to go looking for them during my recent trip to Houston.

The Beer Can House might be what you’d expect for something featured in Ripley’s Believe it or Not (and it was). But the Flower Man’s House is rather more engrossing. The adventure of finding the Flower Man’s House is mare taxing than the Beer Can House, and once you do find it, you’ll learn that Cleveland Turner is still alive (unlike old John Milkovisch).

tags: beer can house, cleveland turner, flower man, flower man house, flower man’s house, houston, houston texas, john milkovisch, roadsideamerica, texas