Bacon: Taking over Austin, Texas?

Have any of you seen Attack of the Killer Tomatoes?

The film's creator, Costa Dillon, graduated from the same place I got my Masters degree, UC Davis. (I'm sure there are a few degrees between us to Kevin Bacon somewhere). If you knew the reverence with which UC Davis regards its agricultural department, this fact would not surprise you.

Anyway, it occurred to me today that bacon (not Kevin) is establishing a similar reign over Austin, Texas. Whether that reign will continue as one of benevolence or one of terror is yet to be seen. Here are the facts:

• Gourdough's offers a Flying Pig donut, topped with maple syrup icing and bacon. I believe it is a distant - albeit classier - cousin of Sonic's pancake-and-sausage-on-a-stick.

• Whole Foods Market Downtown served, for a time last May, Dark Chocolate with Bacon and Marshmallows gelato. Which I tried, and it was really good.

• MisoHungry's Jennie Chen brought chocolate, bacon, and beer cupcakes to the first Bleet-Up back in July. Self also tried those, and found them incredibly delightful!
  

Photo credit: RomanReign.com

• Eat This Lens' Marshall Wright prepared bacon and chocolate chip cookies for a recent cookie swap, according to the Statesman's Addie Broyles.

• Frank on 4th and Colorado makes a drink called a "Red-Headed Stranger" (wink!) prepared with bloody mary mix, cheddar cheese, bacon, and bacon-infused Dripping Springs Vodka. Did you catch that? Bacon. Infused. VODKA.

Photo credit: BootsInTheOven.com

• A small gas station near my house, on the corner of 45th and Duval (not sure what the name is, but judging by the copious number of international flags hanging outside you might mistake it for a mini UN), sells bars of Vosges' "Mo's Bacon Bar," i.e. applewood-smoked bacon combined with milk chocolate.

• Big Top Candy Shop on South Congress sells chocolate-covered bacon. (Breathless reviews abound on Yelp.)

Photo credit: MoxyJane at Flickr.com

• Finally, this fact isn't specific to Austin, but NPR did a story earlier this month about bacon being the en vogue dessert ingredient. The same story includes a recipe for Peanut Butter Maple Bacon Fudge, which sounds both ridiculously unhealthy and KIND OF AMAZING.

My gorgeous and hilarious friend Anna recently wrote in an email, "I am so happy that even in a city full of health-conscious vegans (and the home to Whole Foods, no less!) that there is still a great appreciation of nature's fattiest and most delicious meat." Indeed! We do love bacon, it appears. Which presents an interesting gastronomic dichotomy between our ever-enduring vegans and raw foodies, and our newly-proud carnivores.

I've always been a salt-craving type of person, so these rather tasteful bacon creations would likely all be welcome to my palate. I wonder, though, if there are more over-the-top manifestations of the bacon craze that I just haven't heard of yet? Is any place in Austin cooking up bacon crème brûlée? Bacon bananas foster? Bacon-tinis? (Looking in your direction, Bill Norris).

If so, I would love to go A) eat it, and B) take a picture of it.

Speaking of pictures, I've been photographing things non-stop with my new Holga camera and can't wait to post some of the pics for you!! It feels like a little toy. The plastic-y "click" and manual "crank, crank" sound when I wind it haven't convinced me that it's actually capturing images, but that's probably because I'm a jaded 21st century photography consumer and only trust the near-silent magic of digital playthings. I halfway expect to open up my developed film roll next week at Precision, and instead of pictures, pull out ViewMaster slides of The Muppets or something.

Cap'n Crunch + JEM + Drafthouse = Yes yes yes

So y'all, sometimes, I just can't keep up with the Drafthouse. The sing-a-longs! The quote-a-longs! The Master Pancake Theatre! By the time we're finished with previews at the Drafthouse, I always feel like, "damn, am missing so much?! You mean to tell me there are Austin Air Guitar Championships every year? And I haven't been to a single one?? Omigod, whoa, I cannot keep missing these Quentin Tarantino nights - he's right here in my city and I haven't seen him live yet ahhhh!!!" -That feeling.

Anyway, all that being said, the Drafthouse clearly offers a superior movie-watching experience. I think the concept only works however in a city already dripping with personality. You see, one time, R. and I joined his parents to see a movie in Grapevine, Texas - one of the many ant-like communities clinging onto the Dallas metropolis - at a newly-opened "restaurant" theatre. It was very high-tech and fancy, with chrome metal and black lights everywhere, and we all ordered full meals and lounged in our cushy leather chairs. It closed two months later.

Austinites are doggedly proud of just how weird they are, however, so the Drafthouse will never die and in fact, will keep pumping out increasingly kitschy and interactive film events. Here is one I totally wish I was attending:

saturday morning cereal party
drafthouse downtown (6th st.)
october 18
12:00pm

Ok everyone, listen to what all this entails: 2.5 hours of Ghosbusters, JEM, Thundarr the Barbarian and Care Bears, WITH over 50 varieties of cereal on the menu!! People are encouraged to wear their footie pajamas and forget about the debauchery of the previous night, as they are lulled back into child-like innocence coated with sugar cereal.

Whoever comes up with these Drafthouse events is a genius, non?

(Speaking of child-like innocence. Have you, yes you there reading this blog, VOTED for your favorite claymation figure? Top right corner of your screen? Because I see that Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is being edged out by Wallace & Gromit!! Rudolph-lovers, come on now, let's pull it together.)

I will sadly not be able to attend Saturday Morning Cereal Party as I will be in Cali - so, not sad at ALL really but THRILLING - but am considering a "favorite Saturday morning cartoon poll" to make up for it. Of which the Snorks will play a big role.

P.S. - Yelle a freaking blast last night. This is Aaron, who I met standing in line. Also got to see these ladies out and about as well: Austin bloggas crew, HOLLA!

(P.P.S. - Don't be fooled by this picture, taken at the BEGINNING of the night. The end-of-night shots are truly disturbing).

EDITED TO ADD:

Who's your favorite claymation figure??

So, as you all may or may not know, there are frequently little polls running on That Austin Girl ranging in subject from "Favorite Cocktail" to "Favorite Toys" to whatever else I'm sort of in the mood to talk about. They frequently do not have anything to do with Austin, Tx really, except for the fact that it is where I am physically located. (On a sidenote: I think my blog is having an identity crisis. Sometimes think I should make it more local or more topic-oriented, like, "Hi welcome to That Austin Girl, where we talk about BANDS." But instead it's quite random, and it ends up being about whatever, and I hope that's ok with everyone? At any rate, I've decided I really like these little polls so we're going to keep doing those). ANYWAY.

The most recent poll we did was "Favorite Superhero," and Batman completely crushed his competition (which I think we can chalk up to his summer 2008 trendiness, cheesy Darth Vader growly voice and all). But now, I'm throwing out a much, much tougher question.

Who is your favorite claymation figure?

Are you ready? Are you so excited?! Let's meet our contestants:

Wallace & Gromit

Gumby

RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (my vote!!)

Penny from "Pee Wee's Playhouse"

The California Raisins

For me personally, I don't know if anyone can dethrone Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, although Gumby is a close second. (PS - How did a blob of green clay that resembles the letter "K" get his own show on NBC? What? Ditto on a Motown band comprised of raisins??) I remember watching the Rudolph the Reindeer Christmas special on TV for the first time when I was 5 or 6, and thinking it was, like, an action-adventure thriller. I also remember thinking it would be so cool if I had a light for a nose.

So I'm going to leave this post up a few days in case you want to leave a comment explaining your selection. Why, for example, is Penny (who looks like she is about to hurl in this picture?) more awesome than Rudolph. (Which is completely hypothetical by the way, since Penny is clearly NOT as awesome as Rudolph).

Readers, you have the floor: Who is your fave clay character? And how did you first encounter them?

Dispatches from AUSTIN CITY LIMITS

Watching news about the economy is making me sad/pissed, so I'm going to show you some pictures from ACL, k?

MGMT:


I was a little far away! Freaking AWESOME show.

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, on the AT&T stage:



Oh Conor Oberst....I made soooooo much fun of Conor Oberst when he was Bright Eyes. I know many of you loved him. But I just couldn't take the whiny, warbly-voiced, "I'm special because I'm sad" thing.


There's the Bright Eyes I know and love. Pulling hair 'cause it hurts.

Anyway, now that he's toned it down a bit, I'm really liking ol' Conor. Look at him here, singing Paul Simon:


Doesn't he look cute and playful?


Onto Beck......


Yes, his hair really is that long, and no, I'm not hovering two feet in front of him (I wish). Took that one zooming in on the Jumbotron. But I think it turned out nice.



God, I love him so much. Even though he stopped playing 15 minutes earlier than scheduled, with no encore - kind of lame, Beck! - I still love him. You can especially see the Live with Larry King-like wall going on in the background here.

Beck's guitarist, Jessica Dobson:


I don't know how/why my camera made her all red, but I'm glad that it did.

Jessica Dobson, if you have a Facebook account, you totally have my permission to make this your new profile pic. (Heh, am so cocky!! I would flip out if that actually happened).

Some more random pictures:


Doesn't it look like I'm taking this from backstage. I'm NOT (how funny would it be if I tried to get press access for this blog??), this was just another lucky Jumbotron shot.

Onto the vendors' booths at ACL: These toys are the cutest.


Does anyone know what those are called?

This next one was taken at the MGMT show. I really liked this girl's guitar pick earrings - so very ACL:



I took that one all stalker-style, pretending to point the lens at MGMT while actually zooming in on her ear. I know, it's a little creepy.

Back to the vendors' stands - more jewelry, in the form of pretty pendant necklaces:



I would like to own those. All of them.

Here's a real beauty - my friend Rob and I with our ACL game faces on:


Isn't that frightening?

I'm pretty sure we had just sat down in somebody else's chairs, and were making faces to scare them off. (They didn't come back, so I guess it worked).

I heart ACL.

Punk My Little Ponies + Museum of Ephemerata

So in honor of the Favorite Toy poll that we ran here at That Austin Girl last week - and then I promise I'll let it go - we had to talk about these special new edition My Little Ponies.

To celebrate My Little Pony's 25th year anniversary, Hasbro is having celebrities decorate their own My Little Ponies, auctioning them off, and donating the proceeds to sick children. Isn't that great? (Boo-ya, Legos people!!) Even more great, though, are some of the participating celebs...which are a little more random than you may think.

Now, asking celebs to do anything is always a gamble, so I should start out by saying how wonderful it is that they are even participating. That being said, John Stamos (i.e. Uncle Jessie), Kimora Lee Simmons, and Amy Grant (?) all have decorated My Little Ponies that are making me giggle. Kimora Lee's in particular, which could totally kick John Stamos' pony's ass. Check out the full gallery here.

Speaking of galleries, celebrities, and toys. Have any of you all been to the Museum of Ephemerata? It used to be in this fabulous little house on 34th St., but now it has moved to the east side (of course!) and has set up shop at 1808 Singleton Avenue. I haven't been there in years, but R. and I went once when we were first dating. The visit is a little fuzzy, but I do remember it was the place where I first discovered kombucha (they make their own, and host workshops), learned how to play a Jew's harp, and saw a vial filled with somebody's sleep. As in, the stuff from the corner of your eye. Which is a little disgusting, but also incredible (once you get past the disgusting).

If you haven't heard of it before, the Museum is basically a little collection of curios and oddities that date back to 1921, which are owned and proudly displayed by Jen Hirt and Scott Webel. The top attractions? A lock of hair from the head of Elvis (word), a two-headed ant, and - if memory serves - a stuffed jackalope. (Which looks like this and this. I know, the realism is stunning).

Anyway, all this talk about toys reminded me of the Museum of Ephemerata, which is getting kind of famous these days! The Chicago Sun-Times included them in an Austin travel story earlier this year (writer Lori Rackl also took note of the sleep), and I remember seeing the museum's two curators on the cover of the Chronicle this summer. So, Scott and Jen: Any plans for a "toys" exhibition in the future? (And might I suggest a rare Kimora Lee Simmons edition My Little Pony if so?)

Lastly: New poll everyone. Favorite (mainstream) superhero - Spidey, Aqua Man, or someone else entirely? Go vote at the top right-hand corner of the screen.

I'm going to be on the radio tomorrow! + Tribute to LEGOS

Y'all! Check it:

That Austin Girl will be on the "JB and Sandy Show" on 94.7 tomorrow morning!

I'm sliding in at 7am, and I don't know for how long or what we shall be discussing, but I'm sure our esteemed hosts will think of something great. And if not, my morning mimosa will.

JB and I met through Rare Magazine, and keep tabs on each other's blogs. He writes a monthly column for front-of-the-book, while I kind of write....whateva. For example, this week I am interviewing a cupcake caterer, the Radio City Rockettes, and composing a "think piece," if you will, on local hangover cures. (All, um, for the Holiday Issue).

Switching subjects dramatically. After some polite trash-talking about Legos this past week, I've come to realize that many of you are in fact quite enamored of those colored plastic interconnecting blocks. Legos are preferred by 15 out of 31 people who voted in our Favorite Toys poll, as a matter of fact!

(Which, it bears mentioning, is way more love than the comparatively high-tech and interactive Teddy Ruxpin got. Sorry Teddy: We so do NOT want to hear a story!).

So being a My Little Ponies / Barbies gal myself, I thought I'd metaphorically extend the olive branch with these impressive, sometimes disturbing, examples of Lego genius. Observe:



Below - Brad and Angelina (with babies!!) Thanks to Sissel for the fun tip!:

Starry Night:

Edward Hopper (I think?):


Yay Austin!!


Ok everyone, brace yourselves - you thought Brad and Angelina in Lego form was pretty good? Check this out:It's Amy Winehouse! Are you loving it??

Here's another serious piece of Lego art, by I believe the same artist as the yellow, chest-ripping open sculpture above:

Dude.....deep......

No I'm just kidding, this is pretty freaking cool, Lego artist man (whose name, I believe, is Nathan Sawaya). Interesting story: This artist left his job as an attorney last year to become a full-time Lego sculptor. In fact, his exhibit "The Art of the Brick" is touring museums in the US right now. Dare to dream, kids!)

So Legos people: I have to admit. You guys can make some rad creations after all. Besides, like, forts and stuff.

Now, off to perform some investigative research on hangover cures.

Let's talk about toys.

Ok, seriously everyone - Legos?!

If you're new to That Austin Girl, we've been taking a poll this week on everyone's favorite childhood toy. And so far, LEGOS are in the lead. In fact, they've garnered almost 50% of the total vote.

Even more shocking? Teddy Ruxpin, the jumper-suit-wearing talking bear, has 0 votes!! If he heard that guys...his jaw would drop.

(Not that I blame anyone. Teddy frankly scared me a little bit as a child. Kids these days are pretty used to interactive toys, I think, but back then I wanted no part of a stuffed animal who just up and talked. One time my friend Hayden took the Teddy Ruxpin tapes out of that little player in his back, and put his dad's Steppenwolf tape in instead, and I swear to God it was like the exorcist.)

Anyway, not to be a judgmental Judy or anything, but I never saw the appeal in Legos as a kid! Hayden (same dude) invited me over one time, and was like, all pumped that he had just finished putting together the Lego Castle. He set it out on his bed, and we looked at it for a minute, and then as soon as I tried to move the Lego people around I broke the movable drawbridge. That kind of pissed Hayden off.

So I get how the end creation of a big Lego project can be neat (until a stupid girl comes along and breaks it), and I think you must have a lot of patience to complete one. I mean, check this out!




It's a New York, made out of Legos! That's pretty rad, I have to admit.

But anyway, as a kid, and even now as an adult, Legos are just like....yay....something got built. Product = cool, process = kinda boring. Whereas with My Little Ponies or especially Barbies (I really should have included Barbies in this poll) there was a back story, relationships, scandal.

My other friend besides Hayden, Jeannie Kenmotsu (never "Jeannie," always "Jeannie Kenmotsu," because it was so exciting to say!) played Barbies with me, and we used to put Ken and Barbie on top of each other and then walk out of the room. We'd then walk back in and "catch" them making out.

"Barbie!!!!"

"KEN!!!"

"You guys were kissing and we saw you."

Barbie and Ken were totally busted, and they always remained speechless. Sometimes Barbie would be in various states of undress, and then she really, and I mean really, got in trouble - Jeannie Kenmotsu could give a fierce tongue-lashing when she wanted to, and she had a zero-tolerance policy for Barbie taking off her clothes.

So, Legos people: Given the regular drama of a Barbie/Ken love tryst, or a fantasy world of colorful horses with glittery manes complete with miniature plastic hairbrush (i.e. My Little Ponies)....How can little snap-together building blocks possibly compete??