When I started skateboarding in about 1985, Tony Hawk was (or was about to become) the biggest name in the sport. It's 2026, and not only is he's still skating, his status as the biggest skateboarding celebrity ever is about as cemented as that bowl at your local state park. I noted his status as a legend here way back in 2008, when the Art on Deck exhibit came to town.

Tony's also always seemed like a pretty classy guy to boot. The latest example came up the road from us in Waco. Seems Tony was jonesing for some skating, so he rolled up to a park in Waco, TX and had a session. After that, he signed a deck, which he left in the park for a fan to find. Finder? Soledad Najera, a Facebook follower of Hawk's who reacted quickly when he saw a post about the artifact. Good job!

Earl Sweatshirt FTW

 

Earl Sweatshirt. That's all.

F-ck this shit!

 

The Changing BBQ Scene in Texas

The New York Times just came out with an article about the ongoing changes to the Texas barbecue scene, proclaiming Texas barbecue is "the best it's ever been." It is a bit oversimplified, like a lot of journalism, but no doubt things are a lot different from late 2007, when we fist moved here. 

Offering from Kreuz Market, November 2008

The pit at Cooper's in Llano, March 2009

I wrote about Texas BBQ before we even moved here. At the time, the barbecue was all old-school, and most of the places in Austin proper were kind of lame. You had to haul yourself to Taylor or Lockhart or Smithville to get the good stuff. Then Aaron Franklin started smoking briskets along the I35 access road, and Texas 'cue hasn't been the same since. Now it is hard to imagine Austin without Franklin, La Barbecue, Valentina's, Stiles Switch, Interstellar, and (my personal fave) Micklethwait! Change can be a good thing. Given the changes that have taken place in the last 15 years, I'm looking forward to seeing where things are in 2037.

Finding Myself (on Google Street View)

Went out for a run the other day and the Google Street View car drove past me a few times. The new Street View images went live the other day, and yes, I found myself! Not the most interesting picture, like the Wayne Coyne bathtub one, but that's me on the corner of Treadwell Boulevard and Shoal Creek Drive West. I don't know why it's satisfying, but it somehow is, just a little bit.

Your author getting in his steps

Austin in the long, long ago: 1985 Episode of MTV's 'Cutting Edge' about the Austin music scene

I was skimming through Austin 360 today and came across an article highlighting this cool video that just got posted to Vimeo about Austin's music scene in 1985, when there were only 713 people living in the city and "Tito" was still the chubby brother from the Jackson 5 and not some vodka czar (pun intended)!

I.R.S. records produced this show, which I don't recall at all despite being 14 in 1985 and watching MTV with a fair amount of regularity. But check out some of the names highlighted (per the 360 article):

"The hourlong show captured around a dozen acts who were all the rage in the local clubs at the time. There's footage of the True Believers, Zeitgeist (later known as the Reivers), Timbuk3, Joe King Carrasco & the Crowns, Doctors' Mob, Glass Eye, Tail Gators, Poison 13, Dharma Bums, Wild Seeds, Toshio Hirano, Dino Lee's White Trash Revue — and, making his national TV debut, Daniel Johnston."

The Cutting Edge - July 1985, Austin Tx from ASPHALT SERENADE on Vimeo.

Speaking of Daniel Johnston, apparently a new mural is going up featuring a bunch of the late "outsider music" icon's doodles. From the early pictures, it looks pretty interesting to me and definitely captures the spirit of DJ's art. Go check it out!

credit: Austin.CultureMap.com