Austin Dispatches | No. 210 | Oct. 21, 2018 |
Though
I’ve celebrated Halloween,[1]
weather permitting,[2] as an
adult – for more years than
as a child
– I’ve always done so with a twinge of embarrassment. To celebrate what was a
children’s holiday seemed to be contributing to social decadence, even if I had
a good time while doing so.[3]
That is, until this month,
when I learned that about a century ago, Halloween in America transformed from a
holiday celebrated by all ages into one almost exclusively for children for
about the next 50 years.[4] Thus, its
retransformation merely indicates a facet of the holiday’s protean nature, and a
partial return to historical tradition at that, so my twinge has vanished.
Now if only the Halloween
spirit can revive within other people.[5]
Halloween decorations appeared in the client’s lobby on Sep. 27, and driving
around town, I noted slightly more house decorations at this time of the season
than last year. Two weeks before that, the regulars at salsa social began
spontaneously discussing the holiday. We shall see.
Austin Death Watch
Halloween may be just one of
Austin’s casualties. Rising costs finally claimed the downtown location of
Threadgill’s.[6] Encore
Records, which I used to patronize before it moved to East Sixth Street, closed.[7]
An Austin Independent School
District spokesman told Community Impact Newspaper that “because the district
has multiple bonds underway at any given time, the tax rate would likely not
decrease when one bond is paid off. The district is also continuing to pay off
debt from other bonds.”[8]
If a patriot had said that, the district would dismiss him as paranoid kook. So
other words, the school system exists to brainwash children while continually
impoverishing you.[9]
The evening of Oct. 5,
KTXX-FM reported that traffic for the Austin City Limits Festival, one of the
ill-advised big events, resulted in multiple collisions that resulted in traffic
throughout Austin grinding to a halt. Unfortunately, I had first-hand
confirmation of the radio report. If this event were something the Austin power
elite didn’t profit from, you’d read five articles in next week’s Chronicle
about how government should ban music. Later, public safety workers fished the
body of an attendee out of Lake Austin.[10]
Perhaps he was distraught at being among the many victimized by pickpockets.[11]
The rising brown population
is pushing blacks out of political power in Austin, though the Statesman article
phrases the matter more obtusely.[12]
The Oct. 5 Business Journal reports City bureaucrats think Austin’s policy of
not doing business with construction companies working on the Mexican border
wall means the City can’t get contractors for its projects.[13]
Similarly, Austin government’s pro-deviant agenda – letting some queer in a
dress take a shit in the women’s restroom – has prompted two federal-level
lawsuits over civil rights violations.[15]
The Oct. 1 Statesman reports
the police are handling the problem of street crazies one bullet at a time.[15]
The police department is investigating a commander who allegedly assaulted a woman
at a strip club.[16]
Mass transit advocates are
at each other’s throats over Capital Metro thinking about self-driving buses
instead of more commuter rail.[17]
More fire ant mounts are
visible after the heavy rains.[18]
To add insult to the above,
the September GQ proclaims post-Hurricane Harvey Houston a “cool” city to rival
Austin.[19]
Tentacles of Empire
The University of Texas now
hosts a “resident intelligence officer,” part of a new CIA program to “ ‘help
bridge the gap between the intelligence community and academia.’ ”[20]
Media Indigest
The Sep. 14 Chronicle
reports Cox Enterprises had relocated much of the Statesman’s “design and
copyediting process out of state to a centralized facility” before unloading the
rag on a new owner.[22] In turn,
as of Sep. 28, the new owner has eliminated the traffic Web page, the
Statesman’s one truly useful function. On the other hand, the Oct. 12 issue
contains a column by patriot Walter Williams, a truly refreshing change from
decades of tedious pinko screeds on the editorial page.[22]
Akwasi Evans, publisher of
black community newspaper Nokoa, blames 2018’s sporadic print schedule on
unstable finances.[23]
Sep. 22, I witnessed a protestor denouncing the accuracy of CBS News outside the
office of affiliate KEYE-TV. The Oct. 5 Chronicle reports KUT-FM’s staff is
demoralized over pay cuts.[24]
Neighborhood News
I finally ventured into one
of the breweries Sep. 22 to catch a show of modern European concert music.[25]
Oct. 6, I used the contest
for a $100 gift card at the neighborhood H-E-B as an opportunity to rant about
the constant shortage of twist ties in the produce department.
The Statesman’s traffic Web
page reported a building fire on the east side of Metric Boulevard between Cedar
Bend Drive and Lamplight Village Avenue on Sep. 14. The Web page also recorded
auto collisions at MoPac Expressway and Parmer Lane on Sep. 11, on the Highway
183-Mopac connecting ramps on Sep. 13 and 21, at southbound MoPac near 183 on
Sep. 17, and at Parmer and Lamplight Village on Sep. 19. KXAN-TV’s traffic Web
page reported an auto collision at Metric and Rutland Drive on Sep. 28, at
southbound MoPac at 183 on Oct. 2, at Parmer and Metric on Oct. 3, on Burnet
Road near Gault Lane on Oct. 5, at Parmer and Lamplight Village and at Cedar
Bend and Patron drives on Oct. 8, at northbound MoPac and Braker Lane on Oct.
16, and at Newman Drive and Amy Donovan Plaza on Oct. 17. KFMK-FM reported a
collision at MoPac and 183 on Oct. 18. A vehicle rolled over at northbound MoPac
and Braker on Oct. 12, according to KXAN’s site.
A developer plans yet
another hotel near The Domain.[26]
On the Town
Sep. 11:
Evening commuters honked at a school bus holding
up traffic on Research Boulevard because it stopped for students to disembark.
Let’s hope little Johnny learns the lesson.
Oct. 4:
A bird crashed into the window by my workspace.
Later, I found a penny in the University Hills neighborhood.
Oct. 14:
The Manchaca library branch switched its street
entrance and exit sometime since my last visit, thereby making the branch’s
ingress and egress slightly better.
Oct. 20:
I witnessed the aftermath of a three-vehicle
smash-up on Airport Boulevard between 13th and 14th
streets.
Notes in the Margins
My client spent September’s
last week celebrating “diversity.” Meanwhile, it blocks my recommended reading
list because of (ahem) content. Admittedly, those pages contain plenty of
provocative prose from angry cranks – but angry cranks who could write.
Home | Archives |
NOTES
[1] AD No. 200n4
(Nov. 6, 2017).
[2] AD No. 200n8.
[3]
Rogers, Nicholas. Halloween: From Pagan Ritual to Party Night. New
York City: Oxford UP, 2002: 165.
[4] Morton,
Lisa. The Halloween Encyclopedia. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co.
Publishers, 2003: 93-94, 177.
[5]
AD No. 178 (Nov. 6, 2014); AD No. 200.
[6] Curtin,
Kevin. “Threadgill’s WHOQ Will Close After Thanksgiving.” AC 14 Sep. 2018:
48; Salazar, Daniel. “With Imminent Threadgill’s Closure, Affordability
Crisis Claims Another Victim.” ABJ 21 Sep. 2018: 8.
[7] AD No. 149n33
(Feb. 11, 2012); “Half Notes.” AC 21 Sep. 2018: 68.
[8] Denney,
Amy. “What Happens When School Districts Pay off Bonds?” CIN Sep. 2018,
Northwest Austin ed.: 5.
[9] Gatto,
John Taylor. Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory
Schooling, rev. ed. Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society Publishers, 2005;
Gatto. The Underground History of American Education: A Schoolteacher's
Intimate Investigation Into the Prison of Modern Schooling, 3rd rev. ed.
New York City: Oxford Village Press, 2006; Gatto. Weapons of Mass
Instruction: A Schoolteacher’s Journey Through the Dark World of Compulsory
Schooling. Gabriola Island, B.C.: New Society Publishers, 2009; Iserbyt,
Charlotte Thomson. The Deliberate Dumbing Down of
[10] Bradshaw,
Kelsey. “Body Might Be Festival Goer.” AAS 9 Oct. 2018: B1; Mendez, Maria.
“Body Confirmed to Be Missing ACL Tourist.” AAS 11 Oct. 2018: B3.
[11] Wilson,
Mark D. “Police: Beware of ACL Fest Thieves.” AAS 12 Oct. 2018: B1+.
[12] Findell,
Elizabeth. “Changing History.” AAS 1 Oct. 2018: B1+.
[13] Salazar.
“Possible Effects of Border Wall Policy Take Shape.” ABJ 5 Oct. 2018: A6.
[14] Tuma,
Mary. “A Right to Discriminate?” AC 12 Oct. 2018: 13.
[15] Wilson.
“Austin Blasts Police Policies.” AAS 1 Oct. 2018: A1+.
[16] “Austin
Police Commander Under Scrutiny After Assault Allegation.” AAS 4 Oct. 2018:
B3; Hoffberger, Chase. “Bad Apple.” AC 12 Oct. 2018: 22; Hoffberger.
“Dusterhoft Claims Defamation.” AC 19 Oct. 2018: 15.
[17] Salazar.
“Has Austin’s Transit Plan Gone Off the Tracks?” ABJ 19 Oct. 2018: 4.
[18] Bradshaw.
“Beware of Fire Ant Mounds After Rains.” AAS 1 Oct. 2018: B1+.
[19] Martin,
Brett. “The New Capital of Southern Cool.” GQ Sep. 2018: 132-139+.
[20] Cronin,
Mike. “CIA Infiltrates Longhorn Nation.” ABJ 19 Oct. 2018: 3.
[21]
Whittaker, Richard. “So Goes the
Statesman.” AC 14 Sep. 2018: 22.
[22] Williams,
Walter E. “Real Economics, and Removing False Beliefs.” AAS 12 Oct. 2018:
A13.
[23] Evans,
Akwasi. “Nokoa Update.” Nokoa 13 Sep. 2018: 1+.
[24]
Clark-Madison, Mike. “More Off-the-Air Static at KUT.” AC 5 Oct. 2018: 16.
[25] AD No.
195n27 (May 7, 2017); Faires,
Robert. “That Does Compute.” AC 21
Sep. 2018: 32.
[26] Dinges,
Gary. “Upscale Hotel Planning Location Near Domain.” AAS 4 Oct. 2018: B5-6.