A day and night in Austin, TX (Part 1)
On July 3rd, I took a trip to Austin. I went to see a show that night, and to see a friend for the first time since his back surgery. I had a good time and saw a lot of sights.
I arrived into town around lunch time, so that meant only one thing: Conan's Pizza! You can always tell you're eating at Conan's because there are all sorts of pulp novel illustrations on the wall. This must be what it's like when Frank Franzetta has lunch.
Why did I take a picture of this, and not the pizza?!
Conan's claim to fame, of course, is its deep-dish pizza. I ate The Savage, the Conan's equivalent of a Pizza Hut Supreme Pizza. It was all I remembered it to be.
Mmm... Conan's... It's magically Kromlicious!
After lunch, I spent my afternoon wandering about Austin. My next stop was a small art gallery, Art on 5th. There were many artists on display, but two of the standouts were Paul Stankeweicz, who produces pop art-style paintings of various local sights, and Isabelle Dupuy, who paints impressionistic, impasto plant life that harken to Van Gogh's paintings of irises.
Stankiewicz at left, Dupuy at right. Click for full-sized images.
These two, however were not the most noteworthy artists on display. It turns out that Art on 5th is home to the largest collection of works by Theodore "Dr. Seuss" Geisel anywhere in the world. While many of his book-related works could be found, the gallery featured many of his "secret works," paintings and illustrations not seen in his childrens' books, political cartoons, or anywhere else. In addition, Art on 5th had a number of sculptures that were part of a series called "Unorthodox Taxidermy," a number of trophy-style, taxidermized, surrealistic animals. (And before you ask, there were no Sneeches, Loraxes, or cats in hats.)
Left: "Detective Cat in the Bad Part of Town." Right: "Booby Trap." (Indeed!) Click to view full-sized.
The experience reminded me very much of when I saw "The Chuck Jones Experience" in Vegas last year. But, that is a story for another time.
After that, I had a good time browsing at Book People, one of my favorite places to go while in Austin, but one that I only rarely visit (unfortunately). I saw quite a number of Curious George books on sale, so I bought up a bunch. (My birthday and Christmas shopping for my niece Gaby is now done!) Also, I picked up two works by Marjane Satrapi: Chicken with Plums (upon which the live-action film is based), and Embroideries, which I saw once in a comic shop and never saw again. Plus, I had a refreshing iced herbal tea at their in-house coffee counter. (Starbucks is everywhere, but not here, folks!)
From there, I headed to my friend Brian's house. I had a rather lengthy conversation with his mom while we waited for him to arrive home from work. (His parents are staying with him temporarily while their flooded-out home in Boerne gets repaired.)
This is not the end of the story, though. The best (and worst) had yet to come...