Greetings from the great state of Texas. I'm here in Austin, in the room of my oldest friend Doug. He's off doing church things right now, so I thought I'd catch up a bit. The trip here was fairly painless. The weather out of Newark was insanely windy, so the first part of the first leg of the trip was a bit unnerving. There was a time in my life when I like turbulence. Thought it was fun. Not anymore. It was the first time I've flowin anywhere since April 2001, and the whole affair of getting through security and checking in was a but confusing, especially given my Internet-issued ticket. The only real difference I noticed was that they were a lot stricter at the metal detectors. Never had to take my belt off before. Anyway, after a brief stop in Cincinnati, I arrive here around 6 PM, central time. When I got of the plane, I told Texas, "I am here to mess with you."
So at first glance, Austin seemed like just about any other city. My dad has said in the past that he doesn't really think there are that many difference among any cities in the U.S. So far, that's holding up. The first thing I notice about Austin was the generally univeral poor upkeep of neon and other sign displays. Almost every sign I saw, at least one or two lights were blown out. On the drive in there was about four different Taco Cabanas alone, but I had to see a few of them to piece together the actual store name. Anyway, that was the first thing I noticed. So then we got back to Doug's apartment and hung out a bit. I hadn't seen Doug in more than seven years. He has less hair and is more muscular since I saw him last. Both are conscious choices though, as he's taken to shaving his head. With a day or two of stubble, he's one of those people who has the same amount of hair everywhere on his head, save for a slight but discernible outline of sideburns. After a while his ladyfriend of a month showed up, bearing a lasagna she had made. I was sort of in the mood to go out and eat somewhere in the city, but in the end the lasagna was superb. As somewhat of a meat and cheese connoisseur, I was shocked to find the use of cottage cheese in place of ricotta, but it was a welcome change, as ricotta is one of my least favorite cheeses. In talking with the ladyfriend, I saw a bit of Rodzilla in her, first in behaviour and attitude and then in appearance. It was a rare occurence where someone's personality reminds you of someone else, which then makes you see a physical similarity around. Almost all the time, it's the other way around. Anyway, haven't spent enough time around her to know if this is a good or bad thing. There's also a bit of Keri Russell in there too. Actually, mix the two, and that's about right, minus the celebrity sheen.
So then we went downtown, to a bar called the Showdown, near Doug's old house, and met up with Jenny G (formerly of DC), and her new boy. I hadn't seen her in over a year, and it was good to see her goofy face again. In sitting there between Doug and his lady, who met in church-related activities, and Jen, who will probably next converse with a clergyman while he reads her her last rites, I felt a bit like I was mediating a meeting between saints and sinners. Before going to meet up with Jen, I was trying to explain to them what to expect. I told Doug that the part of me that believed I was funnier the louder I was, which often rears its hilarious head at 3 in the morning on a Saturday night, was the part of me that liked Jen the most. There's no way the two of them would ever be friends, and in truth you couldn't pick two of my friends with less in common than Doug and Jen. But the interaction was good, and I amused them with a few of Matt's disturbing "masked man" scenarios, wherein a masked stranger enters your home, where you're sitting with your hypothetical family, and forces you to make literally obscene decisions, or face the horrible consequences, either to your family or the adorable family next door, whom you like very much.
Before heading home, we stopped at Burger King, as I had a hankering for onion rings and a slushy. When do I not? As I reached into the bag and pulled out a ring, I was shocked and delighted to discover that it was one of the large onion rings, rather than the mini-rings that BK has been using for the last ten-plus years. Which lead to me exclaim, "Everything really is bigger in Texas." Really, this was quite exciting. Upon further inspection, it was revealed that it was a mixture of the large and small, and, like the Alamo, it may be fighting a losing battle, but damn if it's not cause for celebration.
So the theme for Saturday turned out to be physical exertion. Not what I usually plan on a vacation, but the physical exertion wasn't all mine. Doug planned on going to the gym in the morning, and given the meat and cheese and fried food and beer from the previous night, I thought perhaps I should accompany him. My impressions of the gym at Austin: A lot less people listening to cd players and whatnot. No towels provided. And the university of Texas longhorn logo looks a lot like a thong when it's on the back of a woman's shorts. In fact, this has lead me to an inspiration of sorts, and when I mentioned this to Doug later, he immediately said "Thong-horn?"
After the gym, we met up with a few of his friends, and after helping them move a fridge from a creepy old woman's creepy old house, we got brunch. I had pancakes, sausages, and home fries. These are foods that for the most part vary greatly from place to place. For instance, apparently the default sausage form 'round these parts is patties instead of links. Good to know. These little regional differences remind me one of the topics when I went to see David Sedaris last year at Carnegie Hall. He said that whenever he goes somewhere in the U.S., one of the first questions he asks someone is what the local gun laws are. And in foreign countries, where guns are not so easily attainable, he asks them something like "What do your roosters say?" They do not all say "cockle-doodle-doo!" This was in his story called "Six to Eight Black Men." Anyway, after brunch, Doug and I returned to his home for a few hours before heading back out to attend the Texas- Texas Tech football game. I'd never been to a big Division I football game before, and was looking forward to experiencing all the trappings that go along with big time college sports. Going to a small liberal arts school, we never experience that sort of thing, and it was a totally foreign experience to me to see so many people so crazy about their school's team. We hit the tailgates first, where one of Doug's friends said he'd hook us up with beer and grilled meats. And as soon as we got there, some stranger just handed Doug a Miller lite, which he just handed to me. Then we found his friend, who pointed us in the direction of free meet. After we finished two hotdogs, we were just standing there, when some guy above us in a barbecue truck says "Hey buddy" to Doug and motions him over, and just drops a steak down on Doug's plate. We tore it apart like a couple of animals and ate it with our bare hands. It was tough and fatty and really primal and just a wonderful experience.
So after meeting a few more of Doug's friends, we were off to the game. He had a student ticket, so he had to sort of sneak me in, by getting an exit pass and coming back out with it and handing it to me. No problems encountered. When we got to the field, they were just doing the fighter-jet fly over, which startled me greatly until I figured out what it was. Then we got to our seats, and the cannon starts firing, which again scared the bejeezus out of me. The student section is right on the field, at the start of the endzone. So we had a good view of the action when it was on this side, and of the cheerleaders and the pom squad. I remared to Doug how much I liked the pom squad's outfits, which included small orange shorts framed by brown chaps. Doug said the chaps were new this year, and were just about the only thing that everyone who followed the football team could agree on. The cheerleaders on the whole were not that attractive, but entertaining.
The pregame ceremony. The fans give the Longhorn salute to the Texas flag. Personally, it's a bit confusing that the Longhorn sign is the same as the "evil rock and roll hand."
The pom squad in their orange hot pants and chaps
This is not a cheerocracy. Though the guys at the bottom have a good view of the top.
The end zone.The game itself was wonderfully exciting. A high-scoring affair. I was amazed how much the crowd was into it. I've never to been to a sporting event where the crowd was this enthusiastic. Granted, this was only the second big football game I've ever been to, but nothing else is comes close. I guess it was partly because we were right next to the band and in front of the cheerleaders, so the mood was particularly festive. But throughout the game, the enthusiasm never waned. The singing and cheering was just as loud at the end as the beginning. As for the actual game, Texas won after switching quarterbacks on their final possession and he marched them down the field, completing i think every pass he through, after the offense had sputtered for the entire fourth quarter. They really deserved to lose though, with the way the defense was playing. "Porous" would be too kind a description. They won when the Tech kicker missed a 48-yard attempt as time expired, wide left. Tech seemed very reluctant to kick field goals the whole game. The biggest plays were made by special teams, who blocked two extra points. A damn exciting time.
So after the post-game mayhem, we met two of Doug's friends at Rudy's BBQ. Barbecue in texas, one of the friends told me, usually means brisket. In most of the south, as it was in Virginia, it usually means pulled pork. This was a welcome change, as the brisket and sausage was hot and salty and wonderful. And then to the grocery store, where other regional differences were observed. Then home, where Doug and his roommates debated the UT football team at length.
Doug, at the H.E.B grocery store. Here's something you won't find in the Northeast. Hug tub o' lard. Probably won't find Doug there, either. He's a Texas boy.
A sign in the champagne section. One of my biggest pet peeves is when people write "there" instead of "their," but it's even more infuriating when people write "their" when "there" is called for. Still, kind of funny.The plan today is to find some nice western shirts, and maybe a hat. The tonight we're planning on seeing the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at Emo's, a band I like a good bit. Their shows in New York are too crowded to attend comfortably, and i'm interested to see how one of the biggest New York bands plays outside of the city. So hopefully we'll be able to go.