Musician entertains guest of the Food Trucks along SoCo.
South Congress, commonly referred to as SoCo, is a hub of good food, music, and the "Keep Austin Weird" lifestyle Austinites live by. SoCo stretches all the way from Downtown Austin south to Slaughter Lane and the strip between James street and Crockett street exemplify these qualities.
According to Lauren Drewes Daniels in On The Road Again in the Dallas Observer: "Thin filets of chicken, shrimp or avocado are coated
in sesame seeds, ancho chili flakes, sea salt, sugar and corn flakes then deep
fried, topped with mango-jalapeno slaw and ancho sauce, which is all wrapped in
a tortilla and stuffed in a paper cone for easy transport. The picnic tables in
front of the trailer even have cone-holder holes...The idea for the hot and
crunchy cone came from a chef at Hudson's on the Bend, a popular restaurant on
Lake Travis. "
On the other hand, SoCo offers much more than dining options. Lucy in Disguise with Diamonds, along with other clothing stores like American Apparel, have also set up shop on S. Congress and have attracted a lot of business. Lucy in Disguise, who does the most business during the Halloween season, is an 8,000 square foot costume store known for its giant inventory and cool staff.
SoCo embodies "Keep Austin Weird," but it introduces those who are not familiar with Austin life to Austin life. Even as an Austinite, there were things about what exactly was up and down South Congress I wasn't aware existed. SoCo promotes walking and local business which speaks to the high level of urbanism one might experience down S. Congress.
These musical and cultural hubs can be found not only throughout major cities in the US, but also nationally. The Hongdae Area in Seoul, Korea as well as Camden Town in Central London, UK are similar to SoCo and offer what Austinites experience to their citizens.
In the new movie Looper, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, director Rian Johnson gives his audience a new look at a dark, dystopian future molded by social decay and organized crime. Cities are totally corrupt, controlled by mobsters and hitmen, and poverty and homelessness run rampant through the streets of not only Kansas City, where the film takes place, but the entire world.
The premise of the movie is explained bluntly during the opening credits of the film through Gordon-Levitt's narration. The present time is 2044, and although time travel hasn't been invented yet, it will be 30 years from now-in 2074. The practice is promptly made illegal by the government, but mobsters use it in order to send their enemies back to the past at a specific time and place where they can be quickly and quietly killed by hired hitmen known as "loopers." In order to avoid any "loose ends," the loopers are eventually forced to kill their future selves, which is known as "closing a loop." They are then given several bars of gold, and allowed to live theirs lives as they please until they are sent back to the past and shot by their younger selves. However, protagonist Joe (Gordon-Levitt) throws himself and his mafia-bosses for a loop (hehe) when his older self (Willis) manages to escape and avoid his murder. The film's plot revolves around young Joe's plight to capture and kill old Joe, and old Joe's equally desperate mission to save himself and his future wife.
The movie, while carried on its twisting, creative plot and excellent actors, would not be nearly as poignant without the background of its grimy, ruthless city. The city becomes like a character itself, and a most vicious one at that. Two of the most poignant scenes take place only about 10-15 minutes into the film, and revolve around the city's descent into a murky underworld. A quick shot shows a flat expanse of asphalt covered with scraggly looking people both standing around and sitting under makeshift tents. A line of people wait to board a bus, and a dirty man comes up and takes another man's belongings (two meaningless looking plastic bags) before sprinting away. When he realizes what has happened, the robbed man calmly takes a gun out of his pocket and shoots and kills the thief with an air of non-nonchalance. No one around reacts to what has happened-no one even looks up or pretends to care. This sort of raw violence is evidently an everyday occurrence in the city, and has molded its viewers into apathetic animals. In another scene, a drugged-up Joe drives his equally wasted friends around the dark city in his flashy sports car-killers and other men of violence are obviously very high in status in this reality. Tripping and with spotty vision, Joe stops his car just inches before running over a tiny, dirty, lost-looking little boy playing soccer in the street with his friends. A filthy white wife-beater hangs off of the boys' scrawny shoulders as a chorus of "shit, man!" and laughter come from Joe's friends and the boy stares silently into the eyes of the man who almost just killed him.
These two scenes and the countless other images of a lost and spiraling city really shaped the film into a bleak and harrowing gem. As Jay-Z raps in "Empire State of Mind," "cities is a pity/half of y'all won't make it"-in this film, the cities are more than just a pity, they breed killers, and unless people conform to that standard of violence, they too won't make it.
When most people think of Texas they think of extremely conservative southerners with heavy accents, but despite popular belief, some parts of Texas (specifically its capital city, Austin) have sprouted a completely different atmosphere. Having lived in Austin my entire life, I've been exposed to Austin's counter-culture, but it wasn't until my first attendance of the Austin City Limits Music Festival in eighth grade that I was able to experience further the amazing "freak show" that is Austin, Texas. The thing that most struck me about my first experience at ACL was the huge amount of diversity among those in attendance. Whether you're looking for blues, country, rap, electronic, indie, rock, or whatever, ACL has it. While at first, I was a little confused as to why there were half naked people hula hooping at the back of The Black Keys concert, I began to realize that people like this were all over Austin, and that ACL was a place where everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) in Austin could come to listen to awesome music and "show their true colors." With tons of artists ranging for Bob Dylan to Kanye West, ACL has something for everyone. No matter what kind of quirky music, fashion, art, or just about anything else you're into, you'll find it here. In addition to the incredible music and concerts, there are countless tents set up around the festival to display the best of Austin's fashion, art, technology, and all over culture. So even if you're not into music, you're in luck! There are tons of fun activities to take part in during ACL including an outdoor food court in which anyone can enjoy some of Austin's best food at stands including Amy's Ice Cream, Mighty Cone, and Sweet Leaf Tea just to name a few.
While the Austin City Limits Music Festival has only been around since 2002, Austin City Limits began in 1976 as a television show that aired various music video from Texan artists, and has since expanded into one of the longest running concert shows on television. The ACL Music Festival attracts people from all over the world and has not only increased Austin's popularity, but has also largely boosted the city's reputation as the "Live Music Capital of the World."
While ACL is primarily a music festival, it creates a sort of paradise in which anyone can come (for the price of a $200 three day ticket) and experience the best aspects of Austin. Whether you're eager to join the movement of earth-lovers by carrying around a recycling bin and picking up trash, discovering the next big technologies in the Google + Tent, or just trying to enjoy some of the great music, the Austin City Limits Music Festival surely won't disappoint.
The
musical Hairspray portrays the atmosphere of Baltimore in the 60s.
Tracy, the main character, shows a strong sense of pride for her city. In the
song Good Morning Baltimore, she refers to the sounds of the city as a
“symphony,” and says that “every day is like an open door.” In her view,
Baltimore encourages Tracy to achieve her goal of being a movie star.
In
fact, Tracy uses the atmosphere of Baltimore in the sixties to encourage her
mom to dance as well. In the song Welcome to the Sixties, Tracy tells
her mom to “look around” because “everybody’s groovin’ to a new sound.” The
atmosphere of Baltimore in the sixties contributes to the development of
Tracy’s mother as well as Tracy.
The
racial segregation present in Baltimore in the sixties adds to the culture of
the city and the way the people who lived there are shaped. In Run and Tell
That, Seaweed addresses his struggle with stereotypes.
I can't see
Why people look at me
And only see the color of my face
And then there's those
That try to help, god knows
But always have to put me in my place
Hairspray
challenges the racial discrimination that was so prominent in the sixties.
Through the interracial relationship of Penny and Seaweed, the director
portrays that race should not be something that characterizes a person. In The
Intuitionist, Whitehead also portrays the absurd yet present color
barriers. When Pompey receives a promotion, he is also kicked in the butt to
remind him that he is still inferior to the white employees. Segregation
greatly impacted the environment of cities like Baltimore during the this time
and changed the way people in the city viewed each other.
More
information of Baltimore’s Racial Segregation:
This is Noah using Travis's account. I can't remember my password for my gmail account and he very generously let me use his account to do my assignment.
Houston has always been a place that emphasizes community. In a city so spread out people naturally gravitate towards each other despite. It's funny how that works. My communities in Houston have, strangely (and i like to think uniquely), have always been formed by the restaurants I eat at. My mom loved cooking, and food, and people, so restaurants were a natural place of happiness for her. She made friends so easily by the time we left a restaurant she'd know the cooks. Two diners stick out in my mind the most, Jenni's Noodle House and the West Alabama Ice House. As a young child I frequented the West Alabama Ice House with my parents on friday nights. Why would a sub 7 year old be going to an Ice House on friday nights? Free. Hotdogs. It was at the West Alabama Ice House that I enjoyed my first true community. I played basketball with other kids like me taking advantage of the free food, I played my first game of poker on an electronic poker machine, I listend to my first live music, and I learned how to deal with people of all different backgrounds. Treat them the same. It's the best lesson to learn early on, because when you're a kid hanging around an Ice House for free food you really don't know any better than that. I knew the man that grilled the hot dogs, and the lady behind the counter (bar) and the people that owned the place. It's places like these that are why i love Houston. In Houston people allow you to be yourself. A 6 year old can go to an Ice House every friday and receive his free hot dogs and a few words of wisdom. He is allowed to grow and take on the ideals of the city. The ideals of community, and kindness, and the celebration of human diversity. Those are the ideals I learned every friday at the Ice House. The city of Houston was always presented to me through restaurants and the Ice House was always an open forum of learning. From lessons in toughness received by getting knocked over on the concrete basketball court, to lessons of humanity from watching the owner giving his hot dogs to the homeless. The Ice House was a celebration of the city itself.
But as I grew older we frequented the Ice House on west alabama less and less. It was soon replaced by Jenni's Noodle House. JNH resides on shepherd street and appropriately shepherd is what the Noodle House and it's owners always were to me. The restaurant is a cozy little vietnamese place that you wouldn't know was there unless you were looking for it. The food is cheap and the portions are big their dumplings hold the answers to the universe. It's over those dumplings, or noodles, or rice that I pondered my coming of age questions, and around me, the patrons of the restaurant and the owners themselves always held the answers. It was at Jenni's Noodle House that the original idea for the Stefan Schwartz Pancreatic Research fund was hatched, and at Jenni's Noodle House where my mother's rehearsal dinner was had, and it was at Jenni's Noodle House where my first birthday as a highschool student was had and at Jenni's Noodle House where I learned what it meant to work.
The owners are just as special as the place itself. Overly friendly, obsessively detail oriented and hard working in the extreme only watching them would leave an impact on anybody. Getting to know them cemented my foundation. Everything I learned from the Ice House could have been filed away and forgotten if not for Jenni's. The restaurant breaths Houston and embodies it. It showed me that the values I learned as a child are not to be forgotten or written off as impossibilities but rather ways to succeed in the world. Without the city, without its restaurants, without the people you meet there world views could not be shaped as they are today. The idea of multi-cultural, multi-economical, multi-cerebral would be just that, ideas. They wouldn't exist as part of our realities on a day to day basis. That is why restaurants are the true melting pots of any city, places where people of all backgrounds and races can come together jovially. Places where the ideals of all peoples can be spread and listened to and accepted. "All great deeds and all great thoughts have a ridiculous beginning. Great works are often born on a street corner or in a restaurant's revolving door." -Albert Camus
The city of Houston has long been known as a city of industry, business, etc. For a while, it really was a destination for these purposes, and almost nothing else. Although Houston has maintained its industrial title, it has become a more complete city throughout time. A major addition to the cities vast attractions was the construction of the Reliant Stadium/Park.
The Reliant Park brought along with it much more than just a football field, the Rodeo, and various other sporting events. It brought with it a sense of the "American culture" and community. Instead of attracting the people of the city for business meetings, it invites everyone to enjoy the vibrance of the city through public sporting events. These events create a sense of community along with an almost city-wide "bonding" experience where folks from all over the world get to exist in unity for whatever period of time. The Reliant Park represents an almost "liveliness" of the city rather than viewing Houston strictly as a polluted city with no heart.
Roman Polanski’s renowned film Chinatown calls attention to the role of corruption and reflects the corruption of Los Angeles in the 1930s and 40s.
Higher up and millionaire Noah Cross controversially and illegally diverts
water to dry farm lands outside of Los Angeles for self-prosperity. Meanwhile,
Private Investigator Mr. Gittes searches for the killer of Mr. Mulwray who
opposed new water department policies and later he finds out Cross killed
Mulwray to keep him quiet about Cross’ plans in the hill country.
In
Mr. Gittes’ investigation he trespasses on the Department of Water and Power
land to find out about the inner-workings of the department. He discovers the department is secretly dumping water at night. Two gang
looking men approach him and threaten to cut of his entire nose off if he returns. (Upon further research I found that Polanski cameos in a role as one of the
threatening thugs.) While the men do not permanently scar Mr. Gittes they
violently cut his nose forcing him to have to wear a large white bandage for
the majority of the movie. This bandage is visually distracting throughout the
movie, which symbolizes the glaring violence of corruption that cannot be
escaped. The bandage also serves to reflect Gittes’ personal improvement on the
case. By the time the bandage is removed he begins to find out more details in
his case.
In the infamous scene when Gittes slaps Mrs. Mulwray repeatedly to gain
information about the woman, we learn she secretly hides the woman her husband
had an affair with. More twisted, this woman is Mrs. Mulwray’s daughter and
sister. Noah Cross, Mrs. Muwray’s father, raped his daughter at a young age
producing an incestual daughter. The idea that Mr. Cross, someone with so much
power and influnce, is so personally corrupt reflects the larger city of Los
Angeles. In the hierarchy of power and money many leaders were corrupt and this
trickles down through their families like it does to Mrs. Mulwray. The
widespread dispersal of profanity affects the larger community creating the
sense of citywide corruption by the end of the movie. This message is supported
by the darkness and Film Noir style of the picture.
The
film ends with the murder of Mrs. Mulwray as she tries to escape the police and
more importantly her father who wants custody of their daughter. After the
police shoot her driving away her head falls onto the steering wheel honking
the car horn making for an overly dramatic ending. This last scene takes place
in Chinatown, or the “red-light district,” and as Gittes tries to help the
daughter one of his men tell him “Forget it, Jake, it’s Chinatown!” His partner
is telling him that Gittes cannot change the way things are. He is commenting
that no matter what Mr. Gittes does corruption will continue and that Chinatown
is everywhere. Mr. Gittes is only one many but he represents the helplessness
of everyone.
