Last month's bike fashion shoot with Mellow Johnny's put way too many things on the wish list. Clothing fit for fashionistas, but built for cyclists. Epic. I also got to take a spin on a bike that cost about as much as my cameras. Big thanks to models Gayla Corporon and Allan Sieja for looking like total bad asses so early in the morning.
Last month I drove up to Aggie country to photograph a legend in computer programming. Bjarne Stroustrup invented C++ in 1985. On the silver anniversary of its launch, Wired looked back at one of the most popular programming languages ever created.
Professor Stroustrup (fun lesson in pronunciation here) was generous with his time between classes at Texas A&M University. We talked about his native Denmark, where my brother currently lives, and shared some programming-grade espresso. Thankfully there was no pop-quiz about programming.
As a native Austinite, I get stuck in routines around town. The same running trails, coffee shops, and traffic shortcuts rotate through my week without a second glance. I forget there's so much new to love in this town. Last month's food assignment from the DMN gave me a big dose of new and hip. You can read the reviews here.
Odd Duck
I had a fun daily last month at the Children's Business Fair hosted by the Acton Foundation. Jeff Sandefer, a benefactor of the foundation, opened his front lawn to over 80 young entrepreneurs and their wares. It was so much more than your traditional lemonade stands. You can see the slideshow here.
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Saskia Solotko, 6, plays the violin to attract customers to her booth, the Violin Café at the 4th annual Children's Business Fair at the Pease Mansion in old west Austin on October 9, 2010. Solotko and business partner Ellie Carpenter, 10, (not pictured) are two of seven original students at the Acton Academy, founded by Jeff Sandefer. |
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Reese Youngblood sits in front of her booth where she takes commissions on oil and pastel paintings. |
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Jules Gilbreath, 9, greets customers at his booth Jules' Vintage Comics. "Collecting comics is just one of my hobbies," said Gilbreath. "Reading them is another one." |
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Samuel Battle, 10, right, makes a portrait of three-year-old twins, Scarlett and Luke Gromquist. |
Earlier this summer I wandered around the streets of DC with Jenna Isaacson. We heard music, smelled the grilling meats, and gravitated towards a good old fashioned neighborhood block party. The kids were having a dance competition, though there was just one entrant in the "Michael Jackson" category. Billie Jean was blaring for his performance.
This year marked the 40th anniversary of Shakespeare at Winedale. What started in 1970 as a UT English class in Shakespearean performance has blossomed into a rich theater tradition in Round Top, Texas. Each summer, students descend on the tiny town halfway between Houston and Austin, population 88, to perfect and perform three plays at the 19th century barn turned Elizabethan stage. In celebration of the 40th milestone, alumni of the program gathered at Round Top for a week long theater immersion and encore performance.
I spent an afternoon shooting verticals for UT's Life & Letters magazine, an interesting exercise when the vast majority of photography is horizontal. Oh, the hardships we endure for magazine covers. Ha.
I'd love to go back for the entire week next year. The alumni are tightly knit, even though many haven't seen each other since their college days. There's a bond with their former professors James Ayres and James Loehlin, the barn itself, even the brutal summer heat. Something life changing happens every summer at Winedale and it's still as palpable to the class of 1971 as it is to the class of 2011.
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| Kristin Johnson, alumni of the 1987 and '88 seasons, awaits her cue from the side-door of the Winedale stage during a 40th reunion performance. |
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| At left, all hands are on stage for the induction of the Taming of the Shrew. At right, Tara Kirkland leans over an air conditioning unit backstage. |
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| At left, a sign on the dressing room reminds actors to stay silent during a performance with a quote from Henry the Sixth "Sweet Aunt, be quiet...". At right, Terry Galloway goes through her lines backstage before the start of the 40th anniversary performance of Shakespeare at Winedale. |
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| Cast members gather before the curtain. |
I spent a few hours with Earlene Moore, a 90-year-old bra fitter at Saks Fifth Avenue, for part of Ricardo Gándara's Austin at Work series. Moore got into the business in 1939 when the downtown stretch of Congress Avenue was full of department stores.
She opened her own lingerie shop in 1971 and fit Texas' political and social elite for over 20 years. I can only imagine the stories and laughter that came out of that shop when Ann Richards came in for a fitting. Earlene closed her shop on Jefferson Square in 1995 and went into semi-retirement. She was bored though, and when Saks offered her a job in 1997 she was back in business.
These days she greets everyone that wanders into her realm. Earlene can fit a woman on sight and has a vast understanding of manufacturers and brands. She always gets a hug after the sale is complete and is an adopted grandmother to the younger sales girls on the Saks floor. And just look at that hair...
When Joe Stack flew his plane into the Echelon I in north Austin last February, Robin De Haven was on the freeway heading to another glass installation job. The 28-year-old Iraq war veteran used the ladder on his company truck to rescue six people from the second floor of the burning building and then quietly left the scene. Not so quietly, the media descended on his story. De Haven became an instant celebrity and was hounded for interviews for months. His relationship with the word "hero" is a complicated one.
The Statesman's Andrea Ball wrote about De Haven in an interesting piece on heroism and the media which you can read here.
Spent an early morning at the Singing Water Vineyards last month as the owners and some loyal fans brought in their first ever harvest of pinot grapes. I love wandering the back rounds around Comfort, Texas but had never moseyed down Mill Dam to the vineyard before. It's a beautiful stretch of road - tight turns and sharp hills leading to a small valley spread where the Holmberg's and Matula's nestled their vines. A little slice of Tuscany in the hillcounty.
I'm looking forward to tasting the fruits of their labor in a few years.
Austin's Sikh community is facing the demolition of their new temple after a dispute with a neighbor over subdivision covenants. The congregation began worshiping in 2003 in a mobile home on property they purchased in far west Austin. In 2005, the congregation obtained the necessary permits to begin construction of a new temple and faced no opposition until John and Leslie Bollier moved into the neighborhood in 2008 and filed suit claiming the temple violated the subdivision's restrictions on commercial building.
A trial judge sided with Austin Gurdwara in March 2009 and construction of the temple was completed in April 2010. In July, a Texas appellate court overturned the 2009 decision and ruled that the new temple must be razed or moved. The Sikh community is appealing that decision to the Texas Supreme Court.
I spent a Sunday afternoon with the Austin Gurdwara community during their devotional service and communal meal. Dr. Harnek Bains and the members of his congregation were thoughtful and patient explaining their religious philosophy and practice as well as the details of their legal battle.
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| Satpal Singh, left, and brother Gursagardeep Singh, right, stand in Austin Gurdwara's old sanctuary, a cramped trailer on Avispa Way in far west Austin on Sunday August 8, 2010. The group began using the 1,200 square-foot trailer in 2003 and quickly outgrew the space. Ground breaking on the new sanctuary began in 2007 but met with a lawsuit by neighbors John and Leslie Bollier. A trial judge sided with the Sikh group and construction was completed in April 2010. In July, the Texas Third Court of Appeals overturned the lower court's ruling and the new temple might be torn down. |
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| Dr. Yadvindera Bains waves a whisk, or chaur, over the book of Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib, in Austin Gurdwara's new 3,600 square foot temple. |
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| The Sikh organization has said it spent $350,000 to build the new facility on land that cost an additional $100,000. Neighbors John and Leslie Bollier say the building could bring down property values. Dr. Yadvindera Bains, right, prays before the start of services on Sunday August 8, 2010. |
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| Sikhism, a monotheistic religion that began 500 years ago, stresses the importance of leading a moral life. |
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| Sikhism is the world's fifth largest religion. An estimated 500,000 Sikhs live in the U.S. |
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| Sukhchain Singh, center, blesses the book of Sikh scripture after Sunday worship. |
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| Dr. Harnek Bains is the leader of Austin Gurdwara. |
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| Dr. Harnek Bains in the 1,200 square foot trailer that his congregation used for worship services beginning in 2003. |
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| The congregation of Austin Gurdwara shares a communal meal called Langar in the trailer that once housed their sanctuary. |
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| If the Texas Supreme Court upholds the Bollier's appeal ruling, the Sikh community would still be able to worship in the mobile home on the property. The new temple, however would have to be razed or moved. |
