new winter banner

I’ve updated the banner to accommodate the imminent winter chaos in New England. Hopefully the benevolent snowman dingbats will help ease the transition into our killer snow season.

harvard stadium

Last weekend Ingrid and I stopped by Harvard Stadium in preparation for next week’s Harvard Yale game. Around here, they call it “THE GAME.” Since Ingrid and I will be at THE GAME on Saturday, I thought I’d post this calm-before-the-storm photo. It’s a bit shameful, since I never attended a single game at UT, but this feels more like a novelty, or historical reenactment.

Speaking of history lessons, this marks the 40 year anniversary of the so-called “Greatest GAME of All Time.”  There is a Salon.com article, and movie about that game–a tie!–and here is a quote from Andrew O’Hehir:

“I’m sure that football fans in the southern and western seven-eighths of the country would dispute the point vigorously, but for a certain Northeastern upper-crust sector of American society, no single event in college gridiron history comes close to the legendary status of the Harvard-Yale game that occurred almost exactly 40 years ago.” For more, here’s a link to the article.

Needless to say, I can’t imagine a tie should be given such a lofty title. The best game in my football watching lifetime was the 2006 Rose Bowl victory by Texas over USC.

breakfast tacos: hecho en cambridge

Breakfast Tacos are a staple in Austin. They didn’t really exist in El Paso. There we ate burritos, which were also tasty, but not nearly the culinary and social phenomenon that they are in the Capital City.

Needless to say, breakfast tacos are a non-entity here in Cambridge. This is a donut town. And, while I don’t mind living in a place that so freely worships sugary fried dough, I occasionally miss those little rolled missiles of Tex-Mexy goodness. I made some breakfast tacos this weekend and have posted them here in all their glory.

I also made some cappuccino.
This week also marked the official mid-term of the fall semester–and what a busy mid-term week it was! Many of us in the Higher Ed program had papers due in more than one class. Hopefully, my professors and teaching assistants are kind in their grading, but if not, I’ll go into business selling breakfast tacos to the Harvard kids.

p.s. we’ll miss you

p.s. we’ll miss you

Originally uploaded by p25eddie

Here’s a snapshot from one of our last nights in Austin. Like so many other nights here, this one was made special by good friends, good food, love and laughter. I’m not sure who took this photo, but I like it very much.

Thanks folks! Ingrid and I will miss you all. You’re all welcome to stay with us should you ever find yourselves in Boston.

austin to boston to beijing

With the glow of the olympics now faded, much of the world’s attention has moved past the games and to other world affairs.  I for one will miss the olympics and will miss all the stunning shots of Herzog & de Meuron’s wonderful Beijing National Stadium (seen below courtesy of the olympics official website).

 

Beijing National Stadium

Not too long ago, Herzog & de Meuron were commissioned by UT to build the Blanton Museum.  Thanks to good ol’ boy provincial politics, (and a couple vocal UT’s regents), the original plans of these pritzker prize winning architects were rejected.  I found a few  of their original renderings online.  I’ll post them below so we can see what could have been.

 

A view from Jester

A view from MLK blvd.

As it turns out, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are on the faculty at Harvard. Maybe I’ll meet them there and apologize for our silly regents and see if they’ll return to Austin and build something else.  Maybe they can build a new Taco Deli?

set list and reviews for MMJ’s ACL taping

 

our my morning jacket program

Here’s the setlist and a couple reviews from Monday night’s ACL taping.

EVIL URGES
TOUCH ME PT. 1
I’M AMAZED
THANK YOU TOO
SEC WALKIN
TWO HALVES
WAR BEGUN
LIBRARIAN
LOOK AT YOU
SMOKIN FROM SHOOTIN
TOUCH ME PT. 2
NASHVILLE TO KY
JUST ONE THING
WORDLESS CHORUS
HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS
COBRA
STEAM ENGINE
–encore–
ALUMINUM PARK
ONE BIG HOLIDAY

acl blog review
austin360 review

austin city limits

 

stamped and ready to rock...one last time

 

On Friday, my wife and I were lucky enough to win 4 tickets to see a taping of our favorite show, Austin City Limits (aka ACL). Having lived in this fine city for nearly 12 years, we’ve been lucky to see many fantastic performances with friends and family at ACL. From local gems like Rocky Ericsson and James McMurtry, to touring and international bands like Wilco, Corinne Bailey Rae, Femi Kuti and Café Tacuba, Austin City Limits rarely disappoints. Tonight was no exception with My Morning Jacket.

The pretty lights, pristine sound and beautiful music, were all tinged with elegiac tones knowing this would be our last live Austin City Limits experience for some time. I couldn’t get too sad though, we’ll be able to watch it on TV when we get to Boston. What’s more, I couldn’t have been in better immediate company than my two brothers and dear wife.  We’ll watch for ourselves when the broadcast airs on ACL’s 34th season this fall on pbs.

furniture for free

Please take a look at the furniture we’re giving away before we leave for Boston. It’s served us well here in Austin, but we can’t take it with us. If there’s anything you’d like, just let us know.

our furniture...for free!