https://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2025-04-25/is-austins-new-arts-umbrella-organization-just-in-time-or-too-little-too-late/

On the one hand, as the article's body mentions: "better late than never." On the other, as the article's title insinuates: the horse has left the barn. Decades of trading on Austin's "weird" reputation, whilst pandering near-exclusively to capital, has left Austin's cultural core genuinely penurious, hallowed out, and fleeing for higher ground. Same as it ever was.

A portion of the crowd of peaceful protesters in Austin, TX today listening to speakers and music as part of #HandsOff.

Next action is May 1st at the State Capitol from 5 pm to 8 pm. Come join the movement against #Trump and #fascists.

An excellent interview conducted between Maggie Quinlan Thompson of the Austin Chronicle and Texas state senator Sarah Eckhardt, who represents the Austin area:

https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2025-04-11/sitting-down-with-your-senator/

The entire interview does an *excellent* job of interjecting important bits of context when needed. That is a breath of fresh air compared to raw dumps of dialog that assume every reader/listener is just as wired in to said context as the writers/speakers.

As well, one point in particular makes a very concise and convincing case against bad political theatre, likening it, across several important political axes, to nutritionally barren candy:

>**Chronicle**: *You were talking about political pragmatism, which could be thought of as political performance. Before you were an attorney, you studied arts and performed in theatre productions. We have this phrase “political theatre,” which implies something nefarious, but in a pure sense of what theatre is, is there artistry in the work of being a lawmaker?*
>
>*Eckhardt*: As a public servant you have to tell the story outside the building, so I don’t consider political theatre a bad thing. I think you need to be sufficiently theatrical, a sufficient storyteller, so that your community knows what their government is up to.
>
>There are also posturing bills. These are examples of really bad theatre. It’s candy politics. It has no nutritional value. It doesn’t increase your public safety. It doesn’t increase your prosperity. It doesn’t improve your health care. It doesn’t reduce the price of groceries. It’s purely about looking good and doesn’t do any good.

Finally, another salient piece of advice regarding the intersection of ego and politics:

>**Chronicle**: *Do you feel genuine partnership and teamwork with many or any of your Republican colleagues?*
>
>**Eckhardt**: One way I can get policy passed is by quietly talking to my Republican colleagues and acting like a superstaffer saying, “Hey, I read your bill. I think it’s really, really good. I can’t vote for it yet. Here are a couple of things that would improve it, that would make it possible for me to vote for it.”
>
>Another way I can influence policy is I can propose a bill and file it and then float it to see how many Republicans I can get to co-author, and if I can’t get any to co-author, but one of them says, “I really like this bill, but politically, I can’t be seen on a bill with you.” I’ll say: “file the identical bill, and I’ll co-author yours. Take my bill. Cool.” You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

You can get a lot more done if you don’t need your name on it.

HEEEEY #AUSTIN! Do you like #INDIE #COMICS? Do you like #ZINES? Do you like #GAMES? Do you like #ART?

This weekend is STAPLE! The Independent Media Expo!

It's at #StEdwardsUniversity on Saturday and Sunday. Lots of great artists and comix. Bring a wad of cash (or a card or a Venmo, such as it goes), because it's always great to score a great haul.

Meet the creators! Show some love! Find something new!

Tell Uncle Staple I sent ya!

https://staple-austin.org/
#comix #austintx #staple

Saw my first bluebonnets of the season, growing wild at the curb of my office park. Pretty!

The Cathedral of Saint Mary in Austin, Texas

https://nickoprints.com/featured/the-cathedral-of-saint-mary-in-austin-texas-digital-painting-with-vintage-look-nicko-prints.html

Moments from my mental health walk today.

#austintx #nature #mentalhealthwalk

(New server, new #introduction .)

I'm a newcomer to #portland #pdx. I moved here after living in #austin #austinTX for over 30 years.

I'm interested in #openSource #linux #selfHosted #homeAutomation #homeAssistant

I advocate for #civicTech #openData #communityTech

I like #libraries #classicalGuitar

I occasionally post photos of #cooking, #bread, #pizza, and Franklin the #cat. You're welcome.

Does #FediverseHouse sound interesting? At least a little bit. The "A Better Web Is Possible" talk by Molly ( @molly0xfff ) sounds interesting at least, though it's a shame that only fifteen minutes appear to be allocated to it. Kit O'Connell ( @oconnell ) is part of a talk titled "Publishers: Audience and Autonomy" that also sounds interesting. On the other hand, you've got folks from Threads and Bluesky acting as a bright blinking "CAUTION" sign.

Do I live close enough to Austin to be there in-person? I suppose. It's a three to four hour drive from Fort Worth.

On the other hand, it all feels very, very corporate. Very bourgy, networky, startupy. And all in the worst ways. Corporations hawking their walled gardens^W^W bespoke, artisanal feeds with only the best free-range, organic advertisements sprinkled in (sparingly, of course). The general strategy seems to be "see all of the fediverse through our app," a blatant and bold Embrace, Extend, and Extinguish play if ever there were one, only this time, sold as an act of "unifying" the oPeN SOciAl WeB.

Maybe I'll be there. Maybe I won't.

I'm going to #AustinTX for #FediverseHouse at #SXSW.

My old tradition in Austin was going to Catfish Parlour to get all you can eat fried catfish. I used to go when I was a kid with my grandparents; I've taken my kids there every time we go to Austin, and my friends who are in town, too.

Catfish Parlour closed (in the north, although not the south side one); is there a place that's as good or better in the north for fried catfish, preferably AYCE?

Austin is having quite a blustery day. Mid afternoon, the sky and air turned brown with dust. Coworkers losing electricity left and right. I’ve never seen anything like it in person.

@mike's Dot Social podcast comes to Austin this weekend, where he’ll record an episode with Waveform Podcast co-host @davidimel. If you’re local, you can hear it before anyone else by stopping by the Fediverse House. RSVP: https://lu.ma/cnr8fi3j

#FediverseHouse #fediverse #podcasting #podcast #DotSocial #austin #AustinTX #sxsw #sxsw2025

Are you an Austin-based developer working on the open social web? If so, you’re invited to our Developer Meetup, hosted by ActivityPub co-author @evan. You don’t need a badge to attend but we do ask that you RSVP. Let’s see what you’re building! https://lu.ma/bvump3m6

Really nice sunset last night #AustinTX

For anybody that's gonna be in #austintx for #sxsw2025 (or just for whatever other reasons) on March 9th & 10th, apparently there's going to be a big #fediverse presence as part of this year's SXSW conference at the Speakeasy. Seems like an SXSW badge isn't required, but RSVP is. There are some interesting people and talks scheduled, so if you're around, maybe you wanna drop on by, yeah?

I think I'm gonna try to go to some (if not all) of it, just to hear what's being said.

https://wedistribute.org/event/fediverse-house-sxsw/

Just got home from the 9th String Quartet Smackdown. This is a musical competition organized by Golden Hornet Project along the lines of the NCAA playoffs. They have an open call to composers to submit works to be played by a string quartet, and a jury selects 16 and arranges them in a bracket.

At the event, the string quartet plays one minute of a pair of compositions, and audience members vote using their phones. In the elite-8 round, they play 2 minutes; in the final 4, 3 minutes, and in the championship round, the whole thing. This year, for the first time, we had a tie (resolved through a playoff), and in the later rounds, some very close votes. It was great. The emcee could have come straight from a boxing match—he was hilarious.

When you’ve lived in Austin a long time, it can still feel like a small town, and this was one of those occasions. We ran into 9 people we knew.

https://www.goldenhornet.org/smackdown