old white guy

Dammit where were you six months ago??

Why aren't they renewing it? That's too bad. I need to get out there and play it soon Well, it's not clear that Bluebonnet Hill ownership/management has lifted a finger to even try to renew it.

Meanwhile, the golf course down the street is closing. But hey, a got damn Ferris wheel! I'm all for more public greenspace, especially on the East side, but it need not always be "developed."

Started subscribing in 67 and still have all of the 67-77 issues here. Stopped around 1980 or so. Still thumb through some of those old ones every now and then; there was some great writing and I read about sports I never would have otherwise, like horse racing, track and field.

Legendary midnight Hancock Golf course showdown is legendary.

Damn sorry to hear it. Didn't know him but certainly crossed paths; went to same elementary, jr high and high school 2 years apart. Cedar Door (OG 15th st). Montana Mining Company, wow, hadn't thought of that place in years. RIP.

I worked there for a summer (or two?) ca. 1977 as a painter. The bar in the parking garage was The Bucket, changed to The Keg. 25 cent beer nights were fun. Shot pool there with Earl a couple of times. Dan Pastorini showed up at the pool table one night.

No shit. And now he can't even look at the Antarctic for solace: https://www.pnas.org/content/116/29/14414

What kind of dumbass calls Water Ave. "First St."??

lots and lots of words follow. Well, first I'm gonna say that over the past sixty years I've changed in some attitudes. Never was a racist I don't think, but also did and said some things back in the day I know were inappropriate. No excuse. I like to think I've gotten a bit more well-rounded and experienced after all this time. Certainly more understanding. My family's not racist, but much of my extended family is from east Texas, and a couple of them were harsh. After UT football integrated, my uncle, a big Aggie fan, would without fail whenever he saw me say, "Hey, I guess we better start calling you the Texas Black Angus with all those niggers you got now, huh?" and that was not unusual, but very typical. Austin integrated our public schools after Brown v Board II i think, nominally. But my schools (Gullett elementary for one) were lily white because, wink wink nudge nudge you had to live in the district, and you couldn't legally sell your house to a negro, so... My music teacher in elementary would always use "Nigra" as the term for Blacks. Nigra spirituals, or sometimes talking about Nigras in other aspects of society. I think about 1/3 of the kids used racist terms and jokes routinely as they were familiar with them at home, 1/3 did not, and 1/3 knew better but sometimes would join in. A favorite insult if you didn't go along was, 'what, are you some kind of nigger-lover?' How do you answer that, if you're twelve? In eighth grade, we began busing; it wasn't equitable at all, they closed the two predominantly black schools in East Austin (Anderson HS and Kealing Jr High), drew circles on the map over the East Austin neighborhoods, and randomly assigned them to the other schools in town. THey didn't bus the white kids, unless you were one of the few whites who lived in East Austin. That whole episode is beyond the scope of this post though. After integration/busing, the percentage of people in jr high or high school who would overtly use 'nigger' was down to about 10% or so. And they almost always would look over their shoulders before saying it, except for a few hard cases that would be what today we'd call Aryan nation or ''White nationalists' but were just dumb hicks back then. Fast forward forty years. I now see more overt racism on Facebook than i have since the 70s probably. The worst offenders are my own high school class cohort. Several post semi-racist rants nearly daily (in between anti-Muslim manifestos) and one retired Austin cop routinely uses the N word (but couched in acronyms). If a black person anywhere in America commits a crime, he's all "See? TNB"

Thanks for posting. He's been an asset to the University community for a very long time. Under-recognized locally, IMHO, until The University gave him a President's Reception and lit the tower orange in his honor in 2010.