AUSTIN | Misc. Discussions - No Politics

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Which ones don't?

Basically all of the old buildings leave their lights off most of the time.

[KevinFromTexas]

I guess you could say art and construction runs in my family. My maternal grandfather was a master carpenter. He built houses in Austin in the 40s and 50s. They would move into one in a neighborhood while he was building there, then move onto the next project. I've been able to find some of his construction company ads through the Austin Public Library and American-Statesman. My maternal great-grandfather was a tool manager for the company that built Mansfield Dam. My uncle on my mom's side is also a carpenter. On my dad's side of the family, my grandfather started painting after they moved to the United States. He did mostly landscapes. Two of my aunts on both sides of the family also paint, as does my uncle on my dad's side of the family. Several of my cousins paint also. My dad could draw just about anything. He hand drew the plans for his "renderings" of improvements he made to the house, which were pretty extensive. I also have an uncle on my dad's side of the family who is a structural engineer.

Otherwise I didn't know anyone who cared at all about architecture, tall buildings or cities.

We did always go downtown as a family. We'd usually go to the Capitol, climb the stairs and wander the grounds. I loved the history of it and the architecture of course. In 1992 when they did the underground Capitol extension, we would go at night and walk around the site. They had pedestrian walkways built all the way around the construction pit so the public could see into it. They had 4 tower cranes and tons of machines. I think that really helped to get me interested in architecture. And then of course when it was done we explored the new section.

We also would park downtown and walk around. We used to walk the alleys at night even. I remember being freaked out once when we were walking the alley south of the One American Center, when my dad's friend looked into a dumpster for some boxes to help with his move. There was a homeless man sleeping in the dumpster. I remember being terrified at the thought that he might actually be dead. We would also go over to the train station and sit and watch trains.

I got into collecting postcards, magazines, calendars books. Anything I could find that had pictures or information about cities and buildings. I remember watching Married with Children and Family Matters and drooling over Chicago's skyline in the beginning of the show. And of course there were certain movies that caught my attention such as Ghostbusters. I was also always a statistics and fact geek, so naturally I started looking for building heights. I started looking up big buildings in the Guinness Book of World Records and in almanacs. I studied city maps and drew skylines. And of course I grew up playing with LEGO and Construx toys, so I built all kinds of buildings and stuff. And I also started taking pictures of buildings and cities, which then got me into photography. I also started riding my bicycle more so I could go downtown and ride around to take photos without having to do it in a car. So it also got me back into riding bicycles again.

Until I found SkyscraperPage, I'd never met anyone else who liked cities and architecture.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Which ones don't?

301 Congress doesn't anymore. It's actually had two different lighting designs through the years, but it's been dark for a while. As I remember, one of the lighting tubes on one of the setbacks caught on fire, and they haven't lit it since.

The San Jacinto Center used to have red neon lights outlining the pyramid on the roof, but they haven't done that in a while. I think they still have the flood lights up the sides of the building.

100 Congress is still lit every once in a while, but it isn't lit regularly.

[lzppjb]

For the life of me, I can't remember what the lights on 301 Congress looked like. They need to fix their problem and get it lit back up. LEDs can't cost that much to run.

I remember the SJC having red ball lights on the pyramid. I don't remember it ever outlining it. But could just be my fuzzy memory. Do you have any pics of that?

100 Congress has cool lights. While looking up pics, I saw one where they had the three bars red, white, and blue.

At least One Congress Plaza still lights up. I've always like those stairsteps. For some reason, when I see it lit up, I think of KXAN News. Ha!

[JoninATX]

My interest in skyscrapers and cities took me back during my middle school days. The year was 1999 and started become even more interested back in 2001 when I first learned of Skyscraperpage.com. Not sure what interest me because as a kid I never went downtown. But ever since then I have been lurking on this site, but didn't join until 2009. Was a shy person back then. Also 2006 was the highlight of my interest, I worked for various construction companies and help did the early stages of laying down water and sewer lines back in 2007 for Seaholm.

[KevinFromTexas]

It would probably be a pain in the butt go looking for old photos of it, but I do have some old postcards that show the two different lighting designs. The original lighting design had flood lights on the setbacks lighting up the walls. It could have just been the postcard photos, but it looked almost yellowish like limestone. The other design was just simple white neon lights outlining the setbacks. I ogled those buildings back in the day when I first started to become interested in skyscrapers since they were the only hint of tall buildings we had at the time. 100 Congress is still one of my favorites in Austin with its copper colored glass and lofty sloped roof. I also remember 100 Congress being lit at Christmas time with a star at the top of the three triangles making it resemble a Christmas tree. They could really take advantage of that look now days since the building now uses LEDs. I know it can change colors. I remember during the Olympics it was lit red, white and blue. The One American Center was also lit with red and green lights on the setbacks at Christmas time. I really miss that. I wish the older buildings would do more lighting, at least bring back the old lights, and light the buildings for all the holidays/special occasions.

[JoninATX]

Wish I had some pictures to show ya'll what I did back then as a equipment operator, in which I had some great pictures of downtown Austin back in 2006/2007. But lost them. But as the years progress I seem less interested in what i liked. I still like skyscrapers and architecture but seem to have lost passion. Any of you guys sometimes feel that way?

[KevinFromTexas]

Sometimes, yes. I go through funks sometimes, maybe borderline depression maybe, where I lose interest. One thing is taking photos. It's just such a daunting task sometimes to go through and edit them and get them uploaded and posted. Still, whenever I get into it to make some progress on it, I'm reminded of why I enjoy it.

[JoninATX]

That's what I feel sometimes. Hopefully I can get back into the game now that I saw renderings of The Independent. Just need some developer to push that barrier.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Sometimes, yes. I go through funks sometimes, maybe borderline depression maybe, where I lose interest. One thing is taking photos. It's just such a daunting task sometimes to go through and edit them and get them uploaded and posted. Still, whenever I get into it to make some progress on it, I'm reminded of why I enjoy it.

Do you use recorded actions in photoshop when editing your photos? Can save a lot of time and won't be so tedious for you.

[LoneStarMike]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

100 Congress has cool lights. While looking up pics, I saw one where they had the three bars red, white, and blue.

I found a photo showing that.



http://www.tatteredtotaylored.com/20...1_archive.html

Do they still light up Capital Tower at night? I can't remember when I took this photo, but it's been a few years.

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by lzppjb

Do you use recorded actions in photoshop when editing your photos? Can save a lot of time and won't be so tedious for you.

I actually need to get Photoshop. I've been using an ancient version of PaintShop Pro for a while.

We recently bought a Canon Rebel XTI 400D from a friend, so I'm wanting to get some better software also.

[lzppjb]

Actions are so great. Record yourself resizing, cropping, applying filters, applying your watermark, etc. to one photo. Then run the action on all your photos. I had to do that with this project I was doing. Did 255 objects in a matter a seconds.

[Tech House]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I actually need to get Photoshop. I've been using an ancient version of PaintShop Pro for a while.

That's pretty funny, I have PaintShop 7.04, circa 1998. It was the last free version I was able to get and I used it a lot back then. I never had the patience to learn Photoshop, to me it's overwhelmingly complex. Even the new versions of PaintShop overwhelm me. I'm old.

About the work you said you put into photos, I want you to know that I really appreciate it. Everyone who uploads pics, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I've looked at a lot of other city forums and they're just sad compared to what we have for Austin. This might be the most kickass SSP city for its size. Testimony to people's excitement about Austin.

re: excitement about cities, mine came from travels to Los Angeles, which was a 2 hour drive from Santa Barbara. We didn't have a freeway through town during all the years I was growing up. I was always blown away by the freeways of LA, and I still think they're magnificent. I know this is quite perverse, but it's true. One night we drove on the Santa Ana freeway at about 11pm and it was bumper-to-bumper traffic, and that really excited me because Santa Barbara streets were empty by 8 every night..

But nothing beats the interchanges of LA. They're so much more graceful, so beautiful, than anything that is built today. For those of you who know, you'll probably agree with me about this: The most glorious complex of freeway interchange spaghetti is the confluence of the Golden State, Santa Ana, Riverside, Pomona, and Hollywood freeways. It's all beautifully landscaped, the curves are sexy as hell, and winding your way through it takes a couple minutes without traffic. Just delicious. I wish interchanges were designed like that today. The problem is that infrastructure now comes as an afterthought, and always at tremendous inconvenience, high cost, and with a lot of constraints that wouldn't have been there had anyone thought ahead. We're still doing this, so we end up with sub-optimal interchanges. However, I think Mopac and 183 is a pretty nice one, especially from northbound Mopac to 183 north or south. Could be better, but it ain't bad compared to some of the others.

I'm a dork, huh.

[austlar1]

No, Tech House, you have won me over. I am also an admirer of LA. The mega-freeways, especially when they are actually moving, often take my breath away. It is such blast of energy to merge into that giant sea of traffic. I lived for many years in SF and eventually moved to LA when I returned to graduate school at USC. I always preferred the gritty excitement and diversity of LA to the preciousness of the SF Bay area. My SF friends thought I was mad to leave there, but the only place I ever felt at home in California was LA. "Under the Bridge" was kind of my song back in those days, and I can still get worked up about the City of Angels when I hear that song. I am also quite fond of Santa Barbara and remember taking the 101 up there many different times. I had some friends who were kind of permanent house-sitters for a very eccentric and wealthy man who owned a big home in Montecito. He was always somewhere else, and I got to spend a lot of time there enjoying a lifestyle that was far beyond my means. This was in the late 70s and early 80s.

[The ATX]

Does anybody here watch The Leftovers? I don't have HBO and was wondering how big of a deal it is that HBO is moving production (and apparently the storyline) to Austin.

http://www.bizjournals.com/austin/bl...to-austin.html

[LoneStarMike]

I don't have HBO either, but I saw that in the ABJ, too.

I think some network needs to create a reality show about developers and the construction industry and base it here in Austin. Wouldn't that be sweet?

[lzppjb]

I have to post this here. It's to epic too not share with everyone.

Matt Bonner of the Spurs put together this "band" and cut all the video. Their debut single was released yesterday.

They call themselves Spuran Spuran. The song is an homage to Tim and Erick's "Sports!"

All 4 band members are players for the Spurs, and also include the mascot.

• Video Link

[Tech House]

Originally Posted by austlar1

It is such blast of energy to merge into that giant sea of traffic.
...I always preferred the gritty excitement and diversity of LA to the preciousness of the SF Bay area.

Yes, and yes. There is nothing like the LA freeway system! It's partly the geography, and the way you can see the breadth of the city from almost anywhere on any freeway, so you feel a part of this huge pulsing organism that has such an enormous impact on the world. And I'm not a fan of San Francisco at all. Cold, foggy, hardly any trees, and the temperature never feels right. You're cold so you put on something a bit warmer, and then that makes you sweat because of the humidity and the fact that it's not THAT cold. I dunno... I think it's the most overrated city on the planet, although the hype around Austin is sometimes a bit too thick for my comfort. But I just went swimming in Bull Creek and felt like I was all alone in a remote wilderness area. Suck on that, oh smug self-righteous Bay Area.

Originally Posted by lzppjb

I have to post this here. It's to epic too not share with everyone.

You get partial credit for remembering that one of them has one o and the other has two.

[lzppjb]

Originally Posted by Tech House

Yes, and yes. There is nothing like the LA freeway system! It's partly the geography, and the way you can see the breadth of the city from almost anywhere on any freeway, so you feel a part of this huge pulsing organism that has such an enormous impact on the world. And I'm not a fan of San Francisco at all. Cold, foggy, hardly any trees, and the temperature never feels right. You're cold so you put on something a bit warmer, and then that makes you sweat because of the humidity and the fact that it's not THAT cold. I dunno... I think it's the most overrated city on the planet, although the hype around Austin is sometimes a bit too thick for my comfort. But I just went swimming in Bull Creek and felt like I was all alone in a remote wilderness area. Suck on that, oh smug self-righteous Bay Area.



You get partial credit for remembering that one of them has one o and the other has two.

Ha! After I first posted, I noticed the first one was missing an O and edited. Didn't realize I fixed the wrong one!

Sometimes I type too fast on that wireless keyboard at home. Doesn't pick up all the letters.