April « 2012 « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

April, 2012

Signs of downtown San Antonio

Took part in a roundtable panel on the presidential primary season. I made a great Rick Perry joke.

“There were a couple of problems there. The back surgery, the painkillers and … well … I forget the other one.”

Brought down the house. If anyone remembers anything I said on that panel, it won’t be the analysis but the joke.

We got the chance to walk around downtown a bit. Here are a few signs from the area:

The Aztec opened in 1926. It cost $1.25 million, which would be something like $22.6 million today. You wonder what the owner thought a few years later when the Depression landed on him:

In response to competition from other theatres, a magnificent chandelier was commissioned and installed, in only 35 days, in the main lobby in 1929. Weighing over 2,000 pounds, this ornate, 2 story, 12 foot in diameter fixture was billed as “The largest chandelier in the largest state in the Union”.

This says something about the barber, or the client, or both:

We were trying to resolve the mystery when we noticed they also had a foosball table inside.

This sign isn’t old, but I love it like it was creaking from decades in the sun and wind:

This isn’t a sign, but I would like to point out that this is the level of ornamentation they’ve put into a parking garage:

This theatre, The Texas, competed with The Aztec:

Also built in 1926, in the Spanish Colonial and Rococo style, it cost $2 million. It closed in the 1970s and was razed a few years later. The facade, though, lives on as part of an office building. (More here and here and here.)

I love this, because it is a neon sign evocative of one of my favorite songs:

Today we had lunch at a place I’ll write about tomorrow. We had dinner on the River Walk, the touristy part. The enchiladas were good, though.

And now I must return to my notes. I have three panel sessions to participate in tomorrow.

adventures / iPhone / photo / Samford / Wednesday — Comments Off
11
Apr 12

Travel day

The Yankee planted this and we’re watching it grow:

Admire that while I’m on my plane.

Later, from San Antonio: we have arrived safely and in time for the Southern States Communication Association’s annual conference. The Yankee and I hold positions in the organization. We also have four or five papers and a panel to present during the conference.

Sadly, the banana pudding I purchased from Dreamland to take to all of the old Alabama grads did not make the trip. It turns out the federal government is afraid of it.

Let me say that again: the Transportation Security Administration feels that bananas, wafers and creme are dangerous.

The problem, you see, was that it was only partially frozen. Had it been solid they would not have been scared, because the guy who was making it up as he went along said, frozen things can’t be explosives.

We’ll wait as the chemists in the crowd have a little chortle.

So the pudding didn’t make it. I apologized profusely to a few people who’d been waiting on it since I promised it last year. But next year’s conference is within driving distance. Unless the TSA is going through my car by then — and at this rate … — we’ll all be indulging next April.

Saw this sign as we walked to a Mexican restaurant for dinner:

Dinner was at Rosario’s, which is apparently considered the best Mexican in town. It was quite delicious. And within walking distance of our hotel. One of the local conference-goers took us there.

I’ve been promised some barbecue this trip. I wonder if it will be at County Line.

Hey look, here’s River Walk:

It is quiet at this time of day on a Wednesday, I’m sure it will pick up.

Tomorrow the conference begins. I’ll post pictures, and spare you all of the conference details. Unless you want to hear about the methodology on this content analysis, or that discussion on the primaries, or the response I’m giving to a handful of mass comm papers, or our Super PAC paper, which promises to be a big hit …

Yeah, pictures then.

Glomerata — Comments Off
10
Apr 12

Glomeratas

We’ve reached the end of my not-complete collection of Auburn University yearbooks. I’ve been sharing the covers here in chronological order. During that time I’ve picked up a few extras here and there, so the last few weeks we’ve been filling in the gaps.

So this is the most recently acquired, and the most recent book I have, the 2010 Glomerata. It is 50 years younger than this handsome old edition:

So, check out the 2010 edition. And, until I can find a few more to add to the collection, click through all of the covers in my collection. For details from within a select few volumes, try here. Also, you can check out the university’s official collection.

When new ones show up on my bookshelf, I’ll be sure to add them here too.

Auburn / baseball / iPhone / photo / Samford / Tuesday — Comments Off
10
Apr 12

Thing I saw today

Driving in today, I passed the largest bathtub in the world:

It won’t fit our master bathroom, yet, but I can knock out a wall. I will also need to knock out a wall in the neighbor’s place, but I’m sure he won’t mind if I pitch him the idea just right.

The key is in the delivery.

Speaking of deliveries, I discovered tonight that my phone won’t take a picture fast enough to catch Trey Cochran-Gill’s baseball in flight:

It is in there somewhere, as Auburn pitches to Samford late in this evening’s game. If you find it, do let me know.

Auburn won 7-5, by the way.

Had a big media meeting on campus today, which will set up another big meeting in a few weeks. And now I have to pack. We’re taking a conference trip this week. I have to figure out how to get four days worth of clothes, including a suit, in a carryon.

The good news is there will be pudding for all of our Alabama expat friends. Stopped by Dreamland this evening to get just enough to make me the most popular boy at the conference.

adventures / cycling / iPhone / Monday / photo / Samford — 1 Comment
9
Apr 12

Things you can do with a Monday

Breakfast this morning at the Barbecue House, the new weekly tradition. It was quiet today. Few people, lots of tables. Sometimes you can time it like that, and you just want to linger as the place shifts from breakfast and the grilling meat smells drift in as they get ready for the lunch crowd.

Other times you can’t find a seat or walk. Barbecue House is a popular place.

Mowed the lawn for the first time this year. There was nothing remarkable about it, because there is little remarkable about the yard just now. There was a lot of winterdust kicked up, though. Thin grass, drought conditions, sandy soil and my sneezes. The lawn mower and my nasal explosions were the soundtrack of the neighborhood for a brief while.

Wrote big emails. Planned two classes.

Wrote two presentations for upcoming sessions, about 15 pages for 30 minutes or so of talking. I have one more of those to do.

Edited a paper.

Rode 50 miles.

I think I bonked. Probably when I looked down and saw that zero on the computer. And then I realized I was standing rather than pedaling. So I started riding again. My bonk said, aloud I think, “I don’t have the energy for this.” And so the last few miles were just inertia and mindless mindlessness.

Saw some pretty scenery, part of the national wildflower program:

Or is that the county’s “We don’t have money for a fuel budget” program? I always confuse the two:

Truly, it made for a lovely day.