League of Melbotis

I was sort of complaining that Tarzan the Ape Man with Johnny Weismuller was boring, but now he's wrestling with a lion. Maybe the photography is awesome, but it looks like Weismuller really went toe-to-toe with a lion. How do you get the insurance company to cover that?

"Uh, yeah... and on page 46, Tarzan fights a lion."
"...a stunt man fights a lion?"
"No. Well, ha ha... See, we want to do it pretty close-up, and he ain't wearing nothing, so we can't fake it... So, yeah. This guy we got to play Tarzan, he said he WANTED to fight the lion."
"Sounds like one hell of a picture! Glad you guys are casting this athlete guy and not some name actor. Just shoot the lion fight first."

After watching for a while, I think I need a chimpanzee for a pal. But like Tarzan, not Michael Jackson.

We spent the weekend with Jason. It was a working weekend, so... sorry to all of you Leaguers in Austin I didn't get to catch up with. All in due time.

It feels good to be back in Austin. I was honestly concerned I'd lost the map of the city I had in my head, but a few minutes on the road, and it was back. Businesses might switch out, but most of the landmarks remain. A lot of faces are new, but the crowds are still familiar, the food and music and the feel of the city are fairly much the same. In time, I know the four years in Chandler will melt away into one of those things you bring up at dinner parties or when somebody else mentions it.

Austin continues to fight for it's Austin-ness. Occasionally the "Keep Austin Weird" movement can feel a bit too much like a marketing slogan, and sometimes you sort of want to throttle some of the folks revelling in their weirdness at the expense of everyone around them. But after four years in the land of cookie cutter homes and haircuts, I appreciate the sentiment more than a little. The citizens want a say in how their city grows and changes, and not to necessarily just give in to the whims of every developer who can scrape together enough coin to put down a strip mall. The city may not meet everyone's definition of beauty, but I've seen what happens when a whole city decides to be "tasteful".

As Jamie and I return, we can't expect Austin to make our fun for us, but it's nice to sit down with the Chronicle and see literally dozens of options on any given night and hundreds of options for activities per week, college football, and all the stuff that isn't listed. And that's not including the fun you make for yourself with friends, a grill and all that jazz.