Public Service Memorial at City Hall

From the press release:

April 28, 2011

Mayor Lee Leffingwell and City Manager Marc Ott dedicated a permanent memorial exhibition at City Hall today in honor of fallen City employees.

The memorial honors 45 City of Austin employees including 20 police officers, nine firefighters, and employees from other City departments who lost their lives or were killed in the line of duty. Family members of the deceased and other supporters are expected to be in attendance.

“It is both a privilege and an honor to recognize the men and women whose service enhanced the lives of those in our community,” Mayor Lee Leffingwell said. “It is with great pride that we salute those fallen and thank their families for allowing them to serve the citizens of Austin.”

“I am so proud of the work our employees do every day,” City Manager Marc Ott said. “The importance of public service was not lost on these employees and this memorial will ensure their sacrifice is not lost on us. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to each family that lost one of their members as they were part of our family as well.”

The memorial exhibition was created by Retired Police Capt. John N. Vasquez, who was inspired to create a collection of unique carvings representing the professional duties of the individuals whose lives were taken while in the service of their city.

The exhibition features individuals employed with the City of Austin from the late 19th century to today. Visitors are invited to explore an interactive kiosk, which is provided in hopes of educating visitors about the impact of these employees’ unique contributions to the City, to celebrate their individual lives, and to pay tribute to their service to Austin’s residents.

“I hope this display will encourage visitors to learn more and become knowledgeable regarding the lives and sacrifices of these remarkable individuals and the contributions they made to the City of Austin,” Vasquez said. “I’m proud to present this display for all citizens’ enjoyment, and sincerely hope everyone will derive a similar sense of satisfaction in viewing this memorial as we have.”

Read more about the memorial here.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Austin Pond Society

This is the water lily pond at Zilker Botanical Gardens. It is sponsored by the Austin Pond Society.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Zilker Botanical Gardens

Just one of the many garden areas at Zilker Botanical Gardens.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Another Austin Skyline

This picture was taken at the intersection of Cesar Chavez and Guadalupe Street.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

I'm enjoying this app on my phone. I'm still learning how to use it, but I like the way the panorama's turn out. This one was done at the same time as the main picture was taken.

W Hotel

A picture of the W Hotel in downtown Austin.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Austin Bicentennial Time Capsule

Austin's Bicentennial Time Capsule is located directly behind the Bicentennial Fountain.

From the marker:

The story of Austin's commemoration of the American Bicentennial is in the memorabilia below this marker. It tells of how we refelcted on our heritage, celebrated our present, and bestowed our gift to the future: "A bold plan to preserve, restore and enhance the waterways of Austin." Those who celebrate the tricentennial of American freedom are invited to open this vault July 4, 2075.

Austin Bicentennial Commission

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Bicentennial Fountain

The Bicentennial Fountain, created in 1976 to commemorate the United State's 200th anniversary as a nation, is in Town Lake Park at the northwest corner of South First Street and Riverside Drive. The metal and rock sculpture/fountain was created by artist Ken Fowler.

From the plaque:

Bicentennial Memorial Sculpture and Fountain
"Heritage - Festivals - Horizons"
The sculpture and fountain symbolize the three-word theme of America's Bicentennial Celebration. "Heritage" is recalled by the granite boulder base connotating stability and dependability. It is a link with our past. Water symbolizes "Festivals" as it is an exuberant material, creating visual excitement. The form of the sculpture is an abstraction of the flag - a universal symbol of celebration. The sweeping arcs of the steel, while recalling the flag, symbolize "Horizons" - our soaring expectations for the future. The deep red-brown color echoes the sacrifices of Americans in defense of our ideals.
Presented to the City of Austin
By the Austin Board of Realtors
July 4, 1976

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Double Decker Bicycle

Sorry for not having posted the past two days. I've been a bit under the weather as welling as waging war on Austin Energy and the monopoly they are.

I know this isn't the best picture, but had to take it while driving before I missed it. If you look closely, he's actually mounted on bicycle frame on top of another bicycle frame. I got lucky that there is another bike rider basically behind him on a regular bike.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

The Eiffel Tower, Again

Sequim Daily Photo had asked if the Austin Eiffel Tower lit up at night so I figured I would need to get a picture of it with the lights on. I know it's a horrible picture, and for that I'm sorry.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

No Explanation

This is one of the supports for the railroad tracks that run parallel with Lamar Boulevard near Town Lake. I have no idea what it actually is or what it means, but found it interesting. I'm still on the lookout for more of the little dinosaurs, too.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

The Eiffel Tower

This version of the Eiffel Tower is located at the corner of MLK and Lamar Boulevard.

From the information stand located in front of the tower:

The 100 year anniversary of the Eiffel Tower celebrated in 1989 inspired Monsieur Valtat to build this 21 foot replica. The tower is 1/50 the size of it's matriarch in Paris. This marvelous work was purchased and brought to the United States in 1998 be George Dreyfus.

The original Eiffel Tower was selected from among 107 projects to highlight the Universal Exposition of 1889 and to celebrate the French Revolution centennial. On March 21, 1889 designer Gustave Eiffel inaugurated the 963 foot tower by climbing all 1710 steps to raise the French flag. It took two years, two months and five days to complete the 7,300 ton structure, which required 18,038 pieces of iron and 2,500,000 rivets to complete. The tower was initially going to be removed after the Exposition. Many prominent artists of the day opposed the tower all together calling it "...a dizzily ridiculous tower dominating Paris..." Gustave Eiffel appealed to the city, pleading that the tower was not only a structure of grace and beauty, bit it could also be of use to the scientific community as well. In time, a meteorological station, radio communication station, and even a television transmission antenna, (all of which are still in use today) were added to the second floor near the suite of rooms used by Eiffel. In fact, September of 1889, Gustave Eiffel had dinner on the tower's first floor with Thomas Edison himself. Mr. Edison, in a show gratitude, presented Mr. Eiffel with one of his phonographs as a gift. The city then agreed that Gustave Eiffel could maintain the tower, and it would remain standing. Shortly afterward, Paris chose to adopt and care for the Eiffel Tower which soon became and international symbol of France.

Since 1889, the Eiffel Tower has inspired millions of people from all walks of life. It is an inseparable part of the Parisian setting and one of the monuments most visited in the world.

-George Dreyfus

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Longhorn

Even the McDonalds has a longhorn! This one is located at the Mickey D's on MLK between Guadalupe and San Antonio Street near the UT campus. I find something ironic in a statue of a cow in front of a hamburger place.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Austin BMX & Skate Park

Today was the grand opening of the new Austin BMX & Skate Park at 1213 Shoal Creek Boulevard. The ribbon cutting was held at 10:00 am and the park was to officially open at noon. As you can see, it didn't quite happen that way! Skaters and cyclist's were already using the facility at least an hour before the ribbon cutting.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Newsboy Sculpture

This is the Newsboy Sculpture located in front of the Texas Press Association at 718 W. 5th Street. We took a picture of the statue as well as the Historical Marker on the side of the building. While looking for more information on the sculpture I came across the website of the artist, Bridgette Mongeon. She has an area of her site dedicated to this sculpture and how it came to be. It was really interesting to read about the whole process of making the statue, as well as lots of information about newsboys in general. Well worth the time to read.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Littlefield Building

This is the Littlefield Building at the northeast corner of Congress Avenue and 6th Street.

From DowntownAustin.com:

The Littlefield Building at the northeast corner of Sixth and Congress displays the Beaux Arts style of architecture favored at the time of its inception in 1910. It took two years to build and at the time of its completion, was undeniably the most opulent and modern structure in the nation. Originally conceived as an 8-story building, the rivalry between Major Littlefield and Emerson Scarbrough motivated Littlefield to enclose the rooftop garden and create a ninth floor. By doing this, he not only bested his Scarbrough rival by one story, he could also boast that he owned the tallest skyscraper between New Orleans and San Francisco. Today, the Littlefield Building offers elegant commerical space within minutes of the city's many restaurants, banks, dry cleaners, fitness facilities and art museums.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

If you'd like even more information, look here.
.
.

Big Spider

This giant spider is located just down the street from the Mueller Tower at the corner of Tom Miller Street and Berkman Drive. It looks like a small park area with walking trails and such, but was very overgrown on the day I was there.

This is from the information stand:

Dixie Friend Gay is an accomplished artist with an impressive exhibition history. Her art has been featured in galleries all over the world and is included in the permanent collections of The Boston Public Library; The National Gallery, Washington DC; the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She has been creating award winning public art projects. She has completed major installations for Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport, the Port of Miami, and the Indianapolis Airport.

The connection between nature, artifacts, rituals, obsessions and altered states of consciousness are recurrent themes in her work. She addresses questions of transition, transformation, erosion and metamorphosis. Her public art projects take their creative cues from the social and physical environment of the finals locations. Gay's work engages the audience in ways that they might not expect.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Congress Avenue

With the ROT Rally parade getting ready to begin, the streets along Congress Avenue were being shut down. This photo was taken from the center of the intersection at Sixth Street and Congress Avenue, looking south.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Longhorns

Dixi and I headed downtown last night for the ROT Rally parade. While waiting for the fun to start we saw this guy riding his bike down Congress Avenue. Gotta love those handlebars!

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Mueller Control Tower

This Mueller control tower is one of only 3 items left of the old Mueller Airport. It underwent a restoration last year. You can read more about it here.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Lake Park at Mueller

I tried something new today. While out at Lake Park, I not only took pictures, I also used an app on the phone called Photosynth. It allows for 360 degree panoramas. First, a picture of the lake at Lake Park. In the background is an old airplane hangar left over from when this land was Mueller Airport.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

This is the panoramic picture. Let me know how it looks and if it's worth taking more pictures like this.



.
.

Willie Nelson Blvd

We've lived here for more than 20 years and never really noticed that the streets downtown had alternative names to them! 2nd Street is also known as Willie Nelson Blvd. I'm going to have to check out the others now as well. But that gives me a good excuse to go wander around downtown.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Water Fountain at the Arboretum

It's a bit hard to tell, but it looks as if someone put some soap in the fountain at the Arboretum.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Time Capsule

This is the capstone covering the Trammel Crow time capsule at the Arboretum. Retail tenants at the time donated items to be placed in it and is thought to contain video clips of newscasts, a salt and pepper mill and a certificate of deposit drawn on Interfirst Bank to benefit AISD once it matures. No one is sure about the amount. It is to be opened in 2086.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Capital Building

Another view of the State Capital Building.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Utility Work Ahead

I'm thinking someone isn't really happy with the current construction going on.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

School's Out

The neighborhood elementary school is closed for summer vacation. The playground that one of our Wee1's play on looks so lonely now.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

Another Little Guy

This little guy was found near the Pfluger Bridge near downtown.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.

I'll Be Back

Found this little guy on the Pfluger Bridge. I still don't have any clue who's doing it or why. There's some ironic comment on the edge of my brain concerning the dinosaur, the "I'll be back" and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

From Arguendo & Dixi's Daily Austin Photo

.
.