Bohemian Outsider

Athlete

Ring in for a Laugh: an exclusive interview with The Telephone Company BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER

2013 | PAGE 1

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

(

Meet the Bohemian Outsiders Sydney: I am a red-headed girl with an odd, but nice personality. I’m very passionate about culture/ ethnicity, music, and history. I was born in Detroit, Michigan and moved to California when I was six years old. Then I moved to Dallas when I was eight. A year later I moved to the awesomest sauce city in the world known as Austin, which is famous for being the music capital of the world. Music that interests me is elevator music because it’s obviously the best style of music. I’m kidding, my favourite music is the ‘80s and oldies because the genres are pretty legit and old school is too cool. I take German, also known as ze Deutsch, and Japanese in school, but I study Polish, Ukrainian, and Russian independently, desu yo. I am also a soon-to-be carnie!

Bertram: I am originally from Englewood. I spend most of my free time procrastinating and eventually wasting away my Sundays doing homework.

I just realized that doing homework does not count as a life. So I spend most of my actual free time on the road riding my bike with my team or racing in faraway places like small town Texas, Mineral Wells, Fayetteville, and some places that most people haven’t heard of. I race for team 787 and one of my passions is the Belgian-psycho torture of a sport called cyclocross. When I’m not on my bike or doing homework I watch my favorite, most under rated TV show, Spy.

Jonah: Unsatisfied by blatant displays of unabashed snobbery presented by most conformist cultures, I set out to distance myself from the values held by mainstream culture.

Inadvertently, I discovered a whole world of art, music, and culture that had been living under my feet until then.

That new world was one of much interest to me, as the underground people dared to create for themselves, think for themselves; to dream for themselves! I do rather like kittens.

by Bertram B O H E M IArt AN O U T S I Jernejcic DER 2013 | PAGE 2

Nathan: My initials are NAP, but naps are not for me. In fact, when I’m not tired, I am probably the loudest, most energetic person in the group. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, I enjoys getting out into the community by volunteering and being active downtown. Whether it is running or suping I’m up for it. I am an Eagle scout in boy scouts and a three time National Champion for triathlons. I held the record, in running, for the mile in Texas for 9-10 year olds when I was 10. I got second at state for road racing for 10-14 year olds when I was 12. I enjoy hanging out with friends and playing sports together.

STOP!

m the Editor’ And read the ‘Letter fro

in my local coffee Sometimes I look at the magazine rack ng. That’s why we bori ly shop and I’m like, wow this looks real things more interesting decided to write this; we aim to make there in your barber for people. Whether you are just sitting d the same color as the shop waiting to get your mohawk dye g the bus to go to a sky and all that wonderfulness, or ridin underground); We, the concert by nobody’s favorite band (too r inspiration to a point Bohemian Outsiders, will cater to you bit! where we’ll probably annoy you a little

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 3

Photo by Sydney Terrasi

table of contents 11

Fun Things in My Mind

16 Waffles Are Forever

Maybe you will find them interesting...

A brief history of the humble waffle

Just to Top It Off A beginner’s guide to Homeslice Pizza parlor

18

Russin’ to Russia Day Getting a taste of Russian culture in Austin

24

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 4

6 BIKE AUSTIN

Photo courtesy of Alejandro Greene

page

TRI

being an

Photo by Nathan Ploeger

ATHLETE

page

page

20

26 Photo courtesy of rcbodden

Photo courtesy of Jason Pittman

page

30 BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 5

photo courtesy of Bill Oriani

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 6

BIKE AUSTIN the commuter’s dilemna

by Bertram Jernejcic

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 7

comes across as a bicycle AAustin friendly city, but to its commuters, city riding can be a dangerous experience.

While Austin does not have the infrastructure that Boulder or Portland boasts to its many cyclists, the city of Austin hums with the everyday commuter, to the diligent messenger, to Pedi cabs, and even the hard working cycling teams riding in unison.

In recent years the government run Public Works Department works hard to make bike routes more accessible by building pedestrian bridges and paved bike paths like the Lance Armstrong bikeway. Several organizations have taken bicycling advocacy into their own hands and work hard to make Austin a truly bike-friendly city.

Home to the dethroned Tour champ, Lance Armstrong, Austin has many fit racers and shops to go along with the demand. Shops like Mellow Johnny’s and store Manager Robbie Brennan have opened themselves to the everyday commuter, and provide a place to store your bike, get a shower, and change your clothes. Keep in mind that the shop provides these services for only a dollar a day. The Mellow Johnny’s philosophy is an, “aim to make the shop a hub of cycling life, commuting, social activity, fitness, and a temple of two-wheeled living.” To try and get more bicyclists on the road, the shop puts on a weekly Scout-A-Route ride that gives people more options for navigating the city. Under the same roof, in the Juan Pelota Cafe you can find a pastry or coffee to refuel after the morning’s commute or just hang out and read the paper.

Bicycling Magazine published a 2011 survey evaluating the 50 most bikefriendly cities in the nation, evaluating local advocacy groups, cyclist awareness, and city planning efforts to increase awareness for safe cycling.

Austin falls 13th on the list of most bike-friendly cities in the nation. photo courtesy of Adam

Bicycles were a common mode of transportation at the ACl Music Festival

However at number eight, New York surpasses Austin in offering bike friendly streets. What sets New York and Austin apart? At the roots, the many bicycling advocacy groups in New York have a wider member base and have say in city planning. Unlike Austin that adds bike lanes mile by mile, New York improves its roads in bounds, adding miles of bike lanes by the hundreds. City planning has led to the addition of bike designated routes such as the New York Highline and West Side bike trail. Cyclist awareness has also gone up with city programs to raise awareness to drivers about safely sharing the roads with commuters and bicyclists. In the summer of 2012, the unveiling of the Citi Bike Program brought thousands of bikes to hundreds of locations across Manhattan and Brooklyn. The initiatives undergone in New York have transformed one of the biggest cities in the world into a truly bike-friendly place to ride. If a metropolis such as New York can transform itself into a bike-friendly city, then certainly Austin can achieve the same level awareness for bicyclists on the roads.

New York lawmakers and advocacy groups have cooperated to get cyclists recognition on roads and provide safe

B O H E M I A N O U T S IDER 2013 | PAGE 8

places to ride. However, in Austin the relationship between drivers and cyclists needs improvement.

“I don’t know how many times I’ve been honked off narrow roads by impatient drivers behind me. One time these college guys drove by me in a minivan and hit me in the hand with a full can of diet coke,” said Isaac Metcalf, a LASA student.

For the most part people regard riding your bike as a mode of transportation or a way to get in some physical exercise.

However, a large movement known as fixed gear messenger culture has swept the nation. These riders are bicycle messengers that regard their bikes as a statement of themselves. Austin business, Beat The Clock Messengers employs several of these fixed gears enthusiast that do everything from delivering legal papers to blueprints, or even your lunch. Part of the fixed gear culture is the ability to navigate fast and effortlessly, and sometimes this means cutting corners. Often times these bike that are meant for the track haven’t any brakes either, which obviously holds many risks and encourages speed and weaving in and out of traffic. The city of Austin recommends several tips for riding safely, such as keeping three feet away from other vehicles or using background photo courtesy of Alejandro Greene

proper turn signals. No one can say for sure what infuriates drivers to act maliciously towards bicyclists.

While swimming requires a pool and weightlifting the gym, all you need to work out on your bike is an open road which makes cycling a highly accessible activity. Commuting to and from work could provide the opportunity to fit in some physical exercise and wake you up in the mornings. Many people rely on the stimulants of artificial beverages to energize their mornings. But some commuters may say otherwise.

they don’t have the time to work out, but your daily commute might give you the time you need in the mornings and afternoons to get in some physical exercise. And who knows maybe it will turn into something more than just a mode of transportation.

“I like making commuting into a competition. I look up places on Google maps, see how long it’s estimated to take to ride there, and try to beat that number. I think my record for getting to school is around 20 minutes,” said Isaac, a LASA

The Yellow Bike project headquarters in Austin, Texas

“I take my bike to school, and by the end I’m breathing heavily and sweating but I’m not really tired, just excited. It’s like warming up before a race. And I come into school and see everyone sleeping in the halls, or sitting with this really tired expression on their face, and it’s not till second period that they actually look alert,” said a LASA student who feel riding his bike to school gives him an edge over his dreary peers.

While waking up early to bike to work or school plagues the mind as a painstaking task, cycling may prove a worthy tool to jump start your day and clear the mind. Many people may tell you that between work and the home photo courtesy of Matt Derrick

student who gets the most out of his commuting experience.

On the advocacy side, programs like Yellow Bike Work to get more people like Isaac on their bikes or even get them a bike. The Yellow Bike Project in Austin runs on volunteers and offers a full service workshop with multiple workstations. Anyone may come by on a first come first serve basis to work on their bike with a full range of tools and parts open to volunteers. Yellow Bike provides multiple programs such as, earn a bike and commuting classes.

Earn a bike allows you to build a bike by paying for it with your volunteer time.

In other words, if you put in 24 hours in

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 9

the yellow bike shop to fix up bikes to get them back on the road, then Yellow bike will let you build your own bike from the parts available at the shop, for free. The adult classes available teach people the proper skills to build and maintain their bicycle from flat changing to bottom bracket overhauls.

Taught in private sessions of ten, these classes provide an in depth coverage in bicycle repair. On the riding side, Yellow Bike teaches classes that inform participants in proper riding etiquette, the basics of sharing the roads with cars and how to keep safe on city streets.

Anyone who knows proper bike repair can use the shop and offer their time for a cause. However, Yellow Bike runs on a volunteer basis and donations that may vary from money to spare parts are greatly welcomed. So if you’ve got some spare parts lying around the house drop them off at Yellow Bike where they’ll use those parts to get bikes back on the road. Yellow Bike continues to advocate bicycle safety in Austin since its creation in 1997 and from time to time puts together special projects that get bikes to school children for free. In addition youth classes teach kids bicycle repair in a friendly environment and encourage kids to get on their bikes.

As the city grows, more and more cars flood the roads, adding to traffic combustion which makes city commuting harder for everyone. In recent years the city has tried to make city streets more accessible and strives to make cyclists feel comfortable when city riding. Ranked as a silver level city in bike friendliness, the city wishes to achieve a gold or platinum level by 2020. The Public Works Department includes a full breakdown of the 2013 master plan on their website, consisting of new pedestrian bridges to bike only routes. Local advocacy groups continue to seek bicycle safety with the Yellow Bike Program making bikes readily available to everyone and the People for Bikes pledge that aims to raise money for local endeavors

Art by Bertram Jernejcic

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 10

S

ure, everybody knows of worldrenowned festivals like ACL and South

by Southwest. But the beauty of the city lasts year round. Most of the time, you have to look around for quirky and cheap thrills, but today we’ve done it for you. All you have to do is take our word for it BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 11

Photo by Jonah Shaukat

As you probably know, weather in Austin ranges from pleasantly warm in the wintertime to atrociously fiery in the deadly summertime.

That said, hanging out in a hip froyo shop with your friends after a swim in Deep Eddy feels as if the world will forever be colored in neon goodness. In recent years many of such shops have popped up around town, which many find a worthwhile attraction. Adorned in bright colors and modern furniture, the yogurt shops invite you to hang out for a while and enjoy one of Austin’s best summertime secrets. The probiotics and live cultures present in the yogurt also attract a large audience of health-conscious Austinites. Kathy Steele found solace in the health benefits of frozen yogurts, and thus founded BerryAustin to support her father’s chemotherapy. Many patrons of such restaurants swear by the tasty way to supplement one’s diet, and thus the delicious fruity flavors have attracted a wide audience. Here at Bohemian Outsider, we find the most fun in the enormous range of flavors and toppings-- the abundance of combinations makes each visit a new experience.

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 12

Art by Sara Hasslinger Community Artist www.monsterlove.org

The art scene in Austin gives much life to the city to say the least, especially on the East Side. This tour functions not as a tour in the traditional sense of the word, but as a series of individual visits to studios all over the city. The informal face of the event makes it very accessible, and all the artists freely talk about their work in a friendly and open manner. Some would argue that diverse underground artists mingling with and inspiring those interested in art determines the true face of the city. A wide variety of artists participate in the event: from Sara Hasslinger’s creative community outreach program Monsterlove, to DeCola and Eusebi’s elegant yet quirky stained glass studio, everybody will walk out of a studio feeling exhilarated. At the tour you can also buy handmade crafts, such as knitted hats, postcards, and jewelry. There has never been a more fun way to support local business!

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 13

The sight of thousands of kites all filling the sky with color at once can take one’s breath away. Of course, this magnificent sight does not happen every day, and for this one must visit the Annual Zilker Kite Festival. Founded in 1929, it reigns as the longest continuously running organized kite fly in the US.

Photo by Jonah Shaukat

There is a significant Cajun presence in Austin, and this is reflected in the many delectable New Orleans style eateries. One of these places is Nubian Queen Lola’s. Louisiana native Lola Stephens, founded this cozy, brightly painted soul food restaurant after a benevolent stranger helped propel the then-struggling restaurant to success. Nowadays, the Cajun Kitchen provides some of the best Cajun food in Austin. In the neighbourly spirit of the East Side, Lola provides food for the homeless on Sundays. The rest of the week is devoted to the superb jambalaya and fried chicken which you cannot find elsewhere. Another restaurant to rival such cooking is Evangeline’s cafe in South Austin, whose jubilant atmosphere and live music provide a feel that is both authentically New Orleans and uniquely Austin.

Photo by Jonah Shaukat

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 14

Waffles Are Forever A brief history of the humble WAFFLE

By Bertram Jernejcic

Known to many as a quick breakfast the waffle has a rich history. But what many Americans call the waffle has a far different meaning in Europe. Whereas American roadside waffle houses boast dense circular dough patties swimming in syrup and butter, all throughout Belgium one may find a waffle vendor selling waffles adorned with, chocolate, powdered sugar, or berries. These treats are everyday foods that over years of perfection have turned into a culinary art. This feature will verse the reader in the history of the humble waffle so that next time you get into a heated argument with your snobby know it all friend you’ll know your stuff.

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 15

6000 B.C.E - The first

primitive waffle known to mankind emerges in the Neolithic age. A pulp hot cake that serves to as the common ancestor for both bread and the waffle.

1270 - In medieval France

550 B.C.E - With the

invention of iron plates in the culinary world people can now make densely packed cakes known as pancakes. The waffle is yet to evolve.

146 B.C.E - Ancient Greeks

begin cooking wafer discs.

These discs served as hearty meals, today’s scrumptious waffles served with powdered sugar and syrup.

1600s - Waffles have reached

guilds train street vendors to craft the so called waffle from water and flour.

all walks of life. From the stale flour, heavy waffle of poor folk to the light, delicate, honey touched culinary treat of the rich.

1500s - Throughout mainly

France and select parts of Europe one may find and purchase a delicious waffle from numerous street vendors.

With the invention of the waffle press, waffles can be made with ease.

1300s - Born into history the

waffle sees its name for the first time in writing, the glorious gaufre given by the French.

Also around this time we see the first tradition waffle, a honeycombed pancake crafted from specially forged iron plates.

Waffle vendors offer a wide array of toppings from berries, to chocolate and dusting sugar.

Waffles, A History

the.belgianwaffle.co

BWCAustin

Look for the waffle truck on the streets of Texas

Sourced From: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1942956,00.html .09.11 http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/cereals/waffle-history.asp .09.09

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 16

1930 - The Dorsa brothers

1970 - The most well known

invent the first dry mix, only add milk. Thus the waffle is available to nearly everyone.

name in waffles, the kellog company begins producing frozen waffles ready to eat in minutes. One may get buttermilk to chocolate chip flavored waffles.

1800s - The waffle fad in the

Liege style waffle

1620

- Dutch pilgrims intoduce the Holland style waffles to the new world for the first time.

United States reaches the south.

Slaves in the south get their first taste of the waffle and transform it into the famous chicken and waffles.

1789 - Thomas Jefferson brings one of the first waffle irons to the United States from France and sparks a waffle revolution across the nation.

The breakfast choice of Thomas Jefferson.

1964 - The grandeur of all

waffles, the Belgian waffle is first seen in the U.S. at the 64 world’s fair. Unlike the waffles seen in France, the Belgian waffle is more decadent and contains yeast and eggs.

Brussels style waffle

Liege Vs. Brussels style waffle

The Brussels waffle originates from the Flemish region of Belgium in the North West. The Brussels waffle is more refined and light and airy. Most times, served in rectangles differing from the denser discs Americans are used to seeing. Many Belgians eat the Brussels waffle as common snack fare adorning the waffle with powdered sugar, creme, berries, or even chocolate.

The even more common Liege waffle hails from the Walloon part of Belgium in the East. These misshapen waffles are known as a smaller, chewier and denser variety. Pearled sugar added to the batter makes it a much more delectable treat. After baking, the waffles turns golden brown from the caramelization of the sugars. Much of the street vendors throughout Belgium serve up the Liege waffle with solely powdered sugar as the rich, sweet dough complements itself. In Belgium the waffle continues to satisfy after years and years of perfecting the immaculate batter and one may find a waffle ready to eat anywhere a crowd exists.

To find such treat, one may head over to the Belgian Waffle Co., served from a roaming food truck.

Pioneering Liege waffle in Texas, this truck serves up traditional style liege waffle with berries and sugar to waffle ham and cheese sandwiches, and even a decadent smores waffle. Based in Dallas, the truck is always on the move and caters to special events. To find out if the truck in your are head over to the Belgianwaffle. co and use the truck locator tool.

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 17

Sourced From: http://belgianwaffle.co http://www.europeancuisines.com/ Belgium-Belgian

-Waffle-Recipes-Liege-Waffles-Brussels-Waffles

JUST TO TOP IT OFF Intro to Homeslice

M

Many local Austinites say that, Homeslice has the title for the best New York style pizza parlor in Austin and will hold that title for as long as it lives. You can find Homeslice on South Congress, the heart of Austin. Want to try it out, but do not know what to get?

Gibs on

St W

History Did you find history class boring? Homeslice’s history, I don’t think so. It starts out with a girl who loves pizza. She lived in New York City. She moved to Austin and loved it but she didm’t like the pizza there. With this she decided to make it herself. She went back to New York City to learn how to cook that style of pizza. After many rejections she found a king of pizza that would teach her. Once she learned from him, she then went back to Austin to set up her pizza stand. In her bag of goodies that the king of pizza gave her, laied a mustache. She put it on and became the Queen of Pizza, see below. History can make a great story, can’t it?

Eliza

beth

St W

Sout h Co

ngres s

www.homeslice.com

Ever not known where to go for dinner? Good for any occation, Homslice can always help you decide. You can find Homeslice smack dab in the middle of Austin on South Congress.

www.homeslice.com BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 18

by Nathan Ploeger

A beginner’s guide to Homeslice What Should You Get? Gibs on

Have you ever been to a pizza parlor but not known what to get? The top choices of the Bohemian Outsider staff follow. You can either jump on the bandwagon and get the margarita type pizza or you can be unique and get a custom pizza topped with exotic items like pinnaple, anchovies, or eggplant.

St E

More Homeslice

E l iz a b

eth St E

Nicke rson S t

Homeslice

The Bohemian Outsider Team Margarita Pizza has me licking my lips.

Nathan Ploeger

My favorite pizza has always been White Pizza.

Sydney Terrasi

The mockingbird told me to get Margarita Pizza, SO I DID. Jonah Shaukat

My favorite pizza is Spinach and tomato pizza.

Bertram Jernejcic BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 19

All photos taken by Nathan Ploeger

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 20

Tri

Being an

Athlete B

by Nathan Ploeger

Biking while the wind flows through her red hair, the wet liquid drips off her body, her freckles flushed and prominent, and her muscles ache from a nice long workout on a Sunday morning. Rhonda Williford fits this description weekly.

The Austin environment allows for people like Williford to have an active lifestyle while raising a family and maintaining a career. “The weather, the public facilities that are available to everyone, not just the rich upper class, the people that are enjoying the outdoors just like I do make it a desirable to get out there a be active.”

In 1970, Williford moved to Austin. While in the Air force stationed in Germany Williford’s dad met her mom. “They had me there [in Germany] but had to come back to the United States three and half years later. Then we moved here, to Austin.”

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 21

Williford walks her dog Jacks six days a week. On Sundays, they’ll go to town lake to get a change of scenery from her south Austin neighborhood streets.

In middle school, Williford started playing sports. She played volleyball and ran track until her sophomore year.

She quit track to run cross-country for her final two years at Jack C. Hays High School. After graduation she went to The University of Texas and majored in Natural Sciences to become a teacher. She earned a Bachelors degree in science and currently teaches chemistry at St. Stephens Episcopal School.

On an off for 18 years, the teaching profession has kept Williford busy and employed. In the last 10 years of teaching she realized a more active way of living would benefit her health.

“In a week I spend 40 min to a hour 30 min working out a day and I workout 6 days a week, so average about 1 hour a day. I work [out] for 6 hours a week plus or minus a few.”

If Williford has a full time job as a teacher and has time to workout 6 hours a week. Teaching consumes time, but Williford makes her healthy lifestyle of exercise a priority.

Williford says, “Sometimes if I don’t get to workout one day I would just do a little extra the next day if I can. But I’m getting better and better at making the working out a priority and the [school] work less of a priority.

This is so I can get more workout time in.”

“I could work out in the morning, but I’m not a morning person.” -Williford

“I try to work out right after school so I’m not too tired. This is because I’m still in the “go mode”. I hate getting up after sitting down to start grading or making tests. So I just make the tests or grade, once I’m tired and just want to sit down and relax, usually late at night. I could work out in the morning, but I’m not a morning person,” Williford says. Occasionally teaching takes over and a work out is not possible because of so much grading/test making, but she tries to find as much time as she can to dedicate to her workout without compromising her job and students.

To have quality family time together, Williford exercises with her dog Jacks and her daughter Alexi. She would incorporate her family in her workouts by all running together in the Greenbelt after school. Since the Williford family chooses to make working out together a family activity, the workout schedule became dictated by her daughter’s school life.

In 2004 Williford’s family learned about a new way to exercise.

It started with her reading an article in the Austin American

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 22

Statesman about the Tough Cookies, a triathlon training group, talking about a new triathlon team. Before reading the article, Williford and her family had not heard of a triathlon or the concept of combining swimming, biking, and running to complete a race. “I’m really not a good swimmer, [because] I never really learned how to swim correctly until I was in my thirties and started doing triathlons. I took lessons and started training with a swimming group. Before that I swam like a person who throws their arms around with their head out of the water and couldn’t get far very fast, but I could go for a long time,” Williford says. Together with the training help of her daughter and dog, Williford competed in her first triathlon.

The Capital of Texas Triathlon is one of the triathlons Wiliford dislikes the most. Although she placed first in her age group, out of two, Williford didn’t like the water quality during the Capital of Texas triathlon. The race required her to swim in Town Lake. “I have heard stories of people getting out of the water [in Town Lake] and there was soot residue all over their body. They were coated in something that was black and yucky. It stuck to them, too. I think this is disgusting, so I don’t swim in Town Lake anymore,” Williford says.

After competing in triathlons for a few years, she got her daughter involved in the sport. Alexi quickly became a top competitor within her age group. As Williford’s daughter excelled in the sport, Williford began to back down and ultimately stopped competing in order to allow more time and money for her daughters racing and training. She never

gave up her love for working out and improving her abilities in the three triathlon disciplines, just the actual racing. Still now almost 10 years later, Williford and her family regularly swim, bike and run on a weekly basis.

“In order to do that I had to give up something so I continued to train, but I gave up racing. I didn’t mind because it allowed me to support my daughter in something she enjoyed that kept her active and healthy. In all actuality I don’t miss the stress of racing I just enjoy swimming, biking, and running,” Williford says.

Williford has a tough job of teaching at a rigorous college preparatory high school, spending quality time with her family, and ensuring there is enough time for love of exercise. Williford’s commitment to exercise demonstrates that no matter the job, you can still make time to spend time with family, workout, and stay healthy.

Williford rides her bike through her neighborhood streets looking forward to going to a new place.

Williford jogs by herself through the neighborhood. She looks forward to going downtown to run on the hike and bike trail.

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 23

by Sydney Terrasi

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 26

Where you can look at the darker side of things

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 27

C

olored hair, piercings, safetypins, patches, fishnet, and leather boots. Austin, known as the musical capital of the world, has a huge alternative group that runs wild in the streets. Cassandra Davis, the owner of Secret Oktober, has seen it all. The vintage store, Secret Oktober is an alternative store for punks and goths alike.

“For a city, this size there is quite a big percentage for the alternative, we have a lot. I’m from the midwest and looking at the cities there and comparing them to the size of Austin and they don’t nearly have as many alternative groups as Austin and this is combining punk, rockabilly, goth, industrial, steampunk, anything alternative together.”

These subcultures make up a big chunk of the population in Austin. Unlike most cities, the city of Austin has a variety of cultures. Not only do these groups thrive here, but they also have a whuge role when it comes to the live music in Austin, Especially, when the punk rock shows performs here, and also when the Convergence Festival comes into town entertaining Austinites.

Generally, the roots of the alternative subcultures starts with the punks back in the late ‘70s with Joy Division. Joy Division is a post-punk band that originated in Salford, Great Manchester England 1976. As Joy Division’s popularity grew, other bands started playing a similar style of music. Soon after that, other punk bands went along with Joy Division, like the Dead Kennedy’s, Ramones, Social Distortion, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and The Clash. Eventually, a new genre came along known as new wave with Depeche Mode, The Cure, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and Duran Duran. new wave eventually branched off into goth. New wave and punk has a similar base of music with the instruments, and also how they write and produce their songs. The genre new wave tends to use synthesizers and electronic sounding instruments whereas punk doesn’t. New wave was eventually brought into Austin and has stuck here since 1978. Austin has brought more of this type of music to fit with the scene.

Texas Chain Saw Massacre shirt on display at Secret Oktober. Photo by: Rhonda Morin

Davis holds special events specifically aimed towards the underground cultures. She figured that there weren’t that many events specifically for them. This year, Davis and her partner Mary Milton sponsored the Convergence Festival in late April. All the goth, metal, rock, punk, and industrial bands from all over the world perform here.

“Convergence travels all over the country,.. it’s like GotikWave-Treffen except it’s an American version of that.”

Gotik-Wave-Treffen is an international goth festival that takes place in Leipzig, Germany. It originally was around

Different variety of wallets. Photo by: Rhonda Morin

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 28

1987 at Potsdam, Germany, but the German Democratic Republic made these types of events illegal, so it didn’t officially start until 1992 after the Soviet Union fell. Since then Wave-Gotik-Treffen’s popularity has grown from every corner of the world. The difference between GotikWave-Treffen and Convergence is size, place, and timing.

Davis says that things were quite hectic as the days came down to Convergence XIX. Convergence travelled to Austin for the first time to celebrate the 19th anniversary of when the festival first started. Convergence, the travelling gothic festival, originally started in 1995 and it was a chance for goths to meet their other friends from the internet. Typically, goth, punk, rock, industrial, and heavy metal plays here. The gothic fashion also heavily influences the festival with its variety of different styles. Not only does the culture seem to appeal to people with its fashion and music, but they also live within it.

“I live in an alternative bubble, and my daughter goes to an alternative school, I go to grocery stores where people have brightly dyed hair, but here it’s weird with goth now, some people in their early 20’s, they like the culture and it’s starting to make a comeback, the clothes are coming back,” Davis says.

Goth as of recently has been making it’s way back from the ‘80s and young adults in Austinites are taking an interest and are embracing the culture into their own type of style.

Even bands like Epica, HIM, and singer, Emilie Autumn have adapted to the sound of old school goth music (like the Cure, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, and Siouxsie and the Banshee’s).

Joy Division poster inside the shop. Photo by: Rhonda Morin

“...Even the new bands are starting to sound like old bands, but they don’t use the word “Goth” name for the types of genres, they use the names like post-punk, death metal, and heavy metal,” Davis added.

Austin hasn’t lost its punk touch, in fact, the punk scene exists all over the city if you look around. The urban city has tons of places where the underground alternative groups can hang out and meet other people.

“There has always been a goth club before the Elysium, before the Elysium was here the bar was called the Atomic Cafe,” Davis recalls.

She also noted that the issue of age has prevented people from going into these clubs.

“It puts quite a strain on those whom are young adults and are a part of the gothic subculture, most of them aren’t old enough to go into these clubs because of their age.”

So the owners of Elysium made a change to how old you have to be to go in there, according to Davis the minimum age to go into the bar is 18 years old, which loosens the restriction.

The shops decor from the outside. Photo by: Rhonda Morin

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 29

Matryoshka dolls Art credit: Sydney Terrasi

Do you love culture? Then come on down to Russia Day . Where students get the opportunity to learn about Eastern European and Russian culture at UT Austin. Learning some new experiences with an outside culture from our own, Russia Day brings Russian and Eastern European cultures to you for no price! You can do arts & crafts during your visit to Russia Day like creating paper puppets, paper Matryoshka dolls, painting Easter eggs etc... Neil Loewenstern, a teacher at Liberal Arts Science Academy, quotes “It’s a great experience for students who get to learn more about Eastern Eurpoean and Russian culture.” Students at UT volunteer to help out for Russia day, since Russia Day takes place at UT Austin, “Russia Day is wonderful.” a student volunteer answers. Students also get the opportunity to learn the Cyrillic alphabet. Then you can read Russian! When Russia Day comes around don’t just wait, attend where you’ll learn new, exciting things about another part of the world!

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 24

Paint traditional Russian Easter eggs . Learning more about the customs of the people in Russia and in Eastern Europe. Having the opportunity to learn about Easter traditions in the way that the Russian Orthodox church goes on about celebrating it and how it differs from Easter celebrated in America.

Having fun and making nice arts and crafts out of the egg painting activity. In the picture; you see Easter eggs with the Russian and Ukrainian flags on them..

Students whom attend Russia Day enjoy the Easter egg painting actvity mainly for the endless possibilties for what you can do for each individual egg.

Enjoy listening to traditonal Russian songs by the Balalaika Brothers on the accordion, balalaika, and guitar. Russia Day holds folk concerts every year to entertain the audience.

The Balalaika Brothers Attended Russia day this year, they played the traditional Russian folk songs like Moscow Nights, Korobushka, etc... Music being brought to you from Russia, living in Austin, also known as the“Live Music capital of the world”.

Beautiful traditional music inspires students to absorb creativity. In the picture; the Balalaika Brothers perform a well known Russian song called “Moscow Nights”.

Learn the Cyrillic alphabet within 20 minutes, which helps students learn to read in the Russian language. You can also learn to read in Russian too!

Not only will learning the Cyrillic alphabet help you with Russian it will also help you with Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Belarussian, etc...Many people from all over the world come to Austin to live and enjoy the qualities Austinhas to offer, the small Russian population in Austin continues to grow to this day.

In the picture; you see the letters of the Cyrillic alphabet.

Ukrainian and Russian flag designs on Easter eggs Art credit: Sydney Terrasi

Photo credit: Jonah Shaukat

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 25

All photos courtesy of Jason Pittman

Pat and Chef sing “Old Man Song,� whilst holding a puppet funeral. The titular character of this song is fated to build his own coffin after visits from a bunch of flies, Mustache & Beard, a blue footed booby, and the King himself. These elaborate self-referential mythologies live underneath the singsongy face of The The Telephone Company.

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 30

A little more than ten years ago, Patrick Healy, a recent college graduate, drove over to the UT Campus in Austin to hang out a bit with his friend and his friend’s roommate, Jason Pittman. The three would jam late into the night, each hour producing progressively sleep-deprived songs.

Pat’s friend finally succumbed to sleep, leaving Pat and Jason to come up with increasingly weird songs. Thus, The Telephone Company, troubadours extraordinaire, came into being almost ten years ago.

Today, some fans ironically describe them as “punk rock for babies.” They see themselves as the strangest band on the children’s music scene. To dozens of children in Austin, The Telephone company serves as a source of odd, yet strangely appealing entertainment. And here at Bohemian Outsider, as with any connoisseurs of Austin weirdness, we regard them as nothing less than musical revolutionaries.

Jason “Chef ” Pittman and Pat Healy have long been involved

in the music scene, before even The Telephone Company’s inception in 2001. At the moment they participate in over five musical projects, and the list grows on. Nevertheless, music remains a passion rather than a commercial endeavor.

“I don’t wanna work at a record label,” Chef said. “I’m not interested in the business,” Pat said. “I wanted to do music though.”

Although the music of The Telephone Company sounds relatively simplistic, Chef and Pat draw inspiration from a wide variety of sources, such as The Nightmare Before Christmas composer Danny Elfman, rock and roll pioneer Bo Diddley, and Dion McGregor, a “guy from the 60s that’s always constantly falling asleep, and his roommate would record him,” (as described by Chef). Nevertheless, Austin celebrity and famed portraiteur of the Congress street mural “Hi, How are You?” Daniel Johnston serves as their main inspiration. Their obsession with Daniel Johnston becomes

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 31

apparent on hearing their primitive and simplistic melodies with subtly subversive lyrics, which reflect his lo-fi anti-folk sound.

Children’s music as a genre represents a different set of conventions that need to be addressed. While music geared towards adults is extremely brazen and bold, children’s music is a more cumbersome process. Children prove to be harder to entertain than adults, mainly because of the expectations set upon the performers.

“I suppose the root of the problem is that we really feel kind of lost when we’re doing children’s music,” Chef said.

“Children’s music is very limiting. It’s like trying to ride a camel, which is really slippery, and the camel doesn’t like you,” said Pat. Children’s music requires an extra layer that appeals to visceral emotions that aren’t always present in adults. And although the artistic vision of The Telephone Company is quite complex, they can’t always carry out their vision exactly as planned.

“We’re happy to be eclectic but there’s only so much two guys can do,” said Chef. “We have a song called ‘Golden Baby,’ which should have worked for kids, but it’s just too weird and there’s nothing especially cute or any element that is entertaining enough to work.”

Because of the limitations of a two man children’s band, The Telephone Company must take extra measures to engage their audience. Some may call animal hats, puppet funerals, and coconut shells gimmicky diversions, but for The Telephone Company they represent an important part of the overall high-energy, diverse performance.

“You have to have a trick that tricks kids into not paying

attention to the obvious, which is, it’s just two white guys yelling at you,” Pat said. “What’s really important in our band is gimmicks,” Chef said.

Despite many artifices devised to enthrall children, The Telephone Company’s music itself does not rely on cheap songwriting. They strip their songs to the idea, and do not usually restate and rehash the same point over and over again. For example, the song “Handshake” begins with, “How much is a handshake? Count it with your hands!” and ends with a recitation of the alphabet starting with H. “It’s like taking a huge canvas, and shrinking it down to a postage stamp, and the postage stamp is just pasted right onto the wall,” Pat said. “We’re not gonna waste your time.

We don’t go on forever.”

And although The Telephone Company targets children with their music, they don’t aim to sneak educational elements into songs. They make music for themselves.

“It’s really just like, what can we contrive that will be funny? How can we push this as far as we can go, while still entertaining kids? We maintain an energy level that’s so high that some people are a little bit worried,” Pat said. “Contrast that with what a ‘normal’ children’s entertainer would say: ‘I love kids, I just wanna inspire them, I wanna help them inspire their next finger painting.’ We are like way more self indulgent. What’s the funniest thing to ourselves, will kids pay attention if we do that?”

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 32

Eventually it becomes a matter of pushing the limits of children’s music, to see what they can get away with. And because of this, a very strict editing process is needed. They present the bare minimum required to get the idea across, which is one reason that The Telephone Company entertains children so effectively.

“There’s definitely a humorous element to our vision that kind of denies or blocks the artistic intrusion which usually makes music terrible,” Pat said.

At times, it seems as if The Telephone Company targets a wider audience of young adults, as well as children.

Although they have not come into the mainstream music scene, The Telephone Company enjoys much popularity among underground music aficionados, especially the New Wave and Punk scenes.

“I think we’re appreciated there, and I think we appreciate them. There’s a mutual thing,” Pat said.

The Telephone Company certainly embodies the artistic liberal spirit of Austin Texas, and because of this adults can

enjoy their hypnotically simple melodies.

“We could probably make a bigger splash in a city that was smaller and not known for music, but the infrastructure of music support here is such that we can ‘make it,’” Pat said.

Even so, The Telephone Company remains a true embodiment of Austin’s quirky DIY culture. As various endeavors take over their time, Chef and Pat have not worked on music for The Telephone Company, but their numerous other musical projects thrive. The Carrots, a band that Chef plays the drums for, plans to release a 12” LP, and Pataphysics, Pat’s personal project, aims to finish a full length album by the end of the summer. They also plan to go on an international tour this summer as the backing band for Gary Wilson. The future of The Telephone Company cannot be determined for sure, but Pat and Chef will carry the chaotic spirit of it wherever they go.

Pat said, “The thing that goes for us here is that on the children’s music scene we are like the most liberal, weirdest band you know. And so Austin helps with that. They embrace it just enough to tolerate The Telephone Company.”

The Telephone Company defies the laws of time in this image from an unreleeased photoshoot.

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 33

y tb

Ar am

rtr

Be c

ci

ej

rn

Je

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 34

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 35

BOHEMIAN OUTSIDER 2013 | PAGE 36