The Statesman is reporting that last summer’s sale of the Starr building, located at 6th and Colorado, has finally closed. Earlier this year we did a little bit of research to discover what used to occupy this space… check it out.
Archives for 2009
Birds' Barbershop 3rd Annual Manfest Event
Hear Ye! Year Ye!
Birds Barbershop Calls All Barbarians,
Centaurs and Beastmasters for 3rd Annual ManfestOn Saturday, Dec. 5th from 2 to 7 p.m. Birds Barbershop on S. Congress Ave. and PartyEnds.com will bring Austin its 3rd annual Manfest. The merrymaking kicks off a month-long promotion at all Birds locations, where men will get half-off hair product all December long.
Moving from S. Lamar to its new location at Birds on S. Congress, this installment in the series leans more primal than Manfests of yore, with a parking lot overrun with olde tyme fixtures like smoked turkey legs, live action role players (LARPers), a jousting competition and a Conan-era photo booth featuring a real-live Centaur.
Birds will offer free “Barbarian Blowouts” inside, while Lone Star Beer and Cazadores Tequila sponsor with spirits served in Manfest signature steins. Attendees who arrive in full barbarian-through-renaissance gear will receive a drink line “Fast Pass” as a reward. In other words, if you wear chain mail or a loincloth, you get a dedicated bartender and no lines for all that free man milk. Come hither all you Stygian wizards, Seraglio concubines and Cretan Minotaurs: this Manfest’s for you.
All My Friends, our favorite LCD Soundsystem cover band, gets even the manliest of men to dance at dark, while a confidence rock DJ fills in the gaps throughout the day. Manfest the Third is located at 1902 S. Congress Ave., 445-0500. Sat. Dec. 5 from 2 to 7 p.m. For more details, visit birdsbarbershop.com.
The Gen Y Guy: Jason Dorsey @ BookPeople
Jason Dorsey, local author and friend of Downtown Austin Blog, is launching his latest book, Y Size Your Business, tonight at BookPeople. Jason is known across the globe as the “Gen Y Guy” from his 1800+ keynote speeches on engaging and retaining Gen Y in the workplace. Come on out and support a local author. If you’re interested in generational dynamics, and/or interested in new and effective tools to improve your company’s corporate culture, you will be impressed with Jason’s message. I hope to see you there!
Location: Bookpeople
Date/Time: Tuesday, December 1st @ 7pm
-Jude
Qua Dance Club Now Admits Toddlers
Well, at least on the first Saturday of every month from 1pm – 4pm…..
I read this article in the Statesman over the holiday weekend, and I must admit, I was a little intrigued. Apparently, a group of parents (The Little Lounge Lizards) have organized a monthly family-friendly dance party at downtown Austin dance club Qua (213 West Fourth) on the first Saturday of every month (skipping January 2010) from 1pm to 4pm.
I tend to applaud the daytime use element, and, although I’m not sure I had daytime clubbing for little ones in mind, the Statesman article makes it appear to be harmless enough and to be something that seems engaging….
Qua is probably best known as the dance club at the center of quite a bit of controversy (since 2007) about the shark “exhibit” that doubles as its dance floor, a controversy that has sparked PETA‘s interest and has also unified many Austinites against the club’s use/treatment of marine life.
Per their website, Qua offers daytime student field-trips to the shark tank, in addition to The Lounge Lizards’ dance parties. It seems like, for whatever reason (the pursuit of profit, most likely), the club is trying to extend its money-making hours and demographic reach by incorporating daytime/family-friendly uses.
The Statesman article says that The Little Lounge Lizards group is negotiating with Qua to extend the monthly parties in 2010, however, negotiations aren’t finalized and the venue may soon change. The next dance party will be December 5th from 1 pm – 4pm.
Will The MACC Build A Tower In The Rainey Street District?
It’s called Nahua Tower, and it’s a mixed-use tower design by Bercy Chen Studio. “Bold” is an appropriate adjective to describe this design. Perhaps this is simply a conceptual exercise. But, if this or something like it were to ever get built, I believe it could be a showpiece for the city. Click the image and you’ll be taken to the Bercy Chen website where you can watch video of virtual ‘fly overs’ of the rendered building.
The Nahua Tower is being designed in collaboration with the Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) in Austin Texas. The tower will be built as an annex to the existing cultural center and provide an extension to the MACC’s existing facilities as well as residential condominiums. The base of the tower contains event, retail, and restaurant spaces, while the upper 28 floors are primarily residential condominiums.
The project takes inspiration from pre-colombian pyramidal architecture and incorporates these vernacular precedents into a modern tower using many traditional materials such as copper, onyx, and pit-house style bermed construction.
Thanks to KevinFromTexas for the heads up – the Nahua Tower concept/vision has been on the books for a while now.
