Cops don't like bikes.

Cops don't like bikes, and bike cops don't like cops (in a car). Not that I have a personal dislike of cops, they're actually really cool, only if you're cool with them. Or you could say something like "call detective X" when you get pulled over and have your relative come to the rescue. It doesn't always happen like that. So here's what happened

As I was riding down San Jacinto Blvd. a few weeks ago on a Sunday morning to grab some coffee that was made by some hipster on the street corner, I noticed that there was one of those signs that read "PARKING $5000" in my lane. So I had to make a decision. I would have to cut off a car (which is what I should've done, because they're all texting anyway), or hop the curb and get back in the bike lane. I like hopping curbs, and there wasn't anyone on the sidewalk, so it was safe. And suddenly, I heard someone scream as if they had just been shot. It was a cop. My coffee is long gone. So I get off of my bike in my spandex and wobble over (cycling shoes are for cycling) to the cop like HE did something wrong. I told him why I hopped the curb and said a joke and that was really it. Nothing of me showed up in their "database" anyway. No ticket, no warning, no problem. Plus, it's not like anyone would have some kind of warrant for hopping curbs around the city. But pedicabs are different, nobody likes them. Also the people that move slower than walking speed on their bikes, they're different too.

If the city is going to keep pushing towards a bike-friendly environment, keeping the bike lanes clean would've prevented the posting of this blog.

The breakfast taco.

It's no secret that Austin is the breakfast taco hub in the United States, maybe even the world (maybe). But there's something that very few have ever wondered, which hobo on SOCO thought of that?

         To clarify everything beforehand, it's breakfast TACO, not burrito, unless you're from NowhereLand where the eggs come from powder and you still can't decide whether to get the green sauce or red sauce.
So the breakfast taco, it's said to have come from miners in Mexico as the word "taco" was something that was used to blow up mines. It makes sense when you can see a taco that's filled with, well whatever you put in it.  but Austin seems to have claimed it today and that's that. But why? Food trailers are the answer. Food trailers are everywhere and they all somehow sell breakfast tacos. There's about 588 restaurants that pop up on yelp that sell breakfast tacos in Austin and there's probably twenty more trailers, like the ones that open at midnight and fill up quick. So how did they get here? Well it started out with places like Arandas and then across the street popped up a Torchy's Tacos which then evolved into a line of Airstreams claiming to be the most hipster and then the "taco" in taco sort of lost it's style. It's now a gluten free, vegan and 100% organic farm raised piece of, well you get the idea. The tacos are different, but not too different. There's still pioneers in breakfast tacos that remain on the streets of Austin and so far they're original. So just as long as a taco is still called a taco, everything should go fine.

Movie Op: Rush (2013)

Dir. Ron Howard, Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, Olivia Wilde


 
The movie rush is a "based on a true story" movie where two Formula 1 drivers battle each other out through their racing lives in the 70's. 

The first ten minutes of the movie wants you to walk out because of how many times Hunt (Hemsworth) gets in bed with someone rather than in a car. It just goes from scene to scene with him in the hospital, airplane bathroom, and on the racetrack. Then the story goes to  Niki Lauda (Brühl), a mediocre new driver in Formula 3 (which isn't as cool as F1).  Most of the story goes fairly smoothly and instantly goes to the two going pro with no time at all to catch up on to what's going on in the movie. After what happens to Lauda during a crash is a part that wakes someone up during a movie and would be emotional and indecent to some people. The movie goes on to Hunt winning races with Lauda in the hospital and Lauda goes on to racing against Hunt in one of the biggest races of the decade. Unfortunately for Lauda, the roads are wet and he decides to bail out. Hunt goes on to be a world champ in F1 racing with Lauda sparing his live DNFing in the rain. 

The movie gets really exciting toward the end and does a good job on keeping the story together with a small new love for racing.

Is a child running Kanye's Twitter account?

Do people actually follow these kinds of stories? Yes, and this is another one. 

A scene from Jimmy Kimmel's interview spoof

This past week, Kanye West did a terrible interview on "dreams" with BBC which he claims from his Twitter account that it's "THE FIRST PIECE OF HONEST MEDIA IN YEARS". Since users are still unable to broadcast voice through their Twitter account, West had to type in all caps after responding to Jimmy Kimmel's skit which spoofs West's interview with kids repeating the lines. Along with the hateful tweets toward Kimmel, Kanye West tweeted indecent pictures directed towards him containing Spongebob Squarepants and Kimmel.

Some reasons why the whole interview wasn't taken very seriously was because West didn't take himself very seriously by mentioning "leather jogging pants" and referring himself as the "Number One Rock Star on the Planet".  But West actually has been working on a clothing line and says that he is "going to do dope things" like architecture and water bottle designs. Even though that few seconds of real words coming from Kanye's mouth was real, the rest of the interview was with him talking and ranting about things that didn't make too much sense. That's part of the reason why Kimmel had the idea to spoof his interview, just make it funnier than it already was. West also backfired at Kimmel mentioning Kimmel's daughter having her picture taken (which was a part that was needed explaining)  and repeatedly mentioned Kimmel's face and Ben Affleck suggesting that West have children say "YOUR FACE LOOKS CRAZY".


 As for now,  no one has been seriously injured.

Blogs: 2013 - 2014

Whole lotta more blogs coming, don't worry.

Buying Local vs. Amazon

This question stumbled upon my brain the other day as I received a box on my porch. You know, the box with the arrow on it. It's fun and cool to order things online today. It makes your friends look old fashioned and you, twice as lazy. But being lazy by buying things online isn't really a bad thing. Except for one thing, your local shops are losing money. And you love being local, because you constantly talk about how cool this clothing store on 2nd is and that one coffee shop no one seems to know about.

But then there's that thing you bought off Amazon that makes your life so much easier. Also that cool desk toy that probably cost twice as much at IKEA. Oh, and did I tell you how cheap these things were? Very cheap. It just took a while to get here from China.

But everyone has their reasons. Christmas shopping on Amazon is easier than going to the store and going to the store gives you a better look on what you're about to buy. Or if you have coupons and it's 29 of one thing you're buying, shipping would've cost a lot more. But buying online is quicker and most of the time shipping is free.


It's tough to decide.

So here's a list of things you can and just cannot buy from Local shops in Austin and stuff I've bought from Amazon that isn't too common in the shops downtown.

        Can't buy from Amazon.                                                                        Can't buy from Austin

Austin, TX Snowglobe  $25                                                           Cycling glasses from China  $7.50
Thundercloud Subs Sandwich $4                                                    Decent smelling cologne  $3
Weird Clothes from SOCO $30                                                     Cheerio's $1
Weird toys, somehow in every store $10                                        Overpriced backpacks  $60
A little overpriced eco stuff $50                                                      iPhone cases  $2
Dogs with rabies next to Hopdoddy's $70                                      Stuff cheaper than Brookstone $50 off
Cool handmade shoes $65                                                             More Cycling Accessories $100 off
Breakfast Tacos $1.50                                                                   Almost everything  - pretty cheap
Traffic $20 (gas)                                                                             3D Printer $1,299
Live Music - Priceless                                                                     Local Deals (working together) 50% off
Exercise from walking - FREE
Turtle Racing @ Little Woodrow's - 10 likes
on Instagram


There's a lot of things you can't buy from Amazon, and sort of a lot from them. We'll just use Amazon for the lazy days from now on.

At least get the name right.

So many times, every day, all day, anywhere, your name is mispronounced. There is no cure for this common sickness. Unless your name is Bob Smith, then you can stop reading this post.

It all started in PreSchool. Well, maybe not PreSchool, it started earlier than that.

It all started when we were born. But I started to notice as I got older. It would happen the most when our classes would have substitute teachers and there would be seconds of silence and then they would say, “Okay I’m sorry if I get this wrong, Elisa? Eleus? Elieus?”  The class would then blurt out “Elias!”.

I remember the first day of school when I would be waiting to correct the teacher as they would say my name. That feeling went away around freshman year. It didn’t bother me anymore that someone would get my name wrong. Except for this one time when someone thought my name was Tobias. Not even close.

I think my name has gotten around a lot more because I’ve been correcting people less and less. This is because of  all the hipster parents naming their babies Levi, Jett, Lennon, or Thelonious; yes, Thelonious. Or maybe it’s because I look so white, no one would call me Elias, as if I were a true Hispanic. Although I am, I’m not so true to it.

It’s even worse when the person can never get it right. For example, I’ve been running almost every 5k, 10k, and everything that ends in K and M in Austin ever since I was 3. Even numerous cycling events. There’s only one man who get to talk on the mic all day and he’s been doing it since 1992 and still hasn’t gotten my name right. I’ve even had to correct him as I crossed the finish line once. Robert “Evil” Evilsizer has only one job and can’t even do it. Even last Sunday at the Schlotzsky’s Bun Run, he said “2098: Elisa Huerta... Elisa?”. I laughed and finished. No big deal, he’ll never get it.

Anyway, you'll just have to deal with it for the rest of your life. It's not that big of a deal, but it's something. Even last names that people can't pronounce make you sorta cool. It's like the people who can pronounce your name are a part of this exclusive club that no one else is in.  Cool clubs are cool. Even when they're not real.