Hope & Change

I knew I should have posted something immediately after the Democratic National Convention. That way I’d have something nice to write about instead of post after post of bad news, but we’ll get to that later.

As the DNC converged in the Mile High City of Denver, Colorado I was swelled up with patriotism and pride and I was actually moved to tears by several of the speakers, most notably Presidential nominee Barack Obama and his wife Michelle with their fantastic speeches. Vice Presidential nominee Joe Biden, Keynote speaker, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, now a senate candidate along with both former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Clinton also brought the goods to the stage.

By weeks end it was John McCain and the Republican’s turn. First there was McCain’s out of nowhere selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, to which I am not even going to get into right now. I honestly don’t know who she is and don’t imagine I will need to learn much about her and as far as the “tabloid” aspects to her family life, it really doesn’t matter.

Senator John McCain is a weak candidate and his selection of Gov. Palin does not in anyway immediately legitimize her as a player on the national scene of politics. I don’t care if it looks like a ploy to steal Hilary Clinton supporters or whatever else spinning is going on out there. Simply put, McCain is a shell of his former self and he is running a shallow and desperate campaign. It’s very sad to learn that someone I admired so much and believed was genuine has changed and adapted to the lowest common denominator like that of our current Presidential Administration.

Now there are plenty of people who like to throw that into my face saying Barack Obama will just do the same. Well that could very well happen, but I don’t think it will and until I am proved wrong I will stay optimistic and hopeful. I am only 26 years-old and this is only the third Presidential election that I have voted in; and although I am very well versed in American political history I do sincerely believe that Senator Obama is truly one of a kind. He is the first candidate that I have believed in because I believe in him and not because I don’t believe in the other guy.

I’m going to wrap this self-righteous rant up with some belated sad news. Danny Young, known to many as the “Mayor of South Austin” who owned and operated the Texicalli Grille, currently located on Oltorf just east of Congress, died at age 67 from a heart attack on August 27th. Famous for being a jubilant and friendly entrepreneur, Young was originally from Kingsville, Texas where he worked at his family’s root beer stand/pizza parlor after a stint in the Coast Guard.

He moved to Austin in the mid-70s and I was there when the original Texicalli Grille opened on South Lamar Blvd. during the summer of 1982, granted I was only a few months old, but my father’s band played the grand opening and there are plenty of pictures to prove I was there, including one that was still hanging on the walls of the restaurant when it closed down last year. I did not know Danny personally as well as I knew him by reputation and through the relationships he had with other people I am close to. You could very well play a Six Degrees of Separation game with him for Austinites, including a lot of former Kingsville residents. No more homemade root beer or Texas cheesesteaks from Danny or the Texicalli Grille.

That brings me to the mention that another Austin landmark is also closed as of August 31st. Las Manitas was owned and operated by sisters Cynthia and Lidia Perez for 27 years in downtown Austin and has now been closed down to make way for a Mariott Hotel project. It was another fantastic, beloved and intimate Mexican food restaurant that had lots of history and character. There may be a chance that the Perez sisters re-open in a nearby location, but as of late they have been understandably cynical about those prospects. Even joking they might end up just "selling tacos from underneath a tree" because relocation or not, it won't be the same. So much of the story on the closing of Las Manitas has been focused on the losing of Austin's soul or the dying out of what makes Austin Austin, but maybe that's not the best way to describe it. Austin isn't dying. There are towns and cities in America that are dying and it's looks a lot different than multi-million dollar condominum complexes and hotel chain projects. Austin is changing. And even though there a lot of people, including myself, who do not like how it's changing the truth remains that everything changes. I just don't know how long I can stay around to witness all the changing. I might be changing myself so much to the point where I really will have to move away for good, like I have been thinking about doing for so long now.