Think Austin is weird? (Houston, Dallas: live, shop, moving)

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

True, Houston I believe is where it actually originated, and still has the largest event.

Houston? I find that hard to believe, it was happening all over the US in the 60's, especially California.

Art car - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia History: There is some disagreementas to what precisely led to the growth of the art car world. It can be seen as a twining together of several influences - the hippie-themed VWs of the late 1960s, the lowrider, as well as a Merry Pranksters' creation, the decorated school bus known as Further.[original research?] During the late 1960s, singer Janis Joplin had a psychedelically-painted Porsche 356 and John Lennon, a paisley Rolls Royce. [1] Partly in imitation, the late 1960s/early 1970s counterculture featured many painted VW Buses (sometimes with a peace symbol in place of the giant VW logo) and customized vehicles (e.g. a customized 1977 Cadillac Fleetwood seen in the film Escape from New York).

[joqua]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

... I had a friend who had an "art car" back in 1967.

The first "art car" I ever saw was in the Fisherman's Wharf tourist district in San Francisco about that time (ca. 1967). The young man who owned it parked it along the curb and made his living from donations people gave him for allowing them to photograph it. "Donation" may be the wrong word because he'd become irate if someone attempted to photograph the card without paying for the privilege.

[sxrckr]

Uh, the art car Parade, yes, as an event. Houston had the first, still the largest.

It's already obvious people have been painting/decorating cars for decades.

Anyway, if you've ever been to the event in Houston you'd see it's hardly just painted cars; these things are transformed.

[CarnivalGal]

I have to agree with some others that Houston is weirder than Austin. Not just the art cars, but there is also a huge yard of 20 foot tall presidential sculptures, and just art everywhere. I was there for T-giving and there were random art displays everywhere.

[TexasHorseLady]

Wait, weird = art? There's SO much more to weird than art, and art (even yard art) isn't necessarily weird.

However, if that's your thing and that's what constitutes weird:

Your Essential Magnificence

Austin Graffiti (several examples)

Some (by no means all) Austin yard art

Cow Parade (these were all over town and some can still be seen daily - Amy's Ice Cream/Phil's Ice House on South Lamar has a nice example)

Play Me I'm Yours

Castle Hill/Baylor

And, again, I could go on and on and on.

[dbsteel]

I don't personally think Austin is all that weird at all other than a few execptions.... but a lot of cities have a few exceptions.

[sxrckr]

The art cows "cow parade" has already been in countless cities around the world... and was in NY, Chicago, Houston etc. a full decade before Austin. Just sayin'.

Anyway, I do agree that "weird" is more than just art... which is probably why Portland was highlighted in the OP article.

[Tralfaz]

I reckon Austin is weird because, in my experience, it's pretty relaxed and tolerant of difference. Not many other places I know of where a gay libertarian atheist and a conservative businessman can strike up a conversation about their favorite pistol caliber in a Starbucks, and not have quivering ninnies call the cops.

From time to time, the crazier hobos that yell or reek test my patience, but the 'live and let live' attitude here is (unfortunately) pretty "weird".

[mackenziep]

Yeah, the "Cow Parade" has even reached Buffalo, NY (in the form of Buffalos, of course).

Austin is only weird to small-town Texans who have never been outside of Texas. Even as an old marketing campaign, it's lame.

[TexasHorseLady]

mackenziep, does Scotland count as outside of Texas? London? Canada? Mexico? Boston? San Francisco? Shall I go on?

And, again, it was NOT a marketing campaign when it was started, in fact, it was the OPPOSITE of a marketing campaign.

It's not like a quick google of "Keep Austin Weird" doesn't turn up the true story in the second hit, the Keep Austin Weird website owned by the creator of the phrase. (The first is a wikipedia entry done by someone who didn't do their homework sufficiently thoroughly.)