Austin: Come here to CA! We love you!

[Taverner]

I just got back from Austin, TX and I love that town. It really isn't like the rest of Texas...

Austin would seem better suited south of Stanford, and North of San Jose. Perhaps even a nice buffer in between Orange County and San Diego.

For example, there I was in the Apple Austin parking lot and easily saw more anti-Bush swag and stickers on cars than anywhere in Berkeley, Arcata or Oakland.

While there, our esteemed VelmaD treated me to a meetup of "Keep Austin Blue" at Mother Egans that reminded me why we need to respect and love our Texas Dems - there was all the fire you'd have at a National Convention in a patio the size of a basketball court.

The music that town hosts is distincitve. Rock that uses pedal steel AND psychadelic guitar. I mean, shit, there I was at Barbara Jordan Airport and they had a band serenading us as we boarded planes. What other aiport does THAT???

And for that matter, here I was in a Red State where the airport was named after Barbara Jordan, the first Afrian American elected to Congress - EVER! Take that John Wayne Airport!

And to top it off, Austin is simply beautiful. The gateway to the hill country, it has beautiful serene rivers and tree lined streets. It has a simple yet elegant skyline and sunsets that rival Santa Cruz, CA - and it doesn't even have a beach! Don't even get me started on the women...Tavernerwife would kill me.

So my proposal is simple - Austin, leave Texas and be part of California. Honestly, the rest of Texas doesn't respect you, they just love you for your capitol building and that's it. We'd treat you right, baby! We'd let you have the Angels (Austin Angels, doesn't that have a nice ring?) now that they are city hopping. We'd build a highway so you could travel from Ojai to Austin without having to set foot in Lubbock. We'd even forgive you for that whole Rose Bowl thing. And UT could join the Pac 10 even. We could get rid of one of those Arizona schools and let you take their place. Arizona isn't really near the Pacific Ocean anyway.

And what would Texas get? Well I figure now is as good of a time as any to unload Modesto, Fresno and Bakersfield. They could be the new co-capitols of Texas. The weather is horrible, and their shit pits, so the folks in Dallas would be happy. And they love their Rightwing nutjobs there as good as anywhere else in Texas - so the folks there would fit in fine.

A little irridentism never hurt anyone :)

[Texasgal]

1. You were in AUSTIN and didn't TELL ME?

WTF??? :P

You should just move here Tav.... it's very simple! :)

[Taverner]

5. Hey - I PM'd ya

Check your messages ;)

And one small problem about moving there. As high as the hill country goes, there is no snow in the hill country...hence no skiing

[WritingIsMyReligion]

2. My mom wants me to go to Univ. of Texas in Austin.

After reading that, I'm tempted to drop in for a visit...

:D

[Texasgal]

3. You should!

UT is a GREAT school!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

4. Yeah, I've heard...

Them Longhorns....

:P :P

[Taverner]

6. It's the UC Berkeley of Texas

With cowboy hats instead of Rasta Hats ;)

[amitten]

7. Austin rocks. I love this city. It's positive, sunny, green, and best

of all...

LIBERAL. :bounce:

[texas1928]

8. Texas was Blue for a long time before Bushie got something into the water.

So we have been Democrat for a long time.