[Robotgroup] Austin American Statesman Mention!

Tue Jan 1 23:30:54 PST 2008

Congratulations TRG Gang!
I wish I could have supported, I had a gig last night that took a few 
days to set up for. The good news is now I have a connections with a 
cool art space for doing events. I will be having my film fund raiser 
there this springtime.
Keep and eye for the "United States Art Authority" which is next to the 
Spider House and Ruby's BBQ on Guadalupe. It is the building that used 
to be the plasma center years ago.

JPF

brooksdesign wrote:
> Good going gang.Wish I could have been there(not just because it was 10 degrees and blowing snow up here).I can't wait to see the pictures.
>
> -----Original Message-----
>   
>> From: Vern Graner <vern at txis.com>
>> Sent: Jan 1, 2008 3:23 PM
>> To: The Robot Group Mailing List <robotgroup at puremagic.com>
>> Subject: [Robotgroup] Austin American Statesman Mention!
>>
>> Small blurb, no pics, but coverage! :)
>>
>> http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/01/01/0101firstnight.html
>>
>> ------------------------ clip -----------------------------
>>
>> Third First Night is second to none
>> 125,000 join carnival-like atmosphere downtown to greet 2008.
>>
>> By Patrick George
>> AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
>> Tuesday, January 01, 2008
>>
>> How did Austin ring in the New Year? With rock 'n' roll, funnel cake and 
>> giant insects, of course.
>>
>> In front of Lady Bird Lake, thousands of revelers kicked off 2008 by 
>> attending First Night and turning the city into a massive carnival.
>>
>> The Texas Juggling Society added a spark to Monday night's events: 
>> Connie Leaverton lights up the First Night parade as she juggles her way 
>> along Congress Avenue. The third year of the Austin event attracted up 
>> to 125,000 people, according to city estimates.
>>
>> Kids who couldn't greet 2008 at midnight got their own fireworks earlier 
>> in the evening.
>>
>> Jack Fairchild put the yee-haw in Monday's First Night parade, stopping 
>> to rope a spectator on Congress Avenue. Plenty of costumes, creativity 
>> and talent were on display as Austin turned out to meet the New Year.
>>
>> Bicycle parades, dancing librarians, sausage wraps and toddlers with 
>> glowing plastic swords all dotted the downtown streetscape Monday night. 
>> Approximately 125,000 people enjoyed the third year of this festival of 
>> creativity and local flair, according to city estimates.
>>
>> Recent Albuquerque, N.M., transplant Jill Price brought her 3-year-old 
>> twin girls downtown and said she was impressed by First Night's 
>> alcohol-free environment.
>>
>> "It's definitely family-friendly," Price said. "It's a good, safe place 
>> to bring your kids for New Year's Eve."
>>
>> Traffic on Cesar Chavez Street, Guadalupe Street, Lavaca Street and the 
>> South First Street bridge was shut down from 2 p.m. Monday to 2 a.m. 
>> today to allow partygoers a safe space to view more than 60 public art 
>> showcases. A parade along Cesar Chavez Street included zany bicycle 
>> floats shaped like huge butterflies and even a gargantuan snake skeleton.
>>
>> And what would any New Year celebration be without fireworks at 
>> midnight? This year, there was also a fireworks show earlier in the 
>> evening so kids could have some New Year's fun before bedtime.
>>
>> The event drew out odd contraptions, too. Austin-based tech-artists the 
>> Robot Group showed off Ponginator, a 20-foot-tall computer-controlled 
>> robot that fired pingpong balls at up to 160 mph. Robot Group president 
>> Vern Graner said the robot, stationed on West Cesar Chavez Street, could 
>> launch balls nearly to the top of the CSC building across the street.
>>
>> "It's been amazing. Kids love it," Graner said. "It's a big, giant 
>> robot, and kids love robots. It makes a lot of loud noise, and kids love 
>> that, too."
>>
>> The carnival atmosphere was strongest on the South First Street bridge, 
>> where the smells of sausage wraps and funnel cake filled the air and 
>> kids drew New Year's greetings in chalk on the pavement. Toni Gonzales 
>> and her husband, David, said the fun on the bridge let their 4- and 
>> 6-year-olds enjoy the New Year's celebration before their 8 p.m. curfew.
>>
>> "We had fun making kites," Toni Gonzales said. "We just had some sausage 
>> wraps over there."
>>
>> "The lemonade was good, too," her husband added.
>>
>> First Night was a big opportunity for those who serve the throngs of 
>> revelers. Just ask pedicab driver Jeff Raby, who, despite being new to 
>> the job, had big goals for the evening.
>>
>> "Tonight, you can make up to $400," Raby said. "I heard someone made 
>> over $1,000 last year."
>>
>> pgeorge at statesman.com; 445-3851
>> ------------------------ clip -----------------------------
>>
>> :)
>>
>> Vern
>>
>> -- 
>> Vern Graner CNE/CNA/SSE    | "If the network is down, then you're
>> Senior Systems Engineer    | obviously incompetent so why are we
>> Texas Information Services | paying you? Of course, if the network
>> http://www.txis.com        | is up, then we obviously don't need
>> Austin Office 512 328-8947 | you, so why are we paying you?" ©VLG
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