Posts Tagged ‘UT Fine Arts Library’

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Rockin’ the freebies at the Austin Public Library


2011
03.19

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Posted in Classes, Movies, Music | 2 Comments »

Everyone knows the library is the place for freebies: free books, free movies, free Internet—even free A/C in the heat of an Austin summer. But seriously, compared to lots of libraries I’ve had the pleasure of haunting, the Austin Public Library truly brings their A-game. They’ve got a collection of zines at the main branch (Faulk Library), in addition to their extensive magazine subscriptions, and some of their branches (Spicewood Springs) even have drive-through pick-up service, so you can reserve your books online and drive (or bike, or walk!) up to grab your books on the run. Sweet!

Austin Public Library card - passport to Book Heaven

I’m also a huge fan of the Faulk Library’s “self-serve” reserve section. Reserve your book online, and when it’s available they email you to come pick it up. Instead of waiting for a librarian to help you out when, let’s face it, they’ve got plenty of more important things to be doing, they’ve got your book on a special shelf (just to the right of the main staircase) where you can locate it under your last name. Then, use the easy automated system to check that puppy out.

How will they know it’s YOU and not somebody else trying to check out your reserved book, swiping your spot in the literary line? Once reserved, only the person whose card reserved the book can check it out. It’s a neat use of technology, and a cool way of allowing librarians more time to help people with their research, rather than the mundanities of shuttling books around.

Speaking of better things to do, just look at this crazy laundry list of services they offer! Everything from chatting with librarians online or by phone to blogs with recommended reads, book clubs galore, weekly Spanish practice groups, and even events like free movie nights.

One of my favorite services is the TexShare card, which enables library members in good standing (i.e. those with no fines!) to borrow directly from university libraries, such as UT’s amazing Fine Arts Library. If you haven’t discovered this gem of a library yet, I’m sharing my secret with you today: check out as many CDs, DVDs and books as you like with your honorary UT library card. Yes, y’heard right. CDs, DVDs and books galore!

UT’s Fine Arts Library has an excellent collection of all kinds of classical music, jazz and even select modern music of the pop/rock and rap varieties. If you’ve been looking for that rare Miles Davis album, it’s a safe bet that they’ll have it; and if you’re looking for Biggie CDs, well, they might have a few of them, too.

Only one word of warning: Some of the music and movies are for library use only, as they’ve been flagged for UT classes. You can listen or watch ‘em on a library station, or bring a laptop of your own for this purpose, but they can’t leave the library. Sadly, I discovered that Blade Runner is one of those flicks during a recent trip. But on the plus side, at least you know Blade Runner‘s always available for a quick sci-fi pick-me-up, right?

So, if you need someplace to beat the heat as the temps in Austin soar, or just want to rock it with freebies, check out the APL—and UT’s Fine Arts Library. Word. Adjective. Verb.

P.S. Extra bonus points for those with an APL Gold Card. Seriously, is this thing cool or what? It’s totally on my To Do list, now that I’ve discovered its gilded elite existence (and at $25, it’s a steal of a deal to support your local library in style).

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Torchy’s Tacos


2010
02.19

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Posted in Restaurants | 2 Comments »

Celebrity Intern didn’t want to go check out Torchy’s Tacos, originally, because he claims he can “make a mean taco, like the concentrated essence of 1,000 Mexican chefs.” (I must give him that he does cook up a mighty fine taco, even though he is handicapped by his non-Mexican heritage.) Despite, the truly horrible parking, I was starving to death after a long study session day of hunting down obscure noir films at the Fine Arts library, and insisted we go.

After several attempts at parking, involving much hand-waving and finger-lifting at various psychotic Austin drivers (seriously, the 2801 Guadalupe location is a nightmare at rush hour), we were able to leave the BBT safely behind and head inside.

The atmosphere sucked, but on the plus side, the music was loud enough to drown out the cacophony of several half-retarded UT students in Uggs.

We were delightfully surprised by the tacos themselves. We got them to go, as we couldn’t stomach the crowd and its relentless burnt-orange tides. Upon unwrapping, we found our tacos slathered in fresh cilantro—the mark of deliciousness.

Celebrity Intern and I ordered three tacos amongst us: the Baja Shrimp, the Democrat and the Beef Fajita Taco. After devouring my Democrat (shredded beef barbacoa, onion, queso fresco, avocado, cilantro, lime and green sauce), I demanded half of the shrimp taco. Celebrity Intern was loathe to let go, but I wrenched it from his paw and took a bite. Sublime, the fresh snap of the shrimp! The egg-roll reminiscence of the cooked cabbage! The perfect spiciness of the pickled onions and jalapenos! I think I had a mouthgasm.

Celebrity Intern remarked that his Beef Fajita had “glorious, charred strips of beef,” so much so that although he hates grilled peppers, he didn’t even notice their presence amongst the cheese and the pico.

We both wanted to go back for another round. Or five. Torchy’s, we salute you and your Damn Good Tacos.

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Thai Kitchen


2010
02.11

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Posted in Restaurants | No Comments »

Despite my craving for Thai food recently, I have only just managed to sample some of the Austin area’s wares. This afternoon I was jonesing hardcore for the Pad Thai, and my Dining Companion (DC) and I were on our way home from the UT Fine Arts Library after a hard day of studying plundering their CD collection for AC/DC. We were within easy reach of Thai Kitchen‘s 3009 Guadalupe location and had heard good things, so we pulled into the parking lot and took the plunge.

Our first impressions of the place were good. The service was super-friendly, and our waiter even offered us ice-water! (We’ve found it’s strangely rare for people to offer water in restaurants, and sometimes even harder to get them to actually bring you any, much less refill the glass. Happily, this was not the case at Thai Kitchen.) We gratefully accepted, and pondered the lunch menu, which was still in service at 3 PM even though it was clearly stated that lunch service ended at 2:30—score!

We knew we wanted Pad Thai, so we ordered 12A right away, then decided to add another dish so we could share #25, Green Curry with Chicken and Coconut (Hot-Hot). DC and I both enjoy a good green curry, so we were jazzed by the idea of one that was being billed as “hot-hot.” Along with our mains, we were also visiting on the right day for the soup du jour to be Hot & Sour (our fave), so we each got a bowl. DC thought the Hot & Sour soup could’ve been more hot (and sour, presumably), but I thought it was pleasantly understated. Hot & Sour soup is a great dish for warming you up on a cold, rainy day, and since Austin’s been experiencing a lot of these lately (including today), I was pleased with this dish.

Shortly after we’d slurped down the last of our soup, the waiter re-appeared with our mains. Super-fast service! We thanked him and got down to business, munching our egg rolls, and then digging into the Pad Thai and the Green Curry.

Now, I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed the Green Curry, even though it made my nose run. It wasn’t über-hot, but it definitely had a nice kick to it, and the accompanying veggies (bamboo strips, zucchini and the odd green pepper) were quite tasty. We avoided the rice (evil carbs!), but devoured the rest. DC even sucked the excess green curry sauce straight off the plate. That’s how tasty it was.

Delicious-looking Pad Thai (photo via Closet Cooking)

Sadly, this was not the Pad Thai of our dreams. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the deliciously savory Pad Thai we had been lusting after for weeks. Instead of a mildly spicy dish stuffed with rice noodles, chicken, egg, peanuts, shrimp and bean sprouts, we got a more sweet, peanutty-flavored dish that mainly consisted of rice noodles, a bit of egg and bean sprouts, and some chicken. It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t what we were expecting. And since the Green Curry was so delicious, we were kind of disappointed. I mean, you look at the photo of the homemade Pad Thai that we featured on our previous post, Where can you get good Thai food in Austin? (and shown above for emphasis), and you salivate. Thai Kitchen’s Pad Thai, unfortunately, looked nothing quite as sexy as all that.

Still, we ate it all and were reasonably satisfied with the affair. So while I would definitely return to Thai Kitchen for inexpensive Thai food (our total came to about $17, before tip), I am still searching for the elusive Pad Thai that haunts my dreams.

Any suggestions?