Public Notice
Caution: Arrows Soaring
By Kate X Messer, Fri., Feb. 5, 1999
* Show your Valentine the Love, baby. Donate $50 or more to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Texas Gulf Coast and your V-Day chum will receive an inscribed silver bookmark, a card with your message, and both of your names in their newsletter. Supplies are limited; call now. 1604 Bissonnet, Houston, 77055, 713/942-9474.
* Get tickets for you and your swee'pea for ALLGO's annual Baile de Amor, one of Austin's most groovilicious, multi-culti events. Get down with your badself, this Sat, Feb 6, 9pm-1am at the Hilton Hotel & Towers, 6000 Middle Fiskville. See "Calendar," page 82, for more info. 472-2001.
* Check Next Week's "Public Notice" and Community Listings for more V-Day listings.
Year of the Rabbit
Whooooooo, Lunar New Year is on its way! Doncha feel the bunny-luv? No? Oh, come on now. It's the Asian Week at UT, and if alls you know from Asian is Mulan and Hong-Kong Phooey then perhaps you might consider getting your West-o-centric butt down to some of the Asian American Affairs Agency's events and programs. Mon, Feb 8-Sat, Feb 13 features traditional dances, art exhibits, food samplings, political calls for action, general "get to know us" kind of workshops, and the like. It all caps off with the sit-down dinner of Asian cuisine and performances at the Lunar Banquet, Sat, Feb 13. Most of the events take place in the Texas Union or on the West Mall. 232-2958.
(Fruit &) Nuts to You
The fine folk from Montopolis Neighborhood Center, TreeFolks, and the Sustainable Food Center invite you to witness the Unveiling of a New Public Mural at the Spring Garden Kickoff, Sat, Feb 6, 3pm at the Montopolis Community Garden, 1416 Montopolis. The mural was painted by local kids. Come on out to hear talk of fruit and nut trees best suited for spring planting in our area, then grab a shovel and help dig some tree holes. 443-LEAF.
Tejas Tall Tales Told
Whether your passion is spinning stories or watching stories spun, there's something for you at the Tejas Hispanic Storytelling Festival, this Sat, Feb 6, at Mexic-Arte. Musicians, storytellers, cowboy poets, and singers will share all kinds of tales: folklore, historic, poetic, and personal. There will be three programs: Storytelling Workshops, 8:30am-noon, Matinee Showcase Concert, 1:30-2:30pm, and the Tejas Hispanic Storytelling Concert, 7-10pm. Tickets are limited; reserve your space.asconsuelo@aol.com or 258-4021.
Yikes! 2K!
Freaked out about the Y2K bug? Wondering if you should stock up on canned goods, potable water, and plenty of Pez for the new millennium? Come to the free seminar, How the Year 2000 Computer Problem Impacts You! (their exclamation point, not ours), over three days in February: Feb 6, Feb 20, and Feb 27, 9am-4pm at Laughing at the Sun Gallery, 2209 S. First. Seating is limited; everybody's freaking. 326-4410.
Distort Dark Fun
Personally, we always liked the decon- reconstructed version, "Kiss Random Ass, You Sad and Senseless Hippie" much better than its sappy bumpersticker ancestor from which it was cut and culled: "Practice Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Beauty." Anagramatically speaking, it's not perfect, but is so much more lyrical, no? Okay, so it misses the point of its progenitor, entirely.
The origin of the original is interesting, actually. Apparently The Phrase, which heretofore shall be known as PRAoK&SB, was initially picked up off a warehouse wall by a teacher who brought it to class. From there, it was lifted by a student whose dad happened to be a columnist at the San Francisco Chronicle, who then wrote about it and had his story picked up by Reader's Digest. The story gets cloudy as Oprah and bumpersticker tycoons everywhere get in the game, but you pretty much know how the rest of it goes anyway. It stands to reason that PRAoK&SB is the result of some high-brow "telephone game," but truth be told, we have no proof of this story's authenticity. It came in a press release (one step up from bathroom wall, AFAWC) sent in by the Rotary Club of Austin. They are declaring (yeah, screw the Mayor!!!) this upcoming week, February 8-15, to be Random Acts of Kindness Week. So go out there and kiss a curmudgeon, won'cha? 462-1333.
E-mail: pnotice@auschron.comMail to: "Public Notice," The Austin Chronicle, P0 Box 49066, Austin, TX 78765. Deadline: Wednesday, 6pm, eight days prior to publication. Phone calls have a .001% chance of being returned.
