Keep Austin Weird
(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.) Keep Austin Weird is the slogan adopted by the Austin Business Alliance to promote small businesses in Austin, Texas.
The phrase arose from an offhand remark by Red Wassenich in a phone call to a local radio station. He and his wife placed the slogan on bumper stickers, distributing them free to businesses in Austin; it was later trademarked by Outhouse Designs and used to market T-shirts, hats, and mugs.
The slogan refers to the numerous small businesses in Austin, and that it is these businesses that give Austin its unique cultural identity. A similar campaign continues in Santa Cruz, California.
The slogan has been seen by some as not only supporting local business but also Austin's relatively liberal politics in a conservative state. For example, Austin's county, Travis County, was the only county statewide to vote against a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage in a 2005 referendum.
Austin Weirdos
Indeed, Austinites tend to embrace eccentricity, and as a result the city has over the years collected a cadre of what amount to local celebrities known mostly for their unconventionality.
This includes:
- Leslie Cochran: a vagrant cross dresser who is outspoken about the treatment and rights of the homeless. He has run for mayor on multiple occasions, and on his best showing received nearly 8 percent of the vote in 2000.
- Jennifer Gale: a frequent gadfly candidate for virtually every elected office in the city. Gale, a cross-dresser, identifies as a woman. She often sings to the Austin City Council during its meetings.
- "Crazy Carl" Hickerson: a noted eccentric that spun flowers on his fingers at University of Texas baseball games and refused to use air conditioning or deodorant due to personal convictions. Ran numerous times for Austin City Council, but never got more than 2 percent of the vote.
- Shaun Stensol, AKA "Radiation Ranger": an unemployed local who ran for city council in 1997 wearing a gas mask and calling himself the "Radiation Ranger" to protest the destruction of earth. He dropped out of the campaign when he found a job at a local chain of sandwich shops, Thundercloud Subs.
- Bob Mackowski: a man who lived in the West Campus community that borders the campus of the University of Texas. He reportedly attended classes for more than 20 years to milk money from his rich father. Makowski often supplemented his income by serving as a subject of medical tests and by working as a telemarketer. He was noted for his frequent appearances at fraternity and other college events.
- Ray Blanchette: ran several times for Austin mayor and city council due to his anger over having his trash-dump of a home condemned and torn down. He rarely got more than a handful of votes.
- Steve Mason: a bearded local man who often wears a scorpion belt and frequently rails against immigrants on Austin's cable access television channel. He has threatened repeatedly to run for office, but never has. He sometimes travels in the company of a presumed San Antonio firefighter named "Bexar Bob."
- Jeff Davis: a former Libertarian candidate for the United States Congress in 1990, he hosted his own television show on Austin's cable access channel for years. He quit after having a falling out with conspiracy theorist and fellow cable access television show host Alex Jones. His whereabouts are now unknown.
- Robert Allen: a well-known telemarketer. He was often hired by organizations to quickly raise funds through his unique phone call methods. He lived entirely on microwave meals and was never able to remove an unsightly ringworm infestation from his hands. As of 2004 he was living in Waterloo Park with a microwave he powered from outlets in the parking garage of Brackenridge Hospital. He reportedly helped raise money for the campaign of Democrat Chris Bell for Texas Governor in 2006.
- Ralph the Reprobate: a character said to live in a cave near the intersection of FM 2222 and Loop 360. He subsists on money he collects through panhandling and also from scraps he finds near the local County Line restaurant on FM 2222. Some believe he was a University of Texas arts professor in the 1980s, but quit after ruining his health with drugs. His beliefs in reprobation are unknown.
- Carib Guerra: The young self proclaimed, Party King, in partnership with friends Joel Bell and Joseph Carington lead a three man crusade against what Bell describes as "the boredom placed on our peers by an oppressive diety YOU people call 'hey daddy'," during an interview in a local publication. Carib claims that despite his constant state of unemployment and a "complete lack of motivation regarding the shit ya'll have chosen to do with your time," that he lives "Probably better than your kids," and that he depends fully on "a god given right to do what ever I want, but hey relax it's all coming back to you, buddy."
References
- Kanter, Alexis, "Keep Austin Weird?", The Daily Texan, September 9, 2004.
External links
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[the original Wikipedia page is here.]
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