Sunday Stroll Through LoBu

Took a Sunday stroll through a neighborhood graveyard yesterday. The Austin Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 8300 Hancock Blvd. and close to the Mopac freeway but extends 86 acres and so mostly rests a comfortable distance from the river of automobiles. Apparently in 1927 the tract of land included 112 acres and was purchased by a private company for the price of ten dollars! Wow... if you have a 60 x 100 foot lot in the neighborhood these days it's valued at about $200,000. The City of Austin purchased the cemetery in 1941.

I joked with friend Russ that we were "whistling past the graveyard" and wondered about that term. Just looked it up and Wiktionary says: "attempt to stay cheerful in a dire situation" or "to enter a situation with little or no understanding of the possible consequences."

That second definition sounds similar to being born.

I enjoyed the stroll though we never found James Michener's gravesite. There are some other Austin notables buried there.

We stopped at Monkey Nest (5353 Burnet Rd.) after the walk. This is a jumping little Burnet Rd. coffee shop and eatery in the LoBu neighborhood, popular with the WiFi crowd. And who isn't in the WiFi crowd these days?! Ambience is very conducive to friendly conversation. Monkey Nest is another contribution to the glorious gentrification of LoBu. LoBu is my term for Lower Burnet Road. That is the part of Burnet Road close to its beginning at 45th Street-- right about where Upper Crust Bakery has stood all these years. So you see Burnet Road had strong roots in coffee shops, pastry and enjoying life with friends.

So to complete the LoBu trifect-- graveyard, coffee shop, restaurant-- went to Gusto restaurant (4800 Burnet Rd.) with wife Mona later in the day. I got the Pasta Gemelli for about the fifth time. So that dish is a winner. The ambience again is a strong point and Gusto has a great outdoor dining area.

So visit LoBu-- a great place to live and hang out with friends, maybe even hang out with those passed on to greener pastures.

Jonathan Winters-- greatest funnyman

After much research a decision has been reached-- on the question of Who Is the Funniest Comedian Since 1950? The funniest comedian since the midpoint of the twentieth century is Jonathan Winters. I have many comedy favorites-- including Woody Allen. I feel like Woody Allen is the only real competition for Winters but tell you why the Funniest Comedian Award goes to Winters. Woody has a whole framework for his comedy built on the neurotic nebbish. The nebbish personality is a brilliant comic perspective and Woody has probably influenced American culture to a far greater degree than has Winters. But for pure antic nuttiness, unrestrained creativity you got to look at the genius of Jonathan Winters. I watched an old Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour from the late Sixties. Winters created a whole wagon train of characters-- crossing the American west to California. They encounter an Indian tribe. But Winter's characterizations, created with surreal brevity, a gesture, an accent, etc. cannot be surpassed. He reveals the neurotic tendencies inherent to everybody. His comedy gets beyond your brain's ability to understand -- and brings you to some deep human, humane level. Winters, and maybe all great comics, make you feel enlightened. You lighten up. You see the light. So I vote for Jonathan Winters-- best comedian since 1950. But, of course, you gotta love Groucho Marx and W.C. Fields.