Austin360 blogs > Bottlecaps & Wingnuts > Archives > 2008 > January > 28 > Entry
Southpark Yuma ‘R’ Us
My last blog, on Southpark Meadows, hit a small chord with some folks. I remember going there for a Jimmy Buffett show in 1996. Aside from a couple of Willie Picnics, it was my first “big” show and I remember being taken aback by the guy selling (renting?) binoculars at the entrance.
As a music event, of course, the Buffett show was terrible. As a huge open-air party of people who were determined to have a good time … it was fantastic. I just happened to be wearing the giant parrot head and leading the conga line when he played “Margaritaville.” Remember that. I want it to be in my obituary.
I guess, as a parent, it’s handy to have the shopping complex right there, but it’d be really cool to have a Willie Picnic right down the street from my house.
(And no, despite having written an open letter to Endeavor Real Estate several years ago, asking them to put a bar in the Southpark Meadows shopping complex, I still have not been to the Little Woodrow’s there. Well, not really. We stopped by about a week ago, but there was some sort of televised fight going on, and it was wall-to-wall people in there. We didn’t stay.)
Speaking of picnics… Michael Corcoran already mentioned this on the Austin Music Source blog, but the rumor is out that this year’s Willie Fourth of July shindig will be in San Antonio.
I e-mailed Willie’s PR guru and asked if there was any official word, but she said “no.”
Some are excited about the concept of a picnic in the Alamodome. Now, there’s no official word at all on where a picnic would be held, but in the Alamodome wouldn’t be a picnic… it would just be an indoor concert.
Still, if the era of the outdoor picnic is over — and who could blame Willie? He turns 75 this year — it sure was a good run.
Saw “3:10 to Yuma” on Saturday night with Bullworker. The remake, with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe. Not bad, really. I don’t know if it was really a Western, so much as it was an action movie based on Western characters, but it was pretty entertaining.
Boy, Babies “R” Us has done little to boost my view of them. Over the past month, I went into the Sunset Valley location twice and called twice in order to try and secure a jogging stroller that they did not have in stock. Nobody there could tell me whether they still carried the stroller, whether they would get it in stock or anything useful at all.
I was reassured each time that if I left my phone number, I would get a call back from them with answers.
Never one call did I receive. I finally ordered the jogging stroller online, willing to pay the shipping charge for the convenience of not having to deal with the local folks again.
Customer service? Why should they have customer service? If you want baby stuff, it is the place to go. And they know it.
From now on, we’re buying baby stuff at Target.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment Categories: By Dave Thomas
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By L. Day
January 31, 2008 5:26 PM | Link to this
Yo, Dave-I missed the story on Southpark Meadows but I'd like to weigh in. I can't believe the sprawl across the beautiful Meadows was so quick! It was just July 4th of 2000 when I was at the last Willie Nelson picnic and it happened to be there instead of Dripping Springs because of some screw up with those stinky licenses and stuff they make you get. At any rate, I,too, saw bands there over the years-Ozzy and Def Leppard come to mind-but it was one of the greatest music venues ever. Now there are paved, lighted thoroughfares and cheap houses thrown up and big box stores permeating the great Meadows. But I'm glad our band got to play that Willie picnic that year on that fantastically, huge stage. I'm just sad to admit that it's just another sign that Austin is losing its claim to being the Live Music Capital of The World. Be aware - Sixth Street is fading fast.
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Dave responds: Great to hear from you ... yeah, they put that up in a hurry. We bought our house in Aug. 2004 and there was nothing there beyond the Sonic up the road. By 3 years later, it was a full-fledged sprawl...
By Seagraves
January 28, 2008 12:51 PM | Link to this
Our experience with Babies R Us:
They put my wife's maiden name, and only her maiden name, on the computer registry.
When my friends called to say they couldn't find us on the list (as it didn't have my name), my wife called the store to correct the problem.
She talked to one person, who said she didn't know how to fix the problem, didn't know anyone who could fix the problem, and who had to go because she "didn't have time to talk."
And don't ask about returns either.
We're NEVER going back.