The "capital" of the Austin music scene: 6th street

Short video clip of SXSW Festival 2009 (Daytime is fairly mild - the night scene is rivalled only by New Orleans Mardi Gras).

6th Street is a historic street and entertainment district in Austin, Texas. East 6th Street is the center of the city's live music scene.

6th Street was formerly named Pecan Street under Austin's older naming convention, which had east-west streets named after trees and north-south streets named after Texas rivers (the latter convention remains in place). The area around nearby 4th Street and 6th Street is the heart of the Austin entertainment district. Many bars, clubs, music venues, and shopping destinations are located on E. 6th Street between Congress Avenue and Interstate 35 and many offer live music at one time or another during the week.

E. 6th Street plays host to a wide variety of events each year, ranging from music and film festivals (such as South by Southwest) to biker rallies (such as The Republic of Texas Biker Rally) and the Pecan Street Festival.

Traffic is generally blocked on E. 6th Street and most crossroads from I-35 to Brazos Street on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings (depending on pedestrian traffic), as well as holidays and special events to allow the crowds to walk unfettered to the many venues that line the street. On New Year's Eve,Mardi Gras, and Halloween nights tens of thousands of revelers can walk only one way depending on the side of the street they are on.


The area of 6th Street west of Lavaca is known as the West 6th Street District. It is roughly bound by 5th Street, 7th Street, Lavaca Street, and West Ave. Recently, there has been a growing movement to develop this area as an entertainment district of its own, geared toward the live music crowd.

A Prayer for Owin' Money

5/27/09

Oh holy market, give us a sign. We have wandered in the desert, been seared by the burning Bush, and genuflected at the feet of the Golden Bull.

Your invisible hand doth smite our fundaments, and its middle digit doth lead our vision heavenward. Give us the wisdom to heed your warnings, yet send us no more the mad prophets who speak the twisted tongues of Babel.

Deflate not our assets, oh holy market, and trickle down upon us the manna against which we have borrowed in your name.

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• Police in line for baffling language award with 102word sentence (telegraph.co.uk)

Are you getting on, or not?

John Cage tells this story:

"A crowded bus on the point of leaving Manchester for Stockport was found by its conductress to have one too many standees. She therefore asked, “Who was the last person to get on the bus?” No one said a word.

Declaring that the bus would not leave until the extra passenger was put off, she went and fetched the driver, who also asked, “All right, who was the last person to get on the bus?” Again there was a public silence. So the two went to find an inspector. He asked, “Who was the last person to get on the bus?” No one spoke. He then announced that he would fetch a policeman. While the conductress, driver, and inspector were away looking for a policeman, a little man came up to the bus stop and asked, “Is this the bus to Stockport?” Hearing that it was, he got on. A few minutes later the three returned accompanied by a policeman. He asked, “What seems to be the trouble? Who was the last person to get on the bus?” The little man said, “I was.” The policeman said, “All right, get off.”

All the people on the bus burst into laughter. The conductress, thinking they were laughing at her, burst into tears and said she refused to make the trip to Stockport. The inspector then arranged for another conductress to take over. She, seeing the little man standing at the bus stop, said, “What are you doing there?” He said, “I’m waiting to go to Stockport.” She said, “Well, this is the bus to Stockport. Are you getting on or not?”

John Cage, Indeterminacy, 175  John Cage . Indeterminacy