Some of you guys might remember a few months back when we took part in Austin Bakes for Japan a fund raiser by the Austin food blogging community that ended up raising over $11,000 dollars for Japan earthquake relief efforts.  We were so thrilled to be a part of that event.

Recently tragedy has struck much closer to home.  If you live in Austin, I don’t need to tell you about the devastation left in the wake of the Bastrop fires this month.  The amazing community of food bloggers have organized another city-wide bakesale this weekend to help raise money for the people in our community who have been so deeply affected by the fires, and once again, we’re going to be there.  I can’t think of a better cause for all of us to rally around.  And if you got out to the Japan bakesale, you know that there are some serious bakers out there making amazing stuff.  this isn’t your average bake sale.

There are a whopping 7 locations for the bakesale this saturday, and they’ll all be going full force from 10am to 2pm.  Please, come out and get yourself some delicious treats and help out your neighbors. 100% of the proceeds are going to Austin Community Foundation’s Central Texas Wildfire Fund. Austin Community Foundation is a top-rated non-profit that’s providing support to agencies working on the ground in Bastrop, Steiner Ranch, Spicewood and other parts of Central Texas affected by wildfire.

Find a list of all the locations on the Austin Bakes for Bastrop website.  Come on out, support your sweet tooth and help make a huge difference in Austin.  Hopefully we’ll see you there!

In April, Luke Jerram‘s amazing international art project Play Me I’m Yours came through Austin. 14 pianos were placed all around the downtown Austin area, out in parks, streets, and public squares for anyone to play, at any time. It was a wonderful, wonderful project. I can’t tell you how many times in April I walked by one of these pianos, and every time there someone playing. Everything from a Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody, to jazz, to small children tapping out Chopsticks and Heart and Soul.

The project was just too good to pass up. So our good friends Carla and Joel of Revel didn’t. On the last weekend of the installation, Revel and some of their buddies performed a concert on the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge in downtown Austin. I was lucky enough to be there for it, cammy in hand.

So we get wind in Austin almost never. A breeze here and there, and you know, tornadoes now and again. But just wind for the sake of wind, it’s a rare occurrence. But it occurred on this day. Music, music stands, hair. It was all blown to smithereens. So After a few numbers up on the bridge, the guys relocated to one of the other pianos just down the trail, in an area a bit more protected from the elements. The audience they picked up came along. We were treated to a little Brahms, a little Bohemian Rhapsody. It was pretty much perfect.

Last night we attended a concert by the UT Jazz Orchestra and I was lucky enough to get to go to the pre-show rehearsal and takes some publicity shots. The group is really an amazing band, and last night they performed an all-Ellington set as part of a conference on Duke Ellington that the university is putting on. The first half was a bunch of old-school Ellington big band works, and the second half was made up of Ellington works that UT students and faculty had arranged. Both sets were insanely good. Tonight the school is doing a performance of Ellington’s only Opera, Queenie Pie, and the JO is the pit orchestra for that production. That should be pretty interesting. Amy and I try to hit the all of the JO concerts each year. We’re big fanboys. Here are some of the better rehearsal shots.