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How Austin became obsessed with being weird · Austin Signal

0:08
Governor Greg Abbott is pitching the
0:10
idea of eliminating what he calls
0:12
city monopolies on providing
0:14
electricity, a plan focused in
0:16
part on Austin energy.
0:17
He claims a move like this could
0:19
lower customer rates, but how
0:21
has deregulation played out in other
0:22
parts of the state?
0:23
We've got more about that.
0:25
It's coming up on today's show.
0:27
The Austin Signal is a production
0:29
of KUT News, hosted by
0:31
Jerry Quijano.
0:32
And Austin Henge is happening
0:34
right now.
0:35
What is it?
0:36
Well, it's a really good chance to
0:37
catch a stellar sunset photo
0:39
here in town. We've got some good
0:40
tips to help you make that perfect
0:42
shot. Plus, the question has been
0:44
asked before and will likely be
0:46
asked forever more.
0:48
Is Austin still weird?
0:50
Plenty of folks have plenty of
0:52
feelings. Come get weird with us.
0:54
That's coming up next right here on
0:56
Austin Signal.
1:02
Bye.
1:07
Howdy out there, this is
1:09
Austin Signal.
1:10
I'm your host, Jerry Kehannel.
1:12
Today is the seventh, the first
1:14
Friday of August.
1:15
Thank you for spending it here with
1:16
us.
1:18
Governor Greg Abbott pitched this
1:19
week the idea of eliminating what he
1:21
calls city monopolies on
1:23
providing electricity, a plan
1:24
focused in part on Austin Energy and
1:27
the main provider down in San
1:28
Antonio.
1:29
Abbott claims a move like this could
1:31
lower rates for customers in these
1:32
cities, but it hasn't always played
1:34
out like that for other Texans.
1:36
Joining us now is Cyrus Reed.
1:38
He is the legislative and
1:39
conservation director at the Texas
1:41
chapter of the Sierra Club,
1:43
a nonprofit organization focused on
1:45
environmental issues.
1:46
He has been following municipal
1:48
energy use for decades and he's with
1:49
us now. Thank you for being here,
1:51
Cyrus.
1:51
Yeah, no problem. It's a pleasure to
1:52
be here.
1:53
So this week, Austin
1:55
Energy came under the focus
1:57
of Governor Greg Abbott for what he
1:58
called or what he labeled
2:00
monopolies, energy monopolies.
2:02
Can you tell us a little bit about
2:03
how Austin Energy works here?
2:05
Yeah, Austin Energy and
2:07
71 other municipal-owned
2:09
utilities in the state of Texas
2:11
are vertically integrated
2:14
energy companies.
2:15
In other words, they own wires,
2:17
they can own generation,
2:20
and they sell electricity to
2:22
the folks that are in their service
2:24
area.
2:25
Austin Energy is one of those 72
2:27
municipal-own utilities, and
2:29
it does mean that they're
2:32
the ones who sell electricity to
2:33
you. You pay your rates to them.
2:35
That money then goes to
2:37
Austin Energy, but because they
2:39
ultimately are a department of the
2:41
city of Austin, the profits
2:43
can either go back into
2:45
the electric system or be used by
2:47
the city of Austin for other
2:48
budgetary needs.
2:49
Gotcha. Okay, well this week
2:50
Governor Abbott said that
2:52
doing so or breaking this monopoly
2:54
as he labeled it here for Austin
2:56
Energy would help lower Texans
2:58
power bills. He didn't exactly say
3:00
how that would be the case.
3:02
Why would that be the case?
3:03
So the reason that
3:05
could be the case, and we kind of
3:07
disagree with the proposal as you'll
3:09
hear, is because
3:11
in the deregulated
3:13
part of ERCOT's market, so
3:15
some areas like Corpus, Houston
3:17
or Dallas, folks can
3:19
choose their retail electric
3:21
provider.
3:22
That is simply the company that
3:24
sells them the electricity and you
3:26
can choose what kind of rate you
3:28
want and shop around.
3:30
It doesn't actually change what
3:32
you're paying to the transmission
3:33
companies for transmission.
3:36
And those companies don't actually
3:37
own generation.
3:38
So it's a different model.
3:40
It's a deregulated model where
3:42
folks do choose their electric
3:43
providers.
3:44
So you could go and shop on the
3:46
Power To Choose website and
3:48
you might be able to lock in
3:50
for a year or two rates that
3:52
you think are preferable
3:54
for yourself.
3:55
Well, obviously there's lots of talk
3:56
here about prices and cheaper prices
3:58
from the work that you've done and
4:00
from what you know.
4:01
Are prices in competitive markets,
4:03
do they tend to be lower than
4:04
municipally owned utilities?
4:06
The answer is no, but it depends.
4:09
So depending on the utility, the
4:10
prices might be lower in the
4:12
competitive market. But in the case
4:13
of Austin Energy,
4:15
in part because of the investments
4:16
we've made on energy savings program
4:18
and onsite solar, the
4:20
average bills in Austin Energy are
4:22
actually the lowest in ERCOT.
4:24
The only utility I know of with
4:25
lower prices is El Paso
4:27
Electric, which again, it's
4:29
partially because they don't really
4:30
use AC out there.
4:31
They use swamp coolers and so they
4:33
use less energy.
4:34
But in general, our prices
4:36
in Austin, for an average user,
4:39
are the lowest in ERCOT.
4:40
And so we're
4:42
not convinced by this proposal.
4:45
You've spent some time as a lobbyist
4:46
and also some time, obviously, in
4:48
the legislature.
4:49
How long has this talk of
4:51
deregulation been happening here in
4:53
Texas?
4:53
It's been for a while.
4:55
So in 1999,
4:57
there was a bill that was passed by
4:58
the legislature that deregulated
5:01
or partially deregulate the electric
5:02
market, separating generators,
5:05
retail electric providers, and
5:07
the transmission companies.
5:09
But in that law, they allowed public
5:12
utilities, whether they were
5:13
municipal owned utilities or
5:16
electric cooperatives, some more
5:17
rural electric cooperative.
5:19
To not enter into that competition
5:21
if they chose not to.
5:23
If they wanted to, they could, but
5:24
they didn't have to.
5:26
And so since that time, we've only
5:28
had two utilities.
5:30
One is the city of Lubbock, and they
5:32
might have a different title, but
5:33
it's basically the city of Lubbeck's
5:35
electric power entity.
5:37
And the Nueces Electric Co-op
5:39
are the only public
5:41
utilities that have agreed
5:43
to go into the competitive market.
5:44
Other than that, everyone else has
5:46
maintained.
5:48
Their so-called monopoly within
5:49
their service area.
5:50
And I was reading about the Lubbock
5:52
market. It seems like prices, while
5:54
they started low, they seem to have
5:56
risen in recent years, or since
5:58
they entered into
6:00
that deregulated market.
6:01
So that was a particular case.
6:02
What happened with Lubbock is they
6:03
decided to join Urquhart's market.
6:05
They previously had been in another
6:07
market in the Southwest Power Pool.
6:09
And so when they switched over
6:11
to Urquart, the
6:13
city basically made that decision
6:15
with public input.
6:16
In other words, folks thought that
6:17
was good idea.
6:18
We'd rather than maintain
6:20
our monopoly, we'd rather give
6:22
people that choice.
6:23
They're a much smaller utility
6:25
than say CPS Energy or Austin
6:27
Energy, but still a
6:29
municipal utility.
6:30
And they continue to own some
6:32
transmission lines.
6:33
Okay, got it.
6:33
You mentioned ERCOT.
6:35
When I think of ERCOD and energy,
6:36
and I'm sure other Texans think this
6:38
way, blackouts also come to
6:40
mind. I know we're in the early
6:41
stages of this plan.
6:42
How could more energy companies
6:44
being in Austin or in other cities
6:46
potentially affect blackouts?
6:48
Well, we're worried by the proposal,
6:51
and the reason we're worried is
6:52
because right now Austin Energy has
6:54
a set of customers.
6:56
They sort of know what
6:58
their revenues are going to be, and
6:59
therefore they can plan for
7:01
how they're going to buster up
7:03
their distribution system,
7:05
what generation needs they might
7:06
have to serve that load to serve
7:08
their customers.
7:09
But if you suddenly allow folks
7:12
to opt out, and I'm
7:13
not clear on the governor's
7:14
proposal, but it seems like it's
7:16
everybody. It could be commercial
7:17
entities, industrial entities.
7:19
Residential consumers,
7:20
that suddenly means that amount
7:23
of revenues isn't available for
7:24
Austin Energy or other municipal
7:26
utilities to invest,
7:28
which then could make our electric
7:30
reliability worsen.
7:32
And so it might not
7:34
make sense. On the one hand, you
7:35
say, oh, choice is good.
7:36
Maybe someone can shop for lower
7:38
prices.
7:38
But what you're basically doing is
7:41
impacting those utilities
7:43
and their plans to invest in
7:45
a more reliable system.
7:46
And in fact, a lot of the
7:49
generation decisions that are being
7:50
made by Austin Energy, by CPS
7:52
Energy, by others, Denton.
7:55
They're dependent in some ways
7:57
on having a customer base that
7:59
can then support that investment.
8:01
That investment actually serves the
8:03
whole grid, right? It's not just
8:04
tied to those customers, it's
8:05
serving the entire grid.
8:07
And so this could really put
8:09
that reliability at risk.
8:11
Well, you spent a lot of time
8:12
working on energy issues here in
8:13
Texas. When you first heard the
8:15
announcement from the governor this
8:16
week, did it catch you by surprise?
8:18
Totally by surprise.
8:19
Price.
8:19
We have heard certain legislators
8:21
in the past either have
8:23
legislation or
8:25
discuss this as a
8:27
model.
8:28
We should allow anyone in the
8:30
state of Texas that's within ERCOT
8:31
to choose their electric provider.
8:34
We hadn't seen this broad
8:36
of a proposal and
8:38
especially not coming from the
8:39
governor.
8:40
Again, it sounds good,
8:42
lower prices by giving people
8:44
options.
8:46
The issue is you're going to then
8:48
impact all of those cities that
8:50
use the non-for-profit
8:52
revenues to go back
8:54
into their system and into other
8:56
programs.
8:57
You're going undermine that, and
8:59
therefore, they will probably
9:01
have to raise property taxes to
9:03
cover those costs,
9:06
which kind of goes against what the
9:08
governor's been saying about
9:09
lowering property taxes.
9:11
So something can sound good on the
9:13
surface, but it can have unintended
9:14
consequences.
9:15
And speaking of which, from your
9:17
perspective, are there other
9:19
potential negative impacts that
9:21
could come from this plan?
9:22
There are, as a
9:25
member of Austin Energy,
9:26
as someone who's served by them,
9:29
or could be anyone in the state,
9:31
you have a voice in how that utility
9:33
is run.
9:34
We have a Electric Utility
9:36
Commission. I happen to be on the
9:37
Electric Utilities Commission, but
9:38
we also have a city council.
9:40
Other utilities have their own
9:41
boards of directors.
9:43
People can come.
9:44
And say, we'd like a program like
9:46
this. As an example, Austin Energy
9:48
has the leading programs for
9:50
energy efficiency.
9:51
We have a customer assistance
9:53
program that helps 80,000
9:55
individuals with lower bills.
9:57
If you take away our customer base,
9:59
it's harder to have those
10:01
kinds of investments.
10:03
And the great thing about public
10:04
utilities is you can influence
10:06
what they do.
10:07
If you're choosing, and I'm not bad
10:09
mouthing any private corporations,
10:11
but if you're using.
10:12
TXU or Reliant, which are the
10:13
leading electric companies in the
10:15
competitive market,
10:17
you don't really have much say
10:18
because they're serving their
10:19
shareholders.
10:20
And so local democracy,
10:23
local decision-making is at those
10:25
municipal utilities.
10:27
All right, we have been speaking
10:28
with Cyrus Reed.
10:29
He is the Legislative and
10:31
Conservation Director at the Texas
10:32
Chapter of the Sierra Club.
10:34
He has been following the municipal
10:35
energy use issue for decades,
10:38
and we will have a link to more in
10:39
today's show notes.
10:40
Cyrus, thank you.
10:41
It was a pleasure. Thank you so
10:42
much.
10:43
And just a quick note, Austin Energy
10:45
is a financial supporter of
10:47
KUT News.
10:48
Financial supporters do not
10:50
influence news coverage from KUT
10:52
news and Austin Signal.
10:54
We got a couple headlines before you
10:56
go. Four construction workers were
10:57
detained by DPS and ICE officers
10:59
yesterday during a traffic stop
11:01
downtown.
11:02
DPS says the individuals in the
11:03
vehicle were, quote, not lawfully
11:05
present in the United States,
11:07
end quote.
11:08
And Austin ISD is still figuring out
11:10
transportation plans for middle and
11:11
high school students less than two
11:13
weeks before the start of the school
11:15
year. The district is retooling
11:17
its bus system after eliminating 27
11:19
school bus routes to save money.
11:21
This is Austin Signal.
11:23
We're gonna be back right after this
11:24
break.
11:30
This is Austin Signal.
11:32
Well, you've undoubtedly heard of
11:34
the city's unofficial Keep Austin
11:36
Weird slogan.
11:37
Since its inception in the early
11:39
2000s, the slogan has sparked an
11:41
undying debate in an aggressively
11:43
nostalgic city, and it's
11:44
led to a perennial question.
11:46
Are we still keeping Austin weird?
11:49
KUT's Andrew Weber set out to find
11:51
that answer.
11:53
Personally, I think Austin is
11:55
weird. Kind of, but it's
11:57
not the weird I've grown accustomed
11:58
to. Before you come after me, I've
12:00
been here in Austin for close to
12:02
18 years, half my life.
12:04
I've met Leslie Cochran, Austin's
12:06
dearly departed cross-dressing
12:07
mascot and former mayoral candidate.
12:10
He used to hang out in my apartment
12:11
parking lot off South Lamar and
12:12
always ambled up to me to ask for a
12:14
spare beer when I was coming home
12:15
from work just before he died.
12:17
And the other day, I had to
12:19
dodge a cyber truck with a full
12:21
wrap advertisement for peptide
12:23
treatments, walking to a coffee
12:24
shop. So I don't know if this place
12:26
is weird anymore, or maybe it
12:28
is, or maybe its not my kind
12:30
of weird.
12:31
I didn't know how to answer the
12:32
question, so I consulted the ancient
12:34
texts.
12:35
The man who was responsible for this
12:36
question, Red Wassonick.
12:38
In the early 2000s, the ACC
12:39
Librarian started the whole keep
12:41
Austin weird thing.
12:42
It became a city slogan after a
12:44
campaign against a big box bookstore
12:46
moving across the street from book
12:47
people, and it stuck.
12:49
But since Austin's meteoric growth,
12:51
It's influx of more and more tech
12:53
culture with less and less
12:54
affordable housing for artists.
12:56
It's beg to question, is the city
12:58
still weird?
12:59
Here's Red Wasinek, 10 years ago,
13:01
speaking with KET editor, Ben
13:03
Philpott.
13:03
It's still weird.
13:06
I know people are obsessed about,
13:08
no, it's not weird.
13:11
But there's this recurring
13:12
phenomenon of old farts
13:14
like me who go, oh, it
13:16
not weird anymore.
13:17
It used to be weird.
13:19
And then you meet new people who
13:20
move here and say, this is great.
13:22
It's so weird here.
13:24
So everybody thinks the past
13:26
was.
13:27
Something better.
13:28
Unfortunately, Red died in 2020,
13:30
so I couldn't get his take on how
13:32
Austin has fared in the last decade.
13:34
But I did get a hold of another
13:36
Austin old-timer, Cary On.
13:38
He moved here in 1970, started a
13:40
band, painted the iconic
13:41
Austin-tacious mural on the drag,
13:44
and he did stand up.
13:45
I got a hold on him on a scratchy
13:46
phone line. We didn't know it was
13:48
weird at the time.
13:50
But he argues he helped make it
13:52
weird.
13:54
That's a cut from the Ronnie
13:55
Velveeta show on Austin Public
13:56
Access.
13:57
His boozy, skeezy lounge singer
13:59
act is the reason that Austin's
14:01
longest-running comedy club is
14:03
called the Velveeteroom.
14:05
And he's got thoughts about Austin's
14:07
comedy scene now.
14:08
Uh, well, I don't
14:10
like Joe Rogan.
14:11
Carey's move from Austin coincided
14:13
with Joe Rogans' move to Austin.
14:15
He says he doesn't recognize the
14:17
comedy scene anymore, so he moved
14:19
out to Alpine. But he thinks
14:21
that's just part of the city's
14:23
fabric On the whole, he thinks
14:25
Austin's vibe has persevered.
14:27
Austin is still weird.
14:29
It's still weird, but it's a real-
14:30
Really the people make it weird,
14:33
not anything like the
14:35
town itself is not weird,
14:38
but the people make is weird.
14:41
We didn't know in the 20th
14:43
century, we were just trying
14:45
to amuse ourselves, that's what we
14:47
did. Show.
14:48
Make other people laugh,
14:50
but Carrie's not out here dodging
14:52
cyber trucks in Austin I
14:54
had to find a weirdo a local
14:56
weirdo. So I rode my bike
14:58
across Ben White
15:09
Hey, man.
15:10
Hey. Andrew from KC.
15:11
Andrew, hey.
15:11
How you doing? Good.
15:12
Vince Hanneman has lived off Lorena
15:14
in South Austin since 1989.
15:17
On a very hot day, he's on his
15:19
back porch, polishing off a Lone
15:20
Star, sweating, and gazing
15:23
upon his work.
15:24
So I didn't have a grand plan.
15:26
I mean, I couldn't think that far
15:27
into the future really.
15:29
I started with a little grouping of
15:31
individual freestanding sculptures,
15:34
but over time they kind of grew
15:35
together.
15:37
And when that happened, people
15:38
started asking me, hey, what do you
15:40
call that?
15:42
I was like, I don't know, Yard Space
15:43
11. They were like, what does that
15:45
mean?
15:46
Oh my God.
15:48
My mom started calling it the
15:50
Cathedral of Junk, you know, like
15:51
a mom will.
15:53
And that's stuck like glue.
15:54
So that's how that happened.
15:56
I've never had this idea, ooh, I'm
15:57
gonna build a cathedral of junk.
16:00
If you've never been out to the
16:01
Cathedral of Junk, I highly
16:03
recommend it.
16:04
It's an island of misfit
16:05
toys that rose up out of
16:07
the earth, as if by some sort
16:09
of incantation.
16:11
But Vince has been collecting junk
16:13
and tacking it onto this shrine for
16:15
nearly 40 years.
16:16
You duck your head under a gaggle of
16:18
wind chimes, and there's a 40-foot
16:20
spire lined with constellations
16:22
of junk.
16:23
Vince says he's tried to
16:25
make a list.
16:27
Bowling balls, which there's
16:28
multiples of, right?
16:29
Shopping carts, which they're
16:31
multiples of.
16:32
Bicycles, which is there's multiple
16:34
stuff.
16:36
You know, hubcaps,
16:39
VCRs, televisions, typewriters,
16:41
vacuum cleaners,
16:45
colanders, license
16:47
plates, street signs.
16:50
You know the list just goes and
16:52
goes and goes and it's pages.
16:55
The thing is, Vince's neighbors used
16:56
to hate this place, but then people
16:58
started seeking it out, donating
17:00
junk to help feed the beast.
17:02
It became a tourist attraction, a
17:04
totem of Austin's weirdness.
17:06
Vince is annoyed by that, in
17:08
a way.
17:09
People like me, coming to ask
17:10
questions about the definition of
17:12
Austin weirdness, whether the city
17:14
still is weird, he says
17:16
it's not that simple.
17:17
I thought of the word that what it
17:19
is that keep
17:21
Austin weird in America,
17:23
it's exceptionalism.
17:25
I think that's something
17:28
that, you know, they talk about
17:29
American exceptionalism, that's
17:31
what we are in Austin.
17:32
We're excellent and exceptional and
17:34
they somehow think that that's
17:36
weird.
17:37
You know, I hate to sound all
17:38
patriotic like that, but I think
17:40
it's kind of true.
17:44
Walking around with Vince, it's like
17:45
he's brand new to this place.
17:47
He lights up when he spots a random
17:49
piece of junk and tells you how it
17:50
got there.
17:51
Just before I left, Vince showed me
17:53
another odd find.
17:55
That is one of his favorites.
17:56
Aluminum disk.
17:57
This is from NASA back in
17:59
the day.
18:01
These are computer
18:03
disks, believe
18:05
it or not.
18:08
They hold like next to no
18:10
information on each one of these
18:12
disks. They had stacks and stacks
18:13
and stack of these.
18:16
It was before a floppy disk,
18:17
exactly. These are hard aluminum
18:19
disks.
18:22
Who knows, that might have sent
18:24
somebody
18:26
to the moon for all we know.
18:29
And maybe, just maybe,
18:32
you can find a piece of yourself
18:34
in this deified junk heap.
18:36
After Vince left to let in some
18:38
visitors, I was sitting there,
18:40
sweaty, and just listening to the
18:42
sound of this old aluminum floppy
18:44
disk from NASA.
18:45
And I did find a peace of
18:47
myself, from before my time in
18:49
Austin.
18:50
Before I had any real notion
18:52
of what was weird or
18:54
not.
19:04
This is a keychain from my high
19:05
school.
19:07
Highland Park Scots.
19:12
This place has everything.
19:17
On paper, it was objectively weird.
19:19
Some guy lets you in his backyard,
19:21
lets you amble through his colossal
19:23
three-story mound of structurally
19:25
sound garbage and concrete and
19:27
knick-knacks without any real
19:28
questions.
19:29
And among that detritus, you find
19:31
a piece of your own history, molded
19:33
into it.
19:34
I can't objectively answer the
19:36
question of whether the city is
19:37
still weird.
19:38
Austin's weird has died many deaths.
19:41
Everyone has their own weird little
19:43
bubble that bursts when a venue
19:44
closes or the Let's go up.
19:47
But Vince says that weird
19:48
is also being continuously
19:50
born again.
19:54
I guess we all have to
19:56
reinvent, keep Austin
19:58
weird every day, you know?
20:00
It's a whole new generation, so
20:01
whatever it means to them is what it
20:03
means for them.
20:04
But I think probably Austin's still
20:06
pretty weird.
20:07
Whatever.
20:09
I'm still here.
20:14
It's like Red Wasinick, the guy who
20:16
started this whole conversation when
20:17
he implored people to keep Austin
20:19
weird, said, everybody
20:21
thinks the past was
20:23
something better.
20:24
Come on in!
20:27
I'm Andrew Weber in Austin.
20:46
Austin hinge is upon
20:48
us this twice annual event where
20:50
the Sun and Austin's layout come
20:52
right together for quite the
20:54
show Here to share some tips on how
20:56
to enjoy the event and maybe get
20:57
some good photos of it, too Is
20:59
Michael Manassi?
21:00
He is a multimedia producer here at
21:02
KUT Michael great to have you back
21:04
on the show
21:05
Thanks for having me.
21:06
Okay, so tell me exactly
21:08
what is Austinhenge, you know,
21:10
because like with Watergate,
21:11
everything becomes something gate.
21:12
Is that another one of these issues
21:14
here?
21:14
Austinheng, what is it?
21:16
Actually, it's exactly like what I
21:18
gave you.
21:19
No, henges
21:21
as they are like kind of known,
21:23
you know, it comes from like
21:25
Stonehenge
21:27
and it's just all about the
21:29
alignment of sun
21:31
in a larger frame.
21:33
And famously it happens in Manhattan
21:35
and it is quite a like a to do
21:37
there. Like a lot of people will
21:38
come out and go take pictures
21:40
and videos and check
21:42
out the hinge together.
21:44
It happens here in Austin as
21:46
well because like most
21:48
cities, we have a grid downtown
21:51
and that grid is kind of perfect
21:53
for at some point during
21:55
the year lining up with the way
21:57
the sun sets or
21:58
rises.
21:59
Yeah, you mentioned Austin's not the
22:00
only one. I'm guessing that Austin's
22:02
happens at a certain time of year
22:04
and that's different compared to
22:05
when it happens in New York.
22:06
Exactly.
22:07
Right, in fact, it'll
22:08
happen literally at different times
22:10
within Austin, depending on which
22:12
part of Austin you're in and what
22:14
grid you're looking.
22:15
Okay, okay, that makes sense.
22:17
Well, this sounds like one of those
22:18
events that definitely captures
22:20
the attention of lots of
22:22
people and cameras as
22:24
well, because it sounds like it can
22:25
create quite a cool visual effect.
22:28
As a photographer, what tips do you
22:29
have for folks who might be trying
22:31
to take the best picture?
22:34
Yeah, if you happen to be wanting
22:36
to check this out,
22:38
you know, it would be happening.
22:40
Honestly, it's starting to happen
22:41
now and we'll go through the weekend
22:44
and a couple days after that,
22:46
where you'll start to get these kind
22:47
of perfect alignments
22:49
between the grid and the sun.
22:51
And the best way to capture those
22:53
are with one, a
22:55
really, really long lens, a
22:57
telephoto lens, which will really
22:59
compress the sun
23:01
and make it look larger and more
23:02
impressive.
23:03
While also condensing all the
23:05
buildings and making them a really
23:06
cool frame for the sun.
23:08
The other thing is to make sure
23:10
you show up a little bit earlier
23:12
than you think you need to
23:14
because we see the sun in the sky
23:16
all day and we don't think of it as
23:18
moving fast, but once you're talking
23:20
about the horizon,
23:22
that sun can go from right there in
23:23
front of you to gone pretty quick
23:25
and you don't wanna miss it.
23:26
So it's a good idea to show up a
23:28
little early.
23:28
Okay, and I would imagine as well
23:30
it's good to prioritize safety,
23:32
because I've seen some of these
23:33
Manhattanhenge videos where it seems
23:35
like people are right smack in the
23:36
middle of a road sometimes.
23:38
I'm guessing you don't advise doing
23:39
that for the best photo.
23:40
Yeah, no, don't get hit by cars
23:42
for photos.
23:43
That's rule number one for me.
23:46
But yeah, try to
23:48
avoid going in the middle of roads.
23:50
If you can find a higher vantage
23:51
point like a bridge
23:53
or something that has like a
23:54
pedestrian spot,
23:57
that's a good spot to check it out.
24:00
And yeah, be safe out there.
24:02
Okay, Michael, last question before
24:03
you get out of here.
24:04
My old Photo J professor,
24:06
he absolutely hated
24:08
pictures of sunrises and
24:10
sunsets. He was like, that is so
24:12
boring.
24:13
And I would never, I guess
24:15
I'm taking this personally because I
24:16
would take a lot of those photos.
24:18
Personally, do you find sunset,
24:20
sunrising photos, you know, they can
24:22
really be something special?
24:25
Photojournalism professors,
24:27
photography professors,
24:30
infamously very snotty about
24:32
their photos.
24:33
Sunsets are beautiful.
24:35
Sunsats are gorgeous.
24:36
They give us golden light, golden
24:38
hour, as photographers like to call
24:40
it. And it's one of the most coolest
24:41
times you'll
24:43
see all day.
24:44
So check it out.
24:46
All right, and you mentioned that
24:48
the Austin Henge is essentially
24:50
going on already.
24:51
Is there like a best day that people
24:53
can be out there or is it kind
24:55
of varied by where you're
24:56
at and what time you happen to be
24:58
looking towards the sun?
24:59
Yeah, pretty much if you go any
25:02
time between like now and Monday,
25:04
Tuesday, you'll get some of the
25:06
effect and it'll just change
25:08
the amount of minutes that that
25:10
like perfect lineup happens around
25:12
sunset.
25:13
All right, that is Michael Manassi.
25:16
He is a multimedia producer here
25:18
at KUT.
25:19
Michael, always great to talk with
25:20
you. Thanks for having me.
25:23
And thank you for spending your
25:25
Friday here with us.
25:26
This is KUT News.
25:28
We are listener-powered public
25:30
radio. And this is Austin
25:32
Signal. We are with you every
25:34
weekday afternoon at 1 o'clock
25:35
right here on KUT,
25:38
There's more from us at kut.org
25:41
slash signal.
25:42
Rene Chavez is our technical
25:44
director, Alexandra Hart is our
25:45
producer, Kristen Cabrera is
25:47
our managing producer.
25:49
I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
25:50
We're gonna be back same time on
25:52
Monday. Have a safe weekend.