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Austin and Central Texas Community |OT| Tacos, Tunes, Traffic, and Torridity

S

SomewhatGroovy

Banned
I have to ask you all a dumb question and this will show you how very little I watch any TV programming.

Are the 4 basic networks (nbc, cbs, fox and abc) still easily availble for any HD antenna (which you connect to back of TV) to pick up or do you now have to subscribe to a cable service provider to get them?

I vaguely remembering something on the topic a few years back and wasn't sure. Didn't want to go to Fry's and pick an HD antenna to hook to back to TV for nothing.

Thanks much in advance, cuties
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
You can get OTA for several channels assuming your TV has a built-in tuner. It used to be as long as you had a modern HD TV, there would be a tuner, but some of the super thin 4K TV's have started taking them out.

Fox OTA reception sucks though.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
SomewhatGroovy said:
Thanks, Zoe. Yeah it's a 2012 panasonic and has built in tuner.

Last question, any significant differences between Roku and Chromecast?
Click to expand...
Roku can be standalone with its own remote, right? You need another device to control the Chromecast.

I've had limited exposure to either though, so I'm just talking out of my ass.
 
T

Timeaisis

Member
As much as I like the Gorillaz, I'm not sure how keen I am seeing a virtual band live.

And yeah, past the 3rd row I know barely anyone.
 
C

Chance Hale

Member
Decent amount of bands I like but I'm not sure if I'll go given a lot of the big ones are at FYF this summer which I'm attending and I don't think I can handle two scorching festivals. I don't even remember most of ACL last year because I was tripping my face off the whole time lol.
 
S

sh4mike

Member
Looking for advice on family vacation planning. We've never been to Texas before, and we'll have 2 nights in Houston, 2 nights in San Antonio, and 2 nights in Dallas.

Party:
2 adults, 4-year old girl, 9-year old boy

Itinerary:
May 27 – Sat – Galveston hotel check-in
May 28 – Sun – cruise embark
(May29-Jun3) – at sea
Jun 4 – Sun – cruise disembark, drive 1 hour to Houston, Houston hotel check-in
Jun 5 – Mon – sleep @ Houston Hotel
Jun 6 – Tue – drive 3 hours to San Antonio, San Antonio hotel check-in
Jun 7 – Wed –sleep @ San Antonio hotel
Jun 8 – Thu – drive 4 hours to Dallas, Dallas hotel check-in
Jun 9 – Fri - sleep @ Dallas hotel
Jun 10 – Sat – drive home

Hotel nice-to-haves:
1) free parking
2) free hot breakfast
3) free in-room wifi

Existing Day plans:
Houston = http://www.citypass.com/houston
San Antonio = river walk, Alamo
Dallas = http://www.citypass.com/dallas

Questions:
1) Where to stay and what to do in Galveston?
2) Where to stay and what to do in Houston?
3) Where to stay and what to do in San Antonio?
4) Where to stay and what to do in Dallas?
 
S

sh4mike

Member
The Broken Ska Record said:
River Walk/RiverCenter Mall/Alamo would be more than enough for two days. Unless you want to go to a theme park. There is a Sea World and Six Flags Fiesta Texas here.
Click to expand...
No interest in theme parks, looking for more local culture and history. River walk and Alamo are top on our San Antonio list.

RiverCenter Mall wasn't on the list, but at a glance it appears to be worth a stop. Thank you.
 
S

SixMachine

Member
I went to Kula Sushi a few days ago, which operates with a conveyir belt. It was nice you can just grab what you want and order stuff off the touch pade but some of my pieces the rice fell apart, so I don't think they were kneading it properly. It is still rather new, so they were probably training new people at the same time as service, since I saw hiring signs.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
The sushi pieces were too big for the rice (at least on the tamago... I don't eat fish :lol), so I couldn't pick up the whole thing properly.

The non-sushi dishes were kinda meh, but I didn't try the ramen or udon. Next time!
 
T

The Broken Ska Record

Member
sh4mike said:
No interest in theme parks, looking for more local culture and history. River walk and Alamo are top on our San Antonio list.

RiverCenter Mall wasn't on the list, but at a glance it appears to be worth a stop. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Yeah, RiverCenter is in downtown. It does have some unique shops, like a store that sells stuff that's only purple. Plus it's at the end of the River Walk.
 
S

SomewhatGroovy

Banned
sh4mike said:
Looking for advice on family vacation planning. We've never been to Texas before, and we'll have 2 nights in Houston, 2 nights in San Antonio, and 2 nights in Dallas.

Party:
2 adults, 4-year old girl, 9-year old boy

Itinerary:
May 27 – Sat – Galveston hotel check-in
May 28 – Sun – cruise embark
(May29-Jun3) – at sea
Jun 4 – Sun – cruise disembark, drive 1 hour to Houston, Houston hotel check-in
Jun 5 – Mon – sleep @ Houston Hotel
Jun 6 – Tue – drive 3 hours to San Antonio, San Antonio hotel check-in
Jun 7 – Wed –sleep @ San Antonio hotel
Jun 8 – Thu – drive 4 hours to Dallas, Dallas hotel check-in
Jun 9 – Fri - sleep @ Dallas hotel
Jun 10 – Sat – drive home

Hotel nice-to-haves:
1) free parking
2) free hot breakfast
3) free in-room wifi

Existing Day plans:
Houston = http://www.citypass.com/houston
San Antonio = river walk, Alamo
Dallas = http://www.citypass.com/dallas

Questions:
1) Where to stay and what to do in Galveston?
2) Where to stay and what to do in Houston?
3) Where to stay and what to do in San Antonio?
4) Where to stay and what to do in Dallas?
Click to expand...

Grand Ooera House is a must and historic site in Galveston but nothing is playing that day. Instead ,I would check out Cool Tours .

About 30 mins away head north and away from Galveston is Kemah boardwalk. That really should be your go to for that evening imo. http://m.kemahboardwalk.com

For Houston, I would so hit up the museum district near Montrose and Richmond. There is a lot of great food and parks to hit up nearby as well.
 
S

sh4mike

Member
SomewhatGroovy said:
Grand Ooera House is a must and historic site in Galveston but nothing is playing that day. Instead ,I would check out Cool Tours .

About 30 mins away head north and away from Galveston is Kemah boardwalk. That really should be your go to for that evening imo. http://m.kemahboardwalk.com

For Houston, I would so hit up the museum district near Montrose and Richmond. There is a lot of great food and parks to hit up nearby as well.
Click to expand...
Good stuff. Thank you.
 
S

SomewhatGroovy

Banned
I've never played a board game in my life and have no interest in trying one. I'm open to play my $40 copy of Ultra Street Fighter II while you guys roll dice at some point.

I think the two or three of us here who are wrestling fans should do a Meetup before wrestle circus as well.
 
E

Etrian Oddity

Member
Timeaisis said:
Hey, I try.

Going well. I went to Kemuri Tatsu-ya last Saturday. Second time going, and I really love that place. Although I'm too scared to try anything off the funky menu, but in due time, I guess.
Click to expand...
Any place that serves unagi with soggy skin commits a big sin in my book. =\
SomewhatGroovy said:
I've never played a board game in my life and have no interest in trying one. I'm open to play my $40 copy of Ultra Street Fighter II while you guys roll dice at some point.

I think the two or three of us here who are wrestling fans should do a Meetup before wrestle circus as well.
Click to expand...
Does Mohawk do Lucha Underground parties anymore?
 
S

SomewhatGroovy

Banned
Etrian Oddity said:
Any place that serves unagi with soggy skin commits a big sin in my book. =\

Does Mohawk do Lucha Underground parties anymore?
Click to expand...

To my knowledge, that was just for the season premier. I went to last year's. It's still a very hot spot for those in the biz to go and hang out. WWE stars frequent there when they are in town.
 
E

Etrian Oddity

Member
Well I'll be damned, it's a nice Memorial Day.

Anybody go out on the water? My pleb self is drinking wine at my apartment, doing laundry, and
working on the resume.
 
A

Aquavelvaman

Banned
How is Austin these days? House market, job market? Is the tech industry in decent shape there? I'm looking for a place to settle down and I've always been a fan of Austin when visiting.
 
Zoe

Zoe

Member
Don the food truck reopened in Daito's space, and it was a.ma.zing. It's a good thing getting down there is such a pain in the ass because with those prices we would be eating there nearly every day.

Aquavelvaman said:
How is Austin these days? House market, job market? Is the tech industry in decent shape there? I'm looking for a place to settle down and I've always been a fan of Austin when visiting.
Click to expand...

Don't come here until you have a job and are sure that you can survive late July and August.
 
E

ExitPlanetDust

Member
Aquavelvaman said:
How is Austin these days? House market, job market? Is the tech industry in decent shape there? I'm looking for a place to settle down and I've always been a fan of Austin when visiting.
Click to expand...
Listen to Zoe, the summers in Austin (or TX in general) are no joke.

The job market is solid, but that doesn't guarantee that you will find work quickly. Also take traffic into consideration. Austin's roadway infrastructure is garbage and the city seems to only be interested in making it worse (afaik, it took a STATE legislation override to bring Uber and Lyft back). Plan to live near your job. Freeway commutes from one side of the city are going to be an hour or more during rush hour, and Austin's footprint is relatively small when compared to other cities in Texas.

The housing market is pretty steep if you want to live in or near the metro area. Surrounding areas like Cedar Park are making their way onto those dreaded "top 10 best places to live/raise a family" lists, meaning housing prices are only going to go up. "Affordable" only to those from the west coast or the pricier north eastern US; compared to the rest of the state, housing costs are beyond a joke.

Austin is a cool town and I probably wouldn't want to live anywhere else if I had to move back to Texas, but I strongly caution anyone who says they want to settle down there to seriously evaluate any and all options on the table first. The city is full, like Portland and Seattle full, and that isn't changing anytime soon.
 
S

SomewhatGroovy

Banned
Etrian Oddity said:
Welcome! We're the most antisocial GAF community but please participate! Any questions or concerns about the city let us know! :D

Timeaisis you still playing street fighter?
Click to expand...

He's playing Ultra Street Fighter 2. He refused to excercise his GCU at Best Buy and told the checkout guy to charge him the full $40 plus tax. He then went to Dragon Comics and picked up 5 Street Fighter comics. When he saw the sign saying they were half off, he threw them at the nerds playing board games, one who happened to be neshcom, and yelled "EAT SHIT , BOON FANS!". He's top of the leaderboard on USF2 in Battle points, but not player points.

Put him on your ignore list post haste.
 
T

Timeaisis

Member
Etrian Oddity said:
Welcome! We're the most antisocial GAF community but please participate! Any questions or concerns about the city let us know! :D

Timeaisis you still playing street fighter?
Click to expand...

Not so much anymore, but I've been meaning to get back into it. Troubled Bat still does, I think.

SomewhatGroovy said:
He's playing Ultra Street Fighter 2. He refused to excercise his GCU at Best Buy and told the checkout guy to charge him the full $40 plus tax. He then went to Dragon Comics and picked up 5 Street Fighter comics. When he saw the sign saying they were half off, he threw them at the nerds playing board games, one who happened to be neshcom, and yelled "EAT SHIT , BOON FANS!". He's top of the leaderboard on USF2 in Battle points, but not player points.

Put him on your ignore list post haste.
Click to expand...

Lol
 
S

SomewhatGroovy

Banned
I want to buy that SFV Deluxe. The value sounds too good for that price ($40). If I have no problem buying USF2 for $40, this should be a no-brainer. I'm hesitent only because im better at eating dog poo than i am playing modern day fighters.
 
E

Etrian Oddity

Member
SomewhatGroovy said:
I want to buy that SFV Deluxe. The value sounds too good for that price ($40). If I have no problem buying USF2 for $40, this should be a no-brainer. I'm hesitent only because im better at eating dog poo than i am playing modern day fighters.
Click to expand...
I took about a 6 month hiatus, so I'm coming back right now int he middle of S2. I'm still only on my S1 pass, I kinda wanna wait to see the rest of the S2 characters before I dip in. I wanted to get the costume packs but GODDAMN they're seriously charging $30 for a pack and there are multiple costume packs. Nuts.

Hopefully at Evo they announce at least the next (if not remaining) S2 characters.
 
S

StoOgE

First tragedy, then farce.
Have we talked about how Half Step decided a bro bar in Rainey is one of the best bars in America while not even sniffing the top 20 bars in Austin?

I hate when out of state journalists literally list a bar they went to during SXSW one year as "the best" of something.

Anyway, ate at Jacoby's the other night. Good spot, good food, ok drinks.
 
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