Austin

The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge crosses over Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas. Before the construction of Longhorn Dam was completed in... 1960, the bridge crossed the Colorado River from which Lady Bird Lake is impounded. The bridge was known as the Congress Avenue Bridge from the construction of the first span across the Colorado River at that location in the late 19th century until November 16, 2006, when the Austin City Council renamed the current bridge in honor of the late Ann W. Richards, the 45th Governor of Texas and Austin resident. The bridge is a concrete arch bridge, with three southbound and three northbound vehicle lanes and sidewalks on both sides of the bridge. The bridge is currently home to the world's largest urban bat colony. The first bridge across the Colorado River in this location was constructed in 1869 or 1871. The original structure was a pontoon toll bridge. In 1875, a new wooden toll bridge was constructed across the river. The bridge’s construction was finished at a cost of $80,000.00; an additional $20,000.00 was used to macadamize dykes across lowlands and a culvert over Bouldin Branch.
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The Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art is the art museum and research center of the University of Texas at Austin. Formerly under the College of Fine... Arts, the museum director now reports to the University's Executive Vice-President and Provost. The museum is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, housing some 18,000 works from Europe, the United States and Latin America. The Blanton was established in 1963 as the University Art Museum. The museum's collections were originally displayed and stored in the Art Building, until 1972 when the permanent collection moved to gallery spaces in the Harry Ransom Center . In 1980, the museum was renamed the Archer M. Huntington Art Gallery. On April 30, 2006, the museum opened a new 155,000 square foot facility on the University's campus, renamed the Blanton Museum of Art, after receiving a $12 million donation from Houston Endowment Inc. in honor of its former chairman, Jack S. Blanton. The new complex was designed by Kallmann McKinnell & Wood Architects.
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The Elisabet Ney Museum is a museum located in Austin, Texas, United States. The museum is housed in the former studio of sculptor Elisabet Ney and... is dedicated to showcasing her life and works. There is a permanent collection of Ney's portrait busts and personal memorabilia on display. Formosa, as Ney called the studio, was completed in 1893 and enlarged in 1902. It was the earliest art studio built in Texas. After Ney died in 1907, Ella and Joseph B. Dibrell purchased the building to preserve it as an art center in memory of Ney. The City of Austin assumed ownership of the museum in 1941 and it is managed through the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department. In addition to being a local and state historic landmark, the museum was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1972. From July 1980 to November 1982, the museum was closed for restoration and the installation of a climate-control system. The museum is currently undergoing another major renovation funded through a grant from the Save America's Treasures project and a 2006 voter-approved bond.
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The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center is a museum in east Austin, Texas housed in the former George Washington Carver Library... building. The small, wood-frame building was constructed in 1926 on the corner of Ninth and Guadalupe Streets. When it was replaced by a larger stone structure in 1933, the building was moved to the east side of town, on Angelina Street, to serve the African-American Community. It was known for many years as the "Colored Branch." In 1947, the building was renamed the George Washington Carver Library in honor of the famous inventor and scientist. The library served African-Americans and others in the community until 1979, when a new, modern library building was completed next door. At that time work began to convert the building to a cultural center. The museum opened on October 24, 1980 and was expanded with a new facility in 2001. The original colonial revival style building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
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The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, is a history museum in Austin, Texas. The museum is a division of the Texas State Preservation Board. Its... stated mission is to tell "the Story of Texas." The history museum is named after former Texas Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock, who championed its creation. The museum is located at 1800 North Congress Avenue in Austin, a few blocks north of the Texas State Capitol. The museum has three floors of interactive exhibits; the first floor theme is "land," the second floor theme "identity," and the third floor theme "opportunity." The Texas Spirit Theater on the second floor has 200 seats and three screens and is used as a multimedia special effects theater, playing two shows daily. The museum also has a 70mm film-based IMAX theater, the only one in Austin. The theater seats 400 and has a projector with both 2-D and 3-D capability. Construction broke ground on April 15, 1999 at a cost of US$750 million. Construction management services were provided by Thos. S. Byrne, Ltd. The museum opened on San Jacinto Day, April 21, 2001. In 2002, the Texas historian Walter L.
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Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer and songwriter from Port Arthur, Texas. As a youth Joplin was ridiculed by her fellow students due to her... unconventional appearance and personal beliefs, she later sang about her experience at school through her song "Ego Rock". Early in her life, Joplin cultivated a rebellious and unconventional lifestyle, becoming a beatnik poet. She began her singing career as a folk and blues singer in San Francisco, playing clubs and bars with her guitar and auto-harp. A heavy drinker all of her life, her favorite drink was Southern Comfort. Joplin first rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of the psychedelic-acid rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, and later as a solo artist with her more soulful and bluesy backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band.
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Robert Anthony Rodríguez is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer, editor and musician. He shoots and produces... many of his films in his native Texas and Mexico. He has directed such films as Desperado, From Dusk till Dawn, The Faculty, Spy Kids, Sin City, Planet Terror, and Machete. He is a friend and frequent collaborator of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino. Rodríguez was born in San Antonio, Texas, the son of Mexican-American parents Rebecca , a nurse, and Cecilio G. Rodríguez, a salesman. He began his interest in film at age 11 when his father bought one of the first VCRs, which came with a camera. While attending St. Anthony High School, he was commissioned to videotape the school's football games. According to his sister he was fired soon after for shooting them with a cinematic style, getting shots of parents' reactions and the ball traveling through the air instead of shooting the whole play. There he met Carlos Gallardo; they both shot films on video throughout high school and college.
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Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award-winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such... as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House, and Crash, the third of which received critical acclaim. In 2007, she was ranked as the 14th richest female celebrity with an estimated fortune of US$85 million. In 2009, Bullock starred in the most financially successful films of her career, The Proposal and The Blind Side. Bullock was awarded a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, and the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her role as Leigh Anne Tuohy in The Blind Side. She was listed in the 2012 edition of the Guinness Book Of World Records as the highest-paid actress, with $56 million. Sandra Annette Bullock was born in Arlington, Virginia. Her father, John W. Bullock , was a United States Army employee and part-time voice coach from Birmingham, Alabama, and her mother, Helga D.
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Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States , a position he assumed after his service as the 37th... Vice President of the United States . He is one of only four people who served in all four elected federal offices of the United States: Representative, Senator, Vice President and President. Johnson, a Southern Democrat, served as a United States Representative from Texas, from 1937–1949 and as United States Senator from 1949–1961, including six years as United States Senate Majority Leader, two as Senate Minority Leader and two as Senate Majority Whip. After campaigning unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination in 1960, Johnson was asked by John F. Kennedy to be his running mate for the 1960 presidential election. Johnson succeeded to the presidency following the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963, completed Kennedy's term and was elected President in his own right, winning by a large margin in the 1964 Presidential election.
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Lance Edward Armstrong is an American former professional road racing cyclist who won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times, after... having survived testicular cancer. He is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support. He last rode for UCI ProTeam Team RadioShack. In October 1996 he was diagnosed as having testicular cancer, with a tumor that had metastasized to his brain and lungs. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. He went on to win the Tour de France each year from 1999 to 2005, and is the only person to win seven times, having broken the previous record of five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx, and Jacques Anquetil. In 1999, he was named the ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. In 2000 he won the Prince of Asturias Award in Sports. In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him Sportsman of the Year. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for the years 2002–2005.
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Marion Lois Jones , also known as Marion Jones-Thompson, is a former world champion track and field athlete, and a former professional basketball... player for Tulsa Shock in the WNBA. She won five medals at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, but forfeited all medals and prizes dating back to September 2000 after her October 2007 admission that she took performance-enhancing drugs as far back as the 2000 Summer Olympics, and that she had lied about it to a grand jury investigating performance-enhancer creations by Victor Conte and the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative . At the time of her admission and subsequent guilty plea, Marion Jones was one of the most famous people to be linked to the BALCO investigation. 41 days later, Major League Baseball player Barry Bonds was indicted on one count of obstruction of justice and four counts of perjury linked to his own testimony before the BALCO grand jury in December 2003. Jones was born to Marion and George Jones in Los Angeles, California. She holds dual citizenship with the United States and Belize .
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Michelle Renee Forbes Guajardo , known professionally as Michelle Forbes, is an American actress who has built a career of work in television and... independent film and has acted in productions in both the United States and in the United Kingdom. Forbes first gained attention from her dual role in daytime soap opera Guiding Light, for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination. She has also been nominated for multiple Screen Actors Guild- and Saturn Awards during her career. Although she has appeared in significant roles in movies such as Escape from L.A., Kalifornia and Swimming with Sharks, Forbes is known for her recurring appearances on genre and drama shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and her regular role as Dr. Julianna Cox on Homicide: Life on the Street during the 1990s, while building her career with recurring roles throughout the 2000s in Battlestar Galactica, 24, In Treatment, Durham County, Prison Break and her series regular role as Maryann Forrester on True Blood. She is currently on the main cast of the AMC television series The Killing, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination on July 14, 2011.
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Ethan Green Hawke is an American actor, writer and director. He made his feature film debut in 1985 with the science fiction movie Explorers, before... making a supporting appearance in the 1989 drama Dead Poets Society which is considered his breakthrough role. He then appeared in such films as White Fang , A Midnight Clear , and Alive before taking a role in the 1994 Generation X drama Reality Bites, for which he gained critical acclaim. In 1995, he starred in the romantic drama Before Sunrise, and later in the 2004 sequel Before Sunset. In 2001, Hawke was cast as a rookie police officer in Training Day, for which he received a Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category. Other films have included the science fiction feature Gattaca , the title role in Michael Almereyda's Hamlet , the action thriller Assault on Precinct 13 , and the crime drama Before the Devil Knows You're Dead .
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Cornell Iral Haynes, Jr. , better known by his stage name Nelly, is a Grammy Award winning American rapper, entrepreneur and occasional actor. He has... performed with the rap group St. Lunatics since 1993 and signed to Universal Records in 1999. Under Universal, Nelly began his solo career in 2000 with his debut album Country Grammar, the title track of which was a top ten hit. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to peak at number one. Country Grammar is Nelly's best-selling album to date, selling over 8.4 million copies in the United States. His following album, Nellyville, produced the number-one hits "Hot in Herre" and "Dilemma" featuring Kelly Rowland. Other singles included "Work It" featuring Justin Timberlake, "Air Force Ones" featuring Murphy Lee and the St. Lunatics, "Pimp Juice" and "#1". With the same-day dual release Sweat and Suit and the compilation Sweatsuit , Nelly continued to generate many chart-topping hits. Sweat debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 342,000 copies in its first week.
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Thomas Carlyle "Tom" Ford is an American fashion designer and film director. He gained international fame for his turnaround of the Gucci fashion... house and the creation of the Tom Ford label before directing the Oscar-nominated film A Single Man. Tom Ford was born August 27, 1961 in Austin, Texas, to realtors Tom Ford and Shirley Burton. He spent his early life in the suburbs of Houston, Texas, and in San Marcos, outside Austin; his family moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, when he was 11. In Santa Fe, he entered St. Michael's High School and later moved to Santa Fe Preparatory School, from which he graduated in 1979. Ford left Santa Fe at age 16, when he enrolled at Bard College at Simon's Rock, but quickly dropped out. He then moved to New York City to study art history at New York University. Ford dropped out of NYU after only a year, preferring to concentrate on acting in television commercials; at one time, he was in 12 national advertising campaigns simultaneously. Ford then began studying interior architecture at The New School's famous art and design college, Parsons The New School for Design.
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Scott McClellan is a former White House Press Secretary for President George W. Bush, and author of a controversial No. 1 New York Times bestseller... about the Bush Administration titled What Happened. He replaced Ari Fleischer as press secretary in July 2003 and served until May 10, 2006. McClellan was the longest serving press secretary under George W. Bush. Born in Austin, Texas, McClellan is the youngest son of Carole Keeton Strayhorn, former Texas State Comptroller and former 2006 independent Texas gubernatorial candidate, and attorney Barr McClellan. McClellan's brother Mark headed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and was formerly Commissioner for the Food and Drug Administration. McClellan is the grandson of the late W. Page Keeton, longtime Dean of the University of Texas School of Law and renowned expert in tort law. He married Jill Martinez in November 2003. They have one son. McClellan graduated from Austin High School in 1986. He was a top ranked tennis player in high school and served as student council president.
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Tobe Hooper is an American film director and screenwriter, best known for his work in the horror film genre. His works include the cult classic The... Texas Chain Saw Massacre , along with its first sequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 ; the three-time Emmy-nominated Stephen King film adaptation Salem's Lot ; and the three-time Academy Award-nominated, Steven Spielberg-produced Poltergeist . Hooper was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Lois Belle and Norman William Ray Hooper, who owned a theater in San Angelo. He first became interested in filmmaking when he used his father's 8 mm camera at age 9. Hooper took Radio-Television-Film classes at the University of Texas at Austin and studied drama in Dallas under Baruch Lumet. Hooper spent the 1960s as a college professor and documentary cameraman. His short film The Heisters was invited to be entered in the short subject category for an Oscar, but was not finished in time for the competition that year. In 1969, Hooper co-wrote and directed Eggshells, a film about a group of hippies in a commune house having to deal with the presence of a possible supernatural force.
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