HOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRGH.


With that, happy Halloween, you fucks.

I've had people wonder why so many of our UE photographs are only from outside buildings.

I'll tell you why: We don't force our way in. We don't break doors, windows, plywood, anything. If the only way in is by destroying something, we don't enter. Simple as that.

Wherein I reveal myself to be a Shepard Fairey fanboy

I am a huge fan of Shepard Fairey's work. I love the way it turns techniques from propaganda into a call for people to think instead of blindly following. I especially like that his art is not meant to be in museums - it's meant to be out on the streets where anyone can see it at any time.

Imagine my excitement when I caught a glimpse of a large black and red installation on the side of a building on S. Congress.

As I got a closer look, I saw that yes, it was done by him.

I got a pic of the full installation:


The painted picture of the woman looks like it's been messed with a bit, but the full installation is still very impressive.

Here are two of the individual posters that make up the background of the image.

"By Any Means Necessary Red"


"Obey With Caution 2006"

Stand by. We're back.

General Update Post

Happy 4/20.

We're not dead, we're just resting.

Missions will be sporadic, perhaps nonexistent for a few weeks, because I wrecked my car last Tuesday, and it's in the shop. (They're not even looking at it until the 29th.) Any missions that we do until my auto's fixed will be in TR's car, because I am driving my mom's mini-van for now.

The ugly, behemoth, red whale of a van that doesn't even have a CD player. And Austin radio is tolerable, at best. (For such a musical city, or radio really. Kinda. SUCK.) Plus, the van is unwieldy, and like driving a tank, and downtown roads - especially the ones we take - are narrow.


Fear and Loathing in Austin will be at Austin City Limits 2009. Beware.

Steel This Post

..'Cause it's aboot the abandoned steelworks! We'll go back again eventually, see if we can find a way in.



This stands out front, greeting all those who enter...which isn't difficult, seeing as it's right off 5th street.


Back to nature. This place is right next to an Amtrak station.


In retrospect, we should have looked in the mailbox. NEXT TIME. Hey, if it's abandoned, does it count as tampering with the mail?





Exterior shots. Blocked from all angles we saw. There's a section of fence without barbed wire, but it's the driveway, and faces a repulsive set of condos. And there were already people driving by, staring.

If you'll excuse me, I have to go take a bath, and remove any potential traces of poison ivy from my skin. Because I'm severely allergic to it, and if I DID get any on me, I'm going to swell up and look like Hamburger Helper.

Traffic was pretty clear today, so we got downtown pretty fast. After some frantic searching and a short time spent lost as all hell, I finally found the ruins of the Castle Hill apartment complex. The hill itself was steep, and now covered in tall grass and wildflowers, but the walls and foundations were clearly visible. This was a little higher difficulty than most previous excursions, but it was well worth it once I got (almost) to the top.



Although it was meant to be apartments, there were no stairs, nor much anything in the way of solid ground.



The whole place looked more like a war zone than a construction site, but the castle (hence, Castle Hill) at the top made the scene even more surreal.



We also checked out the abandoned steel works, but it was all blocked off, so fuck it.

Obligatory recon photos.

Since I was already downtown today, and since I was going to the Mellow Mushroom for lunch, I parked down near the fabled Travis House. I can't find that much information on it - searching generally brings up real estate listings on Lake Travis - but I do know it was a halfway house at one point, and that it suffered fire damage earlier this year.

When I stopped by today, a construction crew was inside, so I was able to get a single interior shot from the doorway. I didn't go IN, because I didn't feel like being yelled at. And besides, there seems to be an accessible fire escape out back. I was unable to get a close look at it, because there was a man eating a Big Mac in that particular alley.

I'm not sure what the workers are doing there. I hope they're not planning on demolishing the place.

Anyway, less talk, more photos! (Cameraphone photos once more. I'm saving up for a digital.)

What's this?




Why, it's the sign!






We can't have too many exterior shots.



'No Trespassing'? 'Security Cameras'? I take that as a CHALLENGE.



Let's go around the side, shall we....



FIRE ESCAPE. The dude eating the Big Mac was sitting at the alley's entrance.


I skulked around the back, and almost got run over by a truck.


What's behind Door Number Three?


Oh. Graffiti.


This would be inviting...


Except that there was the large construction crew there, so this is the only interior shot. Wish I knew what they were doing.