Austin Chronicle's Fashion Guru Stephen Moser Arrested

That story we posted last week about the Toyota Supra that mysteriously caught on fire in the City Hall parking garage took a turn for the even more bizarre today, when it was reported that local officials had arrested Austin Chronicle fashion guru and beloved social columnist Stephen Moser on arson charges. According to Austin Fire Department officials, the car in question belonged to Moser's roommate.

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By Allen Y Chen in News on March 24, 2009 4:04 PM 0 Comments

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David Huxley

The following names are from Moser's column. His "Swans": Debora Green, Lea Buffington, and Carla McDonald. His "Angels": Pam Blanton, Susan Antone, and Darlene Fiske. His (male) "Socialites": Steven Rice, Mark Sullivan, and Steven Aichlmayr. His "Best Friends Forever": Dave Sullivan, and Gail Chovan. All these people have hitched their wagon to Moser just to get their name in his column. What an HONOR! Only in Austin...Let's "Keep It Weird(er)."

David Huxley

(Alleged) Fashion Guru, I mean (Alleged) arsonist Stephen MacMillan Moser has his day in the Travis County Courthouse on Tuesday, April 7, 2009. at 9:30 a.m. Cause #D-1-DC-09-300657. This is a good time to see his "Swans", his "Angels", his (male) "Socialites", and all his "Best Friends Forever." You just know they will all be there. After all, having your name linked with an (Alleged) arsonist can only increase your "Social Standing" in Austin.

Ryan

I wouldn't say he is beloved by the cycling community after he joked that he wanted to "pull a Lizzie Grubman" on some of us.

The_Frog

Well, I don't know the context of that comment or even who Lizzie Grubman is (or really anything about Moser, nor do I give a rat's ass about fashion).

BUT, if he was talking about the assholes who back up traffic around the Palmer Events Center traffic circle on Riverside by riding their mass of bikes around and around in the circle and refusing to let cars in to pass, I can understand his frustration.

Austin definitely needs more bike lanes. People need to be encouraged to use bicycles for short trips and whenever it is practical. Better bike lanes would help this.

But these folks who back up traffic in their attempt to "make a point" end up shooting their cause in the foot and turning public opinion against themselves. I can easily see sympathy for bike lanes dissolving into a "they can't share the road responsibly so don't let them ride on the road at all" mentality.

Ryan

I personally don't ride in the critical mass rides anymore, but I will say that it is fun to ride in a huge group. The point was never (in my mind anyway) to block cars. I don't know about bikes circling Palmer, and I understand driver frustration with bikes. Even I get frustrated with bikes that are obeying the law on the roads when I am driving - I hate any delay when I'm driving. So I'm sorry but I don't think drivers are ever going to give cyclists anything no matter how well behaved they are on the road. If drivers received facilities based on how well they obey traffic laws as a group we would have a few dirt roads in Austin.

Moser is free to have his opinion, he's even free to write it on his column. But if you joke about killing cyclists who delay you for five minutes excuse me if I don't laugh. There have been too many drivers who joked about it and then actually used their vehicles to intimidate, injure, and even kill cyclists.