May 12, 2008
- Mellow Johnny, Lance Armstrong's new bike shop in downtown Austin, has opened for business at 4th and Nueces (home of Sandra Bullock's old production offices). In it you'll find some of Armstrong's "art bikes," as well as the ones that he rode in the Tour de France.
- A man on the Southwest flight from Austin to Dallas was greeted by police upon arrival after refusing to get off his cell phone while the plane was in mid-air
- A 43-year-old Austin man who may or may not have had his wits about him drove his van off a 50-foot embankment
- This weekend's lackluster election drew a pathetic 4% of Travis County residents
- Houston philanthropist Joseph Jamail announced a record $10 million donation to the University of Texas law school, plus another $5 million for the School of Nursing and the Office of Undergraduate Studies
- Hold off on buying that new dishwasher or refrigerator for a few weeks: all Energy Star-rated appliances are sales tax-free during Memorial Day weekend
- Eanes ISD is now requiring new teachers to obtain a Master's degree within 8 years of employment
- Gothamist watched a series of civil disobedience events, protesting the Sean Bell shooting verdict, unfold across the city--over 200 people, including the Reverend Al Sharpton, were arrested. Somewhat related, on behalf of a black freelance reporter for the NY Post, the NYCLU sued the city and NYPD for racial profiling.
- Phillyist took a look at how city employees are bankrupting Philadelphia. Not that they need more cops on the streets there or anything.
- Seattlest wondered what it means when we see shoes flung over power lines.
- Shanghaiist spotted Superman on the Shanghai subway.
- LAist's blood boiled when they found out that California is busting forward thinking veggie oil fuel car users -- those caught include Gov. Schwarzenegger.
- SFist reported on Mayor Gavin Newsom's Make-Me-Governor tour, which included a trip to Israel and a proposed cigarette ban.
- Torontoist covered a precedent-setting media ethics ruling that will force a local news station to admit error for using a Flickr photographer's work without permission or credit.
- Bostonist's Dreamboat Baby apologized for allowing New Kids on the Block to assail our ears with a new single, which Bostonist didn't completely hate.
- Earthquake in China is thought to have killed thousands of people in a county of the Sichuan province.
- Scientists say that atmospheric CO2 levels are at record highs.
- After a weekend of tornadoes through the midwest, this year could have the highest number of twisters since the '50s.
- Finding love is hard in Saudi Arabia.
- Shade beats Kim out of City Council Place 3.
- Gay psychiatrist David Scasta tried to organize a panel including openly gay Episcopal Bishop V. Gene Robinson alongside conservative Christians, but it was called off after gay activists complained.
- "Swingtown", a show about the swinging '70s (think The Ice Storm but slightly less depressing), is about to premiere on the same channel that brought you "Touched by an Angel" and "Murder She Wrote."
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May 10, 2008
The weather is warm, the wildflowers are out, and it's nice to get out to the park. To that end, the Wine and Food Foundation is starting a new Spring tradition at wedding hot spot Zilker Park Clubhouse. On Wednesday, four wine distributors will pour over 100 of their new release wines at the first annual Spring Fling from 6 to 9pm. Distributors Prestige Cellars, Ambiente Importing, Pioneer, and Horizon Wines will show off a literal world of wines designed for spring and summer sipping. This all takes place in the comfy confines of Zilker Park, where you can relax after a long work day and concentrate on choosing your new favorite vino for the season....
Continue Reading "100 Wines, 3 Hours: Have A Spring Wine Fling At Zilker Park"May 9, 2008
It may be best to stay off IH35 this weekend; the highway closure in Buda will surely slow down traffic in Austin. Don't forget the municipal election tomorrow! Yeah, yeah, we know already: Perry reaffirms that he will run again for governor in 2010. Sinkhole overtaking the town of Daisetta....
Continue Reading "Extra Extra: Fixing a Hole"A regular fixture on Austin's stages, Jeff Tweedy and Wilco certainly appeal to a broad cross-section of our city's music fans due to their sonic juxtapositions of alt.country, folk, and noisy Neil Young/Sonic Youth guitar rock. The group turned down their amps on last year's Sky Blue Sky, which found a pensive Tweedy retreating into gentle folk tunes after a series of critically lauded experimental albums like Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and A Ghost Is Born. The new record was more of a polarizer: in a "year in music" wrap-up on KUT last year, KUT DJ David Brown named it one of his Top 5 of the year, while Austin American-Statesman music writer Joe Gross called it one of the year's biggest disappointments. ...
Continue Reading "Music Preview: Wilco Skip ACL, But Hit Stubb's This Weekend"In Austin, we’ve got so much weird that it needs in-depth classification. For example, you’ve got the guy-inexplicably-dressed-as-a-panda type of weird, and the guy-inexplicably-vomiting-blue-stuff-all-over-the-bus weird. We’ve got happy weird and sick/sad weird, epic weirdness and little sprigs of weird popping up all over the place. And musically, we have everything from the honestly odd Daniel Johnston to the bad-strange of Blue October – from the massive drum circle-cum-circle jerk held during Eeyore’s birthday to the more underground but even more visceral strangeness held each week by The Church of the Friendly Ghost at The Salvage Vanguard Theater. ...
Continue Reading "TEA Party Comes to Austin this Weekend"Beerland, known for music, old school video games, and, um, beer, will host a kind and compact cluster of five bands this Friday night, with all five bands making names for themselves within the confines of our fine city. Headlining will be The Diagonals, a subtle and scratchy outfit that, despite their somewhat workmanlike stylings while on stage, carries an innate danceability. Beyond that, Diagonals vocalist Steve Garcia, in some of his more speed-speak moments, has been compared to a young Michael Stipe...you know, before Michael Stipe had that whole fifteen years of boredom thing. ...
Continue Reading "Austinist Show Preview: The Diagonals and Shapes Have Fangs at Beerland"(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE) "Tales Of Mere Existence" By Levni Yilmaz Z.O.G. Buy a Comic/DVD set from Lev! http://www.ingredientx.com/buy/main.htm For more comics, animations and correspondence, kindly visit http://www.ingredientx.com If you gravitate towards isolated, obsessive nerd habits like I do, also consider a visit to: http://www.myspace.com/tales_of_mere_existence...
Continue Reading "Tales Of Mere Existence "A few of my early childhood fears""Nine Inch Nails has become less about the music and more about the new and creative ways in which it is being marketed and consumed....
Continue Reading "Hots On #10: Slipping Into Something More Comfortable"Tonight, Austin's Victory Grill will be metaphorically moving to Beale Street. KOOP's "Excavation Nation" show is sponsoring a STAX Nite, which will be packed with live and DJ-spun tunes celebrating the likes of Booker T, Issac Hayes, Carla Thomas, Albert King, Sam & Dave, and the incomparable Otis Redding. ...
Continue Reading "Green Onions & A Little Tenderness: Stax Night At Victory Grill"Mason Jennings’ poignant folk-rock can be enjoyed at La Zona Rosa this Friday. In February of this year, Jennings signed with Brushfire Records and his first full-length for the label, In The Ever will be released on May 20th. Pre-order it here -- we especially enjoyed “I Love You and Buddha Too”, a reasonably cheerful track despite its weighty subject matter. Prior to teaming with up Jack Johnson's label, Jennings had joined forces with Glacial Pace Recordings, headed by Jennings fan Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse), who persuaded the Minnesota based artist to release his 2006 album Boneclouds on the Epic Records subsidiary....
Continue Reading "Austinist Weekend Music Preview: Mason Jennings, Pong, and a Couple of Tribute Shows!"