As we close out 2008, we're taking a moment to briefly revisit some of the articles that we published on Austinist this year. Whether poignant, sad, hilarious, or downright ludicrous, many of these stories probably affected your lives to some extent. Certainly, at the very least, they provided their own commentary on Austin's continuing transformation.
As usual, a fiercely good-looking crowd devoted to all things facial hair showed up and rocked the house.
After a sold-out Band of Horses show at La Zona Rosa, former Austinist co-editor Matthew Odam happened to witness a precious exchange between the seven-time Tour de France champ and the door guy at the Backstage Bar.
Local protesters turned up outside Austin's branch of the Church of Scientology as part of a worldwide anti-Scientology protest.
"I've decided to out myself about something that will shock even my closest friends. Hell, it might even get me fired. Oh well. Here goes. All day, Monday through Friday, I listen to conservative talk radio on 590-KLBJ. Being a lifelong, card-carrying Democrat, some folks might guess my husband turned me on to it--but this is all me. It began about a year ago in a desperate move fueled by pregnancy hormones. A bona-fide Morning Edition junkie, I needed a break from the incessant negative news, so I decided to find out what the enemy was up to. Somehow...I got hooked. Here's a brief run-down of what life is like on the other side."
Last summer, a
Glamour magazine staffer in New York City sparked controversy during a lunchtime talk on appropriate business attire when she told listeners that afros were a "
Glamour don't."
"Nothing quells the squabbling mass's ire like a fat check. You want those three dudes who pissed in your gym locker to change their tune? Buy them off. You know what will impress the volleyball team? Bomb-ass circuses. What do all bouncers and voters in Florida understand when it comes to deciding whether they like someone or not? Bread. Dinero. Duckets. Dosh. Some-other-D-word-for-money. That's a uni-goddamn-versal hand-shake that says, 'if you didn't believe in my powers of affable superiority before, perhaps the fact that I can magically produce some money for your wallet will change your mind.'"
"Apparently, though, when other people hear the word wrestling, they think of something entirely different. They think of big scary men and faked-breasted women, the entire lot of them sporting spray-on tans, dangerous smirks, and very stretchy articles of "clothing" as they hurl each other around inside of a ring while thousands of mesmerized spectators, many of them apparently just having raced on over from Walmart and/or on furlough from Fashion Prison, scream their approval."
Austin Water Utility's Free Toilet Program was reinstated, giving eligible customers the opportunity to score new "flapperless" toilets for free.
"Howdy istites. My name's Mike Dahmus, otherwise known all around various ratholes of the internet as M1EK, and I've been invited to write an honest-to-goodness post instead of a wimpy little comment. Normally, I crackplog ("crackplot blog") at my own place, M1EK's Bake-Sale of Bile, which is "Mostly Austin. Mostly Transportation. Mostly Bile.". I served on the city's Urban Transportation Commission from 2000 to 2005, before Daryl Slusher gave me the boot for being insufficiently slavish to Mike Krusee's plan to screw Austin's rail fans forever. I've been writing that crackplog since about 2003, starting in the run-up to the commuter rail disaster."
"It shouldn't take more than 350 words to explain why I intended to vote Ron Paul for President, and roughly two words to explain why there's now no chance in hell."
A lawsuit against the City of Kyle, filed by the NAACP, the Home Builders Association of Greater Austin and the National Association of Home Builders, alleged that Kyle increased the cost of local housing by instituting revised zoning ordinances, thereby violating the Fair Housing Act.
"Way, way back in the day, I had a perfectly good Valentine. What had initially attracted me to him was his enormous, regal afro. Seriously, wow. I am not kidding when I tell you that my Valentine had the perfect afro, and I would stare at it in wonder for hours on end. Generally, I felt like a lucky man. But things went awry when, on Valentine's Day of 1996, he showed up at my house with a bright blue stolen candle that was covered in hand-painted stars and shaped either like a mushroom or a very unfortunate penis. His other hand cradled a bottle of Night Train."
Austin rounded out the top 10 among
Popular Science's list of the top 50 greenest cities.
"Getting married ruined free sex in public for me."
For the first time in over a year, erstwhile Sinus Show members Owen Egerton, John Erler and Joe Parsons got back together, taking dead aim at Robert Zemeckis' goofy sci-fi adventure.
Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both spent an estimated $1 million on TV ads airing across Texas in advance of the primary election.
Former Austin mayor and current Texas State Senator Kirk Watson made an appearance on MSNBC after officially endorsing Senator Barack Obama. When asked by Chris Matthews to list just a few of Obama's legislative accomplishments, Watson looked stumped, and then only managed to respond with a weak, "Well, I am not going to be able to name you specific items."
Praising his commitment to an environmentally-conscious energy policy, Austin's green-friendly Mayor Will Wynn endorsed Senator Barack Obama for president. "For too long, we've allowed old divisions to hold us back," Wynn said. "Recently I've had conversations about energy policy with presidential candidates from both parties, and I believe Senator Obama is the only person who can move us forward on this critical issue. Barack Obama gets it. He offers a commitment to confront our energy challenges in ways that will unite our country, help our economy flourish and protect our planet and national security for the next generation and beyond."
"As Austin grows, our unofficial motto should probably be modified from 'Keep Austin Weird' to simply, 'Keep Austin.' Maybe it's a small defeat. Or maybe it's simply falling back to more secure positions."
An Austin company controlling the technology that created Dolly the sheep and other genetic breakthroughs yesterday issued a not-so-subtle warning against a Korean agency that recently unveiled a new dog cloning service.
"This city is exploding downtown," said Armstrong. "Are all these people in high rises going to drive everywhere? We have to promote [bike] commuting."
The new Museum building will be developed in partnership with international developer Hines and world-class architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, whose portfolio includes the MoMA in Manhattan, the future World Financial Center in Beijing, and the Citigroup Tower in London
Austinist chatted with Ferrell while he was in town to promote
Semi-Pro.
Maria Bamford, along with Zach Galifianakis, Patton Oswalt, and Brian Posehn, was one of the original Comedians of Comedy.
The world's most powerful supercomputer for open scientific research officially went online at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at UT Austin. Dubbed "Ranger," the high performance computing (HPC) system consists of an astounding 62,976 microprocessor cores -- put into perspective, the notebook or desktop you're using to read this has one or two at most. It's roughly 50,000 times more powerful than the average home computer.
"...Obama delineates his popularity, and receives the longest applause yet. Hillary shifts, the glow in her eyes flickers. Something has changed, and she can taste it. Maybe the phrase that crosses her mind is 'tipping point'."
Republican hopeful Ron Paul made an appearance at the Main Mall on UT campus to rally supporters.
Hours before facing off against primary rival Hillary Clinton, Senator Obama took time for a quick stroll along the banks of Lady Bird Lake.
Austinite Chris Eska took home the "John Cassavetes Award" for his feature,
August Evening, and Laura Dunn took home the "Truer than Fiction Award" for her film
The Unforeseen, a documentary look at the controversy surrounding Austin's real estate development and its impact on the Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs.
Our esteemed governor tells the
Washington Post, "just because you're a liberal doesn't mean that you can't be loyal, trustworthy and kind and obedient."
Admittedly, the Democratic delegate selection process in Texas is ridiculous, especially to casual voters who did't hold a particular allegiance to either candidate--or, in this case, the exact type of swing voters that each campaign ended up clamoring to bring to the polls.
For years, the Austinist staff has fielded queries from friends and acquaintances about SXSW goings-on. "Can I walk to The Salt Lick?" "Does it really take 90 minutes for a Casino El Camino burger?" But most of all: "What showcase do you recommend to see some good new bands I don't know about?" This year, we made the answer official, presenting an official nighttime showcase featuring six different American acts at Spiro's.
Austinist live-blogged from the CNN/Univision debate hall.
Radio IST List: Graham Williams
Austinist's Will Mills Gets Dunked For Charity [Video]
Bibles and Rhymes: An Interview with Why?'s Yoni Wolf
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