Akron/Family will be back in town Wed, Feb 24 at the Parish with Warpaint.

Pornographically peppy Canadian indie fronstman Joel Gibb has describes his Hidden Cameras sound as "gay church folk music." (This is a congregation we would definitely join.) He has also called for a ban on marriage, and suggested "let's do it like we're underage.” While he cheerfully scampers through lyrics we don’t need his degree in semiotics to interpret (and blush at), audiences at Hidden Cameras shows have in the past been treated to not-so-hidden go-go dancers, cheerleaders, video, glockenspiels, very irreverent choirs, and other things perhaps best described as etc. Just think of an agitprop Polyphonic Spree cabaret show peppered with Foucault references. You may also be asked onstage to play tambourine.

Every now and again an everyday object will catch our eye with its clean lines, its bright alluring colors, and simple sophistication. Such is the case with every cup Melanie Schopper designs and makes. Using a clay process known as slip casting and her uncanny eye for color combinations, Schopper is able to bring new life to a traditional form. A member of Handmade Austin Women, Schopper will be showing her work at Ginko Studios (800 Gullett St.) during this year's East Austin Studio Tour.

The Informed Drinker is Austinist's cocktail column. Each week, the city's bartenders tell us what to drink when. “In the beginning” is a series focusing on spirits, and this week, a visiting scotch expert weighs in. Scotch is a serious person drink. At least, this is what The Informed Drinker had assumed for many years. You see Reader, scotch is for drinking straight. If it is mixed with anything besides a few droplets of water, you have ruined it. Scotch is for bathing in one's mouth, for enjoying very slowly, a sophisticated and high-culture sort of thing that academics and individuals wearing corduroy jackets with elbow patches might enjoy. In other words: “People don't buy single malt scotch to shoot and get drunk,” says Andrew Weir, single malt scotch expert and brand ambassador for The Balvenie Distillery Co. “All whisky provides a very personal sort of experience, and you want to enjoy what scotch whisky does specifically for you.” Well Reader, The Informed Drinker is here to tell you that scotch will get you drunk. That is because all scotch must be no less than 80 proof (40%) alcohol, as mandated by the Scotch Whisky Order of 1990 in the UK. You'll be pleased to know it cannot go above 94.8% alcohol however, so that it maintains the flavors of the oak casks it is aged in (and also so that you don't tip it over and mistakenly clean your ears with it).

If only most romantic films were as honest as an Ola Podrida track. More contained, if not as muscular, as 2007’s self-titled album, Belly of the Lion plays nimbly with the tension between his expansive sound and his inward lyrics. Its opening track, “The Closest We Will Ever Be,” initiates a theme inverting the typical freedom-of-the-open-road ballad. Against tableaus of sprawling Americana play out not visions of freedom, but tender appreciation for interpersonal tethers. Mournfully, but without resignation, Wingo sings, "There's always some shadows within the prettiest of scenes/ I'll cast one on you, and you'll cast one on me…That’s alright if this is the closest we will ever be.”

Almost completely unadaptable for the silver screen, David Foster Wallace's work has been something that most screenwriters wouldn't dare touch, what with the monolithic footnotes and the complicated structure of his prose. This precedent, however, was not enough to deter a young John Krasinski (who you may know as Jim from The Office or from this spring's Away We Go), who began adapting the 336 page collection of unbridaled male-mind ruminations when he was in his early 20s. Over seven years later, Krasinski's passion project Brief Interviews with Hideous Men will be hitting the theaters this weekend, with several already-sold-out live appearances by Krasinski tonight and tomorrow at Austin's own Alamo Drafthouse Ritz. SInce not everyone will be able to attend those particular screenings (but there are still plenty screenings of the film without the writer/director/actor for you to check out), we decided to chat with Krasinski about his motivations behind this project, the value of truth and honesty, and what it feels like to step inside the mind of one of America's finest literary treasures.

The annual Lovexotic fundraiser this Saturday is a celebration of world cultures to benefit Family by Choice, a worthy local nonprofit that provides adoption services for LGBT couples, single adults, and other families throughout Texas.

Each week, we'll look at some reasons to taunt, belittle, and bully the Longhorns' football opponent. This week: the Baylor Bears.

The memories of Fun Fun Fun Fest remain vivid and fresh, and after that amazing yet exhausting weekend, surely we could be excused for a taking a deserved break to recharge our bodies. No such luck in our beloved city which refuses to rest on its laurels. Yes, just a week after that immense gathering of music, comedy, and arts, Massive Beacon, Reversal Films, and The Dark Agency present the second annual ATX Converge at The Mohawk.

• Alleged Fort Hood shooter paralyzed from waist down, lawyer says.
• Obama's options limited by Afghanistan and Pakistan's less-than-reliable governments.
• Federal drug reform legislation in the Congress.

Ah, screen printing - a vexing mistress are you. So difficult, but so handy. Over 100 years old, traditional screen printing requires large and unwieldy accouterments - imagine an exploded Xerox machine with parts sticking out everywhere - but a whole century later, its untidy appearance belies its staying power and demand. The boys behind Bearded Lady, a local screen printing outfit here in Austin, should know. Josh Chalmers and JD Fanning started their studio in 2000, developed a large enough client base to go full-time in 2002, and today, work with everyone from local bands to Robert Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios. We asked Chalmers to chat with Austinist about Bearded Lady, which is gearing up for participation in the East Austin Studio Tour. Visitors can drop by at 3504 East 4th Street - # 47 on the EAST map - and in addition to gawking at comely band posters and design projects, you can also visit with Bearded Lady's security personnel (i.e. very small, very adorable dogs).

Transportation for America has ranked Austin-Round Rock as the 19th most dangerous metro area for pedestrians among the 52 largest metro areas in the United States. They calculated that walking in Austin was slightly less dangerous than walking in Texas as a whole, but substantially more dangerous than walking in the rest of the nation as a whole. Texas spends approximately 1% of its federal transportation funds on pedestrian projects, compared to 1.5% nationwide.

CBS journalists must appreciate the University of Texas; the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History already holds papers from the careers of Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, and today it was announced that Morley Safer is donating his papers to the same Center. Safer says the Center's journalism archive "has no equal. It is a gateway to learning the eyewitness history of who we are, who we were and how we perceived ourselves as a nation."