Austinist staffer Aaron H. sent this in: "Left to right (top row first): Irish Cream, Triple Chocolate, Cinnamon Sugar, Chocolate Vanilla, Cinnamon Sugar, Vanilla Vanilla. Polkadots Cupcake Factory on 29th and Rio Grande. Awesome cupcakes." Hungry to share your most provocative Austin food photos? Send them here. Make sure to include your name, where the photo was taken and a complete description of the food.... [continue]

The Oakville Grocery Austin website is no longer up, and for the past several weeks, there was a noticeable absence of products on the shelves so the writing seemed to be on the wall. It sort of begs the question - is it a sign of the economy, or was it just the wrong business in the wrong place at the wrong time?... [continue]

Foxboro Hot Tubs, the nom de plume of the latest not-so-super-secret Green Day side project, headline Emo's inside stage tonight. Conjuring up the frantic protopunk energy of The Kinks, MC5 and The Stooges, Green Day members Billie Joe, Mike Dirnt and Tre Cool will be joined by friends Jason Freese, Kevin Preston and Jason White as Foxboro Hot Tubs. But the jangly 60's garage-pop group's sound is still unmistakably Green Day; Billie Joe's signature voice and song writing style gives it away. ... [continue]

They Might Be Giants have been making music as a band since 1982. Their odd but endearing mix of accordian, saxophone, and guitars coupled with witty lyrics earned them a huge college radio following from the mid-80's on. Songs like "Don't Let's Start" and "Birdhouse In Your Soul" even became hits, and the duo toured and recorded ad infinitum. A second chapter of their story is quite unusual: TMBG are now famous in children's circles. In 2002, the group released "No!", a kids record they had recorded years earlier for fun. The record was a surprise smash, leading to deals with both Disney for a series of children's music CD's and Simon and Schuster for the CD + book Bed, Bed, Bed (which also features a pre-Juno Kimya Dawson). Having conquered the grownups and the kids, They Might Be Giants have also become in-demand composers for TV, doing the themes for "Malcolm In The Middle", "The Daily Show", and even some Dunkin' Donuts ads. We're unsure when the group sleeps, because they seem to be awfully prolific. ... [continue]

Getting married ruined Free Sex in Public for me. Let me explain. Back in the late ‘90’s, I was dating an asshole we’ll call George, since that was his name. George would do things like ask me to come over and help him pack for a trip and he’d leave condoms out on top of his suitcase for me to find. Now why, you might ask—and I most certainly asked —would he need condoms for a trip on which I was not joining him? Well George was one of those guys who liked to give the speech that goes like this, “Babe, we’re above that monogamy crap. We’re beyond it. We’ve evolved.” What he meant by that was that every time he went to Chicago, he would be banging his so-called ex but that if I so much as attempted to have a platonic lunch with a male friend he would threaten to break up with me and/or kill himself. Very evolved, George! Later, after we finally finally FINALLY—oh Thank you Baby Jesus!—really did breakup, two major things happened.... [continue]

As we move to the next square on the calendar you're still out there trying to make a connection. Sadly you let most of them slip by without saying a word. We understand, no one wants to be overzealous and get shot down. If only you had some place to find a second chance. Oh yes, Missed Connections. If only you had someone to sort through and find the best of the above. Oh, right, read below....

Hope in the City, a church in southwest Austin that exists to glorify God by growing devoted followers of Christ in communities that advance His Kingdom in Austin and the nations, is running into trouble with the city. They have been so successful at attracting devoted followers of Christ that there is no longer room in the parking lot. The church would like to build another parking lot in the field between their buildings and Williamson Creek, but city officials denied their request because the church is in the Barton Springs watershed and has used its 15% land cover allowed by the Save Our Springs ordinance. City officials have suggested that church members could take the bus, but that would require a miracle. The church is now suing the city on grounds that their free exercise of religion is being illegally hindered.... [continue]

Photo not to scaleNow that we're finally settled into the new year, we're on the prowl for a few fine individuals to join our motley crew of writers and photographers. Specifically, we're recruiting contributors in the following areas: Arts & Entertainment Film, Art, Theater, Comedy/Improv News Local/State Politics, GLBT News, Items of an Offbeat/"WTF" Nature, Breaking News, Campus Shenanigans Other Cartoonists, Community and Volunteer Opportunities, Sports (UT) Photography Photo Essays, Special Events If you're interested,... [continue]

Ha – I know, I know. You look at me and see a whirlwind frenzy of globetrotting and peanut serving, ocean-hopping and lavatory monitoring. I can't imagine how glamorous this game of intercontinental hopscotch must appear. Left foot, Belize; right foot, Miami. Left foot, Shanghai; right foot, New York. Well, with a layover in Chicago. And we generally switch posts at that airport because it's a hub. You get the picture. ... [continue]

As we move to the next square on the calendar you're still out there trying to make a connection. Sadly you let most of them slip by without saying a word. We understand, no one wants to be overzealous and get shot down. If only you had some place to find a second chance. Oh yes, Missed Connections. If only you had someone to sort through and find the best of the above. Oh,...... [continue]

Soon, you too could be like these dudesDabblers in diabolical death-ray design and general gadget geeks will soon have another outlet—as though Maker Faire and Dorkbot weren't enough—to satiate their craving for homemade mechanical wizardry. Hailed as a "paradise for tech tinkerers" and created by one of the brains behind MythBusters, TechShop launched in the Silicon Valley a little over a year ago, and now has plans to open a franchise in Austin. The open-access...... [continue]