A new academic study suggests that the appeal of curvy women is based on more than the purely physical. Homophobic Surgeon General nominee to be recess appointed by Bush? The 2008 Austin Firefighters Calendar is on sale, and we're thinking about next summer's dry spell already. WTF: Jump-roping dogs. The Austin Independent School District just started an outreach program that’s meant to enroll more African American students into its gifted and talented programs. In......

Jerry Naylor would have been famous. He could have been and probably should have been. Jerry Naylor was there when rock 'n roll was born, sweating out those devil rhythms in Texas honky-tonks and rubbing shoulders with boys like Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and Buddy Holly — all who would become men of legend. He saw a musical revolution fueled by youth and a fusion of country, blues,......

FRIDAY [13] fashion • RARE Magazine Spring Fling Fashion Show at The Belmont Hi-Lo (Moved due to rain) art/music • Take That!, a show of new images by Lance McMahan, plus music by Amanda Jones, Connie Ball, & Teddy and Marge at The Opera House (7-10pm) art • Hot and Cold: The Best of Canadian Contemporary Art at Art on 5th, 1501 W 5th (10am-6pm) art • Opening Reception for abstract paintings and encaustics......

UPDATE: You can now reserve your ticket to Senator Barack Obama's speech to take place on February 23 at The Gregory Gym on The University of Texas campus. It's fast and easy and you can even sign up your friends! Just click here and follow the instructions. Good luck! Senator Barack Obama will be making his second trip to Austin in less than five months, speaking at The Gregory Gym on UT Campus, Friday......

Senator Barack Obama will be making his second trip to Austin in less than five months, speaking at The Gregory Gym on UT Campus, Friday February 23. Everyone wants to get their hands on this presidential hopeful--University Democrats, African American Cultural Committee and Texans for Obama are all sponsoring the event, billed as one of the first stops on his recently announced campaign trail. This is a free event, open to the public, but......

Last year, in Gregory Gym on the UT campus, five miniature statues of former congresswoman Barbara Jordan were placed in the lobby for students and faculty to vote on. After a year-long process, Santa Fe artist Kim Crowley's representation of Jordan, thumbing around her briefcase while seated on a bronze bench, was chosen. Due to its rather lackluster presence, that statue has now been repealed by the UT Barbara Jordan Statue Committe. Today, they're......

Yes, folks, when people say "I'm for 4", this is the proposition they're talking about. Proposition Four, in ballot language:“The issuance of $31,500,000 in tax supported General Obligation Bonds and Notes for constructing, renovating, improving, and equipping community and cultural facilities including, without limitation, the Zachary Scott Theater, an African American Cultural and Heritage Facility, an Asian American Resource Center, the Austin Film Studios, the Mexican American Cultural Center, a Mexic-Arte Art Museum, and......

Starting today (actually, you are probably missing some of it right now, so hurry up and finish reading) The Queer Students Alliance of The University of Texas at Austin will be kicking off their sixth annual Pride Week. Until next Monday, October 16th, the QSA will be holding events from early in the morning til late in the evening--from rallies, conferences, workshops, movies and an AIDS walk at Waterloo Park. The theme for this year's......

To imagine the love child of Maya Angelou and Kara Walker is to envision -- however hypothetically -- the potent soulfulness expressed by Gee's Bend Quilts, now on show at the Austin Museum of Art. The exhibit, Mary Lee Bendolph, Gee's Bend Quilts and Beyond, celebrates the women artists of Gee's Bend, a small African American community in rural Alabama where, even today, only a single road leads in and out. Accordingly, the region's quilts......

As mentioned in last week's TWIT, the Black Arts Movement Festival, presented by ProArts Collective, is Austinist's Pick of the Week this week. The Chronicle and the Statesman have also made good mention of the fest, but to catch up the few of you who've yet to get the skinny on this event, here's what's going on. For the next two weeks, BAM brings to Austin an awesome smorgasbord of performance art by African......

Today at noon the National Poetry Slam officially kicks off with opening ceremonies at City Hall. Mayor Will Winn and 2006 NPS Artistic Director Mike Henry will be there to preside over the ceremonies, hosting an "estimated 500 competitors, coaches, staff members, and volunteers". Dang. That's a lot of poets. And poet friends. Folks with NPS badges get free lunch! There is so much amazing programming for NPS this year, a lot of it......

Can you believe that August is almost here? The heat certainly seems to make the summer fly by. Perhaps it's all the fun in the sun, or perhaps it's all of those connections almost made. We've taken some time to wrap up the best of last week's Missed Connections. Me: Pink Tracksuit You: African American man stealing my bike I ran after you for quite some time but you sped away. Please return it!......

Martha Stewart's been a busy (and fabulous) bee in the year and a half since being released from Alderson Federal Prison. In these past few months she's: announced a lucrative partnership with Kodak, opened the first in a series of Martha Stewart-designed model townhomes, was crowned "Godmother of Princess Cruises," launched a new line of merch at Macy's ("i LOVE THE NEW CLOTHES LINE" says Maryland fan Dayneisha), published a book, and agreed to take......

The Houston Texans exercised their buy-back option on David Carr's contract- implying a pass on Vince Young. We're raking in the celebrities here in Travis County, into our civil courts sytem, including that super-hunk Jason Patric. The gambling industry is vying for some action in Texas (but who isn't?). LaMarcus Aldridge consistently impresses coaches, peers and NBA scouts; he has very real possibilty of being an NBA overall draft pick. What has been coined......

T U E S D A Y [31] » [music] Ghetto Princess, Secular End, The Total Foxes, Tomorrow's Too Late at Emo's » [comedy] Live Comedy Happy Hour at Beerland (8pm) » [karaoke] Karaoke Explosion at The Peacock » [books] Galt Niederhoffer presents Taxonomy of Barnacles at Bookpeople (7pm) » [politics] Austin League of Women Voters puts on the State of the City dinner with Mayor Will Wynn as the evening's speaker at the Austin......

The world-renowned Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre helped open the Bass Concert Hall nearly 25 years ago, and this February they are back with what promises to be a moving and spectacular performance. Under the artistic direction of Judith Jamison, the dance company will be performing on Tuesday & Wednesday, February 14 & 15. We can't think of a nicer pre-Valentine's day dinner experience. Of course, we will be holed up at home with......

Will write for commentsGet this, kiddies. Austin, where a judge recently made prohibiting panhandling illegal , has been ranked number 10 in the "Top 20 Meanest Cities in the U.S" in a study conducted by the National Coalition for the Homeless. Texas ranks number four in the "Meanest States." Austinist isn't so naive to think that ok'ing panhandling makes us a nice city (in fact, that really pissed a lot of people off), and......

People living in a city "near Austin" were going to be the focus of a new reality TV show, quite possibly the most ridiculous of them all. Austinist isn't sure how the masterminds ABC didn't foresee problems with this gem of a plot. The show was going to be called "Welcome to the Neighborhood" but we think "Lock the Doors" would have been more appropriate. Seven families were supposed to convince a conservative (read......

This weekend is your last opportunity to see Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson's "King Hedley II" at the State Theatre. More than merely garnering every theatre-related prize under the sun - we count several Pulitzers, a Tony, and the New York Drama Critics' Circle award just at a glance - Wilson is one of America's most perceptive playwrights and, through his works, a historian of African American life. His impressive body of work, most......

The Austinist isn't embarrassed to admit that we love ABC's show "Desperate Housewives," only because you probably watch it, too. Now we have even more reason to love it. Mehcad Brooks moved to Wisteria Lane in last night's season finale, and we're happy to tell you he's from Austin. We know he'll play the son of actress Alfre Woodward, but so far there's no indication of what drama they'll bring to the street. Both......