*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors I don’t want to say that there’s a right way and a wrong way to celebrate The Holidays. That would be foolhardy and dickish. Especially in a city as diversified as this one (we celebrate Christmas AND Thanksgiving!). But something this chick was crying about on NPR this morning got me thinking......

Photo courtesy Sunyong ChungWorld-class porcelain artist Sunyong Chung will be participating in this weekend's E.A.S.T.. Enamored with her work, we conducted an interview with her last fall, but, er, neglected to publish it. (Journalism, shmurnalism.) Now, however, bear witness to all she reveals about the intricate nerikome technique used to ornament her plates and bowls. Also: some call/response regarding Sunyong's beliefs about continuity of form, and her experiences connecting with artists from other eras! Testify!......

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors It was sometime after four in the morning. Several years ago. July of the summer months. We had just finished a night out making mistakes all over the city, the lake, the river, and some apartment off Riverside where we smoked out with football players who were the largest hulks of humanity......

M.I.A.'s Friday ACL performance felt so seductive because it was both spicy and sweet; but what else can you expect from a girl who salts and peppers her mango? She burst onto stage wearing pink pedal-pushers, white trainers, wrap-around glasses and war paint, all the while shimmying her heart out to Kala's "Bamboo Banga." Her dancing seemed confounded by tentative limb placement, and it marked her as one extremely sexy dork. (Hawt!) It's this......

While the world focuses its attention on Paris Hilton's upcoming jailtime adventures, another member of the federal prison system is hoping to have himself a laugh—before he dies. The 39-year-old death row inmate in Livingston, Texas, convicted for brutally killing his neighbors nearly 16 years ago, has been running a rather macabre contest on a friend's website. Visitors are invited to submit their favorite jokes and one-liners; the inmate, set to be executed at the......

Texas country music legend and one-time spiritual advisor to Kinky Friedman, Billy Joe Shaver was questioned by Waco-area police after a man was shot in the face near Papa Joe's Texas Saloon. Details about the shooting remain scarce, including any possible role that the Texas Country Music Hall of Famer might have had played in it, but Shaver's attorney reportedly confirmed his client's involvement. The Waco Tribune-Herald also quoted an anonymous truck driver yesterday,......

Seattle's Aqueduct have been doggedly honing an indie/laptop pop sound for several years. Essentially a one-man studio band, David Terry channels influences ranging from a suburban Oklahoma upbringing to fandom of Guns 'N' Roses and The Princess Bride into his catchy, lo-fi home studio creations. Live, the band is a very different animal: at SXSW two years ago, they simply demolished the crowd with a blend of original tunes, rap covers, an Aqueduct theme......

Montreal's Besnard Lakes are not your typical Canadian outfit. When you think of an outfit fronted by a husband and wife duo, you probably think of sugary slop soaked with trite lyrics and knowing glances, but don't make that mistake when it comes to The Besnard Lakes Are the Dark Horse, the band's latest effort. Roy Orbison and Brian Wilson spring to mind as masters of falsetto harmony, and that comparison is legit, but......

“In the movie about your life, are you the hero or the anti-hero?” It’s the question we’ve always wanted to ask prodigious screenwriter, Shane Black, and we finally got the opportunity. Not that Black is inaccessible, just. . . intimidating from a distance. His reputation precedes him. Known for “reinventing” the action flick as much as breaking with the stereotypical screenwriter persona of a bespectacled pipsqueak, Black prefers to shun the conventions of the movie......

Fantastic Fest starts tomorrow at the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar. VIP badges are already sold out, and there are only 80 regular festival badges left. If you love movies, the festival badge is a steal: $110 buys you 8 days of giant monsters, kung fu, chainsaw murders, school girls, angry insects and generally fantastic cinema. (Read our preview) To help prepare you for Fantastic Fest, we conducted a quick interview with Austin's own......

Take one last sip of your drink and you may safely sit back and relax, we're confiscating all liquids from this point forwards. Although, you might make that sip a guzzle if you are dehydrated from a great weekend. Start the week off on the right foot by reviewing the best of last week's Missed Connections. Beauty Bar - m4w you: hipster smoking a cigarette not cracking a smile when told a good fucking......

Well I've kicked around a lot since high school I've worked a lot of nowhere gigs From keyboard man in a rock'n ska band To haulin' boss crude in the big rigs Now I've come back home to plan my next move From the comfort of my Aunt Faye's couch When I see my little cousin Janine walk in All I could say was ow-ow-ouch CHORUS: Honey how you've grown Like a rose Well we......

[The following is an editorial column by contributor Alison Coffey and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Austinist staff. --The Editors] It's not like I have thousands of dollars to make my home my castle, complete with beige furnishings from Room & Board and original artwork and decorative bowls filled with green apples. Even a total home by Target is kind of a struggle. So I don't know why I torture myself......

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors As time goes by, our bodies start to hint to us that we’re in need of some sort of change. Redemption for our poisonous ways of living, or some shit like that. For instance: Waking up in your neighbor’s pickup truck bed (for the third weeknight this month) might point to a......

A couple of years ago, some people were quietly rapping Vince Young for not having the intelligence to play the position in football that is most demanding on a player's smarts. All of those concerns seemingly went out the window as Vince took the Horns to an undefeated season and National Championship last year. Well, the doubters are back. Apparently (or allegedly) Vince scored a miserable 6 (out of 50) on the Wonderlic test......

Before venturing out this weekend, head over to FactoryPeople, where they're clearancing their winter apparel through the end of the month. Clothing from Nice Collective, Development, Evisu and dozens of other designers are discounted anywhere from 35-75% off, and try your luck with their $30 bins scattered throughout the store - you never know what you'll find. Friday, Misprint Magazine is hosting a party to celebrate the release of their latest issue - "the get......

La Traviata is busy on a Saturday night. We didn't have reservations, but we were lucky enough to snag the last free table of the evening from the very kind hostess. For our dinner we ordered the Lamb Ragu without the lamb. A truly amazing feat if we do say so ourselves. Hey, it had red sauce and we like our red sauce. But we don't like our lamb. There was no problem in......

Well, it looks like it’s another busy weekend for music around town. Saturday night has several great options and one of those is to head over to Beerland and catch the kick-ass local (and regional) lineup of The Black, AM Syndicate, Bring Back the Guns, and The Interest Kills. Make sure to not be too fashionably late as all the bands are worth seeing. We recently sat down (in front of our computers) and......

Singer-songwriter Glen Phillips first burst onto the music scene in the 90's as the lead singer of Toad the Wet Sprocket, a group of four guys from the laid-back, sun-drenched California beachside town of Santa Barbara. Remember "All I Want" or "Come Down"? After Toad broke up in 1998, Phillips went on to a fairly promising solo career, releasing in 2001 the highly acclaimed Abulum. This album was largely a reminiscence of days long......