Welcome to Ask Austinist, the feature wherein we answer questions from our readers. Today we take on this question: Could Austinist please provide some tips on bars or other not so serious venues where political junkies can watch their favorite change-agent, decider, hope salesman and sycophants and wonks stumble their way through presidential primary election nights?...

Photo by Pat Rioux on flickr Wanna see the Cowboys game tonight and don't know anyone with the NFL network? Local sports bars are getting ready for what could be their busiest night this year. Former Chester's site to house a community-service-oriented Christian congregation. Currently only one in five 5th graders who fail the TAKS are made to repeat the grade. Father of UT student killed in 1996 accident doesn't think the driver needs to......

Image provided by Soundcheck MagazineWhile attending the University of Texas at Austin, one faces a constant barrage of “the weekend starts on Thursday” type advertisements. Although largely for exposure of Thursday night drink specials at bars on 6th Street, the intrinsic appeal of that statement bleeds through on days like these. Kick off your weekend early (and gently) with Swedish singer-songwriter José González at The Parish or dance away at the Electric Six show at......

Flyer distributed by Pangaea AustinFor better or worse, Austin's new safari-themed nightclub in the Warehouse District will host its (doubtlessly) over-the-top grand opening next Friday, November 16. Pangaea, a so-called "ultra-lounge," takes over the former Alamo Drafthouse space. It was originally scheduled to open on Halloween, but evidently the tribal accoutrements didn't show up in time. Here's what you guys had to say when we first posted about it: "I think they want to go......

Milking the last days of summer in an attempt to hook up? If so we suggest you turn your attention to the information that we've just stumbled across, because apparently there was some sort of muzak festival that all of the kids are talking about on the interwebs. So if you are one of those cool kids, you best get out there and see if there's any action to be had. If you have......

Best known as the frontman of alt-country group Richmond Fontaine, Willy Vlautin is now also an author. His debut novel, The Motel Life, takes the same bleak, resigned-to-fate look on life that fuels his music. The story centers around the relationship of brothers Frank and Jerry Lee, who flee town after one of them accidentally kills a boy in a drunken hit-and-run accident. They find a strange kind of freedom in their ensuing travels; it's......

Fat Man and Little Boy seem like innocuous pejorative phrases, possibly used to tease other kids on the monkey bars, but when associated with a date, specifically August 6th and 9th, 1945, those words become something else altogether. No longer mere verbal darts, those words evoke images of pillars of fire and shredded skin, of a war certainly ended, but possibly not won. Wednesday night, Academy Award winning director Steven Okazaki will take you on......

Spoon (6:30pm): So here's the thing about Spoon: they're a studio band. And on record, they're pretty much bulletproof for this decade. But the band also have a deserved reputation as a sometimes shaky live act, and such was the case for the show's beginning today. Britt Daniel and the band emerged without opening music or much ceremony, plowing right into a half-dozen tracks from new album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. But they......

Have you ever found yourself yearning to be lost in the sea of lesbians that is the Dinah Shore Weekend in Palm Springs, but you can’t seem to get away? Do you want to have a night off from struggling to figure out where all the lesbians go in Austin and why the full-fledged lesbian bars in town can't keep from closing? More importantly, have you been patiently waiting since the year 1930 to attend......

It’s a free show Wednesday night at the Mohawk outside for those over 21. And, unlike most of the bars on and around 6th street, they shouldn’t need a barker to shout, “Live music! No cover! $2 shots!” (We can’t vouch for the third one). It’s going to be a free night of electro-freak indie fun. First up, The Laughing. A great name for a band that doesn’t take themselves too seriously. Bringing the......

A San Antonio-area nonprofit is suing to have their chimpanzees returned from Louisiana Is someone trying to take down the Dollar General? The City of Austin has opted to extend the waterway ban on Lake Austin until Friday The Texas Department of Transportation begins inspections on possibly suspect bridges A 6-year-old girl in North Texas crashed her bike into a parked trailer and gets her head punctured by 4 inches of rebar Bars and......

With construction on the new downtown Drafthouse well underway, the Alamo's Henri Mazza recently set out to explore the stretch of shot bars along Sixth Street that'll soon be their neighbors. To wit: ...And every night, I'm going to hang out for at least 15 minutes in a random bar. Tonight,I was by myself at Buffalo Billiards, the first bar that was open when I headed east from Congress. Buffalo Billiards was also pretty......

While SFist cringed at the fatal dose of crime littering the Bay Area, it found solace in Hillary Clinton's San Francisco campaign headquarters opening, which featured loads of exposed mammary glands. In other news, SF Taxi Commission ruled that Satan's cab must keep its (in)famous medallion number, 666; and in an un-fashion-forward frenzy, San Francisco Fashion Week (chortle) bars bloggers from covering and getting smashed at their shows and parties, respectively. Also, they found a......

What happens when a runaway bride stumbles into the cabin of a hapless recluse? ...in the middle of the remotest Alaskan outback? ...during a terrible blizzard? Sounds a tad bit like the upcoming film Into The Wild, only with a potentially happy ending. One that's not based on a true story. Oh, and this tale includes a woman in a wedding gown who is hopped up on junk food. Okay, so it's not so......

Say what you will about Tom Cruise’s career choices, religion, or personal relationships, the man has certainly made some fantastic action movies. Witness his sweaty brilliance firsthand tonight as 101X presents this week’s Summer Movie Series classic Top Gun. Cruise plays Maverick, a Naval Aviator whose record is less than pristine due to his high-flying high jinks and general loose cannon-itude. He makes it into the elite Fighter Weapons School by the skin of his......

Austin native Rebecca Rosenberg has been living in South Korea teaching English, and she wants to share her experiences abroad with all of Austin. Austinist believes that we could all use some Korean culture. After nine months away from Austin, working as an English teacher in South Korea, I most miss lying on the grass with a margarita, relaxing at the meat market that is Barton Springs, with a Shady Thing pilfered from the......

There are quite a few mentionables this week, including Dappled Cities' Granddance, produced by Jim Fairchild (of Grandaddy) and Peter Walker, and mixed by Jaquire King (Modest Mouse). Dappled Cities are an Australian indie rock band that we've grown rather fond of as of late, mostly because of "Fire, Fire Fire". Also of note this week is the latest from Ladybug Transistor and the latest Eccentric Soul compilation, The Prix Label. As usual, do......

Back in July 2006, local event production company Direct Events, in collaboration with Novare Group Holdings LLC and Andrews Urban LLC (the developers of the new 360 Condos at 3rd & Nueces), unveiled a plan to "preserve, renovate and expand" the Austin Music Hall, one of Austin's larger live music venues. The venue is located at 208 Nueces Street, just down the way from the 360 Condos development. The plan calls for an expansion of......

- If you are one of the many in the South Austin area who feel that downtown is hogging all of the good wine bars, take heart. Central Market's Westgate location has actually opened a wine and cheese bar in the middle of their store. The bar, dubbed A22, will feature a rotating mix of 16 wines by the glass, along with approximately 25 cheeses. Both wine and cheese flights will be available, and......

The American craft beer industry will converge on Austin tonight for this year's Craft Brewers Conference & BrewExpo America. Black Star Co-op - the world's first cooperatively owned and worker self-managed brewpub - will be hosting a Craft Beer Celebration to raise startup capital for their beer-boasting business. The event, tonight at Fiesta Gardens from 8PM to midnight, will feature live music from local bands PONG and Opposite Day, funky beats from The Second......

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors It was supposed to end by now. We’re supposed to already be past this. Many believe they saw it coming before it hit, and many more than that read through the lines to see the “conspiracy” for what they believed it was. Have you heard that Del Monte or Chiquita or some......

Paula Disbrowe has been a food and travel writer in Manhattan and the cowgirl chef at Hart & Hind Fitness Ranch in Rio Frio, Texas. Her work has been featured in publications including the New York Times, Food & Wine, Cooking Light, and Saveur. She recently launched one of our favorite websites, Dishola, and her new book, Cowgirl Cuisine: Rustic Recipes and Cowgirl Adventures from a Texas Ranch, showcases her love for Texas food. Catch......

We don't remember much of SXSW but of what we can remember, we think we had a pretty kickass time. During the week of March 13th to the 17th, we were out surviving on what little we had time to consume (usually free, alcoholic or "containing artificial flavors"), catching every bit of sanctioned and unsanctioned SXSW goodness. While we were out on the streets and bars of Austin, we began to realize a lot......

Broadway casting group Telsey + Company (Wicked, Hairspray, Rent is looking for hot new male talent--aren't we all?--for an upcoming production entitled Cry Baby. Based on John Water's campy 1990 flick starring Johnny Depp, Ricki Lake, Iggy Pop, and Stephen Baldwin, Cry Baby told the classic tale of a gentle street thug who falls in love with a totally square chick, but then some bad stuff happens along the way that we can't remember.......

San Antonio trio Girl In A Coma is comprised of siblings Nina and Phanie Diaz, and complemented by childhood friend Jenn Alva on bass. The band’s energetic pop/rock has been seen on tour with the likes of Frank Black, The Epoxies, and The Eyeliners, with an upcoming gig opening for the Pogues announced this month. Also secured recently is a record deal with Joan Jett’s Blackheart Records, with their debut album expected sometime this......

The following is a column by staff writer Carly Kocurek, compiled with the help of Elizabeth S., Sam Armstrong, and Shannon Roberts -- Ed Note So, you've waited until the last minute to address the whole "Valentine's Day" situation. Trust me, I've been there. In fact, I'm there right now -- my grandmother will be getting a card from us sometime next week. (I'll put extra stickers on the envelope to make up for......

We have one word for the project Chef Brenton Schumacher is about to unveil: finally. In the downtown Red River area – grossly underserved by questionable taco trucks and the like – the winds of change are blowing. Detroit native Schumacher, the innovative former Executive Sous Chef at Central Market, has thrown down the gauntlet with two projects. In its first year, his new catering company, Pink Avocado, has grabbed gigs with the Independent Film......

Austin-based Peel have been together since late 2004, and Austinist writers have recommended that you catch their show for almost two years! A youthful blend of indie pop with noisy drums, keyboards, and multiple vocalists, Peel wouldn't sound at all out of place on late 80's college radio. Their self-titled debut album finally arrives in early April. Last week, we spoke to Peel's Allison Moore about favorite bands, dive bars, and the business of......

This Sunday, February 4th at 5:25pm central time, the world supremacy of American football for the 2006 season will be decided when the Colts of Indianapolis face the Bears of Chicago on the hallowed turf of Dolphin Stadium in Miami, Florida. Captained by the tenacious Brian Urlacher (a man who was known to bed a wench named Paris some fortnights ago), will the formidable Bears defense overcome late season gaffes and rise to this the......

The city of Austin is a bastion of local print and internet media publications of many varieties, and we at the Austinist are always excited to get our from under our cave desks, rub the sleep from our eyes, and actually read something that has been printed on a real live piece of paper once in a while. Or just download the .PDF. Regardless of how we come to read our favorite local print publications,......