• If you missed today’s lunch with the big dude, the watermelon salad with tomato and basil crème fraiche sounds totally delish!
• Great photos from President Obama's visit to Austin.
• Sir Tim Rice has a one-hour episode for the BBC on Texas music. It’s so strange to hear someone with that posh accent talkin’ about Port Arthur.

As part of KUT's 50th anniversary celebration, BBC has been in town since Monday doing their live show, . Yesterday they were on the air from UT's Communications Courtyard, discussing capital punishment, when KLRU's Docubloggers found them. They will be in town through Friday - their show is airing throughout the week at noon on KUT. more ›

Tonight at the Alamo Downtown, $2 Music Monday will feature a documentary by local filmmaker Samuel Wainwright Douglas: Holy Modal Rounders: Bound to Lose. more ›

Image from RCIS.org Solar Austin Happy HourTuesday, November 6Artz Rib House [map]6:30-8:30pm[info]Solar Austin gathers for their monthly happy hour Tuesday at Artz Rib House. Renowned science fiction author and founder of Viridian Design Movement, Bruce Sterling, will be the featured and the topic will be Future Trends in Solar. Best known for his eight science fiction novels, Mr. Sterling is also a contributing editor of WIRED magazine and a columnist for MAKE magazine. He has... more ›

Chinese petroleum company PetroGas set to become world's largest company by market value, surpassing ExxonMobil. Interesting gender-bender story from the Middle East... Mac users now entering the cross-hairs of the computer virus world...at least, the naughty Mac users (for shame!). Canadian study: P2P-file sharing actually INCREASES music purchasing? But how can this be?? Most Earthlings are ready to make sacrifices for the planet's environment, BBC study says. Is the next American economic recession on... more ›

BBC actors posing as escaped inmates in Travis County freak out local residents, prompting jail lockdown Study finds downtown Round Rock is less than walkable Might this be the end of the ugly butt-crack contest? Andre Jones claims he's a victim of mistaken identity APD chief Art Acevedo launches internal audit after the Statesman reveals the department's 2006 budget was padded with funds seized during criminal investigations Officials in South Texas discover a tractor... more ›

Scientists, nature buffs and stoners alike have gathered in front of their television sets every Sunday night for the past few weeks in order to catch the awe-inspiring footage of the Discovery Channel mini-series, Planet Earth. Originally produced and aired by the BBC, the eleven part mini-series took crews around the world, working for 5 years and shooting 2,000 days of footage with the latest in high-definition camera technology. Capturing the rarities and wonders... more ›

The BBC calls The Hot Puppies a "spiky girl-pop band hiding sharp talons and sardonic wit beneath their cool, Blondie-style new wave exterior." They have also won effusive praise from critics at The Guardian, who want The Hot Puppies to be "the next big thing." After six years together, the band signed to Fierce Panda and released their debut album Under The Crooked Moon in mid-2006. The confident and powerful Radio One Sessions tracks... more ›

We're big fans of universal accessibility and all, but we were a little confused when we saw this bit in today's edition of PopBitch: more ›

Ohio's The Black Keys have been practicing their minimalist-blues ethos for over five years now, and have carved their own niche in indie rock. The band combines the two-man band approach of The White Stripes, riffage worthy of Jimmy Page, and blues stomps patterned after Howlin' Wolf and vintage Chess artists. The trick here is that it comes off in a way that somehow appeals to fans of both Pavement and Stevie Ray Vaughan,... more ›

While you sit on the couch tonight, toasting democracy, check out these resources to pass the time. Also, feel free to use the comment section as an open-thread all night long. Your friends tell you they voted? Don't trust them? Check on them. We're surprised this is even legal! | link Can't wait for Rather or Blitzer to let you know what's going? The Secretary of State lets us watch the real-time election results roll... more ›

Vote y'all. Then go buy records. Here's what's new today: Pavement Wowee Zowee: Sordid Sentinels Edition (Matador) Pavement's 1995 masterpiece came on the heels of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, a decidedly more radio-friendly album. Pavement fans who dropped the needle on "We Dance" expecting some sort of answer to "Silence Kit" or 120 Minutes darling "Cut Your Hair" were probably surprised, but not disappointed (in time). Malkmus took a certain pride in alienating critics,... more ›

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While our usual appointment television shows are on summer hiatus, we thought that we wouldn’t be watching much television this season. But that was not to be the case! We have been sitting on our couch in the A/C this summer watching these guilty pleasures: Project Runway, Weds @ 9pm, Bravo. No other show would make us turn on the Miss Universe pageant to see if a contestant was wearing the right gown. We... more ›

LAist has so much fun this week! They go to E3, where they overhear the timeless remark "Man, this is where nerdy girls get laid." Is that a promise? They also give us this week's best CDs and make us realize that LA is the best place to use Zillow. Ah, Houstonist. They're biking to work, that is, if they can figure out how to get there. That's right, Mapquest says "Houston had the... more ›

The BBC mistakenly interviewed a cab driver instead of the computer expert they intended. Check out the video. South Texas is hot, but when you perspire tar, its time to get checked out. Morgellons Disease has many doctors and scientists stumped. In England, a court ruled that patients can get reimbursed for the cost of their surgery if they have to travel to a foreign country to get it done in a timely manner.... more ›

Idiosyncratic American ex-pat Scott Walker's musical career spans over half a century long, from his early years as a pop star in LA's The Walker Brothers to his extensive solo recordings (albums one through four named Scott (1967), Scott 2 (1968), Scott 3 (1969), and Scott 4 (1969)). Having signed to Beggars Banquet-funded British indie label 4AD (Blonde Redhead, TVoR, Mountain Goats, The Birthday Party) in 2004, the cult figure has enjoyed a resurgence... more ›

• Scientists assigned a new genus to this creature they recently discovered in the ocean. We're thinking it would taste good with some garlic butter. ***Don't be fooled, a tabloid posting says that some NASA Scientists are calling it an alien life form.
• Tragically, 5 UT students were killed in a car accident this weekend on their way to a medical school convention in St. Louis. None of them were wearing their seat belts.
• A woman was attacked and sexually assaulted and left with serious injuries in the Bull Creek Greenbelt.
• Freescale announced that it is dropping its sponsorship of the Freescale Marathon. It will, of course, continue to be an important running event, but it will now be known as the Austin Marathon with several different corporate sponsors.
• The death of Milosevic has brought on a critical eye to the hotel jail in which Mr. Milosevic spent his final years. Though tests show that he died of a heart-attack, a foreign drug has been found in his body leading to speculations of poisoning.
• American's debate over abortion is getting hotter.
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Belle & Sebastian - The Life Pursuit Sunny hooks, exuberant melodies and Stuart Murdoch’s sneaky/clever lyrics make this latest LP from our favorite Scottish tweesters eminently enjoyable. Be sure to check out the special edition version, which includes a bonus disc featuring the band's live BBC recordings. She Wants Revenge - She Wants Revenge It was only mere months ago that this sharp LA quartet first played Austin, dazzling the crowd at Stubb's who's arrived... more ›

Well Ricky Perry has launched his "Proud of Texas" campaign tour, and we feel it's time to carve out the competition he faces. Perryheads say that Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn is his most potent rival. You may recall that she surprised folks recently by declaring that she is running as an independent. We're somewhat concerned that she misspelled her name on the candidate form, but we're pretty sure Ricky can't spell her name either. Besides, spelling is totally ovrratid. more ›

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon undergoes emergency surgery after doctors discover an increase in cranial pressure. Meanwhile, Pat Robertson has the audacity to suggest this is some sort of "divine retribution." The Canadian Medical Association Journal claims that supplying winos with booze might actually be good for them and everyone else. BBC lists the top 100 things we learned this year. Our favorites? "WD-40 dissolves cocaine - it has been used by a pub... more ›

[The following is a new editorial column by contributor Alison Coffey and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Austinist staff. --The Editors] Welcome to my new tv column. The title is a sort of roundabout homage to Knowing Me, Knowing You, the wonderful failed talk show of the infamous (and fictional) Alan Partridge on the BBC, which in turn is a nod to that ABBA song. I have to thank our editor... more ›

Austinist's favorite local neo-psychedelic band, the illustrious Black Angels, return to town this Saturday for their triumphant homecoming show at Emo's. In the last few months, they've sold out their West Coast summer tour, been featured on Zane Lowe's taste-making show on BBC Radio 1, and inked a record distribution deal with Seattle's Light in the Attic. The kids are poised to take over in a big way. We've a pair of spots on... more ›

[In which we use the word fuck no less than three times. Well, four.] A few months ago, at a house party in Hyde Park thrown by local label Christmas Mountain Records, we found ourselves lounging idly with our mates on a plushly upholstered sofa, near the stage setup of a living room so sardine-packed with Austin hipsters that, in the dimmed lighting and from our low vantage point, all one could make out... more ›

While our minds are primarily on the folks in Louisiana and Mississippi, we'd like to bring to light a tragedy that has gone under-reported here in the States. One of the most deadly events in Iraq's history occured yesterday. From the Associated Press: Thousands of people flocked to the funerals Thursday of the nearly 1,000 Shiite pilgrims killed in a stampede during a religious procession, as critics blasted the government for failing to prevent... more ›

Don't Panic! A bunch of Austinist staffers are skipping out of work early on Friday to catch the premiere of the new Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy movie. HHGTTG, the story of a man who wakes up to find that his best friend is from a different planet, and that the Earth is about to be destroyed to make way for a new hyperspace bypass, has been presented in a variety of formats since its creation - radio, books, videogames, records, and a BBC tv series. We're pretty sure that the movie version will stay faithful to all previous tellings of the tale in being totally different. Douglas Adams, God rest his soul, wouldn't have it any other way. more ›

Austinist would be remiss if we did not inform you that although Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is not opening for another month, tickets at the Alamo Drafthouse South are on sale now at the S. Lamar and Anderson Lane locations of the Alamo Drafthouse. Get them while their hot, and keep telling yourself that this one will be better. We know we are. more ›

Joseph Ratzinger, a conservative German Cardinal, has been elected in Rome by the Conclave of Cardinals to be the 265th pontiff. Ratzinger, now 78 years old, will take the papal name of Benedict XVI. more ›