As Austin grows, our unofficial motto should probably be modified from ‘Keep Austin Weird’ to simply, ‘Keep Austin.’ Maybe it's a small defeat. Or maybe it's simply falling back to more secure positions....

Two months ago, we let you know about the Austin Chronicle's annual Short Story contest, open to aspiring writers from Texas and the world. This Wednesday, the winners will be unveiled at a BookPeople gala, catered by Austin Java. ...

It shouldn’t take more than 350 words to explain why I intended to vote Ron Paul for President, and roughly two words to explain why there’s now no chance in hell....

Like the disaffected grunge movement. Nobody could really find a way to bank off it, at least not until Ethan Hawke and Eddy Vedder came along. Then the music and film execs got a hard-on so big, it bumped into Kurt Cobain’s elbow while he was cleaning his shotgun....

Ben Reed & Bill Cope Read Christmas Fiction, Live!Friday, November 30thCafe Mundi (1704 East 5th St.)Free, 8pm - onwardAustinist’s own Benjamin Reed’s doing a Christmas Story reading with Bill Cope! Using real words! This Friday evening! Remember back when words actually meant something? Back when they meant “on paper, in printed form, to be read aloud to people who like hearing stories told by the authors who write them”? Back when books were things......

Let’s ignore, for a moment, the disconcerting image of middle-income men armed with quasi-lethal antipersonnel devices, sleeplessly cruising urban desert wastelands in over-powered and under-braked Japanese SUVs. Let us consider, for a moment, the intent....

: : FRIDAY : : [culture] End of Ramadan (EID) Festival, 9:30am-4:30pm @ Richard Moya Park [homework] Deadline for the Soup Peddler's Soupie Cookbook [film] New Movies! @ Your Local Theater! [dance] Armagetdown with New Berlin, DJ Big Face and DJ Manny, 9pm @ Progress Coffee [music] Cruiserweight, The Fall Collection, The Always Already and Paper Airlines @ Emo's [music] Fluffer's Union and American Graveyard @ Trophy's [theatre] Paul Rudnick's "The Most Fabulous Story......

We recently sat down with Ben Reed: Austin writer, bartender, and philosopher to interview him for information surrounding the life and history behind his first published book, The Bow Tie Gang. Having written for a whole slew of indie writing publications (print and interweb) such as Word Riot, Mobius (a story the author is particularly proud of), Slow Trains, or Underground Voices… apparently makes you a damn good chef too. The man cooks a......