In early 2001 I told my son we were going to Japan. His immediate excited response was this: Well mom, you’re going to have to learn how to shit on a plane. I don’t recall that I actually emptied my bowels on that seventeen-hour flight, but Henry had a point. The idea of crapping away from a familiar toilet, particularly around a bunch of strangers, and in a situation that involves not-real-plumbing is usually enough to stop me up, sometimes for days on end. Which was the case last weekend, at least until my intestines couldn’t stand it anymore. Warren, my hot young boyfriend, had invited me months prior to attend Flipside with him, the local version of Burning Man, that annual festival in the desert where thousands of people set up a tent city and experiment in… well, let’s just say all sorts of things....

Chicagoist is gearing up for this weekend's annual Air & Water Show along the lakefront. In what's becoming an annual tradition around there, staff member Todd McClamroch even got to fly with one of the participants. Chicagoist's decidedly opinionated readership was also appalled that one of their staffers found a popular local brewpub to be a great place to bring a kid. They also think that an unlikely activist for immigration rights should just take......

A tribute to all things DIY and zany robotic wizardry, the second annual Maker Faire was held last weekend in San Mateo, California. Drawing a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands, the MAKE magazine-sponsored festival featured hundreds of awesome, if ridiculous, creations by engineers, artists, inventors, and other people possessed of an excess of free time and an over-abundance of imagination. Just some of the nifty stuff on display included a Lego Star......

Let's take a look back at a week that raised this Zen koan: if Kevin Federline got into a wrestling ring with a wrestler, who would you root for? Austinist was in an entertainment state of mind as they covered the dickens out of the Austin Film Festival, depicted all the Big 12 football coaches as South Park characters, and interviewed Jose Gonzalez. Chicagoist talked about the passion as they bid adieu to Bell......

If you didn't purchase your tickets to Burning Flipside 2005 (Austin's Burning Man inspired regional art and music festival and experiment in temporary community building), you are a sad monkey. All 600 tickets sold out during the 3 day official sales window between February 28 and March 2. All is not lost though. You can still make yourself over to Bob's List and submit a request for tickets. Try not to dally.... notBob maintains a......

The Austinist would like congratulate its friend Stewart and his crew over at Flickr for being picked up by Yahoo!. The twinkie budget will probably go up tenfold, as is good and proper for any civilized tech company. Stewart, your inappropriate activity at Burning Man led the Austinst folks to believe your fledgling site would go nowhere. How wrong we were! Well, there is a first time for everything. Here is an good article on......

SFist editor Jackson West writes in: So of course everyone in the know is going to be at Austinist Ben's party tonight, but what are your plans for late-night shenanigans? Do they include beer, barbecue and funky live music by local musicians? All for just ten bucks? Well, they should. Local boy made good Topaz and friend Kevn Kinney are hosting a "Sunrise BBQ" party at the offices of the Austin Daze tonight, starting at......