Today many blogs are participating in Blog Action Day, with bloggers worldwide posting on this year's topic of poverty. With a focus on Austin, the Capital Area Food Bank has posted some facts along with personal stories on their blog today. The United Way Capital Area has many posts up on the topic, including a series of videos with Councilmember Mike Martinez. Robert Quigley at the Statesman has posted a list of other local Blog......

Today is Hunger Awareness Day, and the folks at Chipotle are offering a free entree if you simply show up in any Austin outlet with a non-perishable food item. All donations go towards stocking the shelves of the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas, which distributes millions of pounds of food to needy Central Texans every year. Thanks to Kerissa for the tip!......

SATURDAY [23] music • Wintershow Benefit for SafePlace and Capital Area Food Bank with Bill Callahan (SMOG), Shearwater, Nick Hennies (Weird Weeds) and Brian Sookram at The Mohawk (Doors at 3pm, Music at 5pm) film • Sinus Show: Die Hard at Alamo Downtown (7 & 10pm, $12.50) music • Everyone Knows Everyone Winter Party, with music by Visitors, Rory + the Artificial Hearts, Pompeii, and Mars Wars; art by Carlos Rosales-Silva, Justin Cox, Jay......

It's that time of the year again. Time to reflect back upon all the great shows that we attended, all the Lone Star we drank because we couldn't afford anything else, and all the ditches we fell asleep in. But now, as the holidays bear down upon our weary bodies like a drunken hook-up, its time to give something back. Luckily for us, there are two opportunities to do just that in the coming......

THURSDAY [21] fashion • Dirty Librarian Chains Trunk Show with DJ Chicken George and Daetron Vargas at FactoryPeople (5-8pm) film • The Christmas Pop! Sing-Along at Alamo Downtown (7pm, $10) film • La Femme Nikita at Rounders Pizzeria (8pm, Free) film • old Joy at Alamo Downtown (9:45pm) film • Terror Thursday: Blood Beach at Alamo Downtown (11:55pm, Free) music • Ugly Beats, Bellfuries, The Deadly Companions at Emo's music • "A Parish Christmas," featuring......

First things first. Alamo Drafthouse EAT DRINK WATCH MOVIES events pretty much always kick ass, but the bar just may have been raised with the upcoming showing of Stephen Chow’s God of Cookery, loosely based on Japanese wundershow Iron Chef. Alamo South Lamar Exec Chef John Bullington and Alamo Village Exec Chef Trish Eichelberger face off Wednesday, August 30 at 7pm at The Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. The stakes? The title of Alamo Iron......

Well folks, there are already so many still-running productions to choose from (see end of post) that we're a bit surprised Austin has any actors left to staff even more shows. Then again, this weekend's new works all come from the Specialty Aisle -- from Shakespeare to radio theatre, high school productions to college work, This Week in Theatre offers several interesting things to choose from. Let's get to it. The UT Department of......

It's like a dream come true. The Black Star Pub could be the first community owned bar in Texas. We know you were psyched about walking to work this morning, but the strike was called off. Capital Metro employees may just have an acceptable new contract by noon today. A ton of people in our office have been out sick lately. Now we're hoping afraid that they'll never come back. The Umlauf Sculpture Garden......

(image borrowed from 3M 2005 photo gallery) We like to think of ourselves as a healthy bunch. We've been anticipating The 3M Half Marathon (and relay) for a couple months now. Training diligently. Eating right. Sleeping right. Cutting back on the beer consumption. ( Well, maybe not as much as we should have...but we read somewhere that beer actually replaces certain phytochemicals lost while running-so we considered them as part of our training regimen.)......

If you are counting your blessings this time of year and are looking for a way to pass it on, look no further. The Central Texas Food Bank allows you to help people in Austin feed other people in Austin. Every $1 that you donate helps provide five meals to a hungry individual right here in Central Texas. If you would like to help them by contributing in a non-monetary fashion they also take......

For those of us who can't get enough of KUT's John Aielli, host of Eklektikos, it's time to break out the holiday song books. Aielli will be hosting the Holiday Sing-Along and Capitol Tree Lighting this Saturday night, starting at 6pm on the south steps of the Capitol. After the festivities you can enjoy the “Lights and Sounds” of the Main Street of Texas with the Congress Avenue Holiday Stroll. Shops and stores along......

The outreach provided by area food banks during hurricane relief efforts has left many organization with a very limited supplies. Austin has 1,000 more folks in need than we did a year ago and, accoring to KVUE many of the downtown charities (Arch, Caritas, Salvation Army) receive their food from the Capital Area Food Bank. So, please give what you can and donate to local charities during this holiday season (and every other season,......

Clayways Pottery Studio is holding its annual Empty Bowl Project on Sunday, November 20th. Between 11am and 3 pm you can purchase a donated bowl for $15 and also get a delcious serving of soup and bread made by an Austin restaurant. All proceeds from the event go to the Capital Area Food Bank.......

This week's IST list is a work in progress. Bear with us -- we're tired and hungover. M O N D A Y music · I Eat Records label launch show at Emo's with: The Glass Family, Thor & Friends, Jonathan Meiburg of Shearwater, The Casting Couch, Orange Mothers, Ethan Azarian, Will Sheff (of Okkervil River), Hitchhike, The Handsome Charlies, Fluffers Union, and Fine Fifteen. Benefiting SafePlace and Capital Area Food Bank, new compilation CDs......

The 18th Annual Old Settler’s Music Festival kicks off today out at the Salt Lick Pavilion and Camp Ben McCullough, just south of town. The festival features one of the best bluegrass, folk and Americana lineups of any fest in the country, with more than two dozen bands set to perform. For those of you who have not attended, the weekend is a truly unique experience. The ambience of the pecan tree-lined Onion Creek......

Reggae fans rejoice! This Saturday and Sunday, April 16-17, Auditorium Shores plays host to the 12th annual Austin Marley Festival. The largest reggae event in Central Texas, this festival features two days chock full of music, food and crafts, all in the name of honoring Bob Marley's message of "peace, tolerance, and non-violent change." Two decades after his death, that seems more appropriate than ever in these times. A single day's pass will cost you......