You might remember Austinite Joseph Nicolosi's work from earlier this year, when his Mario Brothers feature film bumper was shown during SXSW. We instantly fell in love with his videos, and we're happy to report that he's recently completed a new one called "Kittywood Studios: Cat Videos Incorporated." The premise is that there is just one super-huge company responsible for every single cat video on the web. We're pretty sure we had this idea one night hanging out with some Sociology majors behind Spiderhouse, but we're glad someone made it a reality. Enjoy, and follow Joe on Twitter @tehpwnshop. more ›

• The New York Times blogs ACL.
• Cat fancier near Waco may have her home torn down because of the smell!
• This 97 year-old dude got a follow-up visit from the real estate lady who’d sold him his house…and she’d sold it to him in 1956! Talk about customer service!

• Government says we should expect "a big influx" of swine flu cases this fall
• 14 people were killed in Indonesia after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck Wednesday
• Two American television reporters say they were "violently dragged" into North Korea

Even after the sketch comedy gem The State was grounded prematurely (and where’s that DVD already?) it hasn’t stopped Michael Showalter or Ian Black from bounding into many more comedic projects in the ensuing years. more ›

Photo by hamron on flickr 48 cats rescued from deplorable conditions in Rescuties' founder's home earlier this month; a judge is allowing her to keep 3 of them and recommended psychological counseling. Capitol One will not be buying Austin-based business NetSpend for $700 million as was planned, but will buy a minority share of the company. Work starts on making Cesar Chavez fully 2-way. Starting this week and going through January 1, APD will be... more ›

• Watch the northeastern sky at 7:06pm tonight for the shuttle.
• Austin ad firm GSD&M loses part of the AT&T account.
• Statesman has a story on the split between LBJ High School and the magnet school housed therein.

Austinist recently had the opportunity to talk with Zell Miller III about his upcoming show Hip Hop Theater Explosion!. Miller was this year's winner of the Mark David Cohen New Play Award for his work My Child, My Child, My Alien Child. He received critical acclaim for last year's B-Boy Bluez, and packed houses the previous year for his phenomenal Evidence of Silence Broken. Now he's showcasing Austin's best and brightest hip-hop talent in what... more ›

Just moved out of the family house and feeling lonely? Living in an apartment that won't allow dogs? Maybe you need a cat. Throughout the month of July, the Austin Humane Society and Town Lake Animal Center have lowered the adoption fee for cats to $35. This fee covers vaccination, microchipping, de-worming, flea/tick treatment, as well as spay/neuter procedure (if applicable). At this low cost, how can you pass this deal up? Even some... more ›

Last Friday, Pets America delivered pet oxygen masks to City Hall; there are enough so that 100 local emergency vehicles can be outfitted with sets of three masks (cat, small dog and large dog). The funds for this project were raised in cooperation with Tomlinson's Pet Supplies, Lowe's, the Austin Community Foundation, and individual donors. Austinites helped raise over $5,500 to help save the lives of cats and dogs in need of oxygen in fiery situations. more ›

It is odd how a man believes he can think better in a special place. Many Austinites dreamed that Mueller would be their special place. Most of those dreams are crashing against the brick wall of reality. Mueller was supposed to be a green-urbanist dream: an affordable neighborhood near downtown where residents could walk to retail and commercial space and public transportation, where you could paint your house any stupid color you want and... more ›

Austin Pets Alive!, a local organization working to hinder pet overpopulation, is hosting a fundraiser tonight. Their Pet Friend of the Year, Tom Spencer from KLRU, will be feted, and State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez and City Councilmember Lee Leffingwell will make appearances. The money raised tonight will benefit a group that promotes spaying/neutering services to the Austin community. Austin resolved to become a "no kill" city in the 90s, but in 2005, over half... more ›

more ›

It's the Saturday Hatha instructor at YogaYoga South, or Orange Hat Bike Messenger guy. It's one of the Lone Star Rollergirls, or your favorite coffee house employee. It's your local secret crush. After spending many fruitless mornings skulking around Whole Foods, trying to meet the elusive "cute red-haired guy who works the (Whole Foods) counter up North," we move on to an entirely different Crush-Out request in the interest of keeping them coming. He's a... more ›

You probably know actor Curtis Armstrong best as the vulgar, grubby, utterly lovable anti-frat boy character Booger from the 1980s teen comedy series Revenge of the Nerds. So you may be surprised to find out that in real life, Armstrong is articulate, cultured and polite - and that he’s one of the world’s foremost experts on pop songwriter Harry Nilsson. This Saturday, Armstrong will be visiting Austin to host a screening of Nilsson’s 1971 film... more ›

Here's what's new this week: The Walkmen Pussy Cats Starring the Walkmen (Record Collection) When John Lennon and Yoko Ono took a break in 1974, the former jumped into the studio with pals Ringo Star, Keith Moon and Harry Nilsson (among others) to produce Pussy Cats, a fascinating mix of classic tunes and originals arranged primarily by Nilsson and Lennon. Misunderstood and bizarre, Pussy Cats is the ultimate buddy album for music geeks with... more ›

Remember that Lazy Sunday parody you did after you couldn’t get The Chronic-what-cles of Narnia out of your head? Or the remake of the Sabotage video you did using your old Starsky & Hutch action figures? Well, funny guy/gal, Cap City Comedy Club and the Austin Film Festival have synergized to give you the chance to flex your inner Benigni with the Funniest Filmmaker in Austin Competition! more ›

Admit it, you’ve always wanted to film that little story about the kid you knew back in elementary school who used to strip for quarters and once ate dried and chalky cat poop for a dollar. You’d set it up like a “and look how they turned out now” piece where he owns fifteen Kentucky Fried Chicken outlets, married his semi-retarded cousin-in-law, sees more butt-play from Brazilian Swimwear Models than you’ve had hot meals, and still eats feline feces (but with antique silverware). more ›

Well I've kicked around a lot since high school I've worked a lot of nowhere gigs From keyboard man in a rock'n ska band To haulin' boss crude in the big rigs Now I've come back home to plan my next move From the comfort of my Aunt Faye's couch When I see my little cousin Janine walk in All I could say was ow-ow-ouch CHORUS: Honey how you've grown Like a rose Well we... more ›

Sometimes you need to clean yourself up, get serious, and move in with daddie for a few months before you head to Latin America for a new gig. The District bid's Jenna Bush adios. D.C.-based television shows have an elderly audience and DCist has some suggestions to fix that. They're also throwing Butterstick the panda bear a birthday bash. Yeah, we may have a few issues with our World Cup broadcasters here, but this guy... more ›

San Francisco is proud host of a new reality show called "How to Get the Guy" that's unfortunately not a descendant of Will and Grace, Queer Eye, The L Word, American Idol etc. Also a biodefence lab is coming to the East Bay and SFist teaches wine pairing. Getting on the wrong train sucks. Getting on the wrong train and becoming the victim of what will later be described as a "stabbing spree" really sucks.... more ›

New York/California indie rock trio We Are Scientists are one of the most entertaining bands around, in part because of their punchy pop-punk sound but even more because of their offbeat sense of humor: on the official W.A.S. website, the lanky lads offer an advice column, in which they tackle all manners of ridiculous problems from fans ("I'm worried about the size of my cat's penis/the other cats are laughing"), and also frequently update a reviews feature, where they comment on everything from the 2004 "Keelboat" Nickel to the Pun-Based Sign At the Manchester Metro Premier Travel Inn Front Desk. Having released their impressive major-label debut, With Love and Squalor, earlier this year, the Scientists are currently on tour with Sheffield "NME band" Arctic Monkeys. Both will be in town tomorrow night for a show at Stubb's outdoors -- tickets are still available online. more ›

The propaganda machine is running at maximum capacity. Priests calling from their pulpits for book-and-film-banning in churches around the globe, and for a New World Government that prohibits the public from reading and seeing what they wish, all in the name of God. The devout, standing on the hilltops in white robes, proclaiming violent opposition to the lies propogated by The Wicked and demanding the repentance of all sinners. Vagrants in the street waving... more ›

FRIDAY [19] [music] Cross Canadian Ragweed w/ Micky & the Motorcars at Stubb's (link) [music] Clint Small Jr. Middle School's Phat Cats Jazz Ensemble at Waterloo Records (Free, 6pm) (link) [music] Moth Fight! at End of an Ear (Free, 7pm) (link) [music] Faceless Werewolves, Hotrails, Tokyo Nites at Beerland (link) [music] Dynah CD release at Red Eyed Fly (link) [music] Wilco Hoot Night with "many, many Austin bands" at Trophy's (link) [music] Pudge Zeppelin with... more ›

Ms. Kat Candler's most recent effort, Jumping Off Bridges, fresh from its premiere at SXSW, has another screening at the Alkek Theater in San Marcos Friday, April 21st. more ›

An employee of the Travis County sheriff’s department attacked a photojournalist yesterday after leaving a Williamson County court hearing for animal cruelty charges. more ›

Another Sunday afternoon searching for Missed Connections, to no avail. Although it was no surprise that Austinist found plenty of posts to share with our readers. Wanted: Green Tree Frog During a recent visit to my parents in Austin, I made the mistake of using the toilet in the guest bathroom. I was somewhat asleep when a green tree frog decided to jump on my manberries from his hiding place under the rim of... more ›

We caught up with Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman recently to discuss the upcoming election and why he wants primary voters to save themselves for him. As you would imagine, Kinky did most of the talking. We found him to be thoughtful, engaging and funny. What follows are highlights of that interview for which we used Kinky’s song titles as subject headers.* *The first reader to email us with the names of the three... more ›

Earlier this week kissy couples were wading through roses and red tissue paper deeper than an east coast snow dump and singles shook a tiny, lonely fist (no ring!) at it all. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - Valentine's season is in the can, finally. Austinist is already pulsing with SX energy and posting on the People's Choice Award nominees and the short films that will be playing while the... more ›