Ranger flexes its muscles by simulating the "rising temperature plume within the Earth’s mantle." By Rhea Group (Carsten Burstedde, Omar Ghattas, Georg Stadler, Tiankai Tu, Lucas Wilcox), in collaboration with George Biros (Penn), Michael Gurnis (Caltech), and Shijie Zhong (Colorado)At the beginning of this month, the world's most powerful supercomputer for open scientific research officially went online at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at UT Austin. Dubbed "Ranger," the high performance computing (HPC) system......

Photo from the Austin History Center archives Since so many of you wrote in asking about places to watch the Democratic Presidential Debate, we went ahead and called around town. Below are your best options if you missed out on the Alamo's watch parties or the Texas Democrats' party—both are now sold out. We still recommend calling ahead to make sure the folks below haven't changed their minds, and feel free to share any that......

SXSW recently announced its list of 2008 Showcasing Artists and so (officially) begins the countdown, the madness, the drama, and of course the anticipation of it all. Our coverage has been picking up speed with constant updates and an interview with Deer Tick, among others. Of course, showcase information is arriving fast and furious as well, and we will do our best to bring you information regarding some of the choice events scheduled for the week of SXSW....

While the nation recovers from Super Tuesday, the University of Texas is gearing up for Super Wednesday, better known as National Signing Day....

Austin Green Art Austin Green Art Celebrates Third BirthdayFriday, November 16, 6pm-8pmIF+D (208 Colorado)[info]Austin Green Art celebrates its third birthday party at IF+D Gallery, Friday November 16. AGA is an umbrella project of the Austin Community Foundation and produces public programs in collaboration with community partners, artists and community volunteers. Check out the unique projects on the horizon, including AGA's Grow Austin Weird Project, which was initiated in collaboration with the Campus Environmental Center's Gardening......

Photo by Ray Soto $2 Music Mondays: Punk’s Not DeadMonday, November 5thAlamo Drafthouse Downtown [map]9:45pm, $2[info] | [tickets]After a painful four month hiatus, the Music Mondays film series has finally returned to the Alamo Drafthouse! Huzzah! The series will no longer be curated/hosted by Kier-La Janisse (who has left Austin to return to the wilds of Canada), but the first batch of programming looks strong, beginning tonight with Susan Dynner's Punk's Not Dead, a documentary......

UT's Brackenridge Tract Tack Force has released its initial recommendations regarding the land owned by the University west of Mopac and south of Enfield, which includes Lions Municipal Golf Course, West Austin Youth Association, the Colorado and Brackenridge Apartments, the Brackenridge Field Laboratory, a Randall's, and some other apartments and stores. The bottom line is that they suggest hiring an outside master planner to come up with a master plan for everything, and that......

As you have probably heard by now, the Planning Commission voted to deny CWS Capital Partners' variance request, which would have allowed them to build condo towers within 150 feet of Lady Bird Lake in exchange for demolishing their existing structures and donating the land along the shoreline to the city (approximately the pink bit in the top left of the image above). As a result, the existing structures will almost certainly be re-built......

#19 Texas (4-1) vs. #10 Oklahoma (4-1) Time: 2:30 pm, Saturday, Oct. 6 Location: Cotton Bowl, Dallas, Texas TV: KVUE (ABC) Radio: KVET (98.1 FM, 1300 AM) One of the realities of college football is that a single loss, particularly at the wrong time, effectively ends your season. Teams that begin the season with a hope of winning the national championship can see those hopes vanish in the span of four hours on a......

Today is National (Park)ing Day, where groups from all around the country get together to create temporary art and beautification projects in metered public parking spots. "National Park(ing) Day is an opportunity to reclaim public parking spaces for parks and open spaces - places for people to enjoy," say event organizers at the Trust for Public Land. "The quality of our daily experience is only enhanced by often neglected necessities like parks, playgrounds, and gardens......

Laura Hall did not testify in her own defense, and now it's up to the jury. Austin: 3rd most expensive city in Texas. Father of seriously injured toddler speaks out about her attack earlier this week. Perry may have commuted Foster's death sentence, but Texas politicians still love the death penalty. An accident this afternoon north of Hwy 71 leaves two people injured and some diesel in the Colorado river. The City Council isn't......

Our first experience with Independence Brewing Company came just a few short years ago when browsing the beer aisle at a nearby Austin grocer. Shuffling past the quick favorites (Lone Star) and growing tired of the old stand-by's (Shiner) we came upon the logo of a shaggy-haired kid jumping, cannonball-style, into a pool not unlike our own Barton Springs. With curious mind and ever-growing soberness, we delved further to discover what has quickly become......

The Statesman is reporting that homeowners in western Travis County are shocked and appalled by a new proposal by the Lower Colorado River Authority to increase rates charged for water usage to reflect the high cost of providing water to the hilly, sparsely populated area. LCRA's general manager, Joe Beal, said that another problem is that "People out there use a boatload of water. They irrigate a lot, and they irrigate at the same......

In a lot of ways, Trinidad, Colorado isn't so different from other small towns. They've got a population of 9,000, the local economy is transitioning away from once-prosperous mining and ranching, and Christ is Lord. But Trinidad, like many of its visitors, has a little something extra: Over the past forty years, six thousand people have traveled there to undergo sex-change operations. Dr. Stanley Biber secretly began performing genital-reassignment surgery, or GRS, in 1969, hiding......

Just like last year, Austin's in for another rainy July 4th. With Lake Travis still hovering around 700 feet above sea level and an estimated 2-4 inches of rain on the way, the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) is keeping all area lakes closed for boating, including Lake Austin and Town Lake. "Debris and high water from floodwaters make the lakes unsafe," reads the news bulletin post to LCRA's site this afternoon. "LCRA will......

Either something's gone wonky with the Doppler Radar, or Mother Nature's feeling awfully gloomy: Austin's extended forecast indicates that we'll be dealing with hot, stormy weather through the July 4th holiday. Last night's thunderstorms, which delivered an estimated 18 inches of rain, flooded parts of Williamson, Lampasas, and Burnet counties, leaving many folks stranded on cars, roofs, and trees. Emergency rescue crews were forced to make their way by land, air, and, in several cases,......

Soundcheck has grabbed our attention constantly over the last year with colorful covers presenting regional talent like Voxtrot and Midlake. However, the glossy magazine features national acts as well, while keeping a close eye on major festivals -- both home and away. Soundcheck also incorporates additional flair into its usual, stellar content every month. An “Artist Perspective” feature (from the likes of Ramesh Srivastava) and columns such as Hometown Heroes keep this local ‘zine hip......

Unless you have been under a very large boulder, you are well aware that the Original Alamo Drafthouse is closing its Colorado Street doors this Wednesday night. Soon you will see people wandering the downtown streets, suffering from celluloid withdrawal and desperately looking for their next film reel hit. We know it’s hard, we’re suffering too, but the Paramount Theatre knows what you want and they’ve got what you need, as they continue their 32nd......

It's been a week of "lasts" at the original Alamo Drafthouse, including the last Terror Thursday, Master Pancake Theater, A/V Geeks and Butt-numb-a-thons ever to happen at the venerable Colorado St. location. And tonight marks another sad Alamo last--one that we're particularly bummed about--the last Music Monday. Though the series is slated to continue at the Alamo's fancy new 6th Street location sometime in the fall, tonight will probably be the last installment programmed by......

Oh hey, have you heard? The Original Alamo Drafthouse is closing. Closing! Well, closing and, in a few weeks, re-opening mere blocks away, but whatevs: This is the END of a glorious era in Austin movie-going and communitas. Memo to all you bloggy, film nerdish, or just share-a-holic types: It's time to take to the Internets and divulge your fondest memories from the venerable old building at 409 Colorado. Did Harry Knowles' hair brush your......

If you recently purchased ground beef from Wal-Mart, you may have walked away with more than a killer deal: that slab of mashed-up Texas cattle bits could include a healthy serving of E. coli. A massive "voluntary" recall was issued by Tyson Fresh Meats last week, after the bacteria was found in a meat sample from the company's Sherman, Texas plant. Some 40,000 pounds of ground beef might be contaminated; affected Wal-Mart stores include those......

Well, the title of this story pretty much says it all. Or, at least most of it. Men's Health magazine recently published a ranking of the top 50 dog-friendly cities in the country. Dear old Austin made the top ten, coming in at 7th place nationwide. Among the criteria that Men's Health considered were animal cruelty laws, the number of veterinarian clinics and the number of dog parks. This seems like a good ranking spot......

WEDNESDAY [16] music • Locals at La Zona Rosa Showcase with Zookeeper, The Laughing, A Pocketful of Deng at La Zona Rosa (Free with RSVP at Do512) books • The Intimacies Group with Guest Rick Lannoye discuss "Sex Drive" at BookPeople (7:00pm) film • "Willy Wonka" Chocolate Feast at Alamo Downtown film • Open Screen Night at Alamo Downtown film • Weird Wednesday: "Daydream" at Alamo Downtown food • (The Original) Willy Wonka Chocolate......

Okay, okay—so it's not that big a deal that the Alamo Downtown is relocating. All it really means is that we have to walk a few extra blocks to get there, which, quite frankly, will be good for our waistline. Plus, there'll be more seating and bigger screens, so we guess we'll learn to cope. But we're definitely sad to see the old theatre go; we've spent a lot of nights eating, drinking, laughing, cheering......

The fine folks at the Alamo Drafthouse have just announced a special, last-minute QT Fest (kinda) to be held at the Alamo Downtown next week. As a tribute to the historic Colorado St. location, Quentin Tarantino will take over the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown for one last run of QT-style grindhouse triple bills, including a "Sex Comedies" night, a "Regional" night and a "Swinging" night. The series—dubbed "Last Night at the Alamo Grindhouse"—will run May 10th,......

Reported just days ago on the their own blog, The Alamo Drafthouse revealed two bits of interest concerning their future transition down the street to take over the famous, and schizophrenic, Ritz on 6th. It's looking like the final day at The Original Alamo on 4th & Colorado will be Wednesday, June 27th, 2007. From the blog, "We'll have three shows, something special for 3 different crowds that we serve at the Alamo. We will......

Austin MetBlogs scooped traditional media outlets today by revealing that the Alamo Drafthouse Downtown will soon relocate from its current spot, at 5th and Colorado, to the Ritz, Austin's storied dive bar/movie house/pool hall/music venue that once played host to the likes of Roky Erickson, the Butthole Surfers, and the Flaming Lips. Curiously, the original post on the Alamo's blog has since been unpublished, most likely because an official announcement will be made later......

We're just about to head to the grocery store to stock up on champagne and salty snacks for this weekend's award show marathon, but for those of you who like to venture beyond the comfort of your living rooms for these kinds of events, here are some party options: Tomorrow, you can join the Austin Film Society at Ringer's Sports Lounge where they'll be hosting a viewing party for the Independent's Spirit Awards. Two Austinites......

You wouldn't guess it from the near-record highs this week, but there's a slim likelihood that Central Texas will be treated to a bit of snow on Christmas Eve. The Statesman quotes meteorologist Clay Anderson of the National Weather Service as saying, "There's a 20 percent chance, but it's nothing to get too excited about at this point." Thus far, neither weather.com nor the National Weather Service's own forecast indicates any freak flurries, though Anderson......

If you are anything like us, then you have shoes on your feet. And you’re behind on your manscaping because you’ve been getting up too late to handle that business so your girl’s been giving you the stink eye as of late but shit, a man’s got priorities in life and sometimes the details get lost in the big picture woman! It can't all be done! All the time! But this is about the shoes.......