• Eight years after Taliban, Afghanistan death toll nears 1,000
• Alleged Colorado school shooter had history of violence
• New political poll: 100% of Americans thoroughly confused

Each Friday, we'll be offering up a sampling of Longhorn- and Big 12-related sports coverage making its way around the Web. This week: impressive offense, an assault charge, and the benefits of a bye week. more ›

Each week, we'll look at some reasons to taunt, belittle, and bully the Longhorns' football opponent. This week's Big 12 opponent: the Colorado Buffaloes. more ›

Every weekday morning we'll be featuring a photo (or two) from our readers. Please feel free to submit your photos (min 600px width) by adding them to the Austinist Flickr Group. more ›

Festival season is in full swing, with most of Austin looking forward to this weekend's Austin City Limits Festival and Fun Fun Fun Fest in November. Meanwhile, our neighboring states have also thrown some pretty big shindigs, including Bumbershoot, Sasquatch, Musicfest Northwest and Denver, Co.'s Monolith Festival. The latter came complete with a built-in natural beauty, a plethora of acts from near and far including Austinites White Denim, Erin Ivey and Alyse Black and big names such as Justice, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Atmosphere, and more. more ›

(512) 236-0008
more ›

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. more ›

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

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... more ›

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... more ›

more ›

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... more ›

#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... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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,... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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. more ›

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... more ›

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... more ›

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,... more ›