But what if attitudes and religious memeplexes aren’t changing because adapting to social pressure is necessary? What if the new millenarianism, instead of crashing computers, will be a fight to the death with a Frankenstein version of Mother Nature? What if environmentalism is becoming the new faith? What if responsible consumerism is the new moral ethic? What if recycling, dear Green God, is the new ritual of absolution?...

We admit to using the Austin Public Library Online Catalog at least once a week to search for books we've heard about and to put books on hold. So we were happy to see that the online catalog was updated over the weekend. The "My Account" button in the top navigation now opens a new window for you to sign into, which is more private and secure for public computers than the previous setup. The......

Having directed some of the most tear duct-taxing movies in recent memory (Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark), as well as some exhaustively think-y, Brechtian pieces (Dogville, Manderlay) director Lars von Trier would now like to make you laugh. Or would he? It's just sort of hard to tell in his latest film, The Boss of it All. There are some things that do not bode well for comedy. For instance, an affiliation with......

Proving once again that newfangled technology is truly the province of the very young, Apple will be offering kids-only iMovie workshops in July. If you hurry up and register now, your favorite 'tween can learn digital movie editing skills (no iMovie experience necessary) at either the Barton Creek or Domain Apple stores. The tot may bring along a computer (Mac OS X or higher, please), digital camcorder or pre-recorded footage if you've got'em, but......

Two local paramedics are being investigated by Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services after an attempt to help a former co-worker get away with drunk driving. A call was made to 911 early Tuesday morning saying that a man had passed out in a car near an Oak Hill intersection. The two paramedics were first to the scene, recognized their friend, and called the cops to say no police action was necessary. The cops came......

The City of Austin is going to be rolling out their recently completed project to coincide with the start of SxSWi: an interactive DVD, titled Austin Past and Present, which tells the history of Austin. The DVD incorporates historical documents from local archives (mainly the Austin History Center) into 300 slideshows and stories about our fair city. You can learn about the geological beginnings of our area, learn more about the beginnings of neighborhoods such......

Apart from their annual two-week-long fall spectacle, The Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival (aGLIFF) also sponsors various projects and programs throughout the year, all aimed towards fostering the talents of our city's budding young filmmakers of the GLBT persuasion. This year, they've teamed up with Public Access Community Television (PACT) to create the My Gay Movie 2007 Challenge: novice filmmakers are encouraged to create 10-minute shorts with a "queer sensibility"; the best submissions......

Since 1996, Tom Jenkinson, the Englishman also known as Squarepusher, has been giving us music that has, up to this point, combined live jazz instrumentation and computer-generated electronica with fascinating results. Squarepusher, the son of a jazz drummer, is essentially a virtuosic jazz bassist who discovered the electronic medium of computerized sequencing late in his musical development. As such, Squarepusher has actually been able to fully express the jazz influence latent in the IDM genre,......

Apropos of nothing, really, other than that we drove past this sign on E. Cesar Chavez, here are some reminders about what you can recyle in Austin:- Newspapers, magazines, catalogs, junk mail & office paper - Aluminum, steel & tin cans - Glass bottles and jars, all colors - Plastic bottles (#1 and #2) -- no other shaped plastic containers than bottles - Corrugated cardboardPick up a recycling bin from any City of Austin......

We were relieved to find out that Austin's own "wandering moon howler" Red Hunter, aka Peter and the Wolf, made it back safely after his whirlwind national tour -- the final leg of which was traversed by sea. Accompanied by Jana Hunter, The Castanets, some eye-patch-wearing fellow from WFMU and other assorted pirate types, the motley crew successfully navigated their way up the East Coast's Intracoastal Waterway. Also, as Red mentioned in the interview......

Miss Universe couldn't take the heat of her tight and oh-so-heavy beaded dress; she fainted a few minutes after her coronation. A little sopón de garbanzos con patas de cerdo might have done her well. Major spas promoting relaxation are soon to be catering to pre-pubescent kids. A growing number of 9 to 13 year olds are stressed out with way too much on their plates. Looks like Chicken Shit Bingo is catching on......

Starting in the US in September, Dell will become the first CPU manufacturer to take its free computer recycling worldwide. Dell has been a partner in the computer recycling program here in town for a while now, and they've also been recycling their own computers in Europe. When this program starts, no matter where you are in the world, if you have an old Dell CPU, the company wants it back (and you won't......

Some strange bird behavior in California is being blamed on acid. Philanthropist Warren Buffet is donating a substantial portion of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Want to see a minor leage baseball coach lose his cool? The Department of Homeland Security is getting too many calls from telemarketers on their "secrect homeland defense" hotline. As healthy as you hippies think you are, extreme vegetarianism can actually lead to diseases including......

Back in 1996, when Al Gore had only just invented the internet, The Webby Awards were born. A kind of e-Oscar, they recognize online excellence; Webby nominees must possess websites whose "design, creativity, usability and functionality" rise above the rest. Like the Oscars, the Webby Awards are powered by an "academy," in this case The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which boasts such members as David Bowie and Matt Groening. Assuming these......

Just in case you’re on your way to Austin to check out some cool new bands or dig on a few great new movies and it suddenly occurs to you – wait! I hate good movies, awesome music and free beer. What in the hell will I do with myself whilst kickin’ it old skool in the A-burg? You could see some kick-ass new work from Austin fringe dance queen, Ellen Bartell. Bartell’s Spank......

Yep, you can get access to the spooky, retro basement of the Bank of America building, downtown Austin, for free this coming Friday only. The ever-clever folks over at Salvage Vanguard are kicking off a series of readings with Caridad Svich's Thrush (A Play With Slaughter Songs). The piece has been in workshop for the last two weeks with the playwright, director Jenny Larson, composer Adam Sultan, dramaturge Colin Denby Swanson, and actors Kathy......

One of the advantages of being marginally employed is that we sometimes have days, like today, off from work. We were going to do something important with our day off, like take out the trash and check our e-mail, but then we kept reading the awful hurricane news. We got all worked up and decided to go do some volunteer work. Note that the last time we did some volunteer work that didn't involve......

Well, it looks like it’s another busy weekend for music around town. Saturday night has several great options and one of those is to head over to Beerland and catch the kick-ass local (and regional) lineup of The Black, AM Syndicate, Bring Back the Guns, and The Interest Kills. Make sure to not be too fashionably late as all the bands are worth seeing. We recently sat down (in front of our computers) and......