GOOD is asking readers to create a video tour promoting their hometown. GOOD asks that in your video you answer the question, "What is it that would make someone want to travel to where you are?" The creator of the best entry nets two round-trip domestic tickets to anywhere JetBlue flies....

Tomorrow's screening of Real Genius with John Gries in attendance is totally sold out (*sad face*). But cheer up--you can still enter our contest for a chance to win a pair of tickets to the 9:45pm screening of Napoleon Dynamite AND a pair of pajamas autographed by Laslo Hollyfeld himself!...

If you’re an aspiring writer, you might want to find some time between holiday parties this weekend to brush up your best short story. The Austin Chronicle’s sixteenth annual Short Story Contest closes on Monday. Winners split $1,500 and get published. ...

Flyer from BGirl City Championships Home Slice Pizza celebrates its second anniversary (happy birthday, guys!) with a giant Pizza Carnival—expect pizza tossing acrobats, pizza eating contests, "Great Calzoni the Slice Reader," and more, with proceeds going to benefit Young Texans Against Cancer The 6th annual East Austin Studio Tour returns, featuring more than 200 artists at over 100 studios—ride your bikes this year! VICE Magazine, Gomikitti, and Scion throw a killer free party at Antone's......

Longhorns receiver Limas Sweed will miss the rest of his senior season and undergo surgery to repair ligament damage in his left wrist, the team announced Monday. Sweed, a first-team All-Big 12 selection last year and a 2007 preseason All-American, caught 19 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns in the Longhorns' first six games this season. He has been remarkably durable throughout his career, starting 39 games in a row and catching a......

This summer, Austin resident Scott Blackwood received the Association of Writers and Writing Programs Award for his forthcoming novel, We Agreed to Meet Just Here. His collection of short stories, In The Shadow of Our House (2002), received great reviews. In The Shadow of Our House interweaves nine tales of Austin — marriages falling apart, youthful anger erupting into inexplicable violence, sudden tragedy testing family bonds, and adulterers caught between incomplete worlds. Blackwood’s keen sense......

ACL Previews Interview: Ghostland Observatory Previews: The Broken West, Big Sam’s Funky Nation & Rose Hill Drive Previews: Billy Joe Shaver and Fionn Regan Previews: Brandon Rhyder and Ocote Soul Sounds Interview: The Broken West Previews: Sylvia St. James, Jeffrey Steele, and Amy Cook Interview: Bloc Party ACL Fest Updates: Google Mashup, Contests, Eco-Chic Previews: Augustana, Amos Lee Interview: Peter, Bjorn, and John ACL Band Clash, Round 3: Wilco Vs My Morning Jacket Travis......

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......

Neal Kay’s Heavy Metal Soundhouse inspired the first set of air guitarists in London in the late 1970’s and the spectacle has truly evolved into a world wide phenomenon in the last decade. The first World Air Guitar Championships were held in Finland in 1996 (at the Oulu Music Video Festival) and 12 years later, the event is still going strong. Austin is no stranger to the scene, holding regular contests at the Alamo......

With the sweaty season officially in full swing here in Austin, Philadelphia-based First Person Arts has given us good reason to stick around in air-conditioned climes. Yesterday was the official call for entries in the 6th Annual First Person Arts Memoir Writing Competition. Now instead of trudging about in the soup you can spend time inside articulating your inner-most thoughts for a shot at some prestige in print-form. This year's contest features two categories: Short......

As we mentioned earlier today, we're very excited about the return of the Cine Las Americas International Film Festival, for which we're media sponsors this year. Today we're giving away a pair of tickets to tonight's opening night screening of Francisco Vargas Quevedo’s award-winning drama, El Violín. Another lucky winner will score a CinePass, which will grant him/her access to all festival screenings, plus the parties. You can enter your name for both contests......

Congratulations to the following folks, who won one of our contests from yesterday! Playboy's Rock the Rabbit Party: J. Payne Paolo Nutini ACL Taping: H. Kim, C. Fitzpatrick, K. Johnson, D. Crowe, V. Douroupis Diesel-U-Music: B. Christian NY2LON: S. Chang Albert Hammond, Robbers on High Street Package: D. Dirks Austinist's Gonna Gonna Get, Get Down! 2 Private Balcony: H. Kennedy......

We've gotten our hands on a bunch of tickets, guestlist spots, and assorted swag for several excellent parties happening during SXSW, and over the course of today we'll be giving these away. Check back every hour for the newest giveaway contest -- each will only run until the next one is posted, so your chances at winning are pretty damn good. Congrats to the winner of our last contest, who'll be announced at the......

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......

Welcome back kiddos, the year is kicking off with a shotgun bang. Head over to Waterloo or End of an Ear and ask for these albums: as far as we can tell, it's hard to go wrong this week. The Shins Wincing the Night Away (Sub Pop) Well, they're definitely stretching, and they're definitely getting more and more familiar with the studio, as "Phantom Limb" demonstrates: James Mercer is still having trouble falling asleep,......

While Austin is around 5,400 miles away from Munich, there's a little bit of Germany headed our way in the coming weeks. No, not Hasselhoff's "Hooked On A Feeling", thankfully. The wonderful pub food, delicious beers, and silly accordian music of Oktoberfest will hit four different Central Texas venues on upcoming weekends, so dig out your lederhosen and start humming "Country Roads" or "Hey Baby" (the most popular songs at the Munich event, bar......

Tomorrow night, The Streets take to the stage at La Zona Rosa. Mike Skinner's third album, The Hardest Way to Make An Easy Living, has drawn many favorable reviews ("twice as good as any album about the price of celebrity has a right to be" -- Guardian UK). Be sure to arrive in time to check out opener Lady Sovereign, easily one of the most entertaining acts we caught at SXSW. If you haven't......

The Founding Dudes are bringing their Lebowski Fest to Austin be enjoyed by all of you captial-area Achievers. Started in Kentucky 2002 as a way to celebrate all things Lebowski, it has continued across the United States and will be in our fair city this weekend. Get your costumes ready and your bowling arm in shape, because it's going to be a lot of fun. Lebowski Fest cannot be contained in only one day,......

Yes kiddies, it's time once again for the annual Eeyore's Birthday Party. What Lloyd Birdwell started as a small picnic for students at the University of Texas has today swelled to a major annual festival with live bands; food vendors; adult beverages; games and whatnot, such as egg tossing and costume contests. This fictional birthday party for our favorite depressed donkey is not about recreational drug use or the "hippie" subculture, it's about the......

Hey, hey Austin – guess what? The black guy from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Ghostbusters, Designing Women and Walker, Texas Ranger is appearing live this weekend! Yes, that’s right, Andre Meadows (also known by his hip-hop alias, Arnie Sykes – big ups A-money!) is headlining at the Velveeta Room this Friday and Saturday night. The club spawned by those comedy rascals over at Esther’s Follies will now host one of Austin’s brightest young stand-up......

A mass of [sometimes unidentifiable] flying objects will be spotted over Zilker Park on Sunday afternoon as the 78th Annual Zilker Park Kite Festival takes to the skies. The festival will include kite workshops, stunts, demonstrations, contests, and a mass kite ascent. Event contests are open to fliers of all ages and is a family friendly event. Contest kites must be homemade, but not necessarily by the person flying them. All other kites are......

Tonight is the last night to catch The Outdoorsment: Blood, Sweat, & Beers, a documentary about extraordinary feats of drinking coupled with agony-inducing physical contests, at the Alamo South Lamar, at 10:15 p.m. From the Draft House's website:Once a year, an exclusive group of men travels to a top-secret location somewhere in the wooded mountains of Washington State to compete in an all-day event they call The Outdoorsmen. ... Braving freezing waters, treacherous riverbeds,......

We knew there was some devious reason John Mayer’s “Daughters” topped the charts. That song managed to be both cheesy and creepy at the same time. This morning, New York’s illustrious Attorney General Eliot Spitzer subpoenaed nine major radio conglomerates for their role in this crime against music. Buying airplay has been illegal since the 1960, when a federal law was put into place to ban the rampant practice of “payola” (pay plus Victrola,......

We are hurtin' today. We did drink a little last night, but we're not hungover (really, we're just tired). Last night we went to the first ever "The Prize is Tight" night at Flamingo Cantina. We were laughing so hard, we nearly peed ourselves. We don't really know who Matt Bearden is or where he comes from, but he hosts this Game Show, Variety Show, Stand-Up Comedy, musical act and we think he was......

We’ve already told you that Austin has the highest number of tattoo parlors per capita of any city in the United States, which was undoubtedly the selling point for tech companies when they moved in with their Volvos and 2.5 children. For those who doubt cyber geeks love their ink, we have proof. We will pay for someone to get this one, or maybe even this one. Actually, that is a lie, we won’t......

With the weather finally cooling down, this weekend affords the perfect opportunity to venture out to Texas Hill Country, which will be playing host to several wonderful Fall-flavored events: There's the start of Texas Wine Month: for a mere $25 you can nab a 2005 Wine Trail Passport, which gets you into ten Hill Country wineries for the entire month and the opportunity to win mixed cases of Texas wine. Then there's Fredricksburg's Oktoberfest,......

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome. Here's to your livers and wallets making it through this week. MONDAY [books] Will Clarke talks crazy with his latest novel, Lord Vishnu's Love Handles @ Bookpeople, 7pm [film] Starchaser in 3-D! @ Alamo Drafthouse Downtown, 7pm, $1 + $1 Glasses Rental [music] 54 Seconds @ Lucky Lounge [music] Paris 49 @ Continental Club TUESDAY [music] Cafe Tacvba with Grupo Fantasmo @ Stubb's BBQ, Doors at 7 pm [music] Alkaline Trio with......

Lisa Kudrow has a new show and because we love her, we watched. It's called The Comeback and it airs on HBO where they can be much more creative (and dirty) than the networks. All the best shows are on HBO, right? Lisa plays Valerie Cherish, an aging has-been sitcom star pegged for a Friends-like new show featuring hot twentysomethings who participate in wet t-shirt contests. The hitch for her is that she's also......

Austin has built its reputation of being a fun, liberal, artistic and open community in part due to activities such as this weekend’s annual Eeyore’s Birthday Party in Pease Park. About 40 years ago, University of Texas Delta Tau Delta fraternity member Lloyd Birdwell and some of his buddies started this fictional birthday party, partly as a spring rite of passage and partly out of the desire to throw a big ol’ party in......