Results tagged “crack”

*The views expressed in Truesday are those of the author and do not represent Austinist as a whole. Thank heavens.* -The Editors

Photo courtesy Progress Coffee, 500 Street San Marcos ProjectThe time's flown by so fast that it's almost hard to imagine, but eastside cafe Progress Coffee turns three today. It took over a year to transform what used to be a derelict warehouse into the beloved coffeehouse, which today anchors one of Austin's fastest growing creative communities. Nearby businesses now run the gamut from moped retrofitters and photography studios to film production companies and "digital media...

COLOUR REVOLT What’s the Deal: There’s a small college town in Mississippi where Colour Revolt is waiting like a swollen, porous sponge for someone to wring them out over the parched mouths of indie rock fans and critics alike. Right now, there is only the self-titled 6-song EP re-released in October of ‘06, but they’re currently in the final stages of recording their debut full-length. The EP, which caught ears at Spin and Stereogum...

Remember back in those halcyon summer days, when kids with spike-swoop haircuts would sulk over to your house on their skateboards, kick-flipping the whole way, bangs covering everyone’s pot-reddened eyes, just to bask in your glory as Thrasher’s newly claimed “heir to the Hosoi throne”? Man, those were the days. The chicks, the sponsorships, the Jimmy Z woody, all the righteous goodness. Remember that? No? Of course not. That's probably because like the rest of...

"When was the last time you saw a stuffed chicken taking phone calls, a mermaid playing an ocean harp, and a burnt-out yet decorated has-been singing to a cat in a litter box?”, asked Rebecca Havemeyer in an email. Um, not in quite some time, we thought to ourselves. She continued, “It’s time to get your pennies and prayers together, boys, because a telethon is coming to Austin!” Rebecca is promoting her Live Telethon Jubilee...

Hangover shmangover! Come weed it away at the Crack of Dawn Garden Party at Eastside Cafe (2213 Manor Road) this Saturday from 7:30-10:30am. Help them start their fall garden and then stay for mimosas, sparkling garden punch, artisan bread, an assortment of cheeses, and fresh fruit salad. Bring garden gloves and tools if you have them, a lawn chair if you'd like to lounge later, or just a smile and yourself! The event is free,...

Edited by Mark Jude Poirier

Kurt Vonnegut was the little booger hanging on the up-turned nose of literature. He kept the sci-fi and fantasy genre from getting too one-dimensional, and he helped reel the “literary world” back in from too much self-aggrandizement. For decades his cynical humor and desperate energy pulled at the spindly awkward adolescent us, and gave us something we could claim as our own. He got us to suspend our disbelief and see the same-old same-old...

Three British soldiers killed by American friendly fire in Afghanistan. A new database will crack down on uninsured drivers. Former astronaut Nowak appears in court. Lawmakers to probe safety at Utah mine. Texas parks receive financial boost. Love hurts. Is finding a new place to live in Russia more painful than having fire set to your private parts?...

BBC actors posing as escaped inmates in Travis County freak out local residents, prompting jail lockdown Study finds downtown Round Rock is less than walkable Might this be the end of the ugly butt-crack contest? Andre Jones claims he's a victim of mistaken identity APD chief Art Acevedo launches internal audit after the Statesman reveals the department's 2006 budget was padded with funds seized during criminal investigations Officials in South Texas discover a tractor...

Finding hot button issues in Austin is not unlike finding a needle in a needlestack and no issue is as passionately debated as real estate. When Liz Lambert left her law practice with the Attorney General’s office and purchased the run down San Jose Motel, she had designs to create an oasis of hip on South Congress Avenue before the condo-boom had even begun, and little did she know that what she was building would...

You look like you need a cupcake, and that is just what you will get tonight when the Austin Parks Foundation and the Alamo Drafthouse bring you Election, the second installment in the spring Movies in the Park series. However, that cupcake will be laced with arsenic icing and a heavy dose of satire extract. When we first saw Election back in the late 90’s, high school was still fresh enough in our minds that...

You know who Eugene O'Neill is, right? One of America's best and most famous playwrights, he penned such oft-taught classics as Desire Under the Elms, The Iceman Cometh, and Long Day's Journey Into Night. Uh, pretty depressing stuff. But did you know that O'Neill also wrote a comedy? One comedy? A turn-of-the-century comedy, no less? (Aren't those the best?) It is Ah, Wilderness!, and the players over at St. Ed's have it running right now,...

Okay, maybe we're not the kind of friend you'd invite to your wedding, or ask to hide a gun for you until the heat dies down. But we do try our best to keep you informed about awesome new films and film-related events—which is something your regular, non-blogger friends probably almost never do. Now that we think of it, why do you even hang out with them? Anyway, this Tuesday April 10th you'll get a...

What should have been a banner year for Virginia Beach rhymers Clipse wound up finding the brothers Thornton even more firmly entrenched in the cult status they've always cultivated. Record label paper-shuffling kept their second full-length, the Neptunes-produced Hell Hath No Fury, on the shelf for over a year. The duo kept busy with their record label, Re-Up Gang Records, and a popular mixtape series, We Got It 4 Cheap; but by the time Fury was released, what should've been a #1 album only managed to crack the top 20. The record still became one of the biggest critical smashes in any genre last year, ably supported by the duo's growing reputation as an unstoppable live act. As Thornton elder Malice said in a recent Pitchfork interview, "We may not be the mainstream dudes, but we are the credible ones. And I will take that any day of the week." See for yourself when the Clipse tour rolls through Austin tonight; locals The Academy, a.k.a. the 2 live crew of Phranchyze 1 and John Vice, warm up the Emo's outdoor stage.

Tonight, Texas legends Explosions in the Sky play to a sold-out audience at Emo's, supporting their new album, All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone. Its a curious thing, reviewing a new Explosions In the Sky album in their hometown. Daunting, like penning a critical appraisal of Jesus' triumphal entry on Palm Sunday ("I'll say it here: Hallelujah is the new Hosanna"). Sure, even here in ATX, they have their detractors, but they're generally...

Growing up, Diff'rent Strokes was one of our favorite TV shows. But we called the show "Arnold and Willis", because we only had so much room in our hearts for rich white people, and that was reserved for Ricky Schroder. Arnold and Willis were like our adopted siblings, and we happily, faithfully followed their exploits every single week. Unfortunately, the show's stars hit a rough patch after the series ended. We won't run down the...

On their self-titled debut album, Peel delivers a patchwork of songs with well thought-out, energetic arrangements that will no doubt leave a lasting impression. Tracks like "In the City" showcase the combination of Alison Moore's light-bright synths alongside Josh Permenter and Dakota Smith's slurred noise guitar spew. A sort of comforting nostalgia is invoked, reminding you of when you first started listening to early Pavement singles. There is a boozy lit to tracks like...

Bush's approval ratings have hit a new low, but Paula Abdul's star rating is still rising. A local Senate bill is asking that the revenue from red light cameras be transferred into a state fund to support trauma and emergency medical care. This is better than not knowing where the added revenue will go, but we still do not like the idea. Austin City Council members have approved a resolution to get $30 million...

The only downside of Emo's Free Week is that you have to decide which shows to attend. Some ambitious folks will move between the three venues and check out bits of several shows, but that requires, well, moving, and we're not into that. We'd rather grab five drinks from the bar, stake out a spot in front of the stage and spend all our available energy hollering "raaawwwkkk and roollllll" until we either pass out...

Whether you think of it as a test run for SXSW, a belated Christmas present to local music fans, or an excuse to drink for seven days straight, Emo's Free Week kicks off today with a schedule of acts that reads like a who's-who of local punk, indie, and rock. As the showcases are all without cover, we'd recommend getting there early. Emo's Free Week January 2-8 603 Red River Tuesday, January 2 Inside:...

Austin may be the "Live Music Capital of The World", but there is a relatively dry season. Once UT lets out for the fall semester and this city shuts up for the holidays, what's an audiophile to do? Suggestion: like bears that build up fat deposits to live off of once they retire to their relatives' caves to hibernate, you should catch a few great shows to delay the onset of withdrawals. Tonight, Emo's...

Clipse Hell Hath No Fury The bubble has burst. Ever since 50 Cent turned bullet wounds into a marketing bonanza—it really wasn’t that long ago, was it?—artists in the loosely defined subgenre known as “coke rap” have been falling all over themselves to convince suburban America that they sold more drugs, shot more people, and spent more time in jail than whoever happens to be selling records that week. The situation is so far gone...

The following is a weekly column by guest contributor Laurie Gallardo. Hear her Friday evenings on KUT 90.5FM, 11pm-3am. --The Editors Greetings to you, sufferers of post-Thanksgiving stress disorder. Come, now! You know exactly what I’m talking about. Were you one of the brave souls up this morning waiting at some random department store before the grand 5 a.m. opening to get your holiday shopping on?  Not me. “Black Friday” is not my cup...

The UT Department of Theatre & Dance has cooked up a restoration comedy to cheer your winter evenings, and they want to send one lucky couple gratis! Crack your knuckles and cozy up to the harpsichord keyboard to enter below. First one in gets a pair of tickets to this Saturday's performance. [Congratulations Winner!] The production comes to you courtesy of the department's MFA candidates, and showcases the work of the class of 2007,...

We know we’re a few days late in telling you this, but just to remind you, The New York Times has decided to allow all readers free access to the NYT Select section. The offer runs through this Sunday and gives you the opportunity to read Select columns, such as Maureen Dowd’s – today she has a great piece about how, after watching little W. fuck up so badly over the past few years, Papa...

Not to be outdone by the federal agents who recently seized nearly $37 million worth of cocaine at the border, Austin SWAT descended upon a purported crack house house containing crack in the wee morning hours today, according to the Statesman. After a lengthy investigation that began back in July, members of the Travis County Sheriff's Crime Suppression Unit, together with the SWAT team, broke into 2019 E. Third St -- conveniently located near...

Primal Scream - Riot City Blues (Columbia): The Primals seem to have found a time machine. This disc sounds more like a follow-up to 1994's Stones-rock Give Out But Don't Give Up rather than anything they've done in the decade since. The electronics and experimentation from Vanishing Point on are all gone, replaced by throwaway lyrics like "Gotta keep on keepin' on," Rod Stewarty 'Maggie May'-style mandolins, and blues shuffles that place them firmly in Dadrock territory. While there's no doubt that the noisy sample-heavy phase of the Primals had run its course, it's hard to see this album as anything but a placeholder or (worse) a retreat. It sounds like it could've been made in a week, and while the songs are mostly fun, there's a lot of filler. Our advice: Primals fans should head for iTunes to grab 'Country Girl', 'Dolls', 'When The Bomb Drops' and 'Hell's Comin' Down' for four bucks, and let the rest of this one be.

The Austin Police Department and the party-throwers living in the campus area have always seemed to get along. If you find yourself at a party around campus and a police cruiser stops out front, no one runs--even when that sweet bubbler on the table still has smoke billowing from it--everyone just walks away calmly. APD knows they can't stop every party, arrest every weed smoker and hand out tickets to every minor, so they usually give the ultimatum: "everyone leaves, or citations." However, starting today, college kids around Austin may not think Austin cops are so cool anymore.